Cent. Calendar 09/06/1639, Royal Palace, Priscina, Kingdom of Paganda, 8:25

A lone man in fine, gray robes cloaking his formal, mustard-colored uniform walked down the simplistic yet elegant halls of the royal palace. The hard soles of his leather boots made loud footsteps as he paced on the polished marble floor. The man, Royal House Secretary Andres Lardaye, was heading to a meeting hall after delivering the declaration of war to the Gra Valkan diplomatic mission off the coast of the kingdom. On his face was a determined expression that notified the world of their conviction to fight. His eyes were dead set on the two large, elaborately decorated wooden doors at the end of the hall. Grabbing the long, ornate, wooden handles, he pushed the doors back to enter into a room bustling with activity. There, military officers, diplomatic officials, representatives of trade unions, and government officials rushed around talking with one another. In the midst of them all was the king, who was talking with some of the diplomats. Seeing him, Andres walked straight towards the king, who then noticed his presence.

“Secretary Lardaye.”

“Your Majesty.”

After bowing to the best of his extent while standing, Andres then straightened his back and looked at the king with eyes that said it all. The king noticed this and understood what it meant but still waited for the man to say it out loud explicitly.

“The Gra Valkans continue to refuse our demands, therefore as you ordered, we have declared war on them.”

Hearing this, the other personnel in the room fell silent as they looked at him with faces that said, “this is it.” However, the representatives of trade unions had a more negative reaction, sighing and leaving the room altogether in disappointment. The diplomats looked back to the king with worried faces.

“We do have a pact with Leifor. However, I doubt they’d take this action well, Your Majesty.”

“It’ll be fine. If we explain to them that the Gra Valkans had attacked us first, they’d understand that our actions are justified.”

The diplomats then bowed before leaving. The king, followed by his advisors and Andres, moved over to the military officers and government officials. Seeing the king approach them, all of the men stopped their conversations and simultaneously bowed.

“Your Majesty!”

“I want to know how long we could last against the Gra Valkans.”

The military officers looked at one another with confused faces. They did not know what the king meant or what answer he wanted. One of the senior officers answered in their place.

“With all due respect, Your Majesty, I will say some things before answering that. First, neither the army nor the navy is prepared for war. While being on the defensive makes things easier for us, there’s simply a lot of things we have not done yet. We are currently issuing orders to the garrisons on the west coast to begin reinforcing their defenses, and we are still talking about whether to begin conscription or not. Once we’ve done that, we can probably last around one month at most against an attack by the Gra Valkans.”

The king and his advisors nodded. Since the Great War ended, the military had been neglected for the better part. However, given that they are a small island, mobilizing the necessary manpower and equipment for an effective defense should be easier. Since the Gra Valkans may be coming in from the west, they thought of putting emphasis on reinforcing the west coast. However, everyone knew that this wouldn’t be enough to completely stop the Gra Valkans, who they assumed to be on the same level as Leifor. The senior officer continued.

“Since we couldn’t possibly stop a Leifor-level force from completely taking over Paganda, we have concluded that assistance from Leifor is paramount to victory.”

The other military officers sweated bullets. The prospect of Paganda being toppled wasn’t a comfortable idea to mention to the king and his advisors. However, the king instead nodded in affirmation, agreeing to the point that without Leifor, Paganda would fall. He then offered his thoughts.

“I’m assuming then that we should emphasize delaying the Gra Valkan advance long enough for Leifor to respond in force? I think that’s a sound strategy. We must then concentrate on stopping their landings if possible.”

The officers from the navy then stepped in.

“We have put up an initial deployment plan for our ships to conduct delaying actions on Gra Valkan landing forces. There’s also the prospect of deploying some of the naval mines we bought from Leifor to the west since our existing minefields are only found to the east where we used to fear a Muish invasion might come from.”

The officers then presented a map of Paganda complete with its naval districts and a map of existing and planned minefields. The king and the advisors examined the map before an advisor asked an important question.

“How long before this is realized?”

“Two... maybe three weeks at the earliest.”

Hearing the time frame, the advisors looked at one another. If Gra Valkas were to be on the same level as Leifor, then they could mobilize a decently sized force in about two weeks. This meant that they may not get the entire plan realized before the Gra Valkans attack, given that they won’t attack earlier. The king then looked back to the other officers.

