Central Calendar Year 1639, Month 3, Day 25. Qua-Toyne Principality Government Conference
"So you're saying that the FPDA didn't only repel 4,400 by destroying 49 ships with a mere three ships, but also managed to annihilate 88 dragons and even managed to capture Vice Admiral Sharkun of Lourian Eastern Conquest Navy, in addition, they didn't get any damage after all?" asked Prime Minister Kanata as Officer Breweye told them about the report he made based on his observation of yesterday's sea battle.
"Yes, Mr Prime Minister, they don't suffer any damages," said Breweye.
Everyone inside the conference was impressed with the report.
"Amazing isn't it? Three ships successfully fended off 4,400. That's also right before the lobbying of our naval fleet," said the Military Minister.
"In conclusion, following that the FPDA had proven themselves capable of commencing a naval battle without any losses on their side, and the fact that the Louria Kingdom has begun construction in the area around Gim, I'm expecting them to do the same thing for the air and land forces," said Kanata.
"Talking about the air and land forces, I've just received a message from Yagou. It's about FPDA's request to field their militaries all over the Principality under the name 'Implementation Force' or what they called as 'IFOR'," said the Military Minister before he handed over a 5-page document to Kanata.
Almost everyone at the conference was interested to hear about this IFOR.
As Kanata opened and read the charter, his eyes widened as he saw something that caught his eye. On the third page, he sees the number of FPDA's IFOR troops that will be sent to protect Qua-Toyne where the number only reached 18,955 soldiers; 11000 from the United Kingdom, 1841 from Australia, 2000 from Malaysia, 3500 from Singapore and 614 from New Zealand. It was less than what he expected.
"Only 18,955 soldiers?" asked Kanata.
"Yes, Mr Prime Minister. The amount of their reinforcement wasn't the one that we expected," said the Military Minister.
"If they send only 18,955 combatants, then how are they going to fight the huge army of the Louria Kingdom?" asked a man inside the meeting.
Everyone in the meeting wondered why the FPDA only sent so few of their troops when the Louria Kingdom had a very large number of troops.
Then, Kanata exclaimed, "Maybe their numbers are small, but we need to remember that it's not the numbers that determine whether they'll win this war or not. I believe that good war strategy and equipment are their main strengths,"
"Come on, folks, let's think together. If the FPDA managed to halt the advance of the Lourian Eastern Conquest Navy just with three ships, then it also means that they can defeat the Louria Kingdom just with a small amount of army," added Kanata.
The ministers in the meeting looked at each other without saying a word. Finally, they agreed with his words.
"If that is so, Mr Prime Minister, shall we give them the authority to field their militaries all over the Principality?" asked the Military Minister.
"Yes, we should," said Kanata with a smile before closing the document.
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Central Calendar Year 1639, Month 3, Day 25. The Louria Kingdom. Capital Guard Knights Order Headquarters
After receiving the information of the enemy's main fleet discovery, 100 dragons sortied to attack it and only 12 made it back. A day had passed since the manacom ceased alongside their scream. A cumbrous silence wafted inside the headquarters.
"How could only 12 make it back?" asked Patagene.
No one answered the face-paled Patagene's question. In the history of the Rodenius Continent, dragons are the strongest creatures. Their population simply outnumbered wyverns by 10 to 1. But, the news that only 12 dragons made it back causes everyone to start to doubt its strength.
"How am I going to report this to His Majesty?" Patagene thought to himself.
The news of the almost annihilation of the 17th Dragon Squadron and the defeat of the Eastern Conquest Navy spread to the whole Louria Kingdom like wildfire, including Hark Louria himself.
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"Is it true about what I have heard, General Patagene?" asked Hark Louria before he shoved a spoonful of food into his mouth.
"Y-Y-Yes... Y-Y-Your Majesty. The strength of the 17th Dragon Squadron was reduced to 12 Dragons with our Conquest Navy suffering casualties of 49 ships," said Patagene in fear.
"You forget that our Vice-Admiral Sharkun was also captured by those FPDA pigs! Can you imagine it!?! 4400 of our ships got scared away by only three!? " yelled Hark Louria outrageously to him. His words echoed through the dining room.
Then, the door of the dining room opened, and Prime Minister Maus ran into them with a piece of scrolled paper.
"What is it, Mr Prime Minister?" asked Hark Louria.
"Your Majesty... It's about the FPDA, they're now mobilizing their army to the whole Qua-Toyne Principality!" cried Maus.
