CODE OF THE SWORD

Current Location: The country of Levania. A high scale battle is going on between the Reicon Army(Saji supported) and the army of Theimos(Corus supported), two countries south of Levania. This time the battleground is a large fishing village, Acamaia, known for it's trading port. Both sides have about a equal amount of soldiers, 400.

Plot: By chance or maybe destiny, our characters find ourselves immersed in to the battle for their own reasons. Who will they find friend or foe?

RAIZEN

Tightening his gauntlets, Raizen awaited his master's order. Akida Kusanagi, the leader of the clan, appeared next to him. Raizen looked at his leader and observed how focused and firm he was. For a seventy-something year old man far from his prime, it was hard to notice a difference. Footsteps could be heard from behind Raizen as more members of the Kusanagi clan appeared through the thick green forest surrounding half of the fishing village. About 30 members of the clan stood upon a large flat hill that provided a good overview of the village. Fire and bloodshed was all that was there. Raizen clenched his fist at the sight. He could not stand the fact of lives being wasted over a Kings greediness.

"We have arrived men. Once we take the field, let them fear us. Let them know that this land is protected by the Kusanagi!" Akida shouted to his men. Raizen nodded along with his fellow clansmen. Screams could be heard from woman and children down below. Master Akida traded glances with Raizen before Akida quickly headed through the forest again and towards the village. Raizen followed along with the rest of the clans men too.

The flag of Theimos was put in place in the middle of the village even though the army had not successfully taken it over. It was a ruse to force the other combatants from the fray. It would not fool the Kusanagi. Finally rushing on to the battlefield, Akida divided his force by three. One group would rescue the villagers and help them escape. One group would find higher ground as serve as an archer unit. The final group would be the attack force led by Akida. Raizen, unsheathing his black bladed katana, engaged the enemy forces.

EDDY

Seeing Theimos' flag raised over the village gave Eddy little comfort. The combat remained fierce, and while it wasn't Eddy's first fight, the sword was still awkward in his hands. Other samurai cut their opponents down and moved on in a heartbeat; Eddy's every fight was a drawn-out affair of parries, sidesteps, and waiting for the opponent to get tired or make a mistake.

His clan leader, Oroshi Yukio, rose out of a crowd of bodies, cutting a swath of destruction. Eddy wasn't entirely certain why this village was important enough to sacrifice so many lives for, but Corus had sent him here to do a job, and it was an important one. While the fighting raged, Eddy was to sabotage the port. Oroshi respected his technical skills, and entrusted Eddy with the bomb that would render the port unusable.

Eddy and the two samurai assigned to assist moved swiftly through the town, easily slaying the harbor's guards. Behind him, Oroshi sounded the battle horn, deliberately attracting the attention of the enemy to give Eddy a chance to finish his mission.

He hiked the bomb tucked under his shoulder up slightly, and decapitated an angry fisherman who charged him with a spear. Surveying the harbor, he found his target: the lighthouse that stood so tall on one side of the port. Placed correctly, the lighthouse would fall over almost every pier, almost completely rendering the port useless.

Heaving a sigh, Eddy signaled to his companions. It was time to do what he had come here to do: ruin Acamia.

“Jiao Hai,” exclaimed Akida Kusanagi, leader of the Kusanagi clan. “Find Jiao Hai!”

Suddenly a great gasp was heard from the small crowd that remained behind as the clan disbursed to their position. The palm of his hand placed on the victim’s face, Jiao Hai withdrew his sword from the young and obviously inexperienced boy’s stomach. A faint aura filled the subtle gaps between the ronin’s hand and the boy’s face. Jiao Hai’s face showed no other expression than satisfaction.

With a swift slash through the air over his head, the ronin whipped the blood from his sword before sheathing it. With a calm demeanor, the young man sauntered towards the clan leader. He pushed aside those who got in his way without discrimination. A seemingly gentle motion belied the exacerbated reaction of those pushed aside who stumbled to maintain their composure. Jiao Hai found a suitable position a couple of steps behind Akida. Little did the ronin care about taking the life of another, but tradition was tradition.

“The Kusanagi paid a lot of money for your services ronin, you best hold up your end of the bargain.” The elderly leader snarled with an expressionless face.