“Then how about the time needed to completely mobilize our forces and reinforce our western defenses?”

“We’re looking at two weeks for the mobilization. The defenses would take longer.”

The king pondered on how to buy more time. He could only think of pressuring Leifor and possibly Irnetia to declare war earlier. The addition of more nations to deal with would likely push back the Gra Valkans’ time frame for an attack since they would need more manpower, equipment, and supplies to launch attacks on the three nations. Other than that, he sees no other options. Their navy is not in shape to mobilize and fight a delaying action in the oceans to the west. Their wyverns, if they are indeed ready to fight, could only fly a limited distance away from Paganda. They’d also be disadvantageous against Leifor-level ships since those vessels are designed to defend against even more potent aerial adversaries than wyverns. All in all, there was little else he could do.

“Speaking of which...”

One of the navy officers spoke up. Everyone looked at him. However, before the officer could speak, they heard a deep exploding sound reverberating within the palace. The sound unsettled everyone, prompting them to begin looking for its source. It was reminiscent of the explosions they heard from last night, but it was audibly much, much more powerful.

“What was that?!”

“We should have cleared the headquarters of mines by now!”

“Then what wa-”

Boom.

Another deep exploding sound rocked the palace. That time, it felt closer, shaking the ground and rocking the shining chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Everyone’s curiosity skyrocketed as they felt that something horribly wrong was happening. The officers ran out from the meeting hall to go outside. The king wanted to follow them but he was stopped by Andres and his advisors.

“Your Majesty! You can’t go! It might be dangerous!”

“I have to see it with my own eyes!”

Overpowering the advisors, the king rushed out of the meeting hall and into the hallways. As the loud footsteps of his boots resonated throughout the grandiose halls, more and more explosions could be heard happening outside.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

The king began to sweat as he ran. However, his anxieties were the primary source of his perspiration. He could only explain the explosions with a single answer–one that he was not ready to accept. There, at the other end of the hallway, he saw sunlight reflecting from the marble floors as the doors to a balcony lay open. The magnificent silk curtains waved in the wind as the sight of men in brown military suits stood outside with their heads swiveling all over the place. In the time it took for the king to reach the balcony, ten more explosions had gone off. There, standing in the mid-morning sun and breezy gales, the king, looked up to a terrifying sight. The sweat from his brow continued to pour as he lost the energy to even curl his hands into fists. Emotions welled up as his thinking slowed to a halt.

“I-Impossible...”

Large, grey, unyielding metal birds flew in formation from the skies to the west and southwest to the capital. Their extremely fast speeds made the gentlemen on the balcony rule out the fact that they were birds or wyverns. They weren’t even the aircraft from the Leiforians nor the Muish, or even the Imperials. It was beyond any doubt alien. However, eagle-eyed officers spotted peculiar details on the wings and bodies of the aircraft—a black and white cross imposed on a red circle.

“T-The Gra Valkan flag...!!!”

Each aircraft had a role in the form of lumps that dropped from their opened underbellies. These lumps then plummeted into the ground below, erupting into a mess of orange and black as fire and dirt were thrown up in explosive fashion.

Boom!

In the receiving end were their coastal batteries, which were loosely manned and terribly maintained. In any case, they didn’t have the elevation to shoot even wyverns out of the sky. To the east, the military police headquarters, which had been the subject of an attack by clandestine Gra Valkan forces the night before, was leveled in a series of explosions from the bombs dropped by Gra Valkan planes. At the harbor, where moored Pagandan wooden and iron gunboats were sunk in quick succession, a lone armored cruiser stood its ground against the mass of bombs dropping all around it. Its circuit guns erupted into life as its gunners manually turned them to follow the enemy planes flying overhead.

Tatatatatatatatata!

However, the manually-aimed circuit guns proved useless as black lumps of explosive fell on the Pagandan flagship Tilas, piercing its deck and exploding through its armored belt. Hit by two bombs, the explosions opened massive holes along the starboard waterline, filling the now exposed protective mana stone bunkers with seawater at egregious rates. In no time, the Tilas unceremoniously went down under the shallow waters of Priscina harbor.

Under the noise of explosions and unorganized, disparate rifle fire from their own soldiers against the unstoppable Gra Valkan onslaught, they heard the heart-piercing shrieks of their own citizens in the city below running for their lives. The government and military officials looked on in horror, unable to cope up with the extremely fast pace of the course of events. Before long, their anger and frustration came to a boiling point, but they unwittingly decided to turn these feelings against one another.

