NOTE:

"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking

"Charge!": special case

'Darn!': thoughts

GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!

Please… read and review

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I'm fixing a little detail. The first of the Triplet Fortress visited is the Sun Wu fortress. Next is Cao Wei. Shu Han will come later.

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Around 12 odd years ago, Zaft launched a series of massive offensive strikes into the heart of China. The Alliance troopers hold their borders fast to no avail. As if guided by some master prophet strategist, using ingenious tactics, Zaft knights scored a series of impossible victories in the face of overwhelming odds. In just short span of four years, over half of China's western portion from Tibet to Sichuan has been completely taken over, and despite the Alliance's forces best efforts, they cannot retake these territories.

By coincidence or luck, the drive was stopped around the time when the young and gifted Rena Imelia was made First lieutenant of the 10th division. But the scars of Zaft's offensive push remained: Zaft's forces were so heavily entrenched on Chinese soil, several of their fortification has been established, creating a seemingly impenetrable line of defense, guarded by jutting cannon armed Guard towers and magically reinforced embattlement. When Rena was made in charge, she was faced with an arduous task of rebuilding what Zaft had torn down as quickly as possible. The battered and beaten Regulars of the 10th division in China were but a shadow of their former glory. But the ambitious Rena sets her sights higher: not only she intends to re-forge the 10th division to greater heights, she wished to retake her homeland China with it.

"So… this is your plan?" Captain Anderson addressed the much younger, and less grim, Rena Imelia. She had petitioned a very radical proposal on a way to quickly replenish their combat strength.

"Sir, yes, sir." Rena smiled optimistically as she began reiterating her ideas. "Sir, I believe that, given the right circumstances in the right environment, even an amateur can act like men of experience. Under the right guidance, I believe arming a select group of the 7th division's recruits can better their training and transition into a proper regular, sir."

"Believe?" Anderson rolled his eyes at Rena's. Her eyes brimming with confidence and optimism. The elder captain snarled a chuckle, understanding that such thing came along with being young. "War isn't won by sentiment."

"Sir, no, sir." Rena shook her head. "Sir, they are won by men, bullets, cannon-fire, and guts, sir."

Anderson nodded in agreement. Harlbarton himself promoted her to be his lieutenant, citing her to be one of his best and brightest. Judging by what he sees in this proposal, she did not disappoint. "Very well. I'll leave it entirely in your hands, Lieutenant Imelia."

The smile in Imelia's grew brighter at the approval. "Sir, thank you, sir."

The optimistic Rena immediately set about her task with much enthusiasm. As detailed in her proposal, she literally hand selected her recruits straight out from Harlbarton's pool of human resources. Among them, she picked the sickly but bright Xingke, the one armed but vicious girl Karren, an opium addict Simca, and many more such individuals. Before long, her squadrons of handpicked special Militias are assembled into an astounding force. The first step to achieve her vision of a new and improved Alliance force had been made.

However, her efforts were not without some hiccups and setbacks along the way. In many ways, Rena's rise to officer's seat is nothing short of meteoric. From Miltia to Recruit and then, bypassing Sergeant completely, she became a Lieutenant. While Harlbarton's glowing recommendation aid in that rise, her own not inconsiderable skills is largely held responsible for that. But she's still a woman. When an entire division filled mostly with men suddenly had to take their orders from a woman, a young and still wet behind the ears woman at that… such thing will arouse no small amount of envy and petty jealousy which give way to underhanded acts – from harmless mischief…

Rena, whose underwear was stolen to be made a flag, and her squadron showed up for their daily general morning drills barefooted. Many days later, their boots were found in the septic tank.

…to outright vandalism and sabotage.

Rena rushed in when Xingke reported that their mess hall was completely messed up and all their allotted rifles and gunpowders in their armory were found at the bottom of the river.

But none of this compare to the disturbance caused by one party. A party that Rena, in her inexperienced and naïve understanding at that time, chose to ignore until that day.

Rena could barely contain her rage as she brushed past troopers too frightened to stop the now infamously ill tempered lieutenant as she kicked the door to Anderson's office off its hinges. The captain's surprise at the ill mannered entrance was quickly replaced with knowing look when he identified the culprit.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Rena wasted no time. "Is this some kind of a joke!?"

"Calm down, Rena. Tell me what happened-"

"With all due respect, Sir, what happened is that I arrived in the assembly this morning to find HALF of my handpicked recruits in MY squadron had been replaced with strangers I had never even seen before! When I checked with the army registry, I found out my men had been reassigned to another squadron!?"

"And what of it?" a voice replied from the sidelines. An elderly gentleman with an out of place cleanliness in his dressing stood quietly. "Soldiers gets transferred every day from squadron to squadron. It's a common occurrence."

"Udina." Rena's eyes glowered with murderous fury. "Captain Anderson, am I still in charge of this project!?"

"You are."

"And yet you let this shitty bureaucrat to go around and redistribute my men as he pleases, WITHOUT MY APPROVAL!?"

"I'd watch your tongue if I were you, Lieutenant." Udina step forth, eyes shined with threat. "And they are not your men, they're the Alliance's. They can be redistributed in any way at times of need-"

Rena immediately snapped: "Was I talking to you?"

Anderson quickly interjected before things escalated out of control. "Rena, listen. Zaft is pushing our western borders and we need the men. Udina had just come to inform on me that he had taken the liberty to sign off those transfers. Those men are needed there and they are ready-"

"I'll be the judge of when they ARE READY!" Rena roared. "THEY ARE NOT READY and YOU KNOW IT! YOU are sending them to useless deaths, Anderson!"

"That's not your call." Udina nonchalantly retorted. "A woman like you could scarcely comprehend the need for man's war effort."

That was a step too far. All blood had drained away from Rena's whitening balled knuckles. "One more word from you, Shit for brains, and I'll-"

"ENOUGH!" Anderson banged the table. "Rena! Calm down! Udina! You need to know your place. Rena is my Lieutenant and the leader of that Squadron. And while I understand the need for this transfer, I deeply regretted the way you do so without my and especially Rena's knowing consent. Transfer of this kind requires permission from the commanding officer of said Squadron. Bypass military protocol again, and I will have you shot, Logos observer or not! Do you understand!?"

"Perfectly." Udina snorted, completely unrepentant, completely unfazed by Anderson's death threats. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lunch scheduled this afternoon with the Empress." And the arrogant minister just waltzed off without permission.

If before Rena was infuriated, now she's incandescent. "You just let him walk out like that!? 'Bypass military protocol again and I'll have you shot!?' I should've shot that prick of an asswipe right then and there for this sabotage-"

"Rena! I'll say again, you need to calm down!" Anderson growled. "I'm not happy about this either. But you deemed Simca was ready and I thought-"

"Simca was an exception! Her prodigal military prowess was hampered by opium addiction which she had since overcome with my rehabilitation program. SHE, out of her own free will un-addled by narcotics, asked to be transferred to the medical 6th division. Which I approve. I let her go because she's ahead of her class! That doesn't mean some stuck up asshole from the ivory tower can just come down there and dismantle my squadron like wiping his silver spoon stuffed asshole!" Rena's heaves and pants as she finished her tirade. Anderson knowingly endured the angry roars of his temperamental lieutenant, knowing she'll be a lot calmer, and a lot more inquisitive, in the aftermath.

And indeed she did. Having ranted her heart out, Rena began to analyze the situation as a tactical commander. Having dreamed of reclaiming the lost western territories of her home-country, Rena literally spent day and night, learning all the information she could get her hands on regarding the situation in the western frontier. She knew the terrain, the army deployment, the enemy's movements, every facet, every aspect in that area, she knew it like the back of her hand. Thusly… having said that… she began to had a nagging suspicion. "Sir… Captain… please… be honest with me. Was the situation in our western frontier really THAT bad? So bad that you need half baked soldiers at the front?"

"I never lied to you, Rena. And I never see the need to. So I'm not gonna start. But you have to understand. Udina is a councilor, an observer of Logos. If I had my way, I wouldn't even let him anywhere within this base!"

"And yet you let him!?" Rena's fury barely dissipated, that her superior officer seems as helpless as an infant doesn't help. "Anderson, I can't do my work if some stuck up jerk bureaucrat who didn't even know the first syllable of the word discipline and commitment micromanage my soldiers like they're his own household staff! As if it was not enough I had to deal with your gender challenged boys pranking my squadron every day, now I had to put up with this!?"

"Rena, you've rearranged those gender challenged boys' teeth with your bare hands and redistributed them as necklaces for that crime. I let it slide because we both know they deserve it."

"Then why won't you let me do what had to be done!? Are you not the Captain of this base? The General Captain of the Regulars!?"

"This is the one foe you cannot punch your way out of!" Anderson half screamed exasperatedly. "Logos owns everything. From the bullet we fire to the bandage we use to mend our injured. Your project will not gain a go ahead if there's no Logos who invested in it. And they do so only because they wanted a return!"

Rena couldn't believe what she's hearing. Her suspicion was proven true. Logos was sabotaging her work to slow her down. They realized that her proposal of improving the 7th division quality of recruits by providing them with 10th division's gears and training program can radically bolster the strength of the army as a whole. Significantly stronger Alliance army means the potential of the war could be over quicker. She'd imagine everyone would rejoice over the prospect, but then, there's the business angle. The Logos Foundation had grown obscenely rich by monopolizing the economical sector of the war. The end of the war would mean the end of their cash-cows. She had her suspicion that Logos wanted the war to go on for as long as it can, until they can wring every cent they could from the planet, and after that it can go up in flames for all they care.

Initially, she dismissed such notion as ridiculous as it is absurd. Well… what sane man would want this hellish war to continue one day longer than it already has? Today… she just found out how wrong she is… "Is that what we are now? Alliance troopers… reduced to Lapdogs and ass-kissers to some… businessmen!?"

Anderson himself realized that his lieutenant was right. But his tired gaze told her enough of his helplessness of this unpleasant situation. "This is a hard lesson of reality for you, Rena. I don't maintain my seat by being an idealist. Having a dream is good and all, but if I don't compromise every now and then, I will be left with nothing. I'll try to do everything I can to help. But you have to do what I do. Compromise. And endure. See the bigger picture. You wish to reclaim your homeland? Focus on that. What hardship enduring a few insults and bumps along the way if it gets you what you want?"

Of all the setbacks she had endured, none was worse than this. That her own main sponsors also seek to sabotage her work had significantly faltered her faith and optimism, but there it remained. She pressed on, because she had her dream – it's what kept her going through the thick and thin. Struggling through much, tackling down obstacles after obstacles, Rena's vision began to take shape.

All that changed at the battle of Bohai Seas.

By that time, the 10th division had regained most of their strength, numerically speaking of course. Rena can't exactly say anything prideful about their quality, given the amount of crap she had to put up with in the process. But considering her standards, she would say it was quite a miracle. Still… the recovery of the alliance forces in the central plain was deemed big enough threat for Zaft to launch an attack. Granted, she had expected this.

The latest report indicated a massive Zaft forces are 7 days away, and they're heading straight towards the Bohai Strait, leaving small question on where they're heading.

"They're heading towards Beijing." Rena stated, almost mirthfully. "After they passed Bohai Straits, they'll land in either one of these bays: Bohai, Liaodong, or Laizhou Bay. But of the three, Bohai is the closest to Beijing."

"What makes you think their aim is Beijing?"

"I have no doubt Zaft had already noticed that we've been rebuilding our forces." Rena smirked. "They probably also realized the unprecedented speed of which we have expanded. And the latest report in our western front also showed signs that their hold is weakening. And so they will try to attack us from the east, in order to distract us, to prevent us from pushing west."

"Then perhaps you should attack West? Is that not your dream?" Udina asked.

"I will." Rena smirked. "But right after we crush this invasion." She pointed at the Bohai Strait. "I've already placed a contingent of 60,000 Troopers here in Lushun and some reserves in Dailian. But more importantly, we've placed a series of beacons there. Once they've sighted the Zaft fleet, they will light the beacons, and then they'll have to hold on long enough until we've arrived. I've also sent some orders to our naval Base in Qingdao. As soon as they received the beacon, they'll flank the enemy fleet from the rear. Together with our standing forces here in three bays, we'll crush them in the Bohai Straits."

"Very good, Rena. But… I had my concerns." Udina stated.

Rena was in a suitably good mood today, which is the only reason she hadn't socked the observer's mouth. "What?"

"Are you sure those 60,000 soldiers in Lushun can do it? As I recall, they were-"

"Yes, I know. They were the first to have graduated from my training program. I'm gonna guess you doubt their mettle?" Rena smirked. "Don't worry. I wouldn't have graduated them if they haven't gone through all the proper ropes. Unless some idiot gave them another order of which I'm not aware of, they won't budge an inch." At this, Rena gave a meaningful glare at Udina. "But I trust that won't be the issue today? Not unless you want Zaft right in front of our door?"

There's another reason why Rena was in a surprisingly good mood. Having learned her lesson, Rena put an extra eye to monitor Udina's every movements. As soon as she heard that an invasion are coming, she called for Udina and Anderson to be brought here, under the pretense of military and budget meeting – but she withheld the information that a Zaft invasion is coming. At the same time and in secret, she ordered all inland travel routes from every dock in Bohai to Bejing to be closed down as soon as Udina and Anderson had crossed the borders – to prevent leakage, she said. When she had been assured that her fortress has been placed under total lockdown and not even a rat can get out without her knowing about it, only then did she unveil the big news. The look on Udina's face ensured that Rena will keep her big smile for a very long time, probably even after battle ended.

Now, with nowhere to go, Rena can keep the observer under her watch, preventing him from making any trouble. And Udina will have no choice but to cooperate, if he wants to live through this invasion.

Anderson knew this of course. And so he's been trying his very best to look somewhat sympathetic to Udina's plight. But he made a mental note to find a soundproof room and laugh his brains out later.

Rena smiled as wide as she can be. Nothing can seem to go wrong, and her dreams are but a breath away from realization.

That is… if only Anderson did not catch her vomiting her guts out the next morning. Anderson looked at the bucket filled with Rena's vomit, as well as the girl's dejected look. Call it his experience with life, he easily figured out what it was. "How long Rena?"

Rena growled. "…three months now."

Anderson heard enough. "Then stay. War is not a place for you right now."

"No. No, let me stay. Please. I worked too hard and too long for this day."

"Rena-"

"Sir, please." Rena gritted her teeth, now regretting that one night when she let down her guard. "Please. Just… let me finish this one battle. You must understand, this is the most important one. This will be the first battle fought by soldiers I've trained with this new program. Succeed in this, and those Logos jerks will have no choice but to recognize its necessity. Win this battle, and we're one step closer to end this war, and made a better world for our children."

Anderson tried to find the words to deny her. And although his mind can come up with a thousand excuses, when he saw the faith burning in the young lieutenant's eyes, his heart just couldn't find the courage to. And so he nodded. "But make no mistake. One sign that this… condition of yours jeopardizes this operation, you're off duty until I say otherwise."

"Sir, yes, sir." Rena firmly saluted.

Alas, barely a day after she made that resolution, disaster struck.

Rena had predicted the Zaft fleet would've entered Bohai straits less than a week from now. Alas, her prediction ended up very way off, in the worst way possible.

First: the Zaft fleet was actually 10 times bigger than initially predicted.

Secondly: They used some kind of Bloodline limit to accelerate their passage across the seas. They arrived right at their doorstep… the very next day.

In less than an hour, the Alliance naval base was bombarded by a rain of shots and fireballs, all its coastal guns were silenced by the first volley. The second volley and the next were focused on their military structures. Their fleet of barges rammed against the docks and the ships docked within at full force, and out from its hull, scores of knights poured in. The assembled Alliance forces in the Bohai bay were caught unprepared, and countless hundreds died in the initial assault. In fact, Rena was so caught off guard, when a Knight is already right in front of her noses, she just realized she didn't bring any weapons with her. She barely dodged the sword thrust by a millimeter. Looking quickly across her surroundings for anything that she can use as a weapon, her two hands grabbed the first objects they can find.

An axe and a horsewhip.

The next incoming attack was a downward swing. She crossed the axe and the whip handle and their hardpoints managed to barely hold the attack. She kicked him back, giving her some distance to instinctively use her whip. With a crack of a whip and a pinpoint accuracy, Rena managed to whip the knight's exposed fingers that hold his sword. The Knight wailed in pain as he looked at his ruined finger. He was so preoccupied with it, he didn't notice Rena took the initiative to hurl the axe straight to his face. As soon as the knight fell dead, she noticed another three are coming in unison towards her back. She only had her horsewhip, and the axe is out of her arm's length. But not whip length. She twirled the horse whip, and it coiled around the axe handle. With a yank of controlled strength, the bloody axe was pulled out of the crevice, and without losing its momentum, Rena swing the axe tipped whip in a roundhouse swing. The knights were so caught off guard by this maneuver, they couldn't lift their shield fast enough to prevent the bloodied axe slit three men's throat in a blink of an eye. The axe finished its swing as it landed back in Rena's welcoming free hand. And for a moment, Rena looked at the combination of these two unusual weapons in her hands. "Hmm…"

Leaving the epiphany aside, Rena discarded the thought for the future and focus on the now. The battle had relieved her of her shock and recollected all her wits and focus. Holstering the two weapons rather than throwing them away, she looked around the area for some real weapon. A Trooper gutted by a spear still held a fully loaded rifle and untouched spares. He was so caught off guard he didn't even had a chance to lose even one shot. Fine. Clearly he won't mind if she loses some in his stead. As soon as she finished properly arming herself, she began trduging across the decimated harbor, looking for survivors so that she can salvage this disaster somehow.

Thank the heavens, she found a sizable contingent of her armed Militia Soldiers is holding fast against the enemy attack behind a feeble barricade made of debris. Fast… but their line is also heading fast towards total desertion. Already some of the disheartened soldiers are showing signs of retreating. Fortunately, among them was Simca, who's trying her damndest to prevent the complete collapse. She just came back yesterday, having finished her training in the 6th division and asked to transfer back to 10th. She picked a hell of a day to come back. "STAND YOUR GROUND AND FORM RANKS! TO YOUR STATIONS!" Rena roared. Simca's face was visibly brightened when she saw her favorite superior officer is coming to the rescue. The soldiers who, until a moment ago, were thinking of retreating immediately decided to reconsider. Without exchanging a word, Rena took her position next to Simca. The two didn't even need reintroduction, they already know what to do. "Remember your training!" Rena barked to the soldiers. "You're stronger than this! COME ON!" Seeing their commanding officer is ready to fight at their side reignited the soldier's courage. They quickly took their place beside their lieutenant. Before them, an army of Knights are charging towards them, a mass of steel and blades ready to grind them to a bloody mush. And yet, Rena remained calm as she instructed her men to do the same. "Hold your fire and take your time. Aim at their joints. That's the soft spots! Coordinate your aiming so that they don't overlap!" The soldiers took aim and wait for the order. The Knights are closing… "READY…" they're closing in… closer still… "AIM…" closer… now they're close enough they can almost make out the eyes beneath the slits of their helmet. "FIRE!"

The said view was immediately encapsulated by a curtain of white smoke and a deafening roar of musket fire. And yet, beyond the pale white smoke, they can see the sight of Knights, torn apart by the shells, falling to their deaths or screaming for their missing limb. Traditionally, musket combat only reprieve is the pause given when a musket needed its lengthy reload after each shot. Unfortunately for Zaft Knights, Alliance had designed their rifles to fire five times without needing reload. The only pause they'll have is when the enemy leader decided to give them some pause. "SECOND VOLLEY! FIRE!" Rena has no intention to give such pause. The second barrage was loosed. What the first volley didn't kill, the second volley finished it off, as well as gaining fresh victims. "THIRD VOLLEY! FIRE!" And the third volley pretty much signaled the end of the little skirmish in that area. "RELOAD!" In unison, as drilled at least a thousand times in Rena's boot camp, the soldiers reloaded their firearms. And in less than a minute, their weapons are fully loaded and ready to blast. "Simca, report!"

"I'm not sure Rena." Simca started. "But they're everywhere. They really caught us with our pants down."

"I can see that, genius." Rena snapped. But then, what Simca said did require some thought. Zaft bring out everything they got, from Knights, Magus, even Assassins, Priests and their overzealous Pyromaniac acolytes. It's a sizable army. They really caught Rena and by extension, the Alliance forces, totally unprepared. The question is… how did his happen? How the hell something this big escape their watch? 'What about the beacon?' Rena struggled to look beyond the smoke and ocean of flame. "The beacon of Lushun! Why… Isn't it lit!? They should've warned us…!" Try as she might, the anarchy unleashed was a bit too much for her to allow herself the luxury of thinking any other issue other than how to survive this onslaught. "At any rate, we can't stay here."

"Agree. This place is not exactly defensible." Simca looked at the blaze and all this exploding debris around them. "Should we pull back?"

"No." Rena embraced a different idea. "We push forward."

"Forward?"

"Yes." Rena began formulating a strategy. "I don't know what happened to our beacons, but I dare say all this destruction creates a smoke that can be seen from miles away, even as far as Qingdao. Screw the beacon, I'm guessing Xingke is already on his way here with his fleet and our reinforcements."

"Qingdao… but that's like… half a day away."

"I know." Rena confidently cocked her rifle as she snarled. "Which means, the challenge is for us not to kill every last one of these bastards before they arrive." Simca also grinned.

And so, with Rena's leadership, the Alliance began to fight back. Zaft momentum had managed to carry them far, but that skirmish checked their push. With Zaft's momentum lost, the Alliance overcomes the dulled element of surprise and fights back in the earnest. The initial all out assault had devolved into a series of small scale block wars. And then, inch by bloody inch, the Alliance soldiers began retake their lost city. Many times, it is Rena's squad of soldiers that is the tip of the spear that turned the tide. They were at the forefront, scoring the most kills, but also suffered the most casualties. At times, Rena had no choice but to pull back momentarily, gather some allies, and either, came back in force, or diminishes the enemy piecemeal; weaken them bit by bit until they're weak enough for the killing blow. Regardless, the Regulars and Militias began to rally and gather in strength and force.

