Ryouese-Sharfghotten War: Naval and Air Campaigns (MT)

[Ryouese Black Islands]

The plan in this war was mainly to take out the enemy Naval and Air Forces with The Imperial Navy and Air Force. For many, this would be a test of New tactics and ships and planes, a Modern War of the 21st Century.

The plan was to totaly destroy The Sharfghotten Navy and Air Force in a Large Air and Sea Campaign before even dareing to launch a Invasion of Sharfghotten. The Ryouese Empire knew that this would be a grand war for Capitalism and Freedom.

The enemy would face a new war.

[Sharfghotten]

General Walter Kees, former Sharfghotten Minister of Defence and current GenSec of the CPS, paced his office. His polished leather jackboots echoed through the stone floor, sending snaps into the mind of the nervous aide by the door. At length, Kees spoke.

"So, they are prepared to go to war over this?"

The aide swallowed. The General's reputation preceded him.

"Yes comrade General. The Ryouese navy is preparing for some kind of strike against us, although we are unsure quite what this may be."

At that point Kees paused. He knew that the Sharfghotten navy was not in the right state to fight a major engagement. Indeed, most of it had been left to decay for several decades as emphasis was placed on other military branches.
The air force, by contrast, was around 70% modernised. Unfortunately that 70% was made up exclusively of foreign imports, but that was a situation for another time.

"Build up conventional forces around the coast. If they attempt to land a single soldier in Sharfghotten, open up everything. In the meanwhile, alert the fleets that they may well see some action in the next few weeks." You may leave, comrade."

[Ryouese Black Islands]

The Ryouese were planning the campaign, known as Operation: SEA SCORPION. The First Phase was to be in two parts, the baiting and the Trap.

The baiting was to use Submarines against The enemy navy. Submarine warfare against warships had to be planned out and already, the plan was to use The Wolf Pack tactic The Germans used against The allied Forces in World War II. If it worked, it would force The enemy to send out the fleets to hunt for the subs....only to fall into The Trap of All out Submarine Attacks. Then The Ryouese Imperial Grand Fleet would attack in a battle in International waters.

Once the enemy Navy was crushed, Phase Two would start, a All Out AIr Attack against The enemy Air Force, to crush them in a Air Battle that would be larger then The Battle of Britian. This would be fallowed by Air Raids (Phase Three) against enemy Coastal Defenses, Factories, Roads, Railroads, Airports and Air Bases and Army Bases and Shipyards.

Phase Four would be Invasion.

The Ryouese were already sending out The Submarines to start Phase One.

[Sharfghotten]

Arelfenn fleet, Arelfenn Naval Base

The fleet of six destroyers, eight frigates one cruiser and one aircraft carrier set out from Aerlfenn Naval base at approximately 10:32AM local time. They had recieved intelligence that enemy submarines were patrolling sharfghotten's Western seaboard and had been sent to hunt them down.

The aircraft carrier PNV Ivan housed a selection of aircraft, most of them equipped for ASW roles. However, there was also a small contingent of air superiority fighters ready to be used in case the Ryouese had their own planes.

[Ryouese Black Islands]

Arelfenn fleet, Arelfenn Naval Base

The fleet of six destroyers, eight frigates one cruiser and one aircraft carrier set out from Aerlfenn Naval base at approximately 10:32AM local time. They had recieved intelligence that enemy submarines were patrolling sharfghotten's Western seaboard and had been sent to hunt them down.

The aircraft carrier PNV Ivan housed a selection of aircraft, most of them equipped for ASW roles. However, there was also a small contingent of air superiority fighters ready to be used in case the Ryouese had their own planes.

entering enemy waters were eight Dragonfish-class Attack Submarines. They were among the first of many that would launch The attack against any enemy warships they found. One the back of the lead sub was one Four-manned Mini-Sub, a scout that would be used to enter enemy waters and locate any enemy fleet and bring news to the Wolf Pack. It would be a Suicidal Mission, but the crew of the mini-Sub would do their job with honor for The Empire.

Soon the Subs dived down, being Nuclear Powered, they could say down longer then the Subs of World War II. The Mini-Sub was relesed and soon started heading for enemy waters to start scouting.

[Sharfghotten]

From the helicopter decks of the six Shurikan destroyers came a contingent of six GG-67 helicopters, all outfitted for an ASW role. The choppers flew low, their rotors kicking up waves on the surface of the relatively calm sea. From their fuselage dangled ALFS modules, scouring the depths for submarines.

