Apotheosis

"Da Ji! Da Ji! Where are you, you useless wench?!" Dong Zhou hurriedly looked for the vulpine strategist. He then saw a shadow looming over himself, and looked up to see one of Da Ji's Orbs of Ruin hovering over him.

"You would do well to remember that I am your superior," Da Ji said, allowing the sphere to fall, but stopping it mere millimeters above Dong Zhou's head, "And a wise soldier does not mock his superior officers. Do I make myself clear." Dong Zhou simply nodded in response, and thus Da Ji continued, the orb still hovering over Dong Zhou. "Good... Now, why have you interrupted me in my private chambers? You'd better have a good reason for this."

"Lord Orochi has ordered you to prepare your army to mobilize at once!" Dong Zhou explained, "Cao Pi has defected to the Resistance Army at Mt. Ding Jun!"

"So the traitor has finally made his move, has he?" Da Ji laughed, A foolish place to do such... Orochi's forces surround the area... Why would he defect there, of all places? We have a small stockpile of cannons in the area, but even so...

"L-lady Da Ji?" Dong Zhou asked, still nervous of the magical weapon hovering just over him.

"Tell Lord Orochi that I will quell this insurrection at once," Da Ji said, retreating the Orb of Ruin to here side, causing a sigh of relief from Dong Zhou. "Order Lancehead and Boomslang to ready the cavalry at once! We'll need to move quickly if we wish to arrive before they can ready their artillery. Infantry and artillery support will have to come from what's already in the area."

"At once," Dong Zhou affirmed as he ran off to relay Da Ji's orders.

"Cao Pi... You're no Zhuge Liang, but most certainly, you're smarter than this..." Da Ji thought aloud, "What exactly are you planning?"

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Get those cannons into position at once! Ready them to fire on the northern front! We need to break through before nightfall... Zhang He, lead your men into the forest and launch an ambush on the eastern foot of the mountain!" Cao Pi was wasting no time getting his troops into position. "Xiahou Yuan, lead your archers and take up position on the summit fortress! The enemy has rifles, it is essential that we use the mountain to counter that advantage! Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, take your units and hold the northern line- buy those cannons some time to get ready!"

"Lord Cao Pi, if I may..." Pang Tong rallied to the young emperor's side, "The enemy's numbers will be upon us in full force within the hour... To say we have until sunset is hopelessly optimistic."

"We will join our forces with those of Oda Nobunaga in the north," Cao Pi explained. "The battle at Odani should be starting soon, that will distract attention from us."

"Lord Zhuge Liang still serves the serpent king. If he is behind the counter attack against us, he will most certainly notice your plans," Pang Tong explained, "I pride myself as a master strategist, but should he arrive, even my talents cannot compare... All will be lost."

"You place too much faith in Zhuge Liang's talents," came a third voice, that of Sima Yi, Grand General of Wei, "You are no match for Zhuge Liang, but you forget that it is before me he fell."

"Fell to age and illness, not to your treacherous strategies," Pang Tong said with a hint of anger, "Do not even think to compare yourself to him!"

"Yi! Tong! That is enough!" Cao Pi shouted, "If we begin to fight amongst ourselves then we have already lost. Sima Yi, I don't like it any more than you do, but for now, we work with Shu and the Oda Clan."

"My apologies," Sima Yi reconciled, "I will not let my personal feelings on the matter intrude again."

"See that you do not," Cao Pi reaffirmed. "Both of you, take position, and make sure this battle goes as planned. Sima Yi, watch the assault on the northern foot. Pang Tong, come with me as I defend the east."

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The Orochi Army calavary unit had arrived in full force, taking up camp a slight ways northeast.

"Lancehead, you and I shall press forward around east," Da Ji explained. "Boomslang, circle around north, and relieve Coachwhip's unit- they're likely weary from holding out this long. The enemy forces are heavily outnumbered- This is the perfect chance to take out the traitor Sima Yi as well. Come, we must secure the mountain before the cannons are readied! Take no prisoners, do not let them see another sunrise!"

"You heard her, for the serpent king!" Lancehead shouted as he lead his troops, charging toward the front lines.

Da Ji soon followed, her unit just behind Lancehead's. It didn't take long before they saw Cao Pi himself sitting alone atop the legendary steed, Shadow Runner, at the summit of the mountain. Upon seeing the enemy troops, Cao Pi turned Shadow Runner, and rode off.

