Motoyoshi Zabuza is a player character played by Hollander.

Motoyoshi Zabuza
Species & Gender:	Minkan Male
Date of Birth:	YE 26
Organization:	Yugumo Corporation, Yugumo Merchant Spacy
Occupation:	Security Officer
Rank:	Lieutenant/Kaihei-chui (海兵中尉)
Current Placement:	ISS Evenstar

Preferred Plots:

1. ISS Evenstar

Motoyoshi Zabuza is precisely six feet tall, one hundred and forty five pounds, well-built, dark-haired and coolly-mannered. He’s built the body of a welterweight wrestler, and as it happens he looks damned good in a uniform. His hair is leaden gray and worn simply, combed back across his head to the back of his neck. Zabuza’s hands aren’t quite as slender as those of many Jiyuuian individuals; he has trained his grip strength as much as other aspects of his physicality.

Zabuza strives to be a good soldier, and to be a loyal officer of the Yugumo Corporation, a member of Clan Motoyoshi, and a citizen of the Empire. Fulfilling his role and meeting the expectations he sets for himself are crucial to his self-image. This leads Zabuza to be a little formal, and even stiff, with strangers. He’s hesitant to reveal his thoughts until he trusts someone, and he knows that his personnel file reflects his nature as a child of secessionists, and his troubled youth. He can still be sensitive when it comes to his history, or when others make comments about the UOC or Motoyoshi Tio. When he does make friends, particularly if those friends are also working towards the betterment of Clan and Empire, Zabuza is a steadfast ally, willing to sacrifice himself for their safekeeping. Zabuza has some romantic experience, but his relationships have often been as brief as his shipboard assignments, or his time in schools. He has little expectations of monogamy for himself or his occasional partners; his life is a fast-paced one, and it tends to be the same for those he connects with.

Privately, Zabuza is curious about the thoughts and motivations of others. He wonders how they arrive at their decisions, and if they are Motoyoshi Clan, he does want to know their thoughts about the Clan’s past and future. This curiosity, bordering on skepticism, guides his work as a Security man. Any other person could be a threat to his fellow officers or to the mission. Zabuza also recognizes that officers can also be threats to themselves… Command officers can be far too eager to attend away missions themselves, making the job of a Security man even more difficult. Further, as a student of tactics, he sometimes finds himself coming into conflict with command officers who have their own ideas of the most ideal maneuvers in a combat situation.

Zabuza was born in YE 26 to two parents who were biologically Yamataian (NH-22C), and loyal citizens of the Yamatai Star Empire. When the Motoyoshi Clan was formed in YE 28, Zabuza and his parents were among those who eagerly became adopted into the nascent clan. They were also among the many members of the Motoyoshi Clan who were incensed by the atrocities that took place on Pisces Station in the wake of the Battle Of Taiie in YE 29. Zabuza was merely four years old in YE 30 when his parents joined Motoyoshi Tio and Motoyoshi Kiyoko in their formation of the United Outer Colonies in the Galactic-Eastern frontier of the Kikyo Sector.

Zabuza’s mother was a tactical officer serving on ships of the United Outer Colonies Peacekeeping Forces, and his father was a agriculturist. Though farm automation technology was widespread in the Empire, Jiyuu III was largely untamed; little Zabuza helped his father as much as he could, mapping out soils and arranging plots to grow food for the colonies. Zabuza and his parents lived difficult but proud lives on Jiyuu III, where they welcomed a baby girl Junko in late YE 30. Zabuza’s parents followed the political development of their secessionist state with great interest, and they were strong supporters of their Crowned Prince, Motoyoshi Tio. During the catastrophic invasion of their system during the Second Mishhuvurthyar War in YE 32, their farm was evacuated. Zabuza and his sister Junko were taken to a secure planet-side bunker, and their father volunteered to serve as a fighter and defend his family and his home. Many years later, Zabuza would confirm that his mother’s assigned ship had been destroyed in space in the first days of fighting. No records could be found of what might’ve happened to his father. Each had been sacrificed in a noble, though futile, attempt to protect their new nation. A nation which died with them.

