10/17/1638, ???, ???, somewhere in the Rodenius continent, 7:25 AM
Wearing a hat to protect himself from the scorching heat of the sun, the man with cat ears carefully looked around his boat’s net, seeing if there were anything caught in it. To his utter disappointment, there were none. The place was the farthest he could go before going into deeper and morw dangerous waters, where sea monsters would most likely eat him on the spot.
Sighing in disappointment, he let the net continue its job, clearly not expecting anything substantial to happen today, like every other in the past few weeks. Why aren’t there any fish lately? Had sea monsters scared them away? Impossible, no known sea monster would dare to go near the shores of Qua Toine nowadays, due to the presence of coastal guns and hunting ships.
He stood up, disappointed on how uneventful the past few days had been, and proceeded to place the fishing rod and rest while waiting for any kind of aquatic creature to be caught on the lure of his fishing rod. Checking the dark sea below his wooden ride, he stared at the deep darkness of the cold ocean.
Nothing interesting..
He looked back towards the long patch of land, stretching as far as the eye could see. The coastal town had a sizable industrial base, their factories creating black plumes of clouds that rose above the heavens. He swore he could smell the disgusting pollution the factories produced 24/7.
The black smoke also obscured the only thing that made the place bearable: the beautiful mountain kilometers away. The scenery was ruined, ever since massive engineering marvels flooded every aspect of Qua Toinian society years ago. Slowly, boredom welcomed the feeling of sleepiness, as his body began to rest. He closed his eyes, waiting for better days.
Then.. A sudden feeling.. A feeling he couldn’t understand, nor he could make up. No matter how much he tried to brush it off, the feeling stayed, and had made itself clear.
Uneasiness, as if he was being watched. The feeling where children walking at night in darkness had been completely accustomed to. He opened his eyes, trying to make sense of the origin of the uneasiness he was feeling. Looking around, he saw that no one was watching. Impossible. He was sure of it! Something, or someone was watching him.
If it wasn’t hear in the surface, maybe it was something in the air. Looking up, he scanned the blue and bright sky for anything that felt off. And, he spotted something. Something flying high up in the air. Curios, he tried rubbing his eyes, to see if he was just seeing things, but he was not, something was actually there high up in the sky.
“What in the Deities name?”
It was small, tiny, thanks to its distance from the ground. It was cruising at an impossible altitude that even any wyvern or plane he had seen in his lifetime could never reach. It looked like an arrowhead, charging through the air as if it was launched from a bow. Except, the thing was clearly moving beyond what a normal arrow could reach. Was it the thing that was watching him? If so, why? What is it? What does it want?
The flying arrowhead, which he thinks might be some sort of aircraft, continued on a straight line, leaving long white trails on a usually cloudless sky. The thing was fast, way too fast! Comparing it to the biplanes he was usually seeing back at his house, the arrowhead clearly outmatched it in all aspects. Was this owned by a superpower? No, impossible. Nothing lies beyond the eastern seas but a dangerous ocean! What if there was an island owned by one of the superpowers that was used to test its new weapons? Implausible! Their government who have told where it should at least be on the map!
The arrowhead became more describable. He stared closely at the flying object to analyze its features. It looked sleek, and long. It had two swept wings connected to its body, but they were placed closer to the back. It had a sharp nose, which was painted black. It lacked any propellers, indicating that it might be similar to one of those jet aircraft the superpowers have in their arsenal.
It had arrived at Qua Toinian borders. What does it want? Were they being invaded? He would never know.
???, Qua Toinian Airspace, Northern Qua Toine
A lone aircraft blitzed through the border of the Principality of Qua Toine, yet it didn’t know it had done so, and it didn’t care, forit was not alive. As it flew, its two air intakes sucked high amounts of air, helping on the mechanism for its large turbojet engines to propel itself about Mac 2.35.
A small high resolution camera could be seen under the nose of the aircraft, quietly taking pictures on the uncharted lands far below. A pilot named Alexi could be seen inside its canopy, observing the various flight instruments and manning the controls as the interceptor-turned reconnaissance plane was tasked in discovering the new lands in the new world. He was briefed hours ago how this world’s horizon was… Farther than the one back in Proterun, indicating that the planet was twice as large as their original home world, if the higher ups were correct. Gravity was comparable to Proterun, so their weapons could still function and no change in aerodynamics and programming would be requiref. The planet also had two natural satellites, interestingly sized moons. Somehow, it hadn’t affected the gravity and tides of this planets that much. It was the first change he saw back when the transfer began. He heard rumors were some of the Air Force’s pilots were found on the roofs of countless Babushkan houses. Cant blame them, he would have done he same if he had the time.
