a/n: Quite a long chapter, but I hope that it's enjoyable. :)

23. void (part III)

When Oboro had returned to Shoyou's cottage, he wasn't surprised to see Takasugi poring over the journals that Shoyou-sensei had left on his shelf, of which there were many.

Writing a complete account of his life since Utsuro's beginning had been Shoyou's end game, and though he'd diligently worked on it throughout his fifteen years of existence, there were surely some details left out. Utsuro had destroyed nearly two hundred planets, and his sociopathic tendencies meant it was impossible for him to remember them all.

"How far are you?" Oboro asked.

"Halfway through," Takasugi said, and bookmarked his place in one of the volumes. "You didn't tell me how far his madness extended."

"Like I said to you before, it was a long story." Oboro took off his straw hat, shedding his gloves and peeling the outer layers of armor from his Naraku uniform until he was only clad in a simple grey haori. "You won't be able to stay here long. The Bakufu routinely does an audit of their properties."

"I'll be fine," Takasugi said. "I'll be leaving soon."

"In any case, the Altana Liberation Army is eager to meet you as well. All talented soldiers are welcome to join as long as you're committed to defeating Utsuro."

"Utsuro is planning to fight?"

"Yes. I was just with him an hour ago. One of the last Altana keys went missing, but I think he'll wait for it to emerge when they open the Edo Terminal in one last showdown."

"Why won't he go looking for it?"

"He's inherently cautious, even if he is an ego-maniac. Plus, it'd be easier and more fun for him that way." Oboro settled onto a cushion, glad for the momentary rest where he could just be himself, and no one else. As the former head of the Naraku, most of the crows wouldn't be looking for him, perceiving his loyalty to be unquestionable, but he'd set up surveillance around the estate, just in case. You could never be too careful with these things.

"How long do we have until then?"

"About two weeks... ?" Oboro mused. "He'll want the last showdown to be pretty flashy. Imagine the Shogun's assassination... he'd be interested in seeing the despair of the Bakufu. He doesn't have real allegiances to them because we're more of a mercenary force than anything."

"You speak as if you know him very well."

"I don't. It was Sensei who told me all about him." Now Oboro passed Takasugi a file. "I can't tell you what to do, but here's one of my contacts if you wish to join the fight."

The commander took it, nodding while he opened the file, eyes already glued to the paper.

"I'm afraid this will have to be our last meeting, but the next time you see me, just pretend I'm on the other side. Oh, and one more thing..."

-x-

If Oboro had to compare the difference between his teacher and Utsuro, he would have characterized it as an allegory of pitting a good brother against the hands of an evil brother. On one hand, Yoshida Shoyou remained inherently good, and looked for the best in people, choosing to forgive humanity despite the sheer volume of suffering that he had been through at their hands. Utsuro, on the other hand, had lived too long to understand humanity, preferring to see himself as someone elevated from the normal woes of human beings. After all, he was quite removed from the fear of death, which understandably played a huge role in shaping cultural norms.

Birthdays? They became quite meaningless after his second hundredth year of living.

Aging? He'd look in the mirror and see nothing changing day after day, thus he eventually had no use for them.

Fear of death? Well, he openly welcomed death itself, but had never faced it up close and personal, considering that his resurrection was inevitable.

Religion and or accounts of an afterlife? His own existence directly contradicted the need for both, so he had never understood why humans clung so tightly to either notion.

Thus, Oboro had taken this into account and treated Utsuro as someone who was the closest vessel to a god. And so far, the immortal had bought into it, suspecting him of nothing more except for a blindly faithful servant to the Naraku, like the rest of the organization. He didn't expect this to last forever, knowing that Utsuro's blood - should he remember to activate it - would control his body and possibly cause him to betray his comrades, even if none of the Liberation Army were aware of his true identity. As such, he'd made concessions in case it did happen, and had told Mukuro that she would need to take precautions just in case.

