Session 7. (11/12/04)

In this omnibus edition of The Stone 4, the Troubleshooters make a big push towards finishing episode 1. At the end of the last show, Kimori's wife had been taken hostage by the Sharks yakuza, and Sugiyama had received information from his ninja infiltrators giving the location of a Sharks base in the Chiba district. They put two and two together and decide to hit the Sharks base, but Mariko is still worried about which one to hit - the one in Chiba or the one in Yoshima where the secret doshin (a.k.a. ninja) were ambushed. Mariko is concerned that if the bases are close to one another they will need to hit both, but a quick check on the map shows them to be at opposite ends of the city. Sugiyama figures that the Sharks' Yoshima base will be abandoned by now, but curiously no-one goes to check this out.

As night falls, Emiko and Komako (still AWOL from the sumotori stable) scout out the Sharks' Chiba base and report back to Mariko so that she can use her mastery of battle tactics, boosted by the semi-magical book "The Art of War", to plan the attack. She decides to use some of Sugiyama's "plain clothes" doshin and some of Kimori's pupils to cordon off the area and prevent any yakuza from escaping - in particular to stop them taking any hostages away. The Troubleshooters gather behind the building, which is part of a long terrace of ramshackle, two-story high-density accommodation. There is a large yard at the back with a bath house in the middle. Sugiyama goes in first, using his skills to climb up to the roof, sneak in and find the prisoner. As there are two doors at the back of the building, Mariko and Komako take up concealed positions near the right door and Kimori and Emiko wait by the left door.

Sugiyama climbs like a cat onto the roof and just as silently lifts some tiles and slips into the roof void. Finding a room, he listens then makes a tiny hole in the ceiling and looks through. He sees a yakuza asleep below. He cuts a larger hole and drops to the floor, unsheathes his katana and silently kills the yakuza (double budo). He then looks into the corridor, sees no-one and nips across into the room opposite.

Meanwhile, the other Troubleshooters are waiting with a mixture of apprehension and impatience for the pre-arranged signal to attack. Unfortunately, Mariko skipped the chapter on "Attacking an enemy building with a small force" and failed to pre-arrange a signal, so the two groups have to rely on their native wit to decide when to attack (oh dear!). Unable to communicate with the others for fear of being heard, Mariko and Komako enter the building. Kimori and Emiko wait for the sound of fighting before they enter. Mariko and Komako are in a hallway leading to a corridor, with stairs on their right and a room on their left. They enter the room and find a rather surprised guard. They charge him and Mariko strikes with her knife while Komako flattens him with a critical kick. They tie up the unconscious guard and move on.

Upstairs, Sugiyama sees the room he is in is empty and moves up the corridor to the next one. A sign on the door says Drug Store but this is crossed out. He listens at the door, hears nothing and moves on. Outside, Kimori and Emiko wait for the sound of fighting before they enter. Mariko and Komako sneak out of the guard room, close the door and cross the corridor. There is a door opposite - Mariko listens, hears nothing and tries the door, but it is locked.

Sugiyama goes to the next door and listens. He hears someone inside and tries to open the door quietly but finds it locked. He picks the lock, still without raising any alarm. Outside, Kimori and Emiko wait for the sound of fighting before they enter. Mariko and Komako go to the next door and listen. They hear someone snoring so they creep inside. Unfortunately the handle slips from Mariko's grasp and the door rebounds with a loud "OOM" and Komako knocks over a vase which smashes with a "PAH" and the yakuza jumps up in fright. He grabs a sword and catches Mariko with a critical hit that sends her flying, but Komako gets his own critical hit and ends the fight. The yakuza leader is defeated.

Upstairs, Sugiyama finds Mitsumi (Kimori's wife) in the locked room. He unties her, then goes to the door to peek out and listen. He hears muffled sounds from downstairs. Outside, Kimori and Emiko wait for the sound of fighting before they enter. With the muffled sounds of fighting hanging in the night air, they finally enter the building. There is a short corridor with several doors. Emiko tries one on the right and finds herself in a store cupboard. Kimori tries one on the left and finds himself in an empty kitchen. Also on the ground floor, Mariko and Kimori emerge from the room and listen for sounds. There seems to be a bit more movement elsewhere in the house. They try another door but find only an empty room.

Back upstairs, Sugiyama tries to unlock the door to the "Drug Store", so that Mitsumi can hide there, but he fails to pick the lock. Meanwhile, Kimori and Emiko have found an eating room. It is empty, but as they turn to leave a yakuza bursts in and hits Emiko, then trips on a low table and dazes himself. Emiko hits him back and Kimori finishes him off. Another yakuza runs along a corridor straight into Mariko and Komako. He fails to land a single blow while being knocked unconscious.

