EOF Chapter 2: An Enemy Known (Regional/IC)

[Urran]

Soraught, Donnerland

Toshii sat in tension with the rest of the Urranese, Donnish Defectors, and Azenish forces that had somehow formed together to become cohesive fighting unit. His finger nervously tapped the trigger of his VHS-2 assault rifle as they waited in anticipation for the Donnish to reply to the Urranese demand to stand down. Everyone was on a hairpin trigger. He scanned the snow laden land for any signs of life. He saw nothing, the Donnish troops were bedded down somewhere, watching them.

The fight or flight decision was made for them. Suddenly, with no warning or provocation, small arms fire began to ring out and ping off of the uparmored APCs and IFVs that had been stationed to the front of the makeshift barricade the Urranese had constructed out of civilian cars, snow, and anything else they could muster.

Toshii threw himself, as did his squad mates, behind the Baragon IFV he had been kneeling beside and tried to make himself as small as possible. Other Urranese hit the deck or also hid themselves behind armored vehicles. Above him, the "DATDATDATDATDATDAT!" of the beast's 30mm autocannon could be heard as it fired shells in the direction the Donnish fire was coming from. Its on-board acoustic sensors helped it to pinpoint the direction of enemy fire and respond in kind.

Toshii leaned out from behind the mighty beast and let loose two three round bursts from his rifle before taking cover once more. A squad member fired a grenade from a rifle mounted launcher.

It was chaos for the first few moments of the attack before Lieutenant Saito came into his own, leading the 100 Urranese Marines from the front. Before the fight broke out he had placed the heaviest vehicles front so that they could provide shielding as well as heavy fire support from behind the piled cars. The civilians had been kept back with the lesser vehicles and were actually being made to shelter in a manhole that led to the sewers. It was smelling, but necessary to keep them out of harm's way.

Confusion over, the Urranese began to fight like savages. They showed no fear in boldly firing at enemy positions. One soldier gathered together sign posts and cleaning supplies such as broom handles and raised both the Urranese flag and a Red Cross above the battlefield. That was now the story "Donnish soldiers fire on medical unit".

The K-21 Tora was being tried by fire for the first time in the engagement. Its crews had been ordered to fire airburst munitions into Donnish positions and so they did. Switching to thermal and using their acoustic sensors to listen to the fire coming from the enemy, they trained their 40mm cannons onto the Donnish positions and fired their airburst shells to hopefully chew up anything resembling a soft target within a large radius.

The Urranese had also set up positions for three M-27 automatic rifles and fired them from behind sandbagged cars, hoping to suppress any enemy fire.

Saito attempted to radio for air cover, but the comms had been jammed by the Donnish. He only hoped and prayed that the "Red Flight" he was promised as an aid to their quick extraction made it to them on time. He ordered green smoke to be popped and hoped it would be seen.

Red Flight

Red Flight, consisting of two EA-18G and five Hien (Rafale) fighters from the VFA-207 "Sledge Hammers" had penetrated Donnish airspace and was closing in fast. The Growlers were doing what they did best, jamming enemy radar and communications in order to mask the approach of the strike package. The Hiens themselves had ECM pods on their wings instead of the usual AIM-9X that was traditionally carried there. The whole flight was flying low, aware that the air war had started. Radio communication was taking place via secure Link 16 tactical data link. This link was jamming resistant, though communication provide to be slightly less clear than normal.

"Red 1 to Red Flight we are in the area of the last known location of Urranese Marine Detachment 8. Keep a sharp eye out."

"Red 4 to Red Flight. Green smoke at our 12. Green smoke at our twelve. Switching to Infrared."

"Red 1 to Red Flight, confirmed friendly TIC. Free to engage."

With their aerial view the Hiens were able to determine exactly where the Donnish fire was coming from and the WSO aboard Red 1 was able to designate specific targets with his SNIPER ATP pod. Feed was fed to the rest of the group. All of the aircraft were configured for a swing-role fight. Each was armed with six GBU-12 bombs, three meteor AAMs, and two AIM-9X missiles.

"Lasing" announced the WSO to the rest of the group.

"Red 2 bomb out."

"Red 3 bomb out."

"Red 4 bomb out."

"Counting down."

The countdown commenced until impact. It was about 30 seconds before it came.

"Splash" reported the Red 1 WSO.

On the ground LT. Saito was caught off guard by an explosion in very close proximity to his own forces. "JESUS!" he shouted as snow and rubble were tossed into the air by three 500 pounders hitting the ground.

"Red 2 to Red Flight, those marines have data link correct on their vehicles correct?"

"Affirmative Red 2."

"Contact them. We need to remain on station for as long as possible but if this air war gets too hot we may need to pull out the Growlers."

"Negative Red 2 if we go you go. Command won't let you fly without Growler cover." responded one of the Growler pilots.

"He's right, we just need to hope the Donnish don't see us."

And with that, a coded message was sent via text to the marines on the ground. The air support would be staying only as long as possible and that they needed to make a push for the Portean forces now advancing inland. Saito began to make the necessary preparations for this. This could get ugly.

Red Swallows

The air war was even more chaotic than the ground war. Subsonic cruise missiles were being mixed with aircraft of varying speeds and altitudes. AWACS and EW aircraft from both sides were wreaking havoc with one another in a struggle for total air dominance. The SAM threat from both sides remained very real.

The Red Swallows, a flight of ten Urranese AF-2000 fighters pressed inland. They were armed with nothing but air to air weaponry and no external stores. The all aspect stealth fighters had been designed from the outset to be invisible both to radar and electronically, having a stealthy data link and a powerful AESA radar capable of changing frequency 1000 times a second. They also had greatly reduced thermal signature to help hide them from heat-seeking missiles.

The lead pilot Hatori Hanso tapped the touch screen display in his otherwise nearly empty cockpit. The AF-2000 had been designed to operate in a high jamming environment. Right now his radar was still working and actively seeking out enemy fighters. It wasn't long before contacts were detected, miles and miles away, but they were still there. Th AF-2000 was hopefully about to earn its talons in BVR combat.

"Confirmed enemy aircraft. Radar signature matches that of F-15s. Weapons free, clear to engage."

Two of the enemy fighters were engaged at first. Three of the AF-2000s launched two meteor missiles each. One of the fighters aimed for one F-15 while the other two aimed for the other one. Hopefully, if the hit was a success, it would scare the rest of the fighters into a retreat.

East Bay, Soraught

Hell on Earth was coming to Donner Land. It was coming in the form of fire, death, and mayhem. War was not pretty. It was not something that needed to be glorified. It wasn't romantic.

The Eastern Coast of Soraught was playing host to invasion. 5,000 Urranese Marines were coming ashore. Tomahawk missiles streaked through the skies, landing on their targets.

AV-10 VTOL fighters, AH-64E helicopter gunships, and Marine Corp Hien fighters launched rockets, dropped bombs, fired missiles and 30mm cannons onto the beaches and eastern sector of the city to soften it up.

MV-22 Ospreys with side mounted rocket pods flew about 5 miles inland and began dropping heavily armed Marines. On the beaches, Baragon IFVs and APCs armed with 30mm cannons, 12.7mm machine guns, or 40mm grenade launchers began coming ashore. LCACs bringing more troops and heavy equipment, including tanks began to make land fall. CB-90 boats filled with Marines, or armed with AMOS mortar systems began to also land troops or provide fire support to them. It was the largest invasion currently ongoing.

They'd soon be joined by Azens. Their mission was to fight to the airport and, with the help of the Porteans, secure it for coalition use. It was the beginning of a bloodbath, on both sides.

[The United Remnants of America]

Agent Abbas Merzhad

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Northeast Of Bögt, Donner Land

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9/16/2015 - 05:35

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"Well?"

There was about five meters of open space between between the edge of the treeline and the fence. Abbas, Sage, Banshee, and Cross were laying in the snow, right with the trees. They were motionless, the snow swirling in the air had been covering them for the past twenty minutes. Abbas suppressed a shiver and checked his smartwatch, which said it was -10C out. That felt about right. The cold had yet to seep into Abbas' bones, but he knew if they laid here much longer, it would. But this surveillance was necessary.

It had a little over four hours since Abbas had picked the three reinforcements from the dropzone, which had been south of Bögt. They had sat in Abbas' SUV for about ten minutes, waiting and listening before their information had come in. Luckily, Abbas had made a few friends while living in Donner Land, and one of them happened to work in the Donnish Army at a compound northeast of Bögt as a perimeter guard. Abbas had drinks with the guy a couple times a week, so the two texted a bit. That was their big break.

The guard had mentioned that some military head had come to the base and everyone was really tight-ass about it. It was apparently making his job harder because he had to do more patrols. He hadn't mentioned who it was, probably because he didn't know, but the context clues were all that mattered. Abbas and Sage agreed: That could only mean one person had moved there. General Vanzen Keenes.

It had taken them two hours to cautiously drive around the outside of Bögt in order to get near the base. By the time they'd arrived, it was already 3am. They stashed the SUV off the road a quarter-mile from the base, packed the essentials, and tracked through the woods, making sure not to run into any roving patrols until they reached the tree line, which brought them to their current location. They'd been dug in and observing the area both inside and outside the perimeter fence.

Sage looked up from his binoculars, his salt-and-pepper beard now coated white with frost, and turned his head slowly towards Abbas, giving a nod in the process. “Yeah, this place looks for-real. Twenty minutes between patrols outside the fence, flood lights, fence with hurricane wire. It’s definitely a compound. I’d love to stick this recon out longer, but day’s breaking, so we’re gonna have to either shit or get off the seat.” Abbas glanced up. Sage was right, the sky was lightening up, which meant that regardless of how dug in they were, they’d be obvious laying here in the snow.

“Fine. We wait for the next patrol to pass, and then hop the fence? It’s what, four meters? We can climb that, use our coats to cover the wire when we climb over.” Abbas moved his head slowly to his left and saw flashlights: The patrol was on its way around, meaning they had a few minutes until show time. Abbas lifted his head, “Is that cherry?” Sage, Cross, and Banshee looked at Abbas and nodded their assent.

The patrol wandered by, close enough that Abbas could hear someone start bitching about the cold before quickly being quieted by a friend, who mentioned that Bögt was safer than anywhere else right now, since apparently a coalition had quickly formed up to try and topple the Donnish birthright. Abbas shook his head. The guy was brainwashed by Voy. He hoped that there were at least some troops here that were more loyal to Keenes than Voy, otherwise this ride could get bumpier if Keenes was here more as a prisoner than a commanding officer.

The patrol left without incident, and as one, the four Marshals rose, shaking the snow from their bodies and quietly running towards the perimeter fence. Everyone stopped behind Abbas, who creeped towards the fence, looking for any kind of motion sensor or pressure sensors, but he didn’t see any. That was odd for such a secure location, but maybe Abbas was underestimating the Donnish sense of superiority they hadin assuming that no one would be able to get this close. Abbas was about to reach the fence and begin to climb it when Sage grabbed him by the shoulder and tugged him away.

“Wait,” Sage held up a finger, “listen.” Abbas stopped and looked around, expecting to hear footsteps, or any other telltales that they were in immediate danger, but that was when he heard the humming coming from the fence. Sage nodded, “they electrified it. We’re not going over that thing. At least, not right now.” Sage grinned and reached into a pack hanging from the side of his belt, “Some of us come prepared for shit like this, even if we didn’t mean to…” Sage dug for a second until he pulled out a small steel rod, which he then telescoped out into a two-foot long baton.

Abbas tilted his head, not fully understanding the plan, which Sage noticed. “The fence is electrified, but throwing something onto the fence that disrupts the current enough will short the fence for a small period of time. Usually, that means a body, but this will work, too. We’ll have to work quickly, though, it’ll only last for a few seconds.” Abbas nodded and stepped back, allowing Sage to moved in towards the fence and deftly slip the baton into an opening of the fence near the ground, he balanced it there and held his breath, angling it so the baton rested with one end on the ground, and then let go, pulling his hand back quickly before the baton fell and made contact with the fence’s metal. When it touched, there was a spark and the sound of electrical discharge as the baton began to let off a faint smoke. Meanwhile, the hum disappeared; the fence’s circuit was stopped. Sage stood up quickly, “we have to move.”

As one, the Marshals unzipped their outer shell coats and slipped out of their backpacks, and then the coats. They threw their packs over the fence and put their coats under an arm as they began to climb the fence, the soft-soled boots they wore helping to climb the fence. When the reached the top, the Marshals placed their coats on the hurrican barbed wire and then rolled over their coats. Once they were hanging on the other side of the fence, they grabbed their coats and dropped them to the ground and then began to climb down until they could safely jump. Once they landed, it was a blurred motion of putting coats back on and throwing backpacks over shoulders. A look around showed they’d left nothing put footprints, which should be filled in by the time the next patrol came around.

Sage nodded and looked at the other three Marshals, “alright, let’s get shaking. We need to find a way in, now, so here’s hoping we get lucky.”

Cross looked up and tilted his head, “Think we can bluff our way in?”

Sage looked at the much younger Marshal blankly before shrugging, “At this point, that’s not any worse than any other plan. We’ve been doing this off the cuff all night. Let’s get out of sight, first.”

With that, the four Marhsals lowered down and walked quickly but quietly to the nearest shadows in the corners of the compound, each one hoping that lady luck would be a forgiving mistress this morning.

[Second Helghan Empire]

Helghast Border Zone

"Targeted Installations connected to Donnish air defense have been marked by the squads of deep field special operations troops." The voice finally stated. A voice the men of the different militaries in the IWA had been waiting for for weeks. "Commence Targeted Barrage Operations immediately." The voice stated calmly and clearly through the communications system, but to the men it felt like a balloon being released. After a brief silence a shout went up and men began scrambling to and from as the whir of machines seemed to come to life. Trucks roared to life and jolted as they took to their positions, and readied they're armaments.

