Cut, flow with the grace of the water.
Cut, dance with the grace of the wind.
A sparkle of light flashed off Jun's katana as he moved around, performing an intricate dance with his blade. He moved as smoothly as his thoughts dictated, the youth of merely seventeen summers, with an ageless grace that seemed beyond the young man. It filled Han-Xin with pride as he watched his son. In a few moments the youth finished, sheathing his blade smoothly in its saya. He stood there for a moment, silent as he gathered his thoughts, before turning to face his father with a smile.
"Ohayo, tousan."
"Ohayo, Jun-kun."
The youth turned to fully face his father and nodded. "What brings you out this early father? I had thought you'd been working late last night?" He turned away from the older man as he went to place the katana, which had once been his father's as well, and his grandfather's also before him, on its place on the antler rack that held it when not in use.
"Yes, I was working rather late last night. However, there isn't really that much to do." The older man looked fondly upon his son, who was busy returning the weapon to its proper place. "I have too many efficient assistants for me already, as you should know." The man chuckled softly as he said that.
"True, true." Jun stepped back from the rack, resting on an altar-like stand on its own in the room, built like a dojo, which it in fact served as from time to time. He looked at his father then with a grin. "Let's have breakfast, I'm starving."
His father chuckled to himself as he followed his son out of the room, and on the way to their dining hall. They were a relatively affluent family, Han-Xin's. After all, he was the owner of Dynasty Weapons Unlimited, though was being handled now by his younger siblings as of late. He slid the shoji shut, and turned to gaze out over the grounds of his estate. It was at that moment that a distinctly familiar sound caught his ears. His gazed quickly shifted to see a trail of flame streak across the sky before disappearing behind the city line not too far away. While it seemed like a falling star, Han-Xin's ears could not shake the almost disturbing feeling of apprehension that gripped him.
"Tousan!"
He shook his head at himself. Ah, Han-Xin. Its just your imagination. He flashed a smile at his son. "Hai, hai…I'm coming." With his good feeling restored, the man began walking along the corridor once more.
"Really father, what kept you?" Jun teased his old man once more, and the pair light heartedly made their way down the hall. "Remember your promise, you said you'd let me work at the yard today with the transport 'mechs."
"Hai, hai. I remember, don't worry about that."
Not too far away, the gardener of the Koshimitsu estate quietly knelt on the ground, studiously examining the flowers that grew there. Above the man and across the lawn, Jun and his father disappeared into another room. The gardener merely gave them a passing look as they did, and returned to the plants. A soft beeping sound suddenly came from his collar, which he covered with one hand nonchalantly, the expression on his face all as if he was completely focused on the foliage he was tending. From the lapel that beeped, a tiny voice emanated from it.
"Zentoshi."
The voice that came out was familiar to the old gardener. He drew closer to the plants, tilting his head from side to side as he viewed them. "Hai?" He murmured softly.
"The Dragon has landed. Make the offer, now. You know what to do."
"Aa…" He opened his eyes as he spotted a line of ants. Another sound came from the lapel this time, instead of a voice or beep he heard a faint click. He knew that at that moment that the miniscule communication device implanted there was now gone, self-destructing with barely a spot on his uniform's collar. Zentoshi the gardener sighed, as he stood up and gathered his tools to return them to the shed.
He went over to his small cottage to the side, and closed the door behind him. His hands swiftly searched out the small pistol that he kept hidden in a panel within his bed. He checked it, and found it fully loaded as always. Five bullets for the tiny gun, and he attached the silencer to it. The size of the weapon made it easy to hide, and Zentoshi appreciated that, even if it would take more than one shot to kill. He tucked it in his shirt, and peacefully made his way across the garden. He entered the kitchen from the garden, for it was located on the ground floor. He spotted the chef, a somewhat portly man by the name of Gotsu.
"Oi, Zentoshi." The man greeted his with a wave of his hand.
"I'm looking for Sir Han-Xin, would you know where he is?" Zentoshi smiled placidly at the chef. The other man looked up and shrugged with a smile.
"Ah, in his office I see. Ja." He made his way upstairs, and in a few moments reached Han-Xin's study. He slid the shoji open, to see the man alone at his desk. His son was nowhere to be seen, Zentoshi smiled inwardly. Han-Xin then took a look up, to see the gardener of the entrance.
"Ah, Zentoshi! Come in, come in. Is there anything wrong with my garden? How are the new family of bonsai coming?" Han-Xin gestured for the gardener to enter, motioning for the man to sit at a chair.
The other man shook his head, the smile on his lips twisting somewhat. "Iie. I'll stand. I have to say, Han-Xin, I will miss working here."
The moment Zentoshi spoke his name informally, alarm bells began ringing in Han-Xin's head, and his hand gradually moved under his desk to reach for the gun that lay strapped there.
Zentoshi noticed the miniscule movement of his employer's shoulder, and quickly drew out his silenced gun to shoot the other man's arm. The soft thump of the bullet was almost inaudible, but Han-Xin's gasp of pain and fall to the floor was not. The businessman looked up at Zentoshi with some confusion. "Z-zentoshi. Why?"
