[center][h3][b][u]Gifu System, The Musashi Empire[/u][/b][/h3][/center]

Prince Shoichi had allowed a wide smile to spread across his face when he had heard of the Dominion declaration of war. He was an intelligent man, regardless of what his exiled cousin believed, and could reasonably predict what was to occur over the next few hours. He immediately sent out the order for all military forces in the region to come to full battle readiness, which took only a few hours to accomplish seeing as they had already been prepared for an invasion to begin with. He [i]knew[/i] that his uncle, the Emperor, would accept Faust’s call to arms. And with that Yuki’s “valiant” sacrifice would be for naught. And it certainly got better than that. The Confederation would surely join the war on Uther’s side, thus allowing Shoichi to destroy [i]that[/i] country as well. Yuki had come to love the Confederation, which would make its destruction all the better by Shoichi’s accounting.

When the news of the Emperor’s declaration of war finally arrived it took all of Shoichi’s self-restraint to hide his excitement. Opening a communications link to the entire fleet he simply stated “To all military forces in the region: commence Operation Togo. I repeat: commence Operation Togo.”

That one line marked Musashi’s entrance into the war. The bulk of Musashi’s navy was already warming up its FTL drives. Their destination the Core Imperium.

[center][h3][b][u]The Imperial Palace, Bushu, Musashi System, The Musashi Empire[/u][/b][/h3][/center]

Princess Saeko found what was before her to be an awe inspiring sight. When it came to the population of interstellar countries, thousands were an insignificant number. It was so easy to forget how truly massive a crowd numbering in the thousands was. That is, until one finds oneself staring at that very crowd. Before Saeko stood a regiment of Imperial guards, and three regiments of bushi shodans. They all stood at attention. Behind these soldiers literally thousands of Musashi’s citizens had gathered to hear what their remaining princess had to say.

Saeko had not wanted to give a speech originally, but had changed her mind after Minister Xiao Xiang had spoken to her. Clearly Xiang had been expecting a very large crowd, as she had already arranged for drones to record and broadcast her words all over the crowd and the country as a whole.

“This is a speech that will be remembered for centuries” Xiang had said to her. At the time Saeko had not believed her, but now, an hour later, Saeko could see that Xiang was indeed correct. What she said now did matter. Her words would be remembered.

The thought of that frightened her. She found her mouth dry, a cold sweat beginning on her brow. She wanted to call off the whole thing a flee. But it was too late for that. And, she told herself, if she couldn’t give a simple speech then she was unfit to be empress.

“Honor is a fragile, elusive, and subjective thing. Yet nothing is more important.” A hushed silence fell over the crowd as Saeko spoke. “It is honor that separates the civilized from the uncivilized, the just from the unjust, the trustworthy from those who are untrustworthy. When countries and individuals act with honor conflict is avoided, just as those who are dishonorable create conflicts.”

“Unfortunately” Saeko continued after a slight pause, “Grand Marshal Uther Eddion or individuals who reside in his domain, committed the foul and dastardly act of attacking a diplomatic ship from the Dominion, killing Executis Conrad in the process. This act was unprovoked and dishonorable in every way imaginable. The very act of assassinating a high level government official of a country is tantamount to a declaration of war. In response to this terrible act the Dominion has declared war on the Core Imperium. But let there be no doubt that although the Dominion declared war first, it was the Core Imperium that started the war. And as per the terms of our treaty with the Dominion, Musashi shall rush to the Dominion’s defense. Although my uncle, the Emperor, has already done so through official channels earlier today allow me to momentarily address Uther: The Empire of Musashi officially declares war on the Core Imperium.”

“This war shall be unlike any other witnessed by the galaxy. It shall be both Great and Terrible. Countries will tremble; some will fall while others will rise to greater heights. This will be a long war. This will be a costly war. Very likely millions will die. Possibly billions. We will want to tell ourselves that the [i]Enemy[/i] is an evil savage who deserves a painful death. In some cases this will be correct, but more often than not those fighting against us will be doing so not because they wish us harm, but because they wish to defend their homelands. There will be heroes and villains on both sides of the conflict. But let no one claim that the warriors of Musashi were anything less than honorable!” Saeko raised her fist into the air. Thousands of fists rose in the crowd as her audience cheered.

“The stresses of war will make us want to do terrible things. We. Shall. Not. Some of our enemies and allies will wage war on noncombatants. But that is not how Musashi wages war! We will face our enemies not with hatred, but respect! They may spit in our faces, they may reveal themselves to be dastardly in nature, yet we shall hold our heads up high in the knowledge that we held ourselves to a higher standard!” The crowd’s cheering was so loud that Saeko had to wait for a minute before she could speak again.

“Honor and glory is not the domain of warriors alone. There is honor in the man who works himself to exhaustion in the factory he works at, laboring away to aid the war effort. There is honor in the wife that raises her children alone while her husband defends his homeland. There is honor in the doctor who saves the lives of not only our citizens, but those from abroad.  And there is honor in the man that regards his foes with respect.”

“The Alorian Kingdom and Imperial Systems Commonwealth have already declared war on the Dominion, while at the same time declaring war on the Vargarian Remnants. And thus it is with a heavy heart that I must state the Empire of Musashi is declaring war on the Alorian Kingdom and Imperial Systems Commonwealth as well.”

“To the Confederation I have a message, a plea, to make. This is not a plea made out of weakness or fear, but one made in the hopes that the leadership of the Confederation will listen to reason. There is no honor to be found in supporting the Core Imperium and its dastardly act. I urge you to stay your hand and remain neutral. We have fought you once before and it is my sincere hope that we will not have to do so again. But should you decide to ignore my plea and instead point your sword at Musashi know this: we are ready. We will not hesitate to draw our katanas and meet you on the field of battle. We will fight you with honor and I hope you will do the same if you insist on pointing your swords at us.”

“Honor is a fragile, elusive, and subjective thing. Yet nothing is more important. Let all who look back on this terrible era discern that Musashi was a beacon of civilization. That Musashi conducted itself with honor, when others would not! That Musashi was a land of heroes and heroines! Let all those who look back on this day strive to follow our example! Let them say that we were, in both victory and defeat, honorable people! Nothing is more important than honor and honor is something we do not lack!”

The crowd’s cheer was a thunderous roar as Saeko brought her speech to an end. Thousand began to shout “Musashi banzai! Saeko-sama banzai! Musashi banzai! Saeko-sama banzai!” And with that Musashi had joined the Great War in thunderous applause.