Another bottle? Says the bar tender, send the new kid down to grab another case. The bar was always busy for Shiniki Yamota when new faces walked into his bar. He opened the last bottle of sake from Kyushu and just as he was about to hand it to the geisha the bottle was taken from him.
Which table is under the account from room 3847? Says the man who took the bottle.
The bar tender knew this man and knew enough to be worried as he even made his brother nervous. Shiniki pointed to Shiraishi Asuka; He has a katana, sir
The man with the bottle looked over his data pad for a few moments before looking at Shiraishi Asuka; he had been drinking quite a bit of sake. He then walked towards Asuka, holding onto his next bottle of sake.
Duty and honour
Elder Ruuku Ochi, So-Honbucho of The Black Dragon Society
The Hand, Chief of the powerful Hogosha security arm known as "The Bureau" rose politely from his office desk as Elder Ruuku Ochi entered with his guest.
Impeccably dressed in grey suit with all the trimmings and features you might expect from a super successful middle aged businessman, The Hand was also an enigma, many people would have difficulty in describing him after a meeting... except for those black, black, piercing eyes. Very few knew his real name.
Besides which, most people were so astonished at the luxury of his office surroundings that they paid little attention to the man himself, the thick pile carpet, massive, oppulent seating area, the fantastic art work and the floor to ceiling views of the outside Galaxies served as a masive distraction. A stunning and calculated effect to lure attention.
"Aahh, Ruuku, thank you for escorting our guest to my offices. Welcome Shiraishi Asuka, please be seated and do, please, allow your Katana to remain sheathed, Ruuku is a genius in close form combat and your death at this stage would be a waste." Gently spoken words from a man accustomed to casual, terminal violence.
"Now, to business, you may know me as The Hand, Chief of The Bureau, Black Dragon Security. I know everything that happens on this Liner and most of Kusari. There is an an extensive data pack regarding your background, family, your hatred of the Blood Dragons and the errant ways of your sister sitting in my files. But the very fact that you are here means we are prepared to consider you as a fledgeling member of the Black Dragon Society. Is this so Ruuku..?"
"He has yet to prove himself, but we feel hopeful, Kumicho Ryuu is willing to approve the induction"
"Very well then, but you should know, Asuka, that we will be watching you closely, we believe your sister to be a potential risk to our security. A good thing you have been honest with us about her."
And after a considered pause.....
"Beware that from this point in, if you choose to follow the Black Dragon Society, there is no going back. Should you waver, there is only the certainty of death. We will show no weakness."
The Hand placed two palms flat on his desk and leant over towards the seated visitor with a cold, intense stare, uttering three hard, questioning words.... "What Say You?"
Shiraishi Asuka stood in awe at the majestic persona that stood before him. The golden dragon itself seemed to dissolve around his presence.
Speaking in a important voice, the hand looked very serious as he spoke.
"...if you choose to follow the Black Dragon Society, there is no going back. Should you waver, there is only the certainty of death. We will show no weakness."
Wetting his lips before he spoke, Shiraishi Asuka spoke in a somewhat confident voice.
"My sister and my family are behind me now. Dead and gone from my life. The hogosha is my life - and I will serve them as I would serve my own family. Long live Kusari."
"So be it, Asuka. Welcome to the Black Dragon Society, I wish you well."
"Ruuku... check out his ship, knock it into shape....you know more of thse things than I. Take him under your wing."
As the pair left his office, The Hand sank softly into his chair and spun to gaze at the stars, musing on the bright future of the Hogosha... A slight smile playing
across his lips, eyes gleaming with pleasure.
The morning sun bathes the New Tokyo downtown back alley in the pale, saturated light of dawn. At one end of the alley, a grocer unloads the 5am delivery of fresh produce. At the other, two line cooks relax at the back of a restaurant, enjoying the final break of their 12 hour shift. One lies flat on his back upon the warming concrete, his jacket removed and stuffed under his head, his eyes closed, and a cigarette between his lips. The other sits atop one of the large restaurant bins, hunched over, legs dangling above the ground, cigarette in hand. Their navy suits are crumpled, their ties are missing and the top buttons of their shirts are undone. Cooking became hosting became cleaning. Their chef uniforms dry on a washing line above them, unmoving in the still air.
