[Plot Topic] Today Marks the Day of a New Beginning || (Kojuro, Nobunaga )

Pushing his glasses up on to the bridge of his nose, Kojuro gazed out at the horizon, the glass between him and the clouds felt like a barrier. Running his hand through his short hair he let out a heavy sigh. Today was the day, the day that goals become reality, and yet he showed no enthusiasm. Was it because he waited for so long, and it wasn't what he dream't of?

Or was it perhaps that this was the slow part of the plan, getting there? Kojuro walked back, away from the glass. He was in his quarters, a big wide open room, with his desk, and a beautiful view of the clouds. The sun was setting, which was a shame, cause he hoped to see the horror on peoples faces as he destroyed their happiness. At least the fires would look great from above.

Nobunaga was to be with him, he was actually expected to arrive at Kojuro's door within a few minutes. They were to discuss strategy about invading the Dark Nation, though it would be simple, a few bumps along the road were expected, however, Kojuro planned to squash the hopes of the people, and you can do that if a hero arises. Kojuro giggled to himself as he imagined taking that hero and humiliating him in front of the public.

He had information on the royalty of the Dark Nation, there skills, and training. Age, everything. They were a younger couple, intent on ruling with fairness. How quaint. He brushed his hand over the paper work on his desk, he obtained pictures with each of these. Helios Game, King; his mother, Shiki Game. His hand brushed past those and his eyes fell on the sisters. Arlania Shir, Commander of the armies; and Skylar Shir - Game, queen.

He felt a smile come across his face as he stared at her picture. Skye Lynn Shir, before the end, he would get his revenge by making her squeal and beg for death. Oh what a sweet release.

His attention fell to the door as it opened, a hired solider stepped in, " Sorry about the intrusion sir, He is Here. " Kojuro sat down in his chair and folded his hands together in front of his face, once again pushing his glasses up he simply said, " Send him in."

Nobunaga was here to crush the royals of his nation. The stupid misguided royals who had no business ruling a nation at such a young age. They were children, not rulers, and their misguided folly and dreams had damaged the nation. Now it would be Nobunaga, and the Order of the Seven Thorns who would exact revenge, and they would do it in the name of their Supreme Leader and master.

As the Supreme Leader's chosen one, the one to lead the others, Nobunaga had special privileges. And one of them was choosing who he got to go with. This time, he chose Kojuro, though he was very tempted to go with Shingen and take down the Empire. He hated them as much as he hated the Game Family. They had subjugated the Dark State for three decades after all. It was time they paid. But no, his place was here with his nation. Here with his wife.

As he walked along the hallway towards humming his favourite tune from his favourite play and poem, Atsumori. The play told the story of Atsumori, a young warrior about the age of 15, who was forced to fight in a war in the ancient Fire Nation. Atsumori was killed however, by a Fire Nation solder, Kumagai Naozane. Naozane, many years later, is the lead character of this play, and is now haunted by the guilt of killing this child in the war despite being proud of it at the time. He took up refuge in a spirit shrine, becoming a monk, but is still haunted by Atsumori's ghost. Through the play, Atsumori takes up the facade of a young page to the monks, and eventually reveals himself as Atsumori's ghost.

The ghost appears to Naozane, now called Rensho, a monk at Tokudai-ji, the Fire Nation's largest and oldest Seishin temple, who is performing prayers for Atsumori to rid himself of his guilt. Atsumori attempts to haunt Rensho into reenacting the battle of Ichi-no-Tani, the battle where he died, but when Rensho refuses to reenact his role in Atsumori's death, Atsumori's soul ends the haunting and forgives Rensho, asking him only to prayer for Atsumori's spirit's release and good fortune.

Nobunaga loved the play. It meant a lot to him, and was based on many stories that drew from the Fire Nation Civil War under Fire Lord Nara. The story it drew from most heavily was Heiki Monogatari, the Tale of the Heike. This tale told the story of Atsumori, and focused mainly on him and his tragically portrayed death. But mostly, it dealt with the impermanence of all things. Nobunaga could not agree with literature more. The play, the book, they both said the same thing. Nothing is permanent, everything comes full circle, and all things must die. We are nothing before fate.

Nobunaga turned left down the hallway, the only sounds were his metal armoured feet against the metal floor and his humming and singing. "In truth, this world is not eternally inhabited. It is more transient than dewdrops on the leave of grass, or the moon reflected in the water." Nobunaga passed the window, and looked down at the water, then with a smile, knowing he would be there soon, continued his song as he walked towards Kojuro's office. "After reciting the poetry of flower at Kanaya, all glory is now left with the wind of impermanence. Those who leisurely play with the moon of southern tower, now hide in the cloud of Saṅkhāra. Human life lasts only 50 years, Contrast human life with life of Geten, It is but a very dream and illusion. Once they are given life from god, there is no such thing don't perish. Unless we consider this a very seed of awakening, it is a grievous truth indeed."

