Diary of an Osean Navy Pilot

The Pacific-Circum Conflict was a much bigger war than people often realize. People believe the war was fought only in Yuktobania. Yet there is one theater of war that often goes under the radar. The Verusan Theater; it is often called The Forgotten Front Verusa itself is no stranger to conflict, having endured some 7 wars in 50 years. Constantly changing hands between despots, fascists, communists, republicans, and the like, Yuktobania managed to establish a peaceful government there. Allied to the Yuktobanian Republic, the country stationed some 100,000 soldiers there to help train Verusa's Republican Guard(250,000 strong) in early 2010. However, economic problems and conflicting military interests in the government slowed process. When the war started, the Yukes found themselves in a confusing situation with an ill equipped, poorly trained army it had no choice but to send into battle to defend the home front. Versua itself had little strategic importance, but it housed a great deal of arms and supplies to support the war effort. Yet morale was low, as the Yukes and Verusans found themselves suddenly in a war neither wanted to fight.

Osea was not blind to these developments. The possibility of having to fight in two countries at once seemed unthinkable, but it had to be done. The Yukes in Verusa were considered enough of a threat to justify additional military action. Also, it was believed that the ships and planes that attacked St. Hewlett and Sand Island on September 27, 2010 actually came from bases in Verusa, not Yuktobania. Thus began Osea's operation to curtail this threat, codename Operation Anaconda II. The Osean 7th Fleet consisting of the aircraft carriers OFS Neptune and Pisces, was rerouted from its patrol in the eastern seas of Antarctica to begin this operation. Over the next three months, Versua and the Pacific Osean would turn into a violent battlefront that would involve ships from nearly four nations. But the real unsung heroes of this operation and the war itself were the Navy pilots of the OFS Neptune and Pisces. They would fly nearly 5,000 sorties from October to December 2010. One of them was 25-year old Lt.Peter Moore of the OFS Neptune. He would fly over 50 combat missions and shoot down 35 enemy aircraft, the third highest scoring Osean Ace of the war. Moore was known for his intense dedication in combat as well as his ruthlessness. He was regarded as a friendly person, perfectionist and patriot. But he was also known to have a cold, callous nature about the enemy and its people. He was also known for his outspoken dislike of the media and certain legends of the war, and what he called their "unnecessary worship of the Four Wings of Sand Island".

Part I: Opening Moves

September 27, 2010- My name is Lt. Peter Moore; they call me "Howler" or "Howling Pete". Why start this way? I don't really know. I don't really care who finds this. I hope my wife gets it, but what does it matter if I'm gone anyway? I trained with the A-4 Skyhawk, F-14D, and now they've given me a brand spanking new F-35C to play with.

I got a wife, Bethany, 2-year old Peter Jr., two good friends Dave "Shark" Owens, and Will "Stallion" Laversby. I am with the 1st Squadron, A flight, aboard the OFS Neptune. We're the only squadron that has these new planes in full. 25 of us. There's Shark's girlfriend, Mary "Candy" Weaver, John "X-Ray" Wright, Milton "Alien" Cartwright, my squadron leader old Captain Dullen or "Python" as we call him.

I got 2 brothers in the Marines, Jay and Darien, 3/5(3rd regiment, 5th Marines). Darien is good friends with the brother of one my squad mates, Jenny "Piper" Glaas. Well, that's enough about me. The only thing I can add, is that now there's a part of me that wants to crawl into bed and forget the concept of a war. However, I shut that part up like 10 minutes ago. As soon as get away from this damn cold Antarctic...look out Yukes...the Neptune's coming!

October 1, 2010- We finally got to fly these things around. These F-35s are very nice. Their very easy to handle. I can't wait to try these out in combat. Stallion kept thinking we were gonna hit something. Everyone's all jumpy. Of course, we have no idea what we are doing, what the battle plan is, or whatever. We were deployed some 4 weeks before the war started. Now we're on a beeline to nowhere as I see it. Bethany tells me she's worried about me. We're not even in combat yet. I was worried about my bros with the naval attack and all, but they're alright.

