Ghosts of the Past[NSFW: Violence, Dark Themes]

[Akira110]

Prologue: 60 years after the events of Shadows of the Menschilche

Yoshiro had been back in the saddle for only a few months before he was called out on duty, he and Rogelio had been training a new group of Kitsune soldiers, but for now, they were called to investigate some rebellion within the Kitsune kingdom. Yoshiro looked back as he flew on a dragon, that he knew was Julius' sister, but he felt uncomfortable not being with his draconic brother. He looked at Rogelio, "They pulled you out of retirement, eh?" Rogelio sighed, "Let's get this over with, Lord Yoshiro." Yoshiro nodded, "We're just going to investigate this lead, nothing more, men. I don't want to see any hostilities." Some of the other wyvern knights and most of the pegasus knights called out an affirmative on that order."

Yoshiro watched as they reached the base, "Rogelio, a couple of aging soldiers like ourselves can take care of this, can't we?" Rogelio sighed, "You're making an old man get on foot?" Yoshiro sighed, "Come on, Rogelio, it's probably nothing anyhow, just some kids playing a prank on us." Rogelio sighed, "Fine, Lord Yoshiro, but only because I swore to protect you with my life. That and if something goes south, you have a child to get back to." Yoshiro sighed as the two of them directed their mounts towards the ground, "Don't talk like that, Rogelio. It makes me worried about you." The two of them dismounted and Rogelio looked Yoshiro in the eye, "Milord, I'm over halfway done with my life, I'm already six hundred and my kind lives to be about nine hundred. If I'm lucky, I'll see another three hundred years, but you... you would normally have a thousand left to go, but your holy blood slowed your aging..."

Yoshiro nodded as they walked towards a bar, he knew Rogelio was right about that and he felt bad, so he stopped his friend and turned off his communicator, "Radio silence, Rogelio." Rogelio turned off his communicator, "Got something you wish to say off the record, Milord, or should I call you General." Yoshiro frowned, "Rogelio, can you, just for once call me Yoshiro, I'm no Lord and officially, I'm a Colonel." Rogelio frowned, "You know, I cannot say that." Yoshiro frowned, "Rogelio, you're not my knight, not anymore. Ever since I realized that you're getting old, I released you from my service. We're friends, Rogelio, almost brothers even. Please, just call me by my name." Rogelio sighed as people passed by them, he noticed a few of them were giving the two of them strange looks, "We're drawing attention to ourselves. May we please go into the bar to get some information."

Yoshiro nodded slightly, he felt defeated, "Rogelio come on." The two of them started walking again, "Rogelio, I feel bad that I know that you're not going to be with me for much longer when you compare it with my remaining lifespan, but, I just want you to know that I treasure each and every one of the days I've spent with you. You're my closest friend and I know you'll always be there when you can be. When I was younger and afraid, you gave me courage, but the greatest gift of all that you gave me is that you taught me how to be a knight." Rogelio laughed slightly at that notion, "Listen to yourself, I'm not gone, yet. Look, I promise that I'll stick around and make sure that you're being a good man, milord." Yoshiro smiled softly, "That sounds good, my friend."

The two of them entered the bar and Yoshiro walked over to the bartender, placing a couple of sapphires on the bar, before leaning in, "What do you know about a rebellion?" The bartender sighed, "Put away your gems, Yoshiro. There's no rebellion going on, just some daft rumor that's being spread around. What can I get you, by the way?" Yoshiro shrugged, "Nothing for me, thanks, I'm still on the clock, just wanted to check the validity of these rumors." Yoshiro turned around to see someone walk into the bar, he recognized the woman, and his heart sank. He looked at Rogelio and knew that he was too far to get him and hoped that he'd have sense enough to get into cover. Yoshiro leaped over the bar and pulled the bartender down, whispering, "Grab your gun." Yoshiro pulled his pistol out of its holster and he listened as the woman walked over to Rogelio, "So, where's my cousin?" He heard Rogelio speak, "Dead, I'm afraid. I'm a freelancer for the Kitsune army."

The woman sighed, "I have no time for games, if you don't tell me, I'll kill you and leave your corpse here as an example. His scent is in this bar." Yoshiro peeked out around the corner to see Rogelio sit there, "Aiko, I swore a vow to protect my lord's life, I failed that vow, why do you think I'm in a bar." Aiko growled and shot Rogelio in the chest, "[censored] fool." Yoshiro was livid, but he knew for a fact that he was outnumbered, Aiko wouldn't be alone and he made a move, he would most certainly be dead, but he heard her shout, "Yoshiro! I know you're in this bar! If you had just given yourself up for the death of my brother and putting me into a coma, Rogelio wouldn't have had to have died!" Aiko walked out of the bar and he watched as one of the patrons dragged Rogelio over to him.

Rogelio looked up at Yoshiro, he coughed up blood, "Well, my lord, I really am finally released from my vow." Yoshiro placed his hand on Rogelio's cheek tears streaming down his face, "Someone call the paramedics!" Rogelio frowned, "Listen, don't..." Rogelio gasped slightly, "don't worry about me, go to your family, they're in danger." Yoshiro placed his hands on Rogelio's wound, putting pressure on it, "Don't speak like that! You're going to live, dammit! I won't let you die, not like this!" Rogelio opened his mouth, "You... your heart... is gentle. Leave me, Yoshiro, go to your wife and kids." Yoshiro looked at Rogelio, "Save your breath, save your energy! We're going to save you!" Rogelio frowned, "Tell Balthoron, that I'm sorry. Tell... Lilah..." Rogelio's breathing stopped and Yoshiro tearfully closed his friend's eyes, taking his sword and leaving him in the bar.

He knew Rogelio was right, but he also knew that Aiko wasn't stupid, she wasn't going to attack any of the cities that his family were in because they were too heavily guarded. As he got on the dragon and flew back up to meet the others, Minerva looked at him, she recognized the scent of Rogelio's blood on his hands, "Minerva, he's gone... listen, I promise that someday, I will find Aiko and kill her personally. But for now, I have to figure out how to gain access to my old spy network and get back in contact with Lilah. Knowing Aiko, she created this rumor to draw me out of hiding and has probably gone back into hiding herself. I can't believe that [censored] happens to be my half-sister." Minerva nodded and returned to the Wyverns, while Yoshiro flew off directly towards the Kitsune capitol.

[Akira110]

Chapter 1

Yoshiro hopped off the Dragon's back as he walked to Rogelio's house, he held his best friend's sword tightly in one hand and looked at the door, this was the hardest part of his job and of his life. He looked down at the sword and tried to keep himself from crying, but he couldn't. He knocked on the door, and whispered, "Please be home, Tatiana... please." Yoshiro sat there for what seemed like an eternity, time seemed to pass extra slowly for him. Suddenly the door opened and Yoshiro looked up to see Harumi instead, "Father, Elena and Tatiana are in the back yard. Father? What's wrong?" Yoshiro looked at her, he couldn't stop the tears, "Harumi, come on." Harumi looked at the sword in Yoshiro's hand and gasped, "Father!?" Yoshiro wiped his face on his own sleeve.

Harumi frowned and led Yoshiro through the house, and into the back yard, upon seeing Rogelio's wife and his daughter, the tears threatened to start up again, "Tatiana, Elena, I have something to tell you, this... this..." Yoshiro was overcome with grief, he figured that his best friend was going to go peacefully and he'd be the one told of this, not the other way around, the two Mofeta women looked at him, Tatiana frowning, "Yoshiro, what is it?" Yoshiro sighed and tried to internalize his grief, he wanted to look professional, but he couldn't speak confidently anymore, all he could do was speak softly, "This is never easy for me, I've always thought that Rogelio would find retirement and be happy with you. He always spoke about how he'd visit Elena from time to time, just to see how his daughter was doing, he always spoke so highly of the two of you, he loved you both dearly and now..."

Yoshiro tried to look Tatiana in the eye, but couldn't as he presented her with Rogelio's sword, "Rogelio was taken from us by my own half-sister. To the very end, Rogelio was a true knight, his final words were to urge me to go to my family. Tatiana, Elena, both of you are part of my family through my daughter, but even if that wasn't the case, I was close to Rogelio to the point where I saw him as my own brother. I tried to save his life, but his wounds were too severe, I want the two of you to know that he didn't die a coward, he sacrificed himself so that I could live. Though it's not in my authority to do so anymore, I respectfully request that Elena and Harumi restore Rogelio's honor guard status."

Elena looked at him, tearfully, "I can do that, but Yoshiro, why did you not fight back, why didn't you try to keep my dad from dying?" Yoshiro frowned, "There's nothing I could've done, Elena. Rogelio and I both knew that if I showed myself, Aiko wasn't going to spare either of us. Elena, he chose this, willingly. Listen, I promise you that Aiko will not get away with this, she will face justice." Tatiana looked at Yoshiro, "Rogelio always spoke so highly of you, Yoshiro. Listen, I know it will be hard for you, but can you do something for me?" Yoshiro looked at her, "If you or Elena have any requests, I'll be willing to hear them out, we're all grieving, but I know this news doesn't hit me half as hard as either of you." Tatiana nodded, "Yoshiro, please take Rogelio's shield with you." She started to choke up, her own tears starting to form, even though she held them back, "He had wanted to give you that shield for the longest time."

Yoshiro frowned and closed his eyes, "I'll have to go recover the shield, but it's something that I can do. Listen, wherever you want Rogelio to be buried, I'll have him buried. Whatever monument you wish to have placed to mark his grave, I'll have it commissioned and placed myself." Tatiana shook her head, "You were his lord, through most of his life, Yoshiro. This decision is up to you, not up to us, he made that clear long ago." Yoshiro nodded with a frown, it felt like the weight on his shoulders was only getting much bigger, he felt terrible about this and none of this was helping right now, "I'll figure everything out later. I just, I just need to be alone right now." Elena nodded as Yoshiro opened his eyes and walked over to the fence, hopping it and entering the street. He walked slowly to the Kitsune castle as he knew of a tower that he could get to.

Once at the gates, he passed through, ignoring any questions as he looked at the castle itself. As he walked into the castle, he made a beeline for the stairway to the tower itself. It took several minutes for him to get to the top at his pace, but he didn't care. He looked out towards the kingdom through the window and then down at the yard where he and Rogelio would train the younger soldiers. He felt empty inside, none of this seemed to matter now that Rogelio was gone, he no longer had his friend. Anger swelled up inside of him, he turned to throw a punch at the wall, but saw his baby sister there, "Big Brother... what's wrong?" Yoshiro looked away, "I want to be alone." Minako's voice spoke up, "That much is apparent, but you seem angry and hurt badly, wait where... where's Rogelio."

Yoshiro leaned against the window, "In a morgue. His life left him less than two hours ago." Minako looked at her youngest child, "Setsuko, I know you want to hug him, but don't." Yoshiro folded his arms as he leaned against the window sill, "I came up here to be alone, while I think. It's the sole reason I'm not with my son right now." Yoshiro thought about his son and suddenly the image of Aiko hurting him came into his mind, without hesitation he shoved his fist through the window, the glass cutting him up and snapping him out of the rage as he gasped. He carefully withdrew his hand and looked at the blood, Setsuko gasped, "Eww! You're bleeding!" Yoshiro closed his hand into a fist, "I know you're young, but I just watched my best friend bleed to death from a hole in his chest!" Minako looked at Yoshiro, "Yoshiro! She's not even an adult yet!"

