As of August 21, 2022, this chapter has been revised

Cent. Calendar 05/06/1639, 1.5km southwest of Gim, 12:00

With the sun seemingly at its highest, 15,000 of Louria’s best professional soldiers have formed up in the plains north of their camp in the sweltering heat. Today looked like it would be another one of their drills, meant to keep them in shape and in discipline as well as to keep their enemies on edge. Marching to the echoing beat of their drums, the Lourian soldiers masterfully kept their formation as they performed increasingly complex maneuvers that displayed their cohesion at all organizational levels.

Watching all of it was Adem, who was situated on a small hill at the rear of the formation that allowed him to overlook the entire Lourian advanced echelon. Despite his splendidly decorated armor and his muscular, well-built steed, his undesirable facial features and menacing glare betrayed any first impression. With his pride in the Lourian war machine that he built up and confidence in his men at an all-time high, he then turned his gaze to the east.

He took a long, deep breath, remembering all the planning and anxiety that he went through taking into account the military deployment of the Japanese. After being warned by their spies in Myhark that they had deployed their technological marvels in force with baffling speed, the invasion was pushed back as revisions to their strategies warranted the movement and deployment of additional men and equipment in both their ground and naval forces. Now that the planned day of the invasion has come, the advanced echelon that he led would take Gim, shelling and pulverizing it with artillery and wyvern attacks before the troops march in and dispel any surviving resistance. From there, they continue on to the major fortress city of Ejei and besiege it while waiting for the main echelon, a force of 25,000 conscripts from the different lords under the kingdom, to join them.

He exhaled, stopping himself from looking too far into their war plans and grounding himself in the present. He refocused his sights on Gim, then he waved his left hand to his standard bearer, who then raised his standard around for all to see and began waving it around in a specific pattern. Seeing the signal, the men that were left in the camp and the sub-commanders of the Advanced Echelon moved into action.

Today, Gim will fall.

The drummers simultaneously changed their beat, to which the Lourian soldiers accordingly responded by turning east. This time though, they won’t stop at the border, for a good time awaits them in Gim. If they could spare the women fighters, especially the high-ranking Ine, they could savor their first taste of Qua-Toynian enabled pleasure. Then there was the growing faction within the soldiers that began to consider the Japanese female soldiers, especially after their spies in Myhark reported that the Japanese employ women in their ranks. If they’re lucky, they can catch some of them today and finally taste the best parts of Japan’s flowers. Eager for these rewards, the soldiers salivated and smiled as they rigorously marched forth, their discipline seemingly undeterred by the carnal desires that plagued their minds.

Meanwhile, back in the camp, the benefactors of the Lourians were signaled that the invasion was beginning and so rushed to the mortars to take off their covers. Having prepared them the night before, the mortars were already loaded and ready to fire. As one of the benefactors kneeled next to the mortar, he was approached by one of the Lourian camp followers.

“You bastards confident that this’ll work?”

Turning towards the man that approached him, the benefactor made a disgusted expression, which was lost on the camp follower since he wore a mask that hid his entire face.

“Sit back and watch, peasant. You couldn’t possibly fathom the power Parpaldia has given you even if it blows up in your face!”

The benefactor then turned back to the mortar.

Hearing their commander shout the order to commence the bombardment, the masked benefactors then began to chant spells to their respective artillery pieces. Reacting to the spell being cast, the magic gems loaded in the mortar began to glow as their internal mana, deposited into them long ago by the planet’s underground mana veins trickling to the surface, started being released from their eons-old prisons. With the benefactors nearing the completion of the spell chant, the mana in the gems were now almost released, ready to be casted. As the benefactors simultaneously reached the final word in the spell’s last stanza, the mana then spontaneously combusted, destroying the gems that have housed them, culminating in a controlled explosion that forcefully pushed the heavy ammunition out of the muzzles of the mortars in loud, cloudy booms.

Having fired their first salvo, the benefactors quickly ordered the camp followers to prepare for the next while they recuperated their breaths and voices from the chanting.

After being readied by their caretakers in another part of the camp, 25 wyverns and their dragon knights took off to the cloud scribbled heavens one after another. Leading this 2nd Wyvern Squadron was captain Aldebaraan, who was the first to taste the strong winds of the sky as he flew his fellow wyvern up into the great blue. After all wyvern units were airborne, he then led his squadron towards the town of Gim.

The continuous loud bangs from their mortars synchronized with the drums and marching of the troops, while their wyvern units streaked across the sky towards the border. Watching the magnificent scene unfold, Adem couldn’t help but shed a tear at the spectacle of the invasion in full swing. Feeling pride and lust from the upcoming slaughter of Gim and Ejei, he let out a sinister smile.

“Spiced beef and wine for lunch... Elven pussy and screams for dinner...”

2nd Division TOC position

“We’ve confirmed that the Lourian artillery has begun their fire missions.”

“Lourian wyverns have just crossed the border!”

Shouts from the ScanEagle drone operators echoed across the command tent as they witnessed through their feeds the sight of the Lourian invasion finally commencing. Cold sweat ran down major general Akiyama’s already perspiring back, but he was not going to let the jitters get the better of his ability to command. 

“It’s time.”

Akiyama muttered below his breath as he exhaled. Turning to his communications team and ever-faithful staff, he issues them an order.

“Tell the artillery to commence fire missions on the targets marked by our forward observers! Inform Myhark to phone Okinawa that Operation Zanzibar has started!”

While one officer informed the 2nd Artillery Regiment, another officer sent the go signal to Myhark.

“The sultan has entered his castle. I repeat. The sultan has entered his castle.”

