Suenagaku na Aki

Chapter 10

Two men watch from the ground as they look at a winged man crashing into the ocean. One of them is blond and tall while the other one has black hair and a bit shorter than him. Behind them is a group of people manning weapons of all sorts.

"Wow, look at him crash. It must hurt a lot"

"Neuwindst, we're supposed to just scare Henya, not shoot him down. Orochi-sama wanted him to be alive so that he can tell them about us"

"Yes, yes. I know. The 'taking over Japan with style' thing. Not to worry, as you can see, he's fine. Only his wings are damaged guns," Karl said as he pointed at the man walking tiredly to the shore. He then turned to his men behind him and gave a thumbs up. "As you can see, my 'teppo ashigaru' are marksmen" Shingo thought about the difference between the muskets being used by the real teppo ashigaru of the past and the rifles that Neuwindst's men used.

Neuwindst continued, "He was one of Shishio's men, right? An unorthodox way of flying, using dynamite. Crude, but effective. As interesting as ninjas storming an enemy castle using giant kites" What the man didn't mention was that compared to the ex-Juppongatana's method of attacking, the giant kite method was only used as a psychological attack. The ninjas on the kites were vulnerable to arrows, so it could only be used under very favorable conditions.

"Maybe", Shingo answered disinterestedly

"Come on, why the so glum? I let him live, didn't I?"

"Yes"

The blond man looked at his companion for clues on why he was being cold to him. "Hey. If we must work together, at least we can pretend that we know each other"

"Then, let me know what your plans are"

"Hey, you have to be clearer than that. I don't quite get what you're saying" Then, Neuwindst's face changed slowly when he understood what was being said and he became angry. "All right! I guess I should have told you that I had wanted to kill your precious leader while he's asleep and usurp his power. Then I will laugh maniacally while plotting to take over the whole world the night after that. SATISFIED?"

Neuwindst turn back and noticed his men's eyes were wide. "It's only a private mussing, you know, daydreaming kind of thing? That's why I never got around to telling all of you; not that I don't trust all of you or something.  I haven't even thought of making up a plan yet. Sigh, can't a man have his own private evil thoughts nowadays?"

Neuwindst turned back to see Shingo eyeing him. "And?" Shingo asked back.

"And WHAT?"

Shingo stared at him.

"What do you mean by WHAT? Do you want me to do it?" Neuwindst shouted.  "And people think that I am strange. Look here, Shingo. People have called me a mad man, a loony, a quack, a screw ball and anything else that crosses their mind. I am crazy, in a genius kind of way, of course. But I'm not stupid. And I don't take a risk unless I'm certain to succeed. And trying to take control of his group is as big as a risk can be" He paused and shook head his head, as if realizing something. "And your master probably knew this"

Neuwindst kneeled to open a wooden crate to reveal a long metal tube with smaller tubes protruding from it. Next to the tube is a tripod. He mounted the thing on the tripod and screwed it in place. "Besides, with fanatical followers like you at his side at all times, how am I going to succeed?" Neuwindst then turned to a thin man who was manning a canon. "Chang, what was the elevation of your canon when you fired at the ship just now?

"37 degrees. And 8 degrees North-west"

"Wind?"

"3 knots south"

"Hmmm…" The man adjusted his apparatus.

Shingo watched with interest despite the exchange of bitter words a moment ago. After he has was done, he directed the weapon at a ship in the harbor. The ship had just been commissioned for service with the Japanese navy, Shingo noted. Made from steel alloy, it could withstand most canon balls. Chang's canon only managed to make small dents on its starboard side. With the police moving toward their location, Shingo guessed that the foreigner only had time to fire just two or three shots before they have to leave.

"Move to the side, Shingo, unless you want your body to be covered with bandages like that mummy... um..."

"Shishio"

"Si... Shishou.... Shishio... Damn! That is hard to pronounce. Just get out of the way" Neuwindst said as he shooed Shingo off.

Shingo moved away. Then in an instant he saw something launched from the tube at high speed toward the ship. At the same time, flame rushed out of the thing. When the thing made contact with the ship's side, it exploded. Even through the smoke coming from the sinking ship, Shingo could see the large hole caused by the explosion.

"Quite a good weapon, if I should do say so myself", Neuwindst said while disassembling his weapon. "Rocket cannon, a secret weapon that was used during the American civil war. It just needed a little tinkering here and there to stabilize its flight pattern and voila! A big firework that can sink even Japan's newest gunboat" Shingo nodded. Neuwindst smirked. "As long as I can continue to design and test weapons, I don't mind working with anyone. Especially if that someone allows me to test in his name" Neuwindst turned his attention toward his men who were preparing to move the other weapons. "Leave them here. We're through using them", he commanded.

