Close Call (2)

November 5, 1640

Ragna, Gra Valkas Empire

Emperor Gra Lux paced around the conference room, ignoring the museum-worthy art pieces that adorned the walls. In the face of constant setbacks and crises, the opulent displays of wealth had become nothing more than background noise, receiving little admiration from the stressed officers and bureaucrats in the room. To Gra Lux, the current emergency was the worst he had ever encountered. Reports of massive losses against EDI fleets and stalemates on the front lines of the Oster Front were nothing compared to this looming threat.

The blockade itself had gone according to plan. Using two fleets, he succeeded in delaying vital shipments to Mu, thereby hastening their demise. At that point, he could care less if the Americans joined the war, since he would own the entire Mu continent by that time and thus have an advantage in suing for peace. Unfortunately, this carefully concocted strategy could be unraveled by a single warship.

The GVS Revolution lived up to its name, with a mutiny underway on the heavy cruiser. For reasons yet unknown, members of the crew took control of the ship, threatening the fragile house of cards that Gra Lux and his admirals worked so painstakingly hard to assemble. One blow – such as an unprovoked attack on the Americans – could easily sweep everything away.

"Have we been able to establish contact with the mutineers?" Gra Lux asked, posing the question to everyone in the room.

A bald-headed man stepped forth to answer. A tag pinned on his uniform identified him as the Chief of Naval Operations, Arnalt Karlmann. "Your Excellency, we are currently working on doing so without the use of radio or manacomm, in order to prevent the Americans from figuring out that a mutiny has taken place aboard one of our vessels. We learned of this via encrypted message, but if we send too many messages, the Americans might be able to crack the code. We have tasked the Kuhner with transporting personnel for negotiation; a team of 6 is en route to the Revolution as we speak."

Gra Lux nodded, maintaining his imperial character as he fought the urge to put his head down and bury himself in his arms. "Good," he said, his distracted mind doing the best it could to find a solution to this crisis. "Gesta," he turned to the director of his empire's foreign affairs apparatus, "How might the Americans respond if a rogue element in our fleet opens fire on them?"

Gesta made the hopelessness of the situation clear, as expressed by his sullen reaction and the words of his explanation. "Your Excellency," he said with a low voice, "It is likely that they will declare war immediately. My subordinates have been closely monitoring political developments in their homeland, and one thing in particular stands out: the frequency of war-related polls. Our initial assessment of American intervention is no longer valid. We first assumed that the Americans would take a neutral stance – interfering no more than by selling equipment – because they had a recent series of wars against Louria and Parpaldia."

Gra Lux shuddered at the thought of the powerful Americans intervening with their military. If they deployed this early, they wouldn't be able to sue for peace with the EDI. His plan hinged on pushing the EDI to the edge, beating them down enough that they would have no choice but to agree to Gra Valkan terms. American reinforcements would surely reinstill vigor into their war-stricken governments, preventing any sort of capitulation. "Are their people more martial than we've thought?"

"It would seem so, Your Excellency. Further research into their culture shows that their military has participated in active conflict for decades, one war after another. The rising approval rate for war also shows this." Gesta pulled pages of poll results from his briefcase. "Shortly after their conflict with the Parpaldian Empire, only 30 percent of their society were willing to support a new war. Now, with EDI propaganda taking root, this number has risen to 75 percent."

The War Department staff present in the room showcased a variety of reactions to this information. Some believed in the strength of the Gra Valkan military, welcoming battle. Others were wary, having done their research on the Americans.

Gra Lux's facial expression was clear to see, enough to dissuade some of the patriots in the War Department from provoking the Americans further. If nothing else, they did not want to agitate their emperor. "That is concerning," Gra Lux said, exhaling heavily while he rubbed his temples.

Gesta continued, "Might I add, Your Excellency, that the frequency of these polls has also increased. I'm not privy to the thoughts of their leaders, but I believe they might actually be eager to go to war, and are only holding back until they find good cause to declare."

And what better reason to declare than a ship firing unprovoked, Gra Lux thought. He felt the specter of misery creeping up on him, threatening to drown him in a sea of despair and Gra Valkan blood. Yet, there was hope. Nothing had happened yet, and he had to keep it that way. "Have the men from the Revolution succeeded in bringing the mutineers in line?"

Chief Karlmann shook his head. "No word yet from the fleet, Your Excellency. The only thing we can do now is wait, and hope the Americans don't understand our messages."

Setting aside the mutiny, Gra Lux circled back to Gesta. "How are the negotiations with the Americans coming along?"

Gesta's mood lightened slightly at this question. "Your Excellency, I've assigned my best diplomat – the renowned Cielia Oudwin – to delay the Americans as long as possible."

Gra Lux breathed an internal sigh of relief. The name Cielia Oudwin was one that had reached even his ears; her work in negotiating with the Magikareich and bringing them under the influence of the Gra Valkas Empire was nothing short of brilliant. Gra Lux could rest easy knowing someone of such remarkable talent was handling the negotiations with the Americans. All he had to do was prevent the mutineers from interfering with her work.

Having run out of things to contemplate, Gra Lux prepared to take a break from the meeting in order to visit the restroom. As if the universe had other ideas, unfortunate timing struck.

"Sir!" One of Karlmann's assistants cried out. "Response from the Kuhner!" He exclaimed, presenting a paper to the chief.

