[center][color=yellow][h3]Rong and Morinth[/h3][/color][/center]



The Avalon drifted silently in Mars's orbit, monitoring the situation on earth. All that could be seen is the high tensions of two fleets ready to pull the trigger at any second. And in the middle, a small group of Musashi ships at the wrong place and the wrong time.


Morinth turned to Rong, “We are within comms range of your Princess, it’ll be hard to get through the imperial and dominion though.” She said, pointing at a small communications console.


Rong stopped pacing and turned to the console. “Ok. Let’s see if I can contact her flagship.” She activated the console and established a connection with the flagship. “Shokaku, this is Kau Rong. Can you put Yuki-hime on the line.”


There was a long pause before a response came. “Kau-dono, Yuki-hime is currently not on the Shokaku at this moment. Please wait while we connect you to her.”


“What the hell is going on?” Rong muttered to herself. “Shokaku can you give me a sit-rep?”


“Uh…. Things are short of muddled at the moment. Wait one… Ok we’ve got Yuki-hime on the line for you. Shokaku out.”


“Rong-chan, is that you?” Rong allowed herself to smile at the sound of Yuki’s voice.


“It is Yuki-hime. I’ve come… with a friend to help you in whatever way I can.” Rong paused before asking “What is going on?”


“Things are sort of a mess here” Yuki answered. “I… padded the fleet with a lot of individuals that are personally loyal to me. It's the only reason I’m still alive at this point. I was… far more successful in making this fleet personally loyal to me than I had thought. Most of the ships in the fleet are refusing to following my father’s orders. Still, the battleship and a few other ships are trying to either capture or kill me. And seeing as how the fleet is centered around that battleship… things will get ugly should ships start shooting at each other.” There was a long pause before Yuki spoke again, this time her voice was strained. “I’ve deployed some… shinobi… to help take control of that battleship. Meanwhile I’ve been stuck in a fighter, dodging loyalist fighter squadrons and the occasional corvette.” There was another long pause. “If I get that battleship the whole fleet is mine. Can you help the shinobi in that task?”


“I will” Rong answered.


“Good. I… need to get off this line and…” Yuki grunted. “Focus on not getting blown to pieces. We’ll speak again.”


A loud buzz and then dead silence ended the conversation, prompting a response from Morinth as she examined the console, “Yeah, they must’ve jammed the signal.” She frowned, “And I have no Idea which group did it. I think it's fair to say we need to act fast.” 


“Shit.” Rong said. “Ok. How do you feel about storming a battleship?”


A wide grin was louder than words as Morinth slid into the pilot's seat. She ran her fingers across a few holographic panels, prompting manual flight controls to deploy. “Now, Rong, I need to know before we get there.. Weapons free?”


“Let’s try not to break anything if we can.” Rong said. “Yuki-hime made it sound like the majority of the fleet is with her, but if anything targets us… let’s just blow it and ask for forgiveness later if need be. Once we get closer I’ll be able to connect to the psi-net which should give me a much better picture of what’s going on.”


“So weapons free.” Morinth concluded. “Spinning up jump drive, we will arrive in about three minutes. You have two choices, you can sit here next to me and watch out the viewer here or… you can take that rear facing seat behind me and man the main dorsal and ventral turrets. Incase those corvettes Yuki was talking about decide to target us”


“I’ll remain here.” Rong said. She closed her eyes as she said “I’m going to focus on connecting to the psi-net. Doing so will potentially help us evade those corvettes anyways.” 


Morinth shrugged as if not bothered by Rong’s decline but her disappointment was clear. “Suit yourself. Jumping in.. three..” She cleared her throat. “One.” Not minutes but seconds passed as with a bright flash, the Avalon burst forth onto the looming battlefield. Morinth dodged ships gracefully, circling engine pods of massive Ganymede ships and gliding along the bow of oppressors. Even being so bold as buzzing the bridge of a Sol battleship in a dazzling fashion.


As the Avalon continued to maneuver side to side, rolling and dipping in and out of the now convoluted imperial and dominion battle lines, Three trident fighters locked on and approached quick. They quickly gained missile lock and began to broadcast surrender orders but were quickly waved off by a very well placed move by an Dominion assault ship. Morinth did what was as close to ‘waiving one's wings’ as possible before finally reaching a break in the main battle formations of the Dominion and Imperium.


Though there were still ships in all directions, it was clear that both sides had given the Musashi fleet breathing room as the gap widened between the two opposing forces. “Damn.” Morinth said, pointing at the Battleship, “So we are supposed to board that.. And take it? I’m sure I can arrange for some help.” she said, already knowing the Answer no was coming.


“And what kind of help are you thinking?” Rong inquired, her brow furrowing in concentration.


Morinth eyes locked on an Dominion Titan nearby, “Ah.. nothing, we got this.”


“We do.” Rong agreed. By this point a number of Musashi destroyers had pinged the Avalon with their sensors, but had declined to lock weapons, seeming content to largely ignore the ship even as it drew near. Rong gasped before her look of concentration melting into a more serene expression. “Ko-class corvette to our port side. Shifting our course fifteen degrees starboard will put us within weapons range of a friendly destroyer. The corvette should back off.” She paused for a moment before adding “It will also keep a squadron of Zero fighters off of our backs for a while.”


