Session 20. (12/12/01)

This episode was broadcast after a trailer for the new Lord of the Rings film, shamelessly using the popularity of The Stone to promote sales of this little-known work. As it starts, the troubleshooters are on a ship on the Inland Sea, awaiting the attack of two pirate ships spotted before last week's cliff-hanger ending. Emiko blesses as many people as possible while the ship's captain tries to manoeuvre the ship to gain advantage, but the pirate ships move faster and close rapidly. Then Emiko offers a prayer of placation to the wind kami and to her surprise and joy the kami grants her wish, asking in payment only that if the fleet returns safely to Matsuyama she must set up a festival of thanksgiving on that date. With this extra help, the captain manages to manoeuvre the boat to Mariko's instructions to head for the larger of the pirate ships and avoid the smaller one. At this point the ships get into bow range and the pirates open up with two arrows. One misses but the other causes critical damage to the sails. Kimori and some of the troops return fire, but only two arrows hit the boat, and one of the troops breaks his bowstring. The boats close on one another and another volley of arrows is exchanged. The pirates land seven ship arrows on the troubleshooters' boat and do significant damage to the hull; Kimori's party only manage to hit twice. Our heroes' boat and the larger pirate ship turn into the wind and run together, grappling each other while Lord Chozo's men swing and jump across onto the pirate ship, much to the pirates' surprise. As fighting breaks out here, on the other side of the ship Kimori and a small group of ashigaru continue to wire ship arrows at the smaller pirate ship, Kimori's arrow doing most damage. In the on-ship fighting, the pirates have the upper hand but Mariko kills one, taking a minor injury, Sugiyama kills two, also with a minor injury, and Komako kills three and is unscathed!

As the smaller pirate ship tries to manoeuvre alongside, Kimori hits it with another arrow. On the larger ship, the troubleshooters take an advantage with 17 heads between them including a marvellous fight between Sugiyama and a L4 pirate in which Sugiyama stunned the pirate with his second hit and then dispatched him with three more maximum strikes before he recovered, and a long drawn-out fight between Komako and a L2 pirate which only speeded up after Komako accidentally dropped one of his hajo and resorted to atemi-waza. Next the smaller pirate ship pulls alongside, allowing Kimori a point-blank shot which damages its mast. Meanwhile the battle rages and the troubleshooters are forced back, taking some damage but a few heads also. The small pirate ship starts disgorging pirates but Kimori hits it again with a ship arrow and it quickly sinks, taking many pirates with it. Those that make it onto the heroes' ship are faced with an enraged Emiko leading a small band of troops. Emiko takes five heads and encounters a L3 pirate, whom she trounces in five rounds culminating in a delicately placed critical hit. In the rest of the fighting, the pirates are nearing a two to one advantage, and both Sugiyama and Komako encounter L4 pirates, though they each dispatch their opponent taking light damage. Then fortunes change. The battles on the two ships start going the way of the troubleshooters, and all five take substantial numbers of heads. The two fights merge into one and suddenly the pirates' numerical advantage on their own ship disappears. Many are slaughtered, especially by Sugiyama who takes 11 more heads. Komako encounters a L3 pirate and starts by throwing his hajo overboard (probably by accident). He then pummels the pirate unconscious. In the final act, the troubleshooters combine for 17 heads and completely eliminate the pirate band^*.

In the final analysis, Mariko took 17 heads, gained 68 on, took a share of the spoils and found a superior sword; Sugiyama took 33 heads (winning 17 silver from Kimori) and found some full heavy samurai armour; Komako took 22 heads, gained 217 on and took a double share of the spoils; Kimori took 16 heads, sank a boat single-handedly, gained 240 on and a double share of the spoils; and Emiko took 19 heads, gained 115 on, took a share of the spoils and found a superior weapon.

The troubleshooters reach the Hyugan port of Saiki two days later. The area is held by Lord Chozo's armies. Sugiyama looks to buy a new robe for Emiko but is unfamiliar with the town and can't find one. The party then meets Ichibashi Akira, an officer in Lord Chozo's army. He tells to travel quickly to Oita to meet Hoshina Jyuso, the deputy commander of the our army for a briefing on the situation. The journey will take four days and pass through territory hostile both in its human population and its mountainous nature. They are quickly reminded of this as on the evening of the first day of their journey they are attacked by four large Earth Spiders. Komako, who was on watch, tackles one and wakes the others. Sugiyama and Kimori quickly dispatch theirs, but Mariko's spider bites her and injects a fast narcotic poison which immediately sends her to sleep. Sugiyama and Kimori come to her aid and quickly kill the spider. Meanwhile, Komako and Emiko can't hit their spider, but Komako hits himself and then gets bitten by the spider and is poisoned. Again, Sugiyama and Kimori come to the rescue and kill the spider while Komako manages to throw the poison off. Emiko attempts to remove Mariko's poison with a blessing, but critically fails and loses all her power for the rest of the night. Later, Sugiyama manages to extract five charges of the poison from the spiders' bodies and concocts an antidote with which Mariko is restored.

Next week: "Snakes...why did it have to be snakes?"

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