She had agreed, knowing that the Plan took precedent over everything. Utsuro wasn't omniscient, but he wasn't stupid either. If he ever found out it'd been Oboro who'd convinced one of the Tendoshu Elders the day before yesterday's meeting to give the key to the Koryuumon sisters, Ane and Mone... Well. That was a problem for another day.

The Tenshoin Naraku could almost be classified as a cult, with the senior members on the lookout for any signs of abandoned children, ready to rope them into the organization if an opportunity came by during their missions. Many of them saw Utsuro, long before Oboro had ever been indoctrinated into the group, as the closest thing to God. Trained to take away life as soon as they were capable of independent thought, most of them would end up dedicating their lowly lives for the closest embodiment of a deity, to the point of blind, fanatical devotion. In truth, Oboro couldn't blame them. If he had been brainwashed under different circumstances, he would have pledged loyalty to the very man himself. They even considered themselves to be part of an extended family, which was why none of them had last names.

In fact, Mukuro had been the victim of a fire that had burned down her village, and Oboro had been ordered to train her, a few years before they made him the temporary head of the Naraku. He had hated every minute of it, in all honesty, but somehow he'd gotten a sense of pride once she quickly progressed through the ranks of the Yatagarasu.

Now it was time for another meeting, but this time, a considerable amount of the the current Naraku had congregated on a field, not too far away from Edo. Some of them were on a solo mission for other things - but today it'd been a special occasion for all of them.

And now the two of them, along with Hitsugi, stood behind the immortal themselves as he gave his first speech in years.

"My children," Utsuro said, his smile terrible and cruel. "Thank you for gathering with me today. The day that I have waited for has finally come. I have received a sign from the heavens that this is the year that I shall be dying."

A collective wail spread across the audience. This, Oboro thought dryly to himself, shouldn't have been a surprise. The leader's wish had been known wide and far in the organization, a result from the centuries of suffering that had been inflicted onto Utsuro. If he hadn't already taken his revenge a hundred times over, Oboro would have felt sorry for the man. After all, Shoyou-sensei had proved to him that there was always hope in humanity.

"Fear not, my children. You will have my express permission to escape the apocalypse when the time comes. I have prepared a fleet of starships for our escape once Earth's destruction is complete."

Indeed, Hitsugi had been the one to pilfer more than a few from the Tendoshu's stockpile.

"Humanity is wretched and empty," the immortal proclaimed. "I am constantly disgusted by their pathetic attempts to wage wars - to hurt each other, as if there is already no inherent reason for them to live in the first place."

Oboro kept his face straight - years of practice had made it easy - but even that sort of statement had caused Mukuro's eyebrow to raise, ever so slightly.

"It fills me with such sorrow that so many of my children have been victims of such misfortune, caused by human carelessness and depravity."

Now the grip on Oboro's staff tightened.

It'd been the Naraku's fault that the place where he'd came from had been destroyed. As a child, he hadn't considered the implications of such things, quickly latching onto the first person who had rescued him from the brink of death. But then his teacher had told him, quite firmly, that the blame landed squarely at the feet of the organization.

Remember, Oboro, that death and destruction leads nobody to a good place. I wish for your hands to remain clean of such things, and even that is not to be so, I will hope that your soul remains clean, and that you will only commit such deeds to protect the ones you hold dear.

Even Shoyou-sensei had been disillusioned with the group back then, and had tried to atone for it as best as he could. As Oboro grew older, he'd also grown weary of being active in the organization, and with each increasingly life he'd taken away, he felt the humanity dissipating away from him, feeling more disconnected day by day. He was starting to empathize more with Shoyou, which had been an unexpected aspect to all this plotting.

"In a few days, we shall go into battle to destroy the last port of Altana," the immortal announced. "I hope to see each and every one of my children there. The destruction of humanity will be beautiful to behold."

This, too, was not unexpected. Oboro had already sent word of the plan to Kankou, and found to his surprise that a few of the watchdogs in the galaxy had already correctly identified the looming threat upon the universe. He'd been careful to keep some information hidden to cover his tracks, but they'd gotten the general idea so far.

