The Big Ones

by WellBattle6

For years, the United States of America has dominated the skies with SAC's nuclear-armed bombers and fighters since the nuclear annihilation of Germany in WW2 in the event known as The Big One. Now suddenly transported to a New World during the early September of 2001, the United States must contend with various belligerent nations based not in science, but magic.

2. Chapter Two: The Three Kingdoms

Imperial Box, The Hippodrome, Jin-Hark, Kingdom of Louria

"So you're saying because we've had TOO MUCH rain over the past couple of months, we're going to face a bread shortage?" asked King Hark IV of Louria, 34th of his line.

Four chariots painted in blue or green thundered down the track of the hippodrome as the riders urged their horses forward with lashes from their whips. Sand flew into the air behind them before settling back onto the ground.

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied High Chamberlain Maus. "The consecutive rains meant that the soil never dried enough for planting until a few days ago, and by now the delay means the wheat will not be harvestable in time before we must dip into our reserves, and I mean heavily. A couple of weeks delay is fine, but not a whole two months."

The chariots noticeably shake and quavered as they went barreled around the end of the hippodrome to loop back on the other side of the central divider, past the altars up on the top of the walls marking the spots where many a charioteer was dashed against them. The crowd's cheering raised a level at the skillful display before settling down.

King Hark shook his head. "I cannot demean myself and beg for aid from the knife ears. It took generations of hard work to convince the demes to see how detrimental the flood of goods from Qua-Toyne would impact us Lourians and support restricting the flow just enough for wheat farmers to survive. Hark the First destroyed the lives of the farmers and thus the nation when he attempted to unrestrict trade."

How was simply opening the gates to trade devastating to Louria's farmers? The king still remembered the lessons hammered into him by the treasurer when he was a child.

Qua-Toyne outcompeted the Lourians on both ends of the produce market. If something could be grown, then Qua-Toyne could offer a cheaper price to the merchant, for each of their plants can produce five times the quantity of their competitors. If Qua-Toyne's farmers were not interested in quantity, then they could commit to quality with fruits three times as large and much tastier than anything outside. If a servant visited the high-end market for their masters for the first time in their life, they could hardly recognize the Qua-Toynian grapes as grapes, since each berry could be the size of one's fist. This sadly resulted in the Qua-Toynians outcompeting Louria even in the wine business.

The problem for Lourian's food security was that the poor loved the low price of Qua-Toynian wheat-derived bread. Their dependence meant no king of Louria could completely ban Qua-Toynian goods, so most of Louria's wheat-capable land was instead used to raise cows, chickens, sheep, and horses. The Qua-Toynians even dominated the pork trade, as their unparalleled forests were capable of raising gigantic pigs that needed limited attention from the foresters to multiply, and the same forests provided an inexhaustible wood supply.

Louria's true money-making exports were clay pottery and wool textiles, but profits were squeezed by the Parpaldian control of the oceans. Therefore, Louria lost out on both the low and high input products. It was to King Hark IV's shame that the royal reserves of wheat kept for emergencies were of mostly Qua-Toynian origin, as the treasury struggled to acquire the necessary quantities to ensure the people's survival during bad harvests and war.

Maus, of course, knew the gravity of the situation. "It is indeed a difficult problem, Your Majesty."

"What about the Parpaldians? Would they use those big ships of theirs to float wheat into our harbours?"

"Not without significant cost. No doubt they would ask for double or triple the already greedy prices the elves of Qua-Toyne would request. They will of course disguise it as the natural course of their ocean travel expenses, but Your Majesty knows how great a profit they instead make from our earlier purchases."

King Hark grimaced, but he nodded. Maus was a eunuch, castrated at a young age to be able to serve closely within the imperial household. As servant and friend, he did well, rising respectfully up the household positions until eventually reaching the position of High Chamberlain, and thus being the only other person that was not the king nor the queen to sleep in the royal bedchamber. Maus was there throughout Hark's entire life, almost like an older brother, and so he and only he alone could softly chastise the King for his spending choices.

