United Kingdom of Mu, March 24th, 1640
Otaheit
"So what did we learn of these Indonesians so far?" A bald man with a top hat and a suit asked.
In the room were 2 people, one of which sat on a chair of a desk. The room itself is well lit and seemed to be an office if one were to look at it. One of the person, who wore a tophat and a suit sat on his chair while a man with a long and fabulous black mustache stood in front of the desk between them.
The bald man is the current Prime Minister of Mu, Topham Hillsworth. As a matter of fact, he is the head of government of the nation while the current king, known as Halsor Mu the 6th, is simply a figurehead and the head of state.
During its long history of existence, the government of Mu had changed from the absolute monarchy that it was after its transfer until the current constitutional monarchy type of government. All of this was a slow transition to democracy that improved the rights and living standards of the average commoner. Of course, the royal family is still important to the Muan nation as a whole.
"Well, aside from the fact that they came from the very same world, we managed to uncover more information about it. More specifically, about the two superpowers that they mentioned." The man with the mustache said.
Topham seemed rather curious and placed both of his hand on the desk, "I see. Tell me about them at once!"
His aide cleared his throat as he began his explanation, "The United States of America. It is said that they possess military strength that far surpasses Indonesia. According to the Indonesians, they have the strongest economy and military alongside being the 4th most populous nation. It is also said that they possess a vast fleet of ships capable of exerting their influence around the world and weapons that is far stronger and advanced than what Indonesia has."
Such information would terrify anyone of this world whose aware of Indonesia's absurd strength. If Indonesia isn't the strongest, then that means this United States is in possession of strengths that surpasses the absurdity of Indonesia's. Of course, these two men were not an exception to this revelation.
Topham is lost for any words to comment on that information. "H-How about this People's Republic of China?" He asked further.
"Well.. It seems that their military isn't as strong as the Americans, but they have the 2nd largest economy there. Both countries' economies are far ahead the 3rd biggest, that being Japan. Indonesia's economy doesn't even come close to Japan's either.
Nothing else could describe these countries aside from the words, "Demons..." that Topham muttered.
The Muans had also began assessing further into Indonesia's strength, but the conclusion came that they were unsure if they could beat them, or even deal any substantial amount of damage. They knew they would have the numerical advantage, but what's the point if the enemy can just pick them off from beyond visual range.
Topham however, knew one thing that he should do. He knew that these Indonesians should not be ignored and they will likely be of huge importance, especially with the appearance of the Gra Valkas Empire next door. Fortunately, his Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been doing a good job at making a good impression towards the Indonesians.
"That makes the need to secure even deeper relations with them even more important. It's quite clear that we have a bigger problem to deal with than the Mirishials." Topham said.
Topham knew that the nation is in a precarious position. To the East, they had their old rival, the Holy Mirishial Empire, which possess technologies that has so far prevented open wars between the two. The Muans simply does not have the necessary national strength to deal with some of Mirishial's weapons and they were sometimes forced into a number of concessions. Topham still did not understand why Mirishial did not bother to pressure Mu further and remained cooperative in a number of matters, but it's a relief that they haven't. If their so-called rivalry were to turn into an open war, he knew that Mu will likely lose.
And on the West is the Gra Valkas Empire. After further information gathering, the Muans found out that the Gra Valkans also possess far more advanced weapons. All of this means that the United Kingdom of Mu is sandwiched between two extremely powerful nations and thus had to navigate carefully for the sake of their survival. Any mistake will definitely end up in catastrophe.
And now finally, came another topic that Topham wanted to know about.
"Is the HMMS Admiral ready for the conference?"
HMMS Admiral, the pride of the Royal Navy, is the lead ship of the Ranked-class of fast battleships. Capable of speeds up to 26 knots, the Ranked-class is a major leap in Muan naval technology. The prefix is one used for all military warships of the Royal Navy, which stood for "His Muan Majesty's Ship".
His aide nodded, "Indeed, she is now ready to be sent to Cartalpas when needed. The refit is also finished, so she should more effective in anti-air battle."
"Good, you may now leave." Topham ordered, to which the aide followed.
As the door closes, Topham went through the information he has received. He's concerned of his nation's future but hopeful that the nation can prevail.
Holy Mirishial Empire, April 4th, 1640
Cartalpas
The port city of Cartalpas is one of Mirishial's most important port cities. Located strategically on the southern edge of the empire, the city is in a location where trade between east and west met. As a result, the city is often the place of rest for many merchants and travelers going from one end of the known world to the other, which leads to this prosperous city based on economic activity
This city is also the place where the World Leadership Conference will take place. This conference is a gathering between the most powerful, influential, and important countries in the world stage. There are a few types of membership for this conference, which are: Permanent and Non-Permanent.
Permanent members are usually the most powerful nations of the world and also the most influential, while Non-Permanent members are those considered important in current world events but have not been admitted as a permanent member. Obviously, the Superpowers and Great Powers are all permanent members of this conference, while regional powers and below are usually non-permanent.
All around, people gathered in the port to take look at the warships that brought the representatives to the conference. Such a sight is a must see for anyone in the area as the sights of ships that contrasted heavily from each other was one that couldn't normally be seen anywhere else in the world.
"Those are the ships from Nigrat!" A civilian pointed out.
"Oooh!! The crowd shouted in unison as they gazed at the fleet.
