Day One
0200 hours
The skies above Al-Khalifiya were black. There was a moonless night above the desert. Light winds picked up sand and carried it through the air like a tan phantasm, swirling about with a purpose. As far as the natural world was concerned, tonight was a night like any other. Something, like the pyramids for example, could be preserved under these desert skies for thousands of years.
But everything was not made of stone. Only a thin veneer keeps civilization apart from the savage. When a force decides there will be change, materials usually comply.
The question becomes, are you a force? Or are you a material?
A black shape looms above, like a ghastly spectre floating through the skies. It is made up of sharp, low angles and edges pointing out in different directions, forming wings and two tail fins. Many other nations went with the F-22. Vangaziland went with something slightly more... Wicked.
Below were several other dark shapes, four of them. They had spread out into a long, single file formation a good distance back from the single fighter.
Aircraft view their targets through something known as a 'pod'. It is a powerful camera that can zoom in and frame a target that is literally miles away.
Major Chuck Tomberry was a specialized fighter pilot known as a 'Forward Air Controller - Airborne (FAC-A). His job was to paint targets for other aircraft, to help direct them to and from the areas and to adjust fires almost in a way that a forward observer would. It was one of those roles that didn't get a lot of media coverage, but was essential in the modern world of air combat.
The four F-23 fighters were on an attack run and were lined up like a line of regional jets on approach to land at an international airport. Behind them were other aircraft, then other FAC-As.
The first wave of aircraft to creep into Al-Khalifiya at night were all stealth. A coalition had formed and moved into sovereign Khalifiyan airspace. Each plane had a target or was covering others.
Undetected by radar Maj. Tomberry chatted over the comms with the other pilots. The first plane was hitting a large soviet radar dish, spinning on top of a rocky hill. The second plane would hit a wheeled air defense artillery truck, an SA-8. The third aircraft would come in and hit a cluster of radio and satellite antenna and the fourth aircraft would hit a hardened shelter which was believed to be functioning as an HQ.
Then the fighters would come back around and Chuck would give them new targets. Another flight of fighters was on scene, broken off into pairs of twos, watching everything from high above. They were ready for the wave of MiG-29s that would surely respond.
Between these targets was an airfield. There was a long runway, several taxiways and service roads. The pilots' barracks were close to the flight line. There were several other buildings; meeting rooms, cafeterias...
This particular target was an airbase that SU-25s were being flown out of. Every airfield in the nation was currently under watch or on approach by coalition stealth aircraft.
The first F-23 was 'cleared hot' by Maj. Tomberry. About 30 seconds after the radio transmission, the first shot was fired in the campaign for the city state of Al-Khalifiya. It rifled away from the fighter and let the enemy radar dish up with a bright, concussive flash that ripped the metal apart. One part of the network was down. The fighter continued in on their line, each one double checking for approach with Chuck, who viewed it all on his targeting pod.
Across the nation, other radar stations were being hit in the first wave as well. The goal was to cripple the People's Khalifiyan Air Force. They would be disadvantaged if their airfield, radar networks and command centers got hit all at once.
As the second target went up, the first fighter was looking for its second target. It still had to queue up though. Now the flight line itself was targeted. Four of the SU-25s were outside on the line. The other four were split between two large, hardened bunkers. Different fuzes would need to be set for the targets in the bunkers so that the explosion would happen after the bomb had punched through the concrete shell.
On the ground, things began to stir as the third target went up. Klaxons sounded all over the base. Khalifiyan airmen began waking from the barracks. They would find that their radios were silent. Gunners reliant on radar nervously sat at their stations. superiors yelling at subordinates. Their screens were blank. Then they went up themselves, as the command center was the fourth target.
The shelter rocked under the shock wave of the 500lb bomb exploding within.
Major Chuck was still busy setting up targets. Since these aircraft were primarily fighters, they carried a limited ordinance. After they dumped their 500lb'ers, they still had a few AMRAAM and sidewinder missiles. Of course they would dash back to the safe zone to the KC-130 tankers and refuel.
Everything happened so quickly, so organized, so planned out. Vannish Intelligence had been going over the targets for months. Satellites were used. Patterns were recorded. Data was analyzed. A plan was made.
The network of fighters and their strikes spread out across Al-Khalifiya. It was hoped that much of the enemy air force would be wiped out on the ground. The Air Force and the Navy were working together, sometimes coordinating on the bigger targets.
Major Tomberry's airstrikes were located in the capital area. It was one of sandiest areas of the nation. A big focus was made on striking targets here as the capital was the focus of operations.
And it wasn't just the Vangazi active in the capital. Air Forces worked together, communicating on the radio and working within the three-dimensional battlespace.
The air war over Al-Khalifiya had just begun with a crushing strike that coiled and swept across the nation like a stealthy black wind of fighters, attack aircraft, and bombers.
