Ramball Houliman

**Ramball Houliman** is a colonel in the Gra Valkas Imperial Army, the land forces of the Gra Valkas Empire. He was assigned as an officer to the Leifor Reserve Force, serving on the staff of General Fantare.

## Personality

Ramball does not share the same blind confidence as many of his countrymen. Once he heard of Japan's power from sources in both the Imperial Army and Navy, he took them very seriously. He tried to convince Foreign Affairs to cancel the Crown Prince's arrival until they could verify information on the enemy's strength. After his country's failed invasion of Japan, he was the only higher ranking officer that pushed for even more defensive measures on top of what had already been done.

## Chronology

### New World War Arc

At the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Gra Valkas Empire Leifor District, Leiforia, a young Foreign Ministry executive Cielia and a subordinate Dallas received the reports after annihilation of the Army Air Corps and the 4th Division and the destruction of the Valkyries Base. Army officer Ramball came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet them for an urgent explanation. He informed them the situation only with the correspondence and explained them that Mu's conquest army frontline Valkyries Base has been devastated by a large-scale airstrike, but he was currently investigating the cause. Dallas angrily yelled him the negligence of the army. Cielia calmed him that Ramball had come all the way to give them quick information.

Ramball believed that among the aircrafts that bombed Valkyries, there was a ridiculously high-performance aircraft, and the aircraft had the Japanese mark. He suspected that it was Japan that destroyed tanks of the 4th Division. Dallas was shocked in his mind that he thought there was a technological gap of more than 70 years by showing on the video from Japanese diplomat Asada. Ramball continued explaining that the military took the destruction of the base very seriously. He asked Dallas that not received particular information from the Navy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since the Gra Valkas Great Fleet. If each government agency does not share information and it should not interfere with the future operation of the empire, so he began talking to the diplomat with a mysterious look.

When Ramball asked Dallas how much do he know about Japan, he spoke plainly about the facts that Japan was the same transfer nation as their empire, and although it has decent technological capabilities, it had low military power, it was an island nation, and it was not promoting colonization policies for other countries, so it would be small in scale. In this world, it seemed that the Superpower Parpaldia Empire had been defeated, probably due to technology disparities. Compared to Gra Valkas Empire, its power should not be emphasized. Ramball believed that the Foreign Ministry was aware of that, but it seemed that the Imperial Navy was frightened of Japan. However, he didn't know that he didn’t receive enough information from the army or navy.

He asked Dallas to know about Parliamentarian Guinea Marix. Dallas had known of him that he personally agreed that the empire will rule the world, but he disagreed because Congressman Guinea's method is overkill and will surely leave a stigma in the rule of posterity. The empire had a strong pipe with weapons-related companies, and the navy recognized that the pipe with the occupied territory escort fleet that existed before the transfer was strong. Ramball spoke that Congressman Guinea suddenly continued to make negative statements because the barbarians in this world should conquer according to the established route, but they should not fight against Japan, which is the same transfer nation, but it should make peace

Dallas's remind didn't mean the navy is scared. Then Ramball asked him to know that a Japanese cruiser participated as the World Union side in the Battle of Folk Strait and the Grade Atlastar sank the cruiser (patrol boat). He knew that the Japanese side also hit the main gun on their battleship, but the gun was a peashooter and it didn't cause much damage and heard that the aircraft was shot down a little. Ramball explained him that means that the accuracy of Japanese artillery is extremely high and there is a possibility that there are many ships with large calibers in Japan. The facts made the navy's senior management frightened. He was thinking of continuing to collect information on what happened. He would analyze the war situation in the future, but if this Valkyries base attack was not a surprise attack, and if it was still done with regular vigilance, Japan's strength, future strategy and advance need to be reviewed. He, who conducted a calm analysis, reversed the patriotism of Dallas.

The Gra Valkas Imperial Navy had some rational ideas, but the army had many officers who wielded spiritual theory. Meanwhile, Ramball was a rare and rational thinker. The discussion was heated between Ramball and Dallas and the story was about to derail, so Cielia broke in. They stopped angering. She would also investigate what happened to the Navy. Ramball would inform her when he gets the information from the army.

After that, Dallas and Cielia watched the Mu news that JSDF had no casualties after the Raid of Valkyries Base and the Battle of Malmund Mountains on Mu's TV broadcast in the dining room in the Leifor District. They were stunned to hear that Japan was definitely strong. Moreover, the other day, Dallas just got information from Army officer Ramball that the Navy was scared, increasing the possibility that the news information was correct.

