Destruction is at the doorstep of freedom.
For months, the Republic under the Shimazu Party has faced the prospect of open war against nearly every clan on the island of Japan. Within weeks after the news reached the ears of the Shogunate and Imperial forces, the Republic was outlawed.
The Shimazu Party's main cast is very small, with only three promiment members making themselves known in the defense of the Republic.
The President Shimazu Hisamitsu is an idealist.
Even before he ran for the presidency of the Satsuma clan, he was the indefinate leader but saw the way in which Imperial rule oppressed his people. With the help of foreigners, he was able to completely change all of this and usher in the first rays of democracy. While he is getting older, Hisamitsu still believes he can unify all of Japan under the Republic and start a new age of Japan free from Emperors and Shoguns.
The Vice-President of the Satsuma Republic is ironically Hisamitsu's son, Tadayoshi.
Having trained hard during the unifying of Kyushu, Tadayoshi gained not only combat experience but political experience as well. When the first elections of the Republic went underway Tadayoshi pleaded with his farther to allow him the chance to help run the country, Hisamitsu agreed, and the two set off on their very successful political career.
Tadayoshi is even more idealistic than his father, having great optimism for the future of the Satsuma Republic despite the amount of fatal hostility against it. He hopes that one day, all of Japan will see the faults in Imperial and Shogunate rule and overthrow them in a gallant revolution.
38 year-old Saigo Takamori has served the Shimazu family since he was born.
The current Commander-in-Chief of the military is actually not the President. In the Satsuma Republic, the President has little to do with the affairs of military focusing more on affairs of State. Because of this, the Commander-in-Chief is a seperate office held by only the most successful of Satsuma generals.
Working with the Satsuma clan, he quickly rose in the ranks, becoming one of the most famous generals to have ever fought in the Kyushu Campaign. Gaining renown, he applied for the office of Commander-in-Chief during the elections and won brilliantly, gaining over 90% of the popular vote.
Takamori is a hardened man however, and doesn't share the idealism of the Shimazu family. Managing the military with a steel edged nerve, he realizes the great danger and fragile state the Republic of Satsuma now finds itself in. Hoping to keep the borders secure, he prepares for the bloodiest age of Japan with a vengeance.
The Satsuma Republic is currently at war with every single clan in Japan.
Because of these poor relations, the Republic stands totally alone and outnumbered.
While the armies of the Republic prepare themselves for the inevitable coming fight, the new democratic state continues its open and warm relations with foreigners – something that is leading to great spite between them and the rest of Japan.
While the sun still rises in the East above Japan, could the sun be setting on the future of the Republic?