“How could you not have seen this coming?!”

“None of us could ever know that they were capable of attacking now!”

“But we had our own circuit guns for anti-aircraft use! Where the fuck are they?!”

“I-I don’t know...”

“Didn’t the budget specify that they should have been deployed to the capital?!”

“We never received them!”

“What do you mean?! We gave you the budget!!!”

“What budget?! The ones you suck up dry every damned year?!”

The king, snapping from his state of shock, decided to step in and calm the situation.

“That’s enough! This isn’t the time for infighting and bringing up past scuffles! The enemy is attacking the capital, and we must coordinate the defense... Get me information on the deployment of our forces and check if our manacomms are still intact! Information is vital!”

The officers and government officials reluctantly disengaged and lowered their heads. The Gra Valkan onslaught continued as more and more explosions lessened the number of guns being fired against the sky. The Pagandan authorities retreated to consolidate themselves in an attempt to coordinate the defense of the capital.

The oceans west of Paganda, 8:35

Five ships sailed in a column across moderately high waves in the oceans to the west of Paganda. They had been sent there for a routine patrol, decided way before the diplomatic crisis even happened. The lead ship in the column, the Tilas-class armored cruiser Rakis, sailed north as it was followed by four steam-powered wooden-hulled frigates. The Pagandan flag flew high on their masts, fluttering wildly in the same gusty wind that was causing the rough waves. The captain of the Rakis stood inside the bridge, staring forward towards the turbulent seas ahead of the ship. With him was a Grand-Captain, who commanded the entire column. As the Rakis rocked forward and threw itself into a wave, throwing up seawater all around the ship, a communications officer approached both of them.

“Captain! Grand-Captain! We have received word from headquarters! We have declared war on the Gra Valkans!”

The grand captain and the captain looked towards him. The grand-captain replied.

“Do we have new orders?”

“We’re only told to be vigilant and report anything suspicious. Otherwise, we proceed as planned.”

The captain dismissed the officer before the both of them turned back to the view of the ocean. The captain then entertained his own thoughts and feelings on the matter. He did think that the Gra Valkan envoys acted rudely and disrespectfully towards their royals, but the hastiness of the king in imprisoning them left a sour taste on his impression of the Pagandan head of state. The Gra Valkans were mysterious, and their objectives in suddenly reaching out to them felt dubious. While they were indeed a newcomer, yet to prove their mettle on the Asheran geopolitical stage, the lack of delicacy between them and Paganda bothered him. Now that they were at war, they would be forced to fight a country they had only heard of a year ago. They know next to nothing about them. While the prospect of being under Leifor’s protection comforted him, the Gra Valkans would not be so aggressive against established powers if they were logical. That is, of course, unless...

As the captain began to entertain the thought that the Gra Valkans may be one step ahead of them, he started hearing high-pitched whirring sounds coming from outside. He looked towards the grand-captain, who looked back at him with a face that said, “do you also hear that?” Looking back at his crew, it appears that they were also hearing the mysterious whirring. His first instinct was to look for the sound, but standard protocol compelled him to check if his lookouts were seeing anything. Just as he was about to raise them, they reported in.

“Aircraft of unknown origin approaching from the west! I’m counting more than ten!”

The captain and the commander then moved outside to get a better look at what was coming. There, looking out to the skies to the west, he sees several aircraft silhouettes moving towards them. The grey color of the aircraft contrasted with the cloudy background that was the sky, making them easy to spot. At first glance, they appeared to be Imperial aircraft from the Holy Mirishial Empire, but further scrutiny told them a different story. In place of the Imperial dark blue and gold roundel, a black and white cross imposed on a red background decorated the aircraft wings and body. The grand-captain, having seen the symbol before in the form of the flag flown by the Gra Valkan diplomatic ship back in Priscina, immediately remembered that they were now at war with them. While the fact that the Gra Valkans possessed such majestic-looking aircraft impressed both of them, it wasn’t long before their disposition as officers kicked in.

“Gra Valkans! They’re hostile! Man the circuit guns!”

The grand captain then followed up on the captain’s orders.

“Inform the other ships! They are to maintain formation if we have to do some maneuvers!”

