TEOCUITLATL: SQUARE G5

[saltybirds]

This edge of the island is one long strip of sand, running north to south on a crooked line. The near-white sand is spotless, unmarked by anything but the small tracks of birds and colorful crabs, the sand drawing so close to the edge it's in danger of falling into the sea far, far below

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[egoisms]

The Goliath arrived at the shoreline without much incident, aside from the small problem of preventing the large ship from bashing straight into the faulty shoreline and taking a good chunk with it. The minor crisis was adverted, thankfully, and soon the Goliath was docked on shore and the Captain took it upon himself to step outside first to survey the area.

Vava was in full armor, cords dangling from the back of his neck and connecting to the large shoulder-mounted cannon at his left--which didn't seem to have much effect on his balance--and his posture indicated he was being a bit cautious as he walked on shore. His eyes glowed from beneath his helmet as he scanned around for any sign of life within the immediate area--aside from the strange-looking animals--, deeming it safe for the rest of the crew to follow after him, at least for the moment. As soon as they got farther into the depths of the jungle, his concern for them would lessen; they were supposed to be able to take care of themselves and he had to keep reminding himself of that as he looked back toward the archway of the Goliath, giving his crew a nod. "Let's move." Hopefully they could move quickly and without any major distractions until they reached their destination. And hopefully, dear Aizen Sousuke wouldn't be too preoccupied for a little chat, provided they ran into him.

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth was pleased. While the pirates had a headstart, Britannia's closer proximity to the island evened things out (not as much as he'd like, but he'd just have to make do), and despite the Goliath's bulk, they had made surprisingly good speed. With any luck, they wouldn't be too far behind their quarry.

After Vava gave the go ahead, the lieutenant stepped onto the island. While he lacked the impressive weaponry his superior had, he wasn't completely helpless - his trusty saber was at his side, as well as a standard issue pistol. As much as he detested firearms, he grudgingly admitted that it was useful when things took a turn for the unexpected. After taking a quick glance at his navigational device, uploaded with all the relevant date on the island (which was still scarce, even with the details he was able to pick up before they left), he caught up with the captain. "Yes, sir."

[starsundersky]

Lafiel was a bit hesitant on this mission, not that she was telling anyone that. The wall of coral ahead of them looked quite imposing. She shook her head, as if trying to clear it, and followed the captain and Lieutenant Edgeworth onto the island.

She was carrying the same standard issue pistol as Edgeworth, but also had a pack of emergency supplies on her back. She looked to the captain, seeing if he had any further orders once the rest of the crew had disembarked.

[kingofallbeasts]

Grimmjow was pumped. His only weapons were his sword and his fists, but hell, what kind of pussy needed firearms, anyway? He followed the rest of the crew onto land and waited with them, fidgeting slightly out of excitement.

What the hell was everyone waiting for? He wanted to go out and kill something. God, finally. He'd had enough of that fucking cooking; granted, he liked dealing with dead stuff, but only if it was killing something and then maybe kicking the corpse out of his way.

Impatiently, he began boxing in place. He felt vaguely out of practice, anyway- the last real physical activity outside of daily workouts he'd had was that one baseball game a few weeks ago.

[inconsciently]

Yamamoto was right behind Grimmjow and he was pretty excited about the prospect of exploring the island. He didn't have a gun like Edgeworth or Lafiel, but he did have his shinai with him. It was currently in one of the loops of the bag strapped onto his back, which held most of the neccessary first-aid supplies he figured he might need. Still, the bag was not very large, and any major injuries would have to be brought back to the ship for treatment.

The nurse was really just happy to be wearing pants for this expedition.

He smiled largely as he looked around and the large wall of coral ahead of them was pretty impressive. He stopped with the rest of the group and couldn't help staring at it. It didn't look like there was a way to get through or around the coral... how were they going to get past it?

Who knew. He was ready to get a move on it, though.

[mind_of_the_sky]

Jade double-checked the cabin behind him and followed the rest of his crew out the hatch. His normal countenance - smirk and all - was gone, replaced by tense shoulders and a frighteningly focused gaze. He strode forward briskly, clearly intent on running over anything in his path.

His uniform was altered slightly - fabric lightened in mind of the heat, seams loosened around the joints for more movement - and, perhaps most importantly, his right forearm was laid bare. Jade carried no visible weapons. Tactics dictated the near-infallibility of the element of surprise, after all.

It was a rare moment for Jade - his outward appearance truly matched his inner. He was poised, focused.

He breezed past Yamamoto, hands clasped tightly behind his back, and stopped near (yet slightly apart from) his other companions before the coral wall.

"Would you like to take care of this, sir," Jade asked the captain mildly, "or shall I?"

[karmauberalles]

von Karma stepped off the ship, looking impeccable as always. He too carried no visible weapons other than his cane, which could be considered a bludgeon or, if you were a very good guesser, a somewhat clever and slightly overdramatic way of concealing a weapon. This discounted the taser he had hidden on his person, as well, and the small pistol he'd slipped into a pocket as an extra precaution. Being perfect also meant being perfectly prepared, after all, and small, concealed weapons were preferable to visible ones for the element of surprise.

He stood back and waited with crossed arms for either the magic user or the Captain to break through the wall of coral, and then hopefully he could organize his own search party of the more competent members of the expedition rather than having to deal with the idiocy of crewmen such as, say, Jeagerjaques.

[egoisms]

Vava barely waited for the rest of his crew to step down onto the shore before moving briskly toward the gigantic wall of coral that was blocking their path. He stopped a few meters short of it, eyeing it carefully. It looked old, brittle. It probably wouldn't take much force to take it down.

