File # 009
RAH-667A Noivern stealth attack helicopter
Type: prototype stealth attack helicopter
Weight: 4218 kg (empty); 5601 kg (loaded)
Dimensions: 14.28 m (length), 3.37 m (height); classified (width)
Powerplant: 2x HoR-powered 1536 HP turbo shaft engines
Performance: 324 km/h (max speed); 306 km/h (cruising speed); 4556 m (service ceiling); 4.55 m/s (rate of climb)
Range: 585 km with internal fuel
Armor: faceted plating equipped with Radar Absorbent Materials (RAM) and infrared suppression paint
Armaments:
1x 20 mm three-barrel Gatling gun
2 internal bay pylons either 6x Hail (3x for each pylon) air-to-surface missiles, 12x Poison Stinger (6x for each pylon) air-to-air missiles or 24x Aqua Tail (12x for each pylon) air-to-ground unguided rockets
Optional 4x Hail per wing (8x in total), 8x Poison Stinger (16x in total) or 28x Aqua Tail (56x in total)
Crew: 2
Rotors: Five bladed rotor assembly with no tail rotor
NOTES
If there's one thing that can allow for sneak attacks, it's stealth.
Before the Undampening, stealth technology was limited only to fixed wing aircraft.
But now, it can be applied to helicopters.
The culmination of research for this is the RAH-667A "Noivern" stealth attack helicopter, officially the world's first helicopter built for stealth missions.
Conventional helicopters are not suited for stealth missions, as their rotor assemblies for both the main and tail rotors give off large and significant heat signatures. Their frames are also not designed to be radar absorbent. Most helicopters' rotors also generate enough sound to let intruders know they're coming. The Noivern was developed as a way to get around that. The airframe used for the helicopter came from the cancelled Seviper attack helicopter, which was canceled due to the use of Muk and Grimer fumes in biological warfare weapons, a prohibited weapon by all sides. The airframe though, with its light and agile design, spawned a new concept that was tested thanks to the combined efforts of LaRoussian engineers and technicians, working alongside Avia Defense Aeronautics, Aurora Defense Industries, Yaksha Engineering, Inc. and Spectra Defenses Co.
The one disadvantage the Noivern has is the HoR powered engines are used to power all of the helicopter's systems, leading its endurance to be limited to only two and a half to three hours at most. The engines also have to burn fossil fuels, which gives off a slight heat signature. Thankfully the energy from the Heart of Ransei offsets this by forcing the fuel to burn more efficiently, thus cutting the heat signature to almost nothing. The real power of the engine systems is in its ability to render the helicopter unnoticed on thermal imaging cameras, making it nearly impossible to detect. It can still be picked up, but its heavily reduced heat signature will make it the equivalent of a bird on the sensors and camera.
The armor itself is not really armor, but is composed of faceted plating to reduce the radar cross section (RCS) and other areas of visibility. To help with this radar absorbent materials were applied, along with infrared suppressing paint, to make it virtually undetectable. The rotor assembly, while standard, is augmented by its unique NOTAR assembly to maintain its stealth capabilities. Even with just one standard rotor, no contra-rotating rotors are needed with NOTAR. This is because NOTAR works by using a fan inside the tail boom to build a high volume of low-pressure air, which exits through two slots and creates a boundary layer flow of air along the tail boom. The boundary layer changes the direction of airflow around the tail boom, creating thrust opposite the motion imparted to the fuselage by the torque effect of the main rotor. Directional yaw control is gained through a vented, rotating drum at the end of the tail boom, called the direct jet thruster. Thus, this effectively replaces a tail rotor.
What really makes the Noivern stand out is its excellent rate of climb, being able to climb faster than most helicopters at the time. This allows it to outfly other helicopters of the same base model and make, while able to pull off counters that helicopters normally would not be able to do because of the frame's design. It allows the helicopter to perform maneuvers such as the barrel roll, loops, and even flying upside down. Such maneuvers have proven to save the helicopter from being damaged or even destroyed, when coupled with the chaff and flares equipped to it.
But just because it's stealthy doesn't mean it's not armed.
While specifically built for stealth and recon ops, the Noivern is outfitted with an arsenal that can be swapped out and added to according to mission parameters.
