HMS Turbulent vs Pilamo: Conflict

T'was a cold night in the open waters that surrounded the Poramu Isles, men could be seen just watching their surroundings, some slept and some were doing something else under the lamp light, deep under the heavy fortifications and shrubbery they concealed themselves in.

I sat near a fire, just minding my own business, a paperback in my hand and a hot coffee in the other. From just ahead of me were a couple of men who traded photos. I couldn't tell what they were but from their reactions it was probably something perverted.

"What do you think?" Dohanian spoke in his Premis accent, well he lived in the countryside all his life just like me, so it was nice to see someone who only knew how to farm animals and fire a gun, he was one of the rookies of the artillery team, not much to say besides that cept' he was a real creep the first time I met him.

"Not bad.." Mardan spoke, he was one of our more seasoned guys, a real vet unlike me, he served in the Morais 2nd Mountain Brigade back in 1812 then got transferred here for whatever reason he wouldn't tell, well besides that fact we know he fought with actual Pilamoans.

He wasn't much of a talker in his first day with us, but he's grown a lot in the past couple of months in the art of artillery.

Just reminiscing about all of this helps me calm down and reflect a lot, call me melodramatic or whatever but this is just how I would love to spend my days as a bonafide vet when this war is finally over.

Crash.

Before I knew it someone from the table got toppled over, he scratched his head and the party just laughed at this bloke.

It was getting kind of rowdy now that I tuned in on their frequency, it was getting irritating so I decided to take a closer look at this shady business, closing my paperback. I got up from the log I've been sitting on and walked over.

"Indeed, but what about this?" The men gathered around the small table with only a small mana lamp to provide light to this scene, the men were getting rather riled up when the voice of a man showed another picture.

It was just pictures of an elf, a stunning elf to say the least, someone who has made a name for herself in a particular federation and throughout the world of Wyvern Flying.

"Ah Lieutenant Reil, Sir, done reading that book of yours?" Mardan asked me while caressing his beard, so I replied.

"Yeah, cuz you pervs were getting pretty noisy, so I had to come and check on what you've actually been doin' y'know?" I stated, it was a pretty chilly night but it was probably thanks to these photos that they weren't feeling a damn thing, I could actually see some of them sweat from the photos.

But these photos.. It evoked a certain charm.. I immediately opened my paperback again to take out a certain photo "Those weak pictures have nothing against my trump card!" I said with my chin high up and slamming the photo down everyone in the table leaned closer, this was my most treasured photo. For a single man like me who can only dream about getting a partner, this was the second best thing to null the pain of loneliness.

"Hmm... pretty good" the old bloke from earlier spoke, it seemed like all of these men were showing photos of a particular person. But I could feel it, the jealousy that was burning within them, they couldn't move for a minute with how powerful this photo was.

"What's that?" Another soldier that was just reading a paperback looked at the strange crowd and asked.

We all turn around in dread, it was just Private Mannir, for a second I thought, and many of us thought, that it was the fucking Garrison Commander because of how similar their voices were, "Mannir you fucking spooked us man! And Do you not know who this beautiful maiden is? One that was known across the entire continent as the Wyvern Maiden, the Dragon Blooded Princess of the Heavens, the Red Dragon Child, the Go-" before I knew it, one of the guys was mocking the private, I should probably reprimand them since I am the superior here, but meh, I'm too lazy

But the ridicule didn't stop, before I knew it for a second time everyone was ganging up on him, probably furious because of how close his voice was to the Garrison Commander.

I decided it was enough, putting up my arm and blowing a tune, everyone's attention was on me this time "Alright, alright calm down, let him see em"

"What are you sissies talking about?" Another voice appeared out of nowhere, this time a larger, more bulkier man appeared from the shadows, his helmet attached firmly on his head with his rifle and staff attached to his back. I knew this dude all too well, especially back in my Officer Academy days.

"Just sharing some photos of the Wyvern Maiden, wanna see Gurde?" Mardan, the bearded man in his 30s, beckoned the large man to come up to the table where he saw some pretty risque photos of the legendary Wyvern rider.

The large man named Gurde grinned as he took a peak "Are they the.... premium ones?" He asked. But just like us, he was also a fellow degenerate for the elf in the pic.

All of the men sitting near the table just laughed at the question "Hell yeah they are! I spent a fortune on this photo" One of the men said, which made the large man join in.

"Just the thought of doing her, man why can't a woman like her fall from the skies and I catch her with my big muscular arms" That was a pipe dream for sure, I couldn't help but snicker at Pimoz and his delusions of 'big muscular arms', he was as bulky as a wrapped plomos on a stick.

"Shut the hell up Pimoz" Someone from the table said jokingly, prompting everyone to laugh.

*Bzzzzzzzt* But before we could get back to 'business' we heard the manacomms roar to life with a buzz.

"Battery 12 Reil-Prismo, we have detected mana sigs approaching grid A-01, prepare AP rounds and target grid A-01, near the patch of water just forward of the mana sigs, standby for fire order" We immediately checked the grid map and the mana sig finder and confirmed multiple sigs from that grid coordinate.

I clapped to get everyone's attention, "Alright, let's get to work now! Pack those photos up and take out the munitions, I want it done ASAP!" I barked orders at my men, getting themselves ready for the Pilamoans.

But before Battery 12 Prismo's crew could even blink, before I could even grasp my surroundings after the call, we heard distant explosions and the flapping of wings above us.

I felt my heart racing, something I haven't felt ever since the day I almost fell off of a mountain during mountain climbing training, this was a sign of something bad.

I looked up and squinted my eyes, there was a shining light that was descending at a rapid pace, I just knew I had to get out of there instantly "SHIT RU-" Explosion.

Everything was suddenly set ablaze in and around the artillery emplacement, where they were just peacefully trading photos of the Wyvern Maiden had turned into a raging inferno in a matter of seconds.

I couldn't hear anything.

My senses were nulled.

It felt hot.

then it didn't.

I probably died already.

________

Black dots kept flying high above the sea of clouds, with a telescope in hand to navigate to their respective sectors.

