A Change of Heart (OPEN, IC, MT)

[Cossack Khanate]

Madavga Airport, Lanorth

Lieutenant Khera was standing in the back of an armored jeep, leading a column of IFVs and two tanks. They arrived at the airport and saw the mounted Frankenlischians. Khera held up a tall arm to signal the column to slow and stop. He ordered his jeep’s driver to drive closer to the mounted Frankenlischian force to greet the commanding officer...

[The Yuktobanian Republic]

Oured
Helmanstend
The Commonwealth

“A new queen, huh? Interesting.”

Reading over the paper, Rose-Marie Tallera nodded to herself as her eyes scanned each line of the message. It seemed that even though the new monarch, Queen Arydex, was not as hesitant as the monarch Rose-Marie originally sent her message to, she was still hesitant about foreign troops. Of course, this was very explainable. She most likely had never heard of the Commonwealth before, and this was a sudden request for the stationing of peacekeepers.

Rose-Marie knew what she needed to do, however. She needed to meet with the Queen herself.

TO: Her Majesty, Queen Arydex of Lanorth
FROM: Deputy Secretary General Rose-Marie Tallera
Subject: Meeting

Greetings.

As stated in your telegram to me, it has come to my attention that you wish to meet in person to discuss the subject of peacekeeping which I had brought up. I can happily let you know that I am willing to meet in person and discuss the specifics with you.

Where shall this meeting take place? I am sure that your military and government wishes to meet in a place that is safe for you. This can be said for my country, where they wish to have me safe and not… you know… perish.

Any recommendations?

- Rose-Marie Tallera

EA-39A Black Widow II
Callsign “Hatchback”
Mach 0.89

“We doing good?”

“Good all across the board, Tachikaba-san.”


“Then let’s continue onward.”

The two seater aircraft known as the EA-39A Black Widow II was a very new aircraft to the Commonwealth arsenal. Possessing high speed engines specifically tuned for fast attacks against ground vehicles, this tactical attack aircraft was the replacement for the F-111s that the Commonwealth still heavily used. The new aircraft carried a heavier payload, was faster, more advanced, had a lower RCS, and housed all of this in an airframe that was only slightly bigger.

This specific aircraft, the EA-39A Black Widow II, was a modification of that aircraft. The base airframe was the A-39A Grey Falcon, which was the nominal tactical attack aircraft version. This EA-39A was a conversion of the A-39 airframe into a powerful electronic warfare version that replaced the bomb bay with a sophisticated radar jamming system that was derived from the replacement for the older AABS-93SK jammer mounted inside the EF-111. Both the EF-111 and the EA-39 shared the same design principle, being conversions of their tactical attack aircraft into jamming “trucks”.

On this specific mission, the 28th EA-39A Black Widow II constructed from the manufacturing center in Tri-Cities, Yuktobania, was being used for a very secret mission. Piloted by one person and having one electronic warfare officer, the aircraft was somewhat roomy. Unlike the F-111, the EA-39 and by extension the A-39 were seated with the pilot in the front and the EWO in the back. In the seat of the EWO, Tsugumi Tachikaba was continuing to monitoring the systems of the aircraft.

“We’re being spiked.”

“Roger. Taking it low.”

The pilot in the front seat maneuvered the aircraft through the valley, flying underneath a bridge as the aircraft zoomed at high speed. Below, a radar installation had gotten wind of them, albeit barely. It was as if they were a ghost.

“Monitoring spike.” Tsugumi stated. “Recording.”

Tasked by none other than Irene Haeusser, the head of the CONI, Tsugumi and her pilot were tasked with penetrating deep into the country of Vonein to gather information on systems that could potentially jeopardize Commonwealth peacekeeping efforts, especially when Lanorth and Vonein were now at war. Using the terrain to their advantage, the EA-39A was followed by two other aircraft, which were Commonwealth F-2F Block 40 Viper aircraft.

Also utilizing their low RCS to their advantage, the F-2Fs were carrying the newest air to air missile in the Commonwealth arsenal. Simply called the “Dragon”, the Dragon was designed to combat not only supersonic threats, but also supermaneuverable and greater threats. It was perfect for the Commonwealth’s needs, and today these two F-2Fs were able to utilize them to their fullest extent. As backup, the F-2Fs also carried the AAM-5B, one of the latest short range air to air missiles the Commonwealth utilized.

“Recording complete.” Tsugumi stated. “This is the 40th emplacement we have recorded the signal from. This does not include the GPS coordinates now marked.”

“Roger that.”

“Let’s leg it back home.”

“Roger.”

As the EA-39 took a left turn, the pilot gently coaxed the stick upward, narrowly hitting power lines as the aircraft accelerated further. The low RCS of the aircraft was working to its advantage, and instead of appearing and staying on radar, the aircraft would simply appear and disappear. Not to mention it was the size of a peanut. This went the same for the F-2Fs behind the EA-39.

As the three aircraft stayed low to the ground, they accelerated. Hopefully, the three would escape Vonein airspace quickly before they got wind of what was happening and why three unidentified aircraft were in their airspace.

[Lanorth]

TO: Deputy Secretary General Rose-Marie Tallera
FROM: Her Majesty, Queen Ayrdex
SUBJECT: Re: Meeting

There are multiple places in Lanorth where we can meet. But in my opinion I think we should go to the city of Norschla in Southern Lanorth. Currently the city has not been hit by the tidal wave of protestors and currently the city is controlled by the Tyronian Armed Forces.

We should meet in the Palace of Norschla, one of my residences during the summer. Believe me it is well guarded and well secured. I hope you find this acceptable.

Kind regards,
Her Majesty,
Queen Ayrdex I of The Greater Kingdom of Lanorth.
Tyronian Imperial Monarch.

TO: Vionna-Franklischian Tyronian Force Commander, Cossack Tyronian Force Commander
FROM: Her Majesty, Queen Arydex of Lanorth

Hello, your right honourable commanders,

I am writing so I can alert you of recent developments. If you were not aware, the Emperor has abducated the throne, leaving me to form a constitutional monarchist form of nation alongside a unitary parliamentary form of Government.

I am yet to decide who is going to be the Prime Minister, but I shall decide soon. That does not mean I do not require your help. I still require your help to deal with these protests, which, in my opinion, are downright unacceptable and are being prolonged further than it needs to be prolonged.

I am coming in to land in under five minutes so I hope you have met up and are ready for my arrival. I wish you the best of health in the forseeable future.

Kind regards,
Her Majesty,
Queen Ayrdex I of The Greater Kingdom of Lanorth.
Tyronian Imperial Monarch.

[Vionna-Frankenlisch]

Madavga, Empire of Lanorth
Madavga Airport

---

Colonel Tellon edged his horse forward as the Cossacks drove onto the landing grounds. The beautiful beast trotted towards the armoured jeep which headed the Cossack column. Tellon, not an entirely able horseman, awkwardly swung down from his mount and approached the car. He saluted the Cossack officer respectfully and held out his hand to be shook.

"Good day, gentlemen," he introduced, "Colonel Henry Tellon, Imperial New Fredericksland Lancers. I suggest we get to business quickly, we've just received a message stating that the Empress will be little more than five minutes." He looked, comically, to the horizon. "In fact, I believe that I can see her plane now..."

[Vonein]

EA-39A Black Widow II
Callsign “Hatchback”
Mach 0.89

“We doing good?”

“Good all across the board, Tachikaba-san.”


“Then let’s continue onward.”

The two seater aircraft known as the EA-39A Black Widow II was a very new aircraft to the Commonwealth arsenal. Possessing high speed engines specifically tuned for fast attacks against ground vehicles, this tactical attack aircraft was the replacement for the F-111s that the Commonwealth still heavily used. The new aircraft carried a heavier payload, was faster, more advanced, had a lower RCS, and housed all of this in an airframe that was only slightly bigger.

This specific aircraft, the EA-39A Black Widow II, was a modification of that aircraft. The base airframe was the A-39A Grey Falcon, which was the nominal tactical attack aircraft version. This EA-39A was a conversion of the A-39 airframe into a powerful electronic warfare version that replaced the bomb bay with a sophisticated radar jamming system that was derived from the replacement for the older AABS-93SK jammer mounted inside the EF-111. Both the EF-111 and the EA-39 shared the same design principle, being conversions of their tactical attack aircraft into jamming “trucks”.

On this specific mission, the 28th EA-39A Black Widow II constructed from the manufacturing center in Tri-Cities, Yuktobania, was being used for a very secret mission. Piloted by one person and having one electronic warfare officer, the aircraft was somewhat roomy. Unlike the F-111, the EA-39 and by extension the A-39 were seated with the pilot in the front and the EWO in the back. In the seat of the EWO, Tsugumi Tachikaba was continuing to monitoring the systems of the aircraft.

“We’re being spiked.”

“Roger. Taking it low.”

The pilot in the front seat maneuvered the aircraft through the valley, flying underneath a bridge as the aircraft zoomed at high speed. Below, a radar installation had gotten wind of them, albeit barely. It was as if they were a ghost.

“Monitoring spike.” Tsugumi stated. “Recording.”

Tasked by none other than Irene Haeusser, the head of the CONI, Tsugumi and her pilot were tasked with penetrating deep into the country of Vonein to gather information on systems that could potentially jeopardize Commonwealth peacekeeping efforts, especially when Lanorth and Vonein were now at war. Using the terrain to their advantage, the EA-39A was followed by two other aircraft, which were Commonwealth F-2F Block 40 Viper aircraft.

Also utilizing their low RCS to their advantage, the F-2Fs were carrying the newest air to air missile in the Commonwealth arsenal. Simply called the “Dragon”, the Dragon was designed to combat not only supersonic threats, but also supermaneuverable and greater threats. It was perfect for the Commonwealth’s needs, and today these two F-2Fs were able to utilize them to their fullest extent. As backup, the F-2Fs also carried the AAM-5B, one of the latest short range air to air missiles the Commonwealth utilized.

“Recording complete.” Tsugumi stated. “This is the 40th emplacement we have recorded the signal from. This does not include the GPS coordinates now marked.”

“Roger that.”

“Let’s leg it back home.”

“Roger.”

As the EA-39 took a left turn, the pilot gently coaxed the stick upward, narrowly hitting power lines as the aircraft accelerated further. The low RCS of the aircraft was working to its advantage, and instead of appearing and staying on radar, the aircraft would simply appear and disappear. Not to mention it was the size of a peanut. This went the same for the F-2Fs behind the EA-39.

As the three aircraft stayed low to the ground, they accelerated. Hopefully, the three would escape Vonein airspace quickly before they got wind of what was happening and why three unidentified aircraft were in their airspace.

National Ballistic Tracking Radar Bolsundorf, Voneinian Space Command

"Sir, we keep getting small returns to our southwest. What even is that?" The radar operator looked up to his commander, who pulled it up on his screen.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's small, and moving fast. Try to get it with some of the smaller air search radars we use for space debris."

"Yes, sir. Do you want me to alert Corrick, sir?"

"Yes, do so at once."

Corrick Air Force Base, Southern Vonein

The only airborne search radar fleet in the nation was located here, along with several variants of the Tigercat fighter jet. A few of them sat at the "Ready Line,' where they are fueled, primed, and the cockpit is open. They are meant to be ready to go within a minute and airborne in less than thirty seconds. The alarm sounded in the distance as different squadrons barracks was alerted. A computerized voice said "SCRAMBLE" "SCRAMBLE" repeatedly as the pilots and ground crews ran to the line of planes, quickly boarded them, and, as the planes quickly took off one after the other, the crews of the AWACS aircraft strolled to their aircraft, slowly preparing for a takeoff.

The fighters rushed towards the valley, trying to intercept anyone before they managed to slip away.

[The Yuktobanian Republic]

EA-39A Black Widow II
Callsign “Hatchback”
Mach 1.0

“Contacts on our behind.” One of the F-2F pilots reported. “Closing in.”

“Let’s hustle and bustle. Last thing we need to happen is the second escape plan coming into action.” The pilot of the EA-39A responded. “Tsugumi, you got everything you need?”

“And more.” Tsugumi answered. “Just in case, I can hit up the jammer.”

“That’ll reveal our location and hit everyone.” The pilot stated. “Save that for last.”

“What do we do then, boss?” The second F-2F pilot responded, their heavy Jaipurian accent very apparent.

“Dive low and use the ground to our advantage. Scatter their radars by clutter.”

“Aye. You lead.” The first F-2F pilot snickered.

Tsugumi held on tight as the EA-39A flew even lower than it was, barely touching the tree tops in the valley as they took a left. Blowing by an anti-aircraft radar, the EA-39A had sufficient thrust to actually knock over the installation before continuing toward a fork in the valley.

Tsugumi looked below at the houses and farms they occasionally passed by. Occasionally squeezing the seat when they passed and almost hit power lines, Tsugumi could at the moment only watch as her pilot conducted some radical maneuvers near the ground, as if he was attempting to hit it but missing.

“Fork ahead.” The pilot stated over the radio. “Let’s split up.”

“Hai.” The second F-2F pilot responded. “I’ll go right. You two go left.”

“Roger that.”

And with that, the quick plan was set. The three aircraft splitting their formation up, The EA-39A and the first F-2F moved left as they accelerated. The second F-2F moved right, further accelerating before turning once again to keep low to the ground.

Due to the aircraft’s close proximity to the ground, they were betting on ground clutter obscuring their image on radar, giving back either many returns or absolutely no returns at all. This, combined with the small RCS the aircrafts had, brought down the odds that were stacked against them.

All they hoped for was to get to the protective net that was the ocean.

F/A-14F
Callsign “Anthrax”
Mach 0.68

To Walt Thugen, this flight was a relatively odd one. Having been his first active mission from land, it truly was something else. The leader of his current squadron, currently named “Squadron 04”, his job after taking off and refueling multiple times over the ocean was to provide a CAP against jets following the three leakers that were currently penetrating Vonein airspace. If the situation went south, then their job was to simply activate their long range radars and spike the enemy aircraft, giving them lock on warnings and hopefully buying time for the three contacts.

Walt slowly moved his control stick to the right, still having trouble adjusting to the newer model. His jet, the F/A-14F, was the ultimate model of the Commonwealth F-14 series. A vast improvement over the -E model that brought many air to ground munitions to the table, the F/A-14F aircraft were totally new builds. They offered even more powerful engines, a very sophisticated radar system capable of tracking targets hundreds of miles away, and a radar cross section comparable to a bird. Starting to replace approximately half of the current F-14Es in service, the F/A-14Fs offered better multipurpose usage than their older self.

This was their first combat debut.

Walt at the moment carried a perfect interceptor loadout. On the underside of the aircraft, four AIM-152A Yalungur air to air missiles, which boasted a increased range compared to the older AIM-54 that the Commonwealth still used. These missiles were in the underside bays, keeping the aircraft relatively stealthy. On the side bays of the aircraft, four of the new missiles called the “Dragon” were loaded, the aircraft having a total of eight missiles on it right now. This loadout went the same for the other 3 F/A-14Fs in Walt’s squadron.

“This is Anthrax to Squadron 04. I have a tally on the bandits.”

“Ricin here. Initiate?”

Walt thought for a moment before watching the blips that were disappearing and reappearing on his radar for a bit. They seemed to split up, while the ones behind them were continuing to follow and chase after the aircraft.

“Light them up.” Walt stated.

The four F/A-14Fs suddenly revealed themselves over the ocean on radar as they switched on their radars and beamed them toward the Vonein aircraft chasing after the Commonwealth planes. Also called “spiking”, the intentional burst of energy from the radars caused the lock on radars on the planes targeted to certainly go off, warning them of missiles that were not actually coming.

It was perfect for the psychological impact.

[Lanorth]

STATE BUILDING FOR THE REGIONAL COUNCIL
SOMEWHERE INSIDE THE VAKKATOR DISTRICT
FAR EASTERN LANORTH

The State Building for Regional Affairs was a large building in the far Eastern regions of Lanorth. The building was home to the local Council for Vakkator, the Council had around 11 of it's members in the old Tyronian Senate itself. Just a week ago, it was closed off to the public for unknown reasons. Though every now and again, military-aged men in dark suits could be seen entering the building and staying in the building for a lengthy amount of time. They entered around 09:00 and exited around 21:00. They all carried briefcases too. This was because the State Building for The Regional Council had been made the Headquarters of Tyronian Elite, or TYRE. They were an elite spy organisation in Lanorth who worked for the Tyronian Government and Armed Forces. Not only that, they were professional hackers. They could hack a Government and only leave behind a slight trace that, if traced, lead to other countries and not Lanorth. They were secretive and were responsible for assassinations, espionage, hacking and elite missions worldwide. They were going to be busy for the next few weeks or so. A huge opportunity was coming around.

"How is the investigation going, Korman?" Asked Vraddisma. General Sir Krab Vraddisma. He is the Senior Director of The Tyronian Elite. Aged around forty, he is young for such a position. He had a short brown beard which was turning grey and brown hair, also turning grey, though gelled upwards into a quiff to suit him better. He was dressed in a black suit jacket which was open, black suit trousers, a white buttoned up shirt which had two buttons undone and black, shiny shoes.

"All good, Madga." Said Brantis Porovda. He was the youngest high ranking person in all of TYRE. Aged just twenty-two, he had the rank of 'Overseer of International Operations', just three ranks from Senior Director, which was one rank below Commander-in-Chief of the Tyronian Armed Forces, also known as the Queen. He was known as Korman. Every single TYRE operative had a codename. Magda belonged to Vraddisma and so on. "We have confirmed reports that the ex-Agent you were inquiring about, the 61-year-old Marrovda Brasselsby, has indeed defected to Vonein. He left just two days ago. Nobody saw it coming and nobody has recorded nor has any footage of his departure nor arrival. Voneinan Authorities will likely ask him for information, secrets that belong rightfully to the state and he might give away vital intelligence that can cause danger to all of Lanorth and the Tyronian populace. Do we have orders?"

"I want to know his new address or location and fast. I will give you five minutes."

