021 -- [Action]

[endgames]

[Today when Shikamaru woke up to his morning routine of journal stalking, there was a mission notice waiting for him. Fantastic. But you reap what you sow with these things...

Shikamaru spends the next few hours going over everything he thinks he'll need for this mission before heading out of his apartment. Most of his plans for the week are on hold (again) but there's still a few things he wanted to take care of; people to see.

In particular, he'll seek out Ino and Naruto, stopping to talk to most of his friends from home too, if he sees them. Give them a heads up on where he's at for the next week or so. After that he'll head into the square in the mid-afternoon in search of one Albert Silverberg. Masaomi is next, though Shikamaru will actually bother hailing him over the journals if he doesn't see him. Same for Sokka, if he can't find him at the smithy or the Avatar House.

Even if he isn't seeking anyone else out, he'll still stop to speak to people he knows if he runs into them today. Especially if they came along into the tunnels during that last experiment. Curiosity, mainly - he wants to know if anyone's doing better now.

Feel free to catch him anywhere in town this afternoon. Until he finds Albert, he'll be the guy carting around a shogi board under one arm.]

Comments

[endgames]

That's lucky. No Shifters either?

[He was wondering about them, since that was in the Southern Farmlands if he remembers right. They wiped the Shifters there out on the draft before they left, but there's no telling if more came.]

[markofthewise]

Not many. It didn't make a difference. None of us had powers anyway. They just used their shifting to stop the convoy of trucks.

[endgames]

Huh...

[So much for that effort then. It gives him an idea of the direction their war is turning.]

How much help were the Malnosso? Did they give you the info and the items you needed, and so on?

[markofthewise]

They gave us a map, some idea of the activity of the Third Party hanging around, and they had the extra equipment I had asked for. Incidentally, I'm glad I brought my own sleeping bag. After we lost one of the trucks, the sleeping arrangement really sucked.

[endgames]

Punishments for failure, huh?

[markofthewise]

Not a punishment, really. The Third Party wrecked it. They were trying to stop the convoy. So we had to go on feet after we lost the one we were riding in.

[endgames]

You couldn't ride in a different one?

[markofthewise]

Sure. If we threw out all the food. But that would've defeated the purpose of the mission.

[endgames]

Fair enough.

[He could think of other ways to hitch a ride, but that's besides the point.]

So now that you've been out there... what's your opinion on this whole thing with the missions?

[markofthewise]

We're not being nearly paid enough for it. [That's the sarcastic answer. He considers a moment for the serious one.]

... personally, I wish I hadn't been on that mission. [If Shikamaru's been paying attention, there should be a pretty obvious reason why.] But I don't plan to stop going on them. I learned a lot out there.

[endgames]

[He'd heard. He nearly commented... but it's not like he met Yue more than once, or knew any of her friends that well besides Katara to offer his sympathies without making it awkward.

It's why he doesn't say anything about it now, too. But yeah. He gets it.]

...I think there's a lot of good things that can come from this, honestly. But it's hard not to be wary.

[markofthewise]

Yeah... [There's a moment as he reflects on his first day. A crazy one, really...]

One of the people we were with tried to escape the first day. He said he'd never let himself be a tool for the Malnosso and tried to cut across a corn field. Two droids were sent after him, but we didn't see what ever happened. The Malnosso soldier in charge of us didn't look surprised or bothered. He just grunted and said that it was 'just his luck he'd get a runner'.

[endgames]

[Yeah, that's not encouraging. He'd be surprised if people didn't try it, though.]

I don't like it, not that the soldier's response surprises me. That was a stupid move on the other guy's part.

[Stupid actions lead to stupid consequences. If you follow through, you have to be prepared to deal with that.]

Neither party's happy to work with each other, so we don't need to give them an excuse. It's going to take a while to change that.

[markofthewise]

I don't blame him. Open field, not many Malnosso around... I guess he figured he had a good shot at being free. If I hadn't been on so many drafts, I might have tried the same thing. [He just wonders what happened to the guy...] Either way, I don't think the Malnosso are too happy about having to work with us.

[endgames]

It's like I said. [He shrugs.]

[markofthewise]

Well, anyway, I guess you'll figure this all out if you get called out there.

[endgames]

Heading out in the morning on one, actually.

[markofthewise]

[Oh! That gets him sitting up.] Really? What did you get?

[endgames]

Mountain combat.

[markofthewise]

... so it's like you're going on a draft. But without your usual backup. [Ouch, bro. Sokka signed up for it, but he certainly didn't rate it high on preferences.]

[endgames]

Pretty much. [It's going to be troublesome, that's for sure. But even with everything going on that he doesn't like about the situation...]

I'm relieved, actually.

[markofthewise]

Relieved, really? Not quite the reaction I was expecting.

[endgames]

It has to sound strange. [It does, even to him.] Back home, though, I'm used to working in four or five-man cells. So this is easier for me.

[In more ways than one. This whole business with the missions actually reminds him a lot of home.]

[markofthewise]

Only your squad is going to be people you've never met. And... well, to be frank, they're all kind of... average. [It's not often Sokka is in a group where he's the best of the group.]

[endgames]

Had a lot of that too. [It was actually pretty rare he got to work with his genin cell or any of his classmates, after he made chuunin.] Heh, I'd be more worried if they were a lot stronger than me. That'd be a bad sign of things to come out there.