Cent. Calendar 05/06/1639, 1.5km southwest of Gim, 12:00
With the sun seemingly at its highest, 15,000 of Louria's best professional soldiers have formed up in the plains north of their camp in the sweltering heat. Today looked like it would be another one of their drills meant to keep them in shape and in discipline as well as to keep their enemies on edge. Marching to the beat of their drums, the Lourian soldiers masterfully kept their formation as they performed increasingly complex maneuvers that displayed their cohesion at all organizational levels. Watching all of it was Lieutenant General Adem, who was situated on a small hill that allowed him to overlook the entire Lourian Advanced Echelon. Despite his splendidly decorated clothing and steed, his undesirable facial features and menacing glare betrayed any first impression. With his fill of military pride satisfied from seeing the flawless execution of complex maneuvers by his men, he then turned his gaze to the east.
For a moment, he remembered all the planning and anxiety that he went through, taking into account the military deployment of the Japanese. After being warned by their spies in Myhark that the Japanese had deployed their technological marvels in force with baffling speed, the invasion was pushed back as revisions to their strategies warranted the movement and deployment of additional men and equipment both in their ground and naval forces. Now that the planned day of the invasion has come, the Advanced Echelon would take Gim, shelling and burning it to the ground with artillery and wyvern attacks before the troops march in and dispel any surviving resistance. From there, they march to Ejei and besiege it while waiting for the Main Echelon to join them. Stopping himself by refocusing his sights on Gim, he waved his left hand to his standard bearer, who then waved his standard around for all to see. Seeing the signal, the men that were left in the camp and the sub-commanders of the Advanced Echelon moved into action. Today, Gim will fall.
The marching of the soldiers came to a halt as their respective commanders simultaneously ordered them to. The drums then resumed, and the Lourian soldiers all turned east and began marching. This time, they won't stop at the border. This time, a good time awaits them in Gim. If they could spare the women fighters, especially Ine, they could savor their first taste of Qua-Toynian enabled pleasure. However, a growing faction within the soldiers began to consider the Japanese female soldiers, especially after their spies in Myhark reported that the Japanese employ women in their ranks. If they're lucky, they can catch some of them today and finally taste the best parts of Japan's flowers. Eager yet disciplined, the Lourian soldiers marched on.
Meanwhile, back in the camp, the benefactors of the Lourians were signalled that the invasion was beginning and so rushed to the mortars to take off their covers. Having prepared them the night before, the mortars were ready to fire. As one of them kneeled next to the mortar, he was approached by one of the Lourian camp followers.
"You bastards confident that this'll work?"
Looking at the man that approached him, the benefactor made a disgusted face but this was not visible to the man as he wore a mask that hid his identity.
"Seeing is believing and believing in Parpaldia's best rewards anyone."
The benefactor then turned back to the mortar. Hearing their commander shout the order to begin, the benefactors then began to chant a spell. Reacting to the spell being cast, the magic stones loaded in the mortar began to react as their internal mana, deposited into them long ago by the planet's internal mana veins trickling to the surface, started flowing out from their eons-old prisons. With the chant flawlessly reaching its end, the mana in the stones was now almost released, ready to be casted. As the benefactors simultaneously reached the chant's last casting line, the mana then spontaneously combusted, destroying the stones that have housed them and forcefully pushing the ammunition out of their mortars in loud, cloudy booms. The benefactors then ordered the Lourian camp followers to prepare for the next salvo while they recuperated their breaths and voices from the chanting.
After being readied by their caretakers in another part of the camp, 25 wyverns and their dragon knights took off to the cloudy sky one after another. Leading the 2nd Wyvern Squadron was Captain Aldebaraan, who was the first to taste the strong winds of the sky. After all 25 wyvern units were airborne, Captain Aldebaraan then led his squadron towards the town of Gim in line formation.
The continuous loud booms of their mortars synchronized with the drums and marching of the troops as their wyvern units streamed towards the border. Watching the magnificent scene unfold, Adem couldn't help but shed a tear at the sheer... awesomeness... of the Lourian war machine. Feeling pride and lust from the upcoming slaughter of Gim and Ejei, Adem let out a sinister smile.
"Spiced beef and wine for lunch... Elven pussy and screams for dinner..."
At the same time, Japanese command position
"We've confirmed that the Lourian artillery has begun their fire missions."
"Lourian wyverns have just crossed the border!"
"It's time."
Major General Akiyama emotionlessly remarked as he replied to his subordinates while he watched a ScanEagle feed of the marching Lourian Advanced Echelon about to cross the border. Turning to his communications team, he issues them an order.
"Tell the artillery to commence fire missions on positions Alpha, Bravo, and Echo! Also, inform Myhark to inform Okinawa to commence Operation Zanzibar!"
While one officer informed the 2nd Artillery Regiment, another officer called Myhark.
"The sultan has entered his castle. I repeat. The sultan has entered his castle."
5 minutes later, Naha Air Base, Okinawa, Japan
Three F-2 multirole fighters (two F-2A and one F-2B) from the Japan Air Self Defense Force's 8th Tactical Fighter Squadron forward deployed to Naha Air Base for Operation Zanzibar began taxiing to the runway after being informed that the Lourian invasion had commenced. The two F-2As were each loaded with six 500lb laser-guided bombs, while the lone F-2B was equipped with a Sniper TPOD for laser guidance. As soon as the Control Tower gave the clearance for takeoff, the three navy blue-colored fighters accelerated before taking off and zooming ahead to the skies southwest.
