Japan, Spring 1877
The trip into Tokyo itself had been quiet, to say the least. The arrival into Tokyo, on the other hand, escorted by at least a dozen Samurai on horseback, was an event to be remembered. Those who didn't scream and scatter from the streets lined up by the side of the road, bowing as the group of them made their way into the city.
Once they were there, Katsumoto had business of his own to see to, with the Emperor. Nathan, meanwhile, had to tend to his own. He'd been here to do a job, after all, and his duties were... Over, perhaps. He really had no desire to crush the Samurai rebellion. But he couldn't simply run away, either.
The military that he saw when he entered the training camp was definitely not the same one he'd left behind half a year ago.
Howitzers.
Tony
"I named mine Jericho," Tony remarked dryly, looking at the guns. Almost primitive compared to some of the things he'd designed, but enough to get the job done against simple armor and swords.
Nathan
That earned a sidelong glance.
"Enough to crumble an impenetrable city wall?"
Nathan really shouldn't have been surprised.
Tony
"Enough to destroy a mountain." And get him kidnapped.
Bagley
That reply earned the silence it deserved from Nathan.
A silence which was broken by a voice from behind.
"Algren? Algren, my God, you are alive." A voice which Nathan wasn't entirely thrilled to hear, at that. "Well, you never cease to astonish."
Bagley.
Nathan
Nathan took a breath. Noticed the Japanese officer who was walking with Bagley, and nodded a polite hello. He was the same one who Nathan had reassured before the Samurai had attacked.
It was good to see someone else who had made it out of there alive.
He turned his gaze back down to the field, pointedly ignoring eye contact with the man who had addressed him.
"Howitzers."
Tony
Tony turned to glance at Bagley for a moment before dismissing him entirely. "A bit of overkill, don't you think? Or are you really that afraid of them?"
Bagley
Bagley had been about to open his mouth to brag, but he shut it again. He directed a glare toward Tony the like of which Nathan had never seen on that man's face.
"We'll make sure the job is done properly this time. And as soon as the Emperor signs the damn trade agreement, he gets the whole package." He turned toward a pair of gatling guns sitting nearby. "Including this particular item. Two hundred rounds a minute. And the new cartridges cut down on jamming."
Nathan
Nathan barely glanced at the guns before looking out over the men in the field, at the cannons firing. At the rows of soldiers.
"I need a bath."
It had nothing to do with anything, except for the fact that he didn't feel like talking about those damned guns.
Tony
Tony smacked patted Bagley on the arm before going to join Nathan. "So sorry, I don't think he likes you that much."
Nathan
It was an unfortunate truth that taking care of the last of business meant another meeting with Omura. Considering the man was responsible for the attack on the Samurai village, Nathan was more than just a little wary of entering the man's office. Still, there was protocol to be followed, and he wasn't finished in Japan until he was finished here. Sadly.
He would have been in a worse mood if it wasn't for the fact that he could still hear Tony out in the hallway, bitching about being asked to stay behind for the meeting. Oh, Tony.
Mr. Omura
Omura stood the moment Nathan, Bagley, and the American ambassador stepped into the room, and it only stood to reason that his attention went straight to Nathan, didn't it?
"Ah, gentlemen, come in. Captain Algren! It seems you have endured your captivity with little ill effect."
Nathan
Another man to add to Nathan's list of people not to like.
"I was not ill-treated, sir."
The ambassador was going to be a welcome man to have around, seeing as he immediately stepped in to show Omura the arms agreement that he was carrying...
Mr. Omura
... Only to be completely blown off by Omura. Well, then.
"Captain Algren, I am eager to know how many Samurai have joined Katsumoto."
Nathan
Very high up on Nathan's list not to like, at that.
"I'm afraid I don't know."
Bagley
"You spent the entire winter at his encampment," Bagley argued. Because he couldn't keep his damn nose out of these things, either.
Nathan
"As his prisoner."
Bagley
"Well, has he fortified his position? Has he aquired firearms? Come, man, tell us what you saw!"
Bagley was clearly not one with the concept of 'patience,' no.
Nathan
"As you said," Nathan replied, giving Bagley an even, almost thoughtful look. "They're... savages. With bows and arrows."
He hated the taste of the words as they left his mouth. But at least it would seem that his acting skills had improved somewhat over the past several months.
Mr. Omura
Once again, the ambassador attempted to get Omura's attention, and once again he was blown off. The ambassador attempted to protest, but the response he got from Omura shut him up entirely. And as the men turned to leave the room again, Omura once again demonstrated who it was he'd been hoping to speak to all along.
"Captain Algren, perhaps you and I might have a word in private. Please sit down." It was not a request. Nathan took a seat. "May I offer you a whiskey?" Omura's eyebrow raised as Nathan declined. The drinks had already been poured. This was already not going quite as he'd anticipated.
