Okay folks! New chapter! It's finally time to light the match! So read, review, and enjoy!

With invaluable assistance from taalismn and insights from Barricade.

Chapter 49: Ignition

Outside the Jade Palace

Sherry, daughter and now sole surviving heir of the House Tyueli had no illusions as to her future. She would shortly be dead, like her parents, or unleash vengeance on their killers. She understood, from discreetly listening to her parents and Lord Casel, that the armies of Japan and their allies had utterly destroyed the best armies of the Empire and that if loosed upon Prince Zorzal's Scourgers, the Scourgers, murders of Sherry's mother and father, would be wiped out in short order.

Sherry so very much wanted to see these men dead. See them with her own eyes and yet… As much as part of her was filled with anger and hatred, another part simply wanted to be held in Sugawara's arms. To look up into his eyes and know she was safe!

But it all hinged on whether Sherry was permitted to step onto the grounds of the Jade Palace, which now served as the embassy for Japan and for their allies. If she was allowed to cross that threshold, then she would live. If not, she would die. Standing with feigned calm beside Lord Casel, Sherry stared past the line of Rose Knights that stood guarding the sanctity of the Jade Palace and past the two towering marines in their dress blues who stood on either side of the massive door and waited for the will of the gods to be revealed.

The White House

"Alright, gentlemen. Let's have it." President Merwin said without preamble as he took his seat.

"Ambassador Russell reports an armed standoff is developing at the Jade Palace between elements of Zorzal's Secret Police and three hundred knights of Pina's Rose Order who were assigned to protect the palace and the off-world diplomats inside," The Secretary of State reported.

"Standoff over what, Henry?"

"It seems that Zorzal has been trying to eliminate the Saderan Senate's 'Peace Faction' Marquis Casel has been one of the leading members of the Peace Faction and Zorzal's men tried to take him out while he was visiting House Tyueli. Unfortunately for them, Casel and the daughter of the Tyueli family slipped through their net and are requesting asylum from the Japanese government."

"Let me guess, Tokyo said 'no'."

"Yes, Mr. President. The current Prime Minister is worried that renewed fighting could bring down his government. Especially with the prospect of scandal thrown in for good measure."

"Scandal?"

"A bit of cultural miscommunication, sir. In Saderan society, a twelve-year-old noble girl is of marrying age. She is expected to be looking for a suitable husband of suitable social rank. Mister Sugawara of the Japanese diplomatic team missed that point, What seemed as a harmless gift to engender goodwill went a bit wrong."

"What did he do?" Merwin asked.

"It seemed she was a bit envious of the pearls that one of her cousins received from her fiance. So Sugawara presented her with a strand of cultured Japanese Akoya pearls."

"What the hell?" The Secretary of Transportation blurted. "That's…"

"Long established diplomatic practice," the Secretary of State cut the other man off. "A few hundred dollars of investment to help foster good relations? That's normally just a good investment. "The problem here is that in her own culture, Miss Tyueli is a young noblewoman and thinks of herself in that manner. And pearls? Remember Antony and Cleopatra? In modern Japan, the significance might not be so great because Japan has perfected culturing pearls. In Saderan society? It's the equivalent of presenting a young woman looking to marry with a diamond necklace."

"So a cultural misunderstanding that young Mister Sugawara can't easily back away from in anything like a diplomatic fashion. And an opposition party and parts of the press that will react the same way as Bob here." Merwin indicated the Transportation Secretary.

"Exactly. So the Prime Minister is refusing to grant them asylum. He doesn't want the scandal and he doesn't want to be blamed for the resumption of open hostilities."

"Instead, he's just going to let Prince Snorkel drag things out and wait for when he's ready," General Conyers said in dismay. "No matter what, we can kick his pampered little ass but giving him time to call his shot means the damage is going to be worse."

"Are you suggesting something?" The President asked.

"Yes sir." The Marine looked over at the Secretary of State. "We have our own ambassador. Why don't WE grant asylum to Senator Casel and Miss Tyueli? That gets the Japanese government off the hook, we can spin it positively in the press. The US steps in to prevent the senseless murder of a little girl? The public will eat that up!"

"And then what, general?"

"Prince Wingnut can't afford to let Casel go. He's too big a figure in Saderan society. His men will attack the Jade Palace because they can't walk away. And that means the fighting starts now. Not when he wants to call the tune. The wildcard is The Rose Order."

"How so?"

"They are under orders to protect the Jade Palace and those orders come from the Emperor, not Zorzal. So the question is whether they follow their standing orders or those of the Crown Prince. My reading is that they will obey the orders of the Emperor and Princess Pina."

