Act II: Our Beating Drums of War

[Alvino Castillon]

Date: 11 Dein, 1597
Time: 06:32 Local Time
Location: Situation Room, Imperial Palace

“Your cousin is the worst,” Hiraku Honda hisses softly as he walks side by side with his superior. Out of the corner of his eye, he can sense two cold glances settle upon him. Clearly her guards were not pleased with his informality; before either can say anything though, she waves them off with her hand.

“Not untrue,” Mirai Sekai replies simply. “But still inappropriate to say for a while longer.” He mumbles something under his breath, earning a glare from her and a scolding. “Just a reminder, Chairman. He is of Imperial blood. Still your tongue.” She mumbles something else as her eyes flicker away. Honda opens his mouth for a moment to ask what it was she says, but pauses and clams it shut just as quickly.

“Forgive my tongue, Your Imperial Grace.” His eyes drift upwards to meet hers. Sincerity and anger blend together, giving her a perfect window into his current mindset. Unsurprising, given the circumstances bearing down upon the region. “I’m simply a bit shaken by all of this. There’s no doubt how this ends. It’s as if he’s looking for a fight… does he really think he can win like this?” Before she can answer, they reach the end of the hallway. Two other guards greet them and salute. Bowing their heads, they await for her order to return to attention. With a dismissive wave of her hand, they stand upright and slide open the door for her.

“To be honest, I can’t say for certain Chairman. But I suppose that’s what the meeting is for, no?” Empress Sekai gives him a grim smile and steps into the room. At once, all of its occupants fall silent and stand at attention, bowing in her presence. She clears her throat and walks to her seat at the middle of the C-shaped table. She looks at the chair and smiles. Perfectly plain and just like the others, as requested. She sits down comfortably and waves her hand to the assorted generals, statesmen, and security advisors. As they sit, Honda joins her on her right while the new Prime Minister, Takashi Nobunaga, flanks her left.

“Do we need a recap of the situation, Your Imperial Grace?” One of the attendants ask. She gives them a nod, and the attendant begins to speak. “At approximately 05:15 local time, explosions could be heard along the demarcation line between the Sainamese Republic and the Imperial Edo State. While the Imperial Guard had supposedly been put on high alert, reports are trickling in that border towns on the Edo side of the line have lost communication with the central provincial government, likely being captured by Sainamese forces.” As the attendant speaks, another attendant hands her a folder. Opening the folder causes the first attendant to fall silent, allowing her a moment to skim its contents. After a minute however, she pauses and looks up with a look of confusion.

“Did I say stop?” Empress Sekai asks calmly. The attendant gulps and bows her head.

“Apologies, Your Imperial Grace. I wanted to give you a moment to read the contents before-“

“I’m capable of tuning into your summary of the situation and reading the dossier’s contents. Please continue.” She returns her attention to the dossier and continues to skim the folder’s contents. The attendant winces for a moment before recovering her composure.

“By your command. At this time, intelligence suggests that Sainamese forces are advancing upon the...” She trails off again and swallows hard. Empress Sekai slowly looks up and folds her arms.

“The Palace is going to be taken and then he’ll claim the Celestial Throne.” At once, audible gasps can be heard throughout the room. The Empress smacks her hand on the table to silence the room and rolls her eyes as obviously as she can. “Oh come on! We all know what he’s doing and this is obviously to shore up support for a failed domestic policy!” Prime Minister Nobunaga clears his throat and decides to add his voice to the conversation.

“We suspect that Sainam may also be seeking to do much more than that though.” The Prime Minister flips through his folder to a particular page in the report and points to a highlighted section to show the Empress. “This may be the stepping stones to begin the conquest of all of Heiwana. They believe that our neighbors due west will be the only one to come to the aid of Edo, as we currently handle the Drubangi Crisis.”

“He takes the throne, claims the mandate, and tries to rally support to conquer the archipelago…” Empress Sekai trails off and thinks for a moment. Then, she takes a deep breath and looks over at Chariman Honda for his thoughts. He seems to be staring at a particular page on his notepad. As Empress Sekai strains her eyes to see what’s on the notepad, he discretely tilts it to show her. An eyebrow shoots up, followed by a look of horror as she finally sees where his head is at.

