The emperor paced the halls of the Imperial Palace.
His long lost uncle, who had dissapeared after a weekend out hunting, had come back to claim the throne as rightfully his, and was attempting to gain some support, beginning with some colonists on the newly aquired colony of okinawa. In the South on the Island of Kyushu a upstart warlord named "Togukawa" was attempting to raise an army and claim the emperorship as well.
"What should I do ancestors!?" cried Emperor Takaguwa
He realized that the vast majority of the people were behind him, but that means nothing if the Juang empire were to attack. He did not want civil war both to preserve his own power AND to prevent a war which would pit brother against brother, decimating the Japanese people in a way not seen since the great civil wars of the 1100's.
"No, something must be done!'
He decided that now was not the time to dwell and think about the well being of his enemies, for his allies, the people, would be the ones to suffer. The only way would be to defeat the enemy in a decisive battle...
General Yakazuma, Takaguwa's most loyal of subjects, sat on his horse outside the royal stables at Edo. He had heard rumors that he was to be mobolized to defend the emperor, and rushed over to see if this was true. On the way a rival general, Kagazaki, had talked to Yakazuma about betraying the emperor! Yakazuma would hear none of this, and he quickly removed his head from its body before the man had blinked. He took his head and presented it to the emperor and requested to be given control of his former army, and was granted so. He now controlled the greatest division of the emepror's army, and wanted to prove his worth...