"I'll get right on it." Said Korman right before he darted away to his computer. He opened it up and typed in his 64-digit password. He logged in and opened a file and typed a number of complicated passwords again, more than 100-digits per password. He opened it up and grabbed a book titled 'CFLE'. He opened it up and turned to page 92. He began typing very swiftly. He pressed return. He was now in a local database of files for Vonein and where he was suspected to be living. He searched him up and his name came up. He had been given a house in a local town. He printed it out and then placed in a small near undetectable virus that would delete the trace if that computer in the database. He printed out the document amd raced to the Director before handing the document to him.

"Good." He said, looking at the document. "Continue normal research on him. We shall send our team whenever they are ready."

[Vonein]

STATE BUILDING FOR THE REGIONAL COUNCIL
SOMEWHERE INSIDE THE VAKKATOR DISTRICT
FAR EASTERN LANORTH

The State Building for Regional Affairs was a large building in the Far Eastern regions of Lanorth. The building was home to the local Council for Vakkator, the Council had around 11 of its members in the old Tyronian Senate itself. Just a week ago, it was closed off to the public for unknown reasons. Though every now and again, military-aged men in dark suits could be seen entering the building and staying in the building for a lengthy amount of time. They entered around 09:00 and exited around 21:00. They all carried briefcases too. This was because the State Building for The Regional Council had been made the Headquarters of Tyronian Elite or TYRE. They were an elite spy organization in Lanorth who worked for the Tyronian Government and Armed Forces. Not only that, they were professional hackers. They could hack a Government and only leave behind a slight trace that, if traced, lead to other countries and not Lanorth. They were secretive and were responsible for assassinations, espionage, hacking and elite missions worldwide. They were going to be busy for the next few weeks or so. A huge opportunity was coming around.

"How is the investigation going, Korman?" Asked Vraddisma. General Sir Krab Vraddisma. He is the Senior Director of The Tyronian Elite. Aged around forty, he is young for such a position. He had a short brown beard which was turning grey and brown hair, also turning grey, though gelled upwards into a quiff to suit him better. He was dressed in a black suit jacket which was open, black suit trousers, a white buttoned up shirt which had two buttons undone and black, shiny shoes.

"All good, Madga." Said Brantis Porovda. He was the youngest high ranking person in all of TYRE. Aged just twenty-two, he had the rank of 'Overseer of International Operations', just three ranks from Senior Director, which was one rank below Commander-in-Chief of the Tyronian Armed Forces, also known as the Queen. He was known as Korman. Every single TYRE operative had a codename. Magda belonged to Vraddisma and so on. "We have confirmed reports that the ex-Agent you were inquiring about, the 61-year-old Marrovda Brasselsby, has indeed defected to Vonein. He left just two days ago. Nobody saw it coming and nobody has recorded nor has any footage of his departure nor arrival. Voneinan Authorities will likely ask him for information, secrets that belong rightfully to the state and he might give away vital intelligence that can cause danger to all of Lanorth and the Tyronian populace. Do we have orders?"

"I want to know his new address or location and fast. I will give you five minutes."

"I'll get right on it." Said Korman right before he darted away to his computer. He opened it up and typed in his 64-digit password. He logged in and opened a file and typed a number of complicated passwords again, more than 100-digits per password. He opened it up and grabbed a book titled 'CFLE'. He opened it up and turned to page 92. He began typing very swiftly. He pressed return. He was now in a local database of files for Vonein and where he was suspected to be living. He searched him up and his name came up. He had been given a house in a local town. He printed it out and then placed in a small near undetectable virus that would delete the trace if that computer in the database. He printed out the document and raced to the Director before handing the document to him.

"Good." He said, looking at the document. "Continue normal research on him. We shall send our team whenever they are ready."

Undiclosed location, Ryanhill Township, North Vonein

The air was crisp, the streets empty, and the town was dormant this early in the morning. Several agents of the Republic Investigation Service of the Republic of Vonein escorted the defector, who was caught in a small aircraft landing at a civilian airport just hours ago. He was arrested by the National Immigration and Customs Bureau as an illegal migrant, but when he explained to the detective who interrogated him, he was turned over to the RIS. They sent him here, to a compound in Ryanhill. The small town of less than a thousand sits at the convergence of two small highways in Tannehill State, which mostly carried goods from the woods and lumber mills of the north to the factories of the south of the state. Lumber trucks passed the walled complex where he is being held, with a few commuters going to work in town. People knew others here, with it being a generally tight-knit community, and on maps, it was just a passing reference for people who were traveling north. The Voneinians had captured this person who claimed to be an agent of the Lanorth Government, who said their name was Marrovda Brasselsby. That was still being investigated, but already investigators and intelligence officials were gearing up for the trip to the small town to interrogate and hopefully get information out of this person.

Security was tightened, as the local police department were actually specially trained and on the payroll of the central Voneinian government. Members of the Voneinian Army were guarding the complex, as roadblocks at up to seventy miles, away manned by soldiers and national police officers checked the identification of anyone trying to enter even the general area of the compound. A no-fly zone was set at around thirty miles in any direction, and SAM sites were set up to reportedly protect an oil storage facility in the woods that was commonly known to exist. However, truckers driving logging trucks were allowed to pass by these roadblocks with general ease, as they were commonly seen, and known by the men and women working the roadblock. It would be only a day or two before they started gathering information.

EA-39A Black Widow II
Callsign “Hatchback”
Mach 1.0

“Contacts on our behind.” One of the F-2F pilots reported. “Closing in.”

“Let’s hustle and bustle. The last thing we need to happen is the second escape plan coming into action.” The pilot of the EA-39A responded. “Tsugumi, you got everything you need?”

“And more,” Tsugumi answered. “Just in case, I can hit up the jammer.”

“That’ll reveal our location and hit everyone.” The pilot stated. “Save that for last.”

“What do we do then, boss?” The second F-2F pilot responded, their heavy Jaipurian accent very apparent.

“Dive low and use the ground to our advantage. Scatter their radars by clutter.”

“Aye. You lead.” The first F-2F pilot snickered.

Tsugumi held on tight as the EA-39A flew even lower than it was, barely touching the treetops in the valley as they took a left. Blowing by an anti-aircraft radar, the EA-39A had sufficient thrust to actually knock over the installation before continuing toward a fork in the valley.

Tsugumi looked below at the houses and farms they occasionally passed by. Occasionally squeezing the seat when they passed and almost hit power lines, Tsugumi could at the moment only watch as her pilot conducted some radical maneuvers near the ground as if he was attempting to hit it but missing.

“Fork ahead.” The pilot stated over the radio. “Let’s split up.”

“Hai.” The second F-2F pilot responded. “I’ll go right. You two go left.”

“Roger that.”

And with that, the quick plan was set. The three aircraft splitting their formation up, The EA-39A and the first F-2F moved left as they accelerated. The second F-2F moved right, further accelerating before turning once again to keep low to the ground.

Due to the aircraft’s close proximity to the ground, they were betting on ground clutter obscuring their image on the radar, giving back either many returns or absolutely no returns at all. This, combined with the small RCS the aircrafts had, brought down the odds that were stacked against them.

All they hoped for was to get to the protective net that was the ocean.

F/A-14F
Callsign “Anthrax”
Mach 0.68

To Walt Thugen, this flight was a relatively odd one. Having been his first active mission from land, it truly was something else. The leader of his current squadron, currently named “Squadron 04”, his job after taking off and refueling multiple times over the ocean was to provide a CAP against jets following the three leaders that were currently penetrating Vonein airspace. If the situation went south, then their job was to simply activate their long-range radars and spike the enemy aircraft, giving them lock on warnings and hopefully buying time for the three contacts.

Walt slowly moved his control stick to the right, still having trouble adjusting to the newer model. His jet, the F/A-14F, was the ultimate model of the Commonwealth F-14 series. A vast improvement over the -E model that brought much air to ground munitions to the table, the F/A-14F aircraft were totally new builds. They offered even more powerful engines, a very sophisticated radar system capable of tracking targets hundreds of miles away, and a radar cross section comparable to a bird. Starting to replace approximately half of the current F-14Es in service, the F/A-14Fs offered better multipurpose usage than their older self.

This was their first combat debut.

Walt at the moment carried a perfect interceptor loadout. On the underside of the aircraft, four AIM-152A Yalungur air to air missiles, which boasted an increased range compared to the older AIM-54 that the Commonwealth still used. These missiles were in the underside bays, keeping the aircraft relatively stealthy. On the side bays of the aircraft, four of the new missiles called the “Dragon” were loaded, the aircraft having a total of eight missiles on it right now. This loadout went the same for the other 3 F/A-14Fs in Walt’s squadron.

“This is Anthrax to Squadron 04. I have a tally on the bandits.”

“Ricin here. Initiate?”

Walt thought for a moment before watching the blips that were disappearing and reappearing on his radar for a bit. They seemed to split up, while the ones behind them were continuing to follow and chase after the aircraft.

“Light them up,” Walt stated.

The four F/A-14Fs suddenly revealed themselves over the ocean on the radar as they switched on their radars and beamed them toward the Vonein aircraft chasing after the Commonwealth planes. Also called “spiking”, the intentional burst of energy from the radars caused the lock on radars on the planes targeted to certainly go off, warning them of missiles that were not actually coming.

It was perfect for the psychological impact.

Voneinian Air Defense Network Tracking and Radar Station Thirty (VADN-TRS-30), 5 miles off the coast of Vonein near the town of Callbirol

This radar, one of the largest and most powerful the Voneinians had ever constructed, took use of an abandoned oil platform. What was once the mast of the oil tower now was the mast that carried several radars on pylons that jutted out from it. A exclusion zone of ten miles was around the rid, as there was a floating radar platform tethered to the oil rig that was small, about the size of a life raft, but was rigged to be one of the most powerful small radars in Vain, being able to detect a orange at around 100 nm, though once it detected something it was unable to track it effectively. It was mostly used to track large, slow-moving targets, as fast targets would be able to confuse it immensely. The tracking responsibility fell to the several radars scattered on the old platform, where there were three. The largest of the radars is the Albright, a large air search and tracking radar that has begun to enter into service just this year. In fact, it has begun its service life only a week before the incident at hand. The government was still trying to figure out what was needed for the radar to operate at a hundred percent efficiency and to perform up to specifications of the task required. The other two radars were older radars that have been in service for the last several years, with the older radar being the first one installed and so has been in service for the last several years, with its tenth year in service being next year.

It is armed with several countermeasure and counter-missile systems, with the most reliable, such as close in gun systems to experimental kinetic projectile launchers that are supposed to defeat incoming warheads. The platform has been expanded over the years to include the addition of a small helipad and hangar, from where everything from helicopters of civilian models when it was in its last throes as an oil rig to the emergence of the tracking station. An operator sat watching as multiple blips on the radar sprung up over several different sectors, all seemingly headed for some contacts a station up north had detected and towards friendly fighters sent to intercept them. The full power of all of the radars was pointed at the incoming jets, and an alarm was raised at the Air Defense Network Air Traffic Center (ADN-ATC) in the Air Force headquarters. Everyone waits to see whether or not the blips are a false alarm, as radar techs across the nation work out if it is a ghost image or not.

They began tracking the targets as they hit the ocean, and radar directors on the platform began tracking and lining up a firing solution for the land-based missile system. Even with lunch now, however, it would take a good ten minutes for a missile to reach this location. Even with the new hypersonic missiles now entering experimental service, it would still be a short time before they would be able to reach here. The coastal air defenses were mostly small MANPADS on trucks, or, older systems that have a long range but a slow speed and can be easily countered. The fighters of Vonein broke off, as they didn't want to be painted as targets, and, having had a false missile warning, didn't want to take the chance. They leave it up to this station to help drive these aggressors off or shoot them down. There were already reports of them flying low and dangerously, and causing a small MANPADS emplacement to be knocked over, injuring one soldier. The radar techs began working to a firing solution. It would only be a minute now.

[Lanorth]

STATE BUILDING FOR THE REGIONAL COUNCIL
SOMEWHERE INSIDE THE VAKKATOR DISTRICT
FAR EASTERN LANORTH

In the new Headquarters, men were working overtime. Their opeeation had just been authorised by the Queen herself and she said these exact words to authorise it personally:
"Whenever you are ready, go-ahead."
All men were working at different stations to get the operation going as soon as possible. These stations were the Fake Identity Station, responsibe for creating fake passports that made the assassins supposed citizens of Vonein, scanning every smallest and largest detail of an actual Voneinian passport to make it look real. Another station, the New Citizens station, responsible for hacking into a possible Voneinian database and adding these fake citizens onto a possible Voneinian record of citizens. Another station, the R&M station, which researched the Agent and observed his every move using high-definition satellite imagery. The final station, the Final Lesson station, hacked into the CCTV in the area, radar systems, militar systems in general and temporarily shut them down, giving the assassins enough time to get in and get out. These tasks given though would be hard tasks and would take days of work to complete. They were urged to work as fast as they could so they could assassinate him quicker.

---

ARKROUGH PALACE
CENTRAL LANORTH
(SHORT) SPEECH OF QUEEN ARYDEX
"THE NEW PARLIAMENT"

"My fellow Tyronian. It is great, after all of this time, to be in contact with you. As you know already, the former Emperor Volker has abdicated the throne and handed it over to myself, which I feel is positive, in a way. As some of you may or may not know, I am a reluctant monarch and was considering to refuse this opportunity. Now, as I have taken up the occupation, I am happy I accepted it. But I feel I am not capable of being Head of State and Head of Government simultaneously. Therefore, I am restoring the Tyronian Parliament and forming a Constitutional Monarchy to suit Lanorth. On April the thirtieth, two-thousand-and-nineteen, a democratic election shall be held to determine who shall be Head of State. The Parliament will form, with the four major parties of Lanorth taking the seats of fhe Parliament. Whichever party wins the general election shall gain the title of Prime Minister of The Greater Kingdom of Lanorth. They will get fifty seats. The party who comes second will get twenty-five, the party who comes third will get ten and the final, losing party will get five. The parties will be decided over the next ten days and who shall represent them in the general election. I shall keep you all updated on further developments in the new Tyronian democratic system."

[The Yuktobanian Republic]

EA-39A Black Widow II
Callsign “Hatchback”
Mach 1.6

“Who knew that water can be so close to touch when we are in an aircraft.” Tsugumi stated as she stared out the canopy of the backseat of the EA-39A.

Maneuvering radically, the pilot and the lone F-2F that was following it had suddenly taken an abrupt turn out of the valley and moved over some hilly terrain before following the coast, blasting away at Mach 1.6 as the terrain below changed rapidly in the face of their speed.

“Contacts from our back are turning back. Anthrax and his buddies are doin’ good.” The pilot stated.

Behind, the Vonein aircraft on radar could be seen turning away, mostly due to the F/A-14Fs hitting them with their high powered radar at ultra long range. It was a perfect ruse for the three aircraft to disappear from the Vonein’s attention as they moved away.

“Amazing work.” Tsugumi giggled as the EA-39A slowly banked to the right, moving over the ocean as it moved to rendezvous with the tanker and two other fighter escorts far over the water. On radar, the EA-39A and F-2F would soon disappear from radar completely as they moved out of range relatively quickly, their mission complete.

F-2F Block 40
Callsign “Fushin-Kai”
Mach 1.5

He was all alone now.

Ken Shikentai quickly looked around as he thumbed the aircraft over and above the valley, turning left as his F-2F flew over the farms of rural Vonein. Being used as a distraction, the mission trusted him to do it at his best.

Ken had confidence in his skills. During the CAF War the Commonwealth was part of in 1995, he had been one of the pilots of an F-4EJ Kai, acting as an interceptor with his AIM-7U Ultra-Skyflash missiles. During the massive air war in that conflict, he bagged 10 aircraft, making him an ace. Due to that status, it meant that many risky missions were entrusted to him.

“Fushin-Kai to Anthrax.” Ken stated as he spoke into his headset, staring ahead as he watched for any objects that he might hit. “Cover my ass, would you?”

On the other side of the radio link, the voice of Walt Thugen was heard. “Fushin-Kai, keep going in that direction. We got you covered just in case any enemies happen to pop up.”

“Hai.” Ken stated as he thought of a way to further throw off not only any aircraft chasing after him, but also any radars scanning for him. He knew that even with all the minor stealth this aircraft had, it still can be detected sometimes. Using that knowledge to his advantage, he then thought of a plan.

Pulling up on the stick, the F-2F pulled upward from the ground as the ground clutter effect on the radars went away, exposing the peanut sized object on radars. The higher it went, the larger the signature was on the Vonein radars. Just as it got to the size of a small civilian plane, Ken suddenly inverted the aircraft before flipping a button and tapping it twice.

On the rear of the aircraft, the boxes for chaff suddenly activated as two bundles of chaff were ejected from the aircraft as it descended while inverted. The chaff, splitting into millions of metal shards, suddenly caused a large contact head to appear on radar, the chaff reflecting the radar waves around and giving off false returns.

As Ken saw the ground approaching from above, he leveled his aircraft and flipped over, once again flying at low ground level rightside up. Accelerating, Ken’s radar signature one again turned into a peanut before blending in with the massive returns from the ground. He had effectively disappeared from the radar as he continued moving, going afterturburner as he used the cover of the approaching mountain range to attempt to hide his escape.

F/A-14F
Callsign “Anthrax”
Mach 0.7

“The madman.” Risin stated over the radio as his F/A-14F banked right, moving into a patrol pattern.

Walt watched on radar as a dot suddenly became bigger before becoming two large dots, the small dot disappearing once again while the large dots stayed.

“He’s a damn good pilot, for sure.” Walt stated over the radio. “Switch off your radars and go low. We’ll dead reckon to his position.”

“Should we split up?” One of the members of the squadron, callsign Phosgene.

“Good idea.” Walt nodded to himself as he pulled downward and left, breaking off from the formation. “We’ll keep far to make their efforts messy if it gets to it.”

“Roger that.” The members of the squadron stated at once as the F/A-14Fs split up, diving down to the water as they stayed low to avoid detection visually.

Fanning out from each other, the members of Squadron 04 split up into individual aircraft as the clutter from being close to the surface of the water obscured their already small radar cross sections even further. As they hid, they moved, only aided by dead reckoning, toward their point where they will meet up with Fushin-Kai and retreat back to the Commonwealth.