Once they found a target they immediately dove down and quickly pull up after releasing a fireball on the target.

Explosions could be heard from below, like grand fireworks at a New Year's Party, the target exploded in a grandiose fashion with ripples coming from the large explosion.

I was one of the wyvern riders, the bringers of pain and torment to those who defied us, an angel tasked with judging our foes who trampled on our kin.

I silently held out my hand then tapped on my partner's head three times.

The mouth of the wyvern felt hotter and hotter as seconds pass then just like a rifle, my wyvern shot out a projectile as large as a cannon ball and as hot as lava.

All of this aimed at the unfortunate humans uncovering their deadly munitions, their weapon aimed at the seas just meters away.

Explosion.

Another grand explosion erupted just below me, all while I watched as the enemies of my motherland perished in that large fire, like the mystical jelly of pure unbathed hatred and fire from the Grommish Empire they called Napalm, it stuck to their wool uniforms and ignited the shells packed with High-Explosives and Incendiary Gel, this fire then melted the cannon of the weapon.

I just watched without an expression, a witness to their suffering, with nothing plaguing my face, no smile nor frown, I felt neutral, for they were my enemy and I was their reaper.

"Destroyed an Artillery emplacement, heading over to the next target" But in contrast to that exhilarating stunt, I reported this gruesome sight as if it was just a mundane thing. It was comical to me for some reason.

A crack from my headset was heard "Copy, fly high above their outdated mana sig reader and strike as soon as you find your target" the woman in my manacomm headset spoke.

"Roger, terminating manacomm" clicking on a button to close the mana sig from my manacomm.

I remembered it was drilled into my mind in every briefing, every training session and combat simulation. Turn off the goddamn manacomm after you report, keep it concise, to the point and clear, they kept mentioning something about the amplified effect of the manacomm and the mana transmission waves it creates that gets us killed if we leave it on.

This was exclusive to us elves because of the resonance of the manacommunicator mistaking the pure liquid mana flowing from our special organ as transmission waves and vibrating it to the point of rupturing.

But all I, and most of my comrades, had to do was follow the guidelines so no point in worrying too much about it.

Well for now everything was going according to plan, it was because of the constant manacomm silence and our advanced deployment that we have struck the large Islands defenses in its weakest point with the most devastating blow they could inflict.

_________

Minutes have passed and I was almost done with my sector, same goes for my squad whose wreaking havoc on the Veridorans just below, It'll only be a matter of time before the entire Island is awake so we have to be quick with this.

Another one was destroyed in the same grand explosion as before.

"Destroyed another Artillery emplacement and the troops inside, heading over to next target" the same monotone voice I had, reported before flying away in a hurry.

"Copy"

"terminating manacomm" pushing the button again, I flew under the cover of the night.

Chaos ensues within the garrison just under me, as alarms blared to life moments later, the once peaceful skies were now being turned into an orchestra of explosions and black dots, fragmentation rounds from the Twin-Anti Air emplacements kept firing at the fast darting dots in the black skies with the clouds further obscuring their vision.

From the initial shots from the AA no-one was killed, but when they finally used their mana sensing targeting systems instead of relying on the secondary sights they were downing wyverns with some difficulty thanks to our wyverns having faster speeds than the revolution of the AA turret rings, but due to the large mana sig we had thanks to the special organ that locally produces mana we were like fish in a barrel if we slowed down and flew in a straight line for just a moment.

I could feel my heart beating so much, I turned to the left and just like that something flew past me, I didn't know nor did I care about that, I just had to go to the last AA Battery in my sector and get out ASAP.

I kept flying erratically, trying to get to the AA Battery that was targeting me, I could see it, just a few more meters and I am ther-

"Control to Tanis, reading fast moving sigs, possibly swiftwings!" I made sure I repeated those words in my head, possible swiftwings heading to me.

Huh?

A fireball went past me all of a sudden, I dodged it just by a hair by flying down, I could feel the heat from that ball of molten lava from my fire-retardant flight suit, I felt like I was on fire for a second then that pain ceased, just for a moment I felt what those artillery men felt.

Chills from my spine, I felt a cold sensation when I looked behind me.

"Fuc-" Before I could finish my sentence I was engulfed in fire, I could hear my wyvern, who I hugged, being hurt, his screams were loud, partners for life the poster said, I guess it was true that we were partners for life.

.....

"Wyvern Tanis has been eliminated, can't locate his reading and judging by the multiple other sigs near him, its safe to assume he has been killed in action" The woman from earlier spoke, she who was in charge of monitoring a special screen that revealed the names of the riders and their mana readings.

Just behind her was a man, he wore a serious expression.

He nodded "Spread the news, they have a fucking wyvern garrison" his subordinates nodded and relayed the information accordingly.

.....

"This is squadron leader Romus, we have destroyed the Artillery emplacements in our sector, returning to carrier" Romus reports before doing a hand signal to let his wingmen know they were returning having already accomplished their mission, the complete pacification of their respective sectors in collaboration with other squadrons in the sector they were assigned in.

It would take a few more hours before the bombing campaign was finished, but it was thanks to the superiority of the 2nd Generation of Wyverns that they were able to scratch the time limit by a ton.

Another voice breaks through the report "Same for Ilomis Squad, heading back to carrier"

"Squad Lead Preilos, heading back to carrier as well" Another male reports as well

"Squad Lead Mulus, having some resistance in sector Mulus, specifically near the wreck of the barracks, requesting support from active squads near me" He calmly requests as explosions rock around the communication.

Crackling from the manacomms, A females voice erupts "Polari Squad is on it, shoot out a flare for me, am right on your 7 and fast approaching" she said.

"Copy, firing flare" A loud buzzing sound could be heard from the manacomms once he said so.

"Ah shit! Tis' Elypsis Squad! Enemy Wyverns on our 6 I think, don't know where the fuck they came from!" A female's voice could be heard from the manacomms, her voice was urgent and explosions could be heard from said manacomms.

"This is Miro Squad, heading to Elypsis right now! Just got done with our mission as well so no issues with command right?" Another female voice responds.

