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Author of 20 Stories |
Warnings: Violence
Notes:
- The people Kyuuzou refers to as his "sisters" are his Sensei's older students (senpai). Kyuuzou is 16 in this chapter. Ayame is 19-20ish, Mizuho is 23, Haruko is 31.
- In this ficverse, a squad has about 10 members. A platoon has about 4 squads.
Kyuuzou's squad, hidden on the bluff overlooking the road through Komoku Pass, was engaged in frenetic activity, trying to get the noisiest parts of their battle preparations out of the way before the enemy came within hearing distance. "Sadamitsu, Akira, Kazuya, Yoshiro! Check out the feasibility of causing a rock slide." Ayame had ordered. The soldiers nodded in assent, moving quickly and quietly to the outcropping of boulders some way up the rock ledge. Standing next to Kyuuzou, Sergeant Ayame kept an eye on the progress of their preparations while keeping a ear open for the sound of approaching enemy troops.
Kyuuzou's squadmate Akira returned shortly. "No loose boulders but we can cut some loose."
The sergeant radioed another squad member stationed further up the road. "Masahiko, any sign of the enemy approaching?"
"Not yet," answered the watcher.
The sergeant addressed Akira once more. "Block the road. Don't cut the rocks too cleanly. Try to make it look like a natural rock slide."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Akira turned to return to their waiting comrades.
Kyuuzou, watching the young man pick his way through the boulders, spoke to his commanding officer. "I'll go help Akira-kun."
The reserved samurai seldom volunteered to assist anyone. Kyuuzou minded his own business. But Akira was different. Akira was the sort of fellow who would not mind his own business, appointing himself sd the squad's one-person welcoming committee when Kyuuzou first arrived. Akira was effusively friendly to practically anybody, even to a new ashigaru of peasant background like Kyuuzou. Kyuuzou did not feel he needed that sort of treatment. He did not like the other youth. In general, Kyuuzou had no respect for chatty, jocular fellows who seemed to spend more time talking than thinking. But somehow Kyuuzou still felt obligated to aid his comrade at this critical time. At any rate, his offer to help Akira was refused.
"No, he does not need your help." Sergeant Ayame's tone left no room for argument. "You stay close to me."
Kyuuzou felt a familiar twinge of annoyance. Was his senpai still trying to protect him? Hadn't he already proven himself ten times over? Was he not good enough to act independently? But the young soldier kept his silence. This was not a good time to argue. Besides, there was never a good time to argue with Third Sister.
Two minutes later, Kyuuzou heard boulders cascading into the pass below. Once the rocks had settled, Sergeant Ayame spoke into her transmitter, "Squad 1, move into position!"
The column of Allied Forces Tobito and human samurai reached the narrowest point of Komoku pass to find the road blocked with rocks. With a grunt of annoyance, their Raiden commander raised its cannon and aimed it at the barrier. But the platoon's second-in-command, a human samurai, interrupted, "Please don't use the cannon, sir! It may cause another rock slide."
The Raiden grunted in impatient agreement, bringing forth a pair of giant clamps from its back compartment. With cautious haste, the robot began moving the rocks aside.
"Masahiko," Ayame whispered into her transmitter, "Is our main force here yet?"
"They're still at least 3 minutes away." Came the low reply.
Ayame pursed her lips. There was a chance that the Raiden could clear the barrier before Haruko senpai arrived with backup.
The last rock had been cleared by the Raiden. Kyuuzou and the squad sergeant observed the file of Tobito passing right under their vantage point on the cliff. "Squad 1, get ready for action!" Kyuuzou heard his officer's urgent order.
Then Third Sister turned to him and said, "Follow me! Stay close behind."
The woman jumped off the cliff, landing on the Tobito right below. Before it could sense her full weight, her feet had moved on.
Kyuuzou followed his senpai, who was running over the heads of the Tobito as lightly as a dragonfly would skim the surface of a pond. The enemy mecha did not even realize that Ayame had stepped on their heads before a second pair of feet was pattering over their metallic scalps like they were stepping stones. It had a slightly heavier step than the first, and felt a little shakier.
One tobito turned its head to see that this new pair of feet belonged a skinny Confederated Army samurai. This blond warrior was not very big, probably little more than a child. The mecha aimed its laser to fire at Kyuuzou but before it could discharge its laser eye, the rabbit-like robot fell to the ground, its legs cut out from under it. Other Squad 1 members had emerged from the boulders and rushed in, taking advantage of the distraction provided by Kyuuzou and his sergeant. Squad 1 slashed through the ranks of the Tobito. For once, Sadamitsu's height was an asset. He had the nimbleness and speed more typical of shorter fighters. Shuttling between the trampling Tobito, Kyuuzou's squad mate targeted the mechas' knee joints with rapid precision. Akira coordinated his efforts with his smaller comrade, speedily putting his sword through the laser eye of a Tobito that Sadamitsu had brought down, giving it no chance to fire.