It's a bloody, bitter work. But by sundown, against all odds, Zaft forces were gradually pushed back to where they came, the ruined harbor. It was a scene straight from hell: fires everywhere, the scent blood, gunpowder, and scorched flesh filled the sky. A sky that has since turned black and red from all the smoke and flame. Soot and blood also covered patches of the ground. Patches of those that was not covered with corpses. Hundreds… thousands of corpses, piling on top of each other. It was somewhat difficult to differentiate between which are the ground covered in dead bodies, and which are dead bodies floating above the ocean. It all look just the same: a vast field of corpses.

It was atop this field that the battle still rages on. Amazingly enough, despite many hours had passed since the attack began, there are still some Regulars fighting in the midst of that brutal Zaft assault. Like a ramshackle aisle of men in the midst of a sea of metallic green armors, one surprisingly sizable squadron still barely holds the line, fighting atop the dead bodies of their enemies and allies. At the center of the resistance, was none other than the General Captain Anderson himself. Bloodied, broken, but unbeaten. Wielding a rifle in one hand and a cutlass in the other, he defiantly roared orders as he stand atop a ground carpeted by dead bodies, mostly knights. "STAND YOUR GROUND!" Anderson kept roaring even when an arrow landed on the old man's shoulder armor. But the General Captain pay it no heed, he simply remove it and fired another shot on the archer.

Despite the old man's courage, his men wouldn't last long without help. Rena has that help. She had run circles across this ruined city, slaying knights left and right and gather survivors and formed a sizable force under her command right now. And more are coming. But in all honesty, they're far from the best. More than half was a militia which she hadn't trained. And they've all taken a beating. Not a single one of them, herself included, had made it out the gauntlet unscathed. Their ammunition is at an all time low. And there's just the matter of this army of Knights between her and her General, taking a position of a massive tortoise formation with spears jutted out. They really have no intention on letting the two forces joined.

All they have now… is their muscle, guts, the blades on their guns… and bullet enough for just a single volley.

"Musket Ready!" The rifles cocked. "Take aim!" The rifles are lined. "FIRE!" The first layers of the wall of interlocked Knight's shields were felled. "BAYONET CHARGE!" Rena roared and her army marched forth. The mass of men turned into an array of sharp angled points, each trying to outrace the other to meet the enemy. But none of these peaks can outrace the leader of this army, Rena herself. It wasn't long before the cascading peaks finally fell upon the flat square of the assembled knights. Some, like Rena, managed to find their prey and sank their blades into the chinks of the enemy's armor. Together, they pierce through the square like a fine blade biting deep into the flesh. Others fell, gutted by the outstretched spears. But most of them slammed hard like a hammer against the anvil of the flat shield wall.

Knights and soldiers alike screamed and shouted, blades slashing left and right, coupled with the occasional gunfire of what little ammunition still remained, bare and armored fists punching, greaves kicking, shields bashing. All atop the strewn bodies of the dead and the wounded living. Rena had long since lost sight of her allies. Her vision was filled with a torrent of armored beings. Slashing limbs, gutting stomachs, and slitting throats, she cut her bloody path across the battle torn field. Soon, she was no longer counting her slain enemies by the individual, but by the layers of enemies she had to cut down before the next layer stands in her way. When she dismembered the next head that barred her way, her rifle, already caked from overuse of its bayonet, finally snapped in half. And yet, there's just one layer of knights left that stands between her and the general. Shouting incoherent battle cry, she hurled what's left of her bloodied rifle, knocking down a knight and brought out her axe and whip. Without hesitation, Rena hurled herself straight into the assemblage, axe first. She literally cut them to pieces. Once she choked the last knight to death by throttling him with her whip, Rena wildly looked around, waiting for the next layer of knights to be cut down. It never came.

Sanity lifted the blood haze, and then she realized the Knights are retreating in fear all around her. Her armies had finally catches up to her and Simca finally had a chance to pat Rena's shoulder. When the bloodbathed Lieutenant snapped at her, and beheld the equally less than pristine condition of the pink haired girl's gore caked hygiene, Rena finally caught on to what she had done. She was so… enthused… she didn't realize she had sunk too deep into the enemy formation; she was cut off from the rest. And yet, against all odds, she had literally slice her way out, slaughtering over half of the enemy's forces sent her way single handedly along the way. The remaining terrified half had retreated back to their fleet of ships while making holy symbols towards her as if warding an evil spirit.

Regardless, the battle is not over yet. Those Zaft barges that had yet landed still had more reserve knights under its hold. Whilst her army, while victorious, is spent. It will not survive another full all out assault. And she still had yet to see any sign of Xingke… or any help will come for that matter.

She must first rendezvous with the General. "General! General Anderson!" Rena scampered across the field of corpses and barely made it to the aged General just as he stabbed through one last Knight who did not retreat. Both Captain and Lieutenant were pretty much caked in blood. "General, they're coming back. They're bringing everything they have left against us. What should we do?"

Anderson catches his breath and did not say a word for the longest time. One can easily mistook this silence as indecision or fatigue, but Rena can see his eyes still blazed with the passion to fight. But this is not suicidal urges. But rather hope. The General still has a way to win. This was proven when the next word he uttered was: "We're staying here." He continued. "This place is pretty defensible, as we have shown. We'll strengthen our fortifications and hold out. I trust you've already wipe out every knight in the city."

"I wouldn't be here if I haven't." Rena grinned. "So we're holding out?"

"No." Anderson growled. "There's an armory where we kept some… 'excess' supply of artillery and its ammunitions. We can use that. We'll hold out for as long as we can, gather them in one place, and then bombard those knights with the artillery."

Rena's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Zaft destroyed and/or sacked every armory in the city. We've checked! There wasn't much left of the artillery."

"This armory is not on any official records because it's an 'unsanctioned' armory." Anderson grinned meaningfully to Rena. The Lieutenant immediately understood what the captain was implying. She has no time to rage or celebrate over its discovery though…

"Where is it? This… secret unsanctioned armory?"

"Where you put that prick under lock and key. Go check the basement cellar." Anderson tossed his rifle to Rena's shocked hands.

"Sir?" Rena understood she was being ordered to relieve those weapons. "Shouldn't you be doing this? I know how much you want to give that prick a beating!"

"I'd love nothing more than that. But without me in charge, our last line of defense will fall away in seconds." Anderson smirked. "Go. Grab those big guns. I'll hold those bastards off for as long as I can." In the distance, already they can see Barges landed in the ruination of a harbor, disgorging scores upon scores of Knights to reinforce the retreating ones to once again march forward into a charge.

Rena bit her lips, but she finally, reluctantly, agreed and left. Taking only Simca with her, she left all her standing forces to help her General to defend that location until she returned. Rena had just begun her rush back when the enemy barges began their next bombardment to accompany the charge of their knights. But she steeled herself and turned her attention away from her doomed men. "Simca, with me!"

Brandishing their rifles, Rena and Simca retraced their steps back into the ruined city, scouring the streets as they made their way. Rena didn't brag about how she had made sure all the knights in the city are dead, she really have made sure every knight they encountered are dead ones. But events that had transpired so far really taught her not to underestimate the things the enemy can do with their bloodline limit. In all that time, she also managed to rediscover some of the survivors she did not pick up the first time. By the time they've arrived at their destination, an entire squadron's worth of Troopers followed behind them.

Before long, the two female soldiers arrived at a particularly lavish house, which somehow barely survived the carnage, something to do with how it was positioned so far back in the city. Without pause, Rena kicked the door down, much to the surprise of the Troopers inside. An entire squadron, in fact.

"Lieutenant!" Their surprise understandable, they did not expect their own superior officer standing right in front of them like that. For her part, Rena has no time to indulge their gawking. She made her way past all the bolted doors and barricaded alleyways until she reached the inner luxurious sanctum of that bunker.

"Rena!? What-?" Udina only had time to spat out his camembert when the angry Lieutenant yanked him by the collar and lift him off his chair.

"Where is it!?" Rena wasted no time explaining. Udina's horrified look pretty much laid bare his guilt.

"Where's… what?" And still the SOB tried to play the fool.

One set of broken teeth later…

They had to collapse half the wall in the cellar to get the weapons out. It was a set of half a dozen Gatling Guns, and apart from the mounting dust due to lack of use, it's pretty much usable. "Why on earth would you keep this many weapons underground anyway?" Simca quickly arranged the artilleries to be made mobile.

Rena can guess why. "Investment, I suppose." She snarled. It'll take a while before the weapons are ready. And it'll take an even longer while to get to where they had to be. How many of her men will die during that time period? Rena shook her head. No. No rushing. If there's one thing she learned, there's no good rushing into danger unprepared.

Minutes that felt like hours passed. And finally, the Gatling guns are loaded and ready to move. Just one last detail, Rena caught Udina trying to run. "Oh no, you don't." She yanked him by the back of his collar.

"Wh… What more do you ask of me!?"

"Nothing. But I will not have you go where I can't see you. So you're coming with us!" The gun carriages travelled at speed, Rena pushed the horses to the point Simca thought she will kill the poor beasts to the task. And she might as well, considering the speed and route she made them take.

The carriages managed to arrive at the ruined harbors at record time… and still they weren't fast enough. By the time she got there, the situation had worsened. Of the many hundreds of soldiers she had left to help Anderson, only a few dozen remained. Apart from the roaring fires, it was somewhat quiet. Most likely because they've just repelled the latest enemy attack. Rena couldn't exactly count how many times they've endured such assault, but the pile of the dead littering the area seemed to have bulged hundredfold. And yet she can see in the distance, the Knights are massing for another assault. "…Simca, set up the Gatling guns on this location." Simca immediately do as asked, but Rena immediately prepared to depart.

"Rena?"

"I'm going to the General. They have to pull out of that kill box." Without waiting, the lieutenant rushed into the ruined entrenchment. It was even worse when she observed them up close as soon as she rejoined the survivors. There isn't a single one of them that was not injured. Those who can stand can be counted with fingers. The rest had crawled themselves into position to maintain the illusion of a manned battle station. Even with the additional forces she brought, it's doubtful they can survive another charge. "The General… Where's the General?"

One of the wounded and dying weakly pointed a finger. Rena followed and her heart gaped. The General still lives. But right now, one arm preoccupied on holding tight to his broken sword, the other is preoccupied on keeping the insides of his stomach from spilling out his partially split gut. "General!"

Anderson merely shrugged his shoulder in acknowledgement. "Rena? Is that you?"

"General!" Rena closed in on him, and that's when she noticed that all the blood caking his face had rendered him blind. "General! I'm here."

"Rena… what are you doing here?"

"We're here to help you out! Come on. We've set up an array of Gatling Gun on the overlooking buildings, this place will be turned to Swiss cheese in no time."

"Overlooking buildings… aaah… I see." Even without seeing, the General knew exactly where Rena had placed the guns. "Alright. If you've placed them exactly where I've known you'll placed them… then there's only one thing left to do."

"Yes sir. We have to evacuate this place."

"No."

"No, sir!?"

"Ask yourself, Rena. Where can we go?" Even under this much pain, the general can still chuckle through it all. But he gestured to the state of his men. Rena take one more look… and suddenly, she realized what he meant. Not one of the soldiers in this entrenchment can move without killing themselves in the process. Thusly, it is decided, if they're not walking out of this kill zone alive, neither must their enemies. "But… General… then… you must… at least you must…"

"No." Anderson smiled. "No. There's no need to concern yourself over me. I know my own body better than the rest. And… I'm not the general anymore." Anderson tossed something to Rena's hand. "You are."

Rena caught it, and she balked. The General's dogtag. It means he's resolute. She looked back to her men, the soldiers she had trained with her own hands. They all gave her a sad but firm smile. They understand. They're not walking out of this alive. They understand what had to be done. Rena couldn't be more proud of her men. There's nothing she can say to them that will not dampen their resolution. All she can do now is gave them a simple salute, and leave them to their glorious death.

The climb back to the Gatling Gun emplacements seem so hard. Simca initially wondered why Rena returned alone… until she saw Anderson's dogtag hanging by her friend's hand, the army medic suddenly knew what happened… and what's about to happen.

And then, like gears in the clockwork, the Knights rushed in once again in a multi colored tide of steel and blades. Nothing, not even a single gunfire stayed their coming, and the last entrenchment was overwhelmed. The knights clumped together like ants encircling a cube of sugar. Massed together… right under the crosshairs of the concealed Gatling guns.

The Gatling guns remained silent.

Rena bit her lips. She raised her hand. She waited… waited as she watched her men, the soldiers she had trained with her very own sweat and blood, are being killed off one by one. If she's going to do this… god help her, she will not have her men died by friendly fire. If they're going to die, let them die with Warrior's dignity, resisting the enemy up till the very end, god damn it! Before long, only one person is left. Rena kicked the gunner off one Gatling gun as she took charge of it personally. "Fire when I fire." She aimed the crosshair at the last person standing. "Open…" She can actually see him sent his last smile her way. "FIRE!"

The multi colored mass turned to red gore wherever the iron crossed sights landed. The knights didn't have time to scream as streams of bullets tear everything apart: flesh, bone, armor and all. The toll was frightening, but there are still survivors rushing back. Survivors, means, word got out. Word got out means… response to this brutal hostility is inbound.

Flashes of fire coupled with a series of loud booms echoed in the distance. Not a moment too soon, the Troopers position was ruptured by a series of explosions. Somehow, the troopers maintain their ground, their fingers remained pressed on the trigger. The troopers did so because Rena still kept her fingers pressed on hers. Alas for them, the Zaft fleet didn't take the slaughter of their knights' lightly either. And so their cannons kept roaring, the enemy's fleet bent on avenging their terrible loss.

Rena herself wasn't sure why she stubbornly held her ground even when an explosion just set off a few inches off her face. But her feet felt like it was nailed tight, and this emotion that already went beyond rage had overwhelmed even her self-preservation instinct. Even Simca is starting to get worried. "Rena!" She screamed. "Rena! They're firing at us!" Simca screamed louder than the roars of Rena's Gatling gun and yet somehow, Rena's ears turned deaf to all other sound. "RENA!"

Another salvo arrived… and this time it's more than perilously close.

An explosion landed far too close to Udina's liking, and he finally had enough. He marched to Rena and tried to demand some attention from the lieutenant. "LIEUTENANT RENA! ENOUGH IS ENO-" Udina's words were stopped when a cannonball knocked his head clean off, spraying said head's insides allover Rena's face. Thankfully, it is what the doctor ordered. The splash of blood and grey matter on her face brought some much needed sanity to Rena's rage hazed mind.

"Rena!" Simca called one more time and thank god, now she knows she's listening when the lieutenant turned to her.

"Simca?"

"Rena… they're firing at us." Simca explained. "That's it for this place. We have to go!"

Rena blinked several times, panting, and she realized she had to regain her composure as a commanding officer. "Right… right. We've overstayed our welcome. Pull back! Everyone PULL BACK!" The troopers were more than happy to obey that order. Unfortunately, their escape is not exactly subtle, and the knights noticed their retreat. Their returned courage beat back the terror of the previous slaughter as they renewed their assault, again.

Rena was the last to leave, given that she's still caught up in-between watching her men's retreat and the enemy's progression. That was when her ears caught the sound of another booming cannonfire. Reflexively, she would usually drop everything to watch the trajectory of the cannonball, so that she can prepare a proper direction of her escape…

…but right then and there her womb HAD to act up and she had to slip a step.

And the last thing she saw was the fused cannonball landing right inside the Gatling gun reserve ammunition pack, not 6 feet away from her.

She woke up in a hospital, with no idea how many days had passed. Her fidgeting in her awakening process draw some needed attention. "Rena? You're awake?" She recognized Simca's voice, even though her ears are still ringing. "Simca…?" She murmured. She could barely hear herself speak. Rena tried to get up.

"Lie down, Rena." Simca pushed her back. "Your skull has taken a good knock. Xingke! Rena just woke up!"

"Xing-ke…!?" Her mind raced ahead of her broken body. If Xingke's here, that means the reinforcements from Qingdao has arrived. If the reinforcements had arrived and she's still alive… that could only mean they've won. The enemy has been repelled, thank God. Now that her mind is more at ease, she finally allowed herself the luxury of doing a quick check on her own condition: still ten fingers, still two arms and two legs, two eyes, one nose, intact set of mouth, ears still functional. Everything seems fine for a woman who just got caught in a rain of exploding bullets… Or… is it…!? She slowly got up, and she looked at her body. It was bandaged allover, unmistakably the work of Simca.

But then, she looked at the extent of injuries that Simca treated… and suddenly, a horrifying sense of loss overwhelmed whatever relief she had acquired earlier. She desperately grasped her womb and felt nothing but a great emptiness where life should've been. "No… No… NO! NO! NOO!"

Her shrieks seem alerted the people outside. Simca and Xing Ke came rushing in. "Rena, what's wrong!?"

"SIMCA!" Rena shot her damning eyes at her medic. "SIMCA, WHERE IS IT!?" She asked a question she should've known the answer. "WHERE'S MY CHILD!?"

Simca's look betrayed the dread she felt, knowing this question will come. She bit her lips and closed her eyes, but in the end, she reluctantly reported the verdict. "The stray bullets pierced through your wombs, Rena. The fetus was… I had to…" Simca had to turn away. She couldn't bear to continue the answer; neither could she bear to see how devastated the mother would be.

Simca originally expected Rena to scream and cry, like every woman would. To her surprise, nothing happened. Rena just sat there on her bed stupefied, absorbing the news of her unborn child's death in an unnerving silence and stillness.

When she spoke, it was almost a whisper, but loud enough like a whip crack. It was not a denial or cries of anguish. It was an order. And her first order was for Xingke to reiterate things she already knows. Namely, how the Sergeant arrived with his reinforcements at record speed from Qingdao and proceeded to annihilate the enemy. Xingke had proposed that they wait until she recovered, but the proposal was denied with death threat laden glare. At the end of Xingke's debriefing, the sergeant merely added that these events occurred three days ago. At that, Rena first, and only question, was how could things went so awry that day. "The beacon. Xingke, why wasn't the beacon of Lushun lit?" Knowing the sergeant, he must've thoroughly investigated this matter as well by now.

And yet, Xingke still felt reluctant to reveal the answer. "My General… I believe this can wait-" The sergeant's answer was cut short when he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. A bloodstained scalpel thrown by Rena was stuck on the wall behind Xingke.

"Answer the damn question." Despite her calm flat tone, Rena's eyes are wide with madness and bloodlust. "Or I will kill you and I'll find someone else who will answer it."

Xingke had no choice but to literally show the answer. He moved to the side and opened the curtain beside them. The woman lying on a bed next to her answered all of Rena's questions.

"Alektra?" Rena gasped. "Alektra, is that you?" She was the sergeant Rena appointed to oversaw the troopers in Lusun.

The woman gasped when she heard that familiar voice. She slowly turned and when she saw her face, her expression was wrecked with sorrow and guilt. "Lieutenant… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…!"

"To hell with your apologies!" Rena growled. "You're the sergeant of Lushun. WHAT HAPPENED!? WHY WASN'T THE BEACON LIT!? WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN US!?"

"My General!" Xingke immediately interjected. When Rena looked at him questioningly, Xingke pointed at something. "Look at her."

That request caused Rena to observe said sergeant more rationally. And that's when she realized… in addition of being worse for wear, the woman was also an arm short. "Alektra… what happened?"

Alektra struggled to make out her words. "…we… We've been betrayed."

Flashback

Lushun…

When Alektra arrived with her men on the outpost for her routine check up… she found the soldiers… were in the process of abandoning their post.

"Where do you think you're going!?" She snarled.

"Where do you think? We're leaving! Through! Gone! Bye-bye!" One of the soldier answered, not an ounce of respect or even any form of military discipline.

"Excuse me!?"

"Just look! Look at the sea!"

Alektra rushed to the cliff overlooking the ocean… and she gawked. The anticipated Zaft fleet are already at their door when they thought they're still days away. Somehow they were able to speed up the passage of their ships. Worse still, it was a monster fleet of Zaft ships, numbering in the thousands, an error in Rena's Judgment that projected only hundreds. Either way, they're heading straight to Bohai. "The beacon. We have to light the beacon!" Alektra turned only to find hostility answered her with pointed rifles.

The Armed soldiers had no intention to follow said order… and more. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Investing." One of them answered maliciously. "Even if we serve for the next… 2-3 years, the accumulated salary still won't make half as much as the haul we're going to make."

"Haul…?" And suddenly, Alektra understood what the soldiers were up to. "You're going to sack Dalian city!?"

"Yeah." The answer was calm and without a shred of remorse or shame. "And we can't have the regulars not too busy trying to stay alive to notice."

"You disgusting assholes!" Alektra snapped. "That's your own comrade you're damning to death!"

"Comrade!? Hah! That's a good joke! Do you think we're that stupid? Do you think we didn't know the stuff you Regular douchebags made us Militias do? You put us at front, made a meat shield out of us, and when those knights are softened enough you won't even hesitate to trample them along with us! Well, now we get to put them in our shoes for a while. Now that's what I call payback's a bitch!"

"Rena gave you those weapons and trained you! Because she believed in you! In all of you. And you're just gonna spit it back on her face!?"

"Oh, enough of this mushy crap." The soldier snarled. "Way I see it, you got two options. Option A, turn away. Just let us go, just report we all went down in a fight or whatever. Just leave us be. Or option B: help us. It'll be worth your while."

Alektra looked like she had been offered a plateful of bullshit. "How bout option C: Go to hell."

"Too bad."

Before Alektra could get her gun out, the bullets had flown.

