Tyranny of Steel

Roughly seventy-two hours before Itami had finished the first draft of Japan's new constitution, Shiba was contained within the royal palace in Heian-kyō. The man had barricaded himself and what remained of his followers inside his palace.

Why would he do such a thing? Because after suffering months of abuse at the hands of the current Shogun, the forces who were once loyal to him had taken up arms in rebellion. Yet they did not side with the Itami Loyalists, who were currently pushing in from the South. Instead, each man followed a different General, who declared himself the new emperor.

By now there were at least thirteen different claimants to the throne that Itami had left vacant, not including Shiba himself, and at least five of these warlords' armies were battling in the streets of Heian-kyō for supremacy.

Shiba peered outside the boarded-up windows as a bullet ricocheted off the edge, sending him falling back onto his ass in fright. He could not believe that such a crisis had occurred so swiftly, and was now panicking as he struggled to find a solution to the problem he currently faced.

"There has got to be a way to get the situation under control. What about Colonel Fujii Mochisuke? Is his brigade not nearby? Can we not sent a message to him for assistance via the radio?"

Unfortunately for Shiba, the nearest officer shook his head with a grim expression on his face before responding to the question.

"No, Sir, even if we could get into contact with the Colonel, which we can not due to the destruction of the palace's radio tower. He has already sworn his loyalty to the Takeda clan! In fact, I would not be surprised if the Colonel's brigade was one of the factions currently besieging the city!"

Shiba immediately pounded his fist on the nearest piece of furniture as he heard this. Any minute now, the last few defenders of the palace would be overrun, and the enemy would come pouring through the entrance, ready to claim his life.

Suddenly, the sounds of gunshots and mortar fire stopped, and all had become eerily silent. Shiba felt a shiver go down his spine, just as a loud voice rang throughout the Palace's courtyard.

"This is Colonel Fujii Mochisuke speaking on behalf of the Takeda clan. The city of Heian-kyo is now under our control and we have the palace surrounded. While we have the ability to blow up the palace and everyone in it, we are giving those inside one last chance to surrender.

Come out with your hands up, and give us General Shiba Kiyohiko, or prepare to face the consequences. We will give you five minutes to decide your actions, after that we will be detonating the TNT which we are currently placing around the Palace.

Shiba immediately began to panic. He was in a room filled with armed men, none of which truly wanted to die so pitifully. These soldiers were beginning to whisper among themselves just what they planned to do.

As for the most loyal of Shiba's men, they formed ranks around him and aimed down their rifles. The commanding officer in charge of these few soldiers gave one simple command to the rest of those barricaded inside the palace.

"Do not even think about it. We owe the Shogun our lives, and we will die before we surrender him to the Takeda clan! Anyone one of you who even thinks about acting against the Shogun will be shot on the spot!"

This act of hostility by the most loyal of the Shogun's men had caused the rest of the soldiers within the palace to surrender their arms. Just as Shiba exhaled a deep breath of relief, he felt the piercing cold edge of steel stab through one of his kidneys.

Shiba looked behind him in shock, as one of his bodyguards had silently withdrawn his bayonet, and had begun repeatedly stabbing the Shogun in the kidneys, thus quickly ending his life. The last thing Shiba saw before light faded from his eyes was the sight of his killer being gunned down by the rest of his bodyguards, followed by the chaos that ensued.

Chaos immediately followed Shiba's death as gunfire echoed throughout the interior of the palace. It was impossible to know who was on whose side. The first death was the soldier who had assassinated the shogun. Those bodyguards, still loyal, immediately aimed their Type 4 semi-automatic rifles towards the man's torso and plugged him full of over a dozen rounds.

In the next moment, those who wanted to surrender raised their rifles in turn, and fired upon the bodyguards. The echoes of their gunshots resounded in the courtyard, causing the Colonel to hastily give a command to his men.

"Break down that barricade now!"

The men quickly did as they were instructed, and blew open the entrance to the palace, where they saw a few dozen bodies lying dead, along with another twelve men fighting against one another with their bare hands.

