Chapter One:Consequences

In blossom today, then scattered:

Life is so like a delicate flower.

How can one expect the fragrance

To last forever?

-by Ohnishi

Hayashi Takanori- daimyo of the Konagara han- attempted to ignore the tremor in his hand as he recorded the casualty figures, but was finally forced to set the brush aside when the trembling began affecting the quality of the characters he was transcribing. He could have easily left this duty to his staff but the deaths had been the result of his orders and he needed to know what the full cost of those orders had been.

Dropping his hands onto his thighs, his fingers closing into fists as he settled back on his heels, Takanori stared at the numbers before him and unconsciously shook his head.

It did not have to be this way.

As he lifted his head to watch the night fade away into the predawn light, Takanori turn his thoughts to the man who had ordered his destruction. His memories of Akiyama Katsuro were of a wise and strong leader, an expert swordsman with a quicksilver mind and an easy laugh: a good and trusted friend. The man who was now Amanushi was not that man. The Katsuro he remembered would never have cut himself off from those who had put their faith in him, who had supported him-- who had fought and, in some cases, died for him-- when questions regarding Katsuro's right to the throne had arisen when his father, the old Amanushi, had died.

However, that was exactly what Katsuro had done. Even now, Takanori still had trouble understanding how he failed to read the course of events that had led to this day.

Rumors of change had begun to circulate a month after Katsuro had become Amanushi, but Takanori had dismissed them as the idle gossip that was a natural part of Capital life. A time of adjustment to the ways of a new Amanushi was to be expected. But adjustment was not what Katsuro wanted.

Katsuro wanted to change everything.

Takanori could still recall his shock when word reached him that the Amanushi had declared him tozama daimyo-- enemy lord-- and had barely escaped from the villa the Hayashi clan kept within the Capital before it had been overrun by the Imperial guards. He had been forced to leave behind most of his household to the whims of Imperial mercy.

Takanori knew then that the battle just fought had been as inevitable as the sunrise.

As prepared as he believed his domain to be for this day, he found it had not been enough. His army-- battle hardened from the years of fighting for Katsuro in the succession war-- and the many allies that had come to his aid, had not been enough.

There had been nothing to prepare them for an attack from a full battalion of mechanized samurai.

Yoshiwara Masaru had expected many things when a medic reported seeing Shimada Kambei wandering the battlefield with a visible head wound. Masaru knew the young samurai would have taken the loss of the vanguard personally and prepared himself for the worst when he left the communication post just before dawn on the orders of the daimyo to find the missing man.

Instead of finding the worst, he found Shimada Kambei resting with his back against a tree and another samurai asleep in his embrace.

Masaru paused a moment, reluctant to disturb the pair, but the daimyo needed Kambei's report; that was something that could not wait.

He was not surprised when both men suddenly reacted to his presence. The samurai in Kambei's arms snapped out of the sound sleep that had held him a moment before and reached out for the yari lying on the ground beside them; but froze when he became aware of the position he was in.

Kambei simply shifted his gaze to meet Masaru's, his eyes giving nothing away as to his state of mind.

Masaru studied Kambei, noting that the head wound had been cleaned and did not appear to be serious, before stating flatly, "The daimyo is expecting you."

Kambei nodded once in acknowledgment and loosened his hold on the samurai in his arms, allowing the man to rise to his feet, before pushing himself upright.

Stepping over to where Masaru stood, Kambei stopped then bowed deeply as he said, "I have no excuse for my…"

"Stop." Masaru crossed his arms as Kambei straightened. "It is not my place to judge your actions. It is for the daimyo to decide what is to be done regarding your failure while leading the vanguard and your failure to report immediately to him." There was a flash of pain in Kambei's eyes, but he did not look away as Masaru stepped close. Resting a hand on the young samurai's shoulder, Masaru said in a gentler tone, "I will tell you this though. You may have lost the vanguard, but you inflicted enough damage to seriously wound the enemy, forcing them to retreat from the field."

"It has given us the time we will need to recover and regroup from this battle."

He could tell it was not enough to ease the burden the younger samurai was carrying, but there was nothing more Masaru could do to help him. Sighing, he let his hand fall from Kambei's shoulder. "The command center is currently just west of the ford," Masaru said. "There is a sled waiting there to take you to the daimyo."

