Hà Nội, Socialist Republic of Việt Nam
Parpaldian Embassy, former Russian Embassy
Central Calendar 1637, July 1st

Remille sighed as she looked at the numerous reports on her desk. It was part of her daily routine as Ludius personally ordered her to go to the unknown country and see if this country was either weaker or stronger than the Parpaldian Empire. However, her letters weren’t getting through and she was growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress due to both the Parpaldian emperor and the dissent from the majority of the Estates-General, with most of the representatives outright ignoring her concerns about potentially starting a war with Vietnam.

She shook her head as she continued writing on the report she had on her desk. Her eyes were getting blurry due to how much she had to do within two days. A combination of a lack of sleep and lack of nutrition caused her to work slower than usual. 

“Such impossible demands…argh that Ludius, once I return I shall give him a stern talk. This is too much for me to carry,” she said to herself. 

Technically she was in charge of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Parpaldia Empire. This, however, made her feel like she was a lowly clerk instead of a respectable head. Even her past endeavors in the other countries in the First and Second Civilization areas did not give her a headache as much as the one she was having right now. Moreover, even with a couple of hundreds of employees working at the newly established embassy, it was still not enough as only Remille possessed the willingness to learn about Vietnam. The other employees were a mix bag: some had the same passion and tried to help as much as they could. Others were the same rotten people from the war faction in the Estates General. Utterly detestable, spoilt, obnoxious snobs, which was ironic as she considered herself a spoiled person herself.

Remille was interrupted by a loud knock on her door.

“Come in,” she said

A man in what looked to be his late 20s opened the door.

“Your Highness, I have received a report about a border skirmish between the Qua Toyians and the-”

He was cut off.

“I know. I saw it on this country’s local news.” Her stern voice could be heard.

“We must be faster. Our news takes more than two days to reach the populace while this country takes at most an hour, if not a few mere minutes. If the emperor does declare war, it will be an utter disaster for our empire. We cannot simply hope to be better as we are outdated by  centuries.” She continued. 

“If we ever hope to even catch up to the other superpowers, let alone this country, we must not wage war and modernize our forces in such a reasonable way. Relay that back to the Estates General and Emperor Ludius. I do not wish to see my sayings go unnoticed. However, I doubt they will listen as they still foolishly believe in the arrogance of what our empire has achieved…they may call me a pessimist for such ‘beliefs’.”

“I understand, Your Highness. I shall relay this information to the Emperor and the Estates General.” He curtsied to her before closing the door to her quite big office. 

As the door closed, Remille continued sighing at her not so fortunate situation. 

Que Toyne City, Que-Toyian Principality
Que Toyian General Command

“Comrade General, we cannot let this situation slide. The Lourians are being provocative and we must take action lest we be seen as cowards!” An officer of the Que-Toyian army argued. A collection of high ranking officers from the Que-Toyian military had gathered to discuss multiple issues, including the border skirmish that the Lourians launched.

“I understand your concerns, Colonel. However, we must also be very cautious,” A general said as he patted his head with a handkerchief.

The luminous atmosphere didn’t help to ease the tension between all the officers; a dark room as a projection was shown of where exactly the skirmish was

“One of our units in the area  managed to defend the border town of Dawncliff from several Lourian attackers. Luckily for us it was a probing attack. Unfortunately this might be another sign that the Lourians are getting more and more aggravated the longer they wait and it might be only a matter of time before they unleash their attack on us.” The general adjusted his glasses as he continued with the assessment.

“From our Vietnamese allies, they report that the Lourians are building up forces along  the border. We still don’t know when the Lourian will attack but judging by the  estimation that we obtained from some captured soldiers, they say we should expect a major offensive at the beginning of the year.”

The general turned his head towards all the other officers in the room.

“However, we must not be lured into complacency. They can also prepare to attack earlier than they plan. Currently we will be  able to fend off their land and air attacks, however, we cannot defend against their sea attacks.” 

The faces of the officers turned grim at the realization.