“If I may be frank to everyone, and to Her Imperial Grace most of all, I believe it’s clear which of these problems is the larger of the two.” He closes the notepad and looks around the room calmly. Eventually, his eyes settle on the Defense Minister, Goro Kato. “Handling a two front war. With allies, is it possible?” All eyes turn towards Minister Kato, who seems to be attempting to look anywhere else. After a moment, his eyes dart to meet Chairman Honda’s

“With all due respect Chairman Honda, you’re asking me to run a scenario which has quite a few variables in play.” Empress Sekai’s eyebrow raises at the rather dodgy answer. She leans forward ever so slightly, as if ready to pounce upon her newfound prey. The Defense Minister seems to notice this and softly clears his throat to indicate that there was more to say. “That being said, initial estimates suggest it isn’t completely impossible to take on both Drubang and Sainam at once. Presuming that they would be willing to work with us on Sainam… we could potentially fight Drubang to a standstill and take down Sainam in the meantime.”

“This is presuming that they’d want to invade Sainam though,” Prime Minister Nobunaga adds. “Liberating Edo may be as far as they’re willing to go for this, which means…” He trails off and lets the room fall silent again. Empress Sekai and Chairman Honda look at each other, reading each other’s facial expressions for a moment. Eventually, they both look at the Foreign Minister, Kotone Akiyama.

“Foreign Minister Akiyama, please reach out to your counterpart in Chikasu immediately. Defense Minister Kato, prepare our standing fleets for further orders. Continue with the planned operations for the Drubangi Crisis, but prepare any other standing forces for the possibility of hostilities with Sainam. Prime Minister Nobunaga and Chairman Honda, let’s prepare an emergency session as quickly as possible. Are there any questions?” The other occupants in the room remain silent. With a simple nod, the Empress rises and says, “Then let’s not wait any longer. It’s time to get to work.”

[Alvino Castillon]

Date: 11 Dein, 1597
Time: 11:21 Local Time
Location: Red House, Eno

“…A united front.”

“That is correct, Secretary Hamasaki.” Daichi Akiyama watches the Secretary mumble something incoherently and take a long sip of tea. He frowns and waits silently, internally seething at the obvious skepticism. As the Ambassador for Kazemura, Akiyama was used to Chikasun stubbornness when it came to discussing anything at all. Closer trade relations? Chikasu doesn’t want to fall to economic subservience. Alignment of strategy on pandemic outbreaks? Chikasu can handle itself just fine; Kazemura should not act as its parent and tend to its own. Joint bids for the SIFA World Cup? What are we, a singular people with a shared history and heritage!? Madness!

Ambassador Akiyama has handled all these matters and many more. Thanks to his very skilled hand, relations have continued to prosper between the two sibling nations, with both growing in strength and quality of life. But every step of the way to their present path together, he was always aware that the Chikasun people always seemed to have a chip on their shoulder, like they needed to prove that they were as good as – if not better than – their counterparts in Kazemura. And he understood why; a complicated history between all the Heiwanan successor states combined with the technological and economic edge Kazemura has can be frustrating for them.

This is different. This time, it’s war, and this time it’s clear who the enemy is. So why in the name of the Fates were they being so damned skeptical!?

“Do understand Ambassador, we appreciate your concern on the matter of the Edo invasion.” Akiyama bites his inner cheek and prepares for the second half of the statement nullifying anything she just said. Of course, Yui Hamasaki, Foreign Secretary for the Chikasun Republic, obliged him. “However, Chikasu is very much capable of handling the Sainamese invasion of Edo. We will restore the independence of the Imperial Edo State and the war shall come to a close. At this time, Kazemura would do well in adhering to trusting in us to tend to this matter on our terms. That will be our official stance should Kazemura attempt to involve itself.” Akiyama closes his eyes and exhales slowly. Then, he places down his cup on the saucer and opens his eyes.

“What makes you think the war will end there exactly?”

“Because even the Mad Emperor is not so mad as to engage in total war, Ambassador Akiyama.” He blinks, surprise clear on his face. Are they not yet aware? Could it be that they don’t know what drastic measures he’s sought to emerge triumphant over them?

