"Tomoyuki. Hey, Tomoyuki!"
I woke up from my trance, so deeply sunk in my memories that for a moment I forgot where I was. My instructor, Ishida Ichiro, was glaring at me from above. I realized that I was seated cross-legged in the Temple of the Dragon King and not embedded in the Helm Mechanicum of my Armiger Warglaive.
No...I hadn't been in a Helm Mechanicum for over seven years now. Ever since I had saved Lord Takeda's life, I had been elevated from the rank of Bondsman to Warrior, or Bushi, in our native tongue. A Samurai, the elite class that governed over the feudal domains of Draconis III.
For about seven years, I had piloted a Questoris Knight of my own, ensconced within a proper Throne Mechanicum.
"Master Ishida."
At my greeting, the wizened instructor smacked me at the back of my head with his walking stick, his wrinkled face twisted into an annoyed scowl.
"The whole idea of meditation is for you to empty your mind, not to daydream! What were you dreaming about, being so deeply engrossed in your fantasies that you failed to heed me when I called you three times? Beautiful women? You know as well as I do that the Yoshiwara District is off limits to men of your status!"
"Not at all, Master." I decided not to tell him that I was reminiscing about the past. He would just go ballistic and chide me for talking back. Ishida Ichiro was the type who insisted that if he said black was white, then black was white. He did not take well to arguments from his charges.
"The idea of Zen is to empty your mind, to liberate your spirit and focus on the present. Remember! An unfettered mind." Ishida was beginning his lecture. "Only when you achieve insight and become one with your sword would you be able to become a true weapon...perhaps a blade on par with that of the venerated Adeptus Astartes."
I wondered about that. The Space Marines - the Emperor's Angels of Death as some know them - were posthuman beings who had transcended all mortal weaknesses. Perhaps we might have an edge over them in terms of firepower and durability when protected within layers of adamantium armor and ion shields while wielding tank-sized weaponry capable of devastating entire armored columns. However, take the suits away and we would be nothing more than vulnerable flesh and bone, easily torn apart by the superhuman strength and reflexes of the Adeptus Astartes. I couldn't imagine ever being equal to them.
"Anyway, you're being called. So on your feet, boy." I hadn't been a boy for decades now, but compared to the ancient Ishida, I might as well be an infant. So I didn't object to that. Besides, I was just reliving my past when I had just barely matured from a naive teenager into a hardened warrior. Fighting against the Orochi would do that to you.
Not to mention a Yamata no Orochi, of all things. Speaking of which, I had lost consciousness after distracting it long enough from Lord Takeda. Consequently, I did not bear witness to the epic battle waged between the Shogun and his loyal retainers - which included a posse of legendary Daimyo - and the great beast. I heard (and saw through hololiths) that the Lord Shogun personally slew the Yamata no Orochi himself, riding in the ancient suit of the venerable Cerastus Knight Lancer chassis.
Displaying incredible skill, he had dodged the many heads of the Yamata no Orochi, deftly getting under its guard and ramming his shock lance right into the heart of the gargantuan creature. Upon pinning it to the ground, he unleashed a tremendous discharge of devastating energies that fried the titanic beast from the inside out.
Of course, he couldn't have done it alone. Clad in a mixture of vaunted Cerastus Knight chassis and the ever-reliable Questoris Knight frames, the Daimyo of Draconis III joined the hunt, incinerating the heads or parrying the tails that swept toward the Shogun's Knight armor. Eventually, they brought it down, and so created a new legend.
Lord Takeda had survived and was able to participate in that final battle. Apparently, everyone thought that he owed it all to me, and thus the Daimyo unanimously agreed to raise my rank and grant me a Questoris Knight suit of my own. I was nowhere near the reverent status of the Daimyo, but being acknowledged as a fully-fledged warrior was already a huge step up.
The status also came with heavy responsibilities, which was why I had been summoned to the Shogun's court.
Of course, I wasn't the only one. On my way there, I spotted dozens of warriors - every single one of them a Knight pilot like me. There were bondsmen too, retainers who accompanied their lords closely. Unfortunately, my current low rank meant that I had no retainers assigned to me, so unlike the majority of my brethren, I walked alone through the peaceful courtyard.
The Shogun, Yato Yoshimoto, awaited inside the massive wooden hall, seated in seiza. The warriors filed in, taking their places along the long tables and kneeling. The Daimyo - the highest ranked warriors - sat next to the Shogun, occupying the places in his immediate vicinity. I took my place at the far end of the table, furthest away from the Shogun. We were seated according to rank and seniority, and as a warrior, I was the lowest.
At least I had it better than the retainers, who were forced to stand outside the hall, waiting patiently for their masters. Fortunately for them, this meeting shouldn't take too long. The respectable Shogun had no patience for formalities, and he tended to end these ceremonies as swiftly as the strides of his Knight Lancer.
