Seppun Hotsuyu stood watch over the treasure vault, as he had for a great deal of his life. Long ago the duty had been awarded to his great great grandfather. He had trained his entire life so that he, like his ancestor, could defeat any who would try to steal from the Emperor. To say that Hotsuyu was an unforgiving man was to speak of him in kind light.
His family had a fair amount of Imperial blood, if only so they could effeciently do their task. To him the Labyrinth was little more than smoke and mirrors, it informed him well ahead of time when someone approached and delayed them long enough for him to be more than sufficiently ready for them when they arrived. Right now he could see a large group moving through the maze and as he listened he heard the voice of Otomo Gombei, an irritating waste of flesh who was the Imperial guide to the Gaijin ambassadors. A grimace crossed Hotsuyu's face as he thought of the foriegners.
"This... this way gentlemen," Gombei spoke with a tremble. Hotsuyu audibly tightened his grip on his yari. Gombei may be a fool but he was a confident fool. Something was not right.
As Gombei turned the corner Hotsuyu saw the truth, one of the Gaijin had one of thier "pistols" to his head. Hotsuyu snarled and lunged forward driving the blade of his yari through the pistolman's head. Hotsuyu then jerked his yari free by tossing the corpse upon the other gaijin. Gombei sat bewildered as Hotsuyu fell into the disoriented gaijin riflemen. "Gombei, you idiot! Run!!" Hotsuyu yelled as he shattered a man's skull with the butt of his yari.
"The gaijin are trying to rob the treasury before they leave!" Gombai yelled.
"All the more reason for you to run! Now go!" Hotsuyu shouted over the death cries of the last man to fall by his blade.
"The men are having trouble using their rifles in such close quarters M'Lord," the Gaijin officer reported.
"Tell the men in the rear to pull back and set up firing positions, while those in the front tie up this samurai," Garen said impatiently.
"Of course M'Lord," the officer said with a smile.
A rifleman fired at Hotsuyu, however these gaijin were like peasants with spears, no finesse and no accuracy. The bullet hit the floorboards beside Hotsuyu and then the gaijin's head landed beside it, bewildered expression intact. After a moment Hotsuyu paused, crouched low and realized that there were no more gaijin before him. Looked down the hall seeing six men try to fix their aim dispite the shadowplay of the labyrinth walls. Fortune favours the bold Hotsuyu said to himself as he propelled himself down the hall in a series of great bounds. At first sign of motion two of the riflemen shot haphazardly missing completely. A third and fourth shot were released too late whizzing past were Hotsuyu had just stood . Time moved slowly as Hotsuyu closed in. He could smell the fear of his enemies mixing with that of the black powder. The first two shooters were desperately trying to reload while the third and fourth were attaching bayonets. The fifth cursed as his rifle failed to fire and the sixth let loose a blast into Hotsuyu's shoulder shattering the armoured plate.
Hotsuyu's yari tore through the riflemen as though they were tall grass. He turned and thrust his yari through the first two men around the corner and heard the gaijin whelp in fear.
Garen heard six shots followed by the cries of more of his men dying. Useless curs, he would have to do this himself. Garen turned to a group of pistoleers, "We no one to retreat. Force them forward, they will wear this savage down and then we shall over run him." The men gave a gruff response.
Hotsuyu stood once more before the treasure vault doors. He had slowly lured the gaijin back in this far. Which disturbed him. The gaijin had become more reckless and less sensible with each wave. No longer were there any tactics or cunning to their assaults only desperation. Surely they would have given up on treasure after the loss of so many?
Garen waded through the corpses that littered the labyrinth. They had managed to make it easier for him to find his way through if nothing else. The first pistoleer rounded the next corner only to have a spear dart through his heart and back. "Steady! We attack as a unit! Go through the turn three at a time one high, one low and one to the rear. We'll kill this cur yet," Garen snarled.
The Gaijin rushed forward, three of them. Hotsuyu pierced the neck of the one that strode in boldly and watched as his corpse fell into the crouching one's shot. The third, shot Hotsuyu in the thigh before being cracked in the face by Hotsuyu's backswing. Three more followed right behind, quickly surrounding Hotsuyu. He fought desperately, these pistols were far better than the gaijin rifles in short range and quickly he found himself badly wounded.
Garen rounded the corner after the eight pistoleers to see the remainder, four men by this point, fighting a single samurai. "One man. One blasted man has held off my men! You idiots! Finish him off!!" Garen roared in frustration.
In the momentary pause as his men reacted to their commander's yell Hotsuyu slashed quickly with his yari shearing three men's heads from their shoulders. The last man fell back screaming in terror at the sight. Hotsuyu quickly did the man more service then he should have, and rid him of his dishonour. Looking up he recognized the gaijin ambassador "Garen" or whatever it was. A stupid gaijin name.
"So coward, you hide behind your men! All unworthy of this blade!" Hotsuyu yelled extending the yari before himself, "You too shall die by this blade!"
"I'd rather not," Garen said in accented Rokugani as he shot Hotsuyu in the face.
Hotsuyu sneered back, his left check all but gone, "Coward of a land of cowards!" Hotsuyu leered as he began to move forward, "By now they are sealing all the exits. There will be no escape for a coward like you! I offer an honourable death on my blade, it is the best you can hope for!"
Garen frowned the savage had a point he had seen no sign of that whelp Gombei since the battle began. He had to leave now. Garen forcefully replaced his pistol then turned and fled back through the hall. "Coward!! Face me! Face me!!!" Hotsuyu belowed behind him.
Otomo Gombei arrive at the head of a unit of miharu to find a pile of corpses leading up to the vault doors. Gombei found Hotsuyu propped up on his yari before the vault surrounded in a pool of his own blood. Gombei turned to the miharu, "Go get the shugenja and the Ikoma." They left him to contemplate what had just happened.
A thief edged closer to the doors. A smile crossed his face of he thought of the riches he was about to obtain. Then, suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked up to see the spectral figure of a massive samurai in full armour driving a yari through his heart. "None who steal from the Emperor live," the ghost spoke as it wrenched loose its spectral yari. The thief's skull rolled across the floor as his body collapsed in a heap.