Training the Ultimate Assasins by Slick Michael Radcliffe
The name’s Slick Michael Radcliffe, but some people call me The Ranger. I’m about 15 years old, and I am a Musketeer. I lead a HUGE crew aboard my warship, the Golden Spartan, an Aquilan galleon straight out of epics! However, I am not telling you this story to make you jealous of me, my army, and my ship, no! I am here to tell you about my adventures! So, here we go!
I was in Captain Avery’s cluttered office on this certain morning. As I waited for my CO to come into the door, I was taking the liberty of looking around his place of work. Reliquary items, like Samoorai armor, naginatas, shruikens, katanas, swords, guns, ANYTHING old. Captain Avery reminded me of me! That’s when I heard the door open, and in came Captain Avery. His old, wrinkled face and his white beard looked pretty good today. His pure white pet parrot sat on his shoulder, nibbling at a cracker. HALF of its feathers were burned off by me by accident in a firebomb explosion. The Captain’s sword was glittering in the sunlight, and everything Avery was wearing was ironed, dusted, and cleaned.
“Ah! Commander Radcliffe! I am glad you have come at this important time!” Said Avery as he walked on over to his desk and sat down.
“So, what do you need me for, sir?” I asked. Avery was my commanding officer (CO), and I was probably the most loyal pirate on Skull Island!
“Well my boy, I need you to train a group of assassins to take down an Armada High Leader in Port Regal. He is named Caesar Aurous. He is in charge of Dreadnaught Regal, and as his name implies, he is the Caesar of Armada-controlled Port Regal. Your mercenary fleet is doing quite well holding off the Armada from advancing any further. However, that does not help the situation in Port Regal itself! Many Marleybonians are suffering from starvation, and I need 2 highly trained assassins to kill off Caesar Aurous. Do that, and the Armada will be scattered and without a leader! Can you do this for me, Commander?” asked Avery.
“Very well, sir. I will do what I can. Now, what am I getting paid in return for this operation?” I asked. I’m a pretty humble guy, and even if he would have given me 1,000 doubloons, I would have been fine with it, since my smuggling operations bring in TONS of gold.
“I believe 10,000 doubloons ought to cover the costs. I will give you 2,000 in advance, and 8,000 if you succeed!” said Avery. He handed me a weighty sack, and after saying goodbye, I teleported to my base of operations, Fort Ticonderoga, a heavily defended fort in Monquista. As I entered, I was greeted by Ratbeard, a close friend and a trusted officer. He commanded my Man ‘O War, The Creaking Wail, a Darkmoor warship.
“Cap’n! Good to see ye made it back alive! I thought Avery would roast ye alive after what ye did to his parrot!” said Ratbeard.
“Nah. The old man will get over it. I need you to assemble the crew. We got a mission from Avery.” I said. Ratbeard saluted, and after gathering the crew, I did an inspection of Boarding Party #3, led by Sergeant Sanders, a rough and tough rooster with many battles under his belt.
“Sergeant, report!” I said.
“SIR! Boarding Squadron #3 is awaiting your command, SIR!” said Sanders.
“Good. We need to train 2 assassins for a mission into Dreadnaught Regal. I want your men ready and waiting for combat training in an hour!” I said.
“AYE SIR!!” said Sanders. He and his squad left, and I dismissed everyone except for 2 members of my crew. I already have 2 assassins. Shrikuru Niko, a ninja cat, and Lightning Ninja, a deadly Ninja Pig.
“Captain, what do you need?” asked Niko.
“I am in need of 2 assassins. You and Lightning Ninja are the only ones who fit the bill.” I said.
“What is our mission, master?” Asked Lightning Ninja. Lightning Ninja is a respectable warrior, and he never calls me “captain”, only “master.”
“An Armada commander known as Caesar Aurous is ruling Armada-controlled Port Regal with a fist of IRON. I need you and Niko to eliminate him. However, his troops are elite clockworks, and I need you 2 at the top of your game for this operation. Sergeant Sanders and his boarding party will test you in an hour. Prepare yourselves well.” I said.