Yoshiro looked at Setsuko and and then at Minako, "I'm sorry, I just lost my best friend, I've known him since way before you were born, since before any of your nieces or nephews were born. He's always been there for me when I needed him, even when I didn't want him there. He died as he lived, a true knight and one of my personal honor guard." Setsuko hugged him and Yoshiro hugged with his right arm, so as to not bleed on his little sister, "Thanks, sis. You take a bit after Reiko, not a surprise as you stay near her and mom all the time." Yoshiro nudged her away and took off his shirt, he didn't wear armor that day since he figured it was a rumor and nothing more. He wrapped his shirt around his wounds and sighed, Setsuko gasping, "You have lots of scars!"

Yoshiro frowned and nodded, "I know, I've also seen lots of battles. Look, can I be alone for about an hour." Minako nodded, "You can have all the time you need, Yoshiro." Setsuko nodded, "Bye, big brother." Yoshiro nodded and turned back to look out the windows again, he was still angry and the cuts to his arm weren't making it better by stinging. He sat down against the wall next to the window and looked up at the ceiling, "If I knew that this was going to happen, I wouldn't have let you come out on that mission. I guess I'm not being fair, neither of us had any intel about the dangers we could possibly face, gathering it was to be our jobs. Rogelio, I'm sorry, I know you wanted me to stay out of active duty, but, I'm going to have to rejoin active service now, Aiko's that much of a threat. I hope you'll forgive me someday." Yoshiro sighed slightly and looked towards a window to watch as birds flew by, and he began to try to work through his thoughts and his sorrow.

[Akira110]

Chapter 2

Yoshiro stood up and sighed, he spent the last hour and a half trying to get his thoughts together, but he found it extremely hard. For the first time in his life, he wished that he wasn't so accustomed to people around him dying. The bleeding on his arm had stopped, but he didn't care about removing the shirt and putting it back on. He finally descended from the tower and walked back into the castle proper. He walked towards his personal room and threw his dirty shirt into the basket when he arrived, putting on a clean shirt. He sighed slightly and looked at his officer's uniform. He closed his eyes and sat on his bed for a second and finally decided to change into the uniform.

Looking in the mirror, he noticed the medals that adorned the uniform, he hated to dress formally, and the medals only served to make him more uncomfortable. He felt that Rogelio deserved all of the medals and all of the praise, he believed that Rogelio had earned his rank of General, while he was given it because he was a king at one point. As he looked into the mirror, he saw an image of Rogelio standing behind him and he turned to look, however no one was standing there. He had been so used to Rogelio being there that now that he's gone, it was unsettling. He sighed, "Great, now I'm seeing him when he's not there..." Yoshiro turned back to the mirror and adjusted his tie and his hat. He then walked out of the room and headed towards the throne room. He passed by Yoshiko and Sumiko on the way, but ignored them, he was a man on a mission.

When he entered the throne room, he walked before the thrones and then looked at Masaru, "Reiko, leave the room please." Reiko started getting up, but Masaru looked at him, "Why should she leave the room?" Yoshiro frowned, "Because this is a matter between the two of us, your highness." Masaru immediately knew that something was seriously bothering Yoshiro as he never called him that, "Reiko, please leave the room for a moment." Reiko nodded and left the room and Masaru sighed, "What is it, brother-in-law?" Yoshiro grabbed the clasp on his cape and squeezed it, the lock disengaged and he let go allowing the cape to fall, "I wish to return to active duty, Aiko is back and I'm the only one with any reasonable experience against her." Masaru shook his head, "I refuse to allow you to do so."

Yoshiro growled, "Why not, Masaru!? If you send anyone else against Aiko, she's going to kill them!" Masaru looked at him, "Look at what happened, you abandoned your own rookies to come back here." Yoshiro's left hand balled into a fist, "Minerva brought them all back, I came back alone. They weren't even supposed to be on that mission! None of us had any intel and you sent rookies into a situation where they were likely going to be killed! Instead of costing the lives of any of the rookies, my best friend paid the ultimate price! You brought him out of retirement, you called on him and I to investigate this rebellion and it turned out to be Aiko returning and creating those rumors! All of the rookies made it back alive, were you hoping that Rogelio and I would die!?"

Masaru glared at Yoshiro, "How dare you suggest that I would do such a thing! I know you are hurt badly, but this gives you no right to speak to me like that, Yoshiro!" Yoshiro grabbed the kitsune insignia on his uniform, "Then tell me why Rogelio and I were sent into an area that was better suited for spies, not soldiers!" Masaru growled, "I thought the two of you were experienced enough to not need to send some sort of spy into there! I didn't know that Rogelio would get killed, I didn't know that Aiko was there!" Yoshiro was even more agitated, "So because you assumed one thing, you chose to send Rogelio and myself, potentially into a hostile situation with a bunch of rookies that have never seen combat in their lives!? [censored] you!"

Masaru slammed his fist on his throne, "Get out of my castle before I have the guards throw you out!" Yoshiro stormed out of the throne room, he was livid, as he stormed out of the castle, he passed by Yoshiko, who grabbed him by the arm, "Yoshiro, go to my stepfather's place." Yoshiro looked at her, "Fine." Yoshiko frowned, "You'll understand why when you get there." Yoshiro nodded as Yoshiko let go of his arm, he continued to storm out of the castle as he ripped the kitsune insignia patch from his uniform and threw it in front of the castle gate. One of the guards looked at the patch, "You forgot this!" Yoshiro didn't even turn around and acknowledge the guard as he walked to the parking lot and into the changing room where he went to his personal locker. Opening it, he sighed slightly as he changed out of his officer's uniform and into his biker gear, stuffing the uniform into the locker. He wasn't usually one for a leather jacket, but it protected him somewhat while riding his motorcycle.

Walking back to his bike, he put on his helmet and lowered the visor on it, which kept the wind out of his eyes. He started up the bike and road out of the parking garage with a roar, headed straight for Mamoru's place. He and Mamoru had never seen eye to eye, but if his clone wanted him to go see his cousin, that was good enough reason for him. Yoshiro weaved between vehicles and turned onto the road that Mamoru's place was at. Pressing the brake, he sighed slightly and looked at the house as he pulled into the driveway. He kicked the kickstand and walked over to the door, knocking on it, Mamoru answering it, "Ah, Yoshiro, you're here. Look, I want you to come in for a second, this is going to be a lot to take in, but first, I want Walthari and Yoshiko to arrive."

Yoshiro nodded and entered the house, he immediately sat down on the first couch he saw and took his helmet off, as he looked at his gloved hands. Mamoru looked at him, "Can I get you anything, Yoshiro?" Yoshiro sighed, "Unless you can bring me Aiko's corpse, no." Mamoru sighed, "Well that does answer that question, it was my daughter that was behind all of this, listen, Takeshi is coming as well, even though he and Walthari have traditionally not gotten along." Yoshiro sighed slightly, "Whatever." Mamoru frowned, "Yoshiro, I know that you lost Rogelio, and that it's very hard for you, but you need to calm down and keep a level head, this isn't like you." Yoshiro knew that Mamoru was right, but it was extremely difficult for him to do so, "Some tea would be nice." Mamoru nodded and went into the kitchen to grab some tea, while Yoshiro looked out the window.

Mamoru returned with the tea to find Yoshiro just staring at a bird that was sitting outside the window, he frowned, "Yoshiro, your tea." Yoshiro looked at him and sighed, "Sorry, just... thinking about how I'm going to deal with all of this." Yoshiro took the tea and started to sip it, it had a good flavor to it, "Did Sumiko make this?" Mamoru chuckled, "No, I make the tea around here, I'm better at it." Yoshiro nodded, "Tell me, Mamoru, what's your stake in all of this." Mamoru sat down across from Yoshiro, "Simple, Yoshiro. It pains me to do this, but I have to have my own daughter killed, Aiko is too great of a threat to us all and if she figures out that I'm friendly with you, she'll have no qualms about committing fratricide." Yoshiro nodded, "So I guess we wait til the others arrive to think of a plan." Mamoru nodded, "That's the gist of it." Yoshiro sighed and looked up at the ceiling as he started to wait for the others.

[Akira110]

Chapter 3

It had been hours since he had arrived and there was still no Takeshi in sight, Yoshiro sighed and laid down on the couch. He closed his eyes, "Mamoru, I'm going to get a little shut eye if you don't mind." Mamoru nodded, "A nap will do you good, Yoshiro." Yoshiro tried to go to sleep, but for some reason his internal clock wouldn't let him do so, so instead he tried to meditate a bit. He calmed down slightly, but was still on edge, however a voice broke him out of his meditation, "Father." Yoshiro opened his eyes to see Takeshi standing there, "General Misawa, it's good to see you again." Takeshi sat down in a chair, "Once my stepsister and your daughters get here, we can begin the daunting task of planning this out."

Yoshiro was confused, "Daughters?" He knew of Harumi being in the city, but suddenly Hiromi and Misaki walked into the door, followed by Yoshiko, "Sorry Stepfather, oh, hi Takeshi." Takeshi nodded as Hiromi looked at her father, "I came as soon as I heard the news, Dad." Yoshiro sat up and sighed, "That Rogelio is dead, or that I've quit being part of the Kitsune military, because your uncle Masaru is a prick?" Hiromi frowned, "The former and Uncle Masaru isn't a prick!" Yoshiro sighed, "I lost my best friend, Hiromi and your uncle and I fought, he threw me out of the castle." Hiromi frowned, but Misaki shrugged, "He's an [censored], I was never one for royalty, but Masaru is quite uptight and doesn't let [censored] from the past just go, he always holds onto it, as if it was supposed to be his life."

Yoshiro stood up as Yoshiko entered the house finally, "Alright, Mamoru, what's our plan?" Mamoru handed Yoshiro a datapad, "Aiko thought that I was on her side and wanted to kill you, since you normally avoid me, that wasn't exactly a hard deception to pull off, she gave me this information." Yoshiro looked at the datapad, he recognized the schematics, "This is a Menschilche bunker, according to the coordinates, this would be seven thousand klicks to the south-east. She's operating on another continent." Hiromi blinked, "Father, you don't have experience fighting on another continent, do you?" Yoshiro shook his head, "I have, but nothing like this. Usually when I was chasing someone down with the dracoknights. She was at least smart enough to not give you the strength of her forces."

Mamoru nodded, "Yes, that's troublesome, the reason that Hiromi is here though, is so that you can get support from the Kilvish forces." Yoshiro shook his head, "I will not weaken the defenses of the Kilvish kingdom. Even though there are few safe paths an army could possibly take into the capitol, the other cities, which are newly built if I understand." Hiromi nodded and Misaki placed down a map and Yoshiro pointed at the cities which were marked, "They're still partially within Dragon Territory, but they're less well defended naturally. Bahamut was working on a new armor for me when I retired, I should go see if he had completed it, tomorrow." Yoshiko looked at Mamoru, "What's my role in all of this?" Yoshiro looked up at her, "You're a mage, from what I know on this continent that we're going to, mages are highly respected."

Mamoru nodded, "It's true, I have some contacts on that continent, and Yoshiro, with your renown, it should be easy for you to get a sizable force to storm this base." Yoshiro sighed slightly as he looked back at the schematics, "No one has stepped foot in one of these since our liberation, how is this thing still functional. Aiko would never pick a base that she had to do a massive repair job on. Mamoru sighed, causing Yoshiro to look up as Takeshi spoke up, "Yoshiro, my father and I have seen some of the things that were in these bases, my own little brother was a bio-weapon that was genetically engineered by the Menschilche. All we faced were mechs and other things like that, but..." Yoshiro narrowed his eyes, "How do you know that Hiroshi is a bio-weapon, if you never saw the data." Takeshi folded his arms, "Yoshiro, think carefully about this."

