[center][h3][b][u]The Argyllian Belt, Edinburgh System, Sovereign Star Confederation[/u][/b][/h3][/center]

“We understand and will comply” The Musashi diplomatic ship answered when the SSCSS Webber demanded it to surrender. “You will not believe the present we have brought you.” The man sounded immensely smug despite the fact that a squadron of Musashi fighters were tearing through space on an intercept course. “A present we will be most happy to present to you once you have dealt with those pests.”

“They’ve taken Yuki-hime hostage!” A woman yelled from somewhere behind the man. He frowned as he turned to speak to someone behind him.

“Silence her.” The man’s words were followed by the distinct cracks of a pistol discharging twice and the gasp and cries of other individuals. Turning back towards the screen the man continued “I’m sorry about that. I meant for it to be a surprise.”

Aboard the Webber Captain Muller kept a straight face, decades of training providing an illusion of cool composure.  It was however, just an illusion.  For the first time since his youth Terrance Muller held back a furnace of anger.  The woman’s death was a tragedy, but he’d endured many in his time and he could bear it, what enraged him was something altogether different.  This man, this fool before him had not only consigned himself and his ilk to their fates, but they had the audacity to drag the lives of potential millions into their folly with a smirk.

Speaking calmly he switched the comm control to his terminal and spoke coldly, “You are to hold your position and power down your vessel, any deviance from this will be regarded as hostile action.  We will send a vessel to facilitate the Princess’s transfer at once.”

Muting the line the Captain looked to the Marine commander behind him, “You will send as many teams as you can and detain everyone aboard that vessel, then you bring the Princess aboard as a guest.  Do you understand?”

With a nod the commander turned around and opened the bridges blast doors, departing towards the barracks.  Looking back to his console Terrance Muller awaited the reply of what was sure to become one of the most deplored men in Confederate history. 

“Uh… I understand.” The man’s confidence seemed to waver for a moment. “We’ll be defenseless with our systems down, but I suppose you’ll be able to protect us. Very well I suppose the next time we speak will be in person.” He cut the transmission as the Musashi diplomatic ship’s systems began to shut down.

[center][b][u]*****     *****     *****[/u][/b][/center]

“Yuki-hime’s safety is our top priority” Yang ‘Swallowtail’ Hsin said as the Musashi 107th Fighter Squadron neared the diplomatic ship. “We will clear the area of hostile fighters while simultaneously preventing any Confederate ship from docking with the princess’s vessel.”

“Swallowtail,” one of Hsin’s squadmates said, “I’m detecting a Confederate ship approaching Hime’s. It’ll dock within a minute.” The squadron of Musashi Zero fighters put on an extra burst of speed, ignoring all Confederate attempts to get them to back down. Hsin felt like time slowed down as his squadron closed in towards its target, and the Confederation squadron that moved to cut them off.

“All fighters are to minimize Confederate loses if at all possible, but do not hold back on anything that approaches or threatens Yuki-hime’s ship!” Hsin ordered. And then the two formations of fighters were on top of each other. Hsin pulled his Zero fighter into a tight turn, bringing him behind a Confederate fighter.

“Are you crazy?!” One of his subordinate’s yelled over the comm line.

“They may be our enemies today, but Yuki-hime would want us to consider the future too.” Hsin had a clear shot on the Confederate fighter, but held off on a killing blow. Instead, as his Zero fired its particle beams they tore into the Confederate’s wing. Hsin then brought his Zero slightly over the Confederate Stinger and tore into its engines with a second shot from his particle beam cannons. 

For their part the Confederation fighters were quick to respond to the Musashi Zeros’ assault, and within moments were fighting to keep as much distance between the battle and diplomatic vessel as possible.  Every time a Zero broke off to intercept it was met with a hail of fire from Stingers pursuing even at their own disadvantage.

At the head of Confederate 3rd Interceptor Wing John Cabet, callsign Indomitable, coordinated the defense, “We’re getting outmaneuvered here, all flight leaders tell your guys to avoid circling with them and focus on quick runs.  From the looks of it we can keep pace on acceleration well enough, try to gang up on them and don’t pull your punches.  If the bastards want to play with us that’s up to them.”

Following his own advice John tagged along with another Stinger and went for a run at one of Zeros.  If things got much worse they’d have to risk pulling back into the Webbers point defense range, but they needed to keep the marines safe until then at the very least.

A Zero darted in front of John’s Stinger, the image of a swallowtail butterfly clearly painted on its hull. The swallowtail Zero shot out a Stinger’s engines before swinging underneath a second Stinger, particle beams stabbing out to destroy that Stinger’s wings. The swallowtail Zero then deftly swung around behind John’s Stinger, enduring G-forces that few pilots could withstand, before opening up a barrage aimed at John’s engines.

Jerking his Stinger to the right and avoiding the barrage by a hairsbreadth John punched his fighter to its max acceleration and swerved whenever the Zero on his tail let out burst.  Each time the margin was smaller, but to pull off into a turn was suicide.  With a muttered fuck John keyed the comm, “I’ve got a crafty bastard on my six, anyone in range to send a seeker after his ass?”

Without so much as a reply a Stinger undertaking its own evasive maneuvers some distance away dropped a kinetic missile before pulling off to avoid its own pursuers fire.  Primitive by any standard the missiles were essentially engines with depleted uranium tip, but nothing else had a chance of catching up to fighters at engagement speeds.

With a wicked smile John counted down the seconds, waiting for his harasser to make the evasive maneuver that’d let him turn the situation around.

The swallowtail Zero cut its engines and then swung end-over-end in a maneuver possible only in space. Now pointing towards the missile, the swallowtail Zero fired at it with its particle beam cannons. The missile disintegrated as a particle beam caught it in the middle. The Zero then flipped back towards John’s Stinger, but the maneuver had cost the Zero both speed and time. Perhaps sensing a change in advantage, the swallowtail Zero broke off, as did the other remaining four Zeros, to make a run for the diplomatic ship.

In the distance two Musashi cruisers entered the system, barreling in at high and reckless speeds. One clearly intended to intercept the diplomatic ship while the other began sending vollies at the Confederate carrier at what must have been beyond its maximum effective engagement range.

Were the Webber to take evasive maneuvers the shots would have been all but harmless, but due to the closing fighters the Carrier positioned itself directly between the diplomatic ship and its attackers well before launching its bomber wing.  The action left the ship vulnerable, yet even shaking with each impact the Webber ignored the shots battering it in favor of meeting the Zeros with a fusillade of primary and secondary fire.

Clearly too inaccurate to strike the nimble craft one could have questioned the decision, but just as John had demonstrated moments prior there were times when a distraction was all that was needed.  Coming on the edges of the Webbers field of fire the Stringers pursued the Zeros relentlessly as they exploited any maneuver their enemy took to close the distance.

Under the shadow of all of this the bombers that had been held in reserve until now barreled towards the cruises ready to make their attack runs unescorted.  The Webber could take a pounding, but if they failed to relieve the pressure soon it wouldn’t matter in the slightest.

The Musashi cruisers threw up a barrage of anti-fighter fire, but neither ship was designed to deal with fighters on their own, resulting in an ineffective defense. Even so, as the Confederate bombers closed in to their effective range both cruisers began to slam the Confederate carrier.

The Zero fighters, for their part, made a valiant effort to reach the diplomatic ship, despite having to dodge fire from both the carrier and Confederate fighters. It was all they could do to avoid being hit and even then the Confederates were scoring hits. But there was one Zero that wasn’t rendered helpless. The swallowtail Zero still managed to score disabling blows to its Confederate counterparts as it closed in on the diplomatic ship.

The swallowtail Zero bobbed, jinked, and swerved in ways that almost made it seem to be an entirely different craft from the ‘normal’ Zeros that it flew with. It was doing what it could to relieve some of the pressure on its allies, targeting Confederate Stingers that closed on its allies’ tails and hitting the carrier’s point defenses, but it was clearly beginning to be overwhelmed.

By this point the Confederate bombers and managed to score several good hits on one of the Musashi cruisers. The cruiser had begun to burn and jettison debris and personnel. No longer able to take more hits it began to alter its course away from the diplomatic ship and Confederate carrier. The other Musashi cruiser tried to simultaneously shield its wounded ally and continue to intercept the diplomatic ship.

By now the battle was raging across space, but John’s focus was singular.  The damn Swallowtail that nearly smoked him was getting too damn close, and nothing seemed to work in stopping it.  Intentionally broadcasting an enthusiastic, “Fuck it!” John broke formation and plunged directly into the Webbers envelope of fire.

Dodging a lance of energy from the carrier's main gun with a roll John relied on his knowledge of where the behemoth was aiming from the tactical computer to escape being splattered by it.  How the Swallowtail did it he couldn’t say, but it hardly mattered.  Getting as close to the Zero as possible he opened up with every weapon he had left, if the Swallowtail died the fight was over.

Of course, for the bombers that was hardly the case.  Without support the wing was being battered even as they bore down on the enemy.  Heeding an order from the Webber to ignore the retreating Cruiser the wing focused their fire on the weapons of the second ship.  The Webber was already starting to burn as its armour failed but still the carrier held fast, there was no other option after all.

As John closed on the swallowtail Zero it flipped end-over-end and stabbed out at him with its particle beams. The Zero used its secondary thrusters to jink and twist out of the way of John’s attacks and it retaliated in kind, scoring a glancing hit on his wing. It seemed like the swallowtail Zero was going to dodge the entirety of John’s assault when a beam from the Webber, purely by chance, caught the Zero in the engines. The hit itself didn’t destroy the Zero, but it clearly disabled it. Unable to maneuver, the swallowtail Zero was helpless as John’s barrage slammed into it, turning the once graceful fighter into a burning wreck.

The three remaining Zero fighters, seeing this, decided to cut their losses and make a run for it, not even bothering to fire at the Confederate fighters as they fled. The remaining Musashi cruiser had clearly also had enough as well after having suffered several bad hits to its stern. It began to alter its course, all of its weapons save its point defenses stopped firing as it began its retreat. 

Too focused on the Swallowtail John had but a moment to relish his victory before he realized the glancing hit he’d suffered had all but disabled his Stinger in a lamentable bit of luck.  Careening into the wreckage of the Swallowtail his fighter went into a brutal spin that knocked him cold and activated the fighter’s emergency transponder.  For him the battle had well and truly ended in a cinematic fade to black.

As for the bombers and fighters the assorted forces of the Webber raced back to their bleeding mother as fast as they recognized the battle's end.  Within moments of the wings docking on the immobile carrier two more Liberation class vessels jumped into the system to watch the Musashi forced retreat, each one restraining itself to permit the enemy their escape and rendering aid to their ally.

[center][b][u]*****     *****     *****[/u][/b][/center]

“Do you intend to kill me or use me as a bargaining chip?” Yuki asked the moment she saw the captain. It was impossible to discern her mood as her tone was perfectly neutral and her face was hidden behind her kitsune mask. She appeared to be looking at the captain directly although the mask, once again, made any certainty impossible.

Cocking an eyebrow Captain Muller almost found the question laughable, after all this entire battle, on both sides, had been men and women fighting and dying to save the person asking it.  With a sigh of frustration he spoke, “Had I the slightest intention of either I would have left you on that ship and in the hands of the utter moron who just started a war for his own sake.”

Removing the grey cap from his similarly colored hair he continued,  “My name is Captain Terrance Muller, and I can guarantee your safety as can any other officer of the Confederation Princess, but I cannot even guess as to what role you’ll play from here on.  Once the First Chancellor hears of your presence at this battle I imagine she’ll have you delivered to Paradise station until negotiations can begin, but even that is a guess.  For what it’s worth you’ll be permitted the use of my quarters while aboard given we lack proper accommodations.  I’m more than willing to bunk with the soldiers who’ve served me so well today.”  

“You have my gratitude Muller-dono” Yuki said with a bow. “You have been far more gracious to me than I could reasonably expect given the situation. It speaks favorably of the Confederation.” She paused for a moment before adding “I am responsible for all of this.” She spread her arms to either side. “I was advised against traveling to the Confederation, but chose to ignore that advice. I tried to prevent a war, yet in doing so started that very war.” She let her statement hang in the air for a moment before asking “Would you be willing to answer a question about the battle that was just fought?”

“If it’s within my power to answer Princess.”  Terrance ran a hand through his hair and looked up as the thud of another emergency bulkhead being manually opened resonated through the ship.   

“There should have been a Musashi fighter with the image of a swallowtail butterfly painted on its hull” Yuki stated. “Muller-dono, if you know what happened to this specific fighter and its pilot, whether he died in battle or escaped, I would appreciate knowing his fate.”

“Ah,” Terrance hesitated before he spoke, “From what I understand that fighter suffered several hits and was reported as destroyed.  We have yet to comb the battlefield for bodies to repatriate but if you wish for special accommodations to be arranged when we do…”

“No” Yuki let out a long sigh. “You need only send him back to his homeland. I had… hoped my hands would not be stained by the blood of a friend.” The princess turned away, her gaze towards the floor. “He was… perhaps our greatest pilot. Whoever shot him down has cause to feel proud.” Her words sounded hollow, something she said without feeling.

[center][h3][b][u]Bushu, Musashi System, The Musashi Empire[/u][/b][/h3][/center]

“What is the fate of my daughter?” Yamamoto Ryu asked. Despite the situation and nature of his question, his tone remained calm. It was almost as if he were asking about the weather. His face was hidden behind an obsidian and silver mask that also had a calm and dignified expression.

“Heika” A noble spoke the Musashi equivalent of ‘your majesty’, we have received no word about Yuki-hime’s status.” The other nobles present in the small conference room, high level government and military officials all, remained quiet as they too knew little regarding the current situation.

The emperor let out a long sigh before asking a different question. “And the status of our military forces?”

“Our military is sixty percent done with mobilizing.” The same noble from before answer. “And our navy specifically is eighty percent done. We can launch an attack at your command.” A few of the nobles perked up at the mention of going on the offensive, but most present seemed quite dissatisfied. All governments had their fair share of hawks and doves. Those who wanted war and those who felt peace was the best option. Musashi was no different. In fact its nobility was split roughly in half between hawks and doves. The thing was few actually wanted a prolonged war, or any war for that matter, with the Confederation. The vast majority of Musashi’s hawks had their gaze turned elsewhere and felt that a conflict with the Confederation would only harm Musashi.

“Perhaps we should show some restraint.” Xiao Zhi, the minister of the interior suggested. “Acting rashly will only bring harm to Yuki-hime. Especially while we do not know what the Confederation’s intentions are and they do not know what ours are.”

“You bring up a good point Xiao-dono” The emperor said before any of the other nobles could speak up. “We shall hold a press conference so that all can know our intentions.”

“You would bother informing the citizenry?” The high admiral of the navy asked, eliciting a sharp laugh from Xiao Zhi.

“We will use the press conference as an excuse to inform both the Confederation and our other neighbors of our intentions.” Xiao answered. The emperor gave a slight nod in agreement. “It will look like we are informing our citizens, while in fact we will be sending a message to our neighbors.”

[center][b][u]*****     *****     *****[/u][/b][/center]

Several hours later Xiao Zhi stood in front of a small crowd of news reporters, having just given a prepared speech about the recent events that took place in the Edinburgh System. He had kept his speech strictly to what had happened. Choosing to allow the press to ask the questions that he wanted those outside of the country to hear.

“Xiao-dono!” A reported shouted. “There have been reports that our military is mobilizing. Can you shed some light on what is going on?”

“Of course.” Xiao said. “Yamamoto-heika has ordered the entirety of our military to prepare for war. We are preparing a task force to rescue Yuki-hime. The rest of our armed forces are assuming a defensive posture in the event that any other country decides to take the opportunity to attack us.”

“Do you believe that there is a high possibility of a third party intervening in this war? Either to attack us or aid us?”

“No. I do not believe so.” Xiao answered. “This is an issue between Musashi and the Confederation. No other country has cause to intervene nor do we wish for one to do so. Even so we will be prepared in the event that that does occur. Any other questions?”

“Are we currently at war with the Confederation?”

“Yes we are. There has been loss of life on both sides and a member of the imperial family is in what we believe to be a hostile environment. Having said that” Xiao paused to take a quick sip of water, taking care to keep his face hidden behind his mask as he did so, “it is the Emperor’s hope that this war is resolved quickly and with a minimal loss of life on both sides. Even so I cannot stress enough the fact that this war will not end until Yuki-hime is safely back in Musashi territory.”

“Xiao-dono! There have been reports that a growing number of nobility are placing blame for this war on Yuki-hime and are demanding that she step down as a possible heir to the imperial throne. Can you confirm or deny this?”

“Um…” Xiao had clearly been caught off guard by the question. He took a moment to regain his composure before answering. “The Imperial government will not respond to mere rumors and hearsay. Now if you’ll excuse me…” And with that the press conference was over.

[center][b][u]*****     *****     *****[/u][/b][/center]

While intended for the sake of Musashi’s neighbors, the press conference was still watched by billions of Musashi’s citizens. Some of these citizens watched the news with the same indifference they had with any news relating to the galaxy outside of Musashi. Others found themselves growing angry towards the Confederation. Yet the majority of those who were now watching the news found themselves opening up to the galaxy at large.

Perhaps for the first in centuries the citizens of Musashi were beginning to take a look beyond the borders of their own country. They were beginning to form their opinions on what was their place in the galaxy. And overwhelmingly these individuals were beginning to feel that that place was not a closed in box, ignorant and uncaring about what was happening outside of that box. For good or ill the isolationist mood of Musashi was beginning to fade away.

[center][h3][b][u]Laioning System, The Musashi Empire[/u][/b][/h3][/center]

The collection of ships gathering in Musashi was perhaps the most impressive display of Musashi strength in history. Already two Yamato-class superbattleships and two Kaga-class carriers, as well as numerous cruisers and destroyers, had assembled. More carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and Kongo-class battleships would also be arriving in the days to come.

Despite the impressive amount of firepower present, the senior military commanders in the region were split in how to deploy their forces. Some wanted to follow battleplans prepared in the years prior, set with the intention of fighting a general war against the Confederation. They would wage war on numerous systems at once, taking one before moving on to the next, defeating the Confederation in detail.

Yet others felt that they would be best served by Sending all available military forces to the Confederation capital. They needed to end the war and do so immediately. Prolonging the conflict would only lead to harming Yuki-hime and increasing casualties. 

Yet a third group of military officers felt that the best plan was to conduct a holding operation against the Confederate navy while a task force of stealth corvettes and special forces mounted a rescue operation.

At the moment these three groups of officers bickered with each other and in doing so delayed Musashi’s assault. Only time would tell whether this delay ensure peace or a brutal and lengthy war.