The Avalon sharply banked towards the Musashi destroyer and Rong’s suggestion paid off as both the Corvette and the Fighters peeled back. It was at that moment that Dominion and Imperial sensor signatures ceased targeting the Avalon, “Well now.” Morinth said, checking various displays. “It seems both the Imperium and Dominion are not targeting this area of space at all. That’s good news for us. Keeping themselves blind to our actions at the very least”


“It wouldn’t be funny if one of them opened fire and started a war.” Rong said with a slight nod of her head. “So they are playing it smart. Ah! Looks like Yuki-hime managed to get some hundred odd shinobi onto that battleship. And the battleship’s complement of troopers are roughly split into thirds: one group loyal to Yuki-hime, one group following the battleship captain’s orders, and one group remaining largely neutral for now. Ah! And some of those friendly troopers are taking over one of the battleship’s docking ports. We have our means of entry now.”


The Avalon continued to maneuver erratically until they gained a clear path to the battleship. Upon drawing nearer, the Musashi beast’s ominous shadow eclipsed the tiny Avalon in comparison. Morinth gazed in awe for a few seconds before rotating the ship to the docking port. A loud clank from metal clamps sounded through the ship. 


Rong slowly opened her eyes as she said “There are friendly troopers right inside of the battleship that will go with us once we are ready.” She rose to her feet and stretched before heading towards the Avalon’s armory. The pair of women quickly loaded up before heading to the hatch. Rong sported her kunoichi suit, a katana and wakizashi on her left hip, a pistol on her right, and a number of knives on her ankles and the back of her waist.


Morinth on the other hand, had forego her usual suit of power armor and instead kept to a simple armored tank top and black pants with no defining insignia. She had no desire to bring anything that shouted that she was part of the Dominion aboard the Musashi vessel. Her armaments reflected this lighter mentality as she worse a simple gun belt with a high caliber pistol on the left and a large combat knife on the right. Slung over her shoulder was an short assault rifle with a under barrel grenade launcher. A few hand grenades to top that off ended with a simple thumbs up from Morinth, “Let's do this.”


“Put this on” Rong handed Morinth a plain looking mask. “Its combat grade, resistant to shrapnel, and is set up to enhance vision. Also it’ll have the added benefit of giving the illusion that you are also from Musashi.” Rong gave Morinth a look before adding “Sort of.”


When the two women exited the Avalon they were greeted by a large hallway that was filled by twenty Musashi troopers. The leader of the troopers approached the women as he said “I’m glad you’re here to back us up Kau-dono. I’ve heard that the shinobi have almost reached the bridge, but have hit a particularly dug in group of bushi. Things could get messy.” He looked at Morinth before adding “Are you and your… companion ready to head out.”


“We are” Rong answered. The trooper gave a simple nod before barking out orders for his subordinates to move out. The troopers quickly started to lead the way down the many corridors of the battleship. “Only after you have to mark through its endless corridors does it become clear just how massive these warships are.” Rong muttered after twenty minutes of marching. They had yet to encounter any resistance, but that was about to change.


Morinth shifted her mask when the soldiers turned away. “Rong, These masks are uncomfortable.” She shifted it again, “Seriously. How can you people wear this.” After a few moments of careful adjustment she seemed content. “All right. So he mentioned the bridge. Is that our only target?”


“Hmm… Well it’s certainly the main target.” Rong answered after a moment. “It seems like the bulk of those standing against Yuki-hime are doing so because of the captain’s presence. If we eliminate him we should be able to get the loyalists to surrender. If nothing else those who are remaining neutral will join us.” She didn’t explain how or when she obtained this insight. 


Rong’s comments sparked curiosity within Morinth and she was about to ask but then paused, “I know you all are about honor and such, But why don’t we attack a lesser defended area like an engineering bay. We could then you know.. Play dirty. Turn off the gravity on the bridge or just vent the atmosphere.” Her smile was hidden by a mask that upon close inspection, was definitely crooked. “I would suggest splitting up but I honestly have no idea what this psi-net thing is.”


Rong raised an eyebrow as she said “This ship wasn’t designed by a fool. The bridge was designed to be able to maintain its own atmosphere and gravity in the event of a boarding action by hostiles. Granted taking engineering or the CIC would help us limit what those on the bridge can do, but it won’t solve the problem immediately.” She paused before adding. “And the psi-net is a… series of connections between individuals who can use psionics. It’s… I could go more in-depth if you want, but it’s sort of complicated.”


“I wouldn’t mind learning more. I had it in my mind that it was how the ship was controlled or some sort of cool sounding intranet.” Morinth added. “Let's rescue your princess first though.” she said, drawing the rifle from her shoulder and gripping it firmly. “Ready when you are.”


“Contact!” A trooper at the front of the group yelled an instant before an explosion rocked the corridor. Men were screamed as they were struck by shrapnel and small arms fire. Rong reacted immediately, shoving Morinth to the side as a barrage of weapon’s fire swept through the space they were standing in. One round struck Rong in the shoulder, the force from the projectile spinning her as it knocked her from her feet. Further down the hall a group of loyalist bushi could be seen exchanging fire with Yuki’s troopers. The troopers were not faring well.


With a quick pivot of her feet, Morinth caught her balance from Rong’s shove and then rushed right to her side, trying to examine the injury. She didn’t get much of a chance as the shells were still whizzing overhead. “Shit, we are never going to get down this corridor.” she shouted, trying to announce this fact to the Musashi troopers. Before any could respond, Morinth motioned Rong towards a nearby room. “We got to get out of this kill zone.”