“A bit of gold does a wonder for the wallet Akida. But you promised me a suitable opponent,” Jiao Hai replied. “Just make sure you hold up yours.” He scoffed.

Although the leader would not take a moment to recognize the young ronin, Jiao Hai bowed at the neck with a turn of his head. As he moved forward the ronin interlocked his fingers behind his head.

“I suppose I’ll see you in the city?” He cooed with a chuckle leaving the attack force in his wake.

A voice in the mist. "Oroshi-san!" The samurai turned perhaps just fast enough to perceive the arrow whistling towards him, though not fast enough to react in time.

"Coward! Assassin!" came the jingoistic call from the slaves around the corpse, but Haru smiled and drew back into the mist rising from the waters. The conflict occurring was irrelevant to him - two factions taking turns measuring their manhood and wasting their men - but someone had taken a special interest in some key members of the Corus military and the samurai clan they worked with. Again, not that relevant as to why, but the money was good. He'd also taken a few contracts out on the other side as well, just to be safe. He'd only have to honor half of them, depending on who won.

Haru slipped back into the water and swam out, far and deep, where the samurai could not follow with their heavy armor. A small pocket of reeds near the other edge of the river sheltered him to scope out the fray. Some of the samurai who had seen Oroshi's death were dealing with the leader's brash actions, drawing the defenders to them. Meanwhile, an ugly looking fellow with some large package was hobbling in the other direction, which was probably of strategic importance somehow. Probably best to ruin that, he thought. Not a good idea to have the battle end too soon while there were still jobs to do. He raised his bow from the water and drew back an arrow - little better than a sharpened shaft of bamboo in truth - and aimed ahead of the running man. His silver eyes showed him where the man would be running and he aimed for the man's legs, one of his knees, before releasing.

The arrow came from a place Eddy never would have suspected -- the water, off to one side of the nearest pier. Thwack! Eddy could feel the tendons of his knee separating; the patella pushed out of place. A normal arrow would have gone through-and-through, and Eddy would have pushed on, trusting his bioengineered accessories to keep his knee from tearing itself apart.

This, however, couldn't have been worse. Who the hell made an arrow out of sharpened bamboo? It had shattered, naturally, sending hundreds of tiny splinters all through his joint. It would take hours and a pair of tweezers to get them all out.

Fortunately, the pain only flared for a moment before the contra kicked in and dampened the signal. Eddy nodded at his companions, and gave a brief hand signal. One charged the reeds where the shot had come from, and the other tucked his arm under Eddy's and helped him hobble, as quickly as they could, toward the lighthouse.

It was do-or-die, and dying wasn't Eddy's thing...so it would be done.

RAIZEN

If there was one thing that the Raizen disagreed with his master about, it was his choice of recruiting ronin. Especially Jiao Hao's kind, warriors for hire. There was no place for them alongside the Kusanagi. He could hear his masters echo of the ronin's name. Two Theimos soldiers charged towards Raizen with their swords in a slicing motion before Raizen could respond to Akida. Raizen stood in place patiently, waiting for the two to get closer and closer. When the soldiers were finally close enough, Raizen quickly stepped forward and swiped his katana horizontally. Their heads fell to the ground with a nasty splat and a thump as their bodies followed after.

Meanwhile, General Touzon who is also known as the "Jester of Reicon," finally appears on the battlefield with the head of a Kusanagi in his hand. "Well...well. Looks like a party and just about everyone is invited! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" he said with a stereotypical diabolical laugh. Known as the Jester, Touzon was known for his crazy antics on the battlefield. Despite this, he is considered one of the best swordsmen in Reicon. "Sir, we think we found it!" reported a Reicon soldier running up to the general. Dropping the head onto the ground, Touzon turned his head over his shoulder with his eyes focused on the soldier, "Show me."

On a hill overlooking the Port City of Acamia. The horses and their riders were lined up side by side each of them with a banner that portrayed their Dojo Yugana Tori. Each of the women wore their armor colored with whites, reds, and pinks. Each of them also carried a Naginata in hand while their swords were on their hips.

