August 9th, 4:21 PM
“Damn, that mountain looks bigger from the ground.” Captain Raleigh observes the massive snow-covered mountain before him through a binocular, looking for signs of civilization like what he had read from reconnaissance imagery.
He peered around its sides, eventually finding several small but visible smoke trails rising up around the mountainsides. “Found ‘em.”
He hops down from the tree, wiping away dirt on his rifle before calling for Boris. “Staff Sergeant, get the men ready. We move out in 10 minutes.”
“Already did so… Captain.” Boris answered with disdain in his tone, barely hiding his contempt.
“Bor… What’s in the past stays in the past. You have to let it go.” Raleigh said with a sorrowful tone.
Anger suddenly overwhelms Boris, who grabs Raleigh’s flak jacket aggressively. “HOW CAN I?! YOU THREW THAT KID OFF THE ROOF WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT!”
“We both knew there was no other choice, Bor. The rebels rigged him with explosives. He would’ve killed us all.”
“Yeah right,” Boris crossed his arms, staring Raleigh dead in the eye. “There was still time to unstrap his vest and disable it, but you chose to throw him off instead, because it was quicker and easier, even when he was begging us to save him.”
“You don’t know that. There was nothing I could’ve done.” Raleigh said to him.
Boris continued. “What else huh? Oh yeah right. Remember Tarya? That boy from the 3rd District? I had to attend his funeral while his mother was crying her eyes out! And you…” Boris pauses, letting the guilt sink into Raleigh. “You weren’t there. Why weren’t you there, Raleigh? Even though the action that killed Tarya was you throwing that kid off the roof down onto him.”
“I-I needed time for reflection, Bor.” Raleigh mumbles while stuttering between words, trying to find any excuses he had left no matter how unreasonable in the vain hope to push the topic aside.
“Does your “reflection” come with a medal and a promotion too? I remember when you were a twink when you were deployed, and you still looked like one now despite your upright attitude. I’m surprised you even have the ball of staying in the Corps after that and accepting the medal no less. You came home a hero, saving six men by valiantly throwing a child off the balcony while Tarya came home to his single mother in a box, I get it. Tarya was written off as combat casualty, “grenade shrapnel” they said, but you and I both knew the truth. He finished his engineering degree before enlisting to get upgraded housing for himself and his mother, now he’s down under in the cemetery and his mother had to live with a bottle in her hand to cope.” Boris continued to recount what he had experienced before the Transference, continuing to pressure his old comrade.
“You never showed up to her to apologize, not even once. “What’s in the past stays in the past”, you said? That means absolutely nothing to his mother, and to me.” Boris finished releasing his pent up anger.
“I’m… I’m sorry, Bor. I really do.”
“Are you really? I’m almost believing your words this time. After we get to go home from this god damn mission, I’ll make you go and apologize to his mother.”
A figure ran up to the two men, holding down the helmet on his head with one arm and his rifle in the other as he did so, barely slowing down despite almost tripping on the pebbles below.
“Staff Sergeant! Captain!” Lewis called for them, catching his breath from the sprinting. “We got contacts from the front!”
Base of Yukihara Mountain.
4:36 AM
A neatly organized row of muskets were pointed straight at the Marines, laid out on the far side of the farmland at the base of the mountain, the men wearing conical helmets wielding them stood rigidly, fingers on their trigger. On the opposite end, half a company of eighty Marines also pointed their rifles towards the Harukamians.
Raleigh sprinted forward, ordering the company to hold their fire as he analyzed the situation.
“Give me a sitrep.” He said, scanning the group ahead with his binocular.
A Marine lieutenant put down his rifle and gave him a salute. “Capt’n, they got firearms. What should we do?”
“Hold your fire. They haven’t fired on us yet so they must be thinking of something.”
A masked, burly man in leather-scaled armor emerged among the musketmen and stood in front of them. Wearing a highly decorative and distinctive helmet, he stood in stark contrast to the skinny and minimally dressed underlings behind him.
The man stood in the open, hand next to his sword. “All of you there! This is General Yamauchi Shingen, descendent of the legendary Yamauchi Ikimura! State your intentions and affiliation or you will be shot!”
“Friendly people, eh?” Joker said sarcastically to his buddy.
“Give ‘em some time, dude. They’ve never seen Marines before.” Richard answers.