Rong drew her pistol and fired a few rounds down the corridor before giving a slight nod. “I’m good to move.” In front of them the troopers were slowly before forced back. Many of them had begun to slip into side rooms or corridors. Rong fired a few more rounds before adding “I have no idea what's in any of these rooms, so your guess is as good as mine. You lead the way, I’ll be right behind you.”


“Shit.. shit shit.” Morinth said, trying to figure out where they were. “Alright, that one.” she said, pointing to a large set of doors. The two rushed in, barely escaping the hail of gunfire. There wasn’t much in the room aside from a few chairs and tables, that made it notable to Morinth, aside from it being cover. “Alright, We have cover for now but I doubt those enemy soldiers are going to just sit tight and wait for us to regroup. You have to know something about this ship.. Look, over there. Is that a system console or something on that table?” 


“Let’s see” Rong said as she walked over to the table. She typed a few commands into the console, bringing up a set of schematics of the ship. She peered at them for a moment before pointing at one part of the ship. “We are here and here…” She dragged her finger across to a room on the opposite side of a wall. “Is a barracks that is right by the bridge.” She pointed at where two corridors joined together near that barracks. “And this is where the loyalists are dug in and holding the shinobi back. We can hit them from the rear if we just blow or cut through this wall. Got any explosives on you?”


“Are you kidding me?” Morinth said with a grin. She raised her rifle’s grenade launcher into Rong’s view. “I’m pretty sure a few shots from this will do the trick. At least, I hope so.” With a simple nod from Rong Morinth rose up and aimed her rifle at the weakest point of the wall. “Cover your ears.” She said while pulling the trigger. The blast sent pieces of metal in all directions as a hole large enough for a bear was made. Morinth looked to Rong and smiled.


“Ok let’s- Shit!” Rong froze. The smoke and dust from the explosions cleared to reveal that the barracks had in fact not been empty. In fact it had been occupied by a group of bushi, bushi shodans, and imperial guards all of whom were now pointing their rifles at Rong and Morinth. 


“Don’t move a muscle” One of the bushi in the front of the group said. Rong did a quick head count and immediately eliminated any hope of fighting through the group, having counted some forty odd soldiers. The imperial guards alone, who numbered ten, would have been enough to end the two women.


When neither group did anything for a minute Rong asked “You aren’t loyalists… are you?”


“Nor do we follow Yuki-hime” One of the imperial guards answered.


Morinth’s gaze shifted from soldier to soldier, “Then who do your loyalties belong to?”


“The Empire” A different Imperial guard answered. He paused for a moment before adding “We see no honor in this fight one war or another.”


“Well ain’t that a change.” Morinth mumbled, surprised at the outcome. “So, if you support the empire why don’t you just let us slide on by and talk to the ship Captain.”


“Perhaps we will” The first Imperial guard responded. “But first I’d like to know what stake a foreigner has in this fight.”


“Shit” Rong was so quiet that only Morinth could possibly hear her. “We are friends and comrades. She is here because I need her aid. That is all.”


“Is it now?” The Imperial guard asked.


Morinth grit her teeth and gulped, “I.. I owe her a life debt. She rescued me and I am bound to her service.” She gulped again, “fuck.” she mumbled. “She said if I help her in this, my debt is clear. I fully intend to clear my debt.”


“That is… more reasonable than I would expect from a foreigner.” The Imperial guard said after a moment. “Assuming you speak the truth. Very well. You leave us alone and we will return the favor.” As he spoke the majority of the soldiers present lowered their rifles, although a few kept theirs trained on the two women. “You may rest here for a moment or just move through. Just do us a favor and say you never encountered us.”


“Thank you.” Morinth said simply to the Imperial Guard. After affirming nod, she motioning for Rong to follow. After a few steps, a quick smile was flashed, although hidden by the mask, “And you have my word, I have never seen you before.” She turned her head to Rong, “I mean, it’s crazy that there was no one on the other side of the wall when we came through that hole.” she said in a sarcastic tone.


“Crazy, but not unexpected” Rong said as she followed Morinth. 


A single bushi approached the women as they moved into the barracks and whispered “I heard there’s a group of onna-bugeisha nearby who are leaning towards Yuki-hime. They might join you if you speak to them.”


Morinth shook her head and whispered to Rong, “I’m doubting that life debt shit is gonna work again. Any tips on these onie budishosho’s ?” She asked with the most innocent tone.


“Well… for starters you could not screw up their name.” Rong answered. “Seriously though it's your accent that’s giving you away, although your… clothing is also quite odd.” She looked at Morinth for a moment before saying “I suppose we either need to come up with a new story or just have you keep your mouth shut.”


“I’m sure we will think of something.” Morinth said softly before looking to the Bushi, then back at Rong. “All you.”


“Where are these onna-bugeisha?” Rong asked the bushi.


After giving them the exact location the bushi added “I’d join you if I didn’t have a family to worry about. I’ll be praying for your success Kau-dono. And you too foreigner.”


Rong thanked the bushi before leading Morinth out of the barracks. The two moved cautiously, Both clearly worried about possible ambushes. Thankfully they didn’t encounter any other loyalist troops before they reached the barracks that the neutral onna-bugeisha were supposedly holed up in.


“We wish to speak” Rong shouted as they approached the barracks’ door. “May we enter?”


There was a long pause before a woman shouted “You may. But keep your hands where we can see them.”


“Here we go” Rong said to Morinth as she opened the door and stepped through. Inside the barracks was about forty women. All were hunkered down behind makeshift barricades. A few rifles were pointed at Rong and Morinth, but the onna-bugeisha were, for the most part, content to simply watch the two women.