Mitsuko was at the middle of them holding her Naginata upright as she surveyed the battle below. It seemed very spread out and disorganized which made it easier to kill their enemies. "Watch for Kusanagi's warriors kill the rest!" She waved her Naginata down the line towards all but twenty of her lady Samurai. "You attack the enemies in the town. Run them down! You twenty with me we go to defend the lighthouse!" She put her mask on connected to her helmet depicting a laughing woman's face. Each of the other women had similar though each differed greatly whether the face had fangs or fire in it's mouth. She charged down the hill towards the lighthouse while the others went for the town.

As the forty four samurai charged into the streets their naginatas flashed cutting through flesh and armor sending blood flying, bodies were tramped beneath hooves it was going to be a slaughter if this continued. Any samuraiwho lost their horse immediately drew their katanas and began fighting in a way that almost seemed like a dance.

As Mitsuko and her retainers reached the lighthouse she saw a man hobbling towards the lighthouse on another man's arms she charged for him and stabbed her Naginata forward in attempt to run him through. The other ladies charged for any other warriors in the area including the man running into the reeds.

That's the great thing about honor, Haru thought with a grin as he sank below the waterline. People use it as a substitute brain. Charging a bunch of dense reeds across a body of water while laden down with arms and armor, to anyone who was their own man that was madness. But to a samurai, bound by honor and ordered by his superior it would be impossible not to. The water wasn't too deep, about chest high, but the samurai was in full gear, while Haru had nothing but his goggles, his blades and his bow and some short leggings. He slipped through the water quickly and quietly while the samurai sloshed and rattled, blinding and deafening himself. When he reached the reeds, the samurai found them empty, standing still just long enough for Haru to slice through his achilles tendons and drag him under the water. The weight of the samurai's armor and the river, that would do the rest...

The women samurai were a little more complicated, better to withdraw. He held his breath and hid from them, floating downstream a ways, hidden by the stained water. Haru pulled himself out of the water a little ways down the river. There seemed to be a lull in the madness here, long enough for Haru to dry himself off from the cold river and liberate a nearby ashigaru of his clothes and life. He was about the right size, one of the Corus troops by the colors. He wrapped his katana in a cloth to keep his status a secret and hustled with the man's naginata instead, over to another patch of men. He heard laughter, manic, and then saw a man in fine armor stalk away, following a subordinate. Interesting... and at least one of them has a sizable bounty on his head, Haru thought as he began to shadow the general and the captain at a respectable distance.

Eddy was surprised to see that someone had elected to actively defend the lighthouse -- a group of women came riding down upon them, naginata and bisento at the ready, determined to halt their mission. There was no reasonable way that two samurai could stand against twenty mounted warriors, even if they were merely bushi. As they approached, however, Eddy could see that they were in fact samurai themselves -- their tight formation and precise weapon grips gave their skill away.

Eddy glanced at his companion, and in the seconds remaining before the female contingent arrived, he reached under his cloak, armed the bomb, and handed it to his companion. "I'll buy you the time you need -- just get as close to the port-side of the lighthouse as you can. You have thirty seconds. I'll see you on the other side."

The samurai nodded and began to sprint. Eddy threw a quick message to Orochi's communicator: "Bomb delivery compromised." When he heard no response, he had to assume Orochi had been killed. Things were not going well for the Theimos -- too many surprise elements stacked against them. First the assassins in the reeds -- ronin, most likely. Then these mounted women. The intelligence the Theimos had received had been completely bunk. Either that, or it always was a suicide mission.

Eddy hated suicide missions. This would make his third, and he was amazed at how upset his superiors were when he survived. When would they stop sending him on these stupid missions?

The first mounted warrioress got within stabbing range, and tried to lance Eddy. He stepped forward and to the side, getting within her range, and ducked under her horse. As the beast reared, Eddy stepped out the other side, deftly lopping off the blades of a few of her companions' bisento and using the fact that he had his back to their commander's horse to keep them from getting too aggressive.

Eddy sighed. This whole 'lone injured defensive stand' thing was getting to be a specialty of his, and it was one he'd really like to stop practicing.

