Chapter 10: Her inner fire
In Tetsu no Kuni, on Zipang's Eastern coastline, on the same day that Yuto Ascended, General Akutagawa Yua no Tetsu had just received authorisation for construction of one of the latest weapons the nation had in its arsenal: the Dai Sasori walker tank. The project, run as a joint effort between Zipang's four military bases in the provinces of Kaminari no Kuni, Tetsu no Kuni, Kasai no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni, now had powers to construct a prototype Dai Sasori.
Just as she finished delivering the news, a man with dark green hair in a light-grey robe and a sword sheathed on his sash came forward. "Ah, Takeda Isao no Tetsu. What news?"
"It has been difficult, General, but I have what you requested.
"Splendid, Takeda-san. Do you have some with you?"
"I do."
"Perfect. I need to visit Kori no Kuni anyway, so maybe we can do some test-fires there!"
"I have to beg that you use them sparingly, though: they are not easy to reproduce."
"As a Tetsu no Kuni Steel Warrior, you know better than anyone else that the best designs often aren't the easiest. That's why this branch's craftsmanship is the finest in Zipang."
"Agreed, but we usually don't pour that amount of advanced technology into rifle bullets."
"Takeda-san, you're the only one I've let in on my little secret. You know why I both can and can't comply with that request at the same time."
"I see, your... speciality." Takeda noted, as they both walked out of the building in the base to a nearby aerial transport.
"Besides, we may be returning there in about a week or so." Yua informed as they sat down in a small, almost cramped bridge, the airship starting to lift off.
"Why?"
"The Dai Sasori got approved. With Takumi no Kami-sama's blessing, we can have that test-firing in Kori no Kuni in maybe six days."
"Isn't that thing powerful?"
"So far, barring what our Protoss friend has given us, yes. Maybe even if you include that new weaponry, this might be one of our most promising endeavours."
"But isn't what the Protoss have provided sufficient for defending ourselves?"
"Maybe so, but don't forget that we were at war with them at one stage. I don't trust gifts that are given by an enemy that was nearing victory in the war."
"But General, was it not our side that struck first when all they wanted was a defence against the advancing Zerg?"
"We had no way of verifying that threat ourselves at the time, and if you think about it, Hinamoto no Kami-sama was right to try and fight at the time. For all we know, Urun could have been lying."
"Since we struck first, it is common practice for them to defend themselves."
"Maybe so, but they've done things that many people still cannot forgive. One of their biggest transgressions was the massacre of the Adachi clan in Hikari no Kuni."
"I remember; when the Protoss invaded their village, the Adachi were killed in the attempt to keep them out. The Zealots quickly closed the gap between the true-sighted Adachi warriors and struck them all down in close combat – exploiting the weakness in raw strength of the Hikari no Kuni Steel Warriors. Only the youngest son, Iori, survived."
"From what Iori told me once, it doesn't sound like it was a battle: the Protoss were slaughtering everyone unless they surrendered on the spot. His family was killed right in front of his eyes, and had he not declared his surrender when the murderers approached him, he would have likely been slain as well."
"He... surrendered?"
"Yes. Being a Steel Warrior, you know that the highest dishonour you can bring to your shogun and your clan is to lay down your arm to an enemy. Even Iori still hasn't forgiven himself for that; his whole life, he was being brought up to have the virtues of a Zipang Steel Warrior, to lay down your life for your nation and to never let your resolve waver... then you are forced to betray what you hold dear to stay alive. It's the reason he tattooed that shuriken onto his head in the first place, as a reminder of his disgrace and what he has lost."
"I only met him once, and he barely even talked to me."
"He aspired so badly to be a Steel Warrior, and he had to forsake that dream. It's not surprising that he doesn't want to face a true Steel Warrior; imagine the shame he would have to endure if word got around that the successor to the Adachi clan lay down his arm as opposed to his life when faced with an enemy. That's why, as of this moment, I order you not to repeat this to anyone."
"I understand, General."
"I myself have had to contend with the Protoss attack, and I lost many good men and women. We barely held Kasai no Kuni, but as you know, we lost Tsuchi no Kuni From what I heard, the main Steel Warrior clan there was lucky in that it was called back to the Imperial Palace in Kami no Kuni in case of infiltrators, otherwise we would have had to relive the Adachi massacre again."
"So he is alone? The last Adachi?"
"Yes, Takeda-san, but his belief in his dishonor has also led him to renounce his clan name, only keeping it for administrative reasons. As far as he is concerned, the Adachi were all slaughtered. His loyalties, since the war ended, lie with only the shogun and my people."
"How do you even know all this, General Akutagawa?
"Put it this way: it's amazing how a target range brings people closer together. Ah, looks like we're arriving in one of the villages... and we've got company. Looks like the Kami no Kuni air transport, which would mean Takumi no Kami-sama. How interesting..."
