6. Gunboat Diplomacy

Written July 14th, 2023

Central Calendar, Day 3 Month 1 1640, Otaheit, Mu

The foreign affairs bureau was bustling with activity. Recently, the newly appeared Gra Valkas Empire had sent an envoy to Mu regarding one of their lost fleets. Apparently, they had lost track of it. How someone loses an entire fleet, now that’s a mystery. Mu had made a point of not interfering with the Gra Valkan navy, and no one from Mirishial had said anything.

“Sir, we’ve received a transmission from the Gra Valkan diplomat. They should be arriving in port soon.”

Were they planning to blame Mu for this? The Gra Valkan ships, while not completely outclassing the Mu navy, definitely had stronger armament and armor than the smaller ships of Mu. Less agile, they had shown that their air power could easily close the gap even if Mu’s ships were faster. With barely disguised contempt, the Gra Valkans avoided aggressing into Mu waters or territory, but the day was only drawing nearer when these two nations would come to blows.

Diplomatic Flotilla, South of Mu

Oskar Glas was sitting in the nerve center of the battleship Adroit. The ship that had single-handedly leveled the island nation of Paganda was now known across what the natives called the ‘civilized world.’ Not that it actually was civilized, they just didn’t know any better. After visits to countless small countries and ‘superpowers,’ Oskar had come to the conclusion that these people knew neither civilization nor power.

The hustle and bustle in the bridge was almost oppressive, everyone preparing to meet Mu’s foreign affairs bureau. As they came into the harbor the Mu civilians all stopped what they were doing. Some quickly hid while others stood, mouths open at the might of the Gra Valkan Navy. While these ‘civilized’ people had heard of the ship, none had seen it in person. Adroit dwarfed the military ships of Mu, even the largest Mu vessel seemed a toy in comparison. With almost 80,000 tons of displacement, it was almost double that of current Mu battleships. Guns that could launch shells almost half a meter in diameter crowded the deck, two three-gun turrets forward and one aft, with myriad other armaments all over the deck. Adroit was the pride of the Gra Valkan Empire, started just before the transfer, it was finished just before the subjugation of Paganda. Truly a marvel of Gra Valkan Engineering.

Usually shown as a peaceful country, Mu definitely had something to do with the loss of the Northern Subjugation Fleet. With Oskar’s hand-picked team, he would get to the bottom of this. While somewhat risky, they all knew that the Adroit sitting in the harbor would stop Mu from trying anything stupid, and based on previous meetings, they had been almost too forthright and honest.

From here Oskar felt invincible. With the direct order to start a war with Mu if they had anything to do with the destruction of the Northern Subjugation Fleet, he felt like he had all the cards.

As the gangway was secured and their path to potential enemy territory opened up, Oskar couldn’t help but get a little spring in his step.

Foreign Affairs Bureau, Mu

“The diplomats from the Gra Valkan Empire are here.” The aide had seen the ship from the windows and was barely keeping her composure in check.

“Alright, send them in. We shouldn’t keep them waiting.” Marian sipped the perfectly made coffee one last time and gathered up the papers in front of him. In front of him were reports and details surrounding the island nation of Vauxnia that showed that Mu was not involved.

As the door opened, Marian and his aides were greeted with a terrible smile. Oskar walked in, opening his arms wide, “My Mu counterparts! Let’s figure out some solution to this ‘misunderstanding.’” The laugh that came later caused the hairs on the back of Marian’s neck to rise.

The aide at the door showed the Gra Valkan party to their seats around the large, circular table. The gray suits of the Gra Valkans were imposing, the same color and feel as their soldiers’ uniforms with sharp, dangerous lines.

Once seated, all of the Gra Valkans besides Oskar were busy organizing papers from their briefcases.

“My name is Oskar Glas, assistant to the head of the Gra Valkan Empire Foreign Affairs Department. We are here to get to the bottom of the issues we’ve run into up north, with our Northern Subjugation Fleet.”

The aide besides Oskar pulled out a map which he laid on the easel between the two groups.

“As you can see, this was the map given to us by Mu, showing your territorial holdings, client states, and allies. So far, our Glorious Emperor has extended his unending mercy by not beginning a war with Mu.” Oskar walked over as he spoke, pulling out an extendable pointer with a bright red tip. “Over…here,” he pointed to the small cluster of islands well to the north of Mu, “we have lost communications with our fleet. Now, the island is not part of Mu, nor is it a protectorate, so why would you decide to meddle in our affairs and attack our fleet?”

All of the Mu diplomats looked on with stony faces, no one revealed anything to the other side of the table.

“We have no record nor information about your fleet.” Another map was placed on the board, “as you all can see, our fleets are busy in the south with training, and the ones up north are never far from our shores. Why we would be so far from our home makes no sense. We have seen your movements recently and have found no reason to stop them or object through international law.” Not that they respect it themselves, though, thought Marian.

“All of the countries besides yours on and around this continent have been made into imperial holdings of the Gra Valkas Empire, and there is no way any other navy nearby could come close to even our older destroyers. We know it was a Mu fleet that did something.”

At least they would lower themselves to complement the Mu Navy a bit. They must actually not know what happened.

“If you were so close to the northern ice floes at this time, your captains must have been wary of icebergs. There’s no chance that a storm hit, and all the ships were lost? We have lost countless ships in the past due to weather that far north, especially during the winter.”

