Reign of Terror

The Yamaguchi rebellion (1576 - 1580)

While a large percentage of the Yamaguchi Rebellion has been recorded in both battle reports and historical records, it has been decided by the Imperial Museum of History to "streamline" the official record, removing the extraneous details and focusing more on how this 4-year-long civil war, one that was expected to be over in a matter of weeks, became one of the most bloody and enduring conflicts in history.

[1576]

- As if knowing that their cover was blown, the Yamaguchi lordship of Fuku prefecture, now led by the terrorist group dubbed as the "Women of the Night", began their assault across Japan by unleashing a series of cyberattacks in the form of computer viruses into various critical sectors such as the railways, stock market, electricity and communications. For the next 6 hours, the sole country in the world that is known to be "the nation where light never departs", became shrouded in darkness, both in terms of its lights and radio communications.

- Minutes after the cyberattack, a state of emergency was set in all 37 nuclear powerplants across Japan after the computer virus that struck their computers forced the reactors to rapidly "burn" its nuclear fuel. It was only due to the mechanical fail-safe devices and the quick thinking of the facilities' workers and engineers that a nuclear meltdown didn't occur. It was only after a few days and it being overshadowed by the announcement of the civil war occurring, that the public learned that they were a hairbreadth away from being subjected to a nuclear meltdown.

- Back to the night of the cyberattack, it only took minutes for cybersecurity teams in both Naka and Yamato prefecture to both protect and try to fight back against the cyberattack unleashed by the enemy. Due to their efforts, the vital server and mainframe computers in both Naka castle and the Shogunate palace was unscathed from the attack. After "air gapping" (a term used to define the act of isolating a computer from outside access, oftentimes simply done by removing its ability to be connected to wirelessly) these all-important computers, the cybersecurity forces would begin fixing the other important sectors in their respective provinces, repairing the electric, communications and railway sectors before the next day came.

- The people of Japan, mostly those who belong to the provinces outside Yamato or Naka, would wake up the morning after the cyberattack, confused about why none of their electrical appliances are working and why their battery-operated radios are either outputting static or garbled broadcasts from Korea. While some thought that it was nothing more than a problem in the power grid, the soldiers who married Korean women, who heard bits of information from the garbled radio broadcasts, would find out about what happened last night, warning their spouses, neighbors and friends.

- Hours later before noon, the electric and radio communication service all across Japan was repaired and the people would turn on their televisions and radio, only to find out that all the channels and stations are replaying a pre-recorded video of either Lord Iwasawa or Shogun Amanogawa giving this short yet impactful declaration that both of them penned.

"To the people of Japan, we bring grave news that we wish you will clearly hear and understand. Yesterday, at October 12, 1576… a date that shall go down in history, when our nation was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the forces of a terror group called "Women of the Night", that has taken over and now leads the once peaceful and prosperous province of Fuku.

While only a few of you may have been awake last night and are aware of the truth behind the loss of electrical and mass communication services, I can assure you that this will not end here… and not now. Unlike before, we are now fighting against an enemy that keeps to the shadows, moves through gaps and stabs us from behind. It is not an enemy who will meet us in the field of war, nor is it a fiend that has a sliver of honor as a warrior. It desires nothing but to take our lives and it will not stop until we either fall against it or we are crushed beneath its boots.

And so, I implore everyone, may you be a man, a woman, a child or an elder, to secure yourselves into your lodgings, converse with your neighbors and acquaintances, and pray for us who shall find and exterminate these terrible individuals who desire nothing less than to sow discord and uncaringly take our lives. May God guide and protect us… and may we endure against this menace stronger and together.

- As if fighting back against the counterattack by Naka and Yamato, the hackers working for the terrorists sent out a new wave of viruses and attacks all across Japan. This time, aware of their attack patterns and the weaknesses of their programs, the forces of the two provinces prevailed against the hackers whom they tracked down and sent Crow agents to. Unfortunately, save for computer sets and a book containing all the information about their first two attacks, the agents didn't find nor arrest any of the hackers.