He was sent here to conduct recon, in complete radio silence, and not in the cover of night. Such operations would be suicidal if enemy interceptors and SAMs found him. The Kut-31E was not designed for these types of missions. The plane was basically a modified version of the original fast interceptor model, the Kut-31M, and such aircraft can only go so far until a missile catches up. He had to be cautious.
He could see a large landmass appear in the distance. Looks like he found something. He was ready just in case his cockpit would be barraged with countless warnings about a missile lock. He had trained for this. He continued to fly toward the newly discovered land mass. He could see buildings hugging the long coastline. It looked like a moderately sized town, and was largely ignored. However, there were things which he couldn’t ignore that caught his eye.
The small town had a large port at it, and he could make up some of the ships docked on it. He could describe them as old Pre-Dreadnoughts, due to the 4 imposing cannons with 2 each mounted on both turrets. They were big, yet not as big as the Navy’s largest cruiser that he had seen. The pilot could compare them as early 14th century Pre-Dreadnoughts, before Rukenia deployed its revolutionary warship, the RAN Dublinn, the first ever Dreadnought battleship in history that revolutionized naval warfare.
Him intruding on this nation’s borders would make this look like an act of war by the natives, het he didn’t want to return empty headed. He has to follow orders from high command, no matter what. It was obvious that this nation’s sir force might be mobilizing to intercept his plane.
The natives were advance, but far inferior to Svalvard in terms of tech. Small specks became visible in the screen. They were aircraft, but they looked way too obsolete compared to modern-day jets. Instead of the fast jet interceptors that Alexi had been accustomed to fleeing from during his number of reconnaissance missions, what he was seeing looked like a group of poor pathetic biplanes. Their wings had 2 green lines, with 1 bright golden line at the middle, and at the center was a circular golden and green roundel. Each plane began to form up in a triangular aerial formation, and began to speed up. But, unfortunately for them, the Kut-31 was faster.
Occasionally, each plane would try to pitch upward toward the sky, but after a short moments of ascending, their planes would nosedive and end up at a lower altitude. These things failed to intercept his plane. They were spending their time and energy in trying to chase Alexi down, which would be impossible to do anyway, but they still tried intercepting him. Unfortunately, the difference of technology was just too great, and the reconnaissance plane had already left the group of biplanes in mere minutes. As the specks of the biplanes gradually became dimmer, Alexi focused his attention on the radar of his plane. It was functioning correctly, and no new hostile threats were detected. His plane reached a long river which extended beyond the horizon. Mountains could be seen in the distance, their tall peaks still unable to reach the altitude of his aircraft. Large open fields and massive lush forests stretched far and wide.
He maneuvered the plane to go by the coast, taking small G forces in return. Going further south west, he passed over small agricultural villages darting the coasts of the beach. Nothing impressive for now. Maybe he should keep going.
…
“Bingo.”
After what felt like forever, he found one of his key objectives. It was a massive urban center, with interconnected roads and tall buildings littering the landscape. Even though it looked like it was not that industrialized old, it still had a sizable amount of factories.
Alexi took note how the city was located beside a large bay. It had multiple ports and harbors which contained a diverse variety of ships, docked, or steaming in or out of the bay.
“Impressive.”
He might have stumbled across a naval base of some sorts as well. The warships were bigger this time, and contained larger capital ships. He looked over a bunch of ships in cluster, and spotted one of the capital ships. Its immense size easily dwarfed some of the warships nearby. It had 5 turrets with dual 12 or 13 inch guns. There were two smoke stacks that rose above the ship’s super structure, with only tall mast located behind the first one. Beside were smaller destroyers, each having smaller guns mounted on its decks. It had a diverse array of Anti-Air guns located in some parts of the ship. An impressive design for such a small warship.
Scanning the harbor for more interesting things to see, he spotted another massive warship. The other capital ship was a large aircraft carrier comparable in size to the earlier Dreadnought. It had a long flat deck with a small super structure located at the side. Its smoke stacks were protruding from the sides of the ship, a design feature similar to Saiponian aircraft carriers found back in Proterun.
