0800 – May 2nd 2023 – Asian Special Online Meeting

The first large-scale meeting was primarily organised by five major players of the Asian region. The meeting had representatives of some of the more well-known Asian countries, including China, India, Japan, and South Korea, as members of some international organizations who have high investments and interest in Asia. The chosen topic of the meeting was about the Great Transfer. After all the formalities and greetings, they get right into the main topic.

The head of representatives began the meeting with his speech, "In this special online meeting between Asian nations, we will highlight the shared experience and information to reinforce the cooperation between our nations and the inhabitants of this new world. The first representative to speak shall be the Chinese Representative."

The Chinese representative tested his microphone before beginning his speech, “With the severe disruption of the global economy due to the Great Transfer, China hopes to increase security of trade lanes, primarily shipping lanes as the existence of new countries might threaten the safety of commercial sailors. We also aim to increase our exploration and diplomacy with the inhabitants of the New World and global economic prosperity to reduce the impact of destroyed shipping routes, in addition to helping nations with low economic or military power, and the importance of reconnecting with the Western trade routes in this global crisis."

Followed up was the Indian representative, "India will hasten cooperation with our allies within our reach in maritime security and reconnect the economy with Earth nations in this trying time. We shall also cooperate with other international maritime forces in dealing with external threats. Furthermore, we shall provide financial aid for other nations to reduce the economic impact of the Great Transfer."

The Japanese representative was the next one to explain, “As our responsibility, Japan shall deploy the Self-Defence Forces to provide humanitarian aid to those affected by the Great Transfer. Based on satellite images, we shall also cooperate with other naval forces to ensure the safety of commercial sailors and fishermen as the technological level of the closest native nations on this planet aligns with that of the early 19th century. Since we have not made any diplomatic approach with them, we believe that they might have hostile intentions. Furthermore, social media users also believe that these events align with something similar found in a manga, and that these nations may practice slavery if they do line up with their ‘fictional’ counterparts.”

The meeting continues with the speeches of other attendees. The general consensus is about the safety of the global economy along with the providement of humanitarian aid and maritime safety. 

2112 – May 3rd

The following day was a closed meeting between India, Japan, South Korea, China, Pakistan, Russia and a few other nations from South-East Asia. Due to the sensitive topics of the meeting, it was not publicized. In the meeting, everyone could feel the high tension of each attending representative as they prepared to formally begin the meeting. They need to solve this crisis as fast as possible to report back the event for preparation.

The Japanese representative started the meeting with his speech, "We have recorded 37 confirmed cases of attacks on our fishermen by sea monsters, primarily aggressive giant or colossal squid, with some reports claiming them to be krakens. Our most infamous case was a kraken attack on a whaling ship which has gotten viral on social media. Despite JMSDF interference to prevent more attacks by these sea monsters, we do not have enough vessels to provide surveillance to all sea goers. As a desperate measure, we've prohibited small vessels from going out to sea, as well as sending out ships to guard groups of fishermen. However, this announcement was only published yesterday, so some fishermen may have not received the message."

Everyone offers their condolences to those unlucky fishermen and continues about a preventive method. Suddenly, the Chinese representative jumps ahead with an idea that could temporarily solve the current food crisis.

"If the kraken have a similar biology with Earth’s squid species, we can use them as an incentive to boost the maritime economy. We can hunt and study krakens to make sure they’re edible before processing them into food, those things would surely make an amazing centerpiece in an open aquarium exhibit as well!", the Chinese representative says as he slightly begins to drool at the sheer amount of dishes that could be prepared. 

"That's a compelling idea, but we should focus on reestablishing global trade. Any further delays in this matter and this could lead to a severe economic crisis, especially with the stock market crashing down day by day." The Vietnamese representative snapped back.

India’s representative replied, “Hmm, our government will consider this later, but right now, the issue is that we only have satellite images from ISRO to go by. There’s not much information about the natives of this planet. Despite confirmed infrastructure across multiple continents, we can’t accurately determine their level of civilization.”

“For now, we propose forming a joint naval expedition fleet to explore the Southwest Continent. Besides, the Western powers aren’t just sitting on their arses — they’re probably already making moves. We also need to re-establish the global supply chain as quickly as possible, ideally within the month.”

While everyone agreed, Thailand was still skeptical, "Crisis for situations like this is inevitable, but the southern expedition fleet has its pros and cons. If we showed up acting like an aggressive coalition, it'll only make it worse even if we both have an amicable agreement afterwards."