- The "cold" battles kept on for a few more hours until reports in Shinka's borders stated that an army is marching out of Fuku province. With this, it became apparent that the terror groups have not only gained control of Fuku by holding Lord Yamaguchi hostage but has embedded itself deep in Fuku's army. After hearing of the report from the border, Lady Kusanagi Kyoko would order the reformation of the Southern Quartet Alliance's Combined forces through her power as the Marshall Leader. Within minutes, the alliance's Chancellor, Lord Iwasawa, approved the reformation of the Southern Coalition army, bringing to arms all active and a portion of the reserve forces of the provinces.

- As she and their children are being transported to a safehouse, Lady Amanogawa Chiasa's security entourage was ambushed at the highway leading out of Nadeshiko city. The assailants, armed with high-caliber automatic rifles and protected by high-level ballistic armor, fired at the car carrying the mother and children, with little to no regard for the civilians around them. While their security detail managed to redirect the entourage to an alternative route and fight back against the attackers, they were insufficient against the weapons of the enemy. It was only after the arrival of a certain para-military group that Lady Chiasa and her children were saved from death, this group later being identified as members of the "Shadow Brokers" sent by their boss, former Kiko General Himeji Kotori.

- At the border of Shinka and Fuku, the deployed forces of the Shinka army and Fuku army peered at each other's camps, trying to find possible weaknesses to exploit later in the fighting. To the misfortune of some soldiers, they found out that close friends and comrades from their time during the civil war are now standing in front of them, ready to fight to the death.

- Outside of Japan, turmoil has also reached its boiling point in the form of Portuguese and Spanish ships arriving at the port of Daiping where European-pattern cannons that Emperor Jun Hie ordered way back during the start of his rebellion finally arrived. With new arms and trained soldiers, he ordered for the preparation of a war against Korea and Japan.

- Joseon, hearing about the impending war against China through their own spy network, prepared their defenses and forces to its highest degree of readiness. At the northern frontier border, artillery brought by railroad were prepared and at the coast facing China, Korean steel ships, most of which were ordered from Japanese shipyards years ago, anchored themselves and prepared for an attack.

- As if prodding another faction to join in the regional conflict, a Chinese army led by a general renowned for his ambush tactics, were sent southward to assail the northern provinces of India that has been weakened by local infighting and a severe case of famine. In a matter of weeks, countless fiefdoms, tribes and small kingdoms were taken over, prompting the warring lords and chiefs of the region to band together and even negotiate a temporary alliance with the British colonial government holding the southern provinces.

- Knowing that much of Japan's international trade goes through the sea east of the Chinese mainland, several Chinese imperial fleets were sent to the waters between Formosa Island and the Philippines, and Malaysia and Vietnam, with the goal of blockading any passing trading and cargo ships from there, save for Spanish and Portuguese ships carrying goods meant for China. While this failed in its main goal of starving the resource-hungry Japanese islands, it did force Japan to depend on repurposed submarines and airliners to carry vital cargo for their nation while an appropriate measure is being prepared to break off the naval blockade.

- Learning of the chaos at the east, the French royal court ordered to have a fleet set sail to China and find out if there is an ample opportunity to join in and earn their share in the spoils of war. A month later, the fleet arrived in Daiping to have an audience with the Chinese Emperor who immediately offered to have the French sailors work for him as his core naval force after he became impressed with the fleet's flagship "Beumont", a large warship carrying 300 cannons split into three decks. While it would have been a seen as a deal favoring both sides equally, the translator who heavily favored the Portuguese and knew of the enmity between the two foreign nations, decided to misconstrue the words of the emperor from being a fair offer to being an order (one that came from someone greater than the other). The fleet's admiral, upon hearing these words, went off in a verbal rage and in the end, had himself and much of the high officers of the fleet arrested and executed. Later, the entire French expeditionary fleet would be sequestered as the Emperor's personal war fleet.

- The year would end with the entirety of the eastern hemisphere in an uneasy state of affairs. While active war is few and far in between, everyone knows that one wrong move is all that it would take to bring the entire thing down to the ruin of war. With this in mind, for the first time since the end of the civil war decades ago, people are preparing for the worst and entire nations stared towards each other with both unease and fury.

