As of May 5, 2022, this chapter has been revised

Cent. Calendar 19/05/1639, Prime Minister’s residence, Tokyo, Japan, 11:00

Exactly one month after their transfer to Asherah, the Japan Ground Self Defense Force have begun landing in Qua-Toyne, stamping out any lingering hopes for a peaceful resolution to the Lourian crisis. As the logistical elements of the 2nd Division began setting up key infrastructure, including an airfield and port facilities in Myhark, prime minister Takamori Hideaki convened his cabinet once more after the SDF brass had informed him that plans for a swift end to the crisis, should it escalate, have been drawn up. Entering the room and dismissing the rest of the ministers from bowing, he took his seat. Also present in the room was General Hinoki Yousuke, chief of staff of the JGSDF.

“I believe we are all looking forward to the plans you’ve drafted, which I personally thank you and the rest of the SDF for coming up with in such short notice.”

Takamori opened with a remark to the chief of staff, Joint Staff Koji Yuuichi, who was standing on the other side of the table and ready to report their plans.

“Thank you, prime minister. We have consulted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our Qua-Toynian counterparts on the status quo of Louria’s political landscape to ensure that this plan will have its intended results.”

Getting the hand gesture from the prime minister to begin, the admiral had his aides distribute documents to all the ministers in the room before continuing to speak.

“Taking into account Japan’s limited resources available for diversion to military operations, we have decided on the implementation of this plan of action which we have dubbed: Operation Zanzibar.”

The lights in the room darkened and the shutters were closed as the projector at the other end of the table lit up, projecting an empty slide on the white, featureless wall. Then, the words “Operation Zanzibar” in all caps flashed in the middle of the slide. As Koji opened his mouth to begin presenting the plans in detail, the others present in the room sank into their comfortable, leather chairs in anticipation of the heavy topics they were about to hear.

Cent. Calendar 04/06/1639, Gim, Qua-Toyne, 14:00

Two weeks after the 2nd Division’s logistical units landed in Qua-Toyne, the Myhark airfield was completed, along with a temporary pier in the port that allowed for roll-on/roll-off disembarkation by the following GSDF elements. The airfield had then begun receiving JASDF C-130H transport planes from which more GSDF elements disembarked. Since then, the Japanese forces had completed their deployment in Gim, the border town that was rapidly becoming the frontline, and began cooperating with the Qua-Toynian soldiers garrisoned there.

Princess Llanfair, wishing to better understand the Japanese way of fighting, sent Myhark Defense Knights commander Ine as her personal observer to the town of Gim. Arriving on horseback after a long, hurried journey throughout the Qua-Toynian countryside, she finally arrived before the aged, stone walls of the border town. As her horse trotted along the dry dirt road, she looked up at the arch that formed Myhark’s east gate, its stone construction riddled with dirt and moss and its iron gates rusting from age.

Doesn’t really compare to Myhark...

Inwardly commenting on the “countryside” and “rustic” feel of the town through its walls and gates as she looked at them, she was then caught by surprise when her horse suddenly stopped. The cause: an elven warrior holding his long pike readied at her and her horse. Judging from the well-maintained state of his armor and weapons, as well as his garments and boots, he was a regular of the Qua-Toynian professional force.

“Identify yourself.”

The elven pikeman, a guard for the east gate, barked at her. Disembarking from her horse, Ine pulled out a parchment stamped with the royal seal and showed it to the guard.

“Ine, commander of the Myhark Defense Knights. I’ve been sent here as an observer Her Highness herself.”

Upon recognizing the royal seal on the parchment, the guard quickly fixed his posture and saluted Ine.

“O-Of course, commander Ine! Right this way!”

Humbled by the high status of the she-elf before him, he quickly turned away to hide his flustered face. Following the elven pikeman through the main road, Ine looked around, taking notes for the report that she will have to submit to the princess.

The town of Gim, once a vibrant residential area that housed the farmers that work Qua-Toyne’s western lands, has been reduced to a mere ghost town, only populated by its garrison and their camp followers, due to an evacuation order from the government following the deployment of the Japanese forces to the town. The deeper they got into the town, the closer they got to the lesser square, and the more Japanese soldiers she encountered. She took notes on their common uniform, a sign of a well-trained professional force, as well as their gear.

