Chapter 6: Air War & The Third Japanese Special Task Force
Object Conjuration/Materialization: This is one of the most interesting powers of the Falmartian. On the surface it seems they can create object out of thin air, but the true is they are not. Objects are created and sent from the Path dimension to the realspace.
While this ability seem overpowered, it has limit because the true nature of the Path and the "Unknown Land".
Although paths are invisible in the physical world, they can be seen by entering an "Unknown Land". There, light-colored soil covers the ground and paths manifest as trails of light in the sky, similar in appearance to an aurora. Time is irrelevant and conflicted there.
The soul of a Homo Titanien can access this "Unknown Land". From here they are capable of creating anything out of the sand.
This is the cause of Titan Transformation, Regeneration and Materialization, as from here they can molds their titan bodies or other objects and send them to the realspace.
But because they have to use their bare hands to mold the desired objects, they can't create complex moving parts machine, like a car or computer. It like building a sand castle, you need to understand the object structure to create it. In this regard it bear many similar to Shirou Emiya "Trace On" ability in the famous series Fate/stay night.
Mindless Titan: This is one of the most moral-questioning bioweapon program in the Imperium. They are artificial insemination embryo being injected with Titan spinal fluid.
Because they are still in embryonic stage they have no mind of their own and will obey any command, that made them perfect cannon foodder. They are cheap, reliable and absolutely fearless.
The Mindless Titan are renowned for their utter discipline on the battlefield, both in their usage of incredibly coordinated large unit phalanx formations, and because they will never break in the face of overwhelming odds, even to the point of death.
Warg - A person who can send his consciousness into the mind of an animal, to see through its eyes and control its body as if it were his own.
The act of doing this is called "warging". The ability starts out as vivid dreams in which the warg sees and perceives the world through the senses of an animal. Over time and with practice, a warg can enter the mind of an animal at will. A warg's human body will become comatose when his consciousness leaves it to enter the mind of an animal, and his eyes will glaze over white, until his consciousness returns to his own body.
Warging is a separate ability from Greensight, the psychic ability to perceive future and past events in dreams. However, some people who are wargs can also possess greensight. They're excellence spies for the Imperial Government.
Fun note: Because planet Falmart is 2,3 times as big as Earth and it have a much thicker atmosphere, the distance to horizon on Falmart is about 1,5 time futher away than horizon on Earth.
Ula Pianca (Imperial Subterranean Castle )
"Your Majesty, the so called United Earth Alliance army coalition has suffered a major blow in the Battle of Alnus Hill. The dead and missing have reached over three-hundred thousand. If we include the ones who were wounded, but are still able to resume their duties, it is around four hundred thousand. The survivors of the Alliance Army are focusing on consolidation their holding in Alnus Region."
These numbers had not included the lost of tanks, SP artillery, armored personnel carriers and half tracks: 5,500 plus nearly 10,000 damaged or disabled vehicles in various stages of repair/recovery.
"Not just that, Your Majesty, according to our spies on Earth: in planning for counter Operation Downfall, the Imperial High Command had overestimated the strength of the invading forces: while the UEADF invasion plan called for as many as 65 Army Groups (15 for Olympic and 45–50 for Coronet), the High Command expected up to 90 Army Groups."
Hearing Minister of Military Intelligence Marquis Marcus's report, the Emperor nodded his head tiredly.
"Just as planned. Epistrategos Luflus, Epistrategos Mokzas, Epistrategos Thornog and their men's sacrifices will not go to waste. They are the true 'Hero of the Empire'.
The cowardly senators in the Peasant's Party who were scared to death after witnessing the power of nuclear weapons have nothing to worry about anymore.
Inform the Imperial Senate, Two Representatives of The People, all of the King's Council and tell Prime Minister Diabo to immediately broadcast this news throughout the Holy Empire."
"But, the movement of the enemies from beyond the Gate is quite a concern, Your Majesty."
"Hmm, are you getting paranoid?"
"I was born with this paranoia of mine. I will never attain such magnanimity as Your Majesty."
"So be it. In that case, I shall act as to relieve the worries of my trusted retainer. This is not such a difficult problem. The distance from Alnus Hill to here is far. It will be fine to use the Holy Darwinian Empire's extensive territory as a rampart."
The Emperor continued.
If the enemies started moving their pieces we would proceed Operation Vegetarian, all the cities and villages leading up to the Empire's capital shall be infected with red anthrax, the wells poisoned and the food destroyed till the last grain of wheat. It not like our people need any food or water to survive or can get sick unlike those puny Earthling humans.
Therefore, amidst the scorched earth, no army of the UEADF could obtain supplies and thus stop their advancement. With this, no matter how strong their army and their machines might be, a chance for them to show their weakness would arise.
If there was no way to forage supplies locally, supplies would have to be sent from their own country. It would be a heavy burden on their Military Logistics. This way, the enemy's fighting potential would be lower the closer they get to the capital, giving the Imperial Army the advantage when fighting near the capital.
If they built strongholds at various locations and forced the enemies to bleed, the enemies would gradually crumble under the pressure. Such was the basis of this world's military science.
Operation Vegetarian: was an Imperial military plan in 52028 to disseminate linseed cakes infected with Red Anthrax spores onto the fields of Lemuria. These cakes would have been eaten by the cattle, which would then be consumed by the enemy military force, causing the deaths of millions of UEADF soldiers. Furthermore, if they were lucky a careless soldier carry red anthrax back to Earth it would have wiped out the majority of Earth's cattle, creating a massive food shortage for the rest of the population that remained uninfected.
Not just Red Anthrax there also:
Wheat Blight: a genetic engineered super disease to attack Earth varieties of wheat, the principal food supply of the United Earth Alliance, causing a massive crop failure around the world thus weakened them.
Rumours of tough, hardy, 'war weeds', genetically modified to infest farmland and be nearly impossible to remove surface from time to time. These are based on the difficulties caused by genetically-engineered super-wheat in Neo Ameryka. These are generally considered almost as dangerous as 'conventional' biological weapons.
It was rumoured that the Imperial governments and it vassal states around the world were researching fungal or parasitic weapons. Some were believed to simply eat their victim from the inside out. Others were more sinister and were allegedly intended to influence or control the mind of their victim, for example by making them suicidally fearless [like an enhanced version of the toxoplasmosis parasite].
Another feared bioweapon that were rumoured to exist were viruses that cause cancers in their victims, engineered from existing cancer-causing viruses. Some were rumoured to be airborne, while others were believed to be engineered to produce very fast-acting cancers a tool of assassination and terror.