Naha Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, 12:08

Three F-2 multirole fighters, two F-2A and one F-2B, from the Japan Air Self Defense Force’s 8th Tactical Fighter Squadron forward deployed to Naha Air Base for Operation Zanzibar began taxiing to the runway after being informed that the Lourian invasion had begun and was underway. The two F-2As were each loaded with six 500lb laser-guided bombs, while the lone F-2B was equipped with a Sniper TPOD for laser guidance.

As soon as the control tower gave the clearance for takeoff, the three navy blue-colored fighters accelerated before taking off and zooming ahead to the skies southwest.

Somewhere northeast of Gim

Two soldiers from the 1st Airborne Brigade on lookout duty at a windmill perched on top of a hill to the northeast of Gim were observing Lourian wyverns take a circling pattern over the town. Moments later, several clouds of dust erupted from the stone buildings in the town as the mortar munitions landed, pummeling the clay rooftops of houses and smashing open some of the old, mossy, town walls. Looking at the damage done by the mortars, one of the soldiers sighed in release of pent-up stress.

“Thank goodness we evacuated last night. I just saw the building we were sleeping in collapse.”

The other soldier, who was looking through a pair of binoculars at the incoming wyverns, replied nonchalantly.

“Well, they made it pretty obvious that they were gonna attack today.”

As his companion replied, “Yeah,” he continued to examine the wyverns and their riders.

Despite being a biological creature, the wyverns traveled at speeds that challenged or even exceeded helicopters. While the need for a runway baffled him initially, he found comfort in knowing that the flying lizards needed a crucial piece of infrastructure before they’d need to take off. Maybe it was more exhausting for them to try and take off without the momentum from running? Exhausting a wyvern’s energy at the start was disadvantageous, that much is clear. The soldier also noticed that the wyvern didn’t carry anything else other than the rider, some armor, and a box he assumed must be important, leading him to conclude that weight also matters a lot to these flying beasts. Remembering from an earlier briefing that wyverns possess a fireball attack, he subconsciously sweated as he imagined the wyverns noticing them and going on the attack. While it was mentioned by their Qua-Toynian counterparts that wyverns can withstand arrow attacks, this did not necessarily mean that the wyverns can survive a barrage of lead from their Type 89 assault rifles. Whether it could work or not, however, neither of them wanted to come to a situation where they could test it out.

The other soldier, looking through his own pair of binoculars at Gim being bombarded, remembered something else.

Just before midnight last night, their ScanEagle operators noticed that the mortars were being loaded with real ammunition and covered up, leading them to conclude that the mortars were going to be fired soon. Akiyama, the other commanders of 2nd Division elements, and Moizi, commander of Qua-Toyne’s forces in the west, carried out the evacuation of their forces from Gim under the cover of darkness. While the rest evacuated, several of Moizi’s men and some Japanese soldiers stayed behind to prop up torches, electrical lighting, scarecrows, and tents on the earthen walls to deceive Lourian spotters and dragon riders. Seeing that the bombardment on Gim continued and that the wyverns were heading for Gim, the soldier was left with the conclusion that their deception had worked.

Just then, they heard an unending series of different-sounding explosions coming from their southeast, towards the direction of the divine forest.

Diverting their binoculars towards the direction of the sounds, the Japanese soldiers looked to where the 2nd Artillery Regiment was deployed. There, spread out on the same plains as before, rows of Type 99 self-propelled howitzers, with all of their guns pointing upwards towards the direction of Gim, were firing their 155mm cannons ceaselessly.

“It’s begun, huh.”

“Too bad we can’t see the results from here... Oh wait, here they come!”

The soldier spotted the banners and glints from the armor of the Lourian soldiers marching towards Gim emerging from the tree-laded ridge to the west. While they were eager to see the results of their own artillery bombardment, they subconsciously felt a bit sorry for the soldiers that were woefully unaware of what was to come.

- - -

Emerging out onto the extensive plains of Qua-Toyne from the ridge, the soldiers of the advanced echelon finally got to see their target before them: Gim.

As the last soldiers cleared the crest, Adem was now able to see the pitiful-looking town for himself. Savoring the last time that he gets to see Gim pure from his men’s touch, his nasty grin offered an insight to the lack of delicacy and remorse in his character. While he grew impatient with the painfully slow march, he knew that the Japanese possessed guns, which would make it difficult for them to cross all the way to the outskirts of the town. Moving his sight away from Gim and down to the earthen walls erected around it, he assumed that the Japanese soldiers were lying in wait for them to get within range before unleashing a devastating barrage from their firearms.

He then looked around to confirm irregularities in the landscape that could allow his men to take cover when the bloodshed started. Since the advanced echelon was made up of their best professional soldiers, a good portion of which were trained in the Parpaldian Empire on how to best utilize terrain irregularities to maximize protection and return fire with their own guns, Adem was confident that his sub-commanders would know what to do. In addition to their troops, the 2nd Wyvern Squadron was in the air to rain fireballs on any Japanese and Qua-Toynian troops resisting them. They also have their mortars, which have now yielded results in the form of the inconsistent destruction of some of the town’s infrastructure.

“I had my doubts... Hmph. Those Parpaldians may be a decent bunch after all.”

Adem initially resented the Parpaldians for offering support, even going so far as to appeal to the king that they were setting a trap for them. Still, the king accepted the support with open arms, welcoming their sole ally in their quest to unite all of Rodenius under one banner. Now that his doubts about the Parpaldians sabotaging their efforts have been washed away, he set those original thoughts aside, choosing instead to relish in the sight of Gim being pounded away by the artillery they’ve been given.