Hearing the news almost made Hark Louria choke. General Patagene snatched the scroll from the Prime Minister, and he almost laughed when he saw the number of the troops mobilized.
"What's so funny, General?" asked Hark Louria after he was back to normal.
"Well, Your Majesty. Fear not, the FPDA only send 18,955 soldiers to fight us. They forgot that we had 100,000 soldiers to counter them!" said General Patagene haughtily.
Clearing his throat, General Patagene exclaimed. "Your Majesty! In response to the defeat of our Eastern Conquest Navy and the almost annihilation of our 17th Dragon Squadron, I, General Patagene, will lead our army triumphantly to defeat that FPDA and avenge our defeat!" said him.
"Yes... yes... General Patagene. But make sure that our Land and Air Forces don't suffer the same fate as our Navy!" Said Hark Louria while slamming his fist to the table, causing the two to flinch.
Without wasting any time, the two men went out and left the king alone to enjoy his meal. As the two men leave, Hark Louria calls upon Yamirei, the Chief Royal Court Magician of the Louria Kingdom. He is an old mage around his 80s and the King summoned him to discuss how the Lourian's Eastern Conquest Navy and the 17th Dragon Squadron could easily thwart off.
"What do you think about this, Yamirei?" Asked Hark Louria.
"Your Majesty, coincidentally, I talked with one of the survivors of the attack. You might want to hear it, and I'm sure you'll be shocked," said Yamirei.
"Yes, I am, and you better make it hurry!" Exclaimed Hark Louria.
Then, for the next half an hour, Yamirei explained the survivor's account of the attack.
"That's impossible... ships that are completely made of steel, armed with a magical pole and could shoot explosive flying arrows and an underwater ship that can dive into the depth of the sea and fire explosive arrows? Is it a kind of magic?" Asked Hark Louria.
"To me, perhaps, no, but..." said Yamirei.
"But what?" asked Hark Louria.
"Your Majesty... Following the news that the enemy is mobilising their army to both Qua-Toyne and Quila, I fear that the FPDA that we're against are not the enemies that we have been accustomed to facing," said Yamirei.
"They might be 'The Mythical Warlords'," added him.
Hearing that, Hark Louria's face turned pale.
"The Mythical Warlords? Do you mean... the FPDA are none, other than The Mythical Warlords?! The Warlords that managed to thwart off the Demon Lord!? I thought it was just a fairy tale!" said Hark Louria.
"Me, too, Your Majesty... Because only The Mythical Warlords could possess that type of weapon. With them managed to fight against the Demon Lord, now against us..." said Yamirei before he left Hark Louria after biding a farewell to him.
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Central Calendar Year 1639, Month 4, Day 2. Qua-Toyne Principality
For the next nine days, nothing bad happened in Qua-Toyne except for combat assets as well as FPDA troops coming in and out of the Principality. The Quila Kingdom also received protection just like its Qua-Toynian friends by the Australian Army due to having oilfields there, which are vital assets for the IFOR troops. At the same time, new military infrastructures and bases were built in both countries.
Expecting that the Lourian land forces would attack anytime, the Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles (QAMR) of the New Zealand Army and the 4th Brigade Mechanized of the Malaysian Army formed a reconnaissance unit to scout near the border. Do not forget to mention that several AW159 and AW Apache helicopters from the 16th Air Assault Brigade of the British Army Air Corps also joined the patrol.
Maihark was later put under the security of the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy. Here, RSS Independence, MSRV Protector, RSS Archer and HMNZS Te Kaha can be seen docked near the port and were battle-ready and armed to commence strike anytime if the Lourian Eastern Conquest Navy dared themselves to return.
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Fortress City of Ejei, Qua-Toyne Principality
Located near the eastern border of the Louria Kingdom, a slender man with an angular face and pointy beard stood atop the walls of Ejei, surveying the wilderness ahead. Backed by the combined might of nearly half of Qua Toyne's entire standing army along with several squadrons of wyverns, he felt confident in the defensive capability of his fortress.
A proud general, Nou, however, was slightly disappointed today when he heard that the British Army and the Singaporean Army together with the 142 Squadron "Gryphon" of the Republic of Singapore Air Forces were stationed near the Daital Plains.
Still, as a bright strategic mind, he recognized the value of having them as an ally, especially considering the overwhelming numbers that the Lourians had at their disposal.