There was also a rumour that The Holy Darwinian Empire begins developing a number of different types of synthetic [plastic]-eating bacteria, with the intention of using them to attack the equipment of their enemies. At the same time they work on making their own equipment immune to such bacteria (though in any case it is less of a problem for them due to the low level of technology of most of their populace). The Synthetic Plague. Engineered from existing polymer-eating microbe, this super bacteria could eat through NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) suit easily make the troops wearing them vulnerable to nerve gases.
There was even a rumour about a type of magic Zombie virus. Engineered from existing Crety Epidemic, this super bacteria unlike the original could affect both genders and had 100% mortality rate.
The disease is airborne. Initial symptoms include high fever and inflammation of the throat and lungs. The disease is known to be treatable with an anti-inflammatory magic potion known as the Rokude Pear, provided the treatment is administered before death and subsequent reanimation. The infection is known to affect both immanity and other species.
After death, the body will not decay but rather reanimated into an at least outwardly life-like state, referred to in the local language as "Death's Makeup". Those in this state of being can be identified by their glazed-over, "dead-looking" eyes, as well as their darker colored blood. The infected possess greatly reduced intellectual capacities, single-minded pursuit of uninfected humans with the intent to infect or kill them.
Once reanimated, there is no known way to return the infected to their pre-mortem state- the only means of neutralization is to kill them. Infected individuals are highly resistant to damage and can only be killed by decapitation or destruction of the brain or by extreme trauma to the entire body, such as a grenade blast. The effects can differ, depending on who was infected.
Marquis Marcus bowed his head respectfully.
Suddenly, a voice that was clear as a bell cut through the quiet air in the palace.
"Your Majesty!"
The disrespectful person appearing before the Emperor was the princess. In other words, one of the Emperor's daughters.
She had flame-like vermillion hair and white porcelain skin that was accentuated by her white silk garment. Kneeling on one knee, she displayed flawless court etiquettes.
"What's the matter?"
"The Holy Empire is now having an emergency. What has Your Majesty did to curb this problem? Is Your Majesty getting senile?. But don't worry your genius daughter Pina will bring you some wonderful gifts to solve your problem."
Such sharp words emerged from her beautiful face.
Realising that there was another one who mistook privilege for authority, Emperor Molt smiled bitterly.
The princess's tongue was sharp as usual.
"Your Highness, what urgent matters do you have to barge into the chambers of His Majesty?"
If the Emperor's fifth daughter, Piña Co Lada just sat still with a smile on her face, she would look just like a peerless work of art. However, her sharp tongue have been said to have made weak men faint, which was quite infamous in the King's Council.
"Obviously, it's about the success of project Wunderwaffe. Your genius daughter had finished her assigned project with flying color. Marquis, have you reported the facts to his Majesty?"
"Based on the Nazi's V-1 and V-2 rocket design as well as the Russian BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher we have been able to replicate the enemy fearsome Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS)."
Based on the report from Battle of Alnus Hill, our super long range titan artillery performance were as expected but the enemy counter strike were simply too fast, preventing multiple salvo of artillery. It simply take too much time for our artillery to reload. A multiple rocket launcher helps compensate for this with its ability to launch multiple rockets simultaneously and a greater rate of fire.
The end result was the Bozes Multiple Rocket Launcher. The design was relatively simple, consisting of racks of parallel rails on which rockets were mounted, with a folding frame to raise the rails to launch position. Each weapon had 14 to 48 launchers.
The standard P-13 rocket of the PM-13 system was 800 cm long, 132 cm in diameter and weighed 42,000 kg (93,000 lb).
The weapon has less range and accuracy than conventional long range titan artillery guns, but is extremely effective in saturation bombardment. A battery of four PM-13 launchers could fire a salvo in 7–10 seconds that delivered 4350 tons of high explosives over 40-square-kilometre impact zone at a distance of 600 km, making its power roughly equivalent to that of 72 conventional Titan Diabo Artillery Field Guns. With an efficient crew, the launchers could redeploy to a new location immediately after firing, denying the enemy the opportunity for counterbattery fire.
Bozes batteries were often massed in very large numbers to create a shock effect on enemy forces. The weapon's disadvantage was the long time it took to reload a launcher, in contrast to conventional guns which could sustain a continuous low rate of fire.
Bozes multiple rocket launcher can also be used to launch other types of magic rocket :
The first being the V-1 flying bomb, a primitive magic jet-powered cruise missile. With the knowlge about jet engine from Earth, Princess Pina was able to pour more resources into such wonder weapons from the summer of 52027.
Specifications
Mass 2,150 kg (4,740 lb)
Length 8.32 m (27.3 ft)
Width 5.37 m (17.6 ft)
Height 1.42 m (4 ft 8 in)
Warhead Wildfire, later Metallic Hydrogen
Warhead weight 850 kg (1,870 lb)
Operational range 1280 km (800 mi)
Maximum speed 1920 km/h (1200 mph) flying between 600 and 900 m (2,000 and 3,000 ft)
The first V-1 was subsequently launched on the 31st of October 2029, Halloween Eve, for maximum psychological effect and the blast cost the lives of sixteen troops. After that, multiple V-1 launches took place on a daily basis and in the early days they inflicted many casualties, mostly defense contractors, but countermeasures like multi-layer ballistic missile defence system, anti-aircraft guns and intercepting aircraft quickly reduced their effectiveness. By spring 2031 only 0,02% of V-1s were getting through, which still amounted to ~ 2,600,000 hitting target areas (out of a total of 13 billion launched during the War). V-1 production was soon de-emphasized in favour of something else. The V-2 ballistic magic missile.
The Holy Empire were succeed in completing a new vengeance weapon against which no countermeasures existed for the number of that scale. Unlike the magic jet-powered V-1, the V-2 was a proper ballistic missile powered by a magical light discharge-type engine (instead of an air pressure engine), flies through the upper stratum of the atmosphere, then falls straight down on the target. V-2 missiles reached a maximum altitude of 172 kilometers (110 mi) on a long trajectory and a top speed of 17,280 km/h (10,740 mph), though slowing down to 8,640 km/h (5,370 mph). Millions of V-2 could be launched at one. This meant that there weren't enough aircrafts to intercept them all, that missile defense battery could never have enough missile interceptors and that an anti-aircraft gun had only a one in a billion chance of hitting them. Radar operators could only monitor their flight, but nothing more. They couldn't even issue a proper warning to sound the air raid alarms since there was too many missiles launched at once to properly track so you never known where, exactly, they were going to impact.
Specifications
Mass 12,500 kg (27,600 lb)
Length 14 m (45 ft 11 in)
Diameter 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Warhead 1,000 kg (2,200 lb); Wildfire (explosive weight: 910 kg)
Wingspan 3.56 m (11 ft 8 in)
Operational range 1600 km (1000 mi)
The first succeed V-2 missiles test were launched in winter of 52028 from the Watten Bunker located near Mount Tube and they hit the target area 50 percent of the time.
