Part 6

…

"Charge! Take no prisoners!" Eijentu's voice sounded throughout the battlefield. "Taking care of POWs cost too much!"

The Rent-A-Orc army heard her and began their rush towards the Imperial invasion force. It was unusual that the majority of the Imperial troops were infantry, with not a single Liddo-walker, the Empress Naru's favorite weapon, was present among the attacking force. It didn't make sense that the Empire would invade KFH territory without even a single one of those supposedly invincible attack walkers. Still, the ENE artillery and slowly approaching infantry force was closing in. Eijentu couldn't really afford to ponder on that right now though, the Orcs were outnumbered five to one. Even Orcs can't win with those odds. Still, the well positioned Orcish snipers were taking out a good number of troops, which was good.

"Damn! I knew it was too good to last!" Eijentu scowled as she looked through her binoculars. "An Imperial walker is coming!"

"Commander, I don't think we can keep this up." One of her lackeys commented. "I suggest we call a tactical retreat."

"A retreat does sound appropriate." Eijentu thought for a moment. "Sound the retreat!"

…

"You! You have some nerve to come here!" Kanako shouted as she stepped out of her bed chamber, where she had been nursing the still unconscious Kana. "After what your forces did to him, you dare come here!"

"I swear, Kanako-san, I gave no order to attack your territory!" Shinobu could only stand back, she had never in all the countless millennia of her existence had she ever see anyone THAT angry. "You have to listen to me! I would never…"

"Have you come here to add insult to injury? Come to mock me because you think I'm weak now?" Kanako asked, forming a shadow katana in one hand, ready to cut Shinobu to as many pieces as she could possibly make. "I assure you, I am as powerful as ever. We may have been friends once, but I would sooner see you rot as a sacrifice on the altar of this Cathedral than to allow you to make a mockery of him! We may be vile and treacherous but at least we have the decency to declare war on our enemies!"

"Kanako-san please…" Shinobu's eyes were watery and close to tears. Clearly, these were not the eyes of someone who was here to mock the wounded Master Necromancer. "He and I were…friends. I would never order my troops to attack your territory…"

"What do you want?" Kanako asked coldly though her anger had abated somewhat. She lowered her weapon but still kept it at the ready. Equally ready were the shadows of the Cathedral itself, which, of their own volition, begun to circle around Shinobu's neck. They could choke her at a moment's notice, if they came close enough.

"I came here to see how he is doing." Shinobu answered, her eyes reflecting a fear. It wasn't the fear of the shadows that threatened to choke her or of the enraged Kanako before her but the fear of losing an old friend. "And to assure you, neither Su-chan nor I condone or ordered the attack."

"He's still unconscious, if you must know." Kanako answered, mentally ordering the shadows around Shinobu's neck to back away. She then dropped a sword bearing the emblem of the SASA on the table between them. "This was what did it, a sword from the SASA army."

"I apologize. Some of the troops can be…fanatical sometimes." Shinobu answered as she eyed the blade, confirming that it was from her army. "I swear, on everything I hold dear, I would never order such an attack. You know as well as Kana does what we had…"

"He loved you once." Kanako admitted as she sat down across Shinobu, driving the blade of the shadow katana into the ground. "He loved you enough to leave you for the good of both of you. But rest assured that whatever he felt for you then is long gone now."

"I have no delusions of ever getting him back. I came here as his friend and yours." Shinobu answered as her eyes began to show she was ready to beg. "Kanako, please, let me see him. My powers can heal his wounds faster than any medicine can. If you refuse to see my actions as a gesture of peace between our two factions, then see it as a gesture of friendship between the three of us. Consider yourself warned."

"Fine then, he's in there." Kanako said as she stood up, katana in hand, opening the door to her bed chambers. "If an attack like that happens again, we will take it as a declaration of war and not even your friendship with the two of us can save you."

"I understand." Shinobu answered with full confidence as she followed Kanako inside. "Kana…"

…

"What the Hell is going on?! Why aren't my weapon systems working?!"

"Trouble, I see, Shalashaska."

Shalashaska was surprised at what was happening. The Imperial infantry was slowly wearing down but the Liddo-walkers were downright unstoppable. Those things were decimating everything in their path, from Tama-canons to Tama-tanks to the experimental Veritech fighters. Nothing could stand in their way. Now, his Veritech's weapons refused to function and Cheshire Cat had suddenly contacted him. His only working weapon, a mounted machine gun was barely even denting the Liddo-walker's armor and he could just barely dodge the inhumanly accurate aiming of the massive machines of destruction. As he struggled to keep himself in the air despite seeing many of his men be shot down, Baka-Alaskan's secretary laughed.