They were now only a thousand paces away from the closest earthen walls that faced them. His mind was filled with questions: at what range are the Japanese going to fire their weapons? Could the huge, metal carriages that they brought with them appear? Did they issue guns to the Qua-Toynians as well?

As considerations and countermeasures were processed in his mind at breakneck speed, he watched his troops sweep across the flat farmland west of the town. Desperately trying to find something to satisfy his growing doubts, there was one that he just couldn’t silence. As if discovering something groundbreaking, Adem’s eyes widened. It was a glaring inconsistency that he couldn’t force himself to come to terms with. If anything, it almost felt like he had failed to divert himself and his forces from a fatal mistake.

“Where are the enemy soldiers?!”

He screamed out.

The reports from their scouts earlier in the morning reported “the usual”, with lit torches decorating the earthen walls and buildings in Gim, coupled with the unnaturally bright light from the Japanese installations. Looking back, he realized that they didn’t report spotting a single soldier. According to reports from before yesterday, their early mornings were usually preoccupied with them running into Qua-Toynian patrols in the groves and then being scared away by Japanese soldiers. Now that he realized it, no such reports reached him nor his sub-commanders this morning. It was too unnatural–too artificial–for it to be a coincidence. It was as if the Japanese and the Qua-Toynians were expecting them to invade on this day, this hour, this very moment.

However, it was too late.

Without sparing sufficient time for the other commanders to react to Adem’s sudden outburst, the ground shook tremendously. The shock from whatever struck the ground startled his steed, throwing Adem off his saddle and onto the ground together with his other commanders. Regaining composure almost immediately, he turned his head to where he thought was the front. His vision was blocked by dirt, but from what he could see, he saw his elite, professional soldiers thrown to the ground, their formation forever lost, clamoring to get back on their feet.

Before he could even ask himself what happened, the ground shook once more, accompanied by an ear-shattering boom coming from his right. Looking in that direction, he saw a gigantic splash of soil and earth erupt from the ground in spectacular fashion, soaring to a height that overshadowed even the towering bell tower of Gim. Squinting his eyes, he saw some of his soldiers thrown high up into the air to a height that guaranteed a fatal injury when they fell back to the ground. Along with them were recognizable and unrecognizable body parts, which were Adem’s confirmation of their first casualties.

As hopelessness began to seep in in the absence of urgent answers to his questions, the ringing in his ears finally started to subside, slowly being replaced by the screams and cries of his professionally trained human war machines. Just as he finished finding his footing to try and regain command of his forces, he was thrown back by another powerful, ground-shaking explosion behind him. Recovering faster than he did initially, he got a bit more time to assess the situation.

It was chaos.

Just in his field of vision, he could count ten, twenty, one hundred fatalities, either with their bodies still whole or their torso, head, arm, or whatever else torn off from what still remained. He could see some break formation and run while others continued to try to maintain their composure. Either way, both weren’t spared from a gruesome death at the indiscriminate hands of the earth that swallowed them. He slowly and frustratingly watched the advanced echelon melt, either from deserters or from this unknown, powerful attack. His confidence in the invasion evaporated faster than they accrued casualties. Picking up his shaking self from the earth with his jittery extremities, Adem resigned himself to the fate of the invasion.

It was lost.

Just as another explosion rocked the ground, Adem tripped on the ripped open torso of a man, presumably an officer from what remained of its breastplate, sending him tumbling back to the ground. As he lamented how his life had turned out, thoughts ran across his head, urging him to pin the blame on someone else.

Those filthy Parpaldian sneaks must have likely turned on them!

They must have collaborated with the Japanese to destroy Louria’s capacity to fight and carve the country in half between themselves!

It was the king’s fault for accepting a deal riddled to the brim with red flags!

Either way, even if it were someone else’s fault, Adem’s fate was sealed. Cursing the king with a scream, he was eternally silenced by a direct hit from a 155mm high explosive round, gruesomely running through his chest like a knife through butter before its fuse, upon making contact with the hard earth below him, detonated its explosive package and obliterating his pitiful shell in a fireball.

His surviving sub-commanders lost all morale and hope in continuing the invasion, but before they could even think of retreating, let alone lead a rout, the relentless rain of high explosive rounds made sure that none of them saw the peaceful blue skies above them ever again.

- - -

As the 15,000 troops of the advanced echelon were reduced to less than a thousand mortified souls who were either still trying to push with the invasion or were now running back to the border, the 2nd Wyvern Squadron, which was lined up to rain fire on Gim as soon as the mortar bombardment stopped, diverted out of their attack pattern when they caught sight of the carnage ensuing below them. Back in their circle pattern above the town, the 25 wyverns and their dragon riders could only watch in disbelief and horror as the once mighty formations of the advanced echelon were decimated en masse by the onslaught of explosions. Aldebaraan, recoiling in disgust from the countless mutilations he was witnessing, wondered what was causing such absurdities.

“How?! How in the bloody fuck are our men being slaughtered so easily?!”

His train of thought then wandered somewhere else.

“Who could be doing this?!”

Now diverted away from attacking Gim, the 25 wyverns and their dragon knights experienced delays in hearing the heart-thumping explosions that were erasing the advanced echelon from existence. However, some of them started to hear softer, more distant booms that preceded the louder, closer explosions. Realizing this as well, Aldebaraan started swiveling his head, trying to locate the source of these mysterious booms. His eyes then looked towards the divine forest, along the contours of which he happened to catch sight of several dark green dots spread out on the plains far to the southeast. Examining them further, he saw some of them had long poles sticking out of their bodies. Suddenly, the dot that he was focusing on emitted a bright flame that immediately turned to clouds of smoke.

