Gra Valkas Empire

Roundel of the Gra Valkas Empire

The **Gra Valkas Empire** (also known as the **Eighth Empire**) is a vast island nation that has also been magically transferred against its will to the world of Elysia, just like the United States of America and Mu. The Empire was originally the premier superpower on the Terran world of Yggdra, where humans are also the sole sapient species and magic is nonexistent. Around the time when America arrived on Elysia, the Gra Valkas Empire and all of its military forces has been entirely relocated to the waters west of the Mu continent, very close to the island nations of Paganda, Irnetia and Leifor. This initially categorizes the Empire as a "Barbaric Nation" based on Elysia's geographic based classifications for civilizations. Which is highly ironic considering that the Empire is in fact the 3rd most technologically advanced nation on the planet.

The Gra Valkas Empire is culturally chauvinistic and militaristic, their mainstay ideology can be best compared to the concept of Chinese Uniformity (Traditional Chinese: 大一統). Even back on their homeworld, the Gra Valkas Empire has long since plotted world domination and were indeed close to achieving it. Although the supernatural transference to Elysia has put the scheme to an abrupt halt, it only served as a temporary setback, as they quick resume their invasion and/or subjugation of its neighboring countries with the clear intent of eventually conquering Elysia as a whole. Its numerous military successes have been possible thanks to its level of technology well above the overwhelming majority of Elysian countries, comparable to that of the most scientifically advanced nations on Earth during World War II, as well as its massive amount of military built up over the years originally intended to overwhelm any remaining resistance on Yggdra.

The Gra Valkas Empire is the 3rd antagonistic nation the United States encountered after its relocation to Elysia.

## History

Prior to the transference to Elysia, the Gra Valkas Empire is one of the leading powers on its home world of Yggdra, rivalled primarily by the Divine Kingdom of Kain. Roughly a century prior to the transference, Emperor Terminus von Granderia (Gra Terminus) began to realize his dream of world domination by launching an invasion on its neighbouring countries. One after one, the nations on Yggdra fell to the nigh-unstoppable military might, abundant industrial resources and technologic supremacy of the Gra Valkas Empire. By the time his decedent, Emperor Luke Berga Flüm Helia Regelstein Ghabart von Granderia (Gra Lux) is in power, the Gra Valkas Empire is already on the verge of world domination, with more than half of Yggdra under their control only a handful of nations such as the Divine Kingdom of Kain still standing, and currently engaged in Cold War with the Empire. However, it’s strongly hinted that they are no longer capable of deterring a full scale invasion from even conventional Gra Valkan forces.

During that time, then deputy director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gesta was in the process of negotiating with the still neutral Havur Kingdom, due to its abundance in uranium minerals. The Empire placed high priority on keeping Havur and its source of nuclear fuel out of Kainian influence, their plans likely to mass produce nuclear weapons in order to force the Divine Kingdom of Kain to capitulate under the threat of nuclear annihilation, and thus avoid likely arduous conventional warfare altogether.

However, due to the Transference, the Gra Valkan mainland found itself isolated on the vast planet of Elysia. Although they lost huge swaths of their colonies, the entirely of the Gra Valkan military forces found themselves in this new world as well. After arriving on this strange new planet, the Empire fell into disarray for a short period, but when the imperial scouts ventured further east, all the came across are primitive minor civilizations with extremely backwards technology. In light of their clear, still unsurpassed superiority, the the hardliners of the Imperial Bureaucracy (often known as the Warhawks or simply the Hawks) were overcome with delight.

At first, these pockets of civilization greeted the Gra Valkans with hostility, but were simply unable to put up much fight and were quickly subjugated. But as the Empire expanded eastward, they discovered the potential existence of more advanced civilizations, as well as tiered "Civilized Regions" where the major powers coexisted. This prompted the moderates (often nicknamed the "Doves") to advocate a more cautious approach and attempt to peacefully form diplomatic relationships with these new countries, since they lack accurate intel on how developed these nations are. The Bureau of Intelligence, on the other hand, deployed undercover agents around the world, as far as the Rodenius Continent, to gather intelligence on these newly discovered nations that the diplomatic teams have yet to reach.

