Structure of Muramasa Dynasty's members; sent out to every police member involved in the Muramasa Eradication Operation:

Muramasa, unlike other gangs, runs on an aristocratic structure compared to the others which run on a merit-based hierarchy. At the top is their king, The Bladefather — Kensuke Muramasa. A former Yuzhou employee turned assassin, turned criminal godfather. Below him are his children. Each of them are adopted at a young age, typically orphans made by Muramasa. He likes those who fight back.

These Princes and Princesses are not mere nepotistic wielders of power, they go through trials — those who aren't fit to be his children die. It's estimated he has at least seventeen children, they can be identified by their crimson dragon masks and lavender robes. With the exception of his heir, as The Bladedaughter wears a white mask much like him. Whether they're mutants, or Shard Adapters, they're each to be taken care off by Special Investigators — Tier IIIs specifically.

Each of his children are in charge of a cohort of Black Dragons, elites who have proven themselves as loyal and vigilant to the cause of their sworn royalty. Every Black Dragon wields a blade forged by the Bladefather himself, crafted to be unique to their proficiencies. Black Dragons are not judged by their strength, but loyalty. Even among the same Tiers — they are considered equal. Despite that, there are differences in their masks depending on their Tier — signified by the number of horns.

Based on our analysis of Muramasa, we can confirm they have one Tier IV in their leader, approximately twenty Tier IIIs among their royalty and Black Dragons, and around seventy Tier IIs, with several hundred Tier Is in their control. Each of them are loyal, trained and masters of death. Caution is advised, stick to protocol and engage as told by your superiors.

The key targets to ensure the complete eradication of Muramasa involves the elimination of these targets:

The Bladefather

[Gold; SIM; Tier IV]

Head of Muramasa

[Bounty: 650 Million]

The Bladedaughter

[Gold; BUG; Tier III]

First Princess of Muramasa; second in command.

[Bounty: 185 Million]

Crouching Dagger

[UNKNOWN; UNKNOWN; UNKNOWN]

First Prince of Muramasa; assassination specialist.

[Bounty: 30.5 Million]

War-watcher

[Silver; BUG; Tier III]

Second Prince of Muramasa; information and strategy expert.

[Bounty: 20 Million]

Azure Phoenix

[Silver; SIM; Tier III]

Second Princess of Muramasa; flame Esper.

[Bounty: 10.5 Million]

Steel Vanguard

[Silver; BUG; Tier III]

Third Prince of Muramasa; enforcer.

[Bounty: 12 Million]

Shadow Son

[Silver: SIM; Tier III]

Fourth Prince of Muramasa; subterfuge and intelligence specialist.

[Bounty: 5 Million]

Heart Seeker

[Silver; BUG; Tier III]

Third Princess of Muramasa; shapeshifting killer.

[Bounty: 6.5 Million]

The remaining nine Princes and Princesses of Muramasa have largely been inactive, or confirmed deceased, with the exception of Princess Jade Storm.

They are known as Princess Hexblood [Deceased]; Prince Redsight [Deceased]; Prince Widower [Unknown]; Princess Winter Kiss [Unknown]; Prince Razor Bone [Unknown]; Prince Diamond Vein [Unknown]; Princess Mind Mirror [Unknown]; Prince Coiling Claw [Unknown]; Princess Jade Storm / Kim 'Ghostblade' Liyung [Defected to our cause].

All bounties have been issued by Yuzhou.

12:30 AM

December 19th

Ripley

"How's the new suits?" I adjusted my own armor as Topaz and Quartz were still getting used to theirs. It was my first time seeing Quartz's face, but he was identical to Topaz… only with less piercings.

"It's really tight." Topaz groaned, the sleek black of his suit wrapped him up exactly to the level of discomfort I'd wanted to give him. "Think it's getting in my ass-crack."

"Mine's fine." Quartz clicked his mask on, immediately his 'presence' shrank as my suit's adjustments devoured his Warp Energy. "But it makes me nauseous."

"Best I could do, your Mutation's difficult to control." I strode up, making sure both of them were secure. "You understand your missions?"

"Who put you in charge?" Topaz rasped. "I'm the most senior one here, you know."

"Mirage is in charge, I'm just the voice she speaks through." I pointed to my girlfriend, currently in a tight-suit of her own that had multiple chords digging into cubes all around her. An advanced NetPortal system that would give her leeway all the way down to the VoidNet.

It was her Dogwhistler set-up, but we'd lied to them and said it was just some stuff we bought with my new Shard Operating income.

"Jeez, you two have been a real power-couple as of late."