Somewhere northeast of Gim
Two Japanese soldiers from the 1st Airborne Brigade on lookout duty in a windmill perched on top of a hill overlooking Gim were watching the Lourian wyverns fly towards Gim. Moments later, several clouds of dust erupted from the structures in Gim as the mortar munitions landed hits on the town, pummeling the rooftops of buildings and smashing open some of the earthen walls around the town. Seconds later, the Japanese soldiers heard the loud thuds of the mortar munitions forcefully hitting the stone buildings and the earth. Looking at the damage done by the mortars, one of the soldiers sighed deeply.
"Thank goodness we evacuated last night. I just saw the building we were sleeping in collapse."
The other soldier, who was looking through a pair of binoculars at the incoming wyverns, replied nonchalantly.
"Those Lourians make it pretty obvious that they were gonna attack today."
As his companion replied, "Yeah," he continued to examine the wyverns and their riders. Despite being a biological creature, the wyverns traveled at speeds that challenged or even exceeded helicopters. While the need for a runway baffled him initially, he found comfort in knowing that the flying lizards needed a crucial piece of infrastructure before they'd need to take off. Maybe it was more exhausting for them to try and take off without the momentum from running? Exhausting a wyvern's energy at the start was disadvantageous, that much is clear. The soldier also noticed that the wyvern didn't carry anything else other than the rider, some armor, and a box he assumed must be important, leading him to conclude that weight also matters a lot to these flying beasts. Remembering from an earlier briefing that wyverns possess a fireball attack, he subconsciously sweated as he imagined the wyverns noticing them and going on the attack. While it was mentioned by their Qua-Toynian counterparts that wyverns can withstand arrow attacks, this did not necessarily mean that the wyverns can survive a barrage of 5.56x45mm bullets from their Type 89 assault rifles. Whether it could work or not, neither of the soldiers wanted to come to a situation where they could test it out.
The other soldier, looking through his own pair of binoculars at Gim being bombarded, remembered something else. Just before midnight last night, their ScanEagle operators noticed that the mortars were being loaded with real ammunition and covered up, leading them to conclude that the mortars were going to be fired soon. Maj. Gen. Akiyama, the other commanders of 2nd Division elements, and Knight Captain Moizi of Qua-Toyne's forces in the west carried out the evacuation of their forces from Gim in the cover of darkness. While the rest evacuated, several of Moizi's men and some Japanese soldiers stayed behind to prop up torches, electrical lighting, scarecrows, and tents on the earthen walls to deceive Lourian spotters and dragon riders. Seeing that the bombardment on Gim continued and that the wyverns were heading for Gim, the soldier concluded that their deception worked.
Just then, they heard a continuing series of different-sounding explosions coming from their southeast, towards the direction of the Divine Forest. Diverting from their binoculars, the Japanese soldiers looked to where the 2nd Artillery Regiment were deployed. Rows of Type 99 self-propelled howitzers, with all of their guns pointing upwards towards the direction of Gim, were firing their 155mm artillery guns nonstop.
"It's begun, huh."
"Too bad we can't see the results from here... Oh wait, here they come!"
The soldier spotted the first flags and glints from the armor of the Lourian soldiers marching towards Gim emerging from the tree-laded slight crest of a hill to the west. While they were eager to see the results of their own artillery bombardment, they subconsciously felt a bit sorry for the Lourian soldiers that were still unaware of what was to come.
In the Lourian lines
Emerging from the slight crest, the soldiers of the Advanced Echelon finally got to see their target before them: Gim. As the last soldiers cleared the crest, Lt. Gen. Adem was now able to see the pitiful-looking town for himself. Savoring the last time that he gets to see Gim pure, his nasty grin offered an insight to the lack of delicacy and remorse in his character. While he wanted his men to hurry their march to hasten the process, he knew that the Japanese possessed guns, which would make it difficult for them to cross all the way to Gim. Moving his sight away from Gim and down to the earthen walls erected around it, Adem assumed that the Japanese soldiers were lying in wait for them to get within range before unleashing a devastating barrage from their firearms. He then looked around to confirm irregularities in the landscape that could allow his men to take cover when the bloodshed started. Since the Advanced Echelon comprises mostly professional soldiers, whose benefactors trained in the Parpaldian Empire on how to best utilize terrain irregularities to maximize protection and return fire with their own guns, Adem is confident that his sub-commanders would know what to do. In addition to their troops, the 2nd Wyvern Squadron was in the air to rain fire on any Japanese and Qua-Toynian troops resisting them. They also have their mortars, which have now yielded results as their shells landed in and around Gim.
"I had my doubts... Those Parpaldians are a decent bunch after all."
