Keyguyperson

Word association Game!

Garlic bread

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Truk Lagoon, Empire of Japan

April 21st 1960

Sixty odd planes flew through the abnormally windy skies above Truk, their propellers chopping into the warm tropical air as they combed the ocean. If the neighboring Philippines happened to have anyone observing the display then there would have surely been an international incident. The planes were not alone, and below them sailed a small task force led by the carrier Shiroyama plus the battleships Katsuragi and Musashi. Accompanying the capital ships were a handful of destroyers and light cruisers. It was enough to constitute a strike force against any number of of the less powerful nations in the area, and it was no secret which one in particular it was targeted at.

Far ahead of the task force was a rare sight, a dirigible flying the naval ensign of Japan. Though the Empire had adopted airships after the loss of the fleet at Dalian with the intent of using them as a cheap, quickly assembled alternative to an actual naval force, little had ever come of the effort. Plans to create "torpedo airships" to perform attacks from a relatively safe position on enemy warships never came to fruition thanks to the 2nd American Civil War which cut Japan off from helium supplies. Forced to use hydrogen, they couldn't risk sending an airship into the range of flak for fear of the gas igniting. And so, Japanese airships only remained in support roles.

In the case of the Hayabusa, the dirigible flying before the fleet, it served an anti-submarine role. Where it might have instead carried torpedo tubes, it instead carried dozens of compact sonar buoys. Many of then had already been deployed, but were picking up nothing so far.

"Deploying buoys eighteen through twenty-five, switching seven through seventeen over to the Katsuragi's operators. Switch your frequencies."

The twin lines of men hunched over sonar equipment re-tuned their receivers to match the transmitting frequencies of the newly-dropped buoys. Had the airship not been built as a torpedo boat, then they would have had enough room to house operators for all the active buoys. At least IJN battleships had sonar suites of their own that could be used in a pinch in concert with airship-dropped buoys.

Yumi flipped his equipment over to buoy twenty-one. Nothing, just as usual. For a force sent specifically to hunt down a submarine, there sure weren't any submarines to be found. Out of boredom he peered out of the gondola's window, hoping that he might catch one surfacing to recharge out of a stroke of luck. Unsurprisingly, he didn't. The specific submarines they were looking for hadn't left their home port nearly long enough ago to be running out of power in their batteries.

"Captain!" Yelled out the Hayabusa's radio operator, turning quite a few heads. "The Katsuragi has been torpedoed, they're dead in the water!"

Impossible! Thought Yumi, frantically switching back to the frequencies of earlier buoy's to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Still nothing. A modern submarine might go unnoticed in these conditions, but not some old clunker from the 30's!

"It might be among our own fleet," said Yumi, "hiding in the noise from our own ships."

"No, they couldn't attack from that range without almost surfacing." Said the Captain. "Switch all buoys to active sonar, find it."

Yumi did as he was told and went through each of the buoys, ordering them to begin sending out sonar pings.

"All buoys on active, sir!" Said the crew in unison.

"We'll backtrack, start monitoring your assigned buoys from nine to seventeen."

"Yes, sir!"

Ping

Yumi heard it the moment he flicked back to buoy ten, the faint noise of a sonar ping being returned. A quick look at the deployment plans on the clipboard next to him confirmed that it wasn't any part of the task force.

"I've got something! Buoy ten!"

Ping

Ping

"Off the Katsuragi's portside!"

"I'm reading it too! Buoy twelve!"

"Buoy nine, I confirm."

"Buoy ten, distance estimate... nine kilometers? Can anyone else confirm?"

"Buoy eleven, I hear it too."

"Buoy nine, distance estimate nine-point-five kilometers."

"That wasn't a Mark 14 torpedo," said Yumi, "too far out. I'd guess it's not even a P-Class boat."

"Buoy twelve, I confirm location. Depth approximately two-hundred and fifty meters."

"Radio it to the fleet and set a course for the location, prep the depth charges."

The Hayabusa did technically carry depth charges. Technically. Due to the nature of its role (spread buoys everywhere, then sit back and listen) it rarely got a chance to use them. Even so, everyone knew that the Captain would order their use even after they got the enemy submarine. Mainly because if they ever did need to be used he wanted his crew to actually know how to set and fire them.

"Buoy ten?"

Yumi turned around at Captain Saeki's voice. He was an old and wise man, ever since being assigned to the Hayabusa Yumi had looked up to him. They had never spoken before off-duty, but one-duty he could tell that the Captain was just the sort of man he wanted to serve under.

"Yes sir?"

"What boat and what torpedo do you think it was, if not a P-Class with a Mark 14?"

"I'm not sure about the class, but it seems similar to the Hakuryū Class. Assuming it's an American boat I'd say its carrying Mark 38 torpedoes. If we're sticking purely to American classes then my best guess would be a T-Class. Test depth of two hundred meters, much like the Hakuryū, although with a much higher never-exceed depth."

"And why is that?"

"The American and Filipino navies set the test depth at one third of the design depth, we set ours at one half. They've been using roughly thousand megapascal steel to construct their submarines for a while now, we haven't been able to mass-produce it until recently."