I remember that Squirrel was all anxious to go bomb something. Like a hyper kid of sorts. We're getting there, and getting anxious as well. We're somewhere in the middle of the ocean, but I don't know where. I really want to try my plane out in the real deal.
October 3, 2010- I can't believe it. Only like a week into the war and 2 carriers from the 3rd Fleet are gone. Oh man, what a disaster. Bethany does not understand the scope of things. I was making a big deal about this to her. She doesn't realize that we only have 12 carriers in this navy. That's like 20...that's a huge loss.

Now, I'm really pissed off. It seems this is gonna be tougher than we thought. But I like tough situations. There is no better time to show what you're made of.

The higher ups are getting antsier as well. They're putting a lot of pressure on us. We're going over all our planes' details ad nauseam. But anything beats sitting around doing nothing. Some guys are getting paranoid. Some wonder if we're going to be attacked before we even reach our destination. Now what are the chances of them getting though our fleet? Come on.

October 5, 2010-We got our briefings on something called Operation Anaconda II. Apparently, the Yukes have stashed a lot of weapons and troops in Verusa, along with Verusan loyalist fighting along side them. Our fleet has been divided into several Task Forces. Task Force 66 has been assigned to attack targets around a place called Isiba. Task Force 89, consisting of the carrier Pisces will attack targets around Baseran.

We also got our first piece of action. Our squadron took off at 0500 hrs to attack some place; they never told us exactly what. Shark's on my right, Stallion's on the left, Alien's on the tail. We had to establish top cover, while everyone else went in with JDAMs(Joint Attack Direct Munitions) to blow up the facility. Sure enough, we get to the coast and we run through a flak belt as expected. Then the flak stops, the facility's in sight, then fighters show up. Versuan fighters with those ugly brown paint schemes. Mig-21s. This was too easy. They were the first planes we trained against in ACE school(Air Combat Exercise).

There were like 4 of them in the first group. So were just running these poor guys down. I riddled two with machine guns, didn't even need to use missiles. Alien was newer to the squadron, and was a bit nervous to move in. He didn't get a kill, but got some vital combat experience. The targets exploded in a simultaneous set of fiery booms. We circled around the see our target go up the same way. Drinks and congratulations was in order and we headed home. No losses; total unequaled victory. Of course, Bethany's first question when I told her about today was, "What's a Mig-21?"

October 8, 2010- We've been getting comfortable with actual combat over the last few days. I kinda like this interdiction thing. You gotta stop em before it starts. So we took off today to stop enemy troop movements into Yuktobania. We head to a place near the border called Dawn Acaust. I love these JDAMs. B Flight that went ahead of us, to establish top cover . Our squadron leader tells us were going to drop the bombs at our targets at once. So it took most of the excitement out of it.

Lock, drop, peel out. Another easy mission. However, a few fighters show up. But these are no mere Migs. Mig-29s, the universal dog fighter. But their moves were slow, almost hesitant. Must have been Verusan pilots. So lock on one, and X-Ray comes out of nowhere and steals my kill, the bastard. Stallion manages to get one while he was lower to the ground. He did this nice flip behind the fighter and shot him down. Then we spot some planes rolling in on us. We rise up and fire our missiles. My missile hit the second plane and it was gone. Stallion's hit the wing, and spun it to the ground. Then the guy tries to eject. Good idea...right. We just laughed our asses off.

October 10, 2010- We've been given the day off as the Pisces's air squadrons go to work. Bethany thinks I have all the fun, she is a nurse after all...okay, yeah I do. But I feel gulity about taking advantage of her lack of knowledge about the exhaustive details of air to air combat, so I answer her questions. I didn't tell her about the incident with the ejecting pilot. She would have been a bit miffed about that. Alien, Shark, and Candy didn't really find it funny either. So I keep my dark humor to my pen. Funny thing is these people love their jobs too. Hypocritical? Yes and no.

Alien and I are the only people in A Flight that are married. He was going on about how he met his wife in Verusa, and felt guilty about bombing it even though all her family was here. I didn't say anything. Well, it doesn't matter. They're not there now...are they?

October 12, 2010- We've stepped up the attacks now. We are trying to nail the factories and such. In some instances, these targets serve another purpose: as traps. We lost Screamer to one of these traps. They'd abandon the factory then put an ungodly amount of SAMs and flak guns there. The flak guns aren't a problem, but you can't really go low because of the SAMs. One hit his plane and he disintegrated. And he was no nugget, either. But he was only transferred in; I didn't get to know the guy. Now, I don't know what to feel.

