July 26, 1640

Otaheit, Mu

Neat maps adorned the walls of an electrically lit war room inside a brick establishment. Surrounded by a tense atmosphere, a group of Muan generals and American advisors frequently referenced these maps while they discussed the coming storm. Hushed whispers abated, like waves parting for Moses as the men in the room gave the floor to a particular individual dressed in a sleek black suit and tie.

“Glad to see you could join our little party, Mister Wileman,” a uniformed American colonel nodded to the suited man.

Wileman gave a slight chuckle, the sound of which unnerved the Muans in the room. Even a few of the American liaisons were rattled by the appearance of the CIA spook. Unfazed by the reactions of the men present, Wileman responded in kind, “Great to see you, Colonel Wilson. I hope I didn’t miss much.”

Colonel Wilson could only shrug at Wileman’s words. “Well, looks like you’re in luck. We were actually just getting started. Have a seat,” he offered.

Most of the attention remained glued to the mastermind behind the Leiforian Resistance and the puppetmaster of the most clandestine organization to operate in the Second Civilized Region. Even Colonel Wilson held a bit of awe for the man, although he didn’t openly show it. With the room having quieted down once more, Wilson continued his debriefing.

Using a projector, he showed the Muans a presentation of recent Gra Valkan activities, captured by spy satellites and drones. The entire Muan border was at risk, aside from the frost-dominated Northgard region and the heavily defended choke point at the Malmund Mountains. The Malmund Grasslands, located between the Malmund Mountains and Northgard, was lined with Gra Valkan bases, ready to deploy at a moment's notice. South of the Malmund Mountains, the Gra Valkans prepared invasion forces along the Oster Plains, which bordered the Magikareich Community and the former Sonal Kingdom.

Not considering any water-based incursions, the Gra Valkas Empire had two viable entrances into Mu’s territory: the Malmund Grasslands and the Oster Plains. The Malmund Mountains separated the two fronts by hundreds of miles, stabbing deep into the heart of Mu. Numerous roads and tunnels helped connect the sides of the mountain range, but only one railroad passed through the area.

Thus, the Muans were placed at a disadvantage. Mu had to decide the extent of fortifications on each front, with little in the way of augmentation once the Gra Valkans finally invaded. On the other hand, the Gra Valkans could more easily transfer troops between the Malmund Front and the Oster Front, not having to worry about a large range of mountains blocking their way.

Based on initial Mu reconnaissance reports, secured from aerial flyovers along the Gra Valkan bases in both regions, the Gra Valkans appeared to be massing forces along the Oster Front. In response, the Muan brass wanted to allocate more men and equipment to their southeastern fortifications. Seeing the initial satellite images confirmed their decision-making, but they soon learned that there was more than meets the eye.

After Colonel Wilson showed pictures of columns of tanks and sprawling bases sitting along the Mu-Magikareich border, he proceeded to show spectral imagery of the same locations. “We were surprised to see such a quick buildup along this region, which was a little suspicious due to a lack of infrastructure between these super bases and the established Gra Valkan railway system in the Magikareich Community. These spectral images — which use forms of radiation other than light — contradict the visual images I displayed earlier.”

He continued to flip through various comparison images as he explained, “Decoys and pulling your enemy out of position is an age-old tactic — one that we used to great effect during the Second World War back on Earth. Many of you here likely studied the topic already, considering the Gra Valkas Empire’s level of technology. As you may know, the Allies used a lot of inflatable decoys to trick the Germans into defending useless positions while we attacked elsewhere. We’ve learned a lot since then, and adopted techniques like spectral analysis and synthetic aperture radar scanning to detect fakes. I won’t get into the technical details, but these images show that the majority of Gra Valkan troops stationed in the Magikareich Community are actually fakes.”

