Notes:
- The kanji for Amanushi literally means "sky lord" or "heavenly master"
- OC Ayame is Kyuuzou's sensei's older student (NO romantic interest) from main fic Retribution. She also appears in Unforgiven, Wolf Warriors, Happy Endings and The Ghosts of Chrysanthemum Bridge.
- OC Machida Mahiro previously appeared in Chapter 1 of companion fic Edge of Alienation. His rank was Captain then. Shichiroji owes his current position in part to Mahiro. Machida wanted to move up so he recommended that Shichiroji (then a low-ranking orderly) replace him as Kanbei's aide.
- In this ficverse, both the Allied Forces (Kanbei's side, fighting for the shogun) and the Confederated Army (the other side, loyal to the Emperor/Amanushi) consist of soldiers 'loaned' from the various state clans. Similar practices existed in the 'real world'. According to Secrets of the Samurai (Ratti/Westbrook) p42, a unified army consisting of soldiers from all clans was used in the Nara period.
- In the Retribution universe, while samurai are serving with the Allies or the Feddies, they report to the combined armies' chain of command, which takes precedence over (and theoretically should not conflict with) samurai clan loyalties. They are basically 'loaned soldiers' and will eventually return to their original samurai clan when the combined army no longer needs them. The Feddies allow people of non-samurai origin to enlist if they demonstrate the required fighting skills. Kyuuzou and Ayame were never clan samurai. They were commoners who became Feddie samurai. Thus, they were automatically ronin after the war since they had no state clan to return to. In the 'real world', the 'new' Imperial Army that challenged the shogunate during the Imperial Restoration was comprised of people of all classes, not just samurai. (Secrets of the Samurai, Ratti/Westbrook)
"Are we fighting another retreating battle?" Shichiroji asked Colonel Shimada as they flew towards the Sky Fortress and its accompanying fleet of enemy battleships.
"Yes," Kanbei replied. "This will give our comrades more time to escape."
"Calling commanders of Allied Squadrons 2, 3 and 4!" Shichiroji spoke into his radio. "Pull back to Irakawa Castle and activate all anti-aircraft systems! The Colonel and Squadron 1 will cover your retreat. We will rejoin you shortly."
--
The Confederated Army's Red Spiders held their formation around the Sky Fortress as the Allied squadron of Raiden and flying cannon ships approached at alarming speed.
Perched on the shoulder of Red Spider 2421, Ayame scanned the aerial battlefield with her keen yellow eyes. Comrade 2421, whose human name was Kouichi, was now flying at full speed but the human samurai standing on it held her balance.
The sun had not fully set. The night sky still held a twinge of red, and brilliant sparks of orange and yellow showered down from the heavens. They reminded Ayame of the fireworks during the Spring Festival in Hokuhei City, when her young self stood under the night sky with her parents and cheered as the drums ushered in the new year.
The Confederated Army soldier knew that many of the samurai on this battlefield, including herself, might not live to see the next Spring Festival. Those brilliant, beautiful showers of light came from the guns of Red Spiders and Raidens, as well as the cannons of Confederated and Allied battleships. They celebrated war and death, not life and springtime. To Ayame, this magnificently lit night sky was a fair and yet terrible sight.
The samurai woman breathed in the cold night air as her Red Spider comrade flew unhesitatingly towards the enemy; the wind's chill on her face and in her lungs was a reminder that she was still alive. Ayame would like as many of her comrades as possible to celebrate the next Spring Festival. And that meant ensuring as many Allied samurai as possible would NOT get to see the next spring.
"Bear left by 23 degrees," the Confederated officer ordered Kouichi. "I'm taking off."
"Yes, ma'am" Unit 2421 replied as it veered to the left and extended its left arm.
"Units 2474 and 2490," Ayame spoke into her radio, "Standby for me in Control Level 2."
"Ryoukai!" the crisp response came back over the military radio.
Ayame timed the Red Spider's trajectory and chose the precise moment to step off the Benigumo's shoulder. She skidded smoothly down its arm into the open sky. The human officer drew her twin swords while breathing in the exhilaration of freefall. Before anyone knew it, the human had landed on the head of a Raiden eighty feet below. The enemy robot had no chance to react before Ayame had sliced through its brain. The dark samurai soared off the falling robot, landing on the prow of a double-occupancy Allied flying cannon that had the misfortune to pass by.
The Allied pilots barely had time to draw their weapons before twin blades slashed through the cockpit…
--
As the Allied aircraft fell from the sky, Ayame jumped from the doomed enemy plane into the palm of a Red Spider hovering 50 feet below. "Thank you, Yusuke," the dark-haired woman said to Unit 2490. Then she spoke into her radio. "Joji-dono, how are the Level 2 defenses holding?"