"The longer we wait, the more the folks at home want to know when we're pulling out," The President frowned. "Henry," he turned to the Secretary of State. "Tell Ambassador Russell that the United States Government will extend asylum to Senator Casel and Miss Tyueli. There it is gentlemen. For better or worse, we're deliberately precipitating the fight. We all knew it was coming but that doesn't make it easier to be the man responsible. God help us all."

Near Alnus

The still air of a sultry Saderan evening was broken by the staccato hammering of rotor blades. Three machines in staggered formation swept over the low hills.

Suddenly a new shape shot into view, growing for the lead helicopter, a Bell Kiowa. The recon copter became aware of the newcomer all too late to do any evasive jinking as the intruder flared wings and thrust a wedge-shaped head in through the open side door of the Kiowa. There was a harsh 'ding' and thin gray smoke began to pour from the fuselage of the helicopter as it began to descend to the ground.

The shape dropped away from the struggling Kiowa as the 'copter's two companions, now alerted to the predator among them, charged forward. The second copter, a JSDF Huey Cobra, opened fire with its nose cannon, stuttering flashes and gun smoke limping its nose as attacked. The predator it was aiming for spiraled wide of the sweeping turret's arc, but also kept the Cobra between it and its companion, a heavier Hughes Apache that was attempting to close the distance. It was close, as the wasp-like Cobra angled and spun to try to acquire its target, but the winged attacker managed to flip and slide under the flying war machine. Suddenly the Cobra bobbed as its skid landing gear was pulled on, there were three taps on the aircraft's underside, and again smoke poured from the helicopter's tail as it too made a forced descent.

The larger Apache wasn't fooled; it now swept in, weapons ready, to avenge its two colleagues. Now without flying cover, the predator dove for the ground, the Apache in hot pursuit, hoping to nail the flying monster when it tried to pull up. Instead, the predator abruptly braked and seemed to reverse course, as the Apache overshot. The Apache pilot, having seen what had happened to the Cobra, flared and spun, trying to rotate his machine to bring full weapons to bear and cover his blind spots. His gunner almost had a target lock as the predator, surprised by the speed of the aircrew's reaction, barely dodged out of the way. But the dodge put the predator that much closer to the Apache, close enough that the gunner was able to see wings curl upon either side of the helicopter, and claws close around the wheel sponsons, as the predator inverted itself under the Apache and grabbed it. There was a hard 'ding' in the cockpit, flashing lights….

…And the attack was over. The winged shape dropped and glided away, the Apache almost grudgingly following, back to base.

Colonel Lowe met his 'special duties' sergeant as the latter strode off the airfield, pausing long enough to peel the tag-sensor harness off his body and hand it to the waiting ground crew. Behind him, the Kiowa, Cobra, and Apache were just landed, their own ground crews putting out the last lingering fumes of the attached smoke pots and attending to post-flight check-offs.

Colonel Lowe looked over the preliminary print-out on his clipboard, tallying the results of the day's exercise.

"Not bad, Sergeant Owens, not bad. Three out of five, twelve out of fifteen."

Sergeant Owens gave a draconic shrug. "They still managed to smoke me three times." Simulated twenty me-me cannon fire, a shotgun blast of Hydra rockets, and a Hellfire launch managed to tag him.

"You were outnumbered every time, have to expect that. Against those odds, you still did very impressively. But the real meat of the exercises is how dragons fare against choppers. Your opinions before you do your write-up?"

Owens groaned at the prospect of paperwork but welcomed the chance to vocalize his thoughts before setting them to the record. "Frontal attacks are out of the question unless they got numbers. I had to aim for the Opfor's blind spots. The Saderans might not be aware of the blind spots on a helicopter, but expect them to be quick observers, especially if there are survivor witnesses to report back. Undersides and tails are good targets, though I almost choked on the Apache's exhaust fumes on my approach. Transport copters have to watch their side doors; while I doubt any Saderans ever saw 'Avatar' like I did, the side door attack is a natural and obvious one. And like you said, I was outnumbered. Saderans are going to have a numerical advantage in the air, you can bet, so aircrews better watch out for being swarmed."

"Just like 'Avatar'." Lowe nodded. Who'd have thought that movie would be a useful training tool? He wondered briefly if James Cameron would be getting royalties for providing instructional material.

"Yeah, rocket barrages work best, I think, and pray and spray fire."

