Crane Ascendant (Tiandi)
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2016 6:32 pm
For all our existence,
The mainland has seen themselves as superior to us.
We have proven them wrong twice.
We will prove them wrong again.
Chilcheonpo
Eastern Coast of Jeongmi
Near the Meisaan border
12 months ago
Lee Seon-ok emerged from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of stock-based soup. The Lee family's house was nothing special, just a typical, one-storey affair at the less affluent part of Chilcheonpo. At all times of day the smell of fish wafted over from the docks of the fishing town, famed for its fish and the hot springs in the hills on the other side of town. They got plenty of business from the Meisaanis, who were just a stone's throw away. Sinju Union open borders were very helpful.
"Fish soup, again?" Hyo-rin complained, banging her spoon against the table.
"Come on, it's not bad so it's good," Jong-nam said chided, rising to help his wife with the bowl. They managed to place it at the centre of the table.
Just as they picked up their chopsticks, the lights went off and the hum of the space heater disappeared. Hyo-rin whined until Seon-ok shut her up. Jong-nam stood up and immediately went for the emergency torches next to the emergency money bottle. Power outages in such rural areas were not unheard of, even in the modern day. Granted, a major highway cut through the town, but the place was still considered too rural to warrant severe renovation. They were still running on infrastructure from the 70s, though the power itself now came from a hydroelectric dam a few kilometres north.
Jong-nam opened the door, letting in a blast of icy air that his loosely robed body was unprepared for. He coughed quietly, but the policeman by day soldiered on, slipping on his shoes and stepping outside. Probably something tripped again... When he looked up, he noticed that all the houses in his neighbourhood were dark, the beams of torches gyrating around. He looked towards the town and found it similarly unlit. Unlike other town-wide outages, though, something seemed to make this one darker than usual...
The highway! The national highway's lights did not normally shut off as they were on a separate grid. Yet, the concrete-walled flyover now gleamed unlit in the moonlight, the headlights of cars going the Minghoi-Hapcheon route still unstoppably moving about their business. Jong-nam went back in and moved to get his uniform.
"I'm going to the station. Something's happened with the power. Stay at home and keep the door locked," he instructed his wife, pulling on his dark winter police jacket, emblazoned with the words "警察" in reflective white. The officer opened a small safe next to the money bottle and took out his gun. Jeongmian gun laws were very strict, and only the police could carry weapons. Normally, weapons were kept in the stations, but because the town was so rural the officers were allowed to bring them home in case anything occurred that required immediate attention.
Jong-nam patted Hyo-rin on the head and trudged out into the snow, walking around the house to his snow-caked car. He brushed off some snow from the hood and windshield then went in. The actual squad cars were at the station, and he had to go there now. It was really messy in his family car, but he found the small blue flasher and placed it on the dashboard, then turned on the police radio. Oddly, there was nothing but static. He gunned the engine and the compact Jeongmian sedan lurched onto the road.
He drove slowly through the dark neighbourhood, blue light flashing as he watched for looters or criminals taking advantage of the darkness. Everyone knew each other out here, so there was the benefit of having a strong citizens' watch. People waved to him from small fires in their front yards. Some people were taking this blackout lightly, which was good. Much better than some mass panic, which would probably occur in the ant farms that were the larger cities.
A roaring sound suddenly filled the air. Outside the car, everyone began to look up. Jong-nam stopped his car and slid down the window, sticking his head out as well. Oddly enough, a passenger jumbo jet was flying low over the town. Passenger planes were nothing strange, because they sometimes overflew Chilcheonpo on the way to Minghoi, but this one seemed... Closer. It was obviously flying low. Jong-nam tried the radio again but was met with static. He pulled out his phone to find the line dead. People suddenly started shouting. In the pale light of the moon, the middle-aged officer could make out what looked like... Things being dropped from the rear passenger door of the plane. Old Meong from down the street pointed with his cane, shouting incoherently in fear.
More planes were coming, almost in some kind of formation. A scream and Jong-nam snapped his head back to the first plane.
Those weren't items. They were people.
And they are coming here!
Each speck grew a dark green mushroom from his back as strong nylon parachutes emerged. What looked like hundreds, maybe even thousands, of parachutes were filling the sky as the next wave of passenger planes overflew the town. Suddenly there was an audible explosion from the docks area, and a very worrying emergency flare arced up from the town centre. Jong-nam's hand instinctively grabbed his gun. He brought his head back into the car and gunned the engine up to a less-than-safe 80 km/h as he tore towards the town centre. Occasionally glancing upwards, he saw the unknown paratroops get nearer, and nearer...
Not paying attention, Jong-nam's car collided with something that rolled over the windshield screaming. He instinctively hit the brakes, throwing him against the wheel and letting out a horn. He recovered and looked out of the frosty glass to see a small group of men staring at him in surprise. In the low light, he could make out about five men carrying backpacks, until one walked into the beam of his headlights and he saw the man's...
"彼は警察官です! 火!" The officer dove beneath the dashboard as the terrible sound of automatic rifles filled the air. His windshield shattered into a million tiny safety shards as he stomped on the accelerator. After ten seconds of blind forward motion, pursued by shots from the foreign troops, Jong-nam sat back up and headed for town. He suddenly stopped the car at a junction. An SUV and a minivan sped past, at at least thrice the speed limit.