Flashback ends…

Alektra finally stopped her tale. Either because the pain of her missing arm prove too much, or she was way too furious to regale the next detail of how the deserters also butchered her men on their way to sack the nearby town. Or of how when she finally managed to barely make it out alive into Dalian to find its looted streets filled with dead people, burnt down home and raped lifeless women.

But at this point, upon hearing all this, Rena's deathly silence had reached an all time different dimension of alarming. She did not say anything, her lips weren't even trembling in rage or shock… but blood trickled out of the corner of said lips. Droplets of tears also fell from her blood shot eyes… but these are no tears of water… instead, tears of blood flowed from the furious eyes of a depraved mother who had cried herself dry… and a scorned woman whose fury hell hath not.

To say the incident changed Rena completely would be a gross understatement. Simca and Xingke watched, in concern, as Rena didn't say anything to anyone in a very long while. She just remained in her own thoughts as her body made full recovery at record time. In fact, considering the amount of injuries she had suffered it was already a miracle she survived at all, the speed in which her severe wounds are recovering has already surpassed the realm of miracles. It's as if her silent rage not only kept her alive, but also bolstered her recovery prowess to monstrous levels. The only mark that remained was the gunshot wounds of the bullets that pierced her, leaving scars all-over her back and frontside that resembles cherry blossom petals.

When she did recover, everyone thought Rena would recklessly rush out in all her fury and zeal for revenge. She did not. At least… not yet. She accepted her post as the new General Captain of the Regular with nothing short of contemptuous scorn. And yet, having attained the post of one of the most powerful officer seat in the Alliance military, she gave no order to advance, no indications of active actions on her part. She just… sit there in her post, brooding in stillness. But to what few friends she had left that know her, they understand. This is not inaction. This silent treatment is her way nurturing an anger and hatred so incandescent, it would've shattered lesser woman's sanity. And Rena Imelia is anything but lesser woman.

When Harlbarton visited China both to offer his condolences and congratulate his former protégé, Rena showed him that there's nothing left of the previously optimistic and bright woman she once was. When Harlbarton had left, Xing Ke turned to Rena, daring himself to show how he disapproved with how she treated her former mentor, grief stricken or otherwise. "Don't you think you're being too rude to your teacher?"

Rena's pink eyes blazed with fury when being addressed a tone higher than her liking, and yet Xing Ke refused to budge. The General merely scoffed at the defiance. "I was a fool." She breaks her silence for the very first time in many days since the incident. "I was a fool because I was taught to be a fool, by an old fool."

"He still made you what you are."

"Indeed." Rena snorted. "If he had been the least bit competent, I would not have learnt this valuable lesson. The lesson being: who is my true enemy."

"General, please. Do not let your anger and hatred cloud your livelong goal."

"My goal remains the same, Xingke. And I'm far from clouded. Quite the opposite: I see more clearly than I've ever been. I see what I had to do. I'm not fighting the bodiless business marred politics, so much as fighting inhuman enemies." Rena grunted. "No… I was fighting something very human. A human nature of self interest that governs all in this warped world."

And somehow, Xing Ke understood. Even if she had not lost sight of her ambitious vision, not only this Rena is a different woman altogether, she also had a completely different plan to realize said vision. "My General… what are you…" One more look at Rena's bloodthirsty eyes, and Xingke lost the nerve to continue the question.

A few days after her meeting with Harlbarton was over, Rena's long period of inaction and silence also ended. She began to act, fulfilling the basic duties of her post, she quietly rebuild the tattered army slowly, one trooper at a time if she had to. No longer she championed the program she so adamantly pushed earlier on, instead she let it to rot, having learnt a lesson she won't be forgetting any time soon. She began reverting, even encouraging, the old 'tried and true' method of purposefully hurling Militia soldiers straight into the war machine grinder, in which the survivors, the best of the worst, are picked up and retrained into a proper trooper. To that end, Rena also began developing a purposefully malicious discrimination policy by indoctrinating her men with a sense of superiority complex which made the Regulars aggressively undermine the Militia almost unfairly so by capitalizing on their apparent incompetence. Some, like Alektra and many others who had tasted gruesome defeats as the result of the Militia's less than virtuous reputation, embraced such policy with almost an overzealous relish. Others, like Karren, thoroughly disagreed with such treatment and departed Rena's command in protest, much to the General's seeming ignorance.

To the unobservant, this seem like a malevolent revenge from Rena. But to those close to her, they noticed that the General take not one jot of pleasure nor satisfaction in the many hardship she placed on the division who had so failed her and betrayed her trust. Rather, she continuously observed the results of her discriminative policy with cold indifference; the same way a scientist watched a lab rat being experimented upon with various stimuli. She watched as the Militia's will began to break and degrade, until they were almost completely reduced to nothing short of despairing into subservient mentality. And yet, amongst these weak willed wretches, a few exceptional ones rise up. Their buried talents shined all the more brightly amidst the swarm of the weak and inept, allowing Harlbarton to finally see the gems hidden amongst the trashes. These he assembled into the so called Juppongatana, the best of the worst Division in history. Upon receiving the news of the said unit's creation became the first of the rare instances in which Rena actually smiled, whether it's in mirth or sarcasm is anyone's guess.

After a while the end of that year arrived and without warning, Rena suddenly disappeared from her office, leaving only a letter appointing Xing Ke as her new First Lieutenant and acting commander in her absence. The only message she left that ensured that she had not gone completely AWOL was the promise that the general will return in exactly one year's time. And she left standing order for Xingke to rebuild their forces, and that they will launch a campaign against Zaft's fortresses in China's western hemisphere upon her return.

Half a year went by, with no one in China seem had even caught a glimpse of even a tip of her shadow. Rumors of ill sorts had just begun to spread. It was then Xingke began receiving other news that quashed any ill flavored rumor regarding his wayward General, replacing them with new ones that were even more brutal than before.

The Crocodile clan was originally nothing more than a minor nuisance: a small gang of angry vagabonds and thugs with too much time and little knowledge on how to use them beyond brawling. But recently, their numbers began to swell and expand at an alarming rate when a newcomer took over the leadership of the gang over the corpse of his dead predecessor. In a very short time, the clan overwhelmed and took over other rival gangs, assimilating their members to bolster their rank to point where not even the Local Regional Law Enforcement can stop their rampage.

For several months, the Crocodile gang became a scourge across the Central Plain. No village was safe, towns sacked and pillaged, they plunder and rape as they please. The Imperial Guard once attempted to fight them head on. As big as the Crocodile Gang was, the Chinese Imperial Guards outnumber them 10 to 1. But the problem is not in the disparity of their fighting strength. Not only the Crocodile Gang somehow managed to have access to military grade weaponry, they also have an intimate understanding of military tactics and the discipline to fight like an army of elites. This allowed them to remained one step ahead of the Imperial task force. Many times the Guards arrived only to witness the aftermath of their brutality. They were at loss…

Until someday, they received an anonymous tip that informed them the place where they can find the said Crocodile gang. The tip led them to a hidden network of caves, hidden deep within the mountainous region. When they arrived at the location as specified in the tip, they found the cave network as well as obvious signs of life. Or to be precise, they found that people had lived there. But something's off. For a start, it seems the place has been seemingly abandoned, but very, very recently, and quite possibly, in panic too, if the discarded half eaten food and the traces of bloody battle they found was any indication. Further examination revealed that the surrounding area of the so called cave network used to have many exits, but many of them had been caved in from outside. The only entrance they can find was this one hole. And this hole, by all indication, was blasted out from inside. Something clawed their way out.

"HOOEEEKH!" One of the guards ran out of the cave hole five minutes after he entered it, unable to stomach the sight that welcomed him.

"What's wrong? Is this the Crocodile gang's hideout?" The Imperial Guard captain frowned.

"Y…Yes." The Guard choked.

The officer frowned. "…so this is their base… or perhaps it was their base. They left… but apparently it wasn't too long ago. Organize search parties. I want-"

"Don't bother Captain." The pale faced Guard gulped. He looked back into the hole and turned away. "They're here. And no, they're not going anywhere. Not anymore."

"What do you-!" The Captain suddenly understood. Why the cave entrances were caved in from outside. Why this one entrance was blasted from inside… someone got here before them… someone so terrifying, it chased the gangs into taking refuge inside this mazelike cave network… that same someone destroyed the entrances from outside to trap the poor bastards inside the caves… and then…

The pale faced guard glanced back at the cave… where the road is carpeted, literally red carpeted by hundreds upon hundreds of dead bodies, brutally ripped to pieces, limb by limb. Whoever did this really took their time.

And that was just the first of many more to come. The Corpse leafed bone tree and the blood lake, the great bronze gilded wall of screaming faces, the pagoda of heads, the giant casket of bones filled with the victims' insides… Gangsters, thugs and all forms of organized criminal empires were crushed down so thoroughly that even the next generations of the victims' line were spared no mercy whatsoever. Brigands and robbers were found brutally massacred in their own ruined lair or unassuming homes, their bodies desecrated and rearranged into the most brutal of monuments imaginable by the mind of a demented psychopath.

At first, everyone was baffled, and none were able to connect the dots other than the fact that the perpetrator's MO is simple: no prisoners, no mercy, let their corpses tell the tale. None, but Xingke, Simca, and those who were involved in the Bohai incident was able to see the connection. All those people massacred were former military. Deserters. Traitors. All hunted, all mercilessly butchered by one person. In the last six months, the Chinese imperial guards tally the number of casualties at a hundred thousand at least. In the last six months, the whole of China was gripped in terror, as the tales of this unnamed manslayer cutting a bloody path of carnage across the central plain were told and retold in hushed whispers as they grew both in the scales of its brutality and its ever increasingly larger list of victims.

Before long, the one year of terror finally reached its end. Xing Ke received an anonymous letter bearing the General's hand writing, giving him the location of their meeting and a direct order to literally empty every Alliance barrack in the region. He's to bring the entire military might of the Alliance Regulars he can spare in China to that one location. At that exact time. Sharp. Not even one minute off the clock leeway are allowed.

Bizarrely enough, said location will put them right within the firing range of Zaft's fortification, right at the doorstep of one of their largest and most heavily defended fortress in the sector. To make things worse, not only the General chose night hours, she also chose a date when the moon does not shine, ensuring total darkness, zero visibility. In many ways, it seems like a suicidal order.

But in the end, they obeyed the order of their absentee General without question. Not out of loyalty, but out of sheer utter fear. The whole China was awash with the tales and stories of the stuffs their General had done to her victims; that those were the things done to deserters simply compelled them not to make the same mistake of disobedience.

The assembled army was over a few hundred thousand strong, all fully armed with the best armament the Regular can get. But even this number, Xing Ke projected, would not be enough to defeat Zaft's entrenchment within China. 22 heavily armed fortresses, manned with the best Zaft knighthood had to offer spiked the borders of Qinghai, Shicuan and Yunan, a defensive line to guard Zaft's dominion in China. Such was the enemy's resolve to not give up their hard won holdings lightly without a fight. But still the Alliance army marches on nonetheless.

Soon, the sky grew dark, and the sun vanished into darkness. And after the long travels from their barracks, they will soon arrive at the meeting point… strangely enough, Xing Ke began to notice the disturbingly sinister lack of response from the enemy. "…Simca… you notice anything?"

"Yeah…" Simca frowned in vigilance. "Normally we would've been peppered with cannonfire by now…" She opened the map and even braved herself to use a torch to light it. "How far are we before we meet with Rena?"

"It should be just a few more clicks from here…"

It was then they noticed that the black sky in the horizon suddenly grew brighter and brighter. And it's still far too late for the sun to rise. The black sky turned noticeably red, and the air now began to bring forth a smell of ominous stench that the more experienced troopers would recognize: it's the stench of blood, fire, and burning human flesh. A smell often found in a raging warzone.

It soon became apparent that the location that the general gave them is leading the army right towards the source. Before long, the whole army finally reached a clearing, and beheld the spectacle.

Where there used to be a towering fortress of steel, stone and wood, now there's a pillar of flame blazing all the way to the sky, enshrouded with black smoke, jutting out of the blood soaked ground and encircled with corpse filled moats.

Standing firmly right in front of what used to be the fortress' grand main gate, with the burning scenery straight from hell as her background, was their long missing absentee general, mounted on a horse as red as blood, as big as a cart. She just lay her back lazily atop the saddle, and yet her pink eyes pierced even the dark moonless night, reaching all the way to the spines of the assembled hundreds and thousands of horrified troopers. Everyone easily translate that glare as an order for them to get their asses down there right this instant.

The army made it all the way to but a few hundred meters away from the fortress, but no further. Only Xing Ke and Simca dared to close the distance. When they're but a few feet away from the General, they stopped, they saluted. "Ma'am." They could barely see said woman in the darkness, but her eerily blazing pink eyes pierced the darkness easily.

Rena merely looked at the two as she sucked deep of her smoking pipe and blew out a smoke out in a bore. "You're late." When she spoke, her every word, every tone was laced with unbridled strength and reverberates with ferocity not present a year ago. Not only their general gained a new smoking habit and a new mount, it seems she had also gained something that turned her less… human.

"We have no excuse." Xing ke replied. "But as you've ordered, we've brought every trooper we can spare from every barracks in China's Eastern hemisphere."

"Indeed?" Rena snorted in dark glee. "How many did you bring?"

"No less than 850,000 strong, My General."

Again she snorted. This dark jovial tone she displayed is as menacing as it is sarcastic in nature. Either she was somewhat amused that Xing Ke was able to collect so many, or she was amused that this many still followed her orders even when she was a no show for one whole year… or perhaps she really doesn't care because it made no difference to her even if no one showed up at all. She snarled. "Do you know why you're here?"

Simca blinked whilst Xing ke began to think. "Excuse me?" Simca shrugged. "You sent us a letter, you told us to come here, did you not?"

"I meant why I brought you all here. Here, on this very location, at this very hour, at this very day?

Xing Ke immediately understood as he found the answer at the far off distance. "To send a message." Simca turned to Xing Ke. "At this dark of a night, where there's not one shred of moonlight, even the smallest spark can be seen for miles around. You chose this night so that these beacons will send your message loud and clear to every soul in the country."

"Beacons?" Simca raised her eyebrows at the plural… and then she traced what Xingke… what everyone was looking... she looked around to make sure she understands completely what had transpired.

22 Fortresses dotted the borderlines of China's Zaft occupied western hemisphere. And in a single night, Rena went on a one woman rampage and lit up 22 gigantic braziers that will burn until morning in a corpse mountain fueled inferno across said borders, sending the message loud and clear to Zaft AND Alliance alike. And the message is:

"Don't FUCK with Rena Imelia."

Chapter 53

The Beijing Court:

Part 2: The Empress

Rena's eyes sprang open when the banging on the door woke her from her slumber. She's looking at the shaking ceilings of her private bunk within the moving train. "…" How long has it been since she last dreamed of the past? She was never one for nostalgia, after all. "Xingke, right? Gimme a second."

Cracking the bones beneath her well built but still curveous woman body, Rena got up as she flexed herself to shook off her remaining drowsiness. As she looked at her naked self in the mirror, the sakura like scars that marred both the front and back part of her being still stood out amongst the many other battle scars she had acquired over the years since that day. Rena grunted without a care. Slowly, piece by piece, she began to cover her modesty, not with the waiter cheongsam she discarded into the furnace some time ago, but with the true attire of a Blacklist General Captain of the Regular.

Her clothing, in a word: functional. There are no decoration, only practical functionality. It's a full body armor that seems like a cross between ancient Chinese warlord and modern commando suit. Every piece of her protective covering is colored in a military green camouflage color. Her abdomen is covered in a form fitting high collared chest armor, extending down to an abdomen armor made of interwoven mail pieces, following the curvature of her female body. Layering atop it are padded black Kevlar belts, some of which holster pouches atop her bosom. She left most of her left shoulder bare, but her right shoulder is protected by a thick layered shoulder armor. The rest from rear arms down to her hands were armored, heavily. Her waist is covered in a heavily padded belt buckle, adorned with many pocket bags to store supplies and other equipments, and at the center are two holstered sidearms. Beneath the armored belt, are a pair of side skirt armor and another pair of overlapping layers of long thigh armor. And like her upper half, there are straps of pouches for ammo, grenades, and other concealed weapons here and there as well.

Every Captain has their version of coat that would denote their captaincy. And while every captain applied all sorts of modifications to it, all of them, with the exception of Kage, colored in white. But one's attention would immediately be drawn to what Rena used as her version of her white coat. The white pelt of a giant saber toothed tiger whose head was big enough to swallow a man's chest in a gulp was repurposed to serve as Rena's left shoulder armor. The rest of the pelt covered her entire upper half and extended down her body, complementing her dark green armor beneath it, thus creating a broad and wide shoulder frame as well as a white stripped cape that extended down her back, with a Chinese word of Shi (Ten in Chinese numeral) tattooed and branded on the cape. The same word can also be found on the one badge that held the pelt cape together just over her left breast.

"What time is it?" She asked as she put the last clothing article in its place.

"It's 5 in the morning."

"5!? Fxxk!" Rena snapped her bunk door open, glaring angrily at her soon to be dead first lieutenant calmly waiting just behind it. "I thought I expressly ordered you to wake me up early!"

"With all due respect, my General, given the fact you slept at three last night, I'm regretting having woken you up at this hour." Xingke fearlessly glared back. "I really think you should go back in there to sleep some more."

"Oh, no. You did not just tell me what I just heard you've told me?"

"Yes. I did, My General. As your friend-" Xingke's tone remained raised. "-and as your first lieutenant, I'm telling you, you should take a better care of your body."

"Look to the state of your own body before lecturing me about mine."

"My point exactly, Rena. I'm going to die soon. And this dying man will have to ask that you, ma'am, had to hold yourself over to a standard! You have an army to lead. And you're no good to that army half alive." Xingke snapped all that in one breath.

"…how long do you have?"

Xingke merely frowned. "The last doctor who checked up on me projected… one full year. Less, at the rate I'm going."

"A year?" Rena chuckled bitterly. "I thought the other doctor said three or more."

"Apparently that one was a bit of a quack."

Rena glared at her dying First Lieutenant. "You're playing a dangerous game."

"And you're not?" Xingke glared back. "He only became a captain for a few months, and he's about to become a lynchpin of all our plans."

"Disposable Lynchpin. He took the liberty of putting himself in this position, he rushed our 20 year timetable to… what… a year? If he breaks, he breaks. That's not my concern."

"China had suffered long enough." Xingke growled murderously. "If I only had one year left, then dear God above help me, I will extinguish it for her sake. Please remember that, My General." Xingke saluted one last time and left the now awake and alert General alone to her thoughts.

Rena raised her eyebrows before she snorted. Regardless of their differences, Xingke's loyalty to her, both as her friend and her right hand man was always unquestionable. Before Kage, Xingke is pretty much the only person on this planet who can scold her with such threatening tone and lived long enough to brag about it. But, before his dedication and sense of patriotism for his home and country, everything else will always take second place. Rena herself felt the same in regards to her ambition and lifelong goal, of building a stronger and better army of China. There's a saying: reality is more imaginative than imagination itself. One way to put it, Rena was partially responsible for the creation if the Juppongatana. From there, she purposefully sent them on various assignments in battlefields all across the world, further culling their rank. The idea was that they're pretty much a list of candidates for Harlbarton to choose as his future successor. Rena had placed her hopes on Canard Pars, the first member of the squad, and the only first generation Juppongatana who had survived since the squad's first inception. And yet… never, ever, not even in her wildest dreams, did she imagine that Mwu La Flagga, of all people, would unearth such an incredible find from a backwater town.

Rena had conceived this plan ever since she was promoted as a General. Given the enormity of the task set before her and the amount of secrecy required of it, she had prepared to wait and bide her time for a decade. When it coincides with Xingke's secret plotting, she was hardly budged. She was even prepared to extend that timetable another decade if that's what it takes. She just did not expect that this timetable would suddenly coincide with the coming of a certain soul who was as murderous and decisive as her, if not more so. She welcomed this sudden rush with mixed feelings. Pissed that someone screws up her perfect preparations and timetable. Pleased that there's some hope for this army yet. She was torn between preserving this rare breed of guts and brain, or lop off his head and be done with it. Neither would be hardship for her.

Ultimately though, she deemed this rush is a good thing indeed, considering the fact Xingke wouldn't last much longer. "Less than a year, huh?" Rena rolled her eyes. This doctor clearly did not mince words, quite unlike the previous doctor they visited. She had read the reports of that incident in the Out Frame Times which was the trigger of this incident. She'll deal with Orga eventually, but there's actually one more person that plays the pivotal role of being the true catalyst. Considering she had some time to kill… it's high time she pay a certain doctor a visit.

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The massive super train Qin Shih Huang quickly picking speed across its wide and specially made rail road (AN: As a comparison, the Qin Shih Hung was so massive, it would've used up 4 normal train tracks), its massive steam engine roared as 180,000 long tons worth of mass ventured across the tracks. The sound of its wheels when it grinded against the iron tracks matched by the sound of it deafening roaring engine, both echoed far and wide across many leagues. Those unfamiliar with the sound mistook it for the sound of grumbling thunder. Those who already had the familiar recognition treat it in their stride.

Within the train itself, the noise was considerably reduced thanks to its many sound suppressing walls, albeit it's still noisy. Comfort to the soldiers notwithstanding, it would be bad if the noise drowned the sound of orders being relayed. However, in certain room, occupant's comfort became a priority, owing to the fact that the occupant's status being VVIP.

