Part 2
…
"Well, it's not that I approve of the decadent life style of the people within the KFH territories but…" Motoko trembled in agreement with her Knight Commander.
"Then we must launch a Crusade! A holy war against the decadent and deplorable KFH! That sly fox Kitsune must be brought low! And we, the Knights of Motoko, will be the sword that will cut them down!"
"Down with Kitsune!" the battle cry within the Main Hall sounded. "Down with the KFH!"
Motoko shook her head, yet again did her Knight Commander, James Ray Edwards, misinterpret her words. The KoM are a rather misguided lot, not by Motoko's fault but rather by Lord Edwards' lack of ability to understand what message Motoko was trying to convey. The samurai looked on towards the right, where a dark shadow was moving rather unnaturally. It was the person she knew only as Sadistic Shadow, an odd individual that reminded her of Kanako in some ways. None of the Knights noticed her presence so she moved a little forward, close enough to speak to Motoko. Motoko was willing to talk to anyone but her own knights right now, which made Sadistic Shadow's presence tolerable for the time being.
"Motoko-sama…" she greeted.
"Shadow-san…"
"A rather rowdy lot, aren't they? Quite unlike their mistress, how odd, don't you think?"
"Sometimes I wonder…" Motoko stammered before refocusing her thoughts. "What brings you here?"
"Is it a crime to bask in the presence of the honorable samurai goddess Motoko?" the shadow's head distorted enough to make it obvious she was smiling. "I'm just visiting."
"Won't your Empress notice you're gone?"
"The Empress is too busy punishing one of her city governors. A man by the name of…Leon…something or other. I could never really remember." The shadow answered.
"And here I was…trying to avoid entering the conflict. Sometimes I wonder why I didn't take up Kana's offer a few years ago." Motoko slammed her head on the wooden table. "It would have made things so much simpler."
"Well, there were three things that stopped you. He's known for his treachery, he's at war with the Evil Naru Empire and his mere presence reminds you of the evils of this world."
"There are also three qualities that would have made accepting his offer the sensible choice. He's known for his treachery, he is at war with the Evil Naru Empire and his Necro-Technology produces the second most lethal weapons in all the land, second only to the SASA's weapons technology."
"Well, his offer is certainly gone now." The shadow's voice had just a hint of glee. "I must get going, Leon what's-his-name's execution must be done by now."
"Well, sayonara, Shadow-san."
…
"What do you have to say for yourself...whoever you are?" Naru scowled at the miserable figure kneeling in fear before her.
"It wasn't my fault! I'm innocent!" the former Imperial city governor, Leon D.S. Geeste groveled. "Give me another chance Empress!"
He tried to scurry away from the burly arms of two of the Empress Naru's Royal Guards, in their thick, heavy blood red armor that had two horns and bio-mechanical wings. It was bad enough nobody ever really remembers his name right but now, with the recent loss of the city he once governed, he was about to become target practice for the Empress. He would be, by rough estimation, he would be number four hundred thousand, three hundred eighty seventh poor Imperial official to be personally fried by Narusegawa herself. He was sweating so much there was very little moisture left in his body, which made Naru smile. It would be easier to burn him to ashes with less moisture.
"Baka." Kebinu snickered by the side of his Empress. "If the Empress gave second chances, you would be working the sewers underneath the Imperial Palace, Hinata Sou. Not waiting for execution."
"Shut up Kebinu." Naru reprimanded. "I have not given you permission to speak."
"Gomen, Empress."
"Now, do you have any lasts requests?" However, Naru readied her blue fireball just as he was about to open his mouth. "On second thought, you don't deserve that. You're nothing but a miserable failure."
Within a second, Leon's entire body was covered in scalding hot blue flames, his entire body burning to a crisp quickly and painfully. As Naru laughed maniacally, watching the man get his due for failing her and the Empire, a snap of her fingers was Kebinu's signal to laugh as well. As the two of them laughed, the Royal Guards opened the doors of the throne room and let the screaming former governor out of the room. Then, Naru noticed a faintly moving shadow in the distance. It had a female figure and she knew who it was. With a wave of her hand, she sent Kebinu and the Royal Guards out of the throne room. As the shadow stepped forward, kneeling before the Empress, they didn't realize Kebinu was listening in from the outside, scheming, conniving Ambassador that he is.
"My Empress…" Sadistic Shadow greeted.
"Where have you been?"
