Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters/weapons mentioned in this story, they belong to Koei/Omega Force. Nor do I own 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' the book which the characters are from.
She pushed the hairbrush aside; she had no need for it. Her army had nearly conquered the entire country and they'd just lost one of their final campaigns! She slammed her fist down in anger, shattering the little lacquer brush. Whoever had passed her it did it with apparent impertinence, as if her hair needed doing in a time like this. She shuddered to imagine what he was thinking and quickly tugged at her hair to try and neaten it up a little. She sighed as a large tuft fell out, obviously failing.
How could she let such a meagre thought consume her? She needed to plan, the army needed to re-gather and fight the enemy until they won the war, how could they do that if their commander was busy doing her hair. She looked in the mirror at the woman she'd become, savage. Just as everyone said they were, but she'd had to do this. She could go back to her former self once the land was truly hers. But that wasn't the aim, she didn't want to admit her true aim for fear of sounding crazy but the land would be hers, hers and her husband's. She'd promised her husband when he left for battle that she'd unite the land under their rule if he died. He'd engaged Wei in war after they called them 'filthy savages' unfortunately he never came back and was presumed dead. She'd came so far and she couldn't fail now!
Abruptly she turned and gave a piercing glare at the man in front of her; it appeared to be an incompetent general who had brought it to her. She saw the purple coloured outfit and had to refrain from slapping him, this man was from Wei. She'd executed most of them for her husband's sake but she let some stay. She regretted it.
"Who the hell are you?" She laughed at him but the demand to have an answer was clear in her voice, not caring that he looked deeply upset. "My name is general..."
"No it isn't!" She interrupted him before he could actually give his name; "I am officially demoting you, if you are even a member of our army." She saw the offence in his face so she punched him square in the nose. "Go!" she screamed at him.
The ex-general didn't bother arguing his case, he thought she needed help. He quickly stormed out and slammed the door behind him. It was the winter and she was far from home, it was cold here. She nearly screamed when the cold air hit her face, the gust flew up from the door as it shut abruptly. She could take this no longer, she had once been known as the 'Goddess of fire' and although she had taken a more passive role back in Nan Zhong she was still known throughout the land under that name. Now she was merely the Queen of the South, which was outrageous. Since her campaign began she'd gotten so aggressive, she was so strong and fiery and still she'd lost her title.
She had battled before, she could take an absence from battle no longer. The campaign had extended under her rule, under her husband's rule they lived a happy life but they would have never ruled the land, which had actually been his ambition. But without her fighting they wouldn't win the last battle which they had finally came to, if they waited too long they would be beaten anyway. She grabbed her boomerang and ran after the general. "Wait!" she commanded, the man walked with grace and hadn't gotten too far. At first he raised his leg and appeared to be carrying on walking but he turned back and waited for her to catch up. "I'm sorry" she said apoplectically, fiddling with her hair which had veiled her face as she spoke.
Zhang He was hesitant at first, he knew she hadn't been herself lately. She'd rampaged from Nan Zhong after Wei defeated her husband in battle and amazingly she took the entire kingdom, though his knowledge was dusty. He'd spent most of the timing waiting on Sima Yi's incompetent hand and foot and only got to fight in the very last battle. He remembered the queue, Zhu Rong had every general lined up and was quick to execute many. She let Zhang Liao go first and Xu Huang. But then it was Cao Pi's turn and he'd insulted her incredibly, she was merciless after that and killed Xu Zhu, Zhen Ji, Cao Ren and several other officers. She got to Pang De and decided to spare him, she'd even spared his own life. That was why he couldn't disobey her, he hadn't even liked serving under Wei; not since Sima Yi assumed the power. He'd got away, under the new army his sole aim was to track down and kill him.
"So am I my lady" he began "I know that you aren't bothered about your hair but you were looking worried and I needed to find you a distraction, we can try again tomorrow." He smiled at her and she smiled back. "I'm not so sure" she admitted.
"Why?" he asked, he was taken aback that she'd followed him but now this? He saw the boomerang in her hand and wondered what was going on. 'No' he screamed inside his head, she couldn't be...
"You will not be fighting tomorrow" she spoke quickly and Zhang He was worried by her tone, did she want to kill him?
"I will fight tomorrow! Alone" She flourished the air with her magma wheel in a swift manoeuvre. "I did it once" she paused, thinking about the great battle she'd first engaged in after her husband's death, just her and Sima Yi.
A duel that no one won. She was winning, the battle had raged for several hours and he was on the verge of death but the coward had cheated and ambushed her, he'd fled after that and never returned. She remembered it, with her inferno she'd destroyed all of the juggernauts and captured the Wei officer Zhang Liao. He was a man of honour who did not respect Sima Yi for his cowardice tactics, she knew as good as everyone else did that he'd held back in their battle and let himself lose. After that she'd invaded Wei, without strategy they'd crumpled under her might. The only bad thing that came from that war was that she'd lost inferno. She was unsure how exactly but all she remembered was that when she woke up it'd gone. After that she'd stopped fighting, it took her days to find Magma Wheel and after that they'd already won.
"Folly!" Zhang He shouted "My lady you cannot attack the WuShu allegiance alone" he toned down quickly "It's absurd and you know it, they're too powerful and we will only win this war with strategy, not strength."
"Why not?" She asked rhetorically, "I did so before."
"That was against Wei, under Sima Yi they were nothing!" Zhang He protested, WuShu had the military might and the strategic strength.
"In case you didn't realise I beat Wei under Cao Pi." She argued, knowing she'd already lost anyway.
Zhang He grumbled. "My lady!" He tried not to shout and just emphasised his words "Cao Pi was an incompetent ruler, you won because many generals like myself and Zhang Liao would have rather fought for your cause than his."
"Okay" she eventually gave up. "The people love Liu Bei and there is a strong bond between the officers of Wu, we can only win this war with strategy." Zhang He smiled, he'd got the point across.
"I shall go to Wu my lady, I have a plan."
Zhu Rong nodded in permission, she was biding time and any plan would help. "Pray tell."
"Some of the Wu officers are selfish and only care for themselves, if we can get them to hate each other they may defect to us to fight off their enemies."
Zhu Rong nodded. "Is that Gan Ning the pirate you refer to?" she wondered, who could he mean.
"No" Zhang He laughed "this officer has a much stronger influence in the army of Wu, but the officer is disliked by many now."
"You're such a tease" she laughed. "Alright then, I want you to surprise me."
Zhang He was glad "Thank you my lady" He hadn't wanted to tell her anyway, she'd probably have disallowed it because she would never have believed that this officer was disliked by many. He jumped up for joy and quickly attached his peacock talons, if he was to travel alone he'd need protection. He had a feeling he'd need to go to an actual Wu city to buy a Wu garb. "I'm gonna look hideous" he shuddered at the thought. "No you wont" a familiar voice shouted to him from the stables. "You won't have to wear a horrible Wu garb" they both laughed at this "for I shall go and undertake this task, my friend." Zhang He's assumption was proved correct when Zhang Liao stepped from the shadows.
