500 Kilometers From the Tri-Border Ocean
The ocean breathed a slow, steady rhythm beneath the Murican First Fleet, the waves rising and falling like a giant's heartbeat in the quiet of early dawn. Far out from the Ravendawn and Dwargonia formations, the unmistakable silhouette of the HMS Bahamut—Murica's prideful aircraft carrier—rested on the horizon. Its flight deck shimmered under the morning light, while the carrier's command tower loomed over the sea like a watchful sentinel.
Inside the bridge, Admiral Rusalka lounged on the captain's seat, lazily enjoying a lollipop while Captain Cetus stood beside her, posture straight, patience unwavering. Both kept their eyes fixed on the progress of the two foreign fleets. Around them, the crew worked with silent precision, each officers' console humming faintly.
Then—
"Ma'am." A radar officer stood up from his station. "Dwargonia has dispatched a small contingent toward the Ravendawn position."
"Very well," Rusalka answered, twirling the lollipop against her lips. "Contact Admiral Lorenzo. Request him to begin the operation."
"Aye, ma'am."
As the officer rushed off, Rusalka exhaled a long, low sigh.
Cetus cast a glance down at her. "Are you alright, Admiral?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She shrugged. "Just… I miss being able to taunt enemy commanders before a battle. You know—"your fleet looks like a floating toolbox"... or, "yo mama was so ugly that she have a beard", I have prepared so many insults for fighting the dwarfs."
"I highly doubt you'll ever get the chance to do that again, ma'am," Cetus deadpanned.
Rusalka stared emptily into the distance, letting her shoulders sag.
"You're right… Time keeps changing." Another sigh. "Can't even show demon presence anymore. Shame. Those were good times."
To distract herself, she looked up at a monitor showing a live feed of a Ravendawn ship cutting through the water—a sleek steel battleship with a striking silhouette.
She smiled faintly. "Still can't believe Monstro is back in the water again."
"Her name is HMS Luxtor now," Cetus corrected. "But I agree. Seeing my old ship moving like that again… it warms the heart."
Rusalka let out a small laugh. "I hope her new owners treat her well."
Before Cetus could reply, the communications officer rushed back in.
"Ma'am, the Ravendawn command refuses to begin the operation. They say the enemy vanguard is too small. They'll handle it themselves."
Rusalka stopped mid-chew.
"…Excuse me?"
Her eyebrow twitched.
"Is that old man being overconfident because he's got a steel battleship?" she muttered.
"I don't think its arrogance," Cetus shook his head. "I trained with their admiral personally. Admiral Lorenzo is extremely disciplined. Reasonable. Adaptable."
"…Is that so?" Rusalka turned back toward the satellite feed of the Dwargonia vanguard flotilla. For a moment she thought. Then she nodded lightly. "Well… I suppose he's right. It would be too early to reveal ourselves for such a small force."
"If I may suggest, ma'am," Cetus said with a small grin, "perhaps this is a good chance to see how capable the Ravendawn fleet has become."
Rusalka groaned—but relented.
"Fine… fine. Let's watch the show."
---
Ravendawn Main Fleet, HMS Luxtor
Inside the bridge of the Ravendawn flagship, Admiral Lorenzo stood at the center platform—a pillar of calm yet sharp presence. The fleet waited in formation, wooden and steel hulls alike gleaming under the light of the rising sun.
A communications officer saluted.
"Sir! The Murican fleet has gone into standby."
"Understood." Lorenzo nodded. He shifted his eyes toward Captain Rhines. "As the Muricans say… the stage is yours."
Rhines stepped forward with restrained pride.
"Thank you, sir."
He turned to the officers.
"Signal the gunship squadron—advance and intercept the Dwargonian vanguard."
"Aye sir!"
The moment the order left their lips, the Ravendawn sail ships broke formation and surged forward.
