Enjoy your Christmas? I sure did! Slept in till two in the afternoon! Anyways, enjoy the next installment of 'Lost' in all the awesomeness that it is!
The usual disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and Santa didn't bring me the rights! (boo frickin' hoo)
Language Warning!! Some words not meant for the kiddies, but they'll read it anyway...
As Naruto led the advance of tanks, technicals, and red-eyes against the outermost line of the capital's defenses, he wasn't surprised that their enemies were on full alert. The first barrier between them and the city consisted of a series of deep trenches and concrete pillboxes.
Gunfire erupted from the honeycombed entrenchments and mini-bunkers. Every red-eyed soldier immediately took cover behind anything they could find; tanks, rocks, fallen trees and the like. Only a few that stood against the hail of bullets were capable of diverting the heated projectiles. Uzi faced forward steadfastly, energy tails stretched out in front of him as thinly as possible to provide adequate shielding over the largest area possible.
"Guys," the blonde red-eye addressed everyone by his side behind the shield, "Take aim and fire at will." With that command, he opened up tiny holes in the energy barrier large enough for his companions to fit the muzzles of their weapons through. They obeyed and returned a solid line of fire against the trenches. The unfortunate soldiers in the deep ditches fell like flies under the sustained fire as their smarter comrades ducked down into their connected foxholes.
"Move forward!" the blonde ordered as he strode forward, bringing his mobile shield with him. The specialists hustled forward to stay with their 'slots' and gunned down the soldiers hiding in the elongated forward trench. "Alright, we got a foothold!" Uzi yelled back at all the other crimson-eyed troops, signaling them to charge forward.
Naruto was suddenly thrown back violently as a shell impacted directly on his appendage shield. The specialists near the blast were killed instantly and the others were flung back as the barrier instinctively coiled around the blonde red-eye to protect him.
"Naruto!" Hinata called as she ran to her floored crush. She dropped to one knee when she reached him and placed a hand on his shoulder as he jolted up. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine," he replied. "All troops keep going forward!"
The front line of specialists rushed past the duo, some stopping to return fire and protect their power player while the rest leapt down into the foremost trench and proceeded to move through the open-air tunnels.
Sanshatav stopped as his pack rushed by and glanced at Naruto with his jarring bloodline eyes. "My lord, leave the close quarters up to us! We're good at this!"
Uzi gazed at the pure white mask that covered the Agende Vhansin's face. The only way he knew it was Sanshatav was due to the sloppily-applied blood that was painted on the mask to form an exaggerated toothy smile. "Take the trenches, leave open ground to me!"
"I obey!" He loosed his worn elongated crescent-like sword and flew forward ahead of his pack, growling something that appeared to be a command of some sort. His familial followers fell into a loosened line behind him and charged into the darkened bunkers at the ends of the trenches. Guttural shrieks and screams ensued.
The blonde red-eye and his blue-haired companion were already on their feet, charging over the first trench in order to quickly reach the next fortified ditch. Naruto's energy tails swept large divots through the thick barbed wire and the Hyuuga fired her thirteen millimeter pistol at any soldier that thought to take aim at them. She emptied her entire clip; each shot a kill, and then ejected her clip to reload. She slammed the next magazine in when her crush glanced back at her.
"I need you to cover me," he said flatly. "I'm going to take out the bunkers and tanks. You'll be my eyes."
She nodded. "Got it," she confirmed his wishes as the next round was loaded into the chamber of her pistol. She slung the Raver's special rifle from her shoulder, took aim at a bunker, and fired a salvo of energy-induced needles at the slot. She heard screams and shouts for a medic and knew she neutralized it.
The eastern red-eye immediately leapt into action. He charged the tattoos in his left hand and struck it against the wind, letting loose a wave of slicing energy upon the pillbox, cutting it to pieces. He followed up his attack by forming a sharpened energy whip with his right arm and swung it down the line of enemies in the foxholes adjacent to the destroyed bunker. The unfortunate troops were cleaved in two by the jagged whip before it stuck into the concrete fortification at the other end. Naruto yanked on the whip and struck the ground behind him with a tail, causing him to fly towards the doomed target. He landed on its side and buried eight of the energy appendages into it, turning it into concrete Swiss cheese.