Adem initially resented the Parpaldians for offering support and forwarded to the king that they were setting a trap for them. Still, the king took it with open arms, welcoming their sole ally in their quest to unite all of Rodenius in one banner. Now that his doubts on the Parpaldians sabotaging their efforts have been washed away, Adem set these thoughts aside, choosing instead to relish in the sight of Gim being pounded away by mortar bombardment. They were now only a thousand paces away from the closest earthen walls that faced them. His mind was filled with questions: At what range are the Japanese going to fire their weapons? Could the huge, metal carriages that they brought with them have more range than their infantry guns? Did they issue them to Qua-Toynian troops as well? As considerations and countermeasures were processed in his mind at breakneck speed, he watched his troops clear across the Qua-Toynian fields. Finding things to satisfy his internal doubts, he came across one particular doubt that he couldn't find an answer to. As if discovering something groundbreaking or realizing that he needed to be somewhere else as he dozed off, Adem's eyes widened. It was a glaring inconsistency that he couldn't force himself to come to terms with. If anything, it was because he felt that he had failed to divert himself and his forces from a fatal mistake.
"Where are the enemy soldiers?!"
He screamed out.
The reports from their scouts earlier in the morning reported "the usual," with lit torches decorating the earthen walls and buildings in Gim, coupled with the unnaturally bright light from the Japanese installations. He didn't hear a single mention of them spotting a soldier. According to reports before yesterday, their early mornings were usually preoccupied with them running into Qua-Toynian patrols in the groves and being scared away by Japanese soldiers. Now that he realized it, no such reports reached him nor his sub-commanders this morning. It was too unnatural-too artificial for it to be a coincidence. It was as if the Japanese and the Qua-Toynians were expecting them to invade on this day.
However, it was too late.
Without sparing sufficient time for the other commanders to react to Adem's sudden outburst, the ground shook tremendously. With his horse startled, Adem was thrown off his steed and onto the ground together with his other commanders. Regaining composure almost immediately, he turned his head to where he thought was the front. Seeing his vision blocked by dirt, he hurriedly wiped it off. There, in front of him, he saw his elite, professional soldiers thrown to the ground and clamoring to get up. Before he could even wonder what happened, the ground shook once more, accompanied by an ear-shattering boom coming from his right. Looking in that direction, he saw a gigantic column of earth having been thrown up spectacularly, probably dwarfing their tallest buildings in height. Squinting his eyes, he saw some of his soldiers thrown high up into the air, to a height which guaranteed a fatal injury when they come back to the ground. Along with them were recognizable and unrecognizable body parts-Adem's confirmation of their first casualties. As doubts and hopelessness began to seep in, the ringing in his ears finally started to subside, slowly being replaced by the screams, cries, and war cries of his professionally trained human war machines. Just as he finished standing up to try and retain command of his forces, he was thrown back on his rear by another powerful, ground-shaking explosion. Recovering faster than he did initially, he got a bit more time to assess the situation.
It was chaos.
Just in his field of vision, he could count ten, twenty, one hundred, five hundred dead, either with their bodies still whole or their torso, head, arm, whatever else torn off from whatever else that still remained. He could see some break formation and run while others continued to maintain their composure. Either way, both weren't spared from a gruesome death. Slowly but surely, he watched the Advanced Echelon melt, either from deserters or from this unknown, powerful attack. What was more sure was that his confidence in the invasion succeeding dissipated faster than their numbers. Picking up his shaking self from the earth with his jittery extremities, Adem resigned to the fate of the invasion.
It was lost.
Just as another explosion rocked the ground, Adem tripped on an officer's ripped torso, which still had a breastplate, sending him back on the ground. As he lamented how his life had turned out, thoughts ran across his head, urging him to land the blame on someone else. Those filthy Parpaldian tricksters must have likely turned on them. They must have collaborated with the Japanese to destroy Louria's capacity to fight and carve the country in half between themselves. It was the king's fault for accepting a deal riddled to the brim with red flags. Either way, even if it were someone else's fault, Adem's fate is sealed. Cursing the king with a scream, Adem was eternally silenced by a direct hit from a 155mm high explosive round, which detonated and obliterated his body. Seeing that their commander had fled, his surviving sub-commanders lost all morale and hope in continuing the invasion before being picked off one at a time by the ceaseless artillery bombardment.
As the 15,000 troops of the Advanced Echelon were reduced to incoherent groups still trying to either push with the invasion or running back to the Lourian border, the 2nd Wyvern Squadron, which was lined up to rain fire on Gim, diverted out of their attack pattern and up into the air. Now hovering in the air, the 25 wyverns and their dragon riders could only watch in disbelief as the full force of the Advanced Echelon were decimated en masse by the onslaught of explosions. Cpt. Aldebaraan, recoiling in disgust from the countless mutilations he was witnessing, wondered what was happening.
"How?! How the hell are our professional forces being slaughtered so mercilessly?!"
His train of thought then wandered somewhere else.
"Who could be doing this?!"
Now diverted from Gim, the 25 wyverns and their dragon knights experienced delays in hearing the heart-thumping explosions that were shaving away their Advanced Echelon. Eerily enough, some of them started to hear softer, more distant booms that preceded the louder, closer explosions. Realizing this as well, Aldebaraan started swiveling his head, trying to locate the source of these mysterious booms. As his eyes looked towards the Divine Forest, he happened to catch sight of several dark green dots spread out on a clearing close to the forest. Examining the dark green dots, he saw some of them had long poles sticking out of their bodies. Suddenly, the dot that he was focusing on emitted a bright flame that immediately turned to clouds of smoke. Recognizing that it was a massive gun, probably similar to the mortars the Parpaldians offered to them, Aldebaraan's blood boiled.
