Into the Fire Once More: Book 1 of Death's Own Daughter

by Jessie Wolf

  “Oh, I called by her real name, not the English one she used for the Military High Command. For some reason she decided to use a name of English origin. But sounded close enough to her real name. What I called her was Suzume Nanami. You will have to ask her why she changed her name though.” Came her reply.

  I was about to ask that very question when I noticed we were going through a gate that had to be close to 80 feet tall and almost 100 feet wide. I mean fracking HUGE, not just big. Each door half had to be close to two feet thick and if I had to guess their weight I would say each one was one to two hundred tons. That was how big they were, but as big as the doors were, what was on the other side was even more impressive. Dee De gave me a quick run-down on what they were. On each side of the driveway was what could only be an Assault Class, Armored Power Suit, both of which were R9-A3 Rhinos. 100 tons 80 feet high and packing twice the firepower of a single Marauder. Those beasts were not to be taken lightly. As one pilot I knew when I was younger once said, “It’s all fun and games until the assault Suits step out to play.”

  The Estate Guard's Rhino

  D.D.A.I.: R9-A3 RHINO ASSAULT CLASS ARMORED POWER SUIT

  HEIGHT: 80 FEET

  WIEGHT: 100 TONS

  MAIN WEAPONS: 2 150MM RAILGUNS, 3 150MM PARTICLE PROJECTION CANNONS

  SECONDARY WEAPONS: 10 50MM RAPPID FIRE PLASMA LAZER RIFLES CHEST MOUNTED IN THE LEFT & RIGHT SIDES

  “My God! What in the world are those beasts doing inside the fence? More to the point, what and why are they even here? I thought we were going to see my great aunt not the P.D.F. Head Quarters?” I asked of my companions with some amazement, only to hear a round of giggles from all three. Looking over at them I can tell that I have said something that has hit a funny bone with them all. I wonder if the conversation I had with my maids in the M.C.U. over four hours ago had anything to do with it. “Were those the power suits of your husband’s ladies?” At their nods I continue. “I see why now you had made the comments that you did.”

  “Gin and I did not mean to be disrespectful in our questioning of you earlier, Lady Maiha, but we have never been able to see the beauty in such massive machines. The one on the right, with the dancer in the moonlight painted on the sides, is Moon Light Dancer, my husbands. The one on the left is Cherry Blossom which belongs to Gin's husband. Now do you see why we could not find the beauty in them that you or they do?” Kina asked with respect. Now that I see their husbands power suits I understand their bewilderment.

  I am having a hard time finding the beauty in those monsters, but then again that was never a Death Dealers forte. We always believed in stealth over mass fire power to win. We were specialists in guerilla warfare, not head to head front line battles. That’s not to say we couldn’t do that kind of fighting, we just preferred a more subtle approach to war.

  “Ladies, I must apologize. I had no idea of what is obviously so apparent now that I see your husband’s machines. I too would find it difficult to find beauty in them, but then again, thanks to my grandfather’s teachings, I have a frame of reference with which to compare and I will tell you this. Those are no ordinary power suits.” As I looked at them I could tell that they wanted to know why. “Those are the power suits that other power suits fear. A friend of my grandfather once said, and I quote, ‘It’s all fun and games until the assault Suits step out to play.’ Until now I had no clue as to what he meant, but I definitely do now.” I said, with no small amount of awe. To see not one, but two Assault class Power Suits, was anything but normal outside of a P.D.F. To see them on guard duty for a House unit was almost enough to short out what little was left of my mind.

  “My uncle must have either ticked off the Commander again, or decided to be your welcoming committee along with his lance mates.” Suzume commented.

  Looking over at her I realized once again just how sharp of a mind was hidden by the Maiko make-up. This, for me, was still a mystery despite having them explain it for me. I just don’t understand how Susana appearing as a Maiko is going to shame her father. Oh well, not my problem. “Excuse me Lt. How do you wish to be addressed when we reach the main house? I don’t want to cause you any undue problems.”