The whole building is now full of the sound of running feet and shouting. Sugiyama and Mitsumi start heading towards the stairs, but a yakuza running along the corridor sees them, attacks, fumbles his sword and runs away again. Sugiyama makes a heroic leap to catch him, but as he moves to attack trips over the dropped sword and the yakuza gets away. Kimori and Emiko head upstairs and meet a yakuza coming down. He swings at Kimori, but Kimori gets in two deep cuts and Emiko's prod with her bo staff sends him tumbling down the stairs, all but dead. Mariko and Komako continue along the downstairs corridor and split, intending to do more damage. Mariko goes into an empty room but Komako finds a senior yakuza sitting at a small desk and a brief fight ensues, Komako emerging victorious.

Upstairs again, Sugiyama chases the fleeing yakuza and runs straight into at least 10 yakuza emerging partly dressed from the various sleeping quarters. Sugiyama's eyes sparkle when he sees so much budo; Mitsumi's eyes also sparkle. Sugiyama attacks. Fortunately only two yakuza can get in position to fight him at once, and Sugiyama makes short work of the first. The second opponent puts up more resistance and twice hits Sugiyama with his kiseru before Sugiyama gets a critical hit and finishes the fight. A third yakuza attacks while Sugiyama is busy with the others but fails to hit. Kimori comes round the corner and finds himself at the back of the queue of yakuza waiting to hit Sugiyama. Not being one to wait in line, Kimori cuts the last one down in two blows and advances one position. Emiko meanwhile has taken a detour into one of the rooms. It is empty, but she can hear sounds of the occupants dying nearby. Downstairs, Komako joins Mariko in what appears to be a briefing room. A locked door to an office is turned into a wooden doormat by Komako's foot and they go through and start searching the office.

Sugiyama moves onto his next opponent and fells him in two blows, taking a light wound from each yakuza attacking him. He turns on the other and fells him in two blows also while a third opponent moves in and inflicts a slight graze. Kimori also cuts down two opponents in two blows each, but no-one is able to lay a weapon on him. Emiko waits patiently in line and tries to avoid the blood splatters. Down in the office Mariko and Komako find some accounts but little else. Mariko heads back down the corridor to check the stairs where they came in.

Sugiyama and Kimori mop up the remaining yakuza without further injury. A lone yakuza slips past Kimori and attacks Emiko. She has trouble wielding her staff in the low corridor and manages to fall over and daze herself. However, the yakuza fails to hit her and she gets up, whacks him a couple of times then lands a critical (and painful) blow and he crumples. Mariko finds Mitsumi at the top of the stairs and starts leading her out of the building. Komako goes ahead to check out the back yard and is hit by a kiseru wielded by one of the outside guards as he emerges. Komako fights back and they trade blows, but Komako's strength and skill make it a short fight (no, I mean he won).

The doshin and eta are sent for to take away the unconscious and the dead. The Troubleshooters search the building thoroughly, helped by Emiko's trance, but find only a few weapons and some money. The "Drug Store" contains medicinal herbs and preparation of narcotics, but nothing very interesting. Mitsumi is overjoyed to be reunited with Sugiyama Kimori. Emiko heals the wounded Troubleshooters.

The next day the Troubleshooters take their findings to Lord Chozo. He tells them that he wants his documents, and Sugiyama is to use whatever methods he likes to interrogate the prisoners. He tells Mariko to discredit the sumotori in her news sheet, then the Troubleshooters are to get rid of them. Mariko gives Lord Chozo the yakuza's accounts for tax purposes.

Komako theorises that the Sumotori might have the documents, and forms a plan for getting back into the stable. Mariko goes down to the news office and writes a superb story about the plans of the Sumotori to return the old daimyo to power. Emiko takes the news sheet to the Isaniwa shrine and makes a complete mess of reading it out. The crowd reacts angrily to hear the young priestess defaming their heroes. Emiko hurriedly makes her way to the Shrine of Shizari where she put up a much better performance and the crowds seem convinced of the Sumotori's evil scheme. Sugiyama interrogates the prisoners, but is quite gentle with them, perhaps put off by his bungled questioning earlier in the week. He learns that the yakuza work in a hierarchy under Marumo, one of the yakuza killed in the raid. Who he works for was not discovered. The kidnapping of Mitsumi was a trap for the Troubleshooters. The yakuza he questioned claimed not to know about any stolen documents. Sugiyama tries to cook up a potion to loosen tongues, but it doesn't work. Instead he tries a spell, Memory Gongs, to erase the memory of his questioning from the last yakuza to see whether, if he is inventing answers, he comes up with the same ones. This works, and he learns that Marumo reports to a man called Wada who visits occasionally from somewhere in Kochiba district. He still doesn't know about any stolen documents, a break-in or a dead burglar, and when asked about the ambush at the yakuza school in Yoshima ward he refuses to answer. Sugiyama doesn't press any further. At the Sumotori stable Komako reports to the oyabun and explains that he was picked up by the doshin at Lord Chozo's orders, but didn't reveal anything and was eventually released. The teachers are a bit suspicious but Komako answers all their questions eloquently and is allowed to resume his duties.

