July 3, 1614 Central Calendar
Second Civilization, Sky over northern Mu
Mu-Leifor Border
It’s a clear sky on the beginning of summer, and it’s blue as far as the eye can see. Below, the white sandy beach marked a clear line between land and ocean. High in the sky, a group of five objects are flying in formation. Their white body with blue stripes, rigid blue wings that did not flap on top and bottom of the body, and a rotating stick in front of their bodies did not fit the description of living beings. These are the Challengers, the latest flying machine created by the Second Civilization superpower, Mu.
The machine known as airplane’s origins can be traced to the end of the Mu Civil War. During the war, the Northern Army, having less wyverns than the Southern Army, often struggled in battles were not for the support of Gaetan Industries, which provided them with advanced anti-air machine guns capable of shooting down wyverns. And after the war, which the Northern Army barely won, the shortcomings of wyverns, which needs to be raised and trained in a time period that requires at least five years, became more apparent. Meanwhile, the weakened Mu needs to defend itself immediately from possible foreign incursions.
They came up with an idea of attaching an engine to a wooden glider, and made their first flight in the year 1600. The first airplane was slow, only able to reach 50 kilometers per hour and can fly for 500 meters. However, it has a lot of potential and a lot of room for development, which culminates in the Royal Aircraft Factory S.V Challenger biplane that they are piloting right now. Powered by a 150 hp water-cooled V8 engine, it boasts a maximum speed of 250 km/h and a maximum ceiling of 5.200 meters, superior than the wyverns while having a similar maneuverability. And most importantly, they did not need to be fed and can be mass-produced unlike wyverns. The airplane began to gain its fame as the mark of a mechanical civilization.
The flight leader, Mark, glanced around the cockpit of his plane. To his left is the hilly terrain of northern Mu, and to his right is the endless blue ocean. His flight was on a patrol mission in northern Mu, and he hoped that this will be an uneventful one so he can enjoy the scenery…
“This is Galliard Base Command, we have detected a group of intruders approaching from Leifor territory, altitude 3.000. Flight 19, you are the closest. Head to bearing 220 and intercept them.”
“Dammit… why it must be us…” Mark muttered. “This is Flight 19, affirmative.”
Signaling his wingmen to follow him, the Challengers banked to the southwest to meet the intruders.
Last month, there are three attempted military incursions by Leifor’s vassal states into the territory claimed and controlled by Mu. It has been two decades since the end of the devastating Mu Civil War, but being the only mechanical civilization in a world where magic is the primary method of advancement resulted in a slow economy development that hampered Mu’s long road to recovery. So, Mu did not want to get dragged into another war and adopting a policy of neutrality.
These intruders must belong to one of the overconfident Leifor vassals that claims territory upon Mu. By using the protection of Leifor, the fifth strongest superpower, as a shield, they think they can do as they please and get away with it. Eventually, the Flight 19 spotted the intruders.
“Ten wyverns.” Mark muttered. They were outnumbered 2:1, so they must not let their guard down even if the Challengers are superior than the wyverns.
“Hm?”
As both formations closed the distance, he noticed the glow coming from the mouths of the wyverns. Mark’s eyes widened as he shouted through the manacom.
“Fireballs! All units, evade!”
He pulled his control stick as hard as he could, directing his plane upwards and pushed the throttle to the maximum. Meanwhile, his wingmen spread out in various directions as a number of fireballs flew at the location where they had just been. The more experienced members of the Flight 19 took advantage of the knowledge that wyverns can’t use their fireballs when their necks are bent. But still, the fireballs formed inside their mouth needs to be fired somewhere, otherwise it would explode inside their necks. The Muish pilots took this as an attack and reported to the base.
“Base Command, this is Flight 19, we are under attack! I repeat, we are under attack!”
“Roger that, Flight 19. You are cleared to engage.”
“Roger. Flight 19, engaging!”
