Recruiting a Ronin (closed)

Ronin watched curiously as Oni sifted through his bag and produced an aerial drone. It wasn't until he popped open a panel and pulled something out that she figured out exactly what he was up to. She snatched the object out of the air when he tossed it her way and held it up against the light to get a closer look. "Yeah, this will work fine, I'll make something inconspicuous to do the job." She confirmed with a nod, flat out ignoring the outburst from the two boys as she tucked it into one of the hidden pockets inside her sleeve.

Folding her arms, she watched as the gang captain went about giving a run down on the general operational strategies, once again finding herself nodding along with what he had to say. It was actually rather refreshing to be working with someone who had such a solid understanding of how to run things... she could only hope that the others would be able to take the lessons to heart and adapt. "Oni's got the right of it." She chimed in once he was finished. "Even if we don't necessarily need it, any extra control we have over the situation improves our odds, and I personally prefer a hefty buffer in that regard. As far as specific assignments..." She stepped over to the map before continuing. "I want Chomper to look into our sabotage options, remember that we need to specifically remove these two streets from the equation, the more innocuous you can make it look, the better. Kraken and Mist, you're going to be looking into the ambush points. The three I mentioned before are just rough guesses, you need to scout out the routes to look for the best options you can. Be on the look out for our extra water sources; fire hydrants, water towers, even sewer drains might work. Once you've found some good spots, see if you can find the fastest ways to get between them so that we can reposition if needed. Pulse-" She looked up at the college student. "Your primary job is to maintain your cover, update us with any extra information you can get your hands on. And I mean any information. Beyond that, meet me here again tomorrow and I'll give you the tracker."

She was curious as to whether the older boy would hold up his end of the bargain about following her instructions for this mission, but given that he had one of the single most valuable positions among them at the moment she'd just have to trust that he wouldn't be a complete idiot. "Unless something changes, the general plan of attack is going to be Mist and Kraken disabling the truck and attempting to lock down the escorts. Chomper and I will breach the vehicle and secure the cargo, and I'll run interference if it becomes necessary. Pulse can help with the goods if he's able, but maintaining your cover is more important. If it comes down to it, I'll be sure to make it look believable." Ronin said with a slight smirk. At the very least after their brief encounter, she was confident that the boy could take a punch or two. With their tasks for the next few days laid out, Ronin once again turned to Oni. "Do you have more of those things that we could use for the op? Even with the tracker I'd prefer to have some extra eyes around to keep watch." She motioned to the drone, always willing to overprepare rather than get caught by surprised in the middle of things.

"I have a few potential spots in mind, let me do a bit more scouting and I'll get back to you on the specifics." Ronin replied. Having a handful of the things to work with would certainly go a long way in making sure they had enough coverage. With that and everyone seemingly clear on their respective jobs for the next few days, she was actually starting to feel quite a lot better about this whole operation... They had a plan and they had decidedly better intel than was originally advertised, now all they had to do was finish laying the ground work...

~

The following day Ronin returned to the rooftop and went about waiting for Pulse to show up. To the boy's credit, it seemed like he was actually holding up his end of the bargain about following her orders, and he arrived to the meeting spot right on schedule. As he gave his status update on the agency, she folded her arms; wearing a thoughtful expression as she mulled over the new information. So there'd be an extra two tag-alongs to worry about... The new recruit didn't honestly sound like he'd be much of an issue, but the other one... Ronin had learned to respect the wisdom and experience of her elders a long time ago. Hopefully they wouldn't have to deal with them at all if the initial strike went well enough, but it was certainly something to keep in mind.

The news of the extra cargo on the other hand, was certainly interesting... On one hand the equipment could fetch quite a lot of extra cash if they found the right buyer, but on the other... If there was anything particularly important or experimental in those shipments they could potentially be painting a giant target on their backs. Was it worth the risk? There was honestly no way of telling, but it was nice to know they had some bonus objectives if everything ending up going smoothly. "See if you can find out anything else about the equipment you're hauling, even if you can't contact us until after the fact it'll still be good intel. And here-" She produced an object from her pocket and tossed it to the boy. The locket had been cannibalized from a piece she'd stolen and never found a decent buyer for, a relatively simple thing engraved with a tribal pattern and a few tiny inlaid gemstones. A space on the interior behind a picture frame had been hollowed out to make room for the tracker. "You're going to want to put a picture in there, but that should keep the thing hidden. I'll make a trip out here once a night in case anything major happens and you need to contact us, but otherwise just keep your head down."

With the exchange made, Ronin wasted no time making an exit from the meeting place. The less time they spent there, the less chance there was of someone spotting them and getting curious. Besides, it was just about time to check in on how the others were doing...

