February 20, 1640

Vestal Sea

Azure waters sparkles brilliantly under the cloudless sky, rays of light piercing the tranquil waters. The waters remained undisturbed, save for a fleet of artificial constructs pushing through the sea. Originating from a base in the Jovian Kingdom along the western shores of the Vestal continent, this fleet consisted of an entire carrier strike group. The USS Carl Vinson sailed at the helm of this mighty force, bringing with it an escort of 3 cruisers, 6 destroyers, and 2 submarines.

They sailed onward to their destination of Bushpaka Latan, undeterred by rumors of vicious sea monsters in the area. Their only concern was the reaction of the Annonrials. Several days ago, Secretary Heiden’s staff sent advanced notice of their diplomatic intentions. This message was received by the Annonrials, who welcomed them to their gateway in Bushpaka Latan. Despite this welcoming response, the Americans remained on their heels, fearful of an ambush.

Unlike the civilized nations of modern-day Earth, the nations of Elysia had no internationally recognized rules of warfare. If the Mirishials were to be believed — a case made more likely due to evidence of Annonrial-Ravernal relations — then it was possible that these isolationists could strike at any moment. It was clear to the Americans that the Annonrials had no reason to interact with the rest of the world, and they could’ve certainly conquered Elysia if they wanted to. Yet, a burning question lingered: why didn’t they? Uncertainty involving these mysterious winged people led the United States to reluctantly send a delegation, to talk with the Annonrials about their goals.

Secretary Heiden smiled in a carefree manner as he walked around the USS Carl Vinson, enjoying the warm equatorial sun shining down upon him. He stood alone above decks, watching the carrier’s wake while sailors conducted routine maintenance on the planes behind him. He meditated peacefully, enjoying the unusually cool weather while admiring the open sea. The brief silence was then interrupted by a set of footsteps approaching from behind him.

“Mister Secretary,” a soft, feminine voice said.

“Here to enjoy the view, Emily?” Heiden looked over at the tall, suited blonde.

“Sir, we’re nearing manacomm range. We should go back inside in case the Annonrials want to talk to us.”

The name caused him to frown, reminding him of his upcoming worries. He took a deep breath, inhaling the salty ocean air before turning around and walking with his assistant. “Well, that was a good five or so minutes of relaxation,” he groaned as he stretched.

“Sir,” Emily looked up at Heiden with concern, “I know this isn’t my place to ask, but…” She looked down at the deck floor then back at Heiden, “Couldn’t we have talked to them using a long-range manacomm like we did when we informed them of our visit? I have a bad feeling about seeing them in person.”

Her worries completely resonated with Heiden, who had a sinking feeling in his gut. “Yeah,” he looked off into the distance, pausing before stepping indoors with Emily. “I wish we could’ve done so too, but we need answers now. We need to know what these Annonrials are up to, and we need to let them know we mean business,” he said, referring to the fleet’s firepower. “Still, I can’t shake the feeling that —”

Heiden’s sentence was cut off by a series of blaring alarms that erupted across the fleet. He winced from the noise, looking around as a voice came through the intercom, “General Quarters! All hands to battle stations! Material condition ‘Megalodon’!”

While the admiral continued issuing orders, Emily shook a stunned Heiden’s arm. “Sir, what’s going on?”

Heiden was snapped back to reality. “Shit, we have to get inside. If I recall correctly, material condition ‘Megalodon’ is the code for sea monsters. Let’s get to the bridge. It should be safe there.”

——

Making his way through crowded corridors, Heiden eventually arrived at the bridge. He felt the cold steel of the bulkheads on his shoulder as the carrier turned starboard.

“Ow,” Emily said behind him.

Heiden helped her regain her balance before approaching Rear Admiral Johnston. “Admiral, what’s going on?” He asked.

“Mister Secretary!” The tall, gray-haired man turned around in surprise. “We’ve encountered sea monsters. Three krakens and something else. I’m not sure if it’s chasing after them or operating with them.” Columns of water erupted from the sea as he spoke. Johnston paused to look at a sonar operator’s screen. “Well, one kraken and something else now.” Noticing Heiden and Emily’s worried faces, he reassured them, “Nothing to worry about. We’ve dealt with krakens before; old depth charges work wonders against them.”

Heiden raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. “Uh, and what of this… ‘something else’?”

Admiral Johnston grew silent, unable to describe the creature. The creature’s signature was much larger than those of the krakens, suggesting a monster as large as the Carl Vinson herself. “It’s… gigantic. A leviathan.”

“Sir!” One of his men called out. “USS Alaska is requesting assistance! It’s chasing them to the surface!”

Johnston’s brows furrowed in worry. He began to rub his eyes — a unique tell that reflected his anxiety. “What? How’d it get that close?!”

The sonar operator responded, “Estimated speed is at 20 knots and increasing.”

“Damn.” Johnston sighed, preparing to give new orders to his men. “Have the Alaska bring the monster up. We’ll drop depth charges on its expected trajectory. Send orders to the Hawaii: they are to time their attacks with the dropping of our depth charges.” He took a breather, recalling a debriefing from earlier. Similar monster attacks struck the Gra Valkan fleet before they received a missile strike from Annonrial forces. Fearing a similar fate, Johnston prepared for the worst. “I want full area coverage from here to the Annonrial mainland! Ready electronic countermeasures!”

