Maihark, Qua Toyne Principality
Maihark Defense Knight Corps

A black haired woman in her mid 20s, a captain in the Maihark Defense Knight Corps, Ine, was clad in knight armor, just as she received a report to immediately return back to Maihark HQ from her post. The reason was about the unknown objects that are closing in on Haihark. She ran through the more peaceful marketsides, sword on her left side hip, and with a visor pulled up on her helmet, only knowing that these unknown objects could be either the saving grace or the burning grave for her country. Behind her, her subordinates running behind her tracks in a rushed coordinated panic, with sweat running down their foreheads inside their already hot helmets. The weather was also partly to blame, as it was sunny outside, with temperatures of up to 27 degrees celsius, even at the end of February.

The small knight formation burst the doors open to find a large table where some commanders were seated.

"Sir! We have received reports from our post that unknown objects are headed for Maihark! Waiting for further orders." Captain Ine saluted to the base commander, who sat at the far end of the table.

"Good. Your orders are to quickly have all forces position themselves for the defense of this town. There is no telling what the intention of those unknown objects is, but we will assume they are hostile, with ill intentions. Get moving." The base commander saluted back while giving out orders.

"Acknowledged," Ine said as she turned back to her subordinates.

"Man the anti-wyvern ballistas!" The female Captain ordered as she sprinted to the armory, her subordinates and men doing the exact same. With a crossbow in hand and aiming towards the sky, she could see the two unknown objects finally arriving, marked with the emblem of a yellow star in a circle, surrounded by red as well as two other red bars. Although high above, she could barely make the numbers on the unknown objects with squinted eyes, as they flew at a much lower attitude than was to be expected, but still high enough that the anti-wyvern defenses wouldn't reach them.

"9621 and 9637...very particular numbers,"

She could also see that the 12 wyverns from the supporting 6th Wyvern Squadron, stationed on the eastern border, were chasing the two objects as the objects flew by at such speed no one could comprehend.

"Damn, it's faster than our own wyverns. No way we can even shoot or have our wyverns catch up to them. It's a losing fight if these objects are Lourian affiliated."

The Maihark Defense Knight Corps, including herself on the ground, saw as the 12 wyverns created a massive fireball to explode those objects out of the sky. However, the fireball came short of its target, just under 3/8ths of the way to their targets as the objects sped away even faster than they were when they were passing by Maihark. She had heard about the speed of sound before, and she concluded to herself that those flying objects broke the speed of sound, something of which no other nation so far could do, not even the likes of the Parpaldian Empire, considered to be one of the reigning "superpowers'' of the world with their mighty wyvern formations, or the Holy Milishal Empire who used the technology from the so called "Ancient Sorcerous Empire'' to reverse engineer military hardware such as planes for their military, with mixed results.

All of these factors considered made the female captain anxious. With her deduction of the objects breaking away from the city, she concluded that their main objective was reconnaissance, as they were viewing what was of the city from the air. What and how that reconnaissance could be used against them in the near future she could not tell, but she is certain that they managed to get the most of the city and could exploit it should they choose to attack in the near future. Ine pulled out her magicom to relay to the 12 wyverns.

"All wyvern units break off. Secure the air space in and around Maihark and maintain air superiority until we can figure out exactly what in the f*ck just happened," Ine ordered from the magicom.

"Understood, ma'am." The flight captain acknowledged as he broke off pursuit to head back to 6th Wyvern Squadron headquarters.

Sighing in relief that the objects did not decide to attack the city, she observed the surroundings around her. The peaceful marketplace had turned into a frenzy of panic as townspeople were scrambling to get their products inside their homes and packing their items in case of any evacuation from Maihark as they looked into the sky for more signs of the unknown objects.

"C-C-Captain! Are there any m-m-more signs of t-t-those o-o-objects?" A townsman had approached her as he was visibly shaking.

"No. Please calm down, panic won't get us anywhere." Ine was trying to have everyone calm down as her job protecting this city would be made harder with a mass panic of the population.

"Is it the Lourians? The Parpadians? Even the Ancient Sorcerous Empire?" A townswomen chimed in as she carried her newborn son and some items on her back.

"Ma'am, again, please calm down. No it isn't any one of those you just listed. Go back to your home and the knight corps will sort this out." Captain Ine left the marketplace and went back to where her subordinates and men were standing.