"Go ahead and support Elypsis. Miro Squad, provide an escort to her squad as well if you're done with the Veridoran Wyverns"

"Roger, terminating manacomms" a click on a button then radio silence again...

This time there was another voice that erupts "This is Domar Squad, we're suffering heavy casualties, at least 5 Wyverns have fallen, should we proceed with the bombardment?" the man in the manacomm said calmly, despite the horrific report of the downing of 5 2nd Gen wyverns.

"Negative, head back to the carriers, replenish troops as fast as possible then redeploy" The voice of a woman could be heard, she was the coordination officer for the air fleet, a very important role in the carrier.

"Rog, heading back to carriers then" a click and radio silence..

___________

Pilamo Task Force "Darting Devils" out the seas roughly 120 km (74.57 miles) from the Poramu Isles.

The seas were calm, the atmosphere around the iron fleet was stiff, they have been on standby for a couple of months now, there were carriers, large floating ships with clear decks of wood and mana-absorbent steel, the Pride of the Pilamoan Navy the towering structures advised the wyverns to their location and have decimated a large portion of the garrison within Poramu.

"Full speed ahead once the go-ahead has been given" This man, the commander of the Task Force, spoke in a haughty tone, he was wearing a bright smile on his face, they didn't have to worry about a thing since there has been no news from Intel.

'Same old same old, I wonder what that old dog has up his sleeve now' He grins mischievously, his so-called sworn rival of the seas of this large land, out there they were nothing compared to the Gromms and the Meriavellans, but support from their so-called ally Meriavel, has increased tenfold, new training techniques for the wyverns, a new manufacturing process for their outdated firearms as well as restructuring the command structure of the Army, Navy and Wyvern Force.

He only grinned more and more, a fire could be seen burning brightly in his eyes.

"What do you think of the Federation, my assistant?" the Admiral of the fine Royal Pilamoan Navy asked.

The aide was taken by surprise once he's been asked this question, he stammered for a response, but none came to him, so he decided to pose a question "What do you mean by the question, Your Excellency?" He asked, hoping to get a straight-forward answer, but his experience dealing with such a difficult man as the Admiral of the Darting Devils would only lead to roundabout answers.

But his response was a surprise "I meant the culture, the government, the people, the food, anything you can think off, I want to hear your impression of the Federation, what do they have to gain from giving us so much?"

"I...I think the Federation is a benevolent nation, the Federation looked out for us multiple times in the great unification war as well as the wars against Gromm and Leolina, I think they are here to support us and expect an ally out of us if things go too awry with the rogue demon infestation"

"They have an ulterior motive basically? I don't think even you could see anything to gain from us, much less the Federation of all nations" The words spoken by the Admiral was true, there was nothing of value in the Pilamoa, atleast nothing of value to them, the use of the black liquid they've discovered not too long ago has sparked intrigue into them by the Federation of Meriavel, if this liquid really was as valuable as the Federation of Meriavel, the nation who has no particular interest in any other nation besides the ones in their alliance and a few friendly individuals from the Demon Realm, invests so heavily into this barren land, then it would only spark curiosity towards the black liquid, but the Federation hasn't disclosed their reasons for the hefty investment, primarily in drilling technologies.

"Yes" the assistant bleakly responds.

Silence followed afterwards..

"By the way, have you heard of that new nation to the east? I heard they possess Floating Islands"

"Excuse me, your Excellency but that is simply not possible, what could the new nation have that would make the lords of the Floating Islands ally with them? They only seek to destroy the earth we stand and rip apart any who cross their paths be it Land, Air or Water. I find it hard to believe if I have to be honest with you"

"I've seen the film reels, it's true, they seem to be some sort of variant of the usual floating island look, instead of living dirt and stone, the lords of the floating islands allied with the new nation use living steel"

"Living Steel? Are they the same as the living suits of armor in the Laszus Dungeon?"

"I don't know, but if they are on par with the living armor of Laszus, then we have a terrifying nation on our hands if they come here"

"What are our countermeasures so far against the floating island?" The assistant was getting more and more nervous, he could barely hide his fear, imagining a floating island covered in steel, sorry, LIVING steel, creating thousands of steel gargoyles, imps and suits of armor massacring the capital police and the citizens, the beheading of his wife and child.

It sickens him to his core.

"The heads at the Royal Institute are still coming up with something, but if they are the same as the living armor then a good old disenchantment spell should work, for something the size of a typical floating island, it should take twenty mages all working in tandem to take the floating island down" He didn't felt relieved at all, he wasn't sure if they would be able to even take down a small floating island of steel, the sky galleons could probably damage it by sending in specialized teams of mages with disenchantment and the flight spell, but how many mages do they even have that is capable of disenchantment? There were no dungeons here, much less dungeons with living suits of armor, if there was one the crippling economy of Pilamoa would have risen to the top ranks, along with The Great Elven Federation of Meriavel, The Republic of Medina, The Grand Empire of Gromm, United States of Leolina and The Empire of Acraine, the superpowers of the World.

"Let's pray we don't have to deal with them"

Hours have passed and the operation still continued, there was minimal resistance now and all military targets have been destroyed.

"Send in the first wave" The admiral ordered.

The decks of the carriers were suddenly filled with men, men armed with rifles and grenades, they all donned the color brown with a dark brown helmet or cap, In a matter of minutes men held their rifles firm, their backs straight and the officers organizing the men.

"All one thousand men have been mobilized, preparing landing crafts!" Crew men waved the flags of their countries, the iconic green, white and blue with a golden elongated wing and arrow at the center facing downwards of the Great Elven Federation of Meriavel, the Blue, Red and Violet flag of the Kingdom of Pilamo and then the flag of another power, one that was making a name for themselves in this world, the stories of the things this nation was capable of was often compared to the first emissaries of the Gods, these men waved flags of a red sun shining to the left with big streaks, they were an unusual bunch, to the natives of the world.

The Admiral watched the brave men he accompanied go down and sail towards the island of fire and smoke, the fires were magnificent.