Mark’s Challenger was being pursued by one wyvern as he climbed. However, when they reached 4.000 meters, the wyvern stalled while Mark continued to climb. Mark then reversed and aligned his gunsight at the enemy. Bullets from the single forward-firing 7,7 mm machine guns flew toward the enemy, killing both the wyvern and the rider.
Taking advantage of the increased speed as he descended down, Mark shot down another wyvern pursuing one of his wingmen in a hit-and-run tactic. Other pilots followed the same tactic and managed to reduce the enemy wyverns to four. However…
“I can’t shake them, somebody help!”
“Huh!?”
A cry from the manacom made Mark turned his head frantically. Eventually he noticed that one Challenger was isolated and being hounded by three wyverns at close range.
“Number 5, evade!”
The fifth pilot of the squadron tried to maneuver his plane, but the wyverns attacking from different angles gave him tremendous difficulty. After shooting down his third kill, Mark immediately yanked his control stick and turned to assist.
However, the wyverns fired. The first two fireballs were evaded and passed by harmlessly, but the third fireball hit the plane directly on the cockpit area. The wooden frame of the Challenger burns easily, and the plane spiraled down violently after its right wing was broken and crashed into the hills.
“NO!”
“Dammit! He’s our youngest pilot!”
The three wyverns tried to break away from the engagement with Mark and the remaining Challengers in pursuit. Following one diving wyvern, Mark pressed the trigger, scoring his fourth kill. The other two wyverns were killed by his wingmen shortly after that. Letting out a heavy sigh, Mark pressed the manacom’s button and spoke.
“This is Flight 19, all enemy wyverns shot down.”
“Affirmative. Return to base immediately.”
Mark hung his head in shame as the formation returned to Galliard Base. Because of his carelessness, he let someone’s son die under his watch.
Muish pilots emerged victorious after the clash, but they did not walk away unscathed as one pilot was killed in action. When Muish government expressed their displeasure through Leifor, they denied their involvement with the incursion and stated that it was something that the vassal state did on their own. Leifor also gained valuable information about Muish flying machines. The research on creating a stronger breed of wyverns to overcome Muish Challenger, dubbed “Project Wyvern Lord,” was conducted.
This incident gave Mu realization that just being on par with wyvern is not enough. They need a stronger airplane to protect their skies. The development of stronger engine and an all-metal design was conducted at a rapid pace.
Currently Publicly Available Information
S.V CHALLENGER
A Muish biplane fighter aircraft developed by the Royal Aircraft Factory, introduced in 1610. It is propeller-driven, powered by an internal combustion engine which is quite advanced in 1614.
In terms of speed, rate of climb, and maximum ceiling, it is superior to the wyvern, while their maneuverability is somewhat similar. It is also relatively stable and easy to fly, enabling pilots to fire their nose-mounted machine guns accurately. The Challenger has considerable structural strength, capable of withstanding high-G maneuvers and is relatively resistant to battle damage. However, since it has a wooden frame construction, the Challenger is vulnerable to the fireballs, which is the primary method of attack of their potential enemy.
General Characteristics
- Crew: One
- Length: 6,38 m
- Upper wingspan: 8,10 m
- Upper chord: 1,52 m
- Lower wingspan: 8,10 m
- Lower chord: 1,52 m
- Height: 2,90 m
- Wing area: 22,7 square meters
- Empty weight: 640 kg
- Max takeoff weight: 902 m
- Engine: 1 × 150 hp water cooled V8 engine
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed pitch wooden propeller, 2,36 diameter
Performance
- Maximum speed: 222 km/h
- Range: 480 km
- Maximum ceiling: 5.200 m
Armament
- 1 × 7,7 mm forward-firing machine gun
July 20, 1614 Central Calendar
Esthirant, Parpaldia Empire
Looking at the port of Esthirant from his home, Kaios took a break from a book he was reading. When his father departed for Runepolis again earlier this month, Kaios requested his father to buy him some books related to engineering from Milishial. When asked about this newfound interest, Kaios answered that he just found a new hobby.
Besides, Kaios’ quest for a wristwatch is still underway.