Seeing this happen to the other dots, it didn’t take long for Aldebaraan and the rest of the squadron to come to the conclusion that these may have been artillery pieces, probably similar to the mortars the Parpaldians offered to them.

Aldebaraan’s blood boiled.

“Those... things! They’re the ones killing our comrades!”

Picking up his manacomms, Aldebaraan screamed.

“Form on me! Let’s teach ‘em a lesson!”

Hearing cheers and war cries echo through the air and through his manacomms, Aldebaraan felt the adrenaline rush as he ordered his wyvern to swoop down towards the direction of the massive guns. Just as they were ordered, the rest of the 2nd Wyvern Squadron followed suit, forming a long line of wyverns that darted towards the enemy. Looking behind him to savor the sight of his unit committed to the attack, he felt a strong sense of pride being their commander.

Turning his head back forwards, he steeled himself for their charge. As they got closer, the shape of the enemy dots began to take form, resembling oversized carriages painted in greens and browns, a smart idea that made it harder for them to discern their size and shape from a distance. With the enemy gun carriages drawing near, Aldebaraan savored the wind blowing through his body and clothing. After this brief stunt, they should be coming out of it with some burning bodies, maybe even disabling some of the carriages. Feelings of revenge and a desire to counterattack overflowed from his heart. He wanted nothing less than to fuck over Louria’s enemies.

Suddenly, he felt a slight sting all over his body, which immediately dissipated as his consciousness ceased to exist. In a flash of light and fire, he and his wyvern were instantly turned to chunks of flesh and red mist. Not even having the time to notice what was happening, let alone react, the other wyverns and their dragon riders immediately after Aldebaraan were instantly turned to lifeless lumps of flesh. Further down the line of lizards, the others, having more time to react, instantly broke formation after seeing their comrades explode out of nowhere. Some of the more attentive dragon riders noticed that they were being assailed by a hail of bullets from multiple places, but before they could even discern what was going on, the remaining wyverns and dragon riders of the 2nd Wyvern Squadron ceased to exist in spectacular explosions.

As the echoes of gunfire and explosions subsided, residual smoke ebbed out of the muzzles of multiple Type 87 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, as well as from the arms of some Type 93 surface-to-air missile launchers from the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.

Outside from view, the mortars back across the border were still being reloaded, unaware of what had transpired on the other side of the ridge. As the Parpaldian operators began to chant their firing spells once more, they were interrupted by a similar set of explosions, throwing off some of the Lourian camp followers and operators, as well as destroying the mortars. Before the quicker ones could run away, additional explosions followed, maiming them instantly. With the dust clouds settling in long after the explosions stopped, no one was left alive nor standing in the Lourian artillery position.

2nd Division TOC position, 12:25

“Looks like that was all of it.”

Akiyama sighed with exasperated relief and sorrow, having seen the live footage of the aftermath of the bombardment on the Lourian artillery position that showed that the mortars had been destroyed.

Just before this one, they had confirmed the annihilation of the Lourian advanced echelon in the fields west of Gim, which was now peppered with craters and the mutilated body parts of what were once soldiers. Assisting in the sweep for survivors, Moizi and his men, together with the garrison of Gim, set out to comb the battlefield under the supervision of ScanEagle drones.

Ine, who was with Akiyama in the command tent, scrutinized the footage more closely. While she was delighted that the Japanese effortlessly halted the Lourian invasion in less than ten minutes, she couldn’t help but feel resentful and disgusted at the results of the counterattack. It was nothing more than a slaughter.

“That... was it?”

She asked Akiyama with a hint of disbelief in her voice and a tint of disgust smeared across her eyes. To her subconscious disappointment, the major general simply shrugged in response, with a facial expression that said, “Were you expecting more?”

Considering that this was the power that the Japanese wielded, Ine saw for herself that even the Lourians, with all their fancy advanced weapons and tactics and rumored to even be backed by Parpaldia, were anticlimactically slain with vexing ease. There was simply no competition–no justice in how each side unfairly played with different levels on the same battlefield.

However, she also realized that this was better in terms of efficiency. Why spend more resources and time if it was possible to do it with as little effort, all while maintaining a high level of lethality and destruction? Coming to this thought, she feared the gross reality that had taken hold in the Japanese’s old world that drove them to develop and use such destructive and efficient weapons. Warfare didn’t seem to be the romantic and thrilling experience she had read about in the histories. If anything, it was gruesome, calculated, hollow, and dead.

While her expression turned gloomy in light of this dreadful epiphany, her train of thought was derailed when something caught her attention on the drone feed.

“Wait! What was that?”

Asking the Japanese drone operator in Asheran common, it took a while for the operator to process what she was asking for. Turning the camera back to where it was, he, Ine, and even Akiyama were horrified by what they saw.

The ScanEagle drone was still circling above the Lourian artillery position. Its camera pointed near to one of the craters left behind by the artillery bombardment. There, through the screen, they saw the torso of a woman, lying face up towards the sky, with the rest of her lower body gone. Her left arm, too, was gone. Blood, intestines, and other internal organs lay scattered on the ground, spilling out of the upper half of her body and dying the earth a harrowing crimson red. From the clothing she wore, they could only deduce that she wasn’t one of the soldiers. Aggravating their rapidly disorienting bowel movements, they also found other bodies and body parts belonging to people that didn’t appear to be combatants.

They had no swords, no bows, no guns, no leather nor iron armor.

“T-Those are... their c-camp followers... Oh, dear Astarte...”

