Tonokai

The Tonokai (Sword Society) is a small, non-affiliated organization styling itself as an Order of Bushido. It is a collective of self-styled warriors who strive to bring justice and order to the neglected places in the Colony Sphere. Their members self-identify as modern-day Samurai, bound to the ancient but still relevant code of Bushido. Founded by Yokori Nishima, it dedicates itself to righting wrongs and carrying "light into the darkness".

Origins
The Tonokai were founded in 2402. It originated as a group of martial artists, soldiers, activists, artists and philosophers (more accurately, Yokori and his friends in their early college days) in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by four men (Yokori Nishima, Matsumara Hoshiyo, Kido Tomi, Noro Chinatsu) - all former NIJA conscripts, and a woman (Yumi Hito) who shared common interests in the philosophies of war and personal conduct. Originally it was conceived as a social club, but it didn't meet approval for a campus club at Tokyo University. It opted to remain as an independent group.

Community Activism and the First Injustice
For its first year it remained a social group, attracting four more members. In its second year, it started to perform community services, in particular food drives to help certain hungry neighborhoods in Tokyo. Their first few went off without a hitch, but their fourth drive met with misfortune. Distracted from their truck, the three distributors returned to discover it had been broken into, tagged and most of the contents absconded with. Having only a single gang sign spray painted on the side to go on, the group - too embarrassed to reveal the loss - put their combined effort into finding out who was responsible.

Fortunately the whodunit portion was simple, and some community members informed them that the culprits were simple gang-bangers who often terrorized the local neighborhoods in one way or another. Following a few clues, they traced this group. Unfortunately the group was unknown to the police; violent threats kept their victims compliant. Hurriedly they traced the group back to their hideout, an abandoned building only a few blocks from where they'd been robbed. Eying the place over a few days, they found the members all gathered there on a certain night. Instead of going to the police, Yokori insisted that the matter be settled by themselves, and on the night that the five gangsters gathered, the college kids struck.

Lacking firepower, they brought their full 9 man unit, some common knives and some steel piping. Quickly rushing into their hideout, they discovered the gangsters sitting around some card game, and engaged. Using surprise, some degree of martial training and numbers they quickly apprehended the wrong-doers. Loading them onto the same truck, they delivered the tied men to a police station, depositing them on the steps before making a quick get away. Fortunately, three of the five were wanted on existing charges, and the other two had been printed but not identified on two other crimes. The food was recovered, and distributed. None of them were ever ID'd by the gangsters they apprehended.

The Second Injustice and the Awakening
Thrilled, the group continued their activism for another year before finally taking the fight to a second group. This time a few of their own were assaulted, mugged and abandoned while performing charity work in a poor Tokyo neighborhood. One of the men followed the group to a meeting spot, and the next day they confirmed the group regularly met there. That afternoon Tokori and his original four friends made their way to the spot and committed their first serious crime. It was discovered that there were only three members to this group, and the next day three bodies matching their description were found, stabbed and bludgeoned.

The next two years were quick. The fringe members were never informed about the killings and it was never traced. The core members graduated together, but were unable to really settle down. It was known that the group helped apprehend one other small crime unit and personally accosted a serial burglar after said thief broke into the home of one of the members. After graduation, the core stuck together and decided that they needed to continue the call, where they committed a second murder, this time tracking down and killing a known pedophile and producer of child S&M.

Starwalking
Eventually it was decided that staying here under the greatly increased power of the police was unwise, and pooled money to book a trip to the colonies, hoping they would find something to call them. They were involved on the frontiers of Vagran briefly, where they assisted settlers in the rural regions to overthrow a violent motorcycle gang. This landed them some firepower, money and six followers from those that they helped. They remained until mid 2410, ousting another crime group and engaging a small private militia with the aide of others.

They became interested in seeing Ousho first-hand early in 2410, but did not leave Vagran until after the militia incident. Using a connection to smuggle them and their light weaponry to the surface, they have recently taken up residency, ready to right whatever wrongs they may find.

Membership
To join the Tonokai you have to show some measure of good intent. You must be loyal to Bushido (or similar Warrior ethos that can be worked into Bushido), have some kind of martial inclination and be willing to surrender all you own to the group. You have to prove you are dedicated, practice your kata and read the core books. So far, no one has failed this.


 * Yokori Nishima - Founding member, former NIJA conscript, head man.
 * Matsumara Hoshiyo - Founding member, former NIJA conscript.
 * Kido Tomi - Founding member, former NIJA conscript, artist.
 * Noro Chinatsu - Founding member, former NIJA conscript, activist.
 * Yumi Hito - Founding member, activist.
 * Brian Singer - Joined on Vagran.
 * Ben Page - Joined on Vagran.
 * Jack Young - Joined on Vagran.
 * Jason Lee - Joined on Vagran.
 * James Bauer - Joined on Vagran.
 * Stephen Green - Joined on Vagran.

Philosophy
The Brotherhood ascribes to Bushido, though the teachings of Yuushido are also taken into light. It holds that the purpose of the fighting man is to help those who cannot help themselves. They are held to be loyal to the principals of the order first, and Yokiori second. Every member gives his all for the order, surrendering all possessions and income to it, so that in turn he can be supported by it.

They also loosely subscribe to neoShinto, holding dearly to the idea of an internal, living energy force. Developing it is important to the core beliefs of the order. The core members were exposed to this in college while on Earth, but didn't fall into belief until an incident on Vagran convinced Yokiori, Kido and Yumi of the reality of Kami manipulation.

They seek to spread their philosophy where ever they can, passing out printed copies of works on Bushido, or justifying their actions to others by quotes and lecture. Theirs is a difficult road, and it is hard to get others to follow.

Public Affairs
The Brotherhood's public face is it's attempts to free people from those who seek to harm them. On Earth they were a social club and community activist organization. On Vagran they became sick of injustices and turned more militant, but remain compassionate towards those who are downtrodden. On Ousho they keep quiet, watching and learning first, acting second. They deplore the apathy of the general population to those who suffer under gang violence, and hold no love of the Yakuza they do not see spreading their influence far enough.

Private Affairs
Private affairs of the Brotherhood deal mostly with internal issues.

Relationship with other Organizations
The Brotherhood does not affiliate itself with any other organization. They have not been on Ousho long enough to feel confident of contacting any of the other identified factions.

Art of War
The Brotherhood is not above using naked force when it needs to (Vagran), often times in direct violation of local laws (Earth, Vagran). They have acquired considerable firepower on Vagran, particularly shotguns, handguns and a single assault rifle. They have brought some ammunition supplies but do not have a reliable source to rearm from, especially the rifle.

Swordsmanship
Swordsmanship is important to the Brotherhood as a method of enhancing aggression and building teamwork, in addition to educating members on how to fight without firearms should they be unable to use one. Their members are sword armed, treating it as a symbol of the order. They study the breath of Kenjutsu, stressing strong fundamentals and then enhancing it from there. They eschew flashy techniques and do not obsess with perfect form, but they don't bastardize the art either. They train in both the short and the long sword. Each member from Vagran was gifted (at the behest of their leader) a matching daisho in simple "tactical" mounts.

Other Martial Arts
A lethal, combative form of karate as well as training with knives rounds out the order's non-firearm training.