Law enforcement swarmed the perimeter, shut off the roads nearby and launched an active investigation, the body was identified through DNA, pieces of blood were taken into hospitals for the examination of toxic substances, and the suite scouted out to ensure nobody was in there, potentially someone who had killed the General. In the end, nothing was found, not a single trace of poison or sedative, the rooms were empty and had no trace of human activity, apart from in the kitchen where the General took his time with his drink. News got out, stained the city of Tokyo like wine on a carpet, soon the whole country knew of his death.
January 8th, 2026. Inside the Kantei (Meeting office for officials).
"How come?!" Exclaimed the Minister of Justice. "He was the most honourable man we knew, he wouldn't kill himself, especially not after our great victory!"
"Inconceivable, completely inconceivable." Spoke the Vice President. "Masayoshi wore his pride and achievements on his back, a death like this would be derogatory to everything he's accomplished, for us and for the country itself."
"Whatever the reason is, we mustn't let Japan fall into chaos." The President said strategically. "We must list this as a murder for the public to see, only to avoid anarchy in a time of panic."
Everyone agreed, almost in unison.
In a moment of awkward, loud silence, sweat sprinted down each and every member there. The anxiety in the room condensed, almost like it fermented into a higher concentration. On the right of the President, 3 chairs down the table was the Presidential Adviser, head of the advisory, clearly petrified out of his sanity.
"Nobody had anything on the General, absolutely no one." The Adviser stammered, "For him to die out of the blue is most unexpected, just a couple of days ago he was in his highest spirits, and now he's no longer in this world. This is no coincidence, and the General did not kill himself either, the only one capable of such influence... is him."
November 21st, 2020.
The Republic of Japan was very well kept, there was little to no corruption, the democratic system functioned very well here. In the North, everybody loved the Republic, it took care of them financially, made sure the streets were clean and the oceans even cleaner. It was the same in the centre of Japan too, prefectures such as Tochigi, Yamanashi and Nagano were well preserved and eco-friendly. Needless to say, the Republic was the best thing to ever happen to the country.
However, they neglected the East economically. Prefectures such as Kagoshima were known as industrially unstable. All along the east, multiple rebellious groups were united forcefully under a Communist group that wanted nothing but ill fate for Democracy. Numbers grew past thresholds, the Rebellion threatened to harm civilians that did not comply with their set ideologies, this drew attention to other nearby prefectures quickly, causing a lot of commotion. In no time, less than a day at best, the Republic was notified. They sent warnings again and again, yet the Rebellion showed no intention to thwart their plans, naturally it came to a nationwide war.
The leader of the Rebel Alliance, Yamino Gōma, made haste with his army towards countless nearby cities, gaining more and more land while drawing closer to the Capital city, and for the first year of the war, they occupied the prefecture of Hyogo while defending it tirelessly. Each and every day, the Republic would try attacking via the waters with their Navy, but to no prevail. Villages and towns were taken out, many prisoners were used as hostages, some as collateral for benefits to the Rebellion. Most who could either joined the Rebel Party or worked, manufacturing or mining materials in hazardous caves.
In the beginning of year 2, the Republic managed to push the Rebel Alliance back to Okayama, planning to pincer them as the Republic took Tottori under their control once more. Kōjō Takama, the President for the Republic, took his group of elites called the Tokushu-sakusengun, SFGp for short, and deployed them in groups of 15 each to take out rebel strongholds discretely that still remained in areas that were no longer the Rebellion's. They were also tasked with freeing the prisoner camps that were not demolished after abandonment.
Day after day, week after week, the SFGp did not suffer a single defeat, the rebel party was no match for their raw skill and power. Even when deployed to active forts, they would take down each and every communist there and set fire to the fort. To some, the fire was a threat, a warning to the Party. To most, who were forced to be there, who were forced to slave away for them, the fire was the spark of hope, a chance for a newer, better life, a reassurance that the Republic will win.
In the middle of the second year, the Rebellion built set up a citadel in Hiroshima, and linked it to Yamaguchi by placing multiple fortresses within a short distance of each other, so that even if one goes down, all the others will be alert. This was a thorn in the side of the rose we know of as the Republic's steady-going victory, the SFGp were multiple units, yet they were small and could not handle multiple strongholds at once, neither could they handle the gigantic Citadel which held a majority of the Party's Army.
Alas, the Republic was stagnated, they had no way to progress without losing a large fraction of their men at the same time. For the Rebellion, the construction of multiple strongholds and the citadel took a lot out of their wallets, although it did not matter as they did things illegally by extorting children to do manual labour in factories for guns and ammunition.
It was quite ironic, whenever you hear of the word rebellion, it's usually linked to a good cause. Yet, this rebellion was for further power, and the evil of Yamino knew no end, he kept his sins close to him always and did not let go of cruelty, only if it meant the destruction of the Republic and Democracy as we know it in Japan.
Then, the Republic created something ingenious.