In light of this, we got designated Wild Weasel teams now. C flight, 2nd Squadron serves this role. Thankfully, it isn't us. I would never be a Wild Weasel. That's really low job security. But you do what ya gotta do.

We encountered an allied fleet that was joining our task force. It was a Gothan Carrier group, GRS Delphi in the middle. The Gothans live like on the east side of Belka; they're the largest country of the all the territories there. They have a very decent, albeit underrated, air force. Hell, they launch F-16s off their carriers! That's pretty nice.

October 14, 2010- The edge of the fleet was attacked by a small group of ships. I was on deck at the time; nothing was taking off. I was talking to Shark at the time; I think we talked about some movie we saw. We hear alerts and we're running for our planes. While I was the catapult, there were some vibrations from incoming shells; their destroyers were firing at one ours. We get into the air, and I see a cruiser launching missiles at the enemy ships. There were no planes strangely enough. As we moved toward the enemy, one cruiser below us just explodes right below me. It was the Tiger; they nailed it in one shot. We climbed, then rolled in at Angels 10 to pelt the enemy ships with missiles. Some were intercepted but the majority of them hit their targets. I was happy my missile sunk one of their destroyers. Just seeing that thing tip over and blow up...

October 20, 2010- Over the last few days we've been just trolling the enemy, trying to get him up in the air since the Verusans can't fly for nothing. Our next major target was an airfield that had been giving us some problems. The Yukes were also using it as a base for their bombers. They, the brass, thought it was the base of the bombers that attacked Sand Island. Like I care. Just give me the target, I thought. We were feeling good though. But man did we ever hit some rough stuff. Our Wild Weasel team had to earn their money's worth. Flak, SAMs, ZSUs(AAA tank), fighters, the whole shabang. We're at Angels 8, just me and Stallion. I saw bandits at 9:00, so we roll left to engage. Now it was a game of chicken. We both fire, and they both hit their targets while we break immediately. We were laughing because it seemed like they'd missed. Then we're just looking for targets. All of the sudden, I see a plane trying to get off the ground. So I tell Stallion and he's like "He's all yours." So I get behind him and rake him with machine gun fire. Then it just crashed and rolled into the ground. I pull up and Stallion's like "Hell yeah!" I thought it was hilarious; poor guy didn't even make it off the runway. Suddenly, I got a fighter on my tail trying to take me out. So I break right, even though I'm only 400 ft. I climb to gain altitude, level off, and break while launching chaff. A missile barely missed me. Then Shark comes in and takes him out. Funny, there was no panic from me. I wasn't going crazy. I handled it smooth, real smooth. When I got back to the carrier, it was another successful mission. Then everyone's lifting me up on their shoulders, calling me an ace; we had quite the party. Ace pilot. That has a nice ring to it. I told Bethany the good news and she asks, "What's an ace?"

October 22, 2010- We're attacking Yuktobania for the first time. This is in support of the upcoming invasion or something. Or maybe it's a trick to waste bombs on a spot they think we'll land at then go somewhere else...Oh well. We're going to bomb the crap out one area of Yuktobania's southern coast for the next three days. It won't be a vacation spot for long. Bethany is trying to make me this celebrity back home. I keep getting cards and messages from her friends. It's a bit embarrassing, but it's good to know I have some support. Then again, from what Candy and Shark tell me, a lot of people back home aren't too happy about our invasion plans. Screw them. This is war, we were attacked. Get over it.

October 25, 2010- After 3 days and taking off 9 times to bomb remote outhouses in Yuke backcountry, we're finally given the day off. I'm so tired right now. I wonder if we are going to get attacked again? I wonder what Bethany and Junior are doing right now. Their probably out in the backyard, playing in the sandbox. Sleep beckons now though.