Lacus couldn't enjoy this comfort, thanks to her armor. Alas, she couldn't remove her armor even if there aren't any other occupants in this particularly lavish room. Still, she'll just enjoy what she can from this experience. It's not every day a Princess of Zaft can safely enjoy a travel aboard a military train packed full with Alliance soldiers as an 'honored guest' rather than a prisoner. As the speeding train went past vast fields of wheat and rice, Lacus marveled the beauty of China's great land. 'Gold plains below and the vast endless blue sky above, with the mountainous region inbetween them… Truly… Zaft books that describe this land as the pearl of the Orient did not do her enough justice.' If she wasn't aboard a train made for war, she would've enjoyed it even more. 'Alas… when the fires of war reached here, the scenery the likes of this will not exist anymore.' "Ara? (Koff)"

That was when Lacus noticed she was being glared upon by Fllay. The poor girl still hadn't forgiven one of the two people she thought largely responsible for her current predicament. Lacus sensed Fllay's animosity, but she reciprocated it with kindness. She smiled back and gave a light wave. Alas, the feeling was one sided as the red haired girl respond with a scowl. It was an awkward silence between the two girls. George had left the two of them alone a little earlier, saying something about taking care some business with Kirihara's entourage in another room. Fllay wanted to come, but her now much stricter father forbade her from joining on the account he doesn't want to be disturbed by her 'nagging'. Thus Lacus volunteered to stay and keep Fllay company. An arrangement that apparently the girl disliked even more than being left behind by her father. But her father shut her out and agreed unilaterally: she doesn't have a choice. Hence, this predicament.

Eventually, Lacus attempted to melt this icy tension between them, by starting a simple conversation. "Fllay-san? Fllay-san, yes? Can I call you that?" Fllay didn't respond beyond a scowl. Lacus take that as an okay. "Fllay-san, do you love your father?"

Fllay didn't respond verbally, but perhaps she too grew tired of this silence of a stalemate, her throat felt dry, so she responded with the slightest of nods.

Lacus caught the cue to continue. "I loved my father too. I wanted to be with him all the time. But… it was difficult for him. He's the Prime Minister of Zaft. His many responsibilities see to it he barely had the time to go home. Sometimes I even felt he barely had time to sleep too. And that worries me even more." Lacus smiled sadly in concern. "Hence, I began studying politics. I thought that… if I became a politician and entered that world, I'll understand a little bit more with why my father had to do what he had to do. And then I can help him. Ease his burden." But she quickly added with a chuckle: "But mostly so that I can make sure my father bought me some sweets on his way home. (koff) Tee-hee! I even remembered that one time I nagged my father away from a meeting to buy a candy store just for me! (koff) And, and… that one time I…"

Fllay twitched visibly. "Ano nee!" Fllay growled. "What exactly are you trying to say? That we're the same just because our fathers are some big shot politicians?" Fllay gritted her teeth. "Newsflash to you, lady: We're nothing alike! You're an Advanced! I'm a natural! You loved your father? Big deal! I hate my father!"

Lacus merely smiled innocently behind her helmet. 'There she goes. Now she'll explode and release all her pent up frustration on me. Good. Bring it. Scream. Shout. Yell. Keep at it until your throat is sore. I'll take it all.' This is something she learned after that free fall into the cliff of death in Junius. 'In the end, you'll feel all better afterwards.'

And Fllay did just that. "He never spare any time for me-" She shouted and screamed. "He always promised to do this and that, but he never kept his words!" Everything she's been bottling up is finally exploding full force. "Next time! Always next time!" She railed and railed to a calmly listening Lacus. "He never listens! He always ignores me!" Lacus only nag her for 15 seconds, and Fllay responded in a 15 minute long litany of complaints which Lacus easily endured good and proper. Diagnosis: daddy issue. Puzzle solved.

Finally, Fllay's parched throat couldn't keep up anymore, and she had to stop. She pant and heaves up and down, catching her breath.

Clink.

"?" When Flay looked up, she saw a glass filled with ice cold water, being offered by Lacus' armored hand. Lord knows where and how she gets it.

"Drink. (koff) After screaming so many times, you must be thirsty right? (koff)"

"!?" Fllay looked at the glass with mixed feelings. For one thing, she had her reservations of accepting Lacus' good will, but seeing the dew trickling down the cold surface of the water filled glass…

Her parched throat won out in the end. She grabbed the glass and emptied it in a blink of an eye. When her thirst quenched, she looked at the now empty glass, and then at the armored freaky girl who gave it to her. Suddenly, Fllay found her earlier anger seem to have evaporated along with her thirst. And that irritated her to no end. Still. "My father… I don't care anymore. He doesn't love me anymore."

That doesn't change the fact she's a lot calmer than she was a few minutes ago. "Ano nee, Fllay-san. (koff)" Lacus began in a much more polite and soothing tone. "About what happened with Sai-san… if you feel I'm responsible to whatever harm inflicted upon you, know that I'm truly sorry." Lacus bowed her head as low as she could. "If you cannot find it in yourself to forgive me, that's just fine. But… please… don't say such sad things like your father didn't love you anymore. Search your heart; you know that's not true."

"But he slapped me! He… He-"

"He has to do… what a father has to do. Fllay-san… have you ever hit someone?" Lacus asked. "Like… really hit them hard?" To make her point, Lacus even shoved her own fist to her own face lightly.

"…yeah." Fllay frowned.

"It hurts. Doesn't it?" Lacus chortled as she tilted her head. "I mean, the first time I hit my sister, (koff) I had a fracture on all my finger bones. (koff)" Lacus chuckled and Fllay still aren't sure if the girl means it, or she's just making fun of her. "What I'm trying to say is… when someone hurt another, it wasn't just the one being hurt that is being hurt. It hurts your father more, having to do something a father should do to the one he loved the most."

"What do you know of me and my father!?"

"I don't know… anything." Lacus shook her head. "Of your father. Of what pain you've went through… the hardship on your family. I don't know. But this, I know. It doesn't matter if you're Natural or Advanced. No parent would ever hate their own children. That will never change… not even…" Lacus paused for a moment, swallowing a gulp. "…not even if their children may hate them for it. Parents will just endure as they continue to think what's best for their children, regardless of whether their children likes it or not."

Fllay's face wrinkled ever so slightly. And for a moment, she thought of retorting with an insult, but something Lacus said weighed her heart so much she just couldn't find the right word to say. Another long period of awkward silence followed and remained until the scenery outside the window changed from golden and blue to rich dark green. The train is passing by… an unnaturally thick forest. It quickly pulled the attention of both girls, allowing them to temporarily forget their awkward predicament.

Lacus would easily say it's unnatural because it was as massive… as it is otherworldly beautiful. Thanks to their highly elevated position, the array of giant ancient trees looked like an ocean of widespread albeit uneven green carpet of leaves. But the trees beneath their current level seem to be the smaller ones for amidst that ocean of green, jutting out like mountaintops over a field of green cloud are an even larger and awe inspiringly taller trees, its spiraling main trunks were as wide as a small mountain. Upon its barks, branches the size of actual trees jutted out far and wide, providing a canopy of shadow for the smaller trees below. They're merciful canopies for sunlight can still pierce through the foliage to give its blessings to the lesser plants below. Above the foliage of the titanic trees is what looked like… from where they're standing… tiny flies. But then, they came to realize those aren't flies. They're eagles. Eagles the size of horses. Unnaturally huge animals if only they're not dwarfed by the sheer scale of the tree they nested upon.

But it's not the size or the vastness that caught Lacus' interest. It's the serenity. Seeing things at this… unnaturally upscaled environment in normal circumstances would release some… pressure upon one sense of being. Making one anything but comfortable. And yet… the serenity made them felt just that. Comfortable. For Fllay, it was comfortable enough that what little left of her irritation just… up and gone. For Lacus, she found this comfort… familiar. And then she remembered. She felt this kind of comfort before. She felt this comfortable peace when she visited that blessed Sanctuary in Junius. Only this time… that feeling was amplified infinitely owing to the source being… ten thousand times bigger than before.

"What… what is this place? (koff)" Lacus gasped in amazement and wonder.

"We have many names for it." An unfamiliar woman voice shocked the two girls from their trance. "But most of the time, we call it… the Forest of Sages." Rena Imelia stood by the door, her expression as cold as grave.

Her arrival also took away the sense of serenity the two girls had had as their nose was quickly assaulted by a foul stench, coming from the General's boots, which at the present, is covered in dirt, excrement, and dripping oil. It seems she had spent some time earlier either in the engine room, armory, a backed up toilet, or all of them at once.

Fllay immediately covered her nose in disgust. "Eww… you smell!" Rena couldn't care less what the spoiled girl think. Lacus meanwhile, noted the seemingly excessive armory on the general's being. It's like the Captain was trying to bury what feminity she had under that military armor. If so, then Lacus would be sorry to say: she failed. Even amidst the masculine getup, Lacus had to admit Rena's cold Asian beauty still shine through. An Orient's signature black hair gleamed as it framed a face worthy of Princess, held up high by a physique surprisingly tall for a Chinese. Unfortunately, the Captain's manners is about to test whether her beauty is only skin deep or not.

Crossing her arms behind her back, she calmly approached the two girls, her dirty boots leaving behind the irremovable stains on the carpet for all she cares. "The oldest forest in the world. They say it is the only thing left from the time when Gods walked the earth. Or so the legends say." Rena continued to close in on the two girls as her eyes locked from to the passing scenery by the window. "Located at the center of the China, there are trees in there that was even older than the Dinosaurs. Planted there by the Gods themselves. Superstition. A bloody nuisance." Rena stomped her dirty boot right on the table inbetween the two girls as she looked on to that forest. "This place is the main reason why we had to go through the trouble of using this train to transport your boyfriend."

Rena's roughness aside, Lacus immediately caught on to what Rena was implying. Lacus always wondered where that creature under Don Winter's basement came from…

"You should know what I'm talking about, no?" Rena glanced at Hikari. "I've read Simca's report."

"…that creature… that sacred beast… who and what is he?"

Rena shrugged. "His name is Nago. He's the first son of Okkoto, the Boar Deva."

"Deva…!?" Lacus gasped in recognition. "Surely you're not talking about… Suzaku's 12 Deva generals!? I thought…"

"That they were legends?" Rena sarcastically chuckled. "This comes from you? The so called Descendent of the Onis? And a Zodiac Demon summoner witch at that!? The Devas still exist alright. Though… I'll admit they aren't what they used to be."

Lacus gawked in disbelief.

"What's a Daeva?" Fllay had to ask.

Rena snarled at the red haired girl with demeaning eyes.

"What?" Fllay was about to growl but then Lacus took over and explain.

"In the era where time itself was immemorial… in the time before the Onis, before all creation exists as it is today, they were four Primal Elder Gods whose existence preceded everything. Seiryuu the Imperious Blue Dragon, Shuzaku the Eternal Red Phoenix, Byakko the Steadfast White Tiger, and Genbu the Vast Black Turtle. These Four Celestial Gods were tasked to safeguard our realm against the forces of darkness and destruction in a never ending war. One among them, the eternal Shuzaku, commanded 12 beings that served as her generals… these are known as the Devas. And there are… Boar, Roost, Snake, Monkey, Ram, Ox, Rabbit, Dog, Rat, Tiger, Horse and Dragon Devas." Lacus looked at Lily rolling in her hand. "They say the Zodiac Greater Daemons were… demonic counterparts to the Devas. But… the Zodiac Greater Daemons used by summoners these days are but… offsprings to the original primal daemons who died eons ago. How can the Devas still exist?"

"They no longer exist as the creature they once were. The Devas are now more elemental than animal. Nowadays, it's their many offsprings that roams the land. Red Hare was one such offsprings. As do Nago. These Sacred Beasts, as you called them, occupy this forest and they are as territorial as they are fierce and vicious. But that's not the only problem. It's the forest itself. I think you can see from all these unnatural vegetation, the forest itself is enchanted… every blade of grass, every tree, every leaf… even the very air. Sacred, or cursed… or whatever. When you go in there, only two things will happen. The forest will either love you, or hate you. If it hates you, either it will kill you or spat you back out, and that's the best case scenario."

"You're saying that being loved by this forest is a bad thing?"

"Because you may never get out." Rena shrugged in annoyance. "Generations of Chinese Empire rise and falls, none dared to even so much as to pluck a single leaf off its tree."

"How did you manage to build this train tracks then?" Lacus frowned as she looked at railroads so far ahead. They were built on a massive clearing that stretched out for miles ahead. How many trees one must cut down to build a train track this huge?

"Ask my ancestors."

Lacus twitched. "I see the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree."

Rena let loose the lightest of smirk as her right shoulder twitched. "There's an unspoken agreement between the forest and the people. We'll respect each other's borders. They don't come to us, we don't come to them. But on the off chance some harebrained idiot from either side break it, it'll be a free for all. Nago was one such idiot." Rena also grabbed the tiger face on her right shoulder. "And so was Shen Hu."

Lacus' ears twitched. Beneath Rena's cold and toneless voice, she detected a trace of familiarity of one who knew full well who she's talking about. "You knew these beings by name… at such intimate level. You've met them before?" She can't imagine yet how Rena's encounter with Shen Hu ended up with the latter becoming the former's clothing, but somehow, Lacus managed to connect the dots between Nago and the general. "It was you. YOU shot Lord Nago's eye." How can someone like Don Winter manage to get a shot on a creature as strong as that boar, after all? "How could YOU!?" Lacus growled in anger.

"You know, when you shot something in the head, the logical thing that should've followed is that something to die straight away, not running off squealing into the forest." Rena's admission was as unrepentant as it is cold. "If you wish to blame someone, blame the stupid pig's endurance."

"Do you know how much he suffered!?"

"And do you know how many of my people he and his underlings and offsprings would've trampled underfoot if I hadn't tried to kill him when he attacked our borders? Do you know how many people he already killed before I plant one on his head!? Do you know how many people each of those animals kill every month? Every day?" Rena glared back. "I don't want him to die slowly, I want him to die straight away so that my men can skin him to use his pelt to survive through the winter, and take his meat so they'll have enough food for a month."

Lacus balked in disgust. "You're a monster!"

"Monster is a relative term." Rena returned the glare. "I'm a monster, you say? To a Natural like her…" She glanced at a frightened Fllay, cowering in her seat. "An Advanced like you is a monster. To those animals in that forest? We, humans, are the monsters." Rena scoffed. "I care not. They kill us to feed on our flesh. We kill them so that we can feed on theirs. It makes no difference. We're all monsters, we're all animals. It all comes down to one simple natural law: If you're strong you live. If you're weak you die."

Fllay gulped. Lacus merely frowned in silent disapproval… but she can't say a thing to retort her. Just listening to the way she spoke her words and she realized: this is a woman who truly believed in what she's saying. And she held that belief with such a zeal, it's almost like religious fanaticism: she held it above even her own life. Nothing she says will sway this determination. "And who will determine the qualification on who is weak and who is strong? You?"

"This is China. This is the land of the strong. The weak will be stamped out here." Rena scoffed. "China will judge all. You, me, even you." Rena shrugged at a frightened Fllay.

Lacus also gritted her teeth behind her mask in anger. She really didn't like this woman.

"What do you mean I can't get in!? This is MY ROOM! And my daughter's inside!" Suddenly, George's angry howl echoed from beyond the closed door.

"Captain Imelia's orders." Mato's flat reply followed. "This room is off limits until she says otherwise."

"What!?"

Rena shrugged. She finally left the two and moved to the door before she opened it to reveal Mato standing guard over the door, barring a fuming George and Kirihara from entry until a moment ago. Their flaring temper immediately cooled down into chilling fear as soon as Rena's fierce glare landed upon them. "Mato. Leave it. I'm done here anyway."

"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am." And so Mato stand aside, leaving the door open, but the two Logos Ministers had yet to enter, seeing the fierce General Captain is still at the door.

"You know… Kage managed to do something very few people managed to do. He impressed me." Rena turned to Lacus at the other end of the room. "Having said that, I kinda accept how Simca fell in love head over heels with him. But you… When I heard you were his girlfriend, I was rather curious to see what kind of woman you are. Now that I see and talked to you…" Rena briefly turned to her aide. "Mato, you once said her color is, what? Baby pink?" Mato nodded. "'Baby' is right." Rena snorted. "You're so disgustingly naïve I really want to puke. Are you really HIS girlfriend?"

Lacus didn't, wouldn't, couldn't, say anything. But her fist clenched her armchair so tight she wished she had the strength to break it under pressure.

With one last scoff, Rena left, with Mato in tow. And just as she disappeared out of everyone's sight, the two Logos Ministers thought they can at least breathe again.

Unfortunately they may have to postpone breathing… because now, the VIP room is choked by this eerie aura of rage from a certain princess inside.

And just when Lacus began to tolerate Kage's degree of repulsiveness, she felt she just found someone that made him saint-like in comparison.

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A few uneventful hours later, and the passenger began to feel the train is finally slowing down at a noticeable pace. Passengers with access to a wide enough window can peer through the opening to finally see their destination.

The capital of China and the center of Alliance governance of the entire Asia, Beijing. The most eye-catching feature of the city is the massive ring of railroads that divided the whole city into two parts: the outer part that lay outside the rail ring and the smaller inner part encircled within it. The outer city borders itself was encapsulated by a towering wall covered in spiked steel plates from bottom to top, dotted with innumerable gun emplacements and guard towers. The wall itself was so thick, it can probably sport a small city on top of its ramparts.

As the Train approaches, their final destination grew more specific in clarity. There at the end of the journey, on the thick great walls that guarded the fortress city was a massive statue carven in the image of a great Chinese Lord wielding a great sword that cleaved down into the earth. The train tracks were seemingly cut right where the giant blade were planted. But then, as the train slowed down further and they reached a certain distance from the great city, an unseen but loud mechanism snapped into activity and the great sword slide upward, revealing a massive doorway behind it, and the continuation of the rail road.

Beyond the wall, the outer part was filled with cities, towering pagodas and pavilions dotted various part of the metropolitan. And yet, among all these civil buildings, one can quickly notice there are also buildings with uncommon sturdiness. The sort that one won't find in civilian constructions. For example, while other buildings were built using brick and mortar, decorated with some lavish coloration, these buildings were reinforced with steel plates and little to no window but slits and gun ports. Of course, there are also other buildings, such as the industrial and commerce complexes that are reinforced just as heavily, but while other buildings were placed rather sporadically in a relatively haphazard manner, these buildings were set in a fixed and clearly measured distance with one another, following a strict planning. Military planning to be precise. The closer one get to the rail ring, the civilian building grew less and less, and conversely, the military buildings became more prevalent. When one reach the edges of the rail rings, one will be welcomed by a mountain of heavily armed military buildings that framed the rail tracks. Judging by the wear and tear of ages found on these military buildings and the lack of them in other civilian buildings coupled with the aforementioned heavily armed and fortified wall, it became obvious that in reality, the whole of Beijing was originally one giant Military complex the size of an entire city, the largest and strongest of the triplet fortress that guarded China: the Cao Wei Fortress. And then somewhere along the line, a real city was built within it.

As the Qin Shih Huang entered the rail ring, the view in the inner part was somewhat different. For obvious reasons, no civilian buildings can be spotted here. The whole inner segment was filled almost to the brim with tight knit military base, the distancing between buildings being pressed as tightly as possible, pushing accordance of army building regulations to its absolute limits. At the center of this tightly packed building however, is the reason why the military buildings were so heavily condensed. Occupying a massive open square space the size of a small city was massive palace complex. This palace stood out in comparison to the other buildings surrounding it, even the civilian ones, due to its distinct architecture. The military buildings follow a strict rule of practicality. Therefore, they're not beautiful or good to look at, but they are functional. In comparison, the civilian building has the practical element, but they also added a measure of artistic into it. This palace however, is neither practical nor artistic, but Traditional. The architect went through a lot of trouble to keep the ancient designs of the Palace intact, even at the expense of making it an oddity in a complex filled with modern (AN: Modern to that era) military constructions. Then again, the Forbidden City of Beijing is no ordinary palace complex. Within its great halls, generations after generations of China's Fire Emperor had ruled both China and, by extension, the whole of Asia.

Soon, the Qin Shih Huang finally grinded to a halt as they reached their destination, its occupants was immediately discharged. Rena and her first Lieutenant as well as Arsenal Five team leader came first, to the immediate salutation of the arrayed troopers. The next that followed was George, Kirihara, Hikari, and the rest of the entourage. The troopers briefly looked awkwardly at the armored figure, but seeing she was accompanied by two Logos Ministers, they wisely held their silence. And finally, Kage himself was finally dragged out, escorted by the rest of the Captains. Kept in the dark brig for a little too long, the Shinobi's eyes were initially blinded by the brightness. But when he came to, he was welcomed by the tense glare of every trooper present.

They've heard the dark captains by his incredibly unbelievable reputation only. The feats he performed were so unbelievable that some even began to doubt it even happened. But now seeing the captain in person, it's like all those stories were partially proven as facts. The troopers were now torn on whether they should be gawking like an idiot or point their guns at the captive captain.

Rena made that decision for them. "GET BACK TO YOUR POST YOU IDIOTS! SCRAM!"

The troopers snapped to attention and immediately be about their duty. Screw the fact if this up and coming Blacklist captain is as crazy as they say… they got one scary ass Blacklist Captain of their own right in their own backyard.

'Idiots…' As a grumbling Rena led the entourage she saw something in the distance her hopeful chance of amusement. She smirked as she stopped her, and by extension, the entire assembly's pace.

Others behind her peered over her broad shoulder to see what stopped her.

There in the distance, an old man with graying light brown color denoting his extended age is coming towards them, followed by an entourage of guards. Perhaps he wished to move faster, alas, his age clearly made his pace slow, no matter how fast he struggled to make himself.

Rena smirked and moved aside, revealing Kage's figure in full view to the old man. Upon catching sight of the dark captain, the old man's face was wrecked horror, shock, and then anger. The man quickly hastened ahead of his own entourage to close the distance between the two groups as quickly as he was able.

He walked past Rena, Xing Ke and pretty much everyone else, just to get in range of the dark captain. And as soon as that happened, his cane does the rest.

WHACK! CRACK!