Their uniform, despite looking dirty at first glance, appeared to be actually well made. When they were stopped by a Japanese soldier on guard near the square, she managed to get a closer look on what they looked like. The square patterns on the fabric were intricate yet uniform, the implications of the sophistication that went into its construction making Ine feel queasy at its impossibility. Despite the best patterns Qua-Toyne’s best tailors could manage, there were still imperfections and sprinkles of mistakes on them. The Japanese soldiers’ uniforms, however, were unnervingly uniform for all individuals. It was as if they were all made from a single copy. She then noted the lack of iron armoring, although she did notice that the complex tailoring of the vests they wore above their clothing and their alien-looking fabric may help deflect blows and slashes from swords and such.

Finally, she noted their weaponry, which were primarily guns, uniformly distributed between all soldiers with some minor differences here and there. The guns, which looked less stylish than the unwieldy Lourian arm cannons, were noticeably cleaner, sleeker, and smaller. All in all, while Ine could only say amazing things regarding the equipment of the Japanese soldier, she hardly understood the logic or doctrine behind them.

Ine was then led to a large, olive-colored tent by her elven and Japanese escorts. Inside, she was greeted by a suite of thin panels, which contained moving pictures, fixed onto bars that lined one side of the tent, which she assumed to be equivalent to their manacomms, as well as some more recognizable equipment like tables, chairs, food, and such. As she took mental notes of what she was seeing, her inner processes were abruptly stopped when one of the Japanese soldiers approached her.

“Good afternoon, miss. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Surprised by the Japanese soldier’s sufficiently fluent Asheran common, Ine took her time digesting everything before replying.

“Good afternoon. I am Ine, commander of the Myhark Defense Knights. I was sent by Her Highness, Princess Llanfair, as an observer.”

The soldier, whose wrinkles and grooves revealed his age, pulled out a black booklet from his pocket. After a pause spent staring at several pages, he turned his gaze back towards Ine.

“Well met, miss Ine. I am Major General Akiyama Hayate, commander of the GSDF’s 2nd Division.”

Extending his hand as a force of habit, it took a moment of awkward silence and staring before Akiyama realized that the elf may not be aware of this gesture. Before he could pull his hand away completely, Ine, instinctively assuming his action was one of goodwill, grabbed his hand with her own to return the gesture.

“Nice to meet you, Major General.”

Exchanging smiles, the topic of their conversation then forced them to drop their initial warm expressions.

“We up north are not really up to date with the current situation, Major General. I was hoping you’d brief me on what’s happening here.”

Internally lamenting that the Qua-Toynians aren’t up to date with their own situation, Akiyama then urged Ine to follow him. Moving towards one of the panels with the moving pictures, he then turned to look back at her, glanced at his booklet, and spoke.

“This is one of our... Uhh... unmanned aircraft, which allows us to see what the Lourians are up to in their camp. Right now, they’ve mostly been keeping to drills and welcoming more soldiers coming from deep within Louria.”

Still unsure at what “unmanned aircraft” means, she set it aside as her eyes followed Akiyama’s finger, which pointed to one of the panels. Looking closely, she realized that the moving pictures depicted on the panel showed humans–Lourian soldiers–moving around in their camp and doing various activities in splendid color and quality. It took her a while to realize that the soldiers were being viewed from above, at which point she also figured out what the term “unmanned aircraft” meant. To clarify, she asked Akiyama.

“Do you currently have a flying object up in the sky right now? And that flying object has no person piloting it?”

Akiyama nodded in affirmation, his inward praise for Ine’s aptness showing through the slight grin on his face.

“And through the eyes of that flying object, you can see the Lourians as they are right now?”

Another nod from the major general.

Ine, knowing the importance of accurate, real-time information of the enemy’s movements, felt the power in her limbs ebbing away in awe of what the Japanese were capable of. Not only did the Lourians not realize they were being watched, but the Japanese were also likely to be already aware of details regarding the Lourian movement, how many men they had, and maybe even spot potential hiding places of additional troops and weaponry. Hell, they probably know more about the enemy’s movements than the enemy does. Swallowing her shock and maintaining her outward composure, she tried to make sure she did not stammer in her following words.