The communications officers informed the other ships behind them while the Rikas’s sailors manned the only anti-aircraft weapons in the entire column: two Leifor-built circuit guns mounted on platforms on the deck. The sailors removed the coverings on the two automatic, belt-fed weapons, revealing guns that resembled World War I machine guns. Other sailors brought the ammunition in canisters before carefully bringing them up to arm the guns. Now that they were ready to fire, the gunners then swiveled the circuit guns to the west and up at the sky towards the incoming enemy aircraft. Left to their own discretion as to which aircraft to shoot at, the gunners activated the magic circuitry on the guns. The pre-programmed spell imbued into the circuitry was automatically chanted, casting the mana in the Imperial-designed triangular cartridge to combust and expand, propelling the bullet through the chamber and out of the barrel at an amazingly fast speed. The circuit guns roared to life, sending lethal lumps of steel up into the sky towards the Gra Valkan aircrafts.

Tatatatatatatatata

As their anti-aircraft weapons lashed out yet to produce any result, the captain and the grand captain closely monitored the actions of the enemy. Then, the grand-captain notices that the underbellies of the closest planes opened, and not long after, numerous black objects began to emerge from their innards towards them. Sensing that this was how the aircraft attacked, he immediately ordered the captain to perform evasive maneuvers. Despite knowing that their maneuverability couldn’t afford them enough chances to dodge the incoming attacks, the captain still carried out his orders.

“Hard to starboard!”

The helmsman then accordingly swung the wheel to the ordered directions. However, before they could even feel the ship move as designated, a violent outburst shook the entire vessel as a huge column of water erupted just a short distance away from the port side.

Boom!

The crews were thrown off their footing by the force of the explosion as the thrown-up seawater rained down on the Rikas. It was the first of many. Mere moments after their first taste of the Gra Valkans' might, another bomb landed in the ocean closer to the Rikas than the first.

Boom!

The circuit guns had stopped firing as the gunners were thrown back from the sheer force of the explosion. Seeing the pattern, the captain and the grand-captain could only guess that the next one would hit. Despite their best efforts at performing their duties as soldiers, they were simply no match for the Gra Valkans. The following explosion then came from the Rikas itself as a bomb landed on the starboard deck, penetrating it and exploding inside. The explosion was immense, throwing up burnt steel, wood, and flesh as it opened up a massive gash on the hull. As if without mercy, several more explosions followed as a consequence of direct hits, catastrophically damaging the Rikas. The grand captain and the captain perished after a bomb landed close to the bridge, wiping out the head of the Rikas and, by extension, the entire column. Taking in enormous amounts of seawater from several gaping holes on the hull caused by the explosions, the Rikas submerged into the ocean with breakneck speed, leaving only some of its remains and a handful of survivors chaotically scattered about the surface. The frigates, possessing no real anti-aircraft weapons of their own, were swiftly and unceremoniously disposed of by the Gra Valkan aircraft without difficulty.

As the planes of the Imperial Gra Valkan Navy Air Service circled back, returning to where they came from, the surviving Pagandan crewmen desperately clung on to whatever piece of wreckage floated on the rough seas.

The Forbundsting, Leiforia, Federal Empire of Leifor, 8:50

Having received the official war declaration by the Kingdom of Paganda from its sovereign, the Leiforian legislative body, the Forbundsting, had been called to an emergency joint session to discuss what to do next. The declaration came with a message addressed to the Forbundsting, heads of state and government, and the Leiforian people which said:

In light of our justified actions in response to the villainous transgressions committed by the Gra Valkas Empire against us, as the sovereign of the Kingdom of Paganda, I invoke Article 4 of the Leiforian Protectorate Pact of 1590, signed in goodwill between the peoples of our respective nations, so that we could stand united and steadfast against the Gra Valkas Empire that operates to undermine the security of our nations!