Oured
Helmanstend
The Commonwealth

TO: Her Majesty, Queen Arydex of Lanorth
FROM: Deputy Secretary General Rose-Marie Tallera
Subject: Place

Norschla sounds absolutely perfect for this meeting. I do have to request permission for some of my nation’s armed forces to enter. It will not be a huge group, only a few fighter jets on standby in the sky. It is just a security thing the government mandates. Who knows, these pilots could train and make friends with your pilots in the air force!

As for the time, when should this meeting commence? I am available any time that you have. Just call me when you are ready.

Rose-Marie Tallera

JS Inazuma
Destroyer Division 6 (DESRON 44)
International Waters

“No contacts anywhere, ma’am. Only container ships.”

Yama Mei Oritsuka stood in the bridge of her ship, the JS Inazuma, as she looked around with her binoculars at the container ship in the distance. Hastily deployed forward from the fleet of Reyna A. Spruance’s that was still in port, it was her ship, the JS Inazuma, it’s sister the JS Ikazuchi, and the nuclear powered cruiser Morgana that were all out here alone. With orders specifically from the head of the CONI herself, their mission was to act as a picket out near the nation of Vonein. Currently, she was a distance away, but she already started seeing Vonein flagged container ships and cargo ships in the distance.

They weren’t that far.

The JS Inazuma was a drastically different ship compared to the rest of the Commonwealth Navy. Looking similar in appearance to a Second World War destroyer, the ship’s main armament did not consist of anti-ship missiles but in advanced torpedoes. These were not the traditional torpedoes used for anti-submarine work, but these were massive ones that emulated the purpose of the torpedo back in the second world war. Large, with decoys, and a very quiet but fast propulsion system, the torpedo had the best engineering the Commonwealth could offer put into it. The Inazuma and its sister ships carried an astonishing 40 of them. This was coupled with the three 76mm ASG-7SR guns on the ship, as well as the single arm missile launcher with a capacity for 25 missiles. For backup defense, the ship carried a single Goalkeeper CIWS that was ready to fire if needed at any missiles that penetrated her defenses.

On the radar system, the FCS/ASR-996TJ Artisan picked up numerous contacts as it scanned both the sea surface and the air. These contacts mainly consisted of civilian planes and cargo ships in all directions. To the rear of the Inazuma was the Ikazuchi, which was in front of the Morgana. This line formation blended in with the cargo lines, obscuring them from view on radar and blending in with the civilians.

“Morgana here.” A voice on the communications link between the three ships started speaking. “Contact, high powered radar installation. Beams are being identified and are aimed toward land. Quite a distance away.”

Mei looked at the radio as she nodded, listening in before picking it up herself and speaking on the link after setting down her binoculars. “Inazuma here. Continue tracking it. Seems suspicious.”

“Morgana copies.”

As the three vessels continued on their way, they slowly moved closer to the Vonein homeland, free of worry for now.

[Vonein]

EA-39A Black Widow II
Callsign “Hatchback”
Mach 1.6

“Who knew that water can be so close to touch when we are in an aircraft.” Tsugumi stated as she stared out the canopy of the backseat of the EA-39A.

Maneuvering radically, the pilot and the lone F-2F that was following it had suddenly taken an abrupt turn out of the valley and moved over some hilly terrain before following the coast, blasting away at Mach 1.6 as the terrain below changed rapidly in the face of their speed.

“Contacts from our back are turning back. Anthrax and his buddies are doin’ good.” The pilot stated.

Behind, the Vonein aircraft on radar could be seen turning away, mostly due to the F/A-14Fs hitting them with their high powered radar at ultra long range. It was a perfect ruse for the three aircraft to disappear from the Vonein’s attention as they moved away.

“Amazing work.” Tsugumi giggled as the EA-39A slowly banked to the right, moving over the ocean as it moved to rendezvous with the tanker and two other fighter escorts far over the water. On radar, the EA-39A and F-2F would soon disappear from radar completely as they moved out of range relatively quickly, their mission complete.

F-2F Block 40
Callsign “Fushin-Kai”
Mach 1.5

He was all alone now.

Ken Shikentai quickly looked around as he thumbed the aircraft over and above the valley, turning left as his F-2F flew over the farms of rural Vonein. Being used as a distraction, the mission trusted him to do it at his best.

Ken had confidence in his skills. During the CAF War the Commonwealth was part of in 1995, he had been one of the pilots of an F-4EJ Kai, acting as an interceptor with his AIM-7U Ultra-Skyflash missiles. During the massive air war in that conflict, he bagged 10 aircraft, making him an ace. Due to that status, it meant that many risky missions were entrusted to him.

“Fushin-Kai to Anthrax.” Ken stated as he spoke into his headset, staring ahead as he watched for any objects that he might hit. “Cover my ass, would you?”

On the other side of the radio link, the voice of Walt Thugen was heard. “Fushin-Kai, keep going in that direction. We got you covered just in case any enemies happen to pop up.”

“Hai.” Ken stated as he thought of a way to further throw off not only any aircraft chasing after him, but also any radars scanning for him. He knew that even with all the minor stealth this aircraft had, it still can be detected sometimes. Using that knowledge to his advantage, he then thought of a plan.

Pulling up on the stick, the F-2F pulled upward from the ground as the ground clutter effect on the radars went away, exposing the peanut sized object on radars. The higher it went, the larger the signature was on the Vonein radars. Just as it got to the size of a small civilian plane, Ken suddenly inverted the aircraft before flipping a button and tapping it twice.

On the rear of the aircraft, the boxes for chaff suddenly activated as two bundles of chaff were ejected from the aircraft as it descended while inverted. The chaff, splitting into millions of metal shards, suddenly caused a large contact head to appear on radar, the chaff reflecting the radar waves around and giving off false returns.

As Ken saw the ground approaching from above, he leveled his aircraft and flipped over, once again flying at low ground level rightside up. Accelerating, Ken’s radar signature one again turned into a peanut before blending in with the massive returns from the ground. He had effectively disappeared from the radar as he continued moving, going afterturburner as he used the cover of the approaching mountain range to attempt to hide his escape.

F/A-14F
Callsign “Anthrax”
Mach 0.7

“The madman.” Risin stated over the radio as his F/A-14F banked right, moving into a patrol pattern.

Walt watched on radar as a dot suddenly became bigger before becoming two large dots, the small dot disappearing once again while the large dots stayed.

“He’s a damn good pilot, for sure.” Walt stated over the radio. “Switch off your radars and go low. We’ll dead reckon to his position.”

“Should we split up?” One of the members of the squadron, callsign Phosgene.

“Good idea.” Walt nodded to himself as he pulled downward and left, breaking off from the formation. “We’ll keep far to make their efforts messy if it gets to it.”

“Roger that.” The members of the squadron stated at once as the F/A-14Fs split up, diving down to the water as they stayed low to avoid detection visually.

Fanning out from each other, the members of Squadron 04 split up into individual aircraft as the clutter from being close to the surface of the water obscured their already small radar cross sections even further. As they hid, they moved, only aided by dead reckoning, toward their point where they will meet up with Fushin-Kai and retreat back to the Commonwealth.


Oured
Helmanstend
The Commonwealth

TO: Her Majesty, Queen Arydex of Lanorth
FROM: Deputy Secretary General Rose-Marie Tallera
Subject: Place

Norschla sounds absolutely perfect for this meeting. I do have to request permission for some of my nation’s armed forces to enter. It will not be a huge group, only a few fighter jets on standby in the sky. It is just a security thing the government mandates. Who knows, these pilots could train and make friends with your pilots in the air force!

As for the time, when should this meeting commence? I am available any time that you have. Just call me when you are ready.

Rose-Marie Tallera

JS Inazuma
Destroyer Division 6 (DESRON 44)
International Waters

“No contacts anywhere, ma’am. Only container ships.”

Yama Mei Oritsuka stood in the bridge of her ship, the JS Inazuma, as she looked around with her binoculars at the container ship in the distance. Hastily deployed forward from the fleet of Reyna A. Spruance’s that was still in port, it was her ship, the JS Inazuma, it’s sister the JS Ikazuchi, and the nuclear powered cruiser Morgana that were all out here alone. With orders specifically from the head of the CONI herself, their mission was to act as a picket out near the nation of Vonein. Currently, she was a distance away, but she already started seeing Vonein flagged container ships and cargo ships in the distance.

They weren’t that far.

The JS Inazuma was a drastically different ship compared to the rest of the Commonwealth Navy. Looking similar in appearance to a Second World War destroyer, the ship’s main armament did not consist of anti-ship missiles but in advanced torpedoes. These were not the traditional torpedoes used for anti-submarine work, but these were massive ones that emulated the purpose of the torpedo back in the second world war. Large, with decoys, and a very quiet but fast propulsion system, the torpedo had the best engineering the Commonwealth could offer put into it. The Inazuma and its sister ships carried an astonishing 40 of them. This was coupled with the three 76mm ASG-7SR guns on the ship, as well as the single arm missile launcher with a capacity for 25 missiles. For backup defense, the ship carried a single Goalkeeper CIWS that was ready to fire if needed at any missiles that penetrated her defenses.

On the radar system, the FCS/ASR-996TJ Artisan picked up numerous contacts as it scanned both the sea surface and the air. These contacts mainly consisted of civilian planes and cargo ships in all directions. To the rear of the Inazuma was the Ikazuchi, which was in front of the Morgana. This line formation blended in with the cargo lines, obscuring them from view on radar and blending in with the civilians.

“Morgana here.” A voice on the communications link between the three ships started speaking. “Contact, high powered radar installation. Beams are being identified and are aimed toward land. Quite a distance away.”

Mei looked at the radio as she nodded, listening in before picking it up herself and speaking on the link after setting down her binoculars. “Inazuma here. Continue tracking it. Seems suspicious.”

“Morgana copies.”

As the three vessels continued on their way, they slowly moved closer to the Vonein homeland, free of worry for now.

Station 30

"Looks like we have some vessels oncoming, colonel."

"Distance?"

"300 or so miles, surface radar, and the floating radars are targeting it now. We will get a new return in a few minutes."

15 miles inland, 35,000 feet

By now, the Defense Directorate has given a lot of attention to the situation developing to the east. A no-fly zone was currently being put into place, and already there were plans for a stronger temporary air defense line along the coast. Voneinian interceptors, which had been turned away when they were pinged. They went back on the hunt, trying to find the aircraft that had pinged it's air search radar and then ran. They were just near the coast, and went high, using the powerful search radars they carried to search the seas below. They would have about three hours of cruise time of fuel left in their tanks to search. Airborne refueling wasn't a perfected method yet, but one airborne tanker was already on the way to keep them on the station as the search continued. They were armed with eight long-range penetration rockets or LRPR for short. They had a range of 500 miles, though only had a speed of Mach two at max dash speed. They also had a secondary land attack function, though that has not currently been tested. They searched for a good while, then they got word of the ships. They turned, banked, and hit afterburners, going in the direction of the Commonwealth's ships.


20 miles offshore

The crew of the new frigate, the Admiral Holmes were settling in for patrol duty watching over shipping coming into and out of Vonein's many ports. They were part of a larger force, Task Force 151 that just set sail about a week ago after the war was declared. It consisted of the Holmes, four of her sister ships, a Kirov class battlecruiser, two cruisers, and four destroyers. The Kirov was the newest edition, coming into play about a month ago as she finished her trials. She was modernized, trading weaponry for armor, and some stealth modifications. They all sailed in a loose group, with the more valuable ships taking a route closer to the coast which had the bigger warships while low priority or ships carrying raw materials took a more direct but more open route. The Holmes was the furthest out, serving as a radar picket for the task force in the event an aerial attack was attempted by anyone. They saw the commonwealth ships on radar coming towards them but thought nothing of it as container ships started traveling with small private escort ships to protect them from pirates. The crew turned their attention to the issues up north, while lazily watching their own radars.

[Lanorth]

TO: Deputy Secretary General Rose-Marie Tallera
FROM: Her Royal Highness, Queen Arydex
SUBJECT: Re: Place

I am glad you are happy with my chosen place. Your fighter jet request has been denied, both by me and the State Secretary for Defence. You are, however, allowed to place an aircraft carrier of some description fifty miles off the coastbof Lanorth. Aircraft are allowed upon it and if anything happens you may deploy them above the Tyronian mainland. Keep in mind that they can and if necessary will be shot down by the Tyronian Air Force if your pilots attempt anything that is unusual, dangerous or may cause harm to the Tyronian public. Also keep in mind that if anything does go wrong the Tyronian Air Force will in fact join your pilots and possibly they can, if necessary, fight together.

I suggest the time should be on the twenty-fifth of April, 2019 at 12:00 in the afternoon, to finish at 20:00, if not earlier. Does this time suit you?

Kind regards,
Her Royal Highness,
Queen Arydex of The Greater Empire of Lanorth.

---

Early this morning around three in the morning, the first party ready for the Tyronian Parliament was founded. Named the Koverata Party, it shares the belief that Capitalism should topple over both Socialism and Communism whilst maintaining democratic views alongside free, fair and laws that do not restrict protest. They are very liberal and will allow the freedom of speech of all, but will topple down upon violence and will go to war with terrorism if the nation is attacked. The party leader is a man named Munshov Rogeanto Hewcome, a former democratic reformer when the Absolute Monarchists came into power. His party overnight have gained popularity too, which is good for Hewcome. He has high hopes for the election and believes he will win with a large margin.

---

STATE BUILDING FOR THE REGIONAL COUNCIL
SOMEWHERE INSIDE THE VAKKATOR DISTRICT
FAR EASTERN LANORTH

"Good news, Madga." Said a young man in a navy-blue suit, a white shirt and a black tie. He was called Gorvatoni and had refused to tell anyone his first name. His birth certificate had been burnt and even his file on the Tyronian Government's primary software didn't have his first name identified. He was around thirty with blonde hair and a darker blonde colour for his eyebrows. His cheekbones were quite high up and he was quite handsome. His pale skin made it seem like he had not seen daylight in years but that was far from the case. "We have successfully added the two fake citizens to the Voneinian software. They will likely have no knowledge that we were even hacking it thanks to that near undetectable virus."

"Good." Said Vraddisma, or Magda. He smiled. "Any other reports that I need to know about, Branto?" He asked, rubbing his left eye with his right hand.

"Yes, there is this." Said Gorvatoni, or Branto, holding out a document which was taken by Magda.

"Dear fucking God." Said Magda. His eyes widened. He was almost horrified. "I need to alert the Queen and the Chief of The General Staff. Alert the Cossack commanders. Alert the State Secretary for Defence. Holy shit." He stood up and shoved the young man out of the way. He shoved everyone who was in his way out of his way to clear a parth. This was urgent.

Code: Select all

HIGHLY ENCRYPTED

TO: The Commander of The Cossack Force in Lanorth
The Commander of The Vionna-Franklischian Force in Lanorth
Her Royal Highness, Queen Arydex I
Navaya Kurantis, (Acting) State Secretary for Defence of Lanorth
General Sir Eritallon Gavinsky, (Acting) Chief of The General Staff of The Tyronian Armed Forces
SUBJECT: Protest Attack
FROM: General-Director Sir Krabmal Vraddisma

Dear my right honourable receivers of this sad and horrifying notification,

It is with my utmost regret that I have to inform you that a piece of horrifying information has broken out and has been confirmed true. A disgusting chemical weapon has been used against the citizens of Cavatmaga, a town in Lanorth, home to around 7,000 people. The chemical weapon, or should I say nerve agent used, is called Dravdin. Developed in Lanorth in the 1970s, it causes deat after just thirty seconds of exposure to the weapon. It was made into a gas and was disposed of, or so we think. Somehow it has been used against a portion of the Tyronian populace. Three large gas canisters were dropped from two thousand feet in what was thought to be a seaplane, which it was. It flew at a low height and one man dropped three canisters of the gas over the city before crashing into the town square itself, killing the Mayor. 3,250 people have been brutally killed by it and a further 500 were killed when the plane was deliberately crashed. The survivors have been transported to a nearby hospital where they are being treated whilst in critical conditions. We have to thank our national health service and we have to thank the former Tyronian Government for issuing out free healthcare to all Tyronian citizens no matter what disease or illness, no matter what time or place. May Lord Krumizor (God) bless you.

Kindest of regards,
General-Director Sir Krabmal Vraddisma.

[The Yuktobanian Republic]

JS Inazuma
Destroyer Division 6 (DESRON 44)
International Waters

“Ma’am, we got new contacts. They are closing fast on an intercept course with us.” The anti-air war officer on the JS Inazuma spoke on the radio from CIC, the message being played in the headset that Mei was now wearing on her head.

“Altitude?” Mei asked, motioning one of the officers currently on the bridge to go to the balcony outside and try to scan visually for anything using their high powered binoculars.

“Approximate 30,000 feet. 9100 meters.”

A new voice on the radio spoke up once again. It was the captain of the Morgana, which she figured was also tracking the contacts. The Morgana was an anti-air missile cruiser, and their job was to identify and track numerous targets in the sky and protect the fleet, which in this case consisted of JS Inazuma, JS Ikazuchi, and itself.

“Morgana here. Tracking seven or more contacts coming in from the north. Classified as Unknowns for the moment.”

Mei then spoke. “Inazuma here. If contacts continue approaching, you are cleared to fire.”

“Morgana here. They may be civilians.”

“Inazuma. Civilian airliners do not go that fast. These aircraft are also turning for a perfect intercept course on us. Civilian planes will not do that, especially with your high powered radar.”

“Morgana understands. They are closing in.”

Mei moved over to one of the screens that was a display of the information that CIC was receiving from the numerous subsystems like radars and sonars of the Inazuma. Currently on the screen, the Artisan radar on the top of the ship’s mast was spinning, scanning and identifying automatically the many aerial objects in the sky. What stood out however were the numerous contacts that were closing in on the ships in a formation. It certainly was something military related, and currently they were around one hundred miles away.

“Inazuma here.” Mei spoke as she stared as the unknown aircraft continued to close. “Those contacts are approaching close. I don’t like it.”

“Ikazuchi here. Radars are off from us. We are prepared to engage if necessary.”

“Morgana here. Our VML-34s are loaded with RA-77s.”

Watching the contacts close even closer, Mei grit her teeth before speaking into her headset, brushing her long brown hair aside as she looked out the window.

“Morgana, you are cleared to fire.”

