video | 003

[ura_no_ura]

[Video]

[ When the video first goes on, the screen is covered by a glove-covered hand, but after a slight shaky moment as it's set down on some sort of ledge, the hand retreats, revealing Kakashi standing outside. A few trees, still droopy with melting snow, can be seen in the background. Those familiar with the terrain might recognize it to be near Flame Building. ]

Hello, Luceti.

[ Kakashi dips his head in greeting, since he's addressing all of Luceti. ]

My name is Hatake Kakashi. Some of you may be familiar with me. For those of you who aren't, I'm a shinobi from a village called Konohagakure -- or Konoha for short -- in a country called "Fire Country." I am also the Commander of the Third Division, which is primarily a short-to-mid-range combat division, of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Many of you may be acquainted with or might recognize my comrades, amongst whom include Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, and Rock Lee. [ The names Kakashi lists aren't at random, but selected based on his observations of how recognizable those names would be. ]

The reason why I reach out to all of you today is simple. While things in Luceti currently are peaceful, and it appears we have nothing to worry about, the ever-present threat of the Malnosso and the Third Party remains. Kidnappings still occur, with seemingly no conceivable way to stop or fight them. Should there be an attack on the enclosure, at present, there is no organized force that can fight in concert to protect the enclosure and ensure the safety of civilians who might not be able to fight back. While some of us may be used to working together due to missions and drafts, as far as I am aware, no formal training or maneuvers are ever held to ensure all parties working together are using the best tactics and strategy. And from what I know, there are no formal safety measures in place to protect civilians or evacuate them to safer ground should a fight break out, as it did a few months ago.

On behalf of Konohagakure and Fire Country, by order of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage-sama, I would like to formally extend an invitation to anyone who has military training, unique or magical powers, or immense skill in battle strategy, espionage and intelligence-gathering, field medicine, hacking, or other specialized skills to join us in forming an alliance. This alliance would not only give those of us from different worlds a chance to meet and discuss our shared interests in protecting Luceti's inhabitants, but would also give us the opportunity to learn and adapt how to fight with and against those with different training or powers. By conducting shared training sessions, maneuvers, disaster simulations, and taking missions together, we can share resources and power, as well as develop strategy.

As for who's in charge... seeing as we're all from different worlds, it would make much more sense for us to establish a council of leaders from different worlds. We invite leaders from other worlds who might have similar shared interests to contact us, and open a line of dialogue.

We look forward to hearing from you all.

[ Speech finished, Kakashi bows to the camera again, then reaches out and turns off the feed. ]


[Action | Flame Building | Afternoon ]

[ Yup, that sure is Kakashi walking vertically up the side of a wall. Just strolling along like it's no big deal. ]


[ Text | Filtered 100% to fellow ninja, written in extremely formal language ]

By order of Yondaime Hokage-sama, the Konohagakure Jounin Exams will soon be held for all qualified Chuunin. If you are interested in participating, a sign-up form has been placed on the door of Yondaime-sama's place of residence. Direct any questions you might have to Hatake Kakashi.

[ Text | Filtered 100% to Shikamaru ]

Shikamaru, I've nominated you for jounin promotion to Yondaime. Though we've decided to hold jounin exams, I've requested a special exception for you. However, if you would like to take the exams in the interest of fairness, you are still welcome to do so. - Kakashi

[ Text | Filtered 100% to Naruto ]

Naruto, I just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for jounin promotion. However, because you are still genin, it will be necessary for you to take the exam. - Kakashi

[ Text | Filtered 100% to Sakura ]

Sakura, I've nominated you for jounin promotion. Usually, this means immediate promotion, but because your peers don't have anyone to nominate them, we've decided to hold exams this year. Let me know if you would like to compete in them. - Kakashi

KONOHA JOUNIN EXAMS	LUCETI ALLIANCE DISCUSSION		ACTION
Kushina & Lee Kushina & Kakashi Kushina & Ino Kushina & Minato Temari Sakura Sasuke Lee Neji Naruto Ino Mikoto Shikamaru	Aang Adela Billy Bones Deadpool Eleytheria Elizabeth Gai Ginia Ikki Iroh Jean Johanna Karla Kirk	Law Loki Luke Masaomi Minato Peggy Riku Rogue Saleh Saori Steve Teddy Thor Vegeta Yuffie	Erwin Lea Sasame Trunks

((ooc: Since this is a call for discussion, feel free to thread-jack and hold your own conversations throughout the post. Kakashi will try his best to answer all comments. Also, feel free to comment on this post even it's super late. As long as we're within the 3 month bracket, we're cool!))

