Operation Hard-boiled (Ryu, Tak, and Kenji)

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Type of Quest: Village Defense
Quest Info: The daimyo and the head of the militia of Totomi was visiting a village with a small retinue to assist the villagers in rebuilding their homes from a recent flood. But unbeknownst to them, a large group of bandits were waiting for them to go in the village, and in the dead of night, they attacked the village, hoping to take down the leading figures in Totomi!
Location: In a shoreline village in Totomi
People Involved: Ichimura Ryunosuke, Amakusa Takehiro, Miyamoto Kenji, a Totomi small guard corps, the shoreline villagers, a huge number of bandits (300 or more not including elites and commanders)
Plot-Important: Could reinforce the people's trust on the Amakusa.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

The night was young, but quiet. A large group of bandits were waiting nearby, watching the head of the Totomi Militia and the Daimyo of Totomi closely. When the village went quiet, this large group would attack in the dead of night, using the surprise to their advantage!

With more than three hundred bandits currently, and possibly more arriving later, they hoped to overrun the leaders of Totomi and drive the region into chaos! And poor Kenji got involved too!

They would attack without remorse or concern for who met the ends of their blades, and the screams and cries of the villagers would reach the place where our heroes waited, long before the bandits would.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro had been doing rounds in his villages, trying to make sure they were all being well-kept when the bandits struck. He was surprised, but he would not let the surprise overtake him, because that would cost the lives of the people.

"Men! To arms!" he shouted to the small army he always had with him, and the Totomi Militia. He would charge toward the largest group of bandits, firing two hallucinogenic bolts at them. Once they exploded, everyone within forty yards would be afflicted with horrid illusions. If he was successful, he would launch a dark bomb behind them, that would explode into blades of dark energy to rip them apart from the center!

[Miyamoto Kenji]

Kenji had been resting for the night at this village within Totomi, bound for home. At the time of the attack, he'd been out taking a walk, enjoying the moonlight. It was peaceful and serene, a lovely evening for some fresh air. Then he heard the screams. Cries of the townspeople and wild battle cries from bandits filled the air around him. The village was under attack!

The shugyosha had no intention of letting this stand. It was a risk, fighting so many brigands without backup (for he wasn't entirely aware of the local daimyo's presence just yet), but for those who could not defend themselves, he would fight as hard and long as he needed to. Tearing his swords from their sheathes at his waist, Kenji steeled himself and rushed the nearest group of bandits, flourishing his iron and steel in a swift dance of precision cuts. If successful with his initial attack, he'd settle into a balanced stance and begin picking off the thugs two by two; if not so successful, he would back off in a defensive stance and counter those who came at him until the group was dispatched.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke was resting in a inn when he heard shrieks. He got up immediately, put on his armor and armed his howitzer, and ran out of the inn where he rested. He saw the villagers running into their homes, shouting, "Bandits!" while running frantically. He then saw the whole picture: bandits were charging towards the village, surrounding them, intent on swallowing them whole.

"Damn it, they won't stop!" he muttered as he heard the shouts. He then saw, from afar, the Daimyo, moving towards a part of the village to engage the bandits there. Seeing that was the case, he moved towards the opposite side of the village where the Daimyo was, and would aim his howitzer at the charging bandits there, firing his howitzer at them, hoping to obliterate these people who wanted chaos in the land. But if a bandit went within 5 paces of him, he would ram his howitzer at him, and fire the howitzer towards his fellow bandits. He would not let them get near the suffering village and pillage it.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Unaware of just how powerful the Demon of Totomi, Takehiro had caught the bandits completely off guard! His bolts would explode and affect all of the bandits near his vicinity, and his dark blades would begin to tear them apart amidst their own ranks! Takehiro would hear screams coming from behind him as some bandits had slain a family while his back was turned before rushing at the Daimyo!

Kenji would successfully catch the bandits off guard, slaughtering a few of them before they were aware of his presence! Angrily, they began to swarm him, and while he'd be able to take out a few more, their numbers were growing quickly! In the building behind him, there was a staircase, perhaps he could retreat to higher ground?

Ryunosuke's howitzer would do devastating damage to the bandits! They had never seen such weaponry before, and were shocked! A few of them would begin to charge Ryunosuke, only to meet his howitzer's ramming their guts! Behind him, a few bandits would also appear from behind some buildings, also charging him! He was being attacked on two fronts!

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro's small army of men would begin to rip the bandits behind him apart just as they slew the family, much before they could even reach the daimyo himself. Glaive in hand, he would charge into the fray of bandits and swing his blade around himself in a complete circle, looking to tear as many apart as he could. His fist would then fall to the ground, striking it and sending out a pull of darkness, bringing all bandits around him that he hadn't slew toward him. Dark spikes would then erupt to stab all of those bandits through their hearts.

[Miyamoto Kenji]

Quickly, Kenji found himself becoming surrounded. Not his best choice, but given he wasn't dead yet, or even injured, it could be argued that it wasn't a horrible idea, either. Looking for an escape route, he saw that there was a staircase past a nearby building's open doorway. If he got to higher ground, he might be able to funnel the bandits up the stairs, into the artificial chokepoint provided by both the stairs and the doorway above, and cleave them as they came. In the worst case scenario, he could indulge in some parkour to hightail it away.

