Ace Combat: War of the Three Chinas [IC]

[Rupudska]

OOC

Republic of China
Taichung City
Ching Chuan Kang Air Base/Taichung International Airport
April 23, 2042
7:26 AM Local Time

In most countries that hire mercenaries, they'd be shipped off to some backwater airport where they couldn't bother the 'proper' military, such as most countries that hired mercenaries had 'proper' militaries.

Taiwan, or the Republic of China as it preferred to be known now that the People's Republic was rapidly becoming a was not is, was not such a nation, and not simply because Taiwan was too small an island to have many backwaters.

And the situation in the mainland just didn't allow for Taiwan to pull any punches. Hokkien Province's governor, at least, was moderate - Communist, but moderate - enough to make no moves against the Republic.

Other provinces were not so willing to live and let live. For that reason, the Republic of China decided to expand its military by the use of sellswords. The UN complained, as it always did, but the Republic was far from the only nation in the region or the world doing so, and the Chinese situation was to the point where complaining was all they could do. Anything went, and anyone capable of flying a fighter was allowed to join.

Xing Cai sighed, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands that was quickly growing too cold for her tastes, despite the balmy warmth of late April in Taiwan.

The 168th Foreign Volunteer Mercenary Squadron, of which she had been given command, was one of several mercenary squadrons under the employ of Taiwan, but one of only a handful of mercenary fighter squadrons. Most of the rest were transports, tankers, and recon aircraft - the sort of things that could be left to people who could be trusted to not have to know state secrets... most of them, anyway. She, and her sister Yinping, had been through this whole show before. As fast as Ethiopia's population was growing, its military wasn't growing fast enough to keep pace with the eruptions of violence in the Arab Sea, the South Sudan, or the Congo, and they had called on mercenary pilots to fill the gaps in its antiquated air force.

She'd shot down a few fighters herself, but it was mostly transports, light aircraft, ground vehicles, gunboats. No matter the level of development, Africa seemed to have them in spades. And there was a vast gulf of difference between buying a plane and buying a ship, so the most she'd ever seen a pirate with was a light cruiser nearly a century old. Ethiopia didn't have many anti-ship missiles, so they had to get down and dirty with it, which made her thankful that Yinping had decided to purchase a laser pod for their Sukhoi.

Her coffee finished, she headed towards the briefing room.

Looking out across the airport, it had expanded in the last twenty years. A third, and then a fourth, airstrip was added, both pointing downhill towards the sea, and three new hangars had been constructed, with a fourth on the way for the 168th to use themselves.

She passed a few civilian, speaking in the rapid-fire Hokkien so prevalent in Taiwan now that Mandarin had fallen to the wayside. One of them sounded Uyghur - Independent it may have been, but there were plenty of problems to iron out in the Islamic republic, least of all whether it should be more Islamic or more Republic.

It wasn't a long walk from the mercenary officer's barracks to the briefing room, which was probably by design. Outside, Xing Cai saw her twin sister standing outside with a grin on her face and her flight suit tied around her waist, leaving her top covered only by a black sports bra. As usual. Xing Cai sighed.

"Can you at least pretend to be proper military?" she asked. Yinping seemed to ponder this for a minute, then smiled.

"Probably not." Xing Cai sighed, and pushed open the door.

"Come on, we're early." She checked her watch, which showed 7:40. "Briefing's in five minutes; plenty of time for the others to get here."

[Sudbrazil]

CHING CHUAN KANG AIRBASE
Taichung, Republic of China
23rd of April, 2043, 0740 hours

---

A set of walls, naked apart from a red and white flag, held an empty wardrobe, a clean bed, a cluttered desk adorned by papers, pens, and loose change. On the window sill were a paper crane, a handgun, and a cup of cold tea, held by a son of the rising sun. Arakawa Tsuge was still dazzled, intoxicated by the freshness of an unfamiliar place. He had never been to Taiwan, and as he took in the incandescent rays of the early morning sun, its similar yet alien nature gave him an uncanny feeling. The geography was unfamiliar, and the city would have him lost without the wonders of GPS. Having just arrived, he had barely wandered away from the airbase.

