Chapter 14

Amassing Arms

Altai Mountains-Mongolia

Cold, cold, and more cold. It seemed that this already harsh climate could not get any worse, but these were the peaks of Tavan Bogd, and were not known for their hospitality. Accompanied by the dreadful cold was a strong wind that blew shards of ice and rocks from the nearby cliffs, as well as provided a stinging chill to any who would cross this domain.

However, besides the unbelievable climate, there was another thing that occupied these clifftops, a maximum security Prison named Chorh Gom. A prison notorious for having held some of the most dangerous criminals from all of Asia, from the lights of the infamous Wu Sisters, to the terrible Fenghuang, to the now redeemed Tai Lung. Even now, behind the walls of this fortified prison the cells remained occupied by dozens if not hundreds of the most repulsive individuals of the era. Thieves, rapists, murderers, and genocidal maniacs the lot of them many of whom had spent decades behind bars.

At the entrance of the structure stood several enormous doors where an entire legion of guards known as the Anvil of Heaven were stationed. These guards were known to be some of the toughest in the province making any form of breach or jailbreak unlikely, but not impossible as history had shown. There had only been several escapes from this prison in recent times, each of which had catastrophic outcomes, however, safety parameters had since increased.

Besides the cold winds, the sounds of chattering teeth occupied the clifftops near the entrance. A Rhino guard was noticeably struggling as his body was clearly not acclimated to the bitter environment. He looked fairly young as his horn was not fully grown out like the most of the other prison guards.

His noticeable discomfort was starting to draw the attention of his supervisor, another Rhino who like him wore traditional prison guard armor which didn't provide much in the way of warmth. "You hanging in there rookie?" Asked the elder.

"Yes s-s-s-sir" Answered the younger Rhino unconvincingly while still shivering from the cold.

The supervisor shook his head with a knowing smile, "It's okay kid, you'll get used to the cold soon."

"I s-s-s-sure hope s-s-s-so…" Replied the new recruit before continuing, "Honestly I'd-d-d rather b-b-b-be an inmate in a w-w-w-warm cell than this-s-s-s."

"Hah! No you do not. There's not a single person who would want to be in one of those cells. For starters, the floor is made of rough stone that cuts at your feet, then there's the shackles that make permanent marks on your wrists, and to top it off you only get fed once every three days. Need any more info to persuade you that being an inmate here is the cruelest form of punishment?" Answered the supervisor.

"Well, at least I'd be w-w-w-warm." Answered the young buck impulsively before getting cut off by his boss, "You'd be dead. A sentence to this prison is basically a sentence to death. Some inmates have been locked behind these walls for more than 20 years now, one of which will spend the rest of his life at the bottom of the chasm with his arms and legs bolted to the floor, does that sound like a fate you would want?"

The younger guard who now shivered not only due to the cold, but also out of fear, simply shook his head in denial. 'Yeah, maybe this isn't so bad after all.' He thought to himself before being overcome by another wave of chill by the winds.

"Just as I thought." Stated the supervisor.

As the elder finished his point, the two Rhinos heard the sound of marching drawing nearer from the prison entrance. The next moment, the two large doors to the complex swung open and out emerged a troop of up to 30 guards. This was highly unusual and far from standard procedure at this early hour of the day. Typically, the exterior of the building was more heavily fortified with guards during the night hours as visibility in these mountains would become even more difficult with the ever growing darkness in the sky.

The platoon marched onward past the two confused sentries and stopped at a nearby watchtower. It was then that the supervisor noticed the Prison Warden who was now designating specific stations for the guards to protect. Tired of the lack of communication, the supervisor went to address the warden about this commotion.

As he approached, the Commander turned to face him, almost as if by foresight. "Why are you away from your station soldier!?" The Warden asked without restraint.

"Sir, I'm just wondering about what's going on, these events are highly irregular-"

"Word's come in from the capital to be on high alert. They fear that our enemies to the north are planning an invasion, so I'm doubling patrols and enforcing the exterior to prevent any breach. Now return to your station, we can't afford to let our guard down for a second." Explained the Warden while turning his attention to the assembling forces that were now assuming a defensive perimeter around the prison walls.