While the choppers went about their business, the fleet en masse manouvered into a defensive formation in the open ocean, on the projected path of the Ryouese fleet.

[Ryouese Black Islands]

The enemy fleet may have been hunting down The Ryouese Subs, but they to were the hunted. The Mini-Sub parascope had soon spotted the enemy fleet. The Mini-Sub was colored a dark ocean blue to better hide it from enemy Helicopters.

The Ryouese had a Novel way of getting Info on the ships to Their own Subs from a Mini-Sub. Since radio communications can be intercepted and decoded, The Ryouese soon started useing a New weapon: Wireless Internet.

The Mini-Sub sent a Message to The Wolf Pack via The Net about where the enemy fleet was and what it was doing. Soon The Subs were heading for the enemy Fleet, running Silent, Running Deep.

[Gimmadonis]

The rough ocean waters knocked around 6th fleet. They were going in first, and as the newest of the fleets, every ship and sailor on this mission was green.

Except for Admiral Winbred. He had 45 years of experience in the Gimmad Navy, and had recieved his promotion only two months before. He had joked to himself for years that such a place bought so much job security, it would be "smooth sailing" from here on out. But this stormy night was anything but. 40 frigates and corvettes formed a wide oval around the 20 odd destroyers which did the same for the 5 carriers which carried the main assault force. Admiral Winbred's ship was the G.D.N. Darwin, a "Super Carrier", and the flagship of the 6th fleet. A regular carrier was enormous, but the Darwin dwarfed all the other ships in the fleet by far. It was an amazing 1-mile long vessel, and carried on it's deck nearly 100 aircraft. But the real star of the show was the beast which was to land what the Darwin was to the sea.

It was known as an M90 Dreadnought, a tank-killing, mobile base, IFV, APC, and self-propelled artillery all at once. It dominated the deck of the Darwin, which was rated to carry in excess of 200 aircraft. But this 300-foot long beast, almost as wide as half of the deck of the Darwin itself, soared four stories into the air, it's command bridge on the same level as the flight control tower of the ship it was carried on. It had once been cast is brown, but now it's armor, thick enough to shrug off RPG rounds like they were BBs, was painted a bright silver, and the Gimmadonis Marine emblem, a blue falcon with a rifle clutched in it's talons, now adorned it's hull. It was one of only four, and as of now, the only one about to see service. But not yet, there was still work to do.

Flights of F-22 stealth fighter had been leaving the decks of the aircraft carriers, hoping to knock out key military installations around the coast to allow the ground forces a chance to land. At least 22 of them had been in the air when Sharfghotten came into sight.

"This is Red Vulture, we have targets in sight," reported a female-sounding pilot, looking through her infrared. On the coast there was a multitude of machine gun nests, and other militarized buildings. This was the beach they had designated for the landing.

Winbred clutched a radio from the console he had been standing at. "This is Admiral Winbred. You are Go Echo, I repeat, Go Echo." He sighed, and placed the radio down.

"Read you loud..." The pilot armed the laser-guided bombs on her Raptor. "...and clear. Vulture Squadron, fire at will." And so they did, and the sky lit up with dozens of missiles streaking from the super-sonic fight-bombers toward the beaches of Sharfghotten.

[Sharfghotten]

Admiral Herren of the Arelfenn fleet was shocked and astounded by the sheer scale of the Grimm fleet. More importantly, he had no idea as to how they had arrived, virtually undetected, in sharf waters and were now busy literally pounding the beaches.

Herren now had a choice. He could either double back, and hit the Grimm fleet in the flank, or he could carry on and destroy the smaller Ryouese fleet before they got involved in the ground war.

In the end, he decided to stay with the Ryouese. He knew that his smallish fleet had little chance of besting the Grimms at naval combat. Besides, most of his aircraft were outfitted for ASW. They would be worse than useless against enemy ships and interceptors.

"Stay in the area" he muttered to the first mate. "Keep hunting for those subs, and the Ryouese ships in general. Our friends can take care of the Grimms."

***************

The beaches of Sharfghotten's Eastern coast were in chaos. The line of heavily fortified bunkers, machine-gun nests, mortar pits, minefields and other fortified structures had been hit hard by the enemy's missiles. In some places the defensive line had been broken, and combat engineers rushed to shore up the defenses in anticipation of enemy invasion.

