By now, Michiru had mostly gotten used to sitting up in the gunner seat, despite Haruka's rather reckless driving style; she wasn't sure if she'd ever get fully used to it, especially not during the times the blonde was driving over rough terrain instead of on a road, and she got bounced around quite a bit up there, but it wasn't as terrifying anymore as the very first ride had been.
Up ahead in the distance, a few columns of smoke caught her eye, distracting her from her thoughts; she wondered if this was the bandit camp of that guy Nine-Toes, but before she could ask Haruka if that assumption was right, the vehicle slowed, then stopped, the blonde squirming in her seat so she could look up at her.
"His camp's there", she let her know, confirming her thoughts, "we shouldn't drive too close or they might notice us. They're one of the more vicious bandit groups around. They raided our little village once and a lot of people got hurt."
"Well, we can pay them back for this now", Michiru gave back, smirking a malicious little smile as she climbed from the gunner seat, hopping the last bit and landing elegantly next to the vehicle, "and I imagine that, once we take out their leader, they'll be much less motivated to make trouble."
"If there are any left", Haruka told her as she got out of the car as well, "he's crazy, but not stupid, he'll probably have guards."
"A whole camp of bandits against the two of us, then", Michiru commented as she checked her weapons, making sure they were loaded and that the safety was off, just in case she'd have to act quickly, "and here I thought this search for the vault might be tedious."
"We can get backup?" Haruka suggested, not really surprised though when Michiru shook her head; smiling that malicious smirk again, one Haruka hoped would never be directed at her, the smaller woman gestured at her rifle, sounding pleasant when she replied, as if she was talking about the weather and not about her deadly skills.
"This rifle holds six bullets", she told the blonde, "which I can fire in less than thirty seconds. Assuming that I will land six headshots, which I usually do, that's six bandits less before the rest even realizes we are there. It takes me twenty seconds to reload, by then, they might be running around in a panic or, which would be better, standing still, trying to find out where I am. Another six down, and then, you can get to work, while I will support you from cover."
"If anyone else said that, I'd worry about getting shot on accident", Haruka commented, making her smile much kinder in reply, "but I've seen how you handle that rifle, so, fine with me."
"I appreciate your trust", Michiru replied, then nodded towards the columns of smoke, "shall we, then?"
Nodding, Haruka quickly checked her own gun, not wanting to stand there with an empty magazine after a few shots; satisfied, she started walking, Michiru right behind her, both of them keeping an eye out for any bandits who might be patrolling the area.
"They don't worry about security much, do they", Michiru commented as they got closer to the camp, earning a shrug from the taller woman; gesturing at the rock formation up ahead, Haruka still made sure to keep her voice low as she replied, not wanting to accidentally alert any of them to their presence before Michiru had managed to pick a few of them off.
"Their camp is kinda wedged between this rock and a bigger one behind it", she let the sniper know, "there's only this little narrow entrance, which they can keep easily guarded with just a guy or two. Guess that is why they don't patrol."
"Still sloppy", Michiru replied, shaking her head, "this rock is rather jagged, which makes it easy to climb. As I will demonstrate in a few… minutes…"
She trailed off as they got closer and she got a good look at the area around the rock they had been talking about; raising an eyebrow, she stopped walking and just looked, taking it all in, having to admit that she hadn't expected this, not even after Haruka had told her that Nine-Toes was crazy.
In a radius of fifteen feet around the rock, the whole area was strewn with bones, and from what she could tell after her quick glance, more than half of them were human.
"People they killed when they tried to attack", Haruka explained, rather unnecessarily, "and probably bones of the animals they eat. Some folks back at the village call this area the Boneyard."
"Quite fitting", Michiru commented, briefly wondering what it had been called before the bones had started collecting, then shrugging it off as not important, "and possibly quite intimidating… to other people."
"If I didn't know we're on the same side, I'd find you quite terrifying", Haruka gave back, earning another smirk and a shrug from the sniper – before she got moving again, ignoring the bones as she walked to the rock, ready to do some damage to the camp and hopefully get one step closer to the vault.
Since part of their small plan included Haruka storming the camp with blazing guns once Michiru had done her part at the beginning, the sniper climbed the rock alone; it wasn't quite as easy as she had thought it would be, but she managed, taking just a bit longer than anticipated to reach the top and find a good spot.