No time to intimately ponder his plan, though. Kenji took off toward that building, cutting asunder anyone in his path or range. Provided he made it in safely, he hauled ass up the stairs and made for the roof, or the highest floor available, before situating himself for some classic bandit-slaying action.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Seeing the bandits behind him, Ryunosuke cursed, "Damn it, how did they get inside?!" He then grasped the handle of the howitzer, as if making it a large sword due to its ridges, and charged towards the bandits at the back, hoping to slice them all off with a swing. When he was finished slicing all around him in melee, he would turn around and bombard the enemies who seek entrance in the village. There should be no entry for the wicked in this village.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Takehiro was a demon who lived up to his name, as the bandits fell like... falling things... before his might! Several of the bandits began to charge at him, both mixed with fear and anger, while others ran away to go get reinforcements!

Kenji would be chased up the stairs by the bandits! He would succeed in making it to the rooftop, and the bandits would only be coming at him from that one entrance for the time being! Climbing up one by one, they would charge at him!

Ryunosuke's howitzer great sword would smash into the bandits behind him, his speed catching them off guard as they weren't expecting that from such a little guy! He also had more enemies charging him, as well as several lobbing makeshift bombs in his direction! Additionally, several bandits would retreat from his end, attempting to get reinforcements as well!

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro's doppelganger would shoot out in front of him to slay the bandits who charged him, while he would leap in front of the fleeing bandits in a single bound. Upon landing, he would swing the glaive around in an arc behind him to decapitate them, and any he missed, he would fire his explosive bolts at to insure they were dead.

If there were still bandits around him, he would shoot dark tendrils at them to impale and slay them. If there were none in his immediate area, he would leap into the air, and land wherever the largest group of bandits happened to be.

[Miyamoto Kenji]

Well, Kenji had the bandits' attention, and god knows how many would be funnelling up those stairs. At least this might help save some peoples' lives, and also gave him the perfect venue for purging their numbers. Setting to his task, and keeping a weather ear on any developments happening around him on the roof, the merc started fighting and slaying the bandits at the entrance one by one, maintaining a mostly offensive mindset but making sure to parry and counter any attacks that got through his assault.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

When he turned around to where he was aiming a while ago, when he was about to fire his howitzer, he saw a lot of bandits charging at him. And what's more, they are throwing something at him. When he looked at what they threw, he saw that those are makeshift bombs!

"Damn it, will they blow the village up just to destroy us? Are they insane?" these thoughts are running in Ryunosuke's mind as he saw the bombs. He held again his howitzer as if it was a great sword, and would stand his ground towards his enemies, either swinging his weapon towards them to gain some breathing space, or hitting the bombs with the blunt part of the weapon, either exploding them on contact or pummeling hem back to the bandits who threw them.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Takehiro would succeed in annihilating the group of bandits completely! Even the ones who tried to flee! They were no matching for the darkness toting, fire glaive swingin' badass demon! The nearest group of bandits he would find... would be the ones near Kenji!

And speaking of Kenji, his little isolation tactic was working! In fact, a little too well! The bandits were helpless as they were trying to climb up to the roof after him, so he faced very little opposition! That is until the bandits finally got smart and began to set fire to the building trying to burn Kenji alive while he was on the roof!

Ryunosuke's cannon swinging would set the bombs off on impact! While he was safe from the initial explosion, it caused smoke to appear and obscure his vision! The bandits took advantage of this to close in and attempt to surround him! They wanted the head of the Totomi militia dead!

[Miyamoto Kenji]

(( Edit: I admittedly jumped the gun a bit and posted before Tak, but only because no one's interacted with eachother directly yet, though the opportunity has apparently arrived. If Kenshin or Tak would rather I withdraw my post for now, let me know and I'll do so. ))

Kenji smelled the smoke brewing down below. He didn't need to look to figure out that they were trying to burn him to ashes, thinking he was trapped. Fighting any further on this roof would be a horrible idea, so it was high time he got out of here. After all, he'd occupied this group long enough, and with this building slowly flaming up, it ought to serve as a brilliant beacon for villagers to get the hell to safety.