"What would Takumi no Kami-sama be doing in Kori no Kuni?"
"Any number of things. Were it up to me to guess, I'd say he's letting the people there know to expect a military test-fire. I see Akira-chan is with him, and Iori, as well as... Iseyada-kun? And an Otome?"
"Otome? What do the Western Nations want from us?" Takeda asked as the aircraft touched down on the edge of the village.
"There is a war in the West, so she most probably wants our help to tip the balance of power between the nations."
"She seeks for us to betray Kaneshiro-sama's legacy?"
"I suspect so. Let's go, Takeda-san," Yua ordered as she stood up. She and the grey-robed Takeda quickly exited the transport and walked through the mountain snow to meet with Takumi's group. As they got closer, she noticed that Yuto had his eyes covered by his hand, and he looked dazed... almost as if... "Takumi no Kami-sama, is Iseyada-kun okay?"
"Sister... Yua?" Yuto wondered. "It's... too bright."
"Don't any of your people see the daylight?"
"Only the Frumentarii... if they venture topside... and even then, from what I've heard... they've got protection."
"Only your spies? Why not anyone else?"
"Nobody else... leaves... I'm the first of another Legion... to see the outside... It is cold, and yet it burns!"
"Hopefully, you'll get used to it with time. Maybe you need to spend some more time in one of Zipang's other provinces. It's much warmer at ground level."
"We still need to find a way to deal with his sight problems," Sara informed.
"And just what is your business here, Otome?"
"A diplomatic mission. Also, I'm Iseyada-san's combat trainer for the duration of my visit."
"Doesn't he react poorly to attempts at combat training?"
"It could very well be his instructors failed at their jobs. Many times, a failure to teach is brought down to a problem with the teacher."
"Fine, just keep your mouth shut about it. If his horror stories are to be believed, he'd be... in serious trouble as soon as the Legions get wind of his mentor."
"Did you come here just to warn me of being in someone's company?"
"Good point," Yua stated, turning her attention to Takumi. "I need to speak to you about sensitive matters... in private."
"You will do no such thing!" Akira warned, stepping forward only to be blocked by Takeda. "Out of my way, Steel Warrior!"
"You are the one who needs to desist. The General very clearly called for privacy during her meeting with Takumi no Kami-sama!" Takeda declared.
"But as his Shadow Warrior, I must make sure he is safe at all times, private or not. Now move aside before things get ugly!"
"I forgot, Shadow Warriors have no concept of the word 'privacy'."
"Because you are young and fresh out the dojo, I will pardon that insult just this once. However, any more disrespect and you will repent as is our tradition! Takumi no Kami-sama's safety has always been my concern, which is why I cannot afford to leave his side. Now move aside, I won't ask again!"
"I have to respect the wishes of my Lady, the General Akutagawa!" Takeda roared, drawing his katana. "Shadow Warrior, I hereby challenge you to a Duel!"
"So be it," Akira stated, drawing her own short sword.
Meanwhile, Yua had dragged Takumi into her ship, and the two were sitting rather uncomfortably in the bridge with her almost on top of him. "Takumi no Kami-sama, why is the Otome really here?" she started.
"She claimed to want to lend her efforts to resolving any problems we may have as part of her working with the other Eastern Kingdoms."
"You are aware there is a war in the West?"
"Yes, General."
"I can't see her doing this out of pure charity. Please don't give her any excuse to drag us into a senseless Western war that will destroy us."
"I know. With the Zerg hammering on our borders, our resources are best spent on holding the line anyway. But you almost sound like you want to actually enter that particular battlefield in the West."
"I confess, Takumi-kun, that I do want to restore the sovereignty of Windbloom's Queen, but as of yet, we have no proof that Artai has done anything wrong. I don't want the Otome swaying us to join a particular side on false pretences and a lack of solid proof, however."
"I see."
"Otherwise, we have begun constructing our Dai Sasori prototype, and should have it ready in a week. There is one final matter I wish to discuss with you though, Takumi-kun." Yua whispered, leaning in closer.
"W-w-what is it?" He now found her right hand on his left cheek.
"Well, when we last saw each other in private like this, we were interrupted by you needing to see the Cardinals of the Seminary. This way you can't get away."
"Y-Yua?"
"Just please grant me this, Takumi no Kami-sama..." Her face was mere inches away, and her lips were fast closing the distance to his... they were almost there... until...
"I knew it! Unhand him!" Akira shouted from the ship's entrance, jumping to their side and shoving Yua away from Takumi.
"So you got past Takeda-san?"
"He's alive, but the only thing he had going for him was that he was stubborn. It was easy to get past him otherwise. It takes almost no effort to defeat Tetsu no Kuni warriors in Duels."
