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You are Lady Shirin Irae Daten Shimada, head of the Noble Raihan House of Shimada and by the grace of the Empress, ruler of the Imperial fief of Shima Colony. The seditious NKH Pact have rebelled against the throne world and do battle against the Imperial Navy at the Noto system.
Meanwhile the rebels send an army of privateers and mercenaries to claw at the infrastructure of your realm in the hopes of opening up a second front. You have no doubt that the Empire will eventually crush these rebels but if you cannot hold Shima on your own, you will almost certainly be stripped of your fief and House Shimada will shrink to irrelevance.
The first raid had been repelled at a cost. Kryska; a mercenary in your employ, had lost her flagship in the process of fending off an enemy elite cruiser, earning her your respect and additional pay. Even now your sister was outfitting her with a new cruiser. In an uncharacteristic act of generosity Mayumi was also going to loan two squadrons of her latest stealth recon-strike craft.
You walk through the hangar bay of the Shima garrison to the bay that housed your family’s ancestral knight frame. The <span class="mu-i">Butsutekkai</span> was a large humanoid craft with bulky hips that housed powerful thruster arrays. A leering demon mask adorned its primary sensor array making it resemble some kind of ceremonial armoured soldier from ancient Earth. Indeed despite having capabilities that exceeded all but the most advanced combat strike craft the <span class="mu-i">Butsutekkai</span> was more of a figurehead than a warmachine; designed to duel enemy vessels in single combat rather than participate in combined arms warfare. Still if the intel was to be believed, then a duel might become a very relevant use case.
Your brother; Daisuke Hiro Seiso Shimada knelt before the machine in a meditative trance. Normally a noble house would have one or more squads of knight frames, each piloted by a specially trained member of the warrior caste. House Shimada had not had any knights in its service for centuries. While all members of the noble caste were capable of piloting a knight frame Daisuke had taken it upon himself to train rigorously with the machine. In the absence of any others, he would be your sword.
“Dai, it’s time. Are you prepared?”
His eyes flicked open as he effortlessly left the trance.
“I refuse to die until our enemies have been slain, though the ideal is high, I will meet my death with no regrets.”
“Did you have to choose such a fatalistic battle mantra? Our foes are pirates and sellswords. As if any of them could lay you low.”
“It does not do to underestimate our foe, especially when we have already lost a capital ship to them… but thank you for having confidence in me.”
You allow yourself a slight smile as he gets to his feet.
“Will Yumi be joining us?” A faint hint of anxiety… Perhaps shame tinted his voice.
“No, but she helps us in her own way. The ships she built for us will be arriving soon…”
