The end of a story...

[Xing]

Preface

"Group!"
The men within the corridor stood at attention on each side, realising the presence of the general, and saluted together. The highly ranked officer went by them and saluted in return, slightly distracted, although it was hard to notice.

A few seconds later, the men went back to their own business. However, chatter were heard whispered here and there, going on the same subject;
"... what hapenned to the general? She doesn't looks quite right..."
"... agreed, I wonder wh..."
"... she's like that since 2 weeks or so..."
"... do you think..?"

Isabelle was quite aware of all this despite never having taken attention to it. She sighed heavily as she entered the password to her office. There was much work to do, she couldn't put her focus on working on her expression and her paperwork...
Not that she wasn't making any effort already...
Sitting on the spartiate chair of the somewhat empty room, she wondered about... what exactly?
She couldn't concentrate on anything with all the turmoil in her head. It was... too chaotic...

A memory from the past managed to surface, and she clinged on it, desperate for something solid to hold on...

[...]

He was very young for an admiral. But even though his physical appearance didnt fit well with the rank on his shoulders, his intellect certainly was.
Young, relatively tall for one of his people, his long, jet black hairs framing a pretty face, somewhat effeminate, the man was indeed very charming. It surprised more than one that he was single; with such a gifted body and brain, he could have gotten any woman certainly.

Daitetsu Mitsurugi smiled slightly at that thought as he sipped a bit more from his cup of tea. He was a warrior, and his main duty was to battle his countless enemies, not to bed the woman of his fantasy He couldnt spare time for such primal needs. Beside, was there any greater feeling than the one where a warrior faces his equal face to face?
Mitsurugi chuckled slightly as he walked around his garden without much purpose. The ground was covered lightly with snow; winter was beginning to arrive.
Face to face? That would be the supreme honour however, these were the samurais of another era. Today, he was prideful to command a fleet of war machines, hundreds, thousands of men under his command, ready to die for the same cause he believed in.

Mitsurugi Taisho, two visitors are awaiting at the gate.

The young admiral sighed slowly as he was pulled out of his dream world by the voice of his house electronic surveillance system.
Do let them in. Have them meet me at the entrance.

However, today visit wasnt one of these imperial investigators or any other annoying flies hed prefer to cut down with the steely blade of his sword
He smiled genuinely as he recognised the pale-skinned man entering his domain.
Kaitlynn Taisho! What an honour to bring your presence within my home! Please, come, have a seat.
John Kaitlynn, whose hairs already began to become a silvery grey, was a remarkable contrast in the habitation of Mitsurugi. Everything, including his host himself, seemed dragged out straight from some Old Earth 17th century Japanese empire mansion. Mitsurugi himself was dressed somewhat like a samurai warrior; his clothings embellished by decorative armour plating, more symbolic of his power than protective of a blaster shot.
It is great to see you are well, Daitetsu been a long while, isnt it? the libertonian admiral replied as he sat hesitantly on the cushion set on the floor. Everything seemed so miniature to his eyes.

Indeed. The name of my family owes much to you, my old friend. I
Kaitlynn smiled, somewhat embarrassed,
Please, Daitetsu it was nothing, only duty. You dont owe me anything, really.
Was the man kusari as well, admiral Mitsurugi would have been slightly offended in his pride. But knowing the libertonian code of honour, which was much more lax on many points, he merely smiled back. It was useless to bicker on a debt an Outsider; in this, they certainly have a great heart.

As Mitsurugi poured tea for his surprise-guest, he shifted his attention to an individual he only noticed now so small he no, she, was

I presume, she is your daughter?
Yes, indeed. Kaitlynn looked towar the little girl as he pushed her gently forward. She was slightly intimidated by the whole new, exotic environment, so different from what she was used to. Mitsurugi, this is my daughter, Isabelle. Isa, say hello to admiral Mitsurugi

The little girl was obviously a bit frightened, but as obviously maintained a good fa?ade. Mitsurugi nodded in appreciation. He hated weakness shown by the kusari female, their automatic submission in front of anything
Hi admiral Mitsurugi.
She extended a small hand forward, which he shook gently. Polite, courageous, just like her father
Mitsurugi didnt have much appreciation for women in general, but who knows. Maybe the daughter of Kaitlynn will become something worthy of his great father?
Samurais often based themselves on their instincts, and his instinct told him he was going to see young Isabelle in the distant future

--

A too-young Kusari imperial admiral, friend to a Liberty admiral. Two nations, two people, two entirely different world that disliked each other and yet stayed together for the only god that was universal to all people: Credits.

