[Malacañang Palace]
[Office of the President]
[February 8, 2024]
Sitting in his office filled with paperwork to sign and approve, Mr. President is having a coffee break.
It has been a while since he had a break. The past few days have been very hectic and stressful for him. He has met with various factions all over the Philippines to ease and avoid any conflicts. Bills and laws were passed, some to regulate food restrictions, and police patrols were increased to prevent any malicious forces from taking advantage of the situation. Rationing is also in effect, but only for high-demand goods such as gasoline, cereals, and various other items. The situation is projected to get worse as the months go by.
The Philippine economy's reliance on the export of services rather than manufactured goods will be the main cause of its downfall. They only have two choices; adapt or die.
That's why, with the help of various department secretaries and senate members, they drafted a series of bills that will change the Philippines forever, one of those bills is...
"...New World Industrialization Act," he muttered, he just signed this bill into fruition, a bill that he knows, might have a chance to save the Philippines.
New World Industrialization Act aims to build a more solid and self-sufficient industry and R&D, focusing on the manufacturing of key goods, such as steel works, machinery, and more commodities, from high-end to low-end.
Julain knew this would be a hard transition from an almost service-centered economy, but with lost jobs from every sector due to transference, finding people to employ in factories would be easier.
The landline, installed for the President's private calls, rang. Julian picked it up and heard a woman's voice on the other line.
"Good morning, Mr. President, The Secretary of National Defense is on the other line, he wants to have a word with you."
"I see, thank you for your work, you can transfer him now."
There was a sudden beep, and then a voice that sounded like it had been pulled up from the deepest parts of the known ocean for how deep it is.
"Good Morning, Mr. President"
"Good morning, Secretary, Is this about the Reagan?" Julian said as he took a sip of his hot coffee
There was always bad blood between the US and China, as China threatened the US as the world's sole superpower. But on Oct 2023, it escalated when a Chinese boat "accidentally" rammed itself into a patrolling US ship on the West Philippines Sea.
After that, The US increased its presence in the West Philippine Sea, they also invested a lot in the Philippines as an ally, especially in its ports and naval infrastructures. They also added the West Philippine Sea as one of the key areas for patrol.
Unfortunately, at the time of the Transference, the USS Ronald Reagan strike group was situated in the West Philippine Sea and was consequently transferred with the Philippines. The group was the first to contact the Malacañang in the initial hours of the Transference, reporting that they were unable to reach the mainland. They speculated that it might have been an attack on American soil. As the US strike group and government worked together, they eventually realized the truth.
As of the moment, they are on the Naval base on Subic, with the investment of the US in its facilities, the base can even support the carrier group.
"Yes, Sir. I also told the carrier captain, Capt. Dan Cadone, about our plans."
"What did he say?" Julian suddenly shoots up from his sluggish stance, he's been waiting for days now for the captain's answer from the deal.
"He agreed, as long as they will receive the promise of instant naturalization and will keep their ranks and designation on the strike group. However..."
"However what?"
"He did not agree with our request, he said that we couldn't use the carrier willy-nilly, since we don't have the full capabilities of maintaining and repairing such a behemoth. but they agreed to use one of their cruisers, the USS Shiloh."
"That's great! I don't have full confidence that they will agree with our plans for diplomatic missions, but this is good enough! That's settled then! is USS Shiloh enough for the mission?"
"I'm sorry but during the transference time, the strike group only comprised of the USS Reagan, three Ticonderoga-class cruisers, and four Arleigh Burke destroyers. Due to the limited availability of spare parts, they aim to preserve the current fleet as much as possible. As a possible alternative, they are requesting for ships similar to the Jose Rizal and Antonio Luna to be deployed."
"I understand. Secretary, please coordinate with the Department of Foreign Affairs to schedule the diplomatic mission for a week from now."
"Understood, Mr. President. I appreciate your valuable time."
-----%-----
[Northern Rodenius Sea]
[Qua Toyne Navy Second Fleet, HHS Implacable]
[February 15, 2024. 5:00 pm]
"Alright guys, it's almost five. Let's wrap this up so we can get some rest before tomorrow morning's patrol," Captain Olivier announced. He looked out at the peaceful waters of Rodenius, basking in the warm golden glow of the setting sun. As he made his way towards his office to contact the other ships in the fleet and file his report, one of his officers intercepted him.
"Sir! One of our ships spotted some shapes in the distance!" an officer interrupted Captain Olivier's peaceful thoughts. "It seems like they are warships and they are fast approaching!"