  “Well my lady, now that I have finally left the P.D.F. and the High Command, I will return to using my real name... Suzume Nanami Walking Water.” She started to explain. “I only took the name of Susana because no one could properly pronounce my first name while I was at Central Command back on Earth Prime. Everyone just thought my name was Susana not Suzume Nanami. After a while I got tired of correcting them and just went by Susana.”

  “Will you be wearing your uniforms again or are you staying with kimonos’?” I really wanted to know, because I didn’t want to be the only one who was always in extremely feminine clothing. “I just want to know if you will be staying on as my military secretary. That is the position for which you were transferred from the P.D.F. to the Nakatoma Shogunate. I believe you should be in the uniform of the House Troops if you do accept the posting.”

  “Oh yes ma’am, I will be taking the posting if my father will allow it. If he doesn’t, I will have nowhere to go. My aunt has already contacted a Geiko for me to be her Maiko.” Then she bowed deeply saying. “I am not your responsibility. No, my future is in the hands of my father. By tomorrow evening I will either be in uniform or at an okiya in the Honshu’ district.”

  I can tell you right now that does not sit well with me. No sirree bob. She is not going to be a Geisha, not if I can help it. “I can tell you this much. You will not be going to an okiya. This I promise. Because as of one minute after I take the throne as Head of House, your father is retired. I cannot, and will not, have a man who would go so far as to disgrace his own child by having them become a spy.” With that comment I could see the fire begin to burn in her eyes. She had fully expected to return in dishonor and have to become a Maiko. Oh yes, I now have a true fire brand as a military secretary. I need that fire, that desire in her, because her first job will be to gather intelligence on all of the House troop officers so I can know who to trust.

  Before I can say any more we pull up in front of the main house. Now I have never been to my beloved wife’s ancestral home so I was unprepared for the sight that was before me. I have seen pictures of the ancient homes and castles of Japan, but to see one up close and personal is something no one can be prepared for. I have crisscrossed the known Galaxy more times than I can count, shaken the same man’s hand twice, I have even seen goats mating in the market place, but in all of my 97 years I have never seen anything like this. I have seen some beautiful buildings in my time but nothing compares to what I'm looking at right now. Before I knew what was happening the Shogun was opening the door and offering me a hand to help me exit. After getting out I opened my parasol and waited for the others.

  Once everyone was out, Kina led the way into the house. No, not house... castle is more accurate. I mean the place was huge. At the top of the stairs we were meet by something I have heard of but never seen. A J8-MS or James butler. These are some of the most expensive robot servants around. The J8 Man Servants run close to five to five and a half thousand credits a unit, and these people are using one as a doorman. Oh man, I am out of my depth here. After I retired from the Military High Command I received a standard retirees pay, plus all the money from the research and development company I started before retiring from that 17 years ago. All that combines to give me a fairly comfortable living, or so I thought. What I saw here surpassed all my wildest dreams. From the solid, real wood doors, to the real hardwood floors, to the handmade hall tree.

  As we walk down the entry way I realize just how much I need to learn if I am to be the Head of House for this family. I have to know into what businesses they have invested, what businesses they own, and how much property they have, not only here on Hades, but all the other Systems. “Gin, what is the local time?” I asked more out a need to end the eerie silence that had surrounded us for the time we had arrived.


  “Why do you ask, my Lady?” she replied.

  “Because if it is too late in the evening I don’t want to wake anyone who has to work in the morning. So please tell me, what is the time?” I said with a little heat to my voice. I was beginning to get tired of everyone questioning me.

  “Oh I am sorry, my Lady. I forget that you are not used to the local 28 hour day. It is just before what would be the middle of the night. The local time is 1330 P.M.

  Yes, most of the household has gone to sleep, but your great aunt is still up and waiting to meet you. That is where we are headed now, her personal chambers.” Came her very quick reply. I guess that they are starting to realize when I ask a question I don’t want a bunch of questions, but honest fracking answers. I know I should give them a chance to learn how I am about certain things, but right now I’m just too tired and too upset about the lack of control over my life to give a shit.