"Three units have been lost but we destroyed 5 Raiden and 2 cannon ships," came Unit 2474's reply.
"You did well! I'm here to help!" Ayame said encouragingly. Then the dark woman cried out to the Confederated soldiers around her. "Comrades! Let us reclaim the skies for our people!!!"
"Retake the skies for the Sky Lord!" The Red Spiders around the human warrior echoed her battle cry as they raised their weapons to the heavens.
At that moment, both Yusuke and Ayame caught sight of an Allied Forces aircraft breaching their defense line. The pilot was remarkably dexterous, leading their comrades on a wild goose chase by making sharp aerial turns that would have caused a normal human pilot to black out. Even more amazingly, a human samurai was standing on the wing of that enemy ship and holding his balance. The tall man with flowing long hair was holding on to a door handle on the side of the aircraft, but still, not falling out of the sky while on that roller coaster ride was no mean feat.
Then the man released his hold on the handle and skidded down the aircraft wing, vaulting into the open sky to land on a Red Spider trying to intercept the Allied craft. Before Ayame could blink thrice, the Red Spider was falling to earth in pieces. She saw the Allied officer leap onto another crimson flying mecha that promptly met the same fate.
The brown-skinned man was in his mid thirties, in the prime of life. The energy of youth might have started to wane, but what little the warrior lost in speed and agility he more than made up for in experience and dexterity.
"Intercept that man!" the dark-skinned young woman barked in Yusuke's mechanical ear. Unit 2490 promptly flew at the Allied samurai.
Then Ayame saw the Allied aircraft approach out of the corner of her eye. So focused Yusuke was on the human enemy that he did not see the shot coming. "Veer right!" Ayame shrieked but the warning came too late. Yusuke was cut off at the waist by a cannon ball. Ayame lost her footing as Unit 2490 fell away from beneath her. "Yusuke!!!" the samurai woman shouted even as she turned her fall into a midair somersault and landed on the Allied aircraft that had just destroyed her comrade.
Her lightning-fast twin blades slashed into the cockpit. It was payback time.
--
Springing from Red Spider to Red Spider, Kanbei finally made his landing on the platform of a Confederated escort ship, facing the Yakan defenders with the stoic courage of one who was ready to die. He fought his way towards the control tower of the escort ship, slaying all who stood in his path.
"How can this be? He is only one man!" the Confederated ship captain cried out with alarm as the dark-skinned Allied officer burst through the door of the control room.
The Confederated Army samurai drew their swords as they faced this lone Allied soldier who wore a scabbard with a hooked tip. Even before the first blades clashed, they knew they were going to die. But yet, they could not give up without doing their duty…
--
Kanbei stepped over the bloody corpses of his slain foes, fighting his way back out of bowels of the escort ship. Slashing through one Yakan after another, he made his way to the edge of the landing platform. Colonel Shimada scanned the sky for Shichiroji's flying cannon ship, but his trusty aide was no where in sight. Where was Shichiroji? Alarm welled up within him. More Yakans were coming towards him, firing their machine guns. Perhaps it would all end here. There were two choices open to him. He could step off the open platform into space and fall into oblivion. Or he could die fighting. The long-haired warrior turned and prepared to charge into battle once more.
At this moment of life and death, another Allied aircraft loomed up behind him. Kanbei looked into the cockpit and saw his former aide, then-Captain-now-Major Machida.
"Kanbei-sama! Get in!" Major Machida shouted as he covered Colonel Shimada's retreat by firing on the Yakans.
The commander leaped onto the wing of the friendly aircraft as the gun-wielding Yakans kept their distance. Major Machida put the cannon ship into reverse and maneuvered out of the line of fire to rejoin their retreating comrades.
Kanbei skidded down the wing towards the cockpit. "Where is Shichiroji?" he asked as he opened the hatch and jumped in beside his friend.
"I saw Captain Shichiroji's aircraft fall from the sky," Machida Mahiro said grimly, "So I came to find you."
"He was shot down?!" Shimada asked as pain seized his soul.
"No, he was not hit by gunfire." Major Machida replied. "I think an enemy samurai – a human - took his ship down."
The two men sat in suffocating silence for a while as the remnants of the squadron flew south towards Irakawa Castle. Then Mahiro spoke comfortingly. "Don't worry, Commander. He might have lived. I'm sure our ground forces are searching for survivors right now."