Liberating Mines

It felt good to be needed.

The past month had proved to be yet another hard one in the life of the last Amatsukami. Tacked onto the events that transpired earlier in the year and it would have been enough to crush the regular man spirits. But Hayate was no ordinary man, not anymore at least. Hayate was a fighter, he endured the pain and sorrow of losing his family, he endured defeat at the hands of Hiruzen which resulted in the loss of his left arm, there wasn’t much else life could throw at him.
Needless to say when Hayate Amatsukami received the summons for Shinsou he was pleasantly surprised. He had spent enough time dwelling on recent events and needed to clear his head. What better way to do that than being dispatched on a mission. Maybe some adrenaline was all Hayate needed to get himself right again. Or maybe just doing something for the greater good could kill the last Amatsukami’s sorrow.

It wasn’t long before Hayate gathered his belonging and was ready to meet his Master and receive the full debriefing. The sun was still high enough in the sky that he would make it to Whitevale from his modest estate before it was dark. So as not to make Lord Osiris wait any more than necessary Hayate proceeded to the barracks right away. The more and more Hayate showed his face in Whitevale the less people gave him notice. It didn’t hurt that thanks to his efforts, commitment, and sacrifice he had been appointed the leader of the Immortals. That went a long way around here.

“Right this way sir,” One of the numerous scribes of the Brotherhood said as he opened the front door of the barracks for Hayate. He was a fresh face but by the way he addressed Hayate the news of his new position must have spread. Or Hayate was just getting full of himself at this point. “Lord Osiris is in his chambers.”

The young man escorted Hayate through the long congested halls of the Brotherhood headquarters. He was a short fellow with short almost buzzed red hair, maybe close to Hayate’s age but the former lord of Yukon couldn’t tell for sure. Regardless it would seem that there were a number of younger recruits in the organization but none of them held such a position as him. Shinsou must have seen a lot in Hayate in their first encounter to allow him such a revered title and rank.

“Lord Osiris is just inside,” the ginger fellow said as he directed Hayate to the doors at the end of the hallway. “He is waiting on you.”
Hayate swallowed.

“Thank you.” the last Amatsukami said as the man quickly disappeared back down the direction they he brought him. Hayate hadn’t seen Shinsou in a while, bout forty five day now, and he wasn’t sure how Lord Osiris would act knowing how much of a defeated mess Hayate was right now. Regardless the young swordsman gathered his courage as he placed his palm of the red doors of the counsel room. As he pushed the door open he could see a number of faces seated around a long oval table. Some of the people he knew, like Mitchell and Beth, and other he hadn’t made acquaintances with.

As the Akashiman proceeded through the court Beth offered him a slight smile and Mitchell a nod. They had both become good friends of Hayate and spent a lot of time with him recently. They had been the only two people who Hayate had opened up to even a little bit. So it was nice to see both of them sitting on the counsel. He spied an empty chair at the end of the table opposite from where Shinsou would sit to address them shortly. There was some in inaudible chatter between those seated at the table but nothing of consequence or even interesting enough to grab Hayate’s attention. Instead he sat quietly thinking about what Lord Osiris might have needed from him.

Just then the man himself threw open the doors at the end of the room and stepped out of his private chambers. Shinsou Van Osiris was a spell sword, and a damned good one at that. When he and Hayate fought back then Shinsou effortlessly defeated him and the Corpse King in such a way that it inspired Hayate to commit himself to the cause. But that seemed like a lifetime ago now to the former lord of Yukon and Shinsou would need to do a lot better to absolve Hayate of his reservations after the loss of his clan.

Regardless of his personal views Hayate was on the payroll now and given a title and powers that he couldn’t say no to in his present condition. So for the time being Hayate would do as he is told and be the dog Shinsou most likely expected him to be. But in time Lord Osiris would have to make up for not what he allowed to happen. That is for certain.

“It’s good to see everyone gathered here today.” Lord Osiris said as he plopped down in the seat at the head of the table. Everyone around him gave him their undivided attention, minus the few less savory attendants to the meeting who couldn’t shut their traps. Hayate glared both at Shinsou and the annoying gabber jaws next to him. “I’d like to start off by saying that we have a new face joining us for this council meeting. Hayate Amatsukami, the former lord of Yukon and leader of the Immortals.”

Those seated at the table all turned and clapped softly as the officially greeted Hayate into the counsel. Hayate blushed slightly not knowing exactly how to react or respond. He was happy that he hadn’t been dismissed but was one for being the center of attention.

“Thank you for having me here.” He said nodding.

“Moving on,” Shinsou casually continued. “We have an issue that needs attending to. My informants have warned me of a criminal enterprise that formed recently in Stonevale. The mining town has been covertly taken over but a group of malicious business tycoons and their goons.”