Maus had warned that the Parpaldians would expect great returns for their military contribution. Perhaps too much, but King Hark was convinced of the need. The Parpaldians may be a frenemy, a cat who fattens up mice with offerings of cheese, but the elves are rat poisoners. It was the elves of Qua-Toyne who supported the enemy tribes who attempted to conquer ancient Jin-Hark. They bribed starving humans to hurl themselves onto the spear tips of their fellow humans with their cursed abundance of produce. It was Qua-Toyne that drove the knife deeper into the emerging cracks that would seemingly forever break apart the once mutual destinies of the humans of Louria and the various beastfolk of Quilla. The regrettable pogroms undertaken by Hark's ancestors against the ancient Quilans were never inevitable. The Lourian churches still openly and freely teach about how Kenshiva, a beastman, was one of the four great heroes who form the basis for the religion of all races that were part of the Alliance.

The elves of Qua-Toyne could not accept the equalist teachings of the Church of the Four Stars, and they mostly rejected it for their goddess. They had to cling to their fragile sense of supremacy over everyone else, just because they had a magical talent for renewing the land and their supposed martial skill. As long as they continue to exist under the yokes of their nobility, they would endlessly plot against their neighbours. Divide and conquer. The Principality was not only an economic danger; it was a social evil. The humans of Qua-Toyne, descendants of the few tribes that chose to stick with the elves, remain largely blind to the intent of their superiors. While there were humans amongst the leaders of their government, the majority of Qua-Toynians were wholely segregated.

King Hark dreamed of one day achieving what his ancestors could not, the reunification of all the members of the Alliance. The Parpaldians, who ostensibly support him for his faith, probably doubt his sincerity.

The chariots reached their final lap. Two chariots, one green and one blue, pulled ahead, wheel at wheel, but in the final seconds, the blue chariot got in front by just a spoke. The crowd erupted into a frenzy. No doubt, scuffles would soon break out between the opposing Blues and Greens over the close race. Perhaps the palace guard will have to be brought in. King Hark himself was a Blue, having simply liked the colour better as a child. The political views of the demes changed to match the politics of the current King.

All the spectacle of the chariot races and the vulgar divisions of the demes, in his grand view, did not matter to King Hark.

"Maus, call up the Chief Minister, the Grand Secretaries, the Grand Domestic, and the Grand Duke to the palace for a meeting tomorrow morning. I think it's time we show the Qua-Toynians that they are not standing on a higher pedestal. There is a price to pay for their exorbitant greed."

"By your will, Your Majesty."

The High Chamberlain bowed as King Hark IV left the Imperial Box.

The Royal Court, The Royal Lodge, Barat, Kingdom of Quila

"I assure you, Ambassador Hiro, that our warriors will continue to stand side by side with the Qua-Toynians as they have done for centuries should your homeland be attacked. We honour our oaths," said King Rolfus Quila.

"Our people's many thanks to you, Your Majesty." The elven ambassador bowed gracefully. "Please let my embassy know of whatever further needs for food your people require, and Qua-Toyne shall provide."

King Rolfus nodded and his long branching antlers shook, which exaggerated every movement of his. He kept his face neutral at the ambassador's diplomatic but stinging remarks. The elf had just cut an unequal deal for a huge amount of additional migrant labour from Quila in exchange for food to replace the shortage brought on by an increase of kraken attacks on the kingdom's fishing boats.

Ambassador Hiro finally turned and slid out of the court. To be truthful, Rolfus was jealous of how the elf's feet allowed the ambassador to avoid making a sound on the hard wooden floor. Why did royal customs demand covering up the ground with wood rather than just leaving the soil free as it should be?

King Rolfus sighed. The great stagman turned to his herald. "That's all the people on your list. Am I correct?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The herald carefully spoke slightly to the side away from the king to make sure he never directly opened his long-snouted jaws towards his liege.

King Rolfus stood up. His majestic brown-coated frame made the wolfman look tiny in comparison, despite the herald already being stronger than most humans.

"I'll be in the Sacred Grove with the speaker. If there are any unexpected visitors, please send a messenger to knock on the outer tree."

There was only a simple bow from the herald in response, as like all non-members of the royal family, he refrained from speaking whenever possible.

King Rolfus's hoofsteps caused the boards of the flooring to creak and groan until he stepped out the back onto merciful soil. Outside was a series of trees, arranged in circles, with each consecutive ring arranged to block line of sight towards the centre. It was at the centre of the Sacred Grove where the Great Tree stood, its shadow darkening the grove and providing absolute protection from any rain. The king sat on a plain wooden bench fashioned out of a log and two stumps and waited for not more than ten seconds before the Speaker appeared.