"Do you think we're safe?" One of her subordinates was sweating and anxious, hand resting on his left side hip, as if to get his sword out.

"Even I don't know...we could be on one end of the spectrum, that being safe, or we could be on another end. At this point, we can only hope those objects don't come back to haunt us." Ine looked down on the ground, fidgeting her hands as she was thinking of what to do next in the face of an inevitable onslaught should the nationality of those objects decide to attack.

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Bắc Giang Province, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Kép Air Base
927th "Lam Sơn" Regiment

The Su-35s numbered 9621 and 9637 descended upon the base to land, lowering their speed. The blue camouflage became more noticeable as the fighters touched down on the paved cement, deploying parachutes on the backs of their engines to slow down the speed of the aircraft.

"Guess we got a good view of what we may be going against," The 9621 pilot said over the comms.

"Yeah, we did. I got it all on camera. Should be useful for any further decisions. I don't know where we go from here, though." The 9637 pilot was in complete uncertainty what could happen next after their reconnaissance. Whether or not they may have to go to war in the future was up to their command and the national assembly back up in Hà Nội to decide.

"Let's just get this to our commander."

The Su-35's cockpit began to automatically slide up as the pilots got off their seats and headed down the ladder, briefcase, camera, and phone in hand. While the maintenance crews did a clean sweep around the aircraft, the two pilots of the 9637 and 9621 aircraft walked back to their base, their ranks shown on their collars, one with four stars and a one stripe on the bottom; the other with three stars with the same one stripe, which signified their rank as Captain and Senior Lieutenant, respectively. Noticeable as well was the bright blue pilot suits they wore when they were piloting the aircraft, a signature staple of the Vietnamese Air Force. On their hands were helmet mounted displays similar to the F-35 helmet, for use on the Su-35. These helmets were a game changer for the Vietnamese as they allowed them to view their surroundings 360 degrees without having to turn their heads too much, as well as having an almost controlless experience to make target acquisition and information gathering much easier.

As the two stepped into the base, they immediately went straight up to the second floor, where their commanding officer told them to meet in the command room.

"Báo cáo. (Reporting.)" The 9637 Captain saluted.

Their commanding officer, a Lieutenant Colonel, noticed by the two stars with the two stripes on his shoulder boards, saluted back and nodded.

"Nói. (Report.)" The Lieutenant Colonel replied back.

"We have the images to confirm that we are in another world. I guess the high command and the Bộ Chính Trị (Politburo) are gonna have a field day about this." The Captain continued.

"You bet they will. These pictures should be able to help us in the long run. I heard from the comms that most of this land is fertile," The Lieutenant Colonel said.

"Yes, sir. They appear to be grain farms, much like what the wheat farms of the United States are like. This could be useful for us to import more food, since we're cut off from our Earth."

"Then we'll have to establish diplomatic relations with this nation. You know what it is?"

"No, sir. I have no slight clue, although I was able to pick up a picture of their flag from one of their wyverns catching us."

The high resolution image showed a green flag with what appeared to be a girl praying, surrounded by two grains inside the shape of a horseshoe, symbolizing the fertile grounds, as well as the agrarian nature of their nation.

"However, we were also able to take pictures of a merchant city." The Senior Lieutenant reported.

The Lieutenant Colonel looked closely at the pictures.

"Looks to me like it is one of those old medieval cities," He commented.

"Yes, sir. In addition we found that their military anti-air defenses consisted of only big crossbows, and they rely primarily on wyverns for their air force," The Senior Lieutenant continued reporting.

"I'm assuming they spit fireballs if we come too close?"

"Yes, sir. When we were returning to base, 12 other wyverns showed up to combine 12 of their fireballs into a single large one, but were unable to reach us as our jets were faster than their wyverns."

"So there's a technological gap. We should still remain cautious, though. This may be just a small country we may have to deal with within a dozen or so countries.

"Yes, sir." Both the Captain and Senior Lieutenant said.

"Now that we have gathered some information on this unknown nation, we'll work it out from there. Dismissed."

Both men salute back to the Lieutenant Colonel before walking back to their dorms. The Lieutenant Colonel turned back to the documents presented on his desk.