"I have merely been here and there, your eternal loveliness." The shadow smiled, in a sense. "I have only been wandering in search of what you ordered me to find."
"And where is it? Where is the Necronomicon?"
"The Church of Kanako has it, my Empress."
"Necronomicon…" Kebinu snickered form the outside. "…very interesting. What would that miserable monstrosity of a woman want with the Necronomicon? I'll have to dig into that…"
…
"Well, well. What brings you here, General Talon? Grand Minister Eijentu?" Kana asked as he entered the war room of the Cathedral of Shadows, center of power for the Church of Kanako. "What may the darkness do for you today?"
"I'm just here to re-negotiate the KFH Rent-A-Orc contract for another…fifty years, I think. I could never really listen to Boss Kitsune so much. Too much sake during administrative meetings can do that to a man." Eijentu answered before swallowing a glass of sake.
"You run a corrupt religion here, Kana."
"We may be corrupt, the mantra of our armies may be 'Lie, cheat and steal for the glory of Kanako' but at least we're honest about it." Kana reasoned as he took his seat and noticed the five girls standing behind Talon. He raised a white eyebrow and eyed them all. "Your second in command, Silver, not with you today? How odd, that."
Kana and Eijentu eyed the five fine female specimens in different ways. Eijentu's eyes didn't seem to vary much from the typical female's eyes when seeing if a girl is attractive or not while Kana was more of analytical. He looked into their eyes, trying to find out just how useful any of them could be. The one with crimson red hair had a strong stance but smelled of gunpowder. The blonde was a tempting sight, even to the unyieldingly loyal Kana, but something about her put her off. The green haired one was quiet but he could sense that she was disgusted at the sight of him. The youngest looking one, one that bore an unbearable cuteness, seemed intelligent enough. And the last one, the pink haired one was just…strange.
"Lieutenant Silver's busy negotiating a deal with the SASA for some ground infantry. They find the Rent-A-Orc company you run a little expensive." Talon smiled, Kana smirked. "These five are my personal guards; meet my version of your Dark Templar Special Forces Kana, the Angel-tai."
"They may be expensive but they are effective, General. We don't use run of the mill, idiotic, moronic Orcs after all." Kana replied. "Necro-Technologies have created Orcs that actually possess the intelligence of an average human being."
"Such intelligence still isn't really much, if you really think about it." Eijentu interrupted. "Come on, Kana. Get the contract out so we can both sign it. Boss Kitsune is throwing yet another week long party and I'm already two hours late."
"Of course, Grand Minister, the contract will be prepared soon. I assume you want the same package as the previous one?" Kana asked eagerly. He rubbed his hands; he could almost smell the KFH gold bars that would be used to pay for the rental of an entire army of Orcs.
"Yeah, that's about it." Eijentu agreed as if she didn't care. It was clear she just wanted out of there.
"Well then, sign on the dotted line." Kana smiled evilly as he handed the contract over. "And leave the seven thousand tons of gold at the door."
"You're a greedy man, Kana." Talon smirked comfortably as Eijentu signed the contract and left in a hurry. Kana simply read the contract over once and smiled, the Church was now seven thousand tons of gold richer. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"
"You should know me that well by now, old friend. We served under the same long gone alliance once."
"As I recall, you were the first and last War Minister for Shinobu-sama before she decided that you were too…treacherous and evil to stomach." Talon said as he leaned back on his seat and signaled the Angel-tai to leave. "Then, you found yourself exiled by the Empress herself into the Void."
"It was her mistake to exile me there." Kana smiled as he saw Kanako appear from the shadows. "And as for Shinobu, well, I bear no ill will towards my former mistress but my loyalty rests on someone else now."
"It rests with me." Kanako said as she softly placed her hand on Kana's shoulder. "There is no question of that, is there, General Talon?"
"Absolutely, Dark One, there is no doubt of that." Talon bowed before Kanako's presence.
"You better believe it." Kana smirked as he took a drink.
To Be Continued…
Kanako: Don't say I didn't warn you people. Nobody disrespects MY Kana and gets away with it. And please stop complaining about the lack of Sara, Haruka and Mutsumi factions. I'm not putting Haruka and Sara in this one, so no factions for them. And as for Mutsumi, I have plans...special plans that not even Kana knows about. Since you people seem intent on making me update this quickly against my wishes, after conferring with Kana, I decided to put this up.