Optio Aera's heartbeat rate increased as she felt nervous of the upcoming encounter. Aera maybe a prodigy, but she never actually faced an enemy army. She had fought bandits and pirates that plagued the Kingdom of Nada, but she never yet participated in any battle between organized armies. However, her heart and determination is that of steel. She will defend her country to the bitter end. She held her lance tightly, preparing for the upcoming onslaught, while her allies readied their swords, spears, axes, bows and arrows as they expected the arrival of a possibly hostile fleet.
From the horizon, small objects were seen from afar. Eventually, the objects grew larger as they came nearer to Nada's Royal Fleet. When the objects got so close, they decreased their speed as if they already noticed Nada's own fleet. It was then evident what kind of force Nada's fleet were about to engage.
"So huge..." Optio Aera watched in awe as she witnessed the arrival of what it seemed to be an ash-colored capital ship. It was 115 meters long and seemed to have strange poles and devices attached to it. The ship had no sails or oars but it was swifter than most, if not all, ships in the known world. It had a single, bicolored flag waving above, with equal bands of royal blue and scarlet. The flag had a white triangle at its hoist adorned by three yellow stars and an eight-pointed sun.
The ship was intimidating despite the lack of adornment found in most capital ships, but it seemed to have no intention of engaging into battle. There were strange lights blinking around the ship while its crew stood on its deck, waving hands and giving signals to them.
"Legatus Franx, the unknown fleet seems to request audience," Aera reported as she remained vigilant.
"Do not engage the unknown fleet without my orders," Legatus Franx commanded as he stood on the deck of Nada Kingdom's capital ship, 'Queen Sarah's Revenge'.
Peeking through his spyglass, Legatus Franx examined the unknown ship. He was amazed of the ship's size but was rather unimpressed of its aesthetics.
"The fleet is neither of our allies nor of our enemies. It could be a trade envoy from a new country. We will send an inspection party instead to make sure of their intentions. Do not do anything provocative but remain cautious and vigilant if they turn out to be hostile. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir!"