There was a laugh on the other side of the line before it went off. Mei took the time to go out to the balcony, joining the officer who was looking up at the sky and trying to visually identify any contrails that seemed to be closing in. Instead of looking up, however, Mei looked toward the Morgana, which was a tiny dot in the horizon south of the JS Inazuma.

CGN Morgana
Destroyer Division 6 (CRUTE 7)
International Waters

The Morgana was a relatively older ship of the Commonwealth Navy. Constructed in the early 60s, it was the second nuclear powered cruiser of the Commonwealth Navy. The Morgana and her class proved to the admirals back then that nuclear power was viable for these kinds of ships, which were designed to escort the many aircraft carriers the Commonwealth possessed. The nuclear reactor gave off an insane amount of power, which made the nuclear powered cruisers of the Commonwealth perfect for mounting better radars.

On the Morgana, the air search radar that was currently tracking the targets was one of the Commonwealth’s FCS/ASR-661s. The large, rectangular dish spun and spun, the radar beam scanning around. For this instance, the search radar fed information directly into Morgana’s CIC, where the four missile illuminators aimed their beams toward the distant contacts. The VML-34 Missile Launchers that were slaved to the illuminators turned in the same direction, which was toward the unknown aircraft that were now classified as “Vampires”.

The VML-34 Missile Launchers were new and advanced. Designed to give older ships with arm launchers better engagement and reloading speeds, it brought down the already low reload speed of the missiles down to five seconds per load. It was designed to be reliable due to the previous system’s issue with the many parts it used. Although it was fast, it still was not faster than a normal VLS system.

Loaded in the VML-34s were RA-77MR/AR2s, which were long range anti-air missiles that were essentially the normal RA-77MRs with an added long booster for longer range. Using a fragmentation warhead, it was designed to not only blow up a plane, but also shower a surrounding area with thousands of sharp metal pieces to sever control systems, engines, and make holes in the airframe of an aircraft. It was essentially the normal Commonwealth warhead for these types of missiles.

“Vampires 1, 2, 3, and 4 are being beamed at.” One of the sailors in CIC stated as he stared at his computer. “Good returns.”

“Launchers are slaved and are good. Loaded up.” Another sailor yelled toward the Anti-Air Warfare Officer in CIC. The AAWO was standing at the radar screen, plotting an intercept course for the missiles that they would roughly follow.

“Tracking. Cleared to fire.” The Anti-Air Warfare Officer ordered. “Fire at the vampires.”

As the order was said, the Anti-Air Warfare Officer punched a button as red lights went out across the deck of the ship, warning of an imminent missile launch. Timed to the millisecond, exactly four seconds later the aft VML-34 fired it’s right arm, the RA-77MR/AR2 igniting it’s booster and flying off before the left arm of the launcher fired the RA-77MR/AR2 on it’s arm. The two missiles, as soon as they left the launcher, activated a subsystem in the launcher itself as the arms trained upward at a 90 degree angle, the VML-34 moving into neutral mode as the hatches below opened and shoved two more RA-77MR/AR2s onto the rails, locking instantly and securing the missiles as their fins were opened for firing. The VML-34 would then train back toward the direction the illuminators were staring at, ready for another war shot.

At the front, the front VML-34 repeated the same process as the aft launcher as the two RA-77MR/AR2s left the launcher, flying into the sky as they were guided by the four illuminators. The four missiles, flying in a line on radar, were each slaved to an illuminator on the Morgana. The illuminators aimed at the first four jets that were approaching them, the missiles were guided toward their targets as they paid attention to the path.

“Morgana here.” The captain spoke. “Missiles away.”

F-2F Block 40
Callsign “Fushin-Kai”
Mach 1.6

He was over the shore now.

Ken looked about as his radar did not pick up any contacts behind him or in front of him. It was just the usual amount of civilian aircraft that were occasionally flying about. At the moment, he wasn’t in any imminent danger.

“.... Yo. Look to your right.”

Ken almost jumped at the random radio message before complying with whoever said it. Looking to his right and out the canopy of the F-2F, he then spotted a very calming sight.

The four F/A-14Fs that were part of Squadron 04 were approaching, forming up with Ken in a small triangle formation as they moved to protect him. At the F/A-14F that was next to Ken’s F-2F, he spotted Walt wearing his helmet as he gave a thumbs up to Ken.

“About time.” Ken laughed.

“We turned off our radars and relied on dead reckoning. Man, if you turned at all we would’ve been fucked.” Walt responded.

“I threw them off damn good, I guess.” Ken looked ahead as he initiated a turn, the rest of Squadron 04 following behind as they moved over the water.

“A fine move from where we were at.” Ricin spoke up. “Very good.”

“Now, let’s hurry up and go home. Rendezvous with the tanker.” Walt suggested. “Everything here is now up to Mei.”

“Can’t wait for debriefing.” Ken spoke.

As the aircraft disappeared on radar as they left the effective range of the land based systems, they accelerated as they continued on their course to a mid air refueling point that was far away from any hostile threats. From there, they would refuel twice more, taking a longer way to get back to the Commonwealth before landing and getting a debriefing from Irene herself.

Oured
Helmanstend
The Commonwealth

TO: Her Majesty, Queen Arydex of Lanorth
FROM: Deputy Secretary General Rose-Marie Tallera
Subject: Re:Re: Place

The Aircraft Carrier I will be sending is called the Layua, centered around a small ship force of 4 ships that is led by a woman named Reyna A. Spruance. The Layua will be stationed 100 miles off the coast in a patrol pattern, mostly due to the rising threat of a Vonein attack against you. The Layua force will act as a barrier between you and Vonein to prevent any attacks during our meeting.

The time is perfect. I will see you then.

Rose-Marie Tallera

Permgarod Naval Base
Yuktobania
The Commonwealth

“And you are saying that my carrier will be ready within 48 hours?”

“Yes ma’am. The last of the shipyard workers are finishing their jobs. After that, the sailors may board again and you can set off.”

“Hm. Good.”

For a young woman like her, her name was awfully male. Her mother had named her after one of the carriers the Commonwealth had during World War Two, which specifically was also the one lost during the Battle of Wake Island. Her name was Lomonesev Tachibana, and she was one of the daughters of the Fleet Admiral of the Commonwealth Navy, who possessed the highest authority when it came to anything naval related in the Commonwealth.

Turning around as she left the office of the Commander of Permgarod Naval Base, Lomonesev found herself staring outside, toward the largest naval base in the entire Commonwealth. Three aircraft carriers were currently docked, along with all of their escorts. This made the base extremely crowded, but it was better than having not only the entire Carrier Division 2 in port, but also Carrier Division 3. That meant a total of 9 aircraft carriers and their escorts in port. Permgarod Naval Base had a capacity of 13 carriers able to dock at once across the entire complex at different piers.

In the distance and docked along a pier, her carrier was moored quietly. Because Lomonesev was named after a carrier, she was one of the few lucky gals who ironically commanded a ship that had the same name as her. The Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier Lomonesev’s box island shined in the sun, a fresh new coat of paint outlining the large 66 painted on the side. The flight deck, compared to a few months ago, was completely free of tents and temporary structures that the shipyard set up for their upgrades to her ship. A process that lasted a little more than a year, upgrades to the ship’s electromagnetic catapults were added, as well as a newer version of the FCS/ASR-661 and other radars on top. The ship was repainted and other maintenance work was completed to give it more life.

Lomonesev herself was not simply the captain of the ship, but she was the commander of the task force centered around the Lomonesev and also of Carrier Division 2, which consisted of the Lomonesev, Stannaza, Yuzhno, and Shtorm. These four carriers were a major source of power projection by the Commonwealth, but for the mission tasked to her at the moment, she can only bring the Lomonesev and Yuzhno.

Mission…

She remembered the details in her head. The head of the CONI, Irene Haeusser, wanted her to move her Task Force in a patrol pattern off the coast of some country. Tensions were apparently starting to get high in the last day or so, which bothered Lomonesev. She remembered Irene’s face, which was that of joy.

Maybe she was planning something.

Lomonesev did not care. All she was thinking to do was to serve the Commonwealth proud. If it meant bombing a country and bringing them to their knees, then so be it. She cannot disappoint her Commonwealth, for that would bring shame not only to her, but also to her family. And what would her three sisters think? They were also commanders of other Carrier Divisions, and if she even remotely did not do what she was asked to do, it would be a shameful display. The pressure was even more mounting because her own mother is the literal head of the Commonwealth Navy. She was the most powerful individual in the navy and some even say the armed forces. What would her mom think?

What would her mom think…?

Removing the useless thoughts from her head, she turned and walked from the window, heading to the stairs that would bring her outside. She needed to go back to her carrier to start to oversee the operation.

[Vonein]

JS Inazuma
Destroyer Division 6 (DESRON 44)
International Waters

“Ma’am, we got new contacts. They are closing fast on an intercept course with us.” The anti-air war officer on the JS Inazuma spoke on the radio from CIC, the message being played in the headset that Mei was now wearing on her head.

“Altitude?” Mei asked, motioning one of the officers currently on the bridge to go to the balcony outside and try to scan visually for anything using their high powered binoculars.

“Approximate 30,000 feet. 9100 meters.”

A new voice on the radio spoke up once again. It was the captain of the Morgana, which she figured was also tracking the contacts. The Morgana was an anti-air missile cruiser, and their job was to identify and track numerous targets in the sky and protect the fleet, which in this case consisted of JS Inazuma, JS Ikazuchi, and itself.

“Morgana here. Tracking seven or more contacts coming in from the north. Classified as Unknowns for the moment.”

Mei then spoke. “Inazuma here. If contacts continue approaching, you are cleared to fire.”

“Morgana here. They may be civilians.”

“Inazuma. Civilian airliners do not go that fast. These aircraft are also turning for a perfect intercept course on us. Civilian planes will not do that, especially with your high powered radar.”

“Morgana understands. They are closing in.”

Mei moved over to one of the screens that was a display of the information that CIC was receiving from the numerous subsystems like radars and sonars of the Inazuma. Currently on the screen, the Artisan radar on the top of the ship’s mast was spinning, scanning and identifying automatically the many aerial objects in the sky. What stood out however were the numerous contacts that were closing in on the ships in a formation. It certainly was something military related, and currently they were around one hundred miles away.

“Inazuma here.” Mei spoke as she stared as the unknown aircraft continued to close. “Those contacts are approaching close. I don’t like it.”

“Ikazuchi here. Radars are off from us. We are prepared to engage if necessary.”

“Morgana here. Our VML-34s are loaded with RA-77s.”

Watching the contacts close even closer, Mei grit her teeth before speaking into her headset, brushing her long brown hair aside as she looked out the window.

“Morgana, you are cleared to fire.”

There was a laugh on the other side of the line before it went off. Mei took the time to go out to the balcony, joining the officer who was looking up at the sky and trying to visually identify any contrails that seemed to be closing in. Instead of looking up, however, Mei looked toward the Morgana, which was a tiny dot in the horizon south of the JS Inazuma.

CGN Morgana
Destroyer Division 6 (CRUTE 7)
International Waters

The Morgana was a relatively older ship of the Commonwealth Navy. Constructed in the early 60s, it was the second nuclear powered cruiser of the Commonwealth Navy. The Morgana and her class proved to the admirals back then that nuclear power was viable for these kinds of ships, which were designed to escort the many aircraft carriers the Commonwealth possessed. The nuclear reactor gave off an insane amount of power, which made the nuclear powered cruisers of the Commonwealth perfect for mounting better radars.

On the Morgana, the air search radar that was currently tracking the targets was one of the Commonwealth’s FCS/ASR-661s. The large, rectangular dish spun and spun, the radar beam scanning around. For this instance, the search radar fed information directly into Morgana’s CIC, where the four missile illuminators aimed their beams toward the distant contacts. The VML-34 Missile Launchers that were slaved to the illuminators turned in the same direction, which was toward the unknown aircraft that were now classified as “Vampires”.

The VML-34 Missile Launchers were new and advanced. Designed to give older ships with arm launchers better engagement and reloading speeds, it brought down the already low reload speed of the missiles down to five seconds per load. It was designed to be reliable due to the previous system’s issue with the many parts it used. Although it was fast, it still was not faster than a normal VLS system.

Loaded in the VML-34s were RA-77MR/AR2s, which were long range anti-air missiles that were essentially the normal RA-77MRs with an added long booster for longer range. Using a fragmentation warhead, it was designed to not only blow up a plane, but also shower a surrounding area with thousands of sharp metal pieces to sever control systems, engines, and make holes in the airframe of an aircraft. It was essentially the normal Commonwealth warhead for these types of missiles.

“Vampires 1, 2, 3, and 4 are being beamed at.” One of the sailors in CIC stated as he stared at his computer. “Good returns.”

“Launchers are slaved and are good. Loaded up.” Another sailor yelled toward the Anti-Air Warfare Officer in CIC. The AAWO was standing at the radar screen, plotting an intercept course for the missiles that they would roughly follow.

“Tracking. Cleared to fire.” The Anti-Air Warfare Officer ordered. “Fire at the vampires.”

As the order was said, the Anti-Air Warfare Officer punched a button as red lights went out across the deck of the ship, warning of an imminent missile launch. Timed to the millisecond, exactly four seconds later the aft VML-34 fired it’s right arm, the RA-77MR/AR2 igniting it’s booster and flying off before the left arm of the launcher fired the RA-77MR/AR2 on it’s arm. The two missiles, as soon as they left the launcher, activated a subsystem in the launcher itself as the arms trained upward at a 90 degree angle, the VML-34 moving into neutral mode as the hatches below opened and shoved two more RA-77MR/AR2s onto the rails, locking instantly and securing the missiles as their fins were opened for firing. The VML-34 would then train back toward the direction the illuminators were staring at, ready for another war shot.

At the front, the front VML-34 repeated the same process as the aft launcher as the two RA-77MR/AR2s left the launcher, flying into the sky as they were guided by the four illuminators. The four missiles, flying in a line on radar, were each slaved to an illuminator on the Morgana. The illuminators aimed at the first four jets that were approaching them, the missiles were guided toward their targets as they paid attention to the path.

“Morgana here.” The captain spoke. “Missiles away.”

F-2F Block 40
Callsign “Fushin-Kai”
Mach 1.6

He was over the shore now.

Ken looked about as his radar did not pick up any contacts behind him or in front of him. It was just the usual amount of civilian aircraft that were occasionally flying about. At the moment, he wasn’t in any imminent danger.

“.... Yo. Look to your right.”

Ken almost jumped at the random radio message before complying with whoever said it. Looking to his right and out the canopy of the F-2F, he then spotted a very calming sight.

The four F/A-14Fs that were part of Squadron 04 were approaching, forming up with Ken in a small triangle formation as they moved to protect him. At the F/A-14F that was next to Ken’s F-2F, he spotted Walt wearing his helmet as he gave a thumbs up to Ken.

“About time.” Ken laughed.

“We turned off our radars and relied on dead reckoning. Man, if you turned at all we would’ve been fucked.” Walt responded.

“I threw them off damn good, I guess.” Ken looked ahead as he initiated a turn, the rest of Squadron 04 following behind as they moved over the water.

“A fine move from where we were at.” Ricin spoke up. “Very good.”

“Now, let’s hurry up and go home. Rendezvous with the tanker.” Walt suggested. “Everything here is now up to Mei.”

“Can’t wait for debriefing.” Ken spoke.

As the aircraft disappeared on radar as they left the effective range of the land based systems, they accelerated as they continued on their course to a mid air refueling point that was far away from any hostile threats. From there, they would refuel twice more, taking a longer way to get back to the Commonwealth before landing and getting a debriefing from Irene herself.

Oured
Helmanstend
The Commonwealth

TO: Her Majesty, Queen Arydex of Lanorth
FROM: Deputy Secretary General Rose-Marie Tallera
Subject: Re:Re: Place

The Aircraft Carrier I will be sending is called the Layua, centered around a small ship force of 4 ships that is led by a woman named Reyna A. Spruance. The Layua will be stationed 100 miles off the coast in a patrol pattern, mostly due to the rising threat of a Vonein attack against you. The Layua force will act as a barrier between you and Vonein to prevent any attacks during our meeting.

The time is perfect. I will see you then.

Rose-Marie Tallera

Permgarod Naval Base
Yuktobania
The Commonwealth

“And you are saying that my carrier will be ready within 48 hours?”

“Yes ma’am. The last of the shipyard workers are finishing their jobs. After that, the sailors may board again and you can set off.”

“Hm. Good.”

For a young woman like her, her name was awfully male. Her mother had named her after one of the carriers the Commonwealth had during World War Two, which specifically was also the one lost during the Battle of Wake Island. Her name was Lomonesev Tachibana, and she was one of the daughters of the Fleet Admiral of the Commonwealth Navy, who possessed the highest authority when it came to anything naval related in the Commonwealth.

Turning around as she left the office of the Commander of Permgarod Naval Base, Lomonesev found herself staring outside, toward the largest naval base in the entire Commonwealth. Three aircraft carriers were currently docked, along with all of their escorts. This made the base extremely crowded, but it was better than having not only the entire Carrier Division 2 in port, but also Carrier Division 3. That meant a total of 9 aircraft carriers and their escorts in port. Permgarod Naval Base had a capacity of 13 carriers able to dock at once across the entire complex at different piers.

In the distance and docked along a pier, her carrier was moored quietly. Because Lomonesev was named after a carrier, she was one of the few lucky gals who ironically commanded a ship that had the same name as her. The Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier Lomonesev’s box island shined in the sun, a fresh new coat of paint outlining the large 66 painted on the side. The flight deck, compared to a few months ago, was completely free of tents and temporary structures that the shipyard set up for their upgrades to her ship. A process that lasted a little more than a year, upgrades to the ship’s electromagnetic catapults were added, as well as a newer version of the FCS/ASR-661 and other radars on top. The ship was repainted and other maintenance work was completed to give it more life.

Lomonesev herself was not simply the captain of the ship, but she was the commander of the task force centered around the Lomonesev and also of Carrier Division 2, which consisted of the Lomonesev, Stannaza, Yuzhno, and Shtorm. These four carriers were a major source of power projection by the Commonwealth, but for the mission tasked to her at the moment, she can only bring the Lomonesev and Yuzhno.