“Do you know of their total strength?”

Akiyama paused for a moment to remember his Asheran common number terms before looking back at Ine.

“They’re estimated at about 15,000.”

Ine turned pale.

15,000 was a moderately high number of troops for taking one, simple, countryside town. Gim’s own garrison numbered only at around 400 troops, with possible wyvern support from the fortress city of Ejei further to the east. According to the documents their government received from Japan, their military is only deploying 6,090 troops, with 1,000 dedicated to the construction and engineering aspects, which meant that the Lourians amassing at the camp on the border more than doubled the entire Japanese presence in Qua-Toyne. If these Japanese really are confident with their numbers, then they surely must have some sort of force multiplier that allows them to compensate for their obvious disadvantage.

“Are you, Major General, confident in your numbers?”

The Japanese commander grinned for a moment, as if in disbelief at the question hurled at him, which he immediately took back as soon as he remembered that he was talking to a commander whose knowledge of war didn’t match theirs. While he was eager to soothe Ine’s startled nerves, he also felt like showing off. After having thought of the appropriate words, he responded to her.

“Numbers, too, are important in warfare. However, we have something that can offset sheer numbers. Come with me.”

Finally getting her answer that the Japanese might indeed have a force multiplier, she eagerly followed Akiyama, who ventured outside the tent.

Walking through the square, she noticed an eerie calmness and tranquility hanging over the town, despite the looming threat of the Lourian invasion. Granted, the soldiers of their garrison were on their nerves, but the foreign soldiers were anything but. They did maintain their discipline but tension or anxiety were nowhere to be found on their faces.

Why the calmness? Do they not see nor hear the Lourians next door?

Akiyama then led her up Gim’s bell tower, the tallest structure in the town. Scaling the spiraling stone stairs, they reached the top of the tower where the bell was located. Posted as a lookout next to the gigantic, bronze bell was a Japanese soldier, who then saluted towards the major general as soon as he became aware of his presence. From there, they have a clear, commanding view of the quaint and small skyline of Gim, the sprawling farms that surrounded it, and the topography of the land tens of kilometers away, provided they weren’t obstructed by something else. The town was situated in the plains just north of the divine forest, which was the thick, old overgrowth of trees that covered much of the mountain range that served to demarcate the border of Qua-Toyne and the kingdom of Quila. As Ine began to wonder why they were up there, Akiyama then handed her a pair of binoculars.

“Use that to look over there.”

He then pointed to the horizon towards the southeast.

Recognizing the pair of binoculars as a more sophisticated telescope, Ine instinctively understood where to put her eyes. Following Akiyama’s direction, she then pointed the binoculars southeast along the feet of the mountains from where the Divine Forest began. For a few moments, she struggled to find what he was asking her to look at but then she happened upon some weird lumps of green that narrowly blended in with the prairie equally spaced out over it. Upon adjusting her focus to scrutinize the lumps better, she saw that they were huge, metallic carts fixed with long, massive tubes pointing up into the sky towards their direction. She inferred the size of the lumbering carts from the numerous people, likely Japanese soldiers, that she saw on top of and walking around them. The intimidating sight of the wagons, their tremendous articles of war looking as if they were converging directly on her very person, made her feel as if she wasn’t safe–that she was never going to be anyway–as if the enormous distance in between her and the machines meant nothing.

Seeing that she had stopped looking around, Akiyama assumed she had found the Type 99 self-propelled howitzers and began explaining them.

“Those vehicles that you see are our mobile long-range artillery batteries, which we call ‘self-propelled howitzers’ back in our old world. Their cannons, a concept I hope you’re familiar with, can lob highly explosive... errr, cannonballs, over long distances.”

Ine, however, was still slow to comprehend the concept of these metallic carts. Reviewing his booklet, he then adjusted his vocabulary so that she may better understand it.

“Another way in which I could describe their capabilities is this: those moving cannons can reach and hit the Lourian camp from where they currently are.”