Prime Minister Sinclair, aghast that his military had almost committed a grave mistake, stood still with his jaw hanging open. If the Americans hadn’t been so kind as to provide them with this advanced intelligence, the Gra Valkans could’ve pummeled through an insufficiently defended Malmund Front. Wanting to immediately correct this error, he called out, “General Seneville, please cease the transfer of forces to the Oster Front.”

“I shall do so at once,” Seneville said, calling up an assistant. He then paused, “Colonel Wilson, is there anything else we should worry about?”

Wilson didn’t respond, instead turning his gaze toward Wileman and giving him a slight nod.

Wileman cleared his throat and got straight to business. “My operatives have reliable intel that the Gra Valkans are putting magically enhanced weapons and equipment to use.” He placed a Manila folder on the large table at the center of the room, spreading out photographs that depicted new Gra Valkan devices. “They've learned from previous engagements and in a couple special cases, they’ve developed entirely new weapons based on Magikareich magitech research.”

Wileman drew everyone’s attention to a picture of a blue device that looked like some sort of impact grenade. “This is a device that combines chemical refrigerants with frost magic, and is used as a kind of ‘freeze bomb’. It’s crude compared to what we can cook up, but still potent nevertheless. While we are unsure of the activation mechanism, we assume it can be used for a wide range of purposes, from countering the enhanced molotov cocktails we’ve seen the Sonalians use to incapacitating – or even eliminating – targets.”

The men in the room shuddered at the thought of suffering a cold death. The existence of such a weapon was also a concern for sensitive equipment, which could be rendered inoperable. Using freeze bombs, it was possible for Gra Valkans to destroy equipment seamlessly, without having to use explosives. This capability was especially significant in sabotage operations, or in the case where infantry had to attack a fortified target.

“Moving on, the second item of interest is this,” Wileman said, clicking something on the laptop then pointing to the presentation. “This is a blueprint of a new type of firebomb that is now being mass-produced by the Gra Valkans. We can only guess that it is AT LEAST as effective as our own napalm ordinances and the enhanced molotovs I mentioned earlier.”

A flurry of hushed concerns erupted amongst the Muan officers, who feared for their cities.

“If the Gra Valkans targeted one of our urban population centers with their Guti Maun superbombers, it would be wiped from the map…” Seneville muttered. The horrors of industrial warfare were still unknown to most of Elysia, aside from the Gra Valkas Empire’s ruthless siege on Leiforia. Even then, most of the damage was conventional and limited, caused by a relatively confined naval bombardment.

Sinclair’s mind fell into a chasm as he put thought into Seneville’s pessimistic premonition. “Goodness,” he said, nearly succumbing to despair. “How could we even defend against such an attack? The women, the children…!”

Colonel Wilson stepped in, raising his hands up in a soothing manner, “Woah, woah, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, gentlemen. It’s unlikely that the Gra Valkans would commit such an atrocity in the first place, since doing so would be a direct violation of international rules of war. I truly doubt they want us to directly intervene in this conflict, and even if they did try to bomb one of your cities, our mercenaries should be able to blow those bombers out of the sky.”

The Muans calmed down after listening to Colonel Wilson’s explanations. After breathing a heavy sigh of relief and letting go of these negative thoughts, Sinclair asked Wileman to resume the lecture.

“The firebombs made by the Gra Valkans have also paved the path to construction of enhanced incendiary grenades and flamethrower units. Your men may wish to prioritize elimination of any enemy infantry suspected of carrying these weapons,” Wileman cautioned.

The strategists in the room agreed, summoning their assistants to relay the new information.

Wileman brought up the next weapon introduced by the Gra Valkans, showing a video of it in action. “One of our operatives was able to capture this footage in the Nigrat Union, using a small reconnaissance drone.”

The video showed a small Gra Valkan convoy, escorted by strange trucks that looked a bit like Wermacht flakpanzers. Unlike their historical counterparts, these vehicles had a futuristic-looking barrel with wires connected to it instead of a traditional flak gun. For sake of convenience, the video skipped through the uneventful passage of the convoy, reverting to normal speed right before the guns began to move.

