Uncaged Cat 2 - (Pre-RWBY, SI)
The war declaration can't be only done by the Chieftain. It is within the code of law that an order of war was to be enlisted by the Chieftain and the Council.
Some would expect for Menagerie's Council to be some sort of 'political' foe, but the truth is that the 'Third Session of the Faunus Council' was well-entrenched within a wave of idealist and democratic notions. The economic and social stability had properly impacted the views of the political leaders, and the war was seen as that sort of 'last resort' option that couldn't be avoided.
Even those of the old guards from the Second Session were keen to support the ways of conflict considering that we weren't venturing this conflict with the intention of following a suicidal plan.
After all, the point of the Council was to oversee what sort of plan was to be implemented for this sort of 'last resort': while there would be a semi-nationalistic fervor to the war path, the main goal was to 'create a situation where Mistral can no longer harass our ships'.
We were going to claim some of their islands.
Three to be more specific: the island of Kuryu which stood between Menagerie and Anima and which purpose would be to act as a forward base in case of revenge from Mistral, and the islands of Kageyuri and Usagiyama that were located in the trade route leading up to Vale.
Before the true war started, the declaration had to be sent across the pond to Mistral, but also notified to Vale out of 'courtesy' and to 'prevent any unwarranted attacks upon unarmed ships traveling these troubled routes'. It was important that Vale was not tickled in a non-funny spot, especially with how 'easy to irritate' their internal status was right now.
There was no King sitting on the throne- Ozma's previous reincarnation had perished five years ago, thus leaving a power vacuum that was being filled up by the democratically-elected council. Reforms were slowly implemented, and any agitation was bound to cause more troubles than not.
So, for the sake of not getting a coalition against us, a conciliatory approach was to be enforced with relations regarding Vale, trying to stress out that Mistral had been an enemy of Vale with the intent of 'oppressing' Vacuo during the Great War.
The Spirit of Vytal was such a novel circumstance, and it was best to not be the ones to shatter it. If else, I saw Mistral foolishly yanking at the patience of both their former enemies and their long-standing but also long-decaying alliance with Atlas.
Not even a month after the war declaration, and the operations began at once. The first target was Kuryu, and the reason behind this prioritary activity was due to two reasons: 1) It would allow us to keep an eye on any potential actions committed by Mistral and their tiny navy in the south and 2) it would make them think that we are just aiming to land on the mainland of Anima.
Panic was a potent tool if enforced within the right key, and Mistral was a giant with feet of clay.
Two weeks was all it took to secure Kuryu, with the defenses in the island insignificant when compared to the navy and the well-trained marine force sent to invade the island. Once the Mistralian forces had capitulated on Kuryu, a few small transport airships moved administrators to replace the previous government's officials.
It was decided by the Council that the law of occupation for those lands had to be planned before the beginning of operations, and some names were chosen to act as temporary governors for those new lands to conquer.
Once Kuryu was secured, the first batch of administrators moved fast to stabilize the region and provide help if needed. Surprisingly enough, some supply caches were requested the very first day upon their arrival.
Kuryu (and we would later learn the same extended to all edges of Mistrals too far from the capital) were left on their own in handling issues such as self-sufficiency, dealing with the Grimm creatures, and other troubles. The mainland couldn't be bothered, and our arrival was, due to this, felt like a liberation.
The fact that we were immediately giving them much needed assistance in securing the island from monsters and providing all the resources the locals needed further consolidated our rule within Kuryu. And with this first move, the next one was the occupation of the two other islands.
Kageyuri fell within two months, Usagiyama by the third month, and soon we had all our claimed goals under control. There were some attempts from Mistral to air-rush Kuryu through the employment of their ground forces into airships. The models they used were slow and old, hardly armored, and thus unprepared to face one of the additions to coastal defenses that Menagerie has been enjoying for seven years now.
The problem of mass-producing guns was a matter of the cost-benefit factor between the needed resources and the point of employing a modern army model within the current economy. I had ruled out implementing even a modern regiment as I knew that there wasn't a point yet to employ them.
Right now, the best rifles were WW1-tier guns, and those were rapidly evolving into WW2 and modern counterparts along those years. Trying to invest into smaller weapons had no point at the time, but I saw how the purpose of 'good ol' big guns' being a proper focus.
