Incursion
Today was the last day of the Change's 58th year. 16 forts have been built in the south, and their 2 ports were long finished, but still building more warships. 150,000,000 garrison units were created, already in motion as they were camped around various settlements, positioned in strategic positions for any enemy attack. It was a low chance, but never nonexistent. Thus, all garrison units were spread throughout the south, while, on the other hand, the 850,000,000 soldier units and crew members…
3 months passed since the navy stared its small operation to clean the oceanic rivers. Of course, it was impossible to accomplish it right away. Even then, the danger in the south was diminished to the utmost. Additionally, with the center only having 1 strong but apprehensive aquatic Fauna clan hidden at the bottom, the trading routes between the southern territories boomed like never before since the Region entered into its restoration stage.
Things became tranquil during the last 4 days. The 4 Fleets took turns travelling between every oceanic river except for the north. The northern oceanic river was still home to 4 aquatic Fauna clans. The southern navy became the overlord of the oceanic rivers, but not its ruler quite yet.
Although the warships traveled back and forth without a fear of Fauna attacking them, they were patrolling the area under the enemy’s hidden eyes. After a few months seeing the southerners moving about nonstop, their sudden impassiveness caused tension in the north. Whatever has been happening on the other side, it seemed like ‘things’ have become favorable for them.
The north wasn’t a paradise to live in, and only they knew their living conditions, but they still hadn’t contacted anyone from the south in an attempt to establish a doubtful communication. This rendered Heian Ciemnosc helpless. The conditions of life in the south were genuinely one of the best in the entire world among Third Step organizations’ rulership.
The only thing he lacked was spaceships, space trade, and direct connection between orbiting space stations. But those were prohibited until the rule of a restoring Region was established, and the Calatida Region was still far from it.
Nevertheless, since that couldn’t happen, Heian Ciemnosc simply chose to continue with the next step in this special operation with one of the few possible scenarios selected. It was a little cruel, but it was what should happen. Heian Ciemnosc wouldn’t make even one leg of his troops sluggish just for the sake of fairness or reducing casualties. Who would do that?
Conquest, war, and occupation wasn’t a turn-based game. Nobody would wait time so that both parties could become stronger and stronger if they wanted to gain the other’s territory. So many things could happen. If the rulership contest extended for thousands of years, who knew how many other forces would become interested and send their people to take over the situation?
Even if Heian Ciemnosc had a military system to grow more soldier units than it already is, superior to the north, and waited for hundreds of years to amass an unstoppable, overextended army. Would the enemy just give up? They would grow, too. But even though they wouldn’t be as many, they would still fight and not give their efforts up.
Now that their forces were more or less on par, time was of the essence, and nearly 9 years have passed since Heian Ciemnosc became the supreme commander. Time waited for no one, and war was essential. It was time to make the step that would define the result between Existential Sixth Steps’ probing moves. And he was thrilled to enter such a stage, even if it was as a slightly bigger minion than the others.
… Currently, hundreds of millions of soldier units were moving into the navy’s Carriers. It was in the deep of the night, and while that hardly mattered in the cultivation world, an enormous array formation made from darkish energy covered their movements as the night descended into its purest and most obscure moments.
The last few tens of thousands joined into other Cruisers, Low and Supreme Battleships as the last few Teams entered the Carriers for the last time before their hidden personnel hatches closed and even ate some of the seawater into its interior.
Pugfuuuuh~! Swuush… swush, swush…~.
The smaller warships were the first to depart from the shore. A light burst of air hit against the sand where the water was still several tens of meters deep, directly pushing them outside the beach area into the deep of the night. But instead of navigating and turning, they became smaller and smaller… The Fleets began submerging, but by this time, not even the newest, capable soldier units were surprised by it.
On the other hand, only the enemy, which couldn’t see through Heian Ciemnosc’s concealment array formation from their reconnaissance tower despite their devices and efforts, were unaware of this fact. The Carriers, on the other hand, didn’t submerge, and the Supreme Battleships slightly submerged, appearing to be Low Battleships instead.
Just submerging their bodies a little wouldn’t be enough. However, they had a brand-new stealth array formation inscribed around their structures. It made it seem as if they were really smaller in proportion, and some pieces of their arsenal were distorted to change their position, with others were directly ‘gone’ to match with a Low Battleship’s machine guns and artillery.
Moreover, the Supreme Battleships’ hulls seemed to merge with the water, which looked blacker than usual, even during the most obscure nights. The water tonight seemed… dark.
Swuush~... swush~... gurgle, swuush~...
The Fleets’ Carriers and ‘Low’ Battleships moved towards the general northern direction. They were in the upper, northwestern section of the Southeastern territory. As the Fleet moved northwards, they rapidly met the anti-Spirit Sense, slightly blurring one’s vision, acting like a wall.
