June 10, 1640

Washington, D.C.

President Lee glumly stared at Secretary Hill as he reported on the state of the Gra Valkas Empire’s war of conquest against the Sonal Kingdom and Nigrat Union.

“... With the loss of their militaries, I’m afraid that total capitulation is just around the corner. Numerous member states within the Nigrat Union and half of the Sonal Kingdom’s territories have already surrendered. The Gra Valkas Empire has conquered the Nigrat Union and Sonal Kingdom,” Hill said solemnly, his face reflecting a sense of pity for the fallen nations and their citizens.

Secretary Heiden shared a similar look, although his look was more laden with concern, rather than pity. “Mu’s probably next, then. What a disaster,” Heiden said, shaking his head.

Lee gave a soft chuckle, understanding where Heiden was coming from. He agreed, “Yeah, reminds me of another thing I miss from back home: stable geopolitics.” He coughed, “Or um, relatively stable, at least. Russia and China never ran around conquering continents like what the Gra Valkas Empire is doing right now.”

Hill nodded, pointing out the reason why. “Unlike the Gra Valkans, the Russians and Chinese knew that attacking their neighbors would trigger a global war. We don’t have any defense treaties with any countries to the left of the Philadean and Rodenian continents.”

“And so the Gra Valkans were able to act with impunity; without fear of us intervening,” Lee finished Hill’s thoughts. “Gordon, do you think a defense treaty would have deterred the Gra Valkans?”

Heiden shrugged, “Hard to say for sure, Mister President. I don’t know enough about internal Gra Valkan politics. Maybe they had too much political pressure for conquest? In any case, having defense obligations overseas would probably have been detrimental for public opinion, especially considering the fact that we’ve already had two major wars ever since our arrival here.”

“Sir, I think it was better that we never had any defensive pacts,” Hill added. “This planet is much larger than Earth. Even at max speed, it would still take over a month to reach the Muan continent. We don’t have enough overseas presence in that region of the world to reliably defend our allies there – or even ourselves. A lone carrier battlegroup won’t be enough to put the Gra Valkan Navy out of commission. If the Gra Valkans send several fleets, we won’t have enough firepower to protect our bases there.”

Lee felt the sting of this reminder, loathing the fact that he still had to juggle both his decisions and the impacts such decisions would have at home. He could do what was best for his country and authorize rapid militarization, but the public wouldn’t understand unless he declassified highly sensitive information. Even then, many probably wouldn’t believe the threats posed by this alien world. Hell, some people – conspiracy theorists who never bothered to visit the coasts to see for themselves – still thought the United States was on Earth. He couldn’t go all out and take risks, either. One mistake could cost him the next election, and there was no telling if the next president would be competent enough to prepare the country for the storm to come.

For now, he had to play safe. He had to play with the cards he was dealt with; short term sacrifice for long term gain. “Yeah, you both bring up very solid points,” Lee said. “Still, there must be something more that we can do to impede the Gra Valkans. Something tells me that if the Muans and Mirishials are unable to stop them, we’ll be forced into another war.”

“I agree,” Hill said. “We can declare war on the Gra Valkans now, with Congress’ approval, but it might be shaky.”

“Yeah, it would be,” Lee nodded. “The public barely knows about the Gra Valkas Empire, only that it exists and is territorial. I have no doubt Congress would support a war, but I’d be spending a lot of political capital trying to push this through. Then again, I want the Muans and Mirishials in the best state possible to prepare for the Ravernals.” He sighed in defeat, “Damn this.”

“I think it’s better for us if we let public support for a war build up first,” Hill suggested. “A Vietnam War scenario would be irreparable, and probably lead to a weaker preparation against the Ravernal Empire down the line. We can continue weapon sales, but let Mu and the Holy Mirishial Empire take the hit. It’s better that our country be as prepared as possible, rather than the rest of Elysia. We still have the largest technological and economic advantage by far, so we’d be contributing the most to defending this world.”

Lee couldn’t help but agree. As much as he wanted to help the Muans and Mirishials, it was more important to prioritize long term American growth. Helping the native Elysians fight the Gra Valkans at the expense of his presidency and the military-industrial complex back home would only serve to weaken Elysia’s biggest player – the United States. “We’ll keep out of the war officially. Robert, is there any way we can discreetly aid our friends, aside from selling weapons?”

Hill raised an eyebrow. “Do you have something in mind, sir?”

“I was thinking we could provide mercenary services to them.”

Hill remained skeptical, although generally supportive. Providing mercenary services was an excellent way to circumvent the political turmoil back home, but there were still major concerns. “Our contractors would certainly dominate ground battles, but it might be too big of a risk, sir. In the Middle East, they could operate safely because we were there to provide support. They didn’t have to worry about enemy artillery, fleets, or aircraft. If we send them to Mu, there’s nothing to protect them from Gra Valkan airstrikes or naval bombardments. It’ll be a bloodbath.”

“Okay, wait,” Lee said, thinking of a solution. “Now, we can’t officially provide support, but what if we sold advanced weapons to our contractors?”