"As bright as the sun huh?" the Admiral grimaced, maybe the Germans weren't the only ones he had to worry about.

_____________

In the deep dark blue ocean there lurked something monstrous, it didn't seem organic nor native to the waters here but it felt like it did belong here.

This long steel tube lurked under the cover of the night, it casted no shadow nor did it make a sound then suddenly it surfaced, it broke through the waves leaving behind a white mist, its speed was unlike any vessel this side of the world have thought, but the other side, the one they called home, knew what this vessel was.

And what it's capable of.

But out of the normal bunch of men dressed in navy blue, with flags of the Union Jack, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there stood a man with a rather peculiar device, he held it a few inches away but level with his eye, the device shone blue and a small black circle with a gray metal-like material bordering the black circle, he operated the thing as steadily as possible with his hand on a strap, making sure that the device sees everything around the man, the design of his clothes was something a diplomat would wear, a sharp suit with a pin of his representative country, he looked out of place with just a sword hung by his belt and their native pistol in the opposite side of the sword.

"So we really are under water huh? How do you guys fire?" A curious man tinkered with the peculiar device on his hand, he who has had countless years of experience in the Veridoran Navy and Monster Subjugation Corp, these things that no nation, well none that he knew of, was capable of producing, was sure to illicit questions, the men who operated this steel leviathan worked carefully, they were all glued to the strange circular green screen, it looked much like a mana signature finder but it didn't seem to show anything for now, these men who claim to be from a magicless land had things that were close to magic technology than the man had initially thought.

Then there was the strange tube atop the submarine was it? It peaked out of the water for who knows why, was it to look out from under the water? Why couldn't they just use spirits of the air and water to guide them inst... right, they didn't have magic.

"Hey, answer my question" the Veridoran tapped the shoulder of one of the men, he looked like an operator for the engine of this thing, he wondered how it was able to generate enough power to propel this thing with such a small engine.

"Oh sorry, what's up?"

"How do you guys fire your weapons?"

"Well, for start- Actually how bout we show you instead, I got a feeling we're close now"

"Alright fine, agh I hope I won't get killed by these people, such a waste of a suit"

It was a steady ride out of the Oli Port and into the seas they knew as the VERIDORAN Poramu seas, not that anyone other than the Veridoran Empire and the Pilamo Kingdom cared about it.

The submarine suddenly slowed down, then the captain of the vessel, Sir Linton, spoke out to his crew, all this was being recorded by the Military attache.

Linton's POV

"Alright, chaps, let's get that snorkel dismantled and rouse the crew. We've got a target on the horizon, closing in at about 4 thousand yards, bearing 80 going at a sneaky 15 to 20 knots an hour." This man spoke in a friendly manner, he has worked with the crew during the Invasion of Sicily, the sinking of Italian and German military and merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea, so he trusted them that much to not screw things up when the time came.

They were at the advantage for now, the enemy, well according to the information Admiral Elric Smythe has briefed him on, knew nothing of the devastating capabilities a submarine has on a ship with no anti-submarine equipment.

"Load HEs on all front tubes and fire on my command!" They neared the floating fortresses, these ships of wood and steel that have caused much devastation on the Islands of Poramu, support from the Fleet of Admiral Smythe would come once HMS Turbulent and her crew have damaged the carriers.

Carriers, just like in our world, were heralded as the apex vessel of a modern navy, steel behemoths that housed planes and helicopters for military and civilian purposes, these things were what governed air superiority in the skies where airbases are too far away and conflict is out at sea, the British knew of this, so did the Japanese and the Americans, these pioneers of the Strike Fleet Doctrine, knew of the strategic importance a carrier had as a mobile command and control center, a mobile airbase and a base for a sea faring army.

"HEs loaded!" Weapons Officer Davis yelled, the captain nods, letting out a sigh and turning around in military fashion.

"Gentlemen, lend me your attention please" He begins, this unexpected gesture confused most of the crew but it must be something important to even gather the attention of everyone.

The Veridoran made sure the device could see Linton as bright and clear as possible, but curiosity struck him as a minute had passed already, or so he thinks, with silence lurking in this metal tube he walked over to one of the men and asked "Is this normal?"

"No, well to be honest I think this is the first time when the Cap'ns been this quiet, he would always yap about Her Highness Margaret whenever we get back from missions" The man with the Irish accent answered, even he thought this was strange.

"Is he praying then?"

But before the Irish accented man could answer, another crew member chirped in with a whisper "He's never been much of a religious guy, but I can't say for sure if he's praying or nothings going on that head of his"

After about ten or so seconds of silence did the Captain of the HMS Turbulent begin to move his mouth, not before looking at his men one by one.

"Oh, I think he's about to speak now" The Irish accented man said quickly.

"Steel ourselves, strike quickly and efficiently, we've only got a limited amount of torpedoes and sure as hell am I not letting ourselves use the guns up top, listen to my instructions and we might just make it out alive, Sir Yupton, make sure to get my good side now would ya?" The man nodded and a laugh was exchanged with everyone.

"Time to go to work lads, make the King proud!"

"AYE AYE CAPTAIN!"

"THEN LETS SHOW THE WORLD WHO'S THE STRONGEST NAVAL POWER IS!"

_____________

Nothing has happened so far just before the islands still on fire, the men rushed into the landing crafts then deployed quickly into the fight, this has been going on for 30 or so minutes now, he was getting worried that Smythe might not even show up.

"Talk about a snooze huh?" The admiral of Darting Devils, Renard, yawned deeply, nothing was showing up in the sig detector, no massive spikes of mana from every other side but the island that was constantly being bombarded by wyverns and the detachment of a battleship and 4 cruisers.

It wasn't until a tingling sensation from the back of his neck that it alerted him of something.

"Turn on all search lights! I WANT EVERYONE TO FORM UP AROUND THE CARRIERS! NOW!" He was suddenly barking orders, much to the confusion of the crew, even they weren't sure what was happening, but it seemed urgent enough to warrant the usually aloof admiral to straighten his tie and fix his cap.