After the catastrophic loss of the Great Fleet in the Great Naval Invasion of Japan, Ramball informed Commander Fantare at the Leifor Reserve Forces office room of the  Combined Base Lars Filmyna in Leiforia that they lost contact in Hinomawari Kingdom. He determined that there was a possibility that a battle was taking place. Fantare ordered the base to be on high alert and improved the defense. To counter JSDF's jamming, he decided to operate five radar stations with five different frequencies with three others as backup and also installed underground cables as a means of communication instead of radio prone to jamming. Despite being warned by Ramball, he still confident that the base could deter JSDF airstrikes and naval attacks due to the extremely long cruising distance.

When the JASDF decimated four garrisons not far from Lars Filmyna base, shot the Antares fighters down, and exploded the hangars 1 through 33, Fantare couldn't hear any reports from his subordinates because there were too many explosions in a row. Their radio was inoperable, and their wired communications were too crowded by screams as they were losing their means of counterattack. Fantare and Ramball continued to look on in disbelief as the JASDF bombed the radar stations, anti-air gun positions, the hangars, and other facilities of Lars Filmyna base into oblivion.

At the destroyed Lars Filmyna base, Fantare and Ramball ran around to ascertain their casualty situation in the wake of the Japanese airstrike. Several days had passed since the attack, they looked at the scale of the damages. Fantare listened in sorrow from Ramball that almost all their military assets and more than 1000 operational aircraft in Leifor had been destroyed. They could not get supplies from the mainland as the major bridge had been bombed. Also, Ramball reported to him that the task force off to the west was annihilated in a large-scale guided munition attack, and air supremacy over the entire continent was already lost. He learned that there were still 20 ships under an aircraft carrier task force under the 2nd Central Fleet deployed in Irnetia. Fantare ordered the deployment of the 2nd Central Fleet in Irnetia Kingdom to sail to Leifor to reinforce the position as he knew if Leifor fell, the mainland would be vulnerable to attack. Helpless as they are, Fantare and Ramball continued to think of things they could do to break out of their circumstances.

As the Death Bar Fleet and JMSDF escort fleet reached the offshore of Lars Filmyna, Fantare fell in despair as he realized the 2nd Central Fleet in Inertia had been destroyed, and the enemy arrived far too soon. He instructed Ramball to retreat the remaining imperial force out of the base toward the fortified Mt. Daigenera in the southern part of Leiforia. Ramball retreated to Mt. Daigenera with Gesta and Cielia, but the information he received from the retreating troops was disastrous. He realized that the Gra Valkas Empire couldn't occupy and maintain the Mu continent.

Fortunately, the fortress was solid and could hold out for more than a year even if attacked by a large enemy force, but Ramball understood that holding out was not enough, and he was worried about the optimistic executives. He became the chain of command after Fantare surrendered to JSDF and World Union forces in Lars Filmyna.

The combined JSDF and Mu air force bombarded Mt. Daigenera constantly during day and night causing Ramball to be at his wit end. With the supply chain cut off, the scattering of his forces, his defenses repeatedly being desolated and the enemy controlling the sea and the sky, the only thing he could do was to order a guerrilla attack on the JSDF and World Union Forces. To make the matter worse, Gesta gave Ramball further headaches by insisting that he and other non-combatants be evacuated back to the Gra Valkas mainland. Having had enough of Gesta's rambling, he ordered his soldiers to kick Gesta forcefully out of the command room. Cielia then apologized to him for Gesta's behavior.

Several days later, Ramball met with Cielia privately, telling her that he wanted her to return to the Gra Valkas mainland and help steer the country away from total destruction. Even though they'd been pushed back everywhere except the mountain, there were still collaborators in Leifor he thought could help her escape. He purposely chose not to help Gesta, thinking the man was too hotheaded. Unfortunately, Gesta was listening through the door and barged in, threatening Ramball with disgrace and punishment if he didn't help him escape too. Even though some threats were pointless since escape was still unlikely, Ramball relented and agreed to escort Gesta to the collaborator as well.

After the three left, they witnessed the massive force of 5,000 wyverns of the World Union coming to attack the fortress. The attack of 5,000 wyverns was largely unsuccessful as they could only scorch the surrounding of the fortress while losing 200 wyverns from AA guns. But the sheer amount of enemy forces unsettled him.

When the giant Lightning Flame Dragon commanded by Yvan arrived, all three of them watched with horror as it leveled the mountain fortress and killed everyone inside with only a single blast. The Gra Valkas Empire had now truly been completely expelled from the continent, and any of its people left could very well be executed if they were captured now. As a hysterical Gesta demanded Ramball do something to get them home, Ramball remembered that there was an Imperial Navy submarine supply base hidden on an island 300km off the coast of the Nigrat Union, the country south of Leifor. He decided they would have to reach it to have any hope of escaping.

## Trvia

* Like Gesta, Ramball's fate in the original drafts was changed. He originally perished in the fortress with Gesta and the rest of his soldiers. In the final chapter, he escapes his fate by escorting Gesta and Cielia in person to the collaborator.