His room was Spartan, echoing the soulless concrete in some parts of the city. It was worse than Misawa yet it was better than bunks, or the cargo ship he had travelled in for that matter. He was certain to adjust once he had finished decorating and spent a few nights in it. Then again, it was probable that the Chinese would move them as the war progressed.

The war…

Arakawa emerged from his thoughts. Now was not the time. He slipped on his flight suit, an olive drab affair, and pocketed equipment laying around. It was almost time for the briefing, and he didn't want to be late for the first day. First impressions mattered, and he could not afford a bad reputation when he already came with some suspicious baggage from Japan. Arriving earlier than expected, he saluted some officers he brushed by before entering the briefing room.

[Theyra]

Republic of China
Taichung City
Ching Chuan Kang Air Base
April 23, 2042

How did he wake up late? He wondered as he was in the mess hall eating his breakfast while in his flight suit. He normally never wakes up late, maybe it was because he stayed up later than normal. He had never been to Taiwan before and was interested in exploring the nearby city. Intan remembered how his parents would talk about visiting Japan someday, let him see where his parents were from. He sighed at the thought, ever since what happened between him and his father. Intan will have to make that trip alone, maybe Varsha would like to come with him someday. Though that will take someplace in the future and as he was finishing up his breakfast, Varsha entered the mess hall.

She was wearing her flight suit and grabbed a cup of coffee before walking over to where Intan was. Sitting down across from Intan and gave him a soft smile. Unlike Intan who had slept in, she did not and was more than ready for the day. "I see you finally got out of bed", she said jokingly and took a sip of her coffee. She was the one that woke Intan up and took her time doing so. "Perhaps you should start drinking coffee and rely less on your natural clock".

Intan sighed again, this time more audible. "You know I hate coffee and this was a fluke, it will not happen again". Taking the last bite of his food and used his napkin. "Though maybe you should have awakened me when you got up? You would have saved me the rush to get ready".

"And disputing you getting your beauty sleep? She smirked, "I could not do it and besides we still have enough time to get to the briefing without being late". Varsha took another sip of her coffee, "maybe even get there early".

Intan checked his watch, 7:30, so they got fifteen minutes until the briefing. "I guess you are right and before we leave for the briefing, "What do you think of Taiwan so far? We have been here a couple of days and we are not the only mercs that have answered their call for arms".

Varsha leaned back on her chair and pondered the question. Then she leaned in and spoke, "I say it is not bad granted we have not been outside of this base much. This place seems better than our old barracks since we got our own rooms". Varsha took a sip of her coffee, "We should get going before we are late to the briefing".

"Yeah, we should and get going seeing how I am done with my food and it is nice that you are my co-pilot for this".

Varsha smiled fondly, "We have been friends for a long time Intan, no chance I was going to let you go all alone to Taiwan".

Intan smiled back, it is nice to know at least he will be flying with someone that he trusts. With that, the two got up and made their way to the briefing room. Arriving a bit early than expected and entered the briefing room.

[Dayganistan]

Republic of China
Taichung City
Ching Chuan Kang Air Base
April 23, 2042

Svitlana had been in Taiwan for a few days at this point. She hadn't gone far off of the air base, assuming she wouldn't get too far not knowing the local language. As she looked out of the window of her quarters, towards the assortment of parked aircraft that her fellow mercenaries would be flying, she hoped that soon they would be in the air. It's been a while since she flew her Gripen in combat.

She took a look around her quarters as she drank her coffee. It was fairly bare at the moment, the only truly notable features being a small Ukrainian desk flag, her handgun sitting on the desk, and two Multicam coats, one for rain and one for cold weather, hanging on the back of the door. It wasn't worth it to put much more effort into decorating the room and making it feel like home. If anything serious started happening on the mainland they would probably start getting shuffled around to different bases.

Finishing her coffee, the Ukrainian woman changed into her flight suit and stepped out of the pilot's barracks and onto the tarmac. It was only a shirt walk to their briefing room, which was in another building. When she arrived, some of the other pilots were already there so she took a seat and waited for their briefing, wondering what they could possibly have to do today.

[Wolfenium]

Republic of China
Taichung City
Ching Chuan Kang Air Base
April 23, 2042

'You should be a medic instead.'

