"Serve to lead" - motto of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; officer training school for British Army.

2/LT Kousei Arima

That noon we decided to check out earlier, and we're lucky to be able to get a seat on the train ride back to Gotemba. I kept looking on my shaking hands while muttering the following; This is what we had signed up for. Now I can understand what Dad had gone through during and after 1999.

I went back to the time when Dad told me about how he woke up in the dark sometimes, particularly when I was a little baby, a mind-blowing revelation to me thanks to how he loved us greatly despite his job, to the point that he strived to spare his time just to be close to me and Mum, especially when she was fighting her brain cancer.

Once again I am lucky that Kaori was with me; she repeatedly put my hands on her grip.

"I'm scared of the future, What if we failed?" I asked. She replied. "I don't know if you will understand this now, Arima-kun, but I once read a quote from an Indian Army officer who earned his country's highest wartime honor in the mountains of Kargil, in Kashmir, who said the following; Some goals are so worthy, its glorious even to fail!"

"For us, failure is never an option in the first place!"

Suddenly Kaori's hand reached for my collar. "Listen to me, Arima Kousei! You got your point, but what I mean was, what we believe as Japanese people and free Asians is too priceless to not deserve effort, 120 percent like what Colonel Okazaki said, and if we must choose between try and fail and not to fight at all, we will and must choose the first option!"

"Now I understand" I swallowed in a single gulp on what she had told me, and it lasted nearly a minute before she let me go. To keep that worry at bay, Kaori had decided to pull out her phone and gave me one side of her earphone for me. Our favorite classical symphonies.

Back at Camp Komakado in Gotemba where the whole 5th Brigade are now billetted as part of our pre-deployment preparation (while Camp Omiya housed the 1st Brigade), we immediately head for the officer's mess and saw two of our fellow subalterns (1), Horokeu and Kusunoki who were playing I-Go.

"Kousei, Kaori... I think you are still in Hiroshima?" the second tank platoon leader greeted us. "Have you heard that the Chinese had hit it and the naval base in Kure? We're worried sick with you and Captain Kawashima is fuming inside."

"Horokeu is correct." added Kusunoki. "Great to know that you are safe!"

"That's right. We saw two dead from the raid, and so we decided to came back early. By the way, where is Captain Kawashima? I'll report."

"Well, I must report as well to Captain Hirasawa. See you later!" replied Kaori, referring to her own company commander, before she left the room.

At Kawashima's office, for sure thing, I got lectured about the importance of keeping him aware about our state as soon as possible in events like air raid when we are on leave. Then the 30 years old with appearances that looked two years older than his actual age, pulled out something else entirely. "I heard from the higher ups that you and your wife volunteered to help the first responders and element of the 10th Division in response to the raid. Is that correct?"

"Sir, yes sir." I then explained on how we flagged down one of the local army jeeps for us to get to locations where we might be useful, and how we found a collapsed apartment with two dead bodies inside followed by how local responders and soldiers told us that the hit might be as a result of a Chinese air-launched missile that went off-course.

"Let I make this simple, you had done the right thing there. People in the Nagoya Division appreciated yours, and so we have to give you the same. Keep up your good work!"

.....................................................................

The quarters for 32nd Infantry and 11th Tanks were not far, and not long she came at me in the hallway leading to the main parade ground.

"What did your company commander say?"

"He appreciated what I have done, but not before lecturing me about a need to report."

"Same as what Captain Kawashima told me. News travelled fast indeed."

Then Kaori and I part ways, as thanks to our earlier return, the command quickly rearranged the schedule and in my case, tank tactical simulator training session with my crew for the day.

"Better got some sleep today, for tomorrow it's a big day for your, you know." Sergeant Minato went towards me at the end of the virtual exercise; there were multiple simulators on the underground training room inside the camp which allow multiple crew to train simultaneously up to the company level. "You're doing well, that's what I want to say. With commanders like you, I will always be confident that we will win any battles that we will surely be face sooner or later."