There were, however, AA positions along this line that fought back heavily against the enemy planes. 23mm flak shells filled the air with lead as they targetted the Grimm Raptors. Even as they did so, a flight of 10 MiG-31's took flight from a nearby airbase to engage the Grimm forces in the air. They dived and twisted, trying every trick in the book to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible while losing as few of their own. Two MiG's were shot down, but those that remained in the air delivered a veritable hail of R-33 AAM's and 23mm autocannon rounds.

Back on the ground, troops and armour were getting into position. Machine gunners, AT gunners and snipers took their predesignated positions on cliff-tops and began sweeping their firing arcs. Behind the lines, Howitzers and artillery guns lined up and calibrated the range they would need to fire should the defensive line fall.

OOC: if you need a map there's one HERE.

[Gimmadonis]

OOC: This would be where I am attacking you: http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1015/sharfmapannotatedgimmad.png The green dot represents my fleet.


-----------------------------------



"Blue Vulture, break left, break left!" Within moments, the skies had turned to utter chaos. Missles and flak exploded all around them, while enemy planes swarmed them like bees. Captain Jennifer Zaddual, known to her wing mates as "Red Vulture", was leading her force of 12 F-22 raptors on what was supposed to be a short bombing run. One of her wing mates pulled up over her, and she turned her head to see a missile fired from one of the MiGs streak towards it. Before she could say anything, yellow Vulture was obliterated in a bright flash.

Jennifer averted her eyes, but looked again to the flak firing below them. She got on her radio, and announced to the rest of her squadron. "Let's get some altitude, Vultures, get outta the range of those flak cannons." As she said so, a light in her cockpit denoted that she had a missile locked onto her. 'Shit', was her obvious first thought, between ducking and weaving through the fire to shake the rocket off of her tail. She flipped a switch, and immediately Chaff pods lit up behind her as they dumped dozens of super-heated flares. The missile soared, and only 40 feet behind her, smashed into one of the flares. Jennifer immediately flipped her plane vertically, to gain altitude.

"This is Orange Vulture... I'm hit, everything is reading negative..."

Jeniffer answered "Fall back Orange, get out of here."

"Nega-*static*... tain... gonna take out as ma..."

Orange Vulture was unable to finish his sentence before he crashed his Raptor into the defensive lines, destroying a flak cannon in the process. Jennifer Was at that moment glad to not have really met any of her squadron before. Intelligence had fucked up bad, the Sharf military shouldn't have been this ready for them. Looking to her console, she saw that she had lost 3 wingmen so far. She wasn't going to lose more.

"Everyone, return to the fleet. We're not dieing out here." A quick copy from the rest of the squadron, and the planes headed back east to regroup with the fleet, and headed into the sunrise. As they did so, a few MiGs began to follow, and Jennifer, in a manner of speaking was "sick of their shit", and pressed down on her trigger. I launched a missile, which streaked forward a 100 yards infront of her before looping back and hitting one of the MiGs, scattering the rest.

[Sharfghotten]

MiG squadron Sickle regrouped their numbers and flew back to base. They had seen off the original force but it was quite obvious they would be back for more, and in greater numbers. The only thing to do now was dig in deeper and wait for them.

_____________________________________

the fleet at Haifischbucht Naval Base departed from their docks a few hours after the opening of hostilities in the South. they had a reasonable way to go, and would most likely arrive at the theater after the Grimm ships. the fleet consisted of twenty frigates and corvettes, with fifteen destroyers, two cruisers and an aircraft carrier. This fleet was widely regarded as the elite of the Sharf navy, being the last naval line of defense before a potential enemy reached Engelsburg.

[Gimmadonis]

6:15 A.M., Day One of the Sharfghotten Campaign


Winbred was in a conundrum. Satellite imaging reported that there would be fleet reaching their position withing the next 48 hours, but Winbred had planned to soften the enemy defenses for days before landing. Now, if his fleet engaged, half the invasion force could be lost. If he continued with the assault, he might have that much, much more, or much less. After careful consideration, He decided he would mass his planes in a single assault, only a few hours before he landed. A Blitzkrieg sort-of tactic would create a large enough hole in the defenses for his invasion force of 5,200 troops, 2 full Battalions, to squeeze through. I would be a tough job though, between the carriers there were roughly 80 F-15s, 24 F-22s (21, now with 3 destroyed), 60 Harriers, and 10 B-52 Stratofortress Bombers, he would nee a great deal of luck to pull it off right.

He ordered he current flight of F-22s to return to the fleet and...


-------



"You wanna repeat that, sir?" Said an obviously exasperated Jennifer.

