☷ Stadium :: North Wing

[Ergo War]

tab The northern wing of the stadium, decorated primarily in the colors and symbols of minor villages. Otogakure's symbol stands at the northernmost point of the wing. Above the main gathering area for the competitors is an observation deck overlooking the stadium's competitive areas, providing a fantastic view of all the events.  

[Ergo War]

Feet bare as the day she was born, the rough-and-tumble Hanae strutted straight down the middle of the crowds. She thought it was disappointing that most of her fellow Minor Villagers were staying in cliques with their own Villages, but it couldn't be helped, she thought. After all, there were so few of them actually participating. She was the only one from Shimo, at least.

She slipped her feet back into her sandals when she got back to where her sensei was waiting. Well, less waiting and more... sleeping against the wall. He'd fallen over somewhat in her absence and was leaning against one of her puppets, the big one. It couldn't be helped, she reasoned; she had to leave it behind. Poor guy got so little sleep. Besides, she was kind of bored with it anyway. Wasn't good at all for how she liked to fight.

She had a bit of time to kill, still, so she hopped up on the puppet and started trying to come up with ways to most efficiently win. It's what he would've told her to do anyway.  

[Ergo War]

Katou perked up when she heard her name called over the PA. Who was she fighting? Minowa? She didn't know that name, so it had to be one of the people she threatened earlier. Thus, she had to deliver on her promise to deck them in the face. With a great sense of duty, the lone Shimogakure entrant headed toward the arena, her sensei still apparently not awake.  

[Ergo War]

There was a loud thud from somewhere along this wing, as if something fairly heavy had just been dropped. A few of the UHV guards made their way to the scene of the commotion with decidedly less energy than might have been warranted by a sound of that size. Many of the bystanders--travelers from minor villages, mostly--pretended not to notice.  

[Zak the Panduh]

L I X X I A N G H U A

Having wandered into the northern wing of the stadium, Xianghua greeted a few of the spectators as she passed by them. The stadium was much larger than she expected, but it was nice to be able to stretch her legs after being, for the most part, still during the first round of the event. Ahead of her was a crowd of individuals huddled together, who appeared to be guards of some sort. Curiously she'd peer within them to try and see what the commotion was about.


◆║ CHAKRAx 225/ 225 x ◆║ STAMINAx 325/ 325 x ◆║ ACx 5000 x ◆║ RYOx 0
◆║ Sunagakurex ◆║ Taijutsu Specialistx ◆║ C-Rankx ◆║ Unorthodox Fighter xxxxxx



Ergo War

 

[Ergo War]

The spectators--mostly guards--were busy chatting when Xianghua showed up. They were standing in a rough semi-circle around a crate that seemed to have fallen, paying it little mind. The contents of the crate were visible through a corner that had come loose: packing peanuts, some hose, some wiring, and what looked like a specially-made barrel or puppet body were inside. A short distance down the hall along the outside was a shipping door, hidden partially by a display honoring one of the minor villages in attendance. Not far in the other direction was a similarly obscured set of shutters on the inside of the curve, leading toward the arenas.

"You think they're gonna delay round two 'cause of that idiot?" one of the guards asked.

"My money's on yes. 'Course they'll come moaning about our costs later when this bites 'em in the a**," another responded.

"Seriously. Could've saved a few bucks by paying for an extra pair of hands."

"Don't worker safety regs say you should have two people per crate? The hell was that kid doing, pushing things around on his own? They better be payin' him well."

"They better be payin' us well," the first guard retorted. Their gaze wandered over to Xianghua: "Hey, no rubberneckin'!"

With that, they returned to complaining about management and staffing issues in much the same vein as before.

Zak the Panduh

 

[Zak the Panduh]

L I X X I A N G H U A

From within the surrounding group, the young martial artist was able to spot that there was a fallen crate that contained an interesting set of objects. What on earth could that be for? She had come to the conclusion that the hose and wiring were meant to be connected to the barrel in some way, but that was all that she managed to piece together. Whatever it was, the guards certainly didn't want her around to find out. As she was spotted, she simply raised her hands disarmingly, "J-just passing through..." Xianghua walked around them with haste, attempting to get a better glance at the crate on the sly as she continued down the hall.

She'd continue to explore, with the remaining time she had left before the next round, making her way to the outermost section of the stadium (assuming this is built like normal stadiums, where there are multiple entry/exit paths?). Gah. Dead end. The hall stopped with some shipping door blocking her path. That didn't stop her from testing the knob to see if it was unlocked, however.


◆║ CHAKRAx 225/ 225 x ◆║ STAMINAx 325/ 325 x ◆║ ACx 5000 x ◆║ RYOx 0
◆║ Sunagakurex ◆║ Taijutsu Specialistx ◆║ C-Rankx ◆║ Unorthodox Fighter xxxxxx



Ergo War

 

[Ergo War]

The guards didn't give Li a second glance, or even much of a first glance. They clearly didn't view this crate as a high security situation, which would allow for a pretty good look at its contents: the barrel was definitely part of a puppet's body, and definitely a fairly sizable one at that. There were other attachments to go with it, like a shield-like appendage that looked like a face, some stocky legs, hoses, wires, the works.