Alexi noticed the sudden explosions on the air below him, followed by a long trail of tracer rounds. Unfortunately, the AA guns failed to reach his plane, only creating annoyance inside the young man’s mind. He could see that more biplanes were arriving at the scene. Despite the futility of their defense, the aircraft did their best to reach and intercept his reconnaissance plane. He could almost pity their desperate actions, almost…
He still had more time to do recon. So he continued on his journey, deeper into the continent.
Petersgrad, Capital City of the Union of Svalvard, 1200 hours after the reconnaissance mission.
A slight thump could be heard as various men could be seen occupying the room, each seated on a chair. At their front was a long table, of industrial grade quality, and had plastic water bottles standing on its top. The people present consisted of a lot of the officials from various Ministries, some Generals that were called in from service to attend, and the big mam himself: the President. All of them were sweating, unsure on what to do after… The event.
The President himself, Ivan Alexandr, hadn’t had sufficient sleep in the past few days. After being told that the country had become a massive island. The event caused widespread confusion all over the country. It worsened as the communications went back online, as a jumbled mess of sounds and wails flooded the coms. The cause was later identified to be the military forces that was conducting Operation Monsoon had been transported back into their territory. The ensuing panic and confusion made it hard for the military to be put under control.
It took them 5 days to get things under control. The Ministry of Media and the SSI tried their best in calming the populace, but it didn’t stop the truth from leaking out. After 5 days, a meeting was called to address the situation, and to better understand the current state they were in. He heard that some reconnaissance planes were sent off south earlier this morning. He hoped they brought pictures or intel so they can better understand the new world they were in.
The door to the room opened, and out came a person which he identified is from the SSI. They have probably done their work. The fairly middle aged operative proceeded to work with the projector.
The officials readied themselves for the news, letting the uneasiness subside and inviting him to speak. The President was the first to talk.
“What is the status of our military forces?”
His question was immediately replied by the Commander in Chief of the Army.
“We managed to quell the hysterical state our military was in, but the damage was done. We currently reorganizing them to better resolve the situation.”
Ivan breathed a sigh of relief. At least they were ready. He had to make sure if they were completely fine.
“Our navy?”
“It was left intact, as most of out ships were docked during the event. They are currently being mobilized to patrol the.. Long coastline down south.”
“The transfer somehow managed to perfectly relocate the entire country into this world. The weather stayed relatively unchanged, but some of the inland cities down south is facing extreme flooding due to their close proximity to the ocean. We are doing our best to relocate the civilian population somewhere safee.”
Hearing what the man said, Ivan could only wonder what his people were going through.
“Self sufficiency rates are good, and our oil fields are just enough to support country.”
Years of preparing for the grand war with Rukenia all ended with this.. Problem. Now that Rukenia no longer exists, the need for such a big military all seemed unfeasible. If that was really true, the country could finally have long standing peace.
“No more rivals for us to worry about… The necessity for an armed conflict with foreign powers will no longer be needed. Talking about foreigners, how did foreign ambassadors react to this?”
Some of them displayed a “oh right!” face after remembering the number of foreigners that were present before the transfer.
“Most demanded answers for the loss of communication with their home countries.. Notable of them were the Franskans. We tried our best to calm them down and to explain the situation to the best of our efforts, but the Franskans, not believing any of our words, started lashing out with threats of all out war. They decided to give up after the truth was confirmed.”
Ivan could smirk. How pitiful for these Capitalist and Imperialist pigs, cut off from their countries, all alone. But for the sake of formality, he showed no emotion. Though, his primary concern was their foreign allies.
“What was the reaction of the Svalard Pact members about the event?”
The President said, while folding his hands.
“The Vladian ambassador committed suicide 2 days ago... He left no notes afterwards..”
The room became eerily quiet after they heard what the man said.
“Oh… Ans the Ambassador of Noverial?”
“They agreed in letting us utilize their assets, in exchange for being a de facto exile government in our country. We accepted.”
“That’s good to know.”
Now words were spoken for a few moments. The SSI agent interrupted the silence.
“Gentlemen, as you may know, we have been transported to this new world. Being one of the first to venture outside our borders, one of the Navy’s submarines spotted something.. Alarming.”