“You said you wanted to talk” An onna-bugeisha shodan, the clear leader of the group, said. “Speak.”


“I was hoping you would lend me your strength” Rong said.


“Oh? And towards what end” the Onna-bugeisha shodan asked. “Who is it that your loyalty lies with? Yuki-hime or the empire?”


“My loyalty lies with both” Rong answered. “For I see Yuki-hime as-”


Morinth cut Rong off, seeing this conversation as one that could turn dangerous quickly or get them nowhere with a discussion for hours. “We understand that you are very loyal and honor bound people. Right? Well, we really need to speak with the captain of this ship. We have information solely for him. Does it matter where our loyalty lay when it clearly does not matter?”


“And what is this information about?” The onna-bugeisha shodan demanded as she folded her arms in front of her chest.


“Did I not just say it was solely for your captain?” Morinth said, crossing her arms as well. “How would it look if I were to just start telling everyone secrets of yours?” 


“Then go” The onna-bugeisha responded. “We will not prevent you from completing your task.”


Morinth motioned for Rong, “Let's not keep the Captain waiting.”


Rong simply nodded before leading Morinth out of the barracks. When the two had exited she let out a long sigh. “We botched that. It would have made things a lot easier to have a few of them backing us up. Guess we’ll just have to do this the hard way now.”


Morinth frowned, “Well, it started sounding like a debate. With everything going on, we need to just get this done.” She smiled, “And hey, who knows. That lead one might get curious and come back us up regardless!” 


“Eh. At this point I hope she and her subordinates stay where they are.” Rong said as she began to lead Morinth down the corridor. The sounds of combat could be heard in the direction they were headed, and with each step the telltale bangs of railguns firing and the clanging sound of swords clashing grew louder.


Rong suddenly halted. Her eyes trained on the form of a woman in a tight bodysuit. Two swords rested on her waist, a rifle in her hands that she used to fire at individuals unseen to either Rong or Morinth. “Gale onna-bugeisha” Rong whispered to Morinth. “Just without her heavy equipment. I… think she is on our side, she seems to be firing on where the loyalists are, but I can’t really tell from here. What do you think?”


“Maybe I’m not the best one to ask after that whole ordeal back there.” Morinth replied, “But from what I can see, she is firing at the loyalists. How easy would it be to just ask her. Aren’t your people all linked with that psi-net thing?”


“Only those who have psionics can access the psi-net.” Rong answered. “You yourself would be as successful in connecting to it as she is. And unfortunately there are no other shinobi or kunoichi in this area, besides me. Still… I could ask some shinobi and see what they have to say.” There was a long pause before she spoke again. “The only thing they can say for certain is that the loyalist position is taking some fire from the opposite direction from them. Which is where that gale onna is right now. Shit! The loyalists are going to charge her!”


Morinth readied her rifle, “Well, Loyalist or not, the enemy of my enemy is my friend applies here. Lets go help her out. Make some friends while we are at it.”


“Ok. Watch my back!” Rong activated the thrusters on the back of her suit and charged down the corridor as she drew her katana. The gale onna was, by this point, backing away from the loyalist position. She dropped her rifle and drew her own katana as a pair of loyalist bushi shodans came charging into view with their own swords drawn and ready.


“Take all the fun will you..” Morinth said angrily while raising her rifle. “Who’s first.” she said with a grin before aiming down the sights. “Five men.. Small hallway.” a faint click toggled the rifle's secondary mode. “This will be a blast!” she said, pulling the trigger.


Even as fast as Rong was, she was quickly overtaken by the grenade that went spiraling past. The first Bushi likely didn’t see it coming as it became host to the grenades destructive fury. As it’s body turned into a red hazed mist, the concussion pushed the other four aside. Shrapnel didn’t affect the others armor so much aside from drawing their attention while Rong and The Gale closed the gap.


The gale onna brought her sword across one of the bushi shodan’s chest as he allowed himself to be momentarily distracted by the grenade. She glanced at Morinth and gave her a quick nod of the head before turning her attention to the second bushi shodan, barely catching his katana with her own before it beheaded her. By this point Rong had closed the distance, her katana cutting the arm off one of the remaining bushi as the others either pointed rifles at her or raised their own katanas. Rong leapt to the side, giving Morinth a clear shot on the bushi.


And with a thunderous sound, Morinth fired her rifle's primary fire mode, sending two fin stabilized high caliber rounds straight into the faceplate of the Bushi Shoden, shattering it, and the head inside. Dissatisfied, Morinth slung her rifle over her back and started towards the battle herself.


The last remaining loyalist bushi didn’t stand a chance as both Rong and the gale onna turned on him. All the loyalist laid dead on the floor long before Morinth reached them. By this point the sounds of battle had picked up. The gale onna had retrieved her rifle and was firing on the loyalists. Rong had joined in with her pistol.


“The shinobi are pushing through the loyalist position!” Rong reported as Morinth joined her. “We just need a good push to break through!”


“I got just the trick.” Morinth replied, handing Rong a hand grenade. “I don’t know you. But here.” She said, tossing one to the Gale. “Use them to kill and disorient, then we catch them off guard just like back there.”


“Let’s do this!” The Gale onna said, her voice full of excitement, as she threw the grenade towards the loyalists. Rong shrugged before following suit. She activated her cloak and disappeared from view as her grenade sailed towards the loyalists. The first grenade, the Gale onna’s, fell short, but showered the loyalists with shrapnel. Rong’s grenade also landed short, but still managed to blow the leg off one of the loyalists. The last grenade, thrown by Morinth, actually struck a loyalist Imperial guard in the face before detonating, killing him, three bushi, and throwing the rest of the loyalists into complete disarray.


