Moving swiftly, the girl with the nodachi pocketed her illfound gains and headed after the NobuZai, both sword back in their respective sheathes. She had no flack with the Nobu, but taking out a agent or a samurai would likely afford her some pretty good liqour and she was still settling down, she didn’t need some asshole starting shit. The man moved with grace and speed, she found herself half jogging just to keep up with his long strides.
When he decided to stop, she knew something was up. The man turned around in a flash, his arm whipping up to toss a pair of kunai her way. She just barely dodged them only to realize the street was abandoned all of the sudden.
“W-what” She mumbled as she saw a bunch of thugs appear.
---------
He tried to be is inconspicuous as possible as he moved upstream the masses of people just leaving work at a local meatpacking plant. The smell of offal was strong around here, and the myriad of people made it hard to keep track of the cyborg looking man who had caught his interest. He kept bumping shoulders and being pushed back, as the man disappeared further and further into the crowd.
Luckily for him, someone decided to start a row. It wasn’t an unusual sight to see, this part of town had so many bar brawls and out of hands street fights that local riot police had two wagons on standby only a block away. No doubt, the iron fist of the Date Police force would soon descend upon the masses. This had the effect of people shifting away from the fight, and the herd of people thinned out enough for Itsuki to move more freely. Just int time to catch the man ducking down an alley.
“Oh no you dont” Ibuki mumbles under his breath as he slips on his mouth guard, setting off on a light run after the man. If he lost them now, he would never catch them among the alleyways. Rounding the corner he saw the man head down a pair of stairs leading down towards the even seedier parts of the station.
“Oh god dammit” He swore as he broke out into full run as the man headed towards one of the elevators. Only then did he notice the another two men. They shot out from the shadows, blades not yet drawn. They wore similar vagabond clothing as the first man, and wore signet rings just like him. They moved in tandem, catching Itsuki off guard and midstep. Their blades still in their sheaths, he knew instinctively what the were. “Fuck, Iaa Kenpo. I am not going to be able to guard in time“
Haruka was still idling, thought-wise. The bar fight had sobered her up, and now she was feeling the gnawing aggravation that was her normal state of mind, stuck on this planet without a way to fulfill her goals. Between restlessness and depression, her days were filled with a bleakness that didn’t go away, though the booze she spent a good portion of her money on did help dull the ache, even if it did also dull her senses.
Right now, however, with adrenaline still in her system, her senses were as sharp as when she had still been serving. Which was why she caught the sound of quick-shuffling feet, the telltale sounds of blades rattling in scabbards, the quickened breath of surprise off to her right. A quick glance told her it was one man being ambushed, and not by standard thugs. the way they moved was far too precise. The odds, and it being an ambush, led her training to split-second decisions onto a course, and without a moment’s hesitation, she launched herself across the gap and down the stairs, over the head of the ambush, her right knee driving into one of the attackers temples as she roared out a battle cry.
The fourth participants sudden entrance was led by a knee and a roar that was similar to that of many samurai. But for the first time in a while, Itsuki didn’t feel pang of anger or fear over it. He felt relief as he saw one of the cybernetically enhanced assassins stagger backwards, shocked and awed enough to throw his ally out of rhythm. That second extra was all Itsuki needed, his spear flashing upwards in arch, monoblade clashing against monospear in a shower of sparks. The pair of unlikely allies found themself staring down the well armed, eerily quiet assassins. “We’ve been made.” The one they had been following said matter of factly.
“No matter.” Said one of the ambushing pair, the one not nursing their face from where a knee had struck. Her voice was female, heavily synthesized. “We’ll dispose of them and make our way to the rendezvous”
“Bushi-Onna. I hope your good with that blade.” Itsuki said, his voice tinny from the face protector he wore.
Kitamura nodded, long ponytail bobbing behind her head, as she drew her katana. It was nothing special, a simple monoblade, but she held it firm and steady. “Indeed, I can take these fools.” Without another word, she leapt to the attack, howling fury as she flashed forward at the one she had struck coming in. Her blade flickered out to meet his response, but unlike most, she continued forward, planting one foot on his knee and smashing an elbow at his face, keeping her own blade against his and out of the way. As her first opponent stumbled back from the blow, she launched herself full tilt at the next, using her foot’s position to fling herself forward in a blur and clash with the man’s blade as he attempted to cut her apparently open back.
As she did so, she hollered at her temporary ally, “I will handle these two, take the other!”
“Better you than me Lady!” He shouted as he went for the remaining one. His spear thrust against the man with speed and precision, turning into a upwards sweep for his face. The man dodged to the side, trying to sling his blade with the spear as guide, aming to literally cut the ashigerus hands off by the wrists. It was a classic move, one that Itsuki had seen many a time. He rolled to the side, sliding his hand back to the very back of the spears shaft, turning it into a wild, forcefully leveled swing at his attacker. His attacker who , moved with him, dancing in closer to impale him. Itsukis leg shot out in a kick to the mans thigh, causing him to lose balance and itsuki clipped him with the shaft and shoved him off to a safe distance, spear ready for any hasty attempt to regain lost ground.
None came. The two men stood staring, both with their weapons defensive position.
“I would have your name, Ashigeru. Someone of your skill could have risen in our ranks. Nobu does not care if your noble or common, all that serve and possess strength are welcome.”
”Overhead. Right cross. Combo to left, right, upwards swing. Punch with off hand, kick to knee.” Kitamura was growing frustrated. The man seemed to have a counter for every strike she made. Was she really that rusty? She knew she had only seconds before the other opponent would be at either her back or the commoners, neither of which was acceptable. She cursed herself as her katana was suddenly swept out of her hand while she was distracted, leaping back to avoid the follow-through strike. The clatter of the blade hitting the wall of the alley and skittering down the steps rang out in the enclosed space. She grimaced, reaching to her back.