Hence why Kuo Kuana, and now also the new islands, could wield the powerful 75mm Anti-Air/Anti-Ship MTWAA-12 field guns. These old-fashioned ships were made of woods, and explosions cared not for that sort of material.
Mistral lost a mortifying amount of fresh troops because they had no clue on how bad it was to try and force-land those in a heavily-defended island. The second half of the war year saw Mistral committing more desperate attempts to land troops.
None managed to succeed, and this started to trouble their government as the people didn't want to be shipped to a certain doom. it didn't help that Vale had promptly cut trade deals with Mistral the moment they started to demand some 'assistance' in facing off the 'Faunus Menace'.
The last nail in Mistral's coffin for this conflict was Atlas' refusal to join the war as 'Mistral should have been more than enough to face this threat'. I had expected for Atlas to refuse, but I knew the true woe crippling the technologically-advanced nation was their dislike over lengthy and distant wars when their economy was hard-geared into a more civilian focus.
Having cracked any previously-gained goodwill with Vale and further damaging the alliance with Atlas, the Mistralian government was forced to resign due to popular demand.
The economy was not geared to ever face war again after the Great War, yet their leaders tried to push the cogs until the strain became too much and taxes increased to excessive levels.
The 'Defeatist' Cabinet that came from opposition politicians saw the end of the warring as diplomatic envoys exchanged feelers for a potential closure to the war. The First Menagerie-Mistralian War thus concluded in a little more than a year from its beginning, and it saw two major lines that forever changed Remnant's politics:
1. Menagerie was to be recognized as a sovereign state;
2. The islands of Kuryu, Kageyuri and Usagiyama were now recognized as territory of Menagerie, and thus they were to be administered by the laws and customs of their new sovereign authority.
The end result cemented the first ever diplomatic success for Menagerie. While it did little to appease the rising nationalism that demanded more rights for the Faunus all over Remnant, the fact that we made our voice clear was a sign that we were keen to reply to any aggression with twice the ferocity.
It also expanded the available land as the islands were hardly populated, and there was plenty of space to start moving farmers to settle those places and increase the agricultural yield in the new lands. The promise of a few years of low taxes and cuts to prices for new houses was enough of an incentives to move struggling households in better places to expand and have bigger families.
It would take years to see some good results from that move, but the seeds had been sown.
All was developing just finely for us, even more as father appeared pleased by the limited warfare approach and how we avoided causing a lengthier conflict. I was hailed as a strong heir, my popularity was rousing and-
SLAM!
Pausing in my writing over my journal, I saw a certain familiar face giving me a flat look after slamming the door to my room open.
"Beloved. I came for what it is due."
Oh right, I forgot to mention this but... I am 21 now, and it was fair to say that I hadn't been exactly missing on finding the one that should be Ghira's mother. I may be the average dude, but someone had to give some 'tall and muscular' genes somehow.
So, I was surprised when I made the acquaintance, friendship and then the romance of one Jaya Kapadia and she turned out into this wonderful woman. Jaya was once a tiny girl, fragile and shy, and yet it was odd considering her father, Ranjan the Mighty, had been a towering warrior that had been close friend with my father. It was such an odd case that I was shown how anime some growths can be.
The tiny squeaky Panther faunus with pretty yellow eyes and short dark hair turned into a tall dark-skinned gorgeous woman that was exceptional in handling large battleaxes, trained constantly, and was utterly sweet towards me.
If it wasn't that time of the month where she wanted one thing after we got together.
"Almost done writing, dear," I hummed, trying to get this last paragraph written, but I was surprised by how 'needy' she was as Jaya walked up to me, picked me up, hurled me in bed and... "I guess that's fine too."
My last sigh was aimed at the smile curling on her face after she was done pulling me under the covers and cuddle me tightly through the entire night.
Being a busy lady that had a reputable amount of chores around Kuo Kuana to further thank my father (despite Govind having never asked this much from her), it was rare for us to find time for each other for lengthy cuddle sessions.
Sex?
That was for marriage... something that was around the corner as my father gave me the news that I was to succeed him within a year.
AN
War? Finished.
Mistral? Slandered.
Tall thicc Panther girl GF? Cuddled.
Winning? Winning~.