"Towering sturdy walls, abundant supplies, 3000 cavalrymen, 7000 archers, 20000 infantry, as well as 50 elite Dragon Riders specialized in both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat... surely this will be hard to be penetrated by the Lourian Army!" General Nou thought to himself as he viewed the awesome surroundings from an observation post.
"General Nou," an elf messenger bowed after he arrived at the observation post.
"What is it, young elf?" asked General Nou.
"The Singaporeans and British Army Generals have arrived. They're waiting for you right now," said the elf messenger.
Hearing that, his face turned sour, expressing annoyance.
"Well, well... seems like the famed FPDA are here. Alright... tell them that I'll be there to meet them at any moment," said General Nou.
After three minutes, Nou finally arrived at the Fortress' command room where the three Generals were waiting. He saw one man, around his 50s, donning a Personal Clothing System – Combat Uniform (PCS-CU) while the second one was wearing complete desert camouflage. The third one appeared in an RSAF No. 4 Dress.
He scrutinized their uniforms visibly, allowing the three men to see his admiration for both uniforms.
"My... My... I bid all of you welcome, gentlemen of the FPDA," said Nou.
With a stern face, the man was donning a Personal Clothing System – Combat Uniform (PCS-CU) spoke to General Nou, "General Nou, I'm Lieutenant General Stuart Richard Skeates of the British Army's Standing Joint Forces,"
The second man was a Singaporean who replied to his greetings with his Chinese-like accent, "I'm Lieutenant General Melvyn Ong of the Singaporean Army. It's nice to meet you, General Nou,"
The third man, who also appeared to be a Singaporean, had a more calm intonation, "Greetings, General Nou, I'm Lieutenant Colonel Shewan Goh from the 142 Squadron of the RSAF,"
"Well, well, thank you for coming all this way. I am General Nuo, commander of the Qua-Toyne Western Army. We appreciate your country sending us reinforcements. Thank you very much."
He had to make sure he watched both his words and expressions. He continued speaking.
"Gentlemen, as all of you know, the Lourian army had sacked Gim, and I'm sure they will come for Ejei next. As I believe you can see, the Fortress City Ejei is both a formidable fortress and a large town; they cannot simply ignore us, no matter how large their army is. With my country having been invaded, to pay them back in full and prevent our destruction, we must oppose them here," said Nou arrogantly.
"Your FPDA forces are positioned five kilometres to the east. You need not leave your base at all; please provide rear support. Together, we shall drive away those barbaric Lourian armies from here," added him.
He had told them what they simply needed to do. He knew that they were following their government's orders, but his pride outweighed his consideration. His speech could be heard clearly by his two subordinates, which caused them to look down in frustration and worry.
"Jeez... He ended up saying it out loud," a female elven soldier whispered.
"Isn't this bad? This has the potential to be a diplomatic incident between the FPDA and the Qua-Toyne Principality..." a man next to him complained.
The four Generals stared at each other without even saying a word. Although dissatisfaction arose among the three Generals from the FPDA, they chose to deal with it peacefully.
"If you say that so, General Nou. It's okay. Just let us know that if you need some air support, then my unit can send some Gryphons to deal with the Lourians," said LTC Shewan Goh.
Hearing the word 'Gryphons' had made General Nou's eyes light up.
"Gryphons? You're telling me that your country does have Gryphons in their army? How many of them? How well trained and powerful are they?" asked General Nou for confirmation.
"Well, the 'Gryphons' are the identification symbol for the 142nd Squadron of the RSAF. In reality, we operate the F-15SG Strike Eagle, and it is more powerful than Gryphons," explained LTC Shewan Goh.
"Oh..." General Nou said with a fully surprised face.
"If that is so, then is there anything you would like to request before we dismiss our meeting?" asked General Nou.
"Yes, we do. General Nou. I would like to send an observer personnel from my units inside of Ejei, would it be permissible?" asked Lieutenant General Stuart Richard Skeates.
"That is a good thing. You may station an observer from your units here," said General Nou.
The Generals later dismissed their meeting and the three Commanding Officers of the FPDA went out of the Fortress and headed for the respective vehicles that were waiting for them.
"I expect he would refuse our request. It seems like General Nou we're cooperating with has a strict personality," said Lieutenant General Melvyn Ong.
"Well, who doesn't? Since we didn't need to stand at the frontline, it's a favourable outcome for us," said Lieutenant General Stuart Richard Skeates.