“Hm?” Hill crossed his arms, confused by Lee’s suggestion. “What are you getting at, sir?”

“See,” Lee smiled, delving into his explanation, “Congress doesn’t want to sell Mu or the Holy Mirishial Empire our gear. At most, they’re okay with Phantoms, which we don’t really have many of – not enough for the Muans to fight the entire Gra Valkan Air Force anyhow. But,” he held up a finger and stressed the word, emphasizing his point, “No such restrictions apply to our own contractors. If we wanted to, we could sell our latest equipment to our own American companies. Sell them some F-35s, ships, SHORAD gear, and if they need technical expertise, transfer some of our specialists.”

Heiden raised a question, “How will our mercenary companies afford this equipment?”

“Simple, Lee answered proudly, confident in his answer. “Our contractors pay a cheap down payment to ‘lease’ some equipment, then they pay the rest of the costs using money from Mu. Mu’s already paying us top dollar for old equipment. Imagine how much more they’ll pay for our best weapons. They might initially feel iffy about our pricing – maybe even ripped off – but I’m willing to bet that with the Gra Valkans massing on their front door, they’ll be compelled to pay us.”

Hill nodded, finding Lee’s proposal to be quite ingenious. “Huh, I think this could really work. I’ll get right on this, sir.”

Lee placed a hand on Hill’s shoulder. “Thank you, Robert. But, even this still might not be enough. I still think we’re going to have to go to war with the Gra Valkans eventually. The people back home might not care if mercenaries help the Muans, but the Gra Valkans will. To them, they might see deployment of mercenaries as an act of war.”

“This… could potentially be a good thing,” Hill pointed out.

“How?” Lee asked, curious how the very war he hoped to avoid could be beneficial.

Hill reasoned, “The Gra Valkans, as we know, are very similar to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. If we get the Gra Valkans to declare war on us, we can easily spin the narrative. Public support will be higher than ever, Mister President.”

Lee’s eyes glowed at the prospect. “Robert,” he grinned, grabbing him by the shoulders, “You are a genius! We can provoke the Gra Valkans so that they look like the aggressors!” He corrected himself, “Well, they technically are, but at least now the public will be able to see it clearly.”

“Precisely, sir.”

“Let’s get to it, then. Although, we’ll still need to be able to deploy our forces quickly once they do declare war on us. What are the closest units?”

Hill fiddled with his phone, pulling up a Mercator projection of the entire Elysian world map. He scrolled past the landmasses on the opposite side of the world and zoomed in to the relevant regions: everything stretching from the Gra Valkas Empire in the west to the United States in the east. He toggled a setting to display major American bases, then pointed to the blue dots around the map. “There’s the Vestal continent, to the left of Rodenius. Currently, we have one major base in the Vestal continent and are constructing more bases in the landmass to the left of Vestal.”

“That one, sandwiched between the Mirishiant continent and the Branchel continent?”

“Yes. We’re currently island hopping here, expanding bases westward once ongoing construction projects have been completed. We also have a potential site in the Agartha Kingdom, up here,” Hill pointed to a country located above the Holy Mirishial Empire.”

“Potential?” Lee wondered.

Hill looked at Heiden, who answered, “My guys are still in the process of talks up there. The Agarthans want a base for mutual protection, but are afraid of acting against Mirishial influences. They don’t want to lose favor with the Mirishials, so it’s been a bit of a difficult endeavor getting them to agree to hosting a military base.”

Lee held up a hand, “That’s fine. Just see what you can do. The bases between the Mirishials and Annonrials should be good enough for an incursion into Gra Valkan territory. Robert, augment our defenses in these bases. I want complete immunity to anything the Annonrials can throw at us.”

“Of course, sir,” Hill said.

Heiden frowned at the thought of the Annonrials, who had mostly been keeping to themselves. According to the Department of Defense, there is a lot of internal activity in the Annonrial Empire, but little outside. “Their silence worries me.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Lee added. “I have a real bad feeling about those guys,” he said, concern written all over his face. “Robert, do you think we can handle a two-front war against the Gra Valkans and Annonrials?”

“We’ll be stretched thin, but I think it won’t be much of an issue. We can allocate a fleet to help out against the Gra Valkans. Combined with the Elysian militaries, they should be able to keep the Gra Valkans at bay, perhaps even push them back. We can then have the rest of our forces focus on the Annonrials and on national defense.”

Lee nodded reluctantly, remaining unconvinced by Hill’s reassurance. “You know, I’m really worried about those Annonrials. Guided anti-ship missiles and other Cold-War era technologies, plus whatever magical crap they’re keeping in store. I fear that they may have weapons of mass destruction.”

“Whatever it is, sir, we’ll handle it. In fact, you’ll be seeing our countermeasures for yourself in just a few days,” Hill said.

Lee’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, I can’t believe I forgot! The rocket launch! Heiden, you’ve sent out the invites, right?”

“I have, Mister President. This’ll be the first time anyone from Elysia witnesses how we fly to the stars.”