Operation Shock

Parpaldian Empire

"What the ASE? The transmission was cut off!" A man exclaimed. 

"Goodness, what were those sounds in the background? I certainly heard explosions, but that other sound… it was as if the sky itself was being torn apart!"

"Lord Aeveron, shall I attempt to reestablish contact with Varhal?"

"You may, but I don't think it will be necessary. Judging from the sounds of the conflict, I think it is safe to assume he has been killed or captured. Let us begin work on analyzing his messages."

"Of course, sir. The first message he sent was a description of the opposing metal ships, when they were first encountered. From a distance, he guessed that the ships were somewhere around 200 or 300 meters in length, made completely of metal or some sort of gray material, and seemed to travel at speeds greater than our fastest ships, even when equipped with the Tears of the Wind God."

"Then, how do they travel?"

"The ships were not reported to have any sails. Based on the description, I think they match Mu's warships, although 300 meters seems quite excessive."

"Battleships and dreadnoughts from Mu, then? What of the metal vessels' armament?"

"They boast a single large cannon at the bow."

Aeveron paced around the dark room, his shadows dancing in the background as he moved. He stopped by the glowing orb, similar to a lightbulb, in the center of the room, creating a large shadow behind him. "Only one cannon? Are they unable to create more cannons?"

"Sir, Varhal also described several smaller cannons around the ship. Apparently, the singular cannon is their main weapon and is used in anti-ship combat."

"Peculiar. How did the battle progress?"

The subordinate scratched his head. "Well… right before you walked in, Varhal said that the five ships were able to lay waste to a hundred of the Lourians' vessels in about a minute."

"So, the reason why they only have one cannon is because it fires quickly?"

"And accurately, sir. The one hundred Lourian ships were each sunk by a single shot from the Mu lookalikes."

"So what is this, Mu waging a proxy war on us and testing their new weapons?"

The subordinate shrugged. "I am unsure, sir. Varhal also reported the presence of aircraft. They had no propeller like Mu's biplanes. Instead, they had some sort of light engine at the back, similar to the Holy Mirishial Empire's combat aircraft."

Aeveron sighed. "Alright then. Do we know where these vehicles originated from?"

"The United States of America."

"What do we know about them?"

"We only know information from merchants' hearsay. The few who have actually been able to visit their mainland, which is about a couple thousand kilometers away from the easternmost portion of Rodenius, describe it as a land of steel and glass, with towers reaching into the sky. One of my friends, who was one of the lucky few, said that their land is about the size of Rodenius, if not larger. Their population sits at over 340 million and they are composed only of humans."

Aeveron scoffed, "Hah, what? He must have gone daft! I might believe it if, perhaps, a small chain of islands went undiscovered. A nation the size of Rodenius?! We would have found it and pillaged its riches long ago if that were true!"

"Well, believe it or not, sir, their products do certainly exist," the subordinate said, producing a pen from his pocket. "This 'pen' is a writing instrument I purchased from my merchant friend. Much better than quill and ink."

Aeveron tested the pen on a piece of parchment. "Hmm," he nodded in approval, "This is of high quality. Alright then, flag this 'United States of America' as a target of interest. Let us inform His Majesty of a new nation appearing near Rodenius, but let us also refrain from divulging the report provided by Varhal. I think it is best if we don't send any… fantastical information that may have us fired for incompetence."

"I agree, sir."

——

Jin Hark, Louria Kingdom

In his throne room, King Hark Louria the 34th seethed, simmering with anger and confusion. He gripped the handles of his throne with such an intensity that his knuckles turned white. A sense of uneasiness washed over him as General Patagene continued his report. 

"... we're halted by a force identifying themselves as the United States Navy, who warned them against proceeding further."

"So… they found themselves in a conflict with a 'United States? That name does sound familiar…"

"Your Highness, I believe they requested to establish diplomatic relations with us not too long ago, but we turned them away."

"I see… continue."