"Buoy ten, you're a fine sonar tech."

"Thank you, sir."

The radio operator took off his headset and turned around.

"The destroyers got it, I have confirmation that the enemy submarine has been sunk."

"Well at least we still managed to go without any losses despite the sub's captain going directly against the exercise's plan and failing to emulate the P-Class he was meant to. The Philippines doesn't have anyone to import new submarines from, and certainly not any that can match an American T-Class. I can guess that the idea was to see how we perform in the face of an unexpected threat, but it seems a little far-fetched that the Filipinos would have a sub equal to our own cutting-edge. I suppose we know now that we can deal with it if they do, though."

---

"Torque wrench."

Yumi picked the tool up out of the box next to him and threw it to the mechanic, who responded with a smile and a nod as he went back to work. Whenever he didn't have anything else to do, Yumi would go over and help the guy out. He'd never actually asked his name, even though it had been a good few weeks since the Hayabusa was rebased to Truk, but despite that they had become good friends. The mechanic was happy to have an assistant, and Yumi was happy to watch him work on the planes.

Originally, Yumi had wanted to be a pilot. It had been his dream for as long as he could remember. Things turned out differently though, and by the time he joined the military he ended up enlisting in the Navy since it was just as the high brass was drawing up plans for southward expansion. Not to mention the talk of restarting the old dirigible program. He thought he might have had a chance of ending up as a pilot on the dirigible carrier that had been planned, but instead the program was canned again and he settled for being a sonar tech. Not nearly as glorious as being a pilot on a flying aircraft carrier.

At least it was still in the air.

"I'll bet you know enough to do my job by now," said the mechanic, "all the time you spend here and all. You a Navy pilot or something?"

Yumi chuckled at the thought. He had a license, and could fly the fighter the mechanic was working on, but he wasn't even close to capable of a carrier landing. Or a takeoff. Or combat. He could keep a plane steady and not much else.

"No, not at all. I'm a sonar tech on the Hayabusa."

"Oh really? I heard about the exercise you did yesterday, sounds like you screwed up. The sub got a shot at the Katsuragi, didn't it?"

"The briefing said the sub would be acting like a Filipino P-Class. We all took it at face value and started looking for a noisy piece of junk from the 30's. Instead it was acting like a T-Class and we had to use active sonar."

"I dunno what any of that means, but why'd they deviate from the plan?"

"It was part of the plan, but nobody in the task force was told that. T-Class subs are some of the more recent American designs, they dive deep and move quietly. Totally different beast from a P-Class. Anyhow, the whole point of it was to see how we handle unforeseen threats. The Admiral said that there'll be another exercise eventually with the same purpose."

"It sounds like they're planning to redeploy you, the Philippines won't have anything unexpected after all. Do you think you're headed to China?"

"I'd like to think that, but the Chinese fleet is almost entirely ships stolen at Dalian. There's not much point in a large-scale naval redeployment, especially since we have a land border anyways."

"It seems that way, doesn't it?" Said a familiar voice.

Yumi turned to the hangar's entrance and found Captain Saeki standing there. It took a couple seconds for him to process it.

"C-Captain?" Stuttered Yumi, jumping up into a salute along with the mechanic. "Why are you at the Air Service base?"

"You are well-prepared to do your job, Yontōsuihei Nakamura. More so than any other sonar tech recruit I've worked with, you've got a real drive. I looked through your file and wasn't surprised, you volunteered?"

"Yes sir, my father died during the battle of Dalian. He would have wanted me to join up."

"So you really are their son! Kei and Naoko Nakamura's boy!"

The Captain's eyes lit up with mirth Yumi hadn't thought possible on such a serious and old face. His dignified, respected captain suddenly started acting like an excited kid.

"You knew my parents, sir?"

"You father and I were good friends, I had a hunch that you were his kid after I looked at your file. We were both pilots and were in the same squadron for a couple years, I still remember your birthday-he kept on going on and on about you right after he got the telegram. I came down here to make sure it was you. How about meeting somewhere else, not as airmen, totally informal. I doubt you remember him well, and I can tell you plenty!"

Yumi wasn't quite sure what to make of it all, and all he could muster was a canned "Yes, sir". With the handing over of a hastily scribbled note with a time and address on it, the captain left the two alone in the hangar.

The mechanic let out some pent-up chuckles.

"So," he said, "your mother was named Kei and your father was named Naoko?"

"Yes." Said Yumi with a sigh.

"And they named you, their son, Yumi?"

"Yes." Said Yumi with a more exasperated sigh.

"Are you actually a woman?"

"The recruiter asked that too."

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

<Snipped quote by Keyguyperson>

So, when will you make an IC post?

@Letter Bee

Tomorrow, definitely.

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

@Vilageidiotx
I could see a Japanese businessman being there, whitey isn't the only one that can do neocolonialism after all.

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

<Snipped quote by Keyguyperson>

Rape of Osaka 1960. No weebs will survive!