"You got a problem with that?!" Twilight sparked into existence, wrapping her arms around me. "Me and my darling are just going to do it like the old days, both of us and a mission into a very dangerous place."

"All of the places I go to are very dangerous." Quartz said dimly.

"Okay, enough of your down-talking, Quarty!" Twilight cheered up, pumping her fists into the air. "Topaz, get in there as soon as possible and scout things out for us! Your suit is designed to leave you entirely traceless!"

"It's based on a new trick of mine." I looked into my floating drone armory, pulling out a translucent cloth interspersed with iridescent beads. "I call it… the Glitch Suit. Should leave you entirely untrackable unless you step on someone's toes."

"Actually even if I step on their toes, half the time they still don't realize I'm there." He sneered.

"Quarty!" Twilight cheered. "Your job is to-"

"Be a distraction." He nodded. "As always."

"Correct, but your suit is also a little different, Ripley?"

"It… very mildly contains your presence. I looked at the old stuff you were wearing and made it a bit more efficient using some findings from Diana's Mutations. Effectively, I put in a filter through a Warpcuff system, but it's not on your end… it's on ours. When you release your suit, it'll get the attention of pretty much everyone in the prison. An inversion of everything it's charged up, do that once we're in combat with the Bladedaughter. And these…"

I picked up some handcuffs. "Once we wear them, it should slightly lower how much of a distraction you are for us for a few minutes. It's not perfect."

"If it was, I wouldn't be needing to investigate Soul Killer." He said dejectedly. "But… thank you. I am glad to be slightly less… of an eyesore."

"Yeah, you don't want to know how much this costed." I sighed, before looking through the rest of my armory. "The rest of this is for me and Diana, plans upon backup plans upon backup plans. If we see the Bladefather, the only plan there is to run, but anyone else…"

Twilight smiled. "Make a profit!"

I nodded along, and once Topaz and Quartz had left to their stations… I took a quiet seat next to Mirage as she settled into an ice-bath. This was our meet-up spot, an abandoned basement close enough to the prison but still hidden enough that we wouldn't be found.

I held her hand as she shivered in the cold water. "I r-really don't want to use that Titanium, it feels like suffocating myself."

"It's a last resort." I nodded. "That's why I'm doing this."

"Are you sure?"

"I am." I reached for my mask, shrinking it so that it fit onto my Neuroframe. "The trick to dealing with Anabelle Grazhe… you're one part of it, but the real fracture is the one in her mind. In that anomaly of Soul Killer within her."

1:05 AM

Diana

In less than six hours, we were going to begin the start of a very long day. Hundreds of Muramasa members were now confirmed to be locking themselves in prison, ironically enough, as they seized — or more accurately, revealed — the control they had on the Jade Penitentiary.

They knew we were coming, and were prepared for an all-out assault from us and Yuzhou. What they'd stolen could empower their ranks so incredibly, that in less than a year, they would be able to destabilize the criminal underworld's hierarchy.

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They already had. I couldn't count the number of resignation papers that were rumored to have flown in — the psychological impact of their crime was staggering.

I sat within a great conference hall, hundreds of us present with apprehensive awareness of the uncertainty that we'd attend the debriefing once this was all over. Maybe something said between our leading commanders would save our lives, maybe it would only overwhelm us and bog us down. An overview of the prison shone in our lenses, as Staff Sergeant Omen talked us down the steps.

They would have control of the prison's automated defenses, drones and turrets would be twisted against us. Even guards had now been confirmed to be Muramasa loyalists, those who weren't were taken as hostages.

Muramasa was baiting us. Once they knew their stronghold was identified, they didn't bother hiding it anymore. Digital flags with a white dragon atop black masks flowed across the outer perimeter, police corpses hung down from the walls and that entire section of the Sixth Precinct was buffered with Muramasa patrols.

It was like a miniature Little Requiem they carved out in less than a week.

A warning, a threat, and an invitation all at once.

This was a duel between the police and Muramasa for control over this city. Whoever came out on top would be the king, and whoever lost… would be forgotten.

Captain Krishav stood in front of the assembled officers, Investigators, Corporals, Lieutenants, Sergants and Staff Sergeants. The weight of responsibility pressed on his navy eyes, but rather than dulling them, in that face was a whetting stone as his voice boomed across the room with an unassuming sharpness.

An overwhelming echo of Warp Energy sank into us with finality, conviction rattling into us not from any Mutation but the sheer intensity of his 'presence'. His Warp Energy was a solid weight that vibrated with the echoes of a will that had imprinted upon reality.