"Thank you, Sergeant."

..................................................................................................................................................

2/LT Kaori Arima

People associated the Fourth of July as the day when the Americans celebrate their independence. But for me, it's more personal.

The first came from my husband, who woke me up with a kiss on my lips here in this special married officer's quarters made of converted shipping containers but surprisingly homey, something that Kousei and I never explicitly wished for, but I understood that those in the headquarters knew the best...

"Happy birthday, Kaori love."

Then, we headed for the mess hall for our breakfast after the routine physical training. Somehow I want to ask why there are no other birthday wishes yet, but I put that aside as we're eating. Then I brought Kousei with me for a walk around the base and the surrounding area. I promptly head for the base level post office and talked to the officer in charge.

"This is your lucky day, Lieutenant Arima." the OIC said. "here it is... From Yoshiyuki and Ryouko Miyazono... We have to be grateful to scientists who helped us keeping track of what we are doing even when the GPS is practically out. Not perfect, but backups are better than nothing."

He's right. As both Allied Forces (NATO/IPSDC) and China continued their cyber and space attrition warfare with no end in sight, with almost every single night the sky was lit up with satellite debris from the outer space as it dies in a fiery fashion, it was imperative to keep many pieces of modern life that we have taken for granted and satnav-reliant to run safely just like electric backup generators used in case of outages. One of these was an optical navigation system, developed locally and a separate development in America, in the latter case initially for it's military before all hell broke loose in which automated systems with cameras use landmarks like buildings and road junctions to establish their position and to create waypoints for fastest route to destination, especially important for delivery drivers - many had been mobilized to assist our logistic units - as well as their drone companions.

We had listened way too much to anecdotal stories about how the damage inflicted to the GPS had created situations like some people who literally forget how to drive and when things went bad, they were stuck and or get lost in the wheel of their self-driving car.

"... there are letters as well, with many of these senders addressed it to Arima-sensei." The OIC continued. "That's understandable, your violin students had clearly missed your lessons, Lieutenant Arima."

We took them all and decided to head back at our quarters, where we opened the largest one I never expected that my parents will give me a pack of caneles, but it turned out to be that!

"There's a letter." my husband pointed.

Dear Kaori,

Happy Birthday, Kaori! Ever since you enlisted in the Army with Kousei, the house felt really empty but like you, despite all the difficult challenges that we face in this war, we are also able to find a way to help refugees. Please stay safe.

Also, I think it's best to tell you that Kenji is volunteering in the Nerima Victory Garden and the National Guard. We will always pray for your safety and we hope to see you again soon.

P.S. These caneles shall be the way you and Kousei to remember us always and we hope that this not become your last time to be able to eat it, dear Kaori.

Love

Mum and Dad

You see; long before the war urban agriculture was a thing here in Japan, much more after COVID-19 brought in the associated economic downturn that followed by all sorts of events that finally led to what we were now. With the onset of the war, every urban agriculture projects inside Japan was promptly called "Victory Garden" by an act of parliament, evoking American success with it during World War II. It helped to lessen the burden of the government rationing, much more with the fact that our country was never fully food sufficient to begin with.

Kousei and I also remembered the last time they called us by phone, they told us about how the Chinese ballistic missiles had somehow managed to hit Camp Zama - an American military installation southwest of Tokyo - inflicted a significant damage.

There were a lot of stories particularly from the enlisted ranks that we heard day to day about the rationing system and it will be too long to be explained here.

My husband went closer to me again after done sorting the letters out. With glee, he told me. "This is from Hiroko-san". However, I am really anxious about what happened to her, as she called us in a lesser frequency than our parents.

Dear Mrs. Kaori Arima,

On behalf of House of Melody, we wish you a happy birthday! First thing first, I regret to inform you that since you and Kousei went to enlist followed by two other instructors; Mr. Junichiro Koizumi and Mr. Takeshi Togetsu, as well as the State of Emergency, House of Melody have to temporary cease operating. However I guarantee that after this ends, we will rebuild and get stronger than ever in music!

