April 1956: Russian Republic

It has been a little more than two weeks since Kaiser was assassinated. The Liberators were granted pardon and were never heard of in the capital. Until now. The KGB reports that the Liberators secretly fled to Japan and has raised an army from six different points: Kagoshima, Hiroshima, Osaka, Nagaoka, Toyama, and Nagoya. While the Russian government tried to keep information from being leaked, the media got wind of the situation shortly before action breaks out.  The forces from Osaka, Nagaoka, Toyama, and Nagoya charge straight to the provincial capital of Tokyo, with the Kagoshima and Hiroshima forces coming for Tokyo as well. All of it were caught in camera, and war correspondents are having a field day.

Longinus, leading the Osaka division, orders to all channels, "Maintain radio silence. You have been briefed. We'll meet you there. Over and out!"

He then turns to Barotov, who rode the jeep with him, "What's with the long face?"

Barotov shook his head and answered, "I should ask you. Why take Tokyo?"

"Comrade, the prestige of Tokyo as Japan's capital is more than you can imagine. If we take the city, we can proclaim an independent country! A country to match the republic!"

"Unbelievable! You intend to let the Japanese fight for our cause?"

"What all these people want liberty, my good man. Sou desu ka?", Longinus said as he turned to the Japanese driver.

The driver responded with a quick "sou da!" Longinus simply asked, "Is it not?" and the Japanese driver answered, "It is!" or "Indeed!"

Barotov points to the driver, "Uh, this man can understand us?"

Longinus just shrugged.

Meanwhile, the people in the Russian capital of Moscovia has been purposely left behind the news by the KGB as the government discussed the recent developments.

"We must declare martial law!", the young Octavian thundered in the war room, the part of Kaiser's Palace where the late dictator used to plan his campaigns whenever he was in the capital.

The room was packed with some of Kaiser's remaining generals, as well as Kaiser's remaining admirals just parallel who tend to oppose the generals.

"You're too soft, sport! Total war is what they deserve," Lepidov slapped Octavian's back with force, enough to make him fall from his chair.

Antony just stared at the map, which had the dispositions of the military forces represented by miniature figures of soldiers (for infantry), tanks (for armor), planes (for aircraft), ships (for fleets), and guns (for artillery). Sitting as he seemed deep in thought, his head was just over his hands clasped together.

Lepidov turned to Antony and said with an accusing finger, "This is your fault, Antony! Had you let us march through the Senate or wherever they hid their butts in..."

Antony slammed the map, almost putting the figures in disarray. Lepidov was taken aback, and so was Octavian, who just recovered from his fall from the chair.

"Shut up, Aemilio! All is well," he responded while he gazed at the map again, looking at neither Lepidov, Octavian, and the rest of the admirals and generals present in the room.

Konstanin Zhukov, one of the generals, spoke, "Lord Antony. If I may?"

"Quit the silly adjectives, Konstantin. Sir is good enough."

"Yes, Sir Antony," Zhukov nods and then turns to the rest of the people present, "Our ultimate plan is to crush the Liberators in one decisive military action."

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Lepidov took a seat and remarked, "Are you well, Zhukov? You're just as supportive of the preemptive strike as I am! What's with this change of mind?"

Octavian shouts, "Eureka!"

"You're a what?!", Lepidov quickly asked.

"We let them converge first, and then sweep them away in one blow! Swish!", Octavian motions a batting movement from his hands.

"That's not all...," Antony calmly said as he leaned back on his chair.

Lepidov shot back, "What the-?!"

"A battle has to be fought to know its outcome."

"Right, right. We all know that saying. What's new?!"

"We can always wage war. Our history has been full of conflict. However, there is a detail dividing the good, the bad, and the ugly."

"Stop making cultural references already."

"The cause."

Zhukov rose from his seat and shouted with a clenched fist, "A just cause to make war!"