The two Motoyoshi orphans were, along with many thousands of others, evacuated from the system thanks to the efforts of the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia. Both Zabuza and Junko were adopted by a family of the Yamatai no Motoyoshi, Motoyoshi clan members who had remained loyal to the Empire. Junko, only two years old, adapted to the new life on the Planet Yamatai quickly, and even came to love her new parents. Zabuza, instead, built an angry wall around his young heart. Though only six himself, he had stronger memories of his parents than Junko, and of the home they had built on Jiyuu III, and of the soil they had worked and the plants they had grown there. As Zabuza aged and matured, he studied the events that had led to the formation of United Outer Colonies, and he read the speeches and legal acts of his former Crowned Prince Motoyoshi Tio and Prime Minister Tange Amaya. These were the leaders that had captured the loyalty and passions of his birth parents, and who had led their family to a new land of freedom and justice for the Motoyoshi. And it had all come to naught… In some ways, Zabuza felt as though he had been adopted by a family of traitors to the ‘true’ Motoyoshi; these were cowards who had turned their backs on the victims of Pisces Station, and who had stood by as the real Motoyoshi had been slaughtered by monstrous alien invaders… But as more information came to light, Zabuza had to wonder. Had Motoyoshi Tio acted rightly? How could one account for the Crowned Prince’s decisions, or of the influences of the Tange Clan that became clearer as years went on? These were difficult questions for an orphan of the stars.

Time passed on planet Yamatai. The adoptive parents of Zabuza and Junko were employees of the Motoyoshi Fleet Yards where they worked in administrative and bureaucratic positions. In early YE 34, the whole family transferred into age-equivalent Minkan bodies. Later that year, when the Motoyoshi Hanei Kaisha (MHK) was founded, Zabuza’s adopted mother jumped ship from the Fleet Yards and joined the MHK. Zabuza’s father did the same in YE 36. The two parents saw to an effective education for their adopted wards. In school, Zabuza was a rebellious and often delinquent youth. His nature as a child of secessionists, and his conflicted feelings about the Jiyuu no Motoyoshi, led to disputes and even fights with his peers. Zabuza appeared to mellow out by his tenth year of age, as he learned to keep his developing thoughts and opinions to himself. He participated in youth internship opportunities at the Fleet Yards and later at MHK, learning how to deal with paperwork, computer systems, personnel rosters and the like. His eye was often caught by the ships being built at the Fleet Yards, or by the service vessels of the MHK. His supportive parents, hoping to break through the emotional walls and reach the young man, connected Zabuza with youth space programs. He was accepted into multiple months-long work-study projects aboard ships in and around the core of the Empire. Gradually, Zabuza was worn down by patience, kindness and love. Even though these Motoyoshi had held back from the secession project, many still felt immense sympathy and pain for the terrible things that had been done to the citizens of the United Outer Colonies, and for the machinations that had manipulated the fates of so many. Zabuza’s walls of ice melted, and in their place surged a passion to be a part of the Clan and the Empire which had birthed it.

Zabuza’s life took a drastic new turn in YE 41. In that year, the MHK’s headquarters were relocated to the Jiyuu System, as two years ago the Yamatai Star Empire had resumed full control of the region. Zabuza was ecstatic! His parents were relocating with the company! Though still just a youth at fifteen, he would have the chance to return to that region of space, to be a part of the efforts to retake the land he saw as his home and rebuild it from the ashes of war. The MHK was absorbed into the newly-assembled Yugumo Corporation, and Zabuza and his family were to live in the Jiyuu System once more… As they arrived on Jiyuu III, and Zabuza and Junko saw their home planet again after many years away, their parents learned of their assignment. The family was to establish itself on Jiyuu VII, where the parents were to oversee and coordinate one of the many ice processing facilities there.

Zabuza moved quickly. The Yugumo Corporation offered multiple educational paths for young people, and one path in particular caught Zabuza’s attention. Youths could sign up to be placed on a fast track to an Apprenticeship position on a ship of the Yugumo Merchant Spacy! With his education on Yamatai and his record of achievement in ship-board study programs, Zabuza was enrolled into an exciting program with the Merchant Spacy. He spent time in classrooms on-planet at Jiyuu III, living in a kind of student dormitory and studying in order to become qualified to serve as an Apprentice. By YE 42, he was an Apprentice, and he spent much of the year serving on several ships including fuel haulers, ice traulers, civilian transports and, in one exciting opportunity that stuck with him, a small armed escort vessel. Zabuza found that he continued to be fascinated by the security and tactical positions on-board ships; these were officers tasked with the protection of the people on board, with safeguarding their lives from danger. It had been what his mother had done, and his father, too, in the end…