Mission…

She remembered the details in her head. The head of the CONI, Irene Haeusser, wanted her to move her Task Force in a patrol pattern off the coast of some country. Tensions were apparently starting to get high in the last day or so, which bothered Lomonesev. She remembered Irene’s face, which was that of joy.

Maybe she was planning something.

Lomonesev did not care. All she was thinking to do was to serve the Commonwealth proud. If it meant bombing a country and bringing them to their knees, then so be it. She cannot disappoint her Commonwealth, for that would bring shame not only to her, but also to her family. And what would her three sisters think? They were also commanders of other Carrier Divisions, and if she even remotely did not do what she was asked to do, it would be a shameful display. The pressure was even more mounting because her own mother is the literal head of the Commonwealth Navy. She was the most powerful individual in the navy and some even say the armed forces. What would her mom think?

What would her mom think…?

Removing the useless thoughts from her head, she turned and walked from the window, heading to the stairs that would bring her outside. She needed to go back to her carrier to start to oversee the operation.

30,000 feet above the sea

"MISSILE WARNING" "MISSILE WARNING" The shrill mechanical voice said. Immediately the pilots deployed maneuvers, trying to scatter the missiles as they did wild turns. They began to try to activate their jammers, hoping to defeat the guidance systems. They dived for the sea, also trying to defeat the missiles. These fighters were newer block fighters, and so had an advanced jamming system. One of the fighters managed to get a missile off at the radar that was directing the missiles, and the others soon did the same before they had to deploy flares and chaff. The entirety of the jets armament was launched at the ship attacking them, each fighter's eight missiles soaring towards the ship.

They sent an urgent request to the Central Command Center of the Voneinian Armed Forces to help them with these ships. The controllers told the fighter to turn towards Tracking Station 30, and so they did. They hit afterburners, continued maneuvering, and made it like hares over to the station, passing it within minutes, the missiles still doing a good job of following them.

Station 30

"Radars pointed at the ships, lighting them up now."

The massive power of the eight radars on the rig coupled with the floating radar station allowed the rig to paint a clear picture of the anti-air cruiser. The information was beamed back to stations on shore which were further transmitted to the Central Command Center. A jamming frequency was transmitted through one of the radars, which would affect the guidance of the missiles as they headed toward the fighters of Vonein. They were prepared to act against any threat, as the fighters were directed towards the rig, which had many layers of missile defense and anti-aircraft defenses. The largest of the radars, the Corex Five, was still targeting the ships, having not totally fixated on them yet. One of the most powerful radars fielded by the Voneinian State, the radars allowed for the identification of a golfball of up to three hundred miles away. The radar has its disadvantages, as it is unable to move fast enough to track moving targets, it is blind up close with targets within fifty miles, and the radar consumes a lot of power. The rig has three miniature nuclear reactors, with one of them being wholly dedicated to the radar.

Task Force 151

"Sir, our fighters are under attack. Those ships to our east are hostile." The voice from the CIC ended on the bridge as the massive battlecruiser swung to the east towards the new threat. Shipping was being rerouted closer to the coast in the event the enemy ships decided to attack them. The massive battlecruiser's targeting radars feed data to the rest of the fleet and began creating a targeting solution. It would only take a few minutes for the massive missile launchers carrying the newly introduced RM-83 missile to begin launching. The other ships created their own firing solutions, and already the night was lit up with several plumes of smoke as the cruisers and frigates fired off their missiles all at once, one after the other. The guns on some of the cruisers used rocket assisted shells and began firing, trying to overwhelm any defenses the enemy ships may have.

A few minutes later, and the battlecruiser was ready, the firing solution was solved by the computers. As all around them ships fired the last of their missiles and waited for the reload of their silos, the massive ship shuttered. First large plumes of fire and smoke billowed out of the back of one of the side mounted missile launchers, and one of the massive missiles rocketed out of the tube, into the air and away at the target. This version of the missile had GPS guidance, and so was estimated to have a 98% accuracy rating. It was also the debut of this new ship, as some of the weapons systems such as the guns have never been fired in anger. The RM-83 also had a special feature that wasn't as common with other missiles. It split into four different warheads when it reached a distance of a mile from its target, hopefully, overwhelming defensive systems. The missiles also had a 600-mile range but were slow at only Mach two.

The ships closer to the commonwealth ships rushed towards them, using their speed to their advantage. Being mostly gun frigates, they rushed to get within main battery range before the Commonwealth had time to react. They also had torpedoes, though they were rarely called for in naval doctrine. Many on the frigates knew they wouldn't get to see the light of the morning, but were contempt with it. Fight songs were played on the speakers loud enough you could hear it clearly from a mile away, and the ships went lights out. They continued to rush the ships as the larger ships continued to release missiles at the cruisers. They were all angry at getting attacked by the enemy and wanted them to pay for it.

Somewhere in Lanorth

The small seaplane landed on the coast, having done its mission. Three men got out and walked on the beach. They knew of an abandoned house which supposedly would furnish them a mile up the road. They smiled and looked back at the seaplane. They had raided an unlocked military base in Eastern Lanorth, stealing the nerve gas. They then traveled to this very spot, where they loaded the plane with it like a crop duster, and then took off for the town they hit. They were successful and got away before they could be caught. They thought they were off scot free as they walked up to the hill where the house sat, then saw a speck at the distance coming towards them They knew it was a helicopter, but it couldn't have been friendly. They quickly scurried into a nearby cave, knowing that they were Voneinians, clear as day. They hoped the helicopter would either ignore the seaplane or not take it for the one that just gassed a town. They then saw another speck on the horizon, a small fishing boat rocking in the waves. They decided to make a run for it, and as the helicopter neared closer, ran out of the cave and went for the boat.

Central Command Center of the Voneinian Armed Forces

Every branch was represented here, even the Voneinian National Police had a spot at the oak table where they sat. Where they sat was at a critical decision. They had gotten a clear picture for the ships that the navy was now firing on. It was now a decision of whether to involve the land-based anti-ship missile batteries placed at five points across Vonein. Two of them were out of range, and two were at their maximum range. They decided to wait and see how the navy's attacks will do.

[Lanorth]

Somewhere in Lanorth

The small seaplane landed on the coast, having done its mission. Three men got out and walked on the beach. They knew of an abandoned house which supposedly would furnish them a mile up the road. They smiled and looked back at the seaplane. They had raided an unlocked military base in Eastern Lanorth, stealing the nerve gas. They then traveled to this very spot, where they loaded the plane with it like a crop duster, and then took off for the town they hit. They were successful and got away before they could be caught. They thought they were off scot free as they walked up to the hill where the house sat, then saw a speck at the distance coming towards them They knew it was a helicopter, but it couldn't have been friendly. They quickly scurried into a nearby cave, knowing that they were Voneinians, clear as day. They hoped the helicopter would either ignore the seaplane or not take it for the one that just gassed a town. They then saw another speck on the horizon, a small fishing boat rocking in the waves. They decided to make a run for it, and as the helicopter neared closer, ran out of the cave and went for the boat.

OOC: This little piece here has been voided, as if you read the post, the attack was commited by the Tyronian protestors, not Voneinians. Besides I would like to know, if this post was not voided, how they got into Lanorth because immediately when war was declared all Voneinians in Lanorth were detained until further notice. Continue this conversation in the OOC thread.

[Lanorth]

Sorry for this super late post I forgot all about it. Forgive me.

Madavga Airport, Lanorth

The plane closed in to the runway. It was long and looked quite formal. It had the emblem of the Tyronian Monarchy on either side of a sentence that read; TU MARA CAV TYRANNI COROLLA, which meant 'Plane of the Tyronian Monarchy'. The pilot pulled back on the throttle. It's speed decreased. It reached a suitable speed for landing. They closed up on the runway. The plane touched down successfully. The pilot pulled the throttle all of the way back and the plane later came to a halt. The exit door opened and stairs were prepared for the Queen. Two armed men from the Tyronian Monarchy Guards, established when the protests kicked off, marched down the steps in their uniform and stood at either side of the ending of the steps before placing down a red carpet they were carrying and rolled it as far as it could go before marching back to their position at the steps. Their necks rose in unison and the Queen began to walk down the steps. The guards saluted. She walked passed them and they slammed their foot against the ground, turned on the spot and marched behind her. She reached out her hand to shake the Cossack and Vionna-Franklischian commanders' hands, smiling.

As she was about to shake their hands, a quiet explosion that sounded like a firework being launched to the men and women and Madavga Airport, rang out in the distance.

---

KEVERSI KAVCHO
TYRONIAN DISTRICT
ONE-HUNDRED-AND-SEVENTY MILES FROM
MADAVGA AIRPORT
FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE EXPLOSION

"This is J2-7980, drawing in upon the protest stronghold. Activity seems high, they appear to be working." Said the pilot of a J2-80 Dive Bomber. The J2-80 was a bomber plane designed by a Tyronian pilot. It carried eight forty kilogram bombs that were used for taking out bunkers and strongholds of enemies. It was easily mistaken for an average jet fighter as they looked almost identical. The bunker they were approaching was The Hollows, an anti-monarchist bunker where the protest leader often went to seek a little break. He was reported to be in the bunker so instead three J2-80s carrying two two-hundred-and-fifty kilogram bombs were closing in upon the bunker in retaliation for the chemical attack.

"Open your bomb bay doors and begin your dive." Said the Squadron Leader. The three J2-80s who had taken off from a nearby Tyronian Royal Air Force base just ten minutes earlier opened their bomb bay doors and began their swift dive. They smashed through the clouds and immediately the bunker came into view. They pulled up at the last second, dropping the bombs as they did so and slammed on the thrust. The bombers flew off with only a few scrapes from the explosion. The squadron leader looked behind himself. "Direct hit! The bunker is down." He then reported the same thing to the base he was stationed at. There was a big sigh of relief. A team of Special Forces would soon be deployed to identify victims and survey the damage. It was a good day for Monarchist Lanorth.

[The Yuktobanian Republic]

JS Inazuma
Destroyer Division 6 (DESRON 44)
International Waters

“Vampire! Vampire!” The Anti-Air Warfare Officer yelled over the headset. “We got two hundred aerial contacts! Missiles!”

Mei’s eyes went wide as she stared at the screen. Datalinked with the aerial search radar of the Morgana, she could see what the nuclear powered cruiser could see. It went the same for the JS Ikazuchi, which could see the same screen. She was essentially seeing what CIC in the Morgana saw.

It wasn’t pleseant.

Two hundred aerial contacts from the large radar emissions area, as well as from the north. Mei quickly calculated that there were most likely ships in that area, and those ships were well within range for her to use missiles against it. As she thought in her head, the voice of the surface warfare officer then spoke up in her headset.

“Contacts. Surface ships. Seems they are trying to rush us.”

Mei inputted that into her thoughts. At those ship’s maximum speed, they will take over 3 hours to close the distance between them and her small force. With that in mind, she could most likely fire off the six Type 18s currently loaded in the armored launchers toward the targets before doing a strategic pull back.

“CIC, give me a list of all container ships and cargo ships in this sector.” Mei ordered.

“Aye.”

As the list was quickly compiled, one of the officers on the bridge changed one of the multifunction displays on the wall to display the list of cargo ships that were in the area. There were numerous different ships, but the two closest ships were a Vionnan flagged container ship carrying a load somewhere and a New England Container ship that was cruising at a somewhat slow speed. The Vionnan ship was named MV San Sebastian, while the New English ship was named the MV Winooski. Both were cruising in different directions and were perfect for what Mei had planned.

“Alright. Morgana, link up with the two arrivals and take care of those missiles.”

Mei remembered at that moment that two ships arrived a few hours ago and were trailing the formation a few miles south of them. That small two ship formation consisted of the cruiser Amber Hold and the guided missile destroyer Glacier Peak, both of which were very formidable ships.

“Morgana here. Roger that.”

Mei then spoke into her headset. “CIC, bring up a firing solution on those surface contacts closing on us. Fire three Harpoons at them, then fire off all our fish from the tubes. Afterward, we will initiate a close turn to use those ships as cover.”

“CIC copies. We will do our best.”

“Ikazuchi here.” The captain of the JS Ikazuchi spoke. “What will we do?”

“Fire off three of your fish toward the approaching ships and initiate a turn to port to follow me.”

As the quick order was given, the JS Inazuma’s armored turrets for torpedoes could be seen electrically turning to starboard, with the JS Ikazuchi’s following behind as the turrets came to a stop after turning exactly 90 degrees on both ships.

Inside the CIC of the Inazuma, the mission and flight plan for the three RGM-84 Harpoon missiles was quickly created. Aimed at the lead ship that was approaching them, the missiles would sea skim before rising up and hitting the top of the ship, hopefully causing an ammo detonation. But for now, that was not the purpose of the missiles.

It was as a distraction.

As the flight plan was quickly uploaded to three of the Harpoons, the first Harpoon quickly loaded onto the lone VML-29EM1 arm launcher. The centered rail had loaded the Harpoon and deployed the fins as soon as the missile locked before the launcher itself aimed toward the starboard side. As the button in CIC was pressed, the single RGM-84 left the rail, blasting the aft end of the ship in smoke as the missile left the rail and flew off into the distance.

In a maneuver that lasted less than 7 seconds, the missile launcher returned to neutral position, the arm raising itself 90 degrees into the sky as the reloading hatch opened and hydraulically propelled another Harpoon into the launcher, where it locked and the VML-29EM1 went back on automatic and pointed to the starboard side, repeating the same process for the other Harpoon.

As the three Harpoons were launched, the two armored launchers for the Type 18 UUM suddenly gave a loud whistle before a sudden popping noise was heard. This popping noise was the air canister that was part of the torpedo bursting and flinging the massive Type 18 out of the tube and into the water, where the onboard computer took over and started the propulsion system to propel the torpedo quickly but also quietly toward the frigates.

Following behind, the JS Ikazuchi fired three Type 18 Unique Underwater Munitions into the water, the torpedoes activating and following after as they moved in very unpredictable patterns to confuse any defenses against them. Essentially, they were very smart underwater vehicles rather than torpedoes. That made their price hefty, but also one of the best anti-ship munitions there were currently. On sonar, the Type 18s were silent, having been built with a pump jet propulsion system that made the torpedo itself quiet underneath a certain depth. At this moment, the torpedoes were travelling under that depth, so they were silent.

“Fish away.” The Surface Warfare Officer of the Inazuma yelled. “Nine in the water! One for each approaching boat!”

“Helmsman! Hard to port!” Mei then ordered as the armored torpedo launchers quickly swiveled to neutral position to load up more Type 18s into their hold.

Mei held onto the railing in the bridge of the Inazuma as her ship suddenly turned port, the entire metal structure of the vessel creaking as the speed picked up from 30 knots to a solid 36 knots. Making a gigantic wake behind the ship, the wake almost swamped the Ikazuchi behind her if it were not for the Ikazuchi conducting the same act of turning hard to port as she reloaded.

As the ships moved toward the container ships in the distance, they fired off two decoy rockets designated as the TMSW “Nulka” into the sky. Built by a member of the Commonwealth, the Tricentennial Multipurpose Seeking Weapon was a decoy missile designed to be fired from a ship before hovering in the air nearby, occasionally firing off chaff to ward off missiles. This was on top of the decoy itself having a unique signature on radar to represent the ship that it was launched from. The JS Inazuma and JS Ikazuchi both launched one decoy each to confuse the barrage of missiles targeted at them.

It was a good escape.

---

Task Force 170
International Waters
Guided Missile Cruiser Amber Hold

“Boss! We got 200 contacts and closing in!”

The Anti-Air Warfare Officer nodded at the sailor at his console as he stared at a display of the radar. Unlike the usual rotating radar, this one was special. It had listed almost everything in a 400 mile aerial radius and did not need to pass a beam around to update it.

It was the power of the PAR-2.

The FCS/PAR-2 Radar System was a phased array system, originally made to defend Commonwealth aircraft carriers during the potential cold war going hot. It was able to track more than five hundred targets and determine which was a higher priority for interception. Made against bomber swarms of missiles, the system was able to be datalinked with not only other PAR-2 systems, but also other ship radar systems. That meant it could guide other ship’s missiles as effectively as if they were their own.

“Set PAR-2 to full auto datalink!” The AAWO yelled.

“PAR-2 is on full datalink!” another officer yelled back.

The main PAR-2 system on the Amber Hold datalinked with two vessels currently in the area. This was the Glacier Peak, an Armenish Beach-Class Guided Missile Destroyer that also had the PAR-2 radar and combat system, and the Morgana which did not have that but utilized the FCS/ASR-661B aerial search radar.

As the systems data linked with each other, CIC in both the Glacier Peak and Morgana gave full operating control to the computer and men inside CIC in the cruiser Amber Hold. As it conducted a system check to determine if everything was correct, it deduced that everything worked as it should have. The PAR-2 combat suite on the Amber Hold then conducted the mass target acquisition, where the panels on the superstructure of the cruiser painted an image for the crew in CIC.

Around 200 missiles were painted on the radar map, which were closing in at a speed of approximately mach 2. It was certainly faster than normal, but it wasn’t hard to deal with. As the computer inside the Amber Hold created firing solutions for all of the missiles closest to it, it datalinked this information to not only the Glacier Peak’s PAR-2 computer, but even the firing computer for the Morgana. Acting as one mega datalinked computer, the system then selected priority targets that were approaching the Morgana.

“Missiles clear!” Amber Hold’s AAWO yelled. “Release! Release!”

The forward DV20 Vertical Launch Cells were in a single pack of 64 cells per “box”. There were two boxes on the Permgarod-Class Guided Missile Cruisers, which was the class the Amber Hold was part of. Each cell in each “box” carried one missile. All together, the Amber Hold carried 122 missiles, and that was in an ideal scenario. With the introduction of the RA-73SR/4P, these missiles could be quad packed into one cell, raising the count tremendously.

As the computer automatically selected which missiles to fire, the first missiles to leave were a pair of long range RA-37LR/E2s. These long range missiles were designed to supplement the RA-77MR series. The RA-37LR primarily acted as a very high speed interception missile capable of hitting cruise missiles like most of the RA-series of missiles. In engaging these supersonic missiles launched by Vonein, the computer used these missiles due to the distance and also the increased speed.