"Our ships disregarded their warning and pressed forward, upon which the enemy ships fired their cannons, destroying a hundred of ours before stopping. At this point, our fleet requested wyvern support. After supposedly losing all wyverns, our fleet became embroiled in a ten minute engagement, where we lost over a thousand vessels to the enemy's group of five, and several dozen of their aircraft. We received no further transmissions following this report, aside from a final message saying they surrendered to the enemies." General Patagene then cleared his throat and read aloud from a transcripted message. "'They requested our surrender, and upon witnessing the arrival of dozens of metal ships much like the five that toyed with our fleet, I gave the order to surrender.'" He looked up to see the king's reaction, worried about the state of the kingdom. 

King Louria stared into the void, his eyes focusing on nothing as his mind was overwhelmed by the information. He felt his heart drop and his blood turn cold upon the revelation that his entire naval force was now gone. Decades of preparation, only for the fleet of thousands of ships to be squashed like an insect. Awkward seconds of silence ticked by, until he released all he could mutter, "What…"

General Patagene felt the sweat on his back pressing upon his body, creating an uncomfortable sensation. Still, it did not come close to the sheer discomfort he experienced trying to come up with a response that might appease his king. "Your Highness… the descriptions of these weapons are much too ridiculous for us to believe. Surely something more believable occurred, such as a mutiny?"

King Louria pondered this consideration. He was familiar with cannons, as the Parpaldians currently employ them, but cannons that can sink a ship with every shot? Cannons that never miss? Guided arrows of light that explode on impact? Unless they were fighting someone who had acquired the secret magical powers of the Ancient Sorcerous Empire, this tale was much too unbelievable. So, he allowed himself to find relief in Patagene's hypothesis. "Yes, yes. Perhaps it was a mutiny. Filthy animal sympathizers. We will deal with them later; for now, what do you propose we do?"

Patagene bowed. "Your Highness, we should continue our operations on the ground. Using Gim as a staging point, we can strike at Ejei. I suggest using the vanguard force under Lieutenant General Adem's command to weaken Ejei's garrison while we amass our troops."

"And in the minuscule possibility that this report is indeed true… what shall you do then?"

Patagene did not know how to respond, so he babbled nonsense while he thought of a viable strategy, in case the reports were true. "Your Highness, I think the most dangerous weapon in their arsenal might be cannons. We may assume that this might be true, as there have been many reports from traveling merchants of nations in the Third Civilization Region attempting to undermine the Parpaldian Empire's authority. So, if we are indeed facing cannons and small-scale explosion magic, then we must try to close the distance as quickly as possible and surround them from all angles. The cannons under Parpaldia's employ do not have a fast rate of fire, so we can take advantage of this. We can also use our superior wyvern force to our advantage and seize Ejei as quickly as possible."

King Louria still wasn't convinced and he shook his head. "Hmm, and what of the light arrows?"

"We can reasonably assume that the light arrows are a fabrication. Only the Ancient Sorcerous Empire is capable of such weapons, and we know that the United States is not related to them in any way. If we were truly fighting against the dreaded empire, we would not have received any diplomats, much less ones as polite as theirs. For now, we are still reviewing the events that occurred on the Rodenius Sea."

"Very well then. I trust that you will carry out the will of Louria."

"I shall do so with pride!"

——

Fortress City Ejei, Qua Toyne Principality

A slender man with an angular face and pointy beard stood atop the walls of Ejei, surveying the wilderness ahead. Backed by the combined might of nearly half of Qua Toyne's entire standing army along with several squadrons of wyverns, he felt confident in the defensive capability of his fortress. A proud general, Nou was slightly disappointed when he heard of the United States' defense treaty. Still, as a bright strategic mind, he recognized the value of having them as an ally, especially considering the overwhelming numbers that the Lourians had at their disposal. 

"General Nou," a messenger bowed. 

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Sir, the Americans have arrived. They are waiting in the castle."

He sighed. "Hmm, the famed warriors who forced the entire Lourian navy to surrender. I wonder if they are everything that Command says they are." General Nou returned to the castle to meet the mysterious Americans.