"Red Vulture, your orders are to return to the fleet for immediate refueling, re-armament, and take off. You will be part of a full on strike against that beach again, we're going on a bombing run. Before that, however you'll need to disable a nearby airstrip."

Jennifer sighed. "Copy, returning now for re-fueling and re-armament."

"Aw, this is bullshi-"

"Can it, Black Vulture. We've all got orders."
--------

9:45 A.M.

"Stealth is optimal, they haven't seen us. Cruising altitude 15,000 meters. ETA to airfield is 80 seconds."

"Copy that, Green." Jennifer hadn't even got the luxury of getting out of her seat since this morning, the burn marks on her wings were still hot from the fight earlier. Her cockpit began to feel more and more cramped, as if she were a cubical worker. It smelled of sweat and, for some reason, burnt toast. Jennifer had no time to contemplate her strange atmosphere however, as the airfield came into view. There were several MiGs on the ground, ripe for the picking.

"Vultures, fire at will."

Behind her, Eagle squadron, also consisting of F - 22s, chimed in on the message.

"We read you as well. Firing."

[Sharfghotten]

Altressen airbase, 20km West of the coast

The airbase was in chaos. the enemy planes had arrived virtually unannounced and were busy wreaking havoc on the planes on the ground.

Flight Lieutenant Hans Grissen paced the tower control room, ducking every so often as a misile impacted against the walls. Why did the radar systems have to be taken down for routine maintainance NOW? It could have been yesterday, couldn't it. But today, it had to be today. Consequently he had lost an unknown number of planes.

"All AA defenses, return fire on the enemy aircraft" he called into the megaphone. On the ground, infantrymen with AA missile launchers, supported by DpK-9AA tanks, sent a barrage of munitions skyward. the DpK's in particular sent thousands of 23mm rounds skyward, determined to break the back of the Grimm air force.

At a lull in the fighting, fighter pilots were ordered to get in the air to minimize risk of destrction. Soon the skys above the airbase were a mess of twirling planes. The MiGs used all they had against the F-22's. Missiles and 23mm was everywhere.

Grissen got on the radio.

"All coastal units. Be prepared for an enemy air sortie flying back out of our borders. Searchlights on, Ack-ack sites ready to engage."

******************

A few hours into the battle, Sharf forces had certainly taken a beating. The suprise assault had taken its toll, crippling or destroying forty planes currently on the ground. the control tower had also suffered a direct hit, and a corner of the control room now stood exposed to the night air. But the Sharfs, in defence of the motherland, were still giving it all they had got.

[Gimmadonis]

Another vulture had been lost, in addition to four of Eagle Squadron, most likely attributed to the slightly better experience of the Vultures. But 5 F-22s for an entire airbase seemed, at least to command, a good trade off. They hoped to soon report back to base, but now, a new problem. Every AA gun with 20 miles was no fixed on them, and the F-22s were no having to literally maneuver out of the country. Every few minutes, another F-22 would go down. Worse still, remnants of the MiG force they had just destroyed would occasionally engage them, causing even more trouble.

Jennifer weaved through the enemy flak and 23mm rounds and rockets, unable to give the orders she needed to for her squad. Red Eagle, leader of Eagle squadron, had since been shot down, leaving her in charge of the remaining 14... make that 13 Raptors. "Drop what you can on those AA guns, guys. Every one of them destroyed can only help us. Go up to 18,000 meters, stay out of those guns.

Any pilot worth his wings knew two things were above all else: Speed and Altitude. They were foolishly lacking the seconds, and were now struggling to obtain it. when she got the chance, Jennifer climbed another kilometer, and then locked onto a Dpk-9AA below. She fired a missile, which began to streak down, but was soon destroyed by the hail of bullets. She cursed under her breath, she had not more air to ground missiles. Finding that no MiGs were likely to come after her, she fired her last Sidewinder down at the AA gun. Seconds later, there was an explosion, confirming a direct hit.

Jennifer sighed in relief as the rest of the F-22s, all 9 that were left, rose out of the clouds. She clicked on her radio.


"6th fleet come in... do you copy?"

"Wilread here. What is your status, over."

"Objective complete, enemy air power crippled. We are go for next phase, over."

"Roger that. Good work, Captain."

--------

3:04 P.M.

The coast was now in sight for the Frigates at the front of the fleet, as a blue line rising up from the horizon. The Destroyers aimed their cannons upward, and fired at the coast, hoping to undo an reparations done in the last 9 hours and further rattle the Sharf forces.