Yoshiro remembered that Hiroshi was a psionic, this was a trait that wasn't innate to the Verbanan peoples, nor was it innate to the Eltiranans. Dragons and the Menschilche were the only ones capable of being psionic, while the Verbanans got magic. Then it suddenly hit Yoshiro, "Aside from being psionic, what was what clued you in on this?" Mamoru frowned, "The fact that Minako was taken in by a Menschilche Scientist for a month. That was sort of the last straw for me and I decided to lead a revolution against our slavers." Yoshiro nodded, he knew full well about that part of their history, not a single verbanan didn't know of the name Mamoru Misawa. Takeshi frowned, "Yoshiro, are you not curious as to what my role happens to be?" Yoshiro stood up and extended his hand to his half brother, Takeshi just looked at it.

This continued for a moment and Yoshiro sighed, "Takeshi, you've more combat experience than I do, you'll make a far better leader than I will. Your role is to be the commanding officer of this operation." Takeshi blinked slightly, "Yoshiro, that wasn't originally my role, I was supposed to be your advisor." Yoshiro shook his head, "You know these bases better than I do, far better than I probably ever will. Takeshi, I'm handing command to you. I work better as a soldier anyhow, never did like directing a battle from afar." Takeshi smiled slightly, "Alright then, but how long do you wish to wait before we head out to the continent to the south east?" Yoshiro shrugged, "A couple of days at most, I want to be able to establish a base there and build up our forces from there, but there are a few things that I need to do."

Mamoru nodded, "The sun's going down, would you all like to stay here for the night, we have more than enough beds." Misaki and Hiromi politely declined, while Takeshi smiled, "Thanks, Dad." As Mamoru and Takeshi walked out of the room, Yoshiko looked at Yoshiro, "You put on a brave face and you act like you know what you're doing, but you're scared and want to give up." Yoshiro laid down on the couch, "You got that right, Yoshiko. I just lost my best friend and I feel lost without him, he's been part of my life for the past four hundred and something years, and now he's suddenly gone, taken from me by Aiko. Anyhow, I'm going to try to get some sleep, I recommend that you do as well. Good night, my clone-cousin." Yoshiko patted him on the head with a smile, "Good night, my original-cousin."

[Akira110]

Chapter 4

Yoshiro found himself in a barren wasteland, he kept walking and walking on and on, the sun was beating down on him and there was no water in sight, so he reached for his canteen and took a drink of water. Eventually he found a tree and decided to sit down at the tree, "I can't do this anymore... I just can't." Suddenly a few people arrived in military uniforms, Yoshiro recognized their faces, they were comrades long dead. Yoshiro stood up and looked at them, "You guys, but... you're dead." More and more of them started to show up, Yoshiro was confused and upset, this wasn't normal and he wasn't a death blood so he couldn't see ghosts. He backed away and reached for his sword, only to find that it wasn't there, "Oh [censored]..."

A particular soldier appeared, this one was Rogelio, "Turn and see them in the sand." Yoshiro looked behind him and saw his footprints as far as his eyes could see, "They're my footprints, they go on as far as I can see." Rogelio nodded, "Your hands, look at them." Yoshiro looked at his hands, they ached and throbbed, "They're tired and they're worn." Rogelio spoke up, "Look at everyone here, these are the people who died instead of you, they knew what they were getting into, Lord Yoshiro." Yoshiro sighed, "Then what am I supposed to do?" Rogelio pointed towards the wasteland through the soldiers that were standing there, "This is who you are, Yoshiro. You'll always be the one to fare the storm, you'll always be the one to stand up and fight when no one else will." Yoshiro sighed, Rogelio was right, which made him feel worse.

Rogelio started walking, "Walk with me." Yoshiro nodded and followed Rogelio through the crowd, he recognized their faces and Rogelio spoke up, "Remember Bonfilo?" Yoshiro nodded, "He was a fairy lieutenant that had recently transferred to my personal honor guard. He died when we were called in to deal with a bandit attack on a nearby Neko city. He was killed when an arrow pierced his chest." Rogelio nodded, "What about Henna?" Yoshiro looked at the Karhu female standing near them, "I remember her, she saved my life during an assassination attempt while I was staying in a Kani city. I've always felt bad about her death." Rogelio nodded, "Good, now what about Kanutte?" Yoshiro sighed, "The arctic Lupine we had, didn't get along with Erna. She died during the Human-Verbanan War, she was the only one of us that went to that war. When I saw her name on the list of casualties, I felt horrible."

Rogelio nodded and stopped, "What of Katriina?" That hit home, "She sacrificed herself to protect me from my great-grandfather, Fumio. It took two death knights to restrain me to keep me from killing him, Great-grandmother was the one that ended up killing him. She was a Kani Demi-deity, and one of my closest friends." Rogelio nodded, "You seem to remember those who have died, and they all exist in your heart, but tell me, why do you fight?" Yoshiro looks at him, "I used to fight because of some sense of honor, but now, I don't know. I'm torn between defending people and revenge." Rogelio turned back, "Hmph, the Lord Yoshiro I knew wouldn't give into a desire for revenge. It doesn't matter though, because Milord, I know that if it was up to you and you knew how many people you'd lose, you would always choose to press on. Your desire to protect people have always been strong and you instilled that into your men."

Yoshiro nodded, "So what are you saying, Rogelio." Rogelio chuckled and turned away, "You know this has all happened before, you've seen what comes and what's in store if you don't stop Aiko. But you also know that even if you do, someone else will rise up and this will all happen all over again." Yoshiro closed his hand, "There has to be some way to break the cycle, there has to be some way for all of this to end." Rogelio sighed, "Yoshiro, there's only one way to break the cycle and that's for no one to take action against Aiko, but it will be a horrendous loss." Yoshiro turned to see a city burning, people screaming out and a female Kani ran up to him, before she was shot in the head. The female civilian dropped to the ground, dead. Yoshiro saw someone he didn't recognize, but he knew it was a Cheetah Neko holding the gun. Yoshiro was upset at this, "So if I fight, I'll keep fighting until I'm dead?"

Rogelio shook his head, "There will be eras of peace, in between your fights. Lord Yoshiro, your fear is only temporary. In time your resolve will steel itself and you'll continue fighting the good fight, but your role as a protector was never meant to be temporary. It was you who chose this life, you embraced it and made it a part of you the moment you decided to be trained by the Kani Paladins. Lord Yoshiro, even when you die, your actions and decisions in your life will inspire other people to protect those from people like Aiko and Hiroshi. You can deny it all you want, but people look up to you, you're a hero." Yoshiro didn't like that word, "I'm not a hero." Rogelio sighed, "These people made the ultimate sacrifice, Yoshiro. They did so, whether because it was part of their job, or because they wanted to protect one of their comrades."

Yoshiro turned to look at the hundreds of people behind him, "So you're saying that my battles are never meant to end, until I die?" Rogelio sighed, "Yoshiro, there's something you must learn. Some battles aren't fought with weapons, they're fought with ideas, some are fought with words. You've always been good about picking your battles, fighting only those that you knew that you had a chance to win." Yoshiro nodded, "Rogelio, I understand now." Rogelio blinked, "You do?" Yoshiro nodded, "The world will always need people that are willing to stand up against those who wish to do harm. But the world isn't black and white, not every evil person seeks to harm an innocent life, just as not every good person will stand up to protect." Rogelio nodded, "The world is painted in shades of gray, Black and white is a rarity in the world."

Yoshiro nodded and looked in his hand to find his sword, "No mortal is completely good or completely evil. There's always a bit of light and a bit of darkness in us all, it is what we choose to follow that defines us." Rogelio nodded, "And you are a sunblood, with Light magic. Though the particular light that shines in your heart is strong. This is why you always chose to selflessly protect people and why you were such a great king. My time is up, milord, I apologize, but this is the last time you'll ever see me again." Yoshiro nodded, "Rogelio, thank you." Yoshiro started walking again, this time the wasteland became a meadow, "If I knew that I was going to lose Rogelio, I would've still went. I'll continue our fight, Rogelio, I'll ensure a new era of peace on Verbana."

[Akira110]

Chapter 5

It had been hours into the new day, Yoshiro noticed both of the suns of their system overhead, signaling the start of summer. The red dwarf didn't appear in the sky often, being overshadowed by the main yellow star. He was flying on Minerva for the first time, the two of them upset at the death of Rogelio, so she decided to let him ride her for the first time in their lives. The two of them were on a high speed course for the dragon kingdom, Yoshiro hadn't been there in almost a hundred years now, but he didn't care that much, he just enjoyed the wind in his hair and the sight of the ground moving beneath them. Very shortly though, they entered the Dragon kingdom and Minerva headed towards a specific part of the kingdom.

Once she landed, Yoshiro hopped off, and walked into the particular den, "Bahamut, I've returned." A large dark gray dragon looked at him with violet eyes, "Yoshiro, it's been a hundred years since you last came here, when Julius arrived alone, I thought you for dead." Yoshiro sighed, "I happen to be alive and right now, I'm finding it fortunate that I am." Bahamut nodded, "So, you've come for the armor, huh?" Yoshiro frowned, "As much as I wish I could say that I was just visiting and my kid was all grown up, that's not the case. Surely you know of the threat that's risen?" Bahamut sighed, "That damned Kitsune has no idea what she's dealing with right now. I assume that your desire to protect people has to do with you trying to stop her?" Yoshiro tried to look inward, "No, she killed Rogelio."

Bahamut turned around and grabbed the suit of armor, it looked like normal plate mail, except Yoshiro noticed that it was modified, "These, they're not real, are they?" Bahamut nodded, "Yoshiro, you are one of the only ones that we have allowed to use real dragon scales for armor, they're the scales of a dragon you know very well. Don't worry, they're shed scales." Yoshiro nodded and started to put the armor on, that's when he noticed the next modification, "What's this?" Bahamut chuckled, "Magitech, you know how Mana works?" Yoshiro nodded, "I learned from Yoshiko, she taught me how?" Bahamut sighed, "Do you know how to manipulate mana?" Yoshiro nodded, "Yes, but it's very weak for me." Bahamut nodded, "Because you are untrained, this magitech serves two purposes, it removes that handicap. You will not be as powerful or as skilled as someone that is actually trained. In addition, through you, we will be testing the Verbanans as a whole, to see if they're ready for our tech."

Yoshiro nodded, "There's someone that I want to see before I leave." Bahamut nodded, "You're an honorary dragon, you're free to wander our territory as you like." Yoshiro waved and headed out, "I think I'm going to go search on foot, Minerva, I need to clear my head a bit." Minerva chirped slightly as an acknowledgement, Yoshiro chuckled and headed out into Dragon Territory. He noticed dragons playing around, but was looking for one particular dragon, before he could find him though, he was tackled from behind, "Si ehtaha jacion, opsola!" Yoshiro was thankful that young dragons were light, or he'd be in serious trouble, but he heard Julius' voice speak up, "Itrewic stoda dout iosta." The young dragon got off of him and Yoshiro stood up, "Uncle, huh? So have you been practicing your common?"

A female dragon spoke up, "Lord Bahamut has been making all of us learn it, he says that it's time that Dragons rejoin galactic society." Yoshiro turned around to see two fully grown green dragons, with several young dragons, "Been a long time, hasn't it, Julius?" Julius shook his head, "Forty years or so, give or take a couple of years." Yoshiro nodded slightly, "I see that you've raised a family." Julius nodded and looked at the female, "Coretta, meet Yoshiro. Yoshiro, meet Coretta." Coretta bowed her head, "Julius has told me a lot about you and it is an honor to meet you." Yoshiro folded his arms, "Stop with that, there's no reason for it, I'm just like any other kitsune with a military record and that was formerly a king." Coretta chuckled, "Julius told me that you're humble as well." Yoshiro sighed a bit and looked at Julius, "Can I speak to you?" Julius nodded, "Of course." Yoshiro pointed away from them, "Alone, Julius."

