Hiroku looked upward as he fell. The top of the pagoda disappeared from view, enveloped in clouds. He was falling to this death, betrayed by the very men he'd trained in the art of ninjitsu. Those cowards. He grimaced even while he choked on his own blood.

His entire body was enshrouded in mist. Soon, he'd feel a thud and that would be the end of it.

Images of Sakura flooded his mind. His wife. The girl he'd loved since he was a boy. Their fathers had been like brothers, fighting side-by-side as part of the resistance. They'd grown up together and fallen in love. He imagined smile, the garden she'd kept in the plot by their small home. He remembered the birth of their son, Kenzo, the love of their life.

His entire life flashed before his eyes. The battles he'd fought, the wars in foreign lands he'd waged, the adventures. Only to die like this.

Hiroku hit the ground hard. The impact was instantaneous and so was the pain. In an instant, his consciousness left him like a candle being snuffed out.

...

Admiral Kenneth Blackwood watched the fires rage in Edo city, the flames glinting in his eyes as they danced against the backdrop of the moonless night. He'd been dozens of colonies all over the world and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of rebels, and was tired of it.

From his defense-class armored frigate, the HMS Iron Night, he pondered his next move. These rebel scoundrels, these ninjas, were a fearsome lot. They were like rates settling into the bowels of a ship. Nearly impossible to root out once a voyage was already underway.

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"Admiral," a soldier said, pausing to salute. "Governor Howe is dead. What are our orders, Sir?"

Blackwood sighed. Howe had been an idiot to allow this rebellion to foment the way he had. The man should have been more strict, more ruthless. Blackwood had seen this time and time again. He was usually the one called in to put down rebellions.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't have a full fleet. This island was simply too far away, in the distant reaches of Her Majesty's Imperial reach. He was simply here to observe and provide "moral support" to the governor by making a visit on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. His timing simply had not been very good, he supposed. Blackwood did have enough troops to quell a minor rebellion but he didn't have nearly enough to quash this one...unless.

"Sir?"

Blackwood was silent. His long sideburns giving him a shade of warmth form the ocean breeze. He wore a black tricorn hat and a red admiral's uniform, filled with over a dozen gold and silver medals. Blackwood could see shadows dancing in front of the flames, dark figures that move silently in the night, only exposed by light. "Rats," he said, his lips curling downward.

"Excuse me, sir?" the attendant said.

"We are going to make an example of this place, Cornelius," Blackwood said. "Fetch the necrotic vials."

"Sir?" Cornelius said, eyes wide. "We barely survived the outbreak in the East Tropics. And what if it spreads Are you sure you —"

"This colony is a large island so it cannot spread," Blackwood said, with fire in his eyes. "These ninjutsu want to rule. Then let them rule in hell."

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Admiral Blackwood