“Our ships would have sent word if anything like that had happened, but we have heard nothing for weeks. If nothing else, a plane or an escort vessel would have reached Gra Valkas by now with news of whatever had happened.”

Marian pulled out some of the papers in front of him, sliding it across for Oskar to look at. On it were drawings of ships that had been spotted by Mu scout aircraft, along with ground and sea observation pictures. The fuzzy, multi-colored diamonds on them were made even blurrier by the speeds at which they must have been moving, but they were all the same.

“We have reason to believe that it was you who was violating our airspace without prior warning. These images do not match any of our planes, and the Mirishial Empire has also denied any knowledge or possession of an airborne asset like this. Due to your recent entry onto the world stage, we believe this is one of your craft. It was reported to be flying from the north, where your ships were stationed and were lost.”

A puzzling expression appeared on Oskar’s face. He had not anticipated anything like this, and the photographs that had been handed to him showed no signs of tampering or modification. Whatever it was in these photos, it was real, but it was nothing that the Gra Valkans were using. It had no wings, no propellers, and it seemed to just be a flying diamond that almost blended in with the sky. Mu’s photography and optics manufacturing were some of the best in the world, even surpassing the Gra Valkans, but somehow the ships were still blurry.

“These…these aren’t anything we fly.” Even the prototype air-jet fighters they were testing needed wings to fly. Oskar was now simply curious. One of his aides, a military intelligence officer disguised as a diplomat, took the images and rifled through them, staring.

“What did your scouts report their speeds as?” the military intelligence officer asked, forgetting that he was supposed to blend into the background.

“They were unable to get good estimates, but they flew far above where our new single-wing fighters could reach, and much faster than them.” To the Gra Valkans, this didn’t mean much, as Mu had yet to add superchargers to their engines for high-altitude flight. “If these are not your airships, then we both may have more investigation to do before we continue this meeting.”

Disappointed that Mu was not being conquered, Oskar and his aides began to pack up their documents, as well as the photos that Mu had provided. Hauke, the military intelligence officer, walked out last, trying to figure out if his own government had kept a project like this secret from even him.

United Systems Embassy in Vauxnia

The early construction on the island was slowed down by the winter, but for the United Systems Frontier from Omuen 6, it was extremely mild compared to their previous winters. With special approval, a full embassy had been built in Vauxnia, showing that the U.S.F. was recognizing them as a fully-fledged country, regardless their size.

Outside the embassy streets bustling with foot traffic. Vauxnia did not have any automobiles, not even ancient combustion engine ones that the country to the south, Mu, created. Not unique in their mastery of simple mechanical systems, they were simply the nearest to Vauxnia, and many of the citizens had been there. Their reports closely matched up with what the survey ship’s sensors had seen, but these people seemed to think it was the pinnacle of technology. After learning this, the diplomatic mission to Vauxnia had determined that they should limit the technology they shared to the outside world, for operational security and to keep anything from being too crazy for people here to believe. Sadly, they had already seen the military, who were unwilling to limit themselves the same way the civilian visitors were. No longer in heavy power armor, the small detachment at the embassy nonetheless looked extremely futuristic with the village as a backdrop.

Inside the embassy it looked mostly like something back home: glass and steel with a heavy-duty reinforced concrete shell. Quite brutalist, but after the attack on the island before, even the Vauxnians understood the need. A main area on the first floor contained conference rooms and a large foyer, with limited technology for visiting Vauxnians to learn about the U.S.F., and for the U.S.F. visitors to get used to the allowed level of tech should they want to explore Vauxnia.

The roof contained a landing pad for a single S-23 cargo ship, with more landing surfaces dotting the recently modified base to the south. A military base with newly fabricated defensive weaponry was erected a few kilometers west of the village, with most of the weaponry stowed to reduce how actually dangerous the base seemed. The first multi-story agriculture building had been erected, as well. The current weather was still prohibitive to outdoor farming but the massive three story building had allow them to stave off starvation for now. Still rationing luxury food, most staples had returned to the people’s pantries, and so far, no one had been complaining.

With tourism also coming to the islands, a small number of them had been occupied by hotels built by the U.S.F. to be getaways from the mostly underground frontier base to the north. Able to use technology there, many didn’t even bother going to visit Vauxnia, but the researchers were fascinated by the village and its people.

Genetic tests were done, and it was confirmed that the people were humans, not just some lookalike species. Disease analysis had confirmed that diseases from the ancient Sol system seemed to exist here, as well, and simple medical treatment was allowed for those Vauxnians in need. So far, Vauxnian-U.S.F. relations seemed to be booming, but no Vauxnian’s really knew the size or extent of the U.S.F. base as travel there had been restricted to U.S.F. citizens.

—

The expected retaliation attack had never materialized, and after thorough examination of the battlefield, both above and below the waves, the U.S.F. investigations had learned a lot about the Gra Valkas Empire. Large ships with utterly massive guns seemed to be the norm, and some of the history buffs on the base had gone absolutely nuts when they saw the releases from the survey teams.

A professor at the university had pulled up an index on weapons and warships from almost a millennium ago, and matched a lot of the findings to the entries detailed there. Once this connection was found, the whole base appeared to be engrossed in learning ancient Pre-Exodus Earth history.

Rough political maps of the world were drawn up using knowledge from the villagers, as well as material recovered from the undersea wrecks. Finally understanding where they were in this world, the U.S.F. Diplomatic Post was ready to start talking to the rest of the world.