The gale onna tipped the hilt of her sheathed katana towards Morinth as she asked “Join us in our valiant charge?”


Morinth raised a brow before firmly grasping the katana and drawing it. “Thanks!” Morinth said, now starry eyed and filled with excitement. She did her best to mimic Rong’s combat stances as the two readied for the attack.


“Yuki-hime banzai!” The gale onna yelled before charging towards the loyalist position. Rong and a large number of shinobi were already there. Lashing out at loyalists with their swords before flickering out of sight. Other shinobi fired at the loyalists with their rifles, somehow avoiding any friendly fire despite the intense melee that was forming. Others could be heard mimicking the gal onna’s charge cry, including Kau Rong.


While not as skilled with the blade as the Gale onna and Rong, Morinth joined the intense fight with as much ferocity. It seemed everywhere she looked, there were were blades, howls, screams of pain. Morinth watched as the Shinobi, Gale, and Rong cleaved through the Loyalists with machine like precision. 


The gale onna was dueling with a bushi near Morinth, the two exchanging sword blows and dancing around each other, seemingly unaware of their surroundings even as they danced away from the swords and bodies of other combatants. In the distance Kau Rong could be seen dueling with the only remaining loyalist Imperial guard. She would exchange a sword blow with the Imperial guard before disappearing, only to reappear again as she struck out at him from a completely different direction, even attacking from directly overhead a couple of times. What was even more impressive was the fact that the Imperial guard was actually fending her off and even occasionally predicting where she would appear next, lashing out with his own katana.


With surprisingly fluid motions for one whom never used a katana in a fight such as this, Morinth was doing well, though the occasional save from a Shinobi helped greatly. She did encounter her own threat when it came from a Bushi Shodan that was bearing down on her, and her alone. The Shodan gracefully evaded Morinth’s wide slash, forcing her on the defensive. The Shodan began circling her, parrying each other's blades. Within moments, the Shodan rushed Morinth, performing a series of rapid slashes, knocking the sword from Morinth’s hands.


“Shit.” was all she could say as the Shodan lunged forward as if to catch her off balance, to his surprise it seemingly worked as Morinth started to fall backwards. The Shodan began closing on her, raising his sword for the kill but a quick backflip saved her life, and enabled her to swing her rifle around. As she landed on her feet, the Shodan stopped dead in his tracks as she smirked, pulling the trigger. The first shot blew the Shodans arm clean off and the second removed its leg. Morinth didn’t know for certain if the Shodan had died before the third shot exploded its head, regardless. She switched her rifle from its scatter shot mode back to a rifle and aimed at Rong’s attacker, Yelling “Get down!”.


Rong was exchanging sword blows with the Imperial guard when Morinth shouted. She spared Morinth a single glance before jumping up and kicking off of the Imperial guard’s chest, pushing herself away and unbalancing her foe in the process. The guard stumbled back a few steps before finding his foot again. Before he could ready an attack, Five rapid shots from Morinth’s rifle sent his body cold to the floor.


The Imperial guard’s death marked the end of the battle. Those few loyalists who remained, and they were few indeed, surrendered as they found themselves woefully outnumbered and outmatched. Kau Rong looked around at the aftermath of the battle before she held her sword over her head and shouted “Yuki-hime banzai!”


“Yuki-hime banzai!” The shinobi shouted in response.


“Yuki-hime banzai!” Rong shouted again.


“Yuki-hime banzai!” The Shinobi answered once again. The gale onna shouted as well as she approached Morinth, jumping her sword arm into the air.


“Well fought!” She said as she sheathed her sword.


Kau Rong and the shinobi repeated their victory cries a few more times before sheathing their own swords. Rong looked about before spotting Morinth and headed over as well. “Not often does one get to cross swords with an Imperial guard.”


“And rarer still is that one survives the encounter.” The gale onna said. “Though it's not exactly fair that you got help.”


“Eh, I had the upper hand. Morinth-san simply sped up the inevitable” Rong said with a shrug. “All’s fair in love and war after all. Or so I hear.”


“Isn’t that a foreigner saying?” The gale onna asked, to which Rong simply shrugged. After a moment the gale onna shrugged as well.


Morinth knelt down and retrieved the Gale onna’s sword. “Thanks for this but I’ll be honest, it’s not for me.” She held the sword towards the Gale onna. “It is usually customary among my people to know the names of my comrades in arms.”


“Ichigawa Izanami” The gale onna said as she took the sword and sheathed it. “You can use my given name. And what is your name?”


“My name is Morinth, nice to meet you Ichigawa. So the matter at hand.” Morinth said, looking at Rong and the rest of the Shinobi. “What’s the play for taking the bridge.”


“We blow the entry hatch, throw in some flash bangs, and charge in.” Rong answered. “It’ll probably be bloody… but that’s how these warships were designed to be. Easy to defend and costly to take.”


Izanami slowly nodded. “I’d heard that the captain has just a handful of bushi in the bridge with him, but they know where we are coming in and they know we are using shinobi. If they drop some dust bombs or even smoke grenades they’ll tear us up as we storm the castle.” Both the of the Musashi women let out a long sigh.


“Well… let’s get this over with” Rong said as she gestured at the shinobi.