---
Dwargonia Vanguard Flotilla
Ten steel cruisers and five destroyers thundered through the waves, chimneys belching thick black smoke, engines rumbling with the rugged strength of dwarven steampunk engineering. Their hulls glowed faintly with enchanted runes—neither fully mechanical nor magical, but something in between.
Murica had struggled to understand these hybrid war machines. They were archaic in design, yet advanced in function—simple to the eye, absurdly complex inside.
A scout airship's report came in.
"Commander! Scout airship reports the Ravendawn fleet has begun advancing!"
"How many ships?" the vanguard commander asked.
"Thirty-seven! All sails! No steel!"
The dwarf barked out a booming laugh.
"BAHAHAHAH! They think wooden ships can take ours? I thought their Murican friends taught them better naval doctrine!"
He waved dismissively.
"All vanguard ships—maintain course and swat them aside as we go. Our target is the Ravendawn mechanical fleet. We'll show them what real Dwargonian engineering looks like!"
"Aye, sir!"
---
Ravendawn Main Fleet, HMS Luxtor
"Order our gunships squadron to increase their speed" Captain Rhines command.
"Aye Captain!"
---
Ravendawn Gunship Squadron
Wind mages stood ready on every deck.
"INCREASE SPEED!" each ship captain shouted.
Ship mages on the Ravendawn sail ships start chanting their wind magic, giving a significant boost to their speed.
Admiral Lorenzo had ordered to upgrade every outdated Ravendawn war vessel with Murican materials. Their wooden mast are now replaced with metal alloy, allowing them to withstand more wind stress while significantly reducing the ship weight, and sail cloth are now using modern fabric, making them not easy to get ripped even during a storm.
Winds roared. Sails billowed. The entire formation surged forward.
Now their ships felt alive.
---
Pentagon
Inside the National Military Command Center (NMCC), Solo, Lilith, and Stan watched the live satellite feed.
Solo squinted. "So that's why the Ravendawn begged us for discounts on aluminum and dacron."
"Well, we got it from their natural resources though," Lilith replies, "We just processed it to become a finished product."
Stan chuckled darkly. "Kukuku… That Ravendawn commander is quite something."
After a moment, Stan turned.
"You know both of you could just watch from the Black House, right?"
Lilith didn't look away from the screen and sip her cola.
"Someone has to make sure "a certain ancient demon" stays in his office like he was told."
Stan grumbled.
"Guh…"
---
Dwargonia Vanguard Flotilla
The vanguard commander stared in disbelief at the mana-radar.
"How are they moving that fast…?"
"Commander! Ravendawn has entered our horizons—we have visual!"
He lifted his telescope. The wooden warships cut through the sea like hunting beasts.
"Hmph. Doesn't matter," he muttered. "Even if they're a bit faster, outdated ships break with one hit."
He raised his hand.
"All ships! Aim at the enemy!"
Seconds later, cruiser and destroyer batteries elevated in unison.
"FIRE!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The first Dwargonia salvo screamed across the ocean—
—and splashed harmlessly into the water. First salvo always about measuring.
"Recalculating!" the weapons officer yelled.
---
Ravendawn Main Fleet, HMS Luxtor
"Sir, our gunships have entered enemy firing range."
"Then it's our turn." Captain Rhines nodded. "Prepare covering fire!"
"Aye sir!"
Every Ravendawn steel warships pivoted its guns.
"READY!"
"FIRE!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—
---
Dwargonia Vanguard Flotilla
"Commander! The Ravendawn mechanical ships are firing!"
"What? They can't even see us yet."
But none of the shells were aimed at the enemy.
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
They crashed into the water between the two fleets.
Another salvo.
Then another.
And another.
Then they noticed it.
Smoke.
Thick, white smoke billowing from every splash point.
"…Sir." an officer whispered. "Something is happening in the water…"
Smoke pillars grew into dense fog, quickly covering the ocean in a sprawling, shifting wall.
The commander's eyes widened.
"IT'S A FOG OF WAR—THEY'RE MAKING SMOKE COVER!"