[1577]

- In Japan, while nationwide curfews are set in place and regularly roving soldiers became a common sight, this did little against the celebration of New Year's Eve where countless people visited their local shrines and the house of their friends and family to celebrate. However, this soon turned into a mess for as soon as the new year's countdown came and fireworks flew to the sky, countless explosions rang across many cities of the nation, taking thousands of lives. Later investigations soon proved that this was an attack by the terrorists who left bags and boxes filled with explosives at the shrines, knowing that such a place would be filled with civilians. With this, the public yearned for the government to finally bring down punishment to the outlaws, something that the newly reorganized national government swiftly complied to.

- As if knowing that there will be a terrorist attack in Japan that would take the attention of its military, China finally began their invasion of Korea by attacking it in three fronts, namely on its northern mountainous border, its eastern coastal side and southern provinces. While initially, many experts and scholars said that Joseon would "endure but soon capitulate" against a full-on resurgent Chinese invasion, they would be proven wrong as wave after wave of troops fell against the Korean defenses, much to the annoyance of the Chinese commanders.

- In India, the allied forces of the British and Indians managed to kick out the Chinese forces from the subcontinent in one fell swoop. While many thought that this achievement would finally bring India's fragmented provinces and states together, it only brought back the area to a hotbed of tribal warfare and momentary alliances.

- Three days after the terrorist attacks that claimed thousands of innocent lives, the combined Japanese Diet and Shogunate government officially declared war against The Women of the Night. Minutes after Shogun Amanogawa announced this, the Southern Coalition army crossed the border of Fuku province, meeting its army in a protracted battle. Hours later, the rear line of Fuku's army was subjected to a saturation airstrike meant to cripple its defenses and munition reserves in preparation for a large-scale paratrooper invasion. It only took a week for the entire province to be retaken and its army forced to surrender, however, the terrorists' leader, Nayoko, and Lord Yamaguchi Koshiro, was nowhere to be found in the palace. Later investigations proved that prior to the invasion of the Coalition forces, the two escaped through a ship flying a Portuguese flag.

- At the palace of Fuku province, a video recording purposely left by Nayoko had her and Lord Yamaguchi Koshiro state their rationale behind forming their terror group. It was mainly around the idea of reforming Japan into not only a regional superpower but the literal master of the world through conquests that entailed complete ethnic cleansing and unrestricted warfare. They also stated that unlike how they ordered Fuku's army to meet the Southern Coalition forces in open battle this time, they will never give them such a convenience once again, stating that "we'll fight in the shadows, and you will only know that you've failed once the streets are filled with bodies and screams". Initially, it was decided to have Lord Yamaguchi labelled as a fellow ringleader, but the sworn statement of Princess Kaede who said that her brother's eyes seem "lifeless" made the other lords reconsider. After the video was played to the House of Lords, Lord Iwasawa and Shogun Amanogawa realized that Lord Yamaguchi is under the effect of deep hypnosis likely to have come from "MK Ultra EX". With that, his actions was lowered to being an unwilling participant.

- The victory in Fuku meant little after it was found out that the ringleader of the terrorists was not brought to custody. Martial law continued to be placed and many among the nation's and prefectures' intelligence and police bureaus were made to question and/or arrest individuals with dubious identities and activities. Initially, some among the public complained about the "unlawful arrests" and "possible abuses of power", but upon the order of Lord Iwasawa through the House of Lords, a full transparency report was made, proving that although not perfect, 95% of the arrests made under the martial law was that of a member of the terror group or someone acquainted to them, with the remaining 5% coming from individuals who may not have been involved in the terror group but was found guilty of other crimes instead.

- After their loss in India, the Chinese imperial forces moved their focus into south-east Asia, invading Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar through the ground, and Malaysia and Thailand by sea. This was seen as a very wasteful move especially when much of their forces are besieging Korea. While the first three countries had to rely on guerilla warfare and unconventional tactics to fend off the invaders, Malaysia and Thailand managed to defeat the Chinese invasion fleet before they can even enter their waters.

- The Second Sino-Korean war officially began after Chinese forces manage to momentarily dislodge the Korean defenders of a small border town before they were ordered to retreat after it was found out that the town is a fake one meant to trap the army and blow them up (a tactic from the Yukonami war that they emulated from a translated copy of "I Became a Sengoku Lord" novel). While the trap failed, it also meant that any gain of ground by the Chinese from that moment onwards became one akin to stepping on eggshells.

