The heart of the Empire was firmly in the grip of darkness. All across Otosan Uchi, the streets were filled with confused citizens of the Empire... and less innocent things. Only hours after the Pestilence attack from the Locust, mobs roamed all over, and even the mighty Unicorn hard pressed to keep even a modicum of peace.

But far below the overrun streets, another struggle was taking place. If it was fought within the walls of even the strongest building in Otosan Uchi, those walls would have fallen in short order. Deep in the bowels of the Diamond Palace, two beings raged against each other, shaking the earth around them with their fury. In the place the long-lost Dragons called "The Factory", The Dark Oracle of the Void and the Champion of the Dragon Clan exchanged blows that could destroy small armies.

All around them, the Factory had been laid to waste. Very little was left of the arcane technology that the Agasha had spent twenty centuries perfecting. The chamber was shaken as Ishak's foul power missed it's mark against Hoshi once again. The Dragon Champion leapt into the air, his form seemed to blur for a moment, and suddenly he was on the tsukai, his powerful hands choking the throat of the Dark Oracle.

"I will see you dead," Hoshi repeated, his voice a hoarse whisper.

"Idiot," came the reply, and Ishak slammed his forehead into Hoshi's nose, sending him backwards, stunned. "I am dead." Though he would never admit it now, he was almost enjoying the conflict. It had been lifetimes since anyone dared challenge his power and survived more than a few moments after. Ishak raised his hand once again, and knocked Hoshi into the air with a bolt of energy. The fight was nearly over. Despite the mystery surrounding the Dragon Champion, Hoshi was still mortal. Nothing more than a watered-down copy of a truly impressive being.

"You're finished," Ishak said, as he strode to stand over the Dragon. "How does it feel?" he hissed, laying a hand over his opponent's forehead. Small arcs of energy leapt from his fingers, and Hoshi flinched in pain, though his eyes were still resolute. "Your sacrifice is nothing. Your Clan will be exposed to daylight. Even if this Empire survives what the Stormbreaker has planned, the Dragon will never survive without their anonymity. You have betrayed them twice now." Ishak's grip tightened. "I just thought I should let you know that before I send you screaming to Jigo-"

The Dark Oracle paused. Something was coming, he could feel it. The Factory shook again, more from the strain of the buckling foundations than anything, but Ishak felt it. Dark magic had opened a portal here, and someone had come through.

"Ishak," a low voice called out among the small explosions and creaking steel.

"I will see you dead," Hoshi said again, and gripped the Dark Oracle's arm, and twisted him to the ground. The Dragon brought his foot up, kicking Ishak in the face.

Ishak stumbled backwards, more from surprise than actual impact. He knew who was here.

From behind a twisted pile of metal that was once a workstation, the Emerald Champion of the Diamond Empire stepped into view, his form draped in a green cloak, and the Sword of the Emerald Champion held firmly in his hands. But it was not the Emerald Champion...

"Dairyu?" Ishak whispered, gazing into the one good eye of the man before him. "Well. I am impressed. You managed not only to stay out of our sight, but you did it by hiding in plain view." He smiled widely, and thrust his hand into open air, ripping it as if it were paper. When he withdrew it, a strong young woman was in his grip by the throat. "I suppose you've come looking for this, then, Tetsugi? Or Dairyu. Or whatever you prefer today."

Bayushi Dairyu froze. His daughter, Shiriko, dangled in the Dark Oracle's grasp like a rag doll. He could see that she had been badly beaten, and her right arm was twisted horribly. The former Scorpion Champion looked past Ishak and saw Hoshi rising to his feet. They exchanged one glance, and Dairyu instantly knew he owed his life to the mysterious Dragon. Hoshi had been the one who had saved his life once in Mori Isawa, and then again when the Stormbreaker's agent had tried to implant him. Sano had told him everything of the Empire's past, and Dairyu knew of the unusual but loyal bond the Dragon and the Scorpion had shared down the ages. How fitting, he thought, pulling his goggles down over his face, that we will die here together.

"You cannot win, Ishak," Hoshi's deep voice spoke, and the Oracle turned his head to regard him. "You cannot defeat us both."

Shiriko heard all of this, as if from afar. She felt the last bit of her life slipping from her as the three men stood, waiting for another to move. She was starved, tortured, and exhausted. When Ishak had called the name of her father, she thought she was hallucinating. All she could see was the blurred form of Heichi Tetsugi in the kimono of the Emerald Champion. He had come to save her at last, but he was far too late.