@Dinh AaronMk

It's not over until you take every last maid cafe in Akihabara!

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Also map updated:

-image snip-

@Dinh AaronMk

>he changed Glorious Nippon's color slightly

Nanking is gonna burn just for that.

I totally get that the official map is divided differently from the one I used, but ew, my territories look shitty on it.

It'll do.. but.. EWWW.

@Pepperm1nts

I mean, Russia right now is basically Border Gore Central.

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

<Snipped quote by Dinh AaronMk>

---

@The Spectre

_

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Nation
The Empire of Japan

Location
(All claims on map plus off-screen Spratly islands)

History

The Empire of Japan came out of the Great War considering it a great victory. Unaffected by the apocalyptic battles of Europe, the Empire had made nothing but gains. Multiple island chains came under its control, doing for its prestige the same thing the Russo-Japanese war had done but multiplied tenfold. It was no longer just some Asian island nation, it was a true empire. Japan's dreams of replacing China seemed to be coming true.

In the late 1920's, Japan seized the opportunity presented by China's political strife and internal weakness and took its place in the sun with a great series of conquests across the mainland. Beijing itself fell to the Empire, and was absorbed into the puppet state of Manchukoku. The final European holdings in China were "liberated" by advancing armies, and Japan could finally say without a doubt that it was equal to the great empires of Europe and solidly China's better.

Their conquests allowed them to weather the depression, but only barely. The military was kept well-funded, but the citizens of the Empire had it far worse. This was the beginning of Japan's decline, and brought about complacency within the government. Fearing a total economic collapse were they to make further pushes into China, the Japanese military became nothing more than a resource sink. During the Chinese unrest in the 1930's the Empire of Japan was paralyzed, and unable to exploit it as they had the past conflict.

This would prove to be their greatest folly, as in 1941 Japanese forces in China were overrun and crushed by communist forces led by Wen Chu Ming. Their attack couldn't have come at a worse time for Japan, with the Second American Civil War having just come to an end Japan was still reeling from the loss of American trade. Under-supplied and ill-trained soldiers were but butter against the communist knife, and so the Empire fell to the First Humiliation with the loss of its Northern Chinese territories.

The Second Humiliation came in 1942, with the Imperial Japanese Navy stationed at Dailan being defeated by a surprise attack from land. Revolts began throughout the rest of Japan's mainland territories with the news that the IJN, the pride and joy of the Empire, had been defeated by nothing more than a street uprising. The unrest reached as far as Korea, and Imperial armies were diverted to stomp down the uprisings. This left their main line against China undefended, and in 1943 Beijing was retaken by China. Japanese forces retreated to northern Korea and the Empire officially surrendered all but Korea to the new Chinese government, the Third Humiliation.

Following the three humiliations, Japan had fallen from its status of a great power into a pathetic island nation that couldn't match its bark with its bite. For the next decade, the Empire of Japan steadily declined economically and militarily. It was only in 1952, with the assassination of the Russian Czar and subsequent dissolution of the Russian Empire, that Japan finally had a stroke of luck. As Russia broke apart, its eastern lands fell into disarray as independent states gained independence from Moscow to Siberia. Japan took the opportunity.

In 1953, the IJN and IJA launched a three-pronged offensive against the territories in the far east. The Army, stationed in Korea, stormed across the narrow border towards Vladivostick as another Army detachment moved into northern Sakhalin from the South. An IJN force supported marines in taking the rest of the Kurils and eventually moved into Kamchatka. It was Japan's first victory since the initial incursions into China after the Great War, and the government hailed it as a sign of things to come. Further pushes continued into former Russian territories until 1955, after which they were halted for fear of overextending.

A plan was designed to rebuild the Japanese economy by 1960, calling for the government to take control of "any industry deemed integral to the success of the nation". Industries deemed central to the state formerly controlled by capitalists were fully nationalized (such as rail lines, heavy industry, and shipyards), and non-essential industries were reorganized into a corporatist model and received heavy state funding. Large industrial expansions were also commissioned by the state, specifically countless new factories in the home islands and a total renovation of the north Korean defensive line.

This expansion was fueled by the recent conquests, which were bled dry of anything that could possibly be used in the project including people. In a move that expressed well Japan's remaining weakness, thousands of Russians were used behind closed doors as forced laborers to keep the project on schedule. Despite how ambitious the project was and the trauma it inflicted throughout the Empire, the "Five Year Plan" was ultimately completed on time in 1960.

The Empire of Japan now sets its sights on further conquests, and though still wary of challenging China opportunities such as the Philippines present themselves alongside the possibility of further expansion into Siberia or even a large-scale naval operation in Indonesia. However, the Empire must tread carefully, lest they attract the ire of any other power. Even in its current state, Japan is far from a major player. However, it certainly intends to become one.

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

@Keyguyperson, Aaron also gave you the Spratlys.

@Letter Bee

I'm aware, I just left them off of the map because I wanted it to be less wide. Can't wait to have a big ol' dispute over those.

Who's Rescuing You?

>Blend S

I'm fuckin' dead.