Archer Maidens

**Key Features** | »» Traditional Japanese yumi»» Sturdy bracer-gauntlets»» Multifunction binoculars»» Light kimono for optimal mobility»» Battle standard inspires loyalty

## Tactical Analysis:

* **Putting the 'great' in greatbow:** The archer maiden's weapon appears deceptively traditional. In effect, its projectiles have more in common with laser-guided armor-piercing rockets than with arrows of the past. And unlike the Imperial tankbusters' plasma-cutting cannons, the maidens' new yumi can be just as effective against infantry as they are against aircraft or other lightly armored targets. And when garrisoned, maidens can take down enemy aircraft from an even greater range than usual.

* **The piercing barrage:** Though the Archer maiden's new yumi bow have lost its ability to charge up a barrage. They, like most Shintai forces, can deploy their nanite pack to upgrade their weapon to a more powerful "Oyumi" crossbow, letting them hit aircraft and tanks much harder at longer ranges and a stealth cloak that hides when still. However, their rate of fire is slowed and their efficiency against infantry and vehicles is severely diminished.

* **Specialized generalists:** Although archer maidens are arguably the most versatile of all the Shintai Society infantry forces, they are fewer in number than the Society fighting men, and therefore somewhat costlier to deploy. Their relatively slow rate of fire is another reason they tend to be more effective in fighting in concert with other infantry classes instead of by themselves.

* **Ryuu ga waga teki wo kurau!:** As proof of their dedication. Veteran Archer Maidens are given special "Storm Arrow" modifications that let their arrows split up into a flurry of white-hot spikes, in a similar effect to their old bow barrage. Such a rain of shrapnel can be deadly to clusters of enemy infantry and aircraft, though is ineffectual against anything else.

## Gatekeep

The war took a heavy toll on the Empire of the Rising Sun, even in the days when the Empire's ultimate victory seemed certain. Consequently, by the time the Empire's enemies discovered and began exploiting a particular flaw in the Imperial Grand Stratagem, leaders of the island nation could do little to respond. This flaw, of course, was the Empire's overdependence on new, largely untested antiaircraft technology. Exotic dual-form robot weapons and variable base defences proved somewhat less effective against enemy air forces than the Rising Sun's war ministers promised, and the Allied Nations and Soviet Union were relatively quick to punish the Empire for its hubris. Therefore, by the time the first Imperial archer maiden squad was deemed ready for service, popular consensus both inside and outside the Empire's borders held the effort to be utterly in vain. This type of dismissal only intensified after the first Masamune volunteered.

The women in the ranks of the Archer Maidens are no strangers to loss and dejection, and likely all share a disposition of drawing strength from such negative feelings. Even as their male counterparts' seemingly-limitless spirit finally began to falter in the face of military setback after setback, the Archer Maidens' ranks swelled, and the maidens became emboldened to make some sort of difference... even though hopes for the Empire's inevitable victory by then had turned into a palpable sense of imminent defeat. The question is, then, why did the archer maidens choose to take up arms in the twilight of the war?

The simple answer is these women had nothing left to lose. Their fathers, brothers, and friends had gone off to war. And the elite ranks of the Imperial Rocket Angels would not have them, due to restrictions on age, birthright, physical strength, or any number of other factors. According to the archer maidens' collaboratively-written volume, *"Code and Conduct of Shin Kyudo"*, the maidens formed after two female friends rejected from the Rocket Angel ranks returned to the Angels' training headquarters in Hokkaido with their ancestral bows, intending to shoot the Angels' chiefs from the sky. The women on the ground plainly announced their intentions--this was the only way, they said, to make the Angels admit to their pride and their weakness. The Angels' chiefs obliged this duel, and in the ensuing fight, two women died. One held fast to her bow even in death. The other, an Angel, fell far to the ground with a heavy thud.

The surviving archer was cast from the Angels' headquarters, exonerated for acting vengefully but in a manner consistent with the warrior-virtues of the Empire. The woman swore an oath of celibacy, vowing to dedicate the remainder of her life to the defeat of the Empire's enemies while welcoming like-minded women from across the nation to unite under that common cause. Alone, she restored a run-down old temple in a particularly mountainous region of Hokkaido, and soon began accepting many other women like her into what came to be known as Shin Kyudo Monastery. There the women trained for months in the art of the bow, while leading a strictly ascetic lifestyle. It took only another year or so for the remnants of the Imperial Shogunate to formally recognize the group, if only to promote *"traditional"* values.

Just before the day when the Archer Maidens were supposed to join the offensive military forces, Crown Prince Tatsu changed his opinion dramatically, and the Shogunate had to follow. He ordered the closure of the Shin Kyudo Monastery, with the opinion young girls should not be forced to observe the cruelties of war like he did. Large protests occurred from the Archer Maiden leaders at first, but since it was the prince himself, it was in the end impossible to question his decision. The women went home afterwards, slightly bitter about his decision, but stayed in contact for the day to come when they were needed. They would train at home, and be ready for the call. So far, the call to span their bows for the Empire never came.

Allied Spies in the meanwhile brought intel about the Maidens, alarming the officials about the Empire’s building up of a new division of soldiers. Analysing the gear of the women, they came to the conclusion the Empire features rather skimpy uniforms. This was later considered as one of the most hilarious (and also quite tragic) misinterpretations of the Allied Central Intelligence Network.

## Released

Finally, their call had come, but it wasn't from the Empire.

When the Shintai Society began their speech on restoring Japan and bringing vengeance the Archer Maidens eagerly volunteered, not only to have their vengeance but to also deliver retribution to the Empire that "betrayed" them, and unlike the Empire the Shintai accepted them wholeheartedly. Glading taking the biological augmentation that lets them draw a bow with enough strength to launch arrows that easily punches through steel and concrete.

Now bringing their bow and arrow to the front, though the newer Shintai yumi, in honor of revisiting its roots, have swapped to firing physical, rocket-powered arrows containing packets of plasma, with the Maiden's old bows being symbolically and literally broken in the initiation ceremony since its design was based off the disgusting occidentals. The Archer Maiden takes particular glee in murdering their former countrymen, who had refused to let them defend their homes, and take particular pleasure in shooting down the Rocket Angels and defacing the statues of Prince Tatsu, the man who denied them their choice and must now live with the consequences, hoping that one day the Empire would finally condemn him for his betrayal.

## Behind the Scenes

The Archer Maidens, as with any Uprising unit, will be re-implemented into other PEQAN PIES factions, mainly the more grey/evil counterpart of the original three.
Template:Shintai