The Speaker was, unusually for her position, not the traditional herbivore of her predecessors. Instead, she was a catperson, one of the lines of great cats more suited to tall dense grassy fields than the great forests that the ancestors of most Quilans came from. These two traits marked her unique amongst the Speakers recorded in Quila's history.

The Speaker closed her yellow eyes and bowed to him.

The King closed his eyes and slightly bowed just his head, a display of the unique respect granted to Speakers, one that was justly earned across uncounted generations.

The Speaker spoke first, directly to him, revealing the rows of sharp teeth normally taboo towards members of the House of Quila, and reversing the typical customs of people only speaking once directly granted permission by the King. Here in the Sacred Grove, the Speaker was the host, and the King was the visitor. "Ask your question my son, and the spirits of the Heart of the Land shall answer."

King Rolfus was by now used to the irony that the Speaker was calling him her 'son' when he was of her parent's generation. "Speaker, the fish catchers have fallen under deep hardship recently due to intensified attacks by kraken in the open waters. The catch has significantly reduced, and thus our people will need to import more food from abroad. The elves of Qua-Toyne have agreed to give us more food from their bounty, but they require more of our young as labourers. Like before, the numbers of labourers required are not just for the harvesting and transportation of the additional supplies, but also for the works that the elves do not wish to do themselves."

"So then what is your problem here, my son?"

"Over my reign, I feel... No, I know more and more of our young as a whole now work in Qua-Toyne to feed their parents and grandparents back here. Not only that, but more of them never return. The Qua-Toynians have always explained the losses as resulting from disease or unfortunate accidents, but their answers don't explain the disproportional increase. More and more of our young have lost their connections to the Heart, Speaker, and I don't know what to do. I wish we could do something to keep their connection, but Qua-Toyne disallows the arrival of any of our elder populace."

"So you feel that slowly our people diminish."

"Yes." King Rolfus felt that he was rambling a bit too much. Perhaps he could have phrased his request for guidance better, but he was simply at a loss now. The last time he spoke to the Speaker, it was about a series of skirmishes that had occurred on the border with Louria, with both sides blaming the other for starting the fight. Back then the question was simply a request for how to best establish the truth and prevent escalation. The Speaker had suggested letting the truth remain buried, exchanging all prisoners without ransom, and establishing long-lasting border markers where none had existed before. The Lourians had agreed to provide the stone required while Quilans supplied their strength to set the markers in place on the hard-to-access wilderness. Avoiding investigating the truth of the initial events may not have initially sat well with the direct participants of the skirmish, but only blame would have emerged out of it.

For the first time since she spoke, the Speaker blinked. Then she turned towards the Great Tree, the ancient plant that serves as the last reminder of Quila's once verdant forests, slowly taken over by the Unending Desert year after year. The Speaker closed her eyes and remained silent for a while. The Sacred Grove itself seemed to fall in silence, as King Rolfus found he could not even hear the swaying of the branches above.

King Rolfus blinked when he suddenly found himself staring into the Speaker's open yellow eyes, not remembering when she had turned back towards him.

"Hold out your hand, my son."

He did as she instructed, and she placed her clawed hands over his. When she removed them he found a little object in his palm. It was an acorn, the seed of the same kind as of the Great Tree.

"Quila has existed far longer than Qua-Toyne, and once Quila's forests stood taller than those of Qua-Toyne," whispered the Speaker as the Antlered King gaze remained fixed on the acorn. "I warn you now that you will not like the answer you seek, but if you truly wish to know then look at the shared histories and borders of the two lands and see what the Great Tree has seen. Your answer will arise from what you will find."

There was a moment of silence. When King Rolfus looked up from the acorn in response, the Speaker was gone, leaving just the sounds of leaves shaking with the swaying of the branches.

Privy Council Office, Palace of Qua-Toyne, Qua-Toyne, Principality of Qua-Toyne

"Minister Rinsui, what are the reports from our emissaries abroad," asked Prime Minister Kanata.

The middle-aged human habitually pulled on the side of his mustache before speaking. "The Quilans have, as usual, renewed their bonds by oath and proclamations of friendship. They've agreed to send 2000 labourers to work for a year in exchange for 3000 bushels of wheat."

Kanata grinned with his practiced elven smile, mirroring the paintings of him found across council offices across the Principality. A single person ate the equivalent of about two bushels of wheat per year. This meant that Qua-Toyne would effectively profit from the work of 500 labourers who would not be feeding an average person back home.