Within moments the scream and earsplitting roar of missiles being launched overtook the sound of klaxons and shouting drowning out soldiers as the deadly weapons streaked through the sky. In the first launch alone over 1,300 missiles had been fired at Donnish air and missile defense installations. Precision marked by the embedded teams of black ops the hope was to overpower the Donnish defenses with massive precise missile attacks. If things went as planned the moment Donnish air defense were weakened enough to strike the IWA would make it's move. As the bombardments began to take shape air crews readied fighters and bombers across Helghan. Jets were fueled and armed and ground crews ran checks to ensure the aircraft would be prepared for takeoff and combat.

(OOC: Sorry for a short post)

[Free Asian Ports]

5km West of Soraught, 2600m Altitude

Suzuka's vision darkened as the Gs pressed her into her seat. The edges of her vision were going black and her neck strained, but she kept here eyes locked on the Donnish fighter in front of her. It was attempting to out-turn her, but Suzuka countered with a High Yo-Yo and made sure that when the enemy leveled off she was still behind him. An alarm was going off in the cockpit, warning her of the G forces, but she could barely hear it over her heartbeat struggling to pump blood and the aircraft working to perform the maneuver. Ultimately, not even the Donnish fighter could sustain the turn and he realized that it hadn't worked and he rolled his aircraft to try and turn in the opposite direction. Suzuka had already caught onto this and began to regain her vitality before rolling back into the turn with the enemy. But Suzuka now had the energy advantage.

"Two enemy contacts, in from the north, bearing Zero One Five, altitude Three One hundred" reported her wingman over the radio, followed by the roar of her F-44's engines as they regained airflow and power. Her wingman had shot down another Donnish plane moments earlier, the new contacts probably being their reinforcements. That makes this engagement 2 on 6. 2 on 3 if you started counting now. "Copy, tango is defensive, switching to guns" Suzuka responded, trying to get the crosshairs on her HUD to line up with the radar's projection of lead. In a moment, the target and crosshairs crossed paths. Suzuka held the trigger down, the 27mm cannon in her aircraft's wing root spitting out a stream of shells. It buzzed, too fast for any individual shots to be heard, and the wing of the Donnish fighter was sliced off. Suzuka watched the plane instantly flip into an uncontrollable spin, followed by the Donnish pilot attempting to eject. "Tango down, switching targets"

With a flick of the joystick and rudder pedals, simultaneously working the throttle of the engines, she rapidly accelerated and swung the aircraft around in a flashy Herbst maneuver. She switched her plane's weapons to the heat-seeking IRIS-Ts her fighter carried, seeing the icon appear on her HUD. The fight became two on two. Minutes later, with just two missiles expended, Suzuka formed up with her wingman. In less than half an hour, Suzuka had become a double ace. Her wingman was on her first actual combat operation, and she looked already like she might become an ace in a day. It was hardly the time to rest and reflect, however. These thoughts didn't cross Suzuka's mind until she landed on the carrier later. The mission came first. "Tango flights Golf and Fox have been neutralized, Usagi Flight cleared for CAS"

Beach King, Western Soraught

For an instant, the world seemed in slow motion. The impact of the armored ramp into the sand sent up a cascade of seawater and ground. Bullets sung through the air and smacked into shallow water or beach. A handful ricocheted off of the hulls of the AAVs, sparking as they scraped against their armored bulwark. The cannons atop the vehicles flashed, shaking the guns on their mounts and throwing spent casings out the side. A fresh wave of smoke grenades rained down in front, exploding and creating a thick, white cloud of smoke. There was so much, it completely obstructed the view of the fortifications ahead. They were like a wall, cutting the sea from the land and leaving only the strip where the AAVs stood. Marines poured from the APCs, their boots digging into the sand and mouths loudly shouting encouragements and battle cries.

Kimiko returned to real time as a Tomahawk flew low just above her platoon, smashing into the Donnish positions not a couple hundred meters away. She could feel the blast wave from where she stood. Kimiko wasted no time taking full advantage. Swinging her rifle around, she pointed up the beach and shouted at her squads as they got out of their vehicles. "SUPPRESSING FIRE!!! GRENADIERS, GET THAT SMOKE COVER UP! PUT ALL YOU'VE GOT INTO IT! MOVE!". Each squad had a pair of GPMGs, Type 68 machine guns with bipods and long belts of ammo in drums. The gunners and their assistants dived to prone, along with many riflemen seeking as much cover as possible. Half a dozen Type 68s put out an astounding volume of accurate fire, combined with the assault rifles it made for a good deterrent for any defenders trying to open fire. Kimiko took a knee and added her own rifle to the cacophony. The amount of lead heading in the direction of the Donnish nearly tripled.

A few of the Marines in each squad had underbarrel grenade launchers, and were given the task of laying down yet more smoke further up the beach. They loaded the tubes with special WP shells, launching the grenades with resounding, distinct "thumps". The whole of the beach soon became choked with the smoke, only slightly lit by the bright burn of the WP. Satisfied that her platoon had sufficient cover, Kimiko ordered the advance. "Affix bayonets! Gunners, suppressing fire! Get ready!" she shouted, drawing her own bayonet and slotting it into place on her rifle. Her Marines did the same, taking turns to ensure that the suppression didn't let up. At last, Kimiko could see all her troops were ready.

"All squads! Advance! BANZAI!!!" she shouted, and was instantly joined by the resounding cheers and battle cry of "BANZAI!" as platoons up and down the beach charged. The AAVs roared to life, too, having raised their ramps and gunned their engines. They were momentarily behind the Marines, but quickly got up to speed and matched the charge, placing themselves between enemy machine gun fire and the charging infantry. It seemed the enemy had been sufficiently suppressed, as return fire was minimal. When Kimiko broke through the smoke, she was only about a dozen meters from the rocks and the sharp rise in elevation that separated the beach from the rest of Soraught.

The reason for the minimal incoming fire became obvious then, a huge blast had blown what was apparently Donnish entrenchments into a large crater. The few soldiers surrounding it were dazed from the impact or were hiding from the suppressing fire laid down earlier. They now tried to rally and man their positions. In front of Kimiko, one Donnish soldier was getting back into position on a tripod-mounted machine gun. With a few bounds, Kimiko was up the rocks and looming over the foxhole. She thrust her bayonet into the Donnish soldier's throat just as he was wrapping his hand around the grip, throwing him back onto the pile of sand bags behind him. Kimiko kicked the man's head off her blade and quickly put a burst into his buddy, who was trying to raise his rifle after getting up from shock.

All across the beach, Marines were pouring over the entrenchments or trading close quarters fire with defenders. Here, the Tomahawk strike had opened a breach in Donnish defenses, and the Marines charged into the trenches and foxholes that made up the makeshift defensive line. Bursts of automatic fire rippled along the bluff as fighting closed in. In places, it devolved into hand to hand combat as Portean Marines dove in for bayonet lunges and swift blows using the stocks of their rifles. A handful of Donnish soldiers, shocked and awed by the firepower and suddenness of the charge, wisely chose to raise their hands in submission, panicking and begging the Marines not to kill them.

It was clearly not the main line of defense, probably tougher fortifications lay ahead. But it did give the Porteans the beach, from which they could land yet more forces. The area appeared to be a low-density suburb, with small houses dotting the roadside not far from the beach. This area was just west of the port area of Soraught, wedging it between the suburb and Downtown Soraught. Further north was somewhat denser territory, where a more serious defense was likely being prepared. Marines had already started to move into the neighborhood, raiding houses to search for defenders and being wary of booby traps. Sporadic fighting still broke out in the wide streets and backyards, though the Marines still made progress. As expected, the resistance wasn't stiff. Just harrying.

Kimiko noticed that the man she'd bayoneted was still alive, gripping his throat to desperately contain the blood. She must not have hit the jugular. Though her job clearly wasn't done, she wasn't in the mood for senseless killing. Quickly, she called over a medic to give first aid, though she wasn't sure if he'd make it. When the medic arrived, Kimiko moved on, following her squad through the houses. She climbed up to one of the taller building's second floor, looking to get a better view. In front of her, she could see squads of Marines filtering between and through houses, wary of any hidden defenders and brutally destroying anything that looked like a trap before they got close. Behind her, the LCUs were hitting the beach. From these, Leopard 2s rolled off onto the sand of the beach. The AAVs were having a hard time getting over the rocks, but they were making it over eventually. Kimiko called on her squads to slow the advance while the armor support arrived. They'd made landfall and she didn't want to give the enemy the chance to push them back into the sea.

[Atreidya]

Just off the Beaches of Soraught

Atreidyan amphibious craft rapidly approached the beaches ahead of them. They would be making landfall after the initial landings of other nations and would help to push off the beaches. Ordered to perform primarily as support for the other nations landing with the Coalition. Atreidyan marines prepared themselves to take part in the combat. Unlike other nations the Atreidyan marines utilized fast moving landing craft to land their troops, these vehicles carried infantry and Tanks and were lightly armed wielding only a 30mm gun on the medium craft and only light machine guns on the smaller landing craft.

However as the first vessels touched down and revealed their contents men and tanks spilled out onto the beach. Marines scrambled through the shallow surf before clambering across the shifting beach sands trying to avoid stray fire from further up the shore. The Atreidyan tanks moved to support any units still finding issue with the first lines of Donnish defenses, they hurled high explosive rounds at enemy forces trying to uproot them or help suppress them and give the men on the beach a chance to press forward.

Corporal Niyazi Silbek slammed another shell into the loader as felt Dynasty's turret pivot. The lead tank of D company Dynasty Proudly sported it's name painted along it's barrel and the back of the turret, and even more proudly the pennant flags of Atreidya and the 1st Marine Division on it's Antenna. While it was organized chaos outside the tank, inside the crew barked back and forth with the shouts and orders being bounced across radios to other tanks nearby. Niyazi took just a second to glance at the screen his gunner was using. The tank commander , and leader of D company sat partially out of the tank, manning the machine gun mounted above. Major Iskender Kral was a man's man, and the crazy bastard was having a splendid time so far in the battle, though he hadn't gotten to use his machine gun quite yet.

"Hamida!" The Major shouted, grabbing Dynasty's Driver's attention. "Press us forward there where the two lengths of Razorwire have tangled up into a little bow."

The young woman replied simply by turning the tank slightly and pressing the acceleration moving the vehicle forward toward the spot pointed out by the major. Niyazi slammed another round into the loader as the turret began pivoting again, and pressed himself to the side away from the dangerous position of the main cannon's chamber. Above him Major Kral rallied the rest of the Company and directed them to follow his squadron, which specifically followed his tank.

The Gun fired again, now taking aim further up the shore trying to pinpoint machine gun nests as well as other Donnish strong points. Niyazi jumped back into action loading another shell and pressing himself out of the way. Another roar and a second shell landed in almost the same spot as the first. Loading the gun again as the turret turned back to it's standby position Dynasty tore through the barbed wire before it and began moving up the incline off of the beach, with the rest of D Company and the 1st Atreidyan Marines in tow.

[The Federation of Democratic Regions]

Dog Company, 4. Assault Group, Royal Marines

The wave of BvS 12s steadily approached the beach, on the left of the Portean assault force. Marines sat in grim silence in the fighting compartments of the fighting vehicles, waiting for the ramp to drop as the cue to rush into the gates of hell. Although the supporting fleet had done its best to soften up the Donnish defenses, the incoming fire was intense and unnerving as bullets bounced off of the armored assault vehicles. Dog Company, along with the rest of 1st Battalion, was tasked with securing the beachhead and wiping out the Donnish defenses on the beach so the rest of 4. Assault Group could come ashore. As the battalion approached the beach, one could hear the heavier Donnish guns opening up; one of the amphibious assault vehicles took a hit and burst into flames, slowly sinking down beneath the waves. Finally in range, the RWS on each of the BvS 12s began to open fire on the Donnish positions, 40mm grenade launchers and 12.7mm machine guns opening up with a deafening roar. Lieutenant Patrick Hendricks, commanding officer of 2nd Platoon, Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 4. Assault Group, went over his gear once more with the ease of someone who has done it hundreds of times before.

He felt the BvS shudder as the treads made contact with the ground and began to claw their way up the beach. Gripping his rifle in his hands, he gestured for the squad accompanying him to make ready as the transports created a protective screen of smoke. Finally, with the groan of hydraulics at work, sunlight poured into the fighting compartment as the ramp lowered down to the sand. Lieutenant Hendricks rushed out into a wall of machine gun fire. As the rest of the section poured out onto the sand, he began to hear the bullets whizzing by as the Donnish machine guns began to do their deadly work on the Federationist marines. In unison, Dog Company poured through the cloud of smoke. Hendrick dropped into a small dip in the sand, holding his rifle to his chest shortly before popping back out and firing off a few rounds towards a Donnish machine gun nest further up the beach. Crawling through the sand, he felt the ground vibrate as the BvS 12s began to advance with the infantry to provide some semblance of protection against the well entrenched machine gun positions. As they did, one of the members of Hendricks' section took a Donnish bullet to the throat, collapsing to the sand and gasping as he desperately attempted to stem the flow of blood with his hands, his combat gloves rapidly darkening as they soaked up blood. He was quite literally choking to death on his own blood.

Hendricks scrambled on his hands and knees over the stricken soldier, shoving his hands aside to compress the wound. He heard the scream for a corpsman, although it was impossible to tell if it was his voice or that of a comrade through the din of battle. The injured marine weakly grasped at Hendricks' arms before they fell limply to his sides, the young boy blankly staring off into the sky. Frozen in shock for a second, he stared at the boy with wide eyes before coming to his senses, grabbing his rifle and scrambling to his feet to follow the advance. A distant figure stood in the cover of a Donnish foxhole, a blast of fire pouring out as the rocket spiraled directly towards one of the BvSs. The warhead impacted the vehicle on its side, destroying the tread and starting a small fire. He could hear the screams of the crew as they desperately tried to escape the doomed vehicle, the screams dying down as the crew failed in their efforts. A low rock wall stood in the beach, several hundred meters short of the Donnish line. He slid across the sand and slammed his back against the stones, gasping for breath as he attempted to calm his shot nerves.