The basic armament consists of the 20 mm three-barrel Gatling gun under the nose. This gun can carry up to 500 rounds and is slaved to the pilot's helmet using a wireless interface, allowing the gun to swivel and target anything the pilot is looking at. Firing is done by pressing a button on the joystick for the helicopter's controls. The gun has the capacity to fire DU rounds, or AP rounds depending on which is available and what the mission entails. Conventional rounds are also able to be loaded, but have to have a tracer for every ten rounds fired, so as to know where they are being fired and to let friendly forces know what is firing them.
For heavier firepower, the Noivern is equipped with internal weapons bays to carry at max 6 Hail rockets with three per pylon, 12 Poison Stinger missiles with six per pylon, or twenty-four Aqua Tail rockets with twelve per pylon, depending on the mission parameters. The internal bays are meant to limit the external mounting of weapons so the helicopter's stealth capabilities can be used to the fullest. While not an advisable option for stealth attacks, the helicopter can also mount on its "wings" eight extra Hail rockets (four per wing), sixteen Poison Stinger missiles (eight per wing) or fifty-six Aqua Tail rockets (twenty-eight per wing).
To further reduce the signature of the helicopter, the signature glowing blue circuit lines indicative of the Heart's energy have been covered with a dimming paint, making it harder to pick up visually.
Selected Field Reports
"The Noivern is just like it's namesake: hard to pick up, stealthy, and loud when it attacks." - Lieutenant Amanda Foster, Third Yaksha Air Wing
"Slick helicopter. Gotta love the ideas those LaRoussians have!" - Corporal Heinrich Daniels, Yaksha Stealth Rangers, 2nd Division
"Killing machine in disguise." - Commander Yuichi Ichiko, Company B, 6th Battalion, 4th Ninja Rangers
"Gotta love it! Only downside is the range. But hey! Gotta live with it." Gen. Justin Hallas, Company D, 4th Battalion, 17th Division, 14th Specter Infantry Brigade
"The range sucks dick! But it's worth it for the stealth. Just wish those guys came up with something better..." Brigadier General Luis Halter, Company A, 5th Battalion, 3rd Avia Airborne Division
Unknown location, 20 March
"It has been years.
"Years since the world of the Ancients came to a sudden end. Our islands have been isolated, cut off from the outside world..."
The man sitting in front of the fire gazed deeply into its fiery depths, as if seeing the past before him. He closed his eyes and leaned back as he inhaled and let it out. The children sitting around the fire gazed at him with rapt fascination, unable to believe that this story he told was in fact true. They ranged in age from four to seven, each of them born a long time after the Old Days came to an end.
Their storyteller/babysitter looked at all of them. "But... there have been stirrings... rumors, if you will, of others... Others like us, and some of them have evolved..." he said.
One of the children raised a hand. "Um, Mr. Bradley, is it true that the Old Days were a time of prosperity?" she asked.
The man, Mr. Bradley, looked at her and smiled. "Yes, child. They were indeed a time of prosperity and safety in which one did not have to suffer at the hands of the Wild Monsters. And it was a time in which they were tamed, actually. Much different than the era we live in now." He adjusted his seat in front of the fire and beckoned the children around him. They gathered around him with smiles on their faces. He smiled back as he placed his arms around them. "And it was a place where there was no shortage of wealth. There, anything was possible. Not like this era..." He bowed his head and closed his eyes.
"Not like this era..."
He finally opened his eyes and smiled. "Okay, children. The storytime has come to an end for now. Go to your parents."
They groaned as they backed away from him.
"But do not worry. For tomorrow, we shall explore more about the Old Days," he assured them. They each looked at one another, then back at him as they cheered and hugged him before running off to their parents.
As they ran off, he stood up and adjusted his pack before dousing the fire with water and making his way back to his shanty. He threw open the tarp over the entrance and walked over to the small battered wooden table. He plopped his pack down on it and sat down, pulling out an old book he always wrote in. He flipped through it before coming back to the page he left off on, and picked up the charcoal pen he stored in between the pages.
He started to write, trying to come up with new tales about the Old Days, as he remembered them being told. And as he wrote, his life continued on around him.
