ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (1)

Battle of Glenkia Peninsula, Second Round 1

December 16, noon

Sea 290 km north of Glenkia Peninsula

Eleven days after the Battle of Glenkia Peninsula, a P-3C Orion patrol plane was in the air to detect a new threat. Pieces of wood, probably from the recent naval battle, were floating here and there on the sea surface. As the crew continued their surveillance of the sea, a mysterious shadow appeared on the northern horizon. The crew had a sense of déjà vu as they watched the black shapes spread out across the ocean.

"Is that..."

Lieutenant Commander Okouchi observed them through the left window with strained eyes.

"There are what appears to be a fleet of ships turning in a circle at 9 o'clock."

Immediately after the pilot's announcement is heard on board, the P-3C banked to the north. The aircraft then saw a group of ships that appeared to be heading for the Lucinia Base, just like the Crossnellyard fleet that had been repulsed 11 days earlier.

"A new fleet of ships!" Okouchi immediately reported.

What they saw spread out below them was a fleet that was clearly larger than the Crossnellyard fleet that had attempted to attack the base 11 days earlier. In order to confirm the ship's type and flag, the P-3C Orion lowered its altitude and approached even closer toward the fleet. Okouchi stared intently at the flags atop the masts of each ship, their sails flapping in the wind. Upon closer inspection, there were two types of flags flown by each ship.

"Two different flags. Neither of them is Crossnellyard, and neither is identifiable at this point."

The flags flown by the fleet were of a design he did not recall. This makes it impossible to accurately determine whether they are friend or foe. And it wasn't just the flag that was in two different colors. The majority of the fleet he found this time was clearly different in design from the galleons and the ships-of-the-line he had faced in this world before, including the Altian War and the battle 11 days ago.

"Let's take an image. We'll go back to the base and collate the data."

"Roger."

Hearing the captain's words, the TACCO (Tactical Coordinator) gave the order to return after taking images. Then, after finishing photographing the enemy fleet, they dropped a sonobuoy just to be sure, but no huge submerged object was found in the sea.

"...Flying objects approaching from the enemy fleet!"

From the cockpit, the fleet could see the dragons approaching one after another. The fleet was naturally aware of the P-3C on patrol, as it was so close that the flag pattern could be seen. Dragons were sent out from each ship to drive away the approaching giant flying object. They were all brown winged dragons. They were the majority of all the dragons that the dragon riders rode, and yet they had the lowest performance.

"...Return!"

After confirming the unknown fleet had launched their air force, Okouchi turned his aircraft around and headed for the Lucinia Base.

. . .

Lucinia Base Conference Room

The base executives were gathered again to deal with the newly approaching fleet. The flags of the fleets photographed were searched in the directory and found to be those of the belligerents.

"The flags of the new fleet have been identified as belonging to the Lysania Kingdom and the Duchy of Lievant, both of which are under the umbrella of the Rovance Papal State... in other words, they are enemies. These two countries have announced their participation in the Holy War. The size of the enemy fleet is estimated to be around 670 ships."