Of the 210 soldiers of Dog Company that had gone ashore, at least three dozen were lying still on the beach or screaming for a corpsman, and of the squad that had come ashore with him, only seven could be seen at the rock wall. Turning to lie on his stomach, he propped his rifle up on the stones, firing at a Donnish MG crew. Through the smoke obscuring much of the beach, he could see one of the soldiers crewing the gun drop out of sight as the gun temporarily ceased firing. To his left and right, BvSs climbed over the low wall, sending parts of the flimsy construction tumbling to the sand. A sharp whistle blast shattered his shock. Hendricks stood with the rest of Dog Company as they charged up the beach, desperately closing the last three hundred meters. The rate of fire from the Donnish positions had diminished considerably although more of his fellow soldiers collapsed to the ground every few seconds. A sudden sharp pain in his thigh brought him collapsing to the sand, his rifle landing several feet away from him as he grasped the wound on his leg where a Donnish bullet had narrowly missed the armor and hit an unprotected area of uniform. A corpsman dropped to his knees beside him, frantically searching through the combat lifesaver kit at his side, emerging with a roll of bandages, Tightly wrapping the wound, he tossed the roll back into his bag before scrambling to his feet and rejoining the advance. He could hear the bloodthirsty cries of his comrade, the triumphant shouts as they reached the Donnish positions. The resounding shout of 'Affix bayonets!' could be heard all at where he laid in the sand, as marines fought to avenge their fallen and injured comrades in the beach.

The din of machine gun fire continued on nonetheless, as screams could be heard in both Donnish and English. Through the communications network built into his helmet, he could hear officers attempting to regain control of a bloodthirsty group of men. The rest of the battalion had roughly reached the initial phase line, companies hunkering down in the ruins of buildings and former Donnish positions. Lieutenant Hendricks would become one of the 61 casualties in Dog Company, and one of the 224 injured and killed out of 1st Battalion on the first day of ground operations in Donner Land.

[Azenyanistan]

Raisairah the Bloodstone Captain now had more men. More vehicles too. And that didn’t make her a happy woman.

A rapid reorganization was ordered. On whose fucking authorization, she asked herself as she watched with gritted teeth and a sweating face---which she thought she herself wasn’t supposed to sweat because of how cold the country was---her additions come. Four new tanks, two IFVs, three combat bikes plus their crews and a handful of squads. Fuckers. What were they thinking?

She grunted as she returned to her crew in the tank, telling them to move out. She switched the radio from the channel with HQ to the unit channel. Then she gave her orders in a matter of seconds. That attracted the attention of her RO who said “But Captain, our orders!”

At this, Raisairah gave her RO a growl, knowing better and feeling offended as well as scared shitless of having to stay and probably get zeroed in by enemy artillery or airpower “It’s not safe! We’ll move!”

She ignored her RO as she thought her plan over. Push deeper. Hit their SAMs and their fucking artillery. The woods were being cut through. They’ll make it. She didn’t want to sit still just after she got one of her tanks (and buddies) out of the bloody mess in one of the landing ships. She almost lost what she ate hours before on the ship. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was HQ was either confused or was making a big mistake. Or the orders were probably being faked. She kept her jaw locked as she listened to her subordinates report their statuses and what they were doing.

As her unit moved forward, hurling themselves through the woods, the infantry (on foot) leading the way as their vehicles and warmachines followed, Field General Journey snapped a fresh magazine into her weapon while grinning and watching Raisairah’s element exploit their own initiative. Or was it just a terribly risky move? Either way, the Field General needed Raisairah. And she knew, from conversations with some of her buddies in the Armored Corps and from a bit of her own personal experience with the Bloodstone Captain, that the woman hated being still. She felt so uncomfortable that it would be better never to offer her a chair.

She managed to notice a bunch of her officers complaining about Raisairah as she and her troops and armor went in first. The rest of the Azen forces on the Eastern Bay, along with the Urranese, were still getting additions or were just getting ready to move through the woods. Unfortunately for those who were excited, Raisairah stole the meat from them. The General silenced her officers with a reassuring “Let her lead the way, girls. We have to move out too.”

In another set of minutes, the Field General of the First Infantry Division of the Grand Army of the New Republic of Azenyanistan gave some simple instructions and they were carried out. They were so simple that Azens abandoned their positions, their hasty constructions, hurling their bodies up and towards the enemy beyond the woods and the beach. First support vehicles continued to scream. Mortars just set up were also adding to the din. And machineguns were being redeployed or being fired from the hips of eager infantrywomen or the turrets of their warmachines.

The Azens on the Eastern Bay were pushing deeper.

[Reuss-Lippe]

---

Rattean Embassy, Bogt

---

It was early morning in Donnerland, and Fighting in the northern portion of the Embassy had calmed down, with fire being exchanged here and there with very small breaks in between. Due to the number of firefights shrinking around the embassy compound, some personnel were moved to the back of the embassy in the possibility that the donnish would come from behind the embassy and attack the embassy on two fronts. Half of a section, consisting of 10 men, with a dog handler included to take the role of a sentry

As Gunfire was exchanged in the background, the small squad patrolled near the western rear of the embassy. As the 10 men examined their surroundings, the handler embedded in the small section of men let go of his canines leash and allowed it to wander ahead in hopes that it would pick up a unknown presence. Once the trained dog was released, the small section decided to examine the western rear, as to give the dog the proper time to do its job. As the section continued to examine the rear, section dog, Endal, began to growl. As the dog began to growl, the foliage from nearby began to rustle. As the foliage began to rustle more, a man with old military fatigues and a rifle appeared out of it, causing the dog to bark. Spotting the man, members of the section began to aim their guns at the unknown person. As two section members, including the lead, began to yell at the man to put his guns down and do certain orders, another man began to appear out of more foliage. Noticing this, the dog handler, panicked that his section lead hadn't noticed the other man, aimed his gun at the target and fired two shots at the target. As the second man fell, everyone fell quiet and someone from within the foliage began to yell in a thick accent that they were friendlies. Putting down his gun, the section lead, who was a Azen war veteran ordered his men to do the same. Putting down their guns, the section ordered the people in the foliage to come out and introduce themselves

As 30 armed Azens came out and showed themselves, the section lead stepped up and yelled for them to point out the leader of their group. Following orders, they all either pointed to or looked at a single women who stood in the middle of the group. Stepping forwards in front of the section leader, she introduced herself. “My name is Yahurann ur Ishtarrann, i am a Platoon Sergeant and i was sent to provide support to the embassy, though i was originally sent to help organize a rebel group nearby. I bought ammunition and medical supplies, hopefully this helps you hold off a little longer..” stated the young eager women, holding out her hand for a shake. Shaking her hand, he began to speak. “Greetings, i am Sergeant Steffen Roth, i am temporarily in charge of this squad of mines until we can get ourselves organized after this mess.” said Steffan a bit puzzled. “You said you are a platoon leader, yet i only count 30, where are the rest?” added Steffan. “We split up go lower the chances of a massive casualty loss in the case that we encountered an enemy force on the way, they should be here soon.” said Yahurann, replying to the question given to her.
Pointing at the 3 Azen fighters carrying multiple Ammunition Boxes and medical kits which contained machine gun ammo and supplies, Yahurann ordered them to get inside and drop off the supplies to the men on the second floor. As the small group of 3 soldiers ran inside the embassy, Yahurann ordered the remaining standing in of her to the front of the embassy to assist the soldiers stationed at the embassy against the siege.

Second Floor, Rattean Embassy
Bogt
Holes riddles the upper level of the embassy, tense fighting at the lower levels of the embassy had picked up and the second floor had been providing supporting fire from machine guns. The front hall which had windows which overlooked the front of the embassy in which the majority of the engagements had been taken, was stained with blood. Medics were moving severely wounded men to another room as bullets began to pour into the hallway. The screams of men yelling in agony were covered up by machine gun & small arms fire from barely standing soldiers, as well as medics yelling for non-existent clean bandages to bandage up wounds. As conflict in the hallway picked up, Felix, who commanded the withered units, was pacing back in forth. The situation was looking grim and his men were running out of ammo, which was commonplace throughout the countless embassy guards around the complex. As he was pacing back and forth, 3 Azen soldiers carrying medical supplies and ammunition appeared at the end of the hallway, gesturing for the soldiers to rush over to him, he ordered them to distribute the supplies. As he observed the distribution, he requested the radioman to communicate with the forces below. “Radioman, get your ass over here and keep your fucking head down, i need to get in contact with the forces below.” yelled Felix, ordering the soldier to run to him. Once the radio arrived, he connected to the frequency they were using and spoke. “We are taking heavy casualties and i can't take much more, I need you to move some forces to the front and take some heat until i ca-.” yelled Felix, before being cut off by a explosion which occurred at the riddled and heavily damaged first floor where combat had been occurring near for the past 2 hours. Due to the heavy damaged, the large explosion knocked out some of the frontal supports to the 2nd floor causing the floor to cave into itself and cause a chain reaction. Eventually the frontal half of the building collapsed, diminishing whatever elevation support there was as well as creating a medium sized cloud of dust and debris around the embassy, with the majority spreading to the front where the main part of the siege was taking place

---

RNS Farasan
Operation Penguin, Waters near Soraught

---

As Operation Penguin went into full swing, activity on the aircraft carrier Farasan began to pick up. As commotion and movement occurred in the Operations Room, ordnancemen on the flight deck were carting around missiles and loading them onto the aircraft taxied on the catapult lines. As people were scrambling around the Operations Room, a message to the ship was received. The first to notice the message was the Broadcast Operator, who listened to the transmitted message. The Broadcast Operator then sent the message to the Inrouter whose job is to ensure that all inbound message were properly routed to the proper departments on the ship. The Inrouter sent the message up to the bridge, where the admiral of the ship was observing the flight deck. Once the message finally reached the bridge, a crewman got up and handed a small piece of paper to the ship commander. Reading the paper, the captain turned to the admiral and began to speak. “Sir, message from headquarters. They want us to begin operations ASAP.” Grabbing the paper, the admiral read it and then yelled to the radio operator. “Get the pilots out on the flight deck, and tell them to get into the air as soon as possible. Transmit this message to our amphibious assault ship when they arrive as well.” yelled the admiral before heading down to the Operations room to observe the conflict.

As Sirens rang throughout the vessel, pilots scrambled to their respective aircraft. The first to take off with the use of catapults were Tornado ECR’s, who would mainly assist allied coalition forces in the suppression of enemy air defenses. Shortly after a fighter squadron followed close behind, ensuring the ECR’s do their job. The Rattean contingent of the coalition would not land troops, at least not for another hour, but back at FOB Randgriz, an airborne assault was being organized.

[Western Imperial Union]

WIU Fleet North of Donnerland

The Ships launched their missiles each of which raced toward the distant targets in donnerland. As pilots lifted off of the Aircraft carriers below deck the marines of the air assault force were briefed on their objectives. They had their gear already together and those that would constitute the amphibious landing force had begun to get their equipment prepared before they themselves would receive a briefing.

The end goal for the northern fleet was of course Tutten. However to take the city the Imperian troops first and foremost had to combat enemy forces. That meant the missile and air units suppressing the enemy air defenses, followed by Airborne units eliminating these defenses fully and then eliminating the Donnish missile and coastal defenses for the Amphibious force.

The plan by the Imperian commanders called for landings along the western side of the peninsula, west of Tutten proper. The goal was to quickly establish a foothold before moving east and south and encircling the city. To even dream of achieving this before a massive Donnish counter-attack threw them back to the sea, the Imperian forces required the support of the Vanquarians. The operation and planned moves was forwarded directly to the Vanquarian fleet with the request of them joining the attack.

By that time the first missiles would be impacting on their targets, the aircraft would be nearing the coast and the airborne units would be wrapping up their briefing.


Imperial Winged Hussars Staging Area

The Winged Hussars prepared for the assault on Donnerland, as missiles from Helghan were launched into the target areas the paratroopers, air assault units formed up on the tarmacs and entered their aircraft. In the meantime Imperian jets already joined up with Helghast aircraft to prepare for runs in Donnish territory.

[Vanquaria]

The Great Offensive

Responding to the initiation of the Imperialist assault on the Donnish barbarians the entire task force situated alongside the Imperialist naval armada mobilized in a moment all the soldiers of the Autarch had been awaiting. It was all ready, months of logistical planning and readiness including the days leading up to this since the Coalition assault. And we have not even included the IWA contingency plans after the First Helsa War. The armies of the Iron Empire were the most militarily successful in all Ausozera, they were to prove why again in the Second Helsa War against the First Enemy; the Donnish.

CAATs and AAVs, pouring out by the dozens and dozens and dozens, were en route towards the North-Western Donnish coastline supported by the deployment of accompanying a wolfpack of littoral combat Type 25 submarines purchased from the Urranese and modified by SIGMA to serve as more gunship than submarine. Overhead the rhythmic drum of countless Bell Ospreys that held entire regiments of Marine Special Purpose Units aka. the Marine Spetsnaz, the classic Vanquarian warrior breed with no qualms of busting a bullet to anyone Command deemed a threat. For the security element Bell Vipers were flown. A particular assault group were piloted by the Special Aviation Force, recognized by their callsign 'Baby Vampires' they possessed a couple who had terrorized in the Mecca Atrocity and who were poised to serve the greatest nation in the world through iron and steel.