“The Lourian Navy has an estimated 1000 wooden ships. We have none. So we will have to rely on our Vietnamese allies for their navy. They have a fewer number of ships, however theirs is bigger and more armed than the Lourian Navy. The Vietnamese Air Force can also bomb the Lourian Navy as support for us as we wait for acquisition of the older Su-27s the Vietnamese have.”

As time passed the dark room grew more and more ominous as more and more information began to sink in about the upcoming invasion of their own country.

Someone stood up in the silence.

“Comrade General, are we certain that the Lourians are not aware of us knowing the information or having us know this information so that they can bait us into a trap…an information trap that is.” A more younger officer stood up and stated his point with emphasis and a look of concern on his face.

“Unfortunately no, we cannot be certain that the Lourians are not aware. Which is why we must remain vigilant. There will be Lourian spies planted all around our country and we must ensure that the information today is not leaked to an outside source or it  will compromise our country’s security. If such a leak happens, our defenses will be compromised  and the Lourians will surely find new weak spots that they can exploit into our territory.”

The meeting concluded in that it was assumed that the Que-Toyian defense was not breached and that the intelligence that they had received was correct up to that date.

Esthirant, Parpaldian Empire
Gold Palace
Central Calendar 1637, July 2nd

Emperor Ludius sat on his throne, looking triumphant in his display of clothes befitting of an emperor. A long red robe coupled with gold trimmings, long socks threaded from the most expensive imported silk and shoes made of the finest quality of leather, as well as a golden crown adorned with glittering diamonds and rubies.

“Your Majesty. I have received more news from Her Highness Princess Remille.” A court advisor curtsied in front of the Parpaldian emperor.

“And what is it that Princess Remille wrote to me this time? Another one of those reports in which the unknown country is stronger than our mighty Parpaldian Empire?” Ludius could only scoff at another such report.

“I'm afraid so, Your Majesty. However, it is more detailed than the last and gives reasons on why we should not declare war on them. According to Your Highness the unknown country possesses such weapons of war that the superpowers of the First and Second Civilization areas possess.”

“Planes? Our wyverns should have no problem keeping up. After all those Holy Milishial planes that crossed our border we were able to catch up and intercept.” Ludius assessed the view of this unknown country from his point of view.

“Aha..yes your Majesty. Since Her Highness Princess Remille is still in the other country, we should be able to learn more and more about this unknown country in the foreseeable future,” The advisor said as his forehead was covered in some sweat due to the aura of the emperor.

“Good then. Now run along and give the news to the Estates General. I am sure the war faction will receive this news with utter discontent…at least I would assume so. Carry along.” Ludius got back to adjusting his robes for a ceremony today.

“I understand, your Majesty.” The advisor curtsied again before closing the door.

The gleam of Ludius’s eyes grew darker as he heard this information.

“We will crush them before they can crush us…soon.”

His right turned into a fist.

Lourian War Command
Jin-Hark, Lourian Empire

“So what if we don’t have enough?! All the soldiers are getting more impatient as time goes on!” A Lourian general slams his fisted hand on the table as his face turns red from anger.

“Patience young one, I am sure the King has thought of a grandiose plan to deal with the barbarians. Our grand leader has not failed us for the last 20 years. Believe in him and such rewards will come,” Another Lourian general said.

“But what if such rewards don’t come?! What will we do if we just…sit here?! What do we do about our soldiers?! They will be just left on the field with such useless orders as to simply  wait?! This is outrageous! We should be out liberating other lands with our relatively superior military and now we are all stuck here, doing what is simply described as..nothing! We still have not received all of our wyverns and the Parpaldians are greedy about the sent war material! Most of them are used goods!” The first general’s anger rises even more as he explodes in a ball of fury, shaking his fists in the frustration of his soldiers having to wait for such orders to attack the Qua Toyne Principality. 

“With all due respect, the fleet is also not prepared for such large scale offensives. Which is why our orders are to be on standby. Your soldiers might receive used goods but all of our ships are newly constructed. Even at their fastest they will have to take until the end of the year or more to finish. Once we have our navy constructed, the Qua Toyians and the Vietnamese will have no choice but to give up in the face of our mighty navy.” The Lourian Admiral at the center of the table emphasized.