Unsurprisingly the group of shinobi, plus Rong, Morinth, and Izanami met no further resistance on their way to the bridge. What loyalist elements remained were being tied down by other pro-Yuki forces elsewhere. What was surprising was the fact that the entrance to the bridge was open. The bodies of three bushi had been propped against a wall, a trail of blood from each led to various locations on the bridge. The last bushi stood by the entrance with no weapons in sight.



“What. The. Hell.” Izanami said as she, Morinth, and Rong looked at the bridge from around a corner.


“Huh…” Rong muttered before asking “What do you make of this Morinth-san?”


“I’m not sure what this is.” She said, aiming her rifle in all directions. “I don’t like it. We need to move carefully here.”


“You sure the captain only had four bushi?” Rong demanded.


“Nope” Izanami said with a shrug. “He could have also grabbed a few more from elsewhere. What I’m curious about is those three dead bushi. And why is that fourth bushi standing out there without any weapons?”


Morinth shook her head and lowered her rifle, “Why not just go up and ask?”


“You want to just walk up to him and ask?” Izanami asked.


“Yes.” Morinth replied simply. After a moment of thought she offered Izunami her rifle. “I’ll go if you want. Or you can just shoot him.”


“I’ll cover your back” Izanami said as she took the offered rifle.


Rong disappeared from view as she said “I’ll be there with you. Poke my head into the bridge to make sure nothing nasty is lurking in there.”


Morinth shrugged before walking casually towards the bushi. Her left hand hovered just above her pistol. Once Morinth reached a distance she deemed safe, “Hey buddy, what are you doing? You ok?”


The bushi turned to look at Morinth, clearly making an effort to keep his hands where she could see them. “You… Are not from Musashi, are you?” He asked, his voice revealing him to be a comparably young man, possibly as young as eighteen. “Who are you? Why are you here?”


“That’s right, I’m not from Musashi.” Morinth replied, slowly placing her hand on the pistols grip. “So young man, why don’t you just let me know what happened here.” 


The Bushi watched as Morinth’s hand moved towards her pistol. “This ship is the property of Yuki-hime and the Empire of Musashi.” He calmly said, but raised his voice as he continued “It will not be allowed to fall into the hands of foreigners!”


“Calm down kid, don’t do anything you’ll regret. I’m not here to take your ship. This place is all yours buddy, just calm it down ok?” Morinth said, taking a more commanding tone.


“I am no kid nor I your buddy.” The bushi snapped. “I am a bushi of the Empire and you will show me the respect I am due. Now you will state exactly why you are here and you will do so now.”


“The captain is dead” Rong whispered into Morinth’s ear. She was so close that she was almost touching Morinth. “Some of the bridge crew are also dead. The rest are armed. They might have mutinied.”



Morinth lifted her hand from the pistol after hearing Rong, “Alright, Bushi, You’ve got me. I am here on behalf of Yuki-Hime and the Empire as well. Yuki-Hime sent me here to help. So let’s just calm down.” She locked her gaze on the gaps in the leg plating around the knee, preparing to shoot if he didn’t comply.


For a moment the bushi simply stared at Morinth. But after a moment his hands began to shake. He took a deep breath as if to say something, but was cut off as Izanami let out a cry “Yuki-hime banzai!” from down the corridor. The shinobi let out the cry as well, causing a thunderous roar to emerge from behind Morinth. The clenched his hands into fists and raised one over his head as he joined in. “Yuki-hime banzai!”


“Yuki-hime banzai!” Could be heard from inside the bridge as the crew their joined in.


Izanami and half of the shinobi stepped into view and walked over towards Morinth. Rong deactivated her cloak, appearing next to Morinth as if from thin air. The bushi seemed mildly startled by this, but didn’t seem particularly disturbed. “Perhaps one of us should have spoken to him instead” Izanami commented. “It wouldn’t have been funny if they’d blown the engines because they thought some foreign power was trying to steal this ship.”


Morinth relaxed and took a few steps back, “So if you knew they would’ve blown the ship..” She stopped herself. “Good thing you arrived when you did then.” She said then turned towards the Bushi, “So, friend. Did you and your buddies in there choose the right side in this conflict? Are you truly Yuki-hime supporters?” 


“You killed the core loyalists in that last fight.” The bushi stated. “Broke their back really. When the captain had weapons handed out to the bridge crew… well he sealed his own fate. Enough of them liked Yuki-hime more than the current ruler of Musashi. I for one didn’t particularly like the captain threatening his crew at gunpoint.”


“You did the right thing.” Morinth said before walking towards him and extending her hand, “Permission to enter the bridge?”


“Permission granted” The bushi said as he stood at attention.


Kau Rong entered the bridge first, heading immediately for the captain’s chair. She sat down in it and pressed a button on the arm of the chair, activating the ship wide comm system. “This is Kau Rong, faithful retainer of Yuki-hime, speaking from the bridge. Those of us who are loyal to Yuki-hime are now in control of this ship. I urge those who stand against us to surrender. I give you my word that you will not be harmed if you surrender immediately. And to those who stood with Yuki-hime I have just one thing to say. Yuki-hime banzai!”


All throughout the ship the cry “Yuki-hime banzai!” could be heard. The battle was over and with it Yuki-hime was now in firm control of the fleet.


Morinth nodded, “Well, this was fun.” she said, now running her fingers through her hair. “Any chance I can take this mask off now?”


“Might as well” Rong said. “You don’t really need to hide the fact you’re a foreigner anymore.”


“Not that it helped any” Izanami commented as she walked over. “Where are you from, anyway?”