Ishak swung Shiriko around him like a charm against his two attackers. Hoshi and Dairyu circled around him warily as the Factory shuddered and shrieked lowly. "You are both fools." he said, "You will all die here as the Factory collapses upon you."

In a surreal moment, Shiriko's head twisted to the side slowly, and glassy eyes came to meet with Dairyu's own. She looked like the animated dead, but he knew she was not. Bayushi Shiriko smiled lazily, and reached slowly, grasping the wakizashi in her obi.

A moment too late, Ishak turned back to see Shiriko plunging the short blade into her stomach, biting back a scream. "What?" he stammered in surprise.

The young Scorpion Champion twisted in Ishak's grasp, and was dropped to the ground by a confused Dark Oracle. The world seemed to move a little slower as Bayushi Dairyu saw his beloved daughter fall, her blade still stuck in her torso.

And for the first time in over a decade, he felt true anger as he leapt at Ishak. At the same time Hoshi attacked with his breath of fire.

On the streets of Otosan Uchi, a middle aged man cowered inside his apartment, a small gun clutched in his shaking hands like some sort of talisman. He was a jeweler by the name of Kikaze, one of the few people in Otosan Uchi who remained of the line of the first Lady Seppun.

The city had gone silent and dark hours ago. Or was it just minutes? The looting had begun not long after. The magistrates of the Empire must have been blind-sided by whatever force had taken hold of the Imperial City, for Kikaze had not seen one since the nightmare had started.

Another shot outside. The balding jeweler jumped and nearly sent a bullet flying into the ceiling.

How could this be happening? he asked himself. This is the Pearl of Rokugan, damnit. Not some backwards little province in the Senpet Nations. The sound of glass breaking outside, perhaps no farther than the building next door caused him to quickly step further away from his own window.

Deep inside, he felt only two things. Kikaze knew fear, the deepest, blackest fear that he had ever known. He feared not for his own life, but for the world around him. He had always believed in an orderly world, where one woke up in the morning, performed the correct exercises to maintain one's health, showered, ate, worked for eight to ten hours a day, and then returned home to pursue the finer things in life. It was boring sometimes, but it was a safe, quiet world, and that was how the Seppun merchant liked it. Of course, he lit his ancestor's shrine every time it was proper, and prayed to the Fortunes when it was expected, but he did not truly accept that a floating ghost of his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather would appear to him some day and give him guidance. It just wasn't logical.

And in that fear that encompassed his whole being, Kikaze knew he had been wrong. The tales of the Seven Thunders, of Shinsei, of Osano-Wo, and all of those things were true. For these things, he knew he had betrayed his Empire in his heart, for despite the fact he considered himself an upright and model citizen (he had a plaque from the Merchant's Chamber of Otosan Uchi stating he was indeed a fine citizen), he was not truly Rokugani. For that, he felt shame. Shame just as deep as the fear that froze him, huddling in the corner of his apartment now.

"I am sorry, grandfather," Kikaze whispered as he turned the gun on himself.

"Don't do that, Kikaze," a voice whispered from the dark corner of his living room.

The Seppun's eye grew wide as the shimmering, floating image of a man who looked like his father stepped into view. Kikaze was so shocked, he accidentally pulled the trigger.

The corridors were endless.

Taigo turned again, running past the pipes and workings of the Locust as he evaded the undead Moto chasing him. Was it possible this was the thing his lord Dairyu had told him about, the "Stormbreaker"? The ninja took another passage, and around the corner, Yotogi waited for him.

With inhuman speed, he lashed out with a vicious punch, and sent Taigo sprawling to the ground.

Without missing a second, the Scorpion spun on his back, and pushed himself up with his hands, kicking the Moto in the face with one foot while landing on the other. The enhanced strength of the Father's costume was enough to drive Yotogi back, but not to do any real harm. Taigo knew he would be worn down long before his opponent ever would. The ninja's thoughts turned toward escape instead of hit and run tactics.

Running back the way he had come, Taigo realized he was most likely lost. The undead Moto's laughter rang out behind him, "Run, little Scorpion! You will not escape when the walls of this place come crashing down upon you!"