Hayate like the sounds of that, anything that could get him mind off his clan and focused on something else was much appreciated. It would also be a good first mission to involve the immortals and take them for a test drive. Well at least find out who is willing to take on such a minuscule task. Assuming that these were your regular run of the mill bandits he figured one or two assistants would suffice and immediately darted his eyes at Beth across the table from him. She must have had the same idea because she was looking towards him and nodded when they made eye contact. Beth was a younger girl but possessed very strong abilities and Hayate knew she would be more than enough back up for him on this mission.

“I’d like a team to be dispatch to take care of these men and give the mines back to their respected owners.” Shinsou finished.
Hayate immediately stood up.

“I will be leaving shortly Lord Osiris.”

“I expected nothing less from you Number Four, use whatever resources you need. Send a raven when you have completed you mission, and bring back the head of whoever masterminded this coup.”

“Your will be done.” Then the one-armed man and Beth left the council chambers preparing for their mission.

“This seems like a pretty easy mission don’t you think” Beth said as the two of them walked out the front of the barracks. “I mean the worst part is going to be not causing too much of a stir while we are there.”

Is she always like this? Yamato chimed in buzzing in Hayate’s ear.

It’s nice to have someone in such a good mood around. Leave her alone. Hayate telepathically answered his sword spirit. Hayate could use some cheerfulness in his life right now and wouldn’t let Mr. Pessimistic ruin this for him.

“Between that and actually locating the ring leader, I wouldn’t call this a walk in the park.” Hayate said as the two of the neared the Immortal’s compound in the outskirts of the city. The front of the compound was painted White and had no windows or other entrances besides the front door, which was heavily guarded at all time. The two men clad in full suits of heavy armor let Hayate and Beth pass with no resistance, after all Hayate had become their direct supervisor so they didn’t bat an eye as per his previous requests.

“What do you think we will need?” she asked Hayate. “I’m thinking less is more in this instance. Don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves riding in with a ton of men and armored to the teeth.” She was right, but Hayate was miles ahead of her.

“It’s just going to be me and you. We will ride through the night and reach Stonevale by the morning, set up shop in the local tavern and hope to have some kind of contact waiting on us there.” Hayate said as he directed Beth to her quarters to gather what she would need. He agreed less is more and instructed her to only bring what was absolutely necessary. After a while Beth returned to the front entrance and found Hayate patiently waiting.

The sun had now eclipsed over the mountains bathing the land in darkness. While Hayate waited he arranged that two black stallions be tacked up and tied outside for them to depart on. It would be a rough ride but Hayate had a lot of experience on horseback and assumed Beth did to. That seemed like a prerequisite for the Immortals anyway.

“Ready to go Hayate?”

“Let’s ride,” He said using his good arm to hoist himself up on the massive steed. That was something new and with one hand he struggled a moment before fully getting on top of the horse. “The quicker we get there the less time we will have to waist looking for leads.”

The two companions rode through the glistening moon light for hours until they cleared the long pastures outside Stonevale. As they approached the mining town there were a number of small cottages and farm house that dotted the country side. Some seemed to be relatively abandoned, other were home to families, and yet others seemed to only be used for storage. It was strange but Hayate was told that the hustle and bustle of Stonevale did seem to cause people to come and go. He assumed that the few vacant buildings were once home to someone but not anymore.

“Stop here,” He yelled as the sun threatened to peak its head over the trees on the horizon. He pointed a modest stone shack with a hay roof around the bend in the trail ahead of them. The two companions slowed their horses as they approached what would become their temporary home. “Let us not get ahead of ourselves.” He said as he brought his steed to a halt and began to dismount.

“I’ll tie the horses up out back,” Beth said as she hoped off her horse and grabbed the two of them by the reigns. “We should get off the roads for now.”

“Yeah, I’m going to find a way inside.” The leader of the Immortals said as he headed for the front door. From the outside it was a pretty put together house without mush damage to speak of. The windows appeared to be fine and the door didn’t have much wrong with it. As Hayate approached the wooded door he tried to pull on the handle to no avail, it was locked up tight.

Shall I handle that for you sir? Yamato offered.

Hayate reached behind his back and gripped the hilt of his Nodachi.

“Rise Up,” He said in a muffled tone. “Don’t go overboard.”

Then his sword vanished and around him a dark red energy appeared. From the pool of energy a giant hand took shape and grabbed hold of the door. Then with a violent yank the wooden door was off the hinges and on the ground. Then as quickly as it came, the ethereal hand vanished and Hayate’s Nodachi returned.

“Did I just hear some-...” Beth said with her mouth hanging open.

“I didn’t want you to see that just yet.”

“That. Was. Amazing…” She stood in disbelief. Beth had heard rumors of Hayate’s power but not yet seen it for herself. Needless to say but she was very impressed.

