Session 30. (22/2/08)

This episode, which is looking increasingly penultimate, begins with a flashback that explains Sugiyama's absence from the second day of battle, shown last week.

Sugiyama listens to Kimori saying, half-seriously, that they should eliminate the enemy commander in the night. Sugiyama says nothing, but later in the night slips out of camp. The shogunate army has camped on the west side of the battlefield, and there is an inn just beyond, on the Matsuyama road, that looks too tempting a billet for the enemy commanders to resist. Sugiyama has no trouble sneaking through the enemy lines and then up to the inn. He explores the outside. He makes a noise at one point, but Jimmu the guard is oblivious. There are guards on the gates, in the yard and on the inn's main doors. There are some troops camping out in the inn's gardens. However, Sugiyama spots a couple of servants' entrances that appear to be less well guarded. He creeps up and slides a door open. Unfortunately it makes a loud creaking noise, and Sugiyama hears the noise of men with swords scrambling to their feet. He hides in the shadows of the second servants' door, but when the guards emerge, one spots him and shouts to the others to get him. Sugiyama makes a tremendous standing jump and leaps onto the roof above the door and lies still. The guards have lost him, so they fan out to search the vicinity. Two guards remain behind to guard the doors.

In a sudden flash forward to day 2 of the Battle of Kumo Valley, we see Sung in an encounter with a L4 bushi. Sung is doing it by numbers: 8 damage, 7 damage, missed, 8 damage, 7 damage, killed. Sung himself receives just 4 points of damage.

Back in the past, Sugiyama takes his scabbard and uses it to throw his voice towards some trees about 50 yards away. He imitates the guards' accent as best he can and calls out, "He's over here - I've got him pinned down!" The guards all fall for it and rush off, all except the guards in the doorways. Sugiyama curses, then drops down and attacks one of the doorway guards. Unfortunately he stumbles as he lands, and the guard gets the first attack, but misses. Sugiyama strikes for 10 then gets critical hit for 12. One of the guards searching outside sees the commotion and cries, "He's over there!" Sugiyama is spurred on by the sound of ten pairs of running feet approaching, and kills the guard with a hit for 11. Moving quickly but quietly, Sugiyama checks the room and sees that it is empty. He goes through it and emerges into an empty corridor. He heads towards the back of the inn, hoping that the VIP guest rooms are there. He reaches a corner of the corridor and hears footsteps approaching. He backs into a cupboard and hides. A patrolling guard comes round the corner, giving Sugiyama an excellent opportunity for a Silent Kill. The resulting critical hit double his maximum damage and kills the guard in one, gaining Sugiyama double budo. He stores the body neatly in the cupboards and moves on.

Another flash forward to day 3 of the Battle of Kumo Valley sees Sung fighting a L3 bushi. Once again it's 6 damage, 8 damage, bad miss, 6 damage, opponent drops sword, 7 damage, killed.

Sugiyama advances to the door of the VIP guest room and listens. It is all quiet. He slides the door open a crack, slips in and crosses the room. The commander is sleeping near the window; a servant is sleeping near the door. Sugiyama stands over the commander, sword raised. There is a commotion in the corridor, but the commander doesn't hear it. Sugiyama strikes, but only does 6 damage. The commander is dazed and Sugiyama manages a second Silent Kill, this time doing 18 damage. The commander reaches for his sword as Sugiyama strikes again for 9 damage. The commander gets a blow in, doing Sugiyama 5 damage; Sugiyama responds with 7. Now two guards rush in and join the fight. Sugiyama hits the commander for 9, but the commander hits him in the eye, half-blinding him and doing 6 damage. The other guards hit for 4 and 2. Sugiyama swings and misses. The commander lands another hit for 5. Even the servant gets in on the act, hitting Sugiyama on the back of the head with a pillow block for 5 subdual damage. Sugiyama grabs the commander and starts to throttle him, doing 4 damage. Sugiyama uses the commander as a shield to hold off the other guards, but the servant hits him again for 6 subdual. The commander shouts hoarsely at the guards, "Get him - through me!" Sugiyama twists his neck and kills the commander, then, facing the guards, almost dead and blind in one eye, jumps through the window and into the garden of the inn. There, Sugiyama finds himself surrounded by about 20 bushi with swords drawn. He realises they were the ones camping in the garden. They ask if he wants to surrender. Sugiyama raises his sword, but the servant is on his blind side and, with the wooden pillow block, turns out Sugiyama's lights.

