American and NATO intelligence has drawn the conclusion that Japan is behind the terrorist attacks on the American schools. America and her allies are preparing for war with the world's most powerful nation - Japan. With the majority of IS pilots and the more advanced IS units serving in the Japanese military, the odds are against the American coalition.
IS Academy Cafeteria - Ben's POV
Ben and Eva enter the cafeteria together, they see everyone representing a country allied with the US sitting at a table, they go over to talk.
Eva: Were you guys recalled, too.
Rin: Yeah, we're not exactly sure what's going though.
Cecilia: Recalling ambassadors is always an ominous move...
Ben: Yeah, CIA apparently connected the terrorist attacks on American schools to the Japanese government. I can assume that NATO is joining that war.
Laura: Really!? That's not good.
Cecilia: How would our nations stand up against the sheer number of IS units the Japanese have?
Ben: I asked POTUS the same thing, apparently anti-IS barriers have been built in the US and her allies, completely encompassing their borders.
Rin: OK, but I'm not exactly sure how China comes into this.
Ben: The US and China entered an alliance yesterday, I'm gonna assume that news will be announced with the declaration of war.
Charlotte: I can't believe this is actually happening. Now that I think of it, where are Ichika, Houki, Tatenashi, and Kanzashi?
Eva: Rather conveniently, they're out training together. I doubt that Russia will take any part in this.
Charlotte: Okay, but doesn't Japan a little too obvious?
Laura: Yeah, I don't fell like Japan is the culprit.
Ben: I agree, and CIA does too. The problem is that Japan is SO obvious that any average person can draw that conclusion, and about 90% of Americans are demanding war with the Japanese. It wouldn't matter what the President thought, or what CIA concluded. Almost all Americans are boycotting all Japanese exports and industries.
Rin: Wow. Americans can get hostile.
Ben: Yeah, I guess. Well, the three main fronts will probably be China, the Pacific, and the American mainland. Hopefully we don't have to draw to much blood.
Eva: We're all hoping that.
The bell rings, and they head to their respective classes, the IS RepCons explain that they are being pulled out of Japan to their instructors and are excused the following day's lessons, in which they pack and head to their respective countries.
Ben (To Laura, Rin, Charlotte, and Cecilia): May the stars be ever in your favor.
Others: And to yours.
Ben and Eva head back to America, but make a pit stop at Hawaii to pick Sgt. Whitworth. They see him jogging throughout the streets of Honolulu and descend upon him, surprising him.
Ben: Good morning, Sergeant.
Whitworth: Good morning, Commander. You guys surprised me, to what do I owe the pleasure?
Ben: The US is going to war soon, and we needed more IS pilots.
Ben hands Whitworth an armband.
Ben: This is Silent Scythe. It comes with an AI assistant, yours is Amelia. Take good care of her.
Whitworth: Well... I, uh... I don't know what to say. Thank you sir. Do you know where I'll be stationed?
Ben: I'll be on the mainland for home defense strategy, so you'll be with Eva and Corporal Thomas Anderson in the Pacific.
Whitworth: The ex-Green Beret?
Ben: Yeah, he's a good friend of mine.
Whitworth: Well, thanks! And good luck.
Ben: You too!
Ben and Eva once again head to the White House, crossing over the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains on their way to DC. When they arrive at the White House, a Secret Service division comes out to escort them into the White House. When they reach the Oval Office, they are greeted by president Brian McCarthy, and Corporal Thomas Anderson.
Ben: Yo, Tom! How you doing?
Anderson: Pretty good, I was told you have a gift for me.
Ben: I do.
Ben hands Anderson a silver watch.
Ben: This is Conqueror, your personal IS unit.
Anderson: Oh? I'll make sure your faith in me is not disappointed.
Pres. McCarthy: That's good, because you, Eva, and Sergeant Whitworth will be the first line of defense against any enemy IS attacks.
Eva: What about Ben? He's the best pilot we have.
McCarthy: He'll have a special assignment at the start of the war, but he'll be organizing and leading the defense of our country after that. I think that covers everything. Dismissed! Ben, you'll stay for your assignment.
Ben: Alright.
Anderson and Eva leave the room, there are going to Hawaii to meet up with Sgt. Whitworth and practice flying in their ISs. Ben takes a seat in front the President.
McCarthy: So, you obviously know that this war will not be over quickly.
Ben: Yeah, but you want me to speed it up?
McCarthy: Indeed. Your mission is to return to Japan undetected, and remain so while you are there. The Japanese Prime Minister has planned a public address two days from now, it will be broadcast across Japan. We are going to hijack our declaration or war using their channel and CNN. Once the declaration has finished, you will assassinate the Japanese Prime Minister.
Ben: Are you serious?
McCarthy: I am. This would be the quickest way to get a peace deal. The next PM will be afraid of being assassinated, and will likely seek a peace deal rather quickly.
Ben: But it'll take a while before a new PM is selected.
McCarthy: We're hoping this also demoralizes Japanese forces as well.
Ben: Yeah, but there's also a chance that this will invigorate the Japanese and actually cause a full-blown invasion. With that and the political fallout, I think it's too risky.
McCarthy: I thought so too, but most of the Cabinet agreed that this would be the best action to take.
Ben: Alright. I'll do it, we should probably ask for assistance as well. If possible, could we get some Leopards from Germany?
McCarthy: Canada has Leopards, they could probably trade some for our Raiders and Headhunters.
Ben: How many Headhunters do we have?
McCarthy: About 350 right now.
Ben: 85 Headhunters for 50 Leopard 2s should work.
McCarthy: Alright, now head back to Japan. You have two days before the war starts.