"Still, you have got to learn when not to butt in, Akira-sama."
"When you respect Takumi's boundaries! I won't let you compromise my duty to protect him!"
"Okay, fine. I needed to go anyway."
Yua turned around and walked straight out of the aircraft back into the snows, helping the now slightly bruised Takeda back onto his feet. From there, they walked along an unmarked path to a spot that she had taken to using as a personal target range; a small basin coated with snow, and a few target dummies with holes as well.
"Takeda, can you set up the robot dummy first?" Yua requested.
"At once," he acknowledged, running to one of the closer dummies and tinkering with some electrical systems inside. Soon, the only dummy to be a robot began humming, and its eyes glowed a faint orange. "It is done!"
"Splendid. Gimme the electrical bullet first." This was also the point where Yua drew her rifle and ejected the sole bullet embedded within, which had a red casing. Before taking the bullet that Takeda was holding, which had a blue casing, she inserted the red-cased bullet into a pouch on her belt, placing it alongside a green bullet casing.
"So, you must have been practising with Anti-Personnel rounds then?"
"Yeah, so far isn't much call for Armor Piercing green."
"That electrical bullet has a large static charge built into its core. The electricity will spark off against anything it hits, so it should be fairly damaging to any electrical systems it contacts. However, getting the bullet to hold that much charge wasn't easy, so that is the only one so far."
"Like a mini-EMP? Don't worry, I won't waste it."
From there, Yua started hissing, and her face started darkening in color until it had turned to a turquoise.. Her body then burst into a green flame which also proceeded to cover her gun, and when it vanished, she was covered in green scales. Her left hand, with the same turquoise color as her face, had gained long claws almost reminiscent of daggers, while her right arm had completely changed. In place of a right hand was what appeared to be a third arm segment, albeit half as thick with a hole at the end where a hand would have been.
She finally took a deep breath, as if to recover from the pain, and raised her right arm as if aiming at the robot. Just then, something shot straight out of the hole at the end of her arm and impaled the robot, whereupon it created a small electrical explosion that arced off the dummy's metal. It looked like the object was... a shard of bone, almost like the finger bones in a human hand but fused together and sharpened. Another bone shard shot out of the hole, and again there was a small electrical explosion where the bone shard hit. The sensors inside the robot dummy were giving error reports, and after a few more electric bone shards shot into it, they stopped giving readings entirely.
"Aw, looks like we fried the robot," Yua pouted. "Still, you look... well... shocked. Let me remind you; when I take this form, I physically cannot waste any ammo that I use. Even your one-of-a-kind project."
"Does it work as well as you hoped?" Takeda asked.
"Perfect. Maybe see if you can augment the voltage a bit more, but this will be good enough for now.
"Here is the other round you asked for."
"Hold on," Yua stated, hissing again as green flames burst from her body again to engulf her. When the flames cleared a second later, she looked like her usual self, and her rifle had reappeared in her right hand. She opened it and ejected the bullet inside, placing it alongside her red and green ones in her belt. "Okay, now."
Takeda handed her a bullet with a yellow casing this time, after which she loaded it into the rifle and, hissing in immense pain, burst into green flames again and returned to her alternate form. Her extended right arm taking aim again, a shard shot out. This time, there was a small explosion in the snow where the shard shot towards. Taking aim at a higher point, she fired another shard. Again, there was a small explosion at the point of contact, and the displaced snow had created a small avalanche. "Good, could work quite well for crowd control."
"The tip of that bullet basically has a blasting cap, and I packed as much of a high-explosive charge as I could manage in the core of the bullet. So when the bullet impacts, it triggers the blasting cap and sets off the explosive. Too expensive to mass produce though," Takeda explained.
"That's fine. I don't think either of them are good ideas for mass-production though. I'll hold on to these, but we can give ourselves a pat on the back for a job well done, Takeda-san."
"Is there anything more, General?"
"Actually, yes. Release a pop-up of Target A."
"At once."
Takeda ran further into the basin and released a few clasps, allowing a wooden board to rise from its face-down position... a wooden board with a picture of Akira. "You may want to clear away there!"
"General, are you all right?"
"He he he, more or less. Me and Takumi no Kami-sama were interrupted."
"I'm sorry, I did my best to stall her."
"Don't beat yourself up too much about it, she has been training as a Shadow Warrior from birth. But still..." A large, green jet of flame shot from the hole on her right arm and streamed towards the Akira graphic on the wooden board. Immediately, the target was set ablaze when the flames hit, and she continued streaming green fire for a bit longer. When she stopped, and the fires on what was now a stump sputtered to death, a small mini-lake had formed in the area.
Bursting into green flames, Yua returned to her usual self. "...she needs to learn to mind her own business!"