“After the 4th World War’s brutal ending in the year 2182, Japan, which had managed to not get involved in the war, saw the great opportunity that was served to them in a silver plate. China, South Korea, North Korea, the United Kingdom, Russia and the USA dropped nuclear bombs on each other, which left all of them in a vulnerable and weak state at the end.

During the next decade, while those who were involved in the war were trying to heal their wounds and regain their strength, Japan was trying to perfect the plan they had in mind. And in the year 2191, the ‘Great Japanese Invasion’ began.

Japan’s first move was to take over South Korea, North Korea, and the eastern half of China, which went smoother than they had anticipated. There was no resistance from the three, and on top of that, the rest of the world decided to stay quiet. After seeing the calamity that the 4th World War caused to those involved, everyone was cautious and understandably scared. On top of that, Japan was already the biggest force in the world, which made their actions seem a lot scarier. No other country in the world had the type of technology Japan had. Mechs and augmentations they developed were ahead of the curb. Hence, taking over South Korea, North Korea, and half of China felt like a drill. It was a test run for their technology.

After a successful start, Japan had no intentions of slowing down. Their next move was taking over the eastern half of Russia. Unlike the other three, Russia decided to show some resistance. They knew they had no chance to stop Japan, but giving away half of their home without putting up a fight was not an option. In the end, Russia only managed to delay the inevitable for a few months. They were aware that Japan wasn’t going all out and decided to not lose more soldiers. Even though they knew, they were not in danger from the West, due to European countries agreeing on a peaceful and ‘warless’ way, they still felt like they were in danger. In February of 2193, Russia accepted defeat and withdrew its forces.

During the invasion of Russia, the USA became aware of Japan’s next move. As a result of this, the USA formed a defence in Alaska and the west coast. They were sure that Japan would do the obvious, due to their over-powered Mech army. But there was one thing the USA did not consider. Once they realised what was going on, it was already too late. While they were ready and waiting for Japan to invade Alaska, the Japanese started their invasion from Maine, the easternmost point of the USA.

The USA had yet to learn that Canada was helping their future invader. Japanese forces were positioned in Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa and Hamilton. When Japan began their attack in Maine, the USA had no chance but to send its forces to the east coast, sacrificing Alaska. Everything was going according to Japan’s plan. As soon as USA forces got close to Maine, Japanese troops in Montreal, Ottawa and Hamilton started their own operations. Montreal forces targeted Vermont, Ottawa forces targeted New York, Hamilton forces targeted Pennsylvania, and at the same time, forces that were positioned in western Canada attacked the Alcan Border and spread all over Alaska.

USA was flabbergasted. When Japanese forces in Winnipeg attacked North Dakota as well, the USA knew it was over. Japan successfully took over 26 states, excluding Alaska, which they gifted to Canada. North Dakota, Kansas, Virginia, and Maine were the four corners of the area that they got. Every country in the world wondered why they didn’t take over all of the USA. Even the USA was asking the same question—a question that will be answered in the upcoming years.

At the time, during those invasions, no one knew exactly why Japan did all of that. The first and maybe the only assumption everyone had was that more land equals more resources. Which wasn’t far off of the reality. However, the resources Japan was after didn’t belong to any of the lands in which they had taken over. When Japan felt settled on their new lands, the last step of their plan started. It was time to visit Iceland.

A couple of years before the Great Japanese Invasion started, Japanese volcanologists doing field research in Iceland found an unknown substance in an igneous rock -dry lava- around the Fagradalsfjall volcano. After this surprising find, Japan decided to look for the same substance in all of the volcanoes around the world and sent their volcanologists for ‘routine’ research. When reports started coming back from the scientists, Japan realised the magnitude of this discovery. This substance was only present in igneous rocks in Iceland. On top of Fagradalsfjall, they’ve found it around the Litli-Hrútur volcano and at the bottom of the Kerid Crater.

On the 17th of July, 2195, Japan’s representatives arrived at Keflavík International Airport and made their way to the Alþingishúsið, Iceland’s parliament house. Japan’s peaceful and respectful approach was appreciated by the Icelandic government, but they had no idea why the Japanese were visiting them. Inevitably, they were not at ease. The country that has brutally taken over almost half of the world was there, in their calm and quiet homeland. But they knew the Japanese had no interest in taking over Iceland. If they did, they would’ve easily done that, they thought.

During those first couple of days of Japan’s visit, there were no talks about the purpose of their presence in Iceland. But it didn’t take too long for the Japanese to reveal their offer to Icelanders. Both sides were visibly anxious. Japan was one step away from finally achieving its goal, and Iceland was one step away from having a nation-wide heart attack. When the Japanese explained the reason behind their visit, Icelanders felt somewhat relieved. Japan asked for full permission to build a settlement and a research base just outside of Reykjavik. In return, they offered Iceland an open cheque and protection. Even though everything was progressing as peacefully as possible, Icelanders knew Japan had no intentions of taking ‘no’ as an answer. As a result of that, they didn’t hesitate one bit to shake hands with the Japanese.

After the agreement, Japan didn’t waste any time on starting the construction of the castle. When it was done, Japan’s new military base arose under the name of Reykjavik-Shogun. At the time, no one knew about this settlement being a military base. Japan kept their discovery a secret and did not reveal anything to the outside world until they got their hands on every ounce they could find.

When Japan shared its discovery of the substance, every other country in the world wanted to get some samples to make their own research. To their surprise, Japan agreed to send samples to everyone without any exceptions, which was celebrated by scientists worldwide. But… Japan wasn’t completely honest about its own findings. They didn’t mention the fact that they were using the substance on their newly developed mechs and combat augmentations, which was still a secret, of course.

It finally made sense; everyone was thinking to themselves. For decades, Reykjavik-Shogun’s presence gave the public such a big headache. Conspiracy theorists were out and about, non-stop, discussing the possible reasons why the Great Japanese Invasion ended with Japan building a settlement in Iceland. So when this mystery finally revealed itself, even though there were still some big questions, people started celebrating the end of the ‘conspiracy theorists plague.’

From that point on, Earth was in a peaceful state. Everyone, including Japan, worked together, sharing their new findings on the substance. Most of the research focused on its usage in medicines and prostheses. Everyone agreed that human health should be the priority.

With Japan calming down and leading the way for a better future, no one had any questions about

their past actions. They wanted to believe our future was bright. The past was past. Mistakes were made. It was finally the time to relax and focus on our future. So everyone thought… Maybe it was hope. Maybe, it was naivety. Whatever it was, at the time, no one could’ve guessed in 65 years, the birth of the Reykjavik-Shogun would lead to us, humanity, going back to the beginning: ‘Fighting with sticks and stones.’”