"This is going to be a long day. Not just any long day...probably the longest day of my life," He thought to himself.

Looking once more at the rising sun, radiating rays of light into the room, he smiled slightly before going back to work.

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Hà Nội
Bộ Tổng Tham Mưu (General Staff)
Central Calendar Year 1637 (2028), March 4th, 10:00 Hà Nội Time

Senior Colonel Cường was in a yellow colored room with hundreds of seats, a Hồ Chí Minh bust and portrait up front, as well as the flags of Vietnam and the Vietnamese Communist Party hung up on the wall, side by side. While seated, he checked his phone for any updates from Captain Lương on his unit since they were close friends and Lương covered the unit for him multiple times before.

This meeting with high command was different from the others of the past, as the included members now were not only the minister of defense, the political commissars for the whole military, or the commanders of each military region of all branches, but now included were the commanders of major military divisions. It was an emergency last minute meeting planned by the Bộ Tổng Tham Mưu (General Staff). Some unlucky commanders from the South and Central regions had to hastily fly up to Hà Nội and were generally not in a good mood.

The minister of defense, Army General Phạm Duy Minh, stood up.

"Gentlemen. I welcome you here to this urgent meeting. I apologize for having a meeting under abnormal circumstances, but I'm sure you all know, this is an urgent and pressing matter for the survival of our country."

Defense Minister Minh continued on with his lecture, pointing to several photos taken as well as a rough map of the area drawn hastily from the credited Indian and Vietnamese built satellites still up after the transfer, taking pictures from the surrounding continent that Vietnam got itself in, as well as pictures from various Su-35 runs.

"According to our satellites and photos, we were able to determine that the continent we are currently presiding on is about half the size of Australia. We have yet to determine how many nations are present, but so far we have found one. One that is our new neighbor as a result of our country wrapping around that particular country."

He then switches to another picture, one that was taken by the 9621 and 9637 numbered Su-35s.

"This is the flag of our neighbor. As you can see it's of a simplistic design."

A raised hand shot up.

"Yes? Please speak, Rear Admiral Dũng."

The Commander of the 1st Naval Military Region, stationed in the traditional home base of Hải Phòng, Rear Admiral Nguyễn Trường Việt Dũng, began to speak.

"We believe from prior recon missions that this country is surrounded with fertile fields, suitable for farming such crops as wheat and, if we can get resources to transport, rice."

All the other commanders nodded their heads.

"However, this means that the host nation will have a hard time fending off attacks from neighboring countries, as from what we observe, it's almost nearly flat terrain, meaning that a strike can happen anywhere on that particular country's eastern border." Senior Colonel Cường provided his take on the situation.

"Which would mean that our food sources would be further constrained if we don't defend that certain country should it not be hostile for us to start trading." Rear Admiral Dũng concluded.

Defense Minister Minh pulled more photos along what looked to be the western and eastern borders of the unknown country.

"These are surveillance photos of their borders. Anyone have any idea what those specks of what look to be troops on the other side are?"

Senior Colonel Cường, begin to speak again, likely due to the fact that the central and southern region commanders not having any counter ideas and with their displeased moods, they also didn't want to speak as much, just wanting the meeting to be over so that they can go back home to their home provinces.

"I believe those are enemy forces opposing this unknown nation. Judging from their size, it looks like an invasion. We can see the masses of wyverns being lined up in their airfields and soldiers on the ground in tight long lines, as if they were intending to march in the style similar to what European armies would've marched like from the 16th to 18th centuries. We must be cautious however, as they have a home field advantage. Even with us being centuries ahead of them, we still have to treat them as an equal adversary, less we face the same resistance as the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan." Cường spoke out.

"Yes, very good observation from the "prodigy" Senior Colonel of the military." Defense Minister Minh jokingly said.

That helped to lighten the mood a bit, as everyone laughed or chuckled supportingly, including the central and southern commanders, who almost forgot their prior mood existed.

"Yes, sir." Cường laughed nervously along with the others.

He didn't necessarily hate being called a prodigy, but he didn't like being called it either. Often it meant he was subjected to flirting from younger female officers and sometimes outright harassment from some envious Captains around his own age. As a result, his serious personality stemmed from those causes as a way to try to detach himself from those problems. However, everywhere he went, he would still be approached by an attractive female officer ranks below him or the envious stares of jealousy from some of the more...radical components of his division.