This news was certainly an unpleasant surprise to the supervisor who had worked at this Prison for many years in a row and had yet to see security beefed up to this level. The last large cataclysmic event that had occurred at this prison had been the escape of the former villain Tai Lung, but that had been quite some time ago now, and since then the Anvil of Heaven had been expanded, and the walls strengthened. However, he knew that these parameters were certainly not enough to repel an entire army of soldiers from Mongolia.

Returning to his post, the Supervisor was much more uneasy than before. 'An invasion? Why now?' He thought while staring at the snow covered rocks below in a trance.

To his side was the new recruit who mirrored his supervisor's state of mind, "Is everything alright s-s-s-sir?" He asked, having still not adapted to the cold.

The elder Rhino looked up, his thoughts having been interrupted by the question. "Fine. Everything is fine kid." He lied as he then looked back down.

In a Nearby Location

It had been a long and arduous journey from their base camp on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert, however, at last Genji's forces were arriving at their destination. It was a good thing his soldiers consisted of warm blooded mammals, otherwise many of them would not have been able to withstand the harsh climate. Even so, some who could not keep up had to be left behind, and some had even perished due to the strain of the journey. This trip was beginning to cause unrest among even the highest ranking individuals in the army. Rumors of betrayal and mutiny were circulating throughout the ranks.

Genji knew that his Soldiers would not stand for this much longer, but having finally arrived at their target it seemed that good luck was upon them. Only a half a mile ahead Genji could see red lights emitting from a structure built into a mountain through a thick snowstorm which hindered visibility. For any normal travelers it would have been well secluded, but Genji was far from an ordinary traveler.

"Halt!" He shouted while holding his palm up and signaling his army to stop marching.

They did so, and a moment later Genji was accompanied at his sides by his new personal guards who hard formerly served his predecessor Jian. "Yes Master?" One asked as Genji stared at the formation up ahead.

"We are here. Have the troops set up camp, and summon commander Diavol." Genji answered while folding his arms.

They nodded and went to adhere to his wishes, all the while he watched the Prison from this vantage point. It seemed that this snow storm would provide good cover for an ambush. And even now, he had already developed a plan on how to neutralize the protective guards at the gate.

"You wished to speak with me? Lord Akuma?" Asked a voice from behind.

"Yes, Diavol, you may approach." Said the Striped feline with his back turned.

The commander did as requested and now stood at Genji's side. "What is the status of our forces?" The feline asked while staring off at the hollowed peak up ahead.

Diavol hesitated, thinking very carefully about what to say, "The men are strong, and ready for battle sir. They are eager to face the enemy." Stated the commander, trying to avoid talking about the rumors within the ranks of the army.

"That is very good. They will soon have their chance." The Tiger replied before continuing, "As it stands, conquering this prison will be too difficult with all of the parameters in place. My guards and I will cripple their defenses to ensure that we take the prison with minimal harm to our own forces."

"I still don't understand why capturing this Prison strategically helps us." Diavol mumbled to himself, slightly too loudly as it turned out.

"Look around you." Said Genji whilst still staring at the hollowed mountain ahead.

The Commander did so and saw the many soldiers preparing tents and shelters for as far as the eye could see. "We have the numbers to invade China, but what we lack is weaponry. Were we to march into Chinese territory with only spears, swords, and bows we would be destroyed within weeks. There are machines used by the Emperor's military that shoot metal faster than an arrow flies, and that is only the start." Stated the Feline from behind.

"This Prison contains the weapons needed for a siege. It also contains some thousand inmates who we may recruit to our ranks. That is our reason behind this assault." Stated Genji whilst turning back to face the Prison located on the nearby plateau.

This explanation made good sense to Diavol, though he was skeptical about recruiting the lights of criminals into the army it was logical to acquire new weaponry and military hardware to aid in their invasion.

"How do you plan to neutralize the guards? Surely they will be prepared for an assault." Stated the Wolverine while stroking his chin.

"Leave that to me. In the meantime I want you to keep watch of the Prison and wait for my signal to commence our attack." Genji answered vaguely whilst now turning around and heading towards the camp the troops were setting up.

"What signal-" Asked the commander before being interrupted, "You will know when you see it."

With that, the Tiger went on his way to find his personal guards leaving Diavol hopelessly confused and conflicted. He, along with many of the other high ranking individuals in the army had questioned the Tiger's loyalties ever since his rise to power. Sure, he had helped to earn the respect and loyalty of the other Mongolian clans, but he seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and climbed the chain of command far too quickly for their liking.