“I got his head in my sight, Staff Sergeant. Give the word.” Milton said to Boris while laying on the dirt, carefully adjusting the range of his R-25MK’s scope and flipping the safety off as he aimed at the General ahead across the field.
Boris puts a hand on Milton’s rifle, blocking the sight. “Hold your fire.”
“Affirmative.”
Captain Raleigh moved forward, lowering his rifle as he raised his right arm up, allowing the musketmen to see his hand away from the trigger. His heart pounds nervously but still decides to push forward, knowing that this is the chance to make a good impression and to ease the tension between the two.
“I am Captain Raleigh of the United Federation of Elysia! We’re here to establish contact with whomever resides on this land! We’re friendly! We’re from beyond the storm barrier!”
“What do we do, Lord Yamauchi?” One of the musketmen asked nervously, he himself has never met any outsiders beside lieutenant Hauke occasionally as his finger moved closer to the trigger.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
General Shingen stared confusedly at the man ahead who identified himself as Captain Raleigh who hailed beyond the endless typhoon barrier. For centuries, only a few groups of outsiders ever made it to the Shogunate with the most recent being lieutenant Hauke and his old shipmates and that was 20 years ago.
Not knowing how to deal with the situation, he decided to proceed cautiously. “How many men do you have?!” He shouted at the Captain ahead.
“Around a company’s worth, a hundred and fifty four! We’re here on a diplomatic mission!” The man answered.
“Is this some kind of joke?” Shingen smacked his lip. “We are in no position to welcome outsiders.” He mumbles, inaudible to anyone to himself.
“If you need help, we can offer it! We also brought stuff you may want!” The man continued.
Not satisfied with the man’s answer, Shingen decided to continue questioning. “You came from Kōrui no Mori’s direction?”
The man seemed to pause a bit, not understanding his question. “You mean from the north? Through the maple forest?”
“Exactly! Have you gone through that place?
“Yeah!”
“Then how did you make it here?”
“We killed a lot of ‘em! Those spiders… things. We lost a few guys.”
Shingen pondered about the man’s answer. If these strange outlanders had truly fought through Kōrui no Mori, the infamous forest now home to the Blood Spiders, then they must be legitimate since few men survive that accursed forest. Banditry problem has already been dealt with as the monsters continued to push ahead.
The Young Lady’s first act as the Empress is to prepare for a raid to the southern Hōshōjima Island in search for the source of the monster’s appearance. Although he disagreed with the new Empress’s decision, he couldn’t protest as he was not going to lead the raid himself. With the upcoming raid about to start in a few days, Shingen figured that he could take the burden of hosting the strange outlanders while the Empress’s force finished with their preparation.
“Lower your weapon!” He ordered the men along the firing line, who quickly obeyed.
“I shall take responsibility for this.” Shingen puts his sword back into the sheath before his announcement. “Outlanders! You are hereby welcome to Yukihara!”
Seeing the outlanders ahead lowering their weapon, he sighs internally in relief.
One day later.
Arlette, United Federation of Elysia
August 10th, 1427.
6:00 AM
The early morning light crested over the expansive urban landscape of Arlette, Elysia’s capital city. Despite the early morning fog, dozens of passenger trains can be seen running along the cityscape, transporting thousands upon thousands of industrial and office workers alike to their respective workplace.
Inside the Presidential Office, the President sat behind his work desk.
“Give me a report on our force in the Shogunate down south, Loyd.” Irwin ordered.
“The company task force received a few casualties. Five injured and one dead but overall it is going smoothly, Mister President. They’ve made it to the capital city according to long range radio transmission.”
“That’s good news, anything else?”
“The Harukamians are at war with the monsters, sir. They wanted assistance from the Marine task force.”
“Not surprising judging by how violent this world has been, first the Yarians, now this. The situation in the Eastern Continent is still unstable especially in the recently liberated Elven Republic and their decision to be a part of the United Federation which has caused unrest.” Irwin’s eyes drifted to new spy satellite imagery that had been sent to him as he leaned back on his chair, picking them up. The images depicted floating landmasses, covered in advanced infrastructures and constructs that he couldn’t explain, not to mention massive armed warships that can fly.
Irwin inhales audibly as he takes in the reality of this world. In this world, magic reigns supreme in these lands, not science. Whatever that happens in the far west of this planet cannot be good, if a country dedicates this much resources into military buildup then there must be a justifiable reason to do so.