“But master, aren’t myself and my student capable of handling this task, even without a test?” Asked Lightning Ninja. Lightning Ninja was Niko’s master, and he was training her to be a powerful ninja. I then coined a phrase I had learned long ago.
“Remember this saying, my old friend. No one is ever perfect. There may be Jacks of All Trades, but they are typically Masters of None.” I said. Lightning Ninja and Niko bowed, and they left for the training courtyard.
An hour later, Sergeant Sanders and his boarding party, made up of Chantal Livingstone, Bonnie Anne, himself, and Lefty, were hiding in sniper positions, while Niko and Lightning Ninja stood silently in the middle of the ring. Lightning Ninja had his katana drawn, shining in the setting sunlight. The golden dragon engraved into it was shimmering. Niko had her ornate assassin’s daggers ready and waiting. I then gave the rules.
“Your targets are each member of Boarding Party #3! If you are hit, you are out! Use stealth to your advantage, as Sergeant Sanders and his snipers are DEADLY accurate! Good luck!” I said. I then sat down in my seat, and Ratbeard stood up, his sword held aloft. He then swung it down, and he yelled out; “BEGIN!!” Lightning Ninja opened his eyes, and he jumped into the air as the 4 snipers opened fire. Shrikuru threw down some smoke balls and vanished into thin air. Lightning Ninja landed on one of the bastions, and he moved like lightning among the barricades. Sergeant Sanders was struggling to get a bead on this deadly warrior, and Bonnie Anne’s HUGE gun could only fire a single shot every 15 seconds, given how powerful it was. Lefty and Chantal were doing a bit better, and they were coming close to hitting Lightning Ninja.
“I’ve forgotten how fast that little bugger is!” Said Bonnie as she reloaded her gun again and took aim. Shrikuru then appeared behind her and struck. Bonnie Anne was hit and fell to the ground, playing dead.
“Bonnie Anne is KIA!! 3 snipers left!” I yelled. Shrikuru disappeared again, leaving the snipers aiming at Lightning again.
“We’ve lost Bonnie!” Yelled Chantal to Sergeant Sanders.
“Darn!! Find Niko and take her down! Dealing with 1 ninja is better than dealing with 2 of ‘em!” said Sanders. Lightning Ninja jumped out from behind a barricade, and Lefty took a shot. With incredible speed, Lightning deflected the shot with his sword, and he landed right on the bastion where Lefty was and brought him down. Like Bonnie, Lefty played dead.
“Lefty is KIA!!! 2 snipers left!” I yelled. Chantal now had the great ninja warrior pinned down. She was unleashing a large amount of fire, and Lightning couldn’t move from his spot without being hit.
“It is now up to my young student to win this fight!” Said Lightning Ninja. Shrikuru appeared right behind Chantal and assassinated her, so she collapsed to the ground and played dead.
“Chantal is KIA!!! Sergeant Sanders is the only remaining sniper!” I said. The Sergeant was hiding behind a barricade, reloading his rifle.
“Darn it! Just me now!” said Sanders. Lightning Ninja jumped out of his spot, and he began to scale the wall leading up to the Sergeant’s position. Sergeant Sanders threw down his rifle and drew his cavalry sword. Both Lightning Ninja and Shrikuru appeared at the same time, and they squared off against the Sergeant. Both struck at the same time, and the Sergeant went down without much of a fight.
“Sergeant Sanders is KIA!! Operation completed!” I said. The 4 members of Boarding Party #3 got up, and after congratulating Lightning and Niko on their victory, everyone went back inside, except for me and the 2 ninjas.