"But we aren't detecting any signatures? Why the sud-" The assistant was worried, but the sound was more than enough to make him shiver, just outside, one of the greatest technological marvels Pilamo possessed, suddenly erupted.

Then with no warning, No news from the constant and usually alert wyvern patrols, Nothing from the manual mana signature surveying to the accurate automatic mana signature detector the Meriavellans produced and pride themselves with as the most advanced piece of mana signature detecting equipment capable of reading mana signatures of considerable size hundreds of leagues away to even visual confirmation reports from floating early warning posts.

Others were disoriented, confused as to what happened to one of their prized vessels, lives were gone, relationships were torn away in a matter of seconds from the raging fireball, did a wyvern get too stressed out and decided to attack the crew then the ship? Some thought so, others otherwise, they knew not that the enemy may have infiltrated already, not on the ship nor inside of the ship, but besides it.

It was as sudden as time could allow it, nothing could have made them think otherwise.

But one man knew for sure, it was thanks to his gift that he has lived at the ripe age of 50 in such a dangerous job as Admiral of the famous darting devils.

He wanted to disagree with the hunch, but it was always right when there was danger, the first time he felt this way was when he was still just a child serving the Royal Child Officers Academy when the Veridorans launched a gruesome shooting that killed most of the four thousand young officers and two hundred staff, he was one of those survivors, he knew what the bitter taste of death was, it was stuck to him, he couldn't get it out.

That same taste grew stronger, the shivering he felt when he played dead back in that sorrow-filled day jogged memories he wished he forgot.

He didn't fight Smythe like this, nor did Smythe fought like this, something was afoot.

But he knew one thing for sure, it was that the Veridorans were here.

"Dispatch lifeboats to the Khan, give me a damage report Laurus" His mind raced, first he wanted to save as many souls as possible, they would be an even bigger distraction later, it would demoralize the crew too much.

"Y-Yes Your Excellency" The usually serious and green assistant ran to the communications officer to relay the order.

"I want men watching the waters, all wyvern patrols are to stay on high alert, get the next batch of patrols in the air and recall the outgoing patrols, I want every wyvern we have to be combat ready, expect another attack" The aloof admiral turned his head towards the still flaming carrier, its black smoke and the screams of the men still inside the raging inferno cooking the wooden deck of the carrier added fuel to the fire of demoralizing the troops, this was probably the first time he has lost a ship, and it was a magnificent and extremely expensive ship at that.

He decided to look out into the ocean, many were waiting for his orders, but what else was there to worry about? The formation of his ships was already covering the carriers with immediate interceptors such as his destroyers and cruisers, his battleships can provide artillery fire for the incoming fleet of the Imperial Veridoran Naval Service, his air defense network was tuned for anti-wyvern anti-air ranges, but the possibility of them deploying floating galleons would force them to worry about biplanes and bombs, nothing to worry about with the onboard wyvern interceptors.

His enemy wasn't Smythe, that was one thing because he was an honorable and traditional man, he would always engage in an all-out assault, using text book tactics he perfected, he lacked a creative mind nor would he allow such underhanded tactics like sabotage, that famous reincarnated came to mind, the styles of doctrines changed dramatically because of him when he first reincarnated in the Grand Empire of Gromm.

"To defeat your enemy, you must become your enemy" Renard spoke softly and quietly, as if muttering to himself.

"So the old dog did learn some new tricks, not to worry, I've got something up my sleeve too" He almost forgot about it, but it was something the people from the Magical Beast Pacification Center came up with, a new weapon of war that could revolutionize naval combat.

"D-" Before he could finish his sentence, another blast was heard.

Everyone stood up and watched with eyes wide and mouths agape, Renard looked back slowly.

"T-They hit the second carrier, the Tzu, the Darting Devils is under attack" Everyone looked at each other, a tense atmosphere loomed over them, how could they destroy the Khan, and then the Tzu?

"DEPLOY THE TARASRGEA!" Renard yelled, he was getting more and more frustrated and scared, they've already gotten two carriers? Were they made out of paper or something? How could they fall so easily?

"Unless they have a Leviathan too." Renard was panicking internally, the possibility of them having a leviathan that's undetectable by the most advanced mana signature detector meant that they would have to rely on the few mages they had aboard and the guns that could fire at the water to work in tandem, the leviathan was a very dangerous weapon, its strength could take out a few of the Grommish Fleets, but it was also unpredictable to the controller, it being too fast meant that the controller would have to be capable of withstanding such speeds underwater, the mana consumption required just to move forward drastically drained even the emergency reserves of a talented magician, which is why you needed to have three magicians with a vast mana pool to safely control the leviathan, making this an extremely costly weapon that takes years just to domesticate it and that would almost never be guaranteed a spot as an ace in the hole.

Deploying this meant that the Admiral was getting attacked by a possible leviathan, or something that emulated one at least, sure it's capable of diving down deeper than any human, and the main attack of a leviathan was to ram its target or drag it down to the depths depending on the size of the ship.

"Well are you deaf? Deploy that thing already!" He hurried his supposed busybodies, none of them wanted to waddle nor sink through the cold waters they floated on, tested by the Veridorans they communicated with the remaining carrier, just under it was the dreaded leviathan.

The waves shook ferociously, a whirlpool forming in the middle of the armada of steel fortresses the Pilamoans called the Royal Pilamoan Naval Service, their hearts were bumping out of their chests, what madness have they unleashed onto this world? The sailors thought.

__________________

The men aboard the British Submarine eyed the radar computer, and then the sonar, nothing was popping up, but they knew they forced the hand of the Admiral of the Darting Devils, Captain Linton had his brain roaring for possible contingency plans, the event that the enemy would deploy a ferocious sea monster was one of many possibilities he could think of, but he hadn't devised a strategy for that yet.

Men and Beasts aboard the ships they fired at, they cared not for their lives, for their pasts nor their futures, all they thought of was the country of Britain and its inevitable liberation from the Murderous Nazis that have tainted their homeland, the isles of the UK that stood alone against the Axis on our timeline, was forcefully routed out to the new world of Rutra.

