Kenshin bowed his gratitude.

"I will meet you at the Imperial quarters then ..." he said with a bow. She would not be in any danger here in Crane territory ... or so he would think.

Kenshin turned to leave.

Timing.

It would have been better had Kenshin not mentioned this, but he was correct -- the Akodo would undoubtedly notice.

"Five Kaisha will arrive within four days*."

That meant that the troops had to have left the day that the Imperial Messenger arrived -- and before the treaty was secured.

"More disturbing, however, I had a visitation yesterday. The Enemy tells me that they have accomplished their goal in this city and that they have left. I believe that they have left, but the other disturbs me."

"It may be that they are referring solely to the departure of some of our Daidoji, but I would rather check that assumption."

"And what have the Crane offered for such unprecidented and generous support?" Doji Kasarugi asks.  You can tell that the governor is more than mildly curious--or perhaps concerned would be a better word--about the speed and intensity of the Scorpion's response, however, your immediate survival is the paramount concern.

"As far as I know" Sakura replied truthfully, "just what was mentioned here -- fostering a few of their Samurai with the Crane."

"How...altruistic of them," Doji Kasarugi replies, "I worry when the Scorpion act in an altruistic manner.  But," he continues briskly, "that is a matter for another time.  Is there a plan of deployment to meet the Lion when they come?"

"They were working on it when I spoke to them last night. I have not not checked in with the Commander today, but I was going to call and find out if they needed anything."

"Perhaps, while we wait for the Mantis to bring word of their acceptance or decline of our request," Doji Kasarugi says, "the two of you might help to organize our defenses.  Not that I doubt the efficacy of our samurai, but the confusion of a new commander may require some additional support."

"Of course" Sakura replied, "by your leave ..."

[Sakura will leave when given permission and head directly to the Daidoji encampment.]

Kumi bowed in acknowledgement of the instruction, and when Sakura was dismissed she rose smoothly to her feet and accompanied her charge from the room.

"Go then, with my full support," Doji Kasarugi replies offhandedly, passing Daidoji Sakura a swiftly scribbled note, "oh, and remind the new commander that Doji Kusanagi's orders still stand--with one small alteration detailed here."

[Private to Daidoji Sakura: the note reads, There will be no...irregular operations outside Toshi Ranbo's walls, until the Scorpion arrive.  He could not have anticipated such a rapid response from our allies, and we cannot afford to waste this opportunity.]

"Of course" Sakura replied. She took the note, bowed, and headed out ...

[Sorry!]

The Daidoji complex continues to bustle with activity as all of the Harriers make preparations for a battle far different than the ones their peers believe that they will be fighting.  Sakura and Kumi are quickly ushered into the new commander's war room where they find him pouring over maps of Toshi Ranbo and the surrounding terrain.

"Commander ..." Sakura said politely, not wishing to interrupt prematurely, "a message for you."

"Thank you," Daidoji Takamura replies absently, studying the maps for while he opens the scroll, "Fortunes preserve us!" he curses, reading Doji Kasarugi's hastily scrawled message, "what does he think we are, miracle workers?

"Do you know where that ronin you were with went?  I was hoping that, with the loss of Ryu-sama, Kasarugi-sama would give us some leeway with our...irregular operations, but I suppose not."

"The Scorpion will arrive in four days" Sakura replied, "sooner than any of us expected. As for Kedo ... I know where to look for him."

"Would you like us to go fetch him?"

"No, if you see him, please invite him to return to explain the finer points of his strategy," Takamura replies, "but there are other things that are more critical to deal with before we reach that point.

These are the primary choke points that we've identified," he continues, pointing to several places on the map, "if you two could check to see that the barracades and other...welcoming items are placed efficently?"

"Certainly" Sakura replied. She examined the map to make sure that she knew where the choke-points were before turning to leave.