“Our Marines are also training for effective landings on what we believe is Vietnamese soil. They will not expect us as we maintain secrecy about our liberation campaigns. If we maintain secrecy, then it will be possible for the element of surprise to be on our side for the first few days.”

As the Admiral continued his majestic explanations about how the Lourian military will be able to steamroll through both countries even if Vietnam, the unknown country, might be stronger than they think.

“I appreciate your thinking, Admiral. However, what if this…Vietnam were to be as strong as some Parpaldian reports say? What if they are actually way stronger than those reports? What will we do then?!” The Lourian general further slammed his fists before holding his head in pain of such stress.

“I assure you, they will not be as strong as you may think. Before they can use their superiority against us, we shall crush them before the fight has begun. We shall prevail. And our empire shall liberate the lesser races and cleanse them of their sins. Our people shall prosper on the new lands in such a way that is never thought to be imaginable in our dreams.

Reluctantly, the furious Lourian general calmed down as he had no choice but to accept the outcome.

“I…I understand. However my soldiers shall have a meager increase of wages, to send their families to use for the upcoming winter. Otherwise they will starve. That is my condition.”

“Very well.” The Admiral nodded his head.

“This meeting is now concluded. You may return to your original posts.” The head general who heard all of the arguments used his handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead and signed in relief. 

Esthirant, Parpaldia
Estates-General
Central Calendar 1637, July 10th

Remille opened the doors to the Estates-General to find it as chaotic as she thought it would be. As she walked inside, she saw an off control thrown tomato headed her way, and used her quick reflexes to dodge it.

“We should be at war! Think of the opportunities that our people can have! To use the labor from the countries that we conquer?! That way we can further build our mighty empire!” A politician from a faction of the War Hawks yelled out in an optimistic tone.

This subfaction of the War Hawks, nicknamed the War opportunists, joined the War Hawk faction as representatives of some of the regions in which the biggest military companies were headquartered. The Parpaldian military industrial complex has not been established for a long time, only recently being developed 10 years ago, but Emperor Ludius hopes that these companies will prosper in such a way as to eventually overtake some of the First and Second World’s superpowers.

“Bringing more war to this Empire will diminish our ability to be able to feed our citizens! Some regions of Esthirant are filled with poverty striken people! How must we deal with this growing situation if such cases arise of our Empire going to war?! Are you insane?! More war means more suffering for the people and we cannot allow more suffering upon this great Empire of ours!” Another politician, this time from the peace faction, yelled out from his stand.

The doves are the main subfaction of the Peace Camp. These regions that their representatives represent often have the poorest of people living in it. The dark side of the Parpaldian Empire is that most of the money goes to the military and as a result the general masses are the ones that bear the brunt of the economic consequences and as a result also heavily taxed. It mirrors the situation that plagued France till the French Revolution with King Louis XVI. There were some days where the Parpaldian population living in these less than stellar conditions would rise up in protest due to the conditions of which their living conditions were. Some protests were violent in that the protestors would wield such dangerous weapons such as stolen muskets.

Remille could only look at the situation of the Estates-General and be more disappointed day by day. The constant repeated arguments by the War Hawks had taken a toll on the young Princess as she struggled to not only provide balance, but to also display her faction’s issues, which align with the Peace Camp. Some have criticized her for being too much of a pacifist due to her stance.

“What am I going to do with the Estates-General in such state as this?” Remille mentally asked herself as the atmosphere of the legislature of the Parpaldian Empire got more heated. Now it wasn’t just simple fruits and vegetables being thrown at each other as more large objects such as the some pieces of wood were being tossed like candy in the air. Once they struck a human being, it would cause them to stir before passing out.

“Order in this Estates-General! I said order!” Remille have had enough and proceeded to the podium as if she was the speaker.

“I expected the Estates-General to act more civilized than this. Unfortunately I was mistaken, as I am witnessing man-children using objects such as food and pieces of wood to throw at each other. When those food could be used for feeding the poor and the wood used to craft furniture, instead you would rather resolve your differences as bullies of school would often do it. How shameful! And how unacceptable behavior that is tolerated by this assembly! Where is the Speaker? Or is said Speaker just sitting beside stacks of bills over there!” Remille pointed to the Speaker who was counting his money that he collected for the day, as if minding about that instead of his job.