Hearing those words, she connected the dots. While she still didn’t know what else the Japanese had in store, what she was shown and what she noticed alone were enough to convince her that they had considerable firepower that allowed them to punch above their weight in spite of the stark numerical difference. Cannons that can reliably reach and hit targets outside of what they could see, eyes in the sky that tracked enemy movements and deployment... If push comes to shove, the Japanese could single-handedly eliminate the Lourians right now if they wanted to. However, she remembered reading in one of the documents that Japan had codified laws that prevented them from being the aggressor in a conflict, which sounded more like a defeatist, self-imposed handicap. Shelving these thoughts to the back of her mind, she moved on to the next topic.

“What have the Lourians been doing?”

Before he could answer, they heard the footsteps of heavy boots on stone getting closer and closer. From beneath them, one of the Japanese soldiers called out to him in their native language, a statement that was completely lost on Ine.

“Major General, the Lourians are at the border again!”

Seeing the commander’s expression turning to one of urgency upon hearing the unintelligible remark, she assumed that there had been unsavory developments. Akiyama then turned to her and invited her to come along.

“Come. The Lourians have been spotted deploying in formation at the border... again. I think it’s best if I explained it there.”

Running back to the tent with the panels, they were guided by the soldier that had called their attention back to the panel that showed them the Lourian camp a while ago. Looking at the vivid, colorful screen, the moving pictures on it depicted an open field dotted with ranks of musketmen and pikemen in their pointed hats and typical infantry iron armor, with the lightly armored cavalry forming up on either flank of the center mass. Seeing the masses of heavily armored Lourians packing incredible firepower, their faces loosely reflected on the screen but clearly hungry for war, Ine couldn’t stop her body from unleashing buckets worth of sweat. When she looked over to Akiyama and the other Japanese in the tent, she found them eerily composed and unalarmed, with serious nonchalant expressions on their sweatless faces. Returning her gaze to the screen, she saw that the Lourian army had begun marching forward towards the Lourian–Qua-Toynian border, throwing up a sizable cloud of dust in the process. Despite being far away from where the march was actually happening, the depiction of it through the screen was enough to make her feel as if the very ground beneath her was shaking from the sheer amount of leather boots being forced against the earth. As the first row of soldiers inched closer and closer to the border, Akiyama picked up a weird-looking black box of unknown construction and began talking to it in Japanese.

“All units. Stand by.”

Immediately afterwards, she heard the running footsteps of heavy leather booted Japanese and tanned cow leather Qua-Toynians outside the tent, presumably taking up their positions against the incoming attackers. Her unwavering eyes still firmly glued to the screen, she saw the formation of the Lourian infantry close the gap to the border, which was demarcated by long, dried logs that were placed loosely on where the line was on a map. She estimated the time it took for the invaders to cross it and began counting down in her head.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One...

At the very last second, she saw the Lourians cease their march with one, resounding, synchronized stomp mere inches away from the logs before turning about-face to resume their march towards the opposite direction. Confused by this restrained show of intimidation, uncharacteristic of the brutal Lourians, she turned to Akiyama for clues, but much to her added confusion, he and everyone else in the room collectively breathed sighs of relief.

“Phew. Just another marching drill for today then.”

Turning to look at the still confused face of the Qua-Toynian commander, Akiyama entertained what he assumed to be the question she was about to ask.

“That was one of their drills. I hope you understand what it means.”

Satisfied with the answer, she silently mouthed “ohhh” as her eyebrows rose in mild surprise.

“The Lourians conduct marching drills every two to four days with a pattern that we could only conclude to be random. Though I admit that their drills do indeed have us on the edge sometimes.”

Giving out a mild chuckle, Akiyama was then interrupted by one of his subordinates still watching the screens.

“Sir! We’ve got wyverns incoming!”

Despite not understanding what the soldier said, Ine instinctively looked to the screen that he was looking at, which was pointed towards the grayish blue of the cloudy, early afternoon sky. Clearly visible against this backdrop was a force of 25 brownish-red wyverns flying in formation towards the direction of Gim. Before Akiyama could even issue orders through his manacomm-like black box, the wyvern unit scattered, their individual elements forming an imaginary eight-petal flower as they did, before they could even cross the invisible wall that separated the airspaces of the two nations. With this clearly unexpected development, one of the personnel present in the tent commented.