Yoshiro and Julius walked over to a place where they can be alone and Julius looked at him, "Where's Lilah?" Yoshiro shrugged, "Last I heard, she was operating on the continent that I will be going to." Julius nodded slightly, "Alright, but where's Rogelio." The memory of Aiko killing Rogelio went through his head, and his seemingly calm demeanor became one of rage, he balled up his left hand into a fist and clenched his teeth. Julius took note of this, "I see. I'm going with you." Yoshiro shook his head, "I have Minerva." Julius stood on his hind legs and folded his arms, "Yoshiro, Minerva is only going with you because Rogelio is dead. She only ever listened to him, you and I have been partners for hundreds of years." Yoshiro pointed over at the young dragons, "You have children over there that need you!" Julius sighed, "And Balthoron needs you, Yoshiro, but you're still going to go off on your own and try to make things right."

Yoshiro looked at his right hand, "This isn't about making things right, or saving anyone. This is purely about revenge." Julius picked Yoshiro up and hugged him, "I know this isn't truly about revenge, Yoshiro. Some part of you, which always has been there, wants to protect people. I know that you'll end up doing the right thing, which is why I'm coming with you." Yoshiro sighed, he knew that it was pointless to argue with Julius, "Fine, but we have to link up with Walthari, who I suspect is in the centaur kingdom right now." Julius nodded and put Yoshiro down, "Alright, so what's the rest of our plan, little brother?" Yoshiro sighed, "I don't have a rest of the plan right now, I'm making things up as I go for now. We have no intelligence, only that Aiko is operating out of a Menschilche base." Julius nodded, "Alright, Dragons will be a big help for you, I'll go talk to some."

Yoshiro watched as Julius walked away and he sat down as some of the young dragons walked over to him, one of them asked, "Are you really Uncle Yoshiro?" Yoshiro placed his hand on her head, "Yeah, I'm really him. Though I'm not like your father told you, right now, I'm just a man, broken and driven by revenge." Another dragon nodded, "What's revenge?" Yoshiro sighed, "Revenge is, I want to repay my half-sister in kind for killing my best friend." The young Dragons all curled up next to him as if to try to make him feel better and Yoshiro absentmindedly stroked their wings gently, while he waited for Julius. Though it took a couple of hours, Julius finally returned with a few dragons, "Alright kids, Daddy and Uncle Yoshiro both have to go now." The young dragons all nodded and walked away as Julius put Yoshiro on his back, "Just like old times, eh?" Yoshiro nodded as Julius took off to the skies, "Just like old times..."

[Akira110]

Chapter 6

Yoshiro hopped off Julius' back once they flew over his home. He landed on the roof of the house and sighed slightly as he sat down, wondering how he was going to break the news to his wife and his young son. He also began to wonder how he was going to break the news to his employees at the cafe down the road, he looked up at the sky, the two suns overhead, "Damn, everything seemed so simple when I was younger, but now it's just, I don't know anymore." He gripped the pendant he wore around his neck, "Katriina, you were just the first in a long line of friends of mine to die." He closed his eyes and tears rolled down his cheeks, "Boss, you were one of my closest friends and you asked me to kill you, I did so because it was what you wanted."

Yoshiro heard the door open and he stood up and opened his eyes to see Balthoron, "Daddy! What are you doing on the roof?" Yoshiro slid down the roof and landed on the ground, "I'm just thinking, my son." Yoshiro picked his son up into a hug, "Come on, let's go inside." Balthoron hugged back as Yoshiro took him inside, "Honey, I'm back!" Elbereth walked out of the kitchen, "Yoshiro, how was work last night?" Yoshiro shook his head, "I didn't work last night, I was at Mamoru's all night and well, can I speak to you?" Elbereth frowned, "Certainly, Yoshiro, what is it?" Yoshiro put Balthoron down, "Son, I need to speak to your mother alone, alright?" Balthoron nodded and walked into another room, Yoshiro heard the holoprojector come on and knew that his son was watching cartoons now, Yoshiro sighed slightly as he walked into the kitchen.

Elbereth sat down at the table, "Yoshiro, what is it?" Yoshiro sighed and looked out the window, "Rogelio was killed." Yoshiro found it disturbing how easily those words escaped his mouth, Elbereth frowned, "Oh no. Does his family know?" Yoshiro nodded, "I presented Rogelio's sword to his wife and daughter, his son is currently the only one that I know of that doesn't know." Elbereth folded her arms, "You went to go talk to Rogelio's family and not me? I didn't even get an, 'I'm alright, honey'!?" Yoshiro turned around, "Elbereth, the only reason I'm here right now is that I feel that you need to know where I'm going and what I'll be doing. Just me being here puts the two of you in extreme danger!" Elbereth narrowed her eyes, "What are you talking about, Yoshiro?" Yoshiro sighed, "Do you remember Aiko?" Elbereth nodded slightly, "Of course."

Yoshiro sighed, "I never killed her." Elbereth nodded, "You couldn't bring yourself to do it, she merely abducted me and our unborn children. She had no intention of harming us and she only wanted to lure you into a trap." Yoshiro nodded, "Thalion and Lathron didn't share the same sentiment, so we met half way and I put Aiko into a coma. It looked like she was never going to wake up." Elbereth tilted her head, "Was?" Yoshiro sighed, "Aiko shot Rogelio, she killed him just so that she could try to get to me. I knew that if I made a move, I'd not be standing here and Rogelio would be just as dead as he is now." Elbereth looked down, "Yoshiro, what do you plan on doing?" Yoshiro handed her a datapad, "Look at that." Elbereth gasped slightly, "Yoshiro, this is a Menschilche design!" Yoshiro nodded slightly, "That's where Aiko currently is, it's also a Menschilche base that doesn't officially exist anymore."

Elbereth sighed, "Yoshiro, I understand that you're hurt, but going into one of these installations is suicide." Yoshiro shook his head, "That's what they told Mamoru and Takeshi and they went in with worse equipment than I have." Elbereth looked up at him, "They had an army." Yoshiro nodded, "I know how to get one, Elbereth, listen to me, I'll be alright. If I don't go Aiko, she's going to come after someone I care about and this time, she might kill another one." Elbereth nodded slightly, "Yoshiro, promise me that you'll not do anything crazy and that you'll come back alive." Yoshiro nodded slightly, but Balthoron spoke up before he could say anything, "Mommy, Daddy, is everything alright, I heard yelling." Elbereth looked at Balthoron, "Yoshiro, you need to tell him."

Yoshiro walked over to his son and knelt down, "Hey there, champ. I'm going to be going away for a little bit, but don't worry, I'll be back." Balthoron nodded, "Are you going to make the world safer, Daddy?" Yoshiro nodded and hugged his son, "Yes, I am. When I come back, you'll be able to grow up into an adult without ever having to worry about anyone trying to hurt you." Balthoron hugged back, "So, you're really a super hero, Daddy?" Yoshiro didn't like being called a hero, but he hid that from his son, "Yes, I am. I've been The Green Dragon this entire time, son. But don't tell anyone, it'll be our little secret." Yoshiro got an idea, "Oh, and if you ever feel lonely..." he took the pendant off and placed it around Balthoron's neck, it was a little large for him, but Yoshiro didn't care, "just grab onto this, I'll always be with you as long as you're wearing that."

Balthoron smiled and hugged Yoshiro tighter, before running back off to watch more cartoons. Elbereth looked at him, "Yoshiro, you swore to never let anyone get that pendant without killing you, what made you change your mind." Yoshiro kissed her on the cheek, "He's my son, Elbereth. I love him and to be honest, I'm willing to die if that is the only way I can protect him. Besides, I'm sure Katriina will understand that I gave him that pendant. She gave it to me when I was still in Paladin Training, I'm surprised that it held up this long, but I know that he'll treasure it." Elbereth nodded, "Do we still have time for one last thing?" Yoshiro arched a brow, "What's that?" Elbereth smiled, "Lunch, my love." Yoshiro nodded slightly, "We've got time, I don't leave until tomorrow, when Walthari arrives." Elbereth nodded and started to make lunch while Yoshiro looked out of the window thinking about all of his comrades who died in battle.

[Akira110]

Chapter 7

The next day had come and Yoshiro was on the back of Julius, flying over the ocean, Julius seemed to have no issue with this, so long as he'd be able to rest the night. The flight was peaceful, but Yoshiro knew that they wouldn't make it there that day, he decided that he wanted to be on the ship with the others. Yoshiro directed Julius to the dragon carrier and let his brother rest along with the other dragons, "We won't arrive until tomorrow or even the next day, Julius, get some rest." Yoshiro sighed and walked along the deck, he was surprised that Harumi was willing to offer some of the Sea Elf military might to help him, but it shouldn't have done so. Yoshiro walked to the tower which had a lift that would take him below deck.

Yoshiro sighed as he took the lift to the living quarters of the ship, which is where the mess hall was located, it was about supper time for him. He closed his eyes and sighed as he exited the lift into the hallway, opening them only to walk through the ship. Most people left him alone, but a Lupine ran up to him, "General Miyamae! General Miyamae!" Yoshiro looked at the Lupine, he was no more than a couple of hundred years old, "Don't call me that, Lieutenant Muller." The Lupine sighed, "But you're a General." Yoshiro shook his head, "I gave up my rank, the only reason I'm here is that I'm ex-military and this is personal for me." The Lupine nodded, "So then what do I call you?" Yoshiro gritted his teeth as this was getting on his nerves slightly, he wanted to talk to Walthari and Bruno and have supper, "You call me Yoshiro, or you don't talk to me at all, Adalwulf."

Adalwulf growled, "You're being awfully rude for someone that's supposed to be polite. I've heard stories about you." Yoshiro stopped, the anger in his mind reaching a point where he couldn't contain it, he turned to look at Adalwulf, his ears pressed against his head and his tail lashing, "You heard nothing but tales of heroism! You never hear about the people who sacrificed themselves, everything they had just so that I could complete a mission. You never hear about Major General Rogelio Sanez Lorca or Major Kanutte Berlinski! Those are the people who should have the tales, not me! Without them, I wouldn't be here right now, I'd be in a hole with the rest of them! Every single one of you [censored] rookies think that some day you'll be some one-man army!" Yoshiro shoved Adalwulf against the wall, who started struggling, but Yoshiro's adrenaline let him keep the Lupine pinned.

Yoshiro growled and leaned in, "Get it through your thick skull before you go out there and throw your life away for no reason. War isn't pretty, war is hell, people die in war. You will see your friends and possibly your family die. There are no heroes in war, just people who are unlucky enough to survive when their friends don't. People like me, the survivors have to see a therapist once a month because we suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder." Yoshiro dropped Adalwulf to the ground, "In war, there are three outcomes. One, you die. Two, you live long enough to see your friends die and realize that it is pointless. Three, you live long enough and you become blood thirsty enough to become a killer. There are no heroes, stop living a fantasy, boy and join the rest of us here in reality." Yoshiro started to walk away from Adalwulf but the younger Lupine called him out, "So you pick a fight and yet you walk away! You're a coward!" Yoshiro turned his head back, "Kid, I choose not to fight you because I have more important things to do right now."

Yoshiro continued walking away as Adalwulf swore at him, he didn't pay the Lupine any mind as he walked into the mess hall and got his food. He walked over to the table where Walthari and Bruno were sitting, and placed his food down. Walthari looked at him, "Who were you yelling at back there?" Yoshiro sighed, "Adalwulf, he's a typical rookie." Bruno blinked, "Yoshiro, that's our cousin." Yoshiro shook his head, "Not mine." Walthari sighed, "He was talking about me when he said our, Yoshiro." Yoshiro started to pick at his food, "I'm sorry, it's been a long couple of days." Erasmus placed his hand on Yoshiro's shoulder, "This isn't anything new for you, Yoshiro. Mind if I sit down here." Yoshiro shook his head, "I don't mind at all, Master Erasmus." Bruno started to cough from choking on his own drink from that, "When did you start training under Master Erasmus!?" Erasmus sighed, "He's training with me so that he can better cope with what he's become."