The Naraku had assisted the Tendoshu one too many times with planetary destruction during Utsuro's absence, and though they always arrived back on Earth with heavy casualties, they'd considered it all to be an honor, to fulfill Utsuro's desire to destroy. Even if Utsuro had been a mere shadow in the organization for the last fifteen years, his memory was never completely forgotten.

Now Utsuro lifted his staff, while taking off his mask. "To death, and destruction! Rise, my crows!"

The cheers of jubilation from the crowd was enough for Oboro to feel pain in his ears, but he remained steadfast behind the void, his face never revealing nor betraying his true master.

-x-

When Kankou stepped out of the head of the Fourth Division's spaceship, he almost nearly lost his head.

He grimaced at the sight of his son.

"Kamui - "

"What the hell are you doing here?" he yelled. "You're - you're not supposed to be here!"

"Your mother told me you were here, so I came as soon as I heard."

Unlike last time, Kankou wasn't going to let his guard down. The prosthetic arm had already cost him a hefty chunk of change, and he wasn't keen on repeating the same mistake for his other arm.

"I'm not coming back," Kamui said spitefully, his eyes electric blue from anger. "You can't make me."

"Your mother will die this year," Kankou said matter-of-factly, meeting his son's eyes with a stare intimidating enough that even Kamui had to take a step back. "Just because you ran away from home won't change that. Her heart would be broken if she died without you there on her deathbed."

"But what about you," Kamui said, and his throat nearly closed from rage. "You're running from home, too! You just leave, and never tell anybody what you're doing, and Mom just gets worse and worse - "

Kankou picked his son up by the collar and stared him down. "I am trying to save her. Do you understand? Surely you must - your brain is smart enough to comprehend this."

"Exactly how?" Kamui yelled, and kicked his father in the stomach, causing Kankou to reel backwards, dropping him on the ground. "What the hell did you do for the last few years, while Mom cried, and me and Kagura were alone, by ourselves? Where were you?"

Some of the other captains were starting to head towards them, but Kankou put his arm to stop them from interfering.

"I am trying to get her a cure," he said, pulling himself up. "And I knew that the cost was high. That's why I'm telling you now that I'm sorry, Kamui."

All too late, he had finally realized his mistakes, and one of them had not been telling his son the truth. Kouka had told him this on several occasions, but he had demurred, thinking it was a problem for the adults to solve and not something for their children to be concerned with. Now he was reaping what he sowed.

My wife was right, he thought ruefully.

His son had been in the middle of pulling his arm back, in preparation of another punch. "What?"

"I never wanted you to get involved in things a kid can't solve. Hell, even I can't solve them." Now Kankou sighed. "You don't have to accept my apology, son, but... Just know that I'm trying my best to get your mother a cure."

"You're lying," Kamui said spitefully, but his anger had simmered down to something more manageable. "You took Mom away from her planet, and you're going to kill her."

"Is that what she told you?"

"No, but - "

"Kamui. I would have stayed far away, if being with her meant she was going to die."

"But then why can't she go back to her planet?"

"Because it doesn't exist any more," Kankou said, and he gave his son a sad smile. "The person I am trying to kill - and to get a cure from... is here, on this planet."

He sighed, rubbing his temples. Better late than never, Kouka would remind him.

"It's about time I told you the truth, Kamui... "

-x-

Fleets of other ships had disembarked onto the outskirts of Edo, and Gintoki - who by now had returned the spacecraft back to Kankou - was a bit awed at the wide array of Amanto who had arrived. Some of them he'd recognized from battles long ago, and he wondered for a moment if any of them would take revenge on him. So far, nothing had happened, but he was still cautious, still on the fence himself in regards to fighting next to them, rather than against them.

Enshou had descended from one of the latest arrivals, and nodded coolly at Gintoki.

"Shiroyasha."

"Yo," Gintoki said, and despite himself, started to smile at the sight of a familiar face. "How's your brother?"

"He's doing well, thank you. How does it feel to be fighting alongside your former enemies?"

"Strange," Gintoki admitted. "But this time, we've got an enemy bigger than all of us, so... " Within the original Jouishishi, he'd been the most pragmatic of them all. He wouldn't cling to old grudges, knowing how pointless war had all been.

