A young Blood Dragon enters the court and prostrates himself before the Taishogun. He is visibly distressed as he begins to speak.
"Honoured Taishogun, I Amaraki request your permission to take my familys ancestral Katana fighter as I attepmt to regain my honour."
He rises to his knees.
"I will not speak of my shame in this hallowed place, but I have brought dishonour upon myself and the Blood Dragons and I beg permission to leave your honoured service and travel as a Ronin mercenary, for I am no longer worthy to serve you or our cause until my honour has been regained."
Quote:Dublin Miner: I am Gallic admiral earning money in Bretonia.
Kintaki finally returns to the Court after a month of diplomatic relations.
"My Lords. It is good to see you all well. Is there anything i should be informed about?"
Kintaki after making a very brief statement, stood around waiting for a reply.
He thought to himself
"A round egg can be made square according to how you cut it; words would be harsh according to how you speak them."
Backing away from her place infront of the Taishogun, Tojo Matsumoto of course notices the presence of Aki.
She leans over to here and whispers some words
Hello Aki. I hope you're well and do enjoy your time here on Kyoto?.
In a brilliant tactical movement, i charged backwards.
The Taishogun was much busier than usual, having something of a crisis of leadership in the Shogunate of late.
It was time to deal with a number of matters. Things must be set right!
"The Taishogun is distressed to hear of Yuuma-san's condition. He must be allowed to recover, or live out his last days in peace. To this end, Roju Yuuma is released from service. May his days be blessed."
There was applause from the Court, and bows from Yuuma's supporters.
During the applause, the young Dragon who spoke of his dishonour was apprehended by the Court guard - and taken into custody. His initial fears of execution were allayed when an aide informed him that this was for his own safety, and could expect a visit from the Shogunate to discuss the terms of his release from service.
After the applause died down, Kintaki stepped forward and gave his final report concerning the Order. The Taishogun thanked Kintaki, then a traditional bell and drum bellowed their deep tones through the Court.
There were hushed whispers, and then Daiymo Hirosho Horatami entered the Court, out of the wheelchair and only requiring a traditional cane for support.
Kintaki's first instinct was to step aside for the Daiymo, but he realised that he had not been dismissed by the Taishogun. Horotami gave Kintaki a disapproving look before bowing to the Taishogun.
The Taishogun spoke "Horoshi-san, Kintaki-san, step forward."
Horotami did so, clearly he knew what was coming - and could not help but smile. Kintaki's discipline allowed him to move as ordered, even though he was more than a little nervous about this development. He knew that this was a promotion ceremony, and being promoted at the same time as a Daiymo could only mean...
"The Taishogun is pleased to present His new Shoguns to the Court. May their service be long and fruitful."
There was a great cheer from the Court. Horotami was ambitious, very much a political player in the Court. For him this was the realisation of a long-held dream. Horotami bowed deepy to the Taishogun as he accepted his Shogunate Seal. He then turned and gave a gracious bow to the Court.
Kintaki was overwhelmed! He knew that he had many friends and supporters among the Dragons, but had no idea of the extent to which he was revered among his peers. He soon saw how much he was loved when he bowed to the Taishogun, then turned to see both friends and strangers applauding him. It was most heartening...
Whilst so many Dragons were in the Court, or listening to the proceedings over the Kyoto Network, there was a somewhat smaller crowd gathering in a lecture room.
This was one of the most important opportunities Jiyuu had ever been able to take advantage of. The Kunrin had wanted to give a public lecture, and had not been rejected! There were many Blood Dragons who were growing impatient at what they believed to be the Shogunate's lack of action towards Kusari while it was at war with Bretonia.
Jiyuu rapidly walked through the halls along with his two body-guards The guards were not garbed in the ceremonial Samurai armor worn by most traditional guards. Instead they wore a military uniform with reinforced firearm protective gear, and holsters that were occupied with the same pistols issued to the Kusari Naval Forces.
Open, Jiyuu barked at the guard to his left. He should not have had to speak, the guard shouldve gone ahead and opened it before he had to stand there and waste words on this incompetent excuse for a member of the Kunrin.
Now remain, there are to be no eavesdroppers or special guests.
Jiyuu walked through the doorway and saw a large circle of people dressed in ceremonial kimonos awaiting the arrival of the leader of the Jiyuu Kunrin, a radical philisophical group within the Dragons. Through the walkway, there was a gap in the circle for Jiyuu to walk through and take his position standing in the center.
Striding through the room towards the center of the circle, he took his place and began the lecture.
So, you are the ones who wish to hear the truth then? The ones who are not swayed by the lies of the Shogunate? There is a fair number of you, I suppose the grasp of the Shogunate is slipping, its deceit is being exposed.
This was the introduction; it was the same at every speech he gave. He would have to have a new one written, this one was starting to bore him.
My children, can you not see the state the corrupt empire is entering? Its losing more and more soldiers on the Bretonian Front, men who have families. Many of these men are barely older than children, yet because of the Empire, they will never live to know true happiness.