“It was that obvious?” Morinth replied before carefully removing her mask. The edges were wet from sweat, making the fresh air that much more refreshing. “I am from the Dominion.” she said plainly, fully expecting a negative response, but acknowledging honesty was prized among these people.


“Curious” Was all Izanami said in response. “Yea… your accent made it pretty obvious. Also… that.” She gestured towards Morinth’s top. “What [i]is[/i] that?”


Rong chuckled before chiming in “I’ve been wondering that for a long time. Does that even count as a piece of clothing?”


“Does it?” Izanami asked. “I’m not sure it does.”


Morinth snickered, “I suppose you’re right, but indeed it does. Look at Rong here, wearing armor and still got hit in the shoulder.” She said with a smile. “Plus, it shows off the goods if you catch my drift.”


“Hey! My armor worked!” Rong said. “No harm no foul!”


“These show off the goods just as well I think!” Izanami gestured at her and Rong’s bodysuits. “It might even enhance her appearance.”


Morinth straightened her arms downwards and clasped her hands. “Hmm..” She said, slowly squeezing her arms together, along with other things, making them far more obvious. “I suppose to each their own,” 


Rong just rolled her eyes before asking “Well I think it’s safe to conclude that Yuki-hime’s safety has been assured. For now at least. You willing to tell me what you need my help with or is that something you’d like to discuss in… privacy?”


“Oh, this sounds interesting.” Izanami said.


“Oh, It’ll be interesting.” Morinth said, winking at Izanami. “But in all seriousness, You remember that man from when we first met?” She said, directed at Rong but loud enough for all to hear.


“The one that was more magical than I?” Rong asked.


“Magical?” Izanami muttered.


“You don’t know about space magic?” Morinth asked, slowly shifting her gaze towards Izanami. “This guy we fought, he had a glove thing that froze me in place. I had to watch as he toyed with Rong here.”


“Wait… what?” Izanami asked.


“She means psionics.” Rong answered. “We encountered a… man who was immensely powerful and very hostile.” She let out a sigh. “I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to tangle with him again. Ok, so what is he up to?”


“Well, That is what I need to find out.” Morinth said, “There was a report sent to me, regarding that symbol that those soldiers had, on another world. It was seen on some sort of stealthy ship.”


“And so you… want to investigate this stealthy ship?” Rong asked. “I’m not sure how to break this to you, but this sounds like a job for a destroyer, not a kunoichi.”


“Heh, I know.” she said, “But wouldn’t that be a sight.” She lowered her tone as to mimic a man, “Oh I’m mr badass and I have a super stealthy base- Then BAM! Musashi battleship. Ah one can dream.” She said, nearly starry eyed again. “But yes, And it’s not quite the stealthy ship more so than the site it was at. A backwater planet and a tiny little town of maybe two hundred tops. Why would he stop there. I doubt to grab a bite to eat.”


“Does sound like a good site for a secret base.” Izanami chimed in.


“No.” The bushi from before said as he approached. “It’s a good location to recruit ignorant people.”


“I don’t think he recruits his personnel” Rong stated.


“Not all means of recruitment are voluntary.” The bushi countered. Rong nodded her head in agreement after a moment.


“Ok, I don’t like any of this.” Rong said. “But what’s your game plan for this. It can’t just be the two of us, gallivanting across the galaxy.”


“Well, The two of us gallivanting across the galaxy does sound exciting, however..” She gazed around to the Bushi, the Shinobi and finally Izanami. “Sometimes two is not nearly enough.” Morinth then turned to Rong, “I don’t intend to get jumped again, I intend to arrive and force who ever is there to give us information. I’m done beating around the bush with this guy.” 


“Faust giving you a small army to do this?” Rong asked with a raised eyebrow. “Cause if Lau’s previous response to us utterly wrecking his subordinates is any indication he has a large manpower pool to draw from.”


“There is no way we could face that manpower pool alone, you’re right, and no. I don’t have an army, nor the help of my other three colleagues. But I do not want to face that army. Rather, I like the Bushi’s input. Maybe if this is some sort of recruitment center, voluntary or not, it would be a good place to look for clues as to what he is up to at the very least.” She sighed, “But even that would require help but I honestly do not know where to go for it. There’s always mercenaries and bounty hunters but they cannot be trusted. I need a group that values honor.” She said, looking at the Bushi out of the corner of her eye. 


The bushi, noticing her looking at him, turned fully towards her. “I serve Yuki-hime. Only she can grant me permission to aid you.”


“Stuck up as he may be” Izanami commented, eliciting a low growl from the bushi, “he is correct. You’ll have to get Yuki-hime’s support if you want anyone from this fleet to help you.”


“I’m sure something can be arranged.” Rong said. “But we’ll need to have an idea of what sort of forces we need before discussing it with Yuki-hime.”


“It’d have to be a small team, four to ten maybe?” She looked around, “They’d have to be the best of the best but I can’t bring a battleship or they will flee.” 


“Well in a normal capacity I would serve as close air support.” Izanami stated. “Sort of like a… what would you call it? A gunship? Something like that.”


“You sure you wouldn’t want to bring a fixed wing aircraft or two along as well?” The bushi asked.


“Well.. I’m used to travelling in my stealth ship that is attached to this one. Additional support might come in handy.” Morinth replied, “I’m gonna need a ship with a hangar. Damn this operation became bigger than I anticipated.”


“Well you could just strap a fighter to the outside of your ship… right?” Izanami asked. “Ok… maybe we should ask the actual pilot that before determining that’s the best course of action.”


