The very last thing they were briefed on was the restructuring of the military itself.
There were a total of ten new units being created. An entirely new type of unit. They were calling them Reizei units, their members known thenceforth as Reizei soldiers. This was the first usage of the term, and the very beginning of their segregation from the regular military.
The ten units were each to be designated by a unit color and an Old Meihonese name. They were grouped into three classes by primary function: “Rear,” “Forward,” and “Great.”
The four Rear Units had the primary function of special defensive operations and would be deployed rapidly to cities under heavy attack or at risk thereof. They were named for the four elements: Ishi, “stone” (gray); Kaze, “wind” (purple); Mizu, “water” (light blue); and Hi, “fire” (orange).
The four Forward Units had the primary function of special offensive operations and would be used to orchestrate high-stakes urban-theatre assaults. They were named for the four basic virtues: Yuubu, “valor” (brown); Giri, “honor” (yellow); Aikoku, “patriotism” (green); and Seigi, “justice” (white).
The two Great Units were the most elite, proven soldiers of the Empire. Their primary function would be the spearheading of very difficult assaults, fighting on the most critical battlefields, and the breaking of deadlocks, but they would be an oft-moving force, sent to whichever part of the war needed them most. They were named for what Meihonese civilization itself represented: Nozomi, “hope;” and Mirai, “the future.”
Their colors were navy blue and crimson, respectively.
—–
Before going on to announce which officers would be in what units serving what function, Saitou addressed the last loose end that had been bothering Eiji since he’d sent him and Yuuhei on leave.
Meihonese science has recently made a break-through of its own, he had said. A discovery that assures us that we have nothing to fear from the Kolsivites’ new weapons technology, no matter how terrible it may be… the confirmation through biological and genetic data of something that we already know intuitively…
What did that mean?
Saitou took a sip from a glass of water and turned off the projector. “Reizei is not just a military designation or rank. All of you have more than demonstrated yourselves on the battlefield and are known to be outstanding soldiers and capable officers. The men and women who will form the ranks of your units will also represent an elite contingent of the Imperial forces. But you, and they, are set apart from other soldiers not just by your abilities, combat dossiers, or ranks. Those are all just symptoms of a deeper connection.”
He took another, longer sip of water. He leaned against the table on which the projector sat. Even though the room had already been fairly quiet and all of the officers listening intently, a new silence fell over the old one, like a fresh coat of matte black over faded paint. Their attention focused in on what promised to be information of gravity.
“This may come as a shock to you. It may be difficult for some of you accept it at first. But what you as Reizei soldiers have in common, and what makes you different from other citizens and soldiers of the empire, is genetic.”
Murmurs rippled through the officers.
“High Command has medical blood samples of all imperial soldiers; you may remember having yours taken at the academy. Several years ago, a genome-mapping project which used DNA from military labs as part of its sampling base discovered a pattern of anomalies in the genes of a tiny percentage of Meihonese soldiers. These aberrations were not present in any civilians sampled. They were not present in any samples taken from captured Kolsivite soldiers, nor even in the samples taken from imperial soldiers of other-than-Meihonese descent, except in extremely rare cases where the individual’s bloodline was mixed Meihonese. Further studies determined a correlation between these anomalies and battlefield abilities – across the board, those with the aberrant genes also had impressive combat histories. This means high numbers of confirmed kills, extreme competence in marksmanship and close combat, and in many cases a record of having contributed to victory in some unwinnable situation or survived the unsurviveable.”
Erimi Aoyama, who was around Eiji’s age and rank, raised her hand in the pause. “Sir,” she said, pausing. She swallowed with exaggerated nervous solemnity. “Are you saying that we’re super-soldiers?” The room broke into laughter.
Even Saitou cracked a grin. “That’s not purely scientific,” he said, “but you could sum up the research that way. You are, strictly speaking, a mutation of the Meihonese race. There are still studies underway to determine what is causing this, but at present the Emperor is of the opinion that you represent a spontaneous natural reaction of the Meihonese civilization against external threats. He also believes that Reizei have always existed in Meihonese society, that most if not all of the famous warriors and heroes of ancient times were Reizei. It could very well be that this is an old property of the Meihonese race, and that recent genetic science is just now shedding light on the fact that it is a biological phenomenon.”
Saitou stood up and walked to the blackboard. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote two Old Meihonese characters on the board: Rei and Zei.
“Cold,” he said, rapping the chalk against the first character. “Spring,” he said, tapping the other. “This is the name the Emperor has given to the phenomenon. He regards you as a cold spring of life-giving water flowing from within the living rock of Meihonese society. Please take your new stations seriously. The whole Empire, from top to bottom and corner to corner, will be watching you.”
Saitou put the chalk down and went back over to the projector table. He picked up a clipboard with a few sheets of paper on it, and folded the first one back. “Okay,” he called out, his tone of voice gone matter-of-fact again. “Now, let’s announce the Reizei Commanders. We’ll start with the Great Units.”
He cleared his throat.
“Unit Nozomi, Erimi Aoyama.” The room broke into applause. Erimi got halfway to her feet and gave a few bows around the room.
Saitou took a sip of water as the noise died down. “Unit Mirai,” he said, nodding, “Eiji Daitokai.”
In the announcements, Yuuhei’s name was also called. It was quick, and nearly drowned out by the continual rounds of applause (which didn’t matter because he was not there to hear his own name), but Eiji heard it all the same. It seemed that High Command had seen fit to admit him to his place among the other Reizei.
Still, the rank announced along with Yuuhei’s name was not Commander. “Lieutenant Commander,” Saitou had said, and Eiji had to read his lips through the noise, “Unit Mirai.”
Saitou gave Eiji a meaningful look as he made the announcement. Or so he thought. Keep him under control, it seemed to say, or perhaps his punishment is subordination to a friend and former rival, but perhaps it was coincidence, a natural drifting of the eyes through the crowd, and the meaning Eiji read into it was meaning he himself imagined.
He felt a short, sharp pang of guilt.