At first everyone thought that latter sound of cracking was the sound of Kage's skull breaking. But Kage's forehead protector is still attached, and that's the reason why the man's cane broke upon impact with Kage's head. Then again, it is doubtful his aged strength can do worse, even if Kage's head wasn't protected by said headband. The only damage visible was a small trickle of blood flowing down Kage's temple.

Kage quickly surmised, from this blatant show of hostility… "Robert Corner, I assume?"

The elderly man looked hatefully at the indifferent Kage. The Captain's indifferent tone clearly showed the old man didn't inflict as much damage as he would've liked. Then again, he shouldn't have to. He angrily looked at Rena. "What's the meaning of this? I thought I said I want him dead before he even set foot here!"

"Then perhaps, you should've sent a better assassin." Rena didn't seem to care.

"Is this what you call the best in the army?"

"Last I checked they were drafted from your own personal guard." Rena grunted. "Maybe if you hadn't had them pushed too many pencils around, they could've at least nicked him."

Corner's face wrinkled in rage of terrible proportion.

Kage's eyebrows rose as he began to eye the old man suspiciously. "…"

Rena took the cue but mirthfully kept her silence.

Corner finally realized the attention and he glared back. "What are you looking at?"

"…" Kage didn't answer. But the ominous silence suddenly revealed everything.

"Sir, please step back!" Xingke panicked when he realized Kage's unspoken intent: He's gonna kill the old man first chance he get. "Step back Sir! His shackles are off!"

Robert finally noticed the silent bloodthirst emanating from the Captain and literally jumped back a few meters until the poor old man lose balance and fell on his back. At the same time, Kage's shackles fell off to the ground. But contrary to what everyone thinks, the shinobi barely budged. He merely flexed his arms and legs, completely ignorant of the situation. But Xingke and the other Captains closed in on Kage, both to watch just in case the Dark Captain made good on his unspoken intent and in case some troopers get trigger happy out of fright. "Kid, calm down. You can't just kill the guy, even if he's your prosecutor." Mwu grabbed Kage's shoulder.

"Actually, the idea is quite sound." Kage replied nonchalantly as he coldly glared at his prosecutor like looking at a cockroach to be crushed under his feet. "Kill him, and this whole nonsense will be over, no?"

The Old man suddenly realized he just dodged a point blank bullet to the head. He scurried back to the safety of his bodyguards who immediately formed a wall of men between their charge and the psychopath.

"Have you ever met someone you HAVEN'T tried to kill?" Mwu moaned.

Kage's eyes frowned in disappointment as Robert's form disappeared behind a wall of shield and protruding guns. "How bout we start with finding me someone… anyone who didn't try to kill me." Kage peeked behind the troopers. As expected, he can see Rena's reddening and barely puffed cheeks. She was struggling not to sadistically laugh out loud seeing the kind of reaction she greatly hoped to see. She had yet to reduce herself on rolling on the ground laughing, but she was holding on to her pained stomach in utter glee.

"You halfwit! What kind of due process where you didn't even cuff the prisoner!?" Robert vented out his fear by barking angrily at the smirking General.

"Find me shackles that he CAN'T pick, and then we'll talk about due process." Rena's muffled laugh had been reduced to a naughty smirk.

Alas, Robert noticed the smirk, which he correctly translates as smile of mischief. Even amongst all the rebellious Captains of the Alliance, Rena has been known for her absolute disrespect for any authority higher than hers. Xingke shook his head in a mixture of disapproval and elation. The only thing that survived from the Rena Imelia of old was her penchant to play a sadistic and highly dangerous mischief on a Logos Minister that may cost said minister's life at times – her idea of stress relief. While it was Robert's own audacity of getting so close to a highly dangerous convict to blame, Rena did take the liberty of failing to mention that one of the said convict's skill is his professional escape artistry.

Robert realized this, but he would rather die first before admitting his mistake. Rena's sadistic sense of mischief aside, he can also feel Kage's predatory glare piercing through his guards. This is different with Rena's sadistic sense of humor: this man seriously wants him dead. No mischief. Even now, the human monster who murdered his son is still plotting his death. If this demon think he's just gonna sit here and wait until he placed his head on a silver platter, he's sorely mistaken. "Screw this. Kill him!"

The troopers suddenly aimed their guns at Kage. Instinctively, Mwu and Murrue stood in his defense, ready to intercept the bullets on his behalf if needs be. Something that Rena duly noted. If this continues, people will die. And she can't have that. She scoffed. "Robert, that's enough. You promised me a fair trial. Knock it off, this is unsightly."

"Shut up! You army dogs should just shut up and listen to the hand that fed you until the next time we pull your leash!"

Rena's eyes visibly flared, but she maintained her inaction. Kage looked at all this and chuckled. "Well at least now I know the reason why I had to kill that overgrown snot." All eyes turned to the black clad Shinobi. "If he had a better role model for a father, he'd probably only lost an arm at the most."

Mwu sighed exasperatedly. The last thing you want to do in this kind of situation is to piss off the guy with a lot of guns pointed at you even more.

"FIRE!" Robert screeched, but before the trooper's finger pressed the trigger, Kage and Mwu disappeared from sight in a puff of smoke. When they reappeared, the two shinobis stand right in front the old man. When the troopers pressed the trigger in full, nothing came out. All but the two ninjas knew why the weapons malfunctioned. Four balls of fists outstretched and unfurled, releasing a rain of dismantled firing pins to the ground.

Thanks to that trip into the armory, Kage had already grasped the basic mechanism of a gun, and thus he knew full well how to dismantle one. And then, once again, his eyes landed on the man who already tried to kill him for the second time, and no doubt would try to do it again for the third time, and again if it failed. That cannot be allowed. His silent fury sharply magnified his killing intent to the point it was no longer concealable.

"Oh for God's sake!" Mwu immediately held his furious student by the shoulder. "Would you idiots stop TRYING to kill my boy before the trial!? Haven't you realized it'll never end well for the would-be killers!?"

Robert was at a mix of terrified and angry, but Rena made that decision for him. "I said… enough!" Rena's voice suddenly reverberated, and a gigantic wave of bloodlust exploded from her being, accompanied by a massive chi image of a roaring dragon head. Its size and sheer strength eclipsed even Kage's at his worst day, encapsulating almost the entirety Beijing. Birds flocking on rooftops allover the Fortress City sprang up in sheer utter terror. Some even died on the spot out of the shock of sheer fear.

It was but a single burst of explosive murderous intent, but it was enough to drown any form of hostile intention from any and all sides. All nearby fauna from said city all the way to the Forest of Sages felt it, all suddenly knew the meaning of skipping a beat in their heart.

"…" Silence all around as they all gave Rena their undivided attention.

Xingke took that chance to seize control of the situation before it worsens. He quickly approached Kage. "Kage-darren, I beseech you. Quell your righteous anger and stay your blade. Even if you could solve this matter with it, it will not do anyone any good." He added in a whisper: "Not now, at least."

Kage looked at Xingke's pale but firm expression. The man clearly doesn't have much time left, and still his eyes tell him that this is not the look of a man who would resign himself to mortality, but one willing to go down fighting. Respecting that, Kage pulled back his hostility and ease up, for now. Still, Kage will not ease the murderous bloodlust that flow from his eyes to Corner's. It doesn't help that while the old man himself was intimidated, he was too prideful to lessen his own vicious hatred to the masked captain. Though their meeting had been recent, it became obvious to all this hostility had reached the point of irreparability. It will not end until one of them is dead.

"There, there. Any brighter and those sparks will burn you, Robert." A smooth and suave voice suddenly draw everyone attention.

Kage turned to the source and raised his eyebrows as he watched another procession is coming towards them. It sparked his interest that this procession is almost identical to the first one. The only difference being, it was led by a single, smartly dressed, gentlemen, significantly younger than Robert. 'Another Logos?' And yet, Kage, and Hikari, are pretty much the only ones that did not jerk at the mere presence of this newcomer. And Kage immediately understand his lack of intimidation is simply because he doesn't know who this is. Fortunately, he's about to immediately introduced.

"Murata." Robert snapped. "The hell are you doing here?"

The gentlemen, Murata, smiled. Almost innocently so. "And why can't I come and meet the person I'm about to defend?"

'Defend?' Kage raised an eyebrow. Well, it is a trial. And there's always the plaintiff and the defendant. He just didn't expect his defendant will come from a Logos, specifically one he had never even met before until today. Anyone would be surprised if he's anything but suspicious.

"Due process must be watched, Robert. And trust me, you're already pushing it." Murata merely stare the older man, but he looked like the man just placed a dagger on his throat. "You've already entered a war with a very dangerous man." Murata turned to Kage. "Don't add another one to the list."

The old man suddenly felt a shiver down his spine. He can somehow still feel that murderous Captain is still eying his back. At this point, Robert finally decided he had seen enough Blacklist Captains for today and thus he marched off, both in anger and in fear for his life, followed by his fretting and disarmed guards. The man, Murata merely smirked as he traded hostile glances with Robert when they passed each other. Rena watched the man's hasty retreat with barely concealable satisfaction.

Kage noted the way they looked as if they wished they can kill each other just by looking at each other. But when he turned towards him… that malicious hostility turned ever so smoothly to gentle kindness… but something is seriously wrong with this kindness.

The man smiled. "Captain Kage. At long last." The man helped himself to shake Kage's unresponsive hand.

"Who are you?"

"Where are my manners? I'm Murata Azrael."

Hikari choked into her mask and Kage's eyes visibly widened. Did they hear that surname right!?

"You know me?" Azrael detected the surprise in Kage, and fortunately not in Hikari.

"Azrael?" Kage voiced his concerns first. "Azrael? You wouldn't happen to be…"

"…descendant of that crackpot patriarch of mine who nearly destroyed the world and all that." Murata smiled. "I've heard it many times, all throughout my childhood. I'm used to it now to the point I can actually joke about it, but I'd be most pleased if you do not add to it?"

Kage shrugged. "…you're… my defendant? Why?"

"I'm… a great admirer of your work."

"Don't bother trying to win my trust with pleasantries. What part of my work is admirable really? The part where I lopped off a Logos minister's head or the parading of the head on the front page?"

Murata Azrael's smile faded somewhat, but then he ended it with a chuckle. "Ah well… Kage, I don't want us to get off on the wrong foot, as the expression goes. But I dearly hoped you would not judge all of us based on the misbehavior of one of us?" And once again, he smiled.

"I'm not that prejudiced." Kage frowned. Something about that innocent smile made him sick to his guts. Probably has something to do with how empty the smile was, and how blatant the lie that was masked behind it. Lacus too, had a habit of making a fake innocent smile, but at the very least, she genuinely enjoyed it. "I'm just… not a firm believer of unconditional charity."

Azrael merely smiled. "Well… we're not exactly living in the world where we can afford to be selfless now can we?"

"Now that's more like it, Mr. Azrael." Kage snorted. And for a brief instant, the man's smile became somewhat more genuine. Genuinely malicious.

"Then I trust, you would trust me to help your cause?"

"No." Kage replied easily. "I do trust you Mr. Azrael, to put your own ass before everything else, just like Corner did. And someday you will probably die because of it. And that, dear sir, is pretty much the full extent of the trust I will afford you now and in the future, so don't hold your breath." And before Azrael can retort, Kage ignored him and looked straight at Rena. "You've had your 'fun'. Now get me to my cell ASAP. At the very least, the air won't be as stale there."

And before anyone can stop him, Kage took the liberty of waltzing off on his own. Rena merely snarled a smirk at Azrael as she escorted her charge away from the scene. Azrael was left hanging there, still with that empty smile.

Mwu and Murrue gulped. Out of courtesy, they apologetically bowed towards the Minister. "I'm sorry, Director Azrael. Captain Kage's a good soldier… but a bit short on social skills…"

Azrael merely smirked as he watched the two Blacklists Captains walked side by side. Two mightiest warriors of the Alliance. "Rena Imelia… and then Kage. Both are Blacklist Captains, the mightiest naturals in the world, a credit to our race. Well… that's just fine. Sometimes, one must afford some people with so exceptional of a skill some well deserved privileges."

Mwu and Murrue gulped. Of all the people who had gotten the leak of Kage's true identity as an Advanced, this is probably the one person who must never found out about that little secret. "Thank you for your understanding, sir."

Azrael smiled. "Well, perhaps my timing was a bit off? He is about to face a court martial of which he was wrongly accused? I mean, given the risk of execution, I should presume everyone's a bit… on edge. I look forward to talk with the good Captain again… this time, preferably as free man." The Director gave the captains and the other colleagues of Logos the slightest of nods. His gaze also landed ever so briefly on George's frightened daughter… and the eerie white armored being next to her. His kind eyes swiftly turned somewhat sinister but it was immediately faked to kindness once again. "Well then. Good day."

And Azrael departed away as simply as he arrived. George and Kirihara merely gazed his departure in wary silence. "Murata Azrael. Son of Bruno Azrael and heir apparent of the Azrael Industries, one of the wealthiest most powerful business empires in the world." Kirihara frowned. "I mean, George and I were already quite a powerhouse here on China, but the Azrael family strength dwarfed our combined wealth the same way we dwarfed a street vendor."

George continued. "We're talking about a family who financially supported the critical backbone of the northern America Alliance's entire Military forces that guard the entire western block… and by extension, the Alliance holdings in South America as well. Simply put, he pretty much had total economical rule over HALF of the Planet."

"Sanguis Mortae Aeternus." Lacus murmured. "The Eternal Death of Blood. It is the fate that was sentenced upon all those who bear the Azrael family name by the Church of Fire. Tis' the cruelest death sentence that not only applies to all current heir of the Azrael bloodline, but also extends to every single relative, no matter how tenuous the relation became. Even if you were, say, cousin of a cousin twice removed, this fate will spare you no mercy. All so that any trace of Azrael Bloodline are erased from all existence, forevermore." Lacus bit her lips. "And this is a problem because… the Azrael bloodline was so hated in Zaft, even those who vie for peace would most likely demanded his death as one of the very least of the conditions for a ceasefire. I mean… I may be able to negotiate the clemency of all other families of Logos… but not this one."

George and Kirihara were hardly surprised at such hatred stemming from Zaft. Even those who vie for peace just couldn't find it in themselves to forgive the bloodline who was responsible in not only the butchery of their race, but also the near destruction of the planet.

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Not long after the whole debacle, Rena escorted Kage across the prison cells of the Forbidden Palace.

Midway, Rena noticed Kage's disappointed gaze. She immediately understood why. "Were you really gonna kill him?"

"I would. Until I realized… you would've tried to stop me. As would my company." Kage shrugged at her, also referring to Mwu, Murrue and Jane. "It's in the job description, no? To babysit a bunch of overgrown man child businessmen?"

She chuckled. "It's an ugly business. But just occasionally, it's quite a pleasure." They soon arrived at a cell.

"Still, what was that all about?" Kage asked as soon as Rena shoved him into said room. "I was under the impression all Logos minister would be scared shitless at a lapdog that bites off the hand that fed them."

"You forget, they're not ministers. They're businessmen. Outwardly they may work together, but behind each other's back is cutthroat enmity governed by self interest. Right now, they're only allied in the face of greater evil. But they're not friends. They're competitions. When one is imperiled, the other would be glad to be rid of the other, though none were brave enough to admit it in public." Rena closed the door but waited for some time before she locked the cell. "When you killed Corner, the Logos ministers in this side of the world were quickly divided into two: those whose pockets were thinned by his death, and those whose pocket gets thicker because of it."

"So you're saying I have to kiss the asses of the Logos that supported me or something?"

"I don't know. I don't give a shit." Rena locked the cell. "If you recall, I didn't want you to frolic with them, I want them dead. How, where, and when is all up to you. Kill as many as you can while you're still alive."

"Excuse me?"

"You brought yourself upon this predicament. You get out of it." Rena's eyes are as cold as ever. "If you can't get out, than this is all you've amount to."

Kage frowned. "Say, you said you brought Hikari here for a reason that is in my interest. Maybe it's high time I heard the full reason?"

"Well, truth be told, it wasn't me who insisted on bringing your girlfriend here. It's… well, speak of the devil." Rena glanced over her shoulder, and it was Xingke standing in wait. Rena walked past her lieutenant and left the prison, giving the two their alone time.

"Kage-darren." Xingke bent his head down.

"Xingke. You mind explaining why you need Hikari so damn bad? Was it your illness?"

"No. Not me. As I said, there's one slim chance for you to escape this predicament."

"How?"

"That would depend on your… cooking skills, Kira-darren."

Kira rolled his eyes. "Excuse me?"

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Before long, Kira walked out of prison together Xingke and Hikari, leaving the Daemon Doppelganger of Kage (Lea and Rea) behind in the cell.

"The Corner will be the Plaintiff and the Azrael will be the defendant, and yet, there must be a common neutral ground. As such, the Empress shall personally preside over your trial."

"What!?" Kira and Hikari were so shocked they stopped their walk. Was Kage's crime that serious that even the head of nation had to mediate over it!?

Xingke didn't blame them for this surprise. "This case, Kira-darren, involves more than just the feud between you and the Corner family. Discounting the Alliance, this also implicates the whole China, considering the amount of influence a single Logos minister had on our economy, alive or otherwise. From a business stand point, China is a very HUGE market. The Logos had a substantial amount of stake on it. What you just did completely disrupts the delicate balance of power between the Logos and had a potential to change China completely. Hence, the Empress' involvement." Xingke closed his eyes in exasperation. "In case it had yet to become obvious, the court of China is a cesspool of corruption and treachery, like any other government. One of the surefire ways to get by in this place is with bribes."

Kira's eyebrows were visibly raised. "…was the Empress really that much of a gourmand that she'll let her stomach influence her decision with her nation at stake?"

"Oh no. Not this Empress. Her majesty is a studious and diligent Empress who had dedicated her heart and soul for the people of China." Xingke bit his lips. It's just… well… it's not the Empress you should impress, really. It's… you'll see when you get there."

"?" Kira and Lacus looked at each other, and now they're genuinely confused.

A little while later…

Xingke brought them before a grand gate towards the throne room. "Please wait here until I called. When you do enter, keep your heads down. You do not look up upon the Empress unless you're allowed. And you must also remain outside at least a hundred paces away from her majesty, unless you've been given the permission." And thus how Xingke told them to wait outside and he alone entered.

The two agreed, but Kira was somewhat restless. "Hikari, what do you know of the China's government?"

"In a word? Corrupt. But only until recently, since the previous Fire Emperor passed away. And then the new Fire Empress took the throne and things went downhill, very, VERY fast." Lacus recounted what she knew. Which isn't much, unfortunately. "I've heard the previous Emperor was very Pro Alliance, but that sentiment began to change in recent years. I've been hearing talks of… integration."

"So… you're saying the New Empress is also Pro Peace with Zaft."

"No, not peace. Integration. Some talks of China joining hands with Zaft. I'm not exactly sure what it entails."

"I don't like this… Hikari… Lacus…" Kira whispered. "Can you hear what's happening inside?"

Lacus closed her eyes and her ears began to twitch. "I can hear voices… you know what, it'll be much easier for the both of us if I just transmit them straight into your eardrums. May I?"

"Please do." Kira's ears jerked when it starts hearing voices from inside as if he was there in person…

Inside…

It was a vast luxurious golden room, filled with royal Chinese color of red and yellow. 8 enormous Golden pillars with entwined dragons encircle a single canopied throne right in the middle of that vast room. Surrounding the canopied throne is a group of men with powdered faces, dressed in gaudy dresses. Encircling this particular group, is a whole slew of heavily armed Guards. China's finest warriors. Not the Alliance. China's. They protect that which is the most important to this massive nation. Truth be told, if it weren't for Logos' economical stakes in their nations, they won't even need the Alliance to protect their borders.

Xingke would know. He trained them with his own sweat and blood. The guards recognized him from a mile away and as one step aside to make way. The Guards protect and prevent people from getting near within 20 paces from the Empress. A necessity when there are too many people who wants her dead. Funny thing is, Xingke mused, these guards had been trained to stop an assassin 30 paces away, and yet here they are utterly helpless in preventing 10 people more murderous than any assassins standing less than 3 feet away from their charge.

The Eight High Eunuchs. The true rulers of China. Remnants of a diseased and sick tradition. Every single one of them is no longer capable of producing descendants and yet it did nothing to quell their lust for power. In the past, Eunuchs were nothing more than the Emperor's personal chamberlain. But at some point, they began to grow in strength and power, fueled by the ineptitudes of past emperors. Their rank replenished with each new generation of Eunuchs who inherit not only their post, but also their ambition and cruelty. The current generation now wields more political strength than the most senior of ministers. Alas, despite the great powers they wield, they are the least fitted to wield it, and the people of China paid dearly for it.

The Previous Emperor, a strong, competent, and brave warrior King had done everything in his power to began stripping the Eunuchs of the power that aided their decadence at the people's expense. Unfortunately, just as China had began a climb back to prosperity, the wise Emperor died an early death due to a fatal illness. And that's when Xingke swore upon his deathbed that he would serve his successor to his very last breath. Now, the current Empress is not a warrior protégé the previous Emperor would've wanted, and yet, as her teacher, Xingke saw the potential for greatness in her. Give her time, and Xingke foresee she will become one of the greatest Empress ever graced China.

That is… if these murderers didn't destroy her first.

"That's close enough Xingke." A morbidly obese Eunuch with powdered face beckoned him to stop.

Out of spite, Xingke ignored him. "Who are you to deny me conversation with my own student?"

"We've found your teachings have been… disruptive."

"To you maybe." Xingke snarled. "Only the son of Heaven may tell me what I can and cannot do."

"Hear, hear!" a chortle answered Xingke's statement. But they come not from the silent person behind the canopy, instead, a small petite and black haired girl descended out of thin air, accompanied only by a puff of smoke and rose petals. She smiled brightly, despite the tense atmosphere. "And Tianzi-chan clearly doesn't mind having Xingke around, right, Tianzi-chan!?" She smiled mischievously at the canopy, and the figure behind it fidgeted nervously, but the Empress kept her silence.