After this initial success, military labour battalions and homunculus slave labour in Azjania continent were working overtime to build one hundred thousand new underground production factories there to vastly increase the V-2 production. Another one hundred thousands rocket production line were set up underground in Afrykania. The conditions in the new facilities were harsh and unsafe led to the death of many homunculus slave workers, two hundred thousands rocket facilities setup in those two continents combined nonetheless managed to produce two to three million missiles daily, for an average of thirty V-2s coming off one assembly line every day and 90 million in total every month (production increased further over time).
In day 36th, Fla, 52029, the super massive Ma Coupola rocket launch site, located 560 kilometers (350 mi) from Italica Mega Fortress, came online. It was the world's first true underground missile silo and the site had taken a billion tonnes of concrete to construct on the location of an old quarry, creating a facility that could launch missiles on an industrial scale. A standard gauge curving rail way was connected with both the east- and west-bound main line railway, allowing trains to run straight through the complex without needing to reverse or turn around. From the main unloading station the missiles would be moved into underground tunnels and side tunnels on trolleys, with the side tunnels doubling as missile storages. When the time came, the missiles would be moved out of the side tunnels to a 410 metre wide and 330 metre high octagonal rocket-preparation chamber under the dome, the central feature of the complex. From there, the V-2s would be moved to two outdoor launch pads, from where millions would be launched, starting in the winter of 52029.
Around 20 billion V-2s would be launched against targets all over the worlds during the war, primarily at Lemuria. Many millions of those were launched from underground bunker across the sub-continent. Each one carried a one tonne of wildfire, metallic hydrogen or nerves gas warhead.
In late Winter of 52028, a third "vengeance weapon" joined the V-1 and V-2 missiles: the V-3 super gun. It operated on the multi-charge principle whereby secondary propellant charges are fired to add velocity to a projectile. The weapon, consisting of two 39 m long barrels. The super gun was small enough to shoot from a underground bunker to avoid the enemy reconnaissance. It much lighter than the Titan Artillery make it much easier to move thus avoid counterbattery fire. It fired 150 mm (4.9 inch) shells over a distance of up to 660 kilometers (412 mi) with a theoretical maximum rate of 300 double shot per hour and with a muzzle velocity of 3,9 km/s (13,000 ft/s). Each shell weighed 140 kg, allowing for a maximum of 84 tonnes of high-explosive shells hitting the enemy on an hourly basis.
The fourth vengeance weapon would join the war was nerves gas: Quiet Night and Red Dawn. The new gases are at least 1000 times more deadly than VX, make it the most poisonous substance known, equal to Botulinum toxin. It penetrates skin, making gas masks useless. Quiet Night is very volatile and will quickly spread over a large area, driven by the wind. Red Dawn is less volatile and will contaminate an area for a long time.
Quiet Night is an "extremely toxic nerve agent". The potentially fatal dose is only slightly higher than the dose having any effect at all, and the effects of a fatal dose are so rapid that there is little time for treatment. The median lethal dose (LD50)—the exposure required to kill half of a tested population—as estimated for 70 kg human males via exposure to the skin is reported to be 5 - 10 µg, and the lethal concentration time (LCt50), measuring the concentration of the vapor or aerosol per length of time exposed, is estimated for Quiet Night to be 10 - 15 µg·min/m3 for exposure time of two minutes at a minute volume of 15 l (minute volume of 15 l corresponds to slight physical activity like slow walking). 544 g of Quiet Night (under ideal conditions) would be sufficient to seriously contaminate an area 530 m wide and 3500 m long (1.5 km2).
In 51936, Imperial researcher Gerhard Godasen was working to develop a more effective insecticide for IG Godasen, a Rondel chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate, and in the process he had discovered that Quiet Night was enormously toxic to living creature. During Earth-Falmart War, as part of the Wunderwaffe program, a plant for the manufacture of Quiet Night was established at Rondel in 52020. Run by Anorgana GmbH, the plant began production of the substance in 52022. The reason for the delay was the extreme precautions used by the plant. Intermediate products of Quiet Night were corrosive, and had to be contained in quartz or silver-lined vessels. Quiet Night itself was also extremely toxic, and final reactions were conducted behind double glass walls. By 52029, 25 million tonnes of Quiet Night as well as a few hundred thousand tonnes of Red Dawn were available and immediately after the first atomic attack Emperor Molt had already ordered nerve gas warheads to be readied. He had also ordered that 150 mm artillery shells for the V-3 super guns would be retrofitted with nerve agent and made ready for use as soon as possible.
The Emperor's face look delighted, his heart was filled with immense pride but he couldn't show it out because that would spoiled Princess Pina. He finally said:
"Excellent work, Pina. You have bring honor to the Imperial family and a great service to the Empire. Do you want any reward?"
"Yes your Majesty" Pina said with a loud voice, placed her hand at her heart "I want to command my Order of Knights to support the defense of Italica Fortress. Project Wunderwaffe is my brain child. I want to see it in action."
"You wish to go to the frontline?" Molt felt surprised by the boldness of his daughter.
Well, I guessed that was my Pina, she was always unusually brave for a girl, like her mother.
"Yes your Majesty" Pina answered confidently.
"Good" the Emperor said proudly.
"You have live up to the ideal of Royalty. We royal aren't coward. The Royal Family are the symbol of strengh and divinity. We will lead from the frontline."
"You will officially hold the rank of Lord Protector of the Realm and you will command all the armed force in Lemuria sub-continent." The Emperor continued" Do you, Pina Co Lala, accept this responsibility ?"
"Yes your Majesty", Pina answered with absolute confidence. "It would be my honor to serve the Holy Empire and bring honor to the Imperial family."
After she said those proud words Emperor Molt responded ceremoniously.
"I shall look forward towards your achievements. May the Gods be with you, my daughter. "
"Well then, Father. I shall be on my way."
With that, Piña Co Lada turned her back to the throne as she left the hall.
Earth responds
The Allied response to the Alnus Raids, best known by their then codenames of Operation Aries, Operation Roundhand and the subsequent Imperial air-denial plan codenames Operation Darkstorm remain some of the better known tales of the Fist Phase of the Air War.
The Allied response to the Alnus Hill attacks was, in the purely tactical sense, an interesting study in preparation and military philosophy. Unknown to the UEADF that the Imperial Air Forces was both surprised and seriously concerned by the entrance of the Tu-688 in the war due to the unprecedented damage caused by aircraft's huge bomb load and its nearly invulnerable 50,000 meter operating ceiling. Much of the Imperial's air defense design was, from 52027 onward, built around defeating aircraft that fit into the Tu-688 mold, very large, 50,000+ meter combat ceiling, with 1100 km/h (700 mph) top speeds, and very heavy defensive armaments.