"I don't need to tell you what's at stake here. You've all seen what Muramasa can do. They had the balls to steal from NeoCore, to engage in mass murder against civilians and police. Yuzhou and Neocore told us to wipe them out, but I don't think any of us need to be told what to do tonight — we're not doing this for them, but for us — for our city.

"What stands in our way isn't a gang, but a regime. The Bladefather believes himself untouchable, that his legacy of violence is painted with honor. That the lives he's ruined serve a noble cause against Yuzhou."

His gaze sliced everyone.

"Tonight, we will show Muramasa Dynasty what honor means.

"They cloak themselves in tradition, codes, respect; all a mask to hide the horrors of their crimes. Honor is protecting those behind you, avenging them, saving those who are unable to save themselves. We don't pick and choose who we serve and protect — that's the oath we take. Our honor is built atop the backs of one another, from the bones of this city that have ached for far too long against transgressors like them.

"So I ask you, tonight — leave no room for hesitation.

"When we hit them, we don't let them stand back up. We don't let them brandish their blades and shout out flowery requests for duels like it means a thing. They've spilled enough innocent blood to flood these streets. We're turning the tides on them. That's my promise as 'The Leviathan', we will not fear deep waters. No matter the traps, elite guards or Shardware beyond what most of you have seen — we will tear their foundation apart and return what belongs to the people.

"And for that which can't be returned. Get your vengeance."

A moment of quiet suffocated the walls, I knew I quite literally needed to gasp out from relief, before everything he said settled into me. Not a word was a lie, he genuinely meant every syllable he uttered… and that debuted a response.

"Avenge them." Sabrina said before I could, her voice low and filled with something greater. "Muramasa falls tonight."

"We'll cut their heads off." Another voice agreed loudly.

One woman let out what was a mix of a scream and plead. "I won't see another damn dragon mask in my life!"

A younger man spoke full of fervor. "They killed my uncle. It's time we return the favor!"

"No surrender." Sabrina muttered. Her eyes, which were always so warm and full of life appeared purposeful and deadly. She'd been acting strange the last week, I knew she had history with Muramasa but… that gaze in her eyes was one I'd seen many times in a mirror.

The Captain spoke as other voices raised and proclaimed their intentions, half applause and half mayhem until he rattled through them. "I know words will not win… but, there is one person I would ask to join me on this stage. Her role is immense, she carries a responsibility — and she is the epitome of the honor I speak of."

His navy eyes settled on me, the vastness of an ocean's trenches within them. "Diana Ulrich, Silvereye, let your thunder echo."

Nodding, I stood up, my elegant Silvereye suit hardened and glowed faintly as I trickled energy through it. Standing on the stage next to all these high-ranking officials, I didn't feel burdened by them. No, I felt burdened by the hundreds of others gazing at me — flickers of my silver hair reflecting in their stares like wisps of hope they were trying to reach for.

Tonight, what approached them was death… and I was leading them to it as a representative of the entire police force. I sweeped my gaze across the room as I let my soul flow into my voice, reaching out into the discordant hearts of others — searching for a harmony with cold calculated precision.

"When we walk into that prison today, we don't walk out the same person. This won't be clean, this won't be pretty… it is everything that perfection is not. Kensuke Muramasa is a bastard of Yuzhou throwing a temper tantrum, too afraid to let go of the beliefs sowed into him and instead weaponizing them under the facade that he is a savior.

"What kind of savior drills fear into the hearts of others?

"What kind of savior takes more lives than they save?

"What kind of savior hides in the shadows, pulling strings to wage a war he's too afraid to fight on his own?

"Tonight, that shadow will be brought to light — and turned to ash. For all the torture they've put this city through, they forgot one thing. This city fights back.

"We are the fire that burns within its heart, the ones who carry its scars that remind us of everything we've lost. But scars aren't the end. We are Adapters. Every wound that heals grows stronger. And tonight, we dive into the heart of this city's oldest wound-

"—and we will cleanse it with fire; Muramasa will burn."

I engineered each word to perfectly reach into their hearts, pulling from my Warp Energy to resonate. Spark would have been too much of an uphill climb, talking about hope and justice would only bore them. What we needed tonight was an inferno to match Muramasa, to melt their steel blades down as we penetrate into their core.

And it worked, they applauded, even those who couldn't stomach me and thought I was a nepotistic child given too much money — they applauded. It was necessary to stroke an 'us' versus 'them' mentality, because it was.

Muramasa had to be eradicated, they had to be culled, so no other gang underestimated the police ever again. They'd believed we'd grown complacent and weak after Jacob Grazhe's death… maybe we had — but tonight, we believed differently. We'd lie until it became the truth.