Xingke smiled in relief. Since olden age, China had an 'interesting' relationship with Orb. Considering Japan, Orb's island capital, was in such close proximity with China, a tight bilateral relationship between the two great nations was only natural. Over through the ages, China and Japan had become either friends or enemies. Each nation even had an embassy set up in their respective countries, and at the present, princess Kaguya is the current Japan's Chief Ambassador for China.

Tienzi would often invite Kaguya to tell her stories of the outside world. A world denied to her due to her forced sheltered life. Visit after visit, and soon, even the Imperial Guards who used to kept the Ambassador Princess at a spear's length eventually would grew accustomed of the sight of one always with the other most of the time. The two had become the best of friends, something that the Eunuchs found to be troubling.

"In any rate… if you're here, then… is he here?" Kaguya's eyes narrowed.

Xingke merely nodded. "He's locked down in the brig."

"I wish to see him."

"I shall arrange a meeting. But before that… there are some other people I'd like Tienzi to meet." Xingke lowered his head. "Tienzi will mediate over the trial of Captain Kage, yes? Before the trial proceed as it were, I'd like to present two people whose involvement in this case was crucial."

"We've heard the report." A Eunuch answered smugly. "Kage and Corner get into a heated argument over the issue of a chef I hear? A chef with skills so astounding that both loathe to gave him up?"

"What ridiculousness. Killing people to satisfy one's appetite." Another Eunuch smirked.

"Too true! Truly, the people outside our mighty capital of China is nothing short of barbaric country bumpkin from a country of savages! Ohoho!" and they laughed rudely.

Kaguya twitched. "Are you lards for brains are in any position to call people names?" She snapped. "I don't know who this cook is, but I do know he's Japanese. Insult my country one more time, and I won't hold anything back."

The Eunuchs laughter stuck dead on their throats when they realized they've thrown the wrong insult in the presence of a wrong person. That cook, as the report stated, was a Japanese, and they've just insulted a Japanese in front of a Japanese Chief Ambassador. They quickly covered their unease with throat clearing and silence.

Kaguya turned to Xingke. "Xingke… are you telling me that these Japanese… this cook and the other person can provide more insight into this case?"

"It is certain. Both were at the center of the incident from beginning to the end."

Kaguya frowned. If it was that severe, than this also had a potential to escalate into an international incident. Orb could be implicated for all the wrong reasons. She turned to the canopy, towards the figure of the Empress. The figure shifted ever so slightly, still no word came out, but Kaguya easily translate the order. "So be it. The Empress wishes to see them. Send them in, Xingke."

Xingke take one last look at the figure, and she stifled, her approximation to a nod. Xingke bowed low in gratitude before he turned to the guards. "Let them in!"

As soon as she heard that, Hikari quickly ended the sound transmission to their eavesdropping and stood back. Kira also readied himself as the grand gate was opened from within. Soon, Kira and Hikari were brought before the throne room. As per the imperial rule, the two outsiders must stand a great many distance away from the canopy where the Empress was seated. About a hundred paces away. And even from there they can feel all eyes are fixed upon them.

"Highness, we've brought the chef, Kira Yamato, and the Doctor, Hikari, before you." Xingke stated as he knelt.

"Arere? Kira Yamato?" All the sudden, Kaguya chirped. "Xingke… when you said Japanese Chef of astounding skill… did you mean this boy!?"

"Eh?" Xingke blinked. His heart skipped a beat. How did the Japanese Chief Ambassador knew a simple cook by name?

"Hoo…" the Eunuch gazed with great interest. "Kaguya-hime, you know of this commoner chef?"

"Of course I do." The Princess smirked. "Everyone in Orb's Court would knew of Kira Yamato: 'The cook who nearly destroyed Orb in three days'."

"EH!?" "What!?" Everyone but Kira gasped their heart and spat out whatever they were drinking or eating at the moment.

Kira twitched. '…they still remember that incident… even after so many years!?' Kaguya eyed him with great interest.

"Well, well. This is interesting." The Eunuchs eyed the kneeling boy with renewed interest. "Commoner, you may enter within fifty paces of her Majesty. Step forth and let us get a better look at you."

Hikari glanced in shock and concern as a rarely nervous looking Kira did as asked whilst keeping his head down. Once he entered within fifty paces of the throne, he stopped, and he still kept his head down.

"Lift your face up, peasant."

Kira lifted his face, and he get to see the powdered scowling faces of the Eunuchs. Faces of cowards and incompetents marred with greed and corruption masked with arrogance of ill gotten and ill deserved high rank. The kind of face he's seen one time too many during his time in Zaft.

"Hmm… he's still so young." The Eunuch mused, blissfully oblivious to the disgust shining in Kira's eyes. "And yet you're saying Kage and Corner would kill to keep him? Could his skill truly be so great?"

"And yet Princess Kaguya from Orb himself vouched for this man… I must admit I'm a bit curious now." The Eunuch turned to Kaguya. "And you called him a cook who nearly destroyed Orb in 3 days?"

"Trust me. It's not as bad as it sounds. And it has nothing to do with his cooking, before you ask." Kaguya grinned. But then, she looked at Kira. "Still… I must profess myself curious of meeting you here. You're a long way from home."

"Not exactly my choice, Sumeragi-hime." Kira shrugged.

Kaguya blinked. She didn't remember introducing herself. "You knew me?"

"I would not call myself a Japanese if I didn't." Kira politely bowed in a rarely displayed form of sincere humility. "Sumeragi Kaguya, head of the Sumeragi house, the ruler of Kyoto House, one of the five houses who ruled Japan… and Japan's Chief Ambassador for China."

Kaguya smiled and nodded in approval for this recognition. It also gave her insight that Kira clearly understand why she was involved in this incident.

"I'm just going to say… this incident… is a very personal one. Orb has nothing to do with it. My brother's has long since been severed with Orb's interest."

"Brother?" Kaguya blinked. "…you… are Kage's brother?"

"Yes." Kira nodded. "That, and among other things, are the primary reason this whole incident had occurred. As such… I feel it is only proper that I came here before you to shed light on the situation."

Kaguya eyed Kira inquisitively. But before she can utter more inquiring question, the eunuch interrupted. "But before we allow you to speak your plea… what have you to offer?" Kaguya was left rudely hanging, but she can only show her displeasure at the Eunuch with a glare.

Kira frowned in utter disgust. The eunuchs had grown so corrupt they didn't even bother masking their demand for bribes with lame excuses. 'Patience… patience…' "Unfortunately, my lords, I'm but a poor cook with nary a possession in my keeping precious enough to be worth your while."

"So you came here without even knowing your dues?"

"All I have is my skills and abilities as a cook. Sumeragi-sama had attested to that, I believe. I'm a chef. All I can do is cook."

"So you're offering us your services in exchange for your brother's life?"

Kira twitched. "No. I said I can cook for you. But I will NEVER work for you."

The Eunuchs twitched. "Watch your tongue boy. We hold your brother's life in our hands. Why… we even hold yours right now."

"You hold nothing." Kira defiantly spat back. "You really think my brother is one to be subdued with mere force or blackmail? Alejandro Corner tested that theory for you. Look where that got him." Kira's eyes turned dark and firm. Even the Eunuchs suddenly found themselves losing their nerve. "I'm not here to play games. I'm here to save my brother. So here's the deal. Name a dish… ANY dish… and I will cook it. And if I can deliver, you will let me talk to the Empress."

"A mere commoner asking to talk with the son of Heaven!? What nerve!"

"Actually, I think it's a fair deal." Xingke interjected as he glared at the Eunuchs. "What he asked is unreasonable… and yet he also set a term that is in your favor, did he not?"

The Eunuchs looked at Xingke, and then to the deviant cook. They huddled amongst themselves, whispering with each other. Kira and Xingke exchanged meaningful glances in the mean time. At the far back, Lacus eavesdropped on the exchanged hushed words… and she began to dislike what she hears. After a few long minutes, the Eunuchs seem to have reached a consensus and ended their huddle. "Very well. We accept your challenge. Chef Kira Yamato, stand ready to hear your orders!"

Kira knelt in anticipation.

"You are to prepare… a 108 dish banquet for our Empress."

"…the Manchu Han banquet huh?" Kira kept his cool, earning him a look.

"Of course, it doesn't have to be the actual Manchu Han banquet." The Eunuch smirked sinisterly. "If you can make 108 different dish for our Empress, we shall consider your brother's case. You can use our pantry, even the entire workforce of the imperial kitchen is at your disposal."

"Hmm…" Kage rubbed his chin, forming a plan to fulfill that absurd request. He already had an idea in mind. "I concede. But… if that's how it's going to be, may I make one request?"

"That would be?"

"…I'd like to have one look at the Empress. And I do mean face to face."

"What!? How impudent of you! A mere commoner dare to ask to meet face to face with the son of heaven!?"

"You asked this mere commoner to feed the Son of Heaven 108 dishes, and I'm ready to oblige. But I need to know who and what am I feeding! A banquet is a living breathing thing! It changes depending on its attendance. Am I feeding a woman in his twenties or am I feeding an elderly!? Don't you eunuchs care what I put into your empress' belly!?"

"How dare you-"

"Wait!" A girl's voice finally flowed out of the curtained canopy for the very first time. Earning the canopy a surprised look from everyone in that court room.

Kira and Hikari cringed when they noticed… of how young the voice sounded.

"The cook speaks reason." The Empress' silhouette spoke from behind the curtain. "Xingke. I gave… Mr. Yamato permission to enter within 20 paces from the throne and to look at me in the face. Of course, he shall be put under watch at your discretion, Xingke."

"Yes, your highness." Xingke nodded. "Kira Yamato. By the grace of her majesty, you may enter within 20 paces from her highness and look at her in the face."

Kira slowly approached the throne under the auspicious stares of the ministers and eunuchs. When he reached the designated distance, the guards held him at bay at spear point. And then, slowly, Xingke opened the curtain, revealing the face of the Empress.

And Kira gaped in disbelief.

The Empress was petite. Even garbed in her imperial empress clothing, one can say she was rather thin. Her eyes red, with well kept white hair streaming down her small petite head, adorned with a crown… that was obviously too big for her 11 year old self.

He just conceded… to cook 108 dishes to an 11 year old.

But then, Kira began to notice other issues. For a start. Her skin. At first, it looked white and creamy… but in actuality it was more pale than white. Her body too. Rather than to call her small or petite… it's actually more of thin and frail. '…hmmm…'

The Eunuchs chuckled sinisterly from their high seat. "Well? We've granted your unworthy eyes the sight of her majesty. Now you'll have no excuses to deny this ta-"

"Okay." Kira nodded.

"Eh?"

"108 dishes. As you wish your majesty." Kira calmly calculated. "If I start now… I'd say I'll need… around 2 hours. Will you wait, your highness?"

Tienzi nodded. "Please do."

The Eunuchs were caught by such a surprise, they barely flabbergasted a final threat. "T-the Empress has spoken! On with it then! And this goes without saying, but if your dish fail to satisfy, it'll be on all your heads! Now begone!"

And without another word, Kira turned his back and leave. As he reached Hikari, she too was looking rather skeptic. Still, she too kept her calm as she walked out of the court together with Kira. "So… Kira-kun… (koff) how are you going to feed 108 dishes to an 11 year old? (koff)"

"Hikari… I'm gonna need your help… as a doctor on this one."

"Okay. (koff)" Personally, Lacus also caught something discomforting when she observed Tien zi's constitution…

00000000000000

Xingke's Aides, Hong Gu and Zhou Xianglin, first escorted Hikari and Kira to the Imperial Kitchen. As soon as the gates were opened, they were welcomed with a vast room filled rows after rows of cooking stations, fully equipped with all sorts of cooking utensils, as well as pantries containing every ingredient any chef could only dreamed of. Lacus inwardly whistled in awe. As expected from the capital of a nation whose cuisine was recognized as the top five food culture in the world. Meanwhile, in view of all this, Lacus noticed that, Kira reverted back to what he used to be: a consummate honest to god chef. He reacted to this place the same way she would react if anyone gave her a chocolate house to live in: like a kid having an early Christmas Dream come true. "Oh… wow. Wowowow. China's Imperial Kitchen. I've heard tales of it… but… to actually be here… in person…"

Hong Gu led Kira to the changing room. Hikari waited outside, but Xianglin offered her a change of clothes also. It was a Chinese chef clothing. But Lacus had to respectfully decline. "Alas, I must refuse. (Koff) My… condition made me unable to take this suit off. (koff) Know that I won't be cooking. (koff) I will merely assisting. (koff) But for keeping with the spirit's sake, I'll take this. (koff)" A pink apron was the only chef attire she took. And then, Kira finally walked out of dressing room in a Chinese chef attire. It came as little surprise for Lacus that it suits him perfectly for all the right reasons.

"The food coming from this kitchen has served the dining tables of generations of Chinese Emperors and their families." Xianglin explained. "So you can be certain that the quality of the ingredients and the equipment are beyond reproach."

"I believe you." Kira started by marveling one of the many kitchen knives at the ready. God knows how long he must save up his allowance just so that he can afford even one of these badass kitchen knives. "The question is… nowadays… how many percentage of the food made here were actually meant for the Empress' belly, and how many for those dickless scumbags?"

The fact that the two Aides did not take offense in Kira's blatant insults to the Eunuchs merely answered the question for Lacus. "Too many, I'm afraid." Hong Gu replied. "Most of the food made here ended up in their stomach on account of… 'poison testing'." Hong Gu actually made the quotation mark. "And then the Empress gets what's left. However… fair warning, Yamato-darren. For this test, it is likely the Eunuchs will not partake in your food. They will demand the Empress eats it all down to the last crumb, all by herself."

"Yes. I expect nothing less." Kira smirked as he watched his own reflection on the knife's surface. Lacus disappointment couldn't be more profound. For a moment, for just a brief moment, she saw Kira as the person he used to be… the person he's supposed to be… and then poof… there he goes. Back to that dark, insidious plotter he was forced to become in this twisted world.

"Your confidence left me with a strong impression." Kaguya suddenly popped out of thin air in a puff of smoke. "You've came a long way, Kira-kun."

"Sumeragi-sama." Kira nodded.

"That's Kaguya-san for you." Kaguya then landed her eyes to her. Lacus gulped. She can feel her eyes pierced through even her helmet. 'Oh dear lord…' "Hong Gu, Xianglin, stand by the doors. I'll take over from here. In fact…" She then turned to all other Imperial chefs looking at three foreigners. "Every one of you. Leave. Now."

The Imperial chefs clearly take offense to that order. "Excuse me? Who are you to give us orders?"

"I'm the Empress' best friend. And the food made here literally hold her life in the line. Am I wrong to be worried of the people who will do so?" That was a sharp and straight doubled edged word. Kaguya may have meant it for Kira and Hikari, but in reality, she was addressing her doubts of the whole kitchen staff, of whether they were on the Eunuchs' payroll or not.

Hong Gu and Xianglin immediately took the initiative. "Alright, alright! You've heard what she said. Leave! That's an order!"

Soon, the kitchen hall was emptied save those three, and Xianglin gave one last glance to a smiling Kaguya before she closed the door.

Now that they're alone, Hikari looked at Kaguya as she glanced repeatedly at the still confused Kira.

"Since when an Ambassador had as much power as the Empress?" Kira asked.

"Since a bunch of dickless scumbags became more powerful than the Empress." Kaguya smiled. "Make no mistake, Tianzi is a strong and wise girl. Even now, her wisdom and strength only grew under Xingke's stellar teachings, but the Eunuchs knew this, and they did not like it. If it weren't for either me or Xingke watching over her back, she may not survive a day, as she is right now, that is. But someday, surely…" Kaguya sighed as she looked longingly at the possible future before reverting back to the present. "Mark my words, the day Tianzi old enough to take the reins of her country in full is the Eunuchs' last day in the office. They don't want that, and as the years grinds forth there has been multiple attempts of assassinations, all of which Xingke and I barely prevented, but unfortunately, we've never been able to pin it on them, though we know it's them. So I didn't lie altogether. I really do have my concerns on what you'll be making for Tianzi. But that's for later." And then, Kaguya suddenly gave Hikari her undivided attention.

Lacus gulped. 'Ulp.'

"…Lacus?" Kaguya chortled.

Kira's eyes widened and Lacus can only fidget uncomfortably.

"Lacus?" Kaguya repeated more firmly. "Is that really you?"

Lacus sighed. 'Guess there's no way around it.' "Hello, Kaguya. (Koff)"

"Lacus!" Kaguya jumped and laughed. "Oh my god, what are you wearing!? I couldn't recognize you!" She quickly gave the armored princess a friendly familiar glomp.

Lacus bit her lips as she struggled under Kaguya's cuddling. Her old classmate can be too overly perceptive for her own good.

"What is this?" Kaguya looked at Lacus' armor. It bears a striking resemblance to a samurai armor. "Dear me, honey, I know you like my culture but don't you think this is a step too far?"

"Considering I've tasted the experience of having to wear this armor almost 24/7… yes. (Koff) I do believe I had overrated your culture. (koff) No offense. (Koff)" Lacus took a glance at Kira, and she noticed he's not as surprised as he should be. "Kira, I can explain. (Koff)"

"No need. I understand." Kira sighed. She's a politician after all. Kira would assume there are many more high ranking politicians from all super power nations that Lacus would know on first name basis.

Kaguya also looked at Kira, and she glanced back to Hikari, as if trying to figure something out. And she did. "Oh, I see. So you're the impostor behind the mask." She chuckled. "You really had me fooled, you know?"

"Was I that convincing?"

"Hardly, no. No, it was as plain as day, even for those who did not spend much time with the real one." Kaguya tapped Lacus' helmet. "No, the real reason you got me curious, is because you have Kage's real intended partner and my old classmate at your side." She lovingly rubbed Lacus' helmet with her cheek.

"Lacus…?"

"Kaguya and I shared a year with the same sensei. (koff) Just as Kage is a hereditary title, so is Hikari. (Koff) 'Hikari'… was always meant to be Kage's support partner. (koff)" Lacus shrugged uneasily inside her armor. "Kaguya and I were candidates for that title. (koff) Though in all honesty, I did not even held any interest in it. (koff) My reason to study under Sensei was to deepen my medical expertise. (koff)"

"Say what you will sister, that dedication of yours is what outclassed me in every subject." Kaguya eyed Lacus happily. "And I'm still raw about it by the way. But I was even more surprised when I heard you quit. Was it true?"

Lacus sighed. "I was. (koff) For a while. (Koff)" She glanced at the person who made her reconsider her retirement plan. "I'm surprised you did not take the name as your own in the interim. (koff)"

"When my men told me about it, I refused to believe the girl I've acknowledged as my one and only equal would give up so easily." Kaguya finally let go, but her eyes gleamed with confidence. "Not a moment before I held her right in front of me and hear it with my own ears will I believe that Lacus Clyne ever understand the meaning of giving up. So, did you?"

"In a matter of speaking… she never gave up." Kira replied. "But I couldn't exactly say she was heading to the right direction either."

Lacus nodded. "Agreed. (Koff) I was a mess, Kaguya. (Koff)"

"But here you are, no? Once again, straight into this vicious hell-hole of politics." Kaguya smiled happily. "Welcome back to the war, Hikari-chan."

"And how I missed it so. (koff)" Lacus moaned sarcastically.

Kira suddenly interrupted. "I'm sorry to cut the Sis-mance short, but we have a lot of cooking, not a lot of time, and even smaller number of people to do it."

"Shall I call some of those chefs back?" Kaguya offered.

"No." Kira readied a series set of knives on the chopping block. "If the situation is as bad as you say, I wouldn't even trust them to handle the plating."

"We're talking about 108 dishes in less than two hours." Kaguya stressed the size of the hurdle.

"I got all the help I need in her." Kira pointed at Lacus.

00000000000000

Tianzi fidgeted nervously in her throne. For as long as she can remember, the farthest away she had ever been was the gates of the Forbidden Palace. The most she had seen of the outside world was a glimpse of China's street just before the Palace Guards shut the door on her face. Literally. That was the day Tianzi realized that while she's the daughter of an Emperor of a nation whose every decision could alter the fate of over a billion Chinese citizens, she's naught but a prisoner. And a prisoner she remained for as long as she can remember. Her father, the now late Fire Emperor was drowned in his work. She didn't even remembered what he looked like. Her so called servants and chamberlains, the Eunuchs, did everything for her, cater to her every whim, they all treated her like a priceless porcelain doll that will break at the slightest stimulus, forbidding her from doing anything but to give them the order to do what she wanted to do by herself. They failed to realize that all she wanted was to be treated as a free normal person. And yet, despite her repeated request for freedom, they shut her out. The Eunuchs kept her under constant watch. They told her that her duty is to govern, and that it demanded much. And yet she had no freedom to decide… well, anything, really. Not allowed even so much as a choice for her life. She eats what they gave her to eat, she sleeps when they told her to… even a prisoner has more freedom.

The reason she hadn't snap after years of living like this, is probably because Xingke was always there by her side. At her tender age of four, the Palace Guards caught a sickly but extremely powerful Alliance soldier broke into the Imperial Warehouse. The deserter proved to be a very powerful Kung Fu Warrior as well, for he defeated all the bodyguards even squared evenly with Mistress Hound, one of the twelve masters and the guardian of the Imperial Apothecary. Truth be told, by the Hound Mistress' own admission, she would've lost that fight if her opponent did not succumb to his illness. The soldier turned brigand came to steal some medicine but it was not for himself, despite the fact that it was clear he needs them most. It was for the soldiers under his care. Regardless, the Eunuchs ordered the man's death, but Tianzi took pity of the man, and Tianzi, perhaps for the first time in her life, found her voice, and bravery. And the first thing she did with it, was to order the man, Xingke's continued survival. Xingke had never forgotten that life debt. Though he continually progressed into a Trooper, Sergeant and eventually First Lieutenant, he secretly joined the Chinese Imperial Guard and even rose to become one of the Twelve Masters, China's mightiest protectors. Xingke would often meet the future Empress in secret, telling her stories of the world outside. Xingke also promised her one thing: that one day he will free her and bring her to see the outside world with her own eyes. This further strengthens her courage. It was also through Xingke's teachings that Tianzi began to realize the strength of her privilege and birthright as the crown princess of China. The Eunuchs noticed this growing wisdom and strength, and they worry.