The Imperial Air Forces was fairly well prepared to deal with a unprecedent large air war since 52027, despite being the poorer cousin to The Praetorian Guards ground forces at budget time (At a result of this disadvantage, in the Imperial Air Forces annual budget a disproportionate amount of spending went to the hugely expensive multi-layer air denial spells in project codenames Operation Darkstorm.) The Imperial Air Force also had a series of very fast, albeit short ranged, point interceptor Wind Dragon (a special breed of dragons from Emor Kingdom with small wings that can fly at a top speed of 3500 kph), which rivals UEADF's air fighters, and several early magic guided Apocryph armed SAM systems that had been built with the expected enemy attackers in mind.
To understand the Imperial fighting philosophy: Brutally simple, forceful - and effective. Let's examine Operation Darkstorm.
Operation Darkstorm, in simple terms was the total destruction of the sky. The "scorching the sky" was achieved thanks to the used of multiple Strategic-Class Magic spells.
-Fist was the Linear Sandstorm: is a Speed Type and Convergence Type Compound Magic, where the first dust particle raised into the air as the center, creates an Area of Effect offensive magic, which constructs layers upon layers of complexity around it as it's spun around
-Second was Nitric Circle : Nitric Circle quickly generates high concentrations of nitric acid (HNO3) gas to paralyze opponents through acute intoxication from the magic. It can be used away from the target location by aiming the magic at the relative coordinates.
-Third was Thunderclap Tower: Thunderclap Tower is a Strategic-Class Magic that generates large-scale lightning continuously over a wide range. The power of the lightning strikes isn't considered to be Strategic-Class, but the widespread generation of electromagnetic waves that paralyze and destroy electronic equipment, which is a side-effect from invoking the magic, is what makes it a Strategic-Class Magic.
The magic lowers the insulation resistance within the range of where the lightning occurs, this process causes insulation deterioration, dielectric breakdown of the electronic equipment, thereby further expanding the damage caused by electromagnetic waves.
The result is, the infrastructure and urban functions of highly urbanized cities can be completely destroyed. Thunderclap Tower was a magic used over a wide area, the magic triggered the process to create electricity necessary for thunder and intermittently reduced the electrical resistance of everything in its radius as well. It continuously threw lightning strikes one after another. It was not only effective against light armored infantry but it also had other after effects. It caused serious damages to infrastructures and electronic equipment. The repeated lightning strikes in the area caused fluctuations in the electromagnetic field, which lowered the electrical resistance of all objects in the area.
The direct killing power of this magic wasn't as high as the other Strategic-Class Magic's but its effects on electronic equipment over a wide area was another thing altogether. It was considered an EMP weapon.
-Fourth was Tuman Bomba: Tuman Bomba decomposes water and recombines it into oxyhydrogen gas. Water is rapidly divided and turned into fog, and then the fog becomes water vapor. Next the water vapor is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen, and finally, it combines and ignites the hydrogen and mixture of oxygen and hydrogen formed a massive explosion that fell short only to a nuclear weapon. However, unlike a nuclear weapon this explosion was capable of creating countless repeating shock-waves that annihilated everything in its path.
The process of Operation Darkstorm had four steps, which include:
-First, using Linear Sandstorm to launching trillions of tons of sand from deserts up to the stratosphere 100 km (62 mi) above the planet, forming a global dust storm hence the name Darkstorm. The dust is extremely dry. The particles is hard and abrasive, and can quickly cause significant wear to propellers and turbocompressor blades, and scratch cockpit windows, impairing visibility. The sand contaminates fuel and water systems, can jam gears, and make engines flameout. Its particles have low melting point, so they melt in the engines' combustion chamber then the ceramic mass sticks to turbine blades, fuel nozzles, and combustors—which can lead to total engine failure. Sand can also contaminate the cabin and damage avionics.
-Next, using Nitric Circle to generates high concentrations of nitric acid (HNO3) gas. Nitric acid gas is create by decomposes water vapor , nitrogen gas and oxygen gas. Nitric acid gas is a highly corrosive mineral acid, it can corrode aircraft that fly through it. Being a powerful oxidizing agent, nitric acid reacts violently with many non-metallic compounds, and the reactions may be explosive. Not just that by decomposes oxygen gas it lower the oxygen level in the atmosphere. Any combustion requires oxygen.
-Then using Thunderclap Tower to generates extremely powerful thunderstorm. The dust storms already lead to atmospheric electrical phenomena. Dust grains are known to become electrically charged upon colliding with the ground or with other grains so when combine with Thunderclap Tower it create very powerful lightning. It can cause serious damages to electronic equipment.
-Finally, using Tuman Bomba to decomposes water and recombines it into oxyhydrogen gas. Place the oxyhydrogen gas cloud in the bomber fly path like an air mines. When the planes fly through detonated the explosive cloud.
The effect of Darkstorm as an air-denial technique would be demonstrated in the Imperial air-defense campaign again Operation Aries and Operation Roundhand.
The initial Allied reaction to the October 15th attacks was two-fold and the result of the heated debate that immediately followed the Imperial attacks.
It was recognized that it would take some time to build sufficient forward deployed ground units to assault the Northern Supercontinent in Falmart. The plan to conduct the invasion had, in some form, been in place for close to a decade, although the expected casualty numbers had caused considerable concern in every Allied capital where they were known. The specifics of the plan had altered over the years, but the total number of troops, ships and planes had long been known, to the point that specific reserve battalions had been assigned shipping berths on shipping. Still, as seemingly ready as the plans were, they would take time to bring to fruition as forces gathered from as far away as Malaya and the Peruvian to play their role in the assault on the Holy Darwinian Empire.
It was also recognized that the Allies, for many reasons, had to strike back against the Empire long before the invasion force could even be considered ready. Once the Chinese government had been dissuaded from its initial total nuclear annihilation demands, Operation Aries was rapidly accepted by the American and EU civilian leadership, over the objections of senior USAF planners who felt the losses would be excessive. Operation Roundhand, which had been the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) proposal, was also adopted, but in combination with, not in place of, Aries.
Operation Aries, by far the larger of the Allied operation in terns of aircraft deployed, was itself a combination of different existing attack plans from the EU, US, Russia, India, and China, rapidly, some say too rapidly, combined into a massive Blitz against Allied Kingdoms and the Holy Empire itself. Launched from air bases ranging from New Zealand to Russian Kamchatka to carriers in the Pacific it involved over 17,000 aircraft and close to 500,000 men including ground crews.