Ine squeezed a line out as her voice cracked. Moments later, her body jerked, forcing her lunch upwards. She tried to stop the onslaught of digested food with her mouth and hand but failed to do so, and she let it out on the floor. The drone operator, realizing what they’ve done, also felt like puking.

“Excuse me, sir...”

Swiftly standing up and leaving his post, the drone operator ran out to release his regurgitated lunch.

Akiyama also seemed like he was about to hurl one himself, but he was able to keep composure and swallow both his lunch and his sorrows. In the end, he could only sigh deeply as he covered his eyes in remorse.

“Fuck...”

The skies north of Rodenius, 13:05

Three streamlined jet fighters painted in navy blue soared through the empty skies in a wedge formation above the ocean north of Rodenius at speeds never before achieved by any of the Asheran nations. They carried a horrifying payload of bombs, the explosives of which could level several buildings in a single drop. Their target: the royal castle in Jin-Hark where the king of Louria resided.

These three Mitsubishi F-2 multirole fighters of the ASDF were the pillars of Operation Zanzibar. The main objective was to end the conflict in a single, swift action by means of a decapitation strike on the Lourian leadership. Taking inspiration from the Anglo-Zanzibar War, the leaders of the JSDF hoped to replicate its brevity to decisively force the Lourians to the peace table with as little time and resources spent as possible. With cooperation from their Qua-Toynian counterparts, they learned that the kingdom was a feudal system of lords with loose fealty to the Lourian king, which was made even more strenuous by the unpopular invasion. The JSDF concluded that if they took him out and eliminated the invasion force, the Lourians, convinced of the invasion’s failure and spurned by the king’s loss, would effectively cease to be a coherent force and would start to fight each other for the throne.

However, they were still bound by the limitations imposed on them by the constitution; they needed the Lourians to attack them first before initiating the operation as a “defensive counterattack.”

Leading the flight of F-2s was the lone F-2B, piloted by one Kyobo Usagi (callsign Rabbit 1) and co-piloted by Kaizo Ikari (callsign Rabbit 3). Traveling to their left was Sakaki Isumi (callsign Rabbit 2) while Sato Tojiro (callsign Rabbit 4) occupied the right. All four pilots were friends in the 8th Tactical Fighter Squadron and have a colorful history in operating together. Kyobo and Sakaki were even friends back in their days in the academy. Having been chosen as the first ASDF pilots to participate in combat operations in Asherah, the quad of friends were in a state of exhilaration in finally being able to fly, especially after a month of generally bad times in Japan.

At this point in time, it will almost be one hour since they took off from Naha Air Base, with the aerial refueling part of the flight coming up soon.

“Well fuck. Guess this isn’t going to be Zanzibar, huh? Mission failed guys, let’s RTB.”

Filling the silent flight with his voice was Rabbit 4, known to occasionally quip jokes.

“Well, duh. We were already briefed that the flight to Jin-Hark would take at least two hours, so this was never meant to be a 30-minute thing. Were you actually listening?”

Taking the bait, Rabbit 1 coldly responded.

“Yeah, but... This is a new world, right? With that magic shit we saw from the princess back in the Diet, you’d think that time would also run differently or something.”

“And it doesn’t so that’s that, right? But doesn’t it seem strange to you that this just feels similar to Earth? Well, we haven’t found nuke-wielding nations yet, so we could afford to do this.”

Joining in on the conversation and adding his own comment was Rabbit 3.

“Wait, is this Sakaki, or is it Kaizo? Hahaha! Seriously, dude. You can pose as a vtuber with that kinda voice! Set one up, I'll superchat you 10,000 yen!”

“M-Maybe... Wait, no! Shut up, you baka!”

Rabbit 4 joked about how Kaizo had a feminine voice and made fun of him for it.

“You’re not gonna convince him any time soon with that tsundere attitude of yours, Rabbit 3. Anyway, you shut your mouth, Rabbit 4. At least Kaizo got his cherry popped.”

Throwing the grenade back to Rabbit 4 was Rabbit 2, the lone female in the flight.

“How the fuck would you know? Wait, don’t tell me...”

“Okay, Rabbit 4, shut it off, or I’ll beat your ass myself.”

With Rabbit 1 shutting down the conversation, the flight returned to its silent, uneventful course towards their objective. Not even a minute of silence later, Rabbit 4 once more spoke up.

“Ughhhh... We never had to fly this far before...–You guys wanna watch me do an aileron roll?”

The rest of the flight laughed amongst themselves.

“I’m serious! Fine, fine. I’ll behave.”

It truly was a dull, boring flight. Even after they arrived at Jin-Hark to drop their payload, it’s expected that they will enter and leave uncontested, given the laughable operational altitude and speed of the wyverns Louria uses. That’s also if they respond at all since their air defense relied on visual sighting and the speed of the reaction of their wyverns. In any case, the only thing that excited them about this operation was the fact that they were the first ASDF pilots to conduct a combat operation in Asherah.

As the pilots sighed in resignation to their unexciting mission, they suddenly heard a loud “oh fuck!” on the radio. The pilots immediately recognized the voice behind it.

“Rabbit 4?! SITREP, now!”

Unable to see what happened behind him, Rabbit 1 ordered Rabbit 4 to check-in. No answer. Just as Rabbit 1 thought of asking Rabbit 2 to check, she spoke first.

“Rabbit 1, Rabbit’s 4’s canopy is gone!”

Unable to process what Rabbit 2 said, there was a moment of silence as Rabbit 1 paused to repeat Rabbit 2’s words in his head.