“What embarrassment I have witnessed! This is an improper way a government is run! I may be part of the Imperial family, however that does not excuse the fact that I will tolerate such ruckus to be a part of the Estates-General. We are here today to discuss issues of utmost importance for our nation, not to squadder like little children on the playground! Mr. Speaker, please come up and order the Estates-General to come back into session, and into session like proper politicians, not man-children.” After she left the stage, she couldn’t help but feel a sting in her throat as she let out her frustrations on the actions done by the assembly of which she had a standing to make today.

“I apologize, your Highness. It is my inaction that has led to chaos in this assembly. Now I shall have this session back on track.” The speaker slammed his gavel.

“Order! Now we will present sides on the proposal to either declare war on the unknown country or not. We shall hear from the War faction. May I have the representative presenting the argument, stand up and hear your proposition.”

A representative stood up.

“Your honor, it is my pleasure to represent the War faction today. As for our proposition, we propose that we declare war when Louria does. This “unknown country” from some reports from our embassy proposes a dangerous prospect in that if this nation were to be let on its own, it may turn into a quagmire for us. In other words, our Empire will be in deep trouble further down the line should this nation decide to enact evils and declare war on all of the nations of this world, not just our Empire. We will also be able to create new jobs for some of our impoverished citizens, something the Peace faction does not accept. It will spur new industries and new scientific development that will benefit the Empire as a whole.”  The representative talked very passionately about the War Hawks proposition.

There was some claps coming from his own camp and some from the moderates, however there was silence from the Peace camp.

“Thank you for the proposition. Now we will present the counter proposal from the Peace faction. If someone may stand up and-” The Speaker was interrupted by Remille herself standing.

“I shall propose for my side. The proposition proposed by the representative of the War faction can only be met with skepticism. More war does not equal prosperity. How will you deal with the situation in such a case our Empire loses? Will our people be subjected to slavery? Will they have worse lives than they do as of this current state? Questions will be raised on what you think may be a simple task. War is not adventurous as some may claim. It brings despair and misery in its wake. Families will be torn apart, friends will kill each other, the list goes on.

Shouts of the word “pacifist” were heard as Remille spoke from the war faction, shouting about how she would destroy the thousands of jobs of the war industry as well as the technological advances that could be made through war.

“Our advance can be met by other means, such as through medicine. Our Empire’s medicine is not as proficient as the other countries of the First or Second Civilization areas.The doctors are still relying on amputations and the mortality rate is high. I am sure you all have heard the status of the economy, no? It is unacceptable what the current state of the Empire is facing. We must have a different path than war. The more war we make, the more we have to spend to keep up with losses. The unknown country I have gone to has strived under peace conditions.” She was stopped by a war faction politician.

“The unknown country?! And what does this unknown country have more than us?! They are just barbarians! Barbarians I say!” The politician yelled as sweat poured on his forehead.

“They have advanced in just about every sector. From science to what they call computing. They are not barbarians as we all originally thought. Which is why we must pursue a path of peace and compromise. This is the only way our Empire can prosper. I have personally seen the effects of war. My father, the former Emperor before Ludius…he showed me what the battlefield was like, and told me that in the future, to never involve the Empire in something like that ever again. However, it seems my brother did not listen to his advice.” Remille shakes her head in sadness.

“That is my time, Mr. Speaker. For I must get going. But my vote is against declaring war.” She bowed in grace before excusing herself from the stage.

“Colonel…if you were only here to see the madness from my Empire.” She thought to herself as she walked back to the Foreign Affairs ministry. 

Hà Nội, Socialist Republic of Việt Nam
Classified location
Central Calendar 1637, July 9th

"We have additional confirmation that the Lourians will try to buy more equipment from Parpaldia. Some of our Qua-Toyian agents have stated that they may also be planning on buying a bigger ship than the 65 league ship," a TC2 (Tổng Cục 2, the 2nd General Intelligence Department of the PAVN) officer said.