October 26, 2010- It seems the Verusans were trying to transport supplies and troops to Yuktobania. Well, those C-130s won't be doing anymore transporting. We took off this morning to intercept them. Python's at the front, and Shark and Stallion are on my left and right. There was also Silver and Chaos amongst us, from B Flight, flying near Candy and X-Ray's positions. We're at Angels 17, and the sun's just come up. It felt like a good day already. This engagement was so similar to one we studied in ACE. It was a textbook encounter; it was duck shoot in the sky. Well almost. The fighters did tie us up a bit, being that they were F-2s, planes with similar performance as our own planes. There were some close calls towards the end, but we all came back alive again. I got 2 fighters and one transport craft out of 5. This is just getting easier and easier. Shark and Stallion are now our squadron's next aces. Then there's Python. He's been around though for years and years; fought in the Belkan War and numerous other conflicts. Sometimes we just call him the "old man". He's getting close to retirement though, and few are madder at the enemy than him.

October 27, 2010- Everyone is worried. The enemy's fleet is on the move from the south. Supply planes and ships have been arriving all day. Additional allied ships have begun to arrive as well. We've got ships from Gotha and Gavaria with us. This enemy threat is putting the mainland invasion of Yuke country in 4 days. Oh boy.

November 1, 2010- Alarms were in full swing; battle stations were manned. An enemy fleet had come; they really wanted some payback for all the damage we've done over the last month. I never saw so many ships. It was total chaos; the Pacific Ocean was on fire. As ship and plane battled tooth and nail, we noticed the OFS Pisces come under attack. To lose that carrier would be disastrous, and we nearly did as it only managed to get up 9 planes because of battle damage. AWACS interjected often. We engaged and destroyed several enemy planes. I forget how many everyone got, but I got 3. C Flight's first ace,Turtle, was lost when he was hit by a missle and went crashing into another ship. The Oriskany(a real ship BTW) took a direct hit from a battleship and sunk. The battle became vicious. Versuan planes were attempting suicide attacks on the carrier Pisces. Suicide attacks...in this day an age. When the battle ended, my hand was shaking. Then enemy had merely withdrawn though. I wonder if...

November 2, 2010- I hope I can finish this. The enemy continued to attack. We battled the ships again, dodging AAA, SAM fire, missiles and such. We sank one destroyer and then we lost an Aegis cruiser as it launched the remainder of its missiles. It was one confusing mess. The attacks continued against the Pisces and finally it went down. We were so stretched out trying to defend the fleet. It took a torpedo hit then blew apart. The St. Marianne was a little more fortunate...

November 3, 2010- The invasion went well, our boys are ashore, and things are looking up. But we lost 12 ships in this battle over the past 2 and half days. We're down to 57 pilots from 65 originally. Our ship has taken damage, but not serious. The Pisces though is under the waves. As is the Falcon, Oriskany, St. Marianne, and others. I don't know how the allied units fared, but they probably did better than we did. The pilots that survived the Pisces are going to be integrated into our squadron. There's a Doug "Skip" Dawson, Noel "Silver" Messerschmitt, Jay "Footloose" Ellison, and Jack "Spider" Elliot. At least we're not getting nuggets, that's the last thing we need right now. There's a small island where command has set up a naval way station to repair ships, serve as command and control and such. We're pulling back to the island to repair, rest and re-arm. During the fighting, my plane was damaged pretty badly though, but I still kept fighting. I don't know what went though my head. But I managed to add 3 more kills bringing my total kill count to 15.

November 5, 2010- Oh man. I got to meet a legend today. The Gothan Naval Expeditionary Force has begun massing around the southern islands. It seems they are preparing for an invasion of their own. So all of the top scoring aces of the wing were called to the bridge and guess who's there...the Green Lantern himself. Col. Joachim van der Beek, whom I consider to be the greatest ace ever. Mobius One...give me a break. This guy got over 80 kills in the 7 months of the Belkan War, flew like what...150 combat missions. Took out some 300 targets on the ground. He and his squadron, JS 301(some 20 pilots) are responsible for 15 of all Belka's aircraft losses. That was over 650 planes out of about 4,000. Jeez. These guys got it done. His own wife's got 30 kills to her name. The lowest kill count was 17. That's insane. We studied their battles in training. It was like I was meeting a rockstar. He was a really nice guy. So we're talking and he asks me how many planes I've shot down. I tell him 15. So he's like, "Good job, keep it up." That was it. Kinda under spoken this guy is. I can only imagine how his diary would look.

To be continued...