Omura set the glass down in front of Nathan anyhow, and then took a seat across from him.
"Katsumoto is an extraordinary man, is he not?"
Nathan
"He's a tribal leader," Nathan replied, dismissively. "I've known many of them."
Mr. Omura
"But none who were Samurai." If it was possible to sweat 'smug,' Omura would have been in dire need of a bath just then. "Their ways have great appeal."
Nathan
"I don't see how this concerns me."
Mr. Omura
"Ah!" Omura held up a finger. "But it does. You see, you were right, Captain Algren. Last year we were not prepared to go to battle. You were right, and Colonel Bagley was wrong. But now, we are ready. If Katsumoto is allowed to attract other Samurai to his cause, we will have ten years of rebellion. This is something I will not allow. Either I will stop him at the council today, or you will lead my army against him. And with these new weapons, you will crush him."
Nathan
Nathan's eyes had been on the table for most of that spiel, his mind barely grasping those words. His gaze snapped up again at that last part.
"I... appreciate the offer."
Mr. Omura
"It is not an offer."
Nathan
No, no, no, no, no.
Nathan pulled himself to his feet.
"Mr. Omura, my contract with you was to train your army."
Mr. Omura
"Then we will make a new contract. One that will recognize the extraordinary contribution you have made to the empire." The smile that Omura offered Nathan was something composed of snakes and slime. "Do we understand each other?"
Nathan
"Yes. We understand each other perfectly."
Mr. Omura
Omura nodded.
"Then I am pleased."
Nathan
Nathan bowed and turned to leave the room. As he left, he didn't hear the words that Omura had to say to his right-hand man. He didn't hear the command to follow Nathan, and to kill him if he went anywhere near Katsumoto.
Nathan
Nathan was not a happy man after his meeting with Mr. Omura, and it showed in his pace as he pushed through the crowds in the street. He had things to do. A Portalocity ticket to collect on. He knew too much. The Samurai would be safer if he was gone entirely.
See? Things.
Mr. Graham had spotted him, caught up to him, and was now attempting to drill him for answers to a million questions. Laws against the Samurai. Is Katsumoto really planning to speak in the council today? Nathan was hardly paying attention. He needed a drink.
His pace slowed more than a few steps as he noticed a group of Japanese soldiers gathering around Katsumoto's son, Nobutada.
Soldiers
"//You, Samurai! Don't you know about the order?//"
The soldier's done was mocking. Cruel. He was, after all, accompanied by several other men. And they were all carrying rifles.
"//Hey, boy? Are you listening? No wonder the foreigners mock you.//" The soldier looked at his companions, raising his voice. "//Let's give this Samurai a haircut! Cut off his top knot.//"
Nobutada didn't flinch. Not even when they cocked their weapons and aimed them at his head, commanding him to kneel.
Nathan
In spite of Mr. Graham's protests, Nathan was moving to intervene the moment the rifles were pulled into this.
"//Lower your weapons!//"
Urusei. Urusei. Urusei!
And now there were rifles being pointed at him, as well. One of the soldiers demanded to know who he was. And he answered, in Japanese, "//Captain Algren,//" only to be met with the butt of a rifle, hitting him hard in the back.
Nobutada
Nobutada's sword was already drawn half a foot from its sheath before Nathan could catch himself.
The only thing keeping him from pulling the blade the rest of the way was Nathan's insistence that he stop.
Yameru.
First a yell. And then a spoken plea. And then a whisper.
The blade was put away. The Samurai stood, and cast his eyes toward the ground.
Soldiers
One soldier stepped forward and grabbed Nobutada by the hair. Another grabbed his swords, and then kicked his knees out, throwing him to the ground. The one who had given the order in the first place drew a blade.
Nobutada
Nobutada screamed as the soldiers hacked cruelly at his hair. After all, a samurai's chonmage was more than a hairstyle. It did more than hold his helmet steady on his head in battle.
It was a status symbol, a mark of honor.
And now it was sitting in the dust beside him.
The soldiers laughed and they walked away.
Tony
Tony, of course, managed to come in at the tail end of this, carrying what appeared to be a pile of scraps from a forge.
...don't judge his need to build things.
"Nathan?"
Nathan
Clearly, Tony Stark had the best timing ever.
Nathan was kneeling down by Nobutada's side, ignoring the sharp pain in his back where he'd been hit. Ignoring the length of hair that was just sitting on the ground nearby. Trying to work out what to say to a samurai who looked so damn miserable, he could possibly be reduced to tears in a heartbeat.
He turned his gaze up toward Tony, and then nodded toward the man on the ground.
Tony
Tony sighed and knelt down to help the boy up. "If it helps, they'll probably end up catching syphilis."
Nobutada
Nobutada managed to look remotely less devastated at that, and he let the two men help him back to his feet.
...
"Jolly good."
