Captain Onoda's Marauders was the key the RIM Seranuma Subjugation Task Force needed to encircle the communists. Onoda's company had infiltrated the WPR's lines and emulated their guerrilla warfare tactics to wear down the WPR Partisans. This created a series of pockets the RIM Regular Army exploited to cut off the city Seranuma along three sides after three months of grueling hard work.
Everyday Onoda and his men would wake up at the crack of dawn and clear the route ahead of them of traps and sentries. His marauders became proficient at hunting down and destroying enemy assets that the Commander of the WPR subjugation force had little choice but to acknowledge their efforts within the RIM Seranuma Subjugation Task Force.
However, despite the resounding success of the campaign, he and his men suffered heavy losses. Of the 120 men he started off with he lost 60 of them to traps, firefights and mountain sickness. Despite these losses the higher ups wanted Onoda to continue to the mission to encircle the WPR but ultimately agreed to give him and his survivors some much needed rest and relaxation back at the capital.
However, before his men could return to Kinjishi two of his scouts had engaged two men wearing unusual uniforms in a skirmish. One of his scouts opened fire killing one, but failed to kill the other combatant. The surviving enemy soldier then retaliated by throwing a smoke grenade and firing a quick volley at the scouts killing one and disorienting the other. Captain Onoda hoped to recover the enemy uniform after hearing the news, but had to back off after encountering fierce resistance from a WPR patrol that appeared to be tasked with recovering the body.
RIM Official Dar Samson waited nervously as his escorts drove him onto the tarmac in an unmarked sedan. Samson was excited at the prospect of new allies in their struggle for independence and hoped that Fauderland would share the Republic of Reizen's vision for governing the new country. They had driven in silence as Samson read the materials provided by the nascent Republic of Reizen's foreign affairs department and had just arrived when the plane landed.
RIM officer Ulf Kariya yawned as he helped the RIM official exit the unmarked sedan. His lax demeanor hid his ravenous desire to find a worthwhile prey to hunt within Reizen. As he watched the RIM official exit the vehicle Kariya wished for someone to test his mettle like that foreigner who slipped through his grasp by seeking refuge with the Broker. However, despite his own desires, Kariya followed his orders and watched as Samson discuss business with the Fauderland contingent.
"Gentlemen [& Ladies] welcome to the Republic of Reizen. The Reizen Independence movement greatly appreciates your assistance to reinforce our new capital. I am Minister Dar Samson, and will be serving as the Republic of Reizen's attache and liaison to the rest of the Republic. I will be happy to answer any questions you have at this time.
President Revan Kensei (RK) was finishing his work when he received a phone call from Minister Kuribayashi (NK).
RK: Yes... Hello Minister Kuribayashi, how are you doing?
NK: Well sir, I am holding up well despite the odds. The Country is doing well this quarter economically as more women are taking advantage of the new public daycare service to enter the manufacturing and farming industry to support the country. The Ministry of Transportation has also finished mediating a successful resolution to the decision of who would represent Frost Aviation interests in the Southern Skies initiative, and we have managed to limit Bruuman incursions into Reizen to strictly aerial and logistical interference.
RK: That is good to hear... The situation here in Reizen province has gotten much worse unfortunately. Operation Zett has been ground to a halt thanks to Bzerneleg's interference and the added chaos of the Ryccian navy has made naval shipping across the seas rather dangerous. The Army and Navy have been discussing if they should alter the current course of containment and escalate the war in a massive offensive, but there are several issues with their current plans.
NK: I see... what sort of issues are they facing.
RK: From a logistical standpoint we no longer have the luxury of focusing our air power on just the insurgents. Thanks to foreign meddling the Imperial Army Air and Naval Air Force have been forced to divide their attention between, Ryccia, Bzerneleg, the insurgents, the unidentified planes that continually breach the airspace of Northern Reizen and supporting our troops on the ground. The navy proposed deploying the Burst Missile in a saturation attack, but that has faced vehement opposition from Princess Isara and several General Staff Officers who believe that the collateral damage caused by the missiles outweighs the potential benefit of crushing the RIM.
NK: Well.... regarding that issue, I may have a solution but it involves bringing in the Kingdom of Sedunn.
RK: You and I both know that returning the Grovne Ceasefire is off the table until two things happens. That the WPR returns to the ceasefire, and that the RDC either surrenders or accepts the conditions we laid out.
NK: But sir, you and I both know that it is unrealistic for the RDC to accept the conditions the Empire laid out. The conditions are far too draconian and would allow the RIM to sack Zett city! Sir, let me negotiate with Sedunn on your behalf, maybe we can find some compromise and get what we need for the upcoming offensive.
RK: Alright, I'll leave it to you. Meanwhile I'll buy you as much time as I can to prevent them from using the Burst Missile on land.
RDC garrison Commander Ebisu Kaiji grimaced as he read the status reports. The Harbor had been rendered useless by the never ending bombardment from the enemy and the Empire continued to repel their continued attacks against their entrenched positions even with support from the Republic of Bzerneleg. To add insult to injury the RIM stood at the doorway of Zett city and were currently fighting the militias and the Bzerneleg reinforcements.
Because of these events the Delta Harbor Garrison was hit with low morale with the RDC garrison wanting to go back to Zett island to defend their homes from the greater threat than defend the now useless harbor. Commander Kaiji didn't know what his allies were thinking but he hoped they wouldn't resent the men for wanting to go home.
The Commander also noted that the Empire hadn't demanded the unconditional surrender of the garrison and hoped to negotiate a way out of this stalemate, but to do that he knew that the he needed to discuss this with the Bzerne contingent on hand. Samson then asked an aide who was recovering the papers to invite the Reizen Island Bzerne Reinforcement leader to discuss plans for evacuating the harbor.
Comrade Captain Amari waited patiently as she allowed the Sedunner to mourn the dead in peace as a messenger requested that both she and the commando were summoned by the Politburo leader. After, she received the message she dismissed the messenger and spoke to Hip-Hop as he returned to where she was. "The minister would like to speak with you again Hip Hop, so please follow me out of the morgue." she said politely.
A short time later the Politburo leader handed the phone back to the Commando and said that his superiors wished to talk to him.
Foreign Minister Nagisa Kuribayashi sighed softly to herself as she ended the call with the President. She was thankful that she had secured the necessary permission from the president to negotiate directly on his behalf as she asked her aides to establish a secure connection to contact Minister Hevv Gjieramm to discuss a place where they negotiate in person.