Squadrons of F-22 Raptors and F-15 Eagles soared within moments of the first Imperialist missile launches, Vanquarian Command having been aware of their mobilization. The strength of a group of super carriers is a force from heaven or in Vanquaria's case; hell. Wielding the Khibiny EW system it was aimed at the purpose of disrupting the Donnish HAAIRM system and was supplemented by the President-S optical-electronic suppression countermeasures. Behind them came TU-22M2 bombers,JDAMs and CBU-100s cluster bombs apart of the payload, deployed from secret Vanquarian bases located within the North Pole and the mountains.

After all these weapons of war were weapons of destruction. BGM-109D Tomahawks had been fired in the hundreds aimed at the city of Tutten. 2 groups of these missiles were fired. The first possessed cluster munitions of explosive shaped fragmentation. When exploded they would erupt and literally mutilate any unfortunate soul within their proximity. Fortunately the Vanquarians were not idiots, these fragmentations were also shaped-charges designed specifically for ripping into buildings and taking out their inhabitants. The second group was composed of BLU-114/B submunitions for the purpose of disrupting and attacking electric power transmission systems by producing short circuits in high-voltage power lines and electrical substations. Tried and tested against the sad denizens of Moscow they had the potential to knock out 70% of an entire nation's lights and computers. In addition, heavy naval artillery bombarded the coast indiscriminately to clear the way for the infantry.

The wolfpacks of the Vanquarian Typhoons were mobilised as well. The Northern and Southern wolfpacks were seeking the destruction of coastal Donnish bases and unsuspecting Donnish trade routes. The Southern wolfpacks also had the secondary objective of collecting intel on Coalition naval movements.

A full Army Special Purpose ,aka. Army Spetsnatz, brigade had been deployed in the North Pole to hunt down what the High Command suspected could be possible Donnish bases or encampments, whether civilian or not they were to kill all from Donner Land.

Elsewhere on the uppermost North-Western border the Donnish shared with Vanquaria an air fleet of Antonov An-22s had been mobilised and were to fly over the mountains into Donner Land. They carried an entire legion of Vanquarian paratroopers and fast-moving armoured assault vehicles. For their protection the Vanquarian forces had positioned several missile silos into the mountain divide they had gloriously annexed from the Donnish in the First Helsa War. Inside them they held and now fired 30 Shahab-2 Tactical SRBMs. All of them were inbuilt were Sarin gas canisters to clear a large area for the successful deployment of the Vanquarian paratrooper division and the armoured forces, all of whom wielded adequate protection from the gas which would be deadly to those who inhaled it.

On the wider front an enormous cyber operation was taking place. The 'Institute' was now utilising its 'Unit-X' asset, acclaimed for its operations in the conflict against the Western Pacific's online networks. The cyber division had chosen the weapon of a malicious worm by the name of PhosphoX specially created by the Vanquarian nation-state and tested only on their virtual machines. The worm was released, targeting Donnish computers whose operating systems were not up to date. Intelligence also attempted payload delivery through phishing attacks carried out by the young propaganda arm of the Vanquarian state en masse via a collected list of emails of Donnish persons collected by the mass surveillance of the Iron Empire on social networking and online gaming. Not only would the worm disrupt the OS but it would also dramatically affect network traffic. But this was not their only play. The cyber warriors of Vanquaria were attacking the Donnish through a series of advanced persistent DoSs. An incredible 5 vectors of attack were being utilized with several tens of millions of network requests per second accompanied by SYN floods to assault both the victim site and their service provider as well. They were on serious offensive mode and taking advantage of their unprecedented ability to access to the Iron Empire's most powerful very powerful networking resources this DDoS offensive was easily APT level, and they were to sustain a prolonged campaign that is generate enormous levels of un-amplified DDoS traffic. For the indoctrinated troll armies many of their computers were used as part of a massive botnet system for the state, millions of computers from all over the Empire from Vanquaria to Swiftea to Zhengua in order to supplement the already extraordinary horsepower of the Vanquarian cyber warfare computing systems to really drive home both the PhosphoX worm through email spam and DDoS in a first of its kind cyber offensive unafraid of collateral damage across the Internet if the aim of smashing a permanent blow to the Donnish Internet in but its FIRST phase of assault was achieved.

The Vanquarian armies were like a horde of demons held back only by the gate that was the mountain range. Yet that would not be enough. A myriad of WS-1B MLRS trucks coupled with 9A52-2 BM-Smerchs and the latest SIGMA M142 HIMARS, all containing a payload of pure shrapnel fragmentation of materials from the junkyards and all over of Vanquaria, for the purpose of if the many pieces of flying fragment do not kill or maim a single cut may have the infection power to do so as well as simple fucking napalm. Thousands of warheads were ready and upon the commencement of the Vanquarian offensive on North-Western Donner Land the rockets fired in spectacular fashion, soaring with a maximum firing range of 100km, 90km and 300km respectively, adequate enough to go over the mountains which were quite thin in some places, and land on a road or a farming village or hopefully a Donnish military encampment. It was possible that a rocket or two would hit the mountains themselves but it was the Donnish who valued this great divide, the Vampires could not give a shit. In order to protect their flying angels of death Krasukha-4 EW systems dotting the mountain range were utilised, with an operational range of 400km they had the multi functional capability of jamming airborne radars like UAVs and guided missiles including ground radio-electronic devices. The firing would last over a hour including reload and a nice cup of tea replenishment for the crews. Fuck em up good was the order. Their Helghast brothers had also began lobbing raw firepower over and the Vanquarians were not to be outdone and in throwing death over upon the Donnish scumbags.

Meanwhile on the currently ongoing Battle of Soraught a couple Vanquarian Aquitaine class frigates were approaching from a distance. From it launched several TAI Anka UAVs and inside the warships missiles were being prepped for launch.

The Iron Empire was on full war mode. From the secretive special operations being inserted from all sides to the indoctrinated troll armies of the militant youth bombarding the public internet with Vanquarian propaganda; it was total-war in a societal sense. News reached the Autarch seated with his fellows inside the Palace of Auraxis, he smiled as he had his cup The Vanquarian High Command processed and relayed to the Iron Will Alliance forces gathered against the threat of the Donnish; the Great Offensive was to commence.

[Azenyanistan]

THE AZEN FORCES

"This is Field General Journey. The Eastern Bay is not yet secure. We have the beach and we are pushing. But we really gotta take the bay and we need everything. This is Field General Journey and I am saying that now is a good time for you guys to get the rest of our forces inland. And I mean immediately. Send them all in." Then she slammed the radio back into its place. She looked to the waters. The ships were okay. But they were sending in the rest of the forces too slowly. And she had to call them. Again.

But after several minutes, which honestly felt like an hour for her, Journey managed to see the final wave of troops, tanks, fighting vehicles and most of all, supply vehicles. Helicopters were coming in and out again but not the airships yet. She kept on watching on and on until she decided to give it up and follow her own forces in the push.

Meanwhile in Azenyanistan

With Ayza back in Yaneza, things were going smoothly and with direct supervision. During one of the informal meetings that Ayza was having with her staff, one of the communications officers rushed in and hurriedly apologized as she gave to Ayza a message written on paper. Then she left and Ayza looked at the message.

It was a direct one from Salade's daughter, Salade the II.

She read it out loud for the staff:

The push is progressing. We have sent in all of our forces to take the Eastern Bay. We are awaiting further orders from you. But I must ask you because I have been receiving rumors and gossip. And I cannot disrespect you so I must ask, with your permission.

Are we going to have to go to war with the Remnants? What are your instructions?

Five minutes later, when Supreme Commander Salade the II came ashore, her own communications officer approached her, handed her a message handwritten hurriedly too and left her to return to her comms. Salade the II read it silently:

Continue to push. Stick to the campaign we have against Donnerland. But I must ask you to keep a watchful eye on Journey. I have been told that she has been affected by the Bandit War. When she was in Yra. Watch her and do not let her commit any crimes. She might be a danger to us all. But anyway, let her perform as well as you could let her perform. But if she dares to violate international law, do not be afraid to correct her and to arrest her if you have to.

We will not go to war with them. But I have spoken with the Vanquarians about what to do. Do not think about it and instead refocus on Donnerland. Take the Eastern Bay. If you need more ships and men and tanks, call me. I will provide you your reinforcements.

[Empire of Donner land]

???, Northeast of Bogt, Donner Land

---

9/16/2015

"Morning, Kaisarine." Broke the silence in the bleak, dark and otherwise boring grey concrete room. He had hoped the message he had broken into her had gotten through from last time, as the small cracked portion of the wall opposite of Voy and behind the Kaisarine hinted at. It was the next day and Voy already had more than enough reports of the invasion occurring in Soraught, enough deserving him of a break, leaving it to advisers and military officials to handle. Kaisarine now remained the only trusted person he could speak with, they couldn't break out, move or leave in any way. While he expected absolute loyalty and even hand picked those to live in this bunker with him, he had doubts, serious ones. It was better safe than sorry, he knew her.

"I see you're resting well here, I do hope you've gotten adjusted and all. Being tied to a chair for twenty-four hours can be tiring, I would know, really. I relate." Voy said kindly, settling into his chair in front of the Kaisarine across the Table. "Has it ever occurred to you that my name, Newron Voy, has just popped up out of nowhere? If you look back about thirty or forty years ago, I can't remember, my name had just existed in the cluttered paper before Computers were used to sort files and documents. All at once I had a name, bank account, passport, as well as ID, the works." Voy said leaning in onto the table.

"It'd make it weirder if I said, I never had parents, not in the contemporary sense at least," Voy spoke, standing up and walking towards the Kaisarine. "I had a Mother, and a Father. Though I only ever knew one of them and the other was just a utility to ensure my well-being, to make sure Donner Land did not lose an investment. That's all I was back then. I had two other Brothers too, but they're not important. Eventually, my Parents, which might as well had been the Donnish Government and my Mother, decided that I wasn't... right, even if I had passed every single fucking test!" Voy screamed, stopping to slam the table with a single fist.

Voy calmed down, resting once again in the chair. "Thankfully I was spared, back then I wasn't Newron Voy, I had some random name given to me that now I do not even remember, nor care to. My Mother, who had cared for all 3 of us equally, did not kill me despite my Father's, her handler's, demands. She faked my death, and I never saw her again, I was given off to some family friend, and adopted as one of their own. My name, unsurprisingly due to its similarity to the English word, means "New". As if I had just popped into existence." Voy sighed and leaned forward looking at what was left of the Kaisarine. "'Why do I exist?', I asked myself. And I found out why."

Voy leaned back, putting his feet on the table as if ready for a nap. "I was defective, unfixable, inoperable," Voy said, smirking to himself. "Now pure blooded Ulianish boys and girls die in Soraught to protect us from you... people." Voy stood up, preparing to leave and spoke one last time.

"You may think our people are related, but we couldn't be farther apart."

Soraught
13th Donnish Mechanized Rangers

---

9/16/2015

Blurry and confused, he attempted to stumble upwards as a he felt the vibrations around him and saw both dim and bright flashes of yellow-white light around him shining out from the unrecognizable background. The dull roar of ringing remained in his ears as the only thing he could hear. His whole body felt like he wasn't even there, like a ghost floating through the war zone that was Soraught as he stumbled around dazed and confused. His head was ringing like a bell and various moving dim gray black shadows moved around him quickly not noticing he was even there. Quickly, understanding their vulnerability he grabbed his sidearm and began to recover from his blurring daze, he stood motionless as the roaring of men and women in Donnish pierced his ears, rising above the ringing in them. Adrenaline pumped into him as he caught his bearings, noticing the destroyed buildings, previously intact and the rubble strewn about the ground. He nearly tripped over the concrete and rocks thrown about covering the ground, stumbling even more as he regained his balance leaning against what was left of a wall. Finally, he heard a resounding yell, turning quickly from one single person yelling into many as it cleared up more.

"BANZAI!"

Many silhouettes rose above the cliff separating the city and the beach, a light gleamed off their bayonets, one was coming right for him, taking advantage of his current state. His arm, shaking from the sheer shock he had undergone, raised to aim the pistol at the charging Portean as he leaned on the wall. He fired once, the Portean kept running, an unnerving confirmation he had missed as things seemed to run in slow motion, he fired once more and red mist exploded from both sides of the Portean as they fell to the ground in a heap at the soldier's feet. Before he knew it their position had been overrun by Portean Marine forces, the sidearm now laid at his side as slowly three Portean Marines began to surround him, shouting orders to drop his weapon and to surrender.

The Donnish Soldier, stunned and dazed but knew what was happening observed around them the 'cleaning up' of the area, the gunfire and shouting simply shrank as seconds passed, yet he felt that they had not yet lost. Completely aware of this they simply disobeyed these orders by raising his sidearm again towards the center Portean and was killed instantly with multiple shots to the chest.

Soraught
Eastern Bay

---

9/16/2015

Word had reached that the combined coalition assault had also come onto the beaches of the eastern bay and combat was undergoing with enemy forces. It was light engagements with the enemy who appeared to be aggressive in their push Inland, exactly what Donnish command was hoping for. Immediately force was shifted to drive back the Coalition troops early in a counter attack. Air Cav and Armoured Infantry forces joined together for this assault. As the forces needed for the attack organized, Air Support such as CAS and Fighters available for the operation entered the AO. AA Assets such as the HAAIRM and IR and Radar AA Missiles were already deployed in the area and some mobile SPAAGs were moved in for Close Anti-Air Support.

The Order was given to stop the Eastern Bay invasion early, the 2 Divisions moved in for the attack in a 3 Prong Assault. Armor would take the West Prong, Armor and Aircav the Center Prong and Air Cav the East prong. Scouts and Forward Observers report enemy positions and began to call in Artillery and CAS Targets. Due to the varied speed of the Divisions, the Aircav divisions were forced to slow down to keep pace with the Armor until the Battle entered full swing. The objectives, for now, were to secure key hills in the area and attack from those points, of which Mechanized Infantry and Tanks, as well as Helo Infantry, will be able to do easily. From then on Donnish Troops will assault Coalition weak points and begin to encircle and push Coalition Forces back into the sea or entirely annihilate them.