"So... 'Grimms' they call us, eh?" Inquired Wilread to his aide, who nodded.

"According to these radio interceptions... yes sir, they do."

The Admiral scoffed. "Well, it's going to be a 'Grim' day indeed for Sharfghotten. Are all air forces fueled and ready? "

"Yes, sir. All planes are go for launch."

"Good. I want a yellow-brick-road laid in the broken bones and guns of our enemy."

He looked to his hand, which had sat squarely on the intercom button. "You heard me, I want planes in the air and bombs on the ground, now."

[Sharfghotten]

As the naval artillery began raining down on the beach, the Sharf forces knew they had reached it. Zero hour. Invasion. Time to fight for their country.

To the rear of the lines, a pair of enormous German Krupp K5 railway guns began hurtling 283mm shells across the water at the invaders ships.

One of the Grimm shells hit a concrete bunker attached to the side of a cliff. The shell disintegrated the emplacement, sending chunks of concrete tumbling down the rockface. Men on the ground were holding their resolve suprisingly well, sheltering from the deadly rain in shell holes, behind rocks, and in various underground bunkers and command structures. DpK-9L light tanks lay camouflaged along the beach and cliff-tops. Mortar teams had calibrated their tubes directly onto the sand below. Behind the lines, AA guns and self-propelled artillery pieces lay ready to wreak further havoc. Attack helicopters would provide limited aerial support if needed.

[Gimmadonis]

4:01 P.M. - Day 1 of the Sharfghotten Campaign

The Engines of the B-52 Stratofortress whirled to life, and the massive plane wheeled it's way slowly down the deck of the Darwin, straightening itself along the length of the super-carrier. It rolled slowly down the deck, picking up speed as it went. Within moments, the plane neared the end of the runway, and fell beneath the deck... before rising back up, after just having skimmed the water's surface. It ascended like a steel angel into the clouds. There it joined 8 of it's brothers, and they joined together in a wind V formation. As their escort, dozens of silver-painted 15-Eagles flew around them, encasing them in a sphere of protection a mile wide.

Ahead of them, the Destroyer The Redemption, was firing her cannons at full force, when a mortar round struck it's communication's tower. A chain reaction of explosions obliterated the tower, leaving the ship still afloat, but out of commission. It would need to be pulled back from the fighting.

However, the Frigate The Fallen Angel was not so lucky. An artillery shell smashed into her main gun, and caused a massive chain reaction. The sea lit up of the ship was torn in two from the violent explosion of the ship's ammo supplies, and a fiery, black cloud rose high into the air.

-------------------

4:10 P.M.

"This is Dominance group. We are reaching targets, altitude is 3,000 meters. Requesting permission to commence bombing run."

"Roger, Dominance. You are Go Echo, repeat callsign is Go Echo."

With that command, the Stratofortresses began dropping their payloads over the Sharf beaches. As explosions began to ripple across it's surface, an F-15 pilot chimmed in, his overtly country accent out of place with most Gimmads. "Well, how ya' like dat? Look at the little basttars' down there run! I think I might-"

"Negative, F-04, we are not clear to engage ground units. Those bombers need a clear sh-"

The leader speaking, "F-Leader" he had been, was promptly silenced when an AA round struck his wing. He spiraled out of control, and tumbled to the ground.

"Well, I guess that settles that." F-04 stated, turning his plane downwards. He immediately locked his missiles on the nearest helicopter, and fired a Sidewinder. He took a sadistic satisfaction in watching it explode, before repeating the process on another. He would have continued, if it had not been for the AA round which pierced the window of his cockpit. F-04 himself was disintegrated into a red cloud, and his plane smashed into the forest. His destruction went unnoticed by his flight group, who had been to focused on the bombers as they dropped their payload over the land scape.

[Sharfghotten]

Field Colonel Dieter Spritz ripped his eyes away from the telescopes lining one wall of the forward command post.

"Comrades, one of their ships has been sunk, and another in critical condition! Send a message to the front lines: do not waver! These Grimmad forces are nothing compared to the might of the Sharf people and our grand army!"

The other executive staff raised their hands in admiration, and the technicians began to deliver the preceding massage along the lines.

"Next obejctive... We must do something about those bombers." Mused the Colonel, sipping a glass of chilled water. "They can easily climb too high for our flak rounds to take them down. So here is what we shall do. Keep the 9AA's firing, but limit their rounds spent. We do not want to run out of ammo before the main battle begins!"