The next day Komako and the Sumotori put on a show in Matsuyama. Mariko shows up just before the Sumotori make their political speeches and tries to use her rhetoric to turn the crowd against them, but she is booed off stage. Mariko is disappointed, but Emiko, who accompanied her, had noticed that the crowd was smaller than usual. When the Troubleshooters meet up later in the day Kimori reports that in fact the word on the street shows that most of the population is now against the Sumotori and their plans; it is just the die-hard fans that refuse to believe the stories, and as they are the ones still going to the shows, Mariko was preaching to the wrong crowd. The Troubleshooters decide to raid the stable that night.

Kimori, Mariko, Sugiyama and Emiko meet near the stable's rear door after dark. From Komako's descriptions they know the stable consists of a u-shaped building with a dojo in the centre and a large yard at the rear surrounded by a high wall. The rear door is barred, so Sugiyama scales the wall with feline ease and quietness, drops down and opens the door. The others slip inside. They notice a guard standing near a shrine on the back wall. Sugiyama sneaks up, and using Silent Kill first knocks the guard down then kills him. The party moves quietly to the dojo, then up to the three sets of sliding doors to the dormitory and burst in. After a few moments' confusion and random blows in the semi-darkness, the four Troubleshooters find themselves in a crowded room with about 20 trained fighters. It is at this point that Mariko again wishes she'd read the chapter on "Attacking an enemy building with a small force"; but it was dull reading and had hardly any pictures, so she can only think to herself "I've started, so I'll finish - or be finished!" With at least three opponents for each Troubleshooter at all time, it is a target-rich environment. In the first round Kimori, Sugiyama and Mariko all get two hits while all their opponents miss, obviously put off by the sharp weapons (they have only hands, feet or blunt instruments). However, Emiko loses control of her bo, stuns herself and falls down. Kimori finishes off his opponent and starts on the next while taking light wounds from three sumotori. Sugiyama and Mariko land two more blows each on their opponents, while others try to grapple them. Two sumotori grab Sugiyama's arms; Sugiyama struggles and breaks the arm of one of them, but the other manages to break Sugiyama's arm. He pulls free and kills one with a left-handed sword blow while weaving his body to avoid the blows raining in, but then decides to go and get help and runs for it. Mariko finally finshes her first opponent while Kimori finishes his second. All this time Komako has been staying out of the fight trying to decide which side to join. Honour demands that he joins the Troubleshooters, but it will blow his cover and besides which, it might hurt! At the moment the fight is 2 versus 18, with successful and critical (but fortunately minimal) blows landing on the 2, but Kimori lands a critical blow, doing 51 damage to a sumotori with 6 hit points, reducing him to soup, and Komako's mind is made up. At first he gets in the way of the sumotori, then starts tripping and hitting them. Soon he has laid out one of the sumotori, Kimori finishes another and Mariko damages a third. Out in the street, Sugiyama finds a doshin post and sends the single doshin there to get more. Then Sugiyama returns to the fray. Kimori finishes another in two blows and starts on Sugiyama's discards (one stuns Kimori and the other sprains both knees in separate botched attacks), while Emiko heals his wounds. Mariko finishes her opponent and moves onto her last two, which have been raining in blows but only landing one each so far. Sugiyama sneaks back and kills the one who broke his arm outright with Silent Kill. Komako spars with one opponent until the sumotori is dazed, then Komako chokes him. Emiko returns to the fight only to be immediately dazed by a flailing nun-chaku. Kimori comes to her aid and kills the sumotori with a single blow, his ninth victory. Mariko nickel-and-dimes her way to three victories and Emiko finishes the last with a critical sweep of her bo staff knocking him out with one blow.

The Troubleshooters high-five (except Sugiyama, but Emiko soon fixes his arm), but out in the yard Komako spots the more senior sumotori trying to escape through the back door. They are intercepted by the oyabun who sends them back to deal with the Troubleshooters. Time for the Main Course!

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