Those were the first words stated by the recruiter the first time Na-bi enlisted. While far from a wrong assessment, with a skill set almost tailor-fit for the pharmacy - or worse - Na-bi had no business going into a career as a fighter pilot. However, saving lives had never been a duller job for the Korean exile. Combing her hair with a brush as she sat in front of her mirror in her bunk, Na-bi had nonetheless became part of the mercenary squadron, if lagging behind the more experienced of the sellsword pilots.

"Smile," she encouraged herself, "it's a brand new day, and a brand new mission."

This, she felt, was what her sister would have wanted.

---

Entering the briefing room, the junior pilot was as radiant as ever. With deep, dark eyes and a butterfly hairpiece to pair with her flight suit, the Oriental took her seat at the front as she waited for the rest. Her assessment of the other pilots were, so far, scant. There was little she knew of them so far, save that they were all from Asia or Eastern Europe. Of course, that could be said with pretty much everyone in the base, from the ground crews to the cafeteria ladies, the latter of which probably held the dubious distinction of being her closest acquaintances in Taiwan. Regardless, she was not much of a talkative person, twiddling her thumbs as she watched the hours tick by.

[Rupudska]

Briefing Room
7:45 AM Local Time

Eventually, most of the squadron's members managed to make it to the briefing room by the appointed time, finding seats here and there among the fold-out metal chairs. Some things never changed, no matter how much technology advanced. At last, a short, rectangular Taiwanese man in a very proper-looking RoCAF uniform entered the room. He briefly greeted Xing Cai in Taiwanese, then they both moved to the front of the room. Instead of a blackboard, there was a color touchscreen 'board' and a holoprojector, both fairly old models. This wasn't exactly the state-of-the-art base shown in the news.

Xing Cai cleared her throat, and began the briefing.

"I am Major Zheng Xing Cai, commanding officer of the 168th. In the air, you will refer to me and my aircraft as 'Soi-fon', 'Bai He One', or 'Bai He Actual', depending on the situation. I will be squadron leader during most operations. To my left is Colonel Liao Hua, who will be overseeing our deployments." The rectangular man bowed.

"You may know him as one of the few aces on the side of the Yellow Umbrellas during the uprisings. While he is no longer able to serve with us in a combat capacity, I am sure he will be able to provide suitable missions for our skilled pilots."

Xing Cai swiped around on her tablet, then turned to the screen. It shifted, first showing the coast of northern Hokkien, then moving farther out to sea. A 3D projection in front of her showed the same.

"Our first deployment... is not technically a military engagement, but the situation is such that it will likely become one, so we will be loading with air-to-air and anti-ship."

The screen zoomed in to show a cluster of fighters, bombers, and surface ships on the smaller end. The projection did not zoom in as much, but did blow up a few models of the aircraft and ships in question. The largest was 'just' a frigate, but there were a few corvettes and missile boats, all early 2020s models. There were a few bombers and fighters as well.

"Dong Zhou's government has been conducting 'fleet exercises' of small ships with airborne escort off the northern coast of Hokkien for the past several weeks. It's been getting on the Hokkien governor's nerves, but without Dong Zhou actually moving to attack, he hasn't done anything."

"This morning, the 'fleet exercise' was joined by a squadron of H-6P bombers and Flounder-Es, which obviously have no use in a purely naval exercise, even as a defense from 'rebels'. Republic satellites also picked up a Type 75 landing dock heading towards northern Hokkien, after having sat at anchor for several days in the middle of the East China Sea within an inflatable's ride from several shipping lanes known to be used by the Dong Zhou government for transporting things other than cheap electronics."

She shut off her tablet, hanging it on a clip on her belt.

"Obviously, they haven't done anything yes, and it's possible this is nothing more than sabre-rattling, so officially we're only approaching the airspace - not entering, approaching - to rattle right back. But it doesn't take much imagination to think that Dong Zhou is up to something. Our job is to fly around on a CAP and look tough. Under no circumstances are we to enter the fleet exercise's formal AO, but at the same time, the UN, RoC, and Hokkien have made it clear that they aren't to leave it, either. Should they do so, and should they fire upon us, only then are you permitted to fire back."

She paused, as much for effect as to give herself time to recollect.

"Our AEW will be a Beriev A-100 provided by the RoCAF, to be formally joined to our squadron at a later date. Callsign is Feilong."