“It appears that they timed their wyvern drill with their marching drill this time.”

Akiyama, without looking away from the panel, also added his own comments.

“That’s a first.”

Letting out a deep sigh through his nostrils, he continued to watch the feed for another five minutes. Seeing that there were no longer any other surprises, he finally let his guard–and his shoulders–down. With the wall of screens no longer depicting any Lourian soldiers or wyverns present, he pulled the handheld manacomm close to his mouth and gave out the all-clear.

“All units, stand down.”

Rubbing his palm over his old, exasperated face, Akiyama let out a hearty sigh that echoed his pent-up stress over everything. Turning to look at Ine’s still confused expression, he finally found an excuse to temporarily back off from the events currently at play.

“Why don’t we go eat? I’m hungry and... I’m afraid I’ve been lousy as a commander in not giving the information to you straight.”

Accepting his offer, she and the Japanese commander went to a nearby, larger tent that housed the cafeteria for use by the soldiers from both sides.

- - -

Being briefed on the incremental changes in Lourian personnel count, suspected alternative deployment routes for the army, the position of the camps on the map, and then finally the deployment of Qua-Toyne and Japanese forces on their side, Ine learned that the Japanese had been meticulous in tracking and studying the movements of the enemy forces. She also learned from Akiyama that there were numerous close calls during their night patrols, where Japanese soldiers would discover Lourian soldiers hiding near the border before scaring them off, likely attempting to pounce on unsuspecting Qua-Toynian patrols. Through hearing these stories, if they were to be believed, she learned that the Japanese could also work in the dark of night, which was truly a game-changer, although how they do it still remains to be seen. Akiyama also brought up six different occasions wherein official Lourian emissaries would come up to the border calling for dialogue. When Qua-Toyne and Japanese officers responded, the Lourians would always make verbal threats with the intent of scaring them away from the engagement. While the ‘dialogue’ never devolved into quarrels, malicious words and offensive threats were often exchanged between the Qua-Toynians and the Lourians. Hearing of these incidents, Ine simply chuckled and rolled her eyes, as if this wasn’t the first time she’s heard of such occurrences.

“Heh. Typical Lourians. That’s nothing of note, Major General, though I appreciate you telling me these things.”

“No problem, Miss Ine.”

After an honest, straight-to-the-point reply, Akiyama indulged his weary taste buds and growling stomach with the savory and plumpness of the Pynn bread he was eating. Taking a generous, near bear-like bite off of the wheat-yellow loaf, his facial muscles contracted in reflexive joy as he felt his saliva glands on overdrive at the sheer tastiness of what he had bitten. Having been also subject to the harsh rationing in the wake of Japan’s transfer, Akiyama was representative of Japanese people enjoying bountiful, delicious food after a month of heavily reduced food consumption and increased physical labor. Taking another helping off of the rapidly disappearing Pynn bread, he couldn’t help his face from grinning in excess. Ine even noticed the shining bulbs of tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

“Holy shit. I missed food. I’m sorry for my inexcusable behavior, but goddamn. Food just never tasted this good!”

Looking at the other Japanese soldiers eating in the cafeteria, she found the very same story of joyful reactions over food consumption. For every single bite of either Pynn bread or Gim’s famous fatty roasted pork, its brown oily skin and juicy flesh a high point of the Qua-Toynian countryside, the soldiers all shed tears, overwhelmingly exhilarated at the mere stimulus of tastiness. It might have been either due to the fact that Qua-Toynian food was exceptional, or that the Japanese simply had a bad time back home with their rationing. One of them, after taking a teeny bite of the rich brown skin of the roasted pork, immediately got on his knees and raised his hands up, apparently in gratitude to the gods for the food that they were given the long-awaited opportunity of consuming. Either way, it was more than obvious to Ine that the Japanese army, including their commanders, were equally subject to the same conditions, leading her to assume that Japan had some sort of culture that emphasized egalitarian measures. Hoping to understand more about the culture within the army, Ine opened her mouth to ask Akiyama, but...

“Major General! The Lourian emissaries are back at the border!”

A female officer, the first time Ine has encountered one from the Japanese in her experiences so far, ran to them from outside, reporting in as she saluted.