Comments

[ura_no_ura]

[ It doesn't take long for them to get to the rooftop, but once they do, and Kakashi's sure no one's listening, he turns to face Ginia. ]

Thanks for meeting me out here. I didn't want our conversation to be on the record.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[Ginia nods, swiftly typing out her next message on her phone.]

Understandable, or at least no more than already is.

Are you setting up an alliance - one the Malnosso would be aware of - or is there something else in mind?

[ura_no_ura]

Well, the situation is this. I don't see how we could create a secret alliance without the Malnosso's knowing, assuming the alliance is on the scale that I hope it might be.

If we have more than thirty or even forty people organizing and training in a given place at any given time, it stands to reason that the Malnosso would realize what we were up to, which is why I chose to make a post on the public network.

This way, what they'll assume is that we're organizing to protect the inhabitants of Luceti.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[If the Malnosso were watching every move, even a group of twenty suddenly gathering together to train would gain attention. It's true there was no way to keep things a secret, not with so many people involved. All it took was one person being careless anyway.]

Is there a private network? [She's found the laptop down in the tunnels and suspected there was some reason for it. But sometimes playing dumb was the best way to get more information.]

And while they assume one thing, what are we really doing?

[ura_no_ura]

To answer your first question, yes, there is a private network.

[ Since she doesn't seem to know where it is, Kakashi's glad that he posted to the public one. ]

I'll show you it in a moment. But as for your second question, the cover story isn't entirely a lie. But, I think our real aim, at the end of the day, is to try to find a way to defeat the Malnosso. I understand many have tried and failed before, but perhaps if we work together, we may be able to find a way out of this place. Or at least, secure better living conditions.

[ Which means, no more experimentations. ]

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[Defeat the Malnosso, find a way out, the usual answer at the end of the day. It's a good goal, a good reason to call for an alliance of the capable and trained in Luceti.

And it's all good thinking about the success, but failure comes at a high price. All it would take was one failed mission for the Malnosso to retaliate. They could even strike sooner; all it took was someone leaking their plans. It was the sort of thing that could end up with a lot of dead and injured people if they weren't careful.

Ginia weighs the goals against the potential for losses and sacrifices. A number game.]

You mentioned failures. What do you know about them?

[ura_no_ura]

From what I know, there's been a few attempts at organizing in the past, but each time, the organization has fallen apart due to the leadership leaving. If we were to create a better structure to anticipate turnover, we could perhaps mitigate that threat.

[ That is what Kakashi means by failure, anyway. ]

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[A good reason for failure. Remove the leaders, watch the organization crumble. Ginia wonders if leaders being sent home was intentional on part of the Malnosso.]

Three to five leaders at the top level. Two subordinates for each leader. Handwritten instructions, encoded, left in a secure location, with the cipher memorized by everyone.

One idea.

[ura_no_ura]

Mm, that could be a plausible solution, but the issue is that if we really want this to avoid conflict and represent the interests of many worlds, we may need to have more than just five leaders...

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

Numbers to be adjusted depending on the amount of people involved. Seven, nine, eleven, whatever. Odd number to avoid ties in voting.

[Ginia's mind is already ticking away as she mulls over things. There should be adequate representation for each world, but what about the cases where there's only one person from a world? And if there's a larger number of people from one world, having one person representing the world may not be adequate. Yet having more than one would give them more power...

Politics. It was always easier dismantling groups than building them.]

I presume people from your world will be making up the bulk of this alliance.

[ura_no_ura]

There are sixteen of us here, including me. But of those sixteen, only fifteen are combat-ready. I think we may be one of the larger groups here.

[ Working out the difficulty in structuring leadership will be just one of the many hurdles they'll have to overcome, but at this stage, Kakashi doesn't think that they really need to make a decision right away. ]

In any case, the reason why I wanted to meet with you in person was because what we had been discussing was becoming a little too sensitive. [ Ammunition, after all. ] In terms of ammunition, I was thinking we can establish storehouses that are guarded by patrol to ensure the wrong people don't get their hands on it.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[Ginia nods, shifting gears to the new topic. Storehouses with guards via patrol. Her mind begins dismantling because that's what she does. People are fallible, the weakest part of any security system. People can be distracted, tricked, knocked out, killed.

