- "Some of us want to rule the world, Jack, others like you wish to save it, others still, like our honour-obsessed Japanese friends, wish to end it."
- —Wolf on the Brotherhood
The Japanese Blood Brotherhood is an organisation dedicated to ensuring Japan redeems itself for the dishonour it was given at the end of World War II. To them, death is not an issue.
History[]
Early History[]
In the fallout of the Hiroshima bomb and World War II, several people throughout Japan gathered together and formed a group that would attempt to restore Japan's honour, even if it took forever to accomplish.
After Akira Isaki's parents died in a car crash, he was taken in by his grandparents, who were members of the Japanese Blood Brotherhood, and indoctrinated with their ideals.
At some point, one of their members, anthropologist Yobu "Tank" Tanaka, met Max Epper, and during their occasional collaborations Tank learned of Epper's discovery of the existence of the Dark Sun, which would destroy the world if they did not restore the ancient Machine. Tank saw this as the Brotherhood's chance to destroy the world and redeem Japan's dishonour, and so with their approval, as well as the support of Japan's government, Tank began researching the Machine with Wizard to seek opportunities to sabotage it.
When the Brotherhood discovered that the rogue American Commander-in-Chief's In Extremis Force was preparing to restore the Machine, they had Isaki, currently operating as a United States Marine, request a transfer to the CIEF so that he could find an opportunity to derail the mission.
Under unknown circumstances, the Brotherhood obtained a polar opposite to the Firestone and learned of a ceremony which could counteract the 1,000 years of unrivaled power granted to Australia by the Tartarus sunspot. A group made their way to Easter Island and used the second Capstone with the mysterious pyramid beneath the island's surface, which nullified Tartarus and made Australia vulnerable again. To ensure it had worked, members of the Brotherhood ambushed the Australian specialist Steve Oakes in Iraq, successfully killing him and proving the ceremony had worked.
The Six Sacred Stones[]
The Blood Brotherhood learned that Jack West Jr was heading for Dubai with the Firestone in his possession. Three of their members were informed of Jack's approach, and killed an American cargo pilot, Earl McShane, in his hotel room so that they could gain access to his plane and use it in an attempt to destroy the Machine's crucial component.
One of their members took McShane's plane from the airfield and began piloting towards the Burj al Arab where Jack was holding a meeting of nations to discuss the threat of the Dark Sun, intending to hide their involvement by using McShane's name since he had previously spouted revenge against Muslims following 9/11. However, the Burj's staff were quickly alerted to the plane's approach and evacuated the building, affording the coalition team the chance to escape with their notes and the Firestone.
After Tank was liberated from the Chinese by Epper's allies, he assisted in deciphering the data to find any opportunities for the Brotherhood to exploit. He soon contacted other members of the Brotherhood to order them to prevent the team from succeeding at Abu Simbel, and soon after requested to be retrieved from Mortimer Island.
Four elderly members of the Brotherhood posed as tourists on a bus heading for Abu Simbel, and when they saw Iolanthe Compton-Jones and her contingent leaving with Epper, Lily, the Firestone and Pillar, they surrounded the group and prepared to blow themselves up to destroy the Firestone. Unfortunately for them, Lily noticed their tattoos matched Tank's and, realising their intent, pulled Epper below the blast. While most of her troops were killed, Iolanthe was merely concussed by the blast and the Firestone was undamaged.
Soon afterwards, Tank was extracted from Mortimer Island, and as they prepared to depart, Tank decided that they should take the twins Julius and Lachlan Adamson with him in case their knowledge proved useful later on.
At the Enmore Manor in England, Tank and the rest of the Brotherhood looked over the data and tried to determine a way to stop the Coalition and Wolf's team from being successful in their mutual mission, occasionally asking the twins for help. When Lachlan demanded to know why Tank was doing this, he only replied that destroying the world was the only way for Japan to redeem itself. Soon the Brotherhood got in contact with "Switchblade" Isaki and gave him leave to sabotage Wolf's efforts to lay the second Pillar. However, they were overheard by Lachlan, and soon the twins managed to escape from their captors.
After the CIEF had made their way through the traps of the second Vertex, Wolf sent Switchblade and Broadsword to lay the Pillar at the inverted pyramid. Before Broadsword could set the Pillar in place, Switchblade slit the Delta operator's throat and shouted to Wolf his nation's dishonour would be avenged as he prepared to drop the Pillar into the abyss below. However, Jack swung out to the pyramid's tip on a Maghook, grabbed the Pillar as Switchblade let it go and placed it just in time.
Furious and with no way out, Switchblade decided to take one of his organisation's enemies with him, and allowed himself and Jack to fall into the abyss, appearing to all those witnessing that they were falling to their deaths.
The Five Greatest Warriors[]
As Jack and Switchblade fell, the Australian managed to snatch Switchblade's Maghook from him and fire it into the abyss wall, stopping his fall. The Brotherhood infiltrator was horrified that he had been completely beaten and that he had died for nothing, and Switchblade continued falling to his death.
A few months later in the interim between the second and third Pillar-laying dates, the Japanese Blood Brotherhood, already aware of the existence of a painted egg which showed the entrance to each Vertex that was kept in Genghis Khan's Lost Arsenal, decided to destroy it in order to prevent anyone from using it to assist locating the Vertices. Tank led some men there, and killed many of Wolf's men waiting outside before attacking Wolf's group, which had just located the egg. After Tank destroyed the egg, he tried to blow himself up along with Wolf. However, Wolf managed to prevent Tank from detonating the bomb properly, and Rapier managed to take down the rest of the Brotherhood team while they were distracted.
Some time later on-board the Halicarnassus, Tank awoke to realise his failure since the Coalition had obtained a shield painted with the same images from the egg. Undeterred and still unwilling to help, he then revealed that the Third Vertex's location beneath Hokkaido was already known to his government, which was in full support of the Blood Brotherhood's mission and aiding them by using a Naval fleet to prevent anyone from getting into the entrance.
Though the CIEF, Jack, Zoe and Lily managed to get into the Vertex, various members of the Brotherhood were stationed in sniper's positions throughout the fiery maze and took several opportunities to cut them down, and the CIEF took heavy losses as a result. However, the snipers were all cut down and failed to keep the Pillar from being laid, and once it was clear the Brotherhood had failed, the Japanese government pulled the naval fleet from Hokkaido, their best chance to end the world and restore their nation's honour lost.
Known Members[]
Goals[]
The Brotherhood has only one desire; to restore their honour for the disgraceful treatment they received from the rest of the world following World War II. They do not care if it costs them their lives, as a self-sacrificing death is the greatest honour. This also allows them to follow the belief that by preventing the restoration of the Machine, their honour will be restored for the entire world's destruction. The Brotherhood does not believe that Japan's current placing as a strong country in the modern world is enough, and even the Japanese government supports them.
Trivia[]
- After the events of The Five Greatest Warriors, it can be presumed that a few members of the Brotherhood remain.