Even with this difficult change, the music still on with some other instructors and members who held paid concerts with all proceeds will be used to buy defense bonds, here and overseas. We are now all frontliners, so you two, do your best!

With love.

Seto Hiroko
Director of House of Melody Music School

"I also got the letter with the same wording" Kousei told me, before showed the said letter he mentioned. "About Koizumi and Togetsu-san, they got drafted. Probably to fill the units who got battered in Taiwan as well in Korea. Speaking of paid concerts, Akesaka had done two of it with several other students; his parents is quite wealthy and they are bunch of patriots, which is a good thing..."

"Don't forget VTubers and other influencers as well." I replied while slowly eating the caneles my parents sent for both of us. "We've seen campaign streams about buying war bonds, recycle old chips and other e-wastes, join the Victory Garden, enlist with the Forces (including police force and National Guard) and many more. Internet might got slower a bit due to the wars in space, but we got backups so it's still there."

Third letter was opened, and it was from one of my students.

Dear Arima-sensei,

I miss your lesson, Protect us from those Chinese baddies and please come back soon after all this ends!

Your student

Fumika Kanagawa

In the afternoon that day, Kousei and I decided that some time off the wire would be necessary. In this case, to play a little basketball with local kids. Lieutenant Horokeu was supposed to join us, being a basketball lover, but today, he had told Kousei that he's about to spend his free time on the base's library for a good reading session.

Passing through Watari and few others who was playing soccer with one of them was Lt. Kusunoki, it took less than 15 minutes to reach the said basketball pitch.

That moment of looking at how much they progressed would never be forgotten. Other day like this could include watching Kousei joined his regiment in soccer matches, helping elderly civilians tending their victory gardens or their existing rice fields, or volunteering with temples handling displaced persons and refugees. On the other hand, for musicians like us, it could mean to simply invite local kids inside this base with appropriate precautions to give them crash lesson on our instruments or simply made them to watch us play.

Not long, it was 4 o'clock in the afternoon and we left the pitch with the message of "Stay safe" to those kids. We can see that they will miss us, but our time was fleeting. Upon our return to the barracks, my platoon sergeant Denjiro Nakashima as well as Kousei's own showed up on the gates.

"Lieutenant Arima Kaori, happy birthday"

"Thank you, sarge, where are the rest?"

"Come with me, Lieutenant Arima Kousei too, as well." To avoid confusion, the boys and girls had been given allowance to address Kousei and I with our first names after the ranks as well as by our surnames. With a preplanned signal from Sergeant Minato, Sergeant Nakashima handed Kousei a blindfold, which he promptly put it over my eyes.

"Are we there yet?"

"Just wait, ma'am," Nakashima answered. It took almost forever. However I could feel that I am in a kind of a hall as we stopped. The blindfold was removed and yet I could only see darkness. Then suddenly...

"SURPRISE!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIEUTENANT KAORI ARIMA!"

I'm about to let my tears out as the company sang the birthday song for me. I realized now that I am in the morale and recreation room.

"Get the cake, people!"

Led by Tsubaki, my entire platoon gathered up near Kousei and I.

"Blow the candle, ma'am!" she exclaimed upon the cake on her hands has been put on a table in front of me. "Make a wish, Lieutenant!" said someone behind me whose turned out to be Captain Kawashima and his XO, 1st Lieutenant Hiroshi Numakura.

Colonel Okazaki also stopped by and gave his wish to me and the company in large.

"My wish will be," I began. "Victory!"

The whole company, infantry and tank crews alike, replied by chanting Banzai repeatedly as I blew up the candle.

.....................................................................................................................................

2/LT Kousei Arima

All along, I have to be grateful that this particular camp has a piano. Playing it in a duet with Kaori's violin was an effective, while temporary, escape from the frontline, especially when it comes to weekend. Along with sports, music was also good for morale especially in light that we're about to see action. As time passed here in this camp, news from the front was increasingly grim.

