Early the next morning, Hideyoshi is joined in his inner sanctum first by Xander and Chika, then by Rob, and finally Hanna. Despite the vixen's efforts the day before, the severed end of her tail had become infected, and the rest of the tail had to be surgically removed to prevent the infection spreading. Her halterneck had also proved beyond rescue, but despite Rob's insistence, Hanna had refused to replace it, saying she'd 'rather go topless than wear something shit'.
"How are you feeling this morning?" Rob asks his wife.
"Ready to murder a tanuki and a pika, and anyone who stands in my way," Hanna growls.
"That's… something," Rob replies, a little uneasy, yet relieved Hanna's fighting fit. "Hideyoshi, what's the situation?" he asks.
"Senator Jiro Kita anticipated Mizutani would fall, and had also concluded that Yamakasai would be next in line," Hideyoshi informs. "Since war was declared on Mizutani, he has been preparing Yamakasai. The city has been fortified to a much greater extent than Mizutani could achieve thanks to the extra time available, and it's my firm belief we can hold out long enough to expose the truth of Tsubaki and Kaede's duplicity. Part of that will be rescuing both Maria Shanmao and Danny Brock from the influence of the Shade Virus."
"Do we know where they are?" Rob asks.
"Unfortunately, no," Hideyoshi admits. "According to my spies, Kaede has not been seen since the fall of Mizu‑dojo, and it appears she's taken Maria and Danny with her."
"Kaede was in the dock, and would have seen the sub Hanna and Rob used," Xander recalls.
"Which means we must assume she knows we have her notebook," Chika concludes.
"She'll want to reclaim it before we can use it against her," Hideyoshi ventures. "I think it's reasonable to assume she'll reappear soon."
"And then we can save Maria and Danny," Rob adds.
"I want to be the one to kill her," Hanna adds bitterly.
Rob elects to let that slide for now. "What about Tsubaki?"
"It appears she's no longer working with Kaede," Hideyoshi informs. "She's remained with the armies."
"Our best bet is to help defend Yamakasai," Chika concludes. "Since we don't know where Kaede's disappeared to, we cannot do anything about her until she reappears. And when she does reappear, she'll come to us."
Everyone agrees except Hanna, who offers no opinion.
At the allied camp just outside Mizutani, Tsubaki Moto and Ryoichi Nakano meet to figure out what happened to Kaede Himura.
"Where on Avalice is that damn pika‽" Tsubaki demands.
Ryoichi shrugs. "No idea," he reveals. "But I did hear rumours that she fled with your two new friends."
"That childwoman is not my‑ She fled‽"
"Last anyone saw of her, she was heading south into the Midorioka."
"That traitorous‑ Wait…" Tsubaki thinks a while. "If she's aware that the vixen and her husband are now part of the battle, then she could conclude that the bat brought them in, and… Kitsune damn you Hideyoshi Takenaka!"
"Am I missing something?" Ryoichi asks.
He cannot know. "No, you're not missing anything," Tsubaki lies convincingly. "But we do need to change our approach to attacking Kasai. We need to eliminate the vixen and the hare from the equation. The vixen in particular will be extremely difficult to kill."
"How so?"
"Yesterday a tower collapsed on her, and she survived. Not only that, but she disabled one of my own, stole his bike, and escaped the city!"
Ryoichi whistles in appreciation. "You sure you're up to the challenge?"
Tsubaki draws the fire blade, sweeps Ryoichi's legs from under him, pins him to the ground, and lays the blade across his neck, all in one movement. "Does that answer your question?" she growls.
"A simple 'yes' would have sufficed," Ryoichi replies.
"Dai‑sensei Moto!" an approaching voice calls.
Tsubaki stands and sheathes her sword. "What is it?" she asks the approaching ninja gruffly.
"Apologies for the interruption, but we found your missing katana," the ninja explains, halting in front of the tanuki and offering the water blade.
"Excellent," Tsubaki smiles as she takes the blade. "It may be damaged, but it's still good to use," she adds, sheathing it. "Did you find the otter?"
"There is no sign of Dai‑sensei Ueno or Senator Saito, ma'am," the ninja informs.