“Surrender and die with honour, girl. You fought well, but you will not take me with a wakizashi.” The man stepped forward. She registered it as being inside her kill zone with her main weapon. Her hand found it, slid it out from her obi, and set her thumb on the catch. Her other hand swept up, drawing her wakizashi, making her look vulnerable.
The assassin, for that must be what he was to fight like this, or else a samurai on a mission, stepped forward, in an obvious, though skilled, ploy. His katana went up over his head, signalling his intent to come straight down, though she knew the most common move for any samurai in this position was to feint, and move the blade into a horizontal cut below the guard of the one defending. She did as she was bidden, wakizashi rising to meet the downward stroke.
As his blade turned, just the way she was expecting, she darted forward, her enhanced speed giving her just enough of an edge. The point of her wakizashi met the man’s forearm, though she had wanted to take it off at the wrist, but did not hesitate in slamming it up to the hilt, between the bones and out the other side. In the same motion, she spun her back to him, and her naginata snapped out, telescoping to its full length, the blade slamming into position with a practised jolt. As the man screamed, she spun, meeting the other’s blade with the shaft of her weapon, built specifically to withstand monoblades.
“You thought me just a girl. Your mistake, Nobunaga filth,” she snarled in old Japanese..
“Ah. I get to reap a handsome reward today. I thought I recognized that pretty face.” The female NobuZai assassin said, seemingly unphased by her comrades predicament.
Meanwhile, Itsuki grew tired of the stalemate, with a forward thrust in the same way as before, he went in. This time however, his stance shifted low as his thrust went into a sweep. The Samurai lept backwards, suddenly on the defensive, deflecting thrust after thrust in a cascade of sparks.
“Whats the matter tincan. Can’t keep up with a lowly Ashigeru!?” Itsuki taunted, even though he found he was no closer to scoring a real blow. The deflections were impossibly precise, the angle always just right for the sword to come up for another perfect parry or side step.
“You’re good, as expected by someone who served with the Date Dragon Spears. I always thought the Date should value his common soldier more. Regardless, I have had enough fun. Hikai, if your still alive by the end of this, you know what to do.” The man said in enervating calm tone. As if he wasn’t two inches away from being a samurai kebab. Then, suddenly, he swept aside spear with hard deflection and grabbed the shaft with robotic hand. With a tug, he almost lifted Itsuki along with the spear, putting him off balance. And letting go of the spear, he flung his hand back against the soldier with a backhand that sent Itsuki flying. Itsuki felt a rib crack as a pule of energy impacted him at the same time as the backhand to his sternum did.
Her new opponent was good, able to dodge most of the blows she aimed, but unable to penetrate Haruka’s defenses. Haruka, for her part, kept pressing forward. Most styles dictated keeping away with a polearm, reducing the risk to the wielder while still endangering the opponent. But her training had enforced that, since her naginata was built out of ultra hard materials, every part of it was as good as a kanabo, as long as she could use it correctly. So she pressed, using the middle of the shaft to block a cut before slamming the blunt end down onto her opponent’s foot, then levering herself up off the ground and slamming the entire length of the weapon into the woman’s chest. The end she balanced on kept her from regaining her footing, and she fell backwards onto the man with a wakizashi in his arm. He had just removed it, and while Haruka would have been satisfied to have it accidentally buried into the woman’s back, she felt far better as her weapon’s blade buried point first into her stomach.
She pulled it out, spun, and took the man’s head off as he was struggling under the dead weight of his compatriot. Kitamura took the time to kick their swords away, in case they still had life in them, then turned to see where the commoner was. Which was mid-air, flying directly at her. She had no time to do anything but put the shaft of her naginata vertically between the two of the before the impact sent them both tumbling to the ground.
Smashing into the pretty woman samurai, he was pretty sure her damn naginata impacted his already cracked rib and he let out a noise like a kicked puppy before his momentum carried them back, him rolling of from the sheer speed before lying gasping on the ground. As he used his spear to push himself up to standing, he saw the man go down the elevator. “Shimatee..” And then something else made him swear.
Up in the sky, the fortress in orbit.
Exploded.
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G E N Z O K U P L A Z A
The sky lit up in a massive explosion as the entire station went nuclear out of seemingly nowhere. Second later, the tell tale flashes of ships jumping into the system began to appear like ominous, dying stars on the nigh sky. There was screams and confusion, swearing as soldiers nad samrurai on leave began running to their barracks and docked ships. Just as suddenly as the invasion started, a number of men drew monoblades in the crowd and began to cut people down indiscriminately, adding to the chaos and panic.
The sky above began streaking red as drop pods and worse, ascending iron samurai made their way towards the surface.
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THE BATTLE FOR HAKUTO
The system has come under suprise attack by the NobuZai. Your mysterious quarries are NobuZai samurai and assassins. These come in two “ranks”. Defeat or hinder their advances in your post. Feel free to make use of random Dates as cannon fodder for your legend to grow. By the end of each round of posts, I will shift the battles balance in accordance of how well I think we are doing.
Higher Ranked NobuZais are samurai and accomplished shinobi. These ones are to tough to take on by yourself, and can easily kill you if you get cocky. Team up with comrade to take them down!
The soldier and low rank assassins are a even match, you can beat them but you do so at a cost.
The lower ones are rabble and thugs who been paid off to riot and rebel . Cut them down as you see fit.
Iron Samurai are unbeatable in our current state.
Current Battle Balance: NobuZai are winning. Date are scrambling.