"Fire 1 and 2, 1000 yards bearing 80 to 90 going at 10 knots, hit that hull, deck guns on standby for interceptor fire" Linton commanded then Weapons Officer Davis commanded and his men executed, the situation was dire when they realized another beast lurked with them.

"This must be what the first U-boat captains felt when they took out the almost defenseless ships of the Royal Navy" One of the men operating the firing apparatus commented.

"Sure it may have been that way back then, but still be on the lookout, something's happening at the middle of the formation, don't limit your imagination here, this is a world of Gods and Magic after all" Another sailor chimed in, generating approving grunts from his comrades, this spectacle did wonders to the imagination of the military attache the Veridorans sent.

"Launching! Torpedoes Away!" Then there was a white trail on the ocean, it looked like it was about to emerge out of the water just inches away from it but it didn't, the Veridoran already knew what death from under the sea was like, but this was something else entirely.

Then it collided with the carrier ahead, instantly demolishing it in a tragic fire, the bombs the carriers had for the wyverns must have detonated in the fire, causing a bigger explosion to rock the formation of the darting devils.

"W-What am I looking at? We have never managed to sink a single one of the darting devil's ships, and yet you and this... submarine was it? It took out TWO Carriers in less than 60 minutes" He uttered whilst sweating profusely, the recording device he held was a witness to the destruction occurring a thousand or so leagues away, no one would've believed him if they didn't witness the footage themselves, a fleet in disarray, neigh, it wasn't a normal fleet, it was a fleet of veterans that have fought with the Empire for years, Admiral Smythe's sworn rival who he, for all the medals and achievements he's gained in those 30 long years of constant battle have never managed to sank a ship of the darting devils, and yet there it was, the burning citadels of wyverns and men and beast, nothing could have prepared him for what he was witnessing atop the Turbulent.

"That my dear friend, is the power of Royal Navy" A glad Captain Linton slapped the Veridoran on his back, but in contrast to the usual aloof nature and somewhat serious attitude he would have whenever he was with Her Highness Princess Margaret, this side of Linton would haunt Yupton, the Veridoran Military Attache, the usual tactics of direct confrontation and overwhelming the defenders with a fleet amounting to the hundreds, even thousands, the use of one small ship that could go underwater and destroy not one, but TWO capital ships made him shiver.

'Should we ever cross swords, Captain Linton, I would like for you to be as merciful as possible' the attache spoke clearly in his mind.

Everyone was calm, except for the ones being attacked and Yupton, but besides that, the submarine was able to quickly dive down and reposition herself to commit to unpredictable torpedo attacks and to harass oncoming wyvern patrols should they ever arrive, that was what the deck guns were for anyways, to destroy any naval fighters and bombers in a scenario where the submarine isn't able to replenish most of its oxygen for the engine and the crew, or the action of diving wasn't feasible in the waters.

Noone besides the crew and the men of the Veridoran Imperial Military Research Institute knew about the workings of the submarine.

"So far, we've killed a cruiser and two carriers, once we take out a battleship and the final carrier are we allowed to disengage, stay alert and dive down immediately once the fireworks start" The attache just sighs, he's seen the Choi Hong Hi, a cruiser known for its fast response to strikes below the hull, was another pile of unsalvageable metal and burnt wood slowly sinking into the sea.

"Diving down again, get down here!" Linton yelled at the men operating the deck guns and the onboard twin light machine gun AA, a crude modification on the Turbulent, it had a stand to place the gun and was dismountable, meaning you can dismount the gun and place it inside a special water-tight case welded to the upper hull of the submarine, increasing anti-air capabilities and enables another point of attack if wood hulled ships were to attack or the enemy was faster than the rotation of the deck guns. It lacked penetration but it was never meant to be used as a penetration weapon, just a suppressive weapon.

"Get in already!" The last two men carried the machine gun then stowed it away inside of the special case, but before they could climb the ladder, one of the men on the hatch spotted something.

"SOMETHING'S LURKING! ATTENTION SOMETHING'S LURKING WITH US!" Panic alarms were being ringed inside the heads of the men, this was bad, and it was soon turning worse, the ships they've been harassing suddenly pointed their batteries at them.

"INSIDE!" The last man was forcefully yanked into the hatch, then was quickly shut tight, they didn't check if the machine gun was properly stored but who cared about that? They had one thing to do now, and that was to hide.

"DIVE DIVE DIVE!!!!" Linton desperately commanded, it would only be a matter of seconds before the roars of gunpowder echo through the waterscape, everyone watched with bathed breathes as the meter slowly descended, from the surface to 10 meters

"HANG ON!" They grabbed on whatever they could, the pressure built up, oxygen levels were slowly dropping and the engine of the submarine was getting worn down, then there it was.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM* Waves rocked back and forth as shells were being bombarded just above them, the thing that was lurking with them was no longer heard from again in the Sonar, just the distant sounds of artillery fire from the main guns of the fleet they've bullied. Some stammered back, some collapsed to the floor before grabbing a hold of steel pipes and other stable holds.

from 20 meters came down to 30 meters, to 40 meters, to 60 then stopped at 70 meters.

"E-everyone good?" Linton asked, everyone was visibly disturbed by such a close call

"What did you see Rudy?" Their attention suddenly on the young chap from Uptown York, the young bloke had not a hair on his face, but the so-called 'boy' was visually shaken by the encounter, it looked like it was inches away from striking the Turbulent, but it suddenly dove deeper and went away.

"T-There was a thing, it was lurking towards us, it was a damn miracle it didn't approach us till the damned ships started shooting at us" Everyone was confused, was it a stray sea monster? Didn't Elric say there were no monsters around here? That was one of the reasons they agreed to join this mission in the first place?

"No use whining over it, let's just get this over with and go home" said Callum, Chief Engineer of the Turbulent, former Chief Engineer of the Hood, being one of the survivors in the Battle of the Denmark Strait

"Agreed, we still have 7 High Explosive VIIIs, 4 AP VIIIs then the 10 AA Munitions and the extra guns from the Veridoran Armory and ammo, we should be good if we were up against a nation that still used steam boats or sail boats as military ships, but with our current chances and the unexpected range of their guns, we have better chances offing ourselves" Davis adds to the Callums comment, but their chances of getting out alive when there is a sea monster out is lower than ever, just ram into the submarine and its over for them immediately.