President of Leifor, Sauren Axar, was infuriated upon reading the message. Sharing his sentiments were the left-leaning congressmen in both the Senatet (upper house) and the Folkemod (lower house). They were all collectively outraged at the hastiness of the Pagandans in committing to such a drastic measure and dragging Leifor into the mess. Hearing of the diplomatic crisis unfolding only yesterday, many of the Leiforians ignored it, hoping that the situation would resolve itself. The Gra Valkas Empire, while suspicious, was generally neutral towards them. Pressure from Mu to the east compelled the Gra Valkans to focus solely on them and to ignore Leifor, leaving their diplomatic relationship much to be desired, yet the Leiforians didn’t mind. Their own intelligence, after gathering what disparate information they could from their long-term friends in the Holy Mirishial Empire and in the other nations in the Second Civilized Area, pointed to the high likelihood that the Gra Valkas Empire was a peer nation. While the consensus was not to be hostile with the newcomer either out of wariness or the belief that the Gra Valkans have nothing to offer to them, the recent development had the Leiforians split along party lines. In the Forbundsting, where the Senatet, the Folkemod, and President Axar had convened to discuss the matter, they, however, did the little fruitful discussion.

“To hell with the Pagandans! We should have gotten rid of this goddamn pact when we ousted the nobles from power! The pact is a relic of the imperial period selfishly signed by the nobles without consideration for the people!”

“They’re important to us! So much so that it would do us harm not to take their side! We can’t just forsake them!”

“Hah! You oldies only stand to lose money when the Gra Valkans step in to nullify your investments in the kingdom! You lot are nothing but greedy!”

“Don’t you understand what reneging on our pact means?! The entire world will know that we don’t honor our word! Not only do we stand to lose prestige, trust, and a handful of bucks, the investments we made are for the benefit of our people!”

“So you’re suggesting going to war against the Gra Valkans? Whom the military considers being a peer-level nation?!”

“They’re nobody from outside the civilized areas! No one knows what they’re actually capable of! Not even Mu nor the Imperials! They just appeared to the west and have started commerce with everyone! Even if they are indeed a peer-level nation, we have fought against Mu in the past!”

“Yet we emerged, barely surviving from it! What makes you think it would go differently this time?!”

The heated back-and-forth between the two splits of the Senatet only escalated. The progressives, social democrats, liberals, reformists, and the general left, who were advocates for pragmatism and internal recovery and were anti-imperialists. They did not want Leifor committing to what they saw as a pact signed by their imperial past and believed that Leifor should not put itself in jeopardy for what seemed to be a lost cause. On the other hand, the conservatives, right-leaning moderates, and some independents, who were either noble themselves, traditionalists, or were involved in big tycoons, did not want Leifor to abstain from its longstanding commitments. They favor upholding their dignity and protecting their allies against what they see as a threat to everyone's security and interests. The politicians on both sides continued to angrily hurl arguments that simply flew over the other side’s heads, contributing only to fuel the intense atmosphere in the chamber.

President Axar looked on, disappointed that nothing was being accomplished. As a veteran of the Great War, he hoped to lead Leifor to a bright post-war future, but drama and politics bogged down his efforts. Despite his own opinions that they should avoid a confrontation with Gra Valkas, he can’t help but feel agitated by the lack of decisiveness from the politicians of his party. Seeing the congressmen from both sides beginning to get physical, he snapped. With his burly hand, he slammed his wooden podium three times to get everyone’s attention.

“ENOUGH!!!”

His commanding, intimidating voice echoed throughout the chamber, diverting the center of attention to him and silencing the rabble. With all eyes on him, he proceeded to address his fellow politicians.

“Do you imbeciles see value in starting a fight in the middle of an emergency session? Do you think that airing your emotions through violence against the other Leiforian would convince them? This is the plague that seethes through the cracks in our government, festering within with each pointless word spoken and crippling the ability to respond promptly and decisively! This lack of unity, which has persisted time and time again, is what prevents Leifor from being... great!”

The politicians from both houses and both sides looked all over the place as they scratched their heads, feeling embarrassed at their own ineptness.

“We are here in this chamber because the people of Leifor elected us, investing their trust and hard-earned money so that we may perform our duties in service to them and our country! We must be united in resolutely responding to this situation as it is the least we could do to serve our people!”

Just as the president ended his speech, an aide approached him.

“Mr. President, this is the official response handed to us by the Gra Valkan diplomatic mission when we asked them for answers.”

The aide handed him a piece of paper. President Axar, reading the contents of the letter, sighed. With attention still on him, he proceeded to read the letter.

“The Gra Valkans have given us their response.”

After coughing and clearing his throat, Axar continued.