The rest of the military men nodded, apparently signifying their approval. Octavian, probably the only young person in the room, did not seem to carry the idealistic fervor of his generation for peace as he also nodded in response to Zhukov's bold statement.

"Yes," Antony continued, "If we attacked them right there and then, their liberating principle will hold. They will make us look like the bad guys."

"Bad boys. Bad boys. What you gonna do? What you gonna do when we come for you?", Octavian sang, even if he was quite out of tune.

Everyone glared at Kaiser's heir. Tension seemed to rise, but Octavian does not get a wind of it.

"What?", he asked innocently.

Antony removed his look at Octavian and spoke once more, "We only needed a chance to make them look like the aggressor. Then, the people will be behind us when we make our move."

Sergius Gorshkov, one of the admirals in the war room, raised his hand and asked, "Give me a break, Sir Antony. No need to be diplomatic in a room full of warriors."

Lepidov coughed at that statement while he quickly glanced at Octavian.

"Look at Kaiser's American Wars! Look at our conquest of the Philippines and Indonesia!," Gorshkov continued, "We're the aggressors, and yet, our people still calls for war..."

Antony looked at Gorshkov's direction, smiled, and said, "You cannot mold iron without making it hot."

The meeting went on, culminating with a war plan against the Liberators. At the end of the day, the generals and the admirals were adjourned, being sent back to their respective posts. Octavian, who was exhausted of all the military talk, was allowed to be out of the Palace to enjoy himself in the city's entertainment district. Lepidov and Antony remained in Kaiser's Palace, discussing their situation in the reading room.

"Damn those peace-loving algae-hugging admirals!", Lepidov thundered, swinging his fist upon a table, after making sure they were alone in the area, "Damn! Damn! Damn!"

"What'd I do to have you here? Relax, Aemilio," Antony said with a little laugh as he wiped the punched table with a towel turned into a rag.

"Mark, you know we can't land in Japan without unqualified support from the Navy!"

"At least, they didn't disapprove of the plan altogether. That's a start."

"Hmph! I'd really blast my guns on those admirals when I have the chance."

"Look, Gorshkov was promoted by Kaiser as Chief Admiral shortly before his death. He received the Order of Kaiser twice for his military service. If we don't survive this, he is surely one of the viable candidates for power. In short, we can't point guns at each other. For now."

Lepidov finally calmed down after witnessing Antony's demeanor.

He asked, "What are you really planning?"

"Nothing much," Antony said as he pulled a document out of Kaiser's drawer. He opened the folder and showed it to Lepidov.

It did not take long before Lepidov realized what it was all about.

"Unbelievable... Kaiser... He had this made top secret...?"

"No wonder he was so confident of taking the position of Perpetual Dictator. This weapon will make his enemies perpetually evaporate until none of them are left."

Lepidov flipped more and more of the pages, and he cannot keep his amazement from his face.

"Antony... Don't tell me you're planning to use this?!"

"The breakthrough was almost reached before Kaiser was killed. Now, we have it working."

"What will the colonized peoples think if we use this?"

"Oh, no. We're not the one using it," Antony answered, "Besides, forty centuries look down on us. Gorshkov had a point a while ago. The history of our people is war. Russia was built by continuous conflict. This may well bring the unexpected result... peace."

Lepidov stared at the document, as if thinking, and then asked, "What more secrets did Kaiser have?"

Antony looked at him, "Unfortunately... the KGB is as uncooperative as the Navy. Even the Populists cannot take hold of all Kaiser's top secret files..."

"Those conniving wretches are actually spying each other. Maybe I can use some of my men there to gather more information."

"Agreed," Antony remarked as rose from his seat, "Then, the stage is set."

The two parted ways late at night. Lepidov went back to the barracks to prepare his men for the expected onslaught on the island province, as well as ask the operatives he have inside the KGB for more information.

Antony looked at the city from the palace porch. He thought to himself, "Japan... My return is a search for answers..."