“I don’t think Yuki-hime will be to keen to give up an entire warship at the moment.” The bushi commented.


“Well… maybe a corvette?” Rong didn’t sound terrible certain. “I mean… what use would she have for them anyways?”


“I think your commander will have to provide this ship” The bushi commented. “Unless you have some real skills of persuasion.”


“Yeah, that’ll be interesting too. Walking up to Yuki and saying hello, then asking can I borrow a warship.” Morinth said, “How difficult would it be to have a chat with Yuki-hime?”


“Well…” Rong closed her eyes as she said. “Looks like she’s landing on the Shokaku now. We could probably talk to her via a holo-room, though personally I’d recommend we speak to her in person given what you are asking for.”


“Then that is what I shall do. Though, I do not know the way.” Morinth stated, “Would someone be so kind as to take me to her?”


[center][b]*****     *****     *****[/b][/center]


An hour later Rong and Morinth found themselves seated across a table from Yuki in a medium sized room on the Shokaku. None wore masks, Yuki having not bothered to even worn her’s in the first place.


“I would like to thank you for the assistance you provided me” Yuki said. “While I am sure my followers would have been successful either way, you certainly limited the casualties they would have taken. Now then, what matter do you need to discuss with me?”


Morinth gave a confused, yet disgusted look at Yuki’s first comment but regained her composure quickly. “I need your help.” She said plainly. “There is a huge war on the horizon and what worries me is that there are things going on behind the scenes that I fear might.” She paused, clearing her throat. “Might be doing more harm than good.”


Yuki let out a long sigh as she leaned back in her seat. “For once… Just once I’d like to have only one problem on my plate.” She looked and sounded tired. “Ok. What are these… things behind the scenes and how can I help?”


That confused look crossed her lips once more, “Well, I’m not sure what these things behind the scenes truly are or I would just tell you. What I do know is that there is a man out there who commanded a force of strange soldiers, unlike any PMC I’ve ever encountered, and he himself bested both Rong and I without breaking a sweat. He even spoke of a dire future. I know people talk all the time and if we took every [i]Prophet[/i] seriously, we would go crazy.” 


“But this man, he just.. He had a strange feel about him and the technology he possessed was far greater than anything I’ve ever seen or heard of. My request is a ship, and a small group of your elite warriors to deal with it, as my nation is not in any position to do so.”


“And you think I’m in a better position to meet you needs than the entirety of the Dominion?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. After a moment she let out a long sigh. “Is this that Lau fellow you told me about some time ago?” She asked Rong who simply nodded in response. “Damn. I’ve been worried about him for a while. Ok. Let’s take deal with this before it gets out of hand. You need a ship? I can’t give you one of my capitals. I’m not sure I feel comfortable lending you a cruiser either. What sort of capabilities are you looking for?”


“I need a ship with a hangar big enough for my Ship, which in all honesty would fit the heavy bomber or light corvette class, as well as a few extra fighters that are atmospheric capable. And it would need decent firepower as well.” Morinth replied, feeling as if it was more of a shopping list than a request at this point.


“So a cruiser in short.” Yuki let out another sigh. “Alright. One of the cruisers I’ve got was designed as an atmospheric assault carrier of sorts. It’ll be able to carry all of the fighters and other support craft you could possibly want. The only thing is its firepower will be somewhat less than other comparably sized warships. Also… that class of ship has rather lackluster point defense systems.”


“Well, Beggars can’t be choosers.” Morinth said, forcing a smile. “The firepower deficiency will hopefully be mitigated by experienced fighter pilots with advanced hardware. As for point defense, Lau doesn’t seem to have a large navy or I doubt he would’ve let a lone Dominion warship get the best of him. If that is all you can offer, I will gladly appreciate.”


“We have the best fighters and pilots in the galaxy.” Yuki said. After a moment she let a humorous smile spread across her face “Or that’s what we like to tell ourselves at least. If you absolutely need it I may be able to spare another ship, but I need to know you really need it.”


“I am from the Dominion, I know Faust personally.. He was even the one who recruited me long ago. If I cannot get help from him, I doubt anyone else could or even would.” Morinth clenched her fists, “This threat is too great to ignore and few have any means to do anything about it. Musashi has those means. I need your help.” 


“Alright. I’ll give you a second cruiser and a pair of destroyers. But I need these ships to return to me intact. Do you understand?” She didn’t wait for Morinth’s reply. “I already have a gale onna and bushi requesting to join you two. Received the requests before you had even gotten here. Unbelievable. Ok. So what type of soldiers are you looking for?”


“I need the kind that will not falter in the face of extreme odds, I need the kind that will follow orders and face this menace for what it is. The soldiers he commands weren’t a match for the likes of Rong and myself, But they were far greater than most I’ve ever seen.” Morinth sharpened her gaze, “And you’ll get your ships back.”


“Bushi and onnas?” Yuki directed the question towards Rong.


Rong hesitated a moment before asking “Maybe a few shodan too? Maybe an Imperial guard or two?”


“Absolutely not.” Yuki said. “I can spare a shodan or two, but I need all the Imperial guard bushi I can get my hands on.” She paused to think for a moment. “How does forty soldiers sound? This will include five shodan. I’ll also let that gale onna that wants to join you join as well, separate from those forty soldiers. You can decide how many of them are bushi and how many are onnas. Will that meet your needs?”

Morinth leaned back, “I.. Yeah, I. Thank you.” There was genuine joy in her voice. She turned to Rong, “That asshole has no idea what is about to hit him.”