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Part I - The Quecha Rush
Koji's muscles ached at the end of his long day's work, but it was a good ache. It was an ache that let him know that he had done all he could that day to serve the glory of the Japanese Empire. Over the past months, he and his fellow workers had cleared an entire forest and built up a settlement of cottages for the people of Kyoto to use. Even as they were finishing, people from the city were already arriving to settle the area. The Lord Tokagawa had grand plans for the Japanese - to turn what was now barely more than a city of fishermen into a vast civilization that was the envy of the world. It had once been thought that Kyoto was all there was in the world, but brave Japanese soldiers had gone forth into the wilderness and discovered that in truth, there was so much more out there and what their ancestors had thought of as the world was in truth no more than the end of a penninsula on a vast pangaea. There were other peoples out there, too, and Lord Tokagawa's dream was to build an empire that would put them all to shame.
This effort had not been without setbacks, however. As a boy, he had been part of the crowd that lined the streets of Kyoto to see off the hardy men and women who had set out to build a whole new city out in the wilderness, a place they would call Tokyo. He still remembered the tears of grief that he and the rest of his people had shed when word filtered back from scattered survivors about how they and the brave warriors who accompanied them had been destroyed by a band of lawless barbarians who served no master. Those barbarians had been hunted down and killed, but even that could not fully repair the damage done to the psyches of the Japanese people by their loss.
Mindful of this loss, Lord Tokagawa had stationed a full company of archers to protect Koji and his fellow workers as they built up the new cottages. They did not speak to Koji - a member of the warrior class would never bend his stiff pride and stoop to talking to a mere worker - but he was glad for their presence. It was a cold, dark world outside the streets of Kyoto and being out here was much easier with the archer's watching over him. There had been attacks, but barbarian clubs were no match for Japanese arrows.
Koji went to the main hall and lined up for his dinner - fish of course; if there was one thing Kyoto had a lot of, it was fish. It was then he heard the shouts from outside. People everywhere stopped what they were doing and listened.
"What's happening?" his friend Hideo asked him.
"I have no idea," Koji replied. "If it's barbarians, the archers can handle them. They'll be dead before they get near any of us, just like last time."
They drifted outside to see what was going on. Sure enough, in the trees in the distance, someone was moving. The archers had lined up at the edge of the cottages, bows drawn, waiting for the invaders to arrive.
"They seem well organized for barbarians," Koji commented idly as the invaders gave a cry and rushed towards the village. The archers waited patiently for them to get into range - barbarians didn't seem to understand bows nor realize that they could be killed from a distance and by the time they knew what was happening, they were mostly all dead; Koji assumed this would be the case again. As the invaders came within bow range, the archers loosed into their arrows into them ... and the invaders kept coming.
Koji blinked for a moment. Why aren't they falling down?, he asked himself. As they got closer, he could see - they carried large wooden shields that most of the arrows harmlessly sunk into. A few had been hit, but the main part of the force just kept coming. The archers appeared to be as stunned by this turn of events as Koji was. The few seconds it took them to react were more than they had. The invaders slammed into their line and started laying about with their large clubs. Archers fell everywhere and their line broke and they began retreating into the cottages as the invaders drove them back.
"Koji, run!" Hideo screamed at him and began pulling him away from the invaders. Koji looked around and saw people fleeing all around him. He started to run, only to fall and have the wind knocked out of him. As he tried to rise, an archer ran past him, stringing an arrow into his bow. When he had it ready he turned back towards the enemy. Koji looked where the archer was pointing his weapon and saw a man charging towards them. This was the biggest man that Koji had ever seen, with a patch over one eye and a crown of black feathers woven into his hair.
The archer loosed his arrow at the man, but he raised his shield and the arrow slammed into it. The impact caused him to stumble a few steps, but not enough to save the archer. The big man surged forward and caught the archer in the face with his club, knocking him flying and crushing his skull. The big man ran off after more targets and Koji just lay on the ground, too afraid to get up.
The battle was over quickly enough. The archers had been killed to a man, as had any civilians who had tried to raise a weapon against the invaders. Those who surrendered without fighting, like Koji, were rounded up and herded into an open field. Some of the strange invaders watched over them, while the rest ran through the village, pillaging what loot they could find. Koji heard the screams of women everywhere and didn't even want to think about what was happening to them.
Night fell as the survivors were kept there, watched over by the few men who were disciplined enough not to join in the pillaging of the village. Koji was too frightened to even consider escpaping and eventually passed out from exhaustion. He awoke in the morning to a loud noise. The invaders watching over him and the other prisoners were banging their clubs against their shields and chanting something in their strange language.
"Raven! Raven! Raven!' they cried. Koji didn't know what that word meant, but it seemed they were chanting to the large man he had seen last night, who had just come into their encampment. By the light of day, he didn't look any less fierce. He stood a foot higher than anyone else around him and he'd had another scar added to his face during the fighting, but he appeared to ignore the drying blood covering his eyepatch and the crown of black feathers on his head had most of the feathers broken.
The big man spoke to the assembled prisoners, barking orders at them. None of them understood what he was saying and this just seemed to make the man angry. He walked into their crowd and stopped before Koji, glaring down at him with his single eye. He spoke some more words and poked Koji in the chest with his club. Koji nodded with a defeated look on his face. He may not have understood the words, but the meaning was clear - whoever these strange men were, he worked for them now.