Somehow, Xingke managed to keep his double life a secret, even from his general, Rena. But a secret can only last for so long. Eventually, rumor of this warrior with dual allegiance reached the current Fire Emperor, Tianzi's father. He reported this to Rena, but instead of punishing him, they come up with a different idea. They believed this can further strengthen the unity between China and the Alliance, showing their commitment for the Alliance's cause. Thusly, rather than sweeping everything under a rug, they encouraged it into a public image. Her father also promotes Xingke as the Imperial Grand Tutor, responsible for the education of all royal family, whilst Rena demanded only that Xingke can manage both work with equal competence. Xingke no longer had to meet her in secret; he can just come to her openly as part of his duty. She couldn't be happier for this decision; except for the fact that this doubled workload began to take its visible toll on Xingke. They never did fully heal his ailment. And with every day that passes, the burden of his two offices chipped away Xingke's life. When her father died and she was made Empress, things just got worse. The Eunuchs virtually took over all activities regarding the governance of this nation from her. Given what she had heard, they've done an extremely poor job at it. Xingke overworked himself halfway to death just to maintain his unflinching dedication for defending Alliance interests in China, undoing some but not all the damage that has been done by the Eunuchs, as well as tutoring and protecting Tianzi from these duplicitous usurpers, all of which are critical to the continued welfare of China. Tianzi begged Xingke to take a rest, but he could not for there were none more capable than he.

Which is why Kaguya's arrival was practically heavensent. With the incoming invasion, Xingke's exponentially increased workload became virtually impossible to handle alone. And thus it was to Xingke, and Tianzi's eternal gratitude that Kaguya alleviate some of that burden. Despite her young age, the young ambassador displayed a wealth of knowledge of the outside world. Kaguya understood completely of the perilous situation they were in. Thus she cleverly positioned herself at the proper place: at Tianzi's side at all the times when Xingke was unable to do so, between her and the Eunuchs. Given the country she was representing, even the Eunuchs would think twice before they cross her. But there is only so much a foreign consul can do in a foreign China. And so the delicate balance of power was maintained in a highly unstable political tripod, with Tianzi trapped in the middle of it. A situation that the Empress greatly dislike. Somehow, Tianzi suspected that this situation will only change when she do something about it. But what action would that be, she was at loss. Even Kaguya and Xingke seem unable to give answer.

After Kaguya left, the other Eunuchs also departed to do god knows what. This left the Empress alone with her favorite teacher… along with around a hundred imperial guards or so. "Xingke… is this really okay?" Tianzi break the uneasy silence. "I mean… I'm about to preside over Kage's trial… yet here I am placing his own brother into further peril. Is this really right?"

"Your majesty, in my… personal humble opinion… everything that is about to transpire IS wrong. It is wrong that we burdened his brother for Kage's sins… which weren't exactly sin, for his cause was righteous. I was there, I saw it all. It is wrong that Kage was to be arrested over this issue, but it is also wrong for him to unilaterally dispense lethal justice as he did. Robert's accusation to Kage was fueled more of personal spite rather than fairness. In the end, there's no justice here."

Tianzi thought of what Xingke said. "…but if there's no justice, where does righteousness lie? How do you define who is more righteous here? What law should we follow?"

"I don't think any law could factor into this." Xingke replied. "This trial is a colliding interest born of greed and hate between powerful businessman. Self interest governs here. The Eunuchs departed just now for some errand, I believe those errand would be to tally the bribes granted to them to sway you, to sway the law to the benefit of the highest bidder."

"Laws exist because of a reason." Tianzi replied. "They were made to bring order and stability to the lives of many in the perpetuity, hence they must be abided. And none is above this. Especially the Empress. Your words. And yet here you are saying that Justice and law did not exist in this case. If law cannot guide me… how am I to decide who is right and who is wrong?"

"Your Majesty, righteousness is not the laws that are written in stones or the procedures made by the senseless bureaucracy. Righteousness is believing in your heart on what you know is the right thing to do. That is the responsibility and indeed, the privilege, of the Son of Heaven."

"…I'm the son of Heaven… but only for as long as those Eunuchs deemed it is right that I am one."

Xingke gasped in horrified sorrow. "What sad words you speak. Son of Heaven… please forgive my rudeness for saying what a teacher must. Majesty, have you forgotten of your people?"

"I have not. But that is precisely why I'm… afraid." Tianzi shrugged. "I know why you haven't rid of those Eunuchs after so long… even though I know you definitely want to. They hold so much power in our governance that if you cut them down now… the ensuing power vacuum will leave our nation in chaos. And when that happens, foreign powers such as the Logos would come in and overtake our government. Inept and corrupt as they are, they are the last layer of defense we had against the Western Alliance reign."

'And the Eunuchs thought her a brainless porcelain doll.' Xingke thought. It was clear that despite her sheltered life, the Empress was no fool, even at so young an age. She understands the significance of this trial.

"I know Azrael is here. He represents the western hemisphere of the Alliance, does he not? If I defend Kage and inadvertently took his side, I will be opening a doorway for the Western Power to invade this nation, and we'll be subverted by the Western Alliance the same way they did South America. If what Kaguya told me of the constant unrest in that region is true… then I certainly don't want that fate for my people." Tianzi bit her lips. "But if I side with Corner and executed Kage… would I not be aiding the corrupt and betray the justice? Maintaining this corrupt status quo, my people will still suffer. Whatever decisions I made, my people pay for it. That's why I'm at a complete loss over what I'm supposed to do." Tianzi's eyes began to water. "Please… what should I do?"

A deep well thought out question born from the mind of his finest student. Xingke couldn't be more proud. In tears of happiness, Xingke can only give her the answer as he knelt. "Son of Heaven… I cannot tell you what to do, save but an advice, a counsel of what's to come and a pledge. Son of Heaven, thou shall walk a long thorny road of pain and suffering. But should thou emerge, and emerge thou shall, thou shall rise a proud and mighty Empress, eclipsing the height ever achieved by thy predecessors. Trudge alone through this path, thou shall not, for on my life I solemnly pledge, on thy side I will remain to the end of my days. But whatever road thou shall choose, the choice is thy alone, and alone thy must be."

And that was the answer Tianzi dreaded the most. For other than her people, Tianzi also dreaded the day her choice would also lead to Xingke's death. That her most trusted advisor cannot tell her what to do simply add her burden. "I wish I had the courage to take that choice." Tianzi bit her lips. "But nowadays, everywhere I look, I only see many reasons to fear."

"Bravery is not something I can teach, regrettably." Xingke nodded. "It can be learned however, by following an exemplar. Surely, if you look around… you would also see other examples of bravery?"

"…you mean like that… cook, Yamato-darren?" Indeed, forgoing the fact he was the second foreigner brought before her, it was no question Kira left a deep impression on the Empress that extend more than simple matter of nationality. All people who address the Eunuchs do so with cautiously chosen words and no small amount of flattery to get in their good graces. But that chef, that simple commoner, armed with nothing but the weight and voice of his chosen words, he fearlessly made known of his blatant disdain over the corrupt. Some would argue that the chef dared to do so because he was in the presence of his ambassador, but Tianzi suspect he would still do so even if the Eunuchs put a blade up his throat. That is, if they have the guts to do so. "I looked at him in the eye. He was fearless."

"Fearless is not the same as bravery, Majesty. But yes. He is a good example."

"Is that why you brought him here?"

"I want you to look now, Empress. See this man's courage. See what supports him. See what it is that shaped the fortitude of his boldness. See how you can use that to shape your own."

00000000000000

Meanwhile, back in the Imperial Kitchen…

The front door of the kitchen was abuzz with chatter. After being banished from their work station en masse, the imperial chefs could not help but wonder what's happening inside. An hour had passed and based on the noises they hear, the people inside are cooking right now. It puzzled them for no request for additional help was given, leaving them to wonder how on earth a lavish menu that would take a hundred people a week to finish… can be made in less than two hours with only two people working on it.

Unable to sate their curiosity, they had to take a peek.

And they couldn't believe their eyes.

Lacus made a full use of the abilities of all her Haro Daemon doppelgangers. While normally she would use them for medical purposes, it was but a simple matter for her to alter it for cooking. After all, both activities had a same root of preserving life. Megi used her pyrokinesis to control the temperature and ferocity of the flames, Levi used her cryokinesis to maintain and preserve the freshness of some of the most delicate ingredients. Asta maintain the alloy of all cookware and cutlery, preventing rust and ensuring it remained clean and sharp, not even a chip off the edge to maintain a small error margin. Adra the naturalist and Barbara the earthly viking worked together to deal with vegetables and other produces. Ghienny the liquid nun purified and cleaned every liquid involved in the cooking from frying oil to boiling water. Crona used her power over time, she also reverse the aging of dried products, restoring them to ultimate freshness. Belphy kept a detailed record of every ingredient involved in the cooking, her analysis could even detail the age and quality of the goods with uncontested accuracy. Kira was the one who did the actual cooking, aided by Lily, as a proxy of Lacus. Only Abby the dark Haro that cannot participate, given her function and all.

Kaguya watched in the distance with approval at what Kira had come up. She even tasted some of the things being made, and she had no complaint whatsoever every time. So, as far as the quality of the dish concerned, there's no worry there. Now, she's more concerned with ensuring that there's no less than savory character trying to stumble this progress. But then, as Kaguya looked around, she slapped herself silly when she realized: that angle is also covered. Lacus kept a distance from all the action, seemingly still and lazing about, but in reality, she's responsible for the most important task: quality inspection. Her sensory ears hear everything: from the sound of ingredient being fried to the sound of ants footsteps as they approach the sugar box. She gently and swiftly swept them away with her strings. Nothing happens on this kitchen without her being aware of it.

With that being said, Kaguya had a chance to relax once in a while and chat with her old classmate about good old days… and some girly stuff. "So… if I am to understand it…" She started as she lay her back next to Lacus. "Up until a few weeks ago, you were trying to kill yourself. For a girl as bright as you, that's dumb."

"Guilty as charged. (Koff) Even now I still can't believe what possess me to take THAT course of action. (koff)"

"Not blaming you, sister. If I were in your position, even I would snap." Kaguya had been made aware of Lacus' condition… and what it had wrought. She suddenly asked: "I suppose the question becomes what changes you?"

Lacus merely fidgetted. "…get slapped in the right direction. (koff) In the most extreme way imaginable. (koff) Don't wanna remember, don't wanna discuss, I'll leave you to your… expert deduction. (koff)"

That's dodging the question. And now Kaguya became more curious. She noticed a glimpse of this earlier, and now, even with that mask, it was more blatant than ever. "I see… I asked the wrong question. It's not what, it's who."

"Excuse me? (Koff)"

Dodging again. But Kaguya is the straight shot type. "So… are you and Kira-kun like a thing?"

Right hook!

And Lacus HAD to splurt into her mask. "WHAT! (KOFF) WHERE! (KOFF) WHO!? (KOFF) What are you (kofff) (Koofff!)"

Jab!

'She's hyperventilating…' and Kaguya easily deduced that Lacus face behind the mask would rival a boiled lobster. "I see… well, you're already at that age, aren't you? It's about time indeed!"

Jab!

"NO! (koff) I'm telling you, you had it all wrong! (koff)" Lacus fretted. "Kira and I are not like that! (koff) We're…! We're…! we're…? Uhhh… (koff) We're boyfriend girlfriend, but… (koff) it's more like… an arrangement out of necessity! (Koff) Yes! (koff) kinda like engagement (koff) No! (koff) Aaah… I mean… (koff) (koff)"

Jab!

'And now she's allover the place. One last push.' Kaguya smirked. "So… you're saying that your boyfriend girlfriend relationship with Kira is just… pretend play, yeah? Is he involved with someone right now?"

Jab!

Lacus was thunderstruck stiff in panic, but she know what will follow if she answers no. So she answered a hard: "Yes. (koff)"

"Oh? With who?"

It killed her pride to say it, but it was the only name that came to mind at the moment: "Simca. (koff) Sergeant of the genesis Squadron. (koff)"

"I see." Kaguya nodded. But she quickly rebuked: "But that doesn't change the fact that you like him, right!?" Lacus slapped her own face. Who is she kidding!? This is Kaguya Sumeragi her infamous roommate they're talking about here! She stashed tons of harem themed Adult romance novel under her bed, has no qualms of reading it ALOUD in mess halls, and her submitted theses for her psychological study of couples were titled: Polygamy, the Road to World Peace. "I mean come on! If we talked with Simca, I'm sure she'll be interested in the idea of harem."

Jab!

The most frightening part of this concept is the fact that not only Simca was the one who suggested it first, she probably wouldn't mind extending it further. Simca and Kaguya. Two souls that, for the sake of the world's sanity, probably should never meet. Unfortunately for the world, given the time, they may already have. "NO! DEFINITELY NO!" Lacus shrieked.

Right hook!

"Ara? So I was right. You two ARE a thing!"

SOUTHPAW! CRITICAL HIT!

Lacus want to retort until she realized she had been had. But before she can retort, a wave of murderous rage engulfed them both.

"Excuse me!" Kira growled. "If you two airheads are quite finished with whatever idiocy you're blabbering about, can we go back to work? I know it's only my life on the line and all, so I don't mind if you don't want to help, but I would appreciate it if you at least not get in the way? We have less than 10 minutes left!" It didn't seem he heard a word of what the two were talking about though. Lacus and Kaguya turned and they noticed, among other things, all the Haros had stopped working owing to a very distracted Lacus. It didn't cause any major fault, but the work in that kitchen had grinded to a complete halt. Thus the reason why a very angry and very stressed out Kira sent them both a very, very scary glare reserved for his death-marked enemies. Lacus had gotten used to it, whilst first timer Kaguya gained a new definition for 'Fear of God' and had to resist the impulse to soil herself.

Ding-Ding! Match ended. Double Knockout. The winner and still World Heavyweight Champion of Density Incarnation: Kira Yamato.

And so a (secretly) grateful Lacus get back to work and a very grounded (and traumatized) Kaguya sat at the corner with the Dunce hat.

00000000000000

Soon…

The guards once again opened the door and at first, Kira alone emerged, bringing with him… a small cup of porridge? But no ordinary porridge was this, for the porridge has 7 colors on it.

"Seven types of Porridge." Kira declared the name of the dish.

"Seven types of porridge? Pfft!" The Eunuhs laughed. They thought Kira was that desperate. "Well… fine. I guess we can count it as the first 7 dishes…"

Kira was about to hand it over to the Empress, but a guard barred his way.

"What?"

"Before you gave the food to the Empress, it must first pass the taste testers." A grim man holding a spoon stood ready before the Empress.

Remembering what Kaguya said, Kira felt a bit unease. "…if it's not too much trouble… can I have… Xingke to taste test it?"

Xingke nodded in understanding. It's not about the taste… it's more about whether the taste tester, appointed by the Eunuchs can be trusted at all. 'Kaguya-darren, bless her. She must've forewarned Kira.' "Fine by me."

"No, not fine at all! Xingke, you're a warrior! What know you of the complex mixture of taste in a dish?"

"None whatsoever. But that's not the issue."

"I beg to differ, it is an issue. The taste of poison can easily be masked by spices and ingredients! You're not properly equipped for this task!"

The Eunuchs insistence in using their appointed taste tester further increased Kira and Xingke's suspicion that something is seriously wrong. The cook and the tutor exchanged looks. They wordlessly discuss the issue with glances, but then they nodded. "Fine." Xingke glanced suspiciously at the taste tester. "Fine. But I will watch the process. Closely."

Xingke and the Taste Tester approached the bowl. Xingke watched the man very closely for the slightest sleight of hand or a concealed poison bag, or even something… and he will act. Kira watched with increased intensity, but he's not watching anything big. No. What he's watching, is the man's spoon. The spoon is slightly off color on the other side… "Use this spoon." Kira offered another spoon.

The Taste Tester blinked. "What?"

"Don't use your spoon. Use mine. It's cleaner."

"I wouldn't dare to use a spoon that will feed the lips of Son of Heaven."

"That's a different spoon. I had a spare. This one is yours. Use this."

"No!"

"Use this spoon, or I will have Xingke taste test it with this spoon." Kira remained insistent. "You are not touching my porridge with that spoon!"

It was then Xingke also noticed the difference between Kira's spoon and the taste tester's, and why the boy was concerned. And so, Xingke also enforced: "Like he said. Taste this dish using his spoon, or I will do it. And if you get in my way, I will grab that spoon of yours and had you eat it!"

Seeing the look on Kira and Xingke's face, the Taste Tester realized he had been had. In desperation, he tried to jam the poisoned spoon into the porridge. But before Kira or Xingke can act, a firm hand plowed in from their side and grabbed the taste tester's hand with a sickening and firm crack. The spoon was stopped just inches away from the porridge. Kira and Xingke traced said savior's hand back to the broad shoulder of its owner.

"Everything… okay, here?"

It was none other than Master Bull himself.

Xingke almost jumped in a mixture of cheer and relief at the sight of his old friend. "Master Bull."

"Master Tiger… you've done me a gross disservice." The old master snarled. "How DARE you initiate a cookoff this interesting without informing me, first hand!?"

"Clearly I owe you more than just a simple apology. I shall repay you in kind, first chance I get."

"I'll hold you to it later. Now…" His face then became that of wrath incarnate as he stare down the whimpering taste tester. "You want to explain why you dare to commit this blasphemy before me?" The Taste tester struggled to get away, but he still held his tongue. "Very well then. Your way." With a single twist, the so called Taste Taster was hurled across the room until he struck the wall with a loud crack of his broken spine. "In any rate, you didn't answer my question."

"I don't think anyone can answer a question with a broken spine." The Eunuchs frowned. "A pity you killed him. We can torture him for information."

Master Bull chuckled. "Worry not, he's not dead. Once I hand him over to my Dark Axes, he'll wish he is. Still, my question was not for him." He glared at the Eunuchs. "It was meant for you lot. How DARE you to allow this heresy to happen? In front of my nose, no less? Am I not the head of the Imperial Kitchen!?"

"Y… you are." The Eunuchs peeped under the Master's glare.

"And yet you dare recruit that charlatan without my approval? Even for this court, I'd say that takes SOME balls."

Seeing the Eunuchs cower before Master Bull's reprimand, Kira whispered a question to Xingke. "Is the masters on the Empress' side or the Eunuchs?"

Xingke whispered a rather bittersweet reply. "They side with themselves. They side with their duties to their post. Master Bull is the head of the Imperial Kitchen and the ultimate authority in Chinese cuisine. Mistress Hound is the guardian of the Imperial Apothecary. Master Pig is the guardian of the royal treasury, Master Bunny is the Imperial Ecologist, Master Monkey is the master of Arms, Master Mouse is the Imperial Engineer, Master Goat – imperial Archivist, Mistress Viper – master of ceremony, Master Horse - Forge master, Master Condor: the Imperial Judge… The Masters are not only Kung Fu warriors; they are guardians of a certain aspect of Chinese culture. Their duty and responsibility is to China, not the Beijing Court. They care not if benevolent ruler or despots reign. Politics are beneath them."

"And yet here you are, Master Tiger, playing the political game." Kira chuckled.

"Well… I was a different story through and through." Xingke admitted.

"Wait… Chinese Zodiac has twelve animals, right? Including you, that's eleven masters. Where's the D-"

"In any rate-" Master Bull's loud scolding distracted them all. "If this boy must cook for the Son of Heaven, then I shall be taste tester. It is both my right and my duty, no?"

The Eunuchs didn't argue anymore. "That it is." They allowed it. After all, now with Master Bull's absurdly high standards, the commoner's dish will stand little chance to pass through even his inspection.

Master Bull turned to Kira and smirked. "Would it surprise you to know how fitting you are in a Chinese chef's clothing, Yamato-darren?"

"It would surprise the hell out of me too." Kira smirked and Xingke merely shrugged when he saw the Eunuchs' faces paled even further.

"Master Bull…? Y… You knew this commoner chef?"

"Commoner Chef?" Master Bull looked at Kira and chuckled. "Well I suppose his specialty is the food for masses…"

"I'm an Army Cook. I cook for a lot of people. Anyway…" Kira handed the Master a spoon. "Please taste it with this spoon."

And unlike the fraud Taste Testers, Master Bull took it without a fuss. The seven colored porridge and he tasted each color. Each time his eyes widened, but he didn't say a word. He didn't say whether it was delicious or repulsive, but the result is that the master actually allowed the dish to pass, all the way to the Empress' canopy. Kira plated it beautifully. The center bowl which contains all the porridge are at the center, and seven types of spoon containing each color of the porridge encircling it. It's like a flower with seven colored petals.

Tien Zi looked at the porridge. She took the first porridge, the brown one, and she blinked. She tasted… walnut! And then she tasted the red one, and she tasted… red bean! Each of the colored porridge contains different prevalent taste!

"The green is spinach, white is daikon, red is red bean, brown is walnut, black is soy, orange is pumpkin, and the purple is eggplant."

Before everyone noticed it, Tien Zi had almost finished all 7 types of porridge, finished by eating the 7th type of porridge, combining them all together. "Delicious. And yet… I'm still so hungry!"

"Hoo…" Master Bull nodded in approval. It's been a while since they've seen their Empress had this much appetite. "That's 7… out of 101 dishes. I trust you've already prepared it as well?"