"Good observation, Sergeant. I'll pass it along. I've already got some input from the first couple of copter crews you faced; they thought frontal attacks were effective, by the way, because dragons and wyverns present a small fast target head-on. You were on top of them before they knew it. "

"Not if the copters are spraying fire. That one Cobra crew might have been going berserk shotgunning with both cannon and frag rockets, but it did the trick on me, according to the sensors. And congrats to the guys who started popping chaff and flares. Looked spectacular and I almost got a couple in the eyes closing from the rear."

"Think it's a valid tactic, then?"

"Once or twice. Pump out enough flares and shards, it should at least confuse a wyvern running into falling fire. Not so good against frontal attacks, but ones trying the bottom-up attacks I was using? It could work."

"I'll advise them to start doubling up on countermeasure dispensers then. Put it in your report and I'll stamp it as a recommendation."

"Yessir."

"Of course, wyverns have different flight characteristics than you, but we're getting a fair idea with these exercises. Keep it up and your ideas coming. Now get on over to the debrief with the aircrews, and then you can hit the showers." In the meantime, I have a meeting with the General. We may be putting your expertise to more practical use sooner than later…

General Hazama's Office, Gibraltar

General Hazama set his phone down with grim satisfaction. While Hazama did not relish the prospect of sending young men to risk their lives in battle, he fully approved of not allowing his opponent to dictate the terms of engagement. He concurred with PacCom that the situation at the Jade Palace was virtually certain to devolve into bloodshed as soon as Lord Casel and Miss Tyueli stepped onto Allied soil. Once this happened, the Allies would have the advantage of near-instantaneous communications and much more flexible forces.

"Our first priority is to protect our people in and around Sadera, gentlemen," Hazama said, regarding his senior officers calmly. "We also need to recall our recon patrols and detachments. I don't want our people caught out and cut up in penny packets. We will, of course, honor any defensive arrangements we have made with the local populations but get those patrols in."

He jabbed a finger down on the map where the Jade Palace was. "The most immediate concern is to be ready to relieve the Jade Palace. Colonel Kengun, I want your 4th Combat Team ready to go on short notice to relieve them."

"Relieve or evacuate," Colonel Emerson asked as he leaned forward.

Hazama frowned. He understood what Emerson meant. Retreating from the Jade Palace would be a sting in the pride but strategically the site was worthless.

"Evacuation, colonel. Getting our people out takes priority over holding ground of no real value."

"Agreed," Emerson nodded. It went against the grain for the Marines to concede any ground but in this case, it was the right play.

General Takada?" Hazama addressed the commander of the 12th Air Brigade.

"Sir." Takada was a short, squat man who regretted not being able to partake in the Battle of Ginza. With his brigade having only relatively recently arrived in country, his men had not yet seen any significant combat. A situation Takada was anxious to correct. He leaned forward in anticipation.

"I want your airborne troops and Colonel Lowe's to standby to launch 'Archer'. We may have to move quickly to extract allied personnel and friendlies." Hazama could instantly note the tension between Takada and Lowe and the disappointment in Colonel Kamo's eyes as Hazama proscribed Op Plan Archer. 'Archer' was one of a number of plans drawn up for an assault on the Saderan Capital. Whereas Op Plan Anvil called for an armored drive to take and hold Sadera, Archer was an air assault operation with more limited goals. Kamo's disappointment was understandable but what concerned Hazama more was the tension between Takada and Lowe.

As a two-star general, Takada would have seniority over Lowe in any joint mission. At the same time, Lowe had a considerable amount of actual combat experience, including combat here in the current theater, whereas Takada had none.

This difference in experience was at the crux of their conflict. Colonel Lowe found Takada entirely too dismissive of the Saderans and not at all accounting for some of the more fantastical elements of warfare in Falmart, whereas Takada found Lowe to be entirely too cautious, especially given how troops equipped with the tools of modern war; Lowe's own men among them, had so completely dominated the Saderan armies to this point.

In regards to 'Archer', Lowe believed that Takada's chosen drop zones were entirely too close to Sadera's walls and defenses. Takada opined that the psychological impact, the 'shock and awe' of Japanese troops falling from the heavens upon them would easily overwhelm the enemy.

In Hazama's view, Colonel Lowe was fully justified in his apprehensions. The problem was that; especially as an officer who had come up through the infantry, Hazama could not openly rebuke Takada. The general's plans were perfectly within doctrine and to undercut his chief subordinate, a fellow JSDF officer, was unacceptable. He would simply have to trust that the Fates were not feeling particularly ill-inclined and that Colonel Lowe's own preparations could mitigate any potential damage.