Female servants, dressed in brilliantly colored kimono, brought trays of tea and snacks. They placed them right in front of us, and to my complete lack of surprise, I was the last to receive a beverage. As befitting my rank, I suppose.
After the servants departed in a neat, disciplined row, the Shogun began without further ado.
"My loyal retainers," he said. "The time has called for us to fulfil our oaths to the Emperor - long may He live. I have asked a lot from you in the past, but this time, I fear that I will have to place a much heavier demand upon all of you."
There were a few whispers as the warriors murmured amongst each other. I caught snippets of dialogue here and there, and while I couldn't quite make out most of it, I understood that many of my comrades had heard the rumors.
"Yes." The Shogun smiled. "We will be launching a crusade to reclaim most of the worlds from the Draconis Sector."
There were a few cheers. Some of the warriors banged their tables in approval, while others remained serene, sipping their tea and nodding quietly. The Shogun swept his gaze across us, his eyes grave.
"As you all know, the once great Draconis Coalition has slipped into anarchy following the Great Rift - the Jigoku no Dai Kizu, the Great Scar that ripped through the heavens and exposed our realm to the underworld. There was a long period of time when the Light of the Astronomican was muffled, and our sector was plunged into darkness. We were forced to retreat to this system, to fight off the horrors not seen since the Old Night. But while we were able to largely preserve the core systems of our Draconis Coalition, we lost the majority of our systems. The previously mighty Coalition - once numbering over three hundred worlds - have been reduced to less than fifty. We are but a shadow of our former selves."
By now, all the warriors had fallen into a somber silence. None more so than the Daimyo who sat by the Shogun's side.
"But no more! With the return of Lord Commander Roboute Guilliman, the son of the Emperor, and the re-ignition of the Astronomican's beacon, we will reclaim all that was ours...no, we will go beyond that and expand. The Draconis Coalition will grow stronger and larger than ever!"
"Oh!" The warriors present roared their approval.
"To this end, I declare the launch of a new crusade...the Draconis Crusade! Already we are receiving aid from the honorable Black Templars. The regiments of our Draconian Armored Defenders have been rebuilt and are stronger and more numerous than ever, supplied by our allied forge world of Draconis IV. Similarly, the tech-priests of Draconis IV have reinforced us with many new Knight suits, allowing us to field an unprecedented number of Lances! Not since the days of the Great Crusade have we marched in such numbers! I daresay, we have more Knight suits now than back during the Great Crusade! While most of the Imperium have stagnated and even slid backward, we have progressed forward!"
The Shogun rose to his feet. In a single, smooth motion, he drew his power sword - a curved blade that was forged in the pattern of a katana. He acitvated its power field as he raised the exquisitely crafted sword toward the air.
"We will reclaim the worlds of the Draconis Sector and reforge the Coalition!"
The warriors bellowed in agreement, also rising to their feet and stamping on the ground. Unlike the Shogun, we weren't allowed to bring our personal weapons into the hall, so there was no other drawing of swords.
"But first, we must begin by taking back Kryptos VIII." The Shogun sat back down after sheathing his deactivated power katana. "We will answer the call from our Cadian and Valhallan allies for aid. We will cleanse the sector of heretics, traitors and the alien. We will drive away those who turned their backs on the Emperor and eliminate the greenskin menace."
"We are with you, Lord Shogun!"
"All who stand in our way will perish!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
The Shogun nodded as he listened to the vows made by the warriors. He took a deep breath.
"There is more. There are sightings of the accursed House Malinax on Kryptos VIII. We have been fighting against them ever since the days of the Heresy. They are our archenemy, soulless traitors who committed the ultimate betrayal. We must not allow them to live. If we are to encounter them..."
"We will destroy every single one of those bastards," a Daimyo vowed. Lord Uesugi, if I remembered correctly. Inwardly, I felt a chill. Despite having fought against all manner of monsters over the last seven years, including Tyranid bio-titans and Ork gargants, I had not actually fought against a Chaos Knight before.
I wondered if they would be more difficult to slay than the alien monstrosities that I had overcome so far.
The Shogun didn't seem to care about my misgivings. He continued with an indulgent smile, having sensed the aggressive mood of his subordinates.
"We will be launching out immediately. After this briefing, you are all to make preparations for war. Consult your sacristans and ensure your armors are in peak condition. Liase with the various Imperial Guard regiments who will be traveling with us to Kryptos VIII. House Yato will march in the Emperor's name!"
"Knights of the Imperium," Lord Takeda shouted. "We march!"
The Shogun nodded and raised a hand before issuing one final declaration. "And so...the Draconis Crusade begins."
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