Instead more and more of them are dying, and for what? Many of them do not even know what it is they are dying for! While they die, we sit here. And the Dragons grow content with what they have; they are losing the fervor that once drove them to greatness! He paused for a moment, allowing the audience to absorb the point of what he had finished saying.
Kusarians are dying, for no point. Many do not know that the regime they serve is what it is! Should their deaths be in vain? The greater powers, whatever they may be to you, are sending the Dragons a message. Now is the time to strike! The military grows weary in Bretonia, and the remnants that have remained here are weak, few in number, and demoralized with the news arriving from their brethren.
Why is it that the Shogunate, does nothing! In the last month, within the Kyoto Network, there were a mere three action reports entered. And it has been claimed that of these, two were reports falsely generated to assure the Dragons that the Rising Sons are still alive.
The crowd was beginning to grow restless, Jiyuu Hideyoshi was an inspiring figure, while this was masked as a lecture, within each word, an attack was directed at the Taishogun and his pawns.
If something were to happen, unlike if it were to happen to the Taishogun or the Shogunate, the Kunrin could function without me. That is because, rather than be controlled by the Shogunate, every member of the Kunrin chooses its leaders. I do not solely lead the Jiyuu Kunrin. The Jiyuu Kunrin gives FREEDOMS, to the people. We believe in freedom, the freedom to chose who you want to lead in the forms of elections. In the Kunrin, you have the freedom to control what happens to you. What happens to you is your choice; your fate is not decided by the Shogunate.
Now, I believe I have nothing more to say, if you need to speak with me for any reasons, I will remain here. If you do not, you are free to leave, I hope you think about what you have been told here. He sat down where the circles center previously was, and the people slowly began dispersing. However, several remained and he was answering their questions, wondering who would be convinced by this speech. Who would take up arms in the name of freedom, and who would dismiss his lecture as lies, deceit, and an attempt to slander the Taishogun.
Amaraki sat in the custody cell awaiting the attendence of the shogunate. Although in many ways he would have prefered an honourable execution, he knew that in comparison to the task of regaining his honour, death would have been an easy way out.
Quote:Dublin Miner: I am Gallic admiral earning money in Bretonia.
[font=Century Gothic]Ryuu started walking out of the room, then he suddenly stopped on the spot, as if his own body would be unsure whether to stay or to go. After a moment's contemplation, he turned to the man who just a few moments ago caused such a stir in the court and started talking:
"You are talking about 'freedom' here, hai? So I shall take the freedom to speak right now. Let me first tell you something about myself. I wasn't born into the Blood Dragons..." [color=#000000]He paused for a second, then quickly shrugged off his worries and continued "... So I did some traveling around Sirius as a Kusari citizen. So I know some things about the concept of freedoms you speak of. I also know that this concept, at first glance so simple and perhaps magnetic... Is at the same time very complex and takes on many forms."
"So what kind of 'freedoms' are you talking about here? The economic freedom of Libertonians and Bretonians to do whatever they want with their money, regardless of the consequences their actions may have on the populace? The symbolic freedom of a good part of Sirius, of which many wise men know is only a smoke-screen? The only-on-paper freedom of many Rheinlanders, the folly of which many close their eyes from?"
"Tell me, how do you think the oppressed people of Kusari would react if liberated suddenly? Do you honestly think your methods could be better than those of the wise Tai-Shogun, whose wisdom was proved time and again in such situations? Do you think you could hold the mob mentality of certain portions of Kusari citizenry? Do you think you could do it better than the current Tai-Shogun would? If so, how?"
Upon saying these words, Ryuu sat down, awaiting Jiyuu's answer.
' Wrote:A Sabre hopped into Chugoku from Hokkaido, firing up it's cruise engines and proceeding to the location of Kyoto. Within a couple of minutes, the pilot had been cleared for landing and the Sabre glided gently into position, powering down completely.
Out climbed a handsome man, mainly of Kusari blood, though perhaps with a shred of something exotic. He wore decorative armour, matching that of a lost Dragon, with slight alterations here and there.
He had long hair, neatly combed and bound, with a rather serious look on his face.
A low ranking Dragon fighter pilot eyed him, with caution, approaching slowly and carefully.
"Hai?" he muttered, "Can I help you at all?"
The man moved a little closer and leaned in, so that only himself and the Dragon could hear.
Moments later, the Dragon scurried into the court, nudging one of the Taishogun's subjects.
"We have another guest, well... umm" he began,
"They'll have to wait then" the subject replied, averting his eyes,
"Umm, it's just that-" the Dragon started "It's former Shogun Akuji, he would like to speak to the Shogunate"
The subject gave the Dragon a look of confusion, weighing up the plausability of such a situation.
"Well? What should I tell him?" the Dragon asked, clearly a little uncomfortable.
An intel report was submitted to Shogun Gok-Li. His eyes narrowed. He placed a call to the Local Area Command.
"Place Akuji under arrest, and have him brought to my chambers at once!"
Sum had to move fast, he wanted to find out where Akuji had been hiding before any of his old supporters had a chance to form an honour guard around him. And he also wanted to know what became of Akuji's Cruiser...