Making a mine

Zachariah walked into the largest, tallest tower of the village. It was the true pride of the Suijouki, the tallest building in all the lands; implausible to climb in less then four hours time, yet just as stable as buildings much smaller than itself. Large boilers powered devices that could rocket someone to the top, or get them safely to the bottom. Upon walking in, he laid his eyes on the vast arches, the great pillars, the trusses of steel and rock. All of these were designed by some of the greatest architects. The building however, was done almost entirely by the Suijouki. A building of this shear immenseness would have been impossible to construct with human hands. At least, not within ten years. That is why, scattered around the entrance, were the preserved devices that made the building. Some of the greatest creations of the Suijouki. Each preformed such a large variety of functions. Yet, each was unique; no two looke the same. This building was a masterpiece of construction. That is why the Village Leader's office rest at the top. That is where Zach was headed.

Zach walked down the middle of the building. At the center was a lage column wit doors surrounding it. Next each door was a button. The buttons were brass colored, each with a small “up” arrow on them. This building had no basement. Everything was support for the colossus that sat above it. There was but a single elevator that went to the leader's office. Upon pressing the button for the thirty first steam powered hoist on the western side of the building, you step through the door. Once in the door, you turned around and pressed the largest button. It was intricately designed, pictures of the village melted into the copper. Upon pushing that button, you have to sit down. Well, have to is a fairly strong term. The device rises incredibly fast. As steam is pumped into the device, it is compressed. When someone wants to go far enough, a few things happen. Valves are opened, first of all. This causes the compressed steam to force it's way out to the elevator shaft. This movement causes the hoist to rocket upward. The farther you need to go, the more steam will be released. Of course, what if there is not enough steam? Well, the hoist has a system implemented in it. If attemtping to go up, it will place components on the walls. These components will slide up, but will prevent the elevator from falling down. If going the opposite direction, a simple system of wheels will be used to control descent speed. When the hoist gets close to its destination level, the wheels will be pressed harder against the walls. The harder this pressing, the slower the hoist can fall. So, the elevator uses steam to get up fast, and uses gravity to get down fast. But, the topmost level cannot be reached by steam alone. In fact, most of the levels cannot be reached in this method. So, the same pipe that feeds steam to the storage tanks also acts as a cable. When the hoist needs to recharge steam, it will be lifted by nothing less then a steam driven motor. So, on the ride to the top of the building, Zach first sat down as the hoist rocketed up, then stood as it was pulled a distance. As he felt the elevator stop, still not at the top floor, he sat again. The rockets had recharged, and pushed him the rest of the distance., save a few feet, which the cable/pipe easily finished.

Upon exiting the hoist, Zach stepped into the room, bowing in front of the village leader. Unlike Hoshigakure, who illegitimately call their leader the Hoshikage, Skyscraper simply called it's leader, well, the village leader. So, after being summoned to this office, Zach was told about a mission. He was to travel to the land of snow and build a mining camp. Zach had been chosen because he was currently the only ninja available who would also be able to construct the mechanics to make the mining easy. If they were able to guess it correctly, they would mine not just marginally, but exponentially faster then the other people. With that in mind, Zachariah, already wearing goggles, donned the winter weather clothing provided by the mission board and started on his way, accompanied by a decently sized caravan loaded with food and parts. Zach was sure he would meet more people at the site but, for now, it was just him and the mining team.

*fade to black*
*fade in at destination*

Zach looked around at the area. Some of the crew was setting up claim lines while the rest were unpacking and setting up. Food tents, barracks, all of this was put up in a group effort, and stood erect in the ground in only an hour. Around them, a storm was brewing and people retreated into the barracks. Everything should be sturdy enough to last the storm. However, better safe than sorry. All huddled in the barracks, everyone huddled under blankets, even those who were playing poker in the corner, or any one of the other assorted games people were playing. They burned the coal to help keep the building warm. In the morning, they would start building the more permanent structures. For now, however, they would sleep out the storm.

910 words

The next morning arrived and it was time to start building the structures that would rest here more permanently. Zachariah was placed on guard duty with two others as the rest of the crew set up actual buildings. The previous night Zach had put together some devices to help them along; a small shoveling device that that would be able to break the upper level of permafrost and allow the workers to get to soft soil, a high impact device (basically a jackhammer) that would break up rocks and the like, and a hammering device to drive wooden supports into the ground. With those tools, the workers constructed am addition to the barracks, a full fledged eatery, a latrine area, a shower house, and several other structures each for a specific and (at least mostly) vital purpose.

Zachariah sat atop the guard tower. He looked out towards the south, facing away from the construction. The two guards sat behind him, each as of they were Zach after sixty or so degrees of rotation around the center of the tower. The three of the sat there, idly chatting to pass the time.

“So, I hear you are a member of that clan that’s makes all those machines,” the guard on the left said, obviously talking to Zachariah.

"Yes, I am part of that clan. That’s why I was sent along. Once the base is set up, I can begin work on the mining devices."

"From that band you got there, I can also tell you’re a ninja. So, that mean you got those fancy steam powers?" This time, it was the man on Zach's right side that talked.

"Yeah, I am a Shinobi. And yes, I have the ability to create and control steam." Then, off in the distance, Zach thought he saw something. “Hold on a minute, guys,” he said putting on his goggles. He increased the zoom and focus to maximum distance. At first he saw nothing. Then, at the farthest edge of his extended eyesight, he saw foot prints. Not ones already there. No, these were appearing second by second. Three sets. Three ninja. Possibly missing nin. Possibly from another village. Either way, they had erased their visible identifiers. Quickly standing up, Zach grabbed the small rope hanging from the middle of the tower. He shook it vigorously, causing the small metal ball in the middle of the rope to hit the metal that made the bell. Everyone had been taught that the sound of the bell meant danger was approaching. "Incoming! Unknown ninja are approaching the station!" One of the other guards took over ringing the bell as Zach jumped down to the ground. He readjusted his goggles to normal viewing size and zoom, and prepared for the arrival of the three strangers.