Yoshiro didn't really feel up to eating, but knew that there wasn't a limit on time to do so, so he just continued picking at his food. Walthari took notice, "Yoshiro, something's bothering you and it's bothering you badly." Yoshiro looked up at the ceiling of the room, "I know, just... nothing's the same without Rogelio, he's been with me in most of everything since the Kitsune Civil War." Walthari nodded, "Even stranger that we're working with Mamoru now, back then, he was our enemy." Yoshiro nodded slightly, "He's changed, definitely changed. Yoshiko and Sumiko have had a profound effect on the man. I'm glad that I gave him the chance at redemption, but, I don't think I can give Aiko that same chance, she's tried to kill me far too many times and has killed someone I care about even after coming out of a coma." Bruno nodded, "So what do you plan on doing?" Yoshiro didn't answer, it would seem the answer was clear.

Erasmus sighed, "I know you're blaming yourself for his death, Yoshiro. I know it's hard not to, but you need to realize that it wasn't your fault, he chose to give his life so that you may live on." Yoshiro sighed slightly, "I'm sorry, it's just, look at all these faces, they're new. A lot of them are expecting to find glory when all they're going to find is death. The officers know what's coming as do the veterans, but all of these rookies, they're going to either die or be broken by the events in the next few weeks." Walthari nodded slightly, "I can understand that, Yoshiro." Yoshiro picked up his food tray, "I'm going to head down to my quarters, I need to be alone for a bit if the three of you don't mind." None of the others voiced any complaints as Yoshiro stood up from the table and walked down the hallway to his room.

Once in his room, he sat at his table and slowly ate, watching the seas from his window. He would prefer to be on the back of Julius right now, but knew that Julius wouldn't be able to make the entire trip by himself. These dragon carriers, at full speed were faster than any dragon, but allowed the dragons a place to stay while they were being transported. He sighed and finished eating, pulling out his pistol and checking it, it had been heavily modified to use different types of energy ammo, including the Verbanan staple, Photonic and the Menschilche staple, Plasma. In addition, they had figured out how to make Incendiary energy rounds and Tesla, as well as figure out how to make a cryo 'energy' round. His pistol was one of the first modified to use these rounds. It didn't matter to him though as he put the pistol in a drawer and flopped onto the bed, closing his eyes and finally going to sleep.

[Akira110]

Chapter 8

Yoshiro heard the warning klaxons go off, meaning that the ship had encountered enemy forces. He rushed to his locker and put on his armor, placing his sub-machinegun in its particular holster, his pistol in the holster near his scabbard where his sword was. On his back he placed his sniper rifle and placed his helmet onto his head as he rushed quickly out the door and ran down the hallway towards the lift. Upon entering the lift, he noticed wyvern riders being part of the group. None of them spoke a word as the lift rose to the deck, it was eerily quiet, but Yoshiro was all too used to the calm just before the battle and he had a bad feeling about this one. Upon reaching the deck, he could see the enemy forces, a bunch of patrol boats, it wouldn't be enough to take down their ship.

Yoshiro ran to Julius, who picked him up and placed him on his back before taking straight into the skies. Yoshiro pulled his sniper rifle off his back and flipped it on, energy flowing through it finally. Julius heard the rifle switch on and started to immediately fly to a kilometer above the battlefield. Yoshiro looked down the scope and zeroed it in slightly, but what he saw shook him up. He noticed that the ammo was just laying around, that there was no real chain of command, it was as if he was fighting children. When he looked at the soldier, he noticed something extremely disturbing, signs that made him sick to his stomach, "I can't believe that the Menschilche would do such a thing!" Julius spoke up, "You haven't taken a shot yet, what's up, Yoshiro?" Yoshiro closed his eyes, "These people, they were child soldiers..."

Yoshiro noticed plasma shots fizzling out about four hundred meters below him, "Julius, I don't want to shoot." Julius sighed slightly, "Are they adults now? You said were, yes?" Yoshiro nodded, but suddenly noticed something in his scope as he zoomed out, certain enemy ships were starting to fire on other enemy ships, something in his gut told him he had to help the ones that were attacking, "Julius, I'm going to support a side, just hold on." He placed his finger to the radio that was put into his helmet, "Attention, Elvish forces, certain members of our enemy is attacking the others. It's a small force so I suspect that they're defectors. I'm giving orders to assist them." Yoshiro sighed and zoomed back in as he let go of the radio, he didn't really want to do this, but he had little choice now, since they were currently in battle and far from home.

Yoshiro calmed himself down and took aim at the ammo store of one of the ships, they knew he was here, but none of them had any sort of weapons that could reach him. It was his only real advantage, he took a deep breath and held it as he squeezed the trigger, sending a photonic energy round lancing into the target and igniting it, disarming them and damaging their patrol boat. He took a look at the next ship and noticed that one of them was taking aim, he quickly shot that person in the head, killing them near instantly and quickly shifted his aim to the ammo store which he fired at and ignited. He let out the air in his lung and readjusted his aim, "Julius, I need you to move to the right a little bit." Julius did so and Yoshiro took another breath in and held it as he took aim at another confirmed enemy, this time he fired at where they were keeping the hydrogen for the fusion reactor.

The enemy ship erupted into flames as the hydrogen ignited ignited instantly, he saw the enemy soldiers catch fire and his gut wrenched as they started to panic at this. He was forced to shift his aim to another enemy ship, quickly firing off two more shots, killing two of the people on board as he released the air in his lungs again, "Julius, my power pack's empty." Yoshiro took the depleted power pack from his weapon as Julius handed him a fresh one, "Here you go." Yoshiro nodded, "Thank you." He placed the power pack into his weapon and looked as the Wyvern riders below were giving the enemy forces a hard time, almost all enemy ships were either on fire or everyone on them were dead, he also saw a few of his allies floating dead in the water.

Yoshiro sighed and aimed down the scope at the final enemy ship, he saw a kitsune that vaguely looked like Aiko. Unfortunately for him, his mind wanted to play a trick on him and anger took hold as adrenaline started to pump into his blood, Julius noticed this change and pulled away, knowing that Yoshiro wouldn't be able to make that kind of shot under his current conditions and would be a danger to friend and foe alike. Yoshiro watched as the enemy ship was sunk by the defectors. Yoshiro sighed slightly as he placed his sniper rifle on his back again and hit his hand against his helmet, "Dammit!" Julius flew back down to the deck and Yoshiro climbed off of him to hear the defectors come aboard the ship, Yoshiro looked at them and turned away.

The memory of the people panicking while on fire entered his mind and he took off his helmet as he puked on the deck, he felt a female's hand on his shoulder and turned to look at one of the defectors, "Why would..." he turned away to throw up again, "a Menschilche bio-weapon want to help me?" The woman frowned, Yoshiro turned to get a good look at her, she was a Lynx neko, she folded her arms, "You're a soldier, just like us. We know what it's like and what you're going through, I just want you to know that you should leave while you can." Yoshiro wiped his mouth clean, "Ma'am, it's too late for me, by the way, the lot of you are all prisoners of war until you are cleared to fight for us, understood?" The female nodded, "I understand, Yoshiro." Yoshiro blinked slightly, "You have me at a disadvantage here, what's your name?"

A male Tiger neko spoke up, "Her name is Miriam and mine is John, we're the leaders of the defectors. When we left cryostasis about thirty years ago, we started forming our own community. Some people wanted a leader that would take them to battle, when Aiko arrived, most people followed her." Yoshiro nodded, "Alright, so why did you guys defect?" Miriam frowned, "Because some of us have children in the city we were ordered to attack." Anger ensnared Yoshiro's mind and adrenaline flooded his system anew as he punched the bulkhead near him with a resounding thud, "What!? They're ordering you to attack your own children!?" Miriam frowned, "Many of them don't even know it." Yoshiro was confused and angry, this wasn't like Aiko, "Go with the men in uniform, they'll take you to the brig, I need to stay out here and figure things out."

As they left him alone, Yoshiro walked along the deck, trying to piece things together, this wasn't like Aiko, in fact it was so much unlike her. He began to wonder if there was really someone behind her, or if she had really become a monster. He leaned against a missile launcher and sighed, he didn't have any answers and the events of the past week and a half were finally getting to him. He had no idea what he was going to do next, but he knew one thing for sure, for the first time in his life, he legitimately wanted to get revenge. For him, this was no longer about bringing someone's killer to justice, this was about retribution, clear and simple. He took one look at the sea and sighed as he turned around to head back to the lift so he could return to his room and meditate.

[Akira110]

Chapter 9

Adalwulf was excited, this was his first true foray into combat and he was going to be able to finally get to do his ancestors proud by fighting in battle. He checked his gear as he waited eagerly for the landing ship to finally let them onto the shore. They were being deployed near the city that they were tasked to defend so that they could catch the enemy in a pincer attack with the aerial troops giving them support from above, the plan was simple and in his mind they couldn't fail as he was part of the good guy team while these bio-weapons were the bad guys. His commanding officer looked back at the group, "All troops, you know the mission parameters, we are to help the defenses of this city drive back the invading Menschilche bio-weapons. Do not try to be a hero! I repeat, follow the briefing!"

The landing ramp went down and Adalwulf ran down it with the rest of his squad, he looked up slightly to notice a large green Dragon in the sky, he was annoyed that Yoshiro was part of this battle, but he looked back down to focus on the threat in front of him. He readied his rifle and started to open fire before diving into cover. Enemy fire started to rip overhead and because of his actions, the rest of his squad wasn't ready, he saw a few of them drop, he wasn't exactly prepared for this, but the adrenaline pumping through his veins caused him to keep going. Once there was a lull in the firing, he popped his head over his cover and started firing, killing several of the enemy soldiers. A friend of his came close to him and started firing alongside him.

Once the enemy stopped reloading, they started firing again, forcing Adalwulf and his friend to duck back behind cover, before they did so, they noticed that half the enemy forces were concentrated on the other flank. Suddenly fire erupted from the city, creating three fronts for the enemy forces to attack. Adalwulf felt confident and told one of his friends to move up, as he popped his head up to give him covering fire. All this accomplished though is that Adalwulf saw that particular friend die, this shook him up quite a bit, but he continued firing into enemy ranks, even throwing an activated grenade at them. He ducked behind his cover as the grenade detonated, he knew that it had killed a few of the enemy soldiers. He felt truly alive for the first time in his life as adrenaline flooded through his system.

He laughed a bit, "Hey, we're going to win this fight! They can't beat us! We're the good guys! We'll win by default!" Adalwulf popped his head from cover and started firing again, this time, his energy pack ran out, so he ducked behind cover to reload. However, he saw one of his allies back up and fall over his cover, with a hole burned through her head. The sight started to sicken him and his friend looked at him, "Adalwulf, I think we're in deep." Adalwulf laughed, "Nonsense, Ebert! We'll win this battle yet." Ebert sighed, "Listen to me, you're going through a combat high. You don't know what you're doing and it's clouding your judgement!" Adalwulf's tail started wagging, "If this is a combat high, I can't wait to see what it's going to be like in my next battle." Suddenly an object landed near them, Ebert recognized what it was immediately and grabbed it to throw it away. Before he could, it detonated and everything went black.

When Adalwulf came to, he felt an immense pain on his left side and noticed that he couldn't see out of his left eye, he started howling in pain causing medics to come over to him and try to sedate him, but he grabbed at one of their throats, "No needles! Just... stop the pain!" Yoshiro walked into the tent, "I was wondering when you'd rejoin the land of the living, your friend Ebert will be getting the Planetary Medal of Valor. He gave his life in an attempt to save the two of you from that grenade. It was his body that shielded you from the blast, though not nearly enough as you can probably guess." Adalwulf looked at his hand, it was badly burned, "How... how many of my unit made it out?" Yoshiro sighed and looked at the datapad, "Thanks to your eagerness to play hero, you're the only one to survive."