He swapped to imagery of the Florence Republic, which seemed far more familiar to him compared to the Holy Celestial Empire. The urban landscape in the photos looked like those during the Imperial era in the Federation itself, detailed and beautifully styled buildings that screams classical taste laid neatly along grid-pattern streets.
“At war you say?” Irwin pushed the photos aside, refocusing on the Shogunate down south.
“Yes sir, from reports they have been fighting a losing war for decades now. Our task force’s arrival coincided with the day of their old leader’s funeral and coronation of the new Empress.” His assistant said.
Irwin grabbed a bottle of Azurian wine. “My condolences to them.”
“It’s early morning sir, you shouldn’t drink.” Loyd said.
“Hmph. Maybe a milk coffee then?” He asked with much excitement in his voice, putting the wine bottle back on the shelves.
“I’ll have someone get a cup for you.”
“Thanks Loyd.” Irwin smiles.
“Anyway, sir. The task force wants more firepower and food aid deliveries.”
“Food aid?” Irwin asked, not knowing what’s going on in the Shogunate.
“The Harukamians are going through a famine due to the loss of farmlands to contamination and monsters which roamed the archipelago. Hundreds are dying everyday so they’re planning to do a massive all-or-nothing raid into the source of the monster’s appearance in Hōshōjima Island, located in the far south. They’re hoping that this will end the problem once and for all. As for the details on why, the Marine company task force wasn't permitted to know the information.”
“That sounds… desperate. When will they commence?”
“About two days from now, Mister President. They want to move as fast as possible due to the time constraint, they believe that they don’t have much time left.”
“Hmm… How fast can we deliver supplies via C-157s to the island?”
“By tomorrow sir. If we mobilize all the aircrafts in inventory as well as diverting assets from Azuria now, then we could deliver some heavy equipment in the time crunch as well. It’ll take all of the strategic airlifters in our active inventory, but this could be our chance to make a good impression.”
“That’s concerning. I’ll put out a request to the Department of Armament and Defense to procure more aircrafts since this world is much larger.”
“A wise choice indeed, Mister President.”
“So be it then.” Irwin pushed his office chair to the computer set beside him. Tapping away on the mechanical keyboard, he connects to the Department of Armament and Defense and picks up the microphone.
“What can I do for you, Mister President?” The man on the phone asked.
“Mister Raynard? How fast can you deploy?”
Random Information Card #4
The United Federation of Elysia has a large pool of equipment to draw from during wartime due to the stockpiles. Each soldier is equipped differently depending on what branch or units they were assigned to, but have armbands to differentiate them from each branch of the armed forces.
Uniform and Body Armor
Common Service Fatigue:
Basic service dress for all enlisted, non-officer members of the United Federation’s military with no camouflage pattern, taking the color of the United Federation’s flag instead. (58,62,125) <- Color
- Headwear: Basic military soft cap bearing the same flag color with a so-called “Unity Star” in the center of the cap (same one seen on the United Federation’s flag.)
- Outfit: Basic garment made from a blend of cotton and synthetic fibers, lightweight and breathable to ensure comfort. Containing up to 12 different large pockets both inside and outside, a serviceman can never be found lacking storage space.
- Special: Velcro strips are also available for attaching name tags, rank and insignias on the chest with the unit patches attachable on the sleeve.
Officer Service Fatigue: Basic service dress for all officers of the United Federation’s military in similar style to the common service fatigue. Taking the black color of the Federation’s war flag. (26,31,36).
Combat Service Fatigue:
- Army personnels wore urban-patterned uniforms due to the highly dense urban areas of the United Federation of Elysia. (based on the United Kingdom’s Berlin pattern but darker).
- Marine personnels wore green camouflage-patterned uniforms due to their operations overseas. (based on Canadian CADPAT)
- Navy personnels wore blue camouflage-patterned uniforms to blend in easier with the sea, but often wore in tandem with high visibility float vest in combat operation to be more visible in the water. (based on US Navy NWU Type 1)
- Air Force personnels wore grey-colored uniforms to distinguish themselves from the rest. Due to the lack of ground operation requirement, a camouflage pattern was seen as not necessary and a grey color was seen as more practical.
Body Armor:
- Kevlar flak jackets are issued to every combat personnel in or near the frontline to reduce casualties from shrapnel and lighter small arms fire.