Until then, Donnish forces made their way to key high points to secure them for the next phase of the counter attack.

[Azenyanistan]

Message to all Coalition forces: Responding to Donnish counterattack. Using battleship and other warships to provide artillery. Requesting backup.

Their Land, Their Blood, Their Dignity




To keep on believing, to provide balance and to keep on doing… This is what you need. Just keep up the good work and keep on trying to fix what is wrong with you. Take breaks. You will be all right.

Our Battleship, Their Losses

The sharp bow of the incoming Azen warship could have been a modern staff to the modern Moses. It cut through the current, the waves of the Northern Seas. And to anyone on board the ship, it would have felt like they were riding on the back of the Behemoth of the Bible. The monstrous vessel, carrying guns of massive calibers mounted into turrets as great as bunkers, overcame the waters. It made her way towards Donnerland. This was the only battleship of Azenyanistan. And she had come a long way. An Eimeria-class battleship.

Several days were spent on traveling. On coming from her home port at Nyra to the very area of operations of the Azen fleet.

The crew women and men and their respective officers could see, with the help of their binoculars and fixed optics on the railings of the ship, the remaining forces of the Azen order of battle coming ashore. And pushing. Nothing was stopping the men and equipment from getting onto dry land.

Then the orders to get into position to fire and man battle stations were barked from the speakers of the Combat Announcement System or CoASYS. It was pronounced as koh-ah-sis.

The ship sailed quite smoothly for such a heavy lady. It took her several minutes to get in range but once it did, everyone and everything had been prepared. All combat ready. All arms on stand by.

Her commanders were Azen and Portean. Her Captain was an Azen who went by the name of Spirit ur Cimarron ur Nyra. Her second in command was an Azen and a Portean by virtue of her parents. She was Undilah ur Yokoyama ur Azenyanistan. The Executive Officer of the battleship of Azenyanistan.

Spirit looked ferocious and her uniform was disguised by the naval combat vest she wore and her sand colored hair was hidden by the gray but thickly protected helmet. Her eyes took their places behind a pair of bright orange shades and her lips and noses remained behind the dignity of a red and white shemagh. She later showed her full, nude lips and her tiny nose when she let her shemagh loosen from her motioning her neck.

As for Undilah, she too shared a ferocious touch to her own self. For she had spent much, much time with the Captain. She stood by her side, to her left hand, as the Captain watched the events on the shore. As her Executive Officer or XO, she kept her respectful silence and her own vigilant watch, reflecting on their briefings before they set sail. Her eyes were usual for a Portean and so was her skin and the way she postured herself. Only her lips and the way she frowned at what she saw divided her from her foreign blood.

An alarm sounded. A sailor on the bridge informed them “Captain, we are all ready. Awaiting orders.” Captain Spirit nodded and said “Excellent. Stand by.” She turned to her XO “Undilah, are you all right?” The XO nodded and said, turning to her Captain “Yes, Sir. I am. But why wait?”

The Captain looked at her. She seemed to be willing her to remember something. And so she did. The XO said “Ah, right. The Porteans. You’re waiting for them. Why not just give the orders now and inform them as you conduct the operations?” The Captain replied, nodding to a sailor who handed to Spirit a handwritten report about incoming instructions from the Azen High Command “I could. But I was instructed to wait. Salade II said so. And you know we are supposed to be under Portean naval orders.” She sighed as she scanned the orders and folded them thrice and then put them in her pockets. The XO made a guess

“Still hurt from the demotion?” She made sure she spoke softly so she would not be overheard. The bridge was busy. It would slow down soon but she still had to be discreet. The captain nodded and whispered in return “Yes but that is not so important compared to this mission. We have a lot on our plate. Our fire missions are vital to the ground operations. If we support Journey and Salade II then we get to help the secure the Eastern Bay and keep it that way. We need ground for our supplies and to keep them coming. That and ground for the rebels to catch their breaths.”

The Captain then found a seat and gave a gruff statement “We just need to do our jobs right and for the right objectives.” She looked at the landing forces. And she gave one comment to her XO “They're in a hurry.”

Field Generals and Supreme Commanders

Salade II thought she was prepared for many things. She was but she was not prepared for this one. She knew that she and Ayza had concerns for Journey after Yra but… Getting this from Ayza? She did not want to doubt her commander in chief and she asked herself if she had done so. She thought no and she looked again at the letter of instruction and answer.

The contents remained the same. The orders remained clear. And so it was that Salade II thought it over again. Not minding the pile of reports that were increasing on the hood of the IFV close to her and not minding the ringing of her personal combat phone, she came to the thought that maybe Ayza was just trying to do what was best. Ayza told her to keep an eye on her. On Journey, one of her best commanders. Salade II then thought that it was not going to be so bad. She felt that, as she thought more, it was really necessary.

She then returned to the reality of war.

Soraught, Southern Donnerland

Rebel Stronghold

Women, men and children fight
they were dying side by side
And the blood they shed upon the streets
was a sacrifice willingly paid

Uprising

Spirit,soul and heart. The only things that were in grand quantities for the rebels of Azulnish blood. As if they could be quantified. Arch Angel Killjoy Flyer was inspecting her fighters again. Men, women and children. They were as old as 50 and as young as 7. She would have turned them away but they refused to go back. And she had to think more about her own fighters who were better and were at least 17-49 years old.


She really hoped that she did not have to lead people as young and as old as she has now under her command. But they were many of them.
They were all volunteers or were too desperate to do anything else.

Ten minutes later, she rallied her troops. She counted 2500. She could form 10 companies out of these survivors. She had several platoons of more experienced fighters and squads of her own sisters from the Angels, the Arch Angels and some fighters who crossed into Donnerland before and during the conflict. She still frowned but warmth came to her heart.

She divided them into companies. And she assigned their leaders to them. Afterwards, she told them to wait as she called her officers. She told them what they needed and wanted to hear and assigned to them their responsibilities. Then she dismissed them, allowing them to return to their men.

She would only have to wait until the Porteans and the rest of the coalition get closer. And closer, once that happened, the rebels would begin their own operations.

An uprising must happen. She only had to wait for them.

whispers of freedom
Rise up and hear the call
History calling to you

---

The Azen Forces. Eastern Bay of Soraught. Southern Donnerland.

Azen forces were reporting several counterstrikes from Donnish tanks, infantry and helicopters.

They also reported that the Donnish seemed to be pushing them back. The Azens didn't like that.

According to their orders of battle, the Azens had several helicopter gunships, artillery, infantry, supply vehicles, tanks in reserve still. Not everything or everyone was actually on the Eastern Bay. And fortunately for them, that meant that the Azens could survive.

It all just depended on the Azen officers and their subordinates and on their fighting spirits.

The answers came from the Azens themselves already fighting the Donnish. It seemed onerous for them and for their leaders who were observing their situation. Onerous it may really seem… But Field General Journey, Bloodstone Captain Raizarah and Supreme Commander Salade the II would refuse to see it that way.

It was obvious to the Azens that the Donnish would be doing this to crush them. To drive them back to the sea or to destroy every one of them. This would be disastrous to the coalition.

No way, they all thought.

---

For Field General Journey, her forces were the closest to the enemy. She had her infantry, her armor and her vehicles. Journey also had some light artillery for herself. She could call on helicopter and other air support but she did not want to risk them with all the Donnish coming her way. She would have to wait until whatever assets the Donnish had were completely destroyed.

Journey commanded her forces to gather together so they would be strong and once accomplished, she told them to strike back. Not at the center but at the flanks. Her infantry were excellent on the offensive. She trusted them to their objectives. Meanwhile, she ordered the vehicles and the armor to back them up. She kept the rest of her forces at the center, with her artillery providing smoke as cover for the attacking units. While she did that, she called for more artillery and she got them, using them to provide continuous smoke.

For the Bloodstone Captain Raizairah, all she had were her armored fighting vehicles. Whatever they may be, be they Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Armored Personnel Carriers, Main Battle Tanks or even Fire Support Vehicles, she used them. She had some infantry and more artillery than Journey and she put them all to the test. Half of her artillery provided smoke while the other half fired round after round that was meant to answer the Donnish artillery as well. Her tanks and her vehicles continued to push forward into the enemy, her infantry following or striking from the sides. And like Journey, she was cautious about calling in air support.

It was up to Raizairah though. It was up to her to destroy the enemy AA. To blow their SAM sites clear for airstrikes and to be the advancing guard of the coalition in the damned Eastern Bay.

So, it was up to her to call the ships for their help. They had missiles and they had their guns. And the battleship just came. So the Bloodstone Captain grabbed her radio, as she and her forces again fought the Donnish, and called for their assistance. Before that, she had ordered her forward observers to mark targets and she also asked Journey to tell her own men to spot targets. Journey did so for her men.

Once targets were spotted (The Azens focused on the high places because they were assaulting them in order to take them from the Donnish), the commanders on the bay sent them to the ships.

Several minutes later, the messages got to the ships. The ships then prepared their weapons except the battleship. The battleship opened up early, her largest guns and her rockets flying out of their pods and towards the bay. But soon enough, the rest of the ships joined with their missiles and their own guns.

In other words, the Azens answered the Donnish counter attacks with artillery and assaults using infantry, armor and vehicles.

[Saradena]

Near the Donnish Coast

---

Following the initial barrage, much of the Donnish defenses in Soraught were hit and destroyed, but that was clearly not enough for the Donnish to break and retreat. Even until now, according to Portean and Azen comms, it was clear that there is still heavy resistance coming from the Donnish as the Coalition Forces push up the beach.

"Tough bastards.." remarked the Admiral, after listening to the communication line. "We need to speed this damn assault or the assault force could be compromised if we bog down here."

Meanwhile, some of the Esgonian aircraft were still in the air, either on the way to engage their targets, or assist Portean aircraft who are attacking their Donnish counterparts. The two E/A-18G EW aircraft continued to loiter around Soraught, protected by fighters, in an effort to jam enemy communications and missile guidance while SEAD aircraft begin attacking radar sites with HARM missiles. Two E-2D Surveillance Aircraft begin mapping out the situation around the city, flying from an altitude of 30,000 ft, locating enemy vehicles and aircraft, and transferring information back to the Esgonian Fleet, where the fleet then passes it to the Coalition to provide them with information that could help them greatly.

With information gathered from the E-2Ds, the Admiral and his Vice begin discussing on which to target next and where should their aircraft strike next.

The Vice Admiral suggests to attack the airport, as they are at risk of being used by the Donnish Air Force as a refueling and rearming station, along with its radar dome but does not suggest using aircraft to attack it, fearing the Donnish may have already been placing Anti-Aircraft Defenses all over the place.

"Then we could use the Tomahawks to destroy the runways and the control tower, along with hangars and fueling stations." he said. Relying on the mapping data from the E-2Ds, he plots coordinates for Tomahawk strikes, and then relaying it to the rest of the fleet.

"Hakone, Kakadu, you are to launch Tomahawks at these coordinates. Deny the Donnish Air Force of any safe landing zones and keep them blind."

"Affirmative. Launching Tomahawks."

The crew members shouted orders throughout the ship, others scrambled and prepared for missile launch, once they were authorized to do so, they begin launch sequence.

"Tomahawks ready for launch. Targets confirmed."
"Ready....3...2...1....Turn!"
"Turning!"
"Turning!"
"Turning!"

The fire control officers turn their keys for the launch sequence, which they then press the button to launch the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, one missile at a time, heading towards the airfield.

"Missile Launched!"
"Missile Launched!"
"Missile Launched!"
"Missile Launched!"
"Confirmed, missiles in the air, heading for targets. ETA 10 Minutes."

The crew on board the deck of Huragan could see the 5 Tomahawks as they launch from the Guided Missile Destroyers and onto their targets in Donner Land. Following the launch, the Admiral informs the Huragan that a squadron of MRFs would be on CAS duty, along with the Sadako, with her rail guns, as artillery support, protecting Portean and Azen Marines as they push forward.

---

Imperial Palace, Vanquaria

As soon as the introductions were finished and the Vanquarian Autarch makes his leave, greeting his friends. The two diplomats sit down onto the table as their body guards were being posted outside, only ordered to enter the palace should anything happen to the two. As stated by Esic, Johann places the briefcase on the table while Karen looks around them, surveying the entire area. "As expected of the Vampires, making foreign events flashy and lavish. Trying you best to hide them abuses, aren't you?" she says to herself, noticing the large amount of Special Forces personnel around the hall, the orchestra playing music for the guests, and the servants ready to serve them. But she holds her tongue, as she wasn't here to cause any hostility. As she looks around, she noticed the lack of representatives from the Coalition, minus them and the Azens.

"Hey, Johann. Do you find it strange that we, and the Azens, are the only Coalition representatives in this conference?" she turns and whispers to Johann.

"Eh, they're either coming in late, or they won't bother their arse getting here, knowing Vanquarians." He whispers back. For now, they would wait until the conference starts, and possibly for the other delegates to arrive; if anyone else would come.

[Azenyanistan]

The Donnish believe that we underestimate them. They are wrong to believe that. They say the coalition underestimates them. They are wrong. We do not underestimate them. Before they betrayed us, they showed to us their military power even if it was limited to special forces and some of their finest aircraft and their crews. Now that they have become traitors to us and to their own allies from before, they are showing us their Rangers.
Their finest ground forces. They have helicopters, artillery, fixed-wing CAS and so much more. They're taking on the entire world. And we are here.

The Donnish are wrong. Our country can beat them. The coalition can take them on. Nothing else besides a stalemate or the defeat of the Donnish shall be accepted.