"Well I doubt we can even escape with a sea monster on our arse, and we just have to get behind them and fire again, then skedaddle" A man spoke out, he wore headphones and had a pair of round glasses, this was Communications Officer Leonard.

"Welp, I'm out of ideas" One of the crewmen puts his hands up in the air as he went back to his station.

Linton looked at everyone, they were looking for solutions but nothing struck them yet, it was ultimately decided in his mind that maybe Leonard's plan is a good idea "We have to go now, let's just do Leonard's plan an-"

"DETECTING SIGNATURE 50 DEGREES, GOING 30 KNOTS ABOUT 700 YARDS OUT! DEPTH 100 TO 160 METERS! ITS HEADING STRAIGHT FOR US!"

"30 KNOTS AT 160 METERS?!?!" Gasps were exchanged, what could be moving so fast under the ocean? Another submarine? But Linton was assured multiple times that Pilamoans didn't have submarine technology yet.. Unless they didn't know, he's been lied to or..... 

"It-It's fast, maybe even faster than what the Germans had, w-what are we supposed to do now?"

The captain of the HMS Turbulent, a man who hasn't achieved any medals, nor any fame nor glory, had a chance to prove himself, the enemy proved to be cunning, witty and enlisted monsters to its ranks, or so he thinks are monsters he wasn't too sure about that and he wasn't sure if what he was about to say was going to work, he hoped it would, but doubts formed in his head, say something and put up a fight against a living fairytale, or wait here and accept their faith, which path would lead him to glory, earn the respect of Princess Margaret and his men, and hopefully inspire others in the future if his story ever gets told? 

"Turn to 270 degrees West, Full speed ahead, use the nature around us as cover, keep an eye on the oxygen and fuel"

"Aye captain!" They went to work immediately, they didn't want to die waiting, who would as a soldier fighting for his country? Linton wasn't and he knew for sure his crew weren't pushovers too!

"Maintain bearing, time is 1 minute, monster fast approaching but still far away, maintain distance" A shimmering light suddenly bloomed inside the submarine, the crew was confused, and were getting prepared to use their weapons.

"Relax everyone, I'm just using my magic" This didn't calm anyone other than Yupton down, but they still had certain death approaching just behind them.

Then the Veridoran, who for some reason looked like a Buddhist Monk with how he sat down on his chair, opened his mouth to speak "I sense rocks Captain Linton"

"Huh? You sense them?" Linton was surprised, shocked first but was surprised.

"Yes, Spatial Awareness is my specialty of magic, the Veridoran Government has placed me here to serve as your military attaché after all, they wouldn't send in someone without spatial awareness to a potential ally"

"Well, can you keep up your magic then? Actually, can you 'sense' rocks bigger than us at a depth of 80 meters? I want to make the monster collide with them first and then fire the torpedoes, or atleast funnel it to our line of fire" A few seconds of silence was accompanied with that request.

"Yes, umm, turn right from here, in a few 'seconds' you would find two massive spires with kelp, it would form very nice camouflage and would trap the leviathan if it is guarded by a sea barow" that last word worried the captain.

"A Sea Barow?"

"It's kind of like a trapper but for the seas and usually hunts large fishes, it would do everything in its power to trap prey with large pools of mana, can't say if they will also target us though since I'm a pureblooded mage meaning I have twice the amount of mana a normal human mage has so I'd advise you to keep out of its range"

"Interesting, I'll keep this in mind when swimming next time"

_____________________

It sought out for it, It craved for the steel capsule that lurked in its waters the other pathetic race had lured it into, now it had the audacity to ride atop of it, it didn't mind, or so it seemed to them, but it infuriated the beast of the Emperor, cutting through schools of fish, instantly being turned into pieces of meat just by scraping its shiny gold and silver scales, it was a legendary beast of the living wall of the sea, the great divider between civilizations from distant worlds, it hadn't known any other reason of existence other than being a part of that wall of monsters, but now it seemed like the tiny and immature ones the great ones from ancient times have given it a new task, to hunt and kill in the great outside.

Bubbles formed around it, in a deep haze it found its target, its red and bloodshot eyes glared at the metal thing, it seemed to have went in between a great crevice, a hole in the middle with some kelp floating inside it, did it think that this would hinder the great golden leviathan? It must've been stupid, just like the ones riding on top of it right now they may think the leviathan has accepted them as its masters, but it only accepts one as its true master, and that was HIM.

The Emperor of a grand empire that created this world, that bore life to it and brought heroes and villains into it, it was that Emperor that gave life to it, and for that it had faithfully served as a border until a while ago, if it meant seeing the Emperor again, then it would disobey that fundamental rule, to make the Emperor punish it, to gaze upon the Emperor again, what a dream that would be.

 By the time it knew it, it had already slowed down immensely, what hindered its movement? The thought of meeting the Emperor again? Maybe, but something was off as it wiggled its body into the crevice, it tried and tried again.

It had been fooled, something else trapped it, was it the metal capsule? It only needed to show its face and it would be wiped off the face of Rutra with just a blast of its magic, but it weakened suddenly, what was this strange spell? It didn't felt like anything it had ever experienced before, it weakened and weakened, it shrunk and shrunk.

Wait, shrunk? It was being shrunk?

What was happening to it? It squirmed around, looking to its left, then to its right, then it looked at its body, to where those pathetic things rode it like a horse

.....they've already left it behind.

But it looked up and there it was, that shiny white orb with the three of them, just floating away.

"Rastus, Magus Aquae Exterminatus, Aquae Flatus" Then a whirlpool formed from its mouth, the whirlpool was weaker than it thought, but it managed to hit the orb, popping it and made them drown, after all, if it was going down, they were going down with it.

It then looked down on the source of this mystic kelp, it prepared its chant and with a small whirlpool forming around its mouth.