"What!? But we're not even fighting on land!"
"GUNNERS! FIRE BEFORE WE LOSE SIGHT!"
Another volley roared.
Another complete miss.
And then—
The giant pillar of white smoke blocked everything.
---
Ravendawn Main Fleet, HMS Luxtor
"Smoke screen complete," an officer reported.
"Good," Rhines said. "Order maximum speed."
---
Ravendawn Gunship Squadron
"MAXIMUM SPEED! GO!"
The mages unleashed more wind than any normal mast could handle.
But these weren't normal masts. These were Murican alloy.
The 124-gun ships hit 24 knots.
The 64-gun ships hit 30 knots—absurd by any historical standard.
They all heading towards the giant pillar of fog.
---
Dwargonia Vanguard Flotilla
"Sir! Scouts airship said lost visual too—smoke too high!"
"DAMN IT!"
The commander forced himself to think.
"Fine! If we cannot shoot them—we ram them! All ships prepare to ram any wooden hull! Full speed ahead—follow mana-radar for positioning!"
But—
"Commander…" the mana-radar officer stuttered. "Our madar… stopped working!"
He froze.
"What!?"
The dwarf stormed over.
"What do you MEAN it's not working!?"
"The screen is blank, sir. It was fine a moment ago…"
---
Ravendawn Gunship Squadron
Among the rear ships, a lone 64-gun vessel carried a large parabolic antenna. Inside, ship mages worked furiously around humming machinery—a Ravendawn-Murican prototype.
The magical engineers sweated over arcane-mechanical devices.
"Finally…" the lead mage sighed, wiping her forehead. "Finding their mana-comm wavelength was a nightmare…"
"The Murican normal radar jammer doesn't seems to have this kind of trouble," another mage muttered.
"It's a prototype after all." She glared at him. "Be grateful it works at all."
She checked the second crystal wired to the equipment.
"Send all collected data back to base every two minutes. If something happens to us—our research must survive."
"Yes, ma'am."
---
Murica First Fleet
"KYAAAAA!!! THAT'S SO COOL!!"
Admiral Rusalka sprinted across the bridge like a child in a candy store.
"RIGHT? RIGHT, CETUS!? THIS IS AMAZING!"
"I can't believe he use the smoke-screen early for this kind of maneuver, very amusing indeed." Cetus chuckled. "I remember Admiral Lorenzo was very excited like a child and asking a lot of questions when I showed him an old photo of our old aerial smoke-screen maneuvers. And now, he's using it skillfully."
Rusalka grabbed him dramatically.
"Why have I NEVER met this man!? WHY!?"
Cetus coughed politely.
"With all due respect, ma'am… you never attend alliance officer parties. You always say, and I quote, 'It's full of old men.'"
Rusalka froze.
"…Ah."
---
Dwargonia Main Fleet
On the enormous super-dreadnought Wavecrusher, Admiral Durnick Axebreaker observed the distant, expanding wall of smoke.
"Admiral, we suddenly lost all communication with the vanguard. Technicians are checking for malfunctions." The ship captain reported.
"In battle," Durnick said sternly, "assume everything is the enemy's doing."
"Do you think... the Ravendawn can disable our mana-comm? Even Silverfist and Bluespire clans are still researching that…"
"...It's either the Ravendawn."
He eyed the horizon.
"…Or Murica."
He watched as the final silhouette of his vanguard disappeared fully into the white void.
---
Ravendawn Main Fleet
"Sir, both our sail ships and the Dwargonia vanguard have entered the fog zone."
Captain Rhines nodded. "Good. The plan proceeds."
Admiral Lorenzo folded his hands behind his back.
"Your battle plan has been flawless so far, Admiral."
"Now," Lorenzo muttered, eyes fixed on the fog. "We'll see if their training holds on a real battlefield."
He looked toward the smoke-choked horizon—
—where twenty-seven Ravendawn wooden gunships vanished like ghosts into a realm of steel dwarven giants.