The knob jiggled without turning, but the door swung open anyways as it hadn't been fully latched. On the other side was what looked like a boiler room divided down the middle by a wide concrete path. At the other end of the path was another shipping door, this one with the light of day peeking around its edged. Though the room was poorly lit, the outlines of pipes and control panels could be seen off to one side, and a pile of unopened crates on the other.

Zak the Panduh

 

[Zak the Panduh]

L I X X I A N G H U A

Much to XIanghua's surprise, the door opened with relative ease, revealing a darkened room with another door on the other side. She scanned around the room, getting a good look (as best as she could with the light available) of her new surroundings. Upon entering, the door was placed back into its original position - mostly in fear that if she closed it, she may be locked inside. There was a 50/50 chance that the door on the other side could be locked, and the last thing she wanted was to be trapped inside of this place. The dark most certainly didn't scare her, however... who in their right mind would enjoy being locked up in a place like this in the first place? A boiler room, with nasty pipes and cra-

The crates. Are there puppets in those too? Her little extra sneak peek at the broken crate those guards were surrounding confirmed that its contents were indeed puppet parts and mechanisms of sorts. Xianghua didn't understand what they were for in the first place. Sure, there was one puppet user participating in the tournament, but she had barely seen the person use them, with Haru and Amarantha's round taking a majority of her attention. Moving her way to pile of crates, she'd feel around for its lid if it had one, or any loose parts she might be able to manipulate to reveal the contents of one of the crates.


◆║ CHAKRAx 225/ 225 x ◆║ STAMINAx 325/ 325 x ◆║ ACx 5000 x ◆║ RYOx 0
◆║ Sunagakurex ◆║ Taijutsu Specialistx ◆║ C-Rankx ◆║ Unorthodox Fighter xxxxxx



Ergo War

 

[Ergo War]

A gust of wind outside made the doors shift, causing the inner one to sound dangerously like it was about to snap shut. Water rushed through the pipes semi-constantly, pausing only briefly every few minutes. During these brief periods of respite, the room would be eerily quiet, like the silence had turned its attention to Xianghua the intruder. Then the rush of water would resume, and the world would right itself.

The lids to these crates were mostly untouched from the time they'd arrived. Opening them without applying some elbow grease would be difficult, and they were mostly featureless. On top of that, they were heavy, much heavier than a single person would ordinarily be able to lift. If jostled, a hollow metallic sound would emanate from the contents of some of the crates, There was a crowbar nearby--halfway hidden in the splinters left behind by other boxes--but forcing open a crate that way would be potentially very noisy.

Zak the Panduh

 

[Ergo War]

Iron walls slammed down at each exit to the spectator stands, preventing anyone from fleeing. Vents started to pump in a thick, blue-green gas heavy enough to immediately fall to the ground. It would spread out like thick molasses, coating the stands and making its way toward the combat arenas. (Everyone in the stands gets 1 dose/post of the poison gas, unless something is done about it. 4 doses leads to impaired senses; 6 doses leads to unconsciousness.)


tab The Boiler Room
The sound of the iron walls coming down would be a distant echo, nearly drowned out by the sudden increase in activity in the pipes and various mechanisms coating the walls of the room. Sounds of armored personnel could be heard just outside the outer door, and footsteps could be heard sprinting toward the inner door.

Zak the Panduh

 

[Zak the Panduh]

L I X X I A N G H U A

The lid to the crate was much harder to open than she expected, and was tempted to use the crowbar to pry it open until she was startled by the noises of the pipes and mechanisms in the room revving up. She could hear the sound of hurried footsteps in a large number along the outside of the door, as well as some approaching the door she had entered. Xainghua wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew it was a bad idea to exit either of the doors right now. She'd hide behind the crates, waiting for the footsteps to die down, and pray that those coming towards the entrance, didn't.


◆║ CHAKRAx 225/ 225 x ◆║ STAMINAx 325/ 325 x ◆║ ACx 5000 x ◆║ RYOx 0
◆║ Sunagakurex ◆║ Taijutsu Specialistx ◆║ C-Rankx ◆║ Unorthodox Fighter xxxxxx



Ergo War
Is Xainghua also affected by this gas? Does it do anything specific I should take note of? And sorry for the wait!

 

[Ergo War]

The shutter leading to the outside was wrenched open at almost the same time as the inner door swung open. In short order the room was filled with people, most of whom were armored and heavily armed. The exceptions were the two or three who had come from inside--who were all on the leaner side and dressed like maintenance crew--and a handful of bulkier technicians bringing in cages from the outside. Every piece of armor and every weapon on the soldiers was branded very clearly with the UHV's insignia. A few of the cages were shoved against the wall by where Li was hiding, but if anyone noticed her, they didn't show it.

After maybe a minute, the room cleared out again, the soldiers having headed farther in and the others heading out. Both doors stayed open and there were still clear sounds of activity in both directions, despite the roar of the pipes. Then came a high-pitched whine from somewhere within the mess of pipes, and the gathering of a few sparks of emerald electricity.

((No gas where you're at for now. You've got other things to deal with.))

Zak the Panduh