Oblivia, 20 March, 7 YDR
Sophian Island was a complete wasteland.
The lieutenant's eyes narrowed as she studied the large island's war-torn landscape, noting the buildings of the once-famous Aqua Resort were now just husks of their former selves. Her parents had told her stories of the beauty of the place, but now... now all that remained was ruin and destruction. She wondered briefly if it would ever return to its former splendor and grace. But she knew that deep down it was impossible, especially now under the reign of the dictatorship that governed this wasteland.
Like all the other islands in the chain, this was now close to a desert wasteland.
Only two islands still retained sufficient vegetation and soil to supply the chain with food and nutrition.
Lieutenant Amanda Foster of the Third Yaksha Air Wing pursed her lips as she adjusted the angle of the aircraft she was flying. The rotors of the RAH-667A Noivern stealth attack helicopter beat at the air and she peeled the craft to the right, her co-pilot Corporal Hans Lutein pivoted his head to look down at the entire scene below them. The black colored aircraft would've been a total standout if not for the fact that it was nighttime and a dim light from the half-concealed moon added to their advantage of stealth. He pursed his lips.
"Hard to believe that this place has been a wasteland for seven years now," he muttered.
"Not really," Foster replied over the headset. "Considering what Fiore and Almia became, I'm not that surprised."
"But you were expecting something similar, right, ma'am?" Lutein asked.
"Yeah. Not like this at all," the pilot said as she peered out at the ruins below.
"Wonder what will happen if this occurs in other regions," her co-pilot replied, his eyes dead serious behind his helmet's tinted visor. He peered out the cockpit window and gritted his teeth. "I mean... Fiore and Almia are ruled by gangs, and Oblivia is just a complete and utter wasteland like in the Max Fury movies..."
Foster nodded, knowing what he was talking about. In a way, now that she thought about it, the Max Fury movies seemed to foreshadow this kind of outcome, in the culture and brutality that reigned supreme in some regions of the world. As a youth, she had watched the movies with her two older brothers, but her mother and father hadn't been so willing to let their only daughter watch something so brutal and gruesome. But it had hardened her, and conditioned her to not react to such violence unless it was performed on innocents like children and baby Pokémon. And when coupled with the experience in the field over the last seven years, it wasn't much of a surprise that brutal acts of violence didn't faze her as much. But even so, it still made her soul burn with fury at seeing such mindless slaughter and genocide.
Her mind was working furiously as the Noivern flashed over the desert. She could easily pick out the small pinpricks of light that indicated campfires around the island, and some settlements constructed of remnants from the Old Days, as the rest of the world was calling the pre-Undampening time. She scoffed a bit at the absurdity of such a thing. It wasn't even a full decade and already people were calling it that. The whole concept made little sense, really. Referring to an age only seven years ago as if it had been over for centuries was strange. But then again, in some absurd way, it did make sense. Not that she could see how, though.
"Hey, ma'am? You okay?" Lutein asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Just trying to figure something out," Foster replied.
"You mean the Old Days thing?" he asked, knowing what was on her mind. They often talked about this, to be honest, when it was just the two of them during dull missions.
"Yeah. It's weird to me..." she muttered, her eyes flitting back to her controls and examining them. The altimeter was blinking red, an indicator they were going below the designated altitude for stealth. She adjusted the controls and raised the helo slightly until it was above the height indicated.
"Right. But right now we have a mission to focus on," Lutein reminded her. "We can ponder that later."
She nodded and forced her mind back to focus on the matter at hand.
The Noivern began its descent, relying on its stealthy profile to slip as close as it could to the surface without the rotors generating a rotor wash that was sure to get the attention of the settlements. The black, faceted profile proved to be an asset as it flashed over the ground, passing by and over settlements as the pilots shot video and still footage using infrared cameras built into their PokéGauntlets. They each took turns at it; Lutein was the first one. His eyes narrowed beneath his visor as he studied the screen and video feed. "I just can't believe it still..." he murmured.
"What? Seeing what these islands have become in the last seven years?" Foster asked.
"Yes," Lutein replied. "It's... it's just sickening."