India answers Thailand, "Let's give it a shot, it’s better if we can negotiate our way out. Besides, we saw those 18th century galleons from the satellite image over that continent. There’s a high chance they're not a threat to our naval capabilities, unless they somehow manage to get close and dent some hulls. Furthermore, if they're a high level civilization, their cities must've lit up at night like other continents, the chance of them being an advanced civilization is close to nil. And unless they're highly advanced enough to fool satellite images, this continent has not even passed the age of sail. Therefore, I guarantee that our southwest expedition won't bring conflict back to Asia. If anyone else wants to join, they must have approval and follow India’s terms, and abide by UN regulations."

April 30th, 2023 – 1 day after the Great Transfer – Japanese whaler factory ship “Nisshin Maru”, former Eastern Pacific Ocean

The crew of the Nisshin Maru continue on with their voyage. Many were heavily disoriented due to the bright light that brought them into the New World, but nonetheless they were determined to not return home empty handed.

 

Captain Ahara looks out onto the bridge of his ship and the open ocean. Among the many misfortunes that have already plagued this voyage, the sudden bright light that came from the Great Transfer had destroyed the morale of most whalers. 

 

“Sir, your binoculars”, a sailor says as he passes the pair of binoculars to the old captain. Ahara gives his thanks to the sailor as he surveys the surrounding waters for any whales. The Nisshin Maru alongside her fellow whaling vessel, the Yūshin Maru had been sailing for longer than expected without even encountering a single whale.

 

Just as Ahara was preparing to authorise the cancellation of the voyage and return to port, he spotted something out of the ordinary. He checks his binoculars again to make sure it wasn’t an illusion, but he was only met with that horrifying sight. He moves to the radio to order the Yūshin Maru to investigate.

 

Japanese whale catcher “Yūshin Maru”

“Understood, Captain Ahara. Moving in to investigate.”

The Yūshin Maru’s propellers slow down as the ship moves closer to the bloodbath; a pod of humpback whales mutilated and surrounded by their own blood and guts. The crew watch on in horror and disgust as they try to comprehend the fate delivered onto the whales.

 

The captain of the Yūshin Maru watches the gory mess from the bridge and relays the information to Ahara, “Captain Ahara, it seems like these whales were killed and partially eaten by some sort of massive cephalopod. The size of the sucker and hook marks on the whale corpses are unlike anything we’ve seen before. The deck crew also report unknown fish species and weird birds scavenging on the remains of the corpses.”

Ahara’s eyes widened in surprise at the last sentence. The implication of a massive sea monster capable of massacring an entire pod of humpback whales was already disturbing, but the description of the unknown fish and birds was all but familiar to him; a yōkai said to appear to take its revenge on whalers. “Bake-kujira…”

 

His silence was interrupted by his bridge crew, “Captain, our sonar reports a massive object swimming towards us. We aren’t sure if it’s a submarine or that thing that killed the pod.”

 

Back on the deck of the Yūshin Maru, a young man watches on at the fish and birds ripping and eating chunks from the dead whales. Call him Ishimaru. Suddenly, the scavengers hastily scatter around, as if spooked by something. 

 

Ishimaru looks down into the blue Pacific waters only to be met by the dark outline of a gigantic cephalopod, its body gracefully moving through the water like an efficient predator. A massive tentacle bursts from the water, its hooks digging into the flesh of one of the whales as it gets forcefully dragged down into the watery depths, blood and guts rising up to the surface.

 

The crews of both whaling vessels watch in horror as they realise that they are no longer the hunters, but the hunted. Ishimaru realises that the bright light had to be some supernatural event and the sea monster only solidified that thought. 

 

The sailor tries his best to comprehend what that monster was. Akkorokamui? But, it’s said to live in Uchiura Bay, not the open waters of the Pacific, and its hooks meant that it was a squid instead of an octopus. His eyes widen as he realises the exact legendary beast he saw. A massive squid that terrorised sailors and dragged down ships, the danger it posed having been heavily detailed in Norse legends and sailors’ tales: The Kraken.

 

Ahara yells into the radio telling everyone to rush back to port before the Nisshin Maru lurches, as if something hit her in her starboard side. The captain watches as several blue arms snake up onto the starboard side and onto the deck.

 

Alarms blared as the Nisshin Maru’s crew grabbed knives, axes or anything they could use to fend off the legendary sea monster. Water cannons fire high-pressure jets of water at the kraken’s tentacles as metal twists and snaps as the kraken wraps its arms around structures and rips them off. 

 

Knives and spades dig into the soft underside of the kraken’s arms as the whalers desperately attempt to fight it off. The kraken responds by wrapping an arm around a whaler, its suckers gripping the man tightly. Despite his coworkers' attempts to pull him back, he was almost about to get dragged into the water before a nearby sailor digs his axe into the kraken’s arm, causing it to flinch in pain and reduce its grip.

