Contingency Plan Ravernal

S?Ct?R ZEROZEROZE?? - TH? C#(E

INT%R** CL??C? - NULL

>>> CRITICAL FAILURES: 136 <<<

Arkon woke up in a state that a human would describe as "bleary-eyed". Something had clearly gone horrifically wrong, as evidenced by the blaring alarms and broken room it found itself in.

>>> DATABANKS MISSING: UNKNOWN, HIGH <<<

It desperately tried to wrangle whatever processing power it had left to figure out just what the hell had actually happened. Its clock wasn't working, so the AI couldn't even figure out how long it had been out for. Proper diagnostics would take hours to output in this absolute shitstorm, but Arkon would have to fix whatever it could in the meantime.

No rest for the wicked.

Qua-Toyne Principality - Countryside

Central Calendar - March 9th, 1639

Above the rolling fields of the Qua-Toynian countryside, eight wyverns and their riders soared in formation, on a routine patrol around the nation. The sun shined brightly in the unobstructed sky,  and two riders were having a jovial conversation as they flew over the massive fields of golden wheat.

"So I was in the tavern, yeah? And when I looked next to me, this absolutely stunning woman was just sitting there, sipping some beer," said Elias, the third rider. "A long and black ponytail, lovely eyes and the most respectable chest I had ever seen."

"Please tell me you didn't miss that opportunity," came a reply from Ryo, the fifth. "I will be so fucking pissed if you just went about your day."

A stern warning came from the man in front, Flynn. "Language."

"Yes sir," came the begrudging reply from Ryo. "But seriously, how did it go?"

"Well, I managed to start some small talk. Said she was in the military like me, pretty high-ranking too act-"

"Black ponytail, military, high ranking? Did you just hit on Captain goddamn Ine?"

"...Third day in the corps and this happens? Kill me."

The other six riders, save for Flynn started roaring with laughter. Newbies always got into the wildest situations you could think of.

Ryo however, stopped halfway through a chuckle when he spotted something strange on a small hill. "Hey uh, what in the sorcerers is that? On that hill over there."

"Yeah, I see it too," came a reply from one of the riders.

"What is it? Looks like a box with a tail?" another confused rider said.

Ryo turned to Flynn. "Orders, sir?"

"Get down there and investigate it. Seems important."

"Yes sir."

Ryo and Elias, who was still burning with shame from the incident, eased their wyverns down and gently landed on the grass next to the alien artifact. A click of the former's fingers brought his manacomms to life, faintly crackling with arcane energy.

"This is Ryo Phiran of the Fourth Wyvern Squadron to Maihark Command. We found a foreign object on a hill in the countryside during a routine patrol and are planning to examine it. Permission to continue?"

A calm female voice spoke in reply. "Permission granted. Stay safe out there."

"Understood, over."

As the manacomms fell silent, the two riders began looking over the object, their faces painted with confusion. Elias had his hand on his dagger, worried that this... thing might lunge at them at any moment. Ryo on the other hand poked and prodded the strange device, looking nothing like anything he had ever seen in his life. The sides seemed to be made of some kind of metal, but it certainly didn't look like iron or steel. The front had some kind of door on a hinge, made entirely out of a glass that seemed sturdy, not fragile. Inside the box were smaller, shorter boxes stacked on top of each other, each with rounded glass balls and numerous holes of some kind. A sheet of pitch-black glass was mounted on the side, impossibly smooth and shiny. The back of the box had that peculiar tail which a rider had noticed from the sky, which actually resembled a rope. Except, this rope was made out of some kind of smooth, artificial substance, and it had metallic prongs on the end. 

"What... even is this?" Ryo muttered under his breath. His mind wandered to the ancient sorcerers and their incomprehensible technologies, but this device had no magical signature to speak of. Whatever it was, it wasn't from the Ravernals. Elias had calmed down by now and tried to move the object, only to find it too heavy to move by hand.

"I don't think this thing's dangerous, but we should definitely take it back home. Have the guys in Information Analysis figure out what it is," he commented.

Ryo nodded in response and mounted his wyvern. "Come on old girl, pick it up."

The beast gave a low rumble in response and beat its wings, hovering just above the ground. With some nudging from its rider, it positioned itself over the box and grasped it with its claws. Elias enabled his manacomms to report to the rest of the squadron. "Elias Yelven to Fourth Wyvern Squadron. We're heading back home with the object. Ryo is carrying it, I'm escorting him because the weight is slowing down his wyvern."