"Indeed." Enshou eyed the metal sword hanging from his hip. "That's positively medieval, I'll have you know."

"It's what I'm used to," he said, shrugging. "It cut through enough Amanto to get me this far."

The prince sighed, and Gintoki could practically hear him rolling his eyes. Rummaging through his knapsack, he handed Gintoki a light saber.

"Here. These won't break in the middle of battle, unlike your... swords. This one's my spare."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Thank me later," Enshou said, and for the first time, Gintoki saw the smallest hint of a smile gracing his features. "Not that it matters, but I hope to see you alive at the end of all this."

"The same to you," Gintoki replied back, returning his smile with a big grin.

Katsura had been watching the proceedings with a frown, and turned to his friend as soon as the prince walked away. "You've met him before?"

"Yeah. He's got a stick in his ass, but he's all right. I'm used to that sort of person, anyway."

Katsura caught the implied reference, and smiled at that. "Do you think Takasugi knows about all this?"

"Has to," Gintoki said. "Wouldn't be our friend if he was that stupid."

-x-

If anyone had been suspicious about the various buildings cleared out for a special occasion, only the most observant would have taken notice, for there was something infinitely more interesting taking place in the center of the city.

The Edo Terminal, sleek and shiny with imported Amanto materials, stood proudly as the sun shone over the building. A crowd was beginning to form, excited about the premiere of what must have seemed the beginning of a modern period, one where Edo would finally catch up to their Amanto counterparts.

Something was happening. Tokugawa Shigeshige could feel an uneasy change in the air, ever since they had declared the Edo Terminal ready for service. Not one to immediately dismiss his instinct, he had gone to Zenzou, who by now had kept even a closer distance to the Shogun than even the Mimawarigumi.

He'd prepped his speech a hundred times, rehearsing it in front of Maizou. The caretaker had helped him fix things that needed fixing, had pointed out weaknesses in the address, and overall calmed his nerves down. Still... he knew the stakes would have been high. This was a risky proposition, but he was eager to start his first impression on a strong note.

Tonight would have been his second public appearance, right after his coronation. Symbolizing a new era, the people were weary of the constant bloodshed and turmoil of the Joui war, and were eager to hear news of its ending. He was scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. that evening, once all the other Amanto ambassadors had given their speeches about the new alliances with Earth.

Zenzou had been on sniper patrol all afternoon, and was on the lookout for prospective Joui attacks. Today would have been a prime time for attack, but so far, nothing suspicious had turned up. The diplomat from the planet of Chatoran had just finished his incredibly boring address, and as he descended from the podium in front of the Terminal, another one was beginning to take up his place.

He readjusted his earpiece - a new item of technology that had thrown him for a loop when he'd received it from the Bakufu - and uttered in a low voice, "Sarutobi. Any reports of unusual activity?"

"No, boss."

He sighed in relief. The Oniwabanshu clan had been undercover for the last couple of weeks, providing an extra layer of protection for the royal family on top of their usual bodyguards courtesies of the Mimawarigumi. Still, he wouldn't be able to relax until the day was completely over, and the Shogun would be safe back in his castle for at least a few months until public duty mandated he would come out of the protective fortress once more.

For the next few hours, he kept an eye out, hoping that nothing would happen. With every person who descended the podium, he'd started to be less antsy. The sun was starting to set.

-x-

Gintoki and Katsura were stationed inside a spaceship about two kilometres away from the Edo Terminal, and they'd been instructed to keep an eye on the Shogun. Kankou had said it was too much of a liability for them to be above the surface due to their reputations.

"They'll be on the lookout for Jouishishi," he had told them point-blank. "Once we launch the first advance, and more civilians are out of the way, it'll be a more opportune time for you two to emerge."

It was hard to disagree with that kind of logic, but the tension was still unbearable. They knew what was about to happen, and like the hours before a battle, their bodies were itching to fight. Even Gintoki - who normally slept during Shoyou's lectures - were listening intently to all of the pontificating in front of the Edo Terminal.