"Splendid Minister Rinsui. This is a better result than in the last food for labour exchange deal. Please, award Ambassador Hiro when he returns."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs smiled back at Kanata's happy reaction. "I shall do so, Prime Minister. Our ambassador to the Kingdom of Fenn has been able to increase the scale of the trade between our two kingdoms. 2000 of their knights and footsoldiers have been pledged to aid us in the event we're invaded, doubling the previous pledge. It appears that our gift of a set of knightly full plate has been received well by the Sword King."

"Very good news. Then it appears that the dwarfen clans have their work cut out from now on."

"Indeed. A large order for more metalwork has been made in exchange for some of their big chargeguns. Fenn ships will handle the transportation."

"With chargeguns, we'll be able to blast away any Lourian fortification!" exclaimed Lord Asam, the Minister of Military Affairs. Lord Asam was a human, one of the nobility descended from the chieftains of the old allied tribes to the elves.

Kanata did not feel the same enthusiasm as Lord Asam. As an elf, Kanata lived a much longer life than any of the humans of the Privy Council. The biological gift that naturally guaranteed the subtly crafted dominance of elvenkind over the other races. While elves were not as industrious or numerous as the others, elves were born to lead. Lord Asam could not see what Kanata knew by experience, which honestly could be expected since the Military Minister spent the majority of his time suppressing the beasts who were breaking their labour contracts.

Once the Lorians found out that Qua-Toyne had added chargeguns to its arsenal, they would without a doubt, secure better military weaponry from the Parpaldian Empire. The Qua-Toynian spies already reported that the Lourians have a new crossbow with a longer range and faster shooting rate. The recent expansion of trade to the island of the Fenns would require quick adaptiveness from the Qua-Toynians to stay ahead of the Lourians in a new era of competition unseen since ancient times.

Kanata knew it was likely necessary for the dwarven clans to begin building copies of the Fenn weapons as soon as they arrived. With this in mind, he makes an order to the Foreign Minister: "Make sure that the Ambassador to Fenn buys some jade as gifts for the big seven clans before he leaves."

"I'll message him on our next scheduled call."

Kanata noticed with his elven eyes the minute shifts in facial muscles that indicated Rinsui was about to bring some unwelcome news.

"Moving on," said the Minister, "unfortunately, the Kingdom of Fenn's neighbour, the Gahara Thearchy, has refused the offer of our emissaries to set up an embassy between our monarchies. They cited the reluctance to become involved with the affairs of the south."

"Affairs of the south?" Kanata asked.

"Ah, the Gahara Thearchy appears to be aligned or at least maintain a friendly neutral relationship with the Parpaldian Empire. Our emissaries saw an embassy carrying the colours of the Empire."

Minister Rinsui's forehead wrinkled up with worry as he waited for Kanata's reaction. The Prime Minister had stressed the importance of opening up dialogue with foreign governments when they first sent out the emissaries.

"That's disappointing. I don't suppose it would be surprising that the Empire has claimed exclusive relations with them considering the growing rivalry between Parpaldia and Fenn. The Empire must be using the Thearchy as a bulwark."

Rinsui relaxed as he became sure he wouldn't be punished for this lapse of progress. Kanata had ensured no one on the Privy Council was above consequences for failure due to incompetence. The wiser ones would catch on to his subtler methods warning them of their mistakes when he first appointed them. Rinsui's reaction showed though that he had not yet caught on to the difference between failing due to one's self and failing due to unmitigable circumstances, and therefore proved he was unfortunately not up to Kanata's ideal standards of wisdom. Kanata was not cruel, merely efficient in guiding his subordinates towards their best roles, as an elven leader must be. Every creature had its ideal place, and it was his job to find that place. For a human heading the Office of Foreign Affairs, Rinsui was at least keeping pace so far.

"Maybe, Prime Minister. We do know that the Fenns have increased their magical advancements rapidly during the wars between factions of their equivalent of Dukes that led to the restoration of the current Sword King's father to the throne."

"Do you think they'll give up the lance for charge weaponry in the future?"

"I believe that any military must eventually do so if they had any sense. From some Gaharan merchants, we've learned that the Parpaldians are preparing for war with the Kingdom of Riem on its northeast border. Supposedly the Riemians fully converted to chargeguns in their army just a couple of generations ago."