They had arrived faster than expected. However, Zach was prepared. Before the trip had began, he had set up five traps. That is, he had sealed five jutsu within his scroll. All Zach would have to do is use three of them. That simply meant avoiding attacks long enough to get close to them. Zach slipped his goggles on. Designed for high heat, they wooed remarkably well against low temperatures. On him was a white coat and a white pair of pants. Both of these were made to withstand the harsh weather. However, they were also breathable. If Zach had tried to use his kekkai genkai with just any coat, the steam would has been trapped. However, this coat was made specifically to be able to let the steam escape, allowing Zach to use it even in these frigid temperatures. So, in moments, he was charging steam to pour out of, well, his pores. A decent amount came out, shrouding the battlefield, melting the snow. Zachariah could watch the movements of the invisible men in the steam, just as he could watch their foot prints in the snow. Doing such, he barely avoided a kick aimed at his head, preforming a back flip to escape it. “What do you want with the Skyscraper?”

“We could care less for that minor village,” said one of the ninja. The ninja’s voice seemed to come from multiple directions, and seemed to be straining a little. It is hard to talk when wearing a heavy coat in a sauna. She was likely using a jutsu to project her voice, not wanting to reveal her position. “We do care, however, about ours. And, seeing as you have a nice little shack here, we think we will just takes.”

“Over my dead body you will!” Zachariah shouted, quickly standing back up from the back flip.

“That can be arranged,” he heard the female ninja say once more. Before Zachariah knew what was happening, his body was bound in a constrictor-like grip. One of the ninja was apparently quite large. While Zach was talking, this man had snuck up behind him. Wait…. BEHIND me! In moments, a loud whirring was head. Then, before the man had time to react, the seal was broken. The man found himself, in the northern tundra, trapped inside a sphere of water. His body became soaked as the jutsu trapped him, immobile. Even so, he choose to remain invisible. “MAKO!” the third ninja yelled out. And then came the fire. Zachariah was barely able to dodge the fire dragon as it fly at him. Running around the dragon, he slowly approached the one who had yelled out the name. However, he had sensed Zachariah coming. A punch was launched in Zachariah’s direction. The strength of the punch was enough to shoot a hole in the steam. Zachariah, in a move he had never known he could do, had circled around the man as he dodged. That set his back to the man. A foolish move in most cases. Not nearly so foolish when a whirring was heard and a seal was broken. Two down, one to go.

“You cannot catch me as simply as you did those two!” the final voice yelled out. She was still using that echoing technique. Then, Zachariah saw the steam moving. It was moving in odd ways, as if circling him. Wait. It WAS circling him. The steam was spinning faster and faster, with Zach at the center! “You see, I am known as the tornado. Feel free to call me “death.”” Zach could just barely notice slight movements out of the norm. Small poles of steam emanating from the circle were moving in odd ways as well. Then it struck him. This was not ninjutsu. It was taijutsu. “Your fast” he said. “But not nearly fast enough.”

“Oh? You figured it out. But, there is still no way you are fast enough to catch me. Even that seal of yours will fail. And soon, your oxygen supply will be all gone, forced up by the vortex surrounding you now.” She was right. Zachariah was starting to get light headed. That mean he didn’t have much time. He held out his arm, and rapidly closed his hand into a fist. The steam seemed to condense, into a small ball, right near one edge of the circle. It finished in just a fraction of a second, and the person was just three inches away when it finished compressing. At this time, a massive shock wave was sent outward. The ninja, discombobulated by the sudden onslaught of her ears, tripped up. She to the ground and rolled a bit. Her invisibility was released, and Zach could see her. In moments he was next to her, releasing the third sphere of water. She was trapped, just like her team mates. They were each thrown into cells, hands shackled to their sides, not to each other. They were each visible by this point. One wore a Konoha headband. Another wore a Kumogakure headband. The final one, the leader, wore a Sunagakure headband. Each had a slash through it, showing that they were missing nin. That meant they were lying about caring for their village. Well, Zach decided that, when he returned to his village in three days time, he would bring the three back with him to face the proper consequences.

The next three days passed smoothly. Zachariah soon finished construction of the mining machine, and started it up. Within just hours, it had constructed a mine that normally took days to carve in normal conditions, let alone those of a frozen tundra. During that time, he set up several wire traps to protect the base. Only a small bit of excitement came on his last day at the camp. An envoy was sent from another. Zachariah was prepared to use one of his last two sealed jutsu, until the man yelled “PEACE!” and raised his hands in the air. It was soon found that he was not a ninja, and that the mine he worked at had collapsed. Dozens of people were trapped, and a terrible storm was coming within two days. If they were not out by that time, they would likely perish down in the mine. That in mind, Zachariah got permission from the station manager to go there are help to free the miners. He took the jackhammer-like device with him. Within two hours, there was enough rock reduced to rubble for the miners to escape. The next morning, Zachariah journeyed home with the rest of the temporary crew. The permanent crew stayed, as did the permanent defenders who had arrived that morning. They reached Skyscraper safely and without incident, and the three missing ninja were put to trial the same day. Not too bad for a chuunin.

1604 this post.

2514 total. Mission done.