When the group of three left to go converse with the room full of some of the most powerful people on the planet, Jaxon met with a couple of individuals, but their exchanges were rather shallow and forgettable. That is until Jaxon met a pair by the name of Erich Von Manstein of Germany, as well as William Leahy from the US community. Surprisingly, the two of them were not at each other’s throats given that they were on two opposing sides during the Second World War. Of course, both of these individuals had led many young men to their deaths in the name of their country. Only one was tried for war crimes.
As soon as these two men of high stature saw the approaching Jaxon, both of them knew who it was. For someone of his age and experience to hold one of the highest positions within the community meant that he had some level of skill.
“Ah, you must be Jaxon Long. I have heard of your expertise in the aerial field. Do you recognize the two of us?” William D. Leahy asked Jaxon.
“Of course, I have been given a file for everyone that will attend this party as well as their picture and basic information,” Jaxon answered truthfully.
“Would you care for a bout with some of my men later?” Erich Von Manstein asked in a somewhat forceful manner.
“I don’t think that will be necessary, Sir Manstein. The start of the Sun Tournament will be in a few days. I’m sure you will all be able to see just how well my team and I operate together and our fighting style. If that is what you are after.” Jaxon put that down as fast as he could.
“Hahaha, you are an interesting one, young Jaxon. However, you must understand that although you hold a high position in the Chinese community, your actions might not be justified.” Manstein warned.
“Oh don’t worry about him, Jaxon. Threats aren’t worth much in this world. Only your actions can prove whether or not you were justified.”
“Of course, actions trumps all. Who would we be without the actions we took in the name of our country?”
“Well said, Jaxon. Well said. By the way, one of my compatriots that could not make it to this tournament has asked me to officially invite you to the US community.” William said.
“Who is this compatriot of yours, and why exactly does he wish to invite me?”
“Manstein, could you give us some space? This is a top-secret matter that is highly confidential.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go. I know when I’m not welcome,” Erich Von Manstein said before taking his leave to go make small talk to others in the room.
“Now, Jaxon. My intelligence reports tell me that you are the one to pretty much single-handedly build a satellite from scratch, correct?”
“Yes, that should be pretty common knowledge by now I believe.”
“Well, my ally Henry H. Arnold is a bit of an aerial nut. He is at the forefront of all things aerial warfare related to this planet. With your skills and knowledge, you two could be quite the research and development geniuses.”
“Are you asking a top official of the Chinese community to defect to the US community?”
“No, no, no. Actually, I have no idea what Arnold wants. It could be as you say, or it could just be an agreement for the two of our communities to work together and to send a few noteworthy people to the other community. This is all that he has told me to relay to you. If you are interested in the slightest, then you might want to speak to Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, Arnold’s second in command.”
“Thank you, William, I think that is something that I’ll take into consideration.”
“I don’t want to sound like the bad guy here, Jaxon, but the way I see it, you Chinese have a rude awakening coming. Your century under the dictators has stifled innovation. This will impact your standing in the Death Match Tournament greatly.”
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“I understand that. This is a shame, but we will rebound. We always do.”
“For your sake, I hope you are correct.” William D. Leahy said then proceeded to walk off to talk to the leaders of the Ottoman community.
Before Jaxon could even walk a few steps in another direction, another person he recognized from the files walked up to him. This time, it was Suleiman the Magnificent. One of the 12 contenders of the solo match. Jaxon wasn’t particularly interested in this man but knew that avoiding anyone in this party would be tantamount to offending said person.
“Jaxon! I believe this is the first time we have met, I am Suleiman the Magnificent.”
“Yes, I know who you are, but might I ask how you know of me? I have only recently received this position of mine, I did not think many people would be able to recognize me so easily.”
“You underestimate your own achievements, my boy. Plus, my community has been rather lacking in the aerial field as of late. So the collective information network of the top officials of the Ottoman community was used to determine some of the best aerial strategists around the globe. Your name came up quite a bit.”
“Well, I am flattered that a man of your stature knows me so well. It is an honor.”
“I’ll get right to the point. I have already stated that my community is lacking in all areas related to aerial warfare. We are wondering if you are interested in coming to the Ottoman community and assist us in setting up a proper training program. This should be right up your, no? You will be paid quite well, naturally.”