As the projector activated, images were displayed on the wall. The people present began to scrutinize the pictures they saw. Images of what looked like small dots lining the coast of landmass slowly became more describable. They were settlements. But what was seen next set alarms in their heads.
“Yesterday, one of our submarines spotted this while it was doing its patrols..”
The projector displayed what looked to be a large ship that had 2 smoke stacks on its superstructure. It carried large guns mounted on 3 turrets, and flew a flag people didn’t recognize. Its form immediately made itself known as a battleship.
“We have a rough estimation on its specifications. Naval engineers said it had the length of 237 meters overall, with a beam of 32 meters. Confirmed to be a battleship similar in design to the battleships of the Pre-Continental War era. It was spotted 300 kilometers away from the mainland, and was sailing at 16 knots. The ship’s main armaments was estimated to be triple 15 inch cannons mounted on each turret. Its flag displayed a black cross that stretched from all ends, surrounded by a golden lining. Background was a bright red color and at the top left was an emblem of two lizards facing upwards, breathing fire.”
The Ministers and the Generals couldn’t believe such a warship was near their waters. Their bodies sweated profusely at such a powerful warship being so near their territory. They were not fools to the supremacy of carriers, but the Battleship was free to wreck havoc on their coasts due to current state of the navy.
“What did the battleship do being so close to the mainland? Did the navy do anything?”
“We tried hailing them with our radios, but it didn’t work. One of ours planes did a flyby, which might have startled the battleship’s crew. We considered sending in our nearest available flotilla, but the ship of unknown nationality turned around and left.”
The President couldn’t believe what he was seeing. They were in a close call, a dangerous one.. That would be problematic, as a shooting war right now might be a costly endeavor with the current state of the country.
“We received radio signals and telegram messages west and south of us. Though we can’t understand the language that was written, we can confirm that some of the messages had a similar mechanism to Morse code. This means that our new neighbors might be inferior to us, but we need sufficient reconnaissance to confirm this theory.”
The President began analyzing the information given to him. The thought of Svalvard technological superiority echoed the time when it held its technological superiority over its enemies, only to be beaten to near defeat as arrogance got the better of them. He hoped that the repeat of such an event would never happen again. They need more information on this world’s geopolitical situation so they can use it in future diplomatic endeavors.
Speaking of information.. Ivan Alexandr remembered that earlier this morning, he was notified that a dozen reconnaissance planes were sent to do recon.
“Had the reconnaissance planes returned yet?”
“Our reconnaissance planes that ventured east only found a wide ocean. We theorize that anything eastward would be nothing of importance.”
Relief. The idea of their eastern coasts being safe from invasion was reassuring.
“One of oue reconnaissance jets that went southward found a large island which has some civilization in it. During the duration of the mission, the plane noticed a fairly large buildup of military forces in a line. Trenches, military vehicles, and some artillery guns were preswnt, suggesting this country could be preparing for a future conflict. The plane left as it nearly ran out of fuel, so we couldn’t photograph mor-“
He was abruptly cut when a person entered the room and whispered in the ears of one of the air force generals. Their faces were overcome with disbelief.
“May I ask why did you enter the room without permission?”
“Sir, this is urgent. One of our reconnaissance planes never returned from the expected deadline… And we lost signal of it. Suspected to be shot down.”
The room devolved into chaos.
10/17/1438, Somewhere in Northern Phil Aldes, Empire of Pagoda, Town of Likanichya, 11:20 PM.
The frozen particles slowly fell from the heavens, reminding the locals of the inevitable entry of winter.. The once lively streets of Likanichya became devoid of life, as its inhabitants retired for the cold evening night. One by one, each door slammed shut. The light from the countless lightbulbs within the houses were the only things which illuminated the streets.
Inside one of the houses was a young ursine boy, silently watching as the particles of snow fell on the window of his home. It was satisfying to watch for his young mind. The black haired boy’s notable features were the pair of bear-like ears on his head. The feeling of sleepiness had welcomed itself to him after a long day of playing with his friends during the morning. But he needed to stay awake, for he was waiting for someone..
It would have been more delightful if Papa returned from work..
The sound of footsteps reverberated around the room as he turned to look at the half-opened door. Peaking there was his human mother, Mama, carrying a lamp lit up by magic stones. Her face displayed one of concern.