Jiao Hao

Despite the war going on around him Jiao Hao appeared disconnected with the world around him. He showed little concern for the warriors battling around him. Blades cut through the air, their opponents dodging them. Armored warriors rolled across the ground in a last ditch effort to avoid that killing blow and lash out with their own attacks of opportunity. Rays of blood lashed out through the air. It was war, and there was nothing like it.

Lowering his hands into a more prominent position at his side, the ronin smirked as the heads of two eager samurai warriors rolled across the battle field. Still strapped in their helmets, their faces showed signs more of disbelief rather than shock or awe at the quick draw they should have more reasonably been able to at least defend against. He would not make eye contact with the “ally” that cut them down, who he did not know. However, it was not because of some social phobia but merely because his concern for the samurai’s level of sustenance was not his concern.

A few meters before him, a rather reputable member of the enemy forces presented himself. Jiao Hao would not be able to make out the lacquered plates that covered the General’s body, shimmering in the afternoon sun. Further still, he would not be disheveled by the blood that was smeared across the General’s mask. The General stood, clutching the lifeless head of a fallen “ally.” His other hand still clutched the blade, dripping with blood that had rendered it free from his body. General Touzon, a member of well standing amongst the enemy combatants was well worth the effort to succumb to the power of the ether.

Jiao Hao took only a couple of steps forward before his attention was drawn to two members charging passed the heckling General. Both armored similar to their leader, one charged with a sword raised high above his head and the other a hand on the katana at his hip. The ronin would not have to move quickly before the conflict would ensue.

Through Jiao Hao’s eyes, as the two men approached he would not see there armor only a blue hue that breached the gaps between the lacquered plates where their life force had shown. Of course, it was not his eyes that would lead him to victory but his experience in combat. Even a blind man could defeat an small band without nothing more than a walking stick if he remained observant to his surroundings.

A samurai, drawing his katana from its scabbard was the first to approach the ronin. Jiao Hao dodged, dipping to the sword only to encroach into the warrior’s personal space. The ronin grabbed his first assailant by the risk, draw the arms behind the man’s covered head. With a precision that may have been to close for comfort, Jiao Hao used the contained warrior’s sword to direct the oncoming attack. He wouldn’t direct the warrior’s downward slash away, but down the contained Samurai’s back, carving a subtle gash.

With a quickly twist of his own wrist, Jiao Hao tore the enemy katana from the man’s hands. In doing so the ronin thrust it upward punctuating the second assailant with a piercing strike that forced the blade through and through. As the original warrior turned attempting to draw his wakizashi the man’s hand was pushed away by a swift kick forcing the blade back into the scabbard. It gave Jiao Hao the opportunity to quickly withdraw his own blade swiftly lopping off the man’s head.

Turning around the ronin placed a soft boot on the hilt of the skewered samurai’s sword, still stuck in his abdomen. He pushed the man over. Shaking the blood from his blade, Jiao Hao stepped over the enemy. He stared down the enemy, his covered eyes drawn to the General’s powerful aura.

Raizen

As the battle waged on in the streets, buildings, and river of Acamaia, Raizen was dashing through a large alleyway before stopping in front of an open road. Dead bodies, some Kusanagi, were lying across the stone bricks that made the road. Their blood sunk into the engraved spaces between the bricks creating mini rivers of crimson blood. Dammit! Just a foot away was a severed head that was a little recognizable. Focusing on the bloody face, Raizen almost stumbled on the ground at the sight. It was the head of Hiroshi, a fellow Samurai he trained with when they were younger. Lost in sadness, Raizen could still hear swords clashing against each other that was nearby. Turning his head left down the road, he could see Jiao Hao fighting two Reicon soldiers.

After defeating the two enemies, Raizen quickly rushed towards Jiao, but something else caught his eyes. General Touzon had turned his head to face the commotion behind him. It seemed that his plan to head to an unknown destination would be delayed for the time being. "Secure it and pull everyone out. I have something to attend to" Touzon ordered his soldier. Raizen ran up to Jiao's side and unsheathe his black katana again. "You fool. Do you know who that is? You can't possibly think you can take him alone!" Raizen yelled to Jiao. Even though he despised the ronin, he was assisting the Kusanagi. He had to respect his master's wishes.

