Cyber Shogun Revolution

by Peter Tieryas

  “What’s going on there?” Colonel Iiboshi demanded, flustered.

  The Sygma struck from the front, using her blades to eviscerate the Ptolemy. Captain Morikawa saw the way Watanabe used her chainsaw in conjunction with the blades on her trunk and understood what Lieutenant Tso had meant when he’d said he felt like he was being attacked by a thousand arms. The entire front of the Ptolemy was shredded apart, its internal circuitry exposed. The Sygma smashed the bridge with her fist, then cut the tube that connected the head to the stomach, preventing any type of escape. Meanwhile, the Craterus and Antipater forced the Perdiccas and Arrhidaeus to their knees.

  “Is there a malfunction on the Arrhidaeus and Menander?” the colonel asked in agitation.

  “There is no malfunction,” General Watanabe said.

  “Who is this?” Colonel Iiboshi yelled.

  “You have so much faith in your machines of war,” Pris Watanabe said. “But you failed to realize that mechas are nothing without their pilots.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Two of the Diadochi are members of our cause,” Watanabe replied.

  “There are traitors in the Diadochi?”

  “Not traitors. Revolutionaries who know better than to follow an old fart who wouldn’t recognize greatness if it crashed down on his head.”

  The colonel refused to accept this. “Captain Onitsuka. Please respond. Captain Onitsuka!” he ordered.

  “Captain Onitsuka has joined us,” Watanabe said.

  “That’s impossible.”

  “No, it’s not,” Captain Onitsuka of the Craterus replied. “We are honored to stand by General Watanabe in this revolution.”

  “You won’t get away with this,” Colonel Iiboshi stated.

  “I already have,” the general stated. “Your Diadochi were compromised long ago. Even those who are on your side know you’re a fool concerned only with your personal glory.”

  General Watanabe turned her attention to the remaining three Diadochi. “You can surrender or die. I’d prefer not to kill more mecha crews today.”

  The pilot of one of the remaining Diadochi, Cassander, dutifully responded, “We would rather die than surrender to traitors.”

  “I applaud your sentiment, even if it is misplaced.”

  Watanabe swung her chainsaw into the Cassander’s neck, causing sparks to vomit out. Her trunk blade pierced straight into its chest, causing a rupture in the PQG. It wasn’t much of a battle, as the Cassander was almost immediately drained of its energy. Watanabe was familiar with the structure of the Diadochi, including all their weaknesses—the traitors had betrayed their structural secrets. The Craterus and Antipater were going to engage the last two Diadochi. But Watanabe waved them off. She wanted them for herself.

  Just then, a new mecha arrived. It was the Slave III, Major Takamaki’s mecha. Major Takamaki took out her laser blades. The two remaining Diadochi readied their spears. They lunged at the Sygma, but General Watanabe cut both weapons in half using her trunk blade. Her chainsaw tore into the stomach of one, and she used cannons in her legs to eviscerate the other. The trunk blade moved like it had a life of its own, snaking, slithering, and lashing its two targets. With incisive slashes to the PQG, an energy leak caused both Diadochi to lose mobility. They fell flat on their faces.

  “Major Takamaki,” General Watanabe said. “Your son served me during Texarkana. He was a good soldier. I would hate to bereave him of his mother. Back down.”

  “My son always spoke highly of you. I’ll be sad to tell him of your betrayal.”

  The Slave III attacked with blades in both arms. Takamaki was fast, matching the Sygma in speed and strength. When the trunk blade attacked from below, Takamaki was able to deflect the blow, spin around, and get a slash in.

  “You’re as good as I’ve heard,” Watanabe said. “But it’s clear the mecha you’re using isn’t your own. I’ll give you one last chance to back down.”

  “Traitors always like to hide their doubts with too much talk,” Takamaki replied.