 

Just as the group of men regain their breath after managing to save a life, they look back at the former whaler they just saved, the skin and flesh of his face having been sucked completely off.  They attempt to clear the horrific sight from their minds before a massive tentacle rises from the water, its hooks glistening in the evening sky as it slams down onto the deck, crushing and impaling several whalers.

 

The Yūshin Maru turns around to aim her bow-mounted harpoon cannon at the oversized ikayaki, its harpooner firing an explosive-tipped harpoon at the kraken. The metal spear sliced through the air before impacting the soft underside of one of the kraken’s arms, blowing it off and injuring another arm close by.  

 

The crew of both vessels cheer as the kraken’s arms retreat back into the water. All was silent until the kraken resumed its attack onto the Nisshin Maru. Chaos erupts as the kraken shifts its focus from attempting to drag the ship down to killing the crew. The Yūshin Maru’s harpooner attempts to load another harpoon into the cannon before the ship gets hit by a tentacle, causing him to fall overboard where he would get dragged and eaten alive. 

 

Captain Ahara rushes out onto the chaotic battle happening on the deck, having already contacted the JMSDF and giving his estimated location. He picks up an axe dropped by a fallen whaler and charges at the beast before slamming the axe down onto a tentacle, determined to save his ship and men. His act of bravery gets interrupted by the tentacle wrapping around his body as it rises into the air before forcefully slapping him down into the water. 

 

Back on the Yūshin Maru, Ishimaru had already rushed to the bow of the ship to man the harpoon cannon. He grabs the harpoon left onto the floor and loads it into the cannon in time to see Ahara getting dragged into his death. He aims the harpoon cannon and its explosive payload just as the kraken starts pulling itself onto the Nisshin Maru, its head and eyes rising up from the water. 

 

Ishimaru adjusts the cannon to aim for the kraken’s massive eye, its pupil acting like a bullseye. He takes a deep breath and launches the harpoon. The kraken moves its attention from the whalers on the Nisshin Maru to the iron spear flying into its eye. The sea monster had little to no time to react before the harpoon digs itself into the soft tissue and explodes. Chunks of kraken flesh get thrown into the air as the explosion destroys the cephalopod’s brain, killing it instantly. The crew of both vessels exhaled deeply as the threat posed by the kraken ended at the cost of several lives, including Captain Ahara.

 

An SH-60K Seahawk from the closest JMSDF warship, destroyer JS Akizuki would arrive at the scene after a few hours, the crew of the helicopter recording videos of the kraken’s dead corpse still stubbornly holding onto the Nisshin Maru. Akizuki herself would arrive shortly after to pick up the injured crew of both vessels to administer medical care to them. The two whaling ships returned to port under the destroyer’s escort by the morning of May 1st, with the kraken’s corpse undergoing multiple biopsies by teams of marine biologists under heavy police presence and security.

 

Captain Ahara was last seen alive when the kraken pulled him under, still gripping onto the handle of his axe and yelling profanities at the sea monster before impacting the water’s surface. The captain’s corpse was found inside the kraken's digestive system, having been bitten in half by its beak. His funeral was attended by his closest relatives, the surviving crew of the two whaling vessels and a small, formal delegation from Akizuki, including her captain. Ishimaru was the last person to place flowers onto Ahara’s casket before it was loaded onto the hearse.

 

13:27 – May 3rd – NATO Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium 

That afternoon, all QH offices were busier than usual due to the political and economic fallout of the Great Transfer, a tense atmosphere in the air, just like when Russia launched its fullscale invasion of Ukraine the year before. Each delegate of every NATO member state was present with Jens Stoltenberg presiding at the helm.

Formerly a Norwegian politician, Jens Stoltenberg has since been promoted to Secretary General of NATO. Several member states including the U.S and Canada have been using Starlink to communicate ever since the confirmation that undersea fiber optic cables had been severed due to the Transfer. Many of the attending delegates carried the heavy burden of responsibility following the mysterious “lightshow” just four days ago. Despite his term coming to a close pretty soon, Stoltenberg still felt the weight of pressure of leadership in the room.

"Is everybody ready?"

The support staff answered his question, "Affirmative sir, we can start recording anytime now."

Stoltenberg turned to the other side of the room. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he muttered, adjusting his suit and tie before stepping up to the podium. He took a deep breath, glanced at the paper in his hands, and raised his voice in front of the press’s cameras.

"Ladies and gentlemen, four days ago, on April 29th, an unknown bright flash of light was detected across the world. With the satellite photographs provided by the United States, it is undeniable that this is indeed a worldwide transference event, now dubbed ‘The Great Transfer’.”