"Kozu," the one on the bins says, without moving his head.
"Mmh," replies the one on the floor, without opening his eyes.
"How long have I worked here?"
"3 years, 7 months and most of a week," is Kozu's instant and flat response.
A minute of silence. Cigarettes are discarded.
"Kozu."
"...."
"We need new jobs."
"As Emperor of Bretonia, I declare our current employment sufficient for our demographic."
"I'm serious, Kozu."
"Hmph."
"Shinzo who works the door on Fridays, his real job--"
"I know what he does, Daisuke."
"I overheard them today. They're looking for people."
"It's not some kitchen job, Daisuke."
"I can do more than cook and clean pots, you know."
"That's not what I meant."
"3 years, 7 months and most of a week, Kozu. Even more for you."
"Hmph."
"I'm going."
"You have to give me a cigarette."
Daisuke slips off the bins, pulls the last two misshapen cigarettes from the crumpled packet in his inside pocket, and drops it to the floor. He puts them both between his lips at once, lights them and passes one to Kozu.
Kozu opens his eyes, stands, and looks at Daisuke.
"I officially declare this a change in the weather, Daisuke."
"Maybe I can still work here a few shifts a week."
"Daisuke, I understand. I'll finish up your work for you today, but tomorrow..."
"I'll still be me, Kozu."
"Hmph. We'll see."
Kozu stretches and yawns loudly, picking up his jacket as he walks back inside, closing the door behind him.
"I'll see you later, Kozu," says Daisuke, quietly, as he walks down the alley.
One day and 17 hours later, Daisuke Okamoto has prepared himself, mentally and physically. He waits on a lonely bench in the back room of a casino, waiting for the inner door to open. He can't stop smoking.
Than Hand burst into the waiting room, heading straight through an interconnecting doorway to his inner office. Fingers held aloft, snapped in full stride.
"Come! Come, Okamoto"
"Sit down....". Suggested The Hand indicating a seat in front of his personal desk... "Drink?" He offered.
"Ah! Thank you Sir, a glass of water perhaps?".
"Take a whisky young man, we know your habits" Strolling to the nearby hospitality area, The Hand poured two shots, one for each and turning to Okamato, handed a glass over, taking a sip from his own.
"Welcome to the Black Dragons, Ruuku Ochi has validated your application and our security checks have resolved all issues from your past with appropriate bribes, absolving you of all blame for petty thefts of food whilst recently working in some wretched restuarants on New Tokyo."
"You will start life with the Black Dragons as a Kobun, the lowest rank with full rights of promotion depending on progress within our Faction."
"By the way, you have now joined for Life." A momentary, icy, eye to eye stare from The Hand making his meaning starkly clear.
"Any Questions? If not, then go find your ship, Ruuku is your Master in this, the Kumicho, Hitomi Ryuu will hear of your recruitment."
*Incoming Transmission*
TO: Daisuke Okamoto
CC: The Hand
Konnichiwa, my new brother. Welcome. I am Mazakatu Nagumo, Wakagashira of the Black Dragons.
As a new Kobun you should by now have been issued with one of our Black Dragon fighters. Your new ship is equipped to deal handily with any pirate or gaijin scum you are likely to encounter throughout Kusari. Feel free to customise your ship as you see fit.
You should begin regular patrols immediately; I wish to inform you that in addition to our traditional presence within the core of Kusari, the Council of Elders has requested that I ensure our members run regular patrols through the Sigmas and even Okinawa to counter growing GMG influence in these systems.
Good hunting.
*End Transmission*
A strong empire begins with a firm foundation.
[|]Mazakatu_Nagumo - So-Honbucho, The Black Dragon Society.