To her slight relief, none of the bandits in the camp was thinking about looking up, but she still got down on her stomach, crawling forward slowly, until she had found the best possible position; she glanced up into the sky, making sure that the sun wouldn't reflect of her rifle's barrel and give her away, then wet her index finger on her tongue and held it up to judge the breeze, darkly satisfied when she felt just the lightest bit of wind, not enough to cause her bullets to stray from their path.
Briefly, she thought of Haruka, who laid in wait down there, and of the responsibility she had taken on when she had agreed to snipe a bunch of them before the blonde would go in – if she messed this up, and there were too many of the bandits left, each of them increased the chance of Haruka getting hurt, and she didn't want that.
Because you need help to find the vault, she sternly reminded herself, not because you like her. You don't even really know her, and you don't have time for this, anyway.
Rigorously, she pushed those thoughts out of her mind, telling herself that she had to focus on the task at hand now and that thoughts of the way the sun made Haruka's hair glint like spun gold weren't helping with that; a few deep breaths helped her to get those under control, and she finally focused on the bandits, glad that apparently, none of them had an idea they were there, some of them standing in small groups and talking, others lounging in the sun or taking care of their equipment, a few sitting around the fires they had burning here and there, roasting what looked like skag to Michiru.
All in all, she counted a total of sixteen bandits, figuring that, with the element of surprise, Haruka should be able to take care of the four which would still be left by the time she'd be done; she took another deep breath, then positioned her rifle, quickly deciding in which order she'd shoot them.
She hadn't been bragging when she had told Haruka that she could empty the magazine in less than thirty seconds, and just like she had anticipated, she landed six headshots in that short timespan; and while the bandits were still trying to figure out what was happening and where this attack was coming from, she reloaded, then started firing again, feeling darkly satisfied when another six dropped dead in quick succession.
She had a second to wonder if Haruka had been counting her shots and knew that it was time for her to act now; and the blink of an eye later, rapid machine gun fire filled the air as the blonde came storming in, mowing two of the remaining four bandits down before they knew what had hit them.
The two left standing dove for cover, then started firing blindly; they weren't caring where their shots were going, Michiru noted as she reloaded again, her gaze darting back and forth, from the bandits to Haruka, who had found some cover of her own behind one of the shabby looking huts of the camp, and it was sheer luck that she didn't miss the vaguely egg-shaped object one of the bandits tossed out, into the general direction the blonde had shot from.
Michiru's eyes went wide as she recognized it for what it was, and even though she feared Haruka might not be able to hear her, she shouted out a warning, just a single word – but it had been loud enough, and it had been enough to get Haruka moving again.
"Grenade!" Haruka and the bandits heard the sniper's cry, Haruka cursing under her breath as she spotted it a second later, rolling towards her; a daring dive brought her out of the immediate danger zone as the grenade exploded, put her out in the open though, the bandits shouting their anger at what Michiru and she had done at her as they opened fire again.
Hurriedly, Michiru moved her rifle slightly so she had one of them in her crosshairs, not even caring that she wouldn't hit his head as she pulled the trigger; the bullet got him in the chest instead of the head, but finished him off just as well, and a few seconds later, his comrade fell, too, after having taken a blast of bullets from Haruka's machine gun, the camp silent afterwards, making Michiru wonder if they already had gotten Nine-Toes or if he was hiding somewhere, after having seen how skilled they were.
Figuring that there was only one way to find out, she slung the rifle onto her back, then quickly climbed down to meet Haruka; a quick once-over didn't reveal any blood on the blonde's clothes, but still she asked if Haruka was alright, feeling absurdly relieved when the taller woman nodded at once.
"Thanks for the warning, by the way", she then said, gesturing at the spot where the grenade had exploded, "I would have missed that one."
"Don't mention it", Michiru shrugged it off with a little wave of one hand, "I need you in one piece so we can get to the vault. Speaking of which, was Nine-Toes among the guys we just killed here?"
"No", Haruka replied at once, to her dismay, then gestured at the largest hut of the camp, "he's probably in there, getting ready to fight back. You ready to take him on?"
In response, Michiru just smiled, then pulled her gun from the holster; and apparently, this had been all the answer Haruka had needed, since she, in response, reloaded her own weapon, then started off towards the hut, Michiru close behind her, the adrenalin rush of what just had happened still making her heart beat faster, along with the certainty that soon, she'd have more information about the vault and where to find it.