"What the Hell is so funny?! I'm in the middle of a battle here!"

"I know. So tell me, how do you plan on taking those walkers down without any proper weaponry?"

"What the f*ck? How did you know that?!"

"I disabled them."

"You did WHAT?! You traitor!"

"Well, if anything, my boss' plan is working well. You'll die in battle and no one will oppose him as he takes over the entire SASA government." That conniving Cat smiled. "Bye."

"Well, there's nothing I can do then." Shalashaska sighed, closed his eyes and set his Veritech into a downward spiral, aiming for the fuel tank of the lead walker. "CRY HAVOC AND LET LOOSE THE DOGS OF WAR!"

…

Motoko slammed her head into the table. She had just been through seven grueling hours of potential applicants as new Knight Commander of the Knights of Motoko. Needless to say, she was dog tired. She was contemplating leaving the KoM altogether, the group just didn't seem worth the trouble anymore. The only person she had in the group with even remotely having the required minimum tactical leadership skills was James Ray Edwards. Not exactly her best choice. She sighed as she took one long, very long, drink of water. She found herself in a corner now, either to abolish the KoM completely and have them running around engaging in battles mindlessly and eventually get themselves killed or to re-appoint Edwards as Knight Commander and risk getting them all killed in some misguided crusade or another.

"Now I KNOW I should have taken Kana up on his offer back then." Motoko slammed her head again on the table. "Maybe it's not too late to get rid of these people…"

…

"Kebinu, I'm bored." Naru sighed as she lay down on her Liddo-kun shaped bed.

"Err…" Kebinu twitched. "Not to sound like I'm unwilling, because I am, but I just gave you wild, wild nookie five minutes ago. I don't want to die of exhaustion, Empress. Though, I would surely die with a smile on my face…"

"I didn't mean that, Kebinu. I know your limitations. That's why I'm considering using my fingers right now, if you know what I mean." Naru smiled with a hentai glimmer in her eye. Kebinu would never have noticed. "Sing for me."

"I can't sing."

"Sing or DIE!!" Naru ordered, her eyes burning with a fireball in hand, white hot this time.

"Oh Naru, I am but a fool…" Kebinu began singing to the tune of 'Oh! Carol'. "Darling I love you, and my love is true!"

"Oh, wonderful! Kawaii, Kebinu!" Naru clapped in glee. "Take your clothes off!"

"You hurt me…hurt me…hurt me…and you made me cry…but if you leave me, I will surely die…" Kebinu shook his head while STILL singing. "Darling there will never be another…"

"Strip while singing or DIE!"

"Cause I love you so! Don't ever leave me! Say you'll never go!" Kebinu was now stripping as he sang. Degrading? Yes but necessary if he wanted to live. Without his powers as a Fire Mage, even an ordinary fireball would do him in. "I will always want you for my sweetheart, no matter what you do!"

"Oh yeah! This is fun!" Naru cried with in a typical hentai glee. "Show me the money!"

"Oooh Naru! Naru! Naru! I'm so in love with you!" Kebinu then felt something grab his lower body. He looked down in shock. "What the Hell?"

"Aww, how kawaii! Liddo-kun wants to use you!" Naru smiled. "Threesome with Liddo-kun! Threesome!"

"Ack! A…a stuffed toy is going to use me?" Kebinu whimpered as Naru dragged him to the bed. "I feel so degraded. And why were you so mean just now?"

"Oh that. I lied about becoming nicer after getting some nookie. It actually just makes me want more and more nookie and sometimes, it even makes me a heck of a lot meaner!" Naru said as she slammed Kebinu to the bed. "Now, stick your damn tongue out!"

"But you said…" Kebinu slapped his face. Did he really believe that Naru would become nicer after getting some? He admitted that idea was rather dumb. "Who am I kidding? I accepted the job for the nookie!"

To Be Continued…

Kanako: Hehe. Next episode! More backstabbing in the SASA! We find out what Kana and Shinobu's past relationship really was! Talon and Mutsumi have a talk! Eijentu and Kitsune in a bathtub! This is getting really, really ecchi. I'm absolutely sure Kana never intended for it to go like this but it's my fic now! I'll respect my husband's wishes and keep the more dramatic story ideas of his intact. I also got 2 prequels for this! One covering the golden age of the Mutsumi and Naru years of the Empire to Talon's rescue attempt and the other dealing with the 5 years Kana and I spent in the void! Motoko-chan, I'd love to straighten Kebinu out as well but I'm busy with Kana. And yes, I fear your I.Q. is dropping.