Adalwulf closed his good eye, "Yoshiro... I felt so good in the middle of battle." Yoshiro sighed, "All rookies get a combat high, it's when adrenaline floods your system, you can't think very well and all you can focus on is killing your enemies." Adalwulf started to cry from his good eye, "I feel like their blood is on my hands." Yoshiro placed the datapad next to the bed, "Welcome to war, Adalwulf, if you want a gun to blow your own brains out, there's no shortage of them around here. But if you want to redeem yourself, then leave this war, leave the military and try to be a civilian. There's no shame in it and your fallen friends will be able to rest easier knowing that you're no longer in danger." Adalwulf opened his eye, "Then why don't you choose to be a civilian?"

Yoshiro sighed slightly and leaned in, "Unlike you, I've learned about the harsh realities of war and I accepted them. You're just some two hundred year old Lupine that wanted to play hero like in all of the tales you hear. It cost everyone in your unit their lives, it got your friends killed and it got thirty percent of your skin second degree burns and another five percent of your skin third degree burns. Your eye is also completely useless and cannot be repaired. There are no heroes in this world except for those that give the ultimate sacrifice so that others may complete a mission." Adalwulf sighed, "You were right back then, you were right to tell me about all of that." Yoshiro grabbed a chair and sat down, "Kid, I'm sorry for the way that I treated you then. Nothing can justify what I said then and to be honest, I'm being rather harsh with you right now. But I'm doing so, because I'm tired of seeing young people like yourself throwing their lives away."

Adalwulf frowned, "Tell me, will I see the dead in my dreams?" Yoshiro nodded, "All of the time, Adalwulf. Because of what has happened to you today, I do not doubt that you'll have post-traumatic stress disorder. Look, I'm going to leave you alone for a bit, I got to go help with the search and rescue teams for a while, but I'll be back later to hear your decision." Adalwulf nodded as Yoshiro got up and walked out, he didn't want to show it to the older Kitsune, but he felt extremely guilty that he got his entire unit killed, and he really did want to kill himself. He looked at the scalpel on the table next to him and grabbed it with his good hand, and turned it against himself. Before he could stab himself with it, a medic wrestled it out of his hand and injected a sedative into his body, putting him to sleep.

[Akira110]

Chapter 10

Yoshiro walked through the city, with Yoshiko accompanying him, he walked over to a house that had collapsed and sighed, "Help me with this rubble." Yoshiko nodded and the two of them started pulling rubble off the ground, soon however, they found dried blood, and Yoshiko gasped, "Look!" Yoshiro shook his head solemnly, "Search and rescue isn't going to do them any good." He placed his finger on the radio in his helmet, "We need a cleanup team at my location, we got a house that has no survivors here." Yoshiro suddenly heard a groan from the rubble, some of it started moving, "We need a medic here, stat!" Yoshiro rushed across the rubble to where it was moving and started to move it, he saw a Kani laying there, "Are you alright, sir?" The Kani frowned, "Are my children?"

Yoshiro shook his head with a frown, "We found dried blood in the rubble, I'm sorry, sir." The Kani started to weep and Yoshiro started moving more rubble off of him, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to conserve your energy while I get this off of you." The Kani sighed, "You're Yoshiro... aren't you?" Yoshiro nodded slightly, "Yes, listen, if you just relax and keep your heart rate down and conserve your energy, we can save you." Yoshiro turned to Yoshiko, "I want you to use your fire magic to keep this person warm, alright?" Yoshiko nodded and placed her hands over the man's face, releasing enough mana to keep the man warm, but not enough to hurt him as Yoshiro continued to move the rubble off of him as a clean up crew and a medic arrived, the Medic looked at him, "How many survivors?" Yoshiro pointed at the Kani, "He's the only one." The medic nodded, "We got this, go help the others if you can."

Yoshiro grabbed Yoshiko by the arm and took her away from the scene, Yoshiko looked visibly distraught, "How... how can you be so calm about this?" Yoshiro sighed and looked her in the eye, "I'm not. The more and more you see it, the easier it gets to put on a mask and appear calm. The scent of blood was from three different sources. That man lost his spouse and two kids, no sane man can see that and not walk away without feeling some sort of sadness or anger." Yoshiko frowned, "I... I feel sick, Yoshiro, I just want to cry." Yoshiro nodded slightly, "I understand, Yoshiko. Do you want to go back to the palace, where you'll be away from the sight of this?" Yoshiko nodded slightly, "Please, Yoshiro." Yoshiro nodded and the two of them started to head back to the palace where the king of this nation was waiting for them.

Yoshiko frowned as they walked through the streets, "Tell me, what do you feel when you see this?" Yoshiro sighed, "Many different things, Yoshiko..." Yoshiko looked down and then back up at him, "Elaborate, please?" Yoshiro stopped and sighed, "Yoshiko, look around you. There are parents crying over their dead children, children crying for their dead parents. There are people who lost sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, even cousins. They've lost their friends and family, those who managed to escape unharmed by the actual fighting will suffer in the aftermath. Movies and games will portray them as being able to go right back to their normal lives, but they can't. These people are suffering because of what has happened, those bio-weapons had a target in mind and that target is in this city. Because of that... because of..." He looked away, "me, these people are suffering the way they are."

Yoshiko folded her arms, "Don't blame yourself, Yoshiro." Yoshiro shook his head, "I was going to bring Lilah back home in a week's time. She came to this continent for a vacation and ended up spying on things that were going on here. The reason she didn't communicate is so that they wouldn't find her and thus wouldn't be a threat to me and we'd be able to figure out what was going on and attack. But because of me, because I brought her here, these people are suffering. Seeing all of this affects me in many different ways. As a father, I'm saddened and sickened by seeing the parents weep over their dead kids. As a warrior, I'm enraged at this devastation, but I know that I've seen this all before and I know that if we didn't fight, it'd be worse. As a person though, I want to vomit, I feel sick to my stomach, this depresses me and will haunt me for the rest of my life. But I don't show it, because these people need hope."

Before Yoshiko could react, Walthari walked towards them, holding where his left arm should be, "Excuse me guys, I need to get to the infirmary before I pass out." Yoshiro sighed, "Yoshiko, set fire to his stump, Walthari, let go of where your arm was severed." Walthari did so, but Yoshiko hesitated, causing Yoshiro to get upset, "Yoshiko, if you do not cauterize the wound, he will bleed to death." Yoshiko nodded and set fire to Walthari's wound, Walthari nodded, "Thank you kindly. At least I'll be conscious til I get there, now." Yoshiro pointed to the infirmary, "Just... just go." Yoshiko frowned as she watched Walthari go off, "Why did he sound so angry just then?" Yoshiro started walking towards the palace again and Yoshiko followed him, Yoshiro sighed slightly and looked at her, "Yoshiko, he was flooding his system full of adrenaline just to keep himself conscious and keep himself from going into shock. You cauterizing the wound allowed him to get to the infirmary."

Yoshiko frowned, "You don't sound so upset about that." Yoshiro shrugged, "To be honest, he'll have a cybernetic replacement for a few months and then they'll have finished growing him a new arm from cloning his own tissues." Yoshiko huffed, "So a fully developed clone like me is illegal, but cloning a body part isn't?" Yoshiro patted her on the head, "Yoshiko, that law was done away with. Cloning people is now regulated, when people are incapable of having kids of their own, but want to have a child, they can get a clone of themselves or the mother/father. Depending on gender, that is." Yoshiro arrived at the Palace, "Yoshiko, this is where we're going to part ways, you'll be safe here and Nefari will take good care of you and Lilah. As for me, I've got to head back to help with search and rescue."

Yoshiko nodded and parted ways with Yoshiro, Yoshiro walked back towards the area and saw Bruno lifting debris off people. Something bothered him though, he saw certain kids separated from other children and he walked over, "Why are these kids separated?" Bruno looked at him, "One group of children are from here, the other apparently have bio-weapon parents. Thanks to our battle, we've probably orphaned many of them." Yoshiro sighed and walked over to both groups of kids, "Look, I'm not exactly good at this and to be honest, I never have been, but we'll try to find your parents as soon as possible. If they cannot be found, I promise each and every one of you that I will personally find you a loving family that you can call your own, even if it takes me a few centuries."

The kids all looked at him and then looked at all of the destruction, some of them started crying, with the older children trying to comfort the younger children. Yoshiro knelt down in front of them and one young child in particular crawled to him, he saw a name tag on her, which read 'Krezsentia'. Yoshiro recognized the name from idle chatter from Miriam and John earlier in the day, the young leopard neko looked up at him, "You smell of Miwiam and John. Awe you fwiend of theirs?" Yoshiro nodded and picked her up, he knew that he had personally orphaned this child and his heart broke at this, but he didn't dare show her this, "I'll take you to see the two of them. I promise, but first you'll have to let me help the people here." Krezsentia nodded and curled up in his arms, Yoshiro couldn't help but rock her to sleep as he continued to watch Bruno clean debris up.

[Akira110]

Chapter 11

Yoshiro woke up in a hotel room, he yawned and blinked slightly as he rubbed his eyes as Walthari walked over to him with his new cybernetic arm, "Hey big brother, I know you stayed up late last night, but it's time to get up." Yoshiro nodded and looked at Krezsentia on the other bed, "We need to keep her and the other orphans safe." Walthari nodded slightly, "Agreed, bout all I'm good for right now anyhow with this arm. I will warn you though, there's a crowd of people that heard that you're here and they're just waiting to pounce on you." Yoshiro sighed as he looked out of his window to see that Walthari wasn't lying, "Dammit." Yoshiro walked over to the closet and put his formal uniform on, "I have to go meet with Nefari and Bruno. Apparently an Eltiranan is at the Palace as well. I'll be back in a few hours, make sure that she stays happy."

Walthari nodded as Yoshiro walked out of the room and he walked to the door across the hallway from him. He pulled out a lockpick that he kept in his jacket pocket and looked around him to be sure that no one was watching as he started to pick the lock. When he heard the lock click, he turned the knob and entered the empty room, withdrawing the lockpick from the door and closing it behind him. He silently thanked Lilah for teaching him this as he opened up the window and climbed out of it, silently closing it behind him. He looked at the distance between him and the next building's rooftop and climbed onto the rail before leaping towards the roof of the adjacent building. He landed and tucked and rolled to avoid injury, standing up at the end of the roll with a smile as he brushed off his uniform.

While he didn't know this city as well, he was able to keep to the rooftops and generally out of sight of everyone as he made his way to the palace. Once near the palace, he finally returned to the ground so that he could walk into it without any sort of hassle. The guards looked at him and opened the gates, closing them behind him as he walked through and towards the front door where a Kani was standing there, the Kani spoke in a heavily accented voice, "Yoshiro, it is great to have you here." Yoshiro sighed, "I hope we're not going to get into hero worship while we're here, because frankly, I'm tired of it." The Kani shook his head, "Yoshiro, people need heroes to have hope, as a former king, I was hoping you'd know this." Yoshiro sighed, "Just... just take me to Nefari."

The Kani led him into a meeting room where the young Kani King sat at one end of the table, Takeshi and Bruno were both standing on one side, as an Eltiranan of the Ram Tribe stood at the other side. Yoshiro sighed and stood at the end of the table that was closest to him, "Where's Lilah?" Lilah walked into the room, carrying a datachip, which she placed into a computer on the table, showing that it was a screen, everyone looked down as she started to show pictures which Takeshi exclaimed, "I've seen one of these facilities. I raided one when I was younger. This is a facility that houses bio-weapons. Normally they engineer these children to be super soldiers or psionics, but I've seen some horrific experiments go on here." Bruno sighed, "How many soldiers are in this base?"