Kambei nodded then glanced over to the open field. "Is there anyone who can salvage that?" he asked, his gaze focused on the wreckage of the Crimson Spider littering the area.

Masaru gave Kambei a curious look. "All of it?"

"No, just the gun."

Masaru nodded, understanding the necessity of such an act. "It can be arranged."

There was no need for Kambei to speak again and he simply bowed once before walking away. Masaru watched him for a moment before turning to the other samurai, who had watched the exchange with a curious expression on his face.

"I am Shichiroji," the man said, bowing deeply when Masaru met his gaze.

"I am Yoshiwara Masaru." Masaru studied the young man. Judging by the simple cut of the man's uniform and the lack of a sword or a family name, Shichiroji was just one of the many low ranking samurai called into duty by the daimyo. But the yari the man held loosely in one hand had the mark of a master; a sign that Shichiroji's family had once been of a higher rank than it clearly was now.

Recognizing the insignia on Shichiroji's uniform and knowing from the reports he had received that the man would not have anyone to report to, Masaru waved his hand and started for the wreckage.

"Come on, you can help me figure out how we're going to move this."

He sensed Shichiroji's hesitation but the young man followed without question and they were soon standing beside the Spider's gun. Masaru studied the damage that had caused the gun to separate from the rest of the mecha that had carried it and frowned at the sight.

"What hit this?" Masaru muttered.

"I did." Shichiroji answered quietly.

Masaru looked at him in surprise then back to the wreckage. Now that Shichiroji had admitted that, the pattern of damage made sense. He could see where the blades of the yari had sliced through critical points along the mecha armor, the length of the yari giving Shichiroji the reach a samurai with a sword would not have had.

Still, it would have been a difficult task to accomplish. A quick glance at the covered bodies surrounding the Spider, catching sight of an insignia that matched Shichiroji's on one of the corpses, Masaru realized the young samurai would not have had any choice but to take the Spider on, experienced or not.

Masaru sighed and pulled out his communicator. "We'll start over there," he said to Shichiroji then put in the request for a salvage team to pick up the gun once they finished.

"Shimada Kambei has arrived."

Takanori acknowledged the announcement with a nod, but made no other movement. He watched the mid-morning sunlight slowly flood the garden before him with a soft, golden glow. A quick glance toward the mountains rising in the distance, and the clouds that were beginning to form above them, informed him that it would not be long before that glow disappeared and the ongoing recovery efforts were hampered by the rain. However, there was nothing he could do about the vagaries of the weather.

He pulled his attention away from the view and thoughts of the dead to focus on the living.

He listened to Kambei's approach and was not surprised to find when he turned that the young samurai was on his knees, his head bowed. It was clear he had come straight from the battlefield-- his uniform and the long dark hair on one side of his head was matted and stiff with dried blood.

Gazing at the familiar silver and black hilt of the katana laying on the floor before Kambei-- the katana he had given the young samurai in thanks for the aid he had given the Hayashi clan during the escape from the Capital-- Takanori said quietly, "I will not accept your offer."

Kambei tensed, but before he could protest or argue, Takanori added, "I still have need of you, Shimada Kambei."

Kambei cautiously straightened, settling back on his heels and resting his hands on his thighs. There was a weariness in Kambei's posture that Takanori could not remember seeing before and he felt a moment of regret at being the cause of it. But he had learned over the few years the man had been in his service that Kambei would not break under the weight of his responsibilities.

Stepping closer to Kambei, Takanori asked, "What happened to the vanguard." He waited a moment as Kambei hesitated then ordered firmly, "I want your assessment of the battle."

Kambei straightened and Takanori watched him banish his weariness, leaving only the warrior to speak.

"We had no difficulty holding our position against the ground troops. They were not as experienced as we were expecting- the initial wave was quickly dealt with and considerable ground was gained before the second wave hit."

There was a pause, and Takanori waited silently, knowing it was during the second wave's attack that the vanguard had been lost.

"The second wave had cleared the Miyama-toge Pass and was approaching our position from the west as we secured the area above Horuaki. I chose that location because of the difficulties the warships would have utilizing their cannons. It also allowed our gunners a clear shot at any ships attempting to pass."

