XX A/N XX
Starting with this chapter, I'm trying to fill out Strangereal more. Coming up with fictional names and governments for countries is surprisingly difficult. But by the end I intend to paint the entire world, so again, I recommend consulting a map to give you a rough idea. For future reference, I envision eastern Osea as a mix of European and Asia countries, and western Verusa as a mix of the Middle East and Africa. Ace Combat X makes it pretty clear the southern Osean nations are similar to the southern portions of the Americas, although Aurelia has a newspaper that writes in French for some reason. Maybe a fictional Louisianna.
X December 13th X
Osea: Morale is still high among most Race forces as the conquest proceeds smoothly. Resistance is sporadic and often fruitless. Most of the eastern countries are the same, and Race aircraft squadrons are rapidly relocating to hundreds of airports and airfields around the continent with the intention of being operational within days.
Belkan Nationalists continue to resist. There is no rest for the Grey Men's aerial forces as pilots repeatedly launch themselves into the air to maintain control of the skies. Over 200 killercraft have been lost in the theater so far. Race ground forces come into contact with Belkan militants and militia in the country's southwest. They aren't as well armed as the Race troops in front of them, but they make up with skill and knowledge of the terrain. They can only hold part of the force back though, and The Race continues advancing along Belka's southern region. Agents in Dinsmark use a pair of car bombs to kill nearly two dozen males in the Belkan Capital, rattling the enemy who's still under the impression the country isn't armed.
Armed with five explosive metal bombs, a force of over 100 killercraft take off from southern Osea for Lesath with five cities targeted, including the capital Alendal. It is coincided with a larger attack on the southern Osean countries to ensure safe passage. Seven are still shot down enroute to their targets though, but not the ones carrying the bombs.
Unexpectedly, Leasath's Air Force crosses the border to intercept the force above its northern neighbor, the Turuel Republic. The Turuel Air Force joins the scuffle and the situation deteriorates to complete chaos, with several instances of human fighters lost to friendly fire or other human fighters. One of the explosive metal bombs are shot down before Race forces break through into Leasath.
Most of Lesath's military is deployed to the country's south to destroy the landing site and reinforce its southern border should Aurelia fall, but there are still anti-air sites throughout the country. Three of the killercraft carrying EMBs are able to drop their payload on the industrial cities that were targeted. The one bound for Aleldal is shot down on the outskirts of the city, its payload not detonating. Leasath militia secure the wreckage and the bomb is quickly taken by government forces. Less than a quarter of the killercraft force that departed Osea returns.
Leasath's Supreme Commander, from a reinforced underground bunker on the islands south of Leasath, makes a broadcast condemning the successful bombings and urged the country to fight and use whatever methods possible to resist. The Army is rolling over the disorganized Race forces in the south, with artillery indiscriminately hitting both hurried defensive positions and hastily set up hospitals for those injured by the atomic blast. Reservists are still being called up and civilians are being drafted on the spot. Killercraft in Aurelia are trying to fly north and help, but it is a hard fight.
A regiment from the Aurelian Army starts fortifying itself in the Monte Breeze Industrial Area. The only way The Race is getting to Griswall from the south is by going through this mountain area, and the locals are desperate to hold it. At the same time, Aurelia sets up anti-air positions on Mount Nevera in an attempt to stem the killercraft attacks on Griswall and indirectly help Leasath; there are many who hope the enemy will shift focus to their neighbor and give the country a chance to counter attack.
Verusa: There is a noticeably drop in morale among killercraft pilots as they realize the danger of their posting, made worse by infighting among killercraft commanders. Several still want to remove the Tosevite naval presence from the sea to open air transport paths from Osea for supplies and reinforcements. Those wanting to focus on Cinigrad argue that supplies and reinforcements can be moved by starship, a practical but expensive and slower option.
Since they still have stockpiled supplies to use, the former group in overruled and yet another raid is organized against Cinigrad. An explosive metal bomb is explicitly denied by the Fleetlord and efforts of the strike are focused instead on the rearguard Osean units than the entire Tosevite armies. With a higher focus on a smaller target, Race killercraft manage to inflict severe casualties on the Tosevite forces while only losing 94 killercraft during the raid- a major improvement over the previous days. Race ground forces are still days away.
