[Lauchenoiria]

Across the South Xiomeran Sea and Tenebric Ocean
March 5th 2022 - the day after the withdrawal announcement

The Lauchenoirian ships withdrew out of Aurian waters and slowly meandered north towards Mallacaland, where a small fleet of ships had been continually patrolling since the embassy incident, with the purpose of dissuading any further underage monarchs from carrying out acts of war. At least, that was what it looked like to an outside observer.

Some of them moved faster than the others, the new ships outpacing the old and so the fleet ended up spread out in a semicircle, travelling through international waters to the east of Xiomera so as to avoid passing by the Netlcoātl Islands. The threats of genocide and ethnic cleansing by their leader prior to the signing of the Jinyu Treaty had made many nations wary of entering the territory of the islands. At least, that’s what the Lauchenoirians wanted people to think.

The speed difference in ships, the long route taken to avoid trouble, and the diverting of several of their ships to relieve some of the Lauchenoirian peacekeepers in the Canal Zone meant that, in a haphazard, seemingly undeliberate way, the Lauchenoirian ships were spread out around Xiomera on all sides. This would not necessarily transpire to anything; but it was better to be prepared for the next stage of the plan.

*

The next stage of the plan was still being negotiated. It was not Lauchenoiria’s place to move until the discussions had been concluded. So the ships would lie in wait, continuing to meander northwards at the slowest possible place, while back in Lauchenoiria the parliament would debate fuel shortages and budget cuts both for the reason on the tin and to pull the wool over the eyes of anyone wondering at the slow speed.

If negotiations failed, well. They would cross that bridge when they came to it. In the meantime it was important to begin preparations; to get the pieces in place so that when the order came to make the next move everyone was ready. To this end, as the ships withdrew they left gaps in the collapsing blockade, choosing to ignore the dark shapes making their way through the waters in the dead of night. And the ships at the end of the trail, closest to Auria, lay in wait to see what would come out of the night towards them.

*

Meanwhile in the dead of night in the south of Auria, some boats approached beaches with as few lights as possible. These boats, small but sturdy, were filled in every available space with guns, ammunition and other types of weapons. As the Lauchenoirians withdrew, leaving gaps in the blockade, the ships slipped through the newly-created gaps as if they had known exactly where they would be in advance. In fact, they had.

This delivery of weapons was not the doing of Calhualyana; but rather Lauchenoiria itself. And their destination was not the forces of the pretender and his phoney Aurian government, nor the ‘mercenaries’ sent by the Empire, but rather the rebels fighting against these very people. It was time to fight back; to stop lying in wait and allowing the pretender’s forces to gather and prepare for the inevitable. The blockade was meant to be a temporary measure, and had been allowed to continue for far too long. Something needed to change.

Lauchenoiria had withdrawn from the blockade, yes. But they had not withdrawn from the war.