Kingdom of Altaras, December 20th, 1639

Le Brias

In the royal palace of the Altaran capital, King Taaras is seen listening to a report of the recent naval battle. Judging from the expression he had, he seemed to be delighted at this news.

"So you're saying our navy won the battle?" He asked to confirm the situation.

"Indeed, your majesty. Though we have lost a number of ships due to their ironclads and wyverns, we managed to repel the Parpaldians back."

King Taaras could not contain his delight as he learned that the Altaran Royal Navy managed to defeat a Great Power's navy. This was a huge win for Altaras militarily and politically.

"Hah! Seems like those Parpaldian scums will be scrambling for whatever they can to beat us. This is a huge opportunity for us!"

He knew such a humiliating defeat would be a huge loss in prestige for Parpaldia, but it also meant that his nation could better prepare for a Parpaldian landing and potentially reach a peace deal.

"Alright, let us convince the other nations nearby that Parpaldia is not invulnerable! We shall exploit the weakness that they have shown to pressure Parpaldia into a favourable peace deal."

"Yes, your majesty!"

Taaras sat back, still delighted at this news as his servants and fellow government officials left. However, he still felt slightly worried as Parpaldia may not easily accept peace and instead opt to continue with the war. This was something that didn't sit well for him and his nation.

Parpaldian Empire, December 21st, 1639

Eshtirant

Within the Imperial Palace of the city of Eshtirant, a young emperor is once again furious. After the defeat of their Imperial Navy under the hands of the Altaran Royal Navy, many Parpaldian officials were both shocked and furious. This went up to the point that the people involved, such as the admiral and his officers, were blamed for the defeat.

Ludius clenched his fist and smacked the armrest of his throne, "Tell me, Kaios.. How did our navy manage to lose? First was Fenn and now Altaras?!"

"My apologies, your majesty. Our forces were much stronger than the ones sent to Fenn, but the Altarans outmaneuvered us!"

"Those damn incompetent sailors.. Didn't our fleet have ironclads? Those things should've turned the tides before the battle even started!"

Ludius thought that the ironclads would be enough for Parpaldia to defeat the Altaran Royal Navy, a force that is to be reckoned with outside the 3rd Civilization Area. However, he was proven wrong and cursed at the navy's incompetence.

"The ironclads we sent demonstrated their effects and the Altaran Navy struggled to sink one down. However, it seems that the Altarans have acquired some sort of secret weapon in the form of a rocket and sunk one of our ironclads."

This statement would baffle Ludius as everyone knew the ineffectiveness of rocket and as a result, they would usually be used alongside more effective weapons such as bomb ships. He never knew such a weapon would be capable of sinking a ship, not to mention an ironclad.

"A rocket? Those things are just weapons of terror and they're not even reliable or effective! How did such a weapon managed to sink it?!"

"My apologies, but we simply don't know how they managed to get their hands on them. The Office of Information is trying their best to investigate it, but at how things currently stand, our invasion of Altaras will have to come to a halt for the time being."

"Damn it!" Ludius smacked the armrest of his throne while gritting his teeth, "I want every factories and shipyards to speed up the production! I do not want to wait for any longer!"

The Director for the Office of Industry realized that such actions would be bad for their military. He stood forward and tried to convince Ludius of this matter.

"But your majesty, if we rush the production, then the quality of the weapons will deteriorate. We simply cannot allow to provide the military with sub-par weapons!"

"Are you suggesting that the Parpaldian Empire should stay silent in the face of defeat?" Ludius asked the man with an intimidating glare.

The director for the Office of Industry backed down, frightened by Ludius' intimidation, "M-My apologies.."

"For the investigation of these weapons.. I want to know how these Altarans get their hands on them and for Project Sea Fortress, I want additional resources and funding to get it completed sooner!"

The officials knew what this meant. Project Sea Fortress, a shipbuilding project that began around a couple of years ago to further strengthen the navy into a modern and powerful branch with the introduction of a next generation warship complete with new technologies, would undeniably be a game changer for Parpaldia's future ambitions. Although the project is already near completion, rushing the use of advanced technologies without any form of testing would undeniably cause problems.

"Hence, I will not tolerate anymore failures!"

The officials in charge of the relevant departments all left the room in a hurry as they were dismissed. Everyone knew that Ludius' orders were possibly a bad idea, but if the Parpaldian Empire suffers another defeat, then they could be replaced by Emperor Ludius.

Kingdom of Sios, December 23rd, 1639

Shios

The city of Shios is the capital city of the Sios Kingdom. Though the city seemed to be rather similar to the Altaran capital of Le Brias, the nation itself isn't quite as prosperous as its neighbor. The nation has made itself as a profitable trading hub for the transit of goods between the Philades and Rodenius continent.

This advantage has made Sios to acquire a decently powerful military, but due to the lack of natural resources, the nation is undeniably much weaker than Altaras. Therefore, Sios, for much of its history, has been a close ally of Altaras.

All of this combined, alongside the war that had just started between Altaras and Parpaldia, it had made King Sios very nervous of his nation's safety. However, his reaction upon learning of Altaras' victory had caught him off-guard.

"Huh? Altaras won a battle against Parpaldia?!" The king asked, flabbergasted at this news as he sat on the throne of his castle.

The servant who reported this news to him simply nodded in response. For Sios, he had never thought Parpaldia would be defeated in the first battle of the war. He knew that Altaras is well experienced in shipbuilding and had a powerful and highly trained navy, but Parpaldia's relatively quick modernization should've caused Altaras a huge amount of trouble.