The famous phrase was Nobunaga's favourite. Often he shortened it down to a poeticized and simpler sentence. "Fifty years in the mortal world is but a fleeting moment in Geten. All things born into this world...must eventually perish." As he finished, Nobunaga was staring at the face of Kojuro who had heard him down the hall was looking straight at him through the newly opened door. "Ah, Kojuro," said Nobunaga with a smile, faking it the whole way. Nobunaga hated smiling, even if he respected Kojuro, "Shall we begin the planning? Tell me, Kojuro the Wise, what have you thought up so far?"

Casually raising an eyebrow he looked at Nobunaga, who was just, Singing? Kojuro just shook his head and acted like his Supreme Leader, wasn't just doing what Kojuro thought he was doing. He stood up and walked over to Nobunaga, bowing respectfully, " Thank you, for your presence Nobunaga." He said politely. Deep down this put a tick in his jaw. He had known this man for a long time, why is it now that Kojuro had to act like a puppet on strings to this man.

Kojuro didn't care if he was the 'Chosen Leader', however, to avoid having his manhood boiled in front of him, he did as was needed. " Looking at the blue prints and layout of the city that is provided, the Dark Nation Capital has a simple layout." He said as he curved his hand gently around a rolled up scroll.

Taking that scroll, he rolled it across the desk, it was a detailed map of the Capital, it took quite a bit of money to get his hand on that actually. " By simple i mean that the palace is the center of the Capital, a usual. Signifying that the Royalty are the 'Heart' of the Dark Nation. " He snickered a bit to himself, and these fools want to promote unity...

He presses his finger to the map, " Here is the Operational Base for their military. As you will notice, instead of having them scattered around the capital, they have one base, for everything. " He traced his finger all the way back to the Palace, It was a great distance away, and as you could guess, that was the only place a airship could land in the city.

" Lucky for us, it would be one of the first areas on the coast we encounter." The Dark and Light States were Islands, found off the coast of the Vermilion Empire. The capital of the Dark Nation, was presses right into the coast line, so they didn't have to travel inward.

" We take that out, we take with it any chance of escape. " It would also be a perfect place for them to dock and send out some foot soldiers. Being on the coast, the Royal Family could just simply escape into the forest, but either way, they would be found, on an island, you can only hide for so long.

" As for the Palace, it is surrounded by gardens, and other.... flammables...." Kojuro grinned slightly, " Burning the surrounding area prevents them even escaping into the city. " He had plans for the Royal Family, he wanted to see the fear he invoked upon them.

He started to get excited, It was almost time.

Nobunaga listened to Kojuro's plan. Good, but it needed some adjustments for just-in-case situations. "It's good, but modifications need to be made," said Nobunaga simply, leaning over and pointing at the map, "I recommend coming at the city from the water. Line up the Airships side to side, it makes them look more threatening." Nobunaga motioned with his finger the path that the Airships should take, "Then, once we reach the bay, divide into two groups. Four airships shall stay to guard the bay incase the Empire sends naval help, and while they're there destroy the docks so that no one can escape by ship, private or commercial."

Nobunaga circled the bay and docks with his finger, indicating where he wanted the four airships placed as he spoked. He wasn't taking the chances of smugglers getting away with the Royal Family and taking them to safety, and Imperial intervention would be a problem. As much as Nobunaga hated them, their military prowess was scary, and while their navy was not as feared as the Water Tribe's, their weaponry more than made up for their lake of water bending, making them just as a formidable opponent. "Send the other six airships to the military base," explained Kojuro, "Take out that Airship tower first, drop bombs all along the way. Kill as many civilians as necessary to prove a point."

"They need to know that we forgive none, and all shall fall under our grasp," explained Nobunaga, "Make them fear us, make them worry about what we may do next, who will die next. They'll be too afraid worrying for their own lives to care about whatever we do politically. They'll be on a relatively short leash anyway once we're in charge, if the Supreme Leader has anything to say about it." Nobunaga then examined the military base. Ground support and Airships in the same place. The ground support had a few tanks, but not that many, maybe only a single platoon, and that was the only heavy firepower their foot soldiers had right now. The military was new, still being trained and developed by the Empire so that the Dark Nation could stand on its own without them.

"When you reach the base," explained Nobunaga, "Destroy everything. Flatten it. Do not leave a single thing alive, or a single building standing. Burn it to the ground. Kill anyone inside, be they man, woman or child. I don't care if their military or family. Destroy them." Next was the ability to stop the royal family from having time to plan an attack. "When your airships read the military base," said Nobunaga, "Have the ones at the dock release half of their troops, and then wait half an hour for them to release the other half. We have 30 000 soldiers, and 10 airships, leaving 3000 soldiers per airship. Send the first 6000 towards the palace as a diversion. They'll send out soldiers to defend, make sure these six thousand are heavily armed and armoured, leave a majority of the first four airship's heavy weaponry with them. They're going to stall the enemy army."