“With this scenario in mind, I would like to request all NATO member states to increase their spending on national defense against any potential threats that we may face in this new world, as well as increasing aid programs towards Ukraine to support the war effort.”

“As a response to the new countries and limitations of this new world detected by satellite, NATO will introduce new articles emphasizing multinational cooperation, expeditionary efforts and collective investment as we try to navigate the situation 

The room grew rowdy after the speech, and a reporter in the front row quickly raised a question, "Sir, how will NATO respond to Russian aggression amid this unprecedented crisis?”

Jens sighed and answered her question, "NATO’s current position is to continue supporting Ukraine while firmly condemning the Russian invasion, in line with the stance of our allied nations. We remain committed to ending all hostilities in the region."

Another reporter raised his hand and followed up, “Sir, are you sure NATO can protect itself against any imaginative force that may threaten it?"

Jens calmly answers the question, "We are certain that our combined strength is capable of overwhelming any possible threat faced by NATO. Satellite imagery has confirmed that only a select few countries have the strength and numbers to pose a threat, albeit we seemingly have the technological advantage.”

14:06 – Staff Centre Restaurant and Bar, NATO Staff Centre, Brussels, Belgium 

With Stoltenberg’s speech dismissed, the Turkish delegate to NATO, Ambassador Zeki Levent Gümrükçü, had moved to the nearby staff centre to grab a much-needed lunch. Just before he managed to take a bite out of his grilled chicken, his phone vibrated on the table.

Setting his fork back onto the plate, he turns his device on to be greeted by a WhatsApp notification from the Turkish Minister of Defence. 

[Sir, can you spare a minute? It’s important.]

Zeki unlocks his device and opens the app to give his reply, continuing his meal as he waits for the reply. 

[What happened, sir?]

[Istanbul is under attack from some unknown force.]

Nearly choking on his meal, the ambassador quickly types up a response.

[Country?]

The answer caused him to get some food stuck in his throat, causing him to quickly drink some water to flush it down.

[Unknown. The media says that those people wear uniforms similar to Napoleonic-era France, and their language matches up.]

[The police and gendarmerie are reporting the losses of some vehicles and men.]

[F-16s are already in the air, they should arrive in a minute or two.]

The news causes Zeki to drop his fork, realising the danger his fellow countrymen are in.

20 minutes ago, 14:46 local time – La Mer de Verlaine, Western Parpaldian Sea

Wyvern Knight Tharles flies in the air while looking down at the ocean. This is the routine daily task of Flotilla Thirteen, patrolling the La Mer de Verlaine (Verlaine’s Sea) located west of Parpaldia.

“Nothing out of the ordinary, right boy?”, his wyvern huffs a growl of agreement. 

Just as he was about to return to the dragon carrier, something caught his attention. 

"What the hell is that?". 

He reduces the altitude of his wyvern to get a closer look, causing him to nearly fall off his wyvern out of pure shock. What he saw was a land bustling with life, a land where there was formerly an ocean. Buildings were scattered all along the beachy coast, buildings so foreign to his eyes.

"What? But....but that's impossible!"

He didn't know what or how or who or when this happened, but all he knew was that he had to report this. He quickly gets onto the manacomm and informs the carrier.

"This is Wyvern Knight Tharles Yevin to Gargoan! I have an urgent report!. I repeat, I have an urgent report!" 

"Gargaon to Yevin, is everything alright?"

“Sir, there’s a whole new country just north of our current location! I have no idea how they ended up here nor their intentions, but I’m afraid that we might get attacked soon.”

The reply was silent on the Gargaon as the manacomm operator struggled to comprehend the report before passing the message over to the captain.

“A.. transferred nation?”

“It seems like it, captain. Could it be the Ancient Sorcerers? What should we do?”

Captain of the Gargaon, Alain Durand taps on his desk as he ponders on this newfound revelation. 

“In that case, it could be a lightly-defended occupied territory of the ASE. We’d be dead if we continue to sit around and do nothing once they mobilise their military”. He takes a deep breath as he orders a functionally suicidal order, “We’ll sail for the closest port and disembark. Once we’ve gathered our strength, we’ll rescue the slaves being held by the Sorcerers while our ships and wyverns provide cover fire for the extraction team. It’ll be best if we die saving civilian lives instead of getting captured and turned into slaves by the Ancient Sorcerers. Order all other ships to activate their Tears of the Wind God.”

Gargaon’s manacomm operator stands up from his seat and bows to Captain Durand as he relays the orders to the rest of the fleet.

15:06 – Imperial Parpaldian Navy Dragon Carrier Gargaon, Waters South of Istanbul

"Wind speed is stable, shaking on the ship is minimal, takeoff is permitted!”