But, being subtle while on the battlefield was something that Vava never truly grasped.

Giving Jade a look over his shoulder, he spoke firmly, "I'll take care of it; it's been far too long since I've exercised myself." There was a smirk somewhere beneath his helmet, though there was no trace of it upon his voice. He was itching to incinerate something, and he certainly didn't have the patience to wait until they ran into someone, so he would take a few steps back before steadying the cannon with his hand.

He would not warn his crew to stand clear of the coming destruction as he was confident they all held some level of common sense when the captain's hand positioned the cannon in line with the wall of coral, a quiet hum rumbling up from the back of the weapon. Vava narrowed his eyes, left heel digging into the sand behind him as a form of leverage for the recoil and it was only a matter of time before the magazine fed itself through the chamber. There would be a rapid expulsion of artillery and bullets ripped through the brittle, bone-like formation, the damage starting off as a small amount holes in the side before a large chunk of the wall was disintegrated by the sheer firepower.

Once finished, Vava's arm dropped to its side and he started forward toward the new opening, stepping over discarded shells which smoked on the sand. "After we advance past here, I want the area to be surveyed. Split up. Cover as much area as you can. Leave no rock unturned." He paused in his thought, even though he continued to walk forward. "...If you're not confident in being alone, I suppose you can team up, but I'd prefer it if you went alone. You all should be able to take care of yourselves." There was one final thought the captain had with the rest of the crew before he would finally fall silent, his voice an intense, firm growl, unlike his usual stoic, nearly monotone way of speaking, "And, though I hate to repeat myself, if you happen to run into Aizen Sousuke, I'd much appreciate it if you left his death to my hands."

[edge_of_honor]

Impressive thought Edgeworth, as he watched the coral wall collapse. While he had heard much about Vava's skills, he had never gotten the opportunity to see them up close. If he was a more sympathetic man, he'd almost feel some pity for the pirate unfortunate enough to stumble across the captain and his special brand of destruction.

Fortunately, Edgeworth was not that sort of man. He walked briskly, following the captain beyond the wall, not bothering to waste his time on foolish sentiment. They had a job to do, and he'd do everything in his power to see that they reached the treasure before any of the other crews did. Edgeworth cared little if he had a partner on his search or not; if someone wished to follow him, so be it, but he found that he often did his best work alone.

[starsundersky]

Lafiel was third through the hole the captain had created. She immediately shifted to the side, her back to the wall and her gun out, watching for anything coming out of the jungle at anyone coming through the hole behind her.

[kingofallbeasts]

Grimmjow followed the rest of them, glad that he'd get to go alone. The rest of the bastards would just cramp his style. He walked through the hole in the coral- really, he couldn't shake the feeling that everyone was missing something really important, but fuck that. He was here to beat people's faces in, not get that fucking treasure or whatever. All Aizen had told him to do was stay on the Goliath and collect information, and that was all he was going to do.

[inconsciently]

Yamamoto's lips made an o as he watched Vava blast a hole into the coral reef, clearly impressed. He would have said something about the event, but then the captain had delivered orders and everyone had moved through the hole, so instead the nurse followed through the hole quickly.

So they needed to split up, huh? Well. Which way looked like the best way to go? Right now it seemed like they were collectively entering the jungle, Yamamoto didn't bother to draw his weapon as some of the members of their party had, but once they entered the trees the boy decided to get a move on.

With a big smile on his face, it was adventure time!, Yamamoto split away from the group and started off in a north-western direction. He worked his way through the vines and trees carefully, not entirely sure what he was supposed to be looking for, but he was pretty sure he'd know when he found it.

[mind_of_the_sky]

Jade shrugged, suitably impressed with the captain's show of firepower. He calmly strode through the tear in the coral, glancing at his crew mates, but ultimately sweeping right by them.

Behind his back, his clasped hands tightened imperceptibly as he stepped into the shade of the jungle. He'd been mucking around at port and on board for too long - it had been months, really since he'd last seen action.

Besides, he was out of specimens.

Jade sped up to a swift walk, easily maneuvering around the various tangle-some flora, and headed off in a westerly direction. He grinned briefly. Time for some research~

[karmauberalles]

If von Karma was impressed by the show of firepower, he didn't show it. To be truthful, he felt the opposite; if any enemy crews were in the area, they'd probably be alerted to the Goliath's presence. It was a bit too late to bring that up at this point, however, so von Karma merely made a slight dissaproving noise and followed the rest of the crew into the jungle.

[egoisms]

The captain didn't seem to take the loudness of his weaponry into any form of consideration when he had used it and that was to be expected. In fact, it was almost as if the man wanted them to be discovered by the enemy. Of course, no one could see the underlying smirk on his face, and his posture wasn't suggesting anything of the sort, so it wasn't as if anyone could stop him.

Without another word to his crew, Vava started on in toward the jungle, stomping across the foliage and tearing down any tall obstructions in the plant-life in his way as he walked.

[ moving here ]

[inconsciently]

Yamamoto didn't see any of his crew members following him, or anyone else for that matter for some miles. It was hard to see anything beyond the trees and vines of the jungle, however, and it didn't seem to bother him that he was pretty isolated. The foliage around him was interesting to look at, and the random insects and lizards he saw kept the smile on his lips.

It felt nice to be outside again. The Goliath was a fun place to be, of course, but it wasn't a good substitute for the outdoors even when one was on the deck. Granted this rich jungle was extremely unlike what they had on Namimori, it was nice anyway.

He continued through the vines and onwards, not cutting or tearing things out of the way but instead moving through and around them.

[going over here]