- Azen High Command

---

Eastern Bay. Several minutes into the fighting, the Azens received new orders. From the High Command itself, most especially from Supreme Commander Salade the II, the orders were to stop attacking and to start defending. The orders were basically to hold the line. But this was not a popular set of instructions.

At first, many of the junior and senior officers questioned if not protested these orders. But once Salade II spoke to all of them via radio that if they did not hold the line, they would lose more men from attacking than from defending. The Supreme Commander also notified them that she had asked for CAS, artillery support, intelligence and all other help from the Esgonians. She also told them that the Ratteans were sending troops to help them too. That they were going to arrive at any time to help them fight the Donnish. So after that, the officers obeyed.

It did not take too much time. But the units too close to the Donnish had to return to the Azen lines. And so covering fire and a massive fighting retreat came into existence. For Bloodstone Captain Raizairah and even Field General Journey, they were so frustrated at the orders but they understood. The two officers joined forces and made sure that their troops and equipment could get back to where they had the advantage.

While all that was being done, the Azen battleship continued to provide heavy artillery support. Her guns screamed and her missiles and her rockets flew out of their pods and launchers. Ammunition was being used up very quickly. But thanks to the heavy presence of Azen supply ships, the battleship continued to provide a vigorous bombardment.

Ultimately, the Azens stopped attacking, started to hold their positions, pulled back if needed and allowed their artillery to do the job. Air support was still too risky. But the Azens were happy with artillery. So they contacted the warships of the coalition. And their message?

GIVE US SOME ARTILLERY SUPPORT PLEASE.

[Empire of Donner land]

???, Northeast of Bogt, Donner Land

---

9/16/2015

As the new and fresh General watched over the Battlemap among other officers in the Bunker, he could only remember the words of Keenes. He saw the photos and video as they came, the destruction, the Coalition, and the Donnish Forces were tearing the city, and its surrounding wilderness into a war zone, a hell, he thought a prayer for any civilian caught in the fighting. Buildings were collapsed, on fire and demolished. Suddenly, he did not feel he wanted the promotion to First Star Xhughere. In the buzzing and bumbling room, lit by only blue-white monitors and holograms, covered in officers and enlisted alike, he singled out a person staring at him square in the face. Keenes stood across from him, waiting.

Frensan Derehg, knowing full well what he wanted to do, and what Keenes knew he was going to do, left without words to his office with mouth agape officers behind him, confused and bewildered. Words seeded in his mind had led him to this conclusion, the images, face first, sealed it. Had the pressure and stress gotten to him? Was he unfit for command? Does he need a break?

Yes, he thought.

In his office, behind his paper strewn desk, he sat, where for the past hours he had been thinking, not about strategy or war, but what had Keene asked of him, the consequences, the deaths, his own mortality. Was it all worth it in the end to prolong a war of which the only product would be more death and destruction, where the outcome is already decided. A sinking ship. As he thought, resting his head on his hands the door opened and closed quickly.

"Have you decided, Frensan?"

"I relinquish my command of the Soraught Theatre to you, sir. Tell them I have allowed a full retreat from the city to a designated fallback line." His voice was defeated but also grateful that it was over almost.

"Do you know what happens next?" Keenes asked.

"Yes sir, I do," Frensan said, straightening up, looking as though he was facing death, looking at him in the face. No emotion, no fear. His voice was blank and monotone, with cracks of emotion.

"You've made your peace then," Keenes asked, arms behind his back with a sympathetic look.

"I have, sir." His face was pale like he was about to face the firing squad, guilt fell on his shoulders like lead weights. Yet with his strength, he was able to sit straight.

"Voy will be informed shortly, he'll be angry." Keene's implication did not surprise or shake Frensan.

"I've made my peace, sir," Frensan said once more. Keenes looked down, away from Frensan, then back to him, he was still unshaken. He made his way to the door, but before opening it he looked back to Frensan, he remained the same, no cracks.

"You're a true Patriot, Frensan." Keenes said, then opening the door and exiting with the doorway left open. As he walked down the hall back to the Strategy Room a loud bang echoed and resounded off the concrete walls, Keenes did not flinch physically, but his mind had second doubts. It was all for the good, no matter the costs. Frensan's sacrifice was one of them. As he entered the War Room, the Officers eyed him, as he did not return with Frensan, he walked up and delivered the new orders with haste.

---

Outside, near the entrance, three Donnish Soldiers approached with what seemed to be a captured intruder, they were Azulnish, as noticed by the darker skin tone. Two guards stood at the entrance in front of them and spoke in Donnish. "We haven't gotten anything about intruders or alarms, what's this then?"

[Urran]

Soraught, Urrranese Marine Detachment 8 and Red Flight

Quiet.....quiet....silence as scary as the mangled, twisted sounds of war. Some soldiers say it is the whistling of a mortar. Other, the roar of a jet engine overhead. Still others the DATDATDATDAT of the machine guns, and others even still the low growl of enemy armor. Really, the silence is the scariest. It is the not knowing. The thought that just around the corner you could meet your maker. Not knowing if this next breath will be your last.

Toshii Nigata, along with the rest of the Marines and Donnish defectors, civilians, and Azen rebels alike hunkered down. He closed his eyes tightly and took a few even breaths. His ears were still ringing from the repeated use of his weapon, as well as the IFV firing right above him and the gunshots of his colleagues at close range.

Was....that it? The fire....had stopped.

Around the encampment, troops began to stir. An M27 gunner lifted his head just a little above the parked car he had been using as cover. The roof hatch of a K21 opened and the commander stuck his head out. All over camp the Urranese were trying to get a fix on the enemy.

Toshii leaned out from behind his IFV and stood up a little, though was still crouched, scanning the other side of the street, beyond their makeshift perimeter. Nothing.

"Nigata! PSSST! Nigata!" He looked over to a group of three Marines across the sidewalk, using a fountain for cover. It was now chipped and cracked from the bullets it had taken. They were whispering loudly, really whisper talking to him, also trying to see over the barricade, though they were scrunched up as close to the fountain as they could get, hiding behind it as best they could.

Toshii looked over towards them and whisper talked back. "Yeah?" he replied hoarsly.

"You see anything?" the other soldier asked him.

Toshii craned his neck again. Nothing. Everything was silent as the grave except for the slow falling snow and the crack of fire set by the cannons.

Another soldier came out of the IFV and slapped him on the shoulder, having been close enough to hear the conversation. "Thermal's got nothing." he said.

"No....no...we don't have anything." Toshii replied to the troops across the square.

"You got room over there?" Another one of them hoarsly whispered. They were tired of being shot at and covered with concrete dust. An IFV was a better bullet sponge than a concrete fountain.

Toshii glanced behind him. Only three other soldiers were behind or in the vehicle, not counting the crew. "Yeah! we'll cover you!" he replied, waving them over.

They each picked up their rifles and ran, keeping low as they could until they crossed the square and came to hunker down behind Toshii, panting and checking themselves.

"Bugger!" one remarked, grunting a bit.

"What is it?" his friend asked, looking him over. He had a hole in his right shoulder that was turning the fabric around it progressively red. With the adrenaline, he had not noticed the hit.

"Get him inside and lay him down!" the vehicle commander shouted as he came running to the rear ramp. "Medic!" he called.

Toshii helped bring him in but went back out. The eerie calm had everyone on edge.



"Where did they go...." Lieutenant Saito said aloud from inside his command vehicle, looking over the data displayed on the vehicle's many screens. It did not make sense. He clutched his radio in his hand and used it to call up to Red Flight.

"Saito to Red Leader. What have you got up there?" he asked, not breaking contact with his command displays for a moment.

"Dons are bugging out. Looks like a full scale retreat." the pilot on the other end replied.

Saito shook his head in disbelief and made a small noise that was half scoff, half chuckle of disbelief. "Right. Stay on hand. PUH-lease."

"Haha. You got it boss man. Growlers say enemy jamming letting up. Feel free to call home."

"Roger." Saito replied and stepped out of the vehicle to take charge.

"Listen up! Get any wounded into the vehicles and get the civilians out of cover! We have comms back so I am going to call for evacuation of all nonessential personnel. Once we've done that, we'll join up with the Porteans and head with them towards the airport where we'll join up with the rest of 1st Marines. Let's get to work." he ordered, though unlike some officers, he got his hands dirty and set to helping his men clear a landing zone for choppers.

The civilians were being pulled out of the sewers and the few wounded that there were, treated.

Toshii got up and went over to a manhole cover with a few of the other soldiers. They were taking civilians two at a time from the sewers and passing them to another soldier to show them where to go. Two lines of two soldiers. One on each side of the cover. Occasionally a child needed to be packed back to parents or into the warmth of a vehicle. Toshii reached down and plucked a scared, cold, miserable looking little boy from the blackness and handed him off to a fellow soldier. This is why he was a Marine.

Meanwhile, help had been called in. A flight of MV-22B transports had just finished dropping off an an invasion force of Marines were now on there way to evacuate the wounded, civilians, and defectors. Thankfully, no one had died, though there were a number of injuries, two critical ones. They all wondered if the Donnish had gotten off as easy.

Red Swallows

"BEAUTIFUL! What a hit! Target destroyed!" Hooted one of the Urranese pilots in reaction to a successful missile strike on an attacking F-15. Then, a second explosion and a third. Two planes had fired missiles, three enemy planes had been destroyed and dissipated from radar. The AF-2000 had just earned its very first kill and it was an Urranese pilot that accomplished it.

"Right! Don't get cocky. There is now way to tell what they could send up after us next...." Their squadron leader cautioned. "We've been tasked with hunting and destroying enemy AWACS. Let's get to work."

"Aye Sir!" all nine of the other pilots barked in unison. They split up into teams of two, five teams each, all hunting a different area for Donnish radar planes. Any ground radars would be marked for strikes by other fighters.

East Bay

The Urranese commanders were quite shocked. The Donnish seemed to be retreating back to different strong points to fortify, leaving Soraught to be taken by coalition forces.

Though not landing completely unopposed, far from it actually, the Urranese found that, only a few hours into the invasion, the Donnish were pulling back and resistance was light.

The Uranese ground troops deployed quickly, armor, along with infantry and mobile mortar and artillery support, and air cover formed the spearhead, moving towards the airport.

5,000 ground troops in all. Injuries and light losses had been sustained, but given the Donnish retreat, losses were far lower than anticipated.

For the time being, the Urranese made no move to chase the Donnish beyond the airport. Their main objective was to capture it to allow troops, weapons, and heavy equipment to be brought in for a ground war and an escalation of the air war.

Currently most of the Urranese carrier's air wing were airborne flying support missions. Urranese was even considering bringing in a second carrier. It was the largest deployment of Urranese troops in modern times, and they were just getting started.

[Azenyanistan]

THE AZEN FORCES

2015

EASTERN BAY, DONNERLAND

THE AZEN BEACH HEAD

COMMANDING OFFICERS: BLOODSTONE CAPTAIN RAIZAIRAH

FIELD GENERAL JOURNEY

SUPREME COMMANDER SALADE II

"What the fuck?" An Azen Ayrran scout asked herself as she looked through her binoculars again. "What the fuck are they doing?" She thought she saw Donnish soldiers leaving their positions. Some vehicles, she spotted them on close to the high places or on the high places, were reserving, turning and leaving. The scout looked around her, putting her binoculars down. No one around her. Her area was clear. She looked at the Donnish again. "Am I seeing this correctly?" One minute after, she noticed herself running back to Azen lines, her binoculars rocking from her neck as she carried her SMG in one hand and a radio in another.

She made it back to Azen lines in ten minutes. She passed by many Azen troops who were holding their positions. Many Azen armored fighting vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles were also in position, their weapons quiet. Armored personnel carriers were also silent, engines low. The scout first reported to her own CO via radio. After that, she was told that she was relieved. The scout wanted to feel relieved but for some reason, she felt that she wanted to get back there. She could have tagged some targets or maybe kept an eye out for any bastardly moves from the Donnish. But instead, she accepted the relief order and returned to her unit to meet up with the scout who would give her some rest.

The scouts CO, after confirming what she found out with a recce drone and another scout, made her way from her post to the main command post of the Azen forces. She handed in her report, handwritten quickly, to a lieutenant. The lieutenant then let her go and passed it on to a major. The major then passed it to the Bloodstone Captain Raizairah.

Raizairah gave the report a really quick look. Then in a minute or two, she met Field General Journey and Supreme Commander Salade II.

The two greater commanding officers of the Azen forces were inside a large tent. Around them were lieutenants and majors and other essential personnel to the two. Journey was seated while Salade II was leaning with her back to a post.

Journey was giving her rifle a field strip while Salade was sipping some coffee. It was her second cup. And Journey was almost done. Raizairah told them about the report but gave it finally to Salade II.

Now, all the passing and all the moving around was unncessary. But it was protocol. Salade and Journey already were informed via radio. It was quicker than the passing and moving of the report. But it made sense. It had to be confirmed by hand.

Journey commented "Could be a ruse. If they retreat, then it's that or they have a goal in mind. Are they going to go back to Soraught?" Salade II shook her head and, tapping the report with her hand, her cup on the table. She said "Don't think so. Got word from coalition that the Dons are just moving back, moving back, moving back. They're leaving the city. Urranese and Porteans possibly advancing. Eastern Bay is open to us and Urranese forces."

Raizairah kept her mouth shut as Journey said, giving her rifle the finishing touches of a decent field strip "Okay. So what's the plan?" Salade II sighed and grabbed her cup. She gestured to Raizairah to a vacant chair. Raizairah shook her head and remained standing. This gave her a look from Salade II that begged her to sit down.