- After losing hundreds of ships while assaulting the eastern shores and the southern provinces of the Korean peninsula, China finally poured their full attention and forces into breaking the naval defenses of their enemy. Making use of tactics that they adopted from European advisors, they sent out marines trained in tunneling and bombings to attack the numerous naval fortresses that lined the shores facing the Yellow Sea. This has mixed results after 8 out of the 38 fortresses had their walls broken down and became accessible to landing parties.

- Another terrorist attack happened in Japan wherein a train from Shinka bound for the Imperial capital was captured by the terrorists and had several of its cabs filled with hostages strapped with bombs. The terrorists planned to have the train ram into the central station of the Hitachi where it would blow up and basically paralyze the entirety of Japan's national railway lines. This would fail after a group of Shadow Broker operators led by retired Shinka General Ishigawa Gojo, managed to enter the train, fight with the terrorists and free the hostages. However, this would claim the life of General Ishigawa who drove the train to an unfinished rail line in Onnoki gulf after the operators failed to deactivate the bombs. Hours later, the mortally wounded body of General Ishigawa would be found washed up at the shore where he'd be immediately placed on a life-support machine and brought back to Shinka to have his final conversation with his master before peacefully passing away.

(Note for the reader: For this short story, please refer to: "Last Lesson, Ishigawa Gojo" which will be released shortly after this chapter.)

- The death of General Ishigawa, who many considered to be one of the last "old guard" of Shinka's great feudal past, garnered the outrage of almost all soldiers and samurai in Japan who all demanded for "greater fury and punishment" to be placed on the terrorists. Facing pressure from the martial class, the National Diet reamended the tenets of the Martial Law, giving more power to intelligence and police agencies who managed to net a great deal of individuals that they previously missed. While this was seen initially as a great thing, the increased power of the agencies also lowered their accuracy, creating a handful of instances where innocent people were questioned and arrested for simply not being socially active or growing nervous when facing authorities.

- Another terrorist attack struck Japan when Port Sagiri, Kiko's main naval port, was infiltrated and had one of its missiles fired towards Naka castle. Thankfully, the missile's ordinance was not armed, and its targeting mechanism was given inaccurate coordinates, making it hit an empty construction site in the city instead without exploding. The terrorist infiltrator was quickly apprehended, but just like before, he took a cyanide pill hidden in a fake tooth and died in custody.

- While initially, he thought that it wouldn't go as far as this, Lord Iwasawa realized that the repeated and bloody terror attacks was not only being done by the group to kill innocent people, but also to spread fear, mistrust and insecurity amongst the populace. After he told all of this to Shogun Amanogawa and Lady Kusanagi, they all agreed that if they are to defeat The Women of the Night, they first have to take away their power to spread fear and dissent.

- During Christmas Eve, Lord Iwasawa gave a speech that was spread in all television channels and radio stations where he addressed the public's fears, calmed them from all the chaos that is happening and rallying everyone's hearts to not only resist the terrorists' influence but also make them trust their leaders again. It was said that for the first time since the war broke out, people were able to sleep soundly that night. To this day, this speech is considered as one of the best public speeches given by a leader in times of war.

- Upon their insistence and the reluctant approval of their mother, Princes Miyuki and Haruo was given their own places in Kiko's chain of command, serving under the cyber-intelligence and Land Guard bureaus respectively. On their first day alone, they enacted long-needed readjustments on the processes that has previously bottlenecked the operations of their respective agencies. Upon hearing all of this later on, Lord Iwasawa was said to have spoken the words: "I wonder if it's time to retire when they're already this good at it", something that he'd be scolded later on by his friends and family.

[1578]

- The assassination attempts on vital leaders started out again days after the new year came. While some of these attempts ultimately failed, a few managed to do damage especially in the case of Yukonami's female lord, Ayanami Mitsuha. While at her private study, she was shot by a sniper who missed her head but still struck her on the right chest and had the bullet lodged on her diaphragm, severely hampering her ability to shout for help. It was only after she ran towards the corridor and was shot again on the back, that her guards and maids found her and brought her to a doctor that managed to save her life. However, the second gunshot she received struck the lower part of her spine, paralyzing her from the waist down.