Touzon turned his whole body and walked slowly towards the two warriors. "So, you two think you can best me? A blind man and another Kusanagi samurai huh? HAHAHA!," the Reicon general was now some feet in front them,"I...don't...think...so." Strapped on both sides of his armor, Touzon pulled out both of his sharp bladed katanas. Forming his attack stance, he prepared to battle the two men standing before him.

The air smelled thick of blood, the dirt under the hooves of the horses churned to mud as they stamped moving around Eddy. Lady Mitsuko frowned as her horse reared from the man rolling beneath it, a heavy neighing came from the animal and steam shot from it's nostrils. She saw the man that was still running towards the lighthouse which seemed odd for a warrior to run from a fight. She lifted her naginata and yelled towards two of the female samurai with her. "You two catch him!" The two women who were riding pure white horses began galloping as quick as they could towards the man who Eddy had sent off naginatas in hand and held at their sides. "CIRCLE UP!" Mitsuko yelled loudly and the Lady Samurai made a circle around Eddy.
The horses stamped in place, but no one moved to attack. Lady Mitsuko pulled her mask off and let it hang under her chin. She handed off her Naginata to another Samurai and hopped off her horse drawing her katana. The blade sung as it left it's sheath a ringing to all the ears present. The blade shone like silver, the blade was obviously made by a master the steel perfectly folded again and again to make it of razor sharp quality. Her brown eyes looked Eddy up and down raising a brow. "I hope you are prepared to die." Both her hands took hold of the hilt tightly and brought the hilt to her shoulder with the edge of the blade pointed skyward and the tip aimed at Eddy. Her face became a grim expression contradicting the normal beauty that was painted across her skin.
Mitsuko's mind raced for only a moment through the thoughts of what was happening. 'Why would this man fight all of us and send the other away Hmmm they must have something. I cannot back down though.'

The sound of charging horses echoed through the streets of Acamaia Naginatas whirling in hand, cutting down anyone not bearing a standard allied with Levania. Those women who lost their horses tread on foot their hands carrying their Katanas tightly and slicing at any enemy they happened across. �Kill those who prey on the weak!� They shouted as one. The women seemed to move like ghosts through a fog, their movements graceful and unique. As the smoke of war billowed through the streets they would step forth like banshees called from hell and cut bloody swaths in all those who threatened the peaceful lands of Levania.

"I hope you are prepared to die," the beautiful warrior said.

Eddy shook his head slightly, mentally praying a thank-you for whatever perverted notion of 'honor' she had that made her decide dismounting was the proper action to take. Some samurai had very strange notions of fair play. Maybe Eddy could take advantage.

"You'll pardon me, madam," he began, gesturing to his knee, "But some dishonorable ronin hiding in the reeds yonder has managed to incapacitate me. If it's all the same to you, I'll be happy to submit; I'm not a worthy opponent in my current state."

Eddy saw the two other mounted warriors peel off and pursue his bomb-carrying cohort....and winced. Even if they took him out, they were going to die quite instantaneous deaths the moment that bomb went off...which was going to be in about eight seconds now.

Jiao Hao

The battlefield strewn with fallen bodies and foes locked in combat was a sight to behold. However, unlike those before him Jiao Hao saw a very different sight. He did not see the lacquered plates of the enemy reflecting in the sun. He did not see the steel of blades clashing against one another. Instead, the battlefield in various hues of blue, flakes of light as if embers from a fire wafting through the air. The blue light breached various openings of all shapes and sizes in the warrior’s armor. Even the grass was illuminated with its own subtle hue. But General Touzon had shown through with a greater luminescent that illuminated the landscape around him. Despite the General’s well-crafted armor, his existence on the battlefield was very apparent.

Jiao Hao flicked his wrist, wrapped his fingers around the wrist of his sword hand. He looked towards the General with a determination that would have been apparent had his eyes been readily visible. His free hand placed on the scabbard of his katana. He adjusted the weapon, drawing the hilt in front of his body. He popped the blade loose with his thumb.

He turned to Raizen standing beside him, “What would we consider life if spent in fear of those who may strike us down. How lucky we might all be to fall at the hands of such a worthy adversary?”