Nigrat is a nation known for its military strength, which is considered one of the strongest in the 2nd Civilization Area. Although weaker than Mu, they are considered on par with Leifor due to their higher technological level, despite being smaller in both military and population. The reason why they have not replaced either Parpaldia or Leifor as Great Powers is that their influence abroad is small. For the nations of this world, influence and strength determines their status.
Regardless, they came with ironclads which looked to be more advanced than Parpaldia's and they were escorted by a two armoured frigates. Unlike the frigates, the ironclad were mastless and had two rotating main turrets, which also had 2 guns each. The fleet moved at a speed of around 14 knots and were powered by a steam engine. On the mast of the ships is a red flag with 14 white stars around a single big star, which represented the 15 states of Nigrat.
As the Nigratian fleet docked, another fleet came a few minutes later and flew a red flag with a yellow triangle that had a small white star.
"Oh, here comes the Malorian Union!"
The crowd seemed to not be as impressed considering the ships that Nigrats had brought. After all, the 5 wooden ship of the lines that Maloria had brought to the conference did not compare to the more impressive ironclads.
"Not very impressive, but still interesting nonetheless." Another civilian said.
Although the sight of two ships that contrasted heavily from each other was a sight to behold, the more advanced and powerful ship would undeniably have more of the attention.
After that, came a single grey battleship that flew a dark blue flag and a yellow and white saltire. Everyone knew where this flag is from.
"Oooh! It's the Muans!"
The crowd's gaze then stuck at the Muan battleship, the HMMS Admiral. For all they care, the Muan warship looked far more impressive than the Nigrat and Malorian ships.
HMMS Admiral
Onboard the Muan super-dreadnought, Tyler, the Muan diplomat, stood on the deck of the ship, specifically on the bow. He watched as the crowds gazed at his country's battleship.
"Look at that. They can't get their sights away from this magnificent ship." Tyler said as he chuckled.
The Admiral is Mu's state of the art battleship and he is confident that the ship is on par with Mirishial's Gold-class of Magic Battleships. After all, the ship is fitted with 8 of Mu's 15-inch Mark 1 guns in 4 double turrets, which is their newest naval gun yet. The ship is also fitted with anti aircraft weapons and a torpedo bulge. If a person with knowledge of 20th century naval warshups were to look at the Admiral, they would find it similar to the British Queen Elizabeth-class.
Then, Tyler would hear a loud honk from astern. As he looked at the rear of the ship, he could see a greyish white battleship quickly approaching the Admiral.
"W-What ship is that?!" Tyler thought as he tried to identify the ship's nationality.
Finally, he could see a flag on the top of its mast. The flag's color is cyan with a symbol of a blue comet surrounded by a yellow circle. It is clear that the ship is of Mirishial nationality.
"D-Did the Mirishials construct a new ship..?" He looked on in utter shock at the Mirishial battleship.
The battleship itself looked like it came from science fiction and the guns which were in 3 triple turrets definitely looked unconventional for Muan standards. The speed of the ship seemed to be around 28 knots, though Tyler himself isn't quite sure. The ship also lacks any funnels and instead had vent-like structure that were placed on each side of the ship's hull. The guns on the ship looked to be larger than the Admiral as well and he has never seen such a gun before.
"Will we ever catch up to the Mirishials..?"
From the sight of this sole ship alone, he's no longer sure of the capability of his country against the Holy Mirishial Empire. His feet felt numb from the thought of his country being always behind the world's strongest country in technology. He had initially thought that the Rank-class might have just made the playing field more even, but with the appearance of this Mirishial battleship, which he does not know the specifications of, perhaps the gap between Mu and Mirishial will not close anytime soon.
Meanwhile, the crowds switched their attention to the unknown Mirishial battleship. They didn't even know of this ship's existence either and were curious of it. If a person from Earth were to look at it, the ship seemed to look very modern due to an appearance that resembled stealth warships.
What have the Mirishials just revealed? How powerful is it? And what does it mean for Mu and the rest of the world? Either way, the World Leadership Conference is a way for the attending nations to flex their muscles and show off their weapons and with the first of the attendees arriving, the World Leadership Conference of 1640 is about to begin.
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Publicly Available Information
Ranked-class Battleship
(Source: shipbucket.com, art by Karle94)
As Mu's state of the art battleships, the Ranked-class are currently a group of 2 battleships with the HMMS Admiral as the lead ship. These battleships are armed with 15-inch Mark 1 guns and are capable of reaching up to 26 knots and as a result, they are said to be on par with Mirishial's Gold-class of Magic Battleships. While still unproven in combat, these ships are the pride of the Muan Royal Navy and are the country's most powerful and advanced battleships.
Completed: 2
Planned: 4
Displacement: 33,000 tons
Length: 196m
Beam: 27m
Draught: 10.2m
Speed: 26 knots
Main Armament:
- 4x twin 15-inch (381mm) guns
- 16x single 6-inch (152mm) guns
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Author's note:
I managed to slip in some time to write this, although this chapter and the next one will take a short break from the war but they won't be unimportant to the story. There's also a reveal for Mu's battleship that replaces the original's La Kasami, so I hope it'll be good for what's to come later. The Mirishial battleship will remain anonymous until later in the story, so have fun speculating if you want.
Also, the hiatus is still there. I'm just uploading chapters when I find the time to write one (which isn't very often at the moment).