“Gone?! What do you mean gone?!”

“It’s gone! Exactly as I said! It blew off or something!”

In the midst of their shouting, they heard Rabbit 4 struggling and groaning.

“Ngghh... What the fuck was that...?”

“Fuck, are you okay, Sato?!”

Dropping the callsign, Rabbit 1 checked in with his friend.

“I’m fine... Just another one of my airheaded things.”

With Rabbit 4 still managing to pull a joke in this bad situation, Rabbit 1 inwardly commended his subordinate’s self-control as he pulled himself back from laughing.

“What happened?”

“I don’t fucking know... The canopy just poofed. Maybe I forgot to secure it, I don’t know...”

Worried for the sake of his friend, Rabbit 1 wanted to order Rabbit 4 to return to base, but...

“You don’t have enough fuel to go back. But if you eject all the way out here, we don’t even know if there are any JCG or MSDF ships to pick you up...”

As Rabbit 1 cranked his head into overdrive to think of a solution, Rabbit 4 cut him off.

“Nah, screw ejecting. I will refuel with you guys and RTB. This is more than enough ‘eventful’ for me...–Still wanna see me do an aileron roll?”

After he chided him for his out-of-place humor, Rabbit 1 judged that it was the most secure option and went with Rabbit 4’s suggestion.

- - -

A Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron and her F-15C escorts of the United States Air Force stationed in Kadena Air Base was loitering in the area north of the Rodenius continent to facilitate the refueling of the F-2 fighters for Operation Zanzibar. As part of the tactical command agreements between Japan and the new government of the United States based in the US Embassy in Tokyo, Japan ordered one of the USAF’s tankers stationed in Okinawa to provide support for their operation. This became the first involvement of the United States Forces Japan and the United States in combat operations in Asherah.

Traveling in a holding pattern, the enormous gray plane, flanked by its smaller yet more nimble-looking escorts, was easily spotted by the Japanese fighters. As the flight of F-2s neared and lined up with the tanker, the boom operator noticed something odd about the leading fighter. Getting closer, it became clear to him what was wrong.

“Holy shit! The guy doesn’t have a fucking canopy!”

Talking to himself first, he then radioed the lead fighter as he maneuvered the boom towards it.

“Uhhh, Rabbit 4?... You seem to be missing your canopy...”

In response, Rabbit 4 waved his hand from inside his cockpit to the boom operator.

“Ah, yes. Thank you for noticing! Mitsubishi likes its fighters open top, you know?”

Laughing at the pilot’s witty remarks and unexpectedly good English, the boom operator made doubly sure to perfect his maneuvering so that the Japanese pilot doesn’t have to spend as much time in the air. Once the refueling was over, the canopy-less F-2 slowly maneuvered away before separating totally from the others to return back to Naha Air Base.

“Gotta see you back there, Rabbit 4!”

“At least I get to have a fun ride back home, unlike you guys!”

With the refueling of the remaining two F-2s done, the two groups of planes then went their separate ways to complete their respective missions.

The skies northeast of Jin-Hark, 14:10

A sliver of the great, arid expanse of the northwestern Rodenius continent was finally visible over the horizon. As the F-2s cruised on, they soon happened upon the skyline of the Lourian capital, Jin-Hark. From where they were flying, it was hardly visible, the minuscule, dusty, earthen buildings blending into the savannah-like colors of the land. What helped them in identifying the city was its extensive port, which welcomed hundreds of ships at its mouth.

From there, they looked further inland, after which they sighted their target: the royal castle. While the rest of the city, both outside and inside the triple-tiered walls, were unremarkable, the royal castle that housed King Hark, his guards, and hundreds of his servants, maids, chefs, and others was a towering splendor to behold. Being the only towering building in the city, it was extremely easy to pick out from the sea of monotonous arid brown. It was the defining cherry on top of a poorly built cake–one that would come crumbling down once someone takes the cherry away.

As the Japanese fighters entered Lourian skies unannounced and uncontested, they reached their drop point. Rabbit 2 consequently released her payload.

“Bombs away.”

Royal Baths, Royal Castle

“Hmmm...”

Inside a massive, extremely ornate, and lavishly decorated bath sat King Hark Louria XXXIV, naked and deep in thought. Despite being the king and de jure commander of the Lourian army, he relegated the tasks of military command to his chosen commanders and spent most of his time in the royal baths and mingling with foreign dignitaries and local lords.

The royal baths were something of a marvel to him. The royal baths were a magnificent artistic and technological marvel built by his great grandfather, also named Hark Louria. Spending exorbitant amounts of tax money to import heating and simple plumbing from Parpaldia and the Holy Mirishial Empire, respectively, and on artists to sculpt the nude depictions of Asheran goddesses, he brought the wonders of baths with on-demand heat to the non-civilized areas. Praising his great grandfather for his amazing taste in how he burned time, Hark spent most of his time in the bath being under one of the plumbing-enabled fountains squirting from the nipples of the elven goddess, Astarte. Seeing the long-eared features of the goddess, his mind then wandered to their current predicament with the elven nation to the northeast.

“That whore, Llanfair... I wonder if they could catch her alive, so that we may know if her breasts are as big as these...”

Feeling his manhood perk up from imagining an undesirable’s breasts, Hark slapped himself for betraying his own beliefs. If anything, he felt something biting at the back of his head. Entertaining it, he realized that he couldn’t imagine Llanfair being taken prisoner becoming a reality as easily as he did before. Remembering why, he sighed deeply.

“Damned Japanese... You make everything hard...”

Immediately realizing his bad wording, especially after catching a glimpse of his fully erect manhood, Hark screamed in frustration.