——

Upon entering the room, General Nou spotted two distinct men. One wore a stylish blue uniform along with a matching hat, while the other wore a spotted green and brown uniform that was an eyesore to General Nou. Despite their differences in appearance, both men held themselves with dignity, evident in their posture. 

He scrutinized their uniforms visibly, allowing the two men to see his admiration for the blue one and his distaste for the patterned one. "Well then, good sirs from the United States of America, welcome to Ejei."

The man in the blue uniform spoke in a distinct accent. "Thanks for the hospitality, General. I'm Major General Hammond with the United States Fifth Air Force."

The other man had a more relaxed accent. "I'm Colonel Henson, U.S. Marine Corps."

"So, General Hammond and Colonel Henson, am I to assume that I'll be seeing the United States military in action soon?"

General Hammond played along. "If that's what you wanna see, General, we are happy to put on a show."

"Perhaps another time then. As you can see, Ejei is quite an impenetrable fortress city. Unless Louria brings their entire armed forces to root us out of Ejei, I don't expect to see much difficulty. As such, I would rather have you fine gentlemen remain in your encampments. After all, placing our allies in harm's way wouldn't be very appropriate. You may provide support and assist us, if need be."

"Well, if you say so, General. Just let us know if you're in need of an air strike, or some demons to unleash on the Lourians."

General Nou tilted his head, "Demons?"

"That would be us, sir," Colonel Henson replied. "I'm a man of God, and so are many under my command. We, however, know how to fight like demons in order to slay our enemies."

"Well then, I do hope to see that one day." Nou then bid farewell.

"Oh, and General Nou," Hammond said before leaving, "We'll be sending one of our folks down here as an observer. Will that be fine?"

"That is a reasonable request. You may station an observer here."

——

U.S. Seventh Fleet

Richthofen twiddled his thumbs as he waited for Admiral Hawthorne's debriefing to begin. Off the coast of Maihark, he watched as dozens of transport ships offloaded supplies and equipment, preparing for the eventual invasion of the Lourian Kingdom. Overhead, he saw a flight of several B-52H Stratofortresses, flying low as a demonstration. They were being escorted by wyverns as they passed through Qua Toynian airspace, although the wyverns could hardly keep up. 

"I wonder where they're going…" he muttered to himself. 

"Admiral on deck!" Someone shouted. 

Everyone stood up and saluted. 

"At ease," Admiral Hawthorne said. "I'm sure you all have heard of the coming storm that we'll be bringing down on the Lourians. Infrastructure has progressed nicely, and we've just finished completion of an airbase and Marine base near Ejei. We've also received word that the Lourians are beginning to make their move: a small army is making their way toward Ejei. We're expecting them to arrive within a couple days." A map of the region surrounding Ejei appeared on a screen. "Since the Air Force is still having issues with logistics and establishing airfields here, we will be needed to provide support. Commander Richthofen! You'll be leading an escort for our bombers as they conduct Operation Shock."

Richthofen saluted. "Yes, sir."

Admiral Hawthorne continued, "After we clean up this army, we'll be retaking Gim. Once we do so, the fleet will be proceeding to Checkpoint Alpha, near the Lourian capital of Jin Hark, and await further instructions from Central Command. Any questions?"

An officer raised his hand. "Sir, we're going to skip the other Lourian territories?"

"That's right, Lieutenant. According to satellite imagery, the Lourian forces are consolidated along the Kingdom's borders, ready to push through to Gim. The Army and Air Force will be in charge of keeping them at bay. Jin Hark is several weeks' worth of travel from the current position of the Lourian troops, so we won't have to worry about them returning. Furthermore, intel from the CIA suggests that there is a lot of internal strife going on in Louria right now; the disappearance of the Lourian Navy has sent many of their regional nobles on edge, so we need to demonstrate that their fears are indeed true. With analyses conducted by several historians, the President has deemed it appropriate to head straight for the crown. I'll be discussing details of this operation later. Any further questions?"

Several people shook their heads while the rest remained silent. 

"Alright. Let's get to work folks."