“Igor, you should sleep. Its not healthy for a boy like you to stay up this late.”
Igor didn’t want to sleep. He wanted to stay awake and wait for his father’s return. But with a sigh, he reluctantly did as told, and began to lay on the bed, covering his body with a blanket. His mother approached him and sat beside him on the bed, gently placing the lamp on the desk.
“Still thinking about Papa?”
His facial expression showed one of contempt and sadness. It had been 7 months since he last saw his father.. Memories of him begging him to stay and not join the Army still lingered. The countless letters sent to him didn’t help him cope with the loneliness he felt.
Mama knew this, and thought to herself how to calm her young son. The idea of doing the usual story telling came up, but she considered it not feasible. She decided it was best to comfort him.
“Listen, he’ll return in December to celebrate winter festival with us. He promised it.
“But.. It isn’t fair! Why do my friends get to enjoy being with their Papas every time while I have to envy them.. Everyday..”
His face didn’t show any smile, but only sadness. His eyes were starting to open their floodgates. Mama simply hugged him and continued comforting the teary eyed boy.
“It’s okay.. Let it all out..”
Igor’s emotions gave in. For such an emotional boy, Mama will do her best to be with him every step in the way, even if her husband will take longer to accompany them. Being the mother of 2 children isn’t easy after all.
“He promised to return soon. Don’t be sad. You’ll see him again.”
Her soothing words slowly made Igor’s floodgates dry up. He gently hugged his mother tightly, his ear flopped downward. His mother rubbed them, and continued calming the young boy’s pain. Her thoughts changed to the news she read from the newspapers. The headlines were justifying her fears.
“Parpaldia declares war on the Republic of Marl! Tsar Fyodir displeased!”
“War is imminent! Phil Aldes will become the battlefield of the upcoming war!”
War with Parpaldia was imminent. The town of Likanichya was farther north, far from the Parpaldia border. But it was near the southern border of the Topan Kahanate, and she heard news that Topa might have forged an alliance with Parpaldia. She feared for the safety of her family, and the thought of those barbarian up north marching into Pagodan lands, sandwiching the Empire in a brutal war was a frightening thought.
Looking back at Igor, who was now asleep, she hoped that this innocent young boy would not he exposed to the horrors of war.. Unlike her during her younger years during the annexation of Wertleg into Pagoda. Such innocent mind needed to be kept safe.
Then, the room shook, as a radiant glow appeared momentarily from the window, but then disappeared, only to be followed by a loud explosion and a violent rumble which shattered the window. Her motherly instincts kicked in, forcing herself to cover Igor with her body. Glass shards rained down from above. Thankfully, most of them didn’t pierce her. Her neck was slightly bleeding from a small wound, but she ignored it. The Magic lamp was now on the floor, its glass broken. Thank the heavens it wasn't lit up by kerosene.
The room was in a complete mess. Drawers were now on the ground, a number of pots and picture frames littered the floor, and much more. The sudden blast left the room in a sorry state.
Her son was wide awake, both shocked and terrified on what just happened.
“Mama? Are you okay!?”
“I’m.. Fine.”
She slowly rose from the bed, brushing off the glass shards present, and covered her wound with cloth. She noticed a glow and the smell of something burning in the air, all emanating from outside. She carefully approached the broken window, slowly peaking out from its shattered frame. What she saw horrified her even more.
A long line of broken houses could be seen, most in flames. The house in front of theirs was demolished, and all that was left was a ruined mess and a fiery blaze. “What was going?”, she thought to herself. The townsfolk were exiting the houses, and the sounds of wailing and tears ruined the once calm cold air.
“Mama? What happened?”
Igor stood beside her, looking out of the window. His face mixed between curiosity and shock. She gently placed her arm around him, as both continued watching. Their neighbors mobilized to aid the wounded, running around to help as much as they could.
“Oh by the Gods! Somebody help her!”
“Somebody! Use water to put out the fire!”
“Help! Help!”
Their cries were not heard by her, as she stared at a large shape that was laying on the ruins of its own doing. Looking at it further, she noticed that it looked like a plane, with the long wings and tails she was accustomed to seeing. But it didn’t have a propeller, and looked more like a jet aircraft from the other Great powers. It had crashed on a household, and its occupants might already be dead the moment the plane hit the house.
Something went wrong, terribly wrong.