Two Months Later

Tomohiro stood with a crowd, necks bent, looking up at a massive screen, reading the daily ledger of new ordinances being handed down from Geneva Prime. It was difficult to believe that life could change so dramatically in just two months. There were some who refused to accept the change, certainly, but the vast majority, like Tomohiro, rather meekly adapted to the new circumstances. It was uncomfortable, but better than the alternative.

What was most shocking for Tomohiro is that he had been a man of influence two months hence. As part of the city council here in Stardown, he had made a life of politics. Along with others he foresaw the Goshi build-up. He knew about Geneva Prime aggression and had predicted the conflict with the Yogensha League. Unlike some of his peers he had even suspected Geneva Prime would eventually win, but Tomohiro had never imagined it would be so sudden and overwhelming. Even with the ability to deploy soldiers anywhere instantaneously... the planning had been masterful.

The first stroke was the annihilation of the Yogensha League leadership in Omexon. The news of the summit disaster had hardly had time to reach Stardown however, before the battle was engaged on every front simultaneously. Katashi Blade must have been planning this for years. In every city, on every council, and the boards of every major corporation, there were men and women ready to defect. They handed over sensitive security details, the names and locations of military leaders. Hei-Shi teleported in and out suddenly and disastrously leaving blood in their wake. For two weeks every day there was a constant rash of assassinations. Before anyone could blink the heirarchy of Cheldrun society, every city-state on the continent, was in a shambles.

Then came the offers. From every Goshi branch office, in every city, there were offers of financial assistance and security to those who would assist in re-establishing order. Tomohiro could have had a place in the new bureaucracy, but he moved too slowly. Stunned by the sudden change of affairs he had hesitated and a co-worker had gotten a promotion by fingering him as a resister. It was a lie, and the Goshi interrogator assigned to his case quickly realized it, but it was too late for him to ingratiate himself and earn a good job. Like the rest of the populace he was left on the outside looking in.

Tomohiro was too meek to do anything, but there were those who attempted to resist Goshi. At first the Mecha Academies had been unsure how to respond. Technically their allegiances were to particular city-states and since this aggression came from a trans-national corporation they hesitated. Everyone agreed that Geneva Prime was somehow responsible, but this was not precisely like a normal war between armies. Most battles were occurring between the private corporate police of Goshi and the private security of local dignitaries. Eventually, accusations were leveled by the academies of Omexon and Matamos against Geneva Prime and to the shock of everyone and no one, Washi-San Academy announced the abolition of historic political arrangements, declaring Goshi Corp the effective Pan-Cheldrun Governing Body to whom all Mecha Pilots owed allegiance. Any Academy wishing to deny this was invited to attend a tournament in which Washi-San pilots would take on all comers in honorable duels to establish the new government.

Needless to say the tournament did not go well for those holding out hopes that someone would mount an effective challenge to Goshi. Washi-San dominated everyone who attended in uncharacteristically bloody fashion. Three Mecha were outright destroyed and six pilots were killed, including the pilots of the destroyed Mecha. Though many had watched with intense interest to see if the disgraced patriarch of the Silver Phoenix Clan would make a showing at the event, he refused to participate in what he called 'public group masturbation', earning outlaw status for himself, his sister and his family, and they have not been heard from since.

Other pockets of resistance popped up among the cells of the Underground Mechified Army that had been spreading ever since the events in the mines in Geneva Prime last year. Most of these were quickly and almost flippantly put down by Goshi. A few were simply ignored as being insignificant, but one or two cells - one in Geneva Prime itself and reputedly run by a mysterious figure known as The Bronze God - had troubled the smooth imposition of corporate rule.

These cells functioned to disrupt things just enough that the iron fist kept a tight grip on the rest of the populace. Everyday crowds would stand, as Tomohiro was doing now, and watch the screens to see the list of new ordinances being announced. Everyday the list of prohibited behaviors grew, and enforcement was instantaneous and without appeal. Stories of Hei-Shi teleporting into the homes of average civilians and murdering a resident before departing just as suddenly were spreading. Many such tales were false, but no one was cynical enough not to believe that at least some of these horror stories were real.

And though the horrors mounted daily and even illiterate Mechified in taverns were wondering aloud what Katashi Blade could possibly be after, there were darker shadows still that stalked the land. Rumors were being whispered and telepaths were gleaning frightening images from shattered minds. Goshi soldiers without eyes. Cobalt blue body armor with horrible appendages growing from beneath the plating. Burning runes and rumbling voices announcing inevitable despair... the Enemy are here.

Tomohiro scanned the list and realized that nothing would significantly affect his plans for the day. Yesterday he had arranged a tryst with his lover, but when he arrived he found only a note left behind explaining that she had been conscripted. Goshi's forces grew in number daily and it was becoming important to learn to avoid press gangs in addition to the Hei-Shi. What the army could be for, since Goshi already controlled every city on the continent, Tomohiro did not know. What mattered is that his last joy in this life had been taken from him.

Turning away from the screen he hurried along with the crowd, ducking down a side alleyway. At the other end he saw three other civilians whispering among themselves. They saw him and nodded. He reached into an alcove and pulled out a sack full of homemade pipebombs, waiting for the signal. When he heard a sudden burst of gunfire and screaming as the crowd in the street became a riotous mob, he didn't bother waiting any longer. He ran out into the boulevard, heaving bombs toward a rank of bullet-spitters to the North, shouting incomprehensible syllables. When the rounds tore through his torso it was a tremendous relief.