Earth, July 21, 2025:
July 21 was a day celebrated annually for the people of Belgium, the holiday marked the nation's sovereignty and independence from the clutches of the Netherlands. The royal family of Belgium returned to the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in attendance of a Te Deum, where hymns were sung in the praises of God. After the singing of the hymns was over, the King and his family later viewed the military parade in conjunction with the Belgian politie/police. King Phillipe, as well as his parents and children, have seen similar parades each year and his overall opinion hasn't changed much given Belgium's military standing in the world, but it was nice to see the development in the technology of his country's forces.
The Belgians celebrated in Brussels Park with food and festivities provided by groups of all kinds, from charities and public services to its military and police forces. By the end of the day a national concert would be held, a bal nationale ("national ball"). Nostalgic and modern songs alike were played by an entire orchestra. The day was overall standard fare for the Belgian National Holiday— at least until 12:00 am (CEST).
It began with the moon accelerating far faster than it should. The moon dipped below the horizon in the east when the sun along with the bright skies just several hours ago rose and set in just a minute. The crowds murmured with equal confusion and fear while a few screamed at the bizarre phenomenon of the daylight cycle going haywire as sunsets and sunrises sped up exponentially until it all became a blur. As soon as the phenomenon began, it immediately stopped. The darkness of the night dominated the skies again along with the city itself when Brussels was plunged in a blackout.
Many across the country were left wondering just what had happened. Some thought this was an act of God while some more imaginative people believed this was due to aliens tampering with Earth. The police and emergency services tried to reassure the populace that everything was alright and were currently working on bringing the power grid back online. Words were only an attempt at a bandage solution for soothing the public, especially for an event as unprecedented as this one was. A few devout individuals believed this was the prophesized Armageddon and the apocalypse had now finally begun.
Earth? July 22, 2025:
What happened during the Belgian National Holiday was as outside-context as they came. A major scientific improbability if not impossibility just occurred in front of everyone's eyes that the scientific community could not currently comprehend. Shock didn't begin to describe what everyone had felt, and the feeling still lingered. Because of the resulting blackout from the anomaly, an absurd amount of food across the country had to be dumped from the lack of refrigeration.
When power finally came online, the men at the Liège Space Center could finally decipher part of the anomaly's puzzle through satellite data. However, what they discovered was not in any way what they expected… the geography of the planet had dramatically changed. The scientists studied the mega continent that looked like a caricature of a combined Europe, Africa and Asia. It had taken a laborious effort to locate their country's position, but it seemed to be located further inland of the Euro-African section of the continent with a lake where the English Channel had been. The fact that this would have serious ramifications on the country was a serious understatement. Manuel wished that they could have saved the food.
Brussels, Belgium; July 23, 2025:
All ministers were assembled at the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat on short notice. Belgium was in a state of emergency, and they had to figure out what was going on and how to solve it. The prime minister had to deal with the facts they knew so far. One of the ministers spoke up, "from what we gathered from the information given to us by the Liège Space Center, we seem to have been transported to an entirely different location– possibly on another planet." The minister took out a map of this new landmass with the outlines of Belgium's borders colored in red and passed it around for the ministers to study. "That explains why all communication to other nations was severed," another minister spoke.
A knot twisted in the prime minister's stomach. The world he knew and loved, Earth, was gone forever. No EU, no NATO, and certainly no UN would come to Belgium's aid when she needed it, and Belgium was now alone in this new world. He knew he had to remain professional and confident as the face of Belgium's government, but inside he desperately wanted to cry. "Due to the blackout from the U.A.P," the minister of agriculture paused, "large stockpiles of perishables had to be removed from grocery stores throughout the country. With our current rate of production and lack of imports we may possibly face famine all across Belgium." No one liked hearing this. They knew an economic crash was inevitable, but a famine to top it all off was hard to swallow.
"I suggest we ration our food supplies until we discover a solution," continued the agricultural minister. The meeting grew eerily silent for a minute until the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs raised their hand. The foreign affairs minister looked at everyone in the room before speaking, "food and economic stability aren't the only problems we face, all access to major imports such as medicine, petroleum, metal and automobiles are essentially null and void." The gloom in the room only sank as more information was given. "I believe our solution resides in exploring this new land around us and establishing industry and farmland outside of our borders to alleviate pressure on our material and goods supplies."
"Minister of Foreign Affairs," shouted the minister who originally brought up the info from the space center. "There is some additional information that may be of note for your plan of agricultural and industrial expansion," all eyes were set on the minister, "from what the Liège Space Center has gathered there seems to be evidence of civilizations throughout the continent, although ours is the only one that emits." The level sound inside the meeting room drastically increased with gasps and ministers passing details to each other that were unintelligible to everyone else.
