The two officers of the Parpaldian imperial army were sitting in their tent, discussing the recent blinding flash of light that had engulfed the world. The two of them were from the 16th Mechanized Infantry Dragoon, and they had been stationed in the area for some time.
"Did someone conjured a powerful maximal magic?."
"I doubt if someone is even capable of that fable."
"Then what it is?."
The conversation was calm, but there was an underlying tension in the air.
Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the door. The officers exchanged a glance before one of them got up to answer it. They were both surprised when they saw the messenger's face, which was flushed with urgency.
"Sir! We found several unknown armored vehicles and Nigratan infantry in the town of Blovan!" the messenger shouted, his voice trembling with anxiousness.
The two officers looked at each other in disbelief. "Nigratan? Are they mercenaries? Or another imperial fiefdom private army personnel?" one of them asked.
The messenger shook his head. "It's unknown, sir. Our troops exchanged fire with them, and now they're occupying the town."
The officers immediately stood up. This was clearly a rebellion, and they needed to act fast. "Prepare to move out! Send a message to the imperial capital now!" one of them ordered.
Within minutes, the 16th Mechanized Infantry Dragoon had sorted from their base. Over 80 trucks and armored vehicles identical to the French ones used in World War 1 rolled out, including some resembles Saint-Chamond and FT-17 Renault. The soldiers were armed and ready for battle.
As they made their way towards Blovan, the officers discussed their strategy. They knew they were up against an unknown force, but they were determined to defend the Empire. They had been trained for this kind of situation, and they were confident in their abilities.
As they approached the town, they could see smoke rising in the distance.
The unknown forces composed of nigratans had clearly taken over on their imperial land. The 16th Mechanized Infantry Dragoon deployed their troops and began to surround it.
"We need to figure out who these unknown forces are and what their intentions are," one of the officers said, a frown creasing his forehead.
The other officer nodded in agreement. "But how do we do that? There's civilians. We can't just go in guns blazing. We need to be smart about this."
"I agree. We need to ask them to surrender first," the first officer said.
The second officer considered this for a moment before nodding. He whispered an order to a nearby messenger, who immediately set off to carry out the mission.
Moments later, one of their Light tanks, an Oresanga Mk. 163A Light combat vehicle imported from Mu, armed with a 25mm cannon and 5.5mm coaxial gun, was sent to the front lines. It moved slowly and steadily at a pace of about 800 meters from the occupied town, ready to carry out the officer's plan.
The tank commander, a seasoned veteran, exited the cupola and began shouting out the order of surrender with a threatening tone. "Surrender immediately or face the full force of the Imperial Army!" His voice echoed through the streets of the town, demanding that the unknown forces surrender immediately.
There was a tense silence for a moment, and the officers held their breath, waiting for a response. Then, to their surprise, a white flag was raised from one of the buildings in the town. The unknown forces had decided to surrender.
The officers were relieved, but they knew that they still had a lot of work to do. They immediately sent a team to the town to take control of the situation and gather information about the unknown forces.
As they waited for the team to return with more information, the officers discussed their options. They knew that they needed to be prepared for any eventuality, and they needed to ensure the safety of their citizens first.
"Let's station a small garrison in the town to keep an eye on things and prevent any further attacks."
"Yeah, also we already sent a word to the capital about the situation, requesting more troops and supplies to help secure the area."
The two officers knew that their work was far from over, but they were determined to do whatever it takes to protect their Empire and its citizens. They sat in their newly re-established tent, listening intently to the radio transmissions coming from the troops forwarded in the town of Blovan. They had successfully recaptured the town from the unknown forces that had occupied it, but they were still trying to figure out who the enemy was and what their intentions were, or they thought so.
"Say it again?."
As they listened to the radio, they were confused by the words coming through the speaker. The troops stationed in the town were reporting that the occupiers were not Parpaldian or any rebellious elements. They were foreigners, hailing from a country called the East African Federation.
"Captain, they claimed to hail from a country called East African Federation."
The officers exchanged a look of confusion, unsure of what to make of the news. The East African Federation was a country they had never heard of before. They knew nothing about the country, and they certainly didn't expect to find any foreign troops occupying one of their towns, deep within the heart of the Parpaldian Empire, the third-largest military and economic power in the world of Hellia.
The two officers listened intently to the messenger's explanation of the situation in Blovan. It seemed that there were actual rebels present in the town, but they had been engaged by the 174th Infantry Regiment of the East African National Army. The earlier combat between the imperial army and these foreign forces had all been due to a misunderstanding. The newcomers had mistaken the routine platoon deployment for peacekeeping as another hostile forces trying to occupy the town, and a brief engagement had occurred before the outnumbered and outgunned imperial army personnel withdrew and called for reinforcements.
The officers were relieved to hear that the occupiers were not enemies of Parpaldia, but they were still troubled by the fact that a foreign army had entered their territory without permission. They knew that they would need to act quickly to resolve the situation before it escalated any further.
After a moment of thoughtful silence, one of the officers spoke up. "I think our first priority should be to establish contact with the foreign army and try to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the situation. We need to find out who they are, what they want, and why they are here."
The other officer nodded in agreement. "Yes, I agree. Still, how could a foreign army be in here in the first place?."
"I'm not sure, it doesn't look like anyone could smuggle an army with armored vehicles undetected under our radar."
"And speaking of which, even armored vehicles is a rare sight to see in third civilization."
Both officers agreed that encountering armored vehicles was a rare sight in the Third Civilization. It was only first inducted in the Magical Civilization of Holy Milishial Empire in a scarce 2 decades ago, and it was soon followed by the Mechanical Superpower, Mu a few months later. Thus, only wealthy and powerful could afford it. Resulted in a common perception that whoever have armored vehicles - they're a force to be reckoned with.
"Yeah, there's a certain degree of military prowess of whatever this East African Federation was. That's a clear manifestation we shouldn't be careless about contacting them."
They both knew that negotiating with an unknown foreign army of suspected powerful civilization would be a delicate and complex process, but they were determined to make it work. They ordered their troops to stand down and refrain from any further hostilities, and they sent out a diplomatic envoy to try to establish contact with the soldiers of East African Federation.
Unbeknownst to them, the sudden flash of light that had engulfed the world an hour earlier had disrupted all forms of communication. The electromagnetic pulse had wiped out all electronic devices, leaving them without any means of communication beyond word of mouth. However, the flash of light had brought something else with it - Esthirant, along with a large portion of the empire, had been replaced by the East African Federation.