The Kusari people never really liked strangers. It was a true statement back in the Nippon empire of Old Earth, and it was true in this new civilisation they built from the ashes of their former nation, even though distant by terms of light-years from their cradle.

With the libertonian corporations trying to invade little bits of the Kusari people everyday, it was somewhat understandable for this naturally isolated people to hate the white outsiders. As such, the friendship Mitsurugi shared with Kaitlynn was a unique one.

Not too surprisingly, it involved the white outsider, the undeclared enemy to the Kusari people, saving his, Mitsurugi life, nothing less. That was of course, years ago, when he was still an inexperienced commander

With the borders open to free commerce, Kusari was not only invaded by the undesirable tourists and commerce, but as well, the presence of outsider pirates if the imperial command didnt took these annoyances too seriously at the beginning, the real threat they represented became clear after a few years of activity.

Eventually, it became clear the Corsairs and the Liberty Rogues were openly trashing the Kusari border space with impunity, and this couldnt be tolerated. At that time, Mitsurugi was already a commodore in the imperial navy. How such a young man managed to climb the ranks of the military organisation so fast was quite a wonder; maybe it was his entire devotion to the code of the Samurai? For one, he didnt seemed concerned with anything but combat, and fought the wars not for personal gain, but for glory, not for personal power, but to justify his pride.
Of course, there were those admirals who didnt like such a star crashing in their conservative club. How such a young one could come to their level was unthinkable. Assassination crossed the mind of many, but the thought itself was highly dishonourable, to strike in the back of a man who did only well for his nation.
So it was thought to assign this menace with an impossible task.

By that time, Kusari southern space was a real rogue playground, so much liberty convoy had to rely on mercenary and bounty hunters to protect their convoys. Not only did it made a grave stain to the honour of the imperial navy, it clearly showed actions needed to be taken. And so, commodore Mitsurugi, genius Mitsurugi, was sent with a small task force barely the size of a standard destroyer patrol to take care of the matter. The admirals had their doubts whether the man performed as well in front of the real battlefield. He has the physic of a young academic, but not that of a sage strategist for sure.

The small force consisted of Mitsurugi flag, the KNF Izanagi, two escort gunboats and a small fighter squadron composed of old Dragon crafts.
It didnt take a genius to figure out the task force was way too small to deal with the pirates. Especially once they entered the nebula where the criminals hid

If pirates were known to generally lack any culture and education in general, they certainly knew how to fight and adapt themselves to any situation, just like wild beasts. Their guerrilla style warfare rapidly picked off nearly half of his fighter squadron before he was able to mount a counter attack and give him enough time to reorganise his lines.
There was no other option but to charge forward though, an action no commander from any other House would have done. But in Kusari, the word retreat was seldom used. There was victory or death, nothing between.
By staying mobile, they could evade the risk at being ambushed

But that was exactly what happened. Despite all his strategic brilliance, Mitsurugi tactics was useless against such a large amount of pirates; for they have left the rough spaces of independent worlds to colonise the Kusari space, they came en-masse with their scrap ships, and it was much like having walked over a cradle of bee. Soon, one of his escort gunboats was down and so went to ash the second one.

When only the destroyer was left, the Gods reacted.
These ships were of a shiny white, and were outsider machines. Large, with no regard to size, the Liberty cruisers and their escort fighters began picking off the enemies, before turning their attention to a large armoured station; the Rogue base Mitsurugi discovered without even realising, so busy he was to survive

Using their main guns, the libertonian vessels pierced the station at its very core, destroying it with minimal energy. It was over so fast, yet it seemed like hours to Mitsurugi.

Sounds like we showed up right on time, eh?
Despite being shaken by all the losses he sustained, Mitsurugi still managed to smile at the words of the outsider comment. He was alive, that was all that counted.

[...]

That was... so long ago...

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