"I must admit that I have no idea how an army is supposed to just rely on a weapon that requires a horse to pull," said Kanata.

"Oh most of the troops do not use those big weapons, Prime Minister," said Lord Asam. "From the drawings and descriptions I collected over the years, most chargeguns are small enough to be no longer than a short spear. I must disagree partially with the Foreign Minister's assessment of the direction of military advancement. I still believe that lances and armour, when correctly modified, will still play a role on a battlefield filled with chargeguns. There's still nothing better to send formations of foot soldiers scattering than the pounding of hooves."

Kanata nodded, though he knew as an elf that cavalry was not what the Principality would rely upon in the end. It was quiet and rapidly striking infantry that would destroy their enemies within Qua-Toyne's forests long before they reached the inner castles of the country. There were simply not enough red wyverns or torches in the world to burn down the magically rejuvenating forests quick enough for invaders. "Anything else to add about our relations, Foreign Minister?"

"No, Prime Minister."

"Very well then. I'll inform everyone here that the Princess has fully recovered from her illness. We may now rest aside our worries for the Crown."

There was a smattering of displays of relief and declarations of prayers answered by the Privy Council members for the figure not present in the room.

"She'll join us again at our next meeting. That's everything dealt with, I believe." Kanata waited a moment for if anyone had something to address before continuing, "Very well then. The Privy Council meeting is adjourned. Long grow Qua-Toyne, and may we be forever blessed by the Goddess of the Land."

"Long grow Qua-Toyne!"

And long rule elvenkind.

In the Skies East of Maihark, Principality of Qua-Toyne

The 6th Wyvern Squadron had been patrolling for about an hour. Wyvern Knight Maarpatima had kept his mouth guard closed as the air pummeled the cloth of his brigandine as the wyvern soared across the late morning skies. It was in the skies where Maarpatima felt freest from the burdens of life on the ground. The wyvern knights were one of the few military units in Qua-Toyne which had about equal proportions of humans to elves, given that it took an iron stomach, flexible lungs, and animal compatibility. Humans and elves had about an equal chance of having these, while the beastfolk and the dwarves very much preferred solid ground.

Up here, he could forget about the sadness of his forbidden romance. He was human. She was an elf. An elopement would result in immediate ostracization for both of them from everyone they knew. Sometimes he daydreamed about just flying away with her to another country, but he knew how precious her family was to her. They were already lucky that they had not been discovered yet.

He attempted to lean a bit more forward on his saddle to hide behind the wyvern's neck and reduce the amount of air pushing against him. As he did so, he felt the weight on his back shift, and he quickly grabbed his manacom pack's straps to tighten them against his body. The crystal embedded in the contraption stuffed inside the cloth padded backpack was worth as much as a suit of full plate, and he would be screwed if he dropped the thing this high in the air. As he did so, he reflexively tilted his head back up, glancing at the wonderfully clear sky.

"Wait a moment," he said as his eyes caught something unusual. "Praavti, why is there a white line in the sky?"

Praavti, his wyvern, snorted and continued flying. Of course, as an unintelligent creature, Praavti did not understand languages. Praavti was trained to roll, pitch, yaw, and spit fireballs with a single squeeze of soft spots nestled at the base of the back of his neck in between his scales, a feature formed from thousands of years of careful breeding, but he was more likely to drop his dung on some poor brat below then respond to his handler's musings.

Maarpatima observed that the white line, which appeared to be a very thin and long cloud, seemed to be moving. Maarpatima waved his arms to signal the rest of the squadron of the observation and his next intentions. Maarpatima squeezed a bump of unprotected skin on Praavti, causing the creature to squawk before immediately turning until they were flying parallel in the same direction as the line. A series of following squawks let Maarpatima know the rest of the squadron had changed directions with him.

The line was indeed moving. Moving towards the same direction as Maihark. Maarpatima squinted and attempted to see what was at the front of the mysterious line. There was a dot at the front of it.

He gasped and fumbled for the control of the voice tube around his neck. Something unbelievably high was headed towards Maihark. He cursed his bad luck for not being born an elf with better eyesight. Whatever it was, it wasn't Qua-Toynian, and Maarpatima believed that no living creature exposed to the elements could withstand the cold and lack of air found at such height.

"Sixth wyvern squadron to command tent. Sixth wyvern squadron to command tent. Do you hear me?"

"Command tent to sixth wyvern squadron. We hear you. What is your report?"