“NO, FUCK! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!”

In reality, Hark saw Llanfair as a competitor of sorts. Being a powerful elven woman in direct control of her domain, Llanfair exercised near-authoritarian levels of power over her subjects. On the other hand, he, the great king of over 10 million people, couldn’t even bring his own lords to his side. In spite of his attempts at unification by providing everyone with a common enemy, the undesirables, his call for the invasion was met with stiff resistance. It was only when Adem, Patagene, and the rest of his commanders stepped in to intimidate the lords with their force of professional soldiers did they begrudgingly agree to support the invasion.

How was Llanfair able to do it? What’s so special about her?

Failing to justify his own accusations against Llanfair, Hark could feel his sense of superiority crumbling around him. He needed the invasion to work. Aside from his personal reasons, Louria is also indebted to Parpaldia for their support in making the invasion sure to be a success, so they needed to secure additional revenue sources to pay them back.

Clasping his hands together, he prayed for the success of the invasion.

“Gods... give me a sign that the invasion will work.”

Almost immediately after, the gods answered his prayers.

Through the glass part of the roof designed to give the baths natural sunlight while still being enclosed fell something. For a split second that it crossed in front of him, Hark was able to somewhat examine what had fallen through the glass roofing. It was a big, green-colored object pointing towards the ground. On it was a drawing of a woman in an ultra-stylized style winking back at him. Written next to the character was a script alien to Hark that read out:

“Ehe! Kyun!”

Before he could even process the object, it exploded in a fireball as it made contact with the hard tiling of the floor underneath the bath water, obliterating Hark in an instant. The damage wasn’t limited to the baths as the explosion rocked the entire floor, disturbing the delicate framework of the stone-built castle. Adding even more to what was already a damaging blast, five more of those objects followed suit, completely leveling the baths. As a result of the overpressure wave from the blasts, the heavy stone supports keeping the castle together were either broken or pushed mere millimeters from their foundations, which was enough to bring down some of the more sensitive parts of the castle.

Those who were not killed as a direct consequence of the explosion and the shockwave were sentenced to a gruesome grave as the great stone pillars and edifices of the royal castle caved in from above their heads. A fortunate few managed to get out, but much of the castle staff, administrators, lords, and their respective families were buried under extremely heavy rubble, doomed to die from either asphyxiation or as a result of their serious injuries.

The skies above Jin-Hark, 14:20

Cruising across the skies of the capital in a holding pattern, Rabbit 3, who operated the Sniper TPOD to guide the six 500lb laser-guided bombs to their target, was now using it to assess the damage from the bombing.

“All bombs have hit the target.”

Receiving an OK from Rabbit 1, Rabbit 3 continued to examine the ruins of the royal castle. He remembered the castle’s layout provided to them by the Qua-Toynians, courtesy of Llanfair’s extensive spy network in Rodenius. Taking the castle plan in his head and mentally superimposing it over the ruins of the castle depicted in the live feed from the Sniper TPOD, he was able to confirm what they were hoping for.

“The baths and the throne room, where the king is frequently in, have been leveled. Safe to say that the king is dead.”

“Are you sure?”

“They’re on the upper floor, and I can see the foundations of the castle where they used to stand. It’s extremely likely that we got him.”

Trusting the word of Rabbit 3, Rabbit 1 then gave the order to return to base.

As the F-2s vacated Lourian airspace still uncontested, little did they know that the trail of destruction they left behind here would usher in a new era for the region as much as it guaranteed Operation Zanzibar’s success.

- - -

“What the hell is going on?!”

Situated in one of the watchtowers of the outer wall where he was reviewing the capital’s defenses, commander Patagene heard and felt six distinct booms and their shockwaves, which came from the direction of the royal castle. Stepping out onto the ramparts, he turned his worrisome eyes towards the castle, only to find a massive dust cloud obscuring the Lourian administrative power base. As he repeatedly screamed wondering what had happened, sweat began to rapidly form and drop from his forehead.

“What happened?! Who did this?! Was it a saboteur?!”

Immediately, Patagene’s train of thought pointed the finger at the Parpaldians, whom he also distrusted. Were the Parpaldians so eager to plant their influence in Rodenius that they had to take away the Great King? He immediately refuted this by remembering the Great King’s lenience and friendship towards the Parpaldians. Why would the Parpaldians be eager to get rid of someone who actively welcomes their influence and support? The next entity he could pin the blame on was Qua-Toyne, but as far as they know, Qua-Toyne doesn’t possess such extremely potent explosives in their arsenal. That is, of course, unless...

“Japan?! No... How did they-”

As if answering his questions, he heard a high-pitched sound echoing throughout the city. Looking to the guards, he sees that they, too, have heard the sound. Deducing that the sound seemed to emanate from above, they looked up at the clear blue sky that unfolded above them. Not knowing what to expect, Patagene scanned the great azure for the thing that was making the high-pitched sound that was still clawing at his ears. His eyeballs danced frantically in search of whatever it was that was so noisy.

Then, his eyes happened on something.

“What is that?!” 

Looking at it further, he struggled to explain it with what vocabulary he has in mind, much less come to terms with. Heading towards the northeast out to the ocean were two streaks of something blending into the color of the great sky. Before he could scrutinize more details, something disappeared into the dark, blue void, leaving only the alien high-pitched sound that still echoed throughout the city and the destruction of the royal castle. Unable to conclude with confidence what exactly was it that did this, Patagene could only sweat uncontrollably and stare at the empty patch of sky where something disappeared to.