For his next opponent, Kenji first stabbed him through the chest with Yawarakai-Te, then yanked his blade out and booted the man's body hard into his living comrades, hoping that should buy him the time he needs. Afterward, he turned, sheathing his masterwork katana, and sprinted toward one end of the roof, intending to leap and either land on or catch hold of the nearest building's rooftop.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Landing near Kenji, Takehiro would summon a wall of darkness all around the bandits, pulling them away from their target and ramming them all into the building they set on fire. Once he was successful, he would form the darkness into a large sphere, before crushing it and eliminating the group. If he could not, he would allow them to burn in the building they set fire to.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

It had seemed that the slamming down of the bombs was a bad idea, since those bombs explode on impact on a body. And the bombs that Ryunosuke hit with his cannon were bombs that give off a dense smoke when it hits some hard body. The smoke expanded to within the area of sight of Ryunosuke, obscuring his vision. Holding his cannon to make a shot, he meditated all around him, readying himself  to shoot at the nearest bandit in range. Little by little, Ryunosuke's vision cleared up as he took aim, until even with the dense smoke he could see the bandit he had caught in his sights, along with the bandits with him. It had seemed that the bandits were intent on circling him, or he was already trapped as the bandits circled around him. In any of those situations, he had set his aim on the bandit and those with him. With a pull of the trigger, he fired towards the group of bandits, and then, setting his eyes on the bandit on his rightmost sights, he would fire the cannon towards him knocking him away and all those with him. The process is continued until the smoke clears out and he had a better vision of the bandits to see if they survived what he had done.

((Using the mask's effect on this one.))

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Kenji would be able to escape from the rooftop just in time as Takehiro's darkness trapped the bandits inside of the burning structure! The bandits inside would be slowly crushed, and those who didn't die from the crushing would burn to death! Their last moments were a living hell as they suffered! If Kenji looked behind him at the previous building, he would see nothing but a smoking heap of darkness! The remaining bandits began to fire arrows towards Takehiro and Kenji!

Ryunosuke's visor would work wonders, shooting the bandits with his howitzer as they were caught off guard! As the smoke cleared, he would find very few opponents left! The remaining ones made sure to spread apart so they couldn't be taken out in groups! Some charged him, while others threw bombs from all sides!

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro would put a shroud of darkness around Kenji as the arrows were fired in his direction, keeping them from hitting him. Any arrows fired on his own person would be swatted aside by a single, powerful swing of his glaive. Taking aim at the archers, Takehiro would send out dark tendrils to rip through their hearts, and he would continue the assault until they were all taken out.

[Miyamoto Kenji]

Kenji's first response to being targeted with arrows was to roll out of the way. When he did, however, he found that there were no arrows scattered around the roof, but instead a shroud of darkness... Curious, but there was no time to explain, nor time to complain if it had protected him. Instead, the shugyosha decided to use his newfound cover to his advantage, carefully approaching the edge of the roof and making sure he didn't just walk off of it, then lowered himself down and climbed to the ground. Once he touched base, Kenji's next objective was to silently draw swords and approach the archers - conveniently at the same time they were being assaulted by Takehiro's tendrils - in order to ambush them from within this awfully convenient blanket of darkness.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

It had seemed that the bandits were more cautious now, as they only charged one by one while the others just threw bombs at him. Not that it would work much however. Ryunosuke became more focused on in what direction would the most number of bandits charge, and would run away from that direction, charging towards another bandit in that way, cutting down every charging bandit along the way. When he would see bombs being thrown at his direction, he would try to swat them with his howitzer, and just move on until he had defeated that bandit towards whom he was charging, and would continue to run, cutting down obstacles along the way, until he had been clear from the smoke. He would then turn about-face to fire his howitzer towards the bandits that pursued and would pursue him.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Takehiro's darkness would successfully protect Kenji, while tearing the hearts out of the bandits that he struck with it! It was almost like an angry and vengeful ex girlfriend!

Kenji would be able to sneak to the bottom and get in amongst the bandits, but he would find that every single bandit he was about to attack would die before he could attack them! He wouldn't get a single kill! Takehiro stole them all! At least they were in a party so they shared XP, right?

Ryunosuke would be so much faster than any of the bandits, and would successfully get away and strike down any bandits in his way. His tactic of turning around at a distance and blowing things up would... blow things up! How 'bout that!?

There weren't any bandits around right now... was the coast clear? Or was something darker awaiting them all? They had a chance to take a break.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

The dark shroud would uncoil from Kenji's area, and Takehiro's energy would pour back into himself. That was much needed. The Daimyo would look around the village to take in just how much destruction was caused by these bandits, and he would frown. People who did this were too much of a threat to allow to live, so any he found, he would kill.

Spreading his arms out, Takehiro would envelope a thin dark shroud around the town. Any enemies who entered it would be taken by his poison.

[Miyamoto Kenji]

As the dust and bodies settled where they were, Kenji took a moment to wipe the blood off of his swords from earlier, then resheathe the two of them. He noted Takehiro's presence, and that he was the one whom had spawned - and now produced more of - the darkness. So the daimyo of Totomi was gifted with such powers... The merc was grateful that his ruling acquaintance was a man of justice, or that would be a troubling power to go up against with none of his own to counter.

Unfortunately, this was no time to stop and say hi. There was already one bandit attack; who's to say more weren't coming? Perhaps even those who might be impervious or resilient against Takehiro's darkness. Kenji maintained alertness, watching all sides - even to the sky - for enemies.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Looking all around him to find more enemies, Ryunosuke found nothing. It had seemed that he had finished everyone that he had faced, but since some of them managed to get away, there was bound to be more. He then moved towards the border of the village, only to see that a thin dark shroud bordered the village. This might be good or bad for the village, but anyways, he would stand guard for any bandit activity at the village border.