The Supreme Commander of Azen Forces just finished her coffee and then said to Journey "Plan is to take the infrastructure we can grab. You all can hear the Urranese moving. We're not. So what do we do? Grab the highways, the fuel stations, the train stations, etc. Docks too if we can get a chance at them." Journey smiled and asked "Think the coalition will ever let us get stuff for ourselves? Let the Azens score some points?" Salade II frowned at Journey and said "Get your head around the job. We will have to take some locations. We have to gain some objectives." She then added with much needed emphasis "For the coalition and for Azenyanistan." And the two repeated "For the coalition and for Azenyanistan."

One hour later, Salade II gave the orders from the top to the bottom of the Azen Forces. The orders were to advance, to overtake the positions of the Donnish and to secure bridges, highways, docks, train stations, fuel stations and other vital assets to the land. Salade II also, privately, told Journey to handle being in the reserve and taking care of the rear. This made Journey feel a little left out and obviously frustrated that she can't get her 1st Infantry Division, herself too, into the fight.

As for Bloodstone Captain Raizairah, Salade II told her to be the first. The pointman. Now, for Azens, to be a pointman at anything was considered very impressive. And dangerous. Being a pointman almost always meant getting injuries or losing men. The Bloodstone Captain cheerfully accepted it.

Minutes later, the Azen Forces moved out. Their vehicles led the way. The infantry rode on the tops of their vehicles or followed. Of course, the vehicles went faster. And most of all, the tanks.

Soon, there would be reports coming in from the Azen Forces to the coalition that they are advancing, that the Azen Forces are taking losses as they moved forward and that the Azen Forces were indeed eager to capture the necessary objectives.

The Azen Forces, as far as they could be observed, were pushing to grab the highways first. The high places were secondary while the tertiary objectives were to keep the beach head open for the Azen Navy. The Navy was bringing in more supplies and men. And the battleship sang.

Her pretty guns and beautiful missiles as well as her gorgeous rockets giving the Eastern Bay their best performance.



IN SUMMARY: Azen Forces moving to overtake Donnish positions. Taking necessary objectives (highways, train stations, etc). Battleship providing more artillery support. Navy bringing in more men and supplies.

[The United Remnants of America]

Agent Abbas Merzhad

---

Northeast Of Bögt, Donner Land

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9/16/2015 - 05:45

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Abbas' arms were zip-cuffed behind his back. Cross and Banshee each held one of his arms while Sage led the group. The four Marshals had decided that they would just try and bluff their way through the base. They didn't have the time, resources, or intelligence to do anything else. The risk factor was immensely high doing this.

"We haven't gotten anything about intruders or alarms, what's this then?"

They were speaking Donnish. Shit. Sage glanced back at the the other Marshals, and Banshee gave a reassuring nod. He was the only one who spoke Donnish other than Abbas, but since Abbas couldn't necessarily talk for the group, that mean Sage would have to try.

Sage gave both of the Donnish guards a hard look, "That would be because he's not an intruder. This Azulnish has critical war information for General Keenes. We were ordered to take the informant to him immediately with as little interruption as possible.

The guards shared a look and the one who questioned them tilted his head, "Okay. What information does he know?"

Sage didn't blink, "We can't discuss that to you, soldier, unless you've suddenly become General Keenes." Sage decided a little elitist would help in this situation.

The guards shared another look and shrugged. They were just grunts, who were they to question shit so far above their pay grades? Who were they to question General Keenes? The guard nodded, "Alright," he reached in an opened the door, "Go through."

The four Marshals silently strode through the door without another word and entered a hallway. A glance around told them nothing. There were no signs, which made sense. Military bases usually didn't have a sign that said "you are here" and "your objective is here."

They began walking down a random hallway in search of... Anything, really. But luckily, two minutes later, a young lieutenant, or an eluenst, was walking by and Sage reached out to stop him.

"Eluenst. Do you know where General Keenes is?"

The eluenst was looking as a folder, but stopped and looked up. The three Donnish in nondescript uniforms with an Azulnish prisoner. "Um... Down this hall, take two lefts... He should be in the strategy room."

Sage nodded and thanks the eluenst, sending him back on his way as the Marshals moved down the hallway. It took them only a couple minutes to reach the strategy room, which was controlled chaos of personnel and computer screens. But one man stood more or less in the center of the room with the air of authority about him. The group approached him, getting suspicious glances and looks from others that they passed by.

"General Keenes?" Sage started, "We need to speak with you. In private. This Azulnish has critical information about the eastern front for you."

[Urran]

Soraught, Airport

An Urranese tank forced its way through the chain link fence and onto the airport grounds. It was the first piece of coalition ground equipment to enter the primary objective and was soon followed by infantry and other combat vehicles.

Urranese Navy fighters circled overhead. The Urranese Marines and their coalition allies had successfully captured the valuable port city. The airport had sustained damage to its radar facilities, but those could be replaced temporarily by AWACS and surface vessels until it could be replaced by coalition military radar.

Urranese troops had already set up a number of checkpoints throughout the city. 5,000 Marines was quite a bit, but even more troops were slated to be deployed to help the allies defeat Voy.

Tanks, IFVs, attack helicopters and aircraft, and artillery were all stationed at the airport. Most of the AH-64's and AV-10s that had come in on the LHDs were now touching down on the runways, their ground crews being flown in by MV-22s or CH53Ks.

The sound of boots thumping against the ground could be heard as the Urranese soldiers conducted a flag raising ceremony, raising their own flag high above the airport. Soon it would likely be joined by other coalition flags, but for now, Urran stood alone.


Urran, Ministerial Palace

Deep underground under many many layers of steel, concrete, granite, and other hard, rather impenetrable materials was a war room for the use of the Prime Minister.

It buzzed and hummed, and clicked, a beehive of activity. Aids walked around carrying papers, soldiers guarded the doors, technicians monitored large quantities of data, and Prime Minister Nakajima, her advisors, and military commanders stood over a holographic map of the city of Soraught, explaining the plans and deliberating on their next course of action.

"So, as you can see Minister, the airport is now under Urranese control. We are requisitioning all civilian aircraft for troop and cargo transport to aid or military cargo haulers. We have set up defenses here. Here. and Here." A general explained, pointing to different parts of the airport with a wooden stick. "We are basing our Marine attack helicopters and aircraft out of it now, though the LHDs will maintain a few of their troops transports and utility helicopters. All carrier based aircraft are going to remain with her." He stood back and waited for a response.

Prime Minister Saki looked over the map a bit, scrolling it out to sea where the coalition fleet was. "Kaga cannot keep up operations alone can she?"

"No ma'am." Grand Admiral Yamato explained, leaning in to point out a few things. "But there are other coalition carriers in the area, and Gigan is on her way with two frigates and another destroyer to bolster Kaga. Two carriers, combined with the rest of the coalition should be able to support the entire ground campaign."

"From a naval point of view?"

"Yes ma'am, Air Force fighters are already on their way with the ground troops."

"And our submarine, is she ready?"

"Right ma'am. The cruise missile launch modules have been replaced by Type IV ICBMs equipped with the warheads that you requested."

Saki paused for a bit, looking over the map, examining the check points. "In your honest opinion, is the 20,000 troops Urran has pledged going to be enough?" She looked up to see what her advisors would say.

"Well Minister, they may be too much. Donner Land is so far away, and the other countries have pledged far larger numbers of troops. I think that the expense in terms of finances to get them there and sustain a war, let alone the cost of lives and equipment is wholly unnecessary." One of her civilian advisors chimed up.

"I disagree. If we do not do all that we can do, within reason, we will be seen as weak by the international community." An Air Force Sky Marshal remarked.

"War is expensive Prime Minister, perhaps we could begin pulling out soon after more coalition troops arrive and switch to a support role."

"And be known as the nation that abandons her allies when they need her most? I think you know where I stand, Minister."

Saki rubbed her chin and thought about for a minute or two. "I refuse to be known as the Urranese Prime Minister, who let an international bully scare us away because fighting him was too costly. Send 25,000 troops. As many as we can spare. We WILL fight, and we WILL win. We are Urranese. Honestly, where is your samurai spirit?" She huffed.

Her ind was made up, Urran had been on the back burner of the international stage for entirely too long. It was now time that it burst forth with power and dignity to reclaim its place in the sun for all to see.

[Free Asian Ports]

Soraught, Donner Land

The report of machine guns reverberated through the streets in the suburbs of Soraught. For several hours now it had simply ceased to be a city. Now, it was a battlefield. Machine gun and rocket fire periodically exchanged sides, generally split by the city streets. On occasion, there was screaming shortly after an explosion or burst of suppressing fire. It was a war, after all. One the Marines of the 3/32 intended to win.

Kimiko edged closer to the window, rifle at the ready. She could see the flash of a well-dug-in machine gun position, probably fortified by the Donnish Rangers taking cover. This was the real defensive line. The troops they found at the beaches were nothing. If they wanted to get any deeper into the city, something would have to be done about this MG. One of her squads started to open up on the building, their own GPMG and assault rifles buzzing as they dumped their magazines into the sandbagged window. This seemed to shut it up for a moment before it started back up again, switching fire to the Marines that had just traded lead with it.
Kimiko signaled the squad that was with her. They switched their rifles to automatic while the squad’s machine gunner set up his weapon. When the sergeant nodded, Kimiko gestured at the enemy position. The room filled with noise and light as the whole squad started firing at the Donnish position. Puffs of dust and dirt appeared around the dark hole that the enemy machine gunner was hiding in. To the enemy gunner’s credit, he kept his calm this time and switched his fire back to Kimiko’s position. The Marines jumped back from the window as the incoming fire shattered it and tore through the wall behind them.

Dust and drywall flew through the air as concentrated heavy machine gun fire ripped the room apart. Kimiko angrily gestured at the window again, using her head for emphasis. One of the squad’s corporals carefully approached the window. Again, the other squad in the building next to them tried to suppress the enemy gunner. The enemy now made a fatal flaw, switching his fire to suppress the Marines again. As soon as the incoming fire stopped, the corporal popped into the window and raised his rifle. His weapon was equipped with an underslung grenade launcher, an M203. Before the enemy machine gunner could react, he lined up his shot and pulled the launcher’s trigger.

A low *whump* was the sole sound in that moment, and the fat grenade flew clean through the window. The next moment it exploded, and a cloud of dust and smoke billowed out of the building after a fireball. There were some audible screams as debris rained from the blown out window. The machine gun fell silent at last. Kimiko kept her platoon in cover for a moment. There could still be more. At last, a Donnish soldier poked his head out of the door frame on street level. Seeing that the coast appeared to be clear, he waved to his squadmates. Three Donnish tried to make a break for it. Kimiko shouted the order to open fire. The retreating soldiers were riddled with fire from the Portean’s positions of cover. Finally, they were still.

The city grew eerily quiet. There was some sound as equipment hung off of load rigs knocked against each other and rubble shifted as Marines moved about. Kimiko waved up her adjutant. “Tell the APCs to move up and contact the Company HQ. Inform them that we’ve eliminated the fortification and that we’re moving up” she ordered. The man nodded and began talking into his radio set. Kimiko slung her rifle and began moving around the platoon to take inventory. One dead, three wounded including one severely. Most of these were in the initial burst that pinned the platoon for the last few minutes. The city fighting was getting brutal. The Donnish didn’t seem to be giving any ground.

A few wheeled APCs rolled up to the intersection. One picked up the wounded to take back to the field hospital at the dockyard. The engineer units were demining the main attack routes alongside the advancing Marines, but Kimiko’s unit had no such help and was forced to keep their APCs back lest they become ambushed. Kimiko hoped that wouldn’t be the case much longer as she’d been informed that her company would be supported by a platoon of tanks in a couple minutes. In all likelihood, her platoon would get one for their advance to the outskirts.

Kimiko paused for a moment. She again noticed how quiet the city had become. Surely there was resistance elsewhere? She shrugged off the thought and ordered her platoon to advance.

Bay of Soraught

Three fast boats sped across the bay from the direction of the fleet. They headed towards the mouth of the river that led deeper into Donner Land. The water sprayed up around them as they motored at full speed over the water. They bounced lightly on the waves, their hydrodynamic hulls letting them plane over the bulk of it with minimal resistance. Nobody appeared to be on deck, with the crew and their payload buttoned up. Nevertheless, they were all armed to the teeth. Heavy and light machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, and more. Yet more ordnance was hidden below deck. They were not the vessels most powerful weapons.

Inside the lead boat two dozen Special Forces operators huddled together on benches. They were mostly quiet, only making minor chatter. At the front sat a woman wearing similar gear though she was clearly in a different league of operator. She was talking on a satphone in a terse and short conversation with someone on the other end. At last, she gave an affirmation then hung up. She turned around to the assembled commandoes. They hushed while she made her announcement. “That was the Fleet. Friendlies have secured the airport. Enemy forces are pulling back, our way in should be clear” she said with a grin. A light cheer went up as she turned back to the front. The boat was not as lively for the rest of the trip.

MKF Shōhō, Bay of Soraught

Two platoons of FOX operators were kneeling on the deck of the amphibious assault ship. Beside them, three MH-53J Pave Low helicopters were lined up with their rotors spinning. The assault force had been hastily prepared earlier, but now they were set for takeoff. Now that Soraught had been taken, a corridor could be opened to Bogt for the Special Forces on their mission. It was an important one too. Recovering not only friendly assets in the Donnish Capitol but also the rescue of VIPs. The dossier was not specific, as this particular objective was highly classified.

Ritsuko marched down the line, the rotor wash buffeting her the whole way. She was kitted out just like the FOX operators, with all-black fatigues and a load bearing rig with equipment and extra magazines attached to her vest. Like them, she wore a standard composite combat helmet fitted with prototype low-vis goggles. New stuff from back home, apparently good in not just low light conditions but also smoke, fog, dust, sand, and other visual calamities. Not rain or snow, though. The nerds say the thing still hates water. Not that it troubled Ritsuko much.