The lead flakpanzer spun around, looking up into the sky to aim at a lone wyvern rider. Then, the video feed began to experience some interference and suffered crackling static, which seemed to be caused by the strange gun charging up. Then, the barrel released a powerful flash of light and a thunderous boom. After the brightness dissipated, only traces of lightning remained in the sky. The wyvern spotted earlier was nowhere to be seen, presumed to be annihilated by the Gra Valkan lightning gun.

Wileman detailed what he knew about the weapon, “The Gra Valkans appear to have produced a sort of ‘lightning gun’, which expels a bolt of charged plasma similar to the lightning bolts produced by mages. Unlike natural lightning, this projectile does not act like an electrical discharge where the current follows the path of least resistance.” Wileman stopped himself, “Or maybe it does, but the Gra Valkans have figured out a way to artificially induce a path of least resistance between the origin point and the target. Our scientists still don’t know exactly how the new Gra Valkan weapon works, but we do know a few things for certain: it is accurate, it carries more energy than a typical lightning blast, and due to the nature of the projectile itself, it may not be harmless to faraday cages. This means that vehicles – even those built to withstand lightning such as planes – may be susceptible to damage,” Wileman glanced at Colonel Wilson, giving him a silent word of caution.

Diving into the tactical and logistical responses to Wileman’s concerns, Colonel Wilson continued, “Until we know more about this weapon, we advise you to steer your aerial assets clear from these units and instead engage them with artillery or infantry. If you do see these weapons in action, submit a report as soon as possible so we can determine more information about this lightning gun’s functionalities and capabilities. On that note, our mercenaries have been ordered to refrain from engaging these units at low altitudes. Close air support will not be an option, unless the situation is truly dire.”

General Seneville voiced his opposition to the decision, “If they’re mercenaries, are they not under our control? Their chain of command should fall under Muan military jurisdiction.”

Wilson clarified, “Their procedures, command, and other factors are determined by their contracts. As per American law, these contracts will have several restrictions, such as complete autonomy over their equipment. You won’t be able to use their equipment for yourselves, but you will be able to choose their deployment, although this too is limited to defensive posturing.”

“What?” Seneville was taken aback by Wilson’s ridiculous statements. “That’s absurd! A mercenary’s employer unable to issue the most basic of commands? That’s outrageous! What is the point of these mercenaries if we are unable to use them in offensive strikes against the Gra Valkans?”

Wilson held his hands up, hoping to calm the Muans. “Because of logistical issues, we’re unable to guarantee the performance of the mercenaries beyond your borders. Seeing that this inevitable conflict will be a defensive war, our government decided that these mercenaries be used strictly for defense. It would be a disaster for everyone if American technology were to fall in the hands of the Gra Valkans, so in an effort to mitigate risk, we’re restricting deployment of the mercenaries to Muan territory only.” To help alleviate the tensions building up, Wilson threw the Muans a bone. “Now, some exceptions can be made for preemptive measures, such as intercepting Gra Valkan bombers to eliminating a high priority target via high-altitude bombing. In cases like these, mercenaries are permitted to operate outside of Muan airspace.”

The Muans seemed satisfied with this concession. “Very well,” Sinclair said. “But, what about ground forces?”

“Ground forces will also be bound to defensive postures. They will join your primary defensive lines – wherever they may be – and mostly provide artillery or anti-air support. Once the tide of the war shifts, we will allow for their deployment, to be authorized on a case-by-case basis.”

The Muan commanders nodded, agreeing that as restrictive as these conditions were, any American support was still better than nothing.

Prime Minister Sinclair accepted the compromises and stretched his hand to Colonel Wilson. “Well, I look forward to seeing these mercenaries in action.”

Wilson shook Sinclair’s hand, “You made the right choice, Mister Prime Minister. Those Gra Valkans won’t know what hit ‘em.”