- Since the loss of her most loyal retainer and father figure is still fresh in her mind, the attack on her other subordinate became the "straw that broke the camel's back" for Lady Kusanagi Kyoko, who immediately ordered for the maximum possible enactment of martial law, one that practically suspended all civil rights against government meddling, to be set in Shinka and Yukonami. While this decision caused her public approval to tank to its lowest, her people understood her wrath and chose to comply in hopes that the enactment would finally cleanse their ranks of the wretched terrorists.

- For the first time since they became leaders of their own provinces, Ayanami Mitsuha requested a great favor from Lord Iwasawa in the form of sheltering her sister in Naka castle after she realized that the terrorists might target her next as she's the only unscathed retainer of the Kusanagi clan left. Knowing that she has done a lot of wrong to him in the past, she knew that she can't ask this as equals and lowered her head towards Lord Iwasawa who understood that she genuinely feared for her sister's life. With that, Ayanami Mitsuhide was kept in Naka castle alongside the Iwasawa family.

- After their forces became instrumental in several entrapment and neutralization operations against terrorist cells, the Shadow Brokers' leader was invited to come to Naka castle to have their "employment terms" undergo "readjustments". Former Kiko General Himeji Kotori appeared in front of her master and fellow retainers, some of which still feel uneasy with her presence and past actions. While he listened to General Shimura's insistence to not give her back her former position in Kiko's armed forces, Lord Iwasawa agreed to "hire" her operators as "enforcers" that can bypass the limitations of legitimate law enforcement agents when it comes to investigating and arresting individuals suspected to belong to the enemy. While she hid it during the meeting, it was said that Lady Himeji had a "grin from ear-to-ear" after being given such a task.

- The Shadow Broker operators never missed a beat. Before the ink of Lord Iwasawa's signature even dried up on the employment contract, the operators were already sieving the entirety of the Southern provinces of the terrorist cells. From Kiko prefecture to the Satou territories, firefights rang out where hundreds of terrorists were shot to death, and countless arrests were made, most of these arrested people ending up at a "black site" in Myoko province where they were intensely questioned about their suspicious activities and personal information. The truth behind these things was only revealed years later and its secrecy was so topnotch that Lord Iwasawa was said to have not known any of these at all.

[1579]

- Prince Miyuki "struck the motherlode" when a routine internet sweep that he made one midnight hit the computer of a terrorist in Hashidate province which he discovered to be owned by Nayoko, the leader of the Women of the Night. He even managed to stealthily snap a photo from the computer's camera which has the female terrorist leader right in front of it and Lord Yamaguchi on the background who seem to have been subjected to another brainwashing and hypnosis session.

- Prince Miyuki immediately called General Shimura, Intel Director Akizuki, his father Lord Iwasawa and even former general and now Shadow Broker leader Himeji Kotori. While all of them were initially skeptical about his claim save for his father, after he sent them the image, they all immediately snapped into planning a strike on where they were staying which Prince Miyuki narrowed down to a city block in the low-income residential area of Iwaki city.

- A mere 20 minutes since they were told about the location of the enemy leader, the Kiko leaders assembled a group of highly elite soldiers and operators who was flown into Hashidate by a stealth helicopter. An hour later, they managed to save Lord Yamaguchi Koshiro and confirm that a bullet struck the back of Nayoko who managed to escape after her followers provided cover fire for her. While the main objective was not accomplished, the rescue of Lord Yamaguchi was seen as a major achievement and the operation labelled as a partial success.

(Note to reader: If you want to read the entire operation, you can read the short story: "Operation Ripper Skull One" which will be published shortly after this chapter.)

- Because they confirmed that Nayoko was wounded in the fighting, security sweeps were done immediately for every purchase of surgical equipment or instances of gunshot wounds in every licensed hospital and clinic. Perhaps knowing that any visit to a legitimate medical professional would have her location flagged and not even underground and unlicensed doctors would be willing to help a literal "enemy of the state" such as her, Nayoko once again disappeared… but not before playing the ace up her sleeve that took the form of a biological attack in every major city in Japan.

- This time, it was Prince Haruo's vigilance that won the day when one of the terrorists that he apprehended and interrogated revealed that an impending biological attack all across Japan is being prepared. The pathogen in question being a name that immediately spread horror in the minds and hearts of every Otherworlder that still exists: the MB1 virus.

