Origin of the 9th

Chapter 3: Mission at Moonlight

"Pon, can't you see what is wrong with this elongating of the war now?" I asked as my brother laid Phoebe's body into the ground and began shoveling the dirt over it. "Will you finally come with me to convince Chiko to end this madness?"

It had all started seven years ago, when I brought what I had heard about the Shogun to Chiko following my first mission. It had seemed to greatly trouble her when I told her that the Samurai had apparently been inherited by a new one. Since then, she had gone completely insane, ordering the movement of the entire settlement every two weeks. The nature of the missions for the Ninja changed, resulting in no one ever having anything related to confrontation with Samurai warriors. Every task became repetitive; small hit-and-run expeditions into Samurai territory to take the lives of a few civilians. Women and children were heavily prioritized; even Samurai livestock and farms were emphasized over military personnel. This strategy had transformed the war into one of attrition rather than one of power, the most surefire method of victory, but long and costly.

"I know that it seems wrong, but we have to trust in Chiko's judgement. She only wants what's best for the Ninja." Pon asserted, wiping the tears from his eyes and trying to look strong as he continued to bury his squad member. Surprisingly, Pon's entire squad had managed to survive the seven long years of war until now. Phoebe had been killed in an ambush as Pon's squad was returning from raiding a supply cart. Neither Kojuo nor Neiko could bring themselves to bury her, so as the squad leader, the responsibility landed on Pon. He had really grown up from that immature whiny brat that had been the shame of the Templar into someone more respectable than I ever thought he could be.

"Even if she want what's best for the Ninja, this folly needs to be remedied. We are so much more powerful than the Samurai now that we could easily wipe them out in a head on assault." I said, knowing it to be true. The remaining Ninja were far out of the league of any of the Samurai. Phoebe had managed to take down seven of them by herself before falling, and the other members of her team were able to completely annihilate their attackers eventually. My squad was all still alive and well, and after Chiko, we were the next four strongest Ninja by far. Adding our increase in strength to the knowledge that the Samurai were extremely short on civilians and had refused to change their culture by continuing to abandon their daughters, the Ninja could easily wipe them out at any point.

"I guess you're right, but won't a head on assault result in incredible casualties? We have been somewhat lucky that our own casualty rate is at an all-time low because of these tactics." Pon reasoned, picking up a small stone and carving letters onto it. He had finished burying Phoebe and was clearly cutting out a tombstone. I decided to allow him to finish before interrupting him again.

"If we win quickly, we can avoid the inevitability of all of us dying over a long slow period of time. With a head on assault with our elite personnel, we would suffer maybe one casualty at most." I said, giving Pon a couple of seconds to process the numbers before continuing. "At least come with me to see Chiko. She wouldn't listen if it was just me."

"Fine, have this one your way. I'll come with you, but I can't contribute anything to your argument. It's yours after all." Pon said, throwing up his hands in surrender.

"That's fine by me." I said, relieved that Pon was going to be there. Even if he wouldn't help, just the entire family being there together should make Chiko listen more to reason. After all, it had been about three years since the three of us had a conversation together about something other than reporting mission status.

We walked to the center of the current settlement, the Grand Oak. The tree was the symbol of Ninja settlement, and could be relocated or customized according to the will of the Tenpurā. It wasn't magic, but simply the nature of the majestic tree to obey the will of its master. With Chiko, it had shrunk to the height of the surrounding forest to avoid detection from the outside.