“Come. Now we must go to Avery.” I said. However, before we could go, I was stopped by a familiar face and his 3 comrades. Masamune Goto, a legendary Samoorai, was holding my shoulder. He was clad in Samoorai armor, and he always had a stern, brave face. He was the first Samoorai to join me, and he and his 3 fellow Samoorai formed my Honor Guard, since their skills were unrivaled. His katana was handmade, and nothing could ever break it. Beside him were my other 3 Samoorai warriors, Hidenari Kuga, a deadly archer, Wagyu Sanjuro, a Samoorai Lord who desired to find glory, honor, and destiny by my side, and Taro Moomori, a powerful and honorable Samoorai from the Moomori Clan.
“My lord, we request a word with you and our ninja friends.” Said Masamune. I agreed, and we went into the fort and into the Mooshu-themed room where the Samoorai lived. Around the room were stands with Samoorai armor, swords, a tea table with tea and rice, and even a shrine to Cao Tzu, the father of Caoism. We sat down, and Masamune Goto began to speak.
“My lord, Boarding Party #3 was truly a test, but they are nothing close to what the Armada will muster when our ninja friends infiltrate the base. I and my 3 Samoorai comrades want to give them a REAL test. I want to make sure they come back alive, so I am asking if we may test them with a mix of long range arrows and close range combat. Is this allowable, my lord?” asked Masamune. I closed my eyes and thought for a moment, and then I nodded.
“So be it. Lightning Ninja, Shrikuru Niko, prepare to be tested by my Honor Guard!” I said. This time, we tested in the Samoorai training area. I stood in the stands with the rest of the crew, and the ninjas and Samoorai were on the ground. I then laid out the rules.
“This battle will truly test you! You are tasked with eliminating Masamune Goto, Wagyu Sanjuro, Hidenari Kuga, and Taro Moomori! Stealth will not work here, as Samoorai are trained to hunt down, sense, and kill ninjas! Prepare yourselves!” I said. The 3 Samoorai drew their katanas while Hidenari loaded an arrow and took aim.
“FIGHT!!” I yelled. Lightning Ninja and Shrikuru attacked fast, this time working together. Masamune and Taro took them head on while Wagyu held back, knowing that if anyone had a chance to take down the ninja, it would be Hidenari, so he defended him. Hidenari unleased a deadly arrow, but Lightning Ninja caught it, tossed it into the air, and cut it in half. Shrikuru was finding this harder than normal, because the Samoorai were blocking her strikes with their sharpened weapons. For me, watching the Samoorai fight was like watching a dance of steel! With the ninja, it was speed and elegance, like watching a ballet, only with swords and daggers! Masamune swung his katana, striking one of Shrikuru’s daggers and knocking it out of her hand, embedding itself into one of the wooden walls of the training dojo. Shrikuru in turn drew a small kogatana (Samoorai knife) and began fighting with it as a replacement.
“I have many tricks to play here!” Said Shikuru.
“But the question here, young assassin, is if you’re bluffing or not!” Said Masamune. Lightning Ninja was taking on Taro, and even he was finding it hard to strike at the deadliest member of the Moomori Clan. Taro was fast and deadly with a katana, as he had been trained from childhood to hunt and kill ninja assassins with speed and efficiency. Lightning Ninja respected him as a true warrior, and only Taro could squarely face him in combat.
“Once again my friend, you are proving yourself as a worthy challenger!” Said Lightning Ninja.
“Indeed, my silent comrade! You have not lost your edge yet!” said Taro. The battle was long and drawn out, and NO ONE was downed. I stopped the match because it reached the 1 HOUR mark, and each fighter was tired. So, afterwards, Masamune gave his report on how the ninjas did.
“Impressive. Being able to stand up to us is like a steel building withstanding a typhoon!” said Masamune. After that, we were back in Avery’s office, and I told Avery my plan.
“Ratbeard and I will lead a small attack behind the Armada lines where we’ll drop off Shrikuru and Lightning, and then they’ll head in to assassinate the Armada commander. Once they succeed, we will get them out and fight our way back to pirate-controlled skyways.” I explained.
“Excellent! Get your men and mercenaries ready for the attack! We will begin at dawn!” said Avery.
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