During the time of shogun Kohaku Hokama, a Blood Dragon patrol wing would by pure chance pass by an unassuming escape pod floating about the empty space of Hokkaido aimlessly during their routine patrol. In an act of kindness, the unknown Dragons returned the failing escape pod to Kyoto. Inside, comatose, slept a crimson haired girl covered in wounds which, on closer inspection, were healing in real time. She donned a black coat, and with her inside the pod was a black energy blade engraved with the word "Nesho'en". To this day nobody knows where the name, word, or surname comes from.

It is still uncertain how long it took for her to wake up after the retrieval. Given her wounds, to this day the rumors that spread of a crimson corpse coming back to life circulate the lower ranks, gaslit by playful daimyos. But tests conducted by the medical staff at the time showed she wasn't a rising corpse. The girl was full of self-replicating nano machines which, at the time, were completely foreign technology given at what capacity they healed what should be fatal injuries.

She awoke. She sat up, she didn't panic. She didn't know where she was, but she recognized the crests of the current shogunate through fog. Something subconsciously put her at peace knowing she was among the Blood Dragons. She had no memory of the how she got there, no memory of anything beyond the present moment. The only thing she knew was her name. It was Shana. Before anyone could begin to ask questions, as if on instinct she turned to the closest person in formal uniform. "Let me fight for you" she said. The first Nesho'en, Shana Nesho'en, came to be in that moment.

Nobody knew what to expect, but very soon after her first flight under the shogunates banner her name spread like wildfire. Temperamental, fierce. She flew her fighter like a starving wolf, chasing her prey even when engulfed in flames of failing engines with a psychotic smile aimed at death itself. And on the ground when indulging in her hobby, she handled the energy blade like a born master. Shana climbed the ranks rapidly as a cult slowly formed around her on Kyoto, but no matter who approached her she refused disciples for years. But during those years, as the Miwa shogunate came to power, the flames of battle began to die down, the Blood Dragons her heart remembered were starting to tuck their tails, to play diplomat, to conserve to plot to scheme. The power she held with rank alone wasn't enough to make a change.

That's when she met them. At a random Freeport, somewhere in the Taus, two by appearance teenagers were caught stealing food rations from an unloading area. The security seemed ready to deal out a beating, and their clothes showed they weren't well off. Guided by an invisible hand, despite her usual indifference she intervened. The two looked at her with doubt. Orphans, obviously. A couple of strays, a brother and sister? Perhaps.

"Your struggle is endless yet you never stop reaching up and gnawing at life until you get what you need. You say your names are Hiroyuki and Himari?" A rare, warm half smile donned Shanas face. "Take my hand. From today onward, you are Nesho'en. Pledge your lives and absolute loyalty, and I'll make sure your claws are sharp enough to slice through reality which failed you."

Time passed, Himari and Hiroyuki became elite pilots under Shanas guidance. The progenitors position as a legitimate daimyo within the Blood Dragon shogunate was being rapidly solidified. Along the way each of them made a habit of picking up and adopting outcasts and strays which they deemed fierce. And with their reputation, most were more than willing to submit and don the clan name. Fierce training, aggressive operations, the Nesho'en became known throughout Kusari for their ruthless bushidō. But the diplomatic and resource conserving shogunate clashed heavily with Shanas ideals. She wanted to take the fight to the enemy, to spill blood in the name of true honor. To move forward their joint cause.

Often she argued with the other daimyos, even coming close to being executed on the orders of the shogun for disobeying command. But the power her clan held was too big to move the stagnant clash of ideals in either direction. And even though the leadership never admitted it, the Nesho'en "Bloodhounds of Mount Shirouma" were the best of the best the Dragons could offer at the time, handling only the most dangerous and against-all-odds operations. Most notably during the invasion of planet Tomioka, where Bloodhound wings were forced to constantly combat Naval forces and Samuran security outnumbered, as the shogunate refused to allocate their own pilots and resources. Not to say there were never any losses, but for each death of a Nesho'en rivers of blood would flow.

It is disturbing to doubt your own people, but it is still unknown if the Kempeitai managed to infiltrate their systems, or someone from within leaked vital information, including communication encryption keys. That ultimately lead to a large scale Naval operation in which, most likely, the entire clan was slaughtered in just two 24 hour cycles. Shana managed to escape along with Hiroyuki, but with failing engines, rattling hulls, burns, bruises and concussions they drifted apart during their runaway. She doesn't know how she got there, but after five years of intensive care aboard a Freeports medical station, lots and lots of waking up and passing back out into a coma, and after a lot of getting used to her new prosthetic augmentations as she'd lost both her left arm and right leg during the escape, Shana ventured back home in hope someone, anyone of her people survived. But her hope was far fetched. She was the only one left.

Time spent wallowing on Kyoto wasn't going to bring them back, and she knew that. But she held no power anymore, better yet her reputation left her on bad terms with the Blood Dragon leadership which didn't help her efforts to try and find surviving Nesho'en after the purge. So it was time to start over, and go back to her roots. She'd linger around Ryukyu asking around meaningless questions, sly while mentioning the Hounds and her clan in passing to scan for reactions, to draw in those who still have the ember of fight left within, all while avoiding the shogunates radar as much as she could. Not that they weren't aware of her return.

It took time, and the clan is small, but those who remember inevitably reached out. A small group was forming, her tendency to gather strays was still strong too. But this time she couldn't use her power to get support from the main branch of the Blood Dragons, more so given the history, they're not really on favorable terms. But they tolerate the new Nesho'en, purely as her pledge to spill blood in the name of their joint cause always held weight, as her actions gave no room to deny it.

"The Dragon seems to enjoy its slumber. The Dragon seems to enjoy the chase of empty ideals and unrealistic ideas of honor. So we wont be a Dragon, nor are we noble enough to be the Tiger, we'll simply be lowly alley dogs. A small pack of hounds, my dear bloodhounds, donning the tattered fake skin of a Dragon, rolling in the blood and filth of the battlefield in ecstasy as we exchange indifference for action.