The first civilizations they have uncovered, however, were far less advanced than they've anticipated, being hundreds of years behind the Empire, in fact. What strikes the Imperials as odd is the caste like system that existed amongst these nations, with anyone outside of it being heavily despised. And thus, the Empire's diplomatic process stagnated, and eventually cascaded into total diplomatic breakdown in the Kingdom of Paganda, the death of a Imperial royal delegate, and the rest of the team making a haste retreat to their vessels.

This serves as the final straw for the Hawks, who swiftly took majority in the Imperial Court, they determined that the Doves' weak an ineffectual diplomatic policies need to be cast aside, and it's time to reignite the fires of conquest once again. After all, what better options exist when out there are continents ripe for conquering, and within their borders literal mountains of arsenal just waiting to be unleashed?

## Chronology

### August 8th, 1639

This marks the day the Gra Valkans Empire first became aware of the existence of the United States of America via a report of the Battle of the Rodenius Sea, although certain elements of the report they can’t help be found far fetched, the Intelligence Bureau also noticed many similarities between American weaponry and their own. Deputy Director Akkan determined that it’s best to remain cautious and had the information submitted to the Information Technology Department.

The Gra Valken Imperial Oversight Army made contact with the Kingdom of Pagada’s defensive fleet, the ensuing engagement was laughably one sided, with all Pagadan forced being dispatched without the Gra Valkans suffering any casualties. The GVS Grade Atlastar in particular made a grand entrance by ramming and destroying 3 Pagadan ships. After the destruction of the blockade, the GVS Grade Atlastar proceeded to bombard and demolish the Pagadan Royal Castle as retaliation for their treatment of the Empire’s royal diplomats.

In response to the sudden attack on one of their protectorate states, Leifor dispatched a 43 ship fleet in response to impose retribution on the Gra Valkas Empire. The fleet encountered the GVS Grade Atlastar unescorted, yet the ensuing battle is equally one sided despite the Leiforians’ numerical advantage. The Grade Atlastar suffering no meaningful damage, while the Leiforian fleet and their wyvern lord escorts are completely annihilated.

A Gra Valkan intelligence agent was uncovered and captured by CIA operative Wileman in the Louria capital city of Jin Hark while masquerading as a merchant from the Kingdom or Riem, and brought in for questioning. The radio signals emitting from his hideout is what attracted the Americans’ interest.

### August 9th, 1639

The GVS Grade Atlastar arrived at Leiforia and faced little resistance due to the destruction of the Leiforian fleet. The ship proceeded to bombard the capital city indiscriminately, resulting in massive number of casualties, among them are the Leiforian emperor and the entire royal family when their castle was shelled, leaving Leifor with no clear line of succession.

## Technology

Much like in *Nihonkoku Shoukan*, most of the Gra Valkan technology demonstrated are military ones, though that usually depicts the forefront of a nation's technology. Their technology is late World War II levels, with some venturing well into Early Cold War levels.

Coincidentally, Gra Valkan technology possesses great similarities compared to those developed by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan during the Second World War. The designs of their army equipment strongly resemble German designs, while their naval engineering are evidently Japanese, and their aviation sector a mixture of both. Essentially the Gra Valkas Empire possessed the best aspect of two Axis Powers with the ground force equivalent to the Wehrmacht, naval power comparable to Imperial Japan Navy and the Air Force with the mixture elements of both the Luftwaffe and Imperial Japanese Army Air Service.

The development of Gra Valkan infantry weapons have reached at least mid-WWII levels, their infantrymen are mainly equipped with bolt-action rifles (likely based off the Karabiner 98K or Gewehr 98), submachine guns (strongly resembling the MP 40), and assault rifles (StG 44). A rudimentary form of portable night vision exists in Gra Valkas as well and is mainly issued to their special forces, these likely operate similarly to the Zielgerät ZG 1229 "Vampir" active infrared devices developed by Nazi Germany. Heavy weapons such as flamethrowers and machine guns are also issued to infantry units, and while it's not mentioned directly, MANPATS such as the Panzerschreck likely exist in some form in the Gra Valkan military as well, since the concept of "bazooka" do exist for them.

