The Tiger Claws

One of the elite corps of the Akenian empire. The Tiger Claws are much alike to the Sworn Swords, pledged to only serve the command of the ruling emperor or empress of the empire. Their gear and tasks do differ slightly from the Sworn Swords but their main task is to safeguard the safety of the royal Homura dynasty and its members.

## Hierarchy

The hierarchy of the Tiger Claws isn't a complex one. Their top commander is the one they are sworn to serve, the ruler of the Empire of Akino. The formal second-in-command is the Tiger Claw's captain-commander. This person is usually the one that leads the Tiger Claws most of the time. Either out or in the field. The Captain-commander of the Tiger Claws isn't just a person of great martial expertise but also somebody with a great understanding of tactics, strategy and the pursuits of warfare but also somebody truly loyal to the Empire.

Below the captain-commander of the Tiger Claws are the various lieutenants. These officers are much like their captain-commander in skill and expertise. They are ones who lead various detachments into the fray or during covert operations. A rank below those are the veteran troops that make the bulk of the Tiger Claws. These men and women are considered the best of the best fighters that the Empire has to offer. Countless hours of training, fighting and operations have steeled them to serve with a certain vigour that is said to be unparalleled by any other Imperial military unit.

Then there are the rookies. Those who have been selected and recruited into the ranks of the Tiger Claws, undergoing a harsh regime of training and education in martial and learning pursuits. These rookies are the next generation of Tiger Claws, being trained to be both effective as fighters on the field of battle as covert operatives.

### Known Members: Edit

* Hiroshi Hon, Tiger Claw Commander.
* Saki Yamanaka, Tiger Claw lieutenant.

## Equipment

The equipment of the Tiger Claws is to be one of the best made. Forged by competent smiths, with the great quality material that the Empire has to offer, the equipment of the Tiger Claws is considered of excellent quality - only rivaled by the equipment provided to the First Battalions and surpassed by that of the Sworn Swords. Their formal wear consists of plate and mail, with padding underneath it. A very distinctive feature is the dark blue scarf that they wear for the prevention of their armour chafing at their neck, covering most of the time the lower part of their face. While they appear to be anything but agile and fast in their formal attire of armour, the weight is well distributed over the body of the wearer. Allowing the Tiger Claws to execute their martial skills without little problem for speed or wearing their stamina drastically down. While the majority wear the same armour, various lieutenants of renown and great importance are allowed to have a more personalized variant of the Tiger Claws armour.

Their weapons vary. The Tiger Claws practice and train with many variant weapons. Lances and various sidearms are being employed by the Tiger Claws that specialise in close quarters. Around half of the Tiger Claws do pick the bow as the main weapon, learning and mastering how to shoot on top of a moving steed.

While being heavily armoured, armed and mounted, there shouldn't be any mistake that the Tiger Claws don't have shinobi in their ranks. Many of the Claws are more than capable to sport ninjutsu use equal to that of a specialised jounin, usually having been members of the ANBU or a jounin before being recruited into the ranks of the Sworn Sword. This allows them to be covert operatives as well fierce combatants against shinobi operatives send to harm the Homura dynasty. This is also reflected in the second and coming generations of Tiger Claws, who are both instructed in weapon expertise as various forms of ninjutsu.