Thanks to his idea of establishing a common standard for all products, Kaios was acquainted with a government official named Ruperther, the one who decided to make the standardization an Imperial Decree after seeing the sight of products sold in Esthirant’s market lined up so perfectly, indistinguishable from each other. Why would he have the power to do that? Well, Ruperther is the Emperor’s advisor.
Ruperther also supported Kaios’ new hobby since by being able to produce their own precision machine and having their own advanced industry, they can stop excess imports, which means less gold and silver going overseas. Expert craftsmen have been invited to Esthirant to become teachers, leading to the establishment of a vocational school.
However, the voyage from Esthirant to Runepolis took more than a week, and for the impatient and eager Kaios, it is unbearably long.
“Maybe if we put some Tears of the Wind God below the waterline, we can increase the ship’s speed even more instead of attaching it behind the sails.” He muttered.
The Milishial books that Kaios’ father bought him gave him some ideas of how to reduce the voyage time so that he wouldn’t wait that long. However, he lacked the knowledge of shipbuilding, so the next day, Kaios visited a shipbuilder and hired him to create a blueprint and scale model for a ship based on his specifications.
July 22, 1614 Central Calendar
Runepolis, Apartment
The Aikon Corporation finally announced its latest product, the Aikon 117 Grimoire, claimed to be “a latest breakthrough in telecommunication technology”. Samples of it have been sent to RMA for testing, and Meteos, Walman, and Robin are among them. As Meteos and Walman opened their fancily wrapped packages, they picked up the new grimoires and inspected it. They arrived just in time before they go back to their hometown to spend summer vacation.
“Woah…”
It’s slim and already looks like a smartphone, but according to the manual sent alongside the package, its other function besides voice communication is basic calculator and text messaging, powered by a chargeable magic battery. It doesn’t even have a clock function yet, not at all comparable to a modern smartphone, but that’s to be expected. Besides, its price is only slightly higher than the Aikon Corporation’s manacom bracelet which only has a range of a residential complex, and if the support infrastructure such as magic wave transmission tower’s installation is completed, people can communicate between cities using this handheld device. In addition to major cities such as Runepolis and Cartalpas, the Aikon Corporation also planned to install the first towers in their hometown Leiden, Canbraid, Robin’s hometown, and Zaftra, a major city in the eastern provinces.
“Hey, Miss Robin is downstairs, right? I’m going to text her.” Meteos said after turning on his grimoire.
“Text?”
“Ah, I mean sending a text message to her. It should be in range.”
Meteos grinned and typed, “Hello :-)”. A moment later, the grimoire emitted a beeping sound and a reply from Robin was shown on the screen.
“Hello, Meteos! Hey, what’s that?” It read. Maybe she refers to the strange symbols at the end of his message.
“Flip your grimoire sideways.”
“Ooh, it looks like a smiling face!”
“:P”
“Let me try.
XD”
Meteos and Walman laughed. This looks like fun. They continue exchanging funny expressions made with the characters for a while.
“LOL”
“Eh? What’s that supposed to mean?” Robin’s message read.
“Yeah, Meteos? What’s that supposed to mean?” His friend asked.
He didn’t answer and typed.
“It means ‘laughing out loud’, Miss Robin.”
“I see. Heh.”
Walman rolled his eyes and scoffed, “What’s with you and your weird terminologies?”
“Because it’s amusing. Admit it, you like it, too.”
“Hmph.”
Looking at his friend with amusement, Meteos asked him a question.
“Have you checked your grimoire?”
“Yeah, it worked just fine.” Walman answered as he tried the calculator.
“Why can’t they include a clock, though?”
Walman shrugged. Meteos made a note to send feedback to Aikon Corporation after this.
Currently Publicly Available Information
AIKON CORPORATION
A telecommunications company headquartered in Runepolis, Holy Milishial Empire. It is the largest manufacturer of magical communication devices in the country, including magic transmission monitor, bracelet-mounted manacom, and their latest product, the Aikon 117 Grimoire, the first mobile phone in the known world through partnership with the RMA.