"Tell me about it," the pilot growled as her eyes hardened. "The survivors were right to keep it vague. At least from what I've seen..." Her stomach churned as she recalled the graphic descriptions of rape and plunder, with beheadings carried out in gruesome glory. She shuddered a bit and swallowed back the bile in her throat. She could get sick later.
The black stealth copter came to a stop just above a camp as Lutein took over the controls and Foster angled her PokéGauntlet so she could see via the infrared camera the sight below. She made out the burning heat of the fire in the center and the shapes of humans gathered around it. She frowned, wondering what else they could be doing down there. Foster took the chance to zoom in, but the distance was just too great. Growling to herself, she tapped the back of Lutein's seat, and he nodded. The Noivern began to descend a bit further, and as it did so, the rotor wash created by the rotor blades sent some sand whipping around, and caught the attention of one of the locals below...
Lieutenant Foster kept her eyes narrowed as Lutein adjusted the helicopter's position and allowed her to get a better view of the camp's layout.
On her PokéGauntlet's screen she could make out several large tents, some smaller shanties constructed from wood and metal, and a few parking lots with what appeared to be a large tanker truck with a hose attached to the container on the back; she guessed it had to be fuel stored in that tank. The tents were no doubt for meetings, a hospital or even a school. The parking lots were filled with ATVs, Jeeps, and even a few Hummers. She pursed her lips and frowned. 'Looks like they're taking the lifestyle from the Max Fury movies the more I look at it... or maybe there's another reason for this... But what is it?' she thought to herself.
Suddenly, the alarm on her console blared in her headset and she grasped the controls on instinct, wrenching the helicopter away from the site as a single Spearow missile flew past their location. "Dammit!" she muttered. "How'd they know we were here?!"
"I have no idea!" Lutein remarked. "But however they did, we're in serious shit here!"
The lieutenant swore loudly in Ransian as she pulled the helicopter into a steep climb as a second missile followed the first, nearly missing the helicopter's tail. The missile exploded beyond the helicopter, as Foster had thought to release the flares as she pulled that maneuver. After she leveled off, she pivoted the helicopter around so that way the front was aiming at the camp, or rather, the group of people mounting what appeared to be a large vehicle with surface-to-air missiles. She growled as she eyed it, and below the chopper's nose, the 20mm Gatling gun spun up, and she pulled the trigger, sending DU rounds right for it. Unfortunately the tracer gave away that someone was firing on them.
Lutein, a native from Orre, swore in Orran as she pulled to the left, the motion causing him to bang his helmeted head on the cockpit glass. "Watch it!" he shouted.
"Sorry! Next time keep your head still!" Foster shot back as she juked the Noivern left and right to avoid being nailed by guns. She was forced to finally turn and flee as the truck with the missiles gave chase.
"Shit! How did this happen?!" Foster growled as she looked back at the truck, her eyes hard.
Lutein gripped his crystal and held it up, the blue light shining amidst the darkness, trying to spot the vehicle's dust trail. He picked it out, all right, but the blue glow of his crystal caught the attention of the driver. He swore as he shoved his crystal back beneath his airman's uniform.
"You know you're not supposed to do that during stealth missions!" Foster yelled at him. "We're gonna be scrapped at this rate!"
Her co-pilot glared at her. "Well, how else was I supposed to spot that trail of dust?!" he snapped.
Foster swore as she peeled the helicopter to the left, darting back towards the sea and vanishing amidst the clouds as they began to thicken. The cloud cover proved to be a godsend for them as the craft swooped around under her guiding hands. She had an intense gaze on her face as she brought the Noivern up a bit more to avoid being spotted. She looked down at the island beneath her as she peeled to the right, flying back, but using the helicopter's stealth capabilities to her advantage this time.
The missile truck below was circling, trying to find the Noivern as it came in slow and at a height to avoid detection. She narrowed her eyes as she adjusted the controls, studying the layout of the land. She could pick out the remains of the resort as the Noivern came back around to the island, making sure to approach from the rear so as to avoid detection. The black chopper darted past the missile truck, and Lutein looked at her. "What's the plan?" he hissed over the headset.