And then... with bated breath, the Shogun finally emerged. He took the podium, and began to speak. Behind him, the two women of the Koryuumon, Ane and Mone, were preparing to activate the biggest Altana port.

After the first minute, both of the samurai understood immediately that he was completely different from his predecessor. From the very first line, Tokugawa Shigeshige had praised the patriotism of the samurai, and of their valiant efforts to protect the nation's soul.

"Absolute madness," Gintoki said in shock, rising from his seat. "What on earth is he doing?"

"Shhh! " Katsura hissed. "I want to hear what he's planning."

As if the leader could hear them, he continued to speak highly of the samurai's spirit, having led the Joui war for almost twenty years. It was as if he understood the full implications from the crimes that the Bakufu had committed against the civilian population. And then he continued to apologize for other events that had happened by his clan's orders: the kowtowing to the Amanto. The Kansai Purge. The imprisonment and beheading of those who had served the Jouishishi -

"I can't listen to this anymore," Gintoki said, throwing his hands up, wanting to turn off the monitor. "He's going to be assassinated by his own people, mark my words. If not them, then some Amanto will have his head."

An odd gleam of triumph had crept into Katsura's eye, though. "But don't you see, Gintoki? This is a leader worth serving," he said, with no small amount of vindictiveness. "All we ever wanted was an apology. It's not as if the samurai were completely in the wrong."

The speech was wrapping up soon. The two shrine maidens had placed their palms in the center of the activation pad, and the skyscraper lit up with a golden glow as the Altana spread through the shiny, sleek windows. The beam cast an imposing incandescence at the bottom, and rising through the top where a hole had been built there, to receive intergalactic visitors.

And then, out of the nowhere, the Edo Terminal exploded, casting a dark shadow over the sky.

-x-

Kankou had stationed his troops strategically in different blocks, and after he saw the bombing on the top of the tower, he had urged them to remain calm.

"We'll need to see the enemy first," he insisted over the intercom, and the message had been transmitted to the entirety of the Liberation troops. "Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage."

From Oboro's reports, Utsuro's spaceship was nearly invisible to human eye. Decked out in the latest Amanto upgrades, it was capable of hiding an army in plain sight. And from all accounts, Utsuro would not be the kind of person to come unprepared.

Still, to stage such a flashy attack from the get-go... he frowned. He certainly was confident in his strength.

Instantly the Shogun had been whisked away from the cameras, and a state of emergency had been declared, the crowd dispersing as inefficiently as a bull raging in a china shop. Chaos reigned on the surface, while the Liberation army waited patiently, looking for a clear battleground and an opponent to fight.

A minute passed, the dust clearing up once there was nobody left in the midst of such a disaster.

Anytime soon...

Slowly, a hole began to materialize.

"Do not shoot on sight," Kankou ordered once again, watching the scene unfold on a monitor blocks away. Surprise was probably the best advantage they had on hand. And he was not about to relinquish it as soon as possible.

When the immortal had arrived on the scene, he was curious to see that nobody was around. The silence had been unexpected, but surely someone would come...

Kankou finally pressed the button on his transmitter, and gave his first command. "Harusame 2nd squad, deploy."

-x-

Pluto Batou had been sent out first, and for a second, he'd let the fear seize him by the throat. Just like the first time he'd come across the immortal, he couldn't predict any of Utsuro's moves, and he'd been forced to operate on pure instinct as the Star Sword King.

That battle back then was easily one of the worst ones he'd ever been in. It wasn't the fact that they had lost, for he'd been on the losing end more than a few times.

It was the fact that almost everyone on that planet had died.

And as one of the few survivors left, he'd been lucky enough to survive on sheer rage.

Before Utsuro could spot him, Batou shot an Altana bullet straight at his heart, not pausing to see if it had met its target. Without missing a beat, he ran straight at his enemy, pulling out his sword to lop off his neck.

Unfortunately, the immortal had already spotted him, and had pulled out his own sword in defense, stopping Batou's offensive dead in its tracks.