Another flash forward to day 3 of the Battle of Kumo Valley and Sung is fighting a L4 bushi. Sung is very inconsistent: 9 damage, miss, bad miss and dazes self, stands dazed, miss, critical hit for 18 points of double damage, 6 damage, killed. The L4 is much more consistent: miss, miss, miss, miss, dead.

Now captured, Sugiyama is tightly bound and guarded. The army's second-in-command (now first-in-command) tells Sugiyama that he will be taken with them as the army advances on Matsuyama. "You will be executed at Matsuyama castle along with Chozo and all those other traitors," he spits. Sugiyama is taken to a store room and thrown in. He looks around for anything that might help, but finds only a potato peeler that looks like it might do d1 damage in a fight.

Back up to the present we catch up with the remains of the allied armies fighting a rearguard action on the road to Matsuyama. Komako has taken command of the army as Kimori is indisposed; the army cooking, which gets you every time, has ravaged the troops and Kimori is now leading the diarrhoea-guard. The Shogun's armies are snapping at the heels of the allied forces, so Komako leads small groups in skirmishes to slow the shogunate troops down. Komako is nowhere near as good at strategy as Mariko, but he does his best and manages to hold up the Shogun's advance effectively for the loss of only 100 troops. Meanwhile Sung is riding hard and fast for Matsuyama and should be there within two days.

Back on the original battlefield, Mariko and the small band of allied soldiers that got cut off at the end of the battle are still fighting but surrounded by many more troops. Mariko's tactics keep the losses in balance, but individual encounters are whittling down the numbers. Mariko herself encounters a L5 bushi who immediately weighs in with hits of 7 and 16. Mariko replies with very average tanto wounds of 5 and 5. The bushi scores another 9 and Mariko is almost finished. She scores another 5 then misses. The bushi misses. Mariko lands another 5 point his, then another. The bushi misses again… and again. Mariko gets another 5, the bushi misses, Mariko misses, the bushi hits - for 9 points, felling Mariko and taking her to the brink of death. Everything goes black.

Also near the battlefield is Emiko, hiding in the wooded slopes, trying to find her way back to the main army. Unfortunately she is soon spotted by some Shogunate troops and they give chase. Emiko runs quickly, but the guards are quicker. She puts on a spurt, but they match her. With about a dozen guards behind her, Emiko uses two blessings to boost her speed and leaves them in her dust. After a while she can see no more pursuers, so she slows to a walk. However, her desperate flight has taken her back up the Valley of the Spider, and before long she encounters three jikumo (earth spiders). Emiko fetches the first one a good ding with her fire staff for 8 damage, but though she manages to fend off two of the spiders, the third gets a bite and injects her with a lightning narcotic poison. Emiko goes out like a light.

Meanwhile, Sugiyama is being held in the inn and starved. He loses 3 health levels and suffers 6 subdual damage.

The following day dawns and Komako continues to lead the ravaged allied army towards Matsuyama while holding off the Shogun. Although Komako's knowledge of strategy could be written in haiku form, his battle tactics are excellent, scoring a maximum against the shogunate commander's minimum, and inflicting a loss of 600 while losing only 300. Komako personally accounted for 3 heads, while taking 5 damage.

Sung rides hard and reaches Matsuyama by midday. He immediately reports the outcome of the Battle of Kumo Valley to Lord Chozo. Sung kneels before the jun-daimyo, hoping his temper is good and that he doesn't believe in killing the messenger. But Lord Chozo just declares that he will not wait for the Shogun to besiege Matsuyama Castle but will instead send his army out to meet the shogunate troops outside the city on the Ishikawa river. He just hopes that Kimori brings back as many troops as possible, and that his allies in Kyushu can get troops here in time. Lord Chozo instructs Sung to ride back to the battlefield, locate Mariko and bring her back to command the Iyo army in the final battle. Sung sets off and rides hard, but for some reason he is not as fast while riding towards 78,000 enemy troops.