The Race's spread throughout western and southern Yuktobania goes on almost unimpeded save for Osean and Yuktobanian hit and run attacks in the south. The OMDF again strikes Race forces advancing on the Bastok Peninsula. The two armies are expected to come into contact within two days. Their advance northeast towards Okchabursk is proceeding at a steady pace.
The spread throughout the western and southern countries continues, with attacks by partisans and scattered military forces picking up. They aren't enough to stop the advance, but they succeed in worrying Race commanders.
Anea: Air operations are suspended over most of Estovakia, save for the southern peninsulas where Race movement is still unopposed. Bombings of the northern Nordennavic islands are also suspended when it is realized the weather is simply too hazardous for killercraft to fly in. Operations over Emmeria, however, are still constant and causing more damage to the country by the day. The starships carrying the Estovakian contingent land in the Molach Desert.
Race forces have pushed back the Emmerian defenders to the suburban outskirts of the Capital, but each mile becomes more difficult. The Emmerian Navy has discovered the effectiveness of electronic warfare and the house to house fighting is proving deadly for landcruisers and infantry males. Gracemeria's 8 million residents have already started being evacuated to the country's southern coast by boat. Emmerian forces near the Estovakian border have not come into contact with the enemy yet.
Ragno Fortress is finally leveled by killercraft, but Emmerian soldiers remained hold out in the lower levels of the complex, forcing infantry males into deadly close quarters combat. But the Race is again advancing west. Emmerian defenses on the southern peninsula are still being bombed, but they hold out.
The occupation of Khesed Island continues. Bartolomeo Fortress is bombed by killercraft, but Race commanders show little interest in launching a ground offensive. Transport planes are unloaded and helicopters are deployed to the island's east coast. In the following days, they are hoping to capture a coastal airport on the mainland and start sending forces over. Seven killercraft are shot down during the day, and the division commander at Bartolomeo meets with his staff to discuss any possible actions against the enemy. A small collection of Emmerian Navy ships are still patrolling the seas between Khesed and the mainland.
Western Estovakia is in chaos due to the destruction and desertion of much of the LUF's armed forces and rumors General Lyes himself was killed in the bombings. Eastern Faction forces begin pulling back from the line towards the Skoynia Peninsula to stop the advance there. All available forces are redirected to stop The Race from breaking out into the main continent.
The Generals meet to discuss whether they should reveal the Aerial Fleet Initiative to its neighbors. Despite their patriotism and disdain of Emmeria for providing humanitarian aid to the LUF, they are practical enough to realize they have absolutely no chance of winning a conventional war with a numerically superior enemy. The Aerial Fleet is their- and the continent's- only hope. They respond to their neighbors that the missiles were part of a weapons program and request aid, agreeing to send the design documents, and pictures proving the air frames have already been completed, to their ministries of security for each country for study.
In the same meeting, one of The Generals brings up Chandelier- the massive railgun Estovakia had started building in the last millennium to counter Ulysses. It was never completed, but is still in a state on near completion in the northeastern sea. As it was designed to strike asteroids in the upper atmosphere, they wonder if it could be finished and used as a defensive weapon against the aliens. The idea is impractical given their resource shortages and lack of ability to protect the site from the type of air power their enemy can bring against it, but it is agreed to keep it in mind.
Race forces come into contact with Nordennavic soldiers outside their capital. Tosevite raids in the rear fool Race commanders into thinking they're being outflanked and as such less forces are committed to the actual assault, allowing the human defenders to hold them off. The Race's desert colored vehicles stick out greatly against Nordennavic snow.
The evacuation from the Nordennavic Islands begin. Having not gone far from their ships, all Race forces have re-boarded and both starships are ready to leave by that evening. All three ships prepare to launch and return to orbit for a day to reorganize before landing back in Emmeria. Due to weather, killercraft cover is few in number.