Men in the room began nodding.

"And, we will deploy our SAM missiles at key sites here, here and here" continued the Colonel, directing his hands to various points on the battle map laid out before him. "That should do the trick.

______________________

The missile launcher revolved on its pneumatic mounting, seeking the enemy bombers that were busy making a meal of the men on the beach. Locking on to its targets, four seperate missiles were launched into the air and shot towards the enemy planes.

_______________________

The heavy bombing had taken its toll on the beach. Dead troopers lay everywhere, shrapnel glittering on the yellow sand by the fire of burnt-out tank chassis. The Colonel's moral-boosting message haunted the remaining survivors, who's spirits admittedly had been lifted by the news that two enemy ships were out of commission already. Of course, they had no knowledge of how many ships there actually were, so for all they knew this could be half the enemy fleet.

However, they had recieved second a major morale booster. The Haifischbucht fleet was just pasing through the Versteckt Canal, and would be in the combat zone within twenty-four hours. If they could hold the coastline until then, the enemy would be caught in a vice from which escape would prove difficult, at best.

[Gimmadonis]

The B-52 infront of Commander Veheels Erupted in a cloud of fire, and he was barely able to role his F-15 out of the way of the wreckage before another missile slammed into the side of another Stratofortress, splitting it in half. Thinking fast, Veheels flipped a switch of his cockpit, and allowed his computer to track all of the airborne missiles still in flight.

Locking onto one of them, he found that it was on a collision course with the lead of the bomber group. Leading the missile a great deal, his instincts took over as he pulled the trigger and unleashed a hail of 20mm rounds at the missile, which detonated in mid-air. Any sort of celebration was short lived, however, as yet another missile screeched through the air, and smashed into a F-15 that had been between it and it's target; and infront of Vaheel. The plane was obliterated, but what remained of a small piece of the charred wing smashed into Vaheel's wingtip, and seared in of like a hot knife through butter. His plane began to spiral out of control towards the ground, it's computer systems giving the rather obvious message that the plane was out of balance.


Vaheel had been trained for this; he pulled the ejector cord on his seat at just the right time, and his cockpit flew open. ass soon as the plane way upright, his chair rocketed out of the plane, and was sent spiraling. A parachute deployed, and Vaheel watched as his F-15 crashed into the forest below.


-----

7:34 P.M., on board the Darwin.

"Casualties, son?" Winbred looked inquisitively at his aide,his usually piercing blue eyes relaxed seemingly under the exasperation.

"9 planes lost... and, of course... The Angel was lost, only 22 survivors."

"And the Redemption?"

Not as bad as we first thought, sir. The structure and hull is still intact, we believe we can rebuild the communication's tower somewhat, it'll allow it to keep fighting, but only if it's within range of the Darwin."

"Make it happen, in the meantime, continue the bombardment. We're going in for a night strike, I want a company of Shock Troops on the ground tonight. Before sunrise, I want a red carpet on our beach for our troops, understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. I'm going to my quarters... gotta get some shut eye."
----------

Vaheel looked scrambled out of his parachute, clutching his 9mm tightly to his chest. He dove into a nearby bush, and then sat still for a few moments. Hearing noone looking for him, he removed his pilot's helmet. He scanned around, making sure there were none around him, before taking his radio into his hand and calling in. "This is F-03 to Darwin, come in Darwin.... My bird's down, I'm in enemy territory, over..."

A few tense moments of static were followed by this message. "F-03, we have a lock on ya. We're landing Shock Troops, they'll help you out when they get the chance. Get to cover, maintain radio silence. Stay put, we'll find you. Over and out."

Not the exact message he wanted to hear, but he accepted it. He began his slow trek up a nearby hill, hoping he landed in one of the few places on in this damn country that wasn't riddled with bunkers and machine gun nests.

------

Meanwhile, on boar the carrier King Hippo, a black V-22 Osprey sat on the deck,almost blending in the the night sky. Inside it's hold, were 7 of the most Elite troops in the Gimmad Navy. Shock Troopers, the elite of the elite. Their black uniforms were interrupted only by a blue Falcon on their left chest and right arms. Underneath the emblems on their chest were serial numbers, which actually represented their rank and name in a code known only the Gimmadonis Navy higher ups, and, of course, the Shock Troopers themselves. Their helmets were bulbous, and their faces were blocked by a jet-black visor. They looked more like robots than human soldiers, a legend among Gimmad military personnel that wasn't helped very much by their radio-filtered, almost synthesized sounding voices when they spoke, which wasn't too often.

