Order of the Crimson Dragon

[Tabris]

'The Will of the Emperor is Supreme, those who defy his will shall suffer the fate of the damned.'

These words were taken upon the initiation of young men and women into the Crimson Dragon Order, honourbound by these words to carry out the will of the Kusari Emperor and to punish those who did not obey. Eversince the current Emperor took power, the Crimson Dragon Order has been watching, protecting the Emperor from those who would overthrow him that the Kusari Naval Forces and the State Police could not handle, if the KNF was the hand of the Emperor, the Crimson Dragons were the wrist blade hidden in the sleeve above the hand. The order was based upon a Kusari Destroyer, the IKN Amatsu-Mikaboshi, it was an older vessel, but it suited the needs of their order well enough. Standing on the bridge of the Kusari Destroyer was the head of the Order, his name was known only to the Emperor, but to everyone else he was known as Shi. His features hidden beneath the shadow of his red-coloured robes, dim lighting and his hood made it nearly impossible to make out his facial featuers.

As he gazed out at space from his seat in the back of the bridge he smiled very slightly, although the Acrolytes around him could not see. The Destroyer was stationed in New Tokyo at the moment, orbiting the planet at a high altitude. As the robed man gazed out the window at the stars of Sirius he could not help but appreciate the beauty, Kami had blessed the Kusari people when he spared them the Coalition's onslaught and allowed them to settle far from the ancestral lands of Sol.

Now under the guidance of the Emperor, what the Order believes to be Kami's Avatar, they would prevail over the barbarians of Bretonia, the Emperor would see to it...Afterall, it was Kami's will that Kusari win the war. So shall it be.

As he relaxes in his chair, shifting his gaze to stare at a wax candle burning on a pedastal, the red wax very slowly melting under the fire's heat, he raises a pale hand a safe distance above the flame, seemingly caressing it as it burned away the string and melted wax...It's journey would eventually end...But the journey of Kusari shall never end...Not if he had anything to say about it. After all, while the Emperor may be Kami's mortal Avatar, it does not mean their lord was invincible, Kusari needed their Emperor, and they would make sure no harm came to him.

Shi took his hand away from the flame and rested both his hands gently on his chair, he resumed staring seemingly into the abyss of the New Tokyo system, almost as if he could see something the others onboard could not.

[Tabris]

Shi sat in his command chair, his eyes shut in silent meditation, pondering the infinite universe when a young Acolyte approached him, his hands clenched in a nervous gesture as he cleared his throat, Shi opened his eyes upon hearing him and his voice, raspy and soft, reached the young man's ears.

"Speak..." was the simple command, young Shinji Yakamura nodded stiffly, crossing his hands behind his back as he spoke in a clear concise voice, concealing his fear of the Grandmaster of the order.

"Sensei, we picked up Bretonian ships earlier today, they assaulted members of the Kusari State Police, Naval Forces and several other Kusari ships, our agents have uncovered the identity of the Bretonians." He spoke, waiting for this news to sink into the mind of the Grandmaster who merely stared at him, unamused and patient.

"Sensei, the ships bore the marks of the Bretonian Intelligence Agency and...The Privateers." he quickly blurted out, taking several steps back as he waited to see how the silent figure took the news.

Surprisingly he remained calm and leaned back in the chair, his eyes gazing at the young man from under his hood before Shi spoke.

"How did they gain access to New Tokyo?" he asked in that same raspy yet soft voice, Shinji sighed as he shook his head.

"Undetermined at this time Sensei, but rest assured we have ships scouting the H-Fuel trail as we speak, we will find them Shi-Sensei." he reassured the Grandmaster, bowing at the waist as he did so. Shi merely smirked as he raised his hand and snuffed out the candle that was burning.

"Excellent...For the Emperor we shall make these...Fools suffer the fate of the damned souls...Not even their God will save them...And their upstart queen." he spoke, gazing directly at the remnants of the candle, a small thin trail of smoke leaving the candle's remains.

[Tabris]

The bridge of the Amatsu-Mikaboshi was quiet, the occasional whisper of Acolytes passing along information to one another as they kept the Destroyer operational could be heard as well as the soft footsteps of their slippered feet hitting the deckplates.

Shi waited patiently in his command chair for the Emperor's word on the Privateers, his eyes staring out at the abyss of space while his aide, a middle-aged man with little hair left on his head finally couldn't hold in his thoughts anylonger, turning to the Grandmaster of the order he bowed.

"Forgive me Lord Shi, however I cannot hold back my feelings...Why do we not go after the Bretonians now?" he asked, confused and mildly annoyed with Shi's lack of emotions to this intrusion.

Shi looked him in the eyes, holding up a hand to forestall any further questions as he shook his head very slightly.

"We await the word of our Emperor whom we serve Shinji-kun...Patience, for he will decide the right course of action and we shall carry it out..." he spoke in a calm quiet voice, Shinji nodded stiffly as he turned back to his work, a frown upon his face as Shi merely smirked at his underling's reaction, it seemed he had much to learn of Patience...Still it mattered little...Soon they would receive word...All he needed to do was wait.

[Tabris]

Shi watched as debris from the Privateer stolen Destroyer passed by his window, a small smirk on his face as he overheard reports that the disabled Destroyer fled, leaving a small trail of debris behind it as it vanished into the asteroids of the Tau-29 system. He could see snub-fighters picking off the remains of the Bretonian Armed Forces fighter escorts near the debris of the Shire the Amatsu-Mikaboshi destroyed.

Turning to face the crew he smiled widely underneath the hood of his cloak, raising his voice so all could hear, they could hear pride in his voice as he spoke in a calm tone.

"Children of the Empire, today we have struck a major blow against the Bretonian fighting spirit, the so-called 'HMS Dagobaz' has been disabled and is on the run, his wingmen have either fled or been destroyed by our might and the will of the Emperor." he proclaimed, a cheer sounding throughout the bridge as smiles crept upon the faces of the Acolytes.

"Still, we must be vigilant, although the Dagobaz is disabled it still is a threat to us, I expect each and ever one of you to put forth your best efforts so we may take the fool of a captain into custody, he has tasted the wrath of the Dragon, soon he will taste the wrath of the whole Empire!"

[Tabris]

Honshu, a beautiful system with it's tranquil clouds, Honshu unmoving, unchanging...Yet despite the beauty of the system, it housed many hidden dangers. Shi was meditating on the observation deck, an almost full 180 degree view of the wonders of Honshu around him except for a small section with a lift leading to the lower decks. He sat crosslegged in the center of the room, his Katana laying in his lap. The only sound that could be heard was his soft breathing as he inhaled and exhaled slowly.

The doors to the lift softly opened and exited one of the many acrolytes that served aboard the ship. He calmly walked over towards where the Grandmaster was meditating and standing four feet away for his own safety.

His voice was calm and controlled as he spoke.

"Shi-Sensei, we have not yet received word on those two AI cruisers that assaulted us and that one that docked during battle earlier, Samura is dragging it's feet at the moment in dealing with the issue if they have received the KPT's report." he relayed to the man.

Shi opened his eyes and merely nodded.

"Thank you...We almost had the first machine...It was simple luck it managed to escape into the docking port...Soon however the forces of Kusari shall purge these machine's Junker masters from Sigma-13....And order shall be restored in his universe....Hallowed is the Emperor." he whispered, the acrolyte bowed his head and repeated "Hallowed is the Emperor." before he left Shi to continue his meditations... Soon enough the steady breathing of the grandmaster could be heard once more as he decended into his meditative state.