Quickly the Colonel entered the scene and found Shiba's body lying cold on the ground. He was beyond furious and quickly shouted at those men who were still fighting among one another.

"What has happened here?"

Realizing that they had been surrounded, the soldiers stopped their petty conflict, and quickly answered the colonel, hoping that he would spare their lives.

"Sir, one of Shiba's bodyguards killed him before we could decide on how to proceed. What followed was the chaos you see now."

The colonel's brow twitched with rage as he immediately ordered the execution of the lot of Shiba's surviving men.

"Take these men out back and shoot them. Once they are dead, dismember their corpses. I have no pity for traitors."

Upon realizing that a gruesome fate awaited them, the survivors rushed towards the colonel in one last act of defiance before being gunned down before they could even get within three meters of the man. The colonel then spit on their corpses before departing from the scene.

Three days later Itami gazed upon a photo which had captured the aftermath with utter disbelief in her eyes. What was displayed in the picture was the corpse of General Shiba Kiyohiko, lying on top of a pile of dismembered corpses outside the Japanese Royal Palace in Heian-kyo. Most notable were the Takeda banners flying proudly on top of the building, displaying the change in ownership.

She had never expected Shiba to be killed so quickly after betraying her, and felt that she had been robbed of the pleasure of executing the man herself. It took Itami several moments to collect her thoughts before asking Berengar a single word.

"How?"

Berengar placed down his cup of wine, and stared at Itami with a peculiar expression on his face, almost as if it were one of remorse.

"I know only what I have heard from my agents in Heian-kyō, and even then, their knowledge of the incident is limited..."

This did not stop Itami from asking the same question she had just said prior to this remark.

"How?"

Berengar sighed heavily before explaining just what had occurred. He seemed to be thinking about the consequences of Shiba's death as he described it.

"Approximately seventy-two hours ago, what remained of Shiba's army in the north turned on him. Apparently, the man had been executing his top officers left and right, and those who still lived had decided that enough was enough. A total of thirteen of Shiba's generals declared open rebellion and each of them named themselves emperor.

A battle took place in Heian-kyō between Shiba's forces and five of these warlords. In the end, the Takeda clan came out on top and surrounded the palace, threatening to blow it up if Shiba's men did not turn him in.

Supposedly, a conflict broke out between those men still inside the palace, and in the ensuing chaos, one of them stabbed Shiba to death from behind. This caused the survivors to fight among themselves. In doing so, the Colonel in charge of the Takeda's forces ordered to storm the building.

He was so enraged by this sudden betrayal that he ordered the death and dismemberment of all those involved in Shiba's death. That pile of bodies you see in the photo belong to Shiba and the men who betrayed him.

This has put me in a very precarious situation. My hands are tied. The Japanese mainland is about to erupt into a state of total warfare. In order to stabilize the situation and bring an end to this crisis before it gets out of hand, I must begin a full-scale invasion of Japan.

This was something I had wanted to avoid, if at all possible, but Shiba has proven to be even more incompetent of a dictator than you yourself were. It surprises me that you fostered a nation of such useless men.

I have already made the calls to the necessary departments. As of this moment, a hundred thousand German marines are being deployed across what remains of your Empire, and in doing so, they shall eliminate these thirteen warlords, and restore order to the region.

It is a good thing you have already created the foundation of your new government here in Kufstein, because within a month's time, you shall be sitting back upon your throne. So I suggest you get some rest, because in the coming days, I am going to need you by my side as I take command of the situation."

Itami was still having a difficult time believing everything that had happened, and so suddenly at that. Perhaps if she had been aware of Shiba's mental breakdown, and the repeated executions of his officers in advance, then maybe she would not be so shocked. However, despite everything that had happened, there was still one good that had come from this entire debacle.

And that was the fact that she would be in close proximity with Berengar, working hand in hand with the man to help restore order to her homeland. Thus, she could not help but find herself excited as she exited Berengar's office and returned to her room for a good night's rest.