"So are we to assume they are going to buy some ships that are a few kilometers more?" Colonel Trường asked. 

"Yes, it should be assumed that, and so we should have appropriate measured to combat this potential new threat."

"So now our situation has turned into an Ace Combat plot…right em Văn?" The Colonel chuckled as he referred to the First Lieutenant informally. 

"I…I guess you can think of it like that. We get a big threat, we send planes, turns out one of them is a menacing pilot in disguise and shoots hundreds of other planes down. Much cool. Much stonks."

They both laughed out at the remarks provided by the younger First Lieutenant. 

"I mean who knows if we have a secret young pilot in the air force branch. Well we'll let the air force deal with that…we are the army after all. It would be funny though if that does come into fruition. Though I doubt with our limited stock of missiles will be able to do the same as an Ace Combat protagonist with hundreds of missiles." Colonel Trường laughed for a few more seconds before turning his face back to a more normal expression. 

"Well I can't speak for the whole military since you'll present this in a few days to the General Command, but my personal suggestion would be to do the same plan we are on…bomb the ever living shit out of their navy when we can. Even if our own navy can deal with the amount, I doubt we’ll have enough ammunition afterwards. Of course, this will happen after they declare war on us, which is becoming more likely by the day.” The Colonel then continued with his proposition.

“Our tanks could also do some…well training from this hopefully small war we might have to face. I am sure Trung Tá (Lieutenant Colonel) Phong has something in mind. After all he’s itching for some experience.” The Colonel referred to the 201st Tank Brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tăng Thiên Phong.

The combined force of the older T-55s and the newer T-90s made the 201st a force to be reckoned with. However, the commander wanted the crews to have experience, which could have only been done with large training exercises designed to test the tank crews willpower to accomplish the mission at hand. Ever since being summoned into another world, the Lieutenant Colonel, just as Colonel Trường, expects that the nation will have to defend itself more than on Earth. New threats will pop up and the military must be prepared to meet such threats.

“So we just leave the Lourians to take the bait huh?”

The Colonel’s eyes flash with an imaginary lightning spark.

“Yes.”

201st Tank Brigade, Chương Mỹ district
Central Calendar 1637, July 15th

“Bắn!” A shout could be heard from one of the T-90Ss commanders through the radio.

5 T-90s were lined up to fire their shots before reversing back. The reverse speed of the T-90S was fixed on the Vietnamese version, as an Israeli transmission was installed in Vietnam for all the 128 tanks. Now, the speed was comparable to most western tanks, giving the T-90 an advantage in this new world.

A whisper could be heard as Trung Tá Tăng Thiên Phong was overseeing the unit during it’s exercise.

“Báo cáo thủ trưởng. (Reporting.)” A First Lieutenant ran up the commander.

“Nói. (Speak.)” A reply was given back.

“Our combined forces of both T-55s and T-90s have completed the exercise. It was shown that the tank crews were successful in acquiring their targets.”

“Very well.” He looked into his binoculars as the smoke began to fade.

A few moments later, the crews began to gather up as the commander spoke.

“You’ve all done well today, that is the good news. The bad news is that the enemies of this world are getting more daring. Even if they may seem like easy prey, I want you to treat them like equal adversaries. There will be a time when an enemy nation will be equal to our strength, so we will need to be able to both attack and defend well with tanks as well as in support of the infantry. They will need bunker busters, not just a tank on tank combat. Any war here in this world can turn from a 73 Easting into a Fallujah, so preparation is key.”

He paused.

“Remember our military’s motto. Quyết chiến, quyết thắng (determined to fight, determined to win.) That is key to our survival for this nation. And will be a reminder to the enemies we will face that we will not go down without a fight, no matter who it will.”

He ended with one simple message.

“And if we have to be the peacekeepers of this world. We shall do what is required."

Pausing again he turned angry again.

"And I missed a few days of logins on Genshin Impact! Damn you interference!"

His soldiers laughed as the day ended.

A/N: And that is Chapter 8. What a long hiatus. Too bad uni is starting to less updates as per usual. For now enjoy and comment. Oh and no new equipment hehe.