Main echelon camp, 14:45

The Lourian invasion force, dubbed the eastern subjugation army, was split into two parts: the 15,000 battle-ready professional force that was the advanced echelon and the 25,000 levied army composed of the lords’ personal retinues and subjects under the command of the lords themselves, which was referred to as the main echelon. The advanced echelon would open the invasion and secure Gim as a staging point before heading to Ejei and besieging it, crushing any Qua-Toynian field army that responded to oppose them along the way. The main echelon was to provide the numbers necessary for the rest of the campaign as they advanced northeast to take the more populous major cities deep in Qua-Toyne proper.

However, as of the 5th of Sevsrune, the main echelon was still waiting for some of the other lords to join them to hit their intended goal of a 25,000-strong force. Expecting the advanced echelon to have taken Gim and report in, the commanders of the main echelon waited to hear from them, but ever since the message telling them that they were commencing the invasion, they’ve never heard back from them. They never even honored the scheduled hourly updates, and that was almost three hours ago.

Worrying that something bad had happened, general Pandour ordered the 1st Wyvern Squadron, composed of 25 wyvern lords and their dragon knights, command of which was lent to the Lourians by the Parpaldian Empire, to fly to the advanced echelon’s camp and report back. Utilizing the faster speed of the wyvern lord breed over the regular wyvern, they would be able to report back earlier than if they had sent a normal wyvern squadron.

When the 1st Wyvern Squadron reported back the utter carnage and destruction they witnessed, the commanders of the main echelon bickered back and fought about what to do next.

“To hell with this invasion! If the advanced echelon was indeed annihilated, then everything’s for naught! I maintain my position that we should disband and head home!”

“But the great king and his commanders... they’ll be furious with us if we do so!”

“With the entirety of the professional forces basically gone, what’s stopping us from deposing him?”

The lords were resentful of their king. Having been forcefully put underneath the foot of the Lourian dynasty for generations, the lords were more than happy to take advantage of the loss of the king’s powerful professional force to their advantage. Still, the king had the support of the Parpaldian Empire, a great power with military strength beyond whatever they could muster. If they decided to depose the king and ruin Parpaldia’s interests in Rodenius, it would mean a great deal of trouble for them. As the lords continued to bicker about what to do, one of the manacomm officers came running to them.

“My lords! The great king... He is dead!”

Hearing this, the lords, unable to contain their reactive happiness, cheered. After a moment of gay and merry, the lords instantaneously realized the gravity of the situation and immediately started sweating bullets.

“WHAT?!”

“My lords... According to the administrators in the capital, the royal castle erupted in a great explosion. In the search for survivors, they could not find the king nor any of his remains. They deduced it was an attack from the sky due to an ominous sound emanating from the heavens after the explosion.”

One of the lords who had closer ties to Qua-Toyne immediately remembered the tales from merchants that described the amazing performance of Japanese flying objects, called aircraft, that came in and out of an airfield in Myhark. Without much to go on, he still made the connection.

“An attack by the enemy... Japan...”

Hearing his statement, the other lords began to consider the possibility of Japan killing their king. Supposing that Japan eradicated the advanced echelon while also mounting a strike on the capital, then that was enough to conclude that they have much more potent military capabilities than they initially thought. Even if they couldn’t conclude that Japan was the one that killed the king, they at least knew that continuing with the invasion was asking for slaughter. Looking at the good side of the situation, the king was dead and not by their own hand. There was no longer anyone controlling them. There was no longer anyone on the throne since Hark had no heirs. It was a prime opportunity to seize the seat of power. With the lords more or less coming to the same conclusion, they all looked at each other and instantly realized that they were all potential enemies to each of their ambitions. However...

“I know where this is going. Before we get there, we need to eliminate the threat of an enemy invasion coming from our eastern flank. So that we could equally represent ourselves at the peace table, I propose a truce.”

Sensing logic in general Pandour’s proposal, the other lords agreed to a truce. They didn’t want any one of them getting more favorable peace terms with the Japanese and the Qua-Toynians over everyone else, much less having only a handful of lords be accepted by the enemy to make a peace deal. Agreeing to send their retinues as representatives to request a peaceful conclusion to the war from the Qua-Toynians and Japanese, the lords packed up and marched west with their armies to take control of the capital.

Off the northern coast of Rodenius, 15:00

Having stopped and picked up some more ships along the way, it was already three hours past noon, and the Lourian war fleet was still a considerable distance away from their target, Myhark.

Hours ago, their headquarters in Jin-Hark notified them of some unexpected developments in the ground invasion but did not elaborate on this. With headquarters not responding to their calls for details, vice admiral Sharkun grew restless at the lack of information in their possession and started pacing back and forth on the helm of the flagship.

“What in the world does ‘unexpected developments’ mean?”

Coming up empty-handed, Sharkun could only scratch his head in frustration as their ships languidly inched eastward. Suddenly, the manacomm officer called out to him.

“Vice admiral! Urgent message from headquarters!”

“What is it?!”

“The great king is dead and it is also extremely likely that the ground invasion has been stopped altogether by the enemy. Due to concerns of violent revolts and uprisings, the war fleet is ordered to turn back and return to port immediately, and its men to be brought under the command of commander Patagene!”

Sharkun found it difficult to process, let alone accept, the message.

How did the great king die? How did the invasion of Qua-Toyne fail so early in the timeline? Out of the countless questions that arose, one fact appealed to Sharkun: they were no longer obligated to continue their invasion. Mentally disposing of his planned countermeasures in dealing with the massive Japanese warships, Sharkun decisively ordered the entire fleet.

“Get all ships to turn back!”