The pilot pursed her lips as she shifted in her seat, trying to ponder the situation and how to best take out that missile truck. Her eyes hardened as she realized that there was only one way, and it would cost them their stealth advantage. "Dammit..." she muttered.
Lutein heard her tone of voice and his eyes widened as he looked at her. "You're insane!" he hissed. "That could jeopardize the whole mission!"
She gritted her teeth as she recalled the mission briefing from two days ago.
Fontaine, Ransei
18 March, 7 YDR
"Sir? You want me to what?" Foster blurted, her eyes wide. "I mean, sure I can understand gathering intelligence, but to actively take part in trying to take down that despotic man? That's asking for trouble! And Oblivia has no real functioning government! It's like the Max Fury movies there! A real life version!"
Her superior narrowed his eyes. "You do realize that if we don't do something, then they'll continue to suffer. We cannot allow that to go on. Those people need to be reminded of what hope is. And besides, if the islands are in as worse a shape as you think, this only justifies the decision the Supreme Warlord has made. Also, it has good reason. Especially since there's no real hope of getting intelligence otherwise. We can kill two Pidgey with one stone this way." He looked at her over his tented hands. "Plus, it will be a good way to test out our new prototype."
"It's already finished?!" Foster blurted. "I thought it wouldn't be ready for testing for another two years!"
"They used the old Seviper attack helicopter's airframe. That's how the R&D boys and girls were able to get it up and running sooner than the initial projections," her superior said as he unfolded his hands and laid them on his desk. "So, your mission is threefold: Test the prototype, gather intelligence, and see if you can start something in those islands somehow. I don't care how you do it. Just make sure you don't get shot down."
"How will we get there? The range is not that good, and..." Foster's protest was cut off as he raised his hand.
"The range is sufficient, but unfortunately, for safety reasons, you will not fly it there yourself. You will take the Mithrl and take off from the decks once the carrier is in range," he told her.
Foster felt a lump forming in her throat and she swallowed it, nodding. "Understood, sir," she replied.
"I can understand your reservations though," he told her gently. "The whole island chain is a mess, and the government has no real chance of doing anything unless Oblivia's dictator is taken out."
She felt a small shred of relief, but it wasn't enough to make her feel any better. In fact, it seemed to make things worse for her. She gulped and nodded.
"Now get going. You leave in a day's time."
Oblivia, Sophian Island
20 March, 7 YDR
"I hate it when this is brought up!" Foster grumbled as she pressed a hand to her headset. "Lutein, I need you to arm the missiles. I don't care about the intelligence right now, and we have to test the prototype anyway. So may as well do something to show that we mean business before we pull out back to the Mithrl."
Lutein growled, but relented as he prepared to arm the missiles in the weapons bays.
The doors slid open, exposing the Hail missiles to the open air.
He narrowed his eyes and looked down at the missile truck, its crew scanning the area for any sign of them.
His finger tightened on the trigger, and he felt as if his whole world came to a slowdown. He could see the way the tires turned, the way the dust angled in the breeze, and the glint of the dim moonlight on the windshield below. His heart was pounding double time and his hands were slick with sweat beneath his uniform. He took in a breath and let it out, closing his eyes before reopening them. He targeted the land in front of the truck...
And pulled the trigger.
Two missiles streaked from the pylons right for the truck.
The crew had no idea what was coming. The missiles homed in on it as it turned to the left...
And they made contact.
The truck went up in a fiery explosion that caught several of the other locals' attention. Within minutes Jeeps, motorcycles, and ATVs were streaming from a few of the camps to check out what happened. The charred remnants of the vehicle burned fiercely, a result of the remaining missiles having exploded once the Hellfire missiles made contact.
Lutein grinned as Foster pulled the Noivern into a turn to evade detection. "Nice shot!" she remarked.
"C'mon! Let's get outta here before we get caught," he said.
She nodded. "Right. We'll call this a success, even if it was partial." The black helicopter sped away, vanishing into the night like the Pokémon it was named for.
Sophian Island, Oblivia
The fire of their truck burned fiercely.
The men were baffled. Questions filled their minds as they gathered around, being careful to avoid the heat of the flames. One of them knelt at spotting something fluttering on the ground.
He picked it up and held it in his hands.
It looked like part of a flag...