Takanori nodded absently. He would have chosen that location as well if he had led the vanguard. The ridge above Horuaki would have put the gunners on the same level as the warships, and the lack of maneuverability in the narrow valley would have protected them from a warship's main cannon, since the warships would be unable to turn their forward bow into position without leaving the cannon vulnerable to a direct attack before they could be used.

"We were in position, ready for the second wave to attack, when a Shinane Maru- class warship moved into the valley. I assumed it was the support ship for the ground forces to the west, but it quickly moved behind the cover offered by another ship called the Amagi. The warship made no attempt to provide cover fire for the ground troops."

Surprised, Takanori asked, "Wait, you are sure it was the Amagi that gave the warship cover?"

Kambei nodded. "The name was visible from our location, though the ship was of a design I had never seen before," he said. "The Amagi held its position over the river, and took heavy fire from our anti-aircraft guns without any apparent damage, as the warship worked its way around the Amagi to a position to our east."

There was another pause in Kambei's narrative as the young samurai drew in a deep breath, and then he said, "The warship was just out of the range of our cannons when it discharged its cargo."

"The battalion of mecha samurai."

"Yes." Kambei met Takanori's gaze and admitted, "My first mistake was not placing any of our guns along our eastern flank. I had assumed we would be sufficiently covered by our support troops there, since I was expecting the bulk of the attack to come from the north, but they were not yet in position when the battalion struck."

My second mistake was assuming that the warships would not be able to move past Horuaki-- I did not take into account a ship like the Amagi being able to take such heavy fire while providing cover for another ship."

"You could not have." Takanori began to pace, his hands clasped tightly behind his back as his mind turned over the ramifications of such a ship as the Amagi.

"The Amagi," Takanori said softly as he paced, "is a Tenshukaku- class battle cruiser. It was on the drawing table during the last Amanushi's reign. Nothing like it had been attempted before. I was unaware that it had gone into production."

Takanori frowned and looked down at Kambei. "Did you see any signs of a main cannon? The support platform would have been attached beneath the ship."

"I saw no sign of any weapons of any kind. We were never fired upon by the Amagi."

"Then it is incomplete." Takanori sighed, and then said under his breath, "I suppose that is one consolation."

Able to see now what had happened, Takanori said, "The mecha battalion attacked your eastern flank, cut through your support troop, then moved up the mountainside to attack your position from above?"

"Yes." Kambei looked away, his gaze drifting to the garden. "When it was clear we could not hold against them, I ordered the destruction of the cannons. The resulting explosions damaged a large portion of the attacking battalion; and the added support of our warships coming in from the south forced them back into the pass."

"That mistake was mine." Takanori said.

"Daimyo?"

"I did not want the Amanushi to discover what ships we had available to us this early and I ordered them to hold their position in the valley longer than I should have. I will not make that mistake again."

Turning away from Kambei, Takanori studied the approaching storm clouds and asked, "Why did you delay in reporting to me, Kambei?"

Takanori glanced over his shoulder. Kambei had been in his service long enough that the brief hesitation and uncertainty at how to answer the question was clear.

"I have no excuse for my delay," Kambei finally admitted. "I… cannot explain it."

Takanori took note of the confusion visible in the slight frown on Kambei's face, and decided he had no choice in what to do next with Kambei. He had already received Masaru's report as to where he had found Kambei, and had the name of the samurai he was with.

He knew of Shichiroji from his reputation as an accomplished pilot-- only his low rank had kept him on the ground. Takanori also knew that-- despite his rank-- Shichiroji's name was on the list of candidates for the proposed strike team Kambei had mentioned a few months back.

Not a superstitious man, Takanori nevertheless took it as a sign from the kami that the two men had managed to stumble across one another after the battle.

Moreover, with the Amagi now operational, Takanori knew they had no chance of surviving this war using conventional methods.

Takanori waited until Kambei met his gaze once more and said, "It is time for you to create your squadron."

At Kambei's surprised look, Takanori added, "I know of no better punishment for your actions than that." Dismissing Kambei with a wave of his hand, Takanori said, "You have two month. I expect to see results by then, Kambei."

He could not tell if Kambei was relieved by his order or not.