They ignored these, as they wouldn’t attack yet. Their objective was the corner in the Northeastern’s territory’s southwestern section, When they were halfway through the center and near their desired location, at least for 1 of the Fleets, the peaceful night echoed throughout as one of the Carriers had the 2 most important figures in the military.
“... Dad, will you stay here and watch?” Anastasia asked Heian Ciemnosc, who stood in the cabin before a few sets of windows showing the beauty of the night sky. Heian Ciemnosc’s crossed arms remained the same, but he looked so damn handsome that the surrounding females sneaked glances and felt a little better after seeing their mighty supreme commander.
“Of course. Why, not feeling confident anymore? Is my princess nervous?” Heian Ciemnosc asked with a straight face, purposely softening his tone. Anastasia put a disgusted face before blushing. She faced the same direction he was and clenched her tummy, “Daaaaad… Don’t be like this in front of my subordinates.”
“Heng~,” Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes narrowed and gave Anastasia the side eye after hearing her hushed words. However, seeing Anastasia’s slightly conceding, blushing expression improved his mood. He made a noise from his nostrils and throat before quietly saying, “I’ll observe, as I said. I will also follow when you run into their dirt. Let me see you handle no big toys and only move walking targets into the enemy’s turf.”
“What if you get hit by a shell or something while in here?” Anastasia asked after a few seconds, pondering on the land forces, and her sudden role as a vice commander in one of the 8 Army Groups.
“Huh~, you can count it as a lucky charm.” Heian Ciemnosc said after thinking for a bit. He stared at the ceiling, seemingly feeling that it made a lot of sense. Anastasia first looked at her father, wordlessly. Then, as if her circuits lost energy, she bent her body and hung her mouth. Her pitch-black eyes upturned, not believing his father’s teasing.
“Hmhm,” Heian Ciemnosc fatherly chuckled. Only he and his wives knew how much having a child meant for him, even if it wasn’t conceived between their matrimonial talks about life. Anastasia recomposed quickly and looked ahead. Her face suddenly turned serious.
“Fleet 1, out,” Anastasia heard a calling from her communications channel for commanders. She nodded towards it with the other 2 Fleet commanders behind the commander’s seat. After 3 months, they were used to seeing the powerful and renowned black monster supreme commander. Even the central command personnel felt like home with him around them.
At this very moment, one of the Fleet’s Carriers and ‘Low’ Battleships separated from the convoy of Carriers and Battleships. They were in an oval-shaped, seed formation, with the 2nd Fleet at the front. The 1st Fleet was on the right side behind the 2nd Fleet. Thus, the 1st Fleet’s Carrier and ‘Low’ Battleships moved to their right and headed towards the enemy territory’s corner, with the 3rd Fleet in the rear following behind the 1st fleet.
Their speed was very slow, but it would still take them a few minutes to traverse hundreds of kilometers, which was the distance between the oceanic river and the beach’s underwater floor. Anastasia bid them farewell and wished them great luck as she and the 4th Fleet on her left behind the 2nd Fleet moved up north.
“Any Fauna so far?” Anastasia asked the navigating experts. For the sake of stealth, only their sharpest scanners with the longest range but less width visibility were employed. Heian Ciemnosc placed his arms behind his back as Anastasia became serious. Shortly after, a navigating expert whispered, “No Fauna. The center’s remaining Fauna only looked at us.”
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“No movement? Not even a tail swiping sideways?” Anastasia asked, frowning slightly. The navigating expert readily answered, “No, no. Nothing, commander. We only saw some of them look at us. Even their strongest leading figure looked at us, unlike before.”
“...?” Anastasia’s frown deepened. But she wasn’t like before. Her mind rapidly thought, and she was thinking as their ‘small’ convoy moved into the northern oceanic river. Seeing this, Heian Ciemnosc mentally smiled, and even saw Sara grin. She should know more, but he didn’t let her tell him. If someone’s Spirit Sense could break through that anti-Spirit Sense, that was Sara’s.
Several minutes later, her emblem received a glow only she could notice. Her Spirit Sense moved a few peculiar groups of navigating experts, with sweat pouring downwards from their heads. They were entrusted with keeping their stealth at top capacity, and avoiding any enemy discerning eye.
“1 minute before arriving at the destination. Tell the 4th Fleet to prepare their soldier units. Disembarkation in 2 minutes.” Anastasia looked at the obscured anti-Spirit Sense wall-like array formation in the enemy’s land and her expression become ever so silent.
“Yes, ma’am,” a navigating expert said. He nodded and quietly continued with his work. The other navigating experts, in charge of the Carrier and ‘Low’ Battleships’ stealth, visibly relaxed. However, they were only less tense and didn’t lift their guard. They had been through many situations by just fighting aquatic Fauna clans.