“Again? Well, fine...”

As Akiyama stood up from the bench, the officer continued.

“They’re looking for you, sir.”

Now stood up and only now processing the officer’s words, he looked back at her with a blank expression on his face.

“Me?”

“Yes, sir. According to the Qua-Toynian patrol that found them, they are asking for the highest-ranking Japanese officer in Gim.”

Akiyama let out another exasperated sigh, almost as if the glee he had experienced mere moments ago with Pynn bread were all for naught. He looked down on the ground and considered the scenario. Never before had the Lourians asked for their presence, almost always ignoring them and instead laying their threats down on the Qua-Toynians. However, as the commander, he knew of the tremendous responsibilities and expectations that were weighing down on him. He can’t afford to refuse the Lourians, lest he lose face.

Having made up his determination, he looked back at the officer.

“Alright. Get a vehicle ready in front of the west gate.”

Dismissing the officer, Akiyama turned towards Ine as he fitted back his officer’s cap on his head.

“I’ll be heading off now.”

Ine, eager to see the Lourians personally, caught Akiyama’s attention with a “wait!”

“I want to come as well to fulfill my duties as an observer.”

Seeing that there’s nothing wrong with a Qua-Toynian officer coming along for the ride, he allowed her to come.

Louria - Qua-Toyne border, 15:20

Disembarking from a high mobility vehicle, Akiyama, Ine, and two Japanese soldiers walked along a dirt road that led upwards towards a small ridge. Upon arriving at the crest of this ridge, they found a Qua-Toynian officer and five pikemen with the steely pointed ends of their pokes haggardly pointing towards three Lourian soldiers standing just short of the log-demarcated border. One of the Lourians had a more distinguished chest plate, its shiny, well-polished iron serving as the canvas of countless intricate reliefs. Compared to the other two next to him, he carried with him an aura of poise and dignity that were deserving of an officer. He looked excellent, possessing blue eyes, blond hair, a fair complexion, and a sharp jawline that culminated in a prominent, cleft chin. The Lourian officer, noticing the green outfits of the Japanese approaching them, lightened his stern expression and looked at them with a gaze that had hints of mockery.

“Why, hello there! You must be the highest-ranking Japanese officer here... or not.”

Pretending to not hear the Lourian officer’s rambling, Akiyama dismissed the Qua-Toynian officer and asked him to have his men stand down. Walking towards the border, he looked directly at the Lourian officer’s eyes with unyielding determination.

“Ooooh. Don’t tell me you can attack us with your stare, now? Heh!”

Forcing a laugh, the Lourian officer taunted Akiyama, to which he responded.

“Perhaps I could. Wanna find out?”

As the two men stared at each other with grins on their faces, mocking each other’s features silently from behind their giggling breaths, Ine walked closer to just behind the two Japanese soldiers standing behind Akiyama. The Lourian officer then broke his expression, instantly turning his wide smile to an unamused frown.

“I’ll get to the point. You...”

The Lourian officer pointed directly at Akiyama before shifting his finger to point at the two Japanese soldiers standing guard behind him.

“And you. And you. This isn’t your fight and it doesn’t have to be. To be sent to a place far from home to be among... undesirables, it makes sense why there was some hesitation before your government finally ordered you to go here.”

Stabbing in the dark and hopefully hitting some nerves, the Lourian officer actually knew nothing of Japan’s motives in siding with Qua-Toyne. Fortunately for him, the point did resonate with Akiyama and the others, although they did not show any hint of being persuaded. With a kind yet resolute expression, the Japanese commander responded.

“You made it our fight when you refused to do things peacefully.”

Taking a deep breath, the Lourian officer shed away all facets of respect, his expression and glare now clearly reeking of frustration. With an irritated exhale, he proceeded to lambast the Japanese.

“Why side with the undesirables? Aren’t you humans as well? Don’t tell me that whore of a princess offered herself for Japanese steel!”

The two Lourian soldiers who were with him began giggling and laughing as they grotesquely imagined themselves violating the Qua-Toynian sovereign, known throughout Louria as an elven whore who pleased herself on the dull swords of those she hired to fight against them. The Qua-Toynians, hearing their dear princess being referred to as a whore, in turn, began hurling coarse insults at the Lourians. The mood amongst them turned for the worse as both sides yearned to have the other gutted and mutilated.

