By: Hoaseng Thao

LANDINGS ON OSTERA

July 5th, 1953, Coalition forces enacted Operation Lone Passage to invade Ostera through the Lapish channel, with a combined force of 150,000 strong. The Kirston airship Spirit of Eve is allowed to be used in the operation, using its ability to launch aircraft during flight to guarantee the Coalition air superiority over Ostera.

With the Coalition landing on the shores of Ostera, Emperor Treijon sends Army Group Aster, to reinforce the Osterans and halt the invasion in its tracks. Prior to the initial landings, the Coalition touched base with separatist groups in the region, who agreed to support their invasion if the Coalition guaranteed the independence of the Lapland regions. With their backing, the Coalition was able to move through the Lapland region with ease, allowing them to strike deep within Osteran territory.

By August 25th, Coalition forces were able to secure the southern coastline of Ostera, but the entry of Jupitan reinforcements led to the halt of their invasion. General Thor, the commander of the Jupitan invasion of Sapan, and the man in charge of Army Group Aster, was sent to the Osteran front to put an end to the Coalition invasion.

Fierce fighting between the seasoned Jupitan army and hardened Coalition forces ensued in the cities and forests of Ostera, but as the fighting prolonged into the winter of December, the seasoned Jupitan army began to show its cracks. After years of fighting, the Jupitans became overwhelmed by the extent of its forces, and the new front only caused it to stretch even further.

December 20, 1953, General Thor and his remaining army of 4,000 troops were encircled in the Silver Forest by an encircling Coalition force of 7,000, cutting them off from the nearest Terran stronghold in the region. When Treijon receives news of one of his greatest generals being encircled, he decides that it was time to reveal his newest weapon.

It was to be released on the night of the 24th of December.

SIDE BY SIDE

Gripping the stock of his rifle, the lone Jupitan marches alone in the darkness of the snow covered forest. His comrades had already passed not too long ago.

The sounds of distant gunfire are followed by a haunting roar that fills the forest. They were unlucky enough to encounter the beast of the forest.

Marching through the snow, the Jupitan halts in his tracks, looking back at the creeping darkness of the forest. His gaze met eye-to-eye with the creeping beast.

He closes his eyes as the beast lept from the snow, he tries as hard as he can to fetch a good memory before he can remember no more.

A quick snap of the rifle fells the beast to the snow. Opening his eyes, the Jupitan is met by a singular soldier, on their arm was the flag of Orbesjka. The two soldiers exchange looks, their uniforms may be different, but their goal of survival wasn’t.

The two trek through the forest together, hiding when the roars of another beast fill the night air and resting when needed. When the sun’s basking heat covered the forest, the two soldiers were found back to back against one another, sharing a sigh of relief as the horrors of the night faded away.

MAN MADE HORRORS

Treijon green lights the use of a new chemical agent, spiritus, on the Coalition forces encircling General Thor. The chemical agent was designed to turn those affected by it into bloodthirsty monsters, by overstimulating the body with arsoulium.

Arsoulium is often used as a “miracle” drug to slow down the rate of cancer cells while giving its users quick access to their magic abilities, but it is dangerous in large doses. Individuals become unnaturally aggressive and aware of their surroundings, which would be exploited in Jupita’s new weapon.

On the night of December 24, 1953, Jupitan planes released spiritus over Coalition lines in the cover of a snowstorm to avoid the interception of Coalition aircrafts. However the harsh winds of the storm blew the chemical agent towards the encircled Jupitans, resulting in utter chaos on all sides.

The night turned into a bloody affair, as both Coalition and Jupitan forces banded together against their former friends and foes. When day broke, what remained of the two armies in the area were brittle, down to only a couple thousand. General Thor and what remained of his army retreated from the region, leaving only the Coalition being left to clean up the remaining monsters.

The use of such a weapon was horrific in nature, and caused a global outcry against Great Terra, but to Treijon, he saw it as a means to an end.

SIX YEARS OF WAR AND MORE TO COME

At the beginning of the war, it was Great Terra who were the victors of the battlefield, but now, after six years of constant warfare, it was the Tectonic Coalition that began to take their place.

On February 5, 1954, Coalition forces captured the Osteran capital city, Lindel, and established a provisional government as well as forming a Lapland republic on the following day. With the Osterans out of the way, the Coalition pushed eastward into the territories of Hoshira, besieging  its capital by June.

There was a small Coalition invasion of Epreau on the 2nd of May, the Molivians invaded to capture the Epreaun capital, Svarn City. This however was partially successful, the Molivians did take a lot of ground leading up to the capital, and were even able to take some sections of the city, but it all stagnated when both sides limited the use of artillery and aircraft in fear of civilian casualties.

But on the bright side for the Great Terrans, the Jupitan Fall Offensive was successful in taking back the western coastline of Sapan, but this however was a double edged sword. The offensive cost them tons of vehicles, ammunition, and supplies that they couldn’t replenish, but Great Terra knew that the Coalition was also in the same predicament.

The Great Terrans were on borrowed time, and that time was going to become way shorter due to a situation happening beyond the Pacific. 1954 was not only an important year of the war, but a very important one for a specific nation, the Vaserian Federation, due to it being election year.

THE NATION ACROSS THE POND

When the war first began, many Vaserians pondered on whether the Vaseria needed to intervene in a conflict so far away, but this has since gone away when Great Terra invaded the neutral states of the Eusonan continent, with many seeing it more of a reason to intervene before it comes close to home.

1954, was the election year for Vaseria, and the war across the pond became a hot issue for its candidates. There were two major candidates on the ballot, Anne Hall, a former decorated officer of the Vaserian Mage Corps during the Great Vaserian War and prominent supporter of the Tectonic Coalition, and Mariane Thoa, an actor turned politician who wanted to keep Vaseria’s ambitions within its borders.

When the votes were accounted for on November 10th, it would appear that Anne Hall had won the election with 56.4% of the votes, which was a huge victory for the Coalition as they now had the industrial powerhouse soon to be on their side, but this win would only embolden the already demoralized Jupitans.

January 30th, 1955, a date which will live in infamy. The Vaserian Federation was suddenly and deliberately attacked by chemical weapons, created by the terror state of Great Terra. The capital city, Sukuyo, and the newly elected queen was the target of these attacks, and although the queen did survive, it left the nation scarred and shying away from matters on the war. Or so it would seem.