The Hyuuga activated her Byakugan and was nearly overwhelmed by the amount of chakra she saw flying around. She easily saw the harsh chakra of the cannibalistic Agende Vhansin family moving through the underground portions like water through pipes. She witnessed the militaristic red-eye specialists pumping incredible amounts of energy into their bullets, allowing the projectiles to easily rip through body armor and light vehicle armor. She hopped into a cleared foxhole and sensed something arcing through the sky towards them.
"Artillery! Take cover!" she yelled. As she ducked under some heavy planks, she noticed that many chakra signatures took similar action, heeding her warning. The ground shook and the air vibrated with thunderous noise as the shells impacted. Screaming and cries for medics could be heard between explosions, but the bombardment did not let up for a few solid minutes. As soon as it did though, she looked up to see Uzi squatting on top of her wooden cover, tails twirling outwards to let up the chakra shield.
"See the big guns?!" he yelled over the resuming gunfire.
"Hold on!" She concentrated her vision and peered into the city. She made out several large upturned forms. "There! About three hundred meters in!"
He peered into the distance and saw nothing but makeshift metal walls, fortified trenches, and concrete bunkers and pillboxes. He looked down at the Hyuuga underneath him and grinned. "Then let's get to work!"
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After an hour of pure fighting, the red-eyed specialists had finally come into sight of the artillery which had been raining explosives on them. A huge majority of their tanks and armored vehicles didn't survive the onslaught, as the extensive trench work and fortified blockades prevented free movement and created only a few choke points, all of which the heavy guns possessed the exact coordinates for bombardment.
Uzi slammed into the side of a mobile wall with a confiscated weapon in hand. He turned to the Hyuuga next to him and asked, "Anything on the other side?"
"Yeah. Lotsa soldiers. Looks like they're just now mobilizing."
"Sounds good," he remarked as his crimson eyes flared. He leaned the automatic weapon around the edge and blind fired, emptying its clip. As soon as the firing pin clicked against an empty chamber, a blur of white and red rushed by them.
Hinata easily recognized the Agende Vhansin group. They ran like wild animals; hunched over, on all fours, and frighteningly fast. They slammed into the surprised enemy troops and began tearing the lucky ones limb from limb. The unlucky ones were forced down by packs of the cannibals and eaten alive. Whenever an enemy stopped squirming or flailing, the bloodline specialists broke off from the kill, let loose a deep-throated shriek to signify said kill, and continued on.
"Good lord," Uzi groaned without even peering over the side. "You guys are brutal…" He threw the sequestered firearm away, placed his hands in the gap at the bottom of the makeshift wall, and pulled up. The steel panel creaked as it leaned over and crashed to the ground, clearing the way for an armored technical. The gunner took aim with the truck's mounted precision rifle and pumped out a round, apparently scoring a hit because his spotter smirked and gave him a thumbs up.
"Shoot the gun crews!" Naruto commanded. They obeyed, swinging the gun around and firing a series of shots before an errant rocket blew the vehicle to pieces. "Shit!" the blonde yelled as he suddenly threw out an energy whip against a building once presumed to be empty. The crackling energy rope tore through the ground floor, promptly ripping through the supports and making the four story structure moan as it began to collapse. "Take cover!"
Everyone caught in the path of the doomed building broke out in a dead run to avoid being crushed. A few unfortunate red-eyes were picked off as snipers took advantage of their desperate situation.
"Sasuke!" the blonde yelled behind him. "Get your ass in gear! Use your energy spear to hit the gun crews!"
The younger Uchiha pulled himself from his cover and grudgingly obeyed the blonde runaway. He clasped his hand together and a sword of pure chakra shot forward, immediately cutting into an enemy crewman's throat. The revenge-consumed easterner swung the non-corporeal blade and sliced through the necks of three other gunners before they could register the attack and escape.
Hinata emptied the last of the ammunition for the Raver's rifle into a set of troops running for cover. She looked at the weapon, wondering how to reload the thing. She remembered that she didn't actually have any more rounds for it and tossed it aside. She pulled out her old thirteen millimeter and took aim, firing off the rounds as soon as she could place the sights on targets. She emptied her clip, unloaded it, and then reached for another. She became alarmed when she realized she had one magazine left for that particular firearm before sliding it into place. She pulled the slide back and took aim again.