Simply put, it was designed to saturate the Imperial air defenses and substantially degrade the Imperial air forces and its companion air forces while doing material damage to the Praetorian Guards war fighting potential and the Holy Empire "leadership elements".
Declassified Document - Operation Aries
The following is a document that has been approved for declassification on October 27, 2069 and has been approved for retelling by the Department of Defense. The document in question is a battle log concerning Operation Aries acted out by the United Earth Alliance Air Defense Force on October 27, 2029.
Name: Operation Aries.
Belligerents: United Earth Alliance Air Defense Force and the Air Force of the Holy Darwinian Empire (officially "Order of Dragon Knights").
Mission: Bombing runs over Europania, Afrykania, Azjania.
Human Arsenal:
Western Pacific Air Forces:
4100 x Tu-688 nuclear-powered ultra heavy bomber
200 x J-11 carrier-based fighter aircraft
500 x J-100 fighter/fighter-bomber
500 x J88/101 hypersonic jet fighter
500 x Dragon Hunter fighter-bomber/ground attack aircraft
900 x J-86 air superiority fighter
1000 x KC-185 Stratotanker nuclear-powered aerial refueling aircraft
Eastern Pacific Air Forces::
2000 x Tu-688 nuclear-powered ultra heavy bomber
1000 x B-36Z nuclear-powered heavy bombers
1000 x B-52M nuclear-powered heavy bombers
400 x J8 carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft
500 x J-11 carrier-based fighter aircraft
700 x J-100 fighter/fighter-bomber
1000 x J88/101 hypersonic jet fighter
1000 x J-86 air superiority fighter
1000 x Dragon Hunter fighter-bomber/ground attack aircraft
1000 x KC-185 Stratotanker nuclear-powered aerial refueling aircraft
Mission Log:
0:00 - Joint force bomber and fighter aircraft take over from Air Force Bases across the Pacific, mostly from the China and the North America regions.
0:30 - All aircraft are in the air. All are now moving towards the border of Japan.
1:25 - All aircraft squadrons link up in the sky of Tokyo.
2:00 - Force begins to cross the GATE.
2:05 - All aircraft cross the GATE.
2:45 - Force flies over the Alnus military base.
3:05 - Force crosses the East Afrykania Sea.
3:50 - Force crosses the Afrykania border
4:02 - Imperial spy birds pick up readings of enemy aircraft numbering in at least 15 thousands. Upon seeing the giant air formation, the operators passed the news down to their superiors, who in turn ordered Wind Dragon formations in the area to hunt down and destroy the enemy formation and actived the Dark Storm Protocol.
4:30 - A fleet of 5000 Wind Dragons patrol in Qua-Toyne Principality spots the force 10 miles outside Nahanath Kingdom, which at this time was having a large Imperial troops concentration. Human fighter aircraft cleared to engage.
4:31 - Despite Wind Dragons finds themselves severely outnumbered by the more advance human aircraft, they are able to decimate several human squadrons. Reinforcements requested from "knight leader" Tetos.
4:33 - Wind Dragons from nearby Nahanath Kingdom and Mao Kingdom are ordered to assist their comrades fighting the human air forces.
4:38 - Knight leader Tetos Wind Dragon is shot down by an AIM-125's 0,5kt fusion warhead after being ambushed by five human aircraft (four of which he help to shot down).
4:55 - Initial Wind Dragons force is decimated at the cost of 200 Human fighter aircraft, holding a 25:1 ratio The force continues towards the military zone inside of Nahanath Kingdom .
5:07 - Order of Dragon Knights reinforcements arrive consisting of 8000 more Wind Dragons. The force is now five miles away from the Imperial lines outside of Nahanath Kingdom.
5:20 - 5000 Wind Dragons are shot down at the cost of 250 human fighters (not counting previous casualties).
5:27 - Remaining 3000 Wind Dragons are shot down. 450 human fighters were lost.
5:32 - Imperial forces and civilians at the entrance of Nahanath Kingdom are ordered to fall back and take cover from the incoming bombing run.
5:37 - UEAADF bombers release their payload onto Imperial forces outside the cities. The attack kills 70,000 troops and destroys several bases, seaports and fortress. The remaining Imperial forces fall back to underground bunker until reinforcements can arrive.
5:40 - The force make their way to their next target the Torquia Kingdom.
5:44 - Joint force is ten miles away from Torquia Kingdom. The force encounters 12,000 more Wind Dragons sent to intercept.
5:58 - 4000 Wind Dragons shot down at the cost of 180 Human casualties. Among the casualties of this encounter are 10 B-52M nuclear-powered heavy bombers, who's crew are the first bombers casualty of the Operation. Remaining Wind Dragons now begin to actively fire at bombers.
6:04 - 5000 more Wind Dragons are shot down at the cost of 220 fighters. 40 bombers are caught in the Tuman Bomba explosive oxyhydrogen cloud.
6:15 - Final 4000 Wind Dragons are shot down. 440 fighter aircraft and 60 bombers were lost due to engine failure because of sandstorm and Wind Dragon interceptors.
6:18 - Bomber force reaches Torquia Kingdom. The bombers unleash their payload and kills a fraction of the defending force and badly damages the capital city Jevon naval port.
6:20 - Bomber force concludes that they have enough fuel and munitions for two more kingdoms, which are Holy Milishial Kingdom and Mu Kingdom.
6:24 - Another force of 20,000 Wind Dragons fights the joint force. The human air force also begins to encounter Apocryph armed Surface to Air missile sites.
6:25 - 20 Tu-688s, 30 B-36Zs, and 10 B-52Ms has been shot down by Apocryph armed SAM missile fire, Pina anti-aircraft ballista and repeated lightning strikes.
6:30 - 50 Tu-688s bombers, 30 J-100 fighter/fighter-bomber, and 60 B-52M heavy bombers are shot down by Tuman Bomba oxyhydrogen air mines cloud, engine failure due to nitric acid has corroded aircraft engines and repeated lightning strikes.
6:37 - 4000 Wind Dragons are shot down at the cost of 390 Human fighters and 20 more bombers.
6:44 - 4000 more Wind Dragons are shot down at the cost of 80 Human fighters and 30 more bombers.
6:57 - 6000 Wind Dragons are shot down at the cost of 150 fighters.
7:00 - 70 fighters and 30 bombers are shot down by another anti-air Tuman Bomba oxyhydrogen cloud.
7:05 - The final 6000 Wind Dragons are shot down at the cost of 260 bombers.
7:08 - Bomber force arrives over Holy Milishial Kingdom. The raid destroys a dozen cities and military bases.
7:17 - The force make their way towards their final target in Mu Kingdom.
7:25 - The force crosses the Paxromana Range into Europania.