The V-22, marked completely in black, lifted off from the carrier, and flew low over the water's edge. It headed towards the beach, and upon it's arrival, promptly opened it's back doors. It slowed down to a hover, 10 feet off the ground. The Shock Trooper squad leader, marked by his Red Falcon rather than blue, made a motion to his team, who without a gesture, followed him as they jumped onto the treeline, where the dark forest met the cold, blood soaked beaches of Sharfghotten.

[Ryouese Black Islands]

In Shai, It was chaos in Naval Command. Grand Admiral Sumire was getting the feeling that Operation: SEA SCORPION would be doomed. With Gimmadonis in the war as an ally, it would seem it was good. But what they were doing was dooming the Plan. If Gimmadonis lost the battle, Then The enemy would be better prepared for The Ryouese Fleet once it was sent out.

In Short, The plan would go down the drain.

But yet the Ryouese Sub Force was the ace in the hole.

In The battle front, The Wolf pack was now shadowing the enemy surface fleet at the sides of it. a attack on the flanks would be deadly to any enemy. The subs soon started moving in for the kill, their targets were the enemy Destroyers.

[Sharfghotten]

The beach was a quiet place now, save for the occasional crump of the K5s as they took pot-shots at the Grimm fleet in the darkness.

A trio of Sharf troopers sat in the shelter of a MG nest. Their 5.56mm SSAW weapon leaned against a sandbag wall, propped up by its front bipod. Of the three crewmen who were supposed to be manning it, two were playing cards. The third sat on the edge of the sandbags, looking out into the sea. Was that a plane he saw, out in the darkness? No. he must have imagined it. Still, he was comforted by the presence of his SKG-96 assault rifle resting on his knee.

He checked his watch. Precisely 7:45pm.

"Red four, reporting" he stated into the small walkie talkie on his breastplate, making the required fifteen-minute checkup.

____________________

Arelfenn fleet

"Jesus Christ, I can't see a damn thing in this darkness!" cursed the helicopter pilot. "Am I ten feet above the water or a hundred?"

"I can't be sure, comrade" replied the co-pilot", but it looks like there's something moving down there..."

"Shit!" the pilot cursed. "Get those ships sweeping their sonars, NOW. We may have company."

[Ryouese Black Islands]

Arelfenn fleet

"Jesus Christ, I can't see a damn thing in this darkness!" cursed the helicopter pilot. "Am I ten feet above the water or a hundred?"

"I can't be sure, comrade" replied the co-pilot", but it looks like there's something moving down there..."

"Shit!" the pilot cursed. "Get those ships sweeping their sonars, NOW. We may have company."

The Lead sub's parascope sighted it's target and soon the captain hgave the order to fire a new weapon: The UCM (Underwater Cruise Missile)

The UCM was fired from The Torpedo tube like a Torpedo. once it was with in yards of the enemy target, it would let lose it's missile wings and fly out of the water with rocket power and become a Missile. It was a Ryouese idea to get a Cruise missile past enemy Anti-Missile Defenses to attack a enemy ship.

The other subs fired UCMs also, heading for the enemy destroyers.

[Sharfghotten]

The destroyer Red October was hit by a pair of Ryouese UCM's before the fleet even realised what was happening. Two explosions blossomed on the deck, sending plumes of thick black smoke up into the night sky. Within minutes, the ship was beneath the waves and the fleet was in chaos.

"Maintain formation!" ordered Captain Jacob Shmitt from the deck of the Cruiser Lenin. The ships regained their defensive position and began dropping depthcharges into the water to hold off the subs while the ASW systems kicked in. Sonar found the Ryouese subs within a few minutes.

"Torpedoes, fire torpedoes!" the Captain shouted, wildly gesticulating. It had been many years since he had seen active battle and he was not ready to lose.

A total of ten torpedoes launched from the ships, with a further six from the ASW-equipped helicopters. The sixteen underwater missiles streaked towards the attackers in a flurry of bubbles.

[Ryouese Black Islands]

The destroyer Red October was hit by a pair of Ryouese UCM's before the fleet even realised what was happening. Two explosions blossomed on the deck, sending plumes of thick black smoke up into the night sky. Within minutes, the ship was beneath the waves and the fleet was in chaos.

"Maintain formation!" ordered Captain Jacob Shmitt from the deck of the Cruiser Lenin. The ships regained their defensive position and began dropping depthcharges into the water to hold off the subs while the ASW systems kicked in. Sonar found the Ryouese subs within a few minutes.