While it's not mentioned directly in the story, it's likely the Gra Valkans also possess proximity fuse technology they have demonstrated in *Nihonkoku Shoukan*, this most likely did not come as a surprise to the Americans, due to the array of other advanced technology the Gra Valkans possess.

Electronic wise, the Gra Valkans have already developed their own radio, radar system, and sonar. It is likely that early black and white television has already been introduced to the average Gra Valkan household. Of course, more advanced electronics such as persona computers are still too sophisticated to them. Prior to arriving on Elysia, their electronics relied on vaccum tubes, as they have not became aware of concepts such as transistors or integrated circuits until they managed to analyze American electronics. In comparison, the first major breakthrough in solid-state semiconductor was made in 1947 on Earth, and thus it's possible that the Empire is also on the cusp of invented transistors on their own. According to Director Gesta, the American VHS player is considered advanced technology in Gra Valkas, and logic dictates that if the Americans feel safe leaving this in Imperial hands, then surely the mainstay American tech is enough to render it archaic or irrelevant.

The Gra Valkas also seems to have a certain understanding of electronic warfare, however, the overwhelming reliance of magic for communication and target acquisition of their opponents leaves little need for them to make use this technology. As a result, they were quite taken aback when the United States unleashed their superior EW capabilities and filled their airwaves with static, forcing them to hastily develop a method to mitigate American jamming as well as employ manacomms as a form of emergency backup communications.

The aviation sector of the Gra Valkas Empire is particularly developed. Their tried and trusted Carsline Type-07 Antares fighters are more than capable of going toe to toe with most airborne combatants native to the new worlds, including the Alpha-3 fighters of the Holy Mirishial Empire, as well as the Wind Dragons of the Emor Kingdom, being outmatched only by Ravernal Pal Aurora magic fighters (and if all nations are accounted for, hard science jet fighters developed by the Americans). Their Guti Maun super bombers are capable of reaching altitudes normally thought to be unfeasible by most Elysians. Besides advanced propeller driven aircraft, the Gra Valkans have also started mass producing early jet fighters, such as the Orsen OR-262, although they have yet to reach sufficient numbers to fully replace the Antares. More exotic designs such as jet powered flying wings resembling the Horton Ho 229 and the Horton XVIII are also confirmed to be in Gra Valkan possession. They also likely have a developed civilian aviation industry, and Prince Gra Cabal was able to visit the United States on a passenger jetliner developed by Orsen. However, it's likely that the Gra Valkans do not yet possess mass produced helicopters, considering their Earth analogs, autogyros may be employed in service to a certain degree.

Having not faced the lack of capable personnel or materials as Nazi Germany did, the Gra Valkans have successfully developed their own nuclear bomb, creating warheads with yields as high as 40 kilotons. However, well informed and experienced Gra Valkan leaders and military officers such as General Siegs are well aware of the fact that what they currently possessed isn't capable of deterring the Americans. As their main delivery platform are the Angriefer ballistic missiles resembling German V-2s. While the Angriefer-3 ballistic missiles are capable of achieving a range of around 375 km (233 mph), which is slightly longer than that of a V-2 Rocket's 320 km (200 miles), but considerably more limited compared to American ICBMs. However, thanks to the integration of magic into their designs, the Gra Valkan researchers managed to “cheat the system” and drastically improve their missile’s destructive power and range, which is shown to be strong enough to even take down a Pal Chimera or a Plasma Dragon with huge barrage of 40 missiles. While this doesn’t permit them to enact MAD against the United States due to the latter’s advanced AEGIS systems, it still poses a major threat towards allies of the United States such as Mu and the Holy Mirishial Empire.

Initially, magic was scoffed upon by most Gra Valkans, considering how ineffective they are compared to their technology. However, after witnessing more advanced magical applications by members of the Magikareich Community, some Gra Valkan scientists were inspired to create new Wunderwaffen using magitek. Thanks to assistance provided by Magikareich scholars and mages, these projects soon managed to bear fruit, producing weapons such as the Lightning Gun, Frost Bombs; or Magic-enhanced incendiary weapons. These magical research effort redoubled after witnessing threats exhibited by properly applied magic during the Sonal Kingdom and Nigrat Union campaigns.