It took the ninja less than a breath to realize the Machine was rigged to explode. It made sense - either his brother had set the bombs to go off in the event of his death, or whatever it was that had come to destroy the leader of the Locust had placed them. Taigo pulled back the sleeve of his suit revealing a complex array of buttons and readouts along his forearm. He pressed some quickly, letting the sleeve fall back into place as he continued to run blindly down the tunnels.

He sidestepped into another corridor, and suddenly found himself dizzy. Taigo stumbled, bracing himself with one hand on the floor, and standing up quickly. It wasn't him... something was affecting him. He felt as if there was something nearby that was causing him to feel ill by its mere presence.

"Run, Scorpion," came a soft whisper in his ears. He could hear it, though he would never be able to really identify it out of the total silence in the Machine's corridors.

Without even thinking, he forgot about the sensation, and continued to flee down the hall. Shortly after Taigo left the area, two floating eyes appeared, looking to where the ninja had left. The Dragon of the Void's eyes were full of a sort of curious sorrow as it watched the man filled with the Darkness run.

Then they were gone.

Taigo's mind and stomach settled as he ran on, not remembering why he had felt ill, nor caring. The small display in the inside of his mask lit up, and slowly a digital map of the area around him was traced. After another second, a large red blip showed up only a few hundred feet to the south of his location. The detonation device, he hoped, and changed his direction toward it.

If he could disarm the thing, perhaps one small corner of Otosan Uchi would be spared the wrath of the Locust's attack. If not, he would not live to wonder how much of a hole the capitol city would have in it.

Fifty feet...

Taigo reached into the obi on his suit and drew out a small device and some clippers. It was much like the Locust EMP wands, but far smaller, with a more contained area of effect. It was for sabotage, not terrorism.

Fifteen feet...

A steel door. Locked, barred, and reinforced. Taigo sighed as he neared it, his breath the only sound in the empty hallways, save for a low thrum coming from the other side. He concentrated for a moment, drawing on the training Bayushi Dairyu had given him so long ago. His mind concentrated on nothingness, being as light as air, but not even that. Soon, he was nothing, too, and he stepped through the doorway as if it weren't there.

Inside the glowing, pulsing chamber, Taigo reappeared from the darkness, and found himself staring at some sort of power generator. Odd pipes curled around it and then sprawled out into walls, likely to all parts of the Locust hideout. In all ways, it looked like some twisted metal heart, giving life to the underground chambers.

"It wasn't easy to make, I'm sure," came Yotogi's voice.

Taigo flicked his wrists, and two tanto appeared in his hands in a reverse grip. "You're going to die down here, too." he said, not turning.

"Die?" Yotogi snorted and advanced on Taigo slowly, "You think I fear death? Tell me, little Scorpion... do you fear sleeping? I have died more times than you have drawn breath, and I have done it in service to those that destroy your precious Empire even now."

Taigo turned on his heel to face the Moto as he drew closer. The mask of the Father on Taigo's face had transformed from a smooth black to a scowling visage with jagged green oni's eyes.

"You say honor is to die in service to your lord, and that is why you will never truly defeat us," Yotogi continued, "For in dying for my lord a thousand times over, my honor is greater than yours will ever be, and that is why our victory is assured."

Taigo gripped his blades. The suit was designed to fire one blast jade-light from the eyes, and then he would be out of options. Perhaps he could diffuse the bombs before the Moto destroyed him.

"Allow me... to... increase your honor, Moto-san," a raspy voice called out from behind Yotogi, and the undead man turned his head to see the tattered and twisted form of Asako Sano stepping from a swirling gate of blackness.

Yotogi was confused for a moment. The Phoenix was obviously subverted to the Taint, but was raising his hands as if to strike him down. "Leave this one to me," Yotogi said uncertainly, turning back to Taigo, and drawing his blade.

Without a sound, Sano was instantly upon Yotogi, holding his sword arm in an iron grip. "Destroy the detonation device, Taigo," beneath his hood, Sano smiled ferally, "Leave this one to me."

Yotogi swung his body around, bringing his fist down at Sano's skull. The henshin simply gripped the fist in his hand, and crushed it as if it were dry rice. With a foot, Sano kicked Yotogi in the gut, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Taigo did not hesitate, and began to climb the large reactor, where he noticed the detonation device. Or so he hoped, anyway. Compared to even the seemingly living machine it was set upon, the device was handling enormous amounts of power for its size, the readouts on his mask told him that much. He quickly armed the EMP and leapt backwards from on top of the machine. The ninja couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the crumpled form of the undead Moto in a corner of the room, his body cowering before Sano. Hate and rage were still clear in his eyes, though.