After a hour or two of some well-deserved sleep the two Immortals decided that it would about time for the locals to be heading into town. So once they got up, fed the horses, and gathered their belongings the two companions set off on foot for Stonevale. They only had to walk for about forty five to fifty minutes before they were met with the smells of a mining town. The raw earthy scents of minerals and ore being drug up out of the ground brought Hayate back to a time when he and his family owned a profitable iron mine in the grater Akashiman territory.

Back in those days the Amatsukami ran all off the excavations for the Shogun personally like slaves in order to appease the tyrant. But they were allowed to keep a small amount of the profit to keep up the ruse that they owned the mine. Regardless back in those days Hayate grew knowledgeable about all the facets of the mining industry and how they would most likely operate here. With that knowledge in hand and the potential to find someone they could buy some information from Hayate was confident that they wouldn’t have to be here for more than a day or so.

Once the two of them arrived in the town center they both started looking for some kind of brothel or tavern that might house the type of character they were searching for. It wasn’t long before they both decided that the Keg would probably be their best bet to find an information broker. The Keg was a large two story tavern near the rear of the plaza with a large barrel of mead fixed on its roof. It was probably decorative but still impressive. Inside there were people from all walks of life, even at this early hour.

Beth didn’t stray far from Hayate’s coat tails as he navigated the tavern casually looking for anyone that might catch his eye. He thought about asking the barkeep but didn’t thing things would be so easy like they were back in Radasanth. Sitting at the bar were a number of rough looking characters with more weapons than would be comfortable to carry. He deduced they were the muscle but were was the brains?

“Any ideas?” she spoke up tugging at his coat. Beth appeared to be uncomfortable in the tavern, like she had never done it before or something.

“Let’s just find a seat and order some food for now,” He said as he stopped at a free booth in the rear of the establishment. “I’m sure something will come to me.”

It wasn’t long before Hayate had an idea. There was a man sitting alone just a few booths beside them off behind Beth. As he watched the young girl eat her rack of lamb Hayate payed close attention to the shadowy looking figure a few seats away. He looked like the type who dabbled in secrets, or at least he looked enough like that for Hayate to want to question him.

“I’ll be back,” He said as Beth took another huge bit of savory meat. “Gotta take a leak.”

“Right!” she said barely even acknowledging him, solely concentrated on her food.

Hayate stood and went towards the restrooms. As he walked by he saw that the man had a number of scrolls and parchments strewed out on his table. That was a good sign so he diverted his path and approached the man. He was a tall burley fellow with a thick brown beard and long brown hair. He looked up at Hayate and sized him up. They both looked at each other without saying a word for what seemed like an hour, but was only a few seconds.

“Can I help you?” the man said in a grizzled tone.

“I heard there are some new players running the game around here,” Hayate said as he sat down across the booth from the man. “I just want to know how to get ahold of em.”

“Excuse me?” he said mildly annoyed. “I don’t have time for this.”

“I have a purse full of coin here if you tell me everything you know about the big boys who have been pretending to be bosses around here.” Hayate said as he dropped a sack of gold on the table. Shinsou insisted that if any bribing should be done that he used some of the gold in the Brotherhood coffers. The man eyed up Hayate one more time before reaching forward and snatching the sack.

“You mean the Granite Kings? They are the only new players in the game and they haven’t been playing very fair. They came in by force and took control of the quarry about a week and a half ago and won’t let anyone but them get down there to dig.”

It was looking like Hayate had struck gold. Now all he had to do was handle business. After scooping up Beth the two of them set off for the quarry and hopefully were about to complete their mission.

The quarry was across town and the closer they got to it the less and less people they saw walking the streets of Stonevale. It seemed that whoever was running the show around here, presumably the Granite Kings, didn’t want anyone even close to their operation. What could they be hiding, or what could they be hogging to themselves. It didn’t really matter because the bounty on the ringleaders head drew the attention of the Brotherhood. That was something that you really didn’t want to happen to you.

Are we sure about bringing her along? Yamato asked Hayate knowing that there would be a good deal of fighting.

Oh, are you getting a soft spot for her? Don’t want her to get hurt? Hayate teased his spirit.

Absolutely not, my only concern is that she will cause you to not think clearly. Or just get in the way…

This is the best shot we have to gauge her skill in the field. If I’m going to become the leader that they need I have to let them do things and not do everything by myself. That was a lesson Hayate learned the hard way. The events of Akashima would be the proof to that, he tried to bare all the reasonability by himself and lost everything.