Even so, he couldn't deny that the Tiger's methods were effective, for this was the first time in generations that the Mongolian army was in a good position to take over the Asian continent. And a victory at this prison raised their chances even higher.

Once reunited with his guards, Genji stepped out of the camp and briefed the guards on his plans, "As I'm sure you are all aware, this Prison is well guarded by the Emperor. I do not wish to lose too many of our forces unnecessarily, and thus I have come up with a plan to infiltrate the Prison and shorten the numbers of guards so that we may succeed with minimal casualties."

The guards all nodded in agreement with one asking, "How do you plan to infiltrate the Prison without raising an alarm, Lord Akuma?"

"Just follow my lead." Said the Tiger with a growing smile.

As the snow storm raged on, it provided excellent cover for Genji to infiltrate the structure. Visibility was greatly hindered by the constant snow fall, and any at all noise was nullified by the fast winds. Using the environment as his camouflage, Genji made his way to a cliff near the entrance while being closely followed by the Lionesses. It overlooked the two large doors, and of the many hundreds of guards defending it.

Turning back to face his kin, he said, "I want you all to remain here and keep out of sight until I return. It is crucial that the guards do not detect our presence."

The felines nodded in agreement, and Genji then made his way down the cliff side towards the doors. He knew that he would draw too much attention were he to open the doors on his own. And attention was the last thing he wanted right now. He would have to wait for a patrol to pass through, from there he would tag behind and remain undetected.

It took many minutes of waiting, but after nearly half an hour a patrol went to enter the structure to be swapped out with another equipped with more rested guards. This was his chance. Using the fog and snowfall from the storm as concealment, he stealthily tagged from behind the patrol as they marched through the now open doors. Once inside, he quickly made his way left toward a small building, sticking to the training in stealth given to him by his Mother.

Making sure the coast was clear, he scaled the miniature structure and got a better look at the interior of the prison. It was quite dark, with few torches illuminating various pathways and corridors, though the most prominent feature was the massive chasm at the center which led down some 3000 feet bellow the entrance. It was in this hole that all of the inmates were kept in confined cells, excluded from the outside world, and left to rot behind the cold steel bars.

But that wasn't what the Feline was looking for. In fact, what he was looking for was located directly behind him. The prison armory where all weapons equipment for the guards was kept. He knew this much due to the scrolls he had read about the Prison when he was a student at the Jade Palace. Wasting no more time, he made his way to the side of the door to the armory. There were no guards stationed at the doors, but he suspected there would be behind the walls. Knowing this, he came up with a simple but effective idea to divert the guards out of the armory.

He took a small chunk of rock from the nearby wall and threw it through the window of the armory. Right on cue, a group of four Rhinoceros Prison Guards stormed out of the door to find the intruder. But they did not see anyone outside, and before they could raise an alarm, they heard a swooping sound from behind. They each looked back and only saw a blur as they were each consecutively paralyzed within a second.

Genji had practiced this move for many months back when at the Palace before his exile. Nerve attacks were especially complex Kung Fu techniques, and mastery of them would on average take the user years to perfect. However, to a prodigy such as himself, they were much less tedious to learn.

With the victims incapacitated, he moved the bodies into the armory where they likely would not be found for some time. And once inside, Genji grinned at the sight of all the weaponry and hardware. It was a massive room, resembling a warehouse of sorts littered with all sorts of military arms and equipment from the lights of melee weapons, to projectile weapons, but all were overshadowed by what Genji had come looking for in the first place. A separate room inside the armory, dark and quite secluded, it stored many barrels of a powdery substance.

"There you are." Said Genji to himself as he walked inside the dim structure.

This substance was known as Gunpowder, and was commonly used to build fireworks and other festive materials. But as of recent times, it had been innovated into weapons technology such as canons and explosives.

Looking beside the barrels, he saw many units of dynamite, no doubt excess from the Prison's contingency plan to explode the above stalactites to collapse and prevent escape. But now they would be used to destroy the guards rather than the prisoners. Knowing he had to go back out, he took only a few before leaving the armory and arriving back at the front gates. There were lots of patrols around the area, many more than before, but these would not stop Genji from his goal. He tailed a platoon that made their way outside the gates into the blizzard to replace the fatigued troops. Once outside, he quickly headed back to the rendezvous point he had set earlier.