“Due to the unlawful incarceration of our envoys by the Kingdom of Paganda, the empire has decided to act to rescue and recover them after we have concluded that the Pagandans couldn’t guarantee a dignified treatment of the envoys after they’ve shown us that they inhumanely subjected one of our envoys to torture. The Pagandans, deliberately manufacturing this crisis and forcing our hand, then declared war on us and denied us the opportunity for peace. We deeply lament their decision to do so, as we believe it is not in the best interests of all parties involved. We hope that you consider our position on the matter with careful evaluation as one of the main powers in the Second Civilized Area.”

After finishing reading the letter, Axar looked up to see the politicians in a discussion. They were scoffing at the Gra Valkan response, arguing that they were branding themselves as the victim and that Paganda was the offender. The letter also addressed the fact that the Gra Valkans did indeed attack Paganda and retrieve their envoys. Even if the Pagandans did incarcerate their envoys, the Gra Valkans had killed many Pagandans in the process of retrieving them. Now, the prevalent opinion in the Forbundsting was that no matter how justified the Gra Valkans were in their actions, the fact that they violated Pagandan sovereignty and killed Pagandans was a grave violation. The Leiforians then concluded that no one in Asherah would take the side of the Gra Valkans in this situation, especially after knowing what they had done. President Axar then spoke up.

“It is now clear that the Gra Valkans did in fact initiate the attack on Priscina and are not sorry for it. While we will not deny that the Pagandans were not without their own offenses, the Gra Valkans have proven that they are one to resort to underhanded methods instead of pursuing diplomacy. Therefore, it is in our best interests to refrain from pursuing a diplomatic course of action in handling this crisis with the Gra Valkas Empire and that we must take advantage of our position on the higher moral ground. Hence, standing united with our allies in Paganda against the unlawful conduct of Gra Valkas, we will honor the Leiforian Protectorate Pact of 1590 and follow with our own declaration of war on the Gra Valkas Empire.”

The Forbundsting erupted with statements of politicians agreeing with the president on the matter. With only a handful of congressmen still opposed to the declaration, it was passed by the Forbundsting before it was handed over to the Gra Valkan diplomatic mission in Leiforia.

Outskirts of Leiforia, 9:15

As the destroyer Rammich, Z. of the Imperial Gra Valkan Navy steamed out of the Leiforian capital, one of the diplomats to Leifor was in the communications office of the destroyer to report back to the ministry in the mainland.

“Did you give them our letter?”

The voice on the other end of the telephone asked.

“Yes, Herr Gesta.”

“And their response?”

“They’ve handed over their declaration of war on the grounds of the 1590 Protectorate Pact and have asked us to depart their territories.”

“Anything else?”

“They also handed us a declaration of war from the Irnetia Kingdom. Apparently, they were also part of the protectorate pact and are honoring it as well.”

Gesta let out an audible groan.

“Three nations... We assumed that this would happen. All the better for our little show of force. Not sure about the military, but that’s their problem.”

Before Gesta could continue ranting on, he stopped himself and got back on topic.

“Anyway, are the Arschlöcher from the Geheimdienst with you?”

“Ah, ja, Herr Gesta.”

“Put them on the line. I want a word with them.”

Aircraft carrier Falke, FZT., oceans far to the west of Leiforia, that same time

“Großadmiral! Leifor has now officially joined the war on the Pagandan side. We have now been issued orders!”

Staring out into the turbulent oceans was a middle-aged man with his hands behind his back. He was contemplating the reasons as to why the high command of the IGVN had them out in force in a patch of ocean dangerously close to one of the biggest powers in the Second Civilized Area. After hearing the war declaration, it was now clear to him that it might have been in anticipation of such an event. Still, this was too hasty and riddled with dubious motivations, he thought. Nevertheless, he was a staunch believer that the Gra Valkas Empire should cement their place in Asherah by proving to the rest of the world that they were not just some “newcomer” from "outside the civilized areas." While it was indeed suspicious, he was convinced that this was still in line with their goal–to establish themselves as a world power.

“Wunderbar. I will head over to examine the details of the orders.”

He then followed the communications officer to review the details with his officers. Großadmiral Caesar Roland, commanding the IGVN carrier strike group assigned to Leifor, then proceeded with opening the Leiforian front of Unternehmen Donnerschlag.

Priscina, that same time

“Dear gods...”