As the RA-37LR/E2s passed over the Morgana, the Morgana herself started launching on full automatic, the RA-77MR/AR2s being guided by the PAR-2 system on the distant Amber Hold as they flew into the sky. The two VML-34 launchers, after firing off a pair of missiles from their rails, would suddenly return to neutral position as the two hatches underneath the launcher itself opened and flung onto the rails two fresh RA-77MR/AR2s. The hatches closing automatically, the launcher would then once again train itself toward the contacts as the missiles fired off after deploying their fins, being released into the sky like a pack of hungry wolves toward sheep.

Following the mass of missiles coming from the now smoke covered Morgana, the Amber Hold also went into full automatic. Joining the two missiles she fired, the cruiser would then open more DV20 vertical launch cells and fire out RA-77MR/ER1s. These missiles were essentially just the normal RA-77MR but with a booster on it. This gave it a longer range, which significantly increased the range to intercept targets. It was perfect for defense, which at this moment was what they were being used for. From both the aft and bow DV20 VLS “boxes”, numerous missiles flew out into the sky to intercept the targets.

The Glacier Peak, which up until that point had been quiet, suddenly rose from it’s slumber and opened cells on her forward DV20 VLS “box”. Loaded inside these were RA-77MR/E4s, which was the nominal Commonwealth ship-based anti-air missile for VLS Systems. Dating back to the older projects the Commonwealth experimented with right after the Second World War to defend against kamikazes, the missile matured to a highly advanced system capable of hitting planes, UAVs, supersonic missiles, and even ships. As the forward DV20 cells opened, numerous RA-77MR/E4s were released into the sky, heading toward their targets.

The sky was quiet for but a moment before the missile barrage from the three ships started impacting each and every one of the missiles. If a missile missed, then another one was sure to get it. Quicky, the missile count started to decrease as the might of the PAR-2 radar on the Amber Hold was unleashed upon the mass of missiles fired at the fleet.

It had been angered, and now it was taking them all on.

---

CGN Morgana
Destroyer Division 6 (CRUTE 7)
International Waters

“One hundred down! Continuing to fire!”

As the ship shuddered from each launcher shot, CIC held on as they watched the computer that was onboard the Amber Hold a distance away take over. Targeting missiles on the computer screen like an old video game, contacts were swarming the sky as the blue missile contacts impacted the red missile contacts bearing in on the fleet.

“JS Inazuma and JS Ikazuchi have warded off two missiles! The Nulka decoys worked!”

As the crew in CIC stared at one of the multifunction displays that was linked to the radar, five missiles cruising at very low altitude at mach 2 approached, the FCS/ASR-661B on the top of the superstructure of the Morgana scanning it over and over as it’s position was updated.

“Missiles inbound!” An officer yelled at his desktop. “Five! Bearing on us!”

“Assign priority!” The AAWO of the Morgana yelled as he spoke into the headset that was on the same frequency as the captain of the ship. “Captain! Missiles coming in on the starboard side!”

All of a sudden, the ship that was travelling at 27 knots suddenly accelerated to a top speed of 37 knots, the two nuclear reactors inside the ship providing a massive amount of energy to the turbines that generated power for the two shafts that propelled the boat. Catching speed, the ship suddenly initiated a turn to the left in an effort to minimize the signature of the ship to the missiles.

“Fire Nulka and chaff!”

In built in launchers on the Morgana, the ship’s protection system activated as the ship
fired off metallic strips of a type of metal, the radars on the missiles being confused by the now thousands of contacts that were flooding the radar. This caused one missile to slam into the water, chasing a phantom.

Following this, CIC fired off a decoy similar to the ones fired off by Mei in the Inazuma and Ikazuchi group. The Nulka decoy, armed in it’s launcher, left at high speed as the decoy flew out before hovering in the air near the ship. Using a pulse emitter, the decoy mimicked the ship itself as it became a lure for missiles, two of the missiles following after it. This now left the last two missiles heading for the Morgana.

Automatically activating after detecting a threat closing in on the ship, the starboard Goalkeeper CIWS turned on, it’s mini radar spinning as the 30mm Rotary Gun in the turret also spun up. Chambering specially made tungsten rounds into the barrels, the turret swiveled quickly and the gun spun up even faster, tracking the oncoming missiles that suddenly split into four warheads per missile. There were now eight targets coming at the Morgana.

The sound of a massive zipper being pulled up echoed all around as the Goalkeeper conducted its job as the last line of defense for the Morgana. 30mm shells filling the air from the sheer fire rate of the missile, the Goalkeeper sprayed in a speedy and robotic pattern, 30mm shells slamming into four warheads that were flying toward the Morgana.

There were still four warheads.

It was too late.

The first warhead slammed into the bow of the ship, detonating and causing a massive fire on the front half of the ship. As the automatic fire suppression system kicked in, the second warhead made its mark as it slammed into the aft superstructure, blowing out the sides and also starting a fire that was fueled by the spilt Harpoons that were leaking fuel all around the ship.

The third warhead slammed into the ASW-3 mount, causing the ASW-3 anti-submarine rockets to fall out and onto the deck. Due to the hard left turn, the rockets safely fell into the sea, which was a rather comforting sight except for the fact that now the ship was on fire in two large areas. To top it off, the last warhead slammed into the middle superstructure, detonating and causing a fireball that caused the main mast to tip over slightly. Automatically, one of the engineers in the reactor compartment SCRAM one of the nuclear reactors, shutting it down and cutting the ship’s speed from 37 knots to 16 knots quickly.

As the Morgana burned and damage control reacted quickly to put out the flames and prevent flooding, the ship initiated a turn toward the safety of the Lomonesev battlegroup in the very far distance, hoping to get away while the Vonein focus was elsewhere.

Carrier Division 2 (Task Force 170)
International Waters
Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier Lomonesev

“Five hundred miles away. We got heavy heavy returns.”

The captain of the Lomonesev looked at the admiral currently with him on the bridge as he listened in via his headset to the people on the other side of the line. The headset was connected to the same frequency that the Anti-Air Warfare Officer, the Air Officer, and other important officials in the carrier that were very useful for carrier operations.

Next to the captain, Admiral Lomonesev Tachibana nodded as she watched the somewhat crowded deck of the aircraft carrier. Lights blinked in the distance from the escorts of the carrier, and to the left of the Lomonesev was the aircraft carrier Yuzhno, the medium sized conventionally powered carrier powering through the sea at a high speed of 32 knots.

“Classify those returns.” Lomonesev spoke into the headset, an order directed toward the people in CIC that could hear her.

“Heavy heavy. Seems like a massive ground based installation.” The radar officer in CIC reported via the headset frequency. “Stationary, although recent overflights by satellites have spotted massive returns from the ocean.”

“The ocean, hm?” Lomonesev spoke as she moved over to where the Air Officer sat, watching as an F-14E on the deck was led to the catapult by men in yellow fatigues. The F-14E was the nominal Commonwealth carrier aircraft, however on the Lomonesev there were F/A-14Fs scattered about. The F/A-14Fs were due to replace all the F-14Es soon, and this was really apparent here because half the F-14 family on the carrier consisted of the F and the other half were of the E.

“Yeah, the ocean.” The Radar Officer spoke. “Might be a converted platform or something. Unable to tell.”

“How are the three ships doing?” Lomonesev asked.

“Mei has taken the chance and fired.” The Anti-Air Warfare boss spoke in the headset, the sound of typing being heard. “Might get fried.”

“Well, good thing we dispatched the two ships far earlier.” Lomonesev spoke. “I anticipated this action by Mei. She’s a trigger happy woman.”

“Which ships?” The captain turned to Lomonesev and looked at her. Lomonesev, with her distinct dark brown small side ponytail, wore the nominal Commonwealth OSCS Uniform that consisted of many different shades of grey to blend sailors in with the superstructure of their ship.

“The Cruiser Amber Hold and the Destroyer Glacier Peak left a day earlier than us and are moving north of our position….” Lomonesev spoke. “... And are making contact. I want additional ships to that location, and just in case I want some BARCAP to prevent their Air Force from making a concentrated attack."

"This is the Air Boss." The Air Officer spoke. "The order is already in place, ma'am. A group of F/A-18s and F/A-14Fs are moving toward the scene to assist. They are aided by an E-2 that is flying overhead at the moment."

Lomonesev stayed silent, staring out the window as she watched the aircraft on deck move around with assistance by the crew members.

It was her time to shine.

---

Davenport
Engrandonica
The Commonwealth

“We got a order for a deployment, sir.”

Lieutenant Colonel Armin Elborch looked toward the captain who had arrived, the captain handing over a piece of paper to him as he saluted. Saluting back, Armin took the paper and read it.

Lt. Col. Armin Elborch was the commander of an Engrandonican Royal Marine formation known as “45 Commando”. Part of the Engrandonican Royal Marines, the 45 Commando was one of the most heavily used units in the Engrandonican Royal Marines. Being part of not only the Falklands War, 45 Commando also served in the 2005 Invasion of Somalia, the CAF War, and other wars the Commonwealth needed an elite group of marines to storm a beach.

In this instance and after reading the telegram, Armin could see that 45 Commando was needed. With similar telegrams being sent to 40 Commando, 42 Commando, 43 Commando, and 24 Commando Engineers, it all said the same thing.

A message from General Erica McKnight, it stated that almost the entire Royal Marine force would be needed for an operation that might happen. It involved the turn of events near a country called Vonein, where supposedly a Commonwealth cruiser was hit by missiles and warshots were fired. However, no declaration of war occured. For this operation that might be enacted, they were to proceed to their designated ports and embark on Engrandonican Royal Navy amphibious assault vessels, where they will proceed to move and await further orders.

For the 45 Commando, they were to embark on the RFA Lyme Bay, which was a Bay-Class Landing Ship that was able to carry 356 troops, along with their equipment and helicopters. Currently, Armin could see Lyme Bay sitting outside at a pier in Davenport, the ship tied up and ready to leave if necessary.

“Interesting.” Armin spoke as he set down the paper. “How are our equipments?”

“We have most soldiers equipped with the SA80A3, although some are still using the SA80A2. GPMG is still the same, and all troops have the ammunition and such for them.”

“Helicopters?”

“The Chinooks are all waiting.”

“Vehicles?”

“No heavies, of course. However, we still have many light vehicles like the EmWimmick that can sufficiently carry us forth.”

“Good. Good.” Armin nodded before looking at the captain. “Now, I suggest we alert the troops. We should start preparing now.”

As the captain nodded and left the room, Armin got up and grabbed his green beret, placing it on his head as he also exited the room.

It was a time of preparation.

[The Republic of Asia]

New England
New York City
Prime Ministers Offices

“What the fuck?!, The situation over there’s already crazy enough and now this.”

“Yes, Mam. It appears that the Emperor of Lanorth has been assassinated and Vonein has declared war on Lanorth”

“As if this crisis couldn’t get anymore ouragous”, Prime Minister Hayes said under her breath, “Get me the Foreign and Defense Ministers, I want to discuss this latest incident with them”

“Aye Ma’m”, The aide said before leaving the office

While her secretary was busy calling up Foreign Minister Smith and Defense Minister O'Connell. Kelly Hayes tried to make sense of the situation. Protest against a monarchy were pretty commonplace, but scale this had escalated to was astounding. After about six minutes of waiting Defense Minister O'Connell was escorted into her office and Foreign Minister Smith joined by conference call.

Their meeting conuited for several minutes before they agreed on plan to deal with the situation. The Foreign Ministry would attempt to set up a diplomatic channel with the new Lanorthian government and probe the general international situation. The Defense Ministry would divert a ship to monitor the situation and put other units on standby for the deployment if necessary. All while Prime Minister Hayes would contact the Commonwealth Deputy-Secretary General to get her governments input and so they could coordinate their efforts to together.

Open Ocean
HMNES Kennedy
The Kennedy had been at sea for about a month now. She was originally on a routine patrol mission along shipping corridors nearby to Lanorth but the recent unrest and the conflict between Lanorth and Vonein had caused to New English government to reassign the ship to monitor the unfolding situation.
This Captain James Scotts second deployment with the Kennedy, which the third ship to be under his command. The last one had been rather uneventful, a routine patrol around New English regional waters, but it proved to be a good shake down cruise for the ship. It allowed them to test the systems of the Kennedy ranging from the advanced PAR-2 Radar manufactured by the Commonwealth to average air conditioning system.
Now would be a much more interesting mission, at least in Captain Scott's mind, finally getting to take his new ship out on actual deployment. He was just about to retire to his quarters when . . . .
“Captain, Numerous contacts on passive radar, There appears to be shooting war commencing between several ships.”
“Helm, Set heading towards those ships, Who are they?”
“Unknown sir, wait .. identifying. . . One group is from the Commonwealth sir, I can see the distinct PAR-2 radar signature. There also appears to some civilian cargo ships.
“Helm, reprimand that order, Adjust heading and make flank speed towards those cargo ships, We don’t want them getting caught up in this conflict.”
“Aye, Sir, The helmsen said as she turned the ship towards the cargo ships and pushed forward to flank speed.

[Vionna-Frankenlisch]

Madavga, Empire of Lanorth
Madavga Airport

---

The Queen began to walk down the steps. The guards saluted. She walked passed them and they slammed their foot against the ground, turned on the spot and marched behind her. She reached out her hand to shake the Cossack and Vionna-Franklischian commanders' hands, smiling.

Standing sharply to attention with several of his officers by his side, the rest of his men smartly seated atop their horses, Colonel Tellon saluted. As the Queen approached, he lowered his hand to shake her outstretched one. Then the explosion rang out, popping rather than bursting and poorly audible to the men and women on the landing grounds. Tellon laughed worriedly and shook Queen Arydex's hand tenderly. "What kind of fool would set off fireworks in the broad daylight?" He joked with similarly worried chuckles, "The people must be welcoming their gracious sovereign home," he added, smiling.

"Find out what the fuck that was..." Tellon whispered seriously to Major Sujeeb, the brown-skinned commander of his regiment's Third Squadron, before turning back to the Queen with a charming smile.

[Lanorth]

ᴼᴾᴱᴿᴬᵀᴵᴼᴺ ᴷᴵᴸᴸᴵᴺᴳ ᴰᴱᴬᵀᴴ
ᴾᴬᴿᵀ ᴼᴺᴱ



Beginnings. Endings. In between one and the other. Between first and last. Always searching, sometimes finding. Brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers. We have no world without them and there is no other world.

---

It was dark inside Arktch Mactdal. Arktch Mactdal was a base for Tyronian commandos, the operatives of the elite Royal Tyronian Rangers, or RTR. The best of the best within the Tyronian Armed Forces. It was close to midnight and most of the operatives not undergoing punishment from the previous day were sleeping twenty minutes into their three hour rest which they got. Those undergoing punishment got no sleep, they were forced to undergo brutal physical training and if you fell asleep during the training you would have your head held under in ice cold water until you were on the brink of drowning and lifted up just to teach you a lesson. You may consider it harsh, but in basic training for the TRR you are taught to drown in case it is necessary to avoid or escape from something that may cause harm or threat to you or your squad. Though all of the time the Royal Rangers are trained to operate in the air, in the sea and on land so they operate in all environments, at any temperature, at any time and at any place. The nation took pride in RTR and rightly so.

Inside a slightly cramped room which hosted 4 bunkbeds, the door opened. It creaked as it did so. The operatives inside did not awake. He was holding a cowbell. He turned the light on and rung the cowbell. It was very loud and instantly woke the operators. They all got into their hand-to-hand combat stances, ready to fight but they realised it was their squad commander. The eight men stood down.

"Great, muckers. Glad you are now up." Said the commander, Commander Kavlaigh KC. The KC, or Kamburgh Cross, was (and still is) the highest-ranking medal you can aquire in the Tyronian Armed Forces. It can be received through utmost valour of the highest order. When on parade, if you receive the medal everyone will have to salute you, no matter what rank you are or the person saluting you. The eight men nodded in his direction. "We have been told to prepare ourselves for deployment. We are going to Vonein.

Commander Kavlaigh KC commanded the eight-man squadron known only as Aristocrat, meaning higher class. The title Aristocrat made sense as Aristocrat was probably one of the most professional and one of the best squadrons in the whole of the Royal Tyronian Rangers. They had been on military opeeations behind enemy lines and had escaped with a few bruises and grazes. But this time, they were not too sure about what was going to happen.

"Commander. Are you half-asleep? Sleep walking? Because right now you sound fucking high. Have nine too many beers last night at the pub? Shared fifty grams of cocaine with your pals?" Barked the Master Sergeant, Athran Khudashov, named after the Tyronian city.

"In my opinion, you little bastard, you have been taking the drugs, judging on what you just said to me. Get on the fucking floor and give me fifty fucking push-ups." Bellowed the Commander, pointing on the floor.

"Right." Mumbled the Master Sergeant, dropping to the floor immediately before performing the push-ups he was asked to do.

"Well. As I was saying." Began the Commander, placing his hands on his hips. "We have been ordered to kit-up. Wheels up in four hours. I suggest you get ready and prepare yourselves in that time. Command are still discussing the operation known now as Operation: Killing Death. You will be the heroes of Lanorth soon, if you follow orders. You will have your cyanide capsules with you if necessary. Take care." He finished and walked out. The Commander walked back to his office within the base. He smiled as he heard the soldiers beginning to chant as they got ready.

The march did not cease at the platforms,
When the foe clouded the horizon,
And with it, our fathers, in smoky railcars,
Were brought to the front by trains.
We took our homeland with this march in 1914,
In 1956 we conquered islands afar,
The whole of Lanorth rose to battle with it,
Through the years of tough times.
And if the country,
Calls us to war,
For our own Homeland,
We shall march to sacred war!
(To sacred war!)