The Prime Minister made up his mind about what he had to say next. He stood up to announce to them "EVERYONE! May I have everyone's attention!" All conversations simmered down and their eyes were glued to him. "If there are possible civilizations in this world then it is prudent that we establish contact with them and work from there. Our main priorities should be trade agreements and land leases for farms, factories and oil fracking. Do we agree?" The ministers all looked at each other before returning their gazes to the Prime Minister and giving him a nod. The Prime Minister sat back down in his seat somewhat content with the direction the chancellery was heading. Belgium was without a doubt heading for some very dark days.
Unknown Territory, Near Raeren, Belgium; July 23, 2025:
Seven adventurous men were reeled in by the rumors of a new land where vaporous bogs had been and had to witness it for themselves. On their steeds they trotted to a location that indeed used to be swamp but instead was replaced by fields dotted with trees. "By Mitra… what happened to our lands," one of the men, Rulan, commented at the suddenly cultivated landscape. "We cannot hope to alter the earth to such a degree," cried Neiz in equal astonishment and horror. "Some devilish sorcerer must have conjured these lands to cow us," Neiz continued to voice his train of thought.
The man commanding the motley group of scouts, Barcleos, eyed the landscape groping for anything peculiar and out of place in this new scenery. His vision picked out what seemed to be structures that could be built by man far in the distance. "Men! Over there!" Barcleos pointed to the faint visage of a settlement. "I seem to have bore witness to what appears to be a civilization in the distance. Onwards men! We shall behold whatever secrets those foreign men keep from us!"
The pace of the men hastened as they directed their steeds in a course for what Barcleos imagined to be a civilization. If it was a civilization, that would mean this was most probably a typical village from their kingdom that was only recently erected. That was the line of thought that dominated Margaz's mind at the moment and he wished to have his ideas brought to the commander's attention. "Captain Barcleos!" Barcleos's attention swiftly shifted to Margaz. "Must this be the result of sorcery? Could these lands have simply dried up and been left open for our men to colonize?" What Margaz had hoped to be an intelligent argument to challenge the group's dominant opinion soon gathered a far different reaction from Barcleos than he expected.
"Have you witnessed a dried bog before Margaz?" Margaz's eyes drifted away from Barcleos refusing to answer. "Did it not occur to you that these lands were marsh only a few days ago? Tell me Margaz, how would you expect to build a town in less than three days in a place that should be filled with nothing dead marsh grass and desiccated soil is but verdant fields and trees. Explain to me Margaz!" Margaz was silent, humbled by his leader in a way that left him seething. "If these lands were already surveyed and settled by our own– why would the kingdom require our services to discover these lands?" His tone was much softer but that did little to cool down the raging Margaz. The rest of the scouts acted as if they heard nothing, not wishing to get involved and receive the sudden wrath of Barcleos.
The men rode down the hills with utmost speed to meet what they assumed was a foreign civilization. They were proven right when they stopped before this town, their distance far enough to avoid being spotted. This town, if they could even call it that, was a marvel from what they could make out. Many roads paved so finely that make many a "civilized" nation envious. All along these roads were large buildings made of some sturdy rocky material. If Barcleos's eyes deceived him, he swore that these men were riding carriages without horses and with incredible speed at that. "Incredible," muttered Barcleos, "those must be horseless carriages." It was incredibly dangerous, but he had to take a closer look. They dismounted their horses and set off to this odd place.
Sneaking through the alleys of the buildings with queer angles and design. The men hurried behind a bush to avoid the haze from the eyes of that metal beast Barcleos figured for "carriages". The beasts were frightening up close and made Rulan too shaken to move which impeded the advancement of the investigation. "Onward Rulan!" He ordered Rulan who was still unable to shift his position. "Move coward or I shall castrate you myself and sell your family to Hyperboreans as chattel!" Barcleos slapped him without relent, each slap hitting harder with each slap. Rulan did not budge from where he stood gazing into the eyes of Barcleos. "No. I will not" Barcleos sighed and unsheathed his blade and struck it through his body.
Barcleos held his blade in Rulan's gate for a good while before pulling it out of his body. Rulan arched in pain and coughed up a glob of blood as he collapsed onto the earth, his body gave a final twitch before it fully relaxed. "Is there anyone here who still objects to my orders?" No answer came from them. "Very well then."
The group skirted along the edges of the road hiding from the occasional passerby or metal beast. The extensive infrastructure and the sight of a castle led Barcleos to only one conclusion he already knew… they were being invaded. He had to warn his majesty that the Border Kingdom was under attack.