The launch of the starships is picked up by the Nordennavic Navy, which focus fire on one of the ships as it starts to gain altitude. The damage, combined with damage during the landings and some caused by the country's frigid weather while they were on the ground, causes it to lose power just before 80,000 feet and plunge down into the icy northern waters. There are no survivors.
A meeting is planned between the shiplords in Anea to decide how to deal with Nordennavic and its potent but nearly untouchable manufacturing capabilities.
Usea: Despite their initial momentum, the progress of Race forces begins to severely drop on the second day of the landing. Killercraft operations have slowed considerably due to the death of hundreds of flight and squadron leaders and the loss of unit cohesion as survivors of decimated squadrons are thrown together to perform strikes. Many killercraft are still operating from their starships, a cumbersome method that limits their ability to deploy.
The FCU 6th Fleet launches a series of successful airstrikes again the rear units of The Race's eastern advance. This provokes a one hundred strong killercraft raid that is beaten back at the loss of two ship, damage to the Fort Grace, and a quarter of its naval fighters. Operations end midday and the Fleet decides to pull back away from the coast to wait for the Dragonet II to arrive. Commandos are transported to the shore first though, to act as recon and target Race force that have occupied several desert towns during their advance. Evacuations from St. Ark are continuing at a rapid pace.
FCU aerial forces in the south cross the Lambert Mountains and attack the forward units of the advance with strike fighters and bombers, halting them for the rest of the day. Three squadrons of X-02s are sent to probe Race defenses around the Altoora Desert landing site. Though they manage to pick off some killercraft at long range, it is realized the defenses are currently far too thick for any sort of air operation to destroy them.
For a second day, Federation armored forced hold Race advance from San Salvacion in place, due only to the fanatical determination of its Air Force to keep air superiority in the area. The number of total fighters in the FCU has dropped below 400, but operations continue throughout the day. A Race Large Combat Group cross south into Amber with the intention of going around the defenses.
The city of San Salvacion, which has been destroyed by the fighting, finally falls. The collapse of human defenses is largely attributed to the cessation of air support from Delarus, which has been forced to turn its focus to Race forces approaching their western border from Erusea. Over 12,000 males are killed in the battle, and are too fatigued to chase retreating San Salvacion citizens and soldiers who are heading north. Ugellas has been successfully occupied by this point and it looks as if San Salvacion will be the next Usean nation to completely fall.
The Race forces who crossed into Amber from Erusea, numbering only 25,000 now, start a slow advance south towards the western flank of the ISAF defensive line that started forming that morning. Their advance is picked up and they retreat back to the border towns after ISAF jamming and air strikes destroys their armored spearhead.
Of the 50,000 males who entered Amber from San Salvacion, only 30,000 are in fighting shape by the middle of the day. ISAF jamming and airstrikes are relentless, and Race units have become scattered and isolated due to the communication failures. Without orders, half on those in Amber start retreating back to the border. Others stay where they are, and others continue advancing into stalwart defenses.
Believing that killercraft have weakened the defenders, the depleted landcruiser force once again attacks Erusian positions in Whisky Corridor. This time, they are almost completely destroyed by the human defenders. The survivors regroup with the force marching on Farbanti, leaving the area between the mountains to the 30,000 males who departed from the southeastern landing site.
Race forces advancing along that southern Erusian coast begin to slow between ISAF airstrikes, heavy urbanized environments, naval bombardment, and attacks by Erusian resistance fighters. FCU troops are landed on the Gunther Peninsula to shore up Erusian defenses there.
Race forces come into contact with Erusian defenders north of Farbanti later that evening. With layered defensive lines and naval support from ships who sailed inland through Erusian rivers, the Race attempts to break through are in vain.
As the sun sets over Usea, a pair of fighters launch from Delarus and manage to breach the San Salvacion landing site and shoot down eighteen killercraft. Once night arrives, ISAF stealth bombers begin targeting alien forces in southern Erusia and Amber.