Koji's muscles ached at the end of his long day's work, but it was a good ache. It was an ache that let him know that he had done all he could that day to serve the glory of the Japanese Empire. Over the past months, he and his fellow workers had cleared an entire forest and built up a settlement of cottages for the people of Kyoto to use. Even as they were finishing, people from the city were already arriving to settle the area. The Lord Tokagawa had grand plans for the Japanese - to turn what was now barely more than a city of fishermen into a vast civilization that was the envy of the world. It had once been thought that Kyoto was all there was in the world, but brave Japanese soldiers had gone forth into the wilderness and discovered that in truth, there was so much more out there and what their ancestors had thought of as the world was in truth no more than the end of a penninsula on a vast pangaea. There were other peoples out there, too, and Lord Tokagawa's dream was to build an empire that would put them all to shame.
This effort had not been without setbacks, however. As a boy, he had been part of the crowd that lined the streets of Kyoto to see off the hardy men and women who had set out to build a whole new city out in the wilderness, a place they would call Tokyo. He still remembered the tears of grief that he and the rest of his people had shed when word filtered back from scattered survivors about how they and the brave warriors who accompanied them had been destroyed by a band of lawless barbarians who served no master. Those barbarians had been hunted down and killed, but even that could not fully repair the damage done to the psyches of the Japanese people by their loss.
Mindful of this loss, Lord Tokagawa had stationed a full company of archers to protect Koji and his fellow workers as they built up the new cottages. They did not speak to Koji - a member of the warrior class would never bend his stiff pride and stoop to talking to a mere worker - but he was glad for their presence. It was a cold, dark world outside the streets of Kyoto and being out here was much easier with the archer's watching over him. There had been attacks, but barbarian clubs were no match for Japanese arrows.
Koji went to the main hall and lined up for his dinner - fish of course; if there was one thing Kyoto had a lot of, it was fish. It was then he heard the shouts from outside. People everywhere stopped what they were doing and listened.
"What's happening?" his friend Hideo asked him.
"I have no idea," Koji replied. "If it's barbarians, the archers can handle them. They'll be dead before they get near any of us, just like last time."
They drifted outside to see what was going on. Sure enough, in the trees in the distance, someone was moving. The archers had lined up at the edge of the cottages, bows drawn, waiting for the invaders to arrive.
"They seem well organized for barbarians," Koji commented idly as the invaders gave a cry and rushed towards the village. The archers waited patiently for them to get into range - barbarians didn't seem to understand bows nor realize that they could be killed from a distance and by the time they knew what was happening, they were mostly all dead; Koji assumed this would be the case again. As the invaders came within bow range, the archers loosed into their arrows into them ... and the invaders kept coming.
Koji blinked for a moment. Why aren't they falling down?, he asked himself. As they got closer, he could see - they carried large wooden shields that most of the arrows harmlessly sunk into. A few had been hit, but the main part of the force just kept coming. The archers appeared to be as stunned by this turn of events as Koji was. The few seconds it took them to react were more than they had. The invaders slammed into their line and started laying about with their large clubs. Archers fell everywhere and their line broke and they began retreating into the cottages as the invaders drove them back.
"Koji, run!" Hideo screamed at him and began pulling him away from the invaders. Koji looked around and saw people fleeing all around him. He started to run, only to fall and have the wind knocked out of him. As he tried to rise, an archer ran past him, stringing an arrow into his bow. When he had it ready he turned back towards the enemy. Koji looked where the archer was pointing his weapon and saw a man charging towards them. This was the biggest man that Koji had ever seen, with a patch over one eye and a crown of black feathers woven into his hair.
The archer loosed his arrow at the man, but he raised his shield and the arrow slammed into it. The impact caused him to stumble a few steps, but not enough to save the archer. The big man surged forward and caught the archer in the face with his club, knocking him flying and crushing his skull. The big man ran off after more targets and Koji just lay on the ground, too afraid to get up.
The battle was over quickly enough. The archers had been killed to a man, as had any civilians who had tried to raise a weapon against the invaders. Those who surrendered without fighting, like Koji, were rounded up and herded into an open field. Some of the strange invaders watched over them, while the rest ran through the village, pillaging what loot they could find. Koji heard the screams of women everywhere and didn't even want to think about what was happening to them.
Night fell as the survivors were kept there, watched over by the few men who were disciplined enough not to join in the pillaging of the village. Koji was too frightened to even consider escpaping and eventually passed out from exhaustion. He awoke in the morning to a loud noise. The invaders watching over him and the other prisoners were banging their clubs against their shields and chanting something in their strange language.
"Raven! Raven! Raven!' they cried. Koji didn't know what that word meant, but it seemed they were chanting to the large man he had seen last night, who had just come into their encampment. By the light of day, he didn't look any less fierce. He stood a foot higher than anyone else around him and he'd had another scar added to his face during the fighting, but he appeared to ignore the drying blood covering his eyepatch and the crown of black feathers on his head had most of the feathers broken.
The big man spoke to the assembled prisoners, barking orders at them. None of them understood what he was saying and this just seemed to make the man angry. He walked into their crowd and stopped before Koji, glaring down at him with his single eye. He spoke some more words and poked Koji in the chest with his club. Koji nodded with a defeated look on his face. He may not have understood the words, but the meaning was clear - whoever these strange men were, he worked for them now.
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