The Death of a Yamabushi

[Kitsune]

[member="Alask Diruno"]

A tall, buff man stood silently on a backwater Trading outpost in the Northern Dependencies. He wore traditional set of combat armor for the Inari Shogunate: standard blue scaled armor that had an armorweave underlay and a black bodyglove. Yet his armor displayed no rank, and he only wore the arm guards, shin guards, and chest plate of the original set of armor along with an armorweave grey poodooagi. The reasoning, at the moment, was unknown, but at his side was a great force pike, which was deftly held with ease by the man.

The man was a lone zealot, hailing all fealty to the one true Goddess, Kitsune. He was known among the Inari Shoguntae as a Yamabushi, a title granted to ascetic hermits of devout faith whom traverse the galaxy in the pursuit of knowledge. This particular man served as the adjutant for Kitsune aboard the ISS Mikoshi before returning to his dogmatic journey for greater knowledge. Specifically, knowledge regarding the Wan-shen and its respective martial arts of the Matukai.

He gazed upon the hallways of the trading station, searching for one of his contacts who had promised him to be his guide and journeyman.

 

[Alask Diruno]

[member="Kitsune"]

Alask flew in his YTA-2150 light freighter as he neared what seemed to be a trading station. A ship of swift movements along with no clue of who was inside. Strapped to his back, was an electro staff, a lethal weapon Alask came to enjoy using. Once he came close to a hangar, he would turn on his comm for any incoming messages. He noticed a ship he once was on, tortured and stripped on. He would enter the hangar not leaving the ship even if given permission. Alask wore his usual robe and armor pieces as he waited patiently in his cockpit. Before anything else happened, his eyes glowed bright as a vision appeared. He saw death, of a familiar man. Maybe him? Maybe someone else. Either way, at least he came prepared. Even if someone remembered him, his hair had grown out but someone might recognize his unique robe. The robe was hand crafted by his old order, more of an academy.

 

[Kitsune]

[member="Alask Diruno"]

The Yamabushi noticed Alask's presence but ignored it all together. For the Yamabushi, he hoped to avoid detection and lowered his head, tightly gripping his great force pike with his right hand. He had his hand was primed to active the vibro systems of the force pike in preparation for combat, but he was hoping for a more diplomatic solution. The Yamabushi leaned against the durasteel wall and tensed the muscles in his legs in preparation to dodge an attack or at the very least, retreat from action. In addition, he secretly activated and began the process of powering his Janjanbi-class Slugthrower Pistol. He hoped, once again, that he would not have to resort to hostile measures.

He checked his chronowatch on his right hand. His contact was late.

 

[Alask Diruno]

[member="Kitsune"]

Alask analyzed the station and then started walking towards the exit ramp. On his way to it, he grabbed a disruptor rifle, a blaster pistol and a case full of explosives and smoke bombs. Maybe to create a diversion. He then hit the button as the ramp slid down and touched the floor of the station. On his way walking down, he noticed some hallways and corridors. He started there as he carried the case walking towards them. His weapons weren't concealed, the blaster was on his belt and the disruptor rifle was strapped on his back next to the staff. He had a lot of weapons in his ship but they were all hidden after his last incident. The ship was booby trapped with motion detectors that shot lasers at those who didn't have the DNA of Alask. A little crafty but he had to be safe. His hood was up as he walked and his cloak was completely dark to fool the enemy. As he neared a hallway, a figure came into view. He walked normally and acted like he was supposed to be there.

 

[Kitsune]

[member="Alask Diruno"]

The Yamabushi felt Alask's presence closer and closer...It was only within a few moments that he would be confronted. He looked back at his chronometer once more. 30 minutes late. He thought to himself. Frak, how am I going to get out of this situation?

Considering it futile to continue waiting for his contact, he quickly began to move into the deeper, and busier parts of the station where commerce and bartering occurred. The marketplace of the trading station was bustling to say the very least, and he tightly grasped his great force pike. The Yamabushi slowly turned off the safety controls of his Janjanbi-class Slugthrower and for the very last time looked at his chronometer.

12:39. I only have 21 minutes to reach the hangar bay safely and escape.

 

[Alask Diruno]

[member="Kitsune"]

Alask grinned when the figure left to a more public filled place. He didn't waste any time, instead he gripped the handle of the case tighter and started sprinting after it as his cloak flapped with the flow of air. While he was running, he would send a telepathic message. 'Do you always run?' Maybe it was a sort of taunt or maybe he was just trying to get in his head. It was a matter of seconds before Alask got to the part of the station where he last saw the figure run into. That's when the figure came into view, well, his upper part of his body. Some people blocked the view but he knew it was the man in the vision. Alask, still holding the case in his right hand, grabbed his staff with his left as he took off running after the man.

 

[Kitsune]

[member="Alask Diruno"]

He sighed as he received the message. It was intended to be a taunt, but it was inane of him to make that statement, considering the fact that he was pursuing an innocent man. As soon as Alask began chasing after him, he immediately glanced behind him and fired twice into the crowd behind him in order to incite chaos and block Alask's way. Of course, the exploding slugthrower rounds caused a hailstorm of gore and blood, killing several civilians in the process and causing a chain reaction within the entire marketplace. All of the people within the market began scrambling to disperse from the crowd and the Yamabushi immediately followed the flow of the masses of scrambling sheep and into the station's hangar bays and residential areas.

As the Yamabushi began escaping from the marketplace, he paused for a split second and quickly aimed the sights of the Janjanbi-class Slugthrower Pistol at Alask. As soon as the pistol had a mark on Alask, he immediately fired a round at Alask and continued his escape; the round would automatically follow Alask and then explode into thousands of repulsor-driven microflechettes as soon as it reached proximity of him.