“And you, Japanese officer. Don’t tell me this elf whore here...”

The Lourian officer pointed to Ine, who was standing behind the two Japanese soldiers.

“I get it... I bet she already seduced you, giving you a nice taste of her plump, juicy, elven thighs... Hmph! Perhaps the only redeeming quality, besides her many holes...”

The officer then ogled at the healthy curves of Ine’s thighs, which despite her modestly thick armoring were still pronounced. Feeling her very person violated, she looked at him with disgust and bloodlust. Just as she was about to draw her sword and hurl her own insults, Akiyama stopped her with his hand.

“I think that we should end this futile attempt at a talk...”

Pausing to look at the Lourian officer directly in the eye, he felt like doing a mic-drop moment before walking away.

“While we’re at it, I also can’t control myself when talking to someone whose balls are located on his chin.”

Hearing this snide remark, the Lourian officer immediately got self-conscious and covered his cleft chin, which comically resembled testicles with scant strands of hair growing out of them. The soldiers on both the Qua-Toynian and Lourian side, realizing what Akiyama said, set aside their quarreling to laugh at the Lourian officer. Having been the recipient of what had been the most offensive insult to his person, he lashed back at the one who wronged him.

“Fuck you! Come back here and let’s settle this like men!”

Driven by fury, the Lourian officer stormed forward towards the logs demarcating the border. The moment his leather boots made contact with the wooden husks, the two Japanese soldiers behind Akiyama instantly raised their Type 89 assault rifles at the officer, their intimidating black muzzles staring down on the man’s forehead. The Lourian officer, recognizing that the Japanese weapons were also guns, stopped dead in his tracks. Glancing behind him, his guards had failed to raise their own firearms in time and also froze in place. Realizing that they were not in an advantageous position, he backed off a few steps away from the logs, an action to which the Japanese soldiers accordingly lowered their rifles.

Not intending to leave the tense standoff as it is, Akiyama left one last remark.

“I do hope we get to see each other again. Hopefully not in this kind of setting.”

Taking off his cap as a gesture of farewell, Akiyama then turned around and returned to their high mobility vehicle, followed by Ine and the two Japanese soldiers while the Qua-Toynian soldiers returned to their patrols.

Lourian camp, 18:00

Dejected and insulted, the Lourian officer brooded in his personal tent. Leaning back on a velvet cushion couch specifically tailored to his demands, he held up a mirror to his chin, cursing his parents for giving him such a laughable, almost comical-looking cleft chin. In spite of the rage, he mostly felt regret for failing to shave his pathetic excuse for a beard, a horrific oversight that allowed him to get insulted. Just as he was about to reach for a blade to shave with, one of the soldiers under his command entered his tent and saluted.

“Commander Kerges, they have arrived!”

Hearing that they have arrived, Kerges’s face brightened.

“Great! Show me.”

Following his soldier out of the tent, they walked past the bright red tents of other officers, followed by the rows upon rows of insignificant brown tents in which the regular soldiers dwelled, before arriving at the open space in the middle of the camp. As horses trotted into the open field, the carts they pulled, each containing something gigantic, were pulled into position. As soon as the gigantic objects were equally spaced from one another, the soldiers then detached the horses from the carts while placing wheel guards on the carts so that they wouldn’t budge.

With the carts still draped in cloth, Kerges went for the closest one and anticlimactically pulled away the dusty covers, revealing the enormous round bore of an equally leviathan mortar staring back at him. Taking a closer look at it, he could see that there were parts all around the mortar, indicating that it still needed to be assembled. Grinning in satisfaction at their new toys, he admired the stunningly beautiful piece of long-range artillery before him, happy at the prospect of unrivaled destruction afforded by them.

“Our benefactors have really outdone themselves.”

As he was patting himself on the back for trusting their benefactors, a voice called out to him from behind the mortar.

“Said benefactors are expecting these things to allow you to yield results. I fear that I might have to keep reminding you, Lourians, that.”

