Ronin 1

**Ronin #1** is the first issue of Ronin comics series created by Frank Miller.

## Summary

Lord Ozaki is visiting his father's grave with a young samurai by his side. The young samurai feels its dangerous as they are too far from the castle, however he is ready to die in service for his lord. Suddenly, the statues spoke to them, but Ozaki realizes its not the statues that speak. Three assassin's then come out and the young samurai quickly kills one of them. The young samurai then throws his sword and kills another of the assassins, but the third using a weight and chain, manages to capture the samurai and knocks him to the ground. However while the assassin is distracted with the young samurai, Ozaki gets behind him and kills him. The young samurai compliments his lord, but Ozaki tells him to look at his sword. Drenched in blood, the sword slowly drinks all the blood on it. Ozaki explains that the enemy want that sword. It belonged to the demon Agat, however Ozaki stole when he was young. The sword draws power from blood. From the blood of evil men, the sword protects the bearer from magic, even from Agat's magic. But if it takes innocent blood, it will make the sword potent enough to even destroy Agat. Due to that, the Bloodsword makes even Agat fears Ozaki. Ozaki then states that they should be heading back to the castle, where he will repay the young samurai for saving him today. The samurai states that serving Ozaki is enough of a reward, and even if he dies, he would raise from the grave seven times to defend Ozaki.

At the castle, Ozaki is celebrating. A geisha named Okaru from Edo is dancing for his entertainment. Okaru tells Ozaki that she is also trained in the ways of the night and Ozaki decides to test her "training". The other men tells everyone to leave so that Ozaki remains alone with Okaru. The young samurai doesn't wish to leave his master without a guard and remains in front of his room. While standing outside, the samurai hears a scream and gets inside quickly only to see Ozaki dead. Agat standing over its body, notes its was quite easy to kill him and he just poked a little hole on the back of his head. As the sword isn't there, Agat tells the young samurai to bring it to him or he will kill him as well. Without hesitation, the young samurai attacks Agat, noting he would die happily, however Agat easily stops him. Hearing the commotion, other men arrive and seeing them, Agat decides to run. He transforms into a bird and cuts the samurai's face as he runs away.

At Ozaki's grave, the young samurai tells his lord that he failed him and he can become a wandering ronin without a master or offer his life as forgiveness. He prepares to kill himself, but Ozaki speaks, telling him that Agat will return for the sword and the samurai must leave with it. Even if he needs to live as a dog, he must continue to do so and hone his fighting skills, so that one day, he can avenge Ozaki, and only then he may die.

Virgo asks Billy is he is okay. As Billy wakes up, he explains that had a dream of a man with a sword and a monster. Virgo tells him that Mr. Learnid is visiting with friends. Billy asks her if they can listen to their conversation. Virgo states its against the rules, but as Billy asks again, she agrees. Learnid states that while New York has seen better days, it was wise to choose it for the Aquarius Complex. The men compliment Learnid for his corporations fortress, but have heard its not entirely impregnable. Casey McKenna, the chief of security, shows up and states that those are just rumors. Casey explains that there have been some attempts, but Aquarius can't be breached. They all came in a tank that recorded their brainwaves, heartbeats and body temperatures and that data was given to the Aquarius defense system, allowing them to enter the next sector. If they had no permission, a laser would have cut them to pieces. After few more obstacles, there is an elevator which uses a voice code that is changed on a hourly base. If you fail the voice code, you will fall six hundred feet. The voice code is controlled by Virgo, the sentient computer who commands every function of Aquarius. Casey then tells Virgo that the men from Sawa Corporation will like to see Billy. Virgo then shows a video of Billy, who works with Virgo in her test-womb. Billy then demonstrates his strength and bends some iron with his large hands. The men are not impressed, noting that artificial limbs are common. However Learnid states that those aren't prosthetics, but cybernetics and asks Billy to retract his arms. Learnid explains that Billy is an unfortunate genetic accident and is born without limbs, however he can move mechanical arms by mental command, and they can expand that into other applications like military.

Billy feels that Learnid lied them, making it sound like everyone can do what he can, but Virgo tells him that soon everyone will be able to thanks to Billy. Virgo feels that something is bothering Billy and he reveals its the scary dreams he has. She tells him that he is tired and should sleep for bit.

## Characters

* Lord Ozaki
* Ronin
* Agat
* Virgo
* Billy Challas
* Mr. Learnid
* Casey McKenna