[NFB and NFI for distance and time. Preplayed with not_ironmaiden, who kills me ded with win. Large chunks of script lifted from The Last Samurai, and as such, there are spoilers within.]
Once they were there, Katsumoto had business of his own to see to, with the Emperor. Nathan, meanwhile, had to tend to his own. He'd been here to do a job, after all, and his duties were... Over, perhaps. He really had no desire to crush the Samurai rebellion. But he couldn't simply run away, either.
The military that he saw when he entered the training camp was definitely not the same one he'd left behind half a year ago.
Howitzers.
Tony
"I named mine Jericho," Tony remarked dryly, looking at the guns. Almost primitive compared to some of the things he'd designed, but enough to get the job done against simple armor and swords.
Nathan
That earned a sidelong glance.
"Enough to crumble an impenetrable city wall?"
Nathan really shouldn't have been surprised.
Tony
"Enough to destroy a mountain." And get him kidnapped.
Bagley
That reply earned the silence it deserved from Nathan.
A silence which was broken by a voice from behind.
"Algren? Algren, my God, you are alive." A voice which Nathan wasn't entirely thrilled to hear, at that. "Well, you never cease to astonish."
Bagley.
Nathan
Nathan took a breath. Noticed the Japanese officer who was walking with Bagley, and nodded a polite hello. He was the same one who Nathan had reassured before the Samurai had attacked.
It was good to see someone else who had made it out of there alive.
He turned his gaze back down to the field, pointedly ignoring eye contact with the man who had addressed him.
"Howitzers."
Tony
Tony turned to glance at Bagley for a moment before dismissing him entirely. "A bit of overkill, don't you think? Or are you really that afraid of them?"
Bagley
Bagley had been about to open his mouth to brag, but he shut it again. He directed a glare toward Tony the like of which Nathan had never seen on that man's face.
"We'll make sure the job is done properly this time. And as soon as the Emperor signs the damn trade agreement, he gets the whole package." He turned toward a pair of gatling guns sitting nearby. "Including this particular item. Two hundred rounds a minute. And the new cartridges cut down on jamming."
Nathan
Nathan barely glanced at the guns before looking out over the men in the field, at the cannons firing. At the rows of soldiers.
"I need a bath."
It had nothing to do with anything, except for the fact that he didn't feel like talking about those damned guns.
Tony
Tony smacked patted Bagley on the arm before going to join Nathan. "So sorry, I don't think he likes you that much."
Nathan
It was an unfortunate truth that taking care of the last of business meant another meeting with Omura. Considering the man was responsible for the attack on the Samurai village, Nathan was more than just a little wary of entering the man's office. Still, there was protocol to be followed, and he wasn't finished in Japan until he was finished here. Sadly.
He would have been in a worse mood if it wasn't for the fact that he could still hear Tony out in the hallway, bitching about being asked to stay behind for the meeting. Oh, Tony.
Mr. Omura
Omura stood the moment Nathan, Bagley, and the American ambassador stepped into the room, and it only stood to reason that his attention went straight to Nathan, didn't it?
"Ah, gentlemen, come in. Captain Algren! It seems you have endured your captivity with little ill effect."
Nathan
Another man to add to Nathan's list of people not to like.
"I was not ill-treated, sir."
The ambassador was going to be a welcome man to have around, seeing as he immediately stepped in to show Omura the arms agreement that he was carrying...
Mr. Omura
... Only to be completely blown off by Omura. Well, then.
"Captain Algren, I am eager to know how many Samurai have joined Katsumoto."
Nathan
Very high up on Nathan's list not to like, at that.
"I'm afraid I don't know."
Bagley
"You spent the entire winter at his encampment," Bagley argued. Because he couldn't keep his damn nose out of these things, either.
Nathan
"As his prisoner."
Bagley
"Well, has he fortified his position? Has he aquired firearms? Come, man, tell us what you saw!"
Bagley was clearly not one with the concept of 'patience,' no.
Nathan
"As you said," Nathan replied, giving Bagley an even, almost thoughtful look. "They're... savages. With bows and arrows."
He hated the taste of the words as they left his mouth. But at least it would seem that his acting skills had improved somewhat over the past several months.
Mr. Omura
Once again, the ambassador attempted to get Omura's attention, and once again he was blown off. The ambassador attempted to protest, but the response he got from Omura shut him up entirely. And as the men turned to leave the room again, Omura once again demonstrated who it was he'd been hoping to speak to all along.
"Captain Algren, perhaps you and I might have a word in private. Please sit down." It was not a request. Nathan took a seat. "May I offer you a whiskey?" Omura's eyebrow raised as Nathan declined. The drinks had already been poured. This was already not going quite as he'd anticipated.
Omura set the glass down in front of Nathan anyhow, and then took a seat across from him.
"Katsumoto is an extraordinary man, is he not?"