At first, Heiden was confused upon hearing these orders. He asked himself why they would need to take such actions, but then froze. His eyes lost focus and stared into nothing as he reached the same conclusion as Johnston. He looked outside the bridge, heart pounding in anticipation for missiles that never came. Seconds ticked by, drawing out into minutes, yet nothing came over the horizon.

“Ah!” Emily released a pained gasp. “Sir, you’re gripping my hand a bit hard!”

Heiden returned once more to the world, noticing his tight grip. “Oh, goodness. I’m so sorry, Emily.”

She dismissed it, her attention drawn to the chaos developing outside the windows. “Woah,” she said as helicopters dropped a series of depth charges into the ocean.

Massive columns of water burst forth, showering the nearby destroyers in a misty spray. With the first volley of weapons discharged, activity ceased. Admiral Johnston then called out to the sonar operator, asking for a report.

Sharp pings soon followed, revealing that the monster was still moving. “Sir, it’s still there! Sweeps show the target decelerating, but it is still chasing after the Alaska!”

Johnston curled his hand into a fist, bringing it down as he would a hammer. “Hit it again!”

This time, he permitted destroyers to use their torpedoes. The depth charges had performed well against the krakens, but seemed to struggle against this new foe. They were no longer worried about cost effectiveness, instead becoming worried of the leviathan’s remarkable resilience against the old bombs. Fearing for the safety of the USS Alaska, the fleet spared no expenses and loosed the full might of their modern arsenal, sending dozens of guided torpedoes at the leviathan, which finally broke off from its chase and began exhibiting evasive maneuvers.

“Sir, we’ve got visual on target. Putting it on screen!”

An unmanned underwater vehicle released by the USS Hawaii managed to get close enough to the battle, recording it and sending data to the USS Carl Vinson. The leviathan was a truly massive being, with a length on par with that of a typical American supercarrier. The appearance of the creature itself resembled no known analogues in popular Terran myths, although it looked somewhat like an eel. Hundreds of tentacles surrounded the body of the streamlined monster, emerging from narrow fissures within the armored scales of the beast. They spun around as it glided through the water, acting like flagella and working in tandem with the creature’s massive tail to propel it.

It accelerated to speeds unexpected for a being off its size, surpassing the top speed of a sailfish. Its speed of over 60 knots was almost enough to shake the American torpedoes, which were pushed to their operational limits. The leviathan quickly fled the underwater arena, diving deeper. The creatures intelligent maneuvers and evasion helped it shake off half of the American torpedoes, much to their surprise. The remaining half detonated near the creature’s tail and armored lower torso — if it could even be called that. Some of the tentacles were caught in the blast and quickly vaporized. The resulting cavities formed by the explosions were quickly filled, but prevented the UUV from following further. The monster disappeared from sensors and visual feeds afterward, leaving the Americans wondering whether or not they managed to kill it.

Heiden approached a screen that displayed live camera footage from the UUV. “Is it… dead?”

“I… don’t know, Mister Secretary,” an officer answered. “I think the pressure waves got it, though. I hope.”

Heiden turned back to Johnston. “Admiral?”

Johnston felt sweat dripping down his neck, soaking his collar in an uncomfortable moistness. For this first time in his career, he faced off against a foe that he found difficulty in defeating. “Good God,” he muttered.

“Are we safe now?” Heiden asked.

“Yes,” Johnston said, squinting in the distance. “We should be. If you’ll excuse me, I have to send an urgent report back home.”

——

The White House

The latest report from Heiden’s diplomatic mission was upsetting, killing Lee’s mood entirely. The revelation of carrier-sized sea monsters came right after reports of advanced Ravernal quantum technologies. The news stunned him, acting like a wake up call. With a groan, he rubbed his face with his hands, letting them slowly fall down. “Ugggh… I guess it was only a matter of time before my fears of magic finally materialized…” he lamented.

The report from Admiral Johnston detailed their encounter with a yet unencountered species of monster — one that lurked the depths of the ocean as an apex predator. He hesitated on this description, wondering if this creature was even an apex predator at all. As he considered this, an old adage came to mind: ‘there is always a bigger fish’. Anxiety sent him spiraling down a rabbit hole as he applied the adage to his own existence. Currently, the United States was the biggest fish. What if this wasn’t the case, and the Ravernal Empire was bigger than the United States?

The timing of the kraken attacks on the Gra Valkan and American fleets were extremely coincidental. Could the Annonrials somehow have the ability to control these monsters, or even produce them? Was this new leviathan some sort of biological weapon, controlled or designed for warfare? Or was this leviathan lured toward the Americans by the krakens? Regardless, this creature reflected his fears of threats to American dominance.

These questions that he asked himself had no answer except one. True to the American spirit, he found solace in the American way. The solution was a simple one, that had proven its merit over time: get a bigger gun. Resolving to eliminate these new Elysian threats, Lee picked up a pen and opened one of his notebooks. Scribbling away, he began to draft a roadmap for the assurance of his people’s safety. They have a mere decade and a half to research counters to Elysian threats, be it their wildlife, or the advanced weapons operated by the genocidal Ravernals. With so little time and so many possible threats, he decided that it was now time to expand the Magical Research Department.