Recognizing the overwhelming tech possessed by the US, the GVE has ordered their intelligent operatives in both US mainland and in Muan to steal US technology as much as possible to reverse-engineer it. While their agents in US mainland has limited windows to send back their intelligence to their homeland, operatives in Muan front has much luck as they are not only manage to blow off warehouses in Muan containing US-supplied weaponry but manage to pillage tons of its in the process ranging from M16, M60 as well as Carl Gustav Anti-tank guns.

Compared to their original iterartion, the Gra Valkas Empire depicted in *Summoning America* is far more advanced in multiple aspects:

* They possess WMDs in *Summoning America* ranging from atomic bombs, chemical and biological weapons, while in *Nihonkoku Shoukan* they do not even understand what nuclear physics is. In fact it seems that even the concept of chemical and biological warfare is alien to them, which Imperial Japan actually researched extensively during World War II.
* They possess both assault rifles and night vision in *Summoning America* but neither in *Nihonkoku Shoukan*.
* They have not only developed jet engines but also mass produced them in *Summoning America*, while in *Nihonkoku Shoukan* their jet engines remain in experimental stages due to lack of funding. However, the funding for the development jet engine has been increased after they declared war on the US.
* They have also developed ballistic missiles in *Summoning America*, while in *Nihonkoku Shoukan* it's confirmed that they have yet to create even a V-2 equivalent.
* MANPATS exists for Gra Valkans in *Summoning America*, but not in *Nihonkoku Shoukan*.
* The most notable fact that GVE in Summoning America utilizes magic unlike in the cannon, this fact enables them to create radical magi-tech to their advantages.
* The Gra Valkas Army also changed, instead of being the Imperial Japanese Army like *Nihonkoku Shoukan*, it is now similar to the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany making their ground force more capable in *Summoning America*.
* When it comes to facing overwhelming military technology from opponents, GVE in Summoning America willing to let their pride go and focus on stealing US technology to better themselves. While GVE in cannon almost never think of stealing any pieces of advanced equipment from Japan.

## Military

Like most adversaries of the United States, the Gra Valkas Empire also believed that quantity has a quality of its own. However, being a scientific nation meant the Gra Valkas Empire doesn’t rely solely on overwhelming numbers, and also realizes the importance in superior firepower and technology. Some of the more realistic leaders are also aware of the fact than sheer quantity simply cannot make up for massive technological difference.

The decade long Cold War waged between them and the Divine Kingdom of Kain served as a constant stimulant for the Gra Valkans to improve their military technology, in order to stay one step ahead of their competition and ensure Gra Valkan superiority. While development of new technology somewhat stagnated briefly after the Transference, due to the fact that none of the newly discovered nations are capable of posing a threat to the Empire's military might, the discovery of the United States of America caused research and development to resume with renewed vigor, in hopes to close up the enormous technology gap present between the two superpowers as much as possible. In recent conflict with the US, GVE is investing heavily in creating reliable nuclear weapons and its devliery system to enact the MADs concept toward the US.

The Gra Valkan Imperial Army is composed primarily of motorized infantry forces much like the German Wehrmacht, equipped with bolt-action rifles, submachine guns, and occasionally assault rifles, as well as heavy weapons such as flamethrowers. An elite branch of the infantry is the Assassination Unit, highly trained special forces equipped with advanced technology such as infrared night vision scopes and tasked with engaging in strikes against key military or civilian targets, or counter special forces operations from other countries. The largest fully mechanized division of the Imperial Army is the 4th Armored Division lead by Brigadier General Borg Flats, consisting of Hound medium tanks, supported by Shafer light tanks, Wilder heavy tanks, Evergreen heavy field artilleries, armored cars, and scout motorcycles. The armored forces are often used as spearhead offensive forces aimed at enemy key positions.