Searching in Captain Krishav's gaze for some reassurance, his simple nod was all I needed to walk off the stage. Annoyingly, the voice of my father buzzed in my ear. "Now that was something, you went completely off script and it still worked. But what was that about a bastard throwing a temper tantrum?"

I smiled, leaning my head back as my thoughts reached Starlight. Cut him out.

His communication channel with me vanished as Starlight raised a thumbs up at me.

———

Five Hours later

The involvement of mercenaries in this case was far from a secret. In fact, the public was even expecting Dreadwire to take a role along my side. I sat in the back of a van; Belle, Sabrina and Trixie were all making last-minute adjustments to their gear.

Sabrina huffed into grenades, preparing them with her cold breath. Belle soaked a layer of blood inside his armor, vines peeking out from the joints like a second layer of muscles while Trixie was looking over my suit — but failed to make any adjustments to it.

Both her and Ripley had said the engineering was top-notch. Specialized Shardware built for Mutants was a whole branch on it's own, the need to circumvent direct Warpcode interfacing meant it was much more complicated than normal… thankfully Starlight did allow some level of Warpcode interfacing.

Her paycheck had been signed and sent, they didn't argue with me when I said to use Starlight's localized communication within our Bladedaughter Killing squad, or Beta Unit. They likely knew I was aware of her existence given my… affiliation to Dreadwire.

The members who would kill Bladedaughter tonight consisted of me, Sabrina, Dreadwire, Kim and a few other specialists in our police force capable of countering her Shardware. Sabrina didn't look nervous about her reunion with her ex, she said that it was just part of the job. That Kim would be even more dismissive than she was.

Escorting us was Gamma Unit, consisting of Lieutenant Anabelle Grazhe and many other high-ranking Strike, Intel and SIO Investigators. They were there to facilitate our entry through the North Wing — which was where we'd crumble their defenses from. Starlight ran the plan through my head.

So the Prison is divided into four wings: North, South, East and West.

Much of the Prison's administrative faculty is run from the North Wing where we'll infiltrate from. Our first goal is to breach the Warden's office which we suspect to be highly guarded, potentially by a Prince or Princess, since it runs much of the central systems of the prison. Upon connecting to the Warden's office, Mirage will be able to determine exact locations of many other key targets, starting Phase Two where an Assault team will break into the prison while specialized elimination units will hurry over to their assigned targets as we slowly push deeper towards our targets. Our job is to deploy directly towards the Bladedaughter, should she be here tonight, or else secure the Implants and eliminate whoever is guarding them. Should we eliminate The Bladedaughter and secure the Implants, assigned members of our team will be directed to aid in the elimination of The Bladefather.

Phase 0.5, according to Starlight, was being handled by Ripley right about now. It was securing a perimeter around the prison, which required exact reconnaissance of any and all Muramasa hiding nearby in buildings waiting for ambush.

We could be pincered, our backline and frontline were in threat of being dissolved simultaneously. As Dreadwire, Ripley had been scanning and zipping around the surrounding area of the prison, tracking down all Muramasa groups and relaying their information to us.

I was told a specialized STRIKE team would handle them before we got anywhere near.

I was later told they didn't even need to be used. All that remained were corpses riddled with bullet holes and dismembered limbs. Ripley had been thorough…

That much was clear when we began establishing a communications base within a nearby hospital that was to become our on-range command center. Dreadwire stood at the top of the building, overlooking it towards the massive complex where black and white flags streamed down with flickering light, corpses hung from nooses to stroke our rage.

He stood at the very edge of the rooftop, faint blood dried on his hands, the six bands of his mask turned towards me as he nudged his head to the pile of weapons and explosives he'd stolen. "I assume your kind would want these."

Anabelle Grazhe was already there with him, her stern gaze turning to me for a moment before speaking to him. "I'd appreciate if you didn't call us 'your kind', now be quick Dreadwire… you disobeyed orders and now they know you're with us."

"They do." He said dryly. "Now, chaos will be sowed within them."

"Why exactly is that?" I felt a contained ripple of Warp Energy build inside Anabelle.

Dreadwire pointed towards the holographic flags banistered over the prison, a purple glow sinking inside his golden visors. At once, each flag dissolved away as a corruptive violet spark changed their images — no longer was it a fearsome white dragon amidst an ashen sky but instead…

A scribbled noodly dragon performing felatio on a stick figure drawing with Captain Krishav's face drawn on it.

A low chuckle emitted from Dreadwire, as the rest of us were simply too stunned to know what to say to that.

"Twilight's creative."

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