~

Ronin sat perched on the edge of a rooftop that overlooked the river. Mist and Kraken had come through with flying colors on their recon duty, not only finding three strong locations to stage their ambush, but also mapping out routes to quickly move between all three. With that squared away, Oni's drones in place, and Chomper's 'accidents' all taken care of, it seemed the the scene was finally set. Nearby a laptop was set up with a GPS showing the location of pulse' tracker and the views from the various drones, all they had to do now was wait to see which route the target would be taking. There was certainly an anticipation that hung in the air as the girl kept scanning back and forth between the street below her and the laptop screen. This was easily the largest operation she'd been a part of, not to mention her first time leading anyone at all in the field. It wasn't really nervousness that she felt though... more of an excitement. After the little altercation with Pulse on the first night there hadn't been any other issues with the rest of the team, they'd followed her instructions and followed them well. Assuming that didn't change and nothing particularly unusual happened, there was no reason to believe that the job wouldn't go as planned.... but then again there never was, was there?

Watching the GPS map, Ronin wore an amused expression as the tracker showed the van doubling back a few times and making some very questionable routing choices. Either these guys were really paranoid about being tailed, or had just watched too many spy movies. In any case, the odd routing meant that it took a bit longer than expected before they could narrow down which ambush point to use, but eventually the van's final route became clear. Thumbing her radio, the girl relayed the info the rest of her team and started moving. "They're heading for position 3, get moving people."

Making use of her grappling hook, Ronin bounded from building to building. Thanks to the extra scouting the trip was a relatively quick one even without making use of her heightened speed. She was the first one on the scene, dropping into an alleyway where she could keep watch without leaving cover. Soon enough she could see the others arriving at their designated positions as well; Kraken on the rooftops by the water tower, Mist at the base of the same building, and Chomper waiting on the opposite corner. The street wasn't one that was well traveled, so the number of bystanders was low as well. Everything was in place, all they needed now was the.... there it was. Ronin could see a large black van rounding the corner down the street, and a quick glance at her phone confirmed the target as the tracker bore down on them.

"It's show time, get ready." She spoke into the radio. "3.... 2.... 1.... Now!" As Ronin called out, the team went into action. First Chomper bolted across the road, causing the van to swerve wildly in order to avoid hitting him. As the van passed close enough to Mist she could see the girl wave a hand in it's direction before the vehicle's engine choked. That however, was soon drowned out by the sound of groaning metal as the water tower split open, dumping a torrent down onto the streets below. As the flood of water came rushing after the rapidly dying van, Ronin did her own part, stepping out from the alleyway with a hammer in tow. With the van still approaching her position, she hefted the tool and brought down a heavy swing on a fire hydrant, busting off the cap and causing it to immediately start gushing a wall of water out directly in the van's path. And with that the ambush was nearly complete.

"Let's go Chomper, as soon as it's stopped get those doors open." Ronin called into the radio as she bolted toward the van. As long as Mist could finish the job and freeze the thing in place it would be basically perfect. Now if only their luck could hold out for the rest of the job...

Ronin nodded to herself as she saw ice start to creep up along the body of the van, quickly encasing the vehicle and trapping the inhabitants within, at least for the time being. As Chomper approached the back door, she heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots ringing out through the streets. A quick glance to each of her team members confirmed that none of them had been hit, but a moment later she saw the remnants of the van's windshield go flying. A figure climbed out, followed by another a few seconds later. Well, so much for keeping them stuck inside, but at least it bought them a little bit of time. She drew near as the hero rounded the vehicle and engaged Chomper and Kraken, but waited before diving in herself. She positioned herself to cut off his escape route, but instead kept an eye on the other person that climbed out. Based on the height and the build, she had to guess that that was Pulse, playing the part of the victim remarkably well. With the lock already taken out by Chomper he was free to get into the back of the van and let the other two passengers out. One of them immediately made a break for it, the 'newbie', if Pulse's judgement of the kid was accurate. The other one however, climbed out and turned to them before shouting and... What was that on his arm?

Ronin darted to the side as a beam of energy tore through the air, missing her and Chomper but catching one of Kraken's masses of water. Identifying the threat, Ronin immediately prepared to engage, but... it proved unnecessary, with the man promptly falling to the ground on his own. Some type of side effect from untested gear? Whatever, they could worry about it later. With Pulse dragging the older man away, that just left them to deal with Fletcher. On their own, none of them would likely stand too much of a chance, even if the guy was still considered a rookie among heroes, but luckily they had numbers on their side. "Chomper, disengage and secure the target, we'll run interference. Don't worry about the support crates, just grab the cash." She spoke her orders softly into her headset so that the hero wouldn't pick up on what she was planning. "Kraken, try to get him wet while I draw his attention. Mist, if any water touches him I want it frozen. Even if it's just when he blocks, I can't imagine he can keep moving those fingers if his joints are iced up." With so much water around them and a fresh supply still pouring out from the hydrant behind her, they wouldn't be running out of material any time soon, and the puddles pooling at the hero's feet seemed like a great place to start.

With the instructions given, Ronin took a moment more to analyze the man's movements before jumping into action. If there was one benefit to his escape from the vehicle, it was that by her reckoning he'd already emptied his gun, which removed one of the most dangerous elements from play unless he somehow managed to reload in the middle of a brawl. That left his quirk and a potential stun gun to deal with... the former would hopefully by defanged by Mist and Kraken, while the latter would be near useless because of her armor.... Assuming she was the one he went after at least. She'd just have to force that issue.