Nathan
"He's a tribal leader," Nathan replied, dismissively. "I've known many of them."
Mr. Omura
"But none who were Samurai." If it was possible to sweat 'smug,' Omura would have been in dire need of a bath just then. "Their ways have great appeal."
Nathan
"I don't see how this concerns me."
Mr. Omura
"Ah!" Omura held up a finger. "But it does. You see, you were right, Captain Algren. Last year we were not prepared to go to battle. You were right, and Colonel Bagley was wrong. But now, we are ready. If Katsumoto is allowed to attract other Samurai to his cause, we will have ten years of rebellion. This is something I will not allow. Either I will stop him at the council today, or you will lead my army against him. And with these new weapons, you will crush him."
Nathan
Nathan's eyes had been on the table for most of that spiel, his mind barely grasping those words. His gaze snapped up again at that last part.
"I... appreciate the offer."
Mr. Omura
"It is not an offer."
Nathan
No, no, no, no, no.
Nathan pulled himself to his feet.
"Mr. Omura, my contract with you was to train your army."
Mr. Omura
"Then we will make a new contract. One that will recognize the extraordinary contribution you have made to the empire." The smile that Omura offered Nathan was something composed of snakes and slime. "Do we understand each other?"
Nathan
"Yes. We understand each other perfectly."
Mr. Omura
Omura nodded.
"Then I am pleased."
Nathan
Nathan bowed and turned to leave the room. As he left, he didn't hear the words that Omura had to say to his right-hand man. He didn't hear the command to follow Nathan, and to kill him if he went anywhere near Katsumoto.
Nathan
Nathan was not a happy man after his meeting with Mr. Omura, and it showed in his pace as he pushed through the crowds in the street. He had things to do. A Portalocity ticket to collect on. He knew too much. The Samurai would be safer if he was gone entirely.
See? Things.
Mr. Graham had spotted him, caught up to him, and was now attempting to drill him for answers to a million questions. Laws against the Samurai. Is Katsumoto really planning to speak in the council today? Nathan was hardly paying attention. He needed a drink.
His pace slowed more than a few steps as he noticed a group of Japanese soldiers gathering around Katsumoto's son, Nobutada.
Soldiers
"//You, Samurai! Don't you know about the order?//"
The soldier's done was mocking. Cruel. He was, after all, accompanied by several other men. And they were all carrying rifles.
"//Hey, boy? Are you listening? No wonder the foreigners mock you.//" The soldier looked at his companions, raising his voice. "//Let's give this Samurai a haircut! Cut off his top knot.//"
Nobutada didn't flinch. Not even when they cocked their weapons and aimed them at his head, commanding him to kneel.
Nathan
In spite of Mr. Graham's protests, Nathan was moving to intervene the moment the rifles were pulled into this.
"//Lower your weapons!//"
Urusei. Urusei. Urusei!
And now there were rifles being pointed at him, as well. One of the soldiers demanded to know who he was. And he answered, in Japanese, "//Captain Algren,//" only to be met with the butt of a rifle, hitting him hard in the back.
Nobutada
Nobutada's sword was already drawn half a foot from its sheath before Nathan could catch himself.
The only thing keeping him from pulling the blade the rest of the way was Nathan's insistence that he stop.
Yameru.
First a yell. And then a spoken plea. And then a whisper.
The blade was put away. The Samurai stood, and cast his eyes toward the ground.
Soldiers
One soldier stepped forward and grabbed Nobutada by the hair. Another grabbed his swords, and then kicked his knees out, throwing him to the ground. The one who had given the order in the first place drew a blade.
Nobutada
Nobutada screamed as the soldiers hacked cruelly at his hair. After all, a samurai's chonmage was more than a hairstyle. It did more than hold his helmet steady on his head in battle.
It was a status symbol, a mark of honor.
And now it was sitting in the dust beside him.
The soldiers laughed and they walked away.
Tony
Tony, of course, managed to come in at the tail end of this, carrying what appeared to be a pile of scraps from a forge.
...don't judge his need to build things.
"Nathan?"
Nathan
Clearly, Tony Stark had the best timing ever.
Nathan was kneeling down by Nobutada's side, ignoring the sharp pain in his back where he'd been hit. Ignoring the length of hair that was just sitting on the ground nearby. Trying to work out what to say to a samurai who looked so damn miserable, he could possibly be reduced to tears in a heartbeat.
He turned his gaze up toward Tony, and then nodded toward the man on the ground.
Tony
Tony sighed and knelt down to help the boy up. "If it helps, they'll probably end up catching syphilis."
Nobutada
Nobutada managed to look remotely less devastated at that, and he let the two men help him back to his feet.
...
"Jolly good."
[NFB and NFI for distance and time. Preplayed with not_ironmaiden, who kills me ded with win. Large chunks of script lifted from The Last Samurai, and as such, there are spoilers within.]