- Without wasting a second, Prince Haruo reported the information to his father and their allies, with Lord Iwasawa and Shogun Amanogawa immediately raising the danger level to its highest stage upon hearing the name of the bioweapon in question. They'll then explain to the others that this isn't just any illness that they can afford to scoff at for this is one of the two plagues that spelled mankind's descent to near annihilation in the past world.

- All across Japan, local Land Guard forces and prefectural armies were deployed to sweep every street and corner of every village, town and city where they looked for the pathogen dispensers illustrated by the captured terrorist. The feeling of dread began to set in as none of the deployed people reported that they found out the dispensers, only for Prince Haruo to notice the inconsistency of the terrorist's claim.

- As the son of Lord Iwasawa and Lady Chiyo, he learned a great deal about the past world from his parents and other Otherworlders such as Shogun Amanogawa, Lady Chiasa, former Shogunate General Furutani, etc. Among all the Otherworlders, none of them were born before or during the spread of the MB1 pandemic, which meant that they grew up vaccinated and unable to carry the pathogen. It was at this moment that he contacted Admiral Fumikage Ryuusui to have a reconnaissance plane fly out to the sea where he found out that the biological attack was nothing but a ruse to distract them from the arrival of a grand armada of foreign ships sailing straight towards Japan.

[1580]

- Right after New Year's Eve, the news that a fleet made up of thousands of warships are headed for Japan sent shockwaves in the National Diet who complained that they cannot afford to meet the invading enemy while still looking for the terrorists in their own soil. It was at this moment that Lord Iwasawa, probably understanding the gravity of the situation, stood up and announced that he will handle the invading fleet using a nuclear-armed missile. Knowing that it took him a lot of courage, as well as the extremeness of their situation, the House of Lords unanimously agreed to his offer.

- As soon as the meeting was over, Lord Iwasawa and Lady Kusanagi, being the alliance's Chancellor and Martial Leader respectively, began the launch sequence for the firing of the nuclear missile, communicating with Lord Iwasawa's men in a top-secret launch silo. Little did they know that this line was not actually connected to the launch silo but instead, the terrorists who was only after the launch codes, which they intend to use to hold the entire nation hostage.

- Upon hearing the entire nuclear launch code, Nayoko was said to have declared her victory there and then, only to be shocked when her underlings told her that the missile have launched and are heading to the invading foreign fleet. At that moment, the voice at the other side of the line which she expected to be Lord Iwasawa's and Lady Kusanagi's, was revealed to be Prince Miyuki and Princess Mariko, who both told her that this is over now. However, Nayoko remained stubborn and once again ran away to hide in the shadows.

- The nuclear strike on the grand armada made up of Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish and even hired privateer ships was nothing short of devastating. At the point of impact, a fireball encompassing nearly 2 kilometers of sea surface formed, claiming almost half of the fleet. Moments later, a tidal wave as high as 50 meters formed and either crushed or overturned the other ships. While not as devastating, the thermo-nuclear nature of the warhead meant that the seawater struck by the fireball and ionizing radiation was boiled off and either caused severe burns or practically steamed off the lungs of those who survived. The same reconnaissance plane that detected the fleet initially, was made to take another run to assess the extent of the damage that the fleet sustained and found that the only survivors left among the fleet are those who has received too much radiation and thus, doesn't have much to live, prompting the need for a rescue mission unnecessary.

- The failure of all her last moves brought Nayoko's reign of terror into an unceremonious end. From being the stuff of nightmares and the literal "enemy of all of Japan", she was reduced to a shriveled and powerless criminal who only has a handful of believers left beside her and an ever-lessening circle of collaborators willing to lend her aid. Various surviving or declassified texts from her followers would later state how even after being beaten repeatedly and losing one of her most vital hostages (Lord Yamaguchi), she remained true to her goal of taking power from the government.

- After months of evading Crow agents and surveillance drones, Nayoko's safe house was finally found in Kisaragi province which was staked out by various agents and had its interior nearly perfectly recreated in a secret training facility where the very same special operations unit sent for her before, practiced for countless hours with the goal of finally ending her life.