"Those... things! They're the ones killing our comrades!"
Picking up his manacomms, Aldebaraan screamed.
"Form on me! I spotted the ones attacking our ground forces! Let's teach 'em a lesson!"
Hearing cheers and war cries through the air and through his manacomms, Aldebaraan felt the adrenaline rush as he ordered his wyvern to swoop down towards the direction of the massive guns. As ordered, the rest of the 2nd Wyvern Squadron followed behind, forming a long line of wyverns that flew towards the enemy. Looking behind him to look at the rest of his unit committed to the attack, Aldebaraan felt a sense of pride as their leader. Turning his head back, he prepared himself for the attack on the enemy. As they got closer, the shape of the enemy dots began to take form, resembling oversized carriages painted in dark green, which made it harder for them to discern their size and shape from a distance. With the enemy gun carriages getting closer and closer, Aldebaraan savored the wind blowing through his body and clothing. After this brief stunt, they should be coming out of it with some kills, maybe even disabling some of the carriages. Feelings of revenge and a desire to counterattack overflowed from his heart. He wanted nothing less than to fuck Louria's enemies.
Suddenly, he felt a slight sting which immediately dissipated as his consciousness ceased to exist. He and his wyvern were instantly turned to chunks of flesh and red mist. Without being given the time to notice, let alone react, the other wyverns and their dragon riders following Aldebaraan instantly turned to lifeless lumps of flesh. Further down the line, the others, having more time to react, instantly broke formation after sensing danger and then realizing that they were under attack. Some of the more attentive dragon riders noticed that they were being assailed by a hail of bullets from multiple places. Before they could even discern what was going on, the remaining wyverns and dragon riders of the 2nd Wyvern Squadron ceased to exist in spectacular explosions, with their final thoughts being that of wondering what was it that approached them.
As the echoes of gunfire and explosions subsided, the smoke cleared from the guns of multiple Type 87 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and the arms of some Type 93 surface-to-air missile launchers from the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.
Outside from view, the mortars back across the border were still being reloaded, unaware of what had transpired on the other side. As the Parpaldian operators began to chant once more, they were interrupted by a similar set of explosions, throwing off some of the Lourian camp followers and operators, as well as destroying the mortars. Before the quicker ones could run away, additional explosions followed, maiming them instantly. With the dust clouds settling in long after the explosions stopped, no one was left alive nor standing in the Lourian artillery position.
Some minutes later, Japanese command position
"Looks like that's all of it."
Maj. Gen. Akiyama sighed with relief and sorrow after seeing the live footage of the aftermath of the bombardment on the Lourian artillery position showing that the mortars had been destroyed. Just before this one, they confirmed the annihilation of the Lourian Advanced Echelon in the fields west of Gim, which was now peppered with craters and the mutilated body parts of Lourian soldiers. Assisting in the sweep for survivors, Moizi and his men, together with the garrison of Gim, set out to comb the battlefield while under the supervision of ScanEagle drones. Commander Ine, who was with them, scrutinized the footage more closely. While she was delighted that the Japanese effortlessly halted the Lourian invasion in under 10 minutes, she couldn't help but feel resentful and disgusted at the results of the counterattack. It was nothing more than a slaughter.
"That... was it?"
Ine asked Akiyama with a tone of disbelief. Adding more to her disbelief and shock, Akiyama simply shrugged with a facial expression that said, "Were you expecting more?" Considering that this was the power that the Japanese wielded, Ine saw for herself that even the Lourians with all their relatively advanced weapons and tactics and rumored to even be supported as a proxy by Parpaldia were anticlimactically slain with frustrating ease. There was simply no competition. Ine also realized that this was better in terms of efficiency. Why spend more resources and time if it was possible to do it with as little effort while maintaining a high destruction level? Ine feared the gross reality that had taken hold in the Japanese's old world that drove them to develop and use such destructive and efficient weapons. Warfare seemed to be no longer romantic and thrilling. If anything, it was gruesome, calculated, hollow, and dead.
As Ine's thoughts raced around, her train of thought was derailed when something caught her attention on the drone feed.
"Wait! What was that?"
Asking the Japanese drone operator in Asheran common, it took a while for the operator to understand what Ine was asking for. Turning the camera back to where it was, he, Ine, and even Akiyama were horrified by what they saw.
The ScanEagle drone was still flying over the Lourian artillery position. Its camera pointed near to one of the craters left behind by the artillery bombardment. There, through the screen, they saw the torso of a woman, lying face up towards the sky, with the rest of her lower body gone. Her left arm, too, was gone. Blood, intestines, and other internal organs lay scattered on the ground and spilling out of the upper half of her body. From the clothing she wore, they could only deduce that she wasn't one of the soldiers. Hammering in the gravity of the situation, they also found other bodies and body parts belonging to people that didn't seem to be combatants.
"T-Those are... c-camp followers... Oh, dear Astalte..."