Her Imperial Majesty had told him just what depths that Emperor would go to and warned him to use that detail only if desperately needed. Based on the direction of the conversation, it seems that it would have to be played after all.

“Yui.” Her eyebrow raises as he discards with the honorifics and any pretense of diplomatic decorum. A bead of sweat rolls down from her forehead as she realizes the possible circumstances. If he was discarding with the honorifics…

“I presume you are aware of the existence of the Sainamese chemical weapons program.” Her stomach takes a plunge as it becomes clear where this is going.

“I am, yes.”

“Are you aware of their plans to engage in wholescale total war and authorize the use of chemical weapons to cling onto the Imperial Edo State? Against anyone and anywhere they feel they need to?” A silence emerges as it sinks in for her. Internally, she rages as she imagines throwing her furniture and tea clean across the room. The Kazemurans have always been a step ahead, and once more it seems that Chikasu’s been outwitted again. Perhaps if they had the resources Kazemura always seemed to have more of, more money, more talent, more technology-

“Yui. He will bomb Chikasu if that’s what it takes to win,” Daichi punctures the silence to stress his point. “He will stop at nothing if he feels it will advance him ever closer to uniting Heiwana under his regime.” Yui can’t help but grin bitterly at him, openly mocking him.

“Says the Kazemuran who represents a government with a whole paper on a future federation of Heiwanan people.” His eyes dart away and she presses the advantage, before he can have a chance to deny the allegation. “Daichi, do not take me for a fool. Kazemura has the worst kept secret in the world. We all know your government seeks to reunite Heiwana.” His eyes narrow and return to meet hers. A fire flares in his eyes; just as quickly he seems to cool himself.

“If such a paper existed and if we ever sought such an ambition… not like this.” He goes quiet for a moment to reorganize his thoughts and then elaborates. “Not by killing thousands of innocents through horrendous weapons and forcibly seizing control. If such an ambition was sought, it would be through reminding all Heiwanans of a common heritage and a call to assert our own destiny.” As Daichi settles back into his chair and lets his eyes drift away, Yui is left to process the answer.

In her mind, he more or less confirmed what everyone had expected. The Red Paper exists. They do seek reunification of all of Heiwana, but not by the fire and blood that was expected. Can it really be that Kazemura seeks to incite pan-Heiwanan sentiment through its rhetoric and actions? Possibly. It is possible that the United Front being proposed would become a means to an end in terms of propaganda. The proposed coalition would include themselves and the larger members of the Associated Heiwanan States, and if the war did conclude in their favor, Kazemura would surely score a major propaganda victory in proving the concept of strength through unity. That could have a massive snowballing effect that ends with Kazemuran primacy over the archipelago and the subjugation of all others.

But then her mind snags on something else. What if it was simpler to them than that? What if it wasn’t Kazemuran primacy they actually sought, but exactly what they said?

“Daichi.” He looks up from his tea to meet her gaze. “Who are we to you?” He blinks and looks at her with a hint of confusion. Before Yui can elaborate, understanding fills his eyes as he applies the question to the context.

“Our brethren,” He replies simply. “And simply put, we’d rather not let our brethren die without helping them combat the scourge of tyranny and all the horrors it has brought us thus far.” And with that, all the pieces become clear to her. Absentmindedly, Yui clicks her tongue out of annoyance and disdain. It’s just as she feared; they sincerely believe they can sweet-talk their way to reuniting Heiwana through a war for the hearts and minds of her people.

And the worst part is, it’s working.

“Alright, Ambassador,” She relents with a sigh, “I’ll speak to the President about this United Front idea. I can’t speak for him, but there is potential that he would agree to it, given the grave circumstances we seem to be facing. But it’s just for stopping Sainam. Nothing else.” A lie and she knows it. Kazemura is once more poised to get exactly what they want… though in this case it would certainly be a good thing for Chikasu. “Also, the Associated Heiwanan States have to sign off on the idea.”

“Understood, Secretary Hamasaki,” He stands and shakes her hand. “I will keep you informed. A pleasure as always.” And with that, he swiftly departs for the embassy and to update his government on the proceedings.