"Torpedoes, fire torpedoes!" the Captain shouted, wildly gesticulating. It had been many years since he had seen active battle and he was not ready to lose.

A total of ten torpedoes launched from the ships, with a further six from the ASW-equipped helicopters. The sixteen underwater missiles streaked towards the attackers in a flurry of bubbles.

The Subs Sonar detected the Torpedoes in the water and soon starte envasive action. One Sub get destroyed by a Torpedo.

The Subs soon started attacking. one lanuched Guided Torpedoes, a type of "Smart Torpedo" against the enemy Carrier. Once it was fired, it would be guided by it's own Sonar and a Interal Computer (Both the size of a baseball) to the enemy target.

Two Subs soon attacked the enemy Cruiser Lenin, fireing Two UCMs each against the enemy ship.

[Gimmadonis]

Commander Berr scanned the horizon with his HUD. As the sun set, he received clearer readings of the heat signatures of the bodies scattered around the beach. Among them, groups of soldiers huddled in machinegun nests, oblivious to them even as his helmet read their heartbeats. Berr motioned to his squad, who, in a way so quiet it would look unnatural for them to not be making more noise, moved deeper into the forest. Their mission: Sabotage, Confuse, and Reconnaissance. And, of course, the recovery of the pilot who crashed here.

Their computerized helmets made note of the geography of the terrain, and, through satellite imaging, had located what appeared to be a still intact enemy bunker deeper into the woods. They had been ordered to capture it, as well as several other installations in the area, as to disrupt defenses still operational in the area, and disable all enemy artillery so as to allowthe landing to take place.

Clutching their MAR-14s, the Shock Troopers Moved into the first of their objectives: A small bunker. Outside it was a destroyed DpK-9AA, it's charred shell just starting to cool down after the flames that had erupted from it when it was hit directly by one of the B-52's bombs. Around it, were trails of blood and dirt. Soldiers had died here, they were sure of it. This bunker had been abandoned, the dead bodies taken elsewhere to be buried, and the wounded had limped off. They would stay here, until it got darker.

Berr motioned his troops to take up fortifications. He reached up to his helmet, and clicked a button on one side.

"We have position set up in co-ords 1-11-034. Phase two will be en-acted in T-minus 5 hours.

"Roger, Recon Alpha. Maintain position until 0100 hours tomorrow. We have your position, we will begin bombardment around your area to keep anything unwanted out of that area."

Berr cut his communications with the Darwin, and waited silently for a few moments.

Thud. Boom. BOOM. Berr smiled sadistically. The ships had resumed their artillery barrage. This time, they were in range on the cannons which had inflicted damage on them earlier, confident that too many of them had been destroyed to be enough of a threat to them now.

---------

Vaheel had found a small cave, just 45 meters from his crash site. It offered him little comfort, however, as the massive rounds from ship guns exploded all around him. He had moved branches to cover the mouth of the cave, which was more or less akin to a hollow rock jutting out of the forest, to camouflage himself from anyone crazy enough to try and find him in this firestorm.

"FOK!" Vaheel cursed under his breath as a round landed dangerously close to him; probably near his crash site. It was going to be a long night.

[Sharfghotten]

Arelfenn fleet

PNVLenin's countermeasures stopped one of the UCM's in their track, and the other impacted on the deck, causing minimal damage. PNV Ivan was not so lucky, the UCM hitting her access hatch and stopping any planes from exiting the carrier.

"We may have bitten off more than we can chew here." Called the Admiral to all other commanders. "Withdraw now, and regroup with Haifischbucht fleet. Cover our retreat."

The ships began evasive action, arcing back the way they had came. As they went, they dropped depth-charges and sea mines into the water. They were careful to note the location- it would not do for a ship full of supplies to be blown up by friendly fire.

Grimmadonis attack site

"Goddamn" spluttered Commander Spritz as the bombing resumed. "At this time? We just put the K5's out of range, did we not?"

"Indeed, comrade Colonel. If you wish, I can have them re-engaged immediately."

"I do wish. And put some snipers with night vision optics watching the peremiter. These guys could be up to anything, our systems are so screwed."

Behind the lines, the pair of Krupps were wheeled back into range of the enemy fleet. Their now-outdated design that lacked in radar or advanced computers meant that they would be fairly innacurate, but even one ship destroyed would be a result.

Before long, they were matching the enemy shells with their own.