"So you he has the courage to face us in person?" Lancehead laughed, "Or perhaps it is mere foolishness- the traitor not understanding when he is beat. Pursue at once, men!"

"Keep formation!" Da Ji ordered, only to see Lancehead and his men ignoring her commands, Hasty fool...

"Perfect, they've taken the bait..." Xiahou Yuan sighed with relief, "Ready your bows and release on my mark... Steady... Fire!"

A storm of arrows rained down upon Lancehead's unit, sending them into a wild panic.

"Do not falter! Press on!" Lancehead tried to bring order to his unit. "Wei's emperor is still within sight! If we take him, they will break like waves before the cliffs!"

"Must I do everything myself?" Da Ji complained as she took the front line. Upon reaching Lancehead's unit, she shouted, "Fall back! Riflemen, take up position just out of bow's range, and let our muskets do the job! Even if they have the mount, their arrows cannot outreach gunpowder!"

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Commander Coachwhip, reinforcements have arrived!" one of Orochi's grunts notified his superior officer, "Boomslang is leading a force of twenty thousand men to take the mount!"

"Twenty thousand? Perfect, then it is time to press the counter attack," Coachwhip said as he approached Boomslang, and then gave him his orders: "I want a steady march on those cannons. Take them, and turn them upon the fortress! Your unit is to advance at once, and finish off Wei's weakened frontline troops!"

"It is as good as done," Boomslang acknowledged before letting out a mighty cry: "All troops! Forward march!"

A sea of cavalry swarmed up the side of the mountain, the Wei troops cowering before the mere sight of them. But then, with a storm of dust billowing behind him, Zhang Liao began storming the front lines on horseback. Taking out rider after rider, Zhang Liao had begun to dig into Boomslang's unit.

"Flee if you value your lives!" Zhang Liao set forth a challenge, "Not one of you shall pass me!"

"Boomslang, continue the assault on the cannons!" Coachwhip commanded, "I'll deal with this one myself!"

Running between the countless horses, Coachwhip stood before the might warrior of Wei, and with a stroke of his sword, felled Zhang Liao's steed, dropping him to the ground. Before Coachwhip could deliver the finishing blow to Zhang Liao himself, Zhang Liao reached for his polearm, Gold Wyvern, and jumped to his feet. The two combatants circled one another, both hoping to end things with a single blow. Much to their disappointment, such was not the case: Zhang Liao took the iniative with a thrust of his blade, which Coachwhip quickly sidestepped, and grabbed the staff with his left arm. Then, using his sword in his right hand, Coachwhip stabbed at Zhang Liao. Zhang Liao quickly ducked underneath the sword, and with Coachwhip still hanging onto the rod of Gold Wyvern, Zhang Liao swung the blade overhead and back around, slamming Coachwhip into the ground, and forcing him to release. Zhang Liao pulled then thrusted once again, but Coachwhip's sword parried the blow, and allowed the serpentine officer the chance to rise from the ground.

"Not bad, human," Coachwhip laughed, "But here is where you will feel your flesh grow cold, as your breath forever leaves your body! The last thing you shall feel is my venom running through your veins!"

"You lack the skill to so much as shave hair with that blade!" Zhang Liao provoked as he pointed his blade forward, holding it slightly downward. "Come, let us finish this!"

The two rushed at each other with feral cries, their blades crossing for but an instant.

His arm severed from his body, Coachwhip was no longer a threat, but still he laughed, "You have bested me, mortal, but even still, you cannot win. I have kept you busy, and by now, the cannons are already being repositioned to fire on the fortress. We will meet again, human. You have taken my arm, but I shall take your head!"

He's right, the forces on the mountain won't last long like this, Zhang Liao realized as Coachwhip fell into the crowd of Orochi's army, I must give them aid at once!

Taking a horse from one of his fallen enemies, Zhang Liao rushed back up the mount, hoping to resecure the cannons before they could be used against his allies...

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Lady Da Ji! Word comes from the northern front!" Lancehead laughed triumphantly. "Coachwhip and Boomslang have secured the cannons, and will be ready to fire within the hour!"

"They are falling even more quickly than I had thought," Da Ji smiled naughtily, Perhaps there will be time to play with Diao Chan tonight.

Suddenly, screams began to break out from the east.

"Behind us! It's an ambush!"

"Impossible!" Lancehead fumed. "How could they manage to encircle us in such a situation?!"