The other three Troubleshooters are experiencing similar though separate fates. Sugiyama wakes to find himself dragged in chains behind the advancing shogunate army. He is still being starved and loses 4 health levels and suffers 8 subdual damage. Mariko wakes to find herself under close guard and being transported along the coast towards the north east. Emiko… doesn't wake up; she's still knocked out by the spider venom.

The next day, Komako again skirmishes with the Shogun's troops and again gets a minor advantage, killing 100 shogunate troops, two of them personally.

Sung rides hard and gets past the two armies coming the other way. He has nearly reached the battle field when he is blinded by a flash of light in the sky. He looks up to see Koei hovering above him on her Wings of Heaven spell. She tells him that she has seen Mariko being taken away further up the coast; Koei couldn't help her because the army is protected by some high-level Shugenja. However, Koei has a mission for Sung, one much more important even that rescuing Mariko. It involves a journey into the mountains. Koei leads the way. Sung, with nothing better to do now, follows.

Sugiyama continues his starvation diet and loses 7 health levels and suffers 7 subdual damage. Emiko wakes to find herself in a locked room… again. By dint of listening to a conversation in another room she learns that she has been taken to Takamatsu, capital of the turncoat daimyo of Sanuki. Realisation dawns that one of the speakers is Mariko. Mariko is also confined to a room, where the commander of the shogunate forces occupying Takamatsu is talking to her. He says that as the wife of a daimyo (of Awa-Isi) she will be spared. If she behaves herself then her Troubleshooter colleagues may also be spared.

The next day Komako skirmishes with the Shogun's armies. He holds off the advance guard and loses no men. He has done well to delay the shogunate advance by a whole day, but now they are nearing Matsuyama and have just one more river to cross.

Up in the mountains, Koei leads Sung up and up, through the snow. On the slopes of Mount Ishizuchi, they come to a cabin. Koei goes in and introduces Sung to a young woman and a baby. "This is my son," says Koei. "I am going to see my sister, the Empress, to fight for my son's inheritance - the Imperial Throne. Now you must hurry to take him to his father, Lord Chozo's son Chaji. He doesn't know about the child, but he will be able to look after him until I return - if I return." With that, she casts a spell and takes off (literally). As she goes she calls out, "Don't let the Shogun get the baby!". She flies north east until she is out of sight. Sung is stunned, but sets about rigging a basket behind his saddle and, with the baby and its clothes in the basket, he sets off for Matsuyama.

Mariko is negotiating with the shogunate commander, though she has little to bargain with. The commander says that she will be returned to her husband on Awaji island so long as she promises to put down her arms. Awaji will be put under embargo and her husband will be forced to go to Edo for a year. Mariko tries to insist that the other Troubleshooter be spared. The commander says that Emiko will be spared, and the honourable ones among her party.

Sugiyama is dying. Although he is getting used to the constant hunger and rallies somewhat, the lack of food has reduced his health to a critical level. The shogunate army is on the outskirts of Matsuyama and his end is near. Only the sight of the mountains of his adopted home give him some comfort.

Sung is making his way through the mountains towards Matsuyama. It is hard going, but by mid-afternoon he has reached the end of the mountain chain and the Iyo plain lies before him. Before making the last push to the city he nips behind a tree as nature calls. When he returns to his horse the baby's basket, and the baby, are missing. Panic-stricken, Sung looks round for the baby. There are no tracks, but he catches a glimpse of movement in the distance to the south and sees it is a human figure dressed in white. He gives chase and eventually ends up at a solitary mountain hut. It has gone dark. Inside the hut, a pale, beautiful woman is holding the baby. She says, "All I ever wanted was a baby," over and over again. Sung says, "Give me the baby." She says, "I will give you this baby if you will give me a baby of my own." Sung looks into her eyes and sees both honesty and desperation. Sung sighs and takes off his armour.

In the morning, Sung wakes to find that the woman is gone, but he remembers her words in a dream - "Don't tell anyone about this or you will regret it." He puts the baby in the basket on the horse and rides down the mountain to Matsuyama.

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