7:36 - The force reaches Mu Kingdom. The resulting bombing kills a quarter of the Imperial troops in the kingdom.
7:44 - The force now low on fuel and bombs returns to Earth. Their mission is complete.
Final casualties: 46,000 Wind Dragons. 2,450 Human fighter aircraft. 620 bomber aircraft.
The initial attacks struck far from where the Holy Empire had expected, in the Nahanath Kingdom and Torquia Kingdom. The two attacks against the naval bases in Nahanath Kingdom and Torquia Kingdom, conducted by UEAADF bombers was a slightly surprise to the Imperial Air Force, as was the presence of high performance jet escort fighter nearly 2000 miles from the nearest Allied air base.
The Imperial Air Force defenders were mostly equipped with Wind Dragon point interceptors, a special breed of dragons had been magically engineered to reach Maximum speed: 3,550 km/h and Service ceiling of 53,000 meter. It can fire compressed air bullets (explosive magic bullets) at high speed even at full power, and has the power to penetrate thick steel plates with a range of nearly 6 kilometer and a speed of 7000 kph. These creature would have been lethal against unescorted Tu-688 bombers and would have even been deadly against the far faster J-100 fighter/fighter-bomber capable deep strike aircraft, but against the faster ( mach 6.5 ), far more maneuverable UEAADF - J88/101 hypersonic jet fighter escorts, the Imperial Wind Dragons were virtually helpless as their primary weapons proved to be unable to maintain track on fighters that were actually faster than the explosive magic bullets themselves. While the Dragon Knights pilots did their best, they only managed to down 40 of the J88/101 at a cost of 2900 Wind Dragons.
What happened next was even more of a surprise. The older B-36Z, B-52M heavy bombers and slightly newer Tu-688 ultra heavy bomber did not proceed to conduct the expected nuclear bomb runs. Instead the 3600 bombers attacking Nahanath Kingdom and 2300 bombers attacking Torquia Kingdom launched AGM-183 ARRW missiles (three from each B-36Z , B-52M and five from each Tu-688 ultra heavy bomber) from 30 miles away. The 24,695 km/h hypersonic boost-glide should be nearly impossible for the Imperial anti-aircraft units to engage, If not for Mirror Shield ( an area of effect spell reflects all the electromagnetic waves coming from the other side of the shield) and Mirror Cage (an area of effect spell that causing every light source within a certain radius to be reversed, so that no outside light can penetrate the area surrounding the target, which results in a pitch black prison) that reduced radar performance to near zero.
The AGM-183 ARRW missiles, because of this, performed horribly. The bombers launched over 20,000 hypersonic boost-glide missiles against the Imperial naval bases in Nahanath and Torquia Kingdom. Had the missiles worked as designed, the entire Imperial Fifth Combined Fleet and the Seventh Combined Fleet in the East Afrykania Sea would have been destroyed.
Instead only a total of 900 ships were sunk, with 300 more damaged, along with some substantial, although unintended, damage to various shore facilities. Tragically, nearly a third of the total missiles fired missed the harbors completely and instead struck the surrounding civilian areas with predictable results.
The manned portion of the raid also worked disastrously, with far higher losses than expected ( lost 110 bombers and 1730 escort jet fighters, many of them were lost due to an engine failure )
Nevertheless, the attacks marked the beginning of a very long day for the Holy Empire and its puppets.
Allied attacks against Holy Milishial Kingdom targets were launched within moments of the time that the first bombers left the ground in Northern Japan. Due to differences in the distances involved the Holy Milishial Kingdom attacks arrived later and were made against far more robust defenses than those in the Torquia Kingdom. As would be expected, these raids met with varying degrees of success.
Attacks by UEAADF carrier-based aircraft against Runepolis and Cartalpas did considerable damage to port facilities and shipping found in the ports, mostly freighters, but at relatively high cost, with total bomber losses of 200 aircraft and escort jet fighters losses of over 400. The bombers losses suffered by the UEAADF were so serious that they effectively put Kadena Air Base out of action for five weeks while replacements were integrated into her attack squadrons.
Attacks by North Vietnam bases B-52M bombers against rail yards in southern Milishial Kingdom were more successful, as both Pina Magic Ballista anti-air units and "Order of Dragon Knights" defenses proved to be unable to deal with the remarkably fast J88/101 hypersonic jet fighter attacking from high altitude, especially when supported by J-100 fighter.
Similar success resulted from high altitude strikes against National forces defensive positions on Otaheit and Pan-Falmartian troops based in Orosenga thanks to diversionary strikes, the liberal use of nuclear armed AIM missiles and the presence of J88/101 escort fighters that proved to be a serious overmatch for the Wind Dragon point interceptors being flown by the National forces and Pan-Falmartian defenders.
The initial attacks against targets in Mu Kingdom were also successful, although less so than those conducted against the South of Holy Milishial Kingdom and on other target in the Nahanath and Torquia regions. While the stronger Imperial Air Force response in the attacks against Mu Kingdom caused senior American 8th Air Force commanders to urge caution, especially after the first appearance of heretofore unknown Apocryph armed surface-to-air missile against a B-36Z formation attacking Runepolis, the Chinese pressed forward with plans to strike against military targets well into the Empire.
American officers suggested fighter sweeps and focused attacks against Imperial Air Force and other "National force" airbases that would reduce the Imperial air power and interceptor strength before moving against the Holy Empire's proper; Chinese public outrage over The Rumbling cataclysmic event caused these suggestions to be ignored by the PLAAF and Chinese civilian leadership. This was to prove a notable error.
Operation Roundhand were meet with similar worrying ending results.
Declassified Document - Operation Roundhand
The following is a document that has been approved for declassification on October 28, 2069 and has been approved for retelling by the Department of Defense. The document in question is a battle log concerning Operation Aries acted out by the United Earth Alliance Air Defense Force on October 28, 2029.
Name: Operation Roundhand.
Belligerents: United Earth Alliance Air Defense Force and the Air Force of the Holy Darwinian Empire (officially "Order of Dragon Knights").
Mission: Securing air super supremacy on Lemuria and destroy Imperial stronghold on the sub-continental.
* Operation Roundhand begins. UEAADF heavy bombers strapped with B61-13 fusion earth penetrating bombs (the Boeing C-177 ULTRA used by the American were modified to carry the bombs) along with fighter escorts (some of which are either J88/101 hypersonic jet fighters or J-100 fighter/fighter-bombers. A majority of the fighters are J-86 air superiority fighter ) take off from bases scattered in South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, and Japan.
Their main target is the Imperial defensive lines run from Roldom Canyon extending into Schwarz Forest, but are instructed to hit the main Imperial supply base in Fortress Italica if they can.