By the end of the second day, 14% of the males ordered to invade Usea are dead or wounded, less than half of that is the starship shot down over North Point. The smallest landmass on the planet is quickly shaping up to be possibly the most difficult. The shiplord in charge appeals to Atvar from reinforcements from the surplus of forces currently in Osea.
X December 14th X
At a meeting on the Hetto, Atvar meets with a collection of Race scientists and researchers to discuss the plan to contact the Tosevites for negotiations. The matter is simple in some countries, mainly those in Osea, since The Race managed to capture several government figures during their landings. The matter is not so simple in other countries.
Plans are made to broadcast the request in the more advanced countries that have retained some electronic capabilities. Those in weaker countries, particularly on Verusa, will have to be delivered by hand claw. Atvar allows select males down to lead the efforts. Countries on the Osean continent will be approached first, believing they'll be the easiest. Yuktobania and Anea are next on the list, followed by the Usean countries before finally the other Verusian countries.
Osea: The Race continues solidifying its hold over the continent. Despite this, resistance action is picking up in all the eastern nations. At the Fleetlord's instruction, 180,000 males begin forming up at Osea's southern border with Federation of Laglana States.
Leasth finally overruns the southwestern landing zone after equipping troops with the necessary protective gear. It's intelligence agency manages to capture several uninjured males alive as well as some un-radiated equipment. The starship stranded by the EMP, however, is destroyed by Race killercraft before it can be taken. Despite the loss, Leasth is in a state of jubilation, being the first country to successfully defend itself despite the various nuclear detonations on its soil.
The news doesn't spread beyond southern Osea, but it manages to boost the confidence of the southern nations. Aurelia notices Race activity in its country slow after the news. The rapid pace of the fighting and the shock of being so quickly pushed back has left them dazed.
Verusa: As in Osea, The Race is trying to tighten its control over the western and southern nations. Attacks by remnant forces and irregular fighters are still picking up in intensity though. It's still apparent more forces than necessary were dedicated to smothering the regions, and Atvar considers redeploying some of the forces north to Anea.
Yuktobania produces bad news for another consecutive day. Following yesterday's attack, Osea's forces around Cinigrad have begun reorganizing to face the attack coming from the east. In the first official cooperative action of the war, Yuktobanian troops join them. Anti-air forces are pulled back and consolidated, making killercraft attacks much more dangerous. Yuktobania's military government resolve that if this defense fails and alien forces reach the road to Cinigrad, they will use the nuclear option. This fact is kept secret from Osean and even Yuktobanian commanders.
Race aerial forces are still trying to wrest control of the skies over eastern Yuktobania, but the Osea isn't giving up. By now forces on the Bastok Peninsula have dug in and are ready for anything.
Anea: Efforts begin to falter on the continent.
Almost a third of the 90,000 strong force that were sent to capture Gracemeria has been killed in the frantic urban fighting by the numerically superior Emmerian Army. With additional troops landing in western Emmeria later that day, Race commanders reorganize their forces. The forces meant to engage Emmerian force in the east are to instead pull back and join the attack on Gracemeria, leaving the males assigned to Estovakia to break through the Tosevite defenders. The remaining forces are redirected to invade the southern Emmerian peninsula. They still have air superiority over the country.
The Eastern Faction's fabled Stringon and Vampire squadrons relocate to a base at the top of the peninsula and launch against the enemy later that day, shooting down a total of 79 killercraft between them. The Eastern Faction is rushing in as many forces as it can by air, train, or even marching. Since the paratroopers already started on the necessary fortifications, it is decided to make the line at the central air base. Tanks, railway artillery, and ships are all being sent to reinforce this 93-mile-wide stretch of the peninsula.
Race forces surrounding the Nordennavic Capital start to fall apart. More and more forces have to be sent to the rear to keep them connected with their starship and supply base. The advantage of numbers has already been lost and Race air superiority can't protect the rear areas from raids. The Race cannot adapt to fighting in winter weather fast enough.