Emerging from the other side of the mortar was a man wearing a white theater mask that concealed his entire face. Despite his attempts to hide his identity through full-body robes and a mask, the man’s accent was a dead giveaway, reminding Kerges of the haughty manner of speech that those in the Philades continent seem to possess. Still, even as he feels annoyed by his overbearing attitude, the masked man was indeed their benefactor, so they still had to show them respect.

Bowing to the man, Kerges replied.

“Louria’s children thank you and your people for your support. I assume that you are one of the operators for these... excellent works of art?”

Dismissing Kerges’s show of respect, the man went straight to business.

“Anyway... Your commanders said that it begins tomorrow, yes? If that’s the case, we will need to set these up.”

“Ah, of course!”

Ordering his men and some of the camp followers to assist in the assembling of the mortars, the Lourians, together with their benefactors, were able to fully set up and train the mortars at Gim just as supper was about to begin.

Gim, 18:15

“Yep, those are mortars. Mid-19th century, from the looks of it. Reminds me heavily of the ones used in the American civil war.”

The drone operator for the ScanEagle tasked with monitoring the Lourians, after spotting multiple horse-drawn carriages mysteriously clad in cloth arriving in the Lourian camp, asked for confirmation from one of the soldiers who were more aware of historical weapons. Watching the covers being pulled away from the carriages, revealing the mortars, they were able to assess the range and damage the newly brought-in artillery were capable of. Akiyama, who was also watching the drone feed, asked the soldier.

“Can these mortars reach all the way here?”

“Considering that Gim is about a km away from the border and the Lourian camp is less than 500m away from the said border... Yes, sir. Those mortars can reach us. Their accuracy could be better if they set them up a bit closer too.”

Immediately coming up with plans in his head, Akiyama walked away from the station to discuss plans of redeployment with his officers.

“Continue to watch them! I want to know if they intend to use those mortars soon!”

Cent. Calendar 05/06/1639, Jin-Hark, Louria, 6:00

As the morning sun barely cleared the horizon, an amazing fleet of 123 warships (of which 33 are galleys, 20 galliots, 20 galleasses, and 50 merchant ships converted to warships) left the harbor of Jin-Hark to commence the invasion of Qua-Toyne later that day. By the time they would have reached the waters off the Qua-Toynian coast, the advanced force would have already crossed the border and besieged Gim. At the helm of the flagship stood Vice Admiral Sharkun, admiring the sight of the rising sun that was casting a somber yellow unto the ocean and onto his face.

Remembering the events of the previous week, Sharkun groaned. Having received intelligence from their spies in Myhark that the Japanese forces had completed the construction of an airfield that allowed for their iron flying objects to arrive, the other commanders ordered him and his fleet to launch an assault on the airfield, in addition to them clashing with and defeating the Qua-Toynian and Japanese navies. Prioritizing the destruction of the airfield, the other commanders ignored Sharkun’s protests and had many of the larger ships in his fleet refitted to accommodate 1 or 2 wyverns.

It was this last-minute change that Sharkun lamented. Despite the usefulness of having wyverns with them, the ships’ combat capabilities were drastically reduced just to allow for their accommodations. In addition, they were only refitted to allow for takeoffs, which meant that after the wyverns had left, the ships that they came from would literally become dead weights to their operation.

“Now we have less men and cannon to fight our enemies... Fuck...”

Cursing his luck inwardly, Sharkun could only watch in sorrow and anxiety as their fleet inched ever closer east, towards the direction of the rising sun.

Lourian camp, 6:10

Standing guard outside the Lourian camp, two soldiers were almost on the verge of falling asleep, having stood guard for the good part of the early morning. Just as they began to snore, they were kicked back to life by the sound of a galloping horse approaching them. Narrowing their eyes to better see who was coming, they then forced themselves awake after recognizing who it was. The man on horseback, who had now arrived in front of them, gazed out towards the east with an eager yet resentful glare. Climbing down from his horse and stepping onto the dirt, the man was greeted by the two soldiers on guard.

“Lieutenant General Adem, sir!”

Ignoring their greeting, Adem zoomed past them and into the camp.

“Today’s the day...”

Barging into the officers’ tent, Adem then took command of the entire advanced force before moving on to plan their moves for the upcoming battle.