"Let's not worry about how, and instead focus on breaking the encirclement!" Da Ji ordered. "Hold the line with the riflemen. I trust that even you can lead an army to repeat a task continuously. I will deal with the forces at our rear."

When Da Ji had arrived at the rear, she saw her troops in disarray, wildly fighting off their ambushers. Then, the cold, piercing sensation of a steel blade touched the back of her neck.

"Not bad, but don't think I'm incapable of an ambush of my own," Da Ji laughed, as her form vanished before her attacker's eyes. She reappeared a few meters away, now facing her assailant, "Ah, you are Zhang He, are you not? If rumors are true, then you are obsessed with beauty- so how could you ever bring harm to one such as I?"

"Beauty, yes, but you are a fox spirit... Nothing more than a wild animal, what would you know of beauty?" Zhang He tauned, bringing his tiger claws, known as the Phoenix Talons, to bear.

"Before you die, you will be groveling at my feet, begging forgiveness for such words!" Da Ji threatened as her Orbs of Ruin materialized on opposite sides of her.

"The old crone always nags the loudest," Zhang He laughed as he rushed toward the vulpine commander.

"And the ugly fool always thinks himself beautiful and wise!" Da Ji retorted as she levitated the orbs around her in a circular motion, creating a barrier of sorts.

"It has been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Zhang He said as he slid underneath the circling orbs, "If such is the case, then you must be completely blind!"

Zhang He performed a diagonal slash with the blades on his right arm, which Da Ji simply jumped back from.

"Better in battle to be blind than unskilled!" Da Ji remarked as one of her orbs knocked Zhang He down from behind.

She then rose the orb high above him, and brought it down, but Zhang He quickly rolled aside.

"And woe to she whom is both!" Zhang He said, jumping to his feet and slashing at Da Ji.

Da Ji was hit, but the cry of pain was not her voice. As the illusion of Da Ji faded, Zhang He heard one of his own men ask: "My lord... Why?"

"Is this the only way you can fight?" Zhang He asked. "To resort to such despicable tricks robs battle of all its glory!"

"What is battle, if not a series of tricks against one's foes?" Da Ji laughed, her voice seeming to come from all directions. Every soldier on the battlefield began to appear as Da Ji, taunting Zhang He, "Tell me, which one of us is the real me? Maybe you'll get lucky, and kill one of Lord Orochi's soldiers. But if you keep killing your own men, how long will it until they turn against you?"

"Such a cowardly act," Zhang He cried out, "show yourself and fight!"

"Run, and maybe I will be unable to catch you," Da Ji laughed, Quickly... I can't maintain this illusion much longer...

Unable to see any alternative, Zhang He called out as he ran, "Retreat! Fall back to the camp!"

As Da Ji's forces began to pursue, the vixen raised her hand, signaling them to halt. "A battle is not won through force alone. Sometimes, it is better to use finesse. I want a detachment of you to come with me and strike from behind at their main camp. The rest of you, break off, remain here and make sure that Lancehead doesn't somehow lose this battle for us!"

With that, Da Ji gave chase to the fleeing ambushers, chasing them toward the Resistance camp.

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"My lord, it's no use!" Xu Huang explained as his axe tore through enemy after enemy. "There's just too many of them... We have to fall back!"

"If we fall back now, then we die," Cao Pi argued, "If they ready the cannons, the fortress will fall within a matter of minutes. And if that fortress falls, then there will be nothing we can do to prevent encirclement..."

"No... Xu Huang is right, we must abandon the cannons," Sima Yi observed, "but that doesn't mean that we must surrender them to Orochi."

"It would take all our effort simply to reach the cannons," Cao Pi shook his head, "We wouldn't have the time to destroy all of them, or even a majority."

"Normally, no," Sima Yi agreed, "but what of the barrels of gunpowder? Look at the carts, you can see them from here."

"And with no gunpowder, they can't fire the cannons regardless of who controls them..." Cao Pi realized where Sima Yi was going with this. "Ready the fire ninja at once! Tell them to conserve all their bombs, and target the enemy's supply of gunpowder! I will personally draw the enemy's attention."

"Are you sure that is wise, sire?" Xu Huang asked.

"Not entirely, no," Cao Pi admitted. "But this battle was a risk from the start, why should I expect that to change now?"

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Lady Da Ji, we've lost sight of the ambush party," one of Da Ji's soldiers informed her.