"Have I met you before?" he asked softly, his empty eyes glittering in amusement. "You seem very... distressed."

Don't answer the enemy, don't answer the enemy, Batou repeated in his mind, choosing to focus on fighting instead. With the sheer force of his powers, he slashed at Utsuro's legs, aiming for as many weak points as he could find.

Unfortunately, there weren't any.

Utsuro seemed entertained, as if he was a cat watching a mouse. Parrying every one of Batou's blows in equal measure and force, he had barely registered the Altana bullet slowly wrapping its energy tendrils around his heart.

How pitiful, he thought to himself. To possess such skills... it was almost a shame to eliminate such a perfect specimen of a warrior.

Then someone shot off his arm with a beam saber.

-x-

"Prince Enshou!" Batou cried, still in the midst of fighting Utsuro, who had dismissed the loss of his limb as if it was nothing more than an irksome fly. "You're here!"

The Gun Smoke Prince glared at him, and whirled his weapon expertly, forcing Utsuro to dodge out the way, especially with two of the universe's most capable fighters on his trail.

"Focus, Batou! Remember what you're here to do!"

With a press of his button, the beams of energy from his saber were quickly transformed into multiple dots, and they shot straight at the immortal's body.

Neither of them paused, knowing full well that he would regenerate from his wounds. They had seen him up close and personal, and time was of the essence. For now, the priority was to push him as far away as possible away from the Edo Terminal.

"I see both of you have known my sword," Utsuro said, and his mouth quirked upwards. "Have you come here for vengeance?"

Neither of them answered his question, preferring to hack away strategically in tandem. Though Batou could barely register any of Utsuro's moves, he could easily anticipate Enshou's mind, and he was able to cover the prince's blind spots if needed.

Now he was slightly struggling; Enshou having managed to cut off Utsuro's ear with his dual bladed beam. The mask had fallen off, revealing an unexpectedly feminine countenance.

"I finally remember," Utsuro said, a slow smile stretching his features, completely disregarding his lost arm and ear. "You, with the red long hair... I nearly killed you once."

If Enshou heard him, the only sign was his perpetual frown growing deeper. He continued to attack with his saber beam, focusing only on his task of dismantling his enemy. Swinging his weapon onto Utsuro's shoulder, he was again thwarted by the immortal's sword. Goddamn it.

"I must admit, you put up a valiant fight. I still remember how beautiful the destruction of Burei had been..."

There was no answer except for the buzzing of Enshou's weapon, and now he twisted the handle in order split the weapon into half, allowing him to take a light saber in each hand. If the double-ended sword was not enough for him, surely strategically fighting with two sabers would make more of a difference.

To his consternation, Utsuro continued to dodge all of his strikes effortlessly, managing to even block Batou's triple offense with the hilt of his sword.

"But ah... yes... My fondest memory was when I met the King's wife - "

Enshou gritted his teeth, wanting so badly to not remember. Focus! He's trying to get under your skin!

Now Utsuro pressed his metal sword so close to Enshou's face, to where the prince could see the utter malice lying beneath those empty red eyes.

"And yes, I do remember your scream of despair, once I plunged my sword into that woman - "

For a second, there was no sound except for the clash of metal and electrodes, the movements from both of them much too quick for normal eyes to follow.

"How utterly fantastic it was to behold, that moment of loss, and to see exactly when she died - " Utsuro declared, while parrying away both of their weapons masterfully, not a single movement wasted.

With impeding horror, Batou could see the scene unfolding before his eyes, and though he knew he couldn't help his comrade, he tried his best to prevent it.

"ENSHOU! NOOOOOOO!"

It had been a moment of blind rage, as the prince's composure slipped, rendering his eyesight red. He had taken a misstep, and in that moment, Utsuro chose to capitalize on it.

With a millennia of pure skill behind his arm, Utsuro gave a magnificent smile to his opponent, and plunged his sword straight into Enshou's heart.

-x-

Gintoki stood up from his seat, rage boiling in every facet of his body.