"Colonel Lowe," Hazama addressed.

"Sir?"

"You'll need to neutralize the Saderan air defense patrols."

"Yes sir." Lowe acknowledged. He rather expected that as the only allied fighting unit with its own dragon, Hazama figured that Team Bastogne might have special insight on how to most effectively deal with the Saderans' own dragon patrols over the capital. Sergeant Owens' 'peculiar condition' was an open secret in the Janus Theater. The speculation as to just what 'The Golden One' could do ran wild as did the extent of the betting pools. Apparently, the 'eyebeam lasers' hadn't turned up yet but as far as Lowe was concerned, that was alright. What the young sergeant had already accomplished was remarkable enough. Lowe's men had come to appreciate the abilities of an 'aircraft' that could be scrambled in minutes and which maintained controlled flight with absolute silence And the prospect of a couple of dragons getting in among a para drop was, in Lowe's considered opinion, not something simply dismissed.

In the meantime, Hazama now turned his attention to the commanders of his medical units. "Colonel Potter, you will move your outfit to Italica. Be as quick as you can, colonel."

"Understood," Potter nodded. They knew it had been coming and now the boot was falling. Potter didn't have to have any exceptional insight to know that Hazama was positioning his pieces to control the center of the board. He also knew he and his people were liable to be seeing far too much business very soon.

Jade Palace, Sadera

Koji Sugawara stood quietly on a balcony overlooking the palace's main gate and also overlooking the command tent of Bozes Co Palesti, Commander of the Rose Knights assigned to defend the Jade Palace and across from that, the line of Scourgers, intent on their mandate to arrest Senator Casel and Sherry Tyueli.

Curious how a simple mistake had led to this.

As a young and ambitious member of the diplomatic corps, Sugawara had been eager to do whatever it took to promote the progress of the Vice Minister's mission here in Sadera. It seemed a perfectly harmless thing to offer presents to the family of his hosts to engender goodwill and it was a long-standing diplomatic tradition to do so.

And so the pearls had been a mistake…

Upon reflection, it wasn't like he could give her an Easy Bake oven. He expected the girl might flaunt her good fortune to her peers but it wasn't like he was suggesting marriage…

Except he had.

In her world, she was a young woman and she thought in that way.

In his world, she was a child. There would… could never be anything between them! It was inappropriate and unthinkable.

But having made the error, Sugawara was stuck. He couldn't exactly say "It was all a misunderstanding and how about he give her a nice doll instead?" He had hoped that this would somehow just go away with time. Surely, in time, Miss Tyueli would be distracted by some fine Saderan noble son. Surely, given time, he would be sent home and this whole crazy mess could fade away…

Except it hadn't. Sherry was just outside waiting. She was waiting for a word, a simple 'yes' or 'no'. A word from the Government of Japan but in the end, from him… From his mouth, the word of whether she would live or die. Yes, his problem could go away all-too-easy. All he had to do was to not care.

He had a choice: His reputation or his humanity

And the truth was that he did care. Physically, she was anything but his type. And yet… And yet he admired her spirit. Especially now, in the aftermath of the murder of her parents, she hadn't folded up and given up. She was fighting for her life with all her determination and will. She was staking her life on a desperate gamble and having made her play, she stood waiting to see where it would all end.

Unfortunately, it looked like that because of him, because of his mistake, that word would be 'no'.

Can I live with that? Sugawara asked himself as he pondered an uncertain future.

Vice Minister Shirayuri and Ambassador Russell observed the young diplomat with concern.

"I've risked my own career over a good deal less," Russell observed.

"Still no word from Tokyo," Reiko Shirayuri noted with frustration. A young life, a promising career, and the peace process itself hung in the balance and she feared that Tokyo would throw it all away to protect their public image.

A Marine saluted Russell and handed him a message from the radio room.

Russell smiled and handed the note to Shirayuri. "Corporal, I'd like to speak with Captain Morgan and send a message to Commander Bozes. We need to have a talk."

"Right away, Mr. Ambassador."

Reiko turned to her American counterpart. "Of course, as professional diplomats, we have to consider the negative consequences of this good news." She sighed. The Prime Minister's refusal to grant protection to Senator Casel and Miss Tyueli would have the short-term effect of protecting the government from the taint of scandal but in the long term, it would completely destroy Japan's credibility with the Saderans. Even the peace faction would see Japan's refusal to act as weakness and Sugawara as cowardly and dishonorable, especially as in the eyes of the Saderans, Miss Tyueli was; in fact, Sugawara's rightful betrothed by all of their tradition, no matter what Japan thought.