Our main focus was when Prime Minister Nishikino had his routine address to the nation. The camp was deathly silent as at one night, the PM showed up on screen with something that we will never forget. We were often told by Americans who trained together with us what could happen in case of the latter had their carriers taken away from them, which was confirmed from the morning news.

"The enemy attacked on all sides with great strength and fierceness, and their main power, the power of their far more numerous air and missile force, was thrown into the battle or else concentrated upon Yilan [a city in Eastern Taiwan] and the beaches. Pressing in upon the narrow exit, both from the north and the south, the enemy began to fire upon the beaches and plains by which alone the shipping could approach or depart. They sowed mines in the straits and seas; they conducted electronic, informational, and psychological effort to induce us to surrender; they sent repeated waves of hostile aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles, and unmanned combat vehicles; sea, air, and land; sometimes more than a hundred strong in one formation, to cast their bombs and missiles upon the single pier that remained, and upon the rocks, trees, and sand dunes upon which the troops had their eyes for shelter. Their ships and submarines, manned and unmanned alike, had taken their toll of the vast traffic which has now began. For four or five days an intense struggle reigned. All their mechanized brigades-or what was left of them-together with great masses of infantry and artillery, hurled themselves in vain upon the ever-narrowing, ever-contracting appendix within which the Japanese, American, Australian, Singaporean, and Free Chinese forces fought."

On the other hand, there was a reason to be grateful as the PM continued the address.

"In the defense of Free China, our losses in troops had exceeded 5.000 killed, wounded and missing, the highest since the 1999 War and World War II. I take occasion to express the sympathy of the Diet to all who have suffered bereavement or who are still anxious. The Minister of Justice [Tomoe Ichihara] is not here today. Her son has been killed fighting, and many of us here in the House have felt the pangs of affliction in the sharpest form. But I will say this about the missing: We have had a large number of wounded returned home safely to this country, but I would say about the missing; that there may be many of our gallant soldiers reported missing who will come back home, some day, in one way or another. In the confusion of this fight it is inevitable that many have been left in positions where honor required no further resistance from them. Against this loss, we can set a far heavier loss certainly inflicted upon the enemy. But our losses in material are significant..."

"Thanks to the militarized Space X rockets..." I muttered. "Those rockets, tipped with cruise missiles covered our friend's retreat by giving the mainland China itself no peace. On the other hand, their jamming and other defenses managed to destroy some...."

"Speaking about those space bombers, Kousei." Kusunoki began. "I got a question... why the hell the Americans are not yet targeting the Three Gorges Dam?"

"I second that question, sir." replied Watari.

"I can only say that they are sparing the best for last. Besides, remember the news? Insurgents are popping out inside American soil. Things that they fought overseas for decades now had occurred on their own soil. You see, the Red Chinese and other opportunistic actors inside their politics had funded both far-left and far-right groups to physically and electronically attack targets of opportunity there in addition of their own cyber army. Right now, both their West and East Coast had been put under state of emergency, some to the level of martial law."

"About the American insurgents..." Horokeu took his turn. "I have a friend in the US. Originally from Sapporo. He told me that the radicals - left and right alike, mind you - were the most reprehensible piece of work ever exist in his country, about how the race riots in their cities was primarily their responsibility and how some of these groups with their contradictions received dirty money. Especially with his shop got looted in Seattle four years ago... In short, they are not much different than Jihadi terrorists like ISIL or Al-Qaeda."

"....Capital and Labor have cast aside their interests, rights, and customs and put them into the common stock. Already the flow of munitions as well as raw materials from our allies has leaped forward. There is no reason why we should not in a few months overtake the sudden and serious loss that has come upon us, without retarding the development of our general program...."

