Another Worldly Summons

Chapter 115: To Sunder

Annonrial West-Central Fleet Division
February 29, 1642

Nestled 250 kilometers west of Verlander, amidst the calm seas stretching towards Rodenius and Philades, a scene of chaos unfolded. The waters were littered with floating debris, burning vessels, and the noxious discharge of leaking chemicals and miasma.

Above, the piercing wails of Annonrial Phantom air superiority jets filled the air, flying in a frenzy of urgency. With their carriers sinking or reduced to disabled wrecks, there were no flight decks to land on. Below, thousands of sailors found themselves in a desperate struggle for survival. Many had been crystallized or poisoned by the toxic substances leaking from their ships, their bodies contorted in agony as they clung to life rafts or any flotsam they could find.

Amidst the chaos, a grim scene of desperation played out. Annonrials fought ruthlessly for their survival, resorting to violence to secure a place in the lifeboats. It was a cycle of desperation, marked by coldness, opportunism, and inhumanity, as each individual fought tooth and nail to escape the torment of the elements.

On one of the surviving destroyers in the area, battered and smoking from the attacks, a new threat emerged from the skies. Longitudinal projectiles, flying just meters above the survivors on water, closed in with deadly precision. With a final boost from their propulsion systems, the projectiles struck the ship's bridge, stern, and amidship in quick succession, unleashing devastation beyond the vessel's ability to withstand.

The destroyer erupted in a catastrophic explosion, its remnants catapulted hundreds of meters into the sky. Once again, the surrounding waters was filled with the noxious discharge of miasmatic elements, inferior to capital ships leakages but certainly lethal to any surviving sailors whom somehow luckily surviving that explosion or nearby individuals caught in its deadly range of toxic embrace.

Terror unlike anything they had ever seen before engulfed them, from order which motivated them beyond comprehension came from their ancestors. Their emperor commanded them to greet and clear the way for their arrival. However, what they encountered was sheer terror on the fortress island of Verlander, littered with Chinese anti-ship batteries, destroyers, and missile boats. This was not to mention their anti-submarine and maritime patrol aircraft buzzing like bees and continued firing anti-ship missiles and scoring dozens of ships as burning wrecks, along with the consortium of American, French, and Southeast Asian forces backing them.

The Southeast Asians were doing the heavy lifting, deploying mass anti-aircraft and anti-ship missile batteries along the Rodenius and Philades, providing logistics, and offering aerial movement support for all armed parties defending their territories from the encroaching threat of the West. However, their capability were stretched and strained, with the economy running in deficit and war bonds insufficient to pull resources and financial support, teetering at the doorstep of bankruptcy. Simply put, they were running on the accumulation of debts, loans, and outstanding requests that were yet to be paid by the war's end. Nevertheless, they continued churning out weapons, spare parts, and supplies at an unprecedented rate of desperation.

The artificial stimulus was the only thing preventing the country from financial and economic disintegration. Miracle came in the form of cheap resources from Rodenius, where excess luxury food commodities were sold at dirt-cheap prices, along with crude oil and natural gas, making them the most affordable options available. This significantly reduced the overall pricing at gas stations across the country, making fuel on average nearly 900% cheaper compared to Earth. With a full tank of an SUV costing only the equivalent of a dollar, albeit you have to drive to Rodenius to get that amount.

Still, being on the brink of bankruptcy is as dangerous as letting dozens of heavily armed Annonrial warships enter the Strait of Philades and begin launching missiles all over the place or attacking their shipping and coastal territories.
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The Annonrial Battleship Honor of Autiria, flagship of the Annonrial Battlegroup under Admiral Tuskin, is now combined with the Western fleet, which is assigned to block ASEAN forces and contain them back to the third civilization. This effort has achieved varying degrees of success, but they are still unable to completely halt the supply and troop movements of ASEAN forces to Mu and their allied UDEA members across the second civilization.