"They'll expend many resources to try and take them out, even more if they're heavily armed," stated Nobunaga as he pointed to the main street leading to the palace, "We need to make it look like we're heading to the palace. They'll fight fiercely to stop us, sending their bravest warriors out to die." Nobunaga smiled wickedly, "When the 6000 sent to distract the remaining foot soldiers no inside the military base reaches half strength, meaning 3000 soldiers still alive, or when you eliminate the base, whichever comes first, have the other airships release the other 6000 troops to support the first 6000. The palace will have no choice but to send more reinforcements to their soldiers fighting in the streets, leaving it with even less soldiers to guarding the royal family."

Nobunaga's master plan was finally coming to a close, all he did was take Kojuro's plan and improve it a bit, "Once the airships are done destroying the military base, move towards the palace with the 6 that did so. When you reach the palace, surround it, block it in, and land. Release the remaining 18 000 foot soldiers, and send them in to storm the palace. And we have checkmate." Nobunaga stepped back from the map, and waited for Kojuro's response. It was a lot of talking, no doubt he would need ample time to take it all in, and examine the plan from both sides to look for cracks or weaknesses.

Nobunaga was a war man, he was a wise strategist, and it was no wonder why the Master dubbed him the leader. Kojuro ran over his detailed plan in his head, it seemed over excessive a bit, barely leaving room for a Dark Nation to live at all, it isn't fun to rule over rocks and sticks. Yet he agreed to what he said. Kojuro rolled up the map and walked over to the window pane.

The moon had begun to arise and you could see it through the orange clouds ahead. On the horizon, was the Dark Nation. It was time. " We are here Nobunaga, " He said as he slid the scroll into a desk drawer.

He summoned for the guards outside the room to ready his armor. Kojuro Katakura, he had waited for this moment for a long time. And as they assembled his armor by piece, they were nearly open the shores.

Each of his generals were about to assemble together to discuss the strategy that Nobunaga and had just come up with. The first one to arrive was Nohime.

She barged in, just as always without an announcement. Not like she cared anyhow. She strode into the room and instantly sat herself in top of Kojuro's desk. He just shook his head and proceeded to check the fitting of his armor.

" Shujin, what are we looking at in terms of being able to kill someone today?" She said looking over at Nobunaga, and back down to playing with her own hair. A sadist at heart, Nohime relished bloodshed, and found that this was all a game she had the privilege of playing in.

Kojuro turned around to see the rest of his Generals filing into the room, they had only twenty minutes before they would reach the shores of the Dark Nation Capital city.

He pushed his glasses up and cleared his voice, " Today, we stand for our Master! When the fire's burn, or we have men die, it is not all for vain. This is a night for Revenge! To take back the humiliation and suffering they have put on our Supreme Lord, and reign down upon them. I want to see the Dark Nation willow in pain, and fade away with the ash! Let us crush their hopes, their dreams, and their pride! "

Kojuro picked up scrolls that laid scattered across his desk, and handed one to each of his nobles. They have fought hard and strong to get this far, what would become of them if they were to fail now.

Nobunaga watched as Nohime entered the room, sitting herself in the middle of Kojuro's work. He couldn't help but smile. His wife had always had a nonchalant attitude and cared little for much more than herself. It was that that had attracted Nobunaga to her, that and her lust for killing. She had originally been sent by her father, Saito Dosan of the famed Saito Clan, to kill him, as Nohime a murderer and assassin by heart. Nobunaga wasn't foolish, and made it very clear that if he sensed even a bit of treason he would kill her. "Nothing was permanent, least of all marriages, and all things born into this world must eventually perish." That's what her told her.

Since then however, they had been the perfect couple. A pair whose blood lust had bound them closer than any other noble couple in the world. Nobunaga had no need for concubines, for he had Nohime. And though she was barren, and could not produce children, Nobunaga cared not. He did not need anyone to carry on his legacy, for eventually it would be destroyed and his house shamed. Descendants lead only to peril. Nothing was permanent. No, Nobunaga's Legacy would live and die with him, so that none who came after him would tarnish it.

Nobunaga watched as Kojuro dressed himself in armour and made his small speech. It was more of a paragraph really, but regardless it did what it was supposed to do, sort of. As the other nobles left to suit up for battle, Nobunaga laughed at them as he knew that he always wore his armour, and never needed to remove it. "Kojuro," said Nobunaga as the others left, himself waltzing towards the door, "Nohime and I will lead the battalion that will serve as a distraction to palace guards and soldiers alike. Take the main forces to the palace. The Supreme Leader is watching, and I told him this is all your plan, so get this done fast."

With that, Nobunaga left the room, Nohime following him. Nobunaga walked towards the deployment docks, where the soldiers he was leading would be sent into the city from. As he waited for the soldiers to gather, he commanded from those who were present, a bowl of yuzuke. A precooked ball of cold rice, stored in canisters for long journeys in order to feed armies and a two bowls, one empty and one with hot water. When the food came to him, Nobunaga placed the yuzuke in the bowl, and poured the hot water over it, stirring it around in order to loosen up the rice. It was no the finest of meals, but it was Nobunaga's favourite, especially before battle. Once he had finished, having eaten it all while standing, Nobunaga commanded that some be brought to each of the soldiers that were to follow him, even those on the other two ships. An army marches on its stomach, after all.