".....Nevertheless, our thankfulness at the escape of our Army and so many men, whose loved ones have passed through an agonizing week, must not blind us to the fact that what has happened in Taiwan is a colossal military disaster. The United States Navy has two of it's mighty aircraft carriers - USS Carl Vinson and USS Theodore Roosevelt - knocked out, probably for the rest of this war, by enemy action and some of their escorts had been lost or damaged, while the Republic of China Armed Forces has been mostly lost in the fighting or assuming a guerilla war, many of her companies and factories and infrastructure has been denied to the enemy but not all, the whole of the Taiwan are now in it's hands. It's rightful government are now under our protection, and with all the tragic consequences that follow from this, we must expect another blow to be struck immediately at us or at our allies of the IPSDC, including against the territory of the United States itself. We are certain that Mr. Wen Jiaxu and his generals and admirals have a plan for a follow up invasion targeting more islands constituting our nation..."

"What's next?" one of the privates behind Kaori tried to raise things up before being silenced by his peers.

"No wonder there were almost no hours without roar of jet engines... the Taiwanese was evacuating what was left of their Air Force... They are to fight here under our command." I could hear Tsubaki's statement from one of the enlisted' tables.

"Free Chinese, Sergeant" said one of her troopers, in correction.

"....We shall not be content with a defensive war. We have our duty to our allies including the United States. We have to reconstitute and build up our expeditionary forces again in a shortest possible time, especially as our neighbor the South Koreans - Free Koreans - are still fighting. All this is in train; but in the interval we must, and are doing so, in putting our defenses in this Island into such a high state of organization that the fewest possible numbers will be required to give effective security and that the largest possible potential of offensive effort may be realized...."

"....Ever since the war began, we, aided by our allies especially the United States, Canada, and member states of the European Community have found it necessary to take measures of ever-increasing stringency in every domain not only against enemy aliens and suspicious characters of other nationalities including from those we welcomed here as refugees from conflict and persecutions at home for years before, but also against citizens of Japan who may become a danger or a nuisance. I know there are a great many people affected by the orders which we have made who are the passionate enemies of Communist China. I am very sorry for them, but we cannot, at the present time and under the present stress, draw all the distinctions perfectly which we should like to do. Then, we are heading for another class, for which I feel not the slightest sympathy. The State of Emergency had given us the powers to put down every form of Fifth Column activities with a strong hand including by usage of lethal force, but we shall, and are using, those powers subject to the supervision and correction of the Diet, without the slightest hesitation until we are satisfied, and more than satisfied, that this malignancy in our midst has been effectively stamped out..."

"...I have a full confidence that if every one of us do their duty with excellence, we shall prove our abilities to defend our Islands home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Imperial Majesty's Government-every men and women. That is the will of Diet and the nation. The Free Asians and Pacific Islanders; Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Thais, Burmese, Filipinos, Indonesians, East Timorese, Indians, Nepalis, Malaysians, Vietnamese, Australians, New Zealanders, Samoans, Fijians, Melanesians and others, linked together in their cause and in their need with our Western brothers and sisters and beyond, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though parts of Indo-Pacific have fallen or may soon fall into the grip of the Guoanbu [Chinese Ministry of State Security] and all odious apparatus of Chinese Communist rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight across Mainland Asia and beyond, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall rule the air and the outer space, we shall rule the information, mind, and cyber space, we shall defend our Islands, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, landing grounds, the fields, the forests, and in the streets, every houses, and we shall fight in the hills and mountains; It means? We shall never surrender! and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, these isles or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our people here and abroad, guarded and armed by our Imperial forces and allies, would carry on the struggle, until, in Kami-sama's good time, all nations and individuals who call themselves as part of the civilized world, will come and do their part to liberate the Indo-Pacific.

That night, I found myself have to hug Kaori in a secluded part of the camp when it's free, not far from the morale and welfare room.

"Let me hold onto you much longer! Don't leave me alone!" As she went on her knees, the truth was clear about how everyone has it's limits. Including her. Especially with the constant flow of information from the frontline.

"It's okay." I went silent, my essences were absorbing her own feelings of dread; her delicate frame was holding onto me for dear life. "To be honest, I would like to hold into you forever, if I can... I hate if the war meant that one of us have to be alone!"

