Session 42. (26/6/02)

The episode opens with a voice-over of scenes from the Troubleshooters march into southern Hyuga. Their work is done in the Nobeoka region, which is now completely pacified. They go with Koreyasu's troops as far as Takanabe, where they catch up with the other main Iyo armies. After a council of war, Koreyasu addresses his senior officers, saying, "The main armies will march on Hyuga's capital Miyazaki in a few days' time. We are not going with them." - this news is greeted by boos - "We are concerned that the Hyugan army will run away when they see our armies approaching their capital, and either attack the neighbouring province of Higo or turn to banditry in the mountains. We are going to stop them in a valley on the road from Takaoka to Kobayashi. They will outnumber us, but our main armies will not be far behind them."

We catch up with the army as it enters the town of Takaoka. Here a castle blocks the road to the spot chosen to ambush any retreating Hyugan army. Koreyasu lays siege to the castle in order to capture it and allow his army to pass through. On the first day of the siege both sides take minor losses but neither gains an advantage. Mariko estimates the size of the defending force at about a quarter more than their own 15,000 troops. In the fighting, Mariko takes one head, Kimori four, Komako one and Sugiyama five. Emiko takes a support role and is soon called in to heal Mariko and Komako. Sugiyama and Kimori agree on their usual wager on who takes the most heads. On the second day, Mariko again takes one head and an injury, Kimori maintains his kill rate with five more heads, Komako gets two and an injury and Sugiyama kills three. On the third day both Mariko and Kimori have encounters with level 5 opponents. Kimori's foe fails to land a blow while Kimori dispatches him in a single round. Mariko slugs it out with her foe, averaging slightly more damage with her tanto than him with his katana. The fight was in the balance until the Hyugan broke his sword. He quickly switched to his wakizashi, but soon after Mariko finished the contest decisively. Elsewhere, Sugiyama, Komako and Emiko(!) each took six heads, and both sides have two or three thousand troops less than when they started.

At the beginning of the fourth day, Koreyasu is chafing at the time it is taking to get past Takaoka. He confides to the Troubleshooters that if they do not take the castle soon they will have to try to make the difficult journey through the mountains to the ambush place. While Emiko meditates on the future of the siege, Koreyasu prepares for an assault on the castle. However, the assault never takes place because the Hyugans pre-empt them by sallying forth with 15,000 troops from their castle. The Hyugans gain the advantage and the Iyo army is reduced to 9,000 men. All the Troubleshooters take a few heads, and Mariko and Emiko (in the thick of the fighting) both have encounters. Mariko is hurt by a critical strike but recovers to finish her opponent without further injury. Emiko, her strength boosted but moving at her usual slow rate, lands two light blows on her opponent while he swings and misses four times. Then he gets a hit but Emiko replies with a critical hit and lays him out cold.

In the second hour of fighting the Iyo army continues to lose heavily - unseen by the others, Koreyasu has had an encounter with a level 5 Hyuga and was killed. Mariko takes one head, Kimori five but taking a wound, Sugiyama six, Komako three and Emiko one. Komako and Emiko also have encounters. Komako focuses his Ki to make double strikes and harder punches. He lands two very heavy blows, then finishes off the level 5 bushi with another rapid punch. Emiko meanwhile is in difficulty. Her low strike rate and limited damage is taking too long, while her opponent gets in frequent serious hits with his sword. Finally two big swings of the sword slice into Emiko and she falls to the ground, dead...

The scene dissolves and when it refocuses we see Emiko coming round from her trance, white as a sheet. All of the action from daybreak has been in her vision of the future. Shaken, she tells Mariko what is going to happen, and they decide to try something different.

From the point at the end of the first hour of the battle that Koreyasu is killed, Mariko takes over command of the army. Immediately their fortunes improve, killing thousands of the Hyugans and almost evening the numbers. Mariko takes one head, Kimori three - two less than in Emiko's dream, while still being injured - Emiko and Komako each take two and Sugiyama takes six, though receiving a nasty wound. The next two hours of fighting is finely balanced as far as the armies are concerned, though the troubleshooters try to do their bit, with the first hour Mariko, Emiko and Komako taking six heads apiece and Kimori and Sugiyama taking two each - all without sustaining injury - and in the second hour Mariko takes two heads, Kimori four, Komako six and Sugiyama an amazing nine. This seems to start the tide turning and in the fifth hour of fighting a decisive gain is made. The Troubleshooters again chip in, Mariko with one head, Kimori six, Emiko two, Sugiyama three and Komako five and an encounter with a level 4 bushi. The fight is brief, Komako landing four heavy punches in a row to floor the bushi, though receiving two nasty cuts. After this the Hyugans turn and run back to the castle. As they retreat the Troubleshooters reduce their numbers further - Mariko by one, Komako by two, Emiko by three, Sugiyama by six, and Kimori really goes to town, taking eleven heads! Possibly Kimori had seen how far behind he was in his bet with Sugiyama because this was just enough to tie them at 41 heads each.

With the defeated Hyugans penned into their castle, Mariko is able to lead the surviving Iyo army, numbering some 12,000 men, through Takaoka and on to the valley that is to be their ambush point. As they camp for the night, Mariko hands out the battle honours. Sugiyama and Kimori each receive six times normal pay (41 SP and an extra gold for Kimori), and Sugiyama also receives a superior sword. Komako is presented with a master quality sword and accorded samurai status. Then, with all the excitement of the day over, the heroes settle down to await the arrival of the main Hyugan army.

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