The king clutched his head as he stopped himself from crying. It has been an hour since the Gra Valkans last bombed the military installations all around the capital Priscina. After the Gra Valkans left, they were able to assess the damage caused by the air attacks. To their horror, the Gra Valkans were horrifyingly thorough with their air campaign. All of their coastal artillery batteries around the capital were wiped out. Military facilities like the military police headquarters, the army base, the naval headquarters, their military infrastructure at the port, and the airfield were all leveled. Their ships, including their prized flagship, the Tilas, now lie scattered in the shallow waters of the harbor. They have lost their primary long-range communications apparatuses since they were located within those military facilities. At least 500 Pagandan military servicemen were killed, with some civilian casualties. Their wyverns were all killed in the bombings of the airfield. Due to the loss of their facilities, which housed the majority of their weapons, they have too few to arm conscripts or volunteers, let alone their own surviving soldiers. The readiness of the Pagandan military was even more horrifying than anyone previously thought. Since some of their communications apparatuses were still intact, they were able to make contact with some of the garrisons inland and in the other cities but they too largely suffered the same attacks to varying degrees. As it was now increasingly possible that the Gra Valkans could land before Leifor could even reach out to them, Paganda falling was now set in stone.

The king, his advisors, government officials, and military officers all gathered back at the royal palace. It was now clear to everyone that there was nothing they could do to change the situation. Even if it looked like everyone was deep in thought, they were all in fact just waiting for someone else to say what they themselves didn’t want to say. Finally, the king himself uttered the dreaded words.

“We... I mean... I think it is best for all of us if we just surrender.”

The king, deeply lamenting and regretting his decisions, didn’t even look up. The others, Hearing the words transmitted through the king’s forlorn tone, did not bother opposing him as they looked down in despair. His advisors, including Royal House Secretary Andres Lardaye, once gleaming with pride and determination just an hour and a half ago, were now overcome with hopelessness and grief. Resisting with what little they have was completely meaningless and would only unnecessarily put their people’s lives in jeopardy. If they surrender early, they might be able to talk the Gra Valkans out of harming their people. It was ultimately a long shot, given that they were hoping that the Gra Valkans would still be reasonable and accept their surrender. At this point in time, they had little to no pride preventing them from outright begging for lenient terms.

In the middle of their lamenting, an aide burst into the hall.

“Your Majesty! Your Excellencies! The Gra Valkan invasion force has appeared on the horizon!”

Everyone sighed deeply. Here they come, they thought. With their decision to surrender basically finalized, the Pagandan government moved to discuss terms and to inform the people of their decision.

Paganda Landing Forces of the IGVA, 9:20

“There it is. Paganda...”

Onboard the amphibious assault ship/command vessel AA-2, the commander of the landing forces for the Pagandan front sighed in relief as the landscape of the island of Paganda came to view. Having been hastily deployed for Donnerschlag, the slower Imperial Gra Valkan Army invasion force traveled ahead of the IGVN carrier strike groups so that the timing of the landings would occur closer to the timing of the air campaign. This was undeniably reckless due to the fact that the naval forces of Paganda were still wholly intact by the time the war was declared. Fortunately for them, they encountered no Pagandan naval forces as they sailed to their landing zones, having already been annihilated by the IGVNAS as soon as the war was declared. Still, the overall impulsiveness of the invasion meant that problems were bound to arise.

Around 10 minutes later, the 13 amphibious landing ships were now approaching their objectives. Five of them were fast ships capable of traveling at 28 knots and carrying 200 personnel, and eight of them were slow ships that traveled at 18 knots but carried 450 personnel. The fast amphibious landing ships would arrive first, unloading their personnel, equipment, and vehicles while the slow landing ships would follow. The unloading would take an hour for each ship to allow for the following ships to unload.

Expecting the reports of landing ships hitting the coast and commencing disembarkation anytime soon, the commander closely monitored the situation aboard the AA-2. Then, reports started coming in.

“AL-96, 99, and 100 have reported successful landings with no resistance from enemy combatants. Disembarkation has commenced.”

“AL-97 is reporting that their landing zone is an entire cliff face, and they are aborting their landing.”

“AL-98 has aborted their landing. They have reported that they have run aground on a previously undetected reef and are requesting for tugboat assistance.”

The commander rubbed his forehead as he sighed. While vexing, this was expected of such flimsy planning, rubbish intelligence, and rushed implementations. Sighing in frustration for a moment, he returned to his duties and began reconsulting the operation map with his officers before issuing new orders.