Once everyone stopped laughing, the Defense Minister turned to another pressing issue.

"Now, for internal affairs. Since our country is in another world, we fear that riots may start to happen as a result of some food shortages. For this reason, starting from when this meeting is concluded, martial law will be instituted in our country. These are calling times, and calling times require stronger action. This will be the first time since 1975 that our country will go into a state of martial law. Military forces are to supplement and boost public security enforcement to ensure the continuation of order. The military will also be distributing food for the citizens through rations."

A loud roar from the rest of the commanders, with the exception being from Senior Colonel Cường, is heard as they heard that rations were being implemented again.

"We can't go back to living like in the 70s and 80s! We live in a modern age!" A Southern region naval commander yelled out.

"Are you insane, Đồng Chí Bộ Trưởng (Comrade Minister)?! You are going to let people starve to death again!" This time, a Central region army commander yelled out.

There was lots of shouting, finger pointing, and clenched fists, and it looked as if this meeting was going to turn into a fight. The Defense Minister, however, simply lowered his hands, which got everyone to calm down and take their seats.

"I'm sure all of you are understandably angry at the prospect of having rations again, reminding you of the 70s and 80s, but this is more pressing. We do have enough resources for our population as of currently, including food and oil, but our reserves are going to dwindle if we keep going as usual. Until we can establish contact and trade with that unknown country for food and other countries for resources such as oil, we can't afford to waste all of our resources immediately and burden our country's agriculture sector even more than it is. You all must realize the realities being presented in front of you, because this is a cruel nature of life, and we must adapt to it, no matter how insignificant it might be, in order to survive as a species."

All the commanders nodded their hands slowly in acknowledgement of the issues at hand facing them.

"Any more questions before we end today's meeting?"

No one dared to speak up after the staunch reality check the Defense Minister gave.

"It seems there is none. You will know each of your assigned areas of responsibility in maps provided to you in bags before this meeting today. These will be divided up by Corps and Division, not by military region. This is to ensure the flexibility of military regions in cases of emergencies. Commanders of a Corps or Division, your responsibility will be massive, but will help not only you, but this country in the long run. Take this seriously."

The commanders nodded again in confirmation.

"Alright, this concludes this meeting. Farewell, stay safe, and good luck with your responsibilities."

All stood up and saluted at the Defense Minister as a sign of respect.

"Dismissed."

Most of the commanders headed out, breathing sighs of relief that the meeting was over. However, one remained, seated at his seat.

"It seems like Ba Đình is in my region of responsibility..." Cường thought to himself.

From the map he got, his division would take everything west of Hà Nội while the neighboring 312th Division took everything to the east. With his hands crossed, he thought about what to do next.

"You alright, son?"

The Defense Minister came to see him.

"I guess, Đồng Chí Bộ Trưởng." He replied back to the general.

"You don't seem that way. Thoughts on your mind?" The Defense Minister rubbed his back.

"I'm just wondering what to do with this. My area isn't exactly the smallest, in fact, quite the opposite...I'm in charge of half the capital now..."

"Son. Calm down for a moment."

The veteran Army General sat down and talked.

"Whatever happens from here is on our shoulders. We can't fail our country. I understand you have burdens on your back, and I perfectly understand how it feels to be a young senior officer in a room full of old people, though of course, you're the most diligent out of all of them. I chose you to be in charge because you are one of the best I can offer. The other option of the 312th has had a quite..."

"Questionable history?"

"Precisely. He's been known to be well...how should I put it... "not so nice" to his own soldiers, and I'm afraid if he were in charge of the government district, he would basically destroy any semblance of order there is, not to mention make the citizens' lives much harder than it currently is as of now."

"And let me guess, since I'm young and able to understand the citizens better, you put me in charge of a larger area?"

"Precisely. It may be a burden, but I assure you I'll be there to help, not to mention this can help you later in the long run. You are close to being Major General are you not?"

"Probably two to three more years, yes."

"It'll be a big responsibility. This is to prepare you for that."

"I understand, Đồng Chí Bộ Trưởng."

"Very well. That's enough for today, I have to get back to working."

The Army General stood up and put on his cover.

