The Red Hand

Chapter 40 – The Giant Moves.

6 AM EST the John F. Kennedy Conference Room (the Situation Room) Washington D.C.

The President of the United States, Sarah Rosewood, sat in the situation room and was preparing for a briefing on the destruction of JSDF Camp Katsura in Kyoto Japan. American foreign policy in the far east was intrinsically linked to Japanese stability. A sudden and devastating strike on one of its military facilities was not only unexpected, but a matter of U.S. national security. Less than twenty-four hours prior, the Japanese Prime minister gave a press conference that confirmed that one of the "returnees" was responsible for the attack and that it was the Japanese government that had instigated the conflict.

The United States had been gathering intelligence on these returnees and was in the middle of deciding how to approach them when the attack occurred. What was even more astonishing was that the returnee who attacked the base hijacked the Prime Minister's press conference. Her threats combined with her horrifying appearance sent shock waves around the world and caused the President to demand a full briefing the next morning.

"Good Morning, gentlemen." President Rosewood began the briefing as her last cabinet member took her seat. "I know this was on short notice, but the situation in Japan requires great haste." She looked at her Director of Intelligence, Maurice Colbeck. "Tell me what you have."

"Of course, Madam President," the middle age man stood up and took out some documents from a small binder, which he had his assistant provide to the rest of the cabinet. "What you have here is a profile of one Rishia Tomogawa, AKA Akagi. Prior to the FWO incident, she was a seventeen-year-old girl attending Kyoto Central High School." he continued. "Until that point, her record is spotless, with the only anomaly being a brief stint in a hospital for treatment regarding a mental illness." (Colbeck)

"With help from Director Stevenson of the C.I.A and Ambassador Gladwell, I was able to get access to the Japanese Government's secure files on Ms. Tomogawa during her time in FWO." He took out another document. "The information presents a grisly picture." he furrowed his brow. "While within the game, she occupied herself by assassinating other players at the behest of others. From what we gathered, she was responsible for the death of 104 people trapped within the game and was regarded as highly dangerous by the other survivors." he gave a small cough.

"Video footage from Camp Katsura appears to show that she was unaffected by small arms or heavy caliber weapons, including our M.B.T's sold to the Japanese military." When he informed the rest of the cabinet that U.S. made tanks did not affect Akagi, Secretary of Defense Jamie Nowak, spoke up.

"You mean to say this girl took a HEAT round head-on and wasn't affected in the slightest?" She was reading the report as she spoke. "I'm sorry, but that's hard to believe." A human couldn't survive such heavy caliber weapons, so reading that military-grade equipment failed to harm her was hard to believe.

"Yes, at first, I couldn't believe it either, but we have footage from Camp Katsura that I would like everyone to watch." the lights went out, and the large monitor in the middle of the room began to play a recording. It showed Akagi slicing through several tanks and armored vehicles, being shot with heavy machine gun fire, and taking several hits from a tank's main gun. Throughout the recording, there was no indication that Akagi or the girl with her was taking any damage.

The members of the cabinet couldn't believe what they were seeing; even the Present showed a deep scowl seeing Akagi utterly destroy the JSDF defenders. Once the recording was finished the lights returned to normal, and the President spoke up.

"As far as I'm aware, there were no American casualties in this attack; is that correct?" She hadn't been told of any, but she knew American military personnel was active across Japan.

"No," Secretary Nowak. "At the time of the attack, there was no American military personnel stationed at Camp Katsura, luckily." She shook her head.

"Good," President Rosewood let out a sigh. "If there were any American casualties, I can't imagine that would allow us much leeway. For now, place all U.S. forces in Japan on high alert. I don't want them engaging this Akagi woman or any of her subordinates unless absolutely necessary." She was not keen on engaging a foe who had so easily overwhelmed the JSDF.

"Of course, I'll relay that to Pacific Command." (Nowak)

Secretary of State, Anthony Hubbard, spoke up. "Madam President, with your permission, I would like to attempt a dialogue with this Akagi woman." the old man's words shocked the room. "I would like to see if she would be open to working with us; or at the very least, convince her that acting against us is not in her best interests."

"What are you talking about." Secretary Nowak was furious. "That woman is a terrorist, and you want to treat her like some kind of equal?!?"

"What did you have in mind." President Rosewood was curious as to his plan and motioned for him to continue.