Karlmann received the message, which was automatically decrypted by the machine that printed out the paper. He translated the resulting Kainian text, "Denial from revolution, smite the revolutionaries…"

Although cryptic, the message was clear enough. Karlmann spoke further, saying what was already on everyone's minds. "The Revolution mutineers have refused to agree to our proposals. The message doesn't say why, but the Revolution crew most likely wants to spark a war."

Gra Lux glanced at the hubristic officers in the War Department — the same ones who welcomed battle. They instantly cowered under his gaze, looking down as if they too recognized the error of their misguided patriotism. He reasoned that the crew of the Revolution might be similarly prideful, hoping to bash the Americans that had made the war so difficult for the Gra Valkas Empire. Or perhaps they wanted to be heroes, striking down a vital American convoy and therefore allowing the Gra Valkas Empire to successfully conquer Mu. Regardless of their intentions, helpful or otherwise, it didn't matter. They had become a thorn in his side.

Gra Lux understood what needed to be done. It might show weakness to his people, that they are too afraid to engage the Americans, but this blow to Gra Valkan pride was a necessary sacrifice. This sacrifice could even play to his favor; improving relations with the Americans via this small gesture could buy him enough time with which to conquer Mu. Having no other option but to let the Americans know that a mutiny had occurred, Gra Lux prepared to make his next move in this game of chess. He faced Karlmann, eyes revealing reluctance, "Send a message to the Kuhner. Tell them to destroy the Revolution."

"Destroy one of our own ships?!" Someone from the War Department blurted out in incredulity.

Gra Lux opened his mouth to say something in response, but was asked a question by Karlmann before he could do so. "Are you sure, Your Excellency?"

Gra Lux had no answer to that question.

Karlmann elaborated further, weighing the downside impact of making such a decision, "We will be able to avoid immediate war with the Americans, but this will come at a heavy cost of morale. It would be impossible to put a gag order on thousands of our sailors. The information will leak."

Gra Lux looked around the room. His subordinates didn't show it outwardly, but he could see it written in their eyes: they did not approve of executing loyal men. He could tell that those who identified themselves as Hawks — particularly their leader, a gray-haired man named Guinea Marix — were already beginning to lose respect. For the first time in his life, Gra Lux felt trapped.

There was a way out, but at what cost? As much as he hated it, he had to sacrifice the patriots aboard the Revolution. "We have no other choice," Gra Lux said solemnly, hoping he wouldn't regret his decision. "I'm sure. Tell them to destroy the Revolution."

The men in the room, especially the hubristic Hawks in the War Department, felt uneasy with the order. Despite this, they said nothing, bottling their feelings in their hearts. They could only watch and listen in grave disappointment as Karlmann proceeded to carry out the emperor's order.

Chief Karlmann relayed Gra Lux's will to his assistant, "Send a message to the Revolution: 'Smite the revolutionaries."

——

November 6, 1640

USS Barry

Almost 2 days have passed since the submarine scare. In that time, little occurred while the State Department held negotiations with their counterparts in the Gra Valkas Empire. Despite this lull in the action, tensions were as high as they've ever been.

Captain Winslow couldn't be more irked by this combination of events; there was nothing more tiring than being constantly on alert, yet seeing no combat. His eye bags — as well as those of his crew — sank more every time the Gra Valkans repositioned their ships. With coffee stores beginning to run dry, he wondered how much more of this uneventful back and forth he would have to endure.

The only thing he had going for him was a gut feeling that something was about to happen soon. For the last few hours, the Gra Valkans saw a drastic increase in encrypted transmissions — messages that were successfully intercepted but have yet to be deciphered. He could only guess as to what the Gra Valkans were talking about, but he was almost certain that their boring staring contest was soon to see its end.

As if confirming his suspicions, the radar operator, Morrison, alerted him of Gra Valkan activity. "Sir, one of the Gra Valkan cruisers is moving out of formation! The other ships look like they're moving to intercept!"

He and Commander Bryson cut their coffee break short as they quickly hurried to the CIC from the bridge. Sure enough, the Gra Valkans were breaking their formation. However, they didn't show any intent of charging at the Americans. Rather, their movements corroborated Morrison's claim.

Then, something unthinkable happened.

"The Gra Valkans are firing on their own cruiser!" Morrison exclaimed.

"What in the hell?" Winslow wondered. He turned to the weapon operators inside the CIC, "Be ready to fire on my command."

Muffled blasts soon reached his ears, no doubt the sound of battleship guns firing. He looked back up toward the bridge, wondering what was going on until one of his communications officers reported a transmission from the Gra Valkans.

"United States Navy convoy, do not be alarmed. We have successfully eliminated a rogue element in our fleet that was aiming to disrupt our peaceful exercise," the message said.

Captain Winslow responded, hiding the confusion in his voice, "Acknowledged, Gra Valkan Navy fleet. Maintain your distance and advise us if any more unforeseen circumstances occur." Winslow then turned to Bryson with a quizzical look on his face.

Bryson simply shrugged, "Cruiser wanted to fuck around, but the other Gra Valkans did not want to find out."

The Gra Valkan response was quick and professional, "Understood, United States Navy convoy. We are now returning to our original positions."

Winslow smiled at Bryson's words, finding amusement in them. "Looks like the Valkies made the right choice."