Arriving at the cliff edge from before, he did not see his guards in the vicinity. "You may all come out. I have what we need." Said the Tiger to the surrounding area.

Surely enough, his guards all came out of hiding and joined him at his side. "We now have the means to create a diversion for our troops to attack efficiently." He continued while holding up the multiple explosive devises he had raided.

Handing one of them to each of his six guards, he explained, "The next phase of my plan is to plant these explosives at the roof above of the platform near the entrance. From what I saw inside the prison, the Warden has diverted nearly three quarters of his forces to protecting the gate from the outside. If we can destroy the overhang above the entrance, it will take out the vast majority of the guards and allow us to take the Prison with minimal effort."

With their instructions, the Lioness' nodded and followed Genji higher up the mountain. As the elevation rose, the already harsh conditions of the climate intensified, but regardless, the felines continued up to the top of the cliff. Once on top they spread out the explosives across the entire span of the overhang, maximizing the blast radius.

Once the task was complete, they retreated back to remain out of range of the explosives. Genji looked down to see the unsuspecting guards bellow, a wicked smile crept across his face as he summoned his Dark Chi energy. Harnessing the destructive energy, his body began to radiate a familiar crimson aura. Once he had gathered enough energy he released it in the form of a beam which shot directly at one of the explosive devices. When the beam made contact, it caused a blast that sent shards of rock and snow flying in every direction, making his guards duck and cower away from the ensuing explosion.

Within seconds, the rocky platform dislodged itself from the rest of the mountain and immediately plummeted down to the platform where the prison guards remained. The guards had heard the blast, but had no time to evade the falling debris which came crashing down and crushing nearly all the unlucky souls.

On the other side of the gorge, Commander Diavol witnessed the massive rock fall like a meteor onto the Guards. He knew without a doubt that this was the signal Lord Akuma had told him to look out for. Without wasting a moment, he called the soldiers to arms and led an attack on what prison forces remained standing.

In minutes, Diavol's forces had made their way to the platform where rock and snow littered the ground, along with the corpses of hundreds of deceased Rhino guards. They then engaged the remaining guards in battle while more Rhino's exited the front doors to enforce the exterior. But it was quite fruitless, for they were now overwhelmed by the Mongols who not only had the element of surprise, but also a massive advantage in numbers.

As the fight continued, Genji and the Lioness' made their way down the mountain to the ensuing conflict. Having arrived back at the plateau, Genji grinned as he watched the Rhino guards fall one after one. He made his way to the opened doors, passing many of his own soldiers who were locked in combat.

Once inside he was attacked by a few straggling guards, but this hardly posed a challenge. He quickly disposed of them and kept walking forward deeper into the structure. Passing by the cells of some of the inmates, he watched as they clung to the bars and tried to get his attention. They knew that the Prison's forces had fallen, and this was their chance at freedom. But they did not concern him at the moment. There was something else besides them, besides the weapons that he had come for.

At the center of the chasm was a pulley lift that led to the bottom of the hole. Boarding the lift alongside one of the Lioness' he ordered, "Take us down."

The others nodded, and one cranked a lever which in turn began to lower the mechanism. It took many minutes to descend to the bottom of the chasm, the hole became darker with every meter they dropped. The only thing Genji could now see was an isolated platform with an indefinite drop on all sides. At the center of it, a single prisoner.

The lift had reached the bottom, and Genji proceeded to step off and onto a narrow stone bridge towards the platform. "Wait here." He ordered the Lioness.

He approached the platform slowly as he did this, the Prisoner who had formerly been staring at the ground looked up at him. It was the same face he had seen in his reflection through the water. A Komodo Dragon with a red gem in one of its eyes with its limbs bolted and chained to the floor.

~"You're quite quick. Genji Ping."~

The Lizard spoke with a weakened and raspy voice.

A/N: My god! It's been nearly a year since my last update on this story… I'd love to say I have an excuse, but I really don't have any. Regardless here it is! After the long wait it seems Genji has taken over Chorh Gom Prison, the same one that held Tai Lung in the first movie. He is one step closer to conquering China, and he has now met the demon Akuma. What will happen next? I hope to upload more regularly from now on, especially during quarantine while I'm available.

If you're new to the story and are enjoying it, be sure to favorite and follow to stay updated on future installments, and if you've read it, be sure to leave a review and let me know your thoughts! I'll only continue if I keep receiving feedback.

-Ace_Risk