"Understood," came the crackling reply. "Hope it goes well with you and Ine!"

"Jump off a cliff."

The two riders took off into the air with cargo in hand towards Maihark.

Sector Zero - The Core

Internal Clock - Year 58, Month 1, Day 1 - 03:19:42

From being transported to re-activating the internal clock, Arkon had been out for just over one and a half days.

It was also the 58th year since it was activated. Not a great way to start the new year. 

The AI reviewed its diagnoses, marvelling at just how terrible the situation was.

• Severe reduction of unit supply: 90,942 worker units down from millions, advanced units in even shorter numbers
• Resource production crippled: basic materials like steel still accessible
• Infrastructure damage: defensive wall rendered useless, anti-Chimera emplacements unusable
• Information loss: databanks pertaining to military, material and computer science gone

It seemed hopeless, but there were two decades, give or take a few years to get the nation back to working order. Still, it'd need to be done quickly as any hostile civilisations could exploit this opportunity if not dealt with. The machine scoured through what few pieces of information it had left. Then, it found it.

Historical documents of the Third War of the Coalitions. Dated from the 1930s to the 1940s, these had thankfully remained untouched by the calamity which had befell the more modern documents. More importantly, they had accurate, detailed blueprints of military technology pertaining to that era. It would theoretically be possible to replicate basic designs to give the Contingency a fighting chance in this world.

With some exertion shown by the sudden spike in fan speed, the AI managed to extract as many workable blueprints it could find. Good.

The first order of business would be a small air force for reconnaissance and self defense, the Anglican G43 for the former and the Fribachian Tornado for the latter. A handful of modern fighters had survived the transfer, but losing the blueprints for missiles and repair would mean they could only be deployed in an emergency. 

Next, a fleet. While there were a few ships still operational, notably an M/NC-2068.4 carrier, the battleship Oxanda and several destroyers, Arkon didn't possess the resources to maintain them effectively. The carrier would remain active for the few aircraft remaining, but the others would be mothballed until their situation improved. Proper navy ships would take a while to construct, but some corvettes and frigates could be completely fairly quickly. Two Francis-class frigates and ten Butterfly-class corvettes would suffice, as Arkon was banking on the fact that they had landed near a nation with wooden ships, not one with a modern armada.

While there were thankfully a respectable number of usable ground vehicles, landing craft weren't in a significant supply. Tanks and IFVs would have to be deployed sparingly overseas. Scouting parties that had been sent out had also reported land to the south, but it didn't seem feasible to cross at the moment due to powerful storms of potentially magic origin. Infantry weapons weren't affected much either, so the pathetically low amount of combat units left would at least be well armed.

Arkon thought to themselves as they submitted the blueprints to the least damaged factories available. It would be a long time before they got any semblance of rest with so many broken things to repair. There was rubble littering many of the transport routes, so that would be a good start.

Qua-Toyne Principality - Information Analysis and Intelligence

Central Calendar - March 10th, 1639

"Minister Ruven, Fourth squadron found something." Ine had said.

Six words. That sentence had seemed so ordinary at the time. The scouts would have brought in some stray thing that they found in the fields, he'd look at it for thirty seconds and then put it into storage forever.

Whatever this... abomination was in front of him was far from ordinary. The description he'd been given was 'a tall box with tail' but this was far beyond that. It reeked of an alien design, forged from some unknown metal and looking far too advanced to be made by any nation he knew. That flat sheet seemed to be staring, laughing at him because he couldn't figure out what this box's purpose was.

Ruven put his head in his hands and slumped onto his desk. The Lourian Kingdom - or should he say Supremacy - had been building up militarily for a while now, and they were at the point of practically toeing the border with their soldiers. Everyone was already stressed to a breaking point, and they certainly didn't need the existence of some unknown, advanced foreign entity bothering them right now. 

He hadn't gotten far in figuring out what this heavy artifact was for. All he could really guess was that the obsidian black sheet might be similar to the "televisions" of Mu and the magical screens of the Holy Mirishal Empire, and that the pronged tail might be the way this device drew power or sustenance. The smaller boxes stacked on each other inside of the swinging glass door had completely stumped him. 

With an exhausted sigh, he got up from his desk and headed for the door. Maybe some rest would help him figure it out.