"We have spotted a high flying unknown object headed for Maihark skies. Sixth wyvern squadron has spotted a high-flying unknown object headed for Maihark skies. Unknown is too high to get a clear visual. From our height, it is just a dot, but you should be able to see a moving white line in the sky showing its location."

"High unknown headed for Maihark skies. Unknown is indicated by a moving white line. Is this correct?"

"You are correct, correct, correct."

"Report confirmed. Continue to trail the unknown. We are now alerting observers. Standby for further orders. Command tent end message."

On Board an RB-58H, 74500 ft Above Sea Level at Mach 2.8

The Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Operator stifled a yawn as he stared at the computer monitor in front of him amidst the sound of the Hustler's ambient jet noise, computer fans, and the occasional keyboard tap and mouse click.

Originally, the RB-58 was upgraded to the RB-58F variant as an interim solution to a delayed RS-70 Valkryie, but its radically upgraded and modified engine and electronics gave it such a boost in performance that the Valkryie's reconnaissance version was cancelled. The RB-58H had a modernized electronic and sensor suite that allowed it to link with the DAMS system on the latest variant B-70 that flew up to Mach 4 at 120000 ft with its multi-phase turbojet and scramjet SJ-93-0 engine.

A virtual box on the computer monitor showed the footage of one of several movable telescopic cameras mounted on the plane. The crew had already confirmed indigenous activity in this strange new world they were flying over.

The first had been shots of wooden vessels with white sails sailing across blue waters, indicating structured civilization. Then they flew over what appeared to be a harbour town with stone fortifications overlooking it. Afterward, the most notable event thus far was when radar began tracking multiple flying objects at an altitude of 3000 m and a speed of almost 97 knots or 180 km/hr. While everyone attempted to get visual identification of the objects, the operator simultaneously thought about the ongoing debate back on base about whether the knot would be replaced as a unit of measurement with a new one based on a new planetary nautical mile.

A cry of surprise alerted him that another operator had beaten him to spot the objects. It turns out that there were some extremely large flying animals with 3 m long wings below. There was a moment of debate over whether the wings were bird-like or bat-like, but the detailed analysis would be left to specialists on the ground later. The birds or whatever surprisingly turned around to head in the same direction as the plane for a bit before rapidly disappearing beyond visual range.

He wondered if any of the aliens below had spotted the contrails the RB-70B was making in the clear sky above them. With the cameras not being high resolution enough to get details on distinct creatures, he next wondered what the aliens looked like.

A blob of grey, red, and brown interrupted the mainly green landscape, crawling down the monitor. He directed the camera to focus on it and then made notes on a textbox beside the camera view box to label the footage. 'Town/City' read the label, along with an estimation of the size in length and width. Once he hit the enter key the computer automatically added a timestamp for the footage as well as the calculated coordinates. The operator was not entirely sure the coordinates were proper, given that the tech wizards had only recently coded in the new geocoding system SAC created from their space observations of the new planet. Something might have been screwed up in the rush to plug everything into the reconnaissance plane.

The operator frowned. When he got himself into this AFSC, he expected to be flying over Japan or Iran. Sure those missions would be tense, but at least he knew what to expect. Now, who knew what the crew was flying over. The flight plan was fairly lengthy, forming an elliptical path that ranged from latitudinally across the southern landmass to the dead centre of a much larger landmass to its north then back to the western United States. The total flight would be the approximate equivalent of flying the old US coast-to-coast route four times without stopping.

There was plenty of space to encounter a capable belligerent if they were unlucky. Maybe the next chunk of land would contain super anti-air laser batteries that would instantly blow up the plane without warning like in Atari's old Missile Bomber Command game.

Author's Notes

Dear Reader,

I want to just take the moment to thank the few of you for choosing to continue to read The Big Ones. With the introduction of the first countries of the New World, those of you who follow Summoning Japan or one of its more popular fanfics will notice some significant differences in the inner geopolitical views of their respective leaders. This will shape the imminent conflicts to come with perhaps some unexpected conclusions to them.

If you liked or disliked anything about my current writing, please take some time to write out a chapter review or add comments to relevant paragraphs. Your feedback is most appreciated and will allow me to make adjustments to improve this work of fiction.

Thank you,

WellBattle6

Made an edit to correct and replace the RB-70B with the RB-58H derived from TBO source material RB-58G.