- Storage pouches are attached directly to the flak jacket depending on each personnel’s choosing through links.
Headgear:
- Kevlar composite helmets are widely issued to every combat and support personnel as the most effective form of reducing head injuries. (based on PASGT helmet)
- Modular design allowed for each helmet to be customized to fit each soldier’s head size and needs. Being able to accept monocular night vision devices, earmuffs, armored glass panel, additional composite armor plates, batteries and more.
Weapons:
The United Federation of Elysia produces a singular adaptable platform: The R-25 series.
The R-25 series shared most of their components among different variants in order to ease training, logistics and upkeep cost for a mass-conscript scenario.
- R-25 Service Rifle (5.56x45mm, Semi/Automatic, 52cm barrel. Issued to everyone.)
- R-25SB Carbine (5.56x45mm, Semi/Automatic, 36cm barrel. Issued to primarily support and specialized troops.)
- R-25GL Service Rifle (5.56x45mm, Semi/Automatic, 52cm barrel. Equipped with an underbarrel UL-40 40mm grenade launcher.)
- R-25MK Marksman Rifle (Fixed Scope w/ secondary backup sight, 5.56x45mm, Semi/Automatic, 60cm barrel. Issued to marksman in a squad)
- R-125L Squad Automatic Weapon (Belt fed 5.56x45, Automatic, 36cm/52cm barrel)
= Manufactured by Rosemary Firearms
(God I wish I could draw on a computer to illustrate the forms, based on the SG-550 series of rifle.)
Sidearms are a rarity. Often issued more to officers and police while grunts preferred not to carry them, seeing them as dead weight in most scenarios, weight that could be used to carry more ammunition and equipment instead of a pistol they’d likely never use.
- The primary sidearm of the United Federation of Elysia is the P-16 pistol with a 12 round magazine, though larger magazine options are available. Expected to be updated in service as it is an old design. (based on Sig Sauer P320)
- Elysian police use a similar variant with additional safety features, dubbed the P-16LE for Law Enforcement.
Grenades and explosives are contained within a standardized 57mm diameter can-shaped container.
- FR-57 Frag Grenade
- SS-57 Canned Smoke Grenade
- FB-57 Stun Grenade
- WP-57 White Phosphorus Grenade
- TM-57 Thermite Grenade
= Manufactured by Arden Ordnance Works
Anti-Vehicle Weapons:
- AMR-25 Anti-Material Rifle (Clip-fed 25mm with a 1200mm barrel and heft recoiling mechanism to dampen the kick. Can fire both APFSDS and High Explosive round)
- AT-84 Disposable Anti-Tank Launcher (84mm HEAT rocket launcher)
- FTM-127 “Monarch” Direct Fire 127mm Anti-Tank Guided Missile (Tripod-mounted ATGM)
- FTM-127T “Monarch-T” Direct Fire 127mm Thermobaric Guided Missile (Replaces the HEAT warhead with thermobaric explosives for demolition duty.)
- FIM-84 “Firestar” Man Portable Air Defense System. (84mm Infrared Guided MANPADS missile)
= Manufactured by Atlas Dynamic
Electronics Equipment:
- CPU-4 (Portable Field Computer, 512kb RAM, 120mb storage. Comes equipped with a tiny CRT display and a small foldable keyboard.)
- RTU-4 (Backpack Radio/Transmitter, 20km range in good weather, compatible with CPU-4 for data transmission)
- NVD-1 (Monocular Night Vision device, helmet mounted)
- SPU-1 (Solar Panel for emergency field recharging. Only in service with the Elysian Marine Corps and Air Force. Not powerful enough to power a computer on its own, but enough to transmit through radio.) =
= Manufactured by a variety of companies and contractors.
Other equipment:
- Backpack: Durable waterproof backpacks are issued to combat troops to sustain themselves and to expand carrying capacity. Special feature includes a small solar panel to recharge electronic equipment in emergencies, though batteries are still preferred.
- IFAK: Individual First Aid Kit is issued to every combat troop for emergencies which includes a tourniquet, bandages, antiseptics and quick injection syringes containing painkillers or antidotes. Performance enhancement drugs were removed from service due to addictive nature. This kit is meant to buy time until a soldier is properly treated by a medic in a proper medical facility.
= Manufactured by a variety of companies and contractors.
Question: How do you think of the pacing, world building and characters so far? (You can answer three times, one for each topic.)