Ine squeezed a line out as her voice quivered. Moments later, her body jerked, forcing her lunch upwards. She tried to stop the onslaught of digested food with her mouth and hand but failing to do so, and she let it out on the floor. The drone operator, realizing what they've done, also felt like puking.
"Excuse me, sir..."
Swiftly standing up and leaving his post, the drone operator ran out to release his regurgitated lunch.
Akiyama also seemed like he was about to hurl one himself but he was able to keep composure and swallow both his lunch and his sorrows. In the end, he could only sigh deeply as he covered his eyes in remorse.
"Fuck..."
At the same time, the skies north of Rodenius
Three streamlined jet fighters painted in navy blue soared through the empty skies in a wedge formation above the ocean north of Rodenius at speeds never before achieved by any of the Asheran nations. They carried a horrifying payload of bombs that could level several buildings in a single drop. Their target: the royal castle in Jin-Hark where the king resided. These three Mitsubishi F-2 multirole fighters of the Japan Air Self Defense Force were the pillars of Operation Zanzibar. The main objective was to end the conflict in a single, swift action by decapitating Lourian leadership. Taking inspiration from the Anglo-Zanzibar War, the leaders of the JSDF hoped to replicate its brevity to decisively force the Lourians to the peace table with as little time and resources spent as possible. After learning from their Qua-Toynian counterparts, the kingdom was a feudal system of lords loosely kept together by the Lourian king and his unpopular plans for an invasion. The JSDF concluded that if they took him out, the Lourians would effectively cease to be a coherent force and would start to fight each other for the throne. Still bound by the limitations imposed on them by the Constitution, they needed the Lourians to attack them first before initiating the operation as a "defensive counterattack."
Leading the flight of F-2s was the lone F-2B, piloted by Kyobo Usagi (callsign Rabbit 1) and co-piloted by Kaizo Ikari (callsign Rabbit 3). Traveling on the left-hand side of Rabbit 1 and Rabbit 3 was Sakaki Isumi (callsign Rabbit 2) while Sato Tojiro (callsign Rabbit 4) occupied the right. All four pilots were friends in the 8th Tactical Fighter Squadron and have a colorful history in operating together. Kyobo and Sakaki were even friends back in their days in the academy. Being chosen as the first ASDF pilots to participate in combat operations in Asherah, the quad of friends was in a state of exhilaration, especially after a month of generally bad times in Japan. At this point in time, it will almost be one hour since they took off from Naha Air Base, with the aerial refueling part of the flight coming up soon.
"Hmmm... Looks like this really isn't a Zanzibar, don't you think?"
Filling the silent flight with his voice was Rabbit 4, known to occasionally quip jokes.
"We were already briefed that the flight to Jin-Hark would take at least two hours, Rabbit 4."
Taking the bait, Rabbit 1 coldly responded.
"Yeah, but... This is a new world, right? With that magic shit we saw from the princess back in the diet, you'd think that time would also run differently or something."
"And it doesn't so that's that, right? What's strange to me is that this world is so similar to Earth..."
Joining in on the conversation and adding his own comment was Rabbit 3.
"Wait, is this Sakaki, or is it Kaizo? HAHA!"
"Shut the fuck up!"
Rabbit 4 joked about how Kaizo had a feminine voice and made fun of him for it.
"Yeah, shut your mouth, Rabbit 4. At least Kaizo's getting laid, even with his feminine voice."
Throwing the grenade back to Rabbit 4 was Rabbit 2, the lone female in the flight.
"How the fuck would you know? Wait, don't tell me..."
"Okay, Rabbit 4, shut it off, or I'll beat your ass myself."
With Rabbit 1 shutting down the conversation, the flight returned to its silent, uneventful course towards their objective. Not even a minute of silence later, Rabbit 4 once more spoke up.
"Ughhhh... We never had to fly this far before... Dammit, nothing's going on!"
As Rabbit 4 cut off his message, the rest of the flight laughed amongst themselves. It truly was a dull, boring flight. Even once they arrive at Jin-Hark to drop their payload, it's expected that they will enter and leave uncontested, given the operational altitude and speed of the wyverns Louria uses. That's also if they respond at all since Louria's air defenses relied on visual sighting and the speed of the reaction of their wyverns. In any case, the only thing that excited them about this operation was the fact that they were the first ASDF pilots to conduct a combat operation in Asherah.
As the pilots sighed in resignation to their unexciting mission, they suddenly heard a loud "oh fuck!" on the radio. The pilots immediately recognized the voice behind the expression.
"Rabbit 4?! SITREP, now!"
Unable to see what happened behind him, Rabbit 1 ordered Rabbit 4 to check-in. No answer. Just as Rabbit 1 thought of asking Rabbit 2 to check, she spoke first.
"Rabbit 1, Rabbit's 4's canopy is gone!"
Unable to process what Rabbit 2 said, there was a moment of silence as Rabbit 1 paused to repeat Rabbit 2's words in his head.
"Gone?! What do you mean gone?!"
"It's gone! Exactly as I said! It blew off or something!"
In the midst of their shouting, they heard Rabbit 4 struggling and groaning.
"Ngghh... F-Fuck..."
"Fuck, are you okay, Sato?!"
Dropping the callsign, Rabbit 1 checked in.
"I'm fine... it's just... a little windy..."