She reached the end of the line and waved her hand in the air, signaling the operators to board the choppers. Following them onto the last one in the line, she sat down on the seat closest to the ramp. The ramp gunner checked his weapon. They would set down in the newly-captured airfield to refuel, then head straight for Bogt. They would be supported the whole way and beyond by friendly aircraft and naval firepower. That was not exactly guaranteed. If that thought concerned Ritsuko, her face didn’t show it. Her face remained blank as the helicopters took off, turning to Soraught.

[Urran]

Bogt, Donner Land

The Donnish City of Bogt was escaped being invaded. Yet. Its location inland saved it from coalition ground forces, however, as with many Donnish cities of strategic importance, it had been subject to air raids and missile strikes. The coalition had fired hundreds of cruise missiles at Donnish military targets across the country. Many missiles had stricken their targets, others had been shot down by Donnish air defenses. It was safe to say that Bogt and Soraught were, for now, ground zero for the war.

An Urranese RQ-170 stealth drone, a flying wing designed to avoid radar and gather much needed military intelligence was circling high over the city. Urran had long since done away with spy planes like the SR-71 or U-2, holding a pilot's life as too valuable for a recon mission deep inside enemy territory. Its pilot was many thousands of miles away at an Urranese air base in Urranese Cyprus.

The craft had many onboard sensors at its disposal and was using them to full effect. Synthetic aperture radar, infrared and thermal cameras, signals intelligence equipment, all were working in tandem to build up a full picture of what was happening in the city in real time.

In addition to the pilot, who himself was well versed at interpreting the data, several intelligence officers listened in and decoded text messages, satellite, and phone conversations across the city, trying to figure out who was where and what the Donnish actually knew.

"Okay, zoom in there. That looks like the Portean Embassy....have you identified any more military targets?" a commanding officer asked, leaning over the pilot's shoulder and staring into the screen.

"No ma'am, not inside the city." was the pilot's reply.

"We are specifically looking for missile silos, aircraft, and troop concentration if you see them. But for now your objective has changed. The Porteans are going in for special ops purposes. We need you to stay on station for as long as you can. I know your training drills how much these things cost, but if it comes to the point of getting them the information that they need to get out safely and losing the drone, lose the drone."

"Yes ma'am. I have enough fuel for another twelve hours or so. We buddy fueled with a Navy fighter before proceeding inland but I'm not full."

"Do what you can Lieutenant. Do what you can...."

The intelligence was not only being sent to Urranese command centers, but also to coalition command centers, specifically the Portean command ship near Soraught. Any intelligence gathered would likely be totally invaluable to the war effort.

Soraught

"Alright, back it up, back it up, back it up. Aaaaaaand stop! Hold it!" an Urranese Marine signaled to the driver of a heavy truck to stop and park by the wave of a clenched fist.

A mobile command center had been put in place at the airport near the control tower until a proper one could be built. They had an entire international airport at their disposal, but couldn't really use the command and control facilities because they had been targeted by cruise missiles as a contingency plan in case the landing failed, the airport facilities couldn't be used to launch fighters or bombers against the coalition fleet.

The Urranese soldiers were sweeping through the terminals and lobbies, finding stranded passengers and sorting them by nationality. Those living in coalition countries or in Ashai were placed in one category and the civilian aircraft present would be requisitioned and used to fly them to Urran and from there, to their country of origin. Flights would being as soon as civilian pilots could be flown in on Urranese military aircraft.

Those from outside Ashai were placed into a group in a large terminal to wait for their countries to claim them.

The Donnish were kept in another terminal and were told they would stay until it was deemed safe for them to go out. Essentially they were prisoners until the Urranese turned them out on the streets. Still, the Urranese had brought plenty of MREs and instant noodles, so if the restaurants in the airport refused to open, no one would starve.

Unfortunately, the soldiers could not use the terminal. They were too far away from maintenance and storage facilities to house on duty soldiers. Instead, they were setting up shop in the maintenance and housing facilities for the commercial and private aircraft that had been there. Many were not happy about it, but it did beat getting gunned down on the beach or sleeping in the snow, so no one complained.

AH-64F attack helicopters, UH-1Y utility helicopters, CH-53K heavy lift helicopters, a few MV-22's, and AV-10 VTOL/VSTOL attack aircraft were parked out on the runway. A few were commencing flight operations to move troops and cargo from shore to ship, ship to shore, and to ferry troops around the city. The airport had been fortified with tanks and artillery should the Donnish attempt to retake it. The Marines merely had to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

Soraught was now almost totally under coalition control. The dawn would prove this to be true. An Urranese checkpoint opened up to let a column of Portean APC through. Azen troops patrolled the streets. Urranese fighters circled overhead. Total occupation with large scale military force was the next step.

Urranese EW aircraft were flying signals intelligence missions over the city. Phone conversations were listened to. Electronic messages intercepted. Radio broadcasts listened to. The Urranese were trying to uncover any spies or Donnish soldiers that stayed behind. Hopefully they would soon be revealed by electronic media.

Bay of Soraught.

As one part of the flight deck crew face first crashed into bed, another was waking up to start operations. URS Kaga had taken a lot of strain. She'd been keeping up high tempo operations against Donner Land for some time. Almost all if her fighter and electronic warfare aircraft were airborne at any given moment. Signs had been posted in common areas congratulating the crew on X amount of hours of full scale war combat without loss or serious injury. It did little to cheer the mood, but they were dedicated. Rain or shine. War or nor war. They'd follow through to the very end. That's how the Urranese were.

Relief would soon come, however. The Urranese supercarrier Gigan was nearing Soraught and would soon be within striking distance. Two carriers could halve the work and make it so much easier on the Urranese sailors.

Rear Admiral Aiichi Miyage sat in a command chair and placed a video call to the Portean command. "This is Admiral Miyage of the Urranese Navy. Joint Operations Command recommends ceasing all conventional military activities until we can be reinforced from the mainland. I've ordered all squadrons to switch to defensive counter air and ground attack missions. Offensive operations except SEAD are for now, suspended. I respectfully request that you help us secure the airport." His tone was calm and somewhat pleasing to hear. He had served for a long time and was a man of great wisdom. It showed on his wrinkled face and in his deep us that somehow were gentle, yet commanding all at once.

[Azenyanistan]

Soraught

Azen Azulnish Rebel Alliance

The rebels, when the Porteans and Urranese came, began their own contributions. They did fight. They managed to take down some Donnish positions and they captured some Donnish soldiers. They would have slaughtered them out of vengeance if not for Killjoy. Killjoy wanted things clean. She wanted things done by the book.

Positively for them, they did not have to fight much. The coalition took care of so many things. But the rebels made sure to do their jobs and to do them well. They seized some important buildings, some roads and bridges. And when the coalition came, they gave it up to them. All the rebels wanted was to survive. And survive they did.

Negatively for them, they lost men. Most of them were not meant to fight. But they fought anyway and they died. Now all that is left are hardened survivors. And they followed Killjoy as Killjoy followed Rahatiel.

With the regulars all in Soraught and the bays, she thought she could rest. That her rebels could stop fighting for a while and get everything into perspective, into understanding. She was drinking water just outside a small tent that was occupied by rebel cooks when an Azen officer and her patrol approached Killjoy. They recognized her face but not her uniform. It had been roughened, torn. It went through hell.

The officer said "Arch Angel. I have something for you." The Arch Angel nodded. The officer took a cloth from her pack. The Arch Angel accepted it and she unfolded it. It was the flag of the AARU. She thanked the officer and then she asked "Are there any orders from our country?" The officer said "Yes. You and your rebels will join us. We will occupy Soraught. We will help our allies here."

Killjoy smiled and then said "And the war? Will we punish the Donnish?" The officer shrugged and said "If we can get more men and things here. Our country has been through a lot. We're dealing with a bunch of rebellious tribes and we've reformed into Sishai."

Killjoy stared. And then nodded. Afterwards, the officer and her patrol left her alone to think and to understand and to wonder...what happened and to wonder if her being here was worth all of it.

As she did, she watched allied troops moving around. Porteans. Urranese. Azen. Why were there only little Azens here? Can't they send some detachments from the Eastern Bay into the city? What if the Coalition told them not to go into the city? What's going on?


Eastern Bay

"Soraught's in Coalition hands." Said a lieutenant. Journey nodded and dismissed the lieutenant. Now she was alone in her tent. What to do then? She cursed herself for being placed in a reserve role. And to be away from that city. Why? We should be there too. But what is Salade II doing? Why are we stopping? Or slowing down? Is it because we have to get more men and gear?

She slammed her desk with a fist. The heartland cannot supply. The heartland cannot reinforce. Trade and travel is restricted. Azenyanistan....no, Sishai is dealing with rebels. And she hated that. So much trouble. So much upheaval and all that fucking shit.

Are we not tired of that kind of thing already? Why do we keep on destroying ourselves? She shook her head at all of those questions and she focused on getting her notebook and pen. Once done, she wrote down her plans.

She wanted to get to the city. To find out for herself...what the hell really happened to her tribe. And...if God allows, she will punish the ones who murdered her tribesmen.

[Saradena]

Near the Donnish Coast

---

After hours of fighting, the gunfire and explosions seemed to have lessened. Perhaps the Donnish have retreated? Surveillance from the two Orion aircraft confirms that they are. It seems that they have been ordered to retreat, even the Donnish Air Force were disengaging from the fighting as the Esgonian aircraft were still in hot pursuit of them before being ordered not to pursue targets fearing they might fall into a trap. So, with Soraught slowly being taken into Coalition hands, the aircraft decide to RTB and await back for further tasking.

Back at the Huragan, the admiral was surprised over the fact that the Donnish was letting the Coalition take Soraught instead of fighting. "Have the Donnish already lost the will to fight?" he asks to himself as he sips a cup of his coffee. "Anyways" he tells the communications officer. "Tell the fleet to stop firing. Soraught is in Coalition hands anyway so there's no need to engage. And tell the Reaction Forces that Soraught has been taken. Their landing should go smoothly." the comms officer salutes back and reports the situation to the two fleets coming to Donner Land. One from the MB Randgriz and the main fleet still sailing across the vast ocean from the Esgonian mainland. Meanwhile, they were ordered to stay put until the fleet from Randgriz arrives for any strike missions, and will be able to return back to Randgriz once both fleets arrive.

---

Task Force - A
Approaching Soraught, Donner Land

Coming from MB Randgriz, a collosal offshore base that could be comparable to an Esgonian military city, a small task force consisting of two LHDs, three DDGs, an FFG, and the Musashi, the last-serving Battleship in the Esgonian Armed Forces. Inside the LHD were the initial Esgonian Force to land in Donner Land and support Coalition forces while they wait for the larger fleet to arrive. The proud servicemen and women in the Federal Esgonian Marine Corps were getting uppity for this operation, as they have waited days to get deployed. With the news that Soraught had just been taken by the Coalition within a short period of time, they thought that this war might end in less than a month.

"That easily? Bullshit. What are they, Azens?" remarked one Marine.
"Hey, all we could know, they're preparing some sort of trap for us to come to. Next thing you know, BAM! We're dead" replied another.
"Heh, not with Don'ska on a two front war with the IWA poking them from the side. All we know, this'll be a fucking cakewalk" boasted one of the more 'proud' Marine.

On another compartment in the LHD, there was a different unit assigned a different task. They were wearing different camouflage compared to the other Marines and had more tricked out weapons and gear. They were a mix of EIS Agents and members of the MSTF assigned as the support team to the EIS, as the HUNTR operatives were not available for this task. They totaled 16 inside the room, sitting in their compartment as they review their objectives.

"Alright guys. Let's go over the objectives again." signaled the commanding officer of the group. They were once again briefed about the situation with Voy, and the missing Royal couple from the UoAE. Although the HUNTR team led by Mother had lost contact with the Kaisarine during the helicopter crash, she was still suspected to be in Bogt, possibly alive, but held captive by Donnish forces; worst case being taken with Neuron Voy. If it is confirmed that they both are at the same area, it would be an simpler, but still complex operation, as they would be able to take both at the same time. What worried them now is onwhere they are. For this operation, the team would need to hone their skills from their experience in the Range, and their combat experience in the field, as they know that Voy would always have guards with him, and if either the Kaisar, the Kaisarine, or, hope not, both of them, are with Voy, that would mean fighting them would be even tougher.

As the ship moves towards Donner Land, one of the operatives begins a prayer:

"Agata. Please lead the way.."

---

[Azenyanistan]

Sishanite Checkpoint, Soraught

The Sishanites were lucky at least to have some forces in the city. While they were mostly special forces and rebels, it was what the Sishanites needed to have some kind of force. All the best they had was in the Eastern Bay...or stuck in Sishai, dealing with rebels.

By this time, checkpoints manned and made by the Sishanites made sure that the roads, bridges, highways, etc were all secure for the coalition and in the name of the coalition. Some soldiers felt bitter about it though. One would complain "Why don't we have more people here?" Another would say "The coalition is just using us as their supply dogs." But the rest kept it to themselves or were trying their best to be hopeful, to see some kind of silver lining in being here.

One of the checkpoints reported something. There, the captain had to step unto the road, away from the checkpoint and halt a convoy of IFVs, AFVs and trucks carrying Sishanite troops. She and her men would have let them through but they didn't because the vehicles and the troops carried the emblems of the 1st Infantry Division. They all stopped and from the lead tank came a Commander. The captain was outranked by two levels but she would not let the Commander and her men and her vehicles through the checkpoint. And with a secret gesture, one of the Captains men rushed to call for reinforcements and for help from the Coalition when the Commander began to yell and threaten the Captain. Then the Commander pulled out her sidearm, an SMG, and told the Captain to step aside and to wave them all through. The Captain did not move and her men began to prepare for a confrontation. And without acting on her threats, the Commander returned to her tank, grabbed a radio and contacted Field General Journey.

Nobody knew that the Supreme Commander had sent Unionist officers to arrest the Field General.