"I'm not here to kill you, Han-Xin, but I couldn't risk you shooting me, understand?" Zentoshi looked down at the man with a smile on his lips. "I have an offer from the Duchess. Return with us. Come back to the Five Pillars, Shiro no Ryu. If you do, we will spare your family from the fires of the Dragon."
Han-Xin grit his teeth in pain, but raised his head up in defiance. "Tell Tomark, she will never have me by her side again."
Zentoshi shrugged dismissively. "Ah, well. Your military intellect and espionage skills will be missed greatly, Shiro no Ryu. But, I have my orders. Why you ever were allowed to live up to now is a mystery to me though." Zentoshi raised his gun up to point at the man's heart. "Sleep well." He fired a shot into the man, who jerked in pain at the shot.
"Tousan!" Zentoshi turned abruptly to find Jun standing behind him, holding in his hands his family's katana, mouth agape. Jun saw the shot that Zentoshi fired into his father, and the blood that began to seep through his father's shirt, both from the chest and on the shoulder.
"Pest." Zentoshi quickly pointed the gun at Jun, who reacted the only way that he could as he was. He drew the sword and ran towards the "gardener".
He aimed the gun at Jun's face, his finger slowly pulling back on the trigger as the youth began to swing at the man. Surprise shot through his spine as he felt himself kicked hard, causing his shot to miss and merely graze the youth's face. He looked down to see Han-Xin's foot rebounding away from his shin, and knew that somehow the man still lived. He barely managed to look up again to deal with his current problem before seeing the Koshimitsu katana come down to strike his neck. It was an elegant strike, the power behind the blow and the particularly refined edge of the sword cleanly cutting the man diagonally from his neck and cleaving through his ribs and spine to cut him in half, the blood from his suddenly cleaved open organs spilling and gushing forth from the halved man's corpse.
Jun heaved with exertion, the sight of seeing a man dead in front of him causing him to drop the katana and heave the contents of his stomach out. He shook his head, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. The blood from Zentoshi pooled, staining the floor a deep crimson red. "Jun…"
The youth's face snapped to look over at his father. Shoving his disgust behind him, he crawled over to his father as fast as he could, to cradle the dying man in his arms. "Tousan…why did he?"
Han-Xin shook his head weakly. "No time, Jun. Tell Gotsu, it was Tomark. He will know what to do."
Jun shook his head in confusion, the chaos in his mind indescribable. "Gotsu? What? No!" He shook his father, who had coughed out blood. "Tousan, don't leave me. Please…don't." He murmured, his tears falling as he sobbed, still holding his father tight to him.
"Tch…it is too late Jun. Promise me though, I want a grandson."
"Damn it, you are not leaving me Father!" He shook his head, incredulous that his father could say such a thing now, when his life was hanging by a thread. He turned to look out through the shoji and screamed. "Gotsu! Anyone! Help!"
"Jun…make me proud. I'll always be watching you." Han-Xin smiled up at his son, confident in the fact that his son would do exactly as he asked, knowing that a great destiny lay before the young man. With those last words, the sparkle in his eyes faded, the smile on his lips remaining. Jun could hear the thump of running footsteps coming outside, but he didn't care anymore. The walls fell, as Gotsu and three other men, armed with handguns burst in.
"No…Han-Xin." Gotsu looked with horror as he saw his employer's son cradle the old man's dead body against him. He took in the bloody scene with detachment otherwise, save for his friend's grieving son. He stepped over the rapidly cooling corpse of Zentoshi to kneel on the bloodstained floor beside Jun, softly prying the youth's hands from his father's body.
The youth let him, as he sat on the floor drained of his energy, his conscience torturing him with the blood that stained his hands. A shadow eclipsed him, blocking the sun that shone into the study. Jun weakly looked up to see Gotsu look on him sadly. The chef asked him softly. "Did your father leave a message for me?" Jun nodded, putting his hand on the floor, wincing when he saw the blood gush around them as he pushed himself up stand. He felt the hefty chef help him up, and winced, this time from the gunshot wound. Gotsu noticed this, and put a finger to it.
"Not too serious. It missed you by just a faction." He looked back at Jun's face. "What did he say? Tomark?" Jun nodded, his head pounding. Gotsu cursed. "Damned snake." He turned to look at one of the security personnel. "Take him, he's wounded." Jun heard only that as he passed out.
Gotsu watched as more security came up, the two other with him already standing at the ready. The former agent looked up at the two men. "Take Han-Xin, and get ready to leave. The Dragon hunts us." The security guards nodded somberly, and moved to retrieve the old man from the floor.
For a while he was alone in the bloodstained room, then he knelt down to take something from the floor. He stood up again, holding the Koshimitsu katana in his hands. He shook his head sorrowfully. "I had never thought to see blood on this blade again." He ripped off a piece of his uniform and wiped the weapon clean, then picked up the saya and sheathed the weapon. He stepped out the room to meet a tall man, who was captain of Han-Xin's security.
"Tomark?" The large man asked, rather weakly. Gotsu nodded. The other knew what to do now, and he turned to bark orders to the men that had followed him.
A lone dropship with the Dynasty insignia departed the planet and left on a Jumpship a few hours later. That afternoon, the Aerospace base at Neo Carthagia was attacked.