Sergeant Ayame bounded off the last Tobito in line and was mid-leap, poised to strike at the Raiden commander. The large robot fired a volley of shells at her; she cleaved the first two shells in half mid-flight with of her twin swords. Third Sister was unscathed but had to change the direction of her trajectory to evade the subsequent shells. The Confederated Army officer, missing her planned landing place on the Raiden's head, skidded down its side instead. Before the robot could target her again, she spun behind it, keeping just under its floating feet. It was now difficult for the mecha to see her.
But this was a tricky game for a human fighter to play. While the Raiden could not strike her with its sword or turn its cannon on her, the Confederated Army soldier could be trampled anytime. But the Allied Forces robot, instead of bothering with the bothersome thing dancing under its feet, turned its attention to the samurai in front of it - a skinny blond private ...
Kyuuzou cleared the last Tobito in line with a flying leap, taking its head off with a parting back slash before he landed lightly the ground. Wasting no time cutting down the human foe who was about to discharge a gun at Yoshiro, the young samurai turned and swiftly finished another Tobito who was shooting at Kazuya. But in his haste to support his comrades, Kyuuzou did not see the Raiden samurai aim its cannon at him.
His sergeant rushed over, shoving him out of the way. The shell missed them both, exploding some distance away. Ayame flung herself over Kyuuzou, pushing him to the ground as she threw up an arm to shield herself. Some stray pieces of shrapnel ripped through her right arm. One piece lodged between her ribs, fortuituously not puncturing her lung. The Wolf Warrior jumped back on her feet almost immediately without a cry of pain. Kyuuzou followed in a split second. The smoke from the explosion had not yet cleared. For a moment, the two samurai were obscured from the Raiden's view, but they could still see its huge feet coming towards them.
"Boost me up!" Ayame shouted, blood staining her sleeve and side. The pale boy immediately cupped his hands and held them out. His senpai did a running jump, vaulted off Kyuuzou's outstretched palms and soared towards the Raiden. Tucking into a mid-air somersault to cover extra distance, the squad commander unfolded to jam her left sword into the Raiden's eye. The sergeant, giving off a ferocious battle roar that jarred the ears of both men and machines, slashed her way through the robot's brain. The Raiden collapsed.
After visually verifying that Ayame had landed in one piece, Kyuuzou rushed back into battle. With a swift swing of his blade, he gutted the man who was about to bring his sword down on the fallen Akira. But Kyuuzou had neither time nor space to tend to his fallen comrade. There were still too many foes encircling him. The numerical odds were stacked against Squad 1, a team of ten fighting against an enemy platoon of 40.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kyuuzou saw Sadamitsu battling two enemies some distance away, but he was not close enough to help his short comrade. Sadamitsu, caught between a human enemy with a gun and a Tobito with a laser eye, took a risk and rushed in on the human's blind side. Kyuuzou's short comrade grabbed the man's wrist and simultaneously slammed his sword handle into the other man's elbow joint. The enemy samurai's arm broke with a sickening crack. In one swift motion, Sadamitsu turned the soldier's incapacitated hand in the direction of the Tobito and pulled the trigger of the gun that the enemy was holding. The laser eye of the Jumping Rabbit mecha managed to shoot one beam just before the bullets shattered its head. Sadamitsu gave an oddly high pitched yelp of pain when that laser beam pierced his right shoulder. But his left hand instantly seized his sword from his right hand. The 5-foot-tall soldier pivoted in one smooth, economical move, cutting into the windpipe of the samurai whose arm he had broken.
Meanwhile, Kyuuzou's blades swept, circled, and swung, mowing down the foes around him, but there were still more coming at him, more he had to kill. "I need more speed, more skill, more power!" the urgent thoughts ran through the young warrior's head, even as his well-honed instincts ran on autopilot, clearing a bloody path for him . Just then Kyuuzou heard familiar battle cries behind them. Lieutenant Tashiro had arrived with the rest of their platoon. Sergeant Ayame let out an answering war cry, continuing the fight with one functioning arm. Masahiko cheered loudly as Squad 1 rallied and fought with renewed vigor.
After a hard but brief battle, Platoon 3 had killed all the enemy mecha. The few human foes left alive threw down their arms in surrender and were kneeling in defeat. But Ayame strode towards them with a steely glint in her eye. Kyuuzou followed right behind her.
As one of the surrendered soldiers lifted his head, he saw two pairs of eyes looking down at him - the topaz eyes blazed with hot fury, the ruby eyes shone with cold hatred. There was no mistaking their intent.
"You cannot kill surrendered soldiers," the samurai managed to stutter, "This is against the rules of war."
"And did you honor the rules of war when you tortured and slaughtered civilians in the village?" The dark-haired woman sneered. She turned to the peasants' son standing beside her.
"Private!" The sergeant's crisp voice rang out in the rocky pass. There was a flash of silver light. The enemy samurai's head fell to the ground. With an impassive face, Kyuuzou turned to the next kneeling man.