*** From Comm ID: Yamakashi***
***To Comm ID:Kumicho Hitomi Ryuu***
***Purpose of Transmission: Appliance for joining the ranks of the Black Dragon Society***
***Initiating Transmission***
Konnichiwa pilots, Kusari fellowmen, brothers. I am Yamakashi, born in New Tokyo. My father was a samurai, a title so ancient that it was passed down in our family since before the sleeper ships have left Earth. My father was also a part of Hogosha's Black Dragons squadron. I never really understood why he joined your organization and it never bothered me before. That was, untill he was ambushed and later killed by Blood Dragons. I really had great respect for my father, since he was one of the best fighters I have ever seen. He also thaught me the meanings of the words courage, honor, brotherhood.
Now I have finally reached the age of 21 and I intend to follow in my father's foot steps. This is why I would like to join the ranks of the Black Dragons, to succeed my father and to see revenge for his death. Therefore, if I am accepted I would like to take the position of Kobun, so I can represent the military force of Hogosha and its dragons. My father used to pilot a VHF called 'Black Dragon'. I will honor his judgement on picking a fighting vessel of such class and I also want to pilot one of these.
I truly hope that I will be accepted into the Black Dragons Society.
The Hand, Chief of Security for the Black Dragons sat behind his grand desk on The Golden Dragon Liner, scrutinising the report before him.
Eventually, he looked up at Elder Ruuku, Chief of Internal Affairs, sitting relaxed across the desk from him....
"So, this is all we have on the applicant? This Yamakashi individual? No record of his heritage? No paperwork to back up his story?"
"Looks like it." The Elder replied "We drew a blank through our legitimate enquiries and I understad your agents fared no better in their more covert enquiries? Something seems not quite right."
"Hmm." The Hand mused. "Let's get him in for interview, I want to ensure we don't have an imposter on our hands here. I have to say that if he is, then to attempt to infiltrate our ranks without a proper back up history would be insane. Let's find out. Please apologise to him for the technical hitch and delay in reviewing his application and invite him to come in for a chat... Let's see what he has to say....He will either join us, or disappear forever if there is the slightest suspicion."
Ruuku nodded..."Sounds like a plan."
Some days later, in the same office, The Hand had a rather younger, fresh faced visitor at his desk.....
"So, at last, I meet the much talked of Yamakashi....." Smiled The Hand benignly, a look belying the hard scrutiny of the younger mans face and features, reading every nervous swallow, twitch and eye movement. An unnoticed and unfelt interrogation by a master.
"Ruuku here tells me you are somewhat of a enigma? On the one hand, it seems you like to talk of your ancestors and declare yourself for our cause. And yet, on the other hand, we can find no recorded trace of your history......Your fathers name does not exist in the Black Dragon records, how can this be so, we wonder?"
Waving away an immediate reply, The Hand interjected... "Before attempting to explain yourself, please consider your answer carefully. Be warned, I have an honour bound Hogosha duty to inform you that you are in an extremely dangerous position and the wrong answer may be your last..."
"Think out your reply. Take all the time you need."
The Hand looked deliberately at his watch, then returned a cold stare at the young man. Ruuku standing to one side, just out of sight of the young man, began casually tossing a coin over and again, the flick and flutter of the Kusari Cent being the only interference to the sudden silence as Yamakashi searched for his reply.....
' Wrote:The Hand, Chief of Security for the Black Dragons sat behind his grand desk on The Golden Dragon Liner, scrutinising the report before him.
Eventually, he looked up at Elder Ruuku, Chief of Internal Affairs, sitting relaxed across the desk from him....
"So, this is all we have on the applicant? This Yamakashi individual? No record of his heritage? No paperwork to back up his story?"
"Looks like it." The Elder replied "We drew a blank through our legitimate enquiries and I understad your agents fared no better in their more covert enquiries? Something seems not quite right."
"Hmm." The Hand mused. "Let's get him in for interview, I want to ensure we don't have an imposter on our hands here. I have to say that if he is, then to attempt to infiltrate our ranks without a proper back up history would be insane. Let's find out. Please apologise to him for the technical hitch and delay in reviewing his application and invite him to come in for a chat... Let's see what he has to say....He will either join us, or disappear forever if there is the slightest suspicion."
