Summoning America

Chapter 127: 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 couldn't 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."