Francis sighed. “Hammer, tune up that lie detector and try this on for size. I don’t give a damn about Roosevelt’s buddy. We’re only here because we got a message saying that places with lots of Actives congregated might be in danger. Don’t know what, but from the message I’ve got a gut feeling it could be really bad.” As soon as he said that, he began to develop a splitting headache. “Ow, damn it. Now get out of there. See?”
“You’re telling the truth.” Hammer breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I was worried there y’all were about to do something incredibly stupid. It didn’t feel right.”
Thankfully the headache let up when her Power did. “Great. Now scram back to your boss and tell him we’re the good guys. We’re going to keep an eye out for… something.”
“Uh huh… Something.” Hammer went over to the trunk and pointed at a short-barreled Winchester Model 12. “You using that?” she asked Jane.
“My hands are already full.”
“Mind if I borrow that?” Hammer picked up the shotgun, checked it, and pumped a round into the chamber. Then she picked up a box of buckshot and started shoving shells into her coat pockets. “I’ve seen what you Grimnoir’s idea of something is. Your last something stomped on half of Washington.” Agent Pemberly Hammer of the Bureau of Investigation set out into the woods. “Come on. I took the tour with Director Hoover last week. I know a good spot on a rise where we can see most of the town.”
The three knights watched her go. Dan hoisted up the backpack and BAR. “I should’ve packed more sandwiches.”
Free City of Shanghai
Toru had not seen this memory before.
Okubo was sitting on the mat in his study. The doors had been slid open, providing him with a better view of the manicured garden. He had been watching flower petals float down the stream and inspired, had called for his servants to bring his writing desk. He had put quill to scroll and was attempting to capture the moment in a poem.
Hattori waited patiently for his Lord to finish writing. It was not good to interrupt the greatest wizard in the world when he was trying to write poetry. Okubo scowled and marked out a line. Sometimes even the best amongst them could be frustrated when he simply could not find the words.
“Small moments of beauty… They may seem a trifling thing for warriors to contemplate, especially when compared to the mighty events surrounding us, yet it is still important to take the time to appreciate such things,” Okubo explained as he went back to writing. There was no need for someone of his status to make apologies, so he was merely speaking because he felt like it. “A warrior must understand what he fights for in order to strike with a pure heart.”
“Of course, my Lord,” Hattori said, his voice sounding far too deep.
“What do you fight for?”
The question caught him off guard.
“What brings you here, my son?”
Hattori was gone. Toru was not watching a memory at all. He was sitting across from his father. He froze. His blood turned to ice. His stomach filled with pained knots. Realizing that he was not even bowing, he quickly placed his forehead to the floor. “Forgive me, Chairman!”
“Rise, Toru. Such deference is not necessary. I no longer hold the office of Chairman because I am dead. I am merely a restless ghost, unable to move on.”
Toru lifted his head. Tears filled his eyes. “I have failed you.”
“No. It was I who failed. In looking to the future, I tried to shape the world in my image. I was so focused on my great goals that I failed to see the small darkness hidden among my closest followers. I have often warned that the Enemy was not to be underestimated, yet I was guilty of this myself. I prepared to counter its fearsome strength, and did not realize it was capable of subtle trickery.”
“Is the world lost, then?”
“No. Though you are close, you are not dead yet, and as long as a warrior’s heart beats he may still strike at his foe. There is more to be done.” Okubo Tokugawa stood, walked over to Toru, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You are my son. I can no longer fight in this battle, but you will serve in my stead. I did not choose a successor before I was taken. That was an error caused by my hubris. Fate placed you in the path of these events, and you have valued truth above glory. Honor over tradition. You have proven yourself worthy to be my heir. The survival of the Imperium is your responsibility now. The future of the world will be decided by your actions. The future of our family is in your hands.”
Toru was so choked with emotion that he could barely respond. “I will not fail.”
“I am humbled by your devotion. I have many regrets from my life. One of them is that I did not realize the greatness inherent in some of my descendants. I am pleased with you, Toru… When you call upon me in your greatest time of need, I will grant you strength.”
“I will not fail!” Toru bellowed again.
“Awake.”
“Awake!”
A hand slapped him in the face. Toru groaned and cracked his eyes open.
He was upright, being held in place by chains wrapped around his arms, legs, and torso. It took him a moment to realize that he was still wearing the Nishimura armor, everything but the helmet. He tried to move, but it had somehow been depowered, and his limbs were sluggish and did not respond. Some form of stifling magical effect had been placed upon him.
The Iron Guard who had struck him stepped aside. Once again, he was staring into the face of Okubo Tokugawa, only this was the imposter. This was the villain. This was the pawn of the Enemy. How could the others not see? He would have spit in that face if his mouth hadn’t been so dry.
He was dressed for ceremony, wearing his military uniform, chest covered in medals and ribbons. “Well, if it isn’t the traitor,” the imposter sneered. “How pathetic. Once a fearsome Iron Guard, the finest possible example of an Imperium warrior, and now you are chained to a dungeon wall like a common criminal.”
“I am not common.” Toru gritted his teeth and concentrated. He couldn’t even curl his fingers into a fist. It was like he’d been paralyzed from the neck down. “You are a traitor, Dosan Saito, and I will kill you.”
The guard did not need to be prompted. He backhanded Toru in the mouth.
The imposter smiled. “Save your energy, Toru. This man is of my personal guard. They have already been… augmented.”
Toru’s eyes grated in their sockets as he studied the Iron Guard. He looked completely human, only with dead, unfeeling eyes. This warrior had been a man once, but now he was a puppet made of flesh. Toru was disgusted.
“You have been trying to plant seeds of doubt into their heads, like Hattori did to you. I know that was what you were attempting with your brazen entrance into Shanghai. You hoped to scare me away. You wanted to make the warriors doubt their Chairman with your wild rumors. Sadly, some of the seeds which you have been spreading have taken root among the men. I cannot allow that. I must crush all doubt. That is the only reason you are still alive.”
Toru wanted to choke the life from this man, but he was helpless, and that was infuriating. “Why do you serve the Pathfinder? You were a friend of Okubo Tokugawa!”