Feeling that she had a strong enough grip on the situation, Ronin went into action, first hurling her hammer toward Fletcher before reaching to her side for her blade. Eyes piercing through the slits in her mask, time around her seemed to slow to a crawl as the hammer arced toward the hero. With deep breath in and out she lit the flame within and stoked it with everything she had. A gleam of blue passed through her eyes and quickly spread to her whole body, cloaking her form in a blaze of ghostly flames. Just as the Hammer was about to reach it's target, Ronin's hand met the hilt of her katana and she sprang forward. Moving as a streak of blue light, she rapidly closed the distance to her foe and tore her blade from it's sheath, preforming a draw cut aimed at the man's legs. She didn't stop with the strike though, continuing to tear a good five feet past Fletcher before spinning around and skidding to a halt as she turned to face him again. A soft click of metal sounded out as her blade returned to it's sheath and she reset to her draw stance. It was a very telegraphed attack, but that was kind of the point. Even if he managed to avoid taking the full force from the hammer and her slash, she was sure to have his attention now, giving the others more room to work. And that's how she planned to keep it, glaring at the man as though daring him to make a move.

Ronin stood with muscles tensed, ready to meet any challenge that Fletcher might offer her. The man had managed to dodge the hammer, but her blade had still left a slight graze on his leg, enough to split the fabric of his pants and leave a thin red cut on his skin just above the knee. When the hero went to make his move however, he failed to noticed the changing conditions around him and the rest of the team went into action to exploit the opening caused by his inattention. In moments their would-be foe was well and truly incapacitated, encased almost entirely within a prison of ice. With an audible click of metal Ronin fully sheathed her blade and offered an appreciative nod to the girls' handiwork. In all honesty, that part of the operation had gone even smoother than she'd anticipated, the only thing left was to grab the loot and make their getaway.

As Ronin moved to the back of the van, the blue aura around her faded and the glow in her eyes shifted to red. The original plan had been to use her boosted strength to just grab as much as they could carry and get out, but as the girl went to heft the first box, her attention was drawn by a squeal of tires. Muscles tensing, she glanced back and prepared herself for potential trouble, but what greeted her ended up being a rather welcome development. Firing a nod at Oni as he popped out of the side of the vehicle, Ronin shifted back to the task at hand, stoking her strength further and causing the glow to once again spread to her body as she used the extra muscle to help load the cases as quickly as possible. Just before hoping into the back of the getaway van, the girl made sure to grab her hammer and the device that the old man had tried to use off the pavement and stuff them in with the rest. Part of her also briefly considered the potential advantages of taking Fletcher out of the picture long term, but inevitably she decided that the extra heat that they'd draw from it wasn't worth the trade.

Closing the door behind her, Ronin finally let her flame fizzle out and let out a long breath as the extra color faded from her body. She couldn't let herself truly rest yet though, with the last bits of recovery and the certainty of their escape yet to be decided. For the moment however, it really did seem like the operation had gone just as well as it possibly could have. "If it's no trouble I'd prefer to be there for the count." She answered coolly to Oni's question. It wasn't so much that she was distrustful of the gang, even though she did prefer the cautious route most of the time, the decision was more because she was simply curious about the rest of the equipment they'd managed to get their hands on. It was an extra risk to pick any of it up in the first place, the real question was whether or not it would actually be worth it in the end.

After the relatively short ride to the safehouse, Ronin hopped into the new van along with the rest of the crew and proceeded to look over the spoils of the day. It was an impressive haul, easily bigger than anything she'd pulled up to that point. It was a bit of a shame that a large portion of the support equipment wasn't anything that any of the them could use, but anything they couldn't use personally was something that they could sell. As specialized as quirk-based equipment was, there was a surprisingly large marketplace for such devices in the shadier parts of the world.

As they went through the loot, Pulse eventually made his reappearance, seemingly no worse for wear despite being in the van as they roughed it up. The young man had indeed kept to the terms of the bargain they'd struck, and Ronin had to give him a bit of respect for that. There were plenty of people that wouldn't have been able to suck up their pride like that and just been petty about the whole ordeal. A similar sentiment applied to the crew as a whole actually, it was amazing how a bunch of kids seemed to keep things more professional than half of the 'adults' she'd ever had to work with. She'd been wearing coming into the operation, but they'd done their jobs and impressed her.

As Oni divided out the payment for each of them, Ronin took a moment to look over the less specialized equipment that they'd secured. Her eyes lingered a bit over the stun rods and the guns, but inevitably she shook her head in response to the captain's question. "Nah, go ahead and save it. I'm sure we can find a use for it on the next job."

"We", huh? She'd said it without even really thinking about it, but it was true enough. She appreciated her brief time working with the gang, and if they would have her she certainly wouldn't mind continuing to work with them. Hell, if things continued to go so well, maybe she'd have to take Akuma up on his long-term offer after all...