Sakura and Kumi head towards the first--and most obvious--of the choke points, the main southern gate.  The crew here is exclusively Daidoji and a large area has been cordoned off and tented into which none without the Daidoji mon may pass.  Once the two of them enter the tented area it is quickly evident why such major precautions are being taken--the wall is being reinforced with stones behind which are hidden barrels of gaijin pepper.

[Private to Daidoji Sakura: it'll be a couple of posts before the sound that Bayushi Kenshin heard reaches Toshi Ranbo ^_^]

Sakura's eyes went wide at the sight. This was a mistake -- one that she would do her best to rectify.

"Who's in charge here?" she asked the nearest Daidoji quietly.

[Just to let you know where this is going, I need to know who gave the orders to use Gaijin powder inside the city. We've gotta fix this ...]

Kumi followed Sakura passively. Quite what a priest would be expected to know of tactics she wasn't sure. Kumi was no general herself, possessed of only the rudimentary familiarity picked up by a career soldier, but that still might reasonably be expected to exceed that of a shugenja raised in the pacifist Asahina tradition. Still, she was a Daidoji, so perhaps the more martial inclinations of her blood had yet persisted.

She had looked over the plans before leaving the general's office, and they had seemed sound. The barricades observed throughout the city appeared well enough constructed. Inside the Daidoji lines she frowned at the sight of barrels of Gaijin pepper. Quite why the Daidoji had mined their own defences was unclear.

[private to kaze no kage: see dice roller. battle+intelligence=28 battle+traps=24]
This message was last edited by the player at 15:22, Wed 13 Jan 2010.

"Daidoji Arimi, Daidoji-san," the nikutai replies, gesturing towards a small, mousy looking Daidoji giving quiet but competent commands near the gate.

[Private to Daidoji Kumi: what you're looking at is a boobytrap designed to trap a contingent of Lion within the walls while transforming the gate into a wall.]

Sakura gave her thanks and then went immediately to Arimi. She bowed, and waited only long enough the get his attention.

"Arimi-San" she asked quietly, "who gave authorization for ... this?"

She clearly meant the Gaijin powder.

"I did, Daidoji-san," Daidoji Arimi replies politely, clearly this is a woman unafraid to take responsibility for her errors--or her successes, "the Ronin's plan called for us to be able to control in influx of Lion troops, but this gate is too wide for that to be feasible.  This particular configuration allows us to shut it permanently without eliminating it's usefulness as a choke point.  The gaijin pepper is enough to crumble the stone without damaging the structural integrity of the entire wall."

Kumi was prepared to trust that the quantity of Gaijin Pepper was small enough that any explosion would shift several tons of stone without being obvious. However she knew it would destroy more stone than it would create, and the gate was broad. Would there be enough stone to adequately blockade the gate?  Instead of a rampart, there would be a scree of rubble that determined Lion might climb.

"Arimi-san, I suspect that Sakura-sama is afraid that the cause of the collapse be inobvious.

"My own concern is that to shift so much stone will be to leave a less defensible weak point for the Lion to focus on, that will simply not be worth the certain destruction of a few dozen of our enemy.

"If we demolish some of the houses nearby we might better be able to barricade the gate, or, should we choose to collapse it now, we might use the building supplies to construct some form of rampart atop the rubble. There will be no time during the fighting, and that sort of structure will offer an advantage against more than just the first wave of troops.

"I volunteer to move the peasants from their homes that we might use them."

"No" Sakura replied quietly, "my concern is different. Should the Lion find out -- by any means, even a lucky Hohei -- that we are using this, we are very likely to loose Toshi Rambo in the courts."

Kumi wasn't there when the warning was discovered, so she wouldn't know such a thing.

"On the other hand, our courtiers can easily defend a ... more generic construction. I can summon any raw elements, though I don't know in what quantities until I try, that might be useful in such a construction -- and they are usually round."

Sakura looked around for a moment. She was familiar with traps, but by no means an expert.

"It would take ... what, fifty on each side?"