With Rabbit 4 still managing to pull a joke in this bad situation, Rabbit 1 inwardly commended his subordinate's self-control as he pulled himself back from laughing.
"What the hell happened?"
"I don't fucking know... The canopy just... poofed and now I'm... beset by ultra-fast winds..."
Worried for the sake of his subordinate, Rabbit 1 wanted to order Rabbit 4 to return to base, but...
"Fuck! You don't have enough fuel to go back! If you eject all the way out here, we don't even know if there are any JCG or MSDF ships to pick you up..."
As Rabbit 1 cranked his head into overdrive to think of a solution, Rabbit 4 cut him off.
"Nah, screw ejecting. I will refuel with you guys and RTB. This is more than enough 'eventful' for me. Haha..."
Judging that it was the most secure option, Rabbit 1 begrudgingly accepted Rabbit 4's suggestion.
Some minutes later
A Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron and her escorts of the United States Air Force stationed in Kadena Air Base was loitering in the area north of the Rodenius continent to facilitate the refueling of the F-2 fighters for Operation Zanzibar. As part of the tactical command agreements between Japan and the new government of the United States based in the US Embassy in Tokyo, Japan ordered one of the USAF's tankers stationed in Okinawa to provide support for their operation. This became the first involvement of the United States Forces Japan and the United States in combat operations in Asherah.
As the flight of F-2 fighters neared and lined up with the KC-135, the boom operator noticed something odd about the leading fighter. As it got close, it became clear to him what was wrong.
"Holy shit! The guy doesn't have a fucking canopy!"
Talking to himself first, he then radioed the lead fighter as he maneuvered the boom towards it.
"Uhhh, Rabbit 4?... You seem to be missing your canopy..."
In response, Rabbit 4 waved his hand from inside his cockpit to the boom operator.
"Ah, yes. Thank you for noticing! Mitsubishi likes its fighters open top, you know?"
Laughing at the pilot's witty remarks and unexpectedly good English, the boom operator made doubly sure to perfect his maneuvering so that the Japanese pilot doesn't have to spend as much time in the air. Once the refueling was over, the canopy-less F-2 slowly maneuvered away before separating totally from the rest to return back to Naha Air Base.
"Gotta see you back there, Rabbit 4!"
"At least I get to have a fun ride back home, unlike you guys!"
With the refueling of the remaining two F-2s done, the two groups of planes then went their separate ways to complete their respective missions.
Almost an hour later, Jin-Hark
Rodenius was finally visible, and then later, the skyline of the capital of the Louria Kingdom, Jin-Hark. Almost immediately afterward, they sighted their target: the royal castle. While the rest of the city, both outside and inside the triple-tiered walls, were unremarkable, the royal castle that housed King Hark, his guards, and hundreds of his servants, maids, chefs, and others was a towering splendor to behold. Being the only towering building in the city, it was extremely easy to pick out from the sea of monotonous arid brown. It was the defining cherry on top of a poorly built cake-one that would crumble once someone takes the cherry away.
As the Japanese F-2s entered the Lourian skies unannounced and uncontested, they reached their drop point. Rabbit 2 consequently released her payload.
"Bombs away."
At the same time, inside the royal baths
"Hmmm..."
Inside a massive, extremely ornate and lavishly decorated bath sat King Hark Louria XXXIV, naked and deep in thought. Despite being the king and de jure commander of the Lourian Army, he relegated the tasks of military command to his chosen commanders and spent most of his time in the royal baths and mingling with foreign dignitaries and local lords. The royal baths were something of a marvel to him. The royal baths were a magnificent artistic and technological marvel built by his ancestor, also Hark Louria but the 30th to bear the name. Spending exorbitant amounts of tax money to import heating and simple plumbing from Parpaldia and the Holy Mirishial Empire, respectively, and on artists to sculpt the nude depictions of Asheran goddesses. Hark Louria XXX brought the wonders of baths with on-demand heat to the non-civilized areas. Praising his ancestor for his amazing taste in activities, Hark Louria XXXIV spent most of his time in the bath being under one of the plumbing-enabled fountains squirting from the nipples of the elven goddess, Astalte. Seeing the long-eared features of the goddess, his mind then wandered to their current predicament.
"That whore, Llanfair... I wonder if they could catch her alive and... if her breasts are as big as these..."
Feeling his manhood perk up from imagining an undesirable's breasts, Hark Louria XXXIV slapped himself for betraying his own beliefs. If anything, he felt something biting at the back of his head. Entertaining it, he realized that he couldn't imagine Llanfair being taken prisoner being made real as easily as he did before. Remembering why, he sighed deeply.
"Japan... You... make it hard..."
Immediately realizing his bad wording after catching a glimpse of his manhood, Hark screamed in frustration.
"NO, FUCK! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!"
In reality, Hark saw Llanfair as a competitor of sorts. Being a powerful elven woman in direct control of her domain, Llanfair exercised near-authoritarian levels of power over her subjects. Meanwhile, he, the great king of over 10 million people, couldn't even bring his own lords to his side. Even with his attempts at unification by providing everyone with a common enemy-the undesirables-his call for the invasion was met with stiff resistance. It was only when Adem, Patagene, and the rest of his commanders stepped in to intimidate the lords with their force of professional soldiers did they begrudgingly agree to support the invasion. How was Llanfair able to do it? Failing to justify his own accusations against Llanfair, Hark could feel his sense of superiority crumbling around him. He needed the invasion to work. Aside from his personal reasons, Louria is also indebted to Parpaldia for their support in making the invasion sure to be a success, so they needed additional revenue sources to pay them back.