She froze for a second when she saw a main battle tank crash through a concrete barricade. Regaining composure, she looked down her sights and fired at the soldier taking position in front of the tank as it burst into flame from multiple rockets. After putting a hole through the man's head she noticed more soldiers charging past the large war machine, so she emptied the remnants of her clip into them. When she heard the firing pin click against the empty magazine, she holstered the gun and drew the massive 'peace offering' pistol Hans gave her. She peered down the sights that seemed to stretch for miles and fired at the remaining soldier of the deceased group just as his head ducked behind the broken concrete. The recoil from the massive round shoved her entire arm into the air and the slide almost touched her face when it came back. The thumb-sized bullet slammed into concrete and went right through it into the hiding man's skull. Her heart was pounding at the sudden shock of the forceful kickback and booming noise.
"Holy shit!" Nartuo looked back at her with wide eyes. "I didn't know we had artillery support!" He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Good job, Hinata!"
"Thanks!"
The eastern duo relaxed as red-eyed soldiers poured out of the nooks and crannies of the wrecked buildings behind them. With the enemy gunnery crews eliminated and the artillery either destroyed or otherwise neutralized, the opposition was now effectively crushed around the outskirts of the city. Several red-eyed groups rallied around the intact heavy guns and proceeded to lower and turn them around to face the city. Things were looking up and everyone knew it.
Suddenly, a roar of machinery coming to life was heard from behind the taller buildings. The dust and old smokescreens kicked up during the battle obscured the skyline, but a massive object roughly fifteen stories high could be seen rising above the buildings through the smoke and burst into view. Every eye went wide when they realized it was a walker; a walker so large it was in a class all its own.
The massive eight legged behemoth was clad in black armor that was adorned with foot long spikes lining every flat surface. Loosely fitting dark armor plating protected the delicate joints and other sensitive areas. The massive energy cannon housed on the front which resembled a solid sphere of mercury appeared as a gigantic alien eyeball. The spider-like war machine's appearance was made all the more jarring by the fact that dull red 'X's were sloppily painted over every reinforcing shaft of metal covering.
"I see you managed to break through the outer defenses!" called a voice from nowhere. "But then again the normal army boys are split up so badly it's no wonder!" The owner of the voice appeared at the front edge of the walker. Naruto squint his eyes to see the man, but Hinata could see him as clearly as if he were two feet away.
He was donned in a standard military uniform that was dyed pitch black. His outfit was held closely together by worn dark leather straps at intermittent points around his limbs and torso, and two strange looking rifles looked like they were strapped to his shoulder blades. It was apparent that his outward appearance was meant to be intimidating.
But it was not his clothes that made his looks jarring. It was his face. His messy bright reddish-orange hair flowed upwards and back on his head, save for two separate chords of wired together hair that flowed smoothly all the way to his ankles. Even so, his hair was outdone by his… otherworldly ocular status. Instead of actual eyes, his sockets seemed to hold pure orbs of silver. He didn't appear to be blind, as he was staring straight at Uzi and the Hyuuga, but there were no corneas, no pupils, merely solid unmoving spheres of smooth metal.
"So Uzi," the man's air of superiority reflected itself in his wicked snakelike smile, "I've been looking forward to this. How about I give you one last chance to surrender so I can move on to your other friends?"
"As if, you asshole!" the blonde red-eye replied.
The freakish man shrugged like it was an inconsequential matter. "Oh well, worth a shot." His eyelids shot up and he glared at the red-eyes below him with murderous excitement. "But this'll be fun anyway! I've been looking forward to this for a long time!"
"Who are you?!" Hinata demanded. She could see the man's chakra network and it was so convoluted that it scared her.
"White Eyes of Death! Glad you're here as well! What an excellent day!" He lifted his hands to the sky and began laughing manically. After his swift bout of insane hilarity, his head shot down with a madman's grin plastered on his face. "I am General Lorsvall! Now let's do this!"
Lorsvall is revealed!!! He may have an enormous war machine, but rest assured he still has a few more tricks up his sleeve!
Also, another little contest! There's a line in here that comes from a tv show (Hint: this show holds the world record for longest running television series in the world). In fact, I'll even tell you who says the line: Sanshatav.
Point out the phrase that he repeats, what the show is that he's repeating it from, and what in said show says this (its a general name- these... 'people' (not really) don't have names).
If you are successful, I'll give you a sneak peak description of Lorsvall's abilities and you'll gain the right to give him another power (once again, think about it going off the description I give you. If it's off the wall unrelated, I'll make you come up with more until you make a logical decision).
See ya'll later!