Sano turned to Taigo, the question plain on his twisted face. "The EMP is set," Taigo said, and cocked his head to the side, as if listening for something. The entire chamber shook with the sound of the huge reactor, and the Scorpion realized in that dim silence he was the only one breathing. A brief flash of light, like a light bulb going out, came from the top of the reactor, and Taigo checked the monitor on his mask again. "The device is inactive, we are safe for the moment."

Sano nodded, looking back to Yotogi, who was smiling in that way that meant he knew something they did not.

And in that moment, elsewhere in the corridors of the Machine, Omar Massad's bomb-bearing ghuls detonated, rocking the underground passages.

If Taigo was not wearing the mask, they would have seen his face slip from relief to sheer annoyance.

"Hurry!" Sano shouted, his voice breaking as he stepped back to the portal that had brought him here. "We are too late, Scorpion!" The chamber rocked as another detonation went off, and Taigo was nearly knocked to the floor. Faster than the eye, the Scorpion's form seemed less distinct as he bolted through the portal, taking Sano with him.

Deafening grinds from the steelworks in the Machine were heard all around as Yotogi tried to stand. A look of annoyance seemed to flick across his mempo as a steel beam swung down from the ceiling suddenly, crushing the undead warrior beneath its weight.

At least the water still worked, Kikaze thought to himself as he pressed a wet washcloth to his ear. He winced from the pain, and looked up in the mirror, expecting to find himself alone in the room. A stress-induced hallucination, nothing more.

But reflected in the mirror, the stern face of his centuries-old ancestor regarded him from behind.

Kikaze turned and looked confused for a moment. "Ah..." he opened his mouth to say something, but found his throat was suddenly dry. His eyes darted to the floor, and Kikaze did what simply felt right, slamming his knees to the ground, pressing his forehead and palms down as well. The washcloth fell from his ear, forgotten. The feeling that had washed over him suddenly passed, and the Seppun found himself studying the fibers of the carpet, and wondering what the hell we was doing kneeling on the ground.

But then the spirit spoke.

"Seppun Kikaze, son of Hirame, son of Mikino, son of Taiban, son of Genzo, son of Kasuno... and I am he, Kikaze. I am your Great-great-great grandfather, and I have been watching you for some time." The ghost paused a moment, and Kikaze could feel his ancestor's eyes boring into him. "You have shamed your family name for too long, but you did not truly understand, until this night. You hold the blood of two thousand years of protectors in your veins, and you have chosen your life as a merchant, selling baubles to pampered, worthless rich. But now you see your error, and you have the chance to atone, Kikaze," Seppun Kasuno's voice was rising, and Kikaze felt his fear wane.

"The Emperor's City cries out in pain, Kikaze!" The spirit nearly shouted, "Her people die, and her streets run with their blood, Seppun Kikaze! You are the son of Seppun Hirame, who gave his life for the Emperor Yoritomo, just as his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him. The Throne of the Diamond Empire teeters on the edge of oblivion, and the gates of Jigoku threaten to swallow Rokugan whole! I ask you, Seppun Kikaze, grandson of Seppun Mikino, what is your duty!?"

Kikaze jumped to his feet, nearly leaping from the ground, "My duty is to the Empire, and to her Emperor!" he shouted back, and he felt the force of a samurai in his heart for the first time in his life.

... but the spirit was gone.

Where he had been, three blades sat quietly on a stand before him. They were dark green and bright gold in color, and as Kikaze reached slowly for the longest of them, he felt as if the air around it hummed.

Two thousand years of truly noble blood told him what to do with the blades.

Dairyu's sword came down again, and Ishak's arm was surrounded in shimmering force, turning the blade aside. Behind the Dark Oracle, Hoshi struck out with his palms, and a flash of light flickered in his hands as they hit Ishak in the back, sending him sprawling to the floor.

Ishak rolled and landed on his feet, his eyes now narrowed in rage, and he screamed, "Enough of this, now you will simply DIE!" and the Factory shook and trembled with the Oracle's rage. All around Hoshi and Bayushi Dairyu, motes of light flickered in the air, exploding a moment later with concussive force. Ishak was tearing the universe apart around them. The Scorpion was thrown to his knees as a blast detonated behind him, and Hoshi swayed back and forth as he struggled to keep his footing.