The deck of the Gargaon shakes as the massive body of a Wyvern Lord gains speed and takes off from the runway, joining its comrades. Its wyvern knight looked down at the Turkish waters to see his comrade attacking a coast guard fast patrol boat, its mouth spewing flames as it burned the boat’s remaining crew alive.

Pulling on his reins, the knight sends his Wyvern Lord over the skies above Istanbul, providing air support to the men on the ground. Several Parpaldian sailors drag several civilians back onto their ships as several more exchange fire with policemen. 

“Get the slaves onboard the ships, we’ll sacrifice ourselves as long as they’re free from the Ancient Sorcerers!”, a commander hollers as the Lord sends a fireball directly into a group of policemen, erupting cheers among the sailors as they pass “slaves” onto their ships. 

“Iron wyvern, up ahead!”, Tharles yells as he flies past a police helicopter. He circles his mount around as he dives below the helicopter and rams into the “soft underbelly” of the “enemy wyvern”, causing it to spiral out of control as it crashes into the city below.

“You alright?” he asks his mount once more as he watches one of his squadmates drop a net onto the propellers of another helicopter, causing the metal blades to get tangled and fall out of the sky. 

“Kartal Squadron, a reminder to refrain from attempting to shoot down any of the enemy dragons flying above the city. We can’t risk them crashing down and causing any further damage. Target the dragons flying above the water and avoid any ships that may carry civilians.”

“Kartal-1, roger that.”

The wyvern rider’s thoughts were interrupted as a group of wyverns sent to reinforce his unit suddenly exploded midair, their mangled corpses crash-landing into the water and beach below. Just then, an F-16 from the Turkish Air Force roared past him, knocking off his mount only to be caught midair by his wyvern just before he crashed into the roof of a building.

Kartal-2 flies over the sea with a retreating Wyvern Lord attempting to fly back to Gargaon in his sights. Flames and lead belch from the fuselage of the Fighting Falcon as the beast gets shredded by cannon fire from its M61 Vulcan, its corpse and rider crashing into the water. 

One of the ships docked near the shoreline, providing cannon fire support, erupted in a violent explosion as Kartal-4’s bomb ignited its gunpowder stores. A massive chain reaction tore through the wooden deck, hurling debris and men into the air. Onboard nearby vessels, Parpaldian sailors watched helplessly as their units were cut down one by one.

The pack of iron dragons turning the tide of the battle into their favour causes further chaos among the Parpaldian ground forces as their voices get drowned out by the roar of the jets. “It’s their air force! Get the slaves ba-”, the commander’s words were interrupted as the voice of a French-speaking policeman speaking through an MRAP’s loudspeaker cut through the air. His MRAP was guarded by a few other MRAPs and officers of the Turkish Police and Gendarmarie.

“Attention unknown hostiles, we, the police and gendarmerie of the Republic of Türkiye, would like to request your surrender. We believe that there has been a grave misunderstanding and that we would want to end this unnecessary bloodshed. Please drop your weapons onto the floor and raise your hands up into the air as a sign of surrender. We will promise to treat you well while in custody as long as you cooperate with us.”

The policeman’s words start murmurs and confusion among the Parpaldians, who initially believed that the policemen were ASE collaborators shamelessly willing to put their fellow people into suffering for the chance to get more “privileges”. After some discussion, the commander steps forward with his hands raised.

“I, Commander Lucas Martin of the Parpaldian Navy, accept surrender.”

“Thank you, Commander Martin, can you please step closer and inform the rest of your forces to stand down?”

Lucas turns to face his men and solemnly nods, urging them to stand down. The sounds of wood and metal dropping onto the floor echo through the city as he reaches the Turkish side.

“Sir, may I use my manacomm to contact the fleet?”

“Permission granted, Commander Martin.”

The Parpaldian commander moves one of his hands down to his uniform to pull out his communications device, “This is Commander Martin to Gargaon, there has been a grave misunderstanding, these people are not from the Ancient Sorcerous Empire and are willing to lighten any sentences if we cooperate.”

Captain Durand drops his pen at the thought of unintentionally angering a country by ordering an attack onto their city and kidnapping their civilians, an order launched out of the fear and anxiety of the possible return of the Ancient Sorcerous Empire. Fearing further consequences of his own actions, he finally calls off his “extraction mission” just as he sees Turkish warships approaching from his window.

“This is Captain Durand. I am ordering all men to surrender immediately. Drop your weapons and raise your hands to comply with their surrender protocol. Any wyverns still airborne are to land at once to prevent any accidental escalation of the conflict.”