Clasping his hands together, he prayed for the success of the invasion.
"Gods... give me a sign that the invasion will work."
Almost immediately after, the gods answered his prayers. Through the glass part of the roof designed to give the baths natural sunlight while still being enclosed fell something. For a split second that it crossed in front of him, Hark was able to somewhat examine what had fallen through the glass roofing. It was a big, green-colored object pointing towards the ground. On it was a drawing of a woman in an ultra-stylized style winking back at him. Written next to the character was a script alien to Hark that read out:
"Ehe! Kyun!"
Before he could process the object, it exploded in a fireball as it made contact with the hard tiling of the floor underneath the bath water, obliterating Hark instantly. The damage wasn't limited to the baths as the explosion rocked the entire floor, disturbing the delicate framework of the stone-built castle. Adding even more to what was already a damaging blast, five more of those objects followed suit, completely levelling the baths and rocking the entire castle. As a result of the overpressure wave from the blasts, the heavy stone supports keeping the castle together were either broken or pushed mere millimeters from their foundations, which was enough to knock down some of the more sensitive parts of the castle. Those who were not killed as a direct consequence of the explosion and the shockwave were sentenced to a gruesome grave as the stone castle collapsed above them. Despite the fortunate few that managed to get out, much of the castle staff, administrators, lords, and families of the castle staff were buried under extremely heavy rubble, doomed to die from either asphyxiation or as a result of their serious injuries.
The skies above Jin-Hark
As the F-2 fighters completed their nth circle over the Lourian capital, Rabbit 3, who operated the Sniper TPOD to guide the six 500lb laser-guided bombs to their target, was now assessing the damage from the bombing.
"All bombs have hit the target."
Receiving an OK from Rabbit 1, Rabbit 3 continued to examine the ruins of the royal castle, remembering the castle's layout provided to them by the Qua-Toynians, courtesy of Llanfair's extensive spy network in Rodenius. Taking the castle plan in his head and mentally superimposing it over the ruins of the castle depicted in the live feed from the Sniper TPOD, he was able to confirm what they were hoping for.
"The baths and the throne room, where the king is frequently in, have been leveled. Safe to say that the king is dead."
"Are you sure?"
"They're on the upper floor, and I can see the foundations of the castle on where they used to stand. It's extremely likely that we got him."
Trusting the word of Rabbit 3, Rabbit 1 then gave the order to return to base.
As the F-2s left the Lourian airspace still uncontested, true to Rabbit 3's statement, Operation Zanzibar was a success.
In another part of the city, that same time
"What the hell is going on?!"
Situated in one of the watchtowers of the outer wall reviewing the capital's defenses, Commander Patagene heard and felt six distinct booms and their shockwaves come from the direction of the royal castle. Stepping out onto the ramparts, Patagene turned towards the royal castle only to find a massive dust cloud obscuring Lourian administrative power base. As he repeatedly screamed, wondering what had happened, sweat began to rapidly form and drop from his forehead.
"Is the Great King still alive?! Who did this?! Was it a saboteur?!"
Immediately, Patagene's train of thought pointed the finger at the Parpaldians, whom he also distrusted. Were the Parpaldians so eager to plant their influence in Rodenius that they had to take away the Great King? Patagene immediately refuted this by remembering the Great King's lenience and friendship towards the Parpaldians. Why would the Parpaldians be eager to get rid of someone who actively welcomes their influence and support? The next entity he could pin the blame on was Qua-Toyne, but as far as they know, Qua-Toyne doesn't possess such extremely potent explosives in their arsenal. That is, of course, unless...
"Japan?! No... How did they-"
Answering his questions, he heard a high-pitched alien sound echoing throughout the city. Looking to the guards, he learns that they, too, have heard the sound. Deducing that the sound seemed to emanate from above, they looked up at the clear blue sky that unfolded above them. Looking for something familiar, Patagene instead sighted something that he struggled to explain, much less come to terms with. Heading towards the northeast out to the ocean were two streaks of something blending into the color of the great sky. Before he could scrutinize more details, something disappeared into the dark, blue void, leaving only the alien high-pitched sound that still echoed throughout the city and the destruction of the royal castle. Unable to conclude with confidence what exactly was it that did this, Patagene could only sweat uncontrollably and stare at the empty patch of sky where something disappeared to.