Dairyu stood, his head swimming. Hoshi stumbled and fell flat on his back when an explosion tore the air only a foot in front of his chest. Dairyu's knees shook as he nearly stood, but the force of another blast sent him sprawling again. The Factory was slowly collapsing around them, steel beams and stone pillars fell to the ground, only to be followed by the walls and ceiling that it was supporting. Dairyu looked at the Dark Oracle with blurring vision, and saw Ishak floating a foot over the ground, his eyes empty, and both of his glowing fists clutched to his chest.

"He must be stopped," Hoshi breathed, and pulled his katana, saya and all from his obi. He laid it on the ground in front of him, and looked to the dazed Scorpion Champion. "Remember this above all else, Bayushi Dairyu!" he shouted above the sound of screaming metal and exploding atoms. "He must be stopped!" Hoshi slid the green-sheathed sword across the floor to Dairyu, and the Scorpion recognized it right away.

Dairyu looked up from the sword to see Hoshi leap from his place on the ground, and slam into Ishak in a flying tackle. Both men slammed into the floor.

"Get off of me, mutant!" Ishak screamed, struggling against the Dragon Champion's iron bear hug.

Hoshi's form began to shimmer, is if a great heat was coming off of him, and for a second, Dairyu saw the shadowy, otherworldly form that the Dragon Champion had been before.

And then the two men exploded into a violent white flame. The Scorpion could hear Ishak's screams, and could see his corrupted form writhing in the pure white light. The flames grew more intense, until Dairyu could no longer bear to look into them. He turned his head away, and moments later, there was a flash of light and the chamber was dimly lit once again. Dairyu looked back, and narrowed his eyes in fury.

Ishak was standing up from the ground, obviously stunned and shaken, but he was still alive. "Fool," the Dark Oracle muttered, absently brushing off his long coat. Dairyu was not deceived, however. Ishak's knees were unsteady, and his head kept swaying from side to side. Hoshi's final sacrifice has wounded Ishak in a way Dairyu could not physically see.

Dairyu stood as well, placing the sword of the Emerald Champion back in his obi, and holding the sword Hoshi had given him in his left hand by the saya.

"Are you still alive?" Ishak mumbled, and turned his gaze to the Scorpion Champion. There was no doubt in Dairyu's mind now. Ishak was horribly wounded. "Well, die already," he said, as if dismissing a bothersome waiter, and waved his hand at Dairyu.

Red lightning danced from the Oracle's hand to him, but Dairyu threw back his grey kimono, revealing the relic around his waist. The light from the Golden Obi of the Sun Goddess reached out across the room, dissolving the maho as they touched. The light seemed a physical thing as it practically slammed into Ishak, sending him stumbling backwards, moaning.

Dairyu gripped the sword in his hand and unsheathed it, waving the bright golden blade in front of him. It seemed to catch the light and amplify it, and Ishak's moan became a scream of howling pain. The sword of a thousand year old promise between the Scorpion and the Dragon, amplified by Amaterasu's favored relic forced Ishak backwards as Dairyu stepped toward him.

"You are just as much of a fool as Hoshi, and as your daughter," Ishak ducked to the side, and ripped into the air, opening a portal. "The Factory will collapse upon you, Dairyu. But you will be forever entombed with your beloved Shiriko."

"No!" Dairyu yelled, and jumped at the Betrayer a moment too late. The portal sealed up behind Ishak and Dairyu slammed into a wall where it had been. The Scorpion Champion's scream of rage drowned out the sounds of the collapsing Factory all around him. Dairyu tucked the Sword of the Sun into his obi and stepped quickly to where his daughter had fallen only minutes ago.

"No..." he repeated softly, and dropped to his knees beside her. Bayushi Dairyu looked at the pale face of his daughter... his beloved sakura-ko. His plots, his plans... all of them seemed wasted now. The Empire was in chaos beyond even his control, and he did not know if Sano would find him before the Dragon's Factory came crashing down on him. He had done everything for his daughter, he knew now He had gone into hiding, gathering information and allies against the darkness no one else saw rising, but he had done it for the safety of her. And now the Fortunes punished him for placing her above his Emperor, and his Empire. Bayushi Dairyu closed his eyes, and seconds later, the tears of one fallen Scorpion Champion mixed with the blood of another.