The Eighth Empire

Reaching the Eastern Horizon

Day 20 Month 12 Year 1640
Western Sea of Japan

A lone sailship cruised through the east, hoisting a flag of Leifor on the top of the mast. The ship intended to visit the new country that managed to topple the superpowers of the East, the Parpaldia Empire. The crews busily maintain the ship, keeping the performance at the optimal level.

Truth to be told, it wasn't a Leiforian ship. Rather, it was the ship belonging to the country who defeated its country, the eighth empire known as the Gra Valkas Empire. It carried an intelligence group disguised as Leiforian merchants to study and determine the threat that Japan has, since the reliability data was lacking and the fact that they lost contact with any submarine that was close to the country. Although most of the Valkan ignored Japan as nothing but a mere barbarian country, some were determined to unveil the secret that Japan has.

They weren't sailed from Leifor to the eastern part of the world. Instead, they were boarding a faster ship to a remote island that the GVE repurposed as a submarine base. The sail ship itself was purchased alongside its crews to shorten the preparation. Of course, they already visited Altaras to get their passports to allow them to enter Japan easily. The port city of Le Brias received some change, making it look modern compared to backwater cities in the rest of uncivilised countries.

Standing on the deck of the ship, a Gra Valkas intelligence officer watched the horizon. He was nervous about the mission, given the fact that it was his first field assignment to the other part of the world. For him, to be the first one who took a footstep on a faraway country was a different experience than sitting on the chair while reviewing the papers.

"Enjoying the view, Naguano"

A voice came from behind him, surprising him who had a thought about Japan. He turned his body to look at the one who was called him. He was surprised to see a young and handsome figure, clad in a khaki trench coat, accompanied with two bodyguards.

"Your majesty"

Naguano knew him. The person who sponsored the expedition and had a connection within the royal family, Cabal Eloue Luk Fordem Hallova Elidor von Granderia, or simply known as Gra Cabal.

"There's no need to be tense, Naguano. We're here to learn how powerful the Japan is"

Naguano nodded. Suddenly, a shout came from the crow's nest.

"A ship, 10 miles away"

Both Naguano and Gra Cabal were shocked. They went into the quarterdeck to get a better view. Since the sailship speed was only 6 knots, it would be a matter of time to approach the unknown ship. Later on, they could see the ship using binoculars. The size of the unknown ship grew bigger as they began to close.

"Is that a Japanese ship? It doesn't have a sail like the usual barbarian ships"

Naguano lowered his binoculars and swept his eyes, before he looked back at the suspected Japanese ship. It has a strangely white color with some blue stripes on its hull. The superstructure resembles a warship, while the armament looks similar to an anti-aircraft gun. Suddenly, a dot on the sky approached their ship, slowly growing bigger as it flew closer.

"What was that? An autogyro?"

For Naguano, the Gra Valkan Empire did have an autogyro that was used as an artillery observer and anti-submarine duty. It's slow speed and lack of flight ceiling prevented the usage of an autogyro in aerial combat. Thus, many young pilots wanted to fly a faster aircraft like Antares fighter or Sirius reconnaissance-bomber than an autogyro.

Meanwhile on the sky, an Eurocopter AS332 circling above the sailship. An observer watched the ship that hoisted the flag of Leifor.

"Seems normal. The information from our ally in Altaras seemingly matched with that ship"