20 minutes later, at the camp of the Lourian Main Echelon
The Lourian invasion force, dubbed the Eastern Subjugation Army, was split into two parts: the 15,000 battle-ready professional force that was the Advanced Echelon and the 25,000 levied army composed of the lords' personal retinues and subjects under the command of the lords themselves, which was referred to as the Main Echelon. The Advanced Echelon would open the invasion and secure Gim as a staging point before heading to Ejei and besieging it, crushing any Qua-Toynian field army that responded to oppose them on the way. The Main Echelon was to provide the numbers necessary for the rest of the campaign as they advanced northeast to take the more populous major cities deep in Qua-Toyne proper. However, asof Day 5, Month 6, the Main Echelon was still waiting for some of the other lords to join them to hit their intended goal of a 25,000-strong force. Expecting the Advanced Echelon to have taken Gim and report in, the Main Echelon waited for their update, but none came. The Advanced Echelon still sent no update after 30 minutes of silence since the invasion's scheduled start. Worrying that something bad had happened, General Pandour ordered the 1st Wyvern Squadron, composed of 25 wyvern lords and their dragon knights whose command was lent to the Lourians by the Parpaldian Empire to fly to the Advanced Echelon's camp and report back. Utilizing the faster speed of the wyvern lord breed over the regular wyvern, General Pandour hoped to hear from them earlier than if he had sent regular wyverns instead. When the 1st Wyvern Squadron reported back the utter carnage and destruction they witnessed, the commanders of the Main Echelon bickered back and fought about what to do next.
"To hell with this invasion! If the Advanced Echelon has been annihilated, then the invasion may as well have already failed! I maintain my position that we should disband and head home!"
"But the Great King and his commanders... they'll be furious with us if we do so!"
"With the entirety of the professional forces basically gone, what's stopping us from deposing the Great King?"
The lords were resentful of their king. Being forcefully pulled into the control of the Jin-Hark-based kings, the lords were more than happy to take advantage of the loss of the king's powerful professional force to their advantage. Still, the King had the support of the Parpaldia Empire, a great power with military prowess beyond what they could muster. If they decided to depose the king and ruin Parpaldia's interests in Rodenius, it would mean a great deal of trouble for them. As the lords continued to bicker about what to do, one of the manacomm officers came running to them.
"My lords! The Great King... is dead!"
Unable to contain their reactive happiness, the lords cheered. After a moment of gay and merry, the lords instantaneously realized the gravity of the situation and immediately started sweating bullets.
"WHAT?!"
"My lords... According to the administrators in the capital, the royal castle erupted in a great explosion. In the search for survivors, they could not find the king nor any of his remains. They deduced it was an attack from the sky due to an ominous sound emanating from the heavens after the explosion."
One of the lords who had closer ties to Qua-Toyne immediately remembered the tales from merchants that described the amazing performance of Japanese flying objects, called aircraft, that came in and out of an airfield in Myhark. Without much to go on, he still made the connection.
"An attack by the enemy... Japan..."
Hearing his statement, the other lords began to consider the possibility of Japan killing their king. Suppose Japan also eradicated the Advanced Echelon in less than 30 minutes between the last time they reported in and General Pandour sending the 1st Wyvern Squadron to investigate. In that case, Japan might have much more potent military capabilities than they initially thought. Even if they couldn't conclude that Japan was the one that killed the king, they at least knew that continuing with the invasion was asking for slaughter. Looking at the good side of the situation, the king was dead and not by their own hand. There was no longer anyone controlling them. There was no longer anyone on the throne since Hark had no heirs. It was a prime opportunity to seize the seat of power. With the lords more or less coming to the same conclusion, they all looked at each other and instantly realized that they were all potential enemies to each of their ambitions. However...
"I know where this is going. Before we get there, we need to eliminate the threat of an enemy invasion coming from our eastern flank. So that we could equally represent ourselves at the peace table, I propose a truce."
Sensing logic in General Pandour's proposal, the other lords agreed to a truce. They didn't want any one of them getting more favorable peace terms with the Japanese and the Qua-Toynians over everyone else, much less having only a handful of lords be accepted by the enemy to make a peace deal. Agreeing to send their retinues as representatives to request a peaceful conclusion to the war from the Qua-Toynians and Japanese, the lords packed up and marched west with their armies to take control of the capital.
At the same time, off the northern coast of Rodenius
Having stopped and picked up some more ships along the way, it was already two and a half hours past noon, and the Lourian war fleet was still a considerable distance away from their target, Myhark. Hours ago, their headquarters in Jin-Hark notified them of some unexpected developments in the ground invasion but did not provide further comments. With headquarters not responding to their calls for details, Vice Admiral Sharkun grew restless at the lack of information in their possession and started pacing back and forth on the helm of the flagship.
"What the fuck does 'unexpected developments' mean?"
Coming up empty-handed, Sharkun could only scratch his head in frustration as their ships languidly inched eastward. Suddenly, the manacomm officer called out to him.
"Vice Admiral! Urgent message from headquarters!"
"What is it?!"
"The Great King is dead, and it is also extremely likely that the ground invasion has been stopped altogether by the enemy. Due to concerns of violent dissent, the war fleet is ordered to turn back and return to port immediately, and its men are brought under the command of Commander Patagene!"
Sharkun found it difficult to process, let alone accept, the message. How did the Great King die? How did the invasion of Qua-Toyne fail so early in the timeline? Out of the countless questions that arose, one fact appealed to Sharkun: they were no longer obligated to continue their invasion. Mentally disposing of his planned countermeasures in dealing with the massive Japanese warships, Sharkun decisively ordered the entire fleet.
"All ships, fall back! The ground invasion has failed! We will be acting without support! We are ordered by headquarters to return to Jin-Hark!"