Chapter 22 "The Battle for Yenchei's Armor Factory"

My darlings, welcome back to story time with Papa. I made you masks yesterday; I hope you wear them. Now that you've gotten your gift, it's time for a story.

This outpost was a harder one to try and free, but if we didn't do anything, the pirates in this outpost would get stronger and stronger. You see, my dears, this outpost was divided into three parts: the Armor Factory, the Weapons Factory, and the Supplies Factory. They received metal from the outpost up north, being a mine, they got wood from the lumber mill, and they got miscellaneous items from traders on the harbor.

Now, we've already heavily dented their supplies production since most of the supplies they need come from the harbor traders, whom we freed after liberating the harbor. But they still find ways to get by. We had to find a way to get into their armor factory without the pirates signaling the other outposts if an attack. I had Joy take me and Mil to a high point where we could scout the factories for ourselves. Joy dropped us off and left, so as not to draw attention. We hid behind a fallen tree, scouting the place from afar.

"Hey, look, there are signal cannons. If they fire those, the other factories will come to their rescue, and we'll be surrounded on all sides. Even the Ishikawa rage can't handle that many men. We have to take those out. I can get Hana to use a special armor I made specifically for an occasion like this – an all-black scout's armor that'll make her blend into the night. She can sneak in and cut off the ignition so that if they try to fire the signal, it won't work." Your uncle loved that idea and spotted a gap in the beast's armor.

"Look there, you see that gate over there? Two large guards, but even the largest men have a weakness. If you make me a version of this armor that's identical to their armor, I could walk up to them and plant a stun patch on their shoulders with a simple pat on the back. That'll leave that gate open. From there, we have two options – loud and proud or we can go smart and stealthy. Your call."

I looked around the camp and thought of the crew. "Loud and proud. Our crew is mainly made up of fighters. We have three samurai lords and two samurai ladies with us. We charge into battle, and we do it loud. Plus, you and Kinny don't have silencer attachments yet, so stealth isn't an option." He nods, "Good call, Cap. We go in from that gate. We can then divide our forces to deal with the enemies inside the factory and some to deal with the ones outside, just like the lumber mill. We don't know if any of the runaway lords are here. We don't want them getting away."

After a lengthy discussion, we had a plan. Joy picked us up, and we announced the plan to the crew. The initial group of samurai deserters grew, thanks to their lords joining us. We now had a total of 1,457 samurai from the four families currently in our crew. They would surround the area, ensuring nobody escaped. Some of them would join the main attack, and the ones who could use a bow were told to position themselves on the leveraged point. Your uncle and I scouted the place from where they were to shoot at enemies trying to flee. They'd use an arrow with a rubber tip but containing a rock inside, just to have them pass out from pain. The rest of us would join the main attack, except Lilly. She'd provide buffs to us from the ship. After the plan was explained, we geared up. Taka was with us too, and he wore the armor I made for him. The dark gold lining started to vividly shine in dark areas, and as an added scare factor, the mouth of the demon that came with the marker had cold smoke makers, and the teeth would also glow. Meaning when he has to go to the extremes, if he had to take a life, he'd scare the lights out of anyone around the person he'd eliminate. We arrived at our destination just on time, and when the winds went still and the birds went silent, a thunderous war cry enveloped the Armor Factory. The guards fell in shock, making them an easy capture.

The Ishikawa Clan stuck together, chasing down any pirate and enemy samurai that ran, beating them so hard they begged to be captured. Instead, the only ones who left the group were me and Zeth. We ran towards a leader wearing armor that covered every part of his body but his eyes and his mobility areas. This was the type of person I'd like to scare, but we had other plans. There was a second leader wearing a mechanical set of armor that looked like it came out of a nuclear fallout. As both leaders dashed towards us, we activated our artifacts, and the battlefield went silent. Everyone was transported into the artifact's world. Both leaders stood on a scale as it tipped against their favor. Your auntie called upon the goddess Adikia, who represented injustice. Both leaders fell off the scale and begged your auntie for mercy, but she wasn't feeling nice that specific day. So both leaders ended up strapped to an electric chair. The voltage wasn't high enough to make a man pass out, but it would make them lose their lunches. As they begged for mercy, both of our gavels struck its base, and the shock began. Adikia, being the goddess of Injustice, made fake smoke come out of the poor men to scare the other pirates. I gave my top brass a look, and they put on the masks I gave them before the battle. They looked at their combatants, showing them their rings and necklaces, as well as their glowing marks coming from their respective deities. This was enough to scare some away, only for them to get recaptured by the samurai guarding the outside area. After the leaders were shocked to the limits of their bodies, we finished off our assault, capturing all five leaders and their top brass, capturing all the enemies with but one casualty on their side.

And we transported them all to the base, where I took all their armor and had it taken to the treasure ship Taka had us use as trophies and spoils of war. I looked at the leader wearing the mechanical armor and signaled that his armor had to go. He exited the mechanical suit of protection in pain, legs still shaking. I didn't pity him, though he deserved it. The armor was wheeled away into the ship as well. We ordered our ship to drop off the prisoners at Tinwati, so their bounties could be claimed, and we could get paid.

The Armor Factory was the easiest of the three. That's why today's story is shorter. We won that battle faster than we expected. All it took was for us to plant fear in them so that we could take advantage of it.