- At the dead of the night, the special force operators infiltrated the town where she is staying and in a matter of an hour, successfully entered her safe house where one by one, her last remaining followers were disposed silently. One hour before daybreak, it became official: The leader of the Women of the Night, Nayoko, was killed in a shootout. Her and many of her group's higher-ups' bodies were recovered and sent back to Kiko for confirmation where right at dawn, their identities were confirmed for sure.

- The people of Japan woke up and on every morning news channel, the announcement regarding Nayoko's death was made. It was said that at every home, nearly everyone sighed in relief and for once, felt that they can finally return to living in peace.

- While many celebrated the death of the terrorists' leaders, the same cannot be said when it comes to Shogun Amanogawa who called for Lord Iwasawa and Kyoga Sanctum priestess Azusagawa Maya to come to the Shogunate capital immediately. While no one knows for sure what happened and what information was exchanged during this meeting, one thing that changed was that the former Shogunate head of intelligence operations and the Shogun's close friend, Kawasaki Endou, was said to have received his trial and executed privately.

(Note to reader: If you wish to read this story, it is titled: "Death is my name, it is my fate" which will be published shortly after this chapter.)

- The end of the reign of terror in Japan meant that they are now free to give aid to their regional allies. In a matter of a week, Japan sent two combat fleets to Korea to dislodge the naval encirclement in the peninsula and launched air raids on the places held by the Chinese. Another fleet would be assembled and sent towards the Philippines and Indonesia with the aim of destroying the naval blockade in the region.

- With the amount of damage made by the cyberattacks in Japan during the war, it became debated in the National Diet whether or not it would be good to limit the access of the public to the internet, much like the system in place to regulate firearms and explosives. While many among the elderly lords and elected officials declared their desire to have the ban immediately set in place, a compromise headed by Prince Iwasawa Miyuki was put in place wherein cybersecurity and cybercrime agencies were established to regularly sweep and detect possible wrongdoings in the web. It was said that while the opposition lords and officials made use of the reason of "a constrained budget" and "lack of personnel" to deny his proposal, a massive funding coming from the Misanagi clan and Amanogawa Shogunate quickly invalidated that concern. Later that year, the "Aviary" gained another branch in their ranks that was quickly dubbed as the "All-seeing Eye".

- A year after he was saved, and he started receiving treatment and therapy for the brainwashing that he underwent, Lord Yamaguchi Koshiro was declared "unfit to govern" Fuku prefecture. Given his constant schizophrenic terrors, loss of coherence with reality and losing a great deal of his memories, he was made to depose the throne in favor of Princess Yamaguchi Kaede who was initially reluctant to take power but was eventually forced to do so.

- The massive participation of Kise soldiers in the war against the Fuku's army was noted by many as proof of the Daigo clan's desire to clean up the mistakes of their ancestors. While outwardly, Lady Daigo Shizuka received the praises well, the other leaders of the Southern Quartet alliance knew that she still held her sister in high regard and favor, something that they let her keep within her as a sign of respect for old friendships and familial bond.

- The Shadow Brokers, the private army owned and led by former Kiko general Himeji Kotori, received a sudden influx of prospective recruits who became enticed with the flexibility of the terms of employment of the "security company", especially in the case of where they can be deployed and how much they get paid. While many saw the company as just another growing business capitalizing on an untapped market, the growing size and influence of the private army gained the suspicion and ire of General Nobisuke who ordered for an investigation into the corporation, which bore little to no violations other than a lack of a dedicated PR department.

- The year would end with relative peace in Japan and its official allies, while Korea remains in a bitter struggle against China, although they have been slightly alleviated by regular logistics aid and fire support by Japan. In Europe, the turmoil from the east finally spread wherein Spain, Portugal and France was greatly condemned by Britain, Prussia and the Netherlands who all knew about the three nations' desire to finally break into the gold and spice-filled lands of the orient. While this didn't break into a full-scale war, it did drive a gap between these nations who have always been at each other's throats.

- One day, Sister Camilla Dormer visited Naka castle with the intention of asking Lord Iwasawa's approval and aid to return to England. When he asked her why she decided to do this now, the nun told him that it was due to the two children she brought with her and now that they are grown up back in their land of origin, she wanted to return home and bring order back in her country. Learning about her reasons, Lord Iwasawa permitted her to return to Britain where it only took her a few months to be crowned as monarch.