Captain Olivier immediately used his telescope to look for the ships, and there they are, a small gray speck in the horizon, but as the seconds pass by, they became larger and larger. It gave him goosebumps on how fast the ships are approaching, he got some deja vu, but he can't seem to know why.
Captain Olivier's expression quickly turned serious as he processed the information. "Alert all ships and prepare for battle," he commanded, taking charge of the situation. "We need to be ready for whatever comes our way." With that, he led his crew into action, determined to protect their fleet and come out victorious.
"INTERCEPT! HELMSMAN TURN STARBOARD! ADJUST SAILS..." he started ordering the sailors, which they quickly obliged, the officer who reported the sightings of the unknown ships immediately relayed everything that the captain says.
The Second Patrol Fleet, with its impressive five ships of top-of-the-line Qua Toyne naval prowess, has turned its bow and has begun to accelerate and intercept the incoming ships. However, even before they have sailed a few dozen meters from their starting point, the ships that were initially just a speck on the horizon can now be seen with the naked eye.
Captain Olivier seems to be in a state of shock as he observes three enormous ships, located hundreds of meters away from him. These ships have metallic hulls and appear to be incredibly fast in their movement. Upon closer inspection, he realizes that the structures that he had initially mistaken as masts are, in fact, metal constructs whose purpose is unknown to him. He does, however, recognize a cannon structure among them.
The size of these ships, especially the one in the middle, is much larger than any ships he has seen before, possibly even larger than those designed by the Parpaldians. As the metal ships drew closer, Captain Olivier knew that turning back was not an option. He swiftly ordered all the ships in the fleet to come to a stop.
The metal ships towered over their smaller Qua Tonian counterparts, blocking out the remaining sunlight. Looking closely, Captain Olivier saw that the ship in the middle had humans on board who were waving and pointing towards the stern. He gave orders for the remaining ships to stay put and be on full alert. Then he turned to the helmsman and directed him to head towards the stern of the metal ship.
As the ship slowly moves towards the humongous ship, questions assaulted every sailors mind, especially the captain. As they come closer to the ship, they spotted more features, especially the flags that the ships have.
"Does anyone know from whos countries does those flags from?" he asked to his officers.
The flags were flapping vigorously in the strong winds that surrounded them. The first flag is a horizontal bicolor flag with equal bands of royal blue and crimson red, featuring a white, equilateral triangle at the hoist. A golden-yellow sun with eight primary rays is centered within the triangle. The other flag below is also horizontal, and it displays 13 red and white stripes with 50 white stars on a blue field.
One of his officer shrugged, no one seems to know where the flags came from, and this opened up more questions on his mind.
Finally, they reached the stern of the ship and maneuvered it to its position. They then dropped the anchor and one by one, the knights who were part of their regiment climbed up. After they were safely aboard, it was Olivier's turn to climb up to the ship.
Upon climbing, the first thing that he saw was soldiers; human soldiers, they stood tall and expel a weird aura of authority, they also posses black muskets, in the middle where two person of significance, one wearing a full white attire and one wearing a dark blue suit.
"Hail fellow gentlemens, I am Captain Olivier of the Qua Toyne Navy, May I please inquire your affiliations and your objectives in entering our territorial waters?" Olivier said as he respectfully tipped his hat, he pretty much know that they are in disadvantaged position here, being arrogant will bring them no good.
A sigh of relief can be heard from the one wearing the dark blue suit. "Phew, it seems like we speak the same language, thats better. I'm Ambassador Anthony Velasquez" Anthony said as he reached for a handshake. Captain Olivier thought he is reaching for a forearm grab, so he did. Anthony was taken aback at first, but he chuckeled and let it be.
"And I am Admiral Martin Beischel, Welcome to USS Shiloh" he said, instead of reaching for a handshake, he reached instead for a forearm grab, both men shared smiles and the atmosphere seems to be more bearable.
"First of all, We want to apologize for breaching your territory again,as for when we hail from, we are from the Republic of the Philippines."
"Republic of the Philippines? It's the first time that I've ever heard of a country with that name, and what do you mean by breaching our territory again?"
"A few weeks back, we found ourselves transmigrated to this planet and our nearest city is located over a thousand kilometers from your city. We sent an aircraft a week ago for reconnaissance but we were not aware that a country existed here. We apologize for any misunderstandings and would like to establish diplomatic relations with your government."
"Your country got transmigrated to our world? Am I supposed to believe that?" would be the words that he will say if some other people told him what he's hearing right now, but with concrete evidence which are the ships that he know can wipe out his own in a split second, he doesn't want to risk it.
"I-I am very sorry, I need to contact my superiors about this, please excuse me for a bit." He said as he tip his hat again and head towards his ship.