The standing of the United States would undoubtedly rise in these people's eyes but they would be less inclined to deal directly with Japan's government. This could cause a rift between the Pacific Allies as Japanese resentment towards any American diplomatic or trade success boiled over. The Prime Minister was going to let immeasurable opportunity slip away just to save a little face in the shortest term.

Shirayuri was certain that Russell understood this just as clearly but the veteran diplomat had better style and manners to state it himself. Still, the dilemma remained: How to untie this Gordian Knot.

Outside the Jade Palace, Gimlet, Supreme Commissioner of the Committee For Public Safety, stood waiting in frustration. Crown Prince Zorzal wanted Marquis Casel arrested immediately. Gimlet could not have agreed more. His unquestioned loyalty to the soon-to-be next Emperor aside, Gimlet's men had been humiliated in the botched attempt to capture Senator Casel and the Tyueli family with several of his men having been killed while Casel and the daughter of House Tyueli escaped to the Jade Palace. The thought of waiting while the damnable barbarians mulled over extending diplomatic protection to the criminals was infuriating!

Of course, that the damned off-worlders had not immediately done so indicated that they were, in fact, as weak-willed as His Highness had proclaimed them to be.

Yes, Gimlet thought, as frustrating as the waiting was, it was a chance to demonstrate to all the would-be traitors that far from giants, the off-worlders were cowards whose words could not be relied upon. Soon, Gimlet would have his prisoners, all the more broken as their hopes were ripped away.

Gimlet smirked as he looked over at the Tyueli daughter. "The off-worlders won't save you. Very soon, you'll see. We know what to do with little whores who try to sell out their country!" Gimlet declared loudly.

Sugawara's hands gripped the balcony railing as he heard Gimlet's proclamation. He looked down to see Sherry looking up to him with pleading eyes. Slowly, his back straightened and he released his grip on the railing. There were many who could and inevitably would debate over the correct course of action to take in this situation. But Sugawara knew there was only one right answer he could give and still live with himself. His career and the opinions of others… Consequences be damned! He was a human being confronted by real monsters.

He turned away from the balcony. "Excuse me, Madame Vice-Minister. I need to attend to something." He walked downstairs and nodded to the Marine sentry, who opened the door. Sugawara stepped outside His glare stabbed out at Gimlet and then looked over to Marques Casel and to Sherry, giving her a reassuring nod and a small smile.

"These people are under my personal protection. You may leave now. Your presence is no longer welcome."

Gimlet stared, dumbfounded as one of Pina's Thorns nodded and told Sherry that she and Senator Casel could now cross to the protected soil of Japan.

"No!" Gimlet shouted in frustration. "Stop them!" He ordered his men, one of whom raised a sword and started to swing at Sherry. This blow was blocked by an aged combat veteran whose eyes seemed to twinkle at the prospect of a fight. Witnessing this, a second Scourger drew his weapon to strike at the offending knight and was promptly felled as a second one of Pina's Thorns rammed his sword into the man's gut.

As Sherry Tyueli and Senator Casel reached the symbolic safety of the Jade Palace, the first blood had just been shed in the Imperial Civil War…

A/N: Zorzal was never going to opt for peace and it is not entirely because his head isn't screwed on right. I mean, his love of wines sweetened with lead sugar doesn't help him to think clearly but consider that he knows his history rather well. And History in Saderan eyes is over two thousand years of overcoming seemingly impossible odds to win and march on to glory. The Saderans can trace their lineage to Rome, (The Empire of Legend) and the Second Punic War where it looked like Hannibal should have been able to defeat them. But Rome didn't give up or in and they eventually won the day. Sadera would do the same in the Arctic War about two centuries ago, and if they had learned that the Empire of Legend eventually fell, then it was because Rome lost its way, lost its spirit. Zorzal is much like Marshal Foch declaring that 'Victory is a thing of the mind'.

And remember folks... Foch ended up on the winning side. The part that gets left out was that there were people on the other side who believed the same way and lost. But had a few things that had nothing to do with 'Willing' victory gone a bit different, then the GERMANS would have won. The point is that Zorzal may not understand how bad he is outmatched but he knows his history. And it teaches him that 'Crisis is where greatness rises' and it teaches him that if your enemy negotiates, it's because there is an exploitable weakness they are trying to cover. He literally cannot understand that Earth's great powers have gotten so good at war, we don't dare fight it to the fullest extent! It's part of the man's psychology, not just stupidity.