Do I go to town to help out or do I go back, get Seon-ok and Hyo-rin and run for Meisaan? What should I do, what should I do... He looked up at the flasher, still broadcasting his status as a police officer. He shut it off and threw it under the passenger seat. I'm not a coward, my family is in danger... What do I...
"Argh!" Jong-nam punched the dashboard. Who are we even fighting? Wasn't that...
The unmistakeable sound of a helicopter filled the air. Jong-nam instinctively ducked beneath his dashboard again as the area around his car was illuminated by what could only be a high-powered searchlight. He breathed ragged gasps in fear. Police training did not handle such bizarre occurrences. The winds from the downwash and the endless drone of the rotors filled his ears and he gritted his teeth in terror. He could even feel hot tears slowly making their way to the surface... And then it was gone. The sound faded towards the north, probably following the highway.
Lee Jong-nam made his choice.
He turned his car around, driving it down a side road to avoid the soldiers he had encountered earlier. He would end up at the back of his house, and they would all go south to Meisaan, where it should be safer. He was abandoning his duty, but in such a scenario, family had to come first. There was no argument.
His backyard was ringed by a wooden fence, which he rammed through. He probably would not be returning home any time soon. He reversed out of the hole and stumbled in, gun in hand. To his horror, he could hear voices inside his house. Foreign voices. Flying into a blind daze of rage, fear and confusion, Jong-nam charged the back door and kicked it open to find his family and Old Myeong from down the road seated on the kitchen floor. Seon-ok was crying and placed one hand on her forehead, clutching Hyo-rin to her belly. She blinked and almost broke into a smile as she saw her husband, who then noticed the crimson dripping down the arm holding her head. The old man pointed to the living room.
Then the enemy suddenly appeared right there, casually walking into the room. He was clad in full combat gear, the camouflage pattern a digital composition of green, brown and grey pixels. At his waist hung a wicked black assault rifle, the curved magazine a dead-ringer for a Fukuzawa-type rifle, the overabundant, cheap weapon of criminals, rebels and "bad guys" everywhere. His face was obscured behind a balaclava that led only small, narrow black eyes be seen. And in the middle of his chest, emblazoned on his integrated plate carrier, was the flag that Jong-nam had already guessed at.
The Rising Sun of Akitsukuni.
Seon-ok covered Hyo-rin's eyes as Jong-nam drew his gun and... Protected his family.
Town Centre
"Any word on the Jeongmian counterattack?"
"None," the lieutenant responded, seated before a battlefield computer. Colonel Yamamura of the Imperial Akitsukunese Army paced the room, arms folded over his black and red officer's kimono. A traditional sword was tied to his waist, ceremonial if anything. The colonel's appearance bordered on stereotypical, with small black eyes, close-cropped greying hair and a "Fu Manzhou" style moustache. His skin had the pale qualities of a northern Chubu native, the higher classes of Akitsukunese society.
"Good. 4th Army must have taken their line."
Yamamura turned to his allied counterparts, three other foreigners who were here to observe the Akitsukunese attack. Their main forces were engaged elsewhere, except for the Dae, who had a few airborne teams that had also landed in the town with the primarily Akitsukunese SNLF forces. The Dae was a big, imposing man in his combat uniform, a handlebar moustache under a big nose, all topped with a red beret. A scar ran under his right eye, and he stood with folded arms. The other two men were likewise from outside of Sinju.
One represented Dayganistan, leading the Free World Alliance, and was a thin man wearing a woodland camo combat jacket with a soft, round-topped hat traditional to his homeland. A big, wiry beard reached his chest, and he tapped his foot impatiently. The final man was from the United Gungjun Republic, the nation that had unified the warring states of Gungju with Akitsukunese help. His white skin made him out of place, and blonde hair and blue eyes were topped by what was termed a "peaked cap". His uniform was black, and he wore a geatcoat over it all with a red armband on his left arm.
"Honoured allies, I am sure you see the power of Akitsukuni and Daeseong here," Yamamura began, shaking the Dae's hand, "Jeongmi is no longer the impregnable fortress at the top of the world as they were in the past. We have already destroyed their capital, I have heard."
"Distroyd?" The Gungjun asked, his accent very strong.
"Tactical nuke. They were almost going to unleash their own. We had no choice," Yamamura smiled evilly.
Months later
August 9th, 2015
Final Presidential Address - Broadcast via radio, television, the internet and whatever remaining telecommunications infrastructure remained
"My fellow Jeongmians... I come before you today as your President, as your leader. Far too many lives have been lost in this conflict. The loss of our entire capital to the invaders, and numerous other acts of mass destruction, as your leader I can no longer bear to watch as this happens to you. Tomorrow, my cabinet will surrender to the enemy. If you are a true Jeongmian, you will view this as a betrayal on the highest level. If the spirit of Jeongmi runs within your veins, you will want to fight until the enemy takes your final breath. As your leader, I cannot abide by this. The Jeongmian Spirit will not die, even as the Rising Sun and her allies dominate our lands. They may have our bodies, but not our spirits. My people, wait for the time to be right before striking as one in a crushing tide that they will not be able to resist. Singular acts of resistance will bring nothing but violence and retribution. Only through a massive uprising can we common people hope to damage them where they are weakest. My brave military, run for the hills. My inevitable partisans, stay your arms. My unbroken people, remain vigilant. Jeongmi will call upon all of you when the hour is nigh. Such is my final address. Goodnight... My beautiful Republic."