Watanabe Kazoku

This is an unofficial player group.

This is an unofficial player group. For the affiliated NPC faction, see Blood Dragons.

Watanabe Kazoku
Origin	Kusari
Alignment	Unlawful
Profile
Date of founding	322 A.S A.S.
Founder(s)	Katashi Watanabe
Current leader(s)	Toshiro Watanabe
Base of operations	Kyoto Base, Chugoku
Primary role
Aid the Rising Sons in returning the Hideyoshi dynasty to the throne of Kusari.
Secondary role
Find a suitable planet that the Dragons can call home, Construct/Restore a Togo class Battleship.

Description

An ancient and highly respected family of Blood Dragons that centers its recourses on research, trade and exploration but often participates in other Dragon duties. Extremely hostile to the Samura but more than friendly towards the Gas Miners Guild and the Freeport 10 Zoners.

History and Background

The Watanabe Kazoku is descended from one of the Royal Guards named Katashi Watanabe who fled to Chugoku with the rest of his Royal Guard brethren during the infamous Sakura Coup in 321 A.S. Katashi traveled on one of the Togo class battleships that those still loyal to the Hideyoshi dynasty managed to retrieve. Before it could reach the confines of the Chugoku system the Togo was badly damaged in a collision with an intimidatingly large asteroid and had to be abandoned with no chances of repair. Records of this battleship's position were held in one of the Kyoto's Libraries but was lost in an unexpected fire that occurred in the same. When the Royal Guard that now called themselves the Blood Dragons started to carve a large asteroid that was later to become their home, young Katashi was given a task that best suited his age - to be a manual laborer. He carried large amounts of rock, dust and other unneeded waste found within the confines of the Kyoto asteroid. When Kyoto was finally completed again and the Dragons had a solid base of operations to launch attacks from, it was time to exact revenge on the new Kusari empire and its dishonourable leaders. Katashi participated in many of those attacks successfully, thus earning himself a house in the upper levels of Kyoto. He married a young girl that had only recently joined the Blood Dragon order and founded his own line that endures until the present day - The Watanabe Kazoku. Time passed, the Kazoku has grown and so did the house that by 400 A.S housed a population of one hundred people, either Watanabe or some far relatives. In 410 A.S the Kazoku gets more organized as an independent group and stops following the Blood Dragon shogunate blindly. The Kazoku still felt a need to help their brothers in arms and did so on many occasions, but they were now more independent and self sufficient. Treasuring a single Hachiman named 'Raijin' the Kazoku organized around it by leading it into various raids against the corrupt Samura and foreign transporters. They also used the Raijin as a transport of a kind, the one that could return more goods to Kyoto than a regular fighter ever dreamed of, donating something over the half of the food and supplies to the Shogunate and keeping the rest for themselves.

In 642 A.S, when the Dragons heard of the young group of Kusari women disgruntled with the way women are treated in Kusari, they saw their chance for an ally they so desperately needed. Emissaries were sent out on diplomatic talks with these women that called themselves The Golden Chrysanthemums . As the Dragons understood that the emissaries would be likely target of the Kusari lawful forces, they issued them a few escorts and among them Watanabe Reiko, an esteemed member of the Watanabe Kazoku and most of all - a woman. As the negotiations were successful, they returned home - but without Reiko that decided to join the Chrysanthemum movement. The Kazoku was disappointed, but respected her wishes under the belief that everyone has their own path they should follow.

As 700 A.S approached, one more expansion of the Watanabe Kazoku house was undertaken in order for it to be able to house all those people that already lived there or were supposed to arrive. Food was short for such a large house so the Kazoku made their raids more frequent in order to feed their hungry wives and children. Seeing the Ryuku Base around which they never operated as a chance to move some of their family from the crowded Watanabe Manor, they funded a few apartments that could hold about a 20 people. As Planet Kitahara was made known to the Dragons by their now faithful allies and sisters the Golden C., the Kazoku decided to move a large portion of their family there and fund a new house in this place that seemed like a paradise the Gods granted them. The current head of the Kazoku Watanabe Masahiro, married a woman from the Gas Miners Guild that gave birth to two sons Takeshi and Toshiro. Toshiro being the first born son was destined to become a new descendant of the bloodline and the new master of the Kazoku.

801 A.S ... The Battle of Heaven's Gate ...Dragons assault the Tohoku Planetary Arch with the assistance of the well known Freelancer Edison Trent . Among the Dragons, one of the two brothers of Watanabe Masahiro flies to battle among his brethren. As he held back the tides of the Kusari Wild bravely he got overwhelmed and destroyed by the overpowering force. These were sad times for the Kazoku but it's misery was yet to begin. It's 805 A.S and the Golden C. elders decide to introduce the drug of Cardamine into the planets ecosystem. The Kazoku, disgusted and frightened leaves the planet that was now their home and heads back to the overcrowded manor in Kyoto. As a joint operation of the Dragons and The Order the first Kagutsuchi Class Cruiser was created and put to active service. Seeing that they would need a Kagutsuchi of their own the Kazoku funded a large project to build one more of them as an operation between some Order and Kazoku scientists. Meanwhile, the current head Watanabe Masahiro was murdered as he was returning from a trip, making Toshiro assume the rule of the Kazoku. The newly completed cruiser was named Dragon Tears to honour their grief towards the deceased Masahiro.

With more firepower and transports the Kazoku started to take interest in scientific research and with some stolen blueprints they managed to create automated Drones called Home Seekers. They were named this way because of the current situation on Kyoto: constant lack of food, lack of living space and just being sick of 'imprisonment' on a space rock for hundreds of years. The Kazoku understood, they needed a planet from which they could harvest food, have plenty of living space and the always needed ship building recourses. The Home Seeker drones were built into transports, for their fighter piloting was well below average. Their intelligence extending from sapient to almost fully sentient made them perfect scouts, explorers and above all traders. They could visit the Junker and Zoner bases frequently and bring back the needed recourses Dragons constantly need.

Technology Usage

Weapons:

The Kazoku uses all of the advanced Blood Dragon weaponry, Kusari cannons available for purchase at Kyoto Base and Mito Shipyards, Civilian Weapons and some rare previously approved Golden Chrysanthemum weaponry. The Kazoku keeps a large stock of ammo, Supernova Antimatter Cannons, Shields, Thrusters etc. aboard the PHS-Ikazuchi - the main Home Seeker Drone.

As time passed, The Kazoku often encountered unknown weapons commonly named CODENAME weapons. These weapons were quickly scanned and studied by the Kazoku scientists, so that new copies of these weapons could be made. One of these weapons was the ' DELUSION ' which became a standard issued weapon to those more skilled pilots.

As the deals with the Freeport 10 Zoners were made, and the Kazoku made some trips to Tau 37, they discovered the potent power of the Improved Debilitator technology that the Zoners sold freely on their base. As the Home Seeker drones went back and forward with various goods, they often brought back these weapons that were put into a good use on the Kazoku ships.

Ships:

Fighter Line	Tanto Light Fighter Katana Very Heavy Fighter Nodachi Bomber Sabre Very Heavy Fighter
Capital Line	Hachiman Gunboat Ahoudori Gunboat Kagutsuchi Cruiser
Drone/Transport Line	Big Dragon Transport Border Worlds Transport Transport Geisha Luxury Yacht Transport