"Rogue agent or not, this woman is dangerous, and leaving her to her own devices is not in the United State's best interest." he coughed. "I've spoken to Ambassador Kumuoka, and he informed me that the Japanese government intends to pursue a policy of non-interference with her. Not surprising, seeing as she took out a member of the Prime Minster's cabinet in his own home and assassinated the Speaker of the Diet." The rest of the room was aware of her execution of the Mistuhide family and was afraid she might do the same to them.

"So what makes you think she would work with us? She wasn't even willing to work with her government, so what makes you think this would be any different?" President Rosewood was skeptical that recruiting her as an asset would work.

"Even if we can't garner her cooperation, establishing a working relationship with her would still be in our best interests. And Secretary Nowak, this would hardly be the first time we've worked with rogue agents." He was referring to the U.S.'s history of arming and aiding terrorist groups. "Madam President, I doubt we are the only ones looking to garner this woman's cooperation. The Chinese will undoubtedly take our place unless we act fast, and the last thing we need is a Chinese asset in Japan with that kind of firepower."

"And if she refuses? If she won't work with us at all? What then?" President Rosewood couldn't move military force to crush Akagi when she was in another nation, and American forces in Japan wouldn't be sufficient to fight her head-on. Not that fighting her was what she wanted to do anyway.

"If she is unwilling to work with us at all.... then we may have to take drastic measures." He looked at the Director of Intelligence as he said this. "We should also contact other returnees, not just Akagi; even if she refuses, we might be able to gather a few powerful assets."

{The Japanese government has five it's managed to bring under its control if I'm not mistaken.} President Rosewood considered his suggestion.

"Director," she looked up at him. "I will approve a covert operation to speak with her with the intent of forming a cooperative relationship with the United States, but. You are not to antagonize this woman, and under no circumstances are you to make any moves against her without my explicit authorization. The C.I.A. has a habit of moving on its own; I will not tolerate such freewheeling." She looked at the Secretary of Intelligence. "Do I make myself clear?" she gave the two men a stern look. One of her major campaign promises was reigning in the intelligence community, and she had little trust in them. She knew that unless she held the leash tight, they would start acting on their own regardless of her wishes.

"Yes, Madam President." (Secretaries of Defense and Intel)

{If only I could trust you to actually listen to me.} She knew leaving these two men to their own devices could drag the U.S. into a dangerous conflict.

"Alright, let's continue." President Rosewood moved the briefing along, today was going to be a long day, and she had other meetings to attend.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Later that night, with all her meetings finished, President Rosewood retired to her room in the White House.

"At the rate, things are going, I fear that we're going to be dragged into a conflict in the East no matter how much we don't want to." she sighed. Akagi's actions caused great disruption and instability in Japan, and every nation was demanding answers. Some wanted to take a hard-line approach and eliminate the returnees before they could cause damage. While others were keen on recruiting and researching them.

"If anyone succeeds in replicating what happened to those kids, I fear this world is going to go to hell really quickly." The returnee's powers were beyond what normal humans could ever hope to achieve. Creating super soldiers was something humanity had tried to do since before the Second World War, but success was limited. "And if people thought I was bad, I don't imagine there will be much love for those kids." She shook her head. "People already decry me as a cyborg freak, so I can't imagine there will be much acceptance for literal elves and dwarves." she sighed. "Especially when they can level city blocks with magic."

Sarah Rosewood was the first successful human to be grown completely in a lab by scientists. Her birth was a controlled experiment to create the genetically perfect human, and she was tailor made to be superior on the genetic level. Most of her life was spent within a laboratory so her social skills were quite underdeveloped; combine that with her cybernetic augmentations and many people believed her to be little more than an AI in disguise. Despite the prejudice, she decided to use her skills and natural abilities to help the country, and through a bitter election cycle she managed to become the youngest president of the United States.

"I just hope that we can keep things peaceful in Japan. The last thing I need is for American soldiers to have to go in and occupy the country if it falls apart like our models are predicting." She looked up at the ceiling. "I would really like to talk to that Akagi woman. I imagine she would have quite the story to tell, perhaps we might even get along."

{That dark form she showed us.... was that just an illusion? Just what is she, and what are her goals? There is so much we don't know, and I fear that ignorance is our greatest danger at the moment.} She smacked her cheeks. Getting trapped in her thoughts wouldn't help anything at the moment.

"Honestly, that woman... she reminds me of a Demon Lord from a T.V. show I used to watch as a kid." She chuckled as she stood up, deciding to wash up before heading to bed. "At least Demons don't exist. I'd prefer not to be the President who fights the Demon Lord's invasion of the world." Her words were little more than a joke, but in time, she would come to regret them.