As the two approached the quarry they quickly noticed that they were the only civilian types walking around. The only other people they could see were a handful of well-armed men guarding the entry way down into the pit. They must have been the muscle of the Granite Kings, or part of the muscle at least. Beth once again tugged on Hayate coat partially hiding behind him. She was clearly nervous but not helpless. Even if she didn’t know it Hayate say great potential in the girl.

“Are you ready?” He whispered only loud enough for Beth to hear. With every footstep closer the guards appeared to grow more and more aggressive. They would attack soon.

“I think…”

“Just fallow my lead.”

As Hayate got about ten feet in front of the guard post he quickly drew his wakasashi from its sheath and leapt into action. He dove on top of the first guard and drove the end of his weapon deep into the poor son of a bitch’s throat. As thick red blood filled his mouth the man choked on it and died near immediately. It appears that the time for fun had arrived.

One on your left!

Hayate pivoted on his heal ripping his Akashiman dagger from the man’s throat and threw it at the next guard. It spiraled through the air for a moment before impaling itself in the sternum of the guy. As he started to fall to the ground Hayate quickly ripped his blade from the man chest and continued to attack the remaining few guards. Beth wasn’t as quick as Hayate but engaged with a man about twice her size. She held her own well and by the time Hayate had dispatched of the first two she had slit the wrists of her enemy and moved onto the next one.

The two of them managed to take care of the straggling guards without causing too much commotion. And as the finished they two of them disappeared into the shadows of the quarry and continued deeper into looking for the higher ups. There were a number of other men roaming the quarry as well as a dozen or so in the very bottom tooling away at the minerals. Hayate wondered if the men working the mine were part of the Granite Kings or slaves being forced to work. Either way Hayate didn’t hurt unarmed men.

“Do you see that?” Hayate asked as he crouched and pulled Beth down with him. He pointed to a tent oddly out of place on the western slope of the quarry.

“That looks like the place to be if you’re asking me,” She said quietly. “I’d bet my ass the head we are looking for is in there.”

“Okay, let move.”

“Rodger.”

The two assassins sneaked with great care not to alert any of the roaming sentinels that patrolled the slopes. Taking extra time and caution and waiting for the coast to be clear before the made their way to the tent.

Once they reached the cloth house Hayate signaled to Beth to remain back a bit. She waited in a small bush outside for Hayate’s next single and from there she would burst into action and delay any annoying guards that might come running if things went sour. But Hayate didn’t plan for this to be too loud. Their body count was already a bit higher than he would have wanted and they didn’t have a lot of time left before the bodies attracted unwanted attention.

Hayate crept ever so quietly up towards the only entrance to the tent. And with his ears open he tried to hear what the voices inside were saying. He judged by the size of the tent that there could be anywhere between three and seven men inside and needed to be certain that he wasn’t about to be in a bad situation. He held his breath as he identified at least four separate voices chattering beyond the thin fabric.

Are you ready Yamato? Hayate asked as he brought his hand back up to the hilt of his Nodachi.

Merely say the words my master.

Then Hayate pulled his large katana from his back and spoke the required incantation. His swords faded out of reality and the same glowing pool of crimson energy surrounded the young man’s feet. The light was bright and inside he heard as someone pointed it out. He didn’t have time to summon the full form of his monster and only conjured the left arm of the Corpse King. It took shape as a larger than life replacement for his own arm he lost and by the time it fixed itself on his shoulder the cloth of the tent flew open.

To the bastards who opened the tent’s surprise he was met with a powerful left hook from Hayate’s spectral arm sending him fling though the tent and out the other side. The young man leapt through the folds of the tent and disappeared for a while. All that Beth could see from her position was a red light from under the edges of the tent and random people fly out one after another. She observed that the others in the quarry hadn’t yet noticed the chaos ensuing within.

“Please, what do you want?” the last man in the tent asked as he graveled at former lord of Yukon’s feet. He wore the cloths of a business man and not a fighter. Hayate had found the man who organized holding the quarry hostage. He had found the man who had become a thorn in the side of the Brotherhood. Hayate had found the head he was asked to retrieve for Lord Osiris.

“Tell me,” Hayate said looking down on the man. “are those people in the mine you men, or you slaves?”

“Please don’t hurt me.”

“Begging for your life isn’t a good look.”

Then in one mighty movement Hayate grabbed the man by his shoulders before using his wakasashi to remove his head.
They didn’t spend long in Stonevale managing to accomplish the task in a matter of hours. And in another few they would be back home in Whitevale. Hayate had let the cat out of the bag and displayed his powers to yet another person. While he believed Beth to be a good person and someone he should worry about still having others know how strong he was always lead to trouble, infight even.

Liberating Mines
Basic Rewards

Rewards:

Hayate Amatsukami receives:
1560 EXP
195 Gold

"New eras don't come about because of swords, they're created by the people who wield them."

Nobuhiro Watsuki

All rewards have been added.