Emmeria and Nordennavic make their studies of the Estovakian Aerial Fleet brief due to the wartime situation. Despite the imminent removal of all alien forces from their borders, Nordennavic knows that it will still have lost if its larger neighbors are occupied. After only four hours of deliberation, they agree they will send engineers and refined resources 'to help Estovakia maintain its sovereignty.' With completed design documents, worries about the post war are not significant. Nordennavic does clarify it expects future repayment, something The Generals agree to.
Emmerian officials are stunned and frightened by both the concept and the progress Estovakia has made. Most do agree that the concept is sound, although there are some shortcomings, such as a lack of air-to-ground and point-defense capabilities. The idea of it being solely under Estovakian control worries them as well. The location of the Fleet's construction is also very far away, making aid difficult. But with air superiority lost over the bulk of their country, its political and military leaders are desperate for a miracle solution. Emmeria tentatively agrees, with some conditions to be delivered tomorrow.
Usea: Race efforts begin to finally gain traction.
Killercraft track down and attack the 6th Fleet again. This time, the Fort Grace is sunk with the last four ships in the fleet. The survivors swim to Snider's Top, a Usean meteoroidal complex. Several fighters manage to flee east though to friendly airfields. The Sessrúmnir arrives the northern inland sea at the same time.
Killercraft begin bombing the military forces defending the St. Ark evacuation point. The Race's eastern advance is uninterested in the northern peninsula though and starts to pivot south as it advances, putting it on a collision course with the FCU's defensive line that splits north and southern Usea.
The Race incursion into the southwestern FCU starts to gain ground. Tosevite airstrikes are still causing damage, but they can't maintain the tempo of operations to keep air superiority so close to the landing site. The human armies begin retreating into the more tropical southern states and into the mountains. With only 300 left fighters to defend their air space, over fifty with their navy helping their allies, on two fronts, the FCU is starting to feel the squeeze and starts to consider withdrawing its aid to its allies in ISAF.
Race forces engage defenders on the Erusian/Delarus border. Though they outnumber the defenders and Delarus has a fourth of the fighters it had a few days ago, they are kept from crossing the border for now. But a breakthrough is expected soon. After a day to rest, Race forces move on from San Salvacion north towards the border with Delarus.
The Erusian lines north of Farbanti begin to fold under heavy air attack and as some forces are diverted to reinforce the eastern flank against the force advancing along the coast. The Erusian Capital itself has been heavily damaged by killercraft attack, even more so than the meteors managed. They consider withdrawing their forces from the Gunther Peninsula to shore up its Capital defenses. The FCU protests the idea, since it would give the enemy air bases to attack forces in the Gulf, causing some tensions between the two powers.
Amber is the only Usean country whose situation improves. The intensive cooperative efforts have forced all Race forces back to the border areas. Having quickly recovered from injuries sustained during the evacuation from the Capital, Amber's Prime Minister meets with his party members and Amber and FCU military officials to discuss a possible counter attack. From their central location, a counter attack in Amber can ease the pressure on the rest of Usea. At their disposal are only 23,000 troops and less than fifty fighters, compared to the 40,000 alien forces still in the country.
Atvar reviews the request for reinforcements in Usea. With Osea folding faster than expected, he does believe he can reduce the number of forces into the country without endangering their conquest. He does want to keep most of the forces in the southern area of the empire there though, to ensure an invasion of the southern portion of the continent is successful. He is confident though that Osea will not pose a problem. He authorizes 120,000 males to transfer from northwestern Osea to the San Salvacion landing site. The transfer is intended to be completed within eight days.
The transfer is killercraft is harder, given the lack of air bases set up or captured in Usea so far. He gives operation control of the killercraft squadrons unloaded in the eastern Osean countries to the commanders in Usea. As long as they deploy tanker aircraft, they will be able to strike targets in western Usea. He is also able to authorize 80 killercraft to deploy to airports in both San Salvacion and Ugellas. The approval increases the morale of Race commanders in Usea and allows Atvar to focus more on the trouble areas of Yuktobania and Anea.
Though far more violent and fast paced than expected, the invasion is finally starting to feel under control.