The force is made of 70 bombers (40 Tu-688 ultra heavy bomber and 30 Boeing C-177 ULTRAs ) along with over 5000 fighters combined from UEAADF air fleets.
** 8000 Wyvern Lords intercept once the combined force reaches the Schwarz Forest . They are shot down at the cost of 320 Human fighter aircraft.
** 4000 more Wyvern Lords intercept the force once they come close to the current Imperial underground bunkers inside of Roldom Canyon. The Wyvern Lords are shot down at the cost of 240 fighters.
** Once the Wyvern Lords are dealt with, 20 of the bomber fleet drop their payloads on the Imperial underground defense lines just outside the forest. The resulting blast kills a small portion of the Imperial troops and a number of civilian caught in the crossfire (the garrison in the bunkers were aware of the strikes beforehand).
** The combined force makes their way to Fortress of Italica, the main Imperial supply base for Lemuria sub-continent. 8000 more Wyvern Lord encountered en route to the city are shot down at the cost of 340 fighter aircraft and 20 of the bombers (one of which had a B61-13 but it did not go off upon impact). Once the combined air force reaches their target, the remaining B61-13 bombs slightly damage the super fortress.
** The force is ordered to retreat back to Earth.
** Final casualties: 20,000 Wyvern Lord. 900 Human fighter aircraft. 20 bomber aircraft.
The Imperial response to the air strikes were a shock to the Allies.
The Allies had, of course, encountered long range artillery before the start of the bombing holiday (as noted earlier, the UEAADF strike against the underground long range artillery facilities in Lemuria was one of the few true bright spots for the Allies in the Bomber Offensive), and had been prepared to react to attacks by the long range artillery bombardment in retaliation for Operation Aries and Operation Roundhand. What they had not expected was strikes by the V-2 magic missile.
The V-2 magic missile was the final expression of the Empire's fascination with artillery rockets. It more like what we now call an IRBM than an artillery rocket; it had a range of 1600 kilometers with a 1,000 kilogram warhead.
The Rose-Order of Knights Rocket Command began to launch V-2s against the UEADF held territory before the bomber formation returned to it airbase on Earth. That first day nearly one million of the missiles launched from Ma Coupola complex and other underground rocket bases rained down on Alnus plain. Luckily V-2 have CEP (circular error probable - the radius within which 50% of the shots impact) of 2km so most of them were missed. It was the beginning of the Rocket Blitz.
The air battles of October 28 established the pattern of the following three months of the war. Allied airstrikes, met by Wyvern Lords, with V-2 missile, V-1 flying bomb, V-3 super gun attacks as retaliation.
Wyvern Lords attacks against Alnus more or less ended after December of 2029 due to the ghastly losses inflicted by Allied air defenses, but their was no defense against the massive number of V-2 and V-1 launched at once, except striking at its launch sites, a difficult target to pinpoint and an even more difficult one to successfully destroy.
Ma Coupola launch site were targeted by Allied bombing raids several times, inflicting damage but failing to knock them out permanently.
On January 1, 2030, the Allies launched a three pronged attack against the Continent, as well as numerous fighter bomber strikes against defensive fortifications along the Afrykania coast.
Two of the attacks, one American and the other Canadian, were specifically designed to act as decoys to draw off Imperial Air Force assets from interfering with the main EUAF strike against the Bushpaka Latan docks and rail yards. The two North American strikes, both directed into Central/Eastern Afrykania were bomber light and fighter heavy with almost 80% of the aircraft being fighters. The American attack, against railway yards just to the west of the Congolia Stormforest, was made by 520 Tu-688 bombers escorted by 1630 J88/101 hypersonic jet fighters (nearly every J88/101 in Canada at the time) with the Canadian raid on munitions works outside of Magicaleggia consisted of 460 B-52M bombers with 2350 J-100 Mk. 5 fighters as escorts. Even with the extremely impressive escort both raids suffered losses of over 20% of the bomber sent out.
Losses to the Imperial Air Force, and especially to National Air Force, fighters were also heavy, with the Imperial Air Force losing nearly 8000 Wind Dragons and the National Air Force, mostly flying Wyvern Lords and Wyvern Overlords against the Canadian jets losing 17,400 units (over 2 of 3 units sent into battle that morning).
The two diversionary strikes succeeded beyond expectations, drawing nearly 60,000 enemy dragons to them. It was not enough, and, as events demonstrated, the fighter escorts would have been quite useful elsewhere.
The EUAF strike, almost 1000 B-1Fs supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber, with J88/101 hypersonic jet fighter as escorts, along with 25 squadron of J-86 air superiority fighter ran into trouble well before making landfall with Imperial dragons hitting the formation while still over the East Afrykania Sea from bases in southern Afrykania. While these early attacks were mainly by Wind Dragons and Wyvern Overlords, neither of which were a match for the EUAF escorts they did have the effect of reducing the fighter escort as the fighters that drove these attackers off were forced to drop their external fuel tanks prior to engagement.
Without the external drop tanks the fighters, especially the shorter ranged J-86s, lacked the range to escort all the way to Bushpaka Latan and back. The attacks continued as the formation continued west, with the result that the bomber formation had only the J88/101s left as escort when they reached Bushpaka Latan. The 240 J88/101 aircraft were simply swamped by the 30,000+ Imperial Air Force Wind Dragons that assailed the formation. Had the Imperial Air Force been ready for a bomber with the performance of the B-1F, the raid would have been an utter disaster.
As was, the EUAF formation escaped with significant loss numbering 340 bombers (all from the "low" squadron) and 140 J88/101 fighters. Damage to the Bushpaka Latan docks was light, while the raid against the marshalling yards did only moderate damage while causing considerable damage to civilian residential areas.
To explain the relative success of the Imperial Air Force (IAF) in countering UEAADF air strikes you need to consider :
The Holy Empire, thanks to their generally more offensive stance during the fist stage of the Air War, including the infrequent, but on-going, attacks against military targets within UEADF Occupied Zones and against Allies ground and air units, as well as a surprising amount of intelligence smuggled from within the Earth, had learned far more about the UEADF defenses than the UEADF had learned about the Empire. The Holy Empire, especially Wargs and Greensights units had compiled a massive amount of data on UEADF radar and radio technologies, while both Spirits and spies elements had obtained both blue-prints and actual physical samples of many of the Allies 's air defense systems and weapons. These information provided the IAF with a significant strategic advantage.
February 5 -2030, Alnus Base, Falmart
The following months after initial contact with the enemy were nothing short of hell with never-ending small raid battles to harass the base construction. Many troops found themselves being terrorized by massive wave of super V-2 rockets once FOB construction began.
