The Atlantic had since fallen, and the Indian Ocean seemed poised to soon follow suit. The Pacific lanes were still held, but the top brass agreed: If they did not have any strategic breakthroughs in fighting the Abyssals soon, then they were all screwed.
But one research ship had a plan.
"Now, Yuubari, I didn't completely get that hasty explanation you gave me in the office earlier, may I ask-"
"For me to explain again? Sure thing, Admiral!" the research ship chirped, clearly excited beyond nornal at the experiment that was about to be done in the summoning chamber.
"As you well know, WWII battleships weren't the only ones to've been summoned in human form. We've also gotten paper battleships that were planned, but never actually built. We got airships, which are "ships" only in the loosest sense of the word. We've even gotten fictional ships as girls too, and from what we could get from our little Abyssal friend, apparently she and other like her are really embodiments of miscellaneous ports and installations, all over the world..."
"And your point, Yuubari?" the Admiral pressed.
"The point is, Admiral, that all of these esoteric summonings got me thinking: are we truly just limited to summoning mere warships, sir? Sure, they're a formidable force, no doubt, the combined sweat and tears of an entire nation. Or at least their navy. But then I wonder, if these warships are that powerful, then how much more powerful would the personification of entire countries be, Teitoku!? All that history and spiritual belief! That combined physical and intellectual firepower! Teitoku, if this experiment manages to pull of what I hope it's going to pull off, then this whole war could be over already!" she said, her voice steadily increasing until everyone else in the chamber could hear her words.
Adm. Andrews, the American admiral, raised an eyebrow. "Now that's a steep claim to make, Captain Yuubari. How soon do you think you can back up those words?"
"Very soon, I expect, if my calculations are correct." she said, rangefinders fixed on nothing else but the pool in front of her.
And then, the ceremony started. I won't bore you with the details of it, but I will say that it involved an African choir, lots of national flags, and an oversized world map.
The pool started to glow. Slowly at first, then brighter and brighter, until it was like if a dozen flashbangs went off in the middle of the room.
When people began to remove their hands and sleeves from their faces, they couldn't help themselves but stare. For the beings that now floated on the pool were not humanoid in the slightest.
Instead, multiple, roughly basketball-sized spherical shapes floated on the surface of the water, with various colours and markings on them that Goto immediately recognised as the flags of various countries. They also had blank white eyes, apparently.
The sphere that had Netherlands' colours widened his (rather pinkish) eyes, and started looking around frantically.
"Oh noes, mein polders has flooded. Clay is all water now." it said. It then pulled out a pot pipe from somewhere, and started smoking it.
"Nein, dutch, iz not a case of bad flooding " the ball with the German tricolour, with a very exaggerated German accent. "In fact, iz not anybodies clay that mein recognize." It then suddenly noticed all the other people in the chamber.
"H-Hello?" Yuubari ventured.
Another ball leapt out of the water to greet her back, with such smiley eyes that made several destroyers mutter about how cute they are.
"Hello, me is Poland! And over dere is Netherlands, Germoney, Aus-tralia, and a few falafel I forget namings of."
"Hey!"
It then turned back to Yuubari and the Admirals.
"Excuse, what countrey is of you, your shape is very strange?" the talking ball responded.
For the next minute, the whole chamber was dead silent.
" Hello? Are you of okay, strange countres?"