Meanwhile, a shuttle departs from the Battleship Myoko and lands in the nearby Otaru Border Station. From within, a large group of Naval Forces pilots on leave head to the various sections of the station, while a group of officers sticks together as they walk to voting office, one of the two set up in the Hokkaido system.
Amongst them is Katsuo Shimoe, one of the squadron leaders of the Matsumoto tactical squadrons. The time off from the desk work would do him nice, but first he and his colleagues wanted to get the election process concluded, before their time off.
At the voting office, he presented his credentials, and was led to the voting terminal by the staff.
His convictions of the justice of the new Republican ideals still held strong in his heart, and noticing the changes in the political scenery, he still casted his vote to the Democratic Party of Kusari.
When they all completed their votes, they headed out to the mess hall of the station, to eat something before the shuttle back to New Tokyo arrived.
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Elsewhere, in the Shikoku system, a new dawn was rising over the Tokushima Archipelago, on Planet Junyo.
In the city of Higashi-Tosa, there was a constant flow of people coming and going of the city hall where the election was being held. The arrival of a row of 4 vehicles brought some change to that however.
Soon, man in suites and with a stoic attitude began handling the passage into the building, and from one of the cars came out an old man in some traditional clothes, observing the area surrounding the venue.
One of his men approaches him, and addresses The Fisherman in an annoyed tone:
"Senchou, the place is ready. Like you said, there weren't any of the guys of the Inkyo-gumi here... We didn't really need to bring all of us here."
"Iie Hiraku-kun, they gave me their word, but in Junyo we must have our say enforced. Having us here shows who is in control of the runnings of the Archipelago, and these city lads wont think of straying out of the line, or else I wont be kind to them."
"We could have just sent half of our escort here, and stayed at the village office."
"I told you to stop being a mamma's boy... You will have your lunch back home in due time."
The Fisherman headed to the voting office, while observing the workings of the employees of the Hall. As he arrived, the staff recognized him and gave a bow to his presence. He recognized one of the staff as one of his own men, who gave The Fisherman a subtle nod.
-Good, seems we kept the systems clean from outside meddling. - he thought, as he presented his credentials to the staff. - Other syndicates elsewhere might wish to influence the voting to his clients, but our Seven Fortunes will not admit any deviation from the people's will. Our will, in a sense. - he chuckled a little.
"Hiraku, hurry up and get your card out. I want this done quickly."
"Eh, senchou, you know I don't care for them wise guys at the government."
"Hiraku-kun~... don't make me repeat myself."
Visibly irritated - "Hai hai, my captain..." - he said resigned, and turned to the staff.
"Hiraku Shimoe, I'm here to vote." He said in an annoyed tone.
The Fisherman reached to the terminal, and checked the list of participating parties. He knew which one he would vote, but for a long time kept staring at this pinkish line in the list, this weird and short name that made him remind of something... something he could not recall, as much as he tried.
"...ho, oy... cho?...., Oy, Boss?" he could hear Hiraku's voice when he was touched in the shoulder.
"Ah.., eh? What is it?"
"You seemed to be in a daze for a few minutes, staring at the screen. Daijobu ka?"
"Ah, it's nothing."The Fisherman said, looking back at the screen.
Somehow, the SUPERIOR AMEPARTY!!! was selected and awaiting confirmation.
With a small sense of dread, he changed the selection to the Kusari Reformation Party, and confirmed his vote.
" 'abune~ya, that was dangerous."
On the other terminal, Hiraku Shimoe had just finished his casting of the vote. Choosing from the few ones, he threw it to the People's Party of Kusari due to it's sounding name, without much consideration to the party manifestos and pledges.
With their errand done, they left the city hall with the escort, to go check other voting offices in the city.