"Stick to the plan," Katsura said sharply. "I know he might have been your friend, but - "

"Fuck the plan!" he shouted. "My friend is dying, goddamn it!"

He'd nearly despaired once the monitor had confirmed that the monster himself had been wearing Sensei's face with none of the warmth and kindness he'd been accustomed to seeing in his memories. Now to see that very person that he had idolized so long ago, committing yet another atrocity in real time... It was unbearable! How Katsura could simply watch and not be unconcerned by the reality for what it was - he couldn't understand it at all!

"Gintoki, calm down. They will send more troops to assist him."

"But Zura - "

"We have to be strong, for the sake of Sensei. There is no other choice. We must follow the plan."

At this, Gintoki forced himself to look at his friend to retort something back. But he saw that Katsura was shaking like a leaf.

For some reason, the sight of it had pulled him to a more reasonable state of mind. Even Katsura, the genius tactician, could be shaken to the core. It wouldn't matter how many deaths they'd already seen on the battlefield. All of them had paled in comparison to their teacher's execution. And now, to see him resurrected and corrupted into something unforgivable...

Katsura's teeth were gritted, and though his voice was deceptively calm, Gintoki could see his quiet anger at the situation.

With an impeding sense of doom, they continued to watch the scene unfolding in front of the monitor as another group of soldiers clustered around Utsuro. By now Gintoki was savvy enough to see that they were the Prince's personal troops.

"You see?" Katsura asked, his hand still shaking. "You're not the only one upset by this."

Now the intercom beeped once, drawing their attention to Kankou's voice.

"Shiroyasha. Be prepared. Advance half a kilometer from the enemy. The coordinates have been sent to your ship."

Gintoki lifted his own transmitter and replied coolly, "Roger. See you there soon."

-x-

The puny ants were trying to push Utsuro to the edge of Edo, away from the terminal, and to his complete irritation, it was working. He'd have to deploy the Naraku troops soon at this rate.

They had no notion of giving up, which was... a fatal mistake. Utsuro had seen enough planets destroyed along with its inhabitants to expect nothing different.

Still, after defeating the relentless array of soldiers one by one, he was starting to get a bit tired, and so he had leapt on top of a nearby building, the signal for his ship to make a crash landing onto the ground. Though his eyes were sharper than most humans, he'd have to be careful - for some of the latest weapons he witnessed today were incredibly efficient and precise. He had barely managed to miss another one of his limbs from being cut off with a machine gun.

(Not that he couldn't inflict as much damage with his bare limbs, though. Enough people had made that mistake of underestimating his prowess, even if he happened to be unarmed.)

Regardless, he'd been somewhat relieved when the Tenshoin Naraku arrived, and he had taken the opportunity to raise his staff as they advanced upon the incoming army.

They didn't need a command, knowing there was only one aim since the beginning of the battle, but he felt compelled to give it to them anyway.

"Kill everyone in your midst," Utsuro said, his eyes empty and cruel. "Leave nobody behind."

-x-

The only member and leader of the Harusame Third Division, Uranus Hankai, had been put in charge of the artillery drones, and so far, everything had gone swimmingly.

Intel had told him that hand-to-hand combat forces would be used sparingly, as history had proved that Utsuro would demolish them regardless of how many troops were sent. He was simply that powerful.

Kankou issued a command to retreat shortly after the Tenshoin Naraku had descended, and as soon as he'd given it, the rest of the Harusame 2nd Division, along with Burei's squadron, had scurried away from Utsuro, taking with them Enshou's unconscious body. It was a pity, considering what an incredibly strong individual the prince had been... but it was also his fault. Hankai couldn't feel too sorry for him, having turned into a machine long ago and mostly impervious to the emotions of the heart.

With a push of a button, he launched the missiles, causing the enemy to break rank and file. If a few buildings happened to land on them, crushing the crows completely, it would have been an unexpected, but pleasant bonus.

Half a kilometer away, the autopilot function had steered both Gintoki and Katsura to the scene of destruction, but both of them were still itching to get out of the spacecraft. It felt unnatural to them, as they were accustomed to fighting on the ground rather than in the sky.