Ruuku nodded..."Sounds like a plan."
Some days later, in the same office, The Hand had a rather younger, fresh faced visitor at his desk.....
"So, at last, I meet the much talked of Yamakashi....." Smiled The Hand benignly, a look belying the hard scrutiny of the younger mans face and features, reading every nervous swallow, twitch and eye movement. An unnoticed and unfelt interrogation by a master.
"Ruuku here tells me you are somewhat of a enigma? On the one hand, it seems you like to talk of your ancestors and declare yourself for our cause. And yet, on the other hand, we can find no recorded trace of your history......Your fathers name does not exist in the Black Dragon records, how can this be so, we wonder?"
Waving away an immediate reply, The Hand interjected... "Before attempting to explain yourself, please consider your answer carefully. Be warned, I have an honour bound Hogosha duty to inform you that you are in an extremely dangerous position and the wrong answer may be your last..."
"Think out your reply. Take all the time you need."
The Hand looked deliberately at his watch, then returned a cold stare at the young man. Ruuku standing to one side, just out of sight of the young man, began casually tossing a coin over and again, the flick and flutter of the Kusari Cent being the only interference to the sudden silence as Yamakashi searched for his reply.....
Yamakashi looked calm and ready with his answer. He was prepared for such a situation as if...he almost expected it. He had to carefully assemble the words in his mind before he could speak them out because he knew what consiquences may follow. Yamakshi glanced at The Hand and began to explain:
"I am pleased to meet you in person, sir. This is really what I hoped to see here, a responsible man who cares about the safety of his people. You can't really be too cautious when enlisting new recruits. Though I must say this is also my fault. Right now I owe you an apology for my application, which was rather short and insufficient BUT you must know that I had a good reason for it."
The Hand continued to study the character of the man before him with suspicion, but now had some interest for the him.
"You see, I am all alone in this world. I was raised by my father, but after he died I spent most of my childhood in suffering. I have no one to talk to, no one to share with and I am building my own life, the way I know. And one thing I learned from this cruel world is to trust no one, at the beginning at least. You should know this better than me. I can't just give out all of my info to a complete stranger, no matter that some day I might work for this person. God knows what you might do with it. I presume you feel the same about me, correct? I guess in this manner we are much a like."
"But lets move on to the question at hand", suggested Yamakshi. "I hoped that it wouldn't come down to this, but you require this from me, so here it goes."
Yamakshi took a deep breath and after a slight pause he continued:
"I am Yamakashi Katsuyga, born on planet New Tokyo. In my early years I lived in a mid-class family...if you can call it a family that is. As I have already mentioned I grew only under my father's guidance and support. Even he was seldom around me when I needed him. When I was old enough I got a part time job. I worked on a farm at first so I can earn a little bit of money. I had to care of the animals, collect produce and things like that. Although I liked the traditional jobs and working on the field, at some point I realised that the industry is prospering and in order for me to survive in this world I must adapt and seacrh for better payment of course. That's when I was involved in small hauling business for a fastly growing company called Samura Industries. I was assigned small hauling missions for transporting cargo, but something inside told me that this wasn't the job for me. I always had great passion for space battles and fighter class ships were my favorite. I was already fond of what my father was doing for your organization and I pretty much looked up to him for that. I really wanted to have a fighter-class ship of my own. So as soon as I earned enough money I bought myslef a Starflier. I trained with it really hard. One day I heard about my father's death and from that moment I have sworn that I will have my revenge. But for that cause I need something more powerful than a Starflier. During my life I have never broken a single Kusari law and I don't have a criminal record with the police. I am completely clear, so I assure you that I am not an imposter or a potential traitor. This is my whole autobiography, with the skipping of the insignificant details. About the missing archives of my father's records...I don't have anything to say actually. I am not familiar with the operations he undertook nor do I know anything about his record. Surely this must be a mistake, an error of some sorts because otherwise I honestly don't see any other explanation. Well anyway, now it is up to you to decide whether I am worthy or not."
Yamakshi sat comfortably in front of The Hand waiting for his final answer....