Priscina, 10:20

Despite initial complications with the landings, the brigade-sized invasion force of the IGVA was able to land without any resistance from the Pagandans. Securing their beachheads, elements of the invasion force could now advance deeper into the island. One of these was the 287th Sonder Infanterie-Abteilung, which was part of the forces that landed on a beach just west of the capital. Moving ahead of the main contingent, they encountered surrendering Pagandan civilians and the charred remains of people and military installations along the way before they were able to enter the outskirts of Priscina without hiccups.

It was a bizarre scene. Far from the abandoned, desolate wreckage of the military facilities that made it clear they were in a warzone, the streets of the capital were still laden with colorful festive banners lining the buildings and street lamps. Firecrackers, stages, furniture, wine bottles, confetti, and other signs of festive merriment littered the cobblestone streets and parks that were still yet to be cleaned up. What had been a gay night marked by celebrations, cheers, color, and fun were all too abruptly overturned by the violence and speed of the Gra Valkan attack. These people may not have

even knew that war had been declared by the time the Ti-422 “Sonnenbitter” attack aircraft of the IGVNAS appeared overhead. As they dutifully carried out the operation, the men of the 287th couldn't help but pity the Pagandan people.

Citizens, soldiers, and conscripts all surrendered to them without a fight. Due to them being preoccupied with disarming the Pagandans, the rest of the IGVA force was able to catch up and enter the city. While they were disposing of the armaments of five Pagandan soldiers that surrendered to them, something caught the attention of the soldiers of the 287th. A sizable crowd had gathered down the street that they were in. Looking closely, they saw that the people within the crowd were pointing towards them. Emerging from the crowd were a group of people clad in flashy clothes and formal uniforms. When they made eye contact, the important-looking people walked towards them. The commander of the 287th, having been the one who made eye contact, turned to his men.

“Do any of you speak Asheran common fluently?”

Seeing that none of them knew how the commander gulped as he decided to take the mantle of doing the talking. Having only studied a single blackboard’s worth of words, he hoped that the other party could understand him and vice versa. One of the people with the fancy getup approached them with his hands in the air, indicating to the Gra Valkans that he meant no harm. Accordingly, the commander told his men to lower their guns and follow the rules of engagement. Stopping some distance from them, the man still had his hands raised into the air. The decorative symbols on his clothing gave the soldiers the impression that he was a high-ranking official or that he was important. The man tried to put on a friendly smile, but there was no hiding the reluctance on his face. He then spoke up. (For the dialogue below, FULL statements in italic is spoken in Asheran common)

“Salutations. I am Heinar, King of Paganda, among other titles.”

The commander of the 287th understood the greeting and the part that he was a ‘something’ of Paganda. Taking a moment to formulate a response in his head, he then replied.

“Hello. Me Ludwig. Soldier of Gra Valkas. Uhh... How do you do?”

Oberleutnant Ludwig inwardly cringed at his attempt at Asheran common before fearing that there may be miscommunication between him. As for Heinar, he inwardly sighed that the soldiers he approached did not know much Asheran common. However, he still believed that he could successfully convey his message to them.

“I am... leader of Paganda. I want to surre–give up. Yes! I give up! No more fight! No more fight!”

While keeping his hands in the air, he used signs to augment his now simplified wording in hopes that the Gra Valkan soldier understood him. Fortunately for him, Ludwig recognized the words he used. He now understood that the man was the leader of Paganda–the king. Suddenly feeling the gravity of the situation after realizing that in his presence was the Pagandan sovereign, his anxieties heightened. Still, he did what he could to maintain composure. As for the last part of the sentence...

“They give up? What?...”

Then, it occurred to him.

“Ah! Surrender? You surrender? Paganda surrender?”

Heinar’s expression loosened as he felt relieved that the Gra Valkan soldier understood him.

“Yes! Yes! We surrender! We surrender!”

The king gleefully said as he nodded his head up and down.

“Me tell... mine leader.”

He turned back to his men.

“This spießig here is the king, and he’s surrendering. Watch him for me while I radio it in.”

Later on, after the information that the king was surrendering went up the chain of command, the commander of the landing forces substituted for an official diplomatic representative as they began talks for Paganda's official surrender. On that day, the Kingdom of Paganda ceased to be a sovereign nation as the Gra Valkas Empire commenced the process of absorbing the island.