"But then the police would be able to use it?" one of his men asked.

"Don't worry about it. Just help me move this thing", he said while pointing to the crate.

His men lifted the crate and left the place to go into the forest. Meanwhile, Shingo noticed that the man was doing something to the other weapons. A few minutes passed before he began to move away. "Come, Shingo. We wouldn't want to be here when they arrive"

All of them jogged through forest quietly for 10 minutes before Shingo broke the silence. Turning to Neuwindst, he asked, "Have you spiked the canons?"

Neuwindst was taking a long pull from a bottle of whisky. But as if responding to Shingo's question, a loud explosion from a distance echoed through the forest and he felt the ground tremble a bit.

"No" Neuwindst said as he lowered the bottle.

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Meanwhile, in Tokyo,

Three shadows approached the Kamiya residence quietly, while scanning its surroundings. Despite seeing the former Hitokiri Battousai leaving the Kamiya residence earlier with another man, they had to be very careful. Being ninjas of the Orochi group meant that they had to uphold their reputation of being able to execute a surprise attack even though the enemy knew they were coming. And that Kamiya had managed to discover the group's leader was something unexpected, as their leader was known for her stealth and speed ability.

Suddenly the front gate opened. They quickly hid themselves. A boy with a bokken on his back walked out of the door while muttering something. Even though the muttering was soft, trained ears have picked up the boy comments' on his strict teacher and how he was going spend the afternoon at a local eatery named the Akabeko.

Even as the boy walked near the hiding place one of them, they remain calm. They had already been told about the boy's inability to detect ki, so they knew that as long as they remained motionless, the boy wouldn't find them out. In any case, the three of them could easily take out the young kendoist should they need to. But they didn't need to do that as a few seconds later the boy was gone from their sight.

Cautiously, one by one, they left their hiding place and entered the compound of the Kamiya residence. Beginning from the dojo, they searched for her, the woman who had disgraced their name. They weren't after her for revenge; she was to be taken alive and unhurt. And contrary to common wisdom, they have been instructed to commence the kidnapping in the middle of the day, as Battousai would certainly have waited them to attack at night. No, a brazen attempt in the afternoon is what Battousai would not expect them to do.

They approached the dojo first, as the Kamiya woman could be there. The dojo was empty. The living room was empty. Then they heard a faint noise from the kitchen. Signaling for the others to continue combing through other places, one of them went to the kitchen. Peering from the pathway, he saw a woman laboring over the stove.

"Mou, they should have been home with the tofu", he heard the woman complained, obviously referring to Battousai and Sagara. Even though his face was covered, he smiled. Leader Ichijo have probably run a diversion to distract Battousai. A small brawl between gangster groups in the middle of the market would ensure that the tofu and its buyers wouldn't be home in time for lunch. And the lunch wouldn't be completed either. Slowly, the stalker took out a small tube and aimed it at the woman.

As if sensing that something was wrong, the woman turned toward him. But it was too late, as the dart was already on her neck. A second later the woman fell to the floor.

He motioned for his colleagues to approach him. With rapid hand signals, they told him that there was no one else at in the place. It was safe to talk.

"Kamiya Kaoru has been subdued", the ninja said, "Our leader would be very pleased with the capture"

When Kenshin and Sanosuke finally reached home not long after that, they saw a note tacked to the front door

"Battousai. By the time you read this, my men will have already captured your woman. Please come to the abandoned Hijo temple immediately. Ichijo"

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Author's notes (19 January 2004)

1. Despite the effort to use real weaponry for my fiction, such as the Gardner gun, the Rocket Cannon probably doesn't exist. Well, since Watsuki used it in the Gun Blaze West, it wouldn't hurt for me to put it. Plus, up to 1940, most of the technological advance in weaponry could easily be produced earlier on, say, 1850? When missile started getting sensors is the time when the world weaponry became modernized.

2. Teppo Ashigaru is a Japanese musketeer (not The Three Musketeers, they mostly used swords). The first ones appeared after the Portuguese followed by the Dutch traders started opening trade posts in Japan. Teppo Ashigaru can only fire in short range, but with better accuracy than bow and arrows. So, they can only be used for middle distance skirmishes. (This info is gathered from the game Shogun: Total Wars)

3. There have been reports that ninjas used giant kites to attack castles and fortress. But, it is probably a psychological attack as while on air, they can't move about freely. A keen-eyed bowman could shoot him down easily. However... In a similar vein, a German paratrooper squad managed to conquer a fortified fortress using gliders in 1939.

This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum