Code Antony

The War Over Tokyo

"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you."

War soon broke out in the Japan sector, but the Liberators did not expect the swift Russian maneuver. Instead of facing the enemy from Korea, the Pacific Fleet and the Eastern Air Force went around, launching the defensive effort from the Philippines and Hawaii. The speed is in itself a thing to reckon with, as it would have been easier to use the Korean peninsula as a launching pad.  After three days of fierce fighting, the Japanese capital of Tokyo lay in ruins, but the Liberators still have strength to spare. They opened a new offensive on the fourth day.

Longinus radioed all remaining troops, "This is the final battle. Liberty or death!"

Barotov turned to his comrade, both in safe distance from the ongoing battle in Tokyo, after coded instructions were sent from their makeshift headquarters.

"Cassini..."

"Yes, Mark?"

"Make or break?"

"MJ... I'm really unsure at this point... These Japanese are not our people, and so, it'd be easier to abandon them. However, I have grown a sort of attachment to these people..."

"The rest of the Liberators propose another retreat. Raise an army again elsewhere."

"No. It'd be harder to raise the spirits of the people, wherever we go, if we carry the banner of defeat. Believe me, this is the final battle."

Barotov was dismayed at Longinus for his pessimistic approach. He left the quarters of Longinus to converse with Kaska, whose troops joined the battle for the first time.

"Servili, we can't survive this!", Barotov said loudly, as if almost crying.

"Woah there!", Kaska interjected, spilling his early morning cup of matcha tea.

Barotov shook Kaska by the shoulders while wailing, "I know we put our lives at stake, but come on! We should regroup and fight another day!"

Kaska pushed Barotov and said with his hands pointing to the ground, "Look what you did to my tea! It doesn't have much of a taste, but still! The incessant battle noise is already enough a nuisance in a morning like this."

"Sorry, but what is tea to me now that our lives are in danger?!"

Kaska's one eyebrow twitched as he looked at Barotov. He took Barotov to an empty tent.

He responded thereafter, "Kid, do you even know how Kaiser was struck his death blow?"

"Huh? Isn't it because he saw me, his own son, among the Liberators?"

Kaska smiled as he brewed another cup of tea and saying, "Look, how did I land the first hit on him? The old man's not that weak. There's reason behind his confidence to take a position never before held in history, Perpetual Dictatorship."

Barotov look more puzzled, "Isn't it because his model was Iskandar al-Akbar?"

Iskandar is the famed warrior king who commanded his armies from the east, conquering as far west as the Arab world. To this day, epics and songs in the island nations of the east, mainly in the Philippines and Indonesia, commemorate Iskandar, the king of the Tagalogs, the conqueror of Java and Champa, the destroyer of Great China, and of course, the builder of Alexandria, now a thriving port city  guarding (or choking, depending on the point of view) vital trading routes in the Indian and Arab worlds.

"Are you really his son? I mean, really, jumping Jupiter?!", Kaska said as he slapped his forehead.

Barotov looked down as Kaska continued making his tea.