"Yes. Of course. That was just the appetizer." Kira smiled. He nodded to the guard, who now, as per instructed, they opened the door wide… and Hikari, with the help of some of her humanized Haros pushed a massive long tray containing exactly 100 spoons, each with something different on it and Kaguya pushed a tray containing seven bowls filled with seven types of broths as she did the announcement. "Kaguya-chan! Please enjoy… a variation of a dish from my country: Manchu Han Wanko Soba!"

Tienzi blinked in awe and wonder at the assemblage of spoons before her. To her knowledge, Soba is a type of noodle. Indeed, in each spoon, there's only a small serving of noodle. But she noticed that each noodle is somewhat… different. The color, the shape, even its smell.

"W… What is this!?" The Eunuchs gawked.

"Hikari, let's begin!" Kira grinned.

"Hai! (Koff)" Hikari nodded.

Kaguya presented to Tianzi with but a single empty bowl. Kaguya explained: "Tianzi-chan, Wanko Soba is both a name of a game and a dish in my country. Basically, what will happen is that Hikari-sensei over there pour the noodle in each spoon, Kira-san will mix it with the broth, and then I'll put it in your bowl for you to eat."

"Why… is it a game?"

"Because technically it's a race game. You have to eat as much as you can against another competitor… Bu~ut… considering the situation… you really have no need to be hasty, you're not racing against anyone, anyhow."

"What are you talking about? Of course she is." Kira suddenly interjected. "The Empress will be racing against you, Kaguya-sama."

"Eh?" Kaguya and Tianzi blinked.

And that was when Hikari brought forth a second line up of spoons containing sobas, also with 100 spoons. Suddenly, there are two long tables, each with a hundred noodle filled spoons lined up.

Kaguya's eyes twitched. "Wait… what!? Kira-kun…!? When… how…?"

"I've planned this ever since I saw you." Kira handed a stupefied Kaguya her bowl. "We are showing the Empress one of Japan's cultures, are we not? Seeing I made a Wanko Soba race, then it would not be a proper race without competition." He looked at Master Bull. "No serving for you, Master Bull. I'm sorry, but seeing I will not only feed the Empress but also the Ambassador of my own nation… I think it's fair to say it's 'safe'?"

Master Bull looked at this assemblage in awe. "This… is…" He looked at each individual noodles and laughed. "Ahahahaha! I see… I see…! Very clever, Master Yamato. Very clever indeed." He glared at the Eunuchs. "It is as you say, Master Yamato's dish no longer need any tasting. I can guarantee that with my life."

"No… wait! This is preposterous! Are you asking the Son of Heaven to participate in a vulgar competition for commoners!?"

"You're the one who asked this commoner chef to cook." Kira smirked. "Food for the masses is what I'm good at. So I'm gonna stick with that. But this is still a proper Manchu Han banquet. Guaranteed."

"B… But…"

Tianzi looked at the speechless Eunuchs and Kira. And suddenly, she realized what Kira was trying to do. What he wants her to do. At first, she hesitates. But then, she takes one look at Xingke… and she remembered… 'Courage…' She looked at Kira. 'What supports his courage? I need to learn that.' Taking a deep breath, the petite Empress exclaimed. "Very well!" The Eunuchs gaped and looked at the Empress. "Very well, I shall do it."

"Your majesty!?"

And before anyone can stop her, Tianzi boldly stepped out of her canopy, much to the shock of the court. They were rendered so speechless, they didn't stop her as she climb down the stairs and finally stand in front of the table, with her empty bowl in hand. "Kaguya! Let's do this!"

Kaguya twitched and smirked. "Right… right! Let's do it! Bring it, sister!"

Kira smiled in satisfaction. This is exactly as he planned it.

"Let the banquet… no… let the race commence!"

And so, Kira will serve Tianzi while Hikari will serve Kaguya. As rehearsed, the servant will take one spoon, mix it with one of the seven types of broth and serve it into the empty bowl.

"Please, enjoy." Kira smiled kindly to the young Empress.

The Empress nodded and eagerly used her chopstick and swallowed the small portion of noodle in a gulp. She balked when a myriad of taste harmony exploded in her mouth. It was delicious. "Hmm… this is very tasty."

"Then, here's the next portion." While Tianzi finished up, Kira had already prepared the next dose. When Tianzi ate it again, she blinked in confusion… because a different kind of deliciousness exploded. "Eh? This is…" And Tianzi began to eagerly eat more and more. Before long, she had eaten over a dozen, and her appetite doesn't seem to be decreasing any time soon.

Xingke, the Ministers, even the Eunuchs were left aghast. Xingke quickly understood. "I see… the porridge from before is 7 types of appetizer… and now there are a hundred of these spoons."

"Wait…" The Eunuch gaped. "What do you mean by that?"

"I think I understand." Xingke smiled. Tien Zi has eaten around 40 in succession! And she's still keep on going! "Tienzi-sama, if I may disturb you for but a moment…"

"Yes?"

"Am I correct in thinking… that each of those spoonfuls of noodles tasted differently with one another?"

"Yes. Each and every gulp I take tasted completely different with the next. At first I taste prawn, and then the next I tasted black bean, and then chicken, and then shark fin, crane, spinach, ham, carrot… at one point I even tasted strawberry and Melon! The texture is also different! Some are crispy, some are sleek and smooth… It was… amazing!"

"I heard this before…" Master Bull nodded. "In highest class restaurant, people don't get served a large portion of one dish. Instead, they served the customer one spoonful portion of different dishes. Just ONE spoonful. One can say each spoonful is a single dish in itself."

"That being said… that means Tienzi sama is only eating variations of different kinds of noodle put together! The boy didn't made 100 dishes, he only made maybe… several-"

"No." Suddenly Master Bull entered the hall. "He fulfilled your request perfectly."

"W… What?"

"This rainbow noodle is truly, 100 types of different dish in one." The Cook Master smirked. "That brown one is a bull meat crushed to paste and remade into noodle, that one is made of tofu mixed with mushroom and flour, the other one is catfish paste noodle, that other one is mashed potato, that one is actually squid tentacles, there are even lobster muscle string noodles and pork muscle… each were boiled, steamed, baked, fried, grilled, some were even flambéed or sautéed with wine. Some are dry crispy, some are smooth and silky… They ONLY LOOK like noodles. But in reality, each of these strands of noodle is a standalone dish. Each tasted differently with the other… the eater will never get bored."

"W… WHAAAT!?"

"And it's not just the dishes, Master Bull." Xingke also understand the genius of this ploy.

Before long, as Tianzi devoured noodle after noodle, she noticed that Kaguya is also eating at a fast pace… she's already halfway across the table whereas she still falling behind by a few dozen spoons. She gazed in surprise at Kaguya's half empty table, and then she looked at the arranged dishes before… there are still so many of them left… but she didn't feel overwhelmed. No. Quite, the opposite. "…continue. Please continue!" She partially screamed the last request, which translates into a demand.

"Yes!" And Kira quickly moved faster in accordance to this demand. The bowl was quickly filled with finished noodle, and Tienzi finished it in a heartbeat, and within moments, Kira poured in another. And so on and so forth, and before long Tien Zi has eaten tens of spoons and catch up with Kaguya. Kaguya also noticed this sudden speed spurt and realized she's falling behind. "Hikari! Faster!" And before long, she overtook Tianzi again. At that point, something triggered in the Empress. A feeling of annoyance. "Kira-darren! More!" She shrieked. And her eating pace suddenly increased yet again. Before they realized it, Tien Zi and Kaguya has eaten well over 80 spoons, and their pace hardly slowed down. The two now raced to shove as much noodle into their face as possible with abandon, all dignity forgotten.

Master Bull's eyes were opened. "So this is the plan? He didn't just create a set of dishes… he created an atmosphere!"

"The spirit of competition." Xingke laughed. "This is why he asked Kaguya to also participate. He turned the Manchu Han banquet into a race! Tianzi-sama had never had the need to compete with anyone, suddenly she understands what it means …the feeling of losing, the feeling of wanting to win… and she couldn't be more excited." Xingke looked at the gleam of happiness in Tianzi's dirtied face. He never knew she can smile that wide. "That excitement had overcome all other emotions… she doesn't even care anymore what she eats, only that she has to win!"

The Eunuchs looked at each other in great concern. They didn't expect there's a cook who can actually fulfill such ridiculous parameter with such a trick. Seeing the Eunuchs in panic pleased the two masters greatly. "Well… that's what you get for looking down at THIS commoner cook." Master Bull grinned sadistically. "This kid beat me in a cooking match you know?"

And then the Eunuchs suddenly realized they've made the biggest mistake in their life. Challenging a cook capable of such feat is like gambling to lose in a fixed match. But then, one of the Eunuch suddenly realized something. 'Wait… if I'm not mistaken…' And his worried frown turned into a sly smile.

Meanwhile, the race is fast approaching its end. Both had only less than 10 spoons left. But they didn't finish it right away, no. Both contestants finally began to feel the effect of having eaten that much food. Right now, the only thing that pushed them forth is their pride. This is the last spurt. Tianzi and Kaguya both panting, both sweating… but they still eyed one another with glaring tiger's eye. "This is it, Tianzi-chan. The final ten. Feeling tired yet? Feeling full?"

Tianzi had leftovers sticking allover her face, her royal cloth smeared in soup and ketchups, her perfect hair a mess, her crown fall off… but her eyes… her eyes are burning. She felt more alive than she had ever been in years. Her body is exploding in strength, it's like she can spit fire. She felt the need to say something in correspondence with her mood. She can't think of her own snappy words, so: "…bring it, Sister!" That'll do.

Xingke and Kaguya gaped at such coarse language coming out of Tianzi's petite mouth, but they quickly smiled. Just a moment, Tianzi is no longer an Empress. She's just an excited 11 year old girl. And the two contestants charged through the last ten spoons. The first three were swallowed without a huff… the fourth, fifth and sixth took a bit of a struggle… They're still neck and neck by the time they finished the third to last spoons. But by that time, the toll is starting to get on the two. They grinded to a halt, panting. Both tried to grab some air, readying their overstuffed stomach for one last spurt. Tianzi looked at the last two. After eating so much, two small spoonfuls of noodles never looked so overwhelming.

"Hikari!" Kaguya cried. "Pass it over… urp!" She shoved her empty bowl while resisting the impulse to vomit. Hikari reluctantly poured one of the last two servings. Kaguya eyed it for a moment, and she swallowed it with a gulp. One serving left for Kaguya now.

Tianzi looked at this precipice of her defeat… and she looked at her side… she panted harder and harder… and take the step. "Kira-darren! Hear my orders!"

"Yes!?"

Tianzi shouted her orders, and who is Kira to disobey such order? He grabbed the two last spoons, two broths, and poured both into Tianzi's bowl. With one last deep breath, Tianzi swallowed the double dose in a breath and in time. Kaguya was just about to put the last serving in her mouth when Xingke finally ring the bells. "The match has ended! Empress Tianzi WINS!"

Kaguya's last noodle was left hanging in her open mouth. But the feeling of crushing loss suddenly made her realized how much food she had eaten, and how swollen her stomach had become. 'God… the diet program alone will be a nightmare…' And she collapsed to her table in defeat.

On the other hand, Tianzi stood content and in triumph in front of 100 empty spoon, one very empty big bowl… and one very full stomach. Unbelievably, she had eaten 100 types of dish in one sitting. Even with small servings, that's more food than she had ever allowed into her being. She felt full… but at the same time… it felt like she felt rejuvenated. It's like all this time she had been shackled… and now it was freed and her body felt so light. But more than her full stomach… was this… satisfaction. The feeling and taste of victory. "I'm… I'm full. And satisfied. Really satisfied." Xingke helped the still overexcited Empress back into her throne. "Incredible. This is the first time I've eaten so fine a meal… so satisfying. I thank you… though… I must profess myself curious. How is it that you managed to do this? Normally I couldn't even eat one bowlful of noodles."

"Well… there will be two explanations. The first one, from me. Basically, what I did, is to create 100 types of different types of noodles: from soba to Chinese noodle, even spaghetti. But I made them all with the same size. And then, each noodle is treated differently. Some are sautéed, some are fried, boiled, steamed, smoked, even flambéed. Next, each noodle is also made of different ingredients: prawn, spinach, century egg, chicken, beef, even Scallops and abalone and yes, I've even added outlandish ingredients such as fruits and even Coffee beans. This is not just a Manchu Han banquet, your majesty, this is a Neo Chinese Manchu Han banquet. A Manchu Han Banquet using cooking techniques and ingredients from distant lands beyond China. And then there are twelve types of broth. I mixed them all randomly, so even Hikari, who's been preparing the servings, had no idea how it'll taste. With the combination of twelve types of broth, the possibilities of its taste are endless. With its taste keep changing over and over infinitely, the eater will never get bored."

"Marvelous. Then, what's the second explanation?"

Kira motioned to Hikari. Hikari bowed first. "Your majesty… (koff) first I must ask… (koff) how are you feeling? Are you feeling better than before? (koff) May you please describe it in a little more detail?"

"Yes. I am, actually." Tienzi gladly explained even though she had yet to understand. "I feel really… fresh. It's like I've been half asleep all this time. In fact, at times I felt really sleepy and my mind is dulling… and now… I can't sleep even if I want to! My whole body felt warm, overflowing with strength!" Tienzi showed this by jumping up and down excitedly.

Hikari nodded. "Then, it is just as I suspected. Tienzi-sama… you had been ill."

"Oh!?" In that room, none was more alarmed than Xingke.

"There's a saying in China: Food is not just for sustenance. It is also a medicine to help heal one's body." Hikari bowed her down. "Highness, at daily basis, your imperial cooks prepared you many lavish foods, with many exotic ingredients. However, please remember, the more delicious a food is, the more it burdens the body. While as far as the nutrients goes your majesty is not in shortage, but your highness' secluded lifestyle means you did not balance your intake of nutrients with the proper physical exercise. This, in conjunction with the aforementioned unbalanced diet, inadvertently weakens your organs and thus, your overall health."

"What Hikari meant is that her Highness' current predicament is not the fault of the food in any way." Kira quickly added. "So no need to execute every Imperial Chefs in your kitchen. No, it's more like you really need to move more often. Your majesty can start by not calling on waiter to do every little thing. There's also health benefit in doing something with your own two hands and legs."

Hikari glared angrily at the Eunuchs. "I don't know how long this has been going, but when we met you, I can tell from your complexion, your internal organs are reaching its limit. And so, under my instruction, Kira tailored the noodle in such a way so that not only it's delicious, it can also supply the much needed nutrients into your organs."

"Starting with the 7 types of porridges to loosen and strengthen and detoxify your digestion organs, and then these 100 noodles." Kira explained. "Among the ingredients that went into the noodle there were also Walnut, Sesame, Ginger, Onion and many other medicinal herbs. The broths I made also contain nutritious ingredients as well. All of which is to quickly supplement your massively undernourished system."

"I see…" Tien Zi rubbed her tummy. "How long has it been since I ate my heart out… and to even look forward to the next meal…" Tien Zi smiled to the two. "I really must thank you both. And I gratefully accept your stern council." The Empress gave them the slightest of nod.

Kira and Hikari quickly bent their heads lower than the Empress.

Everything seems to be well, but then…

"Wait!" One of the Eunuchs suddenly called. "Aren't you forgetting something?" The Eunuch smirked. "I count there are only 107 dishes. Our deal was 108 dishes, was it not?"

Kira rolled his eyes. "Sigh… Okay, you got me. I was kinda hoping you miscount that."

"1 dish short is still 1 dish short! And no, we will not allow you to cook it now! The allotted time was only 2 hours and it has long passed, was it not?"

"You don't have to allow me to do anything." Kira smirked as he pulled out a single small bowl right from underneath the trolley. "THIS is the 108th dish." Kira smirked seeing the disappointed looks in all the Eunuchs. "I brought this one the latest because I want to run some test."

"What test?" Xingke asked.

"Testing on whether these Eunuchs think with their brain, their heart, or their stomach." Kira shook his head as carry the last dish to Tien Zi. "I know the first was kinda of a long shot and there are some serious health issues with the second, but still…"

The barely conscious Kaguya clasped her mouth to contain her laughter whilst the Eunuch's powdered face turned pink in anger.

Kira presented the last dish to the Empress. "The closing dish is a light dessert: Sweet bean curd in cold clear ginger soup." Kira opened the lid, and indeed, inside, there's a single cube of beancurd inside a very clear soup.

When Tienzi took the bowl, the beancurd cube fade away into the soup. Containing her amazement, she took a spoonful of the soup and gulped it. She closed her eyes to savor it… there's sweet of the beancurd, the heat of ginger… and…

Suddenly, tears began to flood from Tienzi's eyes, much to the surprise of everyone present, including the cook, Kira, who clearly did not see this kind of reaction coming. 'Wha…!?'

Suddenly, the Empress' tears were no longer containable in silence and she began crying profusely. Xingke and Kaguya quickly came to the Empress aid to see what's wrong, while Kira remained dumbstruck.

"Your majesty? Your majesty, what's wrong?" Xingke calmness breaks into panic for a moment.

Kaguya too, wondered what on earth Kira gave her to make the Empress crying so. "Tienzi-chan? Are you alright? Is the soup really that good… or that bad?"

"It's good, it's good… it's just… just… uwaah!" And she just cried her heart out.

"What… did you put in that soup?" Master Bull was somewhat curious.

"Nothing weird, I can assure you that. It was supposed to be light, refreshing, and easy on the stomach already full eating so many food… but… I really didn't see this coming." But Kira began to have an idea.

It took a full minute before Tienzi finally stopped crying. When she does, the first question she asked was obviously: "Kira-darren… this soup… it's really good… but… what did you put in there? I tasted the beancurd, the ginger… even a little bit of chicken stock… but there's something in the soup… that… I can't quite…"

Kira nodded. "Your majesty has a very sharp tongue. Yes. There's ginger, and some chicken stock… but the main ingredient of the broth… is just Cabbage. To be precise: Chinese skunk cabbage. I cooked the cabbages and the chicken stock together, and then I filtered the soup several times until it made a clear and light but flavorful soup."

"I see… forgive my outburst of tears. When I tasted your soup… the taste of cabbage seem to bring some… joy and warmth into my being. Something akin to a… nostalgic feeling… something I've forgotten and how my mind felt overjoyed to be reminded of it… hence the tears." Tienzi smiled content and happy as she breathed in the heavenly scent of the soup. "Maybe it's the warmth. All your dishes, from start to finish, took into consideration the welfare of those who feast upon them. Health. Happiness. I can feel the kindness seeped into every dish. Maybe that's why my body felt so overjoyed to tears."

Xingke and Kaguya smiled wide. Xingke then glared at the Eunuchs: "That's the 108th dish. Are you satisfied now!?"

The Eunuchs had no choice but to begrudgingly hold their silence.

"Kira Yamato had fulfilled thy request." Master Bull declared. "Now he has earned the right to be heard and recognized."

"Step forth, Yamato-darren." Tianzi declared behind her canopy. "You answered the unreasonable request with this magnificent banquet. Not only would I be willing to hear you out… I wish to express my gratitude in your care of my life. Name me a wish, and I will do everything in my power to fulfill them."

The court gasped. That was a very kingly gift. People would kill for such a boon from an Empress!

And yet, Kira didn't seem very pleased. His frowning brows showed that he was in deep thought. "Excuse me for a minute, Hikari, come here!"

Lacus blinked behind her helmet. She huddled with Kira and whispers were exchanged between the two. Something that Kira said made Hikari snapped back in horror. She didn't seem to like what she hears. But after a while, her whispery protest died down, and at the end of their brief meeting, she entered a dejected silence as Kira spoke. "Your Majesty… I'm grateful by this boon. Truth be told, I come here to speak on my brother's behalf. Nothing more and nothing less. But… if you say you will grant a single wish of mine… let it be this: let Dr. Hikari stay by your side… the same way you have allowed Kaguya Sumeragi and Li Xingke to stay."

Kaguya and Xingke's eyes widened in disbelief, as do all other audience. The greatest boon that can be granted by an Empress and THAT'S what he asked!?

"W… What? I… I thought you were going to plead for your brother's life!" The Eunuchs gaped.

Kira snorted. "If I had used so great a gift for something so useless, the first thing my brother did with his freedom would be to lash me to death. No. As I said… I came here to explain the case to the Empress. By no means should this sway her judgment in any way."

Tianzi frowned behind her canopy in deep thought. Now she's getting more and more curious. "Very well. I shall grant thy request, and also, Xingke, please arrange a suitable place for my meeting. In the mean time, master Yamato, I believe it is proper that we must first get our change of clothes." Tianzi gestured at her leftover smeared royal robe. "I don't think we're both are properly dressed for the occasion."

"Yes, your majesty."

Xingke turned to Hong Gu and Xianglin. "Prepare the Lotus room."

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Soon, Kira had finished changing into more formal clothing for his meeting with the Empress. But when he walked out of the kitchen room, he was welcomed by Hikari, Kaguya, and Xingke. None of them look too happy.

"What were you thinking?" Kaguya started. "You had a great gift and your brightest idea is wasting it away!?"

"Did I?" Kira snarled. "I just gave you two the ultimate health guardian for the Empress. Hikari will make sure what happened to the Empress' dishes will not happen again."

"This is dangerous." Xingke retorted.

"And you're telling me what you're doing is not?" Kira replied back. "You're not doing a very good job as a tutor, Xingke. How do you think the other heads of states around the world would react when they hear that the Empress of China would grant so great a boon to a commoner over a god damn meal? She's the Empress for God's sake. Even though it's not in her blood can you not at least make her act like it is?"

Something that Kira said made Xingke snapped in horror and realization. "Yamato-darren… what did you say just now?"

"I've said it clearly enough." Kira glanced around to make sure there are no eavesdroppers. "Tianzi… is NOT a royalty… is she?"

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