A few moments with her, not as officers but a pair of husband and wife, was enough for peace to settle in.

"Tonight, I'll pray for what we are going to do." I quipped. "You must do it, too, love."

"First will be about our family, and then our duty, and those who had lost their loved ones."

"That's right, Kaori. Now, raise your head high, tomorrow might be that big day."

Two weeks later, the order to move had finally arrived. No farewell parties allowed, only phone calls to family or guardians.

"We'll make it brief, people. We have been invaded."

"While our Navy and Aerospace Force are having its hands full in keeping their (Chinese) fleet inside the First Island Chain, especially after the Americans got two of their carriers out of commission by ballistic missile strikes as well as the duty of covering and handling evacuees from Taiwan, the Red Chinese had managed to sneak past our defenses using civilian cargo ships and high speed wing-in-ground-effect vessels (2), and right now, half of Kyushu Islands and part of Yamaguchi Prefecture has been occupied. To add the insult to the injury, they'd also damaged a third American carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan. We have to be grateful that the Russians, as much as their penchant to stir up trouble in Europe, are currently neutral. The Reds are now trying to take the important city of Iwakuni and so we are going there to defend it. This will be our counterattack!"

"Thanks to India." Kousei can hear Kaori's rambling to herself after our regimental commander Lt. Colonel Seiji Okazaki had finished his part. "The Russians, with memories of Ukraine still fresh, are smart enough to not further compromise their ties with the Indians by joining the Chinese, as well as with Vietnam, despite the latter was no longer a communist state. We all know that their main interests nowadays are in the Mediterranean, the Arctic, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East as well as in the Atlantic. Speaking of Middle East, even Syria is not that stupid to join the Chinese militarily for obvious reasons, and neither the Gulf monarchies despite their trade with China before the war."

"For Russia, intelligence had confirmed how our leaders thought about President Kuznetsov. He and his subordinates knew that the late Putin's effort to get Russia together with China had rendered the country a junior partner for Chinese bid for domination... and right now there is a possibility that China might want to claim Eastern Russia and Siberia for themselves in the name of protecting their citizen." stated Horokeu. "For a good reason, through, they won't help us directly."

"That's concerning... God, the Red Chinese is indeed at war with almost the entire world..." I replied at the Ainu officer.

Before duty begins, family reconciliation are necessary for few people.

"Tell Miku I love her, and I am sorry for doubting her love for me. Now I have to fight." That's what I heard from the regimental second in command, Major Sato Hikawa, as he's talking on the phone. There were multiple booths to fasten the process, and not long I got my turn.

"Son..." It was my father's voice.

"This is it, Dad. We're called to action."

"I know. My old contacts had kept me updated about one or two things from the frontline. So, listen, this is from me and your mother... Don't come back a coward!"

Kaori was on my side on the other booth.

.....................................................................................

2/LT Kaori Arima

At the same time as my husband, I had a chance to make my parents and Kenji know.

"You can do it, Kaori! Your husband is on your side, remember that!" That's how I paraphrase what my dad told me. Meanwhile my mother told me, "Do your duty! God bless you, Kaori!"

I answered "If something happened to me or Kousei, it will be such that you will feel proud of me through my life!"

"Don't say that, Kaori! You'll be back, one way or another!"

"Of course, mum..." Then Kenji took his turn.

"Onee-chan, take care of yourself!"

"Kenji-nii" I began. "If I only take care of myself who is going to take care of my soldiers? One day, you will truly understand why I fight."

...............

A/N:

- The rescript of the PM's speech was largely taken from Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech.

(1). British terminology for junior officers (to Captain rank)

- About Japanese effort in counter-drone system: https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/01/13/japan-laser-system-drones/

(2). Also known as an Ekranoplan (screenglider in Russian) or Ground Effect Vehicle, it's defined as a vehicle is a that is able to move over the surface by gaining support from the reactions of the air against the surface of the earth or water. Classified as maritime ship by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).