[Sudbrazil]

CHING CHUAN KANG AIRBASE
Taichung, Republic of China
23rd of April, 2043, 0740 hours

---

Arakawa was thrilled. Already on his first mission he was to expect more targets than he could have dreamt of in his JASDF career. Of course, such a target-rich environment would be extremely risky and lethal considering that those ships, no matter how old, had respectable AA batteries and were still newer than his Viper Zero. This was nevertheless precisely what the fighter had been designed for, and its hardpoints boasted enough room for some good anti-ship missiles.

Understanding that the major had finished her briefing, the lieutenant raised his hand and pushed forward a question in a lightly accented English:

“If the situation escalates and more enemy assets are brought in, can we expect any support?”

[Theyra]

Republic of China
Taichung City
Ching Chuan Kang Air Base
April 23, 2042

Hmmm, their first mission is an intimidation mission, Intan thought as he heard the details of the mission. Which we will more likely get into an engagement with Dong Zhou's forces. While he is experienced at dealing with ground-based targets, Intan feels he can handle a few boats given their age and number. Those aircraft, however, he is not that experienced at dogfighting. It does not help that his aircraft is more suited to ground attack then air to air. Hopefully, the others can handle the fighters so he can focus on the ships. Rather than speak up, Intan chose to keep quiet, not having any questions though when Arakawa asked about additional support if things escalate. That would be good to know, and he listened intently for an answer.

Well, their first mission is pretty straight forward, Varsha though as she leaned back in her chair. The mission could even be a bit uneventful if Dong Zhou's forces do not engage them. Which if there do, she is confident that they will pull through. She knows that she may be too confident since this is their first mission and she does not know much about her fellow pilots. Still, it would be unfortunate if something would go wrong on their first mission. Varsha looked around the briefing room to get a good look at the other pilots and at Xing Cai. She wondered how experience their squadron leader had. She looked young, early twenties if Varsha had to guess. Varsha took a deep breath, Well, she will have to see how well Xing Cai handles being the leader and how well the mission goes. Though with flying with Intan, she is sure they will be fine and had no questions so she stayed quiet.

[Rupudska]

CHING CHUAN KANG AIRBASE
Taichung, Republic of China
23rd of April, 2043, 0740 hours

---

Arakawa was thrilled. Already on his first mission he was to expect more targets than he could have dreamt of in his JASDF career. Of course, such a target-rich environment would be extremely risky and lethal considering that those ships, no matter how old, had respectable AA batteries and were still newer than his Viper Zero. This was nevertheless precisely what the fighter had been designed for, and its hardpoints boasted enough room for some good anti-ship missiles.

Understanding that the major had finished her briefing, the lieutenant raised his hand and pushed forward a question in a lightly accented English:

“If the situation escalates and more enemy assets are brought in, can we expect any support?”

"The RoCAF has a squadron of F-35As lined up ready to launch once we're in the air; they'll stay at range and only join if things get truly ugly. We also might, keyword might, get some assistance from Japan in the form of a squadron of F-3s. However, word is they'll only be loaded for air-to-air, unusual as that is."

[Rupudska]

East China Sea, North of Taiwan
10:30 AM Local Time

One by one, the Wild Cranes took off and fell into as much of a formation as could be expected from such an eclectic collection of airframes. The flight up to the area of operations was as interesting as it was eventful - that is, not at all. The only thing of even the slightest note was the brief period where they passed over a flock of geese, likewise flying in formation - in the opposite direction. The geese were less than pleased by the intrusion of the big ugly metal birds, but they were gone almost as soon as the geese were aware of them.

With the AWACS above them, there was no need to fly in with warm radars, so Yinping didn't even bother to turn the Su-30's on. It wasn't long, not long at all, that they were within effective missile range of the bombers. And there was a decent number of bombers.

<<Feilong to Bai He. We are tracking you as on station. The F-35s have just taken off.>>

<<Bai He,>> replied Xing Cai. The bombers were certainly loaded to bear, based on how they were flying - something evident even well beyond visual range. The Flounders, too, but it was hard to tell with what.

Still, so far, the PRC forces hadn't done anything wrong. So all they could do was wait.

<<Soi-Fon to Bai He Squadron. We will maintain a barrier CAP along the southern edge of the airspace. Do not engage without approval, do not move north of the BARCAP.>>