Tyranny of Steel

Berengar stood in his war room, with a headset on his head, which allowed him to effectively communicate with the Japanese Empress. The two monarchs were in a heated discussion regarding the recent events in Borneo, which saw an entire Japanese squadron shot out of the sky.     

Having agreed to a ceasefire for the duration of their negotiations, the topic of discussion was about compromises that would have to be made for both sides to agree not to bear their fangs at one another. There was a tranquil tone in Berengar's voice as he opened the negotiations with his rival from the east.      

"So, where do we begin? There are so many things I want to ask you, though most of these questions have nothing to do with our current predicament, and thus I will wait until a later date to speak with you about these matters.      

I suppose I should start by asking what demands you have of me? It is abundantly clear that if we wish to avoid all out warfare between our two nations, then something has to be given from both sides. Tell me, Empress Itami Riyo, what is it you want me to concede on the most?"     

Itami remained silent for several seconds. She was expecting the man to start out by making demands of her, but instead he had asked what she wanted from him. She could hardly believe her ears, but when she finally realized that she was not being deceived by her own senses, the Albino beauty spoke up with a rather stern tone in her high-pitched voice.     

"You want to know what it is that I demand from you? It is a rather simple matter, really. Withdraw all support from the Majapahit Empire and allow my campaign to continue without your interference!"     

Berengar did not hesitate to refuse this demand. Though his tone was calm, there was nothing but disdain in his mind for Itami's request.     

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I have plans for the Majapahit Empire, and I will not so easily surrender an ally to your conquest."     

Immediately taken aback by this statement, Itami scoffed before lecturing Berengar on what she thought about his so called 'allies'     

"Ally? You have no need for an alliance with them. They are just a proxy you are using to oppose me."     

Silence remained for several seconds as Berengar carefully formulated a response to Itami's statement. While it was true that he had no need of the Majapahit Empire as an ally, and they were simply a means to oppose the Japanese Empire, that did not mean that this relationship was in any way unjustified.      

"You have given me no reason to see you as anything but hostile Empress Itami Riyo. Do you expect me to just stand aside and watch as you expand your power?"     

Itami immediately took offense to this notion as she quickly countered with her own thoughts on the subject. She struggled to contain her inner fury as she curled her fists into a ball so tight her nails broke the skin of her palm.      

"Have you forgotten that I once offered to open trade between our two realms, and foster diplomatic relations with the German Nation?"     

A slight scoff emerged from Berengar's lips, though it was not his intent to enrage the Japanese Empress, he could not help himself, as the very concept that Itami had even attempted to improve relations with his Empire was easily inadmissible by the evidence he was about to point out.      

"No, I have not. I also have not forgotten that this offer only came after you had already sent an assassin to my home."     

With a piercing shriek, Itami had utterly lost control of her emotions while she quickly corrected Berengar's statement with an enraged tone in her shrill voice.      

"Min Ah was not an Assassin!!"     

Despite hearing Itami's defense, Berengar was not convinced and thus he quickly refuted her claims with his own bias.      

"Forgive me for not giving her the benefit of the doubt. I have a family to think of."     

Silence prevailed, while Itami took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. It was only now that she fully realized just how much she has offended Berengar with her hasty actions. However, before she could make an appropriate defense, Berengar continued to speak.      

"Even if I wanted to withdraw support for Majapahit, such a thing is impossible because of your own actions. I have seen what your troops do to their conquered subjects, and I can say with certainty that I would not desire for even my worst enemies to suffer such a horrific fate, let alone my allies."     

The momentary calm that Itami had managed to force upon herself had completely collapsed with this statement as she once more barked at Berengar as if she were a mad dog.     

"You think I ordered those atrocities? How dare you!?!"     

Contrary to what Berengar was expecting, Itami's words seemed genuine and full of both passion and disgust. He was inclined to believe that she was, in fact, innocent of these crimes against humanity, and thus was quick to correct his statement with a more diplomatic tone.     

"That's not what I said, and regardless of whether you ordered them or not, Germany cannot be seen abandoning an ally to Japanese conquest. So, now that such a thing is off the table, what else would you ask of me? Something I hope that is far more acceptable for the both of us."     

It took Itami several moments to think of an alternative solution that would allow her to peacefully end this conflict before it truly began, and after a while she came up with the perfect measure which she felt both sides would deem satisfactory.     

"If you will not withdraw your support from the Majapahit Empire, then at the very least, I request that you pull your Air Force out of the region. I do not want to see a single German plane or airship flying over the skies of Borneo! Especially not for the purpose of dropping propaganda leaflets to encourage defection among my forces. On this, I will not budge, so don't even think of presenting a counter offer!"     

Berengar thought about this prospect for some time, and in the end was indeed convinced that he could sacrifice such a measure. However, in return, he had a demand of his own, which he was quick to give voice to.      

"Very well... I can concede this point. I swear that I will prohibit the Luftwaffe from flying over Borneo for the extent of your campaign in the region. However, in return I want something from you... I need you to publically recognize that the attack on my pilots was unwarranted, unjustified, and a complete violation of your military law.     

I also need you to hold the man accountable who was responsible for authorizing the attack on my pilots. An example needs to be set, that firing upon my forces is completely unacceptable unless your troops have been attacked first. This way, we will be able to avoid any unfortunate incidents like this in the future.      

After all, if something like this were to occur a second time, I will be far less forgiving. You are just lucky that none of my men were injured in this incident, or we would not be having this discussion."     

In truth, there was little Itami could give Berengar in these negotiations. There was nothing tangible that the Japanese Empire had in its possession that the German Empire did not. In fact, Berengar's goal in this whole conflict was to bleed the Japanese Empire dry of its manpower and resources before he himself got involved in the war.      

Thus, while there were some things Berengar could do like implement a no-fly zone, to aid his allies, in the end they would be detrimental to his own cause, as this would effectively take Itami's pilots out of the war zone, and they were one Itami's greatest resources, one that Berengar hoped to drain in this conflict.      

However, a public recognition of fault on behalf of the Japanese Empire for this incident? That was worth its weight in gold. The German Propaganda machine would have a field day using Itami's own statement against her.      

Itami knew this was exactly what Berengar wanted, but compared to the other demands he could have made in exchange for keeping his own air force out of the war, it was definitely the most tolerable. Thus, after thinking about it for several moments, a loud sigh erupted from the albino beauty's mouth as she agreed to this condition.      

"Very well, I will publically announce that the attack on your pilots was unwarranted, unjustified, and a complete violation of military law. I will also hold the man who authorized the attack responsible for his actions, and of those pilots who acted on his orders. Is that really all you want from me in order to maintain the fragile peace that exists between our two nations?"      

A confident smirk emerged on Berengar's lips as he spoke into the microphone with a smug tone in his voice.     

"As long as your only demand is that I prevent my planes from flying over Borneo, then yes, that is all I ask of you."      

Itami did not hesitate to respond to this, though there appeared to be a defeated tone in her voice as she did so.      

"Fine, I will do as you ask, and I expect you to do the same. If that is all there is to be said, then I suppose these negotiations are concluded. I would say I look forward to hearing your voice again, Kaiser Berengar von Kufstein, but I fear the next time I am able to do so, we will be at war."      

Berengar managed to get one last comment out before the other line went silent.      

"Good luck..."      

With this conversation said and done, the German Empire and the Empire of Japan had just narrowly avoided all out warfare between their two nations.      

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