KDS-Kirishima Mainframe

[KaiserDietz]

WELCOME TO THE KDS-KIRISHIMA MAINFRAME
>>>query “securitycam21”
>>>dd/mm/yyy: 20/09/817
>>>hr/min: 23:00
>>>warning: surveillance data is private! Formal request must be made of high command to receive permission
>>>opening video log…

Commander Oshiro strode halfheartedly into the Officer’s lounge, tired beyond words. He forced a smile to his face, and walked to greet his Captain, Tatsuya Sasaki. The Captain was already half way through a good bottle of rice wine, his favorite alcoholic beverage. Oshiro was greeted by a massive hug, and a jubilant “today ends the tyranny, today ends the war against the Gallics! Tonight we drink musuko!” My son. Sasaki had called Oshiro his son, and that made his burden all the harder to bear. He loved Sasaki as a father and friend, he could not think of betraying the trust he created in his vows of service. Maybe to another captain, but not this one. For him, Oshiro would fight for the Republic, the traitors who had killed his cousin and his friends. So Oshiro sat on, with a placid smile on his face, an ironic glass of champagne untouched before him, a gift of the Gallic Government. He sat until he saw from the corner of the room Captain Fujioka, the Commanding Officer of the Marine Contingent, motion him over.

Etsuko quietly excused himself from the head officer’s table, and made his way across the cigar smoked room to the cramped table at the back, where the blond haired Hans sat with the rest of his Lieutenants. They were bent over and grim, starkly contrasting the merriment enveloping the rest of the room. Hans greeted Etsuko with a customary slap on the back and a “Guten Abend” even though he was only half Rheinlander. The following conversation ensued:

“Already ships leave to fight against the Republic. The war is not over.”

“They call themselves the Ronin, the Nagasaki has already declared its belligerence,” said another lieutenant. “The Hiei may leave too, Captain Honda has long been an outspoken critic of peace.”

Hans spoke quickly and quietly. “Right now, my men are positioned to storm the room, take back the ship for the Emperor. Emilia stands at the ready to jump the ship far away, to Leeds, or Newcastle. Bretonia would surely welcome us in their fight against the Gallic scum. We would have to kill Sasaki, or the men of the ship will rally to him.”

Oshiro gave a biting response. “I have lost too many friends today.”

“And how many more will die in Bretonia and the Taus, if we just give up?”

“I cannot kill the man I swore my vows to. Sasaki is as much a relative as Jien Kogen was. I cannot lose a father and a brother.”

“I can’t speak sense into you? Think of Emilia’s family. Without Kusari, they will surely die!”

“No.”

Hans fumed, but kept his mouth clapped shut. “Then I will respect your judgment. Taisho, tell the men to stand down.”

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