FOB was an understatement however, as what started off as some tents and makeshift motor pools began to take shape into something much greater. Day and night materials were brought in from Earth on flatbed trucks or massive tractors. Prefabs, concrete, HESCO barriers, building material of all sorts. Multiple series of massive trenches with heavy machine gun sites and mortar pits had been built. Heavy tanks, APC and IFV were put in strategic points to provide maximum mutual support. On the last line were the SPG, the MRLS, the towed artillery pieces and the anti-aircraft site that included AA guns and ground-to-air missiles.
These trenches were supplemented by bomb shelters, light pillboxes for machine guns, and heavier pillboxes for artillery varying from 37 mm anti-armor guns to 406 mm guns. The total number of combat engineers involved in the construction was more than 2 million. Even with that number it was almost frightening how fast the engineers had been working even under constant harassment and bombardment.
Over time a star shaped fortress Megacity of sorts began to take form. The logic was that such a shape provided equal protection on all fronts, something the UEADF needed in order to properly stave off future attacks.
It even equipped with it own broad-gauge railways with a width of three meters on which double-deck coaches haul vast amounts of cargo supplies for the military. The locomotives for the broad-gauge railways powered by miniaturized nuclear reactors. They far outperformed regular trains and they didn't need to refuel often as the fuel rods could last for a year, but the principle was similar: the heat generated by the reactor was used to produce steam in a boiler to move reciprocating pistons connected mechanically to the main wheels. They only needed to stop to have the boiler filled, and the designers managed to reduce the number of required stops by making the first car a streamlined tanker car that fed water into the rear of the locomotive through a pressure valve.
These bullet shaped streamlined 375 tonne and 60 metre (~ 197 foot) long locomotives the size of an apartment building could pull a 4 kilometre long 16.000 tonne train at a maximum speed of 390 km/h (~ 240 mph). From a standing start, a locomotive pulling such a massive train could accelerate to that speed in 15 minutes and 35 seconds. Higher speeds were attainable (up to 600 km/h or 375 mph without pulling a train), but the designers put heavy emphasis on their recommended not-to-exceed-speed of 420 km/h (~ 270 mph) for the long, heavy trains the nuclear locomotives usually pulled.
Though the UEADF brought with them a substantial supply of munitions - far more than would have been necessary to subdue the sword-swinging savages assumed to still rule Falmart - they are being expended across the planet at an unsustainable rate. Trading one computer-guided anti-missile for one of the primitive, magically guided rockets the Empire, and now the vassal states are lobbing at the Allies was far from an even exchange. Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force Liam Nuttall has ordered that missile battery officers refrain from launching against a Falmartian rocket unless it is clear that it is actually heading toward anything important to the UEADF.
By the end of December, 2029 the Allies has encounter with various new harassment tactics by the cursed Falmartian: Demon Scream and Midnight Sun.
Demon Scream : a magic which generated a large spherical extremely high-power sound waves can disrupt or destroy the eardrums from a selected point at a distance. This was usually sufficient to incapacitate a person.
Midnight Sun: a magic which emits an extremely bright, rapid, and well-focused series of 'differently-colored random pulses. Before the human eyes can focus in on one frequency, another frequency comes on, causing intracranial pressure, which results in headaches, nausea, vomiting, disorientation, irritability, and visual impairment to the target.
This magic was very easy to use in Falmart. Thank to the high concentration of noble gas such as Neon, Argon and Helium gases exist in Falmart's atmosphere like in the Gas-discharge lamps.
Those tactics have caused some serious demoralizing effects on the soldiers. Lieutenant generals of the UEADF down on the front lines like Yōji and Tommy were well aware of the difficulties in fighting the Imperial . Having lost too many aircrafts and troops in combat against the wily and deceitful Imperial armed forces, Tommy has become one of the most bitter, cynical general in the Earth Expeditionary Force.
This morning started with the same rant by Tommy about how sucks their life here in Falmart.
"This goddamn place is sucks, Yōji I told you. There isn't anything pleasant about this God abandoned world.
I haven't got any proper sleep since I came here, because the Damn sun rises after every 12 hours and there are only 5 hour of night in a day here.
I can't even having a steam bath to relax without boiling myself due to the fact that water in this hell hole boiled at 160 °C thank to the 6 times Earth's atmosphere pressure here.
I can't even have a good cup of coffee without overcook it. My beer doesn't even have foam because of this high air pressure.
My joints are hurt under this high gravity and I am having a mild case of nitrogen narcosis because this place has four times the nitrogen on Earth."
"Stop complaining Tommy " Itami sighed " And drink your damn anti-radiation pills. The new pure-fusion bombs maybe much cleaner than the old fission bombs but they still produce fallout. You don't want your balls glow at night , Tommy."
"Have you seen the aircraft casualty report yesterday Yōji ? " Tommy asked sarcastically. "4,900 escort fighter aircraft and 1240 bomber aircraft in three months. Three Months Yōji !. We lost over SIX THOUSAND planes and nearly 30,000 pilots."
"And the Empire and its Allies have lost nearly ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND dragons. We are winning Tommy. Have a little bit of faith don't you ?"
Tommy frowned before shaking his head. " So what Yōji ? They will just keep sending a hundred thousand more dragons. We are fighting a war of attrition again an enemy with limitless industrial capacity, a bottomless pool of manpower and inexhaustible resources."
"Look man, if I continue to hear your pessimistic rant again I will report your defeatist ass to the High Command."
"Uncool man, uncool. I'll tell them you hide a Saber action figure under your bed."
"Kiss my ass, don't talk to me and my figures ever again."
The pair laughed before Itami turned his Neuralink connection on and scrolled through his iPhone 21 Pro Max workout playlist. Once he found a song he pressed play with his thought and slipped his iPhone back into his shorts' pocket and took off down the base's winding paths.
As he went to turn past some storage containers he saw a familiar figure running ahead, it was his father friend and Commander of all JSDF personal in Falmart General Kōichirō Hazama. Itami smiled as he went to catch up, Hazama's pace was slow and methodical, his bushy hair flew around as he jogged in his JSDF physical attire.
Finally catching up, Itami went to talk to the friend of his old man , who used to give him candy whenever he visited , between breathes. "Hey sir! Fancy seeing you here, wonderful alien world morning we're having huh?"
General Hazama didn't even bat an eye as he continued jogging. Itami deduced he must've not heard him and began to run backwards in circles around the old General .
"Heloooooo? Sir?"
Finally General Hazama noticed and slowed his pace down even more as he addressed his friend son between breathes. "Oh hey Itami , yeah I guess its wonderful. For now anyways."
"For now? Whadya mean? Sir."
Itami began to slow down to a fast walk, one of his bushy eyebrows slowly raising in question. Hazama stopped too and began to walk fast as he continued to deliver the news.
"Well, it looks like you youