by Jessie Wolf
“But mama, sixty swats? How is that fair? I mean we have all used foul langue, especially when we were angry.” Said Fuyuko.
“It was fair, Fuyuko. She only received ten swats per foul word that was not used while in combat. If I had included those as well she would have received over one hundred.”
“But that doesn’t make sense.” Cried Nanase.
“Very well, I’ll try to explain it for you all.” mama took a deep breath. “Maiha, as well as all of you must remember some very important things. First of all, all of you are now High Families Ladies. As such you are expected to behave in a certain way. You are expected to dress in a certain way, and even look in a certain way. To make sure that this happens you all have a Lady’s Maid. Secondly you must remember that they have the final say in your appearance and behavior. To insure this they are allowed to spank your little behinds. Thirdly Maiha may be the Head of House Nakatoma, the first First High Lady of the Death Dealers, and the Protector of the Nakatoma family, but she must remember to be a Lady at all times. As such she holds a position that places a great deal of power in her hands. What did you think would happen if she forgot that when she goes to school with you all that she was not the one in charge? Remember girls, your sister has all of that firepower and training. Do you think that for one second that she can be forced to do anything she doesn’t want to? Think about how that would affect her in school.”
“So this was a lesson for us, as well as Maiha, in how to keep control, mama?” asked Fuyuko.
“Yes child, exactly. Remember at all times that we are first and foremost the representatives of House Nakatoma. We must never abuse our position of power. We may not answer too many, but we do answer to someone. The people who look to this family for protection and guidance are our obligation. To abuse them is to become no better than those that we now fight.”
As I walk back into the room everyone turns to look at me. I can tell that my sisters want to know if I’m alright. Smiling at them all “Don’t worry sisters’ dear, I’m fine. A little sore and I doubt I’ll be sitting any time soon. However I have no problems with taking my punishment. I just hope I don’t have to put up with spankings like that one too often.”
Before any of them can say a word there is a knock at my baby sister’s door. “Are you girls expecting someone?” I ask them. When they shake their heads no I wave for one of their maids to see who it is. When the maid opens the door I see Col. Fujiyama standing there. I quickly wave for him to come in. coming straight over to me he offers a quick salute before beginning.
“My Lady Nakatoma, we just received an answer to your challenge. The four Houses of White, Kings, Hershel, and Wetmore have accepted, but wish to place the date five days from now. The Houses of Daniels, Moore, and Light, have refused the challenge on the grounds that you do not have the authority to challenge them, even if you’re the Head of House Nakatoma.” When I hear this last bit I almost come unglued.
“Just who do these people think they’re fra….. messing with?” I came real close to some very unladylike langue there. I need to watch myself if I want to avoid any more spankings. This is going to be harder than I thought. “Do they realize that I currently command nine whole divisions of Death Dealers?”
“I believe that that the rest of their answer will explain their reasons for turning your challenge down, my Lady.” The look on his face is that of a man about to face his execution.
“Col. Fujiyama, just tell me what they said. Whatever it was I will not hold it against you.”
“Very well, my Lady, it’s just that I do not like using that type of langue. To quote the Head of House Light ‘You can tell that conniving little cunt to go shove her challenge up her ass. She started this war by defying her betters. Well now that whore can learn how to service a real man on her knees, and on her back. Which is where she will be when we get done with House Nakatoma. She and all of her family, especially that arrogant bitch Dai Etsu Nakatoma.’” I watch as the blood drains from his face as I hear this. Looking over at mama and my sisters, what I see there is enough to scare even the most battle hardened soldiers. Mama has her combat blades extended, Fuyuko’s PPC is out, and the twins have golden crosshairs in their eyes. There is only one response to their statement and I gladly give it.
“Very well, if that’s how they want it. Death to all three Houses’ and Families. From this moment on there will be no quarter, or mercy given, or expected. Col. Fujiyama, please relay our reply along with this message. ‘You want it you Horbathainin night porters, you got it. Death to all traitors.’”
“It will be my pleasure to, my Lady. For too long those three families have brought shame to the High Families in their actions.” He said as he bowed to me. “I can tell you this here and now if you want them I can get the APS bodyguard units of five of the Houses that have declined to come to our aid.”
Seeing the look of confusion on my face he quickly explains. “Unlike regular House units the body guard units are all mostly contract units. Mercenary units, my Lady.”
Holy shit, if the majority of body guard units are mercs, then with the right amount of influence I can steal them away. The question is how much it will cost me. “What would they want in return, Col.?”
“They have all said the same thing, my Lady. They want you to let them out of their contracts.”
“How can I release them from their contracts? It is between them and the House that signed the contracts.”
“You forget one thing, my Lady.” Once again I didn’t know what he was talking about. Thankfully, mama did.
“Maiha, all military contract employees must be approved by House Nakatoma. If one of them wishes to break a contract then either party can come to us and we can break the contract with no penalty on either side.” She explains to me. I did not know this, but it explains a lot.
“Call them all Col. Fujiyama, and tell them to come. That their contracts are void.”
“Once again, my Lady you have shown a grasp of the situation most would not.”
“Before you do I would like to know why these units want out of their contracts.”
With a heavy sigh, Col. Fujiyama looks me in the eye. “For too long the men and women of these units have been forced to stand by while the people they were contracted to protect were taken advantage of. All five units are crack mercenary combat teams. All with long and honorable histories. For them this is a matter of honor. To finally be able to bring these dogs to heel is a chance they have all prayed for.”
“Go tell them it is time to reclaim their honor, Col Fujiyama.”
Look he gave was one I never expected to see in this battle hardened man, gratitude. “With pleasure, my Lady. With pleasure.” With a bow so deep I thought he would hit his head on the floor he left to carry out his mission.
Before he gets out of the door I stop him. “Oh and Col. let the ones who want to postpone the day of Challenge tell them we will see them in six days. That way they can prepare for the fight and not rush it, thank you.” Turning to our maids I ask for them to leave as well. Once we were alone I look over at mama. “Mama, I know that what I just said has upset you….” Before I can finish she interrupts me.
“No child, you did not upset me. What those dogs have said did. To refuse a rightful Challenge of Refusal is beyond unacceptable. It borders on out right disgrace. Then to make the statements they have only places them even further outside of the Emperor’s protection. No, there will be no mercy for them or those who fight at their side. They want a war of total destruction then they shall have it.” The look in her eyes tells all I need to know. They threatened her family with death and sexual slavery if we survived. If they believe that they could frighten us by making threats like that, then they just made the biggest mistake of their lives.
Looking over at my sisters I see the same look in their eyes as well, only Nanami appears to waver before a look of total commitment to her freedom and family crosses her face. Yes there will be no st
opping the Storm Dancers now. They called down the thunder and now it’s time they pay the price.
“Very well, Storm Dancers. Strip down and engage your armor. It is time for you to learn about being Death Dealers.” I quickly begin to put actions to words. I remove my kimono and everything else. Once naked I engage my armor. Mama is only a few seconds behind me, followed by the twins and finally Fuyuko. “Before we begin I need to know if any of you have ever had any type of martial arts training.”
All four of them look at me like I asked a stupid question. Thankfully mama explained to me why. “Maiha, all those who attend the Temple for school or to become members all learn first Tai Chi and then Jujitsu. All three of your sisters have five years of training. Three of which was with me.”
“You! Mama, you have always hated violence.”
“That is true, Maiha. While I never actively sought violent solutions to a problem, I was never without the ability to defend myself.”
“Um… just how good are you, mama?”
“You would say I was a master of the arts, Maiha.” At my look of shock she just giggles. “You shouldn’t be so surprised. Your own Matsu was a Weapons Mistress. There was no finer swordsman than her. Believe me when I say no one could match her with a blade in her hand or any weapon, really. She was that good. Of all the people to ever face my sister only one man could ever best her. Our father was the only one to claim that distinction.”
Holy crap! If all four of them have that kind of training I’m actually afraid of turning them loose. Like all Death Dealers I learned C.Q.C. and hand-to-hand, but not too many of us really learned a true martial arts form. This just might be easier than I thought.
You have no idea honey. I just got though downloading your little sisters training records. (Dee De)
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense here. How good are they?”
The Lady Dai Etsu is a grand master or is it mistress of four different martial arts. Not to mention being a mistress of the sword, spear, and knives. Your sister Fuyuko has already mastered Tai Chi and Jujitsu along with the Tai Chi blades. Your younger sisters have almost completed their Tai Chi training and are half way through their Jujitsu training. (Charley)
“I take it from the look on your face that Dee De and Charley told you all about our training in the martial arts, Maiha?” mama asked me. All I can do is nod my head yes. “Long ago my great, great, great, great, grandfather thought that it would be in the best interest of the House for all of its members to know how to defend themselves. So he had the Temple staff begin training all those who came to them. It was my grandfather who made it mandatory.”
“You mean to tell me that everyone inside of the walls of this compound has martial arts training?”
“Yes. That is exactly what I am saying. Why?”
A whole compound of martial arts experts and she doesn’t realize what that means. “Mama, does that also apply to the House Military as well?”
“Yes, I believe so. Again why does this matter?”
“Mama, if what you say is true, and I do not doubt it, then the members of this House are all better trained than most Death Dealers.” At the look of disbelief on her face I explain why. “Death Dealers may be the highest trained warriors that there are, but inside of this compound are over three hundred martial arts trained individuals of varying degrees of expertness. In short, one of the most highly trained military forces in existence.”
“Oh my! I never really thought about it like that. But I can see what you mean. Could that be the reason why none of the other Houses’ have ever tried to directly challenge us with a military force before now?”
“A very good possibility, mama. I would hazard to say that they all know of the training that our House troops go through, as well as the bodyguard units as well.” The smile that crosses my face says it all. If the other House actually know how well trained our troops are then they will be less likely to attack us head on. However that also means the three Houses that want to destroy us will have to come at us all out.
This just might be the best chance we have for ending this mess. If I can draw those three here between our House military and the Death Dealer divisions I can crush them in a very short but bloody fight.
“Maiha, do you think that if we draw the three renegade Houses here between us and the Death Dealers we can win?” mama asks me. She must have read my mind.
“Yes ma’am I do. Do you think we can set it up so that they will attack us here?”
“I believe I know of a way, but I don’t know if it will work.” She had the look of someone who had just swallowed a bug. “If we call them out on their threat, embarrasses them to the point that mere women would dare to defy them they’ll have to come to us, or lose face. It is a dangerous thing to do this, but it will bring them to us.”
“Perfect, which is exactly what we’ll do. They believe that they’re better than us, and that will be their undoing.” Smiling at my family I gesture for them to follow me outside. “Right now though I need to get you all familiar with your Death Dealer upgrades.” I began with the usual training of getting them used to their AIs.
After about a half hour I could see that they had the basics down. “Ok, let’s go for a run. Remember, don’t fight your AIs, just let them control your movements, all you do is guide them.” I set out at a slow pace at first, and then gradually increased our speed. I took them out and around the edge of the estate compound borders. As our speed climbed I notice that no matter how fast we go we all still have that fluid grace the Nakatoma women are known for. What is really amazing is that the more graceful we are the more efficient we become. The more efficient the faster we become. The only reason I know this is by my readouts on the heads up display that Charley has provided for me. The last time I ran this course my top speed was one hundred and fourteen. Now the readout is saying one-forty and climbing. It didn’t make any sense so I asked Dee De what was up with that.
From what I can tell Maiha the more efficient your movements the greater your speed and power; that is all I can put together. (Dee De)
“Ok that makes more sense than anything else to me. Thanks, Dee De.”
When we passed the main gate I see that instead of the usual two AP Suits standing guard there is a full lance. All of which is in the assault class. Charley informs me that they are two Stone Rhino’s, a Texan, and a Dragon Slayer. Now normally I wouldn’t give them a second glance, but their unit colors didn’t match any of the ones that belong to any of the units here in the compound. Keying up the house frequency I contacted Col. Fujiyama.
“Wave Dancer to Mountain Wolf six. Over”
“Go for Mountain Wolf six Dancer. Over”
“Wolf six who are the Alpha Papas on the gate? Over”
I hear a chuckle come over the connection before the head of my House Military answers me. “Wave Dancer those are the Green Hornets. They left their old House yesterday and arrived this morning. Over”
“You mean they came here while still under contract? Over”
“That’s a negative Dancer. Their contract ended four weeks ago. Those boys where just waiting for the next Drop ship to take them home. Over”
“Well invite their CO to dinner so I can meet them tonight please. Over”
“Copy that, Dancer. You going to bring your family down the range today? Over”
Up until now I hadn’t thought about it, but seeing how well they were doing I changed my mind. “Is the range set for single or team runs Wolf six? Over”
“Both Dancer, I think if you show them how with a run through on your own, then have them follow through behind after the reset would be best. Over”
“Sounds good to me. Set the single up for a maximum run please then reset to a mid-point run for the pairs. Over”
“Copy that Dancer; start your run in t-minus 15 minutes. Over”
Turning to my family I signal for them to slow down and stop. Once every one has gathered around I let them in on what
is going to happen. “Ok folks, here’s the deal. I don’t know how it happened but it has. For some reason all of you are far beyond what you should be at this point in time. The only thing that I can figure out is that your training in martial arts at the Temple, along with the training you all received to become priestesses has given you an advantage most don’t have.”
A smile crosses mama’s face at that point. “Maiha, unlike other Death Dealers, we have a life time of training with constantly changing bodies. All three of your sisters have had to deal with the ever changing center of gravity that curses young girls, as well as the continuous shifting of body fat and mass. As for me let us just say experience is a wonderful thing, and leave it at that shall we.”
When mama put it like that it made perfect sense. Females have way more to adjust to as they grow up than males. Hell all they have to deal with is body hair, larger muscles, and the morning woody. No wonder my family was light years ahead of most Death Dealers at this point in their training. Then again they didn’t have to deal with the original surgeries, the AI sickness, and then the recovery time to get over all that. Their Death Dealer abilities came from the nanites that I had injected them with and the bio-feedback pilot suits. It’s little wonder they’re so good.
“Any way we’ll get back to that later. Right now I need you all to listen to everything that I tell you. When we leave here we’re heading for the practice range. When we get there I’ll take the first run through so you can see how it is done. Now when you go for your runs you’ll be teamed up with one of the others so be careful of where your targets are and where your team mate is. For this first time I want mama and Fuyuko as a team, and Nanase and Nanami as the other. Use your AIs to track your targets and remember to communicate with each other. Have your AIs set up a link so you know what is going on with your partner at all times. Lastly, but most importantly, safety first. This is a training run, no need to get your selves hurt over something that ain’t real.”