Of course, they didn’t know that such problems were usually met with negotiations and fruitful exchanges. It was a concern even with Fighters to meet those aquatic Fauna clans in battle. They had the bottom of any body of water to their advantage. However, Heian Ciemnosc had other plans, and none of the soldier units were aware, since most Regions in an Upper Kingdom don’t speak of these ‘obvious’ arrangements.
“...” Anastasia clenched her fists as the minute went by and they stopped. Then, her eyes turned hopeful, excited. However, Heian Ciemnosc didn’t need to lift his right hand to palm her left shoulder. Suddenly, Anastasia calmed down and breathed in and out, her shoulders heaving up and down as she turned to stare at him and lightly expressed, “Even if the mission’s first stage is achieved, the leader must remain in position to respond.”
“That is for any situation, including an enemy hidden within even our radars and scanners, right?” Anastasia asked at the end, and just as her words echoed in the central command, who thought the same and were proud to share the sentiment with their commander, one they recognized months ago, it happened.
… …pom, pom… pom… pom pom pom…
“Disembark now!!!” Anastasia shouted at the top of her lungs. With the central command’s array formation, her shout spread outwards with a might that her cultivation base didn’t allow her to have. Instantly, as artillery bombardment flew towards them from the shores from afar, machine guns fired and missiles flew into the sky from the Carrier, stopping dozens of shelling aiming at the beach.
POF POF POF POF– GURGLEEEE~!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOSH~~~!!
Underwater, with the Carrier’s and Supreme Battleships’ Elemental Water Eye barriers horizontally protecting the warships below them, every warship’s hidden personnel hatches opened and let their overcrowded interiors become free with tens of millions of soldier units rushing forwards!
Their sheer numbers rushed onto the sand below them, stomped on it, and rushed forth with a device hugging their feet. Enhanced Neutral Energy covered their bodies, and their inner crystallized armor felt the brunt from their soles to their lower torso as they were like torpedoes thrown from the water and into land.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
More than a hundred million soldier units rushed into the air, becoming the foot troops that neatly descended on the land in groups from a dozen or two to tens of thousands. Forming large groups of several million at most, they rapidly dropped armored vehicles or took Bloodless Nightwatchers and blue drakes before immediately advancing.
“With me!!” - “Hua!” - “Haah!” - “Rush inside! It’s time to spark it, burn it all down!!” VROOOM VROOM VROOOOM VROOOOOOOOOOOM~~!
Graaaaaaahhh… Roaaaaaar~! Criiiii!
Simultaneously, the Bloodless Nightwatchers, blue drakes, and other Fauna echoed with cries and hollows as they were mounted or put into action with their owners bringing their Team, or a larger military unit, on their backs or limbs. The sight of a hundred million soldier units suddenly rushing ashore in one’s backyard was an unforgettable sensation.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
“... 4th Fleet, a third of my Fleet will go north, stay here and support!” Anastasia shouted into the communications channel as she walked towards her commander’s seat. Everyone was just waiting for her to arrive there. She wore a grave face, filled with wrath that needed to be shared and embraced by the enemy.
Heian Ciemnosc remained behind, and Anastasia only noticed when she sat on her commander’s seat and ordered some of the Flotillas to move with her. Heian Ciemnosc wore a casual smile, which encouraged Anastasia a lot. After sneakily thanking her daddy, she returned to her spot’s digital screens and focused on the severely spread battle ahead of them.
Heian Ciemnosc flashed a proud smile before turning around in time to see the Carrier drop all pretenses. Hundreds of machine guns from the Carrier alone fired at tens of thousands of kilometers away, already raining explosions and death on the other side.
As another batch of a hundred million soldier units ejected from below, some warships surfaced. Most lined up with the 4th Fleet’s Carrier and Supreme Battleships, while the others either remained beside them, or followed the 2nd Fleet’s Carrier. A few more tens of millions of soldier units shot into the sky before immediately landing on the beach and rushed inland, allowing more warships to resurface and start bombarding the enemy forces.
TA-RARARARARARA… puk! Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak! Pssshhhh~!
But then, from behind, as some warships changed their formation slightly, the 2nd and 4th Fleet received sudden firepower from their rear at the west. Hundreds of warships, amassing to a Fleet and a half, ambushed the special operation’s Fleets!
“Dammit!” - “Aggh, move to the nearest Cruiser!” - “Huuurry!” - “Counterattack! Prepared- fiiiire!!” The crew members suffered losses as some Frigates and Destroyers exploded under the preemptive enemy firepower. The Fleets diverted more than half their attention to responding to the enemy Fleets, leaving the land forces with less support from the navy bombardment.