“Suleiman, as much as this is my specialty, my position will not allow me to do anything of the sort.”
To this, Suleiman immediately showed a pained expression on his face. “Is there any chance you could assist us another way?”
“I’m afraid not, Once this Sun Tournament is over, there will be much work that will need to be finished before the Death Match Tournament. Perhaps something could be arranged after that date?”
“That would be far too late, we might not even be a community...any more…” Suleiman said as he trailed off and slowly clenched his fists and revealed a face full of sorrow.
“Pardon me?”
“Ah, nothing.” Suleiman immediately snapped out of his trance and smiled. “Um, thank you for your time, Jaxon. I wish you the best in the group matches. I will take my leave now.”
“Al...right?” Jaxon said before realizing that Suleiman wasn’t really paying attention anymore and walked off without saying anything else.
What was that about? Jaxon thought to himself before brushing it off. Right now he needed to make sure that he made the acquaintance of a few others that he had decided upon beforehand. At the top of the list was Minoru Genda who hailed from the Japanese community. The main reason for this was to get inside the head of one of the people who directly contributed to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
It took a bit of searching, but the man was found. He was with two others that both seemed to be of Japanese heritage. As Jaxon got closer, he realized who those two were. It was Isoroku Yamamoto, another man who planned Pearl Harbor, as well as Hideki Tojo, the perpetrator of countless war crimes against humanity. These three men had an intimidation factor about them that most people decided to forego striking a conversation with these men.
There was some mental preparation that Jaxon had to do to psych himself up to go talk to these men. The issue was not that these men were murderers, no, just about every person on Planet 4 was a murderer. The issue lay in that these men took war way too far. War is terrible. War creates suffering. War should have rules. However, these men violated so many that it was incomprehensible.
“Gentlemen!” Jaxon called out, “my name is Jaxon, a high official of the Chinese community. Care for a little chat?”
“Hmm? Jaxon, Jaxon Long? Ah, you’re that young upstart that everyone is praising.” Hideki Tojo said plainly, not really invested into the discussion.
“Ah yes, that genius aerial strategist of China, correct? I know a little something about that field as well.” Minoru Genda said, tooting his own horn.
“I am well aware of that fact,” Jaxon replied.
“Tell me, Jaxon, are you a gambling man?” Isoroku Yamamoto asked with a devilish smile.
“Depends on the odds, Yamamoto.”
“In your honest opinion, Jaxon, how well do you think our Japanese community will do in this Sun Tournament?”
“Well, Yamamoto, I have taken a look at the lineup of all of those participating in the group matches, and I have to say your lineup does not seem too solid aside from a few concentrated groups.”
“Heh, smart man, and what is your opinion on the solo match?” Hideki Tojo asked since he was the one who would be representing the Japanese in that arena.
“I honestly have no clue. There are some big names out there that have a lot of experience, then there are those who don’t have many achievements. Yet, if they are in the solo matches, I don’t think any of them will be easy to fight against. I suppose it all comes to how much the simulation settings require the use of blueprints. If they aren’t really required, your competition will be quite a bit stiffer.”
“There are some truth to your words.”
“Yes well, where do you three think you will place?”
“Naturally, we’ll score the win in the solo match and the group matches are irrelevant to us.” Hideki Tojo said with an excess amount of confidence.
“You sure are certain of your chances in the solo match, any reason for that?”
“Well, the Japanese are superior to everyone here. That should be enough of a reason, no?”
“I don’t think I have met a man so sure of himself as you are, Hideki. What about the group matches then? Do you not intend to place as high as you can in this tournament?”
“To put in simple terms, this is a battle we Japanese can afford to lose to win the war in the end. And trust me, win we shall.”
At this point, Jaxon no longer wanted to talk to these people as they were a bit too assertive for his liking. As such, he made an excuse to leave and walked away. During different points through the night, he would take a quick glance over at Yamamoto, Genda, and Tojo. However, they were almost always conversing among themselves. He had experienced firsthand why that was the case.
The rest of the night was a lot more enjoyable as he got to speak with Herbert Plumer, and Alan Brooke from Britain, Alexander Suvorov, and Georgy Zhukov of Russia, as well as Jebe, Ramesses II, and Ptolemy. He also had a chance to converse with the head of state of a few other nonparticipating communities.