Yoshiro started to look at the diagrams of the base and the statistics, which included the purpose and the number of people in the base, "If we assail this with our current forces, it'll be a one sided blood bath. None of us will survive." The Eltiranan female looked at him, "That is why I'm here, in the next kingdom over, a Porcupesa kingdom, Lady Tiamat is waiting. Whatever lies in this base and bases like this are a threat to Eltirana, the Dragons and Verbana as a whole." Lilah spoke up, "I would like to keep my contacts alive if at all possible." Yoshiro nodded, as Takeshi placed his hand on his chin, "I'm getting too old to lead forces into battle, Bruno?" Bruno shook his head, "Out of the four Verbanans here, Yoshiro has the most experience on the field." Yoshiro sighed, "If no one else will be able to do so, then I'll once again lead Verbanan forces into battle." It wasn't something he wanted to do, but it was something he had to.

Nefari spoke up, "Yoshiro, if I may ask you something?" Yoshiro looked up, "Yes?" Nefari nodded, "Thank you, you speak with an elvish accent, rather than a Kitsune accent, why is that?" Yoshiro chuckled slightly, "Well the reason for that is simple, I spent most of my life around elves and only a part of that around Kitsune. My accent changed because of this." Nefari nodded, "Would you like to go speak to the troops?" Yoshiro sighed, "I might as well get this over with now, rather than later." He walked out and onto the balcony where he saw the troops that were still healthy, it wasn't a large amount, before he could even open his mouth though, someone screamed out, "It's Yoshiro! There's no way we can lose now!" This immediately pissed Yoshiro off, and he heard Bruno speak up, "Oh [censored]..."

Yoshiro slammed his hand against the railing, "Shut up! I'm tired of everyone treating me as if I'm this messianic figure that will deliver them to victory into war. Do you even know how many people sacrificed themselves just so that I could win all of my victories. Do you know how many people I have to look at their families and just say, 'I am sorry that your son or daughter died for nothing, because we couldn't win this war.'? No! None of you people even consider it! All you people do is listen to stories that people make up and expect people like me to come and pull your collective [censored] out of the fire that you get yourself into! I'm tired of it, this has been going on for over a hundred years now and it's getting real old!" One person in the crowd spoke up, "But you're a hero!" Yoshiro pointed in the direction of the warriors' graveyard, "Those people are your heroes! The people who gave up their lives trying to hold the line so that you could have enough time to succeed!"

The Eltiranan woman walked out onto the Balcony, "Don't mind them, Yoshiro, the younger generations give into hero worship." Yoshiro didn't even listen to her as he continued, "This is the problem, the living get remembered for the deeds that they do and the dead? They get nothing, if they're lucky, they get mentioned in passing and that's about it. All of you who think that I'm this great hero that can do all of this on his own, leave now, I don't want to fight alongside you. Those of you who know that I can't do this on my own, because a unit must stand united, come join me in fighting this threat, in fighting what my half-sister unleashed! I will not lie to any of you who choose to stay, some of you will die, maybe even most of you, but I would rather die fighting than roll over for someone like her. Those of you who choose to fight, meet me outside the city walls in two hours. Those who choose to leave, go home, there is no shame in bowing out of something you are not ready for."

Yoshiro walked away from the balcony, exasperated, "Tammy, I'm sorry that you had to see me like this. Time hasn't been exactly kind to me since I found out that Aiko still wants me dead." Tamara gasped slightly, "Wait, you recognize me?" Yoshiro nodded, "The Human-Verbanan war and the founding of the Eltiranan-Verbanan Alliance. The years have been kind to you, milady." Tamara nodded, "And you look as if you have been run ragged." Yoshiro sighed, "I have. With the death of my best friend, after having lost so many friends. Even fighting with my own brother in law, it's just, everything has been going wrong for me this past year, you know. I keep trying to think things will get better, but they never seem to do so." Tamara nodded and placed her hand on his shoulder as he sat down, "Don't give up, Yoshiro, you're stronger than that." Yoshiro nodded and looked at her, "I hope so... I honestly do..."

[Akira110]

Chapter 12

A day had passed and Yoshiro found himself in the meeting room of a castle in a nearby kingdom's capitol. He was wearing his cape which was a bit unusual for him, considering he was no longer royalty and had accepted the rank of Colonel. He sighed as he looked at Tamara from across the table and Nefari who was to her side. Lilah stood right next to him as suddenly Bruno and Mamoru walked into the room, "So, the king is getting ready to come in here and help us." Yoshiro nodded, but he wasn't ready for what he saw when the king walked in, it was a kitsune and for some reason, rage awoke deep within him causing his ears to go back against his head and his tail to start lashing violently, he tried to not bare his teeth, but he found it to be extremely difficult.

The king noticed this, "You!" Yoshiro grabbed the table with his gloved hands and started squeezing, as he spoke through gritted teeth, "Yes, I didn't die back then! Maybe you would like to tell everyone who you really are!" The King sighed, "Why bother telling them what they already know, you're the only one I kept deliberately in the dark, I've been avoiding you for the past couple of centuries, Yoshiro, if you haven't quite noticed. I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did back in my previous life, but I do want you to know that I'm willing to help you right now." Mamoru placed his hand on Yoshiro's shoulder, "Calm down, kiddo, Fumio isn't what's important here, it's my daughter and what she's unleashed, remember." A female dragon in Eltiranan form scoffed, "So this is the control of this great hero I've heard so much about."

Yoshiro sighed and tried to ignore that, "Fumio, I will never forgive you for what you've done! In trying to destroy me, because you thought I was this deathblood you instead created your worst enemy! You killed one of my best friends and your own lover and you expect me to sit here and forgive you!?" Fumio sighed, "Listen here, I've been living a life here on my own, I've got children and a family now. I'm not here to start problems, but it seems that you are. You can either calm down regarding our history or get out of this room." Yoshiro sighed, and tried using the techniques that Erasmus taught him to calm down, after a few moments though, Fumio spoke up, "Are we all calmed down now?" Yoshiro nodded slightly, "Yes." Fumio nodded, "Good, now as we know, the dragoness to my right is Tiamat herself. She's willing to spare dragon troops to help with this and Tamara called for a couple of regiments of Eltiranan troops."

Mamoru nodded, "The only Verbanan troops we have right now are the ones we brought with us and any troops that you can provide." Bruno placed his hand on the bottom of his muzzle, "Do you think that we can get some Lupine assistance here?" Fumio shook his head, "There are no mountain Lupines near enough to call for assistance and expect them to be ready, plus I doubt that they would listen to either of us." Yoshiro nodded, "Whether I like it or not, the forces are going to rally around me... they consider me some sort of hero figure..." Fumio looked up, "I know about that, but if you're the one that's keeping troop morale up, we need to keep you alive." Mamoru nodded, "The dragon armor that he's wearing should be able to help him stay alive."

Yoshiro pulled out a blueprint of something that he was designing in the meantime, "This is just a basic design of what I had, I call it the Dragon Combat Augments, it's a combination of Dragon and Verbanan technologies and hopefully I can combine Eltirianan tech into it." Tiamat looked at it, "And you assume that your friend would still be alive if you had this?" Yoshiro shook his head, he was visibly annoyed at the comment, "More people would've lost their lives, this is less a weapon of precision and more of a way to level the playing field between a normal verbanan and a combat vehicle. The design is to be a weapon of war, not a weapon of precision." Tamara blinked, "That's very odd, coming from a sniper." Yoshiro nodded, "I know, but I need to help my people out somehow, you Eltiranans are still more advanced than we are and as allies, I don't want our side to falter, leaving you guys out there to fight anything on your own."

Bruno sighed, "I thought you hated war, Yoshiro." Yoshiro closed his eyes, the faces of all of his dead friends flashed through his mind, the faces of every innocent person he saw dead or dying or even on fire flashed through his mind, "I do, but unfortunately, there are some people who will not stop attacking even if you surrender. A clearly defined enemy that is breaking the laws of war, needs to have force brought against it in order to defend our innocents." He opened his eyes, "I make no mistake in saying that peace will only last for so long and that war will start again, but I want to minimize the length and effect of war." Bruno nodded, "Ironic that you designed this." Yoshiro nodded, "Without Eltiranan or Draconic help, I can't fit the targeting sensors to make them precise. We don't have the technology, so Tamara, will you please help me?"

Tamara nodded, but before she could speak the doors flew open and a Kitsune stormed in, heading straight for Yoshiro. The Kitsune threw a punch and Yoshiro caught it, headbutting him in the face, "Masaru, what are you doing here!?" Masaru held his nose, "I could say the same about you, you're putting the entire kingdom in danger!" Yoshiro pushed Masaru back, "I'm trying to stop Aiko and the bio-weapons that she found, while you're doing nothing except from what I've seen, trying to stop me from stopping her." Masaru sighed, "Yoshiro, listen to me for a second." Yoshiro folded his arms, "I'm listening." Everyone turned to Masaru as he spoke up, "Aiko, was my first girlfriend. It's the reason she didn't hurt anyone in the city when I refused to give you up. I didn't know she had set up an ambush, but she demanded that I bring you out of hiding and give you up to her."

Yoshiro shook his head, "And you refused, which caused the death of my best friend, when you could've just had me come to the castle, I could've put a photonic projectile through her skull and this would be all over, but instead you decided to play a gambit and look at where we are now. Masaru, you are a foolish leader." Masaru sighed, "I'm sorry, Yoshiro, but listen to me, she told me that if you were to follow her, that she'd attack my kingdom next." Yoshiro shook his head, "The problem with that is, is that her base is on the border of this kingdom, if she were to make a move, we could intercept, and we left no survivors at the previous battle so no one got to her to make sure that I was here. For all she knows, I'm still grieving over the loss of my best friend back in your kingdom." Masaru nodded, "It's partially why I came here with Tsuyoshi so that I could appear as a delegate, trying to get a treaty between Fumio and I."

Yoshiro nodded, "It doesn't matter. How long until we can get the troops we need?" Tamara looked at Tiamat who nodded, "Sixteen hours and the Eltiranan troops and Dragon troops will be here. As for you?" Yoshiro sighed, "I'll be ready by then, I'll just go catch up on some sleep during the night and get up early in the morning, we need to make sure the rest of the troops do the same." Mamoru sighed, "Yoshiro, do you really want to lead the troops, I could take up the mantle, just like I did all of those centuries ago when the Menschilche ruled over us." Bruno nodded, "Or I could do so, since I am a king after all." Yoshiro shook his head and started to walk out of the room, "This is my duty after all, this is something I must do for myself and for the future. I'm sorry, but the Verbanan troops will rally around me, I wish it could be any other way, but because of hero worship, it has to be this way."

[Akira110]

Chapter 13

Yoshiro was flying on the back of Julius as they were heading to the Menschilche installation, Verbanan Wyvern Riders and both Verbanan and Eltiranan Dragons were flying behind him. He was going through the plan in his head and he started to crunch the numbers, unfortunately it finally hit him and he started to speak in Kitsune, "Julius wa, karera no zentai no chikara no taihan o ushinatta namamonoheiki wa, wareware wa hijō ni sorera o uwamawarimasu." Julius nodded, slightly, recognizing that Yoshiro wanted to keep this between them, Yoshiro sighed slightly and leaned in to whisper with his radio off so that he speak in private, "Julius, this is going to be a massacre... only one person need to die today." Julius whispered back, "I know, Yoshiro."

