Nihonkoku Shoukan: Beyond

Chapter 38: The Shadow Offensives

Black Site 29, Viridence, Annonrial Empire, Branchel Continent, 2030 hours, 5th March 1640 CCY

For the rest of Elysia, the Annonrial Empire is a secluded barbarian nation with large territories in the southern islands of Branchel that do not allow for any foreigners to step foot into their country. A mysterious country surrounded by icy cold water that is infested with sea monsters, making the journey to their land a hardly worthwhile and dangerous endeavor. The sole exception to these restrictions would be the northernmost island Bushpaka Latan which they designated as a "window" for outside travelers and diplomats to experience their country, claiming that anything on the island is the proper representation of their country as a whole and any visitors don't need to go anywhere else within the country. However, with the aforementioned problem with geography and reachability, as well as the fact that the island is hardly developed, it is very rare for anyone to visit Bushpaka Latan.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the world however, the supposedly barbarian Empire is actually a rogue nation with highly advanced magic-based technology hellbent to hasten the arrivals of their proclaimed ancestors, the Light Winged People of the dreaded Ravernal Empire. Despite their superior magical technology, they have to keep their advantages a secret, as if their true goals come out, they could expect the inferior creatures of Elysia to launch a massive retaliatory invasion against the Branchel continent, one that they know they couldn't survive even with their technological edge due to their current lack of manpower and resources.

To prevent it from happening, they completely isolate their own islands from the rest of the world to prevent anyone from finding out. Measures taken include summarily executing any explorers who were purposely landed or even unwittingly stranded in their territories outside the designated "window", littering their seas with hideous sea monsters like Krakens that were developed through magibio experiments and cross-breeding of naturally tamed sea monsters to sink any approaching ships and deliberately present themselves as a mere undeveloped barbarian nation akin to Outside Civilized Region nations.

To hasten the revival of their once glorious empire and divert attention from themselves, the Annorial also engages in subterfuge, sending various agents to incite wars in other continents. And to support that, they have built a number of secret bases across their land. Black Site 29 is one of those secret facilities used by the Annorial Empire for their nefarious agenda. It is one of the secret sites used by the mysterious Annorial Elysia Adjustment Department (AEAD), a department that is a part of the Annorial Intelligence Agency (AIA). As this is an AEAD facility, its main function is to monitor and disrupt the unfavorable development of the inferiors outside of the Annonrial Empire. This is because any advancement of those lowly creatures could hinder the revival of the Ravernal Empire, so they all must be eliminated or at the very least prevented with extreme prejudice.

The department achieves these objectives by monitoring the barbarians outside of the Branchel continent through the use of the Mystar Satellites Array (MYSA). In addition, they were also employing a sizable number of secret agents composed of the hybrid of the pure Ravernal and the inferiors or in other words, second-class citizens, and having them infiltrate barbarian nations in order to sow as much discord as possible among them. If the situation demands it, they could also send the magibio weapons to the area of operations. For the Annonrials, any methods are equally acceptable, no matter how much damage they would cause or the innocent lives that they would take. All that matters is that it will lead to their masters finally returning to bring the rightful judgment to the inferiors.

With those purposes in mind, Black Site 29 is located in the small and secluded coastal town of Viridence. Both southern, eastern, and western sides face the mountain, while the remaining north leads to the open ocean. Getting to Viridence is very treacherous if one doesn't use the trains that run inside mountain tunnels or through the air using a magic helicopter system. Due to its layout, the city is also perfect as a designated internment zone for the so-called "Impures", Annonrial citizens who were born with smaller wings and hybrid mongrels born out of the inferior creatures, where they are recruited as covert operatives, sometimes forcibly, for overseas intelligence operations. With their families firmly in the grasp of the ruling classes, they have no other choice but to obey. It also has an uplink facility to communicate with the MYSA network, and furthermore, the rest of the Empire as well as the agents. Most of the important facility is located underground, leaving room for the above-surface barrack, airbase, and naval port.