A few of the other soldiers had accompanied them, but mostly served as machine gun runners. They weren't the bigwigs - or showstoppers, as the other divisions of the Harusame Space Pirates would have called such particular soldiers - but they'd been courteous enough to allow the two samurai to take charge of the craft, as both of them were able to navigate their way around Edo with greater familiarity compared to the average Amanto.

They opened the windows of the ark, and immediately started started aiming for the heads of the Naraku. Gintoki was the first to reload the cartridges into his stun gun, squinting in one eye as pulled the trigger. Katsura soon followed his actions, but would do so at the other side of the ship.

One - two - three - he lost count while half of the members on the ship were looking out on the other side. His mind was sharp, clearer than it'd been for ages.

He was made for this, even if it wasn't at the hilt of his sword. For the first time, he felt his conscience was on the right side of things. Today it wasn't about a political agenda, or to fight for a samurai's creed of honor, useless things that Gintoki had no use for.

Right now, it was for the sake of humanity.

It was five minutes into shooting the assassins that he clocked something was wrong. They kept popping up from the ground, even though he was certain that he hadn't missed their vital points.

"They're immortals!" Katsura cried out, figuring it out before anyone else did. Grabbing the transmitter, he pressed the button. "Utsuro has made them immortal - I have no idea how, but they're not responding to our attacks!"

"Roger," Kankou replied, over the intercom. "All troops, cease fire immediately."

The situation was getting precarious. The Second Division were quickly losing men, and though Utsuro was still a far ways from the Terminal, it certainly wouldn't stop him from getting there. He had to think of something, and fast.

Luckily, he wasn't unprepared.

The Seventh Division was deployed shortly afterwards, but unlike the other squadrons, they had a different type of weaponry under their belts.

The ultimate tool, designed to infect immortal cells.

Altana shards.

Although in this format, they were replicated via means of mass production, so that the scarcity of the genuine articles were preserved. The authentic shards were somewhat more potent, but for the purpose of ammunition, the fakes were cheaper.

Now Abuto, the current leader of the Seventh Division, had already decked each member of his squadron with an umbrella outfitted with the shards inside.

"It's showtime, folks," he said, and landed his spaceship in the Kabuki-chou neighborhood, raising his umbrella to the incoming army of resurrected Naraku. "Let's get rid of these damn zombies."

-x-

Utsuro was finally back in his spaceship, with his right-hand man at his side.

"You shouldn't treat me like a senior citizen, Oboro. After so many years of suppression, surely it would be fine for me to get some fresh air... ?"

"There is no need for your cloak to get filthy, Utsuro-sama."

"Be as it may, it seems as these rats have figured out how to counteract my blood." Now the immortal frowned. "I wonder how long they've been waiting for me."

Oboro was about to reply to him before he saw, belatedly, a dark red stain on his chest to the left.

Ah.

It hurt a lot more than he remembered.

"I wondered who would have spilled precious secrets of the Yatagarasu to these mortals. You betray your master not once, but twice?" Utsuro withdrew his sword from Oboro's body, flicking away spots of crimson.

The assassin grinned darkly, even though his mouth was beginning to fill up with the metallic taste of his blood.

"No... I never betrayed Shoyou-sensei. Not even once."

With these last words, he collapsed to the ground, still smiling as he sank into a pool of his own blood.

Utsuro eyed him suspiciously, and then fetched the intercom, choosing to ignore his subordinate for now. The message was transmitted to the entirety of the Altana Liberation Army, and the directive was undeniable to those close to him.

"Attention, enemies. You have fought valiantly, and I applaud your spirit. However, it is to be no use. I have already activated my final weapon, to be seen from outer space."

-x-

About a kilometer above the atmosphere, Takasugi slammed the nitro boost on his spaceship with his foot, hoping the engine would go just a bit faster. Beside him was Mukuro, who sat patiently in the cockpit.

Wait for me, Sensei.

-x-

- tbc -

-x-

a/n: Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! I know I say this every time I update but they are really helpful for the creative process.