Yoshiro sat back up straight, he could feel the rage eat at his mind, but no sooner did he turn his radio on, did Fumio's voice come over it, "Yoshiro, are you there?" Yoshiro sighed, not even bothering to hide his annoyance, "What is it?" Fumio sighed, "Listen, I know Kimiko and the others have forgiven me, I know Emiko has forgiven me, but yet you hold onto your hatred of me. Why is that?" Yoshiro scoffed, "Anata ga kirainahito, watashi ni hijō ni chikakatta hito o koroshimashita." Fumio was silent for a minute, "The Kani girl." Yoshiro yelled into his radio, "She had a [censored] name! Her name was Katriina! And she gave her life so that I could live, do you realize how many people have done that since! Every time someone does so, I have to relive that horrible moment! It's torture and it's because of you that I have that memory! I hate you for everything you did to me!"

Fumio just sighed slightly and Yoshiro took a breath, "I hate you, when I saw you again, I wanted to put you back in a coffin. I still do and the fact that I'm working with you sickens me." Fumio's voice spoke up, "Look, nothing I can say will undo what I've done, but I've worked to turn myself around, Yoshiro. I want to redeem myself and I want to earn your forgiveness, I'm asking for a chance, my great-grandson. Please, give this old deity a chance." Yoshiro sighed and looked at Julius, "Isthasy, jalla si onelka Fumio?" Julius turned his head and looked at him, "You hold onto your hatred of him as if it sustained you, Yoshiro. If you continue to hold onto it, it will eventually consume and destroy you. I want to see you forgive him, if not for his sake, do it for your health."

Yoshiro closed his eyes with a sigh, "Fumio, you're lucky that Julius was willing to tip things into your favor, otherwise, I wouldn't have even given the idea of forgiving you a fleeting thought. I am only the last person to even consider this, because you've been avoiding me." Fumio sighed slightly, "I know you'd never forgive me, and I know that you'd be more than happy to burn a hole through my skull with that rifle of yours. Yoshiro, you are not a killer, no matter how much you want to tell yourself this. You have always been willing to forgive people, always have been willing to extend mercy to them. You were even willing to spare some of your greatest enemies in the past, but yet you're going to go kill Aiko without a second thought. Yoshiro, what happened to cause you to be like this?"

Yoshiro sighed as he saw the enemy installation, it wasn't all that impressive, he noticed people on the ground with weapons, "This is going to be a bloodbath..." Fumio's voice spoke up, "What is?" Yoshiro sighed slightly, "If only I could broadcast my voice, Julius, I need you to speak to them." Julius nodded, "What do you want me to say?" Yoshiro sighed slightly, "Tell them that they're outnumbered and that they cannot win this battle, that the only way they're going to walk away from this alive is if they put down their weapons and surrender." Julius nodded and repeated what Yoshiro told him, yelling it out so that the enemy forces could hear it, Yoshiro watched as some of the enemy forces dropped their weapons and Yoshiro switched his radio to the frequency used by the Verbanan forces, "Listen, attack only those that remain armed."

Yoshiro saw something fly towards him at high speed, he didn't know what to make of it, but Julius moved out of the way as Yoshiro spoke up into his radio, "Do not engage the lone aerial bogey, that's mine." Yoshiro watched as Julius turned around and Yoshiro got a good look at what it was, "I'm flattered... someone made a combat droid in my image." Yoshiro pulled out his pistol and switched to the tesla energy pack, "Ready, Julius." Julius nodded slightly as the combat droid looked at him while flying, readying its sword. The two of them started flying at each other, Yoshiro firing at the combat droid as the sword caught him square in the chest, the armor keeping it from going through, but the force was enough to knock him back, Julius raising his tail to prevent him from falling off. Yoshiro coughed slightly as he sat back, "That thing's electronically shielded. I can't fry its components."

Yoshiro moved up on Julius and he put his pistol away as the dragon flew away from the battlefield to turn around for another pass, "Hmm. What do you think we should do, Yoshiro?" Yoshiro sighed slightly, "I don't know." Yoshiro watched as Tiamat landed on the ground and looked up at the combat droid, "Looks like she wants to watch how I deal with this." Yoshiro breathed in and concentrated, he felt his mana flow through his body as Julius started flying towards the combat droid, his own light magic formed a sword of his own thanks to the magitech within the armor, "Hopefully this will be enough. Ready, Julius." Julius nodded, "As I'll ever be." Julius flew at high speed with the combat droid flying at them, the combat droid adjusted course to hit Yoshiro instead of Julius, Yoshiro noticed where it was aiming and leaned slightly to force it to make a correction.

As the two of them started barrel closer and closer, Yoshiro leaned back at the last and lowered his head to duck under the arm as he stuck the magic sword into the chest of the combat droid, solidifying the light once it was in. Yoshiro let go of the sword the moment he did so, his mana no longer connected to it meant that it would fade away. As he turned around though, he found that he had done significant damage to the combat droid and switched his pistol to incendiary rounds, firing a few of them into the chest cavity, overheating and destroying the droid. He watched as it fell to the ground, breaking upon impact and Julius landed in front of the base. Those that had surrendered had been led away from it, those who didn't were dead, he sighed slightly as he looked at the door where Lilah was standing, "Well Julius, this is it. I'll see you in a little bit. Lilah, come with me." Lilah nodded and walked into the base with Yoshiro.

[Akira110]

Chapter 14

Yoshiro and Lilah both walked through the Menschilche installation unopposed, Yoshiro didn't care though as he kept one hand on his sword. He however started to hear a female panting and noticed the sound of running. He started to walk in that direction to see that it was Aiko fleeing from him. Yoshiro growled slightly in anger and started to walk towards her, when Lilah spoke up, "Yoshiro, do you feel that?" Yoshiro didn't even look at her, "Feel what?" Lilah sighed, "There's a psionic here, Yoshiro. His attention is focused on the two of us, specifically you." Yoshiro nodded slightly, "I'll keep my mind shielded then." Lilah frowned, "This happened before, don't you remember, you told me with Tatsuya and Hiroshi, that apparently Hiroshi tried to use psionics on you and nothing happened."

Yoshiro sighed, he didn't quite have the time as he walked into the same room as Aiko who looked deathly afraid to see him. Yoshiro looked at his half-sister and started charting at her to grab her and put her into the wall. In his mind he visualized beating her to death with his own two hands and that's what he wanted to do to her for the death of Rogelio and the blinding of Erika three hundred years ago. Fortunately for Aiko, he didn't get to go that far as a shadow grabbed his arms and legs, stopping him from moving. Aiko noticed this and started to try to flee, but the same thing happened to her, Lilah looked at Yoshiro, "This is not you, Yoshiro. This isn't the man I fell in love with." Aiko looked confused, "I thought you had a wife!?" Yoshiro struggled against the shadows that were holding him back, but knew that he was wasting his time.

Lilah frowned, "Yoshiro, the Psionic isn't affecting you... is he? This is all you... isn't it?" Yoshiro nodded slightly, "Yes, when I was younger, I learned that my brain is wired differently so to speak. I've also learned that for every psionic in a group of children, there is one that cannot be affected by psionics. Two sides of the same coin. Whatever this psion is trying to do, it's not affecting me. I want to kill Aiko, who by the looks of it is having her fear amplified. Aiko, I'm going to give you one chance and one chance only, where is the psion?" Aiko pointed towards a door fearfully, "Please let me live!" Yoshiro started to turn his attention towards the door, "Lilah, let me go." Lilah did so and Yoshiro walked over to the door silently, when he tried to open it, he noticed that it was locked, so he pulled out his pistol and fired until he melted a hole through it.

When the hole cooled down enough he grabbed the door and forced it open and walked through, the door closing behind him. Yoshiro sighed slightly as he walked down a corridor, he heard a voice speak up over a speaker, "Are you sure it's wise to leave the two of them together in there alone, Yoshiro?" Yoshiro ignored the voice as he continued walking, soon entering a chamber where he saw a silver Kitsune standing in the center, "So you're the [censored] behind all of this." The silver kitsune turned around to reveal that he was a she, "Yes, Yoshiro, and because you laid eyes upon me, you'll have to die. But you wouldn't shoot someone that's unarmed, now would you?" Yoshiro raised his pistol and aimed it straight at her, "There's nothing you can do that will stop me from firing this pistol. You killed men, you've killed women, and you've killed children, their blood is on your hands." The silver Kitsune looked at him with a sultry gaze, "Well then, why don't you come and experience the wonder of being with a silver."

Yoshiro popped the power pack out of his pistol and switched to a plasma battery, "You know that your mind tricks don't work on me, correct and that even if they did, I find you repulsive. But, I'm feeling generous, I'm going to let you choose how you're going to die. Will you die unarmed, or with a weapon in your hand." The silver Kitsune leaned forward, "You want to play with me, Yoshiro, you don't want to hur—" Yoshiro interrupted her by firing two shots into her chest and a third into her head, "Articles of War, section thirty-two, subsection B, paragraph 15: All psionics engaged on either side of a conflict are considered lawful combatants whether they have a weapon in hand or not." Yoshiro turned around, "I hope you carry that information into your next life."

Yoshiro walked back down the corridor to find Lilah and Aiko standing there, Aiko looked less afraid than she was, "Is it over?" Yoshiro put his gun away, he was still pissed off at Aiko, "Take off your sleeves." Aiko gasped slightly, and Yoshiro snarled, "Take them off!" Aiko grabbed at her sleeves and tore them off to reveal cybernetics, Yoshiro sighed, "As I thought, you were revived using mechanical parts rather than cloned parts. That psion was using you as a tool to further his own agenda." Aiko backed up a step, "What's going to happen now?" Yoshiro sighed, "Against my better judgement, I'm going to let you go, I cannot say for sure how much of your actions were yourself or were that psion." Aiko looked down, "She amplified my own emotions, I hate you, but I'm also scared of you." Yoshiro pointed towards the exterior door, "Go, leave now and never return." Aiko nodded and started to walk past Yoshiro when he spoke, "Oh and by the way, if I ever catch wind of you plotting my death or hurting anyone innocent. I'll find you and then I'll kill you, slowly. Are we perfectly clear?"

Aiko gulped, "Yes!" Yoshiro watched as she ran off to get away from him and Lilah looked at him, "Aiko told me about the combat droid. The psion had it built to kill you on the ground and without your magitech. It was based off your past combat data, it was rather fortunate of you to get that armor when you did." Yoshiro nodded, "I had this armor made because I needed a new set at the time. Nothing more. By the way, Lilah, you know that I can never love you in the same way as you love me, right?" Lilah looked down, "I know, you're happy with Elbereth and that's what I want to see." Yoshiro nodded as the two of them started to walk out of the base, "I understand, but there is a way for you to love me without having to worry about my feelings." Lilah frowned slightly, "What's that?" Yoshiro looked up at the ceiling, "Become my sister." Lilah blinked and stop, "Wait, are you serious, Yoshiro?" Yoshiro nodded, "Lilah, you've been part of my family for a while in all but title, the case was the same with Rogelio."

Lilah nodded, "Thank you, brother." Yoshiro nodded, "Don't mention it. As for why I was merciful to Aiko is because of you. Rather odd than an assassin is the one that stays my hand. Thanks for making me not ruin the memory of Rogelio by avenging his death like that." Lilah nodded, "So what are we going to do next?" Yoshiro sighed slightly, "Help with reconstruction and then go back home, I have to find Krezsentia a new home and probably start an orphanage of my own, Elbereth has been talking about it for a while and to be honest, I don't mind. These kids that were affected by this war need to find good families." Lilah nodded, "That sounds rather nice." Yoshiro nodded slightly, "Of course it does, hey, would you like some coffee?" Lilah chuckled, "When we get back to a city, Yoshiro." As the two of them walked out into the light, they saw Julius waiting for them, Yoshiro smiled softly as if a large weight was removed from his shoulders, "Let's go back to the city."