"Then we must assume they escaped and fled to Yamakasai," Tsubaki concludes. "The hunt moves to Kasai‑dojo."
Over a hundred miles away, Kaede Himura speeds through the grasslands of the Midorioka, desperately searching for a ship she knows is hidden somewhere. Her passengers, the enslaved Maria Shanmao and Danny Brock, sit in silence, awaiting their next orders.
Eventually, Kaede spots the ship she's looking for: a monstrous green shuttlecraft that looks like it's made entirely out of spikes and blades. About time. Strange how it's in such an open position. But then the Midorioka is so vast, and there's only a few well‑known routes across it, the chances of discovery are negligible.
Parking a short distance away behind a particularly large knoll, Kaede kills the engine and climbs out of the car, beckoning for Maria and Danny to follow her and keep close. Together, the trio climb up the knoll, laying low just behind the brow.
Kaede surveys the ship through a pair of binoculars. Hmm… a few robot mooks, but no serious defences. This'll be easier than I thought. "Loverboy, kitten, let's go shopping."
On the bridge of the ship, Arata Bando watches the trio approach on a security monitor, his robot cephalopod floating beside him.
++Shall I activate the defences?++ the robot asks.
Arata considers his options a moment. "No," he decides. "I'm curious about what they will obtain for themselves. Lock down the bridge though, just in case they get… adventurous."
Kaede boards the ship, Maria and Danny in defensive positions behind her. Those mooks really were mooks: they went down so easily. "Keep sharp, and tell me if you see something we can use."
The interior of the ship, while not large, still houses an impressive array of advanced weaponry and equipment. Unfortunately, most of it is either too bulky to be transported, or simply not designed to be used by Avalicians. Eventually though, Kaede stumbles upon something that makes her eyes widen in amazement and disbelief. "Surely not…"
Kaede approaches the table on which rests a pair of tekko‑kagi, and a pair of katana. However, these are not simple weapons of steel: their highly advanced technological enhancements enable the blades to be surrounded by a shimmering energy field. Kaede picks up one of the swords and activates it: the blade is enveloped in a shimmering blue iridescence. The pika then picks up a small piece of scrap metal and runs it down the blade.
The energy field cuts through the metal with no resistance.
"We are so taking these." Kaede decides.
Kaede deactivates the sword, then bundles both katana and tekko‑kagi into a hemp sack. Resuming her search, she finds another two items of interest: pendants etched with the old Imperial Gotoshan logogram for 'shield'. Kaede takes both pendants and stows them in the sack with the weapons. Satisfied with the haul, Kaede turns to leave.
"Is this of interest?" Danny asks, holding up a vial of scarlet liquid.
Slightly different shade to usual, but may as well. "Hold onto it for me," Kaede instructs. "Did you find anything else?"
"No, mistress," Danny answers.
"Kitten? Did you find anything?"
"No, mistress," Maria answers.
"Then we're done here," Kaede decides. "Let's go."
On the bridge, Arata and his robot watch the trio make their escape.
"What did they take?" he asks.
++Two katana, two tekko‑kagi, two personal shield generators, and a vial of the other Shade Virus strain you've been developing,++ the robot informs.
"Excellent," Arata gloats. "They took exactly what I expected them to take."
++I do not understand.++
"Someone needs to field test these latest creations. May as well be the one who has already done sterling work field testing for me so far. And she'll be in for quite a surprise when she uses that virus…"
Back behind the grassy knoll, Kaede locks the weapons in the vehicle's trunk, and stows the key in her bra. Satisfied the weapons will be safe, Kaede climbs into the driver's seat. "Before we set off, can I have another look at that vial?" she asks Danny.
Danny hands the vial of scarlet liquid to Kaede, who compares the vial with one containing crimson liquid from the glovebox. "Interesting… This one you found isn't the same strain."
"Shall I continue to protect it?" Danny offers.
"No," Kaede decides, returning the crimson vial to the glovebox, and hiding the scarlet vial in her cleavage. "This one stays with me. One last thing before we leave: both of you will forget everything you saw in that ship. You will forget what we took from the ship, and you will forget where this ship is located. Do you understand?"
"We understand," Maria and Danny chorus.
"Good." Kaede starts the engine and drives away, setting course for Yamakasai.