But the land forces continued rushing inland, with the Carrier’s land force vice commanders already separated from the Fleets and mobilizing their troops in the enemy territory. There was no enemy anywhere nearby, and as they arrived before the Spirit Sense, some tanks and helicopters barraged the wall until it opened a wide gap for a portion of their Army Groups to cross through.
TA-RARARARARARARA- PUH PUH PUH PUH PUH- BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Several more gaps were pried open, allowing the Army Groups to enter enemy territory without restrictions. Their disciplines, patience, and determination allowed a smooth crossing to the other side. At the same time, the Fleet’s most extensive, wide radars detected defensive structures comparable to a few outposts.
GURGLE- SWUUUSH!! “Ma’am! The enemy has forts near the 1st and 3rd Fleets’ disembarkation!!” An anxious, surprised yell sounded. Anastasia frowned before her eyes darted around a little. She then opened her mouth, and her central command’s personnel’s blood boiled. “Let’s not waste time. Full speed ahead! Crush their shields and hulls!!”
“HUA! HUA!! HUAA!!!” The central command became thunderous. Before long, the other warships and the Supreme Battleship that followed them knew why, and their noise thundered across the night as hundreds of rockets flew into the sky and landed everywhere around the retreating paths the enemy could take.
SWUUUSH… SWUUUSHH~!... SWWWWWWWWWWUUUUUUUUUUUSHHHH~~~!!!!
“... Shit… They’re speeding up! We gotta move!!” A navigating expert in the enemy Fleet, far from the disembarking southern Fleets’ location, shouted with his eyes widening to an unnatural degree. But another navigating expert assessing the rockets and missiles’ guiding system helplessly shook his head, “We cannot. They’re cutting our paths off.”
“... They want to close quarters in naval battles? Ha!” The commander, a burly fellow, looked at the ‘tsunamis’ moving towards them as their warships started feeling the unrest in the water of small waves crashing against them. “They won’t dare! Look how we scare them without doing anything!”
“Heed my orders!” The commander’s words echoed, his face turning fierce. “Cut their paths off! If they want to waste their precious rockets, then let them! But look how they get scared and get killed in their retreat. Do it!”
“Yes, commander!” Several navigating experts echoed in unison. They targeted the moving Fleet’s speed and launched missiles and fired rockets from their rocket launchers. The Cruisers and Battleships followed their command, and then, both sides were suddenly taunting each other as one of the 2 seemingly rushed to the other.
“... Commander?” A minute later, seeing the enemy continue doing the same and not stopping or even moving slightly sideways, a navigating expert nervously asked. The commander was slightly befuddled, but he didn’t back down.
SWUUUUSH!! SWUUUUUUUUSH!!! SWUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSHHHH~~~!!!!
The sounds from the incoming Fleet became louder until they heard what the third of a Fleet in question had heard all along. The commander’s face fell, and he wanted to command, but…
“Foc-”
BRAAAAAANK- CRAAASSSHHH!!! CLAAAANK- BOOOOOOM!!! CRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH~~!!! PAAAAAM PAAAM PAAAAM PAAAAAAM- PSHIFT PSHIFT PSHIFT PSHIFT~!
The 2nd Fleet’s warships beastly collided with the enemy Fleet. The Carrier and Supreme Battleship were the first to meet the enemy. The Carrier brutally bashed hundreds of Frigates apart, immediately destroying dozens as they exploded once they broke apart into 2 or more parts.
No arsenal was used other than missiles and rockets. Thus, with both parties’ launching and guiding systems still bent on cutting off the other’s retreat, rockets and missiles beautifully formed an eye-shaped encirclement of pure fire and explosions. Destruction fell everywhere as the 2nd Fleet’s warships pushed other enemy warships at their outer perimeter into the hellish destruction.
Before the enemy could respond at the audacity of such barbaric melee, not noticing the Elemental Water Eye barriers protecting the warships, even Frigates, from sharing the same catastrophic damage that the enemy warships suffered after finally stopping the 2nd Fleet’s lunge. Energy attacks, Elemental Arts, Arts, tools, even some Artifacts, flew and barraged the enemy crew members who were either heavily injured or startled by their actions.
“FIIIGHT!” Anastasia held the vertebral column of the enemy commander, gifted to her 2 seconds after the lunge was stopped by the legitimate 2nd Fleet’s commander, and roared. Her throat fluttered with tense emotion as she saw thousands of warships before her few hundred, but that was just their prey, and what the other side was looking at was… a mountain from below as it all crashed down on them.
On this day, the Change’s 59th year, 1st month, 1st week, and 1st day… the Calatida Region’s rulership war officially commenced!
…