  Plus there is the fact that, in the past 18 hours, I have gone from being a 97 year old man with a decent retirement, with plans to spend the rest of his days relaxing on the sandy beaches of Hades equatorial coast lines, to a 16 year old Head of House to the Nakatoma Shogunate, who just so happens to be a girl. Not just any girl, oh no. She is on her way to being the girliest girly-girl ever. Not to mention having to put up with being enrolled in an all-girls school so, no, I am not in a very good mood. Having to meet with my sister-in-law, who everyone is assuming is my great aunt, in the middle of the night, is not something I want to do.

  As we come to the end of the hall, Kina steps up beside me. “My Lady Maiha, this is the entrance to her Ladyships Dai Etsu private quarters. We can go no further without her permission. So from here on out you will be on your own, I’m afraid. Do not show weakness. Let her see the steel in your soul. Stand your ground and do not back down. Go in and claim what is yours by birth.”

  “Are you telling me that, even though you are her maids, you can’t enter here without approval?” I asked.

  “Yes my Lady. The moment we were assigned as your personal maids we would need permission. Remember, show only the steel that is in you. Remember, you are the rightful Head of House for the Nakatoma family.” And with that she moved back to stand with the others.

  The J8 knocked on the door and waited. At the sound of a very soft voiced, “Yes?” it opens the door. Then it stepped back and waved for me to enter. Taking a deep and calming breath which, for some reason, I’m having to do a lot here recently, I straightened my back, squared my shoulders and then headed in to face the one woman who can blow all of our planning to Hell in a hand basket. Once I was passed the door, the J8 closed it behind me. I stopped to quickly scan the room, looking around for Dai Etsu and any surprises she might have planned for me.

  I know for a fact that the woman never did like me when I was married to her sister and would have gladly driven a stake through my heart, given half the chance. There was no love lost between us, because I will also freely admit to having the feelings about wanting to gut her with my bare hands. From over by the door, to what must be a balcony comes her voice. “I see that you are as distrustful of me as always James, but please come in so I can get a better look at your new appearance.”

  I continued in, but I was still scanning the room, not realizing that I was doing so. “I understand that you are my great aunt. Is that true?” I asked, once I had come to a stop in the middle of the room.

  A soft laugh came from her as she stepped back into the room from the balcony. “Please let us be honest with each other, in here at least. You and I both know that Cpt. Ohmie Owens-Steel Heart, daughter to my dearly departed sister Matsue Nakatoma-Owens, had no children and we both know that she detested the Gift of Life Banks. Then, there is the way you carry yourself. No one for a hundred Light years can copy that icy stare and commanding presence. No one can match your personality, my dear. Far from it I would think. For someone to be able to even come close to it you would still fail if you were someone other than the one and only Commander James Jessie Owens, Death Dealer, and the only man to ever be called Death personified, honored and feared by both his enemies and friends.” When she steps in view I can tell by the look in her eyes she knows, but what does she want? I mean here she is holding the winning hand, a Royal Flush, while I have been trying to bluff the world with a lousy pair of threes. Just what is she up to?

  Deciding to acknowledge the fact she had the upper hand I bowed to her, saying; “Very well Dai Etsu. Yes I am, or was until earlier this evening, your bother-in-law J.J. Owens. Now that it is out in the open, what is it that you want? I know you never approved my marrying Matsue. I also know that the two of you had a fight over something that caused a rift that never healed. As it stands right now you have it in your power to destroy everything the two of us ever built. So let us not play games, shall we?”