---

[Vonein]

The State Office for Security, or SOS, is the national security service for the federal level. It is responsible for protecting all national security issues responsible to the Directorate. It is here, located in an undisclosed bunker in the mountains high above the capital, where men and women of the Joint Security Center monitor situations around the nation and around the world. Several organizations have offices and staff who work out of the Center, including the State Police, State Firefighting Service, the National Intelligence Agency and the Director’s Office of Strategic Intelligence. They were activated as soon as the mobilizations began around the world. A large flurry of activity was centered around the beaches, as they were woefully undefended or under-defended. The first divisions could be there in an hour, sure, but they need to stop any possible attacker from developing a beachhead. The navy has already been recalled, with all ships being scrapped as quickly as their weapon systems can be taken off the ships. These weapon systems are then placed in one of four coastal forts, as Vonein’s coastline is mostly rocky, these forts protect the entrances to protected harbors or one of three beaches where a landing could occur. The coastline of Vonein is mostly sheer cliffs, with the JCC thinking that if there were a landing, it would be almost impossible to sheer the cliffs. There was one thing they overlooked, and that was the tide. It went down so far that a giant beach was created at the edge of the cliffs. Only a few small garrisons overlooked the beaches from the cliffs, with most of the forces concentrated at the larger landing sites. Another thing they overlooked was the resort of the town of San Simeon located at the far north of Vonein, It’s beach is very small, and even though a landing could be easily done there, there are only a few national guard depots in the area. The nearest permanent installation is nearly twenty miles away, and that is just a reserve base. Most focus is on the south, as that is the obvious location for a landing.

The Joint Combat Operations Center is located in the same building as the Joint Security Center but is mostly military. Here, technicians monitor feeds from several satellites, UAVs and radio reports from field commanders. They are worried about a possible attack, as prior engagements have shown the enemy is too much for the small navy to deal with. Already several smaller ships have been scrapped, and the larger ships have been put as floating fortresses defending the harbor. The threats to the north of the country are seen as minimal. Vonein is self-sustainable for about three years before they need to seek outside sources of supply to allow Voneinian fields and livestock to reset to prewar heights. They wait for what the enemy will do, and prepare to mobilize.

[Lanorth]

ROYAL TYRONIAN ARMED FORCES HIGH COMMAND, ARKROUGH, CENTRAL LANORTH

---

Four men were inside the Tyronian Armed Forces High Command, also known as the RTAFHQ. They were General Sir Kamram Trystam, the Chief of The General Staff of The Royal Tyronian Armed Forces, Field Marshal of The Royal Tyronian Army Sir Lonryan Hasther, the Commander of The Royal Tyronian Army, Marshal of The Royal Tyronian Air Force Sir Marsadr Harbrya, the Commander of The Royal Tyronian Air Force and Admiral of The Royal Tyronian Fleet Sir Marcon Camrgian, the Commander of The Royal Tyronian Navy. They were all members of the General Staff but Sir Kamram Trystam was the more senior of the men there. They were reviewing satellite imagery recently taken of Vonein and it's new defences now being constructed. They had met because they were planning the first phase of Operation: Redstrike, otherwise known as The Invasion of The Directorate of Vonein.

"We need to try and come to an agreement on how the first phase shall plan out, hopefully, in our favour, God willing." Said Trystam, leaning on a table with his two hands, looking at the satellite imagery and the maps of Vonein with markers dotted along them. Trystam was a tall man, dressed in military uniform. He wore a pale green shirt, a pale green tie, a brown suit jacket with medals attached, pale khaki trousers and heavily polished boots that went up to his knees. His pale khaki trousers were tucked into his boots. His blue eyes were calm and relaxed but bis facial features were the complete opposite.

"We have to work out how to destroy these defences." Said Harbrya, moving his finger along the satellite imagery of Vonein's coastline. Harbrya was a short man, around 5' 10". He wore his air force uniform, a black peaked cap with the air force emblem upon it, a navy blue shirt and suit jacket, a black tie and navy blue troueers that were tucked into his black boots which also went up to his knees.

"You could send in some bombers, Harbrya." Said Camrgian, looking up at him. Camrgian was dressed in his naval uniform. He had a white peaked cap with a shiny black visor, a white suit jacket, a white shirt, a black tie and white trousers. His suit jacket had many emblems upon it's shoulders and many medals upon his right and left breast pocket.

"They'll likely get shot down by their defences." Said Hasther, clearint his throat. Hasther was the tallest man in the room. He wore a short-sleeved khaki shirt with his name on a pin on his right breast pocket, two buttons done up benath the bottom of the lapel, two pins of valour on his left breaet pocket, a red and yellow medal ribbon above the right breast pocket, pins on either side of his lapels, a pale blue aiguillette that went underneath his left epaulette, under his left armpit and back to the epaulette again, a black belt with a golden emblem in the middle and khaki trousers, shiny black shoes that went up to his upper ankle though the lower ankle was concealed by his trousers and a khaki berret with his starting regiment emblem upon it.

"True." Said Camrgian, folding his arms. "Any ideas, anyone?" He asked, sighing.

"Missile strikes?" Suggested Harbrya, placing his hands upon his hips. Everyone looked at him and nodded in a 'tell me more' sort of way. "We could launch a few jet fighters who will then get at a rabge where they can launch missiles at their defences and get back to Lanorth. I would suggest our EKALGA-60 Missiles. They would do some damage."

"Agreed." Said Trystam, nodding, giving him permission to launch them on his command. "The offensive must then be carried out at least one hour after the attack." He said before letting out a sigh. "This will cost a lot. Though it will be worth it. I hope. Field Marshal, mobilise 65,000 men from military bases near the coastline of Lanorth. Admiral, mobilise the needed amount of troop carriers and naval vessels for the offensive. Air Marshal, you get the air force ready. A swift mobilisation is needed but perfection takes time. Now if my calculations are correct mobilisation will be completed in around a week to a week and a half. Mobilisation will be completed before the tenth day mark, that is for sure. We shall meet in those days to discuss further plans for the operation. If the troops are ready before the navy and or the air force, they can do a few exercises before they are due to leave Lanorth and set sail. The same goes for the air force and navy if necessary. Now. Gentlemen, you are dismissed."

The meeting ended. Commanders walked out with their orders. Mobilisation began as soon as the commanders gave their orders.

---

MADAVGA AIRPORT, LANORTH

---

"Thank you for your swift arrival and your amazing troops in their smart uniforms." Said Queen Arydex, eyeing them carefully, attempting to spot any flaws in their uniforms. Any creases, pieces of fluff and dust, dirt or anything she could find. Though their uniforms were beautifully presented, smart without a single piece of fluff or dust upon them. She smiled at them all. She nodded in the general direction of the Vionna-Franklischian troops, before turning to the Cossack commander. She stepped back and glanced behind her. Six men from the Tyronian Honour Guard were carrying a podium, a platform and some stairs onto the flat tarmac. They placed them down and smartly marched to their former positions. "Excuse me gentlemen, but I have to make a speech to the public before we can further continue our conversations. Please, forgive me. I shall attempt to be brief but trust me, I cannot guarantee I shall." She walked towards the podium, stepped up and fitted a microphone. A single high-definition camera was recording her. That would be broadcasted nationwide, live too. Millions were already tuning in to watch it. She cleared her throat.

"My dear Tyronian. I must apologise. You have been kept uninformed of events and what has happened in recent times that, in my opinion, you should have been alerted of, but have not, unfortunately. Well. You may know that Vonein has declared war upon us and Cossack Khanate, who we look upon as an ally, has declared war upon Vonein, presumably in our aid." She said, smiling before taking a glance at the Cossack Commander. She returned her eyes to the podium where her speech written on a piece of paper was. "Now, election news. You may have seen on your local newspaper or on a news programme that Lanorth has elected a new Prime Minister to be Head of Government whilst I stay as the Head of State. The people have decided that the Mr Ascellan Valarian shall be Prime Minister and his party, the Nationalist Party, shall be the Government. The Parliament is due to open tomorrow morning at eleven in the morning." She looked down and blinked for a longer time period than usual. "Also, protest numbers are dramatically decreasing, thankfully. I hope these numbers will continue to decrease throughout the future. Now, that is all I have time for. Farewell, my dearest Tyronian."

The camera turned off and she walked back towards the two commanders. She smiled at them, revealing her beautiful white teeth, perfectly straight without any faults to them. She was not at all happy. She knew that Ascellan Valarian was a Fascist and hated the Monarchy. He had aims of turning Lanorth into a Republic directed by himself, the title Supreme Dictator Aberidus, as he wished to be known as if he took power. He would rule until he was killed by someone, died of something, or decided to resign. Though that wad his dream and there is a good chance that his dream could come true, with the right support and the right tactics. She tried not to think about it.

[The Yuktobanian Republic]

Task Force 171
International Waters
Amphibious Assault Ship Layua

“Hows the convoy?”

“Going good. Going good.”

Reyna A. Spruance straightened her grey hat as she stared out the windows of the bridge of her ship, the Layua. A few days ago, she had set sail for a country called Lanorth to patrol off their coast due to the upcoming summit with the Deputy Secretary General and Lanorth’s reigning monarch. However, the sudden events going on in a different country called Vonein has gotten her redeployed toward the coastline of that nation. She had only heard snippets of the news, but there seemed to have been a sudden attack on a cruiser of the Commonwealth, and so far more than 50 were killed and at least 100 were wounded.

It angered her to watch those men die like that. Those men were coming home in coffins instead of in a single whole being. They had families, so Reyna was itching to get into the conflict to take her own personal revenge. However, she knew in the back of her head to not overdo it. Anything emotionally fueled would surely fail, so she needed to think of the options before moving and making her move.

At her disposal and under her command was the Amphibious Assault Ship Layua, the ship carrying a load of nine F-35Bs, four AV-8 Harriers, three WAH-64Ds from the Engrandonican Army, four UH-89 Ultra-Heavy Lift VTOL aircraft, and two CH-47M Chinook helicopters for transport. Along with the Layua, she had at her command five other vessels in this makeshift task force.

The first ship was the Uran. Redeployed from her destroyer squadron, the Uran was a member of the Sprucinda-Class Destroyers. Made during the Cold War to sink Soviet submarines, the class was now equipped with a 61 cell DV20 Vertical Launch System, along with two Goalkeeper CIWS and a single MH-60 helicopter for ASW duties. This was on top of the RA-77MR launcher on the back and the two 127mm guns the ship had. As a general escort, the Uran was perfect in her role. Currently, the ship was going through the relatively calm waves as it’s radar on top of the mast spun to detect targets.

The second ship was the Nuriki. A nuclear powered guided missile cruiser, the ship was the first of it’s kind in the Commonwealth Navy. Called the “boxhead” by sailors, it boasted two arm launchers that simply fired the RA-77MR/AR2 for long range anti-air defense. Having been upgraded in the early 2000s, the ship boasted a very efficient fire control system and radar replacing the one added in the mid 80s. Currently, it was at the head of the formation, the radar ontop scanning like the Uran’s.

The little Kotom sailed to the left of the Layua, the smaller ship powering through the water at 30 knots. Being a Commonwealth-Class Frigate, the ship was the workhorse of the navy’s frigate service. It was armed with a single arm launcher capable of launching RA-77s and Harpoons, a 76mm gun, a single Goalkeeper, and torpedo launchers for close in anti-submarine and anti-torpedo work. It also carried a helicopter for anti-submarine work and anti-surface work. Part of the current task force were two of these Commonwealth-Class Frigates. It was the Kotom and the Khor. One was on the left and one was on the right of the Layua.

To the rear of the Layua was the most advanced escort of the force. This was interestingly, a ship of a different member of the Commonwealth. This ship was the HMTS Calberra, a ship of the Royal Tricentennial Navy. Processing not only a advanced PAR-2 radar system and combat suite, the ship had a 48 cell DV20 Vertical Launch System, a 127mm gun of the ASG-6M version, and eight launchers on the side for Harpoon missiles. Tricen sailors called the ship and it’s sister, the HMTS Haymer, the “glorious foreheads”. Their PAR-2 radar systems were mounted on top of the bridge, rather than below it like most Commonwealth ship designs built to the Armenish Beach design. It was rather interesting to Reyna as she stared at the paper listing off what her orders were for the current objective.

Currently 400 miles from the main Task Force 170 that was stationed off the coast of Vonein, that Task Force included the carriers Lomonesev, Yuzhno, and the soon to arrive Stannaza, which quickly got underway after news of an attack on the Morgana was made public. Of course, the public was outraged by this event, so the Commonwealth was taking the actions to take revenge.

However, what puzzled Reyna was that war was not actually declared. The Commonwealth did, however, state that a possible exclusion zone and no fly zone might go into effect at the coastline of Vonein. She did not question it, since most likely the government knew what they were doing.

Reviewing her orders, she quietly read the paper to herself as the sea made no effort to stop her small group of ships. Reyna was to regroup with Task Force 170, where she would become Task Force 170.3 and fall under the command of the acting naval commander, which was Admiral Lomonesev Tachibana who commanded the three carrier assault group. This fell under Task Force 170.1. Task Force 170.2 was the now famous Yama Mei Oritsuka’s group that consisted of her two destroyers and a couple of ships detached from Task Force 170.1. Mei’s name had gotten around the fleet as being the one to successfully score multiple kills with her two new ships, and she was now being credited with obtaining naval superiority after that battle.

Summing it up in her head, the Carriers formed Task Force 170.1, Mei’s surface action group formed Task Force 170.2, and Reyna’s group formed Task Force 170.3. That was all she knew at the moment. Her acting orders were not only to rendezvous, but also to “apprehend” and stop any Vonein military vessels or aircraft from conducting missions. She took this as using force, so in her head they were in a state of war, and so thus she factored that into her decisions.

As she set the paper down and looked outside, she simply watched, waiting for time to pass by so that she can regroup with the main force and reinforce it.

Talisgrad Naval Base
Yuktobanian Federation
The Commonwealth

“Full ahead.”

“Ahead full, aye.”

As the crowds gathered to wave the ship goodbye, Captain Johann Raeder stared ahead without emotion to the distant horizon, the sunset offering a beautiful view and painting the sky a orange.

Johann Raeder, an obvious Helman, was a relatively young commodore. Having graduated the naval academy as one of the youngest ones to do so, he quickly excelled in his duties. He used to be a captain of a simple frigate before becoming a captain on a destroyer of the Commonwealth Navy. He now commanded a Commonwealth Amphibious Assault Ship, one of the newest ones as a matter in fact. Not only that, but he commanded the escorts for that ship as well.

This flagship was the Admiral Khabovsk.

Named after a Commonwealth admiral who served with distinction during the Second World War, this ship was essentially a light aircraft carrier. With a flight deck, hanger bay, and capacity for around 2,000 marines, the ship was perfect for amphibious assaults but also good for becoming a quick light carrier with enough aircraft if needed.

For this mission, Johann was given very interesting orders. After leaving, him and his group that he was assigned to protect were to proceed at flank speed to a distant objective, which was the coastline of Vonein. He was to regroup with the main Task Force body, which was approximately 150 miles off the coast and was dubbed “Task Force 170”. At the moment, Johann was designated Task Force 170.4.2, and under his command were a small group of escorts and his amphibious assault ship that were to protect the main supply force. The main Task Force 170.4 was led by Vice Admiral Mark Mactavish, an Engrandonican man who was commanding from the lead ship, HMS Dauntless.

The convoy that Johann was part of at the moment included three of the Commonwealth Navy Prepositioning Force’s Saran-Class Fast Transports, four Apor-Class Fast Resupply Ships, one Yuav-Class Sealift Ship, and two Sekor-Class Landing Ships. This did not include Mark Mactavish’s single Type-45 Class Destroyer, three Commonwealth-Class Frigates, two Type 23-Class Frigates, and one November-Class Destroyer. The three Saran-Class and the single Yuav-Class carried numerous marines that were part of the Commonwealth Rapid Response Forces, while the two Sekor-Class carried marines and their heavy equipment, along with helicopters for transporting those to shore should the need arise. The four Apor-Class Fast Resupply ships were to resupply the entirety of Task Force 170 when they arrive and would also do very basic repairs on the Morgana, which was still over near Vonein except that it was now protected by the main Task Force.

As for combat ships, Johann commanded two of the Myoukou-Class Cruisers, a single Engrandonican Type 45-Class Destroyer, and one of the old Engrandonican Type 42-Class Destroyers.

At the head of the line of ships leaving port, the Myoukou-Class Cruisers JS Myoukou and JS Nachi were cruising at the same speed the rest of the task force was moving at. With it’s triangular shape and very unconventional hull form in general, the two ships were designated as cruisers. With two 155mm guns up on front and numerous DV20 VLS on the sides, on radar it looked like a peanut. Stealth technology was extensively used for this ship, and so it was able to remain undetected by any kind of radar. Performing many different types of roles, for this instance it was being used for fire support, just in case landings were to take place.

Behind the two ships was the destroyer HMS Exeter, which was a veteran ship of the Engrandonican Royal Navy. Having served in the Falklands War and also the Gulf War, the Exeter was being used one last time before being decommissioned later in the year. The ship was armed with a single 4.5 Inch gun capable of firing shells into the distance. For air defense, it carried the rather dated but still effective Sea Dart missile for anti-aircraft and anti-missile purposes.

The one providing the best anti-air escort for Johann’s group was the HMS Defender, a Type 45-Class Destroyer similar to the one that the lead admiral for Task Force 170.3 was currently in. The Defender, like the rest of the Type 45s, was armed with a very high power radar system known as the FCS/SAMPSON, which was capable of tracking hundreds of targets at the same time and assigning them priority for destruction. It functioned similar to the PAR-2 system that was carried by other Commonwealth ships, except for the fact that the SAMPSON could not do effective BMD due to the range.

As the force continued moving into the horizon, it slowly began the journey toward Vonein, where it would link up with the rest of the Task Force.

Off the coast of Senorod
Yuktobanian Waters
MV Firebase Shenov

“Pretty fun times we’re having, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, yeah. It looks like you are going to have fun.”

Staring at a screen and wearing the Commonwealth OACS uniform, Lieutenant Colonel A. M. Clarke stared at the screen infront of her that was plugged into a generator that was currently creating electricity from diesel fuel, the generator was providing power for not only the small screen, but also for numerous rechargeable packs that this battalion of troops were going to be using.

Being the commander of a combat engineering battalion, Lt. Col. Clarke’s main job was that in case of a marine invasion, her troops would be the first in with the first wave. They were to clear and destroy mines, fortifications, and also start creating the forward operating base after the landing. For the first phase purpose against defenses, her battalion had four M728 Demolition Tanks that were armed with 165mm guns firing large high explosive rounds. These would easily punch through bunkers with their massive charge.

