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WesternPeregrine · (This post was last modified: 12-19-2017, 08:37 PM by WesternPeregrine.)

Lord Nobukatsu required a few minutes to recover from the shock, bleeding from his forehead and unable to see from one eye. He found his sword shattered, and picked up a pistol from a nearby fallen soldier and resumed his goal of killing the infiltrators.

Amongst the rubble and flames, he saw a figure kneeling near a fallen person, as if tending to the wounds. He found his niece, Lady Tokuhime, holding the hand of Keika the Assassin, who was fading rapidly to blood loss.

Lord Nobukatsu looked at the two figures, his grip on the pistol growing ever so tightly. Lady Tokuhime raised her eyes to him, a mix of fear and sadness in her soul, as if pleading him to save both women lives.

As for Keika, who in her dizzy state was trying to comfort her "master", became aware of the Lord presence, and drawn a scornful smile to his side, as to mock him of his folly and his loss.

With fatigue apparent in his movements, but not in his eyes, Lord Nobukatsu raised his pistol at his niece. In his eyes, he saw nothing but treason, nothing but the enemy. The pistol marker indicated the depletion of one shot.
The young lady, too young to see battle, too young to be awarded this fate, fell over her handmaiden, her once joyful and innocent spark gone from her mortal coil.

Lord Nobukatsu turns his pistol to the assassin, and finds in Keika's pale face no scorn as it was before, but only wrath, and pure hatred. Hatred she had no more strength to give voice too. Before he could get a shot, her eyes also become devoid of life, her rebellious flame extinguished.

Freed from his trance state, Nobukatsu turns his attention to the panels nearby him. The few that remain operation tell him of the ongoing loss in the battle outside, and the imminent destruction of the Fortress. Enraged, the Lord and Protector of Hokkaido hurls out a curse to his enemies and traitors, as yet another explosion engulfs the scenery in flame and shrapnel.
The battle is soon over, and the Dragons spend the rest of the day bombarding the Fortress into oblivion, rendering the wreck useless and unrecognizable.

The Naval Forces keep silent over the whole affair, feeling that the interference of the Lord and his forces compromised the KNF mission and position as the sole force of the Emperor.
In New Tokyo and Kusari, the family and society weeped for the loss of Lady Tokuhime, while her father secretly vilified Lord Nobukatsu for the outcome. Samura industries cautiously cut ties with any remaining Nobukatsu followers and refocused their efforts alongside KNF and their own security forces, to push onwards the completion of the Chugoku Gate construction.
Lord Nobukatsu was gradually removed from family and historical records, and the Hokkaido Wolves turned into legend, then myth.

As for the Golden Chrysanthemums, they avoided boasting their victory over their wretched rival, for fear of redoubled attention by other opponents on their new freedom in Hokkaido. The Dragons acted accordingly, using the displeasure that Nobukatsu had incurred amongst the court and the authorities to acquire new contacts and allies.
To this day, the Legend of Keika the Assassin is passed down among the sisters of the Golden Chrysanthemums as a story of dedication, and pursuit of justice.

To this day, the Fall of Hakodate is a faint memory among the remnants of the Hokkaido Wolves who have taken refuge among the Hogosha, and a forgotten history for most of the remaining Hogosha and opponents of the Dragons and Chrysanthemums.
No one but the elders of the Wolves visit the site of Hakodate, for it's rumored to be cursed by the spirit of its Lord, as well as the crying soul of Lady Tokuhime.

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