"Yes, yes, I can see that!" she pouted, "Continue westward, the forest is thinning, and I smell smoke nearby... We can't be too far now."

After marching on for a few minutes, Da Ji and her soldiers had come to a small clearing in the forest, where Wei had taken up camp. The camp seemed completely deserted, but the still burning fireplace told Da Ji otherwise.

"Stay on guard," Da Ji warned, "They are an ambush unit, after all."

Da Ji reached for the fire place, took a flaming log, and tossed it at one of the enemy tents.

"Now you must come out of hiding or allow your supplies to be lost!" Da Ji shouted, "Throw down your weapons, and we may be merciful!"

As Da Ji shouted, she felt the winds suddenly shift, and the fires- both on the tent and from the fireplace- were quelled at once.

"It seems that fortune has decided that we should win this day," Pang Tong laughed as he stepped out from one of the tents, "For this battle was decided when Orochi sent you instead of my old friend."

"Win the day? Bold words for one who is outnumbered so," Da Ji chuckled, If Zhang He is made to think that we have forgotten of them, it may allow us to catch him off guard when he makes his move.

"Numbers- while certainly a boon- do not win battles alone," Pang Tong chided, "I was personally there with Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu, drawing up the battle plans that won at Chi Bi... We are outnumbered once again, but even so, we still hold the advantage. Surely, you've realized this... Such is why you've attempted such a desperate gambit, traveling through the forest on horseback to set fire to our camp."

"It is time for you to return to ashes, Young Phoenix," Da Ji said as her Orbs of Ruin materialized once more, and she sent both flying at the estranged strategist.

Holding out his staff, Pang Tong conjured a whirlwhind, which created a deafening clang upon meeting with the orbs.

"The thing about ashes: You need flames to get them," Pang Tong chuckled as the whirlwind clouded the area with dust. "And, unfortunately for you, I've already extinguished those you intended to use."

By time the air cleared so that Da Ji could see, Pang Tong was nowhere in sight.

"Shall we give chase?" asked one of Da Ji's soldiers.

"No... Scour the camp. Take what you can carry, destroy whatever you can't," she ordered. "Look for some flint so we can set the place abl- Wait... Someone is still here..."

Da Ji dismounted, and appeared to shrink before the eyes of her soldiers, her robes covering her entirely. She climbed out of her clothes, now in the form of a fox, sniffing around the tents. "I will deal with the enemy straggler. The rest of you, begin pillaging the camp!" Following the unfamiliar scent, Da Ji approached one of the tents, and stuck her nose inside. Stepping inside, she was suddenly hit overhead.

"Mangy mutt! Shoo, shoo!" came the voice of Wei's empress.

"Have you forgotten me already, Zhen Ji?" spoke the vixen.

"D-Da Ji?!" Zhen Ji was alarmed.

Returning to her human form, Da Ji smirked as she stood nude, "Do not worry... We plan to take you alive. Cao Pi will rush to his doom in order to come to your aid. Oh, and by the way, I'm going to have to take your clothes- I can't very well present myself to the troops naked, now can I?"

After a few minutes, Da Ji exited the tent in Zhen Ji's clothes, with the now nude empress following, her hands bound by rope. "Take this one back to the camp. Make sure she is well kept, she will be joining the harem upon our return."

"H-harem?!" Zhen Ji objected, "I am an empress! I will not be that filthy snake's concubine!"

Da Ji laughed, You don't know just how right you are...

But Da Ji's revelry was short lived, as she heard a massive explosion from the mountain top. "That can't be good... Return to camp at once, transport the prisoner as quickly as possible!"

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Upon returning to camp, Da Ji saw Coachwhip with fear in his eyes. Immediately sensing that something had gone wrong, she flew into anger, "You useless dirt-crawler, what happened?!"

"Lady Da Ji, forgive us, but the enemy set our gunpowder ablaze," Coachwhip explained, "the cannons are destroyed, and we lost nearly three hundred men from the explosions. Their archers have taken up position on the north side of the mountain, and we cannot advance any further. To make matters worse, our scouts have sighted Nobunaga's approach from the north- they will be here within three hours time."

"And it was all going so well... Sound the retreat. We'll regroup at Osaka, and then head back to Koshi!" Da Ji sighed, You win for now, Cao Pi, but was it worth the price you have paid? Zhen Ji is now mine, and if you do not take her back soon, she will lose all desire to return to you.