Despite being a modern, mechanized army, the Gra Valkan soldiers still engage in barbaric activities such as looting, raping, and pillaging in conquered territories, being not much better than the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front and the Imperial Japanese Army. The officers often turn a blind eye to the atrocities, and not even the non-aggression treaties signed between the Empire and the United States served much to deter such actions. Footage of Imperial soldiers committing war crimes captured by various operatives circulated on American media networks causing public opinion on the Gra Valkas Empire to sour further, and support for war against them to soar.

Both the Gra Valkan Army and Navy have their own dedicated aviation services. The Imperial Army Aviation is mostly composed of their mainstay fighter, the Carsline Type-07 Antares, and is supplemented by Vega medium bombers and Sirius dive-bombers. Jet aircraft has only recently been integrated into their air fleets and only saw limited service thus far. Their main goals are to achieve air superiority, launch aerial assaults, bombardments and support the ground forces/surface fleets. For high-altitude strategic bombing, the six-engined Guti Maun super heavy bombers are fielded, they’re capable of reaching altitudes impossible to reach by Muan and Mirishial aircraft. The Navy's air service consists also of Antares fighters and Sirius dive-bombers, but they also exclusively use Rigel torpedo-bombers and Acrux float fighters. Numerous air bases have been constructed in annexed territories such as Leifor, the Coshal Islands as well as in allied territories of the Magikareich Community, greatly extending the operational range of their aircraft.

The Imperial Navy is a force to be reckoned with, fielding various types of warships in numbers that would have likely dwarfed any navy on Earth during WWII, from high-speed destroyers to capital battleships and aircraft carriers. The Gra Valkas naval doctrine is likely very similar to the “Kantai Kessen” (艦隊決戦) doctrine practiced by the Imperial Japanese, it involves submarines and destroyers launching a large barrage of long range torpedoes in conjunction with naval air support to weaken and disorient the enemy before the cruisers and battleships arrive and completely neutralize the enemy fleet in “decisive battle”. This doctrine was largely based on the old ideology of “Taikan Kyohō Shugi” (大艦巨砲主義) which placed large battleships armed with enormous cannons at the core of naval operations. But as time progressed, the Gra Valkans realized the importance and effectiveness of naval aircraft and shifted emphasis away from battleships to carriers. Once in Elysia, however, the battleship regained its relevance as a weapon of terror and propaganda tool, since the majority of Elysian nations still believed in the way of the big guns. The GVE Grade Atlaster in particular became a living legend in the new world, being not only the largest battleship to ever exist (beating even the USS Iowa in terms of tonnage), but also scoring victory after victory, even managing to defeat a Pal Chimera class airborne battleship.

After the Naval Battle of Otaheit, however, the old Decisive Battle doctrine was quickly set aside in favor of a more flexible new naval combined arms doctrine. Gra Valkan fleets are now divided into smaller, more mobile and more numerous taskforces, which allows them to strike at more strategic locations simultaneously. This was done in order to exploit the limited availability of EDI "superweapons" such as the Pal Chimera, Plasma Dragons or Orichalcum-Class battleships. The doctrine can easily take advantage of the on average higher quality of ships that the Empire possesses and overextend the EDI naval forces.

On the other hand, much like the Kriegsmarine, Gra Valkan submarines are capable of operating independently from the rest of the fleet, preying on unsuspecting enemy fleet, much like the “Wolfpacks” that preyed the Allied convoys in the Atlantic Ocean during WWII. The torpedoes used by the Gra Valkan Imperial Navy has similar performance to the Japanese Type 93 “Long Lance” torpedoes, with an effective range of 5-25 km, being unguided torpedoes, they are often launched in a spread pattern to maximize their chances at hitting a target. This tactic has proven to be particularly effective on Elysia, as submarine warfare is more or less an alien concept to most of the natives. Have it not been for the American sonar system installed onboard the HMS Cosmo as well as the ice wall magic, the Holy Mirishial Empire’s Zeroth Fleet would have suffered a bitter defeat at the hands of Gra Valkan submarines. Unsurprisingly, the Gra Valkan Wolfpack has proven to be ineffective against the US Navy, do to the latter’s more advanced submarine designs, as well as modern sound proofing technology that would have rendered WWII era sonar ineffective.