And ultimately, if someone wants to get into something badly enough, nothing can stop them.]

Where will the storehouses be? How will the guards be selected? Who are the "wrong people"?

Also don't worry about storing ammo. The less ammo in the village, the better.

[ura_no_ura]

I never said anything about storing the ammo in the village.

[ They do have quite a lot of terrain around them, after all. ]

To answer your questions, I think we'd need to do a bit of recon work to determine the best strategic places to store ammunition. As for how we select guards would probably require a larger conversation with others, to ensure all those in the alliance are in agreement...

[ As for "the wrong people" he can get to that later. One thing at a time. ]

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

Inside the village or out, the less ammo around the better.

[Because all it takes it one sniper with a good stash of bullets and the wrong mindset to end up with a lot of dead and injured people. But that's not the important thing at the moment.]

Will there be other security measures besides guards?

[ura_no_ura]

Well, there'll probably be quite a lot of traps. But, in terms of storing ammo, I'm not sure how you propose we have a strong supply of ammunition in the event of combat without having some stores.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

Do you come from a world with guns?

[ura_no_ura]

No, but we do use different types of exploding devices in my world.

[ Or more specifically.

Bombs. ]

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[Ginia looks off into the village as she composes her thoughts. She realizes in a village full of people with magic and other abilities, she's outclassed. At the same time, someone with magic can still die with a bullet in the skull from a trained sniper.

A person who can turn invisible is a great person to have on your side or a great enemy.

And if someone wants you dead, then there's over a hundred ways to ensure it happens.

But guns are a wildcard. Any idiot with a gun is an instant danger. Point, shoot, injure and kill. It's that simple. And if they turn against the Malnosso, guns blazing, then what do the Malnosso retaliate with? Something stronger? Bombing them all?]

Guns and bombs are two very different types of destructive force.

[She replies, looking off again, mulling.]

What kind of ammo are you planning on storing? What's the plan?

[ura_no_ura]

[ The lulls between their exchange gives Kakashi time to study her. It's clear that she's highly analytical and extremely perceptive. Intelligent. He can see the thoughts moving through her mind with the way Ginia looks away to think before responding. A careful woman, then.

Reading over her comments, Kakashi nods in agreement to the first one. ]

In terms of the kind of ammo, I imagine whatever makes sense for our forces. [ He's not going to dress up the language in diplomatic terms here, as he might have publicly on the post. ] Each world has different types of weapons, we will need to be able to account for each one.

As for the plan, it's yet to be determined. We've only just put out the first call to action, after all.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

Arrows, bolts, bullets is a good starting spread. Also bombs and grenades, smoke bombs, flash bangs, other distraction devices. Never store weapons and their ammo in the same place, mitigates losses and damage if someone breaks into a cache.

[ura_no_ura]

[ Kakashi almost considers telling her that he's been doing this for probably almost as long as she's been alive, but he doesn't want to make her feel alienated or come off too arrogant. Instead, he nods. ]

Those are good places to begin. Though, in my world, we have very different weapons, which include...

[ And then he pulls out a shuriken and kunai from the holster strapped to his right thigh. ]

Shuriken and kunai. [ He hands them to Ginia for inspection. ] Amongst a variety of other weapons.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[His words would be justified; her arrogance will probably be her downfall.

She takes the shuriken and kunai, inspecting both and testing the balance of the kunai before handing both weapons back to him.]

Is there a plan in place for how everything will be obtained?

[ura_no_ura]

No, we're still in the process of figuring that out.

[ After all, they've only just put out the first call to action. ]

But, we think that once we have a few parties in place and have conducted a few training sessions and maneuvers, we'll be able to begin sending out teams on missions in exchange for more resources.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

A good idea, but risky if the Malnosso get suspicious.

[There's also the matters of storage, processing, and transportation. The smithy might be able to pick up some extra work, but if the smithy was being monitored, the upswing in weapon production wouldn't go unnoticed.]

[ura_no_ura]

Well, they'll still need us to go on missions, one way or another. Someone has to fight their war, right? Besides, we have to take some calculated risks.