"Aquae Flatus" It instantly destroyed the kelp that hindered it, child's play, it thought to itself, it worried over nothing as the kelp died quickly and gory, its green remains scattered and floating upwards.

"Now onto the metal prey" It surged forward, swimming through the crevice and shattered the rocks that had caught the leviathan a minute ago.

Then it heard peculiar sounds just in front of it, was it a magic attack? It sensed no mana coming from it, but something felt off, the things that swam towards it was charging head on, was it the offspring of the giant metal thing? Was it a living hive and these are its slaves? Well who cares? It was getting late and it wanted to rest immediately.

It opened its mouth, ready to immediately consume the smaller cylinders.

Then shockwaves formed around, the two cylinders, after quietly disappearing into the leviathan's mouth, had suddenly erupted inside, it boiled the water and cooked the insides of the leviathan, causing it to thrash around in pain, in muffled cries under the sea it wreaked havoc to its surroundings with its fins and tail, its long neck burning and its stomach being filled with a hot, burning sensation, it felt like it was going to....

Another shockwave, this time it grew larger, causing a jet of water to go as high up as 20 meters, a spectacle that confused everyone above the water.

________________

Everyone was watching the Sonar finder, waiting for that dot to disappear and relieve them of their worries, a second has passed, two seconds, then an entire minute until three minutes have passed.

That was when the Sonar Operator looked back towards the crowd of men, with a wide smile he opened his mouth "We've killed it!" Everyone was ecstatic.

"Alright gentlemen, calm yourselves, we've still got a carrier to destroy, ascend and find our way to that fleet, after this mission we've got a grand story to tell our kids!" Linton declared, causing the rowdy bunch to get back to work mode.

______________

"Admiral Renard! We've lost contact with the Tarasrgea!" Everyone besides Renard, the admiral of the mighty Darting Devils, looked at the man reporting this terrible piece of news and then to the man that commanded that attack.

"Contact the main fleet, request for reinforcements at deployment grid E-A10, marked by short burst flares, lost the Tzu and the Khan, the enemy has a new weapon, capable of launching mana-less weapons at great distances, cannot confirm if beyond visual range or are under the effects of invisibility, maintain caution and deploy advanced wyvern patrols once you've reached waypoint 1, the isle of poo and piss. I want a transcript of that and give it to me, once I've confirmed it, it is to be sent out immediately with a level 10 encryption key, none but High Admiral Ouclo has to hear of this, do you understand?"

"Aye Sir!" Renard could hear his men typing away on the clickboard, those familiar clicks sounded satisfying when it was calm, but now it annoyed him more than ever, he looked out from the carrier and to the battleship he was on,

"Should w-"

"No, I can't leave the men storming those beaches to die, prepare the last wave and hold position, I'm certain they are after the Yin Sun-sin, if the enemy is using metal projectiles, we can try catching their munitions with magnets, prepare our alchemists for the commission, three large magnets then tie them and drop down to 100 etheric steps, make haste!" Without batting an eye, he had already come up with a countermeasure in that scenario, all he had to do now was confirm his suspicions.

"Yes yo-" 

The admiral raised his hand, prompting the assistant to shut up "Too long, when we are in a tense combat scenario, just shorten it to Aye sir, no need for that poshness here"

"Ah, ye- err I mean"

With a sigh, he opened his mouth "Just leave" were the words that left this mans mouth.

"Aye Sir" The assistant left, dejectedly with a note of their names and faces from the directory 

______________

"Spotted fleet again, contact Admiral Smythe, they are down 1 cruiser, possible battlecruiser or heavy cruiser, depends on their designation, and 2 carriers, they seem to still be sending troops over to the islands, advise you to prepare the assault, be careful of possible naval mines" Once more, the distant fleet caught Linton's discerning eye. Swiftly, he relayed the intelligence, "Spot the fleet again. Contact Admiral Smythe. They're down one cruiser, possibly a battlecruiser or heavy cruiser, depending on their designation. Two carriers remain. Troop deployments to the islands are ongoing. I advise preparing for the assault, and exercise caution regarding potential naval mines."

A symphony of telegraphic taps, short to long, resonated through the chamber—a contraption both bewildering and intricate to the Veridoran. Yet, Yupton saw beyond the confusion; this device held the potential for vital information. Deciphering its coded messages would bolster their chances against the impending threat.

Hope lingered in Yupton's heart, a fervent desire that the need for such measures wouldn't materialize.

"Got confirmation from Admiral Smythe." The captain acknowledged the message with a nod, his gaze fixed beyond the hatch. The wind roared, tousling his hair as he clutched the binoculars tightly. Before him, men prepared for the imminent showdown. Deck guns, manned in pairs, awaited action. The hastily rigged AA-configured machine gun stood silent, its ammo boxes neatly aligned beside it.

"Was it wise to exchange those AA guns for these deck guns, Captain?"

"A special deal, courtesy of the Veridoran Imperial Military Research Institute. Couldn't pass it up. Besides, opportunities like these are rare. We can always rely on a Veridoran spell if need be."

"I'm not sure... What if the AA guns were precisely what we need right now?"

"Our small AA guns wouldn't pierce those wyverns or dragonwyrms or whatever those lizards are called effectively. These dual-purpose deck guns offer penetrating power against both sea and air targets."

"Let's hope we're facing the slowest and least adept wyvern riders in existence then. Though, I highly doubt that."

"No need for perpetual cynicism, Officer Davis."

Linton, captain of the HMS Turbulent, an unassuming submarine in the Royal Navy—his gaze fixed on the ocean's horizon. A man beckoned by the sea, destined to lead his crew to victory and glory. A tale unfolded, of fame and bittersweet love, devoid of diplomacy, embracing action. John Linton's narrative in this world—a story woven by men who would forge a name for themselves, trapped in a realm foreign and untamed.

Linton plunged his ivory cap low, the customary grin now replaced by a steely resolve. His gaze, sunken and shadowed, bespoke weariness etched in every line. "Let's bring this to an end, shall we?"