"Good luck on your future endeavors. I am certain of your success."

"Yes, sir."

Doing the same, Senior Colonel Cường walked out of the building, ready for what lies next.

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Hà Nội
88A "Tu Vũ" Infantry Regiment, 308th Division
13:00 Hà Nội Time

Rain was pouring down in the usually sunny capital, with thunderstorms roaring their lightning strikes in the dark gray skies. In the cover of the rain, the BTR-82As of the 308th Division rolled in where police cars would usually park on part of the sidewalks to catch unsuspected speeders or traffic breakers. The civilians both marveled in the shiny new vehicles, and in fear of what may happen, although that fear was cast away with multiple pamphlets distributed by the soldiers, instructing them to continue with normal activities, albeit with rations in stock. Some retired elder veterans even struck conversations with the younger soldiers, asking them how their life was compared to the "old days".

Climbing out of a BTR, Senior Colonel Cường, along with his trusted friend, Captain Lương, both looked grim as ever. Armed with STV-380s for security purposes, and in full on locally manufactured CIRAS body armor and Ops Core High Cut helmets, accompanied with the K20 uniform, they scanned the area for any dangers, both having just got out into the city streets for the first time in the day.

"So far, nothing out of the ordinary," Captain Lương casually said.

"Hopefully it stays that way. The rain must be pouring in. Must be a way there's fewer vehicles on the street."

"We're gonna be soaking wet after this! Not like that's a bad idea."

Both friends laughed in an effort to ease off the stress of having to work out martial law in the city.

"Let's get started." Cường pulled out a map and laid it on the table, with other high ranking officers under his command huddled around him.

"I'm going to make this very brief. We will split out our area of responsibility via infantry regiments. Regiment 88A will take positions inside the city, including Ba Đình district. Regiment 36 will take theirs up in the northwest of the city. And finally the southwest will be occupied by Regiment 102. All other units will be on support status, meaning that each unit will provide an equal amount of soldiers to each area. The choice to decide who to send is on their commanders. Is that understood by all who are attending this?"

"Yes, sir." A unified response came out of the huddle of commanders.

Closing the map.

"You've been given your orders, move."

All the others nodded and saluted before heading to their troops to give the following orders down the chain of command.

"You sure know how to keep a cold act, don't you, Đồng Chí Cường." Lương gave off a small chuckle.

His response was a sigh from Cường.

"I have to keep it that way. Now is not the time to be slacking off. We need to do our jobs after all. It is for the sake of this country."

The Senior Colonel looked up into the gray skies and clenched his fists, before turning back to the spec ops Captain.

"Let's go. We have a place to revisit."

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Hà Nội
15:00 Hà Nội Time

The wheels of the BTR stopped in front of a school. Not just any school. This school was where Senior Colonel Cường and Captain Lương first went for their education: Đoàn Thị Điểm Primary School. Stepping down from the BTR, he looked to see how much changed.

"The school hasn't changed much huh?" Lương admired the view of the front side of the school.

"No, no it hasn't..." Cường smiled at the site.

The rain had mostly stopped, with the children all out in formation with their teachers, some eager to meet the soldiers who had just arrived as part of a special event, some in fear of what may happen next, added with the boring announcements that their principal usually gave at the end of the day. Their distinct white dress shirts with red neckties gave away their appearance as schoolchildren.

Stepping back into the school vicinity, both Cường and Lương couldn't help but get a sense of nostalgia from all the times they were in school. After school, the two would fool around, running around the school to release some of their youth. Those were the fun times back then.

The children all huddled around the soldiers, who responded by patting each of their heads, to the delight of the children.

"Sir! What jobs do you do?" One of the schoolchildren, a girl, asked.

"Well, we work for the military." Cường responded.

"Do you go fight in wars?" A schoolboy asked.

"As of now, no." Lương replied back.

"Do you kill people?" Another schoolboy asked in fear.

Cường looked grimly at the fact he was asked that question.

"No. No we don't."

The schoolboy nodded before heading back to the formation of schoolchildren.

"He did ask a good question, you know," Lương said.

"I know...I just don't know how to respond to that." Cường said back in a serious tone.

The Senior Colonel can only look back into the huddles of school children eagerly talking to each other. Naive and innocent, they have no idea what will lie in front of them from here. Clenching his fists, he made up his mind.