Currently, she was doing a quick update talk with her close friend, Vehra Orlova-Tsuyevi. Vehra was a Major General in the Commonwealth Army, being also an engineer. Currently, Vehra was deployed in Costa Rica, where she and her wife were overseeing a massive UN operation to deal with two aggressive countries who were at warshots.

“How about things over there?” Clarke asked, looking at the clearly tired Vehra who was wearing only a white shirt. In the background, the snoring of her wife, Khrizantema, could be heard.

“They’re both dumb. Both of the main parties for both sides are absolutely bonkers.” Vehra spoke. “They don’t know how to do anything, which I’m honestly glad for.”

“Why?” Clarke asked.

“Less bloodshed.”

“But that is more fun for us.” Clarke giggled as she stuck up a gloved finger.

“I do not want to spend time cleaning up the mess of two failed nations.” Vehra sighed. “So, how about your end?”

“We’re getting deployed to some country I have never heard of. They shot up the Morgana and that angered the government tremendously.”

“So we go to war?” Vehra asked.

“Mhm!”

Vehra sighed as she laid down on the bed. “I’d love to go over there, but…”

“Yeah, yeah. Failed States.” Clarke spoke. “You should get sleep. You look like you need it.”

Vehra couldn’t help but yawn as she shut her eyes, not even bothering to get up anymore. “Mmhmm….”

Clarke smiled as she watched Vehra fall asleep, hugging her wife’s arm as Clarke quietly ended the call. Getting up and dusting off herself, she turned around and started to move across the deck of the converted LASH Carrier that was now transporting equipment such as helicopters and the engineering battalion to its destination, which was off the coast of Vonein.

Time to get to work.

RQ-4
Callsign “XXXXXX”
Mach 0.43

The lands of Vonein far below, the RQ-4 cruising at 60,000 feet autonomously flew high above the lands, the camera and mapping equipment scanning the terrain below. It was a routine mission, and so far nothing had been encountered that would jeopardize it.

Designed for not only extremely high altitude operation, but also long mission times, the RQ-4 was a somewhat massive drone aircraft with a long wingspan. Powered by a single jet engine that was also used on some airliners, it provided it with a loitering time of more than thirty two hours.

That was thirty two hours of recon.

Underneath the drone, a large airborne surveillance radar/camera that was designed to take pictures and maintain recon over a wide area was currently scanning the terrain. Starting downward at a city in Vonein, the infrared mode bringing to light the numerous vehicles that were driving in the city. On the numerous streets, the cars were going about, unaware that high above them was a drone that was saving locations and sending those snapshots back to the Commonwealth for use against Vonein.

Marking one of the power plants with a laser designator for a split second, the GPS coordinates of that location being sent back after being marked. As the plane turned toward the coast slowly and delicately, it started to mark locations all across the suburbs and in the countryside of targets of very big importance.

200 targets marked and counting.

Cinigrad
Yuktobanian Federation
The Commonwealth

He had to do it.

After learning from Deputy Secretary General Rose-Marie Tallera that there was a situation developing in a country called Vonein, he initially did not pay it much attention. He had many other pressing things to worry about, such as two nations he needed to keep from overly destroying each other. There was also other foreign affairs and some domestic issues, but all of that suddenly became irrelevant when the Morgana was hit by missiles.

62…

That was the number that Secretary General Robert Wallace was given when he was told of the amount of men coming home in coffins on that ship. There were also 100 wounded from the explosions and fires, but yet the only promising news was that the ship was still afloat.

It had been a few days, and he had called an emergency session of the Commonwealth Council in the 24 hours after the attack. Meeting with the leaders of the seven Commonwealth countries, the leaders were all outraged when they heard about the attack on the ship. The Yuktobanian leader was especially outraged, vowing that he would take revenge herself against the Voneins. Robert Wallace had to convince them all to calm down first before issuing a plan.

Agreeing that war needed to be declared, especially with public opinion very high on declaring a war, this was the first step that needed to be taken. So here he was a few days later, having written up a speech and now standing in front of all the cameras and reporters who were waiting to hear the official government stance on Vonein.

“Good evening everyone. My fellow citizens, a terrible act has been inflicted upon us, the people of the Commonwealth. The country of Vonein, a powerful nation that has been biding time to become powerful, has, a few weeks ago, declared war on the nation of Lanorth.

“Lanorth is a monarchist nation. Thus, they have a queen and princesses and princes, such like the country of Engrandonica in the Commonwealth. However, Vonein, in a act of aggression, declared war on them simply for the fact that they are monarchist. This sent shockwaves around the world, but it’s impact here was not felt as hard as other nations who joined Lanoth to defend against Vonein.”

“The Commonwealth, in protecting our national security, decided to send a small group of three ships to look and observe the war area. For being a war declared by Vonein, it seemed that there was not much actual fighting going on for the two sides. This was very good, because it meant less bloodshed between the two.”

“However, a few days ago, the small task force that we have sent was suddenly and deliberately attacked by armed forces of Vonein. Two of the ships recieved no damage whatsoever, their equipment functioning. However, the cruiser Morgana was subject to being hit by four missiles from Vonein. Ladies and Gentlemen, 62 men will be coming home not as citizens of the Commonwealth, but instead as sailors who will be protecting god himself. Vonein took these sailors away from us by force, and also further wounded most of the crew aboard that ship.”

“Because Vonein has decided to play that card and use force against the Commonwealth, especially without reason, I have consulted the leaders of the Commonwealth Nations and we have concluded that we must do the same. To get rid of Vonein aggression and restore peace to that area is our number one priority, and so we will do exactly that using the might of the Commonwealth Unified Armed Forces.”

“We are not alone in this mission to bring peace to the area. The Commonwealth will be joined by Lanorth in this united effort to get rid of Vonein and their irresponsible government. We together will assemble a coalition of the willing to get rid of the armed forces of Vonein from any lands we encounter. We have used their term before in previous wars the Commonwealth has intervened in. From Secretary General Tamon Schwerner to Czena Yurov to Nadine Schwerner, it has been the same phrase.”

“Unconditional Surrender and Unilateral Disarmament by force.”

“The Commonwealth will stop at nothing to avenge the attack on the Morgana. As of now, I will personally ask the leader of Lanorth for us to join forces in this coalition of the willing. The Commonwealth also asks that other major allies respond to this act and join us to disarm Vonein of their weapons and also trial their government to atone for their crimes committed against the Morgana and the Commonwealth.”

“The Commonwealth knows what it means to be attacked by unknown forces. This has happened to us multiple times. On each time, the Commonwealth responded heavily.”

“I have already initiated the movement of Commonwealth troops to Vonein to meet up with forces from Lanorth that will be assisting us and joining us for landing. In this, the combined might will bring Vonein to their knees and force them to surrender to the Coalition."

"Please pray for our troops as they go and undertake this journey to an unknown land. I have full faith in not only the Commonwealth Armed Forces, but the entire coalition in doing their utmost duty in protecting and saving the world from such governments as the one that is in power in Vonein right now."

"Thank you, and god save the Commonwealth."

F-15J
Callsign “Garuda”
Mach 0.5

It was night.

Dark as the night sky is, the planes looked like they were part of the sky itself. They had none of their lights on, and their paint schemes were similar to the night sky itself as well. With their radars off and emitting no electronic noise whatsoever, the aircraft proceeded in their group.

Kyo Nakagawa sat in her seat of the F-15J, staring ahead as she had her night vision on. She was able to see on her radar a place in the very far distance that was emitting heavy emissions. That was her group's target. She couldn’t strike it herself, because of her weaponry. With no air to ground munitions, Kyo instead carried AAM-4s and AAM-5s for the aerial supremacy role.

The aircraft next to her, however, carried munitions that could strike it hard.

The B-52H, for more than 50 years, was the workhorse of the Commonwealth bomber force. Seeing service from the Fiji War all the way to the CAF War and beyond, numerous upgrades have kept it in service. Even when the NBZ-2A and B-160 were put in service to replace it, those two ended up supplementing it only. Along with the B-78, the B-52 was one of the oldest aircraft still used by the Commomwealth.

The Commonwealth B-52H was able to carry a massive payload that included bombs and multiple air to ground missiles such as the TAM-4K and the TAM-13A. It was a strategic bomber, so it was able to support most operations by literally pounding enemies into the ground with it’s payload.

Part of the group that Kyo was escorting included 4 B-52s armed to the teeth with TAM-13As, which were stealth anti-stationary target cruise missiles that can be fitted in a B-52 for a total of 20 per bomber. The other escorting aircraft, Asurian F-15E(A)s, were armed with a mixed air to air and air to ground loadout consisting of AIM-9M1s, AIM-DRADMs, and Mark 77 Napalm Canisters.

“... let’s roll.” Kyo muttered to herself.

Accelerating forward, she moved into formation in front of the B-52s as the sounds of the bombers launching the TAM-13s was heard, their bomb bays open and starting to release each missile. Upon each missile leaving, the TAM-13 would then ignite it’s booster as it propelled itself close to the water, it’s guidance system activating as it weaved to hopefully avoid detection by radar using it’s already very tiny radar signature equivalent to a peanut and with clutter obscuring it.

Following the missiles, Kyo watched as they flew past her and toward the target in the distance. That target, marked by an overflying RQ-4 hours earlier, was going to be subjected to one of the most powerful missile barrages in the Commonwealth. It involved almost eighty of the TAM-13A Stealth Missiles, the missiles flying at high subsonic speeds as they stayed close to the water, closing in on their target as fast as they could. Above them, the group of aircraft quickly turned around to return home, going as fast as they can to escape detection.

The target was a converted oil rig.

[Vonein]

The massive radars of the Luna radar installation dotted the hillsides of Mount Forsieth north of the capitol. Part of the Voneinian RAIDS (Rapid Air Interdiction Defense System), this radar was central to itś operation. They were currently tracking an object at 60,000 feet, unknown make or model, or who it belonged to. The radar techs were working on that, but time wasn't on their side. Already Central Command was ordering them to prepare for a possible fight in the air, as had happened before, but off of the coast. The RAIDS had participated in the fight, only slightly, by activating the SkyShield system.

The SkyShield was new, having come into service only in the last month completely. The three hundred mile line circles the capitol, three air bases, two general purpose bases and a massive superfactory. It consisted of both ground based and airborne assets. The ground based assets consisted of a series of VLS tubes carrying the RIM-67 Standard ER missile, with over eight hundred VLS cells strewn out along the entire system. The addition of eighty Tomahawk Block IV missile cells to the VLS system enhance the capacity for the system to defend against ballistic missile and airborne threats more easily, having been reworked and converted to subsonic SAMs. Forty Patriot missile batteries dot the line as well, but are more clumped around the capitol and superfactory. Small MANPAD teams and truck based MANPADs are mobile, and can respond to any threat within the entire line in about twenty minutes. All is controlled by three large radar complexes spread out in a triangle formation. The untested and yet unproven Titan CWIS system has also been added to the line, in blocks of eight emplacements with four sets of emplacements for a total of thirty two Titan systems. The Titan system carries three miniguns all directed automatically by a radar director mounted in the weapon itself. It also carries eight mini VLS cells, used by small variants of the AIM-9D Sidewinder to protect against close range threats.

The airborne component of the System is with the 80th and 90th Fighter Wings stationed at the two bases within the system. F-22 Raptors are used by the Wings, with two subsidiary squadrons, the 112th and 11th Fighter Squadrons using the F-36A Lightning II. All squadrons are required to be on alert and ready for combat all year round, every day, every hour. They are joined usually by eight more fighter squadrons during emergency situations that are flown in from around the country, with these squadrons flying redesigned versions of the F-4 Phantom II. Finally, thirty two squadrons of reserve or National Guard aircraft are based at the several civilian airports of the region. These are also required to be on alert at all times, but on a lesser alert to allow the pilots to get to their planes in a safe and reasonable manner.

The SkyShield system was activated for the unidentified threat, which had mainly been observing Voneinian Army units setting up shop for a training drill on one of the beaches. Already, eight F-22ś of the 80th FW were on their way with full loadouts, ready to intercept the threat if it was just that.

When they reached 40,000 feet, they looked around for the contact, and upon spotting it momentarily, rose again to 58,000 feet. They were over the massive Helmsdorf Army Base and Training Complex, a massive hundred and fifty mile complex of armament factories, training grounds, test fields and depots for three divisions of the Voneinian National Guard. The pilots confirmed the contact and stated it was a UAV, but without any markings. The air combat controllers on the ground had to figure out if this was a friendly drone gone off itś course, or something else. That would take time. They suddenly were met with a frantic number of voices in their ear as several contacts were detected heading for the radar platform off the coast on the old oil rig. Immediately, Air Marshal Ryan Holcrof, the man in charge for all Air Defense and Air Combat Operations of the Voneinian Air Force issued a Air Defense Emergency declaration plus issuing a change to DEFCON 1. The oil rig activated it's defenses, and the massive silos inland lit up as Standard 3 and 2 missiles lit up the sky. Fighters suddenly were ordered to intercept, and all, and they meant all, squadrons were scrambled.

This triggered a lot of changes within the Voneinian military at once.


Also, a mysterious number station began to transmit.

[The Republic of Asia]

New England
New York City
Prime Ministers Offices

“Excellent, Thank you for receiving my call secretary general.“

It was quite crowded in the Prime Minister's conference room, Several officials of the New English government were gathered there. There ministers such as Defense Minister O’Connell and Foreign Minister Smith, as well a few military officials, such as General Vern Alberts sparsely scattered about.

“Why, yes of course I heard your speech, It was quite inspiring”

They had been gather for several reason, the majority of them relating to the declaration of war by one of their major allies, the Commonwealth, upon Voinein. Prime Minister Hayes had gathered them for consultancy and to hear her plan for dealing with the situation.

“Of course, We support your initiative, just as the Canadians do.”

Prime Minister Hayes was in full support of the Commonwealths plan, as was also planning pledging the New English military to its cause. The recent by Secretary General Robert Wallace, and the news coverage of the attack on the Morgana, as well the declaration of support of the Commonwealth by several other allied governments, had also brought the New English popular opinion and the parliament to that same perspective.

“Yes, I’ve spoken to the rest of my government, and the military, We are fully behind you.”

Some of the military leaders had already issued mobilization orders for at the directive of the Prime Minister Hayes. Several naval vessels were preparing for deployment in Newport, airborne and marine units were packing up equipment, and airforce wings were preparing their mid-air refuellers.

“Of course, Goodbye Secretary General, see you again soon.”

With that note Prime Minster Kelly Hayes ended her call with one the most powerful men in the world.

“Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, We shant officially enter till our military is in place, but let's get this show on the road.”

New England
Rhode Island
Newport Naval Base
Across the naval base at the mouth of Narragansett Bay, several different ships of the Royal New English Navy could be seen being prepared to deploy. They ranged from a light carrier to small frigates to resupply ships and many others in between. The HMNES Portland , a LHD which was based upon the Juan Carlos I class of the Spanish Navy, as well the HMNES Berlin, a former Sekor class of Helmanstand, and the HMNES Worcester, a former Helman Dietrich Fliecher class could be seen loading supplies, marines and their vehicles.
Across the harbor the fleets carrier, the newly commissioned HMNES New York could be seen loading JP-8 for use by its airwing. All around several destroyers of the Type 43 and Powell class, and frigates of the Type 23, Commonwealth, and Halifax class could be seen having cells lowered into in their into their VLS, carrying on provisions, embarking crew, as well as several other tasks.
Also being loaded where several logistical and support ships. Ships such Expeditionary Transfer Docks, sealift ships, auxxarilys, oilers and, resupply ships were all being loaded up with supplies and equipment to support the upcoming operations. There were Canadian made Protecteur classes, New English Wallstreet Class sealift ships, and a whole other range of ships to support the fleet and marines.
This would the fleet of Admiral Richard Duggan. Also in command would be Commodore Charlie Abbot, who was in charge of the group’s amphibious ships and their associated operations.
The two flag officer had just left a conference-call with the Joint-Chiefs, the Prime Minister, The Defense Minister and Captain Scott of the HMNES Kennedy. Where they had discussed what their operational plan would be. Before they were set to get underway, they would also arrange a meeting with the Commander of the Commonwealth’s Task-170 so that they could begin coordinate their joint operations.
In just a couple days the fleet would soon set forth and begin its journey towards the turbulent waters near Lanorth and Voinein.

New England
Rhode Island
Newport Naval Base
It had been a rather uneventful week for Corporal Marley Taylor, she was just one of many marines based at Newport Naval Base. Nothing ever really happened at the base in the small state of Rhode Island. That is until her Marine Amphibious unit received orders to prepare for deployment. Now it was a controlled chaos of people rushing to load up equipment onto the awaiting ships of force.
Marley was machine gunner in the Royal New English Marines. Currently she along with the rest of her squad were inspecting their weapons before boarding HMNES Rochester. Corporal Taylor had standard issue C9A2 LMG, the Canadian made variant of the Oksani Minimi, it looked fine and didn’t appear to have any problems with it. So Corporal Taylor passed the time waiting for her squad to finish by watching Challenger 1s of the Marines being loaded abroad, the HMNES Portland. She stood there for about a minute watching the tanks, before hearing her sergeant yell that it was time to move out.


New England
New York
Newark Army/Air Base
Today would a long day for Lt. Colonel Martinez, He just received orders from the joint chiefs that his battalion along with the 4th Battalion of the 2nd Brigade of 1st Providence Airborne Division would be deployed for a as of yet undisclosed mission. Though considering what command had told him to pack and prepare for, he had a rough idea of what was coming.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see several pallets of equipment being transferred onto a Cascadia Boeing C-17. From the shape of the objects on the pallet he suspected it was collection of M224 60mm infantry mortars. Far away, off the airfield, He could several soldiers been seen drilling in CADPAT derived uniforms with their Diemaco C8 carbines. Though now, Martinez had to get back to organizing the logistics of loading up the battalion for transport.

Shanghai
Government Building
In a darkened office in a built up city, a man could be seen seated at desk. Several tvs could be seeing playing news events of the day, on many of them a blonde Scottish man was seen speaking. On another cruiser could been smoking on the ocean. On the rest many consultants could be seen explain the situation and trying to interpret the events the news displaying. The man didn’t appear threatening all, he rather looked like a old Asian grandfather but looks were often deceiving. He picked the phone on his desk before speaking into . . . .

“Get me the Secretary-General ”