The young Motoyoshi, 17 years old by YE 43, was then fully pursuing the position of a Security officer, again splitting his time between classrooms on-planet and on-the-job training on ships. As a promising student, his efforts and his passion were noticed, and right at the beginning of YE 43 he was assigned to the ISS Shiori in the midst of its mission. Zabuza was ignorant of the ship’s true purpose as a live experience classroom for Motoyoshi Eidan, and it wasn’t long before the Battle Of Glimmergold occurred which saw an end to the Kuvexian War. The education plan for Eidan was shifting, and the young man was being spirited away to the Tsubomi schools on Yamatai. The ship’s mission changed, but Zabuza had been evaluated further in the time he’d been on the Shiori, and he was found more than suitable for future use. His next few assignments were made differently than before, as though some unseen hand was guiding him to specific experiences, or placing him where he could be observed by interested parties.

Zabuza became a Security Cadet a short time after Eidan left for Yamatai, and in YE 44 he was among the first students to take classes at the newly-opened Colonial Sector University System on Jiyuu III. There he attended courses which wold make him even more suitable for his desired position. He also found a way to try to reconnect with his father’s profession by enrolling in a soil science course at the Jiyuu University for Agricultural Studies. Courses in politics and history also attracted him, when he had time in his schedules to pursue elective interests. In time, a new assignment came his way; he was to return to the ISS Shiori, serving once again with Motoyoshi Eidan, as well as with Eidan’s new comrade from Tsubomi, Motoyoshi Kuroko. Zabuza was promoted to the rank of Leiutenant during this stint of service, earning his way with careful and loyal effort. In YE 45 Zabuza was among those selected to be part of the Azure Legion, and to serve aboard the ISS Evenstar (Yoi-no-Myōjō). He, like other members of the Azure Legion, is a member of the Kikyō Scouts Troop 1712 “Sea Saints”.

Motoyoshi Zabuza has the following notable skills:

• Star Army Common Skills
• Personal Protection and Shipboard Security practices
• Hand to hand combat
• Marksmanship
• Ship's security and tactical systems
• Yugumo Corporation administrative and bureaucratic policies and procedures
• Agricultural production (as a hobby)
• Politics and Motoyoshi history (as a hobby)

Motoyoshi Zabuza is connected to:

• Deceased biological mother, presumed deceased biological father (lost during the fall of the UOC)
• Adopted parents, both administrating Jiyuu VII ice mining facilities
• Ketsurui-Motoyoshi Katsuko (served with her on ISS Shiori)
• Motoyoshi Eidan (served with him on ISS Shiori)
• Takagawa Hitomi (learned under her, privately thought of her as 'Hardass' Hitomi)
• Yuki Inihara (serving with her on the ISS Evenstar)

• Yugumo Corporation Standard Issue
  • Shipboard Duty Issue
  • Security Detail Loadout
• A series of very low-tech paper notebooks and inkpens.
• Exercise clothing.

Typical Yamataians seeing him in uniform would recognize him as a Yugumo Corporation Security Officer (police, essentially), and if they know their clans, they'd identify him as being part of Clan Motoyoshi. I feel that only actual Motoyoshi (or those close to the clan) with good information connections might know about Zabuza's origins in the UOC if they look him up. It is unlikely that anyone but those connected to the Yamataian educational system would know about his childhood troubles.

Zabby's a fun, humble, thoughtful man, but he takes his job seriously. When he's in uniform, he's very focused on what he's doing. In his mind, though he might be thinking all kinds of goofy things. If you're Motoyoshi or involved in the Motoyoshi Colonial Sector in some way, RP opportunities are easy. You might meet him on shore leave on Jiyuu III or a space station.

If you'd like to link up with him in his past as a youngster, that'd be grand, just hit me up!

Character approval thread can be found Here. Zabuza character art was AI generated by Yuuki. They “genned it with GPT-4 and DALL-E 3”.

Zabuza's speech color is Plum: dda0dd

Thread Appearances:

• Plot thread, Zabuza watches his former ship, the ISS Shiori, dock with his new ship, the Evenstar. Link to thread..
• One-on-One thread, meeting fellow Azure Legion crewmember Yuki Inihara. Link to SFW thread, and then the follow-up NSFW thread.
• Open Thread on the Evenstar, early in its mission. Zabuza, gloomy in the ship's Izakaya, picks up and walks off with Yuki Inihara. Link

In the case Hollander becomes inactive:

• Can this character be used as an NPC by a GM or FM? YES
• Can this character be adopted after I've been gone for a year? YES