"We will defend this country with our lives. We will protect the future generations of this country. We will not let anyone trample on us, even in this new world. We will push on. For a brighter future. For the peace of this country. That is what we are here for."

All the men around him nodded in agreement.

"There is no land for us beyond our oceans. Not one step back."

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Lào Cai, former Sino-Vietnamese Border
Vietnam Border Defense Force

In what were the former borders between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, in Lào Cai, was famously marked by a stone marking Vietnam on one side and China on the other, 10 border guards lie in wait in the bushes. It was a highly unusual move since the border guards would be standing on their side of the marking, however, they had just cause for moving back: they received orders stating that they were in another world far from their own and to proceed with high caution. The highest ranking officer, a captain, ordered his Senior and First Lieutenants under his 10 man squad to fall back behind the bushes, and observe who will cross the lines.

"There seems to be nothing, sir." One of the First Lieutenants looked through his binoculars.

"So far. Keep waiting. We need to observe." The Captain sternly said with a glare to the First Lieutenant.

"Yes, sir."

For more than 20 minutes, the forest was quiet with the sound of wildlife. However...

"Báo cáo đồng chí Đại Úy. I'm picking up movement in the forests up north." A Senior Lieutenant said through his comms.

"Copy, rally up on my position." The Captain replied back.

"Rõ."

The eight remaining border guards rushed up a small hill where the Captain was and waited for his signal. Just as they rallied up, what looked to be 10 knights crossed the marking, cautious and as confused as the Vietnamese border guards were. They were armed with small swords meant for close range combat, unlike the modern Vietnamese soldier who was equipped with a MP-433 Grach and a bayonet for similar premises.

"Where are we? I thought this was supposed to be the ocean?" One of the knights talked, which was overheard by the Captain.

"God knows. Orders from up are to survey this area and bring back intelligence on this new land, and to negotiate as well."

One of the border guards, a Senior Lieutenant, pulls out a loudspeaker as the knights approach them.

"Now." The Captain orders.

Tapping the loudspeaker once, the Senior Lieutenant begins to speak out in both Vietnamese and English.

"Intruders! You have entered the sovereign territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam! By orders from the Vietnamese government, you are to turn back to where you came from, or we will be forced to take action upon you! You will die if you step further!"

The knights were startled at the revelation.

"Vietnam? What where?" One of the knights panicked.

Even with the surprise, the knights kept going.

"I repeat! You have entered the sovereign territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam! You are to turn back immediately!"

At this point, the Captain ordered the Senior Lieutenant to stop.

"Lock and load, We are moving." The Captain ordered his squad as he hand signaled them to move forward.

"Rõ!" The border guards pulled out their STVs and began moving.

It wasn't long before the border guards met the knights.

"T-Those a-are V-Vietnamese soldiers?!" One of the knights exclaimed.

STVs aimed at the knights, the border guards slowly inched up.

"What are those? Spears of light?" Another knight panickingly added.

Both groups were in a tense standoff, but it was clear which group had the upper hand, evidenced by the knights' shaking hands and losing grip on their swords due to the sweat.

"Vietnam Border Defense Force. If you don't leave within that marking you just passed, we will shoot."

After a few tense ten minutes, the knights gave up as their captain put down his sword.

"We are at a disadvantage, knights. Put down your swords. They have the right to make us, after we crossed their territory."

The others soon followed.

"Hands up as well." The Border Guard Captain ordered.

The knights obligated and raised their hands up.

"State your reason for crossing into our borders."

The knight captain sighed in response.

"We are here to negotiate with your nation. Qua Toyne needs help."

The Border Guard Captain nodded and told his men to escort the knights back to their makeshift base for questioning.

A/N: And that's the second chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! Special thanks to Viper_Zer0 for his help in the making of with this story! You can check out his story, Summoning USEA on his profile.

Equipment featured in this chapter:

-Su-35S Multirole Fighter Jet

-STV-380/Galil ACE 32 Assault Rifle

-BTR-82A Armored Personnel Carrier

-Ops Core High Cut Helmet

-Combat Integrated Releasable Armor System

-MP-433 Grach/Pistolet Yarygina Pistol

-K20 Uniform (20 denoting the year 2020)