Another Worldly Summons

Chapter 95: Fade To Black

"You fuck! Where do you think your aerial fighter screen is coming from? It's the 15th fleet, you fool! Battleships and cruisers won't protect you from being slaughtered by Milishial air power!"

As they continued to argue and point fingers, the situation worsened. They were indecisive and lacked backup plans beyond attempting to break through Milishial's defense perimeter littered with hundreds of ships and aircraft patrolling the area, and the constant threat of hidden ambushes that could once again catch the Annonrials off guard.

This division among Annonrials, driven by racial differences and the mixing of various bloodlines, was not uncommon. Elves, often associated with Milishials, were frequently subjected to bullying and isolation. The Emperor had implemented measures to prevent internal racial conflicts within the empire, often directing hostilities toward non-winged individuals in order to simmer down tensions among his subjects, with some results.

The other Fleet Admirals could only sigh at this sight. The Battlegroup Center was essentially divided into three factions. One faction remained neutral, while the other two were in conflict, primarily attributing blame along racial lines, without even mentioning tactical or strategic losses and failures.

After a minute of silence, the two arguing factions began to lose momentum in their tantrums and unnecessary arguments. Actual military discussions surface as Annonrial Admiral Tuskin, representing the neutral faction within Battlegroup Center, spoke up. "Eight flotillas have disappeared within the last four months. This includes three raiding flotillas and five scout and regular flotillas, totaling a force of 96 ships. The last sighting was of the 33rd scout fleet, in southern Canossa, approximately 790 kilometers northwest of Centway," he informed the assembly.

"Canossa? Isn't it the Muish vassal nearby?" asked Admiral Yerkes, a winged folk-beastman hybrid. "Intelligence and recon suggest they only have a few hundred aircraft, mostly outdated biplanes and a few old warships. Ground troops number at two divisions," he stated to the assembly. There had been a plan to bomb Canossa to take down its infrastructure and prevent it from being used by Milishial aircrafts, but there was no confirmed information indicating that Milishial and Mu were cooperating militarily. Both sides seemed to have no military units attached to each other, raising puzzling questions.

"How did Mu manage to sink ships? That's impossible," chimed in Admiral M'cer, a mix of elven ancestry and winged folk. "They are technologically and militarily inferior to take down even a flotilla. They shouldn't have cannons that can reach our ships since our specifications are obviously superior. Is it naval mines or mass air attacks? If that's the case, they are being careless fools, wasting the precious ships bestowed by the emperor," he commented.

Yerkes added to the discussion as he looked at the images on the table. "But there's a cruiser there. A single cruiser could wipe out up to 80 targets within a minute. Mu, even if they numbered in the hundreds, being surprised with losses of nearly a hundred should force them to withdraw immediately. That's the logical situation for them as they are yet to know..." He mumbled about the situation before being cut off by Admiral Iskaer, who was leading the fleet supposed to reinforce Leifor and the 17th fleet.

"Actually, the Muish have arrows of light. They attacked our ground forces in Leifor with some degree of accuracy. Though the damage and firepower is inferior to our nearest equivalent."

Yerkes questioned, "How? How could they possibly possess arrows of light? Did they excavate and replicate them?"

"I don't know," Iskaer replied.

Both of them wonder for the moment, seeing this, M'cer decided to set gaze to Tuskin.

"So, they've used them against us?" Admiral M'cer asked, seeking a straightforward answer from Tuskin.