  “Yes James, I agree. Let us not play games. I knew that the Military High Command was trying to cover something up by posing someone as my great niece, thanks to Suzume, but I didn’t know why. So I decided to send the O.E.C.H. to investigate. On the off chance there was a true heir to the Head of House seat, I needed some control over the situation. So I had all chances of you trying to slip an heir past us by enrolling them into one of the academies. Once that was in place I sent my two most trusted maids with the M.C.U. to get her dressed as befits a Head of House heir, and then bring them here to me. What I was not expecting was to see my former bother-in-law getting out of the hover-limo in the body of what could only be a true blending of my sister and niece.” She paused for a moment to look directly in my eyes. “What I do not know is how this can be? Would you care to explain it to me? I have laid all of my cards on the table, as you so often put it. I believe that it is time for you to show or fold, as it were?”

  I always knew that Dai Etsu was a shrewd and cunning woman. I also knew that she could be ruthless in handling anything that she saw as a threat to her family. I knew this from personal experience as, at one time, she considered me a threat and was the target of her sharp and focused mind.

  Maiha, I think that we should tell her everything. Starting with Secondary Reconfiguration Protocol and all it entails.

  “If we do, then the fact that you are active will get out and then where will we be?”

  I don’t know kid, but there is one thing I do know. We need her AND she needs us. I have been checking on the families fortunes since our maids and secretary told you about the infighting of all the other members’ branches. The fact that your daughter never had any children has led to most of the branches being almost wiped out. With Dai Etsu not having any heirs because of her vows as a priestess, it has put the Head of House up in the air for whoever has the strongest claim to grab.

  “Just how strong would my claim for the Head of House be if someone tried to challenge it?”

  Well if we go off the premise of you being your granddaughter, then no one would be able to upset your claim. Seeing as how Dai Etsu chose to be a priestess, you would have a clear path to the seat.

  “Thanks love. As usual, you have just given me the ammo I need to win a fight.”

  “Very well Dai Etsu. What you and the rest of the civilian populace do not know is this.” And I proceeded to tell her all about the Secondary Reconfiguration Protocol and everything that it entails. During this time she had taken a seat on one of the few chairs that were in the room, waving for me to do the same. For some reason this woman, who always gave me the cold shoulder, was treating me as an equal. So, for the next hour we sat there with me giving her a blow by blow description of how I came to be to the image of her niece that never was. Once I finished she just sat there looking at me. After a few moments she sat up and looked at me.

  “You could be the very thing to save this family, but before I agree to this, would you mind showing me this, what did you call it? Oh yes your Combat Configuration. Please?”

  Nodding my head yes I stand up and start to undress. “Why are you taking off your clothes
young lady?”

  Giggling, I reply very shyly. “I do not want to destroy this beautiful outfit. You see when I activate the Armor Skin anything next to my skin will be burned away because of the way it deploys.”

  “Oh my. Here, let me give you a hand since that kimono is worth several thousand credits.” She said, as she put actions to words. Eventually I was down to my tights, panties, and corset.

  “If these under garments are not that expensive I could activate my Combat Configuration now?” I asked I really didn’t want to strip all the way down in front of her. I know that we are both female now, but it still felt wrong for me to be nude with her there.

  Dai Etsu looked at me for a moment then nodded her head yes. She must have felt my reluctance to be naked in front of her. “Armor Skin engage.” I could feel the fast tingly sensation as it rolled across my skin. There was a flash and everything that I still had on was gone. I could feel every component come on line, from the C.O.B.R.A. o.s., to the Armor Skin, to finally the weapons systems. The feeling of all that power at my command was enough to make me realize why so many went insane when waking up from the cocoon. Every inch of me was a weapon. I had truly become the very personification of Death.

  Dai Etsu fell back into her chair with a very frightened look on her face. Trembling she quietly asked, “What will you do now that you are free of the Military High Command? Are you going to kill me now? You obviously have the firepower to do whatever you want? I highly doubt that even one of those Assault Class Power Suits out there could stop you. I see in your eyes once again the craving for power. To put right what you see as unjust and wrong in the world. At last you have truly become Death. An unstoppable force of nature. Well Commander? Will you not answer me, or do you plan to right the wrong you believe done to your wife by me and this family all those years ago, with all that destructive power at your disposal by killing me?”