Soaring Blades

Leading officer: Colonel Nimatsu Kensuke

Size: Battalion

Part of Homura's Hird.

## History

It'd been quite a while since he received command over the 5th battalion and managing its administration and pay had been one of his tasks for months now. But it was only recently that he'd taken more of an interest in his commanding role, or rather, been told to make more interest in it. WIth tumultuous times ahead, it paid to have a strong peacekeeping force, or so he was told. Kensuke did not feel entirely at ease with the thought, but there was no real alternative for it, so he accepted the appointment without demurr. That aside, his own raison d'être as a shinobi held its clue in the same reasoning. His battalion was formally understrength and needed some reform and he hoped that his personal presence at their garrison would help improve things. He'd had the chance to learn things of how wars were fought, and he had a pretty good idea what he wanted to do with this unit. It only helped that he'd been given a free reign in how to equip and train the men.

He had the men stand on parade for several excruciatingly long hours in the afternoon sun while he investigated their rank and file, addressing minor issues left and right, noting promising men and men in need of a swift kick in the hind quarters. It didn't help with his popularity, but then again, he did not need popularity as an army officer. He needed capable men and respect. After the first day began their training. Physical conditioning. Long marches through broken terrain and mountainous paths with full equipment and camping gear. He joined the men himself, leading them over the trail. When men grew tired and frustrated he challenged them to try harder, but when they fell he offered a helping hand and a silent nod. In short, he was loathed by the men.

After a week most men ceased complaining of the long marches over hills and mountains, through swamps and rivers. After another week they began halving their original marching times, mostly because they no longer felt the need to pause to complain - they could do so while running now. By the end of the third week the men began drawing a certain pride over their ability to negotiate difficult terrain, so it was the perfect time to introduce the horses.

With two riding horses a man they began repeating the same trails they had before. Men who had never ridden horses could scarcely stand after a day while those who'd ridden before ridiculed their brethren with sore legs. A week later they all had sore arses, and more than two dozen horses had broken legs and other injuries. However, as time progressed, the trials of horsemanship were overcome and the men grew to appreciate their mounts as they got used to them. Riding meant less walking, and after the long marches, they were only glad to be rid of that.

So Kensuke introduced weapon training to keep them off-balance. The men were given long bows as used for centuries in this region. They were taught how to shoot them on foot at targets of varying size, range, and eventually speed. Once they were competent shots on foot, they had to repeat the same excercise on horseback. First when standing still, later when riding hard. They were offered an array of personal arms to choose from to train with. Traditional katana, practical axes, effective maces and the occasional ruthless picks and warhammers. There was no real semblance of uniformity and the men were anxious to learn how to fight with their chosen weapons. Once again from horseback and on foot.

By the time half a year had passed they had become soldiers in Kensuke's eyes. Unlike the first few weeks when he could be present far more often he now visited the battalion every so often to inspect the men, confident in their ability to continue their training without his immediate involvement. He'd go there and show them new skills, drill them in particularly challenging aspects of their mastery, and to congratulate them at their achievements. The 5th Battalion was still under official strength, but they had earned their new nickname - the Soaring Blades. Their new armours, lamellar cuirasses and helmets who could be folded to require less space along with protective gauntlets and armguards allowed them to move more freely at the cost of coverage. Their training to move silently and rapidly through any sort of terrain and their ability to track, follow and find their targets had earned them the nickname. They were like birds of prey, unseen, unnoticed, until they were upon you with force. But that was not all they had been taught. A company of naginata- and spear-wielding men had appeared in their ranks with slightly heavier armour to form a meatier frontline in case of open battle. But this was not their primary role. As their stealth and speed allowed deep incursions into hostile territory, these men were meant to form a defensive front and hold territory until relieved.

Kensuke was proud of the men, and the men were proud of their own abilities. No longer was his name cursed in every second mouth, but their commander had become the target of a form of grudging praise. Noone had quite forgiven him the months of hellish training, but everyone seemed to realize it had made them into a force of elite scouts who - unlike most other battalions - remained useful off the battlefield.

## Equipment

Every soldier is issued a foldable lamellar cuirass with faulds falling over the legs. This is complemented by a foldable helmet with a neck guard and plate gauntlets and forearm guards. To transport the Soaring Blades into battle, or out of battle, each man is mounted with two horses.

The battalion is almost uniformly armed with great yumi, longbows and several sheaves of arrows on their person or pack horse. This is complemented by the men's personal choices of sidearms ranging from traditional katana to axes and maces. A small part of the battalion also comes equipped with polearms in the shape of spears and naginata to form a vanguard.

## Purpose

The 5th Battalion is a unit of highly mobile and versatile medium skirmishers. Capable of both mounted and dismounted action with their bows or with cold steel they form a very flexible unit on the battlefield. Their primary purpose is perhaps off the battlefield. Trained to march quickly and unnoticed as well as negotiate their way through difficult terrain they are excellent scouts in smaller groups. The combination of both these skillsets also allows them to act as crack infiltrators. They can penetrate the enemy's frontlines and seize an objective with rapid zeal. Their resilience then allows them to hold this objective for a respectable amount of time until relieved by conventional forces.

## Ranks

The Soaring Blades have standard Akinian military rankings on the whole, but lower officers tend to have far more authority and autonomy than usual given the level at which most units operate. The 5th Battalion only converges into a single larger body during battlefield or infiltration missions.

## Composition

- Beak Company: 250

- Wings Company: 250

- Tail Company: 250

Total medium skirmishers: 700

- Claws Company: 250

Total vanguard skirmishers: 250

(Total numbers: 950 )