Ben: Yes, sir.
Rin's POV
I hope this doesn't get serious, I don't want Ichika to get mad at me.
Rin enters the war room of the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China, she finds the tops the generals in the nation congregated around a detailed map of the South China Sea, and territories that have been disputed between China and Japan for decades. This could finally be China's chance to reclaim what they had once lost.
Well, I guess everyone's taking this seriously. I guess I should probably join.
Rin: Hey, everyone. So what's the plan?
General Wang Huang: Before we begin an offensive operation, we would want to draw significant amount of Japanese ISs into our barrier. The Americans have an operative in Japan right now who will disrupt their government when the war begins.
Rin: Disrupt?
Huang: We don't know how. The Americans are saying that their disruption will draw most of the Japanese forces to America, so combat over here should be limited. By the way, Commander, your squadrons are waiting for you at the airfield.
Rin: I'll head over now, dad.
NATO strategic meeting room, Charlotte's POV
Charlotte enters the meeting room with Laura and Cecilia. All three have misgivings about what will happen to the world, but are mostly concerned with what will happen to Ichika.
Cecilia: Hey, Charlotte. why isn't everyone more grim?
Laura: I think we'll find out. They're beginning the discussion now.
Polish General Kowalski: Our role in this war is rather simple, as the United States once supplied Europe in it's wars, Europe will now supply China and America. Raw resources, military equipment, and old IS divisions will be loaned. The only way for Europe to become a theater of war is for America or China to be conquered. With the IS barriers up, I don't see any way Japan could conquer either of those countries.
Charlotte: Oh, so I guess we won't be seeing any action.
Laura: That's for the better anyway, we don't want to fight Ichika.
The meeting committee goes over procedure and how to maintain border security during the war, and after a few hours is concluded.
Ben's POV, Pacific Ocean
Ben is currently flying over the Pacific Ocean at Mach 5, nothing the Japanese possess can hope to intercept him. He lands on the coast and takes a bus to Tokyo, where he rents an apartment while he waits for the Prime Minister to begin his speech.
Ben: George, have you finished preparing the cloak for the Angel?
George: I need about three and a half minutes before the Fallen Angel has a stealth mode. Why do you need one?
Ben: I would prefer not to be identified while assassinating Japan's Prime Minister.
George: Fair enough. Just letting you know, the cloak will only be functional for about 10 minutes before the power strain becomes too much for the Fallen Angel.
Ben: Okay, that should give me enough time to get far enough away.
George: Also, because I had to do this on such short notice, I had to rewire the thermal cloaking into the optical cloaking.
Ben: Shit, I'll have to be really quick.
Ichika's POV, Infinite Stratos Academy
Ichika: You said we had an assignment, Chifuyu?
Chifuyu: Yeah. We'll be guarding the Prime Minister during his public address today. We'll be standing off to the sides of the stage he'll be standing on.
Ichika: Any other details?
Chifuyu: As a show of strength, they want us in our ISs for the entirety of the speech.
Ichika: So we're just standing there?
Chifuyu: Yeah, and in the off chance the Prime Minister is actually attacked, we protect him.
Ichika: Alright, should we head out now?
Chifuyu: Yep, his speech starts in fifteen minutes.
Ten minutes later, Ichika and Chifuyu meet up with the Prime Minister, he just left his changing room and has been dressed to impress. Chifuyu and Ichika are scanned for extra weapons and are asked to procure their security codes, which they do. The codes check out and they head out to the stage, Ichika to the right side, and Chifuyu to the left. A few more minutes pass before the PM gives his speech.
Maybe I should equip the thermal sensor Ben gave just to be safe.
Ichika turns his thermal sensor on right as the PM begins his speech.
PM: People of the glorious nation of Japan, I am proud to have been elected as your representative for the third time. I have never found more purpose in my life, and I will continue to dedicate the rest of my life to this glorious country.
The crowd cheers for their PM, who won this election by an unbelievable margin.
PM: That said, I have great news. As you all know, the way world power is gauged now is through the strength and number of a nation's IS units, and I am pleased to announce that while the nations of the world have only begun to experiment with third-generation units, we have begun to mass-produce our third-generation units. Our best pilots will also soon be receiving fourth-generation upgrades for their units. With our unparalleled military strength, the Empire of the Ris-
The display screens on TVs and buildings across Japan switch from the speech to CNN. Where the President of the United States of America, Brian McCarthy is sitting in a chair stone-faced.
POTUS: The United States of America has always listened to the cries of her people, and they have cried for vengeance of the schoolchildren murdered in cold blood by Japanese terrorists. Congress has approved my request, and the United States of America, China, and their allies are now officially declaring war on the sovereign nation of Japan.
Everyone gathered at the public address is stunned silent, before the PM improvises his response.
PM: As I said before, we have the strongest and most modern military in the world. We could defeat the entire if we needed to! Let it be known that only fools would dare to challenge the Empire of the Rising Sun! Our military might makes us the most powerful nation in the worl-
Strangely, the Prime Minister stops talking midsentence. A faint red line appears in his neck, and his body collapses, having lost signals from his brain. When his body hits the floor, his head rolls and blood spews from his neck. Screams begin to come from the crowd, and Ichika and Chifuyu, having deployed their ISs before the speech started, shoot into the air.
Ichika: Chifuyu, you stay here and guard any important personnel, I'll see if I can track the assassin down.
Chifuyu: OK.
Ichika activates his infrared sensor and scans the crowd at first, and then checks nearby buildings. He notices a heat signature rapidly shrinking next to a building, like it was flying away. Ichika takes off in hot pursuit.
End Ch. 10