The sheer amount of resources the Gra Valkas Navy has access to can only be described as staggering, which ten times outstripping the US industrial capability back in WW2. During their war against the Elysian Defense Initiative, the Empire has suffered considerable losses in several major engagements, to the point that the Battle of Leyte Gulf resembled a minor traffic accident in comparison. As many as 183 ships have been lost in the Naval Battle of Otaheit, 238 more vessels were lost in the Battle of Mykal, and later on in the Battle of the Artticus Ocean, the Gra Valkas Empire lost an additional 120 ships and around 600 aircraft. While the Empire treated all of these losses as major setbacks, they are still able to recuperate from these defeats and continue their war effort against the EDI, all the while the EDI continued to suffer catastrophic losses, losing as many as 2 of their prized Pal Chimera aerial battleships and even a Plasma Dragon. To the point where they felt pressured to get the United States to enter the war as soon as possible.

## Culture & Politics

The Gra Valkas Empire political wise is very similar to expansionist, militarist empires present throughout Earth's history. They also believe that might makes right and are well versed in gunboat diplomacy. Many Gra Valkans consider it their duty to conquer lesser civilizations and "uplift" them to their superior levels. Some like Emperor Gra Lux are content with letting the United States of America and the Empire rule the world together and avoid direct conflict, while the Empire continues to research technology and magic in hopes to one day shorten the gap between them and America enough to rival them. Gra Valkan diplomacy towards weaker, less developed nations are often straightforward and brutal, they are given the choice of either submitting to the Gra Valkans as vassal states or be conquered. Details regarding how the Gra Valkans integrate their conquered territories is unknown, during the war against the Elysian Defense Initiative, they often use captured territories to build bases and use them as launch pads to propel their next invasion.

However, when it comes to more developed nations or those who possess what the Empire desires but cannot just straight up take using brute force, the Gra Valkans are willing to play the game of diplomacy more strategically. One notable example is when diplomat Cielia Oudwin managed to successfully convince the Magikareich Community to ally themselves with the Empire, trading Imperial hard science for their magically enhanced designs, as well as taking advantage of the similarities with their culture and their long standing rivalry with the hard science nation of Mu. Back on Yggdra, the Empire was also willing to negociate with the Kingdom of Havur instead of straight up invading it for its rich uranium ore deposits, likely because they were well aware that open hostilities with Havur will simply force them to ally with the Kainians.

The Gra Valkans are proponents of science, it is thanks to their advanced technology that they managed to overcome most of their adversaries on Yggdra, and also secure their initial victories on Elysia. The Gra Valkans believe that science is the solution to their dream of a united world under the empire’s banner, and if a potential rival possesses more advanced technology, then they must redouble their efforts to analyze it and incorporate it into their systems. It is thanks to their affinity with technology that the more educated Gra Valkans are able to identify what makes American technology superior to their own. Initially magic was scoffed at by most Gra Valkans due to how inefficient they are compared even to their tried and trusted arsenal. However, some members like Chief Researcher Heimdall of the Helheim Islands research facilities are more keen on utilizing magic to create Wunderwaffen once thought to be impractical or outright impossible.

Due to the fact that they have been the leading superpower on their home planet, and having faced many countries that are literally centuries behind them technology wise, some Gra Valkans are extremely arrogant and condescending. Some like Dallas Claymond or Blitz Jaeger even considers Elysian natives "primitive barbarians" and are deserving to be subjugated, their lives holding as much significance as insects, even those who hail from nations like the Holy Mirishial Empire or the Kingdom of Agartha are treated with the same level of content, despite possessing superior understanding and application of magic compared to the Empire.

While certain Gra Valkans in positions of authority like Cielia Oudwin believed that the United States at least warranted a certain level of respect due to the level of technological progression they have achieved, enough to make the Empire’s look extremely dated, and therefore actively provoking them will be suicidal. Others like Senator Guinea Marix despised America, believing that despite the nation’s capable military, it’s ultimately held back by its inefficient political system and weak-willed people who “decry the military’s actions even when righteous victory is within grasp”. While the Imperial system may be more efficient than a democratic one, the totalitarian nature of it also means there exists little to no chance for a leader’s mistake to be corrected, therefore an empire can undo its progress just as efficiently as making them.