"How did they win? I'm sure the Parpaldians should've given them a hard time."

"According to the Altarans, the new Parpaldian ironclads have certainly made the battle more difficult, but it seems that a nation have provided them with invaluable aid."

"What country is it? I must know!"

For King Sios, a country that is against Parpaldia's actions and is also as powerful as them would be helpful for their nation who had been repeatedly harassed by the Parpaldians.

"I'm sure you know of them already. They're the Indonesians and according to the Altarans, the weapons they gave had worked well against the ironclads."

"Wait what?! Weren't they displaying a passive stance to Parpaldian aggression like a month ago?"

This statement had surprised King Sios. The Indonesians have so far had been rather passive and instead went for diplomatic solutions to end conflicts without causing much violence. Such a nation suddenly changing its attitude was both surprising and a shock.

"We're not exactly sure what their motive is. They may be attempting to have Altaras firmly into their sphere of influence or slowly defeat Parpaldia, but I believe either outcome is very favourable for our kingdom.

Speaking of which, the Indonesians have approached us to purchase a small piece of land for their military and civilians for a generous amount. Should we accept their proposal?"

"Hmm... Since the Altarans have a reasonably good chance of ending this conflict, let's send them more supplies and aid. And for the Indonesians, I don't see too much of a drawback to sell them a piece of our land."

"As you wish, your majesty."

The servant left the throne room of King Sios' castle. The outcome of the initial stages of the war seemed much more favourable than expected, so the Kingdom of Sios had decided to lend more hand to Altaras' efforts.

Principality of Qua-Toyne, December 27th, 1639

A Certain Conference Room

In a certain conference room within the Principality, representatives from the countries outside of the 3rd Civilization Area gathered. They sat around a large round table inside a building on top of a cliff.

Within the large and open room, large pillars stood around the conference area, while decorations in the form of potted plants filled it.

The representatives came here to attend an international conference known as the Great Eastern Countries Conference. This event was held for countries of the east to discuss the major events that had happened or are ongoing. Nations within the 3rd Civilization Area were invited, however most simply refused to join such a conference.

For today, the attending nations were the Kingdom of Fenn, Theocracy of Gahara, Kingdom of Sios, Principality of Qua-Toyne, Kingdom of Quila, Principality of Zeven, Kingdom of Melissia, Kingdom of Altaras, Kingdom of Asgar, Kingdom of Awan, Kingdom of Topa, and Kingdom of Mao. Unfortunately for Indonesia, they were not invited for this year's conference.

The topics of today's conference was primarily about the Parpaldian-Altaran War and the Republic of Indonesia, although there were many other topics to discuss, such as the post-war situation in Rodenius. These two main topic had caught the eye of the nations that had attended.

"To start off the conference, the first topic shall be the Parpaldian-Altaran War that had started recently."

The representative to Altaras stood up as the first topic was mentioned. Every representatives looked at him as Altaras is one of the two parties directly involved.

"The Kingdom of Altaras have received an outrageous list of demands which includes the hand-over of our Siltras mine and Princess Lumiess. The Parpaldians have declared war on us once they heard of our refusal."

"The Kingdom of Sios have lent our Altaran allies aid. However, we believe that Parpaldia remains too big of a threat for us to oppose openly."

"The Kingdom of Fenn has also experienced direct Parpaldian aggression, but we believe that despite their status as a Great Power, they are not invincible. Therefore, we would like to propose a coalition to keep Parpaldian aggression in check."

"The Kingdom of Mao shall politely refuse this proposal. The Parpaldian military is unmatched on land in this region and as a result, we believe it is unwise for our country to oppose them."

"While Parpaldia is formidable on land, the Kingdom of Altaras believes that we may be able to turn the odds into our favour by having Indonesia as an ally. We have also shown that Parpaldia is not invulnerable and with Indonesia on our side, we can contain and defeat them for the sake of our countries prosperity and security. If we don't act now, your nation may be next in Parpaldia's conquest for resources."

The representatives took some time to think about having Indonesia as a part of their coalition. While certainly powerful, there is still a chance they may reject such a position. Altaras also had a point, none of the countries attending didn't like the idea of a foreign Great Power dictating their fates.

"The Kingdom of Mao believes that Indonesia may prove to be a threat. We acknowledge their potential strength to this coalition, but we don't know when their might will be turned against us similar to Parpaldia."

"The Kingdom of Topa believes that they are not a threat. As long we don't threaten its interests and security, then Indonesia shall remain friendly and peaceful. We may be able to convince them to side with us by convincing that Parpaldian aggression is not something they can negotiate with."

The representatives seem to agree as that had been the case ever since Indonesia came into contact with Qua-Toyne. In addition, they knew how advanced Indonesia is and even even if they banded together to form a coalition against Indonesia, they would still be defeated. Therefore, it was best to use Indonesia's strengths to contain and perhaps defeat Parpaldia.

The meeting later ended once the representatives finished discussing the topic of the conference. Since there was a lack of representation from the civilized areas, the nations that had attended spoke openly of their intentions.

The conference had achieved a result as members negotiated and agreed upon various proposals. One of which is the creation of a coalition against the Parpaldian Empire which will be discussed in a later meeting. The nations that approved to join this coalition also agreed on a proposal of a request to have Indonesia join this coalition.