Steel Ronin

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*"We killed them. We killed them all. They're dead, every single one of them. And not just the men, but the women and the children, too. They're traitors who deserve to be slaughtered like animals. And soon we'll have Kamina's head and finally restore Japan!"*

- A captured Steel Ronin from the Cheey Blossom Massacre, soon after he activated his suit self-destruct.

## Tactical Analysis:

* **Prisoners in a shell:** The Steel Ronin are the Shintai, formerly Empire, mecha that specializes in close-quarters battle. This pilot-assisted robot is very effective against enemy armor divisions but first needs to close the distance in order to slash at them with its energy weapon. A single swipe of the wave-force naginata can severely damage multiple enemy forces clustered together. Although second only to the monstrous King Oni in terms of sheer size, it is remarkably quick on its feet. Armor divisions attempting to take advantage of their superior range had best make their first shots count.

* **Get in line:** The Steel Ronin is not entirely unable to attack at a distance. The wave-force glaive contains an energy reservoir that can be expelled when the weapon's shaft is struck firmly enough against the ground. This sends a searing wave of energy coursing directly ahead of the Steel Ronin, damaging all in its path.

* **Impure touch:** Although the Steel Ronin is second only to the monstrous King Oni battlewalker in terms of sheer size, it is remarkably quick on its feet. Armor divisions attempting to take advantage of their superior range had best make their first shots count.

* **Crowd control:** (Upgraded nature)

## Punishment

The warriors of the Empire of the Rising Sun are known for their devotion and fury, and when they crashed upon the shores of the Soviet Union, the world reeled in terror. Nevertheless, their Emperor failed to accurately weigh the magnitude of his ambitious plan, and his army's incredible momentum eventually gave way. Yet this did not quell the zeal in the hearts of the Empire's fighting forces. As the hour grew dark for the Empire, a small percentage of Imperial warriors grew uncontrollably agitated, refusing orders to fall back and channeling unspeakable rage into their bloody work. The late Emperor Yoshiro had no tolerance for this, for he insisted on the strict observance of a strict and disciplined warrior code.

 File:SteelRoninPrototypes.jpg
Thus, punishment came swiftly (and rather uniquely) to those who brazenly disobeyed orders within the Rising Sun military ranks. The rank-and-file who refused or disobeyed orders simply were put to the sword. However, experienced veterans who cracked under pressure or otherwise exhibited unusually violent dispositions met a different fate: They were encased in fearsome-looking DevilCoat suits, which contain elaborate medical systems and biometric regulators designed to leave a man in a barely-conscious vegetative state indefinitely. The accused would carry out life sentences in complete isolation, looming over significant Imperial landmarks like half-dead statues.

As it turns out, this ritualistic punishment was built on an ulterior premise, which may begin to explain the elaborate and doubtlessly expensive process. The DevilCoat suits all are linked to the central command network of Ten-Shi Zaibatsu, the company borne of the Rising Sun's two top military manufacturers. The leaders of this conglomerate could quite literally flip a switch to make each and every DevilCoat suit activate, awakening the men encased inside. Indeed, the DevilCoats are not ceremonial at all -- they are fully-functioning assault suits, and the same systems used to keep the men inside in a fugue state can also augment their senses, making them quicker and more powerful than ever before.

The DevilCoats were activated after the death of Emperor Yoshiro, leading many to believe that Ten-Shi Zaibatsu conspired against the Emperor in the creation of these weapons. At any rate, only once the DevilCoats came alive did the men piloting them come to be known as the Steel Ronin, because as one they all cast their glaives aside and refused any orders. Apparently, Ten-Shi inexplicably counted on them cooperating with the same men who committed them to a torturous existence.

The Steel Ronin have renounced any and all violence both to atone for their violent past and as an insult to Ten-Shi. Attempts to shut them off would be murder, so the Steel Ronin have all gone their own way, except the ones guarding Yoshiro's tombs, so great is the respect for him. Many became tour guides to the landmarks they were supposed to guard, using their great size to pick up children and allow them to see without crowds blocking them. These days, mentioning *"Ten-Shi Zaibatsu"* only causes laughter in the defence contractor industry. That was until it happened...

## Revenge

When the Shintai Society came to be Ten-Shi Zaibatsu, in vengeance for their humiliation, gave them the plans for the DevilCoat, and with some modifications, they managed to turn the Steel Ronin into the terror it was meant to be. And had found the day these new Ronins would be seen, and announce the Shintai to their traitorous brethren.

And on the day the cherry blossoms bloomed what would have been a festive day, with multiple families, children, and tourists coming to see the beautiful blossoms. These new Steel Ronins, having killed and replaced the previous guides (later publicly displaying their corpse as "traitors"), brought these tourists, a medley of foreigners, children, and elderly onto large fields or nearby cities, a killing field for all the world to witness.

Once all the tourists and families were rounded up they simply told the gaijins and traitors how they were unworthy of seeing Japan's beauty or touching it with their corrupted hand as their supposedly ceremonial naginatas lit up, and began the slaughter. Men, women, children, all of them were eviscerated by the Ronins naginata. And on those blood-soaked fields that day, strewn with dismembered corpses and wreckage of the police that tried to stop them, the entire network was hijacked as the Shintai Society announced themselves, and the Empire got a rude, and some would say karmic, awakening that for the previous Steel Ronins' refusal for violence, they are still a mecha meant to evoke terror as they rip apart those who stand in its way.

And unlike its previous pilots, the new Steel Ronins embrace their role as fighting for atonement, as it was meant to be. And those who refuse, like those traitors of the first iteration, their minds will be tortured and broken until they atone the way it's intended.

Now, mentioning *"Ten-Shi Zaibatsu"* causes the defence contractor industry to spitefully spit at their name.

## Behind the Scenes

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

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