  Takamaki continued her furious attack, striking rapidly with dual wielded blades. The Sygma dutifully blocked the strikes, taking several steps back. The exchange went on for several minutes, and it almost seemed like Takamaki had the advantage. Then, suddenly, there was a quick deflection by the Sygma, followed by a rapid thrust of the chainsaw that sundered off the Slave III’s right wrist. Takamaki attacked using her left arm, but Watanabe was expecting it and her trunk blade was there to meet the strike. There was another flurry of movements, and the chainsaw penetrated Takamaki’s defenses. Watanabe plunged the chainsaw into the Slave III’s BP generator.

  “Are there any last words you’d like me to convey to your son?” Watanabe asked.

  “Don’t you dare speak of my so—” Takamaki was saying when her mecha exploded.

  Watanabe emerged from the smoke victorious.

  “Colonel Idiocy,” Watanabe said, intentionally mispronouncing his name. “Instead of sending your soldiers to fight for you, why don’t you come and fight for yourself?”

  “You will pay for this!” the colonel screamed.

  “Gladly, with credit from your account. Report back to your superiors about the fantastic job you’ve done botching everything.”

  “Watanabe. I’ll personally see to it that you are executed in a—”

  Reiko wasn’t sure what to do now. She knew if she went up against Watanabe alone in her Kamakiri, she’d be destroyed like the Diadochi that were lying on the ground. It wasn’t like she had anyone to contact either. She tried sending a message to Major Onishi and K. But there was no response. Had Colonel Iiboshi sent them elsewhere?

  Reiko tried to think up other options. Using her Skaria, she might be able to control one of the Diadochi. But with the second one right there and the Sygma by its side, that was a suicide attack that wouldn’t end well.

  “You’re wondering what you should do,” General Watanabe said to her over the communicators. “You know you have no chance. But honor dictates you fight to your death.”

  “Are you a mind reader too, General?” Reiko replied.

  “What’s your name, soldier?”

  “You forget me already? It’s Captain Reiko Morikawa.”

  “Captain Morikawa. I’m impressed that you were able to escape captivity,” Watanabe stated. “Were you part of the group that helped defeat Niijima and Takemi?”

  “It’s a waste that both had to die today,” Reiko replied as confirmation.

  “Why a waste? They died honorably, fighting for the cause they believed in. A soldier couldn’t ask for more.”

  “They were more than soldiers.”

  “A soldier is someone willing to lay down their life for their beliefs. There is no greater calling.”

  “Wars are stupid and pointless, and so are the people who die fighting in them.”

  “But aren’t you part of the Sons of War?”

  “So what?”

  “Don’t you know what your boss is after?”

  “I don’t know the details, but it doesn’t justify you exacting revenge on the people of Los Angeles.”

  “This is not about revenge,” Pris answered. “The death of my parents helped me to understand that the entire country has to fall in the embers of a truth it doesn’t want to face. And we’ve succeeded in our hope. Check your portical.”

  “For what?”

  “For the truth.”

  Reiko looked at Bishop, who in turn quickly put the portical connection onto the bridge’s display screen. All of the orbits had been hijacked by a message from the Nakahara Unity. Since the censor stations had been destroyed, whatever Bloody Mary would send out would go unfiltered.

  Bloody Mary was regaled in full samurai armor. Not the ancient kind, but a modernized polyfiber suit with the haramaki-do, uma-obi with tas
sels, nodowa protecting the neck, the hachi helmet, and a faceplate blocking everything but her eyes.

  “How are you enjoying the revolution?” Bloody Mary asked. “I realize many of you didn’t see my full message yesterday because of the censors. Very annoying, aren’t they? Thanks to them, you missed the whole point of the revolution that’s taking place. Contrary to everything the media bots are telling you, this isn’t random terrorist violence. The military you trust has given me the code name of Bloody Mary because I’m one of your top assassins. Last year, members of a group called the Sons of War ordered me to assassinate Governor Daigo Tamura.”

  Reiko cringed when she heard Bloody Mary implicate the Sons of War. What would the public’s reaction be? Reiko found some comfort in the idea that the public would be skeptical of taking the word of a terrorist over those in authority, especially when said terrorist was attacking them indiscriminately.

  “They told me Governor Tamura was a Nazi collaborator,” Bloody Mary continued, “and that the decision had come down from the main island after long deliberation. I obeyed my orders and killed him. But too many things didn’t add up, and I felt haunted by the decision,” Bloody Mary said in a sanctimoniously somber tone that made it obvious she was being sarcastic. “So I looked into it more and learned Governor Yamaoka carried out this act on his own, without orders from Tokyo. Why is that, Governor?”

  The camera panned to the governor, who was dressed in ancient samurai armor. His face was heavily bruised.

  “It’s because I wanted to become the shogun of America,” Yamaoka weakly stated.

  “All hail the shogun!” Bloody Mary yelled. “Tell them your plan.”

  “I killed Governor Tamura so I could seize power for myself, then take the seat of a shogun like my hero, Ieyasu, and declare the Americas independent of the Empire,” Yamaoka said weakly, a broken man barely staying conscious.

  “Thank you, Shogun,” Bloody Mary said. “I said before, there are no innocents in war. I am no exception. You shouldn’t trust me any more than any of your leaders. That’s why in case there’s doubt, I’ve released all the confidential files the secret police have on everyone, including Governor Yamaoka. His personal correspondence, his portical feed, and film recordings of the night of the assassination are included, packaged specially by your friendly Tokko. For too long, there have been secrets. I’ve revealed every file on every citizen so that there’s nothing more to hide. You can hear Yamaoka’s own personal words and thoughts on Tamura’s assassination, as well as the private meetings of the Sons of War when they prepared for a revolt against the Empire.”

  Reiko could not believe Bloody Mary had revealed everything in this way. She didn’t know what was in those files, but the fact that the Tokko knew about Tamura’s assassination and did nothing about it was surprising as well. It could very well be that those higher up the chain in the Tokko were members of the Sons of War.

  “Since Yamaoka was going to do it anyway, I’ll declare that we are no longer under the control of the Empire,” Bloody Mary continued. “We are fully independent. We are the true America. The German Americas will be my next target. For anyone who’s concerned about the future, don’t be. The Nazis will fall at our hands. They have more to fear than you. But in order to be victorious, we had to liberate ourselves first.”

  Bloody Mary continued: “I’ll be frank. I don’t trust sheep to do a warrior’s job. That’s why I’ve just triggered twelve bombs at Pearl Harbor. Whether you like it or not, the Empire will attempt to invade. It’s up to everyone here to fight, or be killed,” Bloody Mary stated. She then took out a sword and asked the governor, “Any last words, Shogun?”

  “I don’t apologize for what I did. It was for the country, and I would do it again if I had the chance.”

  Governor Yamaoka lowered his head and accepted his fate.

  “How dishonorable that even to the end, you try to sugarcoat your ambition,” Bloody Mary said, then decapitated him with one swing of the sword.

  The message ended.

  Reiko could not believe what she’d just seen. Was the governor really dead? It seemed like a show. She scrambled to see what information had been released by Bloody Mary. Text correspondence, recordings, documents, and even notes from meetings of the Sons of War were publicly available. Comments dismissive of Tokyo Command were prevalent, and it became immediately clear that sedition was Yamaoka’s intent. The Sons of War were completely exposed. She typed her own name into the filters. All her private messages, communications, and records were there. There were even reports about her, including a frank, but harsh, transcript of an assessment on her value and whether she should be invited to be part of the Sons of War. Five people rejected her and referred to her physical disabilities in a demeaning way. Several others objected, mentioning the Salamander and her previous experience, which would make her invaluable. She felt bittersweet to learn that Daniela had been one of her most vigorous advocates and had agreed to be the one to try to recruit her.

  She turned to the comments in the orbits. It was still early, but there was outrage piling up against Governor Yamaoka.

  “Punish Yamaoka, not us!”

  “He should be the one to be executed.”

  “Kill all the Sons of War!”

  It hadn’t taken long for people to see direct evidence that the Sons of War had assassinated the governor. Even if they survived this battle, her life as she knew it was over. She would be arrested for sure and interrogated. She thought of her parents. Would she suffer what they had? No, it would be much worse. Their crime was a stupid work of art. Hers was participation in the assassination of the former governor. The main island would send a task force to mete out punishment in a manner which would discourage this kind of thing from happening ever again.

  The public’s comments on portical orbits against the Sons of War and Yamaoka were getting nastier and nastier.

  “You have a choice to make,” Watanabe said to Reiko. “Join with us and fight the Empire and the Nazis, or be punished for your part in the conspiracy to assassinate Governor Daigo Tamura.”

  Reiko had no idea what to do. She was stunned by the revelation and equally stunned that Bloody Mary had succeeded in her goal.

  “What should we do?” Reiko privately asked Bishop.

  Bishop looked like he’d been punched in the face. “I have no idea. But becoming a shogun? Damn. That’s old school.”

  Reiko vacillated, unsure what the right thing to do was. But she knew she could not fight General Watanabe.

  She was relieved when a communication came in for her and she spotted an OWL drone high up in the air. “Captain Morikawa. How are you holding up?” Major Onishi asked, K by her side.

  “Been better,” Reiko said. “Major Takamaki is dead.”

  “It’s unfortunate Colonel Iiboshi’s plan was not successful.”

  “Did you see Bloody Mary’s message?”

  “I did.”

  “Your thoughts?”

  “I can’t comment on the governor’s actions,” Nori said. “Whatever he may have done, he’s paid the price for his acts with his life. But unless you have an objection, I’ll take over with General Watanabe from here.”

  “Ma’am?”

  “This is a score I have to settle,” the major stated firmly.

  “Do you want my assistance?” Reiko asked.

  “Not for this one.”

  Onishi’s mecha, the Valkyrie, stepped ahead of Reiko.

  “What you want me to do?” K asked Nori.

  “Handle those Diadochi for me.”

  “Consider them shreds of cheddar cheese.”

  Nori and K approached Pris, Onitsuka, and the remaining Diadochi.

  “Who are you supposed to be?” General Watanabe inquired.

  “I’m Major Onishi.”

  “Major. I’ve seen enough death tod
ay to last a lifetime. Our revolution has succeeded. Why waste your life when we’ve already proven that Governor Yamaoka was the ultimate traitor?”

  “You talk like you’re acting with honorable motives. But you killed eighty-six of my compatriots in a sneak attack earlier today, pretending to be on our side. The only reason I survived was because my second-in-command took the brunt of the blast for me.”

  “That’s cowardly by every standard,” K added.

  “Who are you?” the general demanded.

  “Who he is doesn’t matter,” Nori cut in. “This is between us.”

  General Watanabe sighed. “I understand and will honor your request.”

  The Valkyrie and the Sygma engaged in direct combat. Nori’s sword clashed at blinding speed with Pris’s chainsaw. Arcs of metal struck each other. Nori matched Watanabe in skill, and it was impressive for Reiko to see such swordsmanship. The Sygma’s trunk attachment was as fast as a third arm, trying its best to expose the Valkryie’s vulnerabilities. This fight was on another level from anything Reiko had seen before.

  The Diadochi moved to assist the Sygma, but K was there to meet them.

  “Naughty naughty,” K said. “Just curious. Why y’all betray your own peeps?”

  “Because General Watanabe saved me too many times to count,” Captain Onitsuka of the Craterus replied. “I’d follow her to Yomi and back if she asked it.”

  “Kind of a dramatic thing to ask someone, ain’t it? Follow me to Yomi and back!”

  “You think this is a joke?”

  “Nah, more like a really intense portical show,” K answered. “Except better, since I’m in the middle of it.”

  “The corps has treated its pilots terribly. As long as they’re useful, they’re good to them, but the moment they can’t pilot, even if it’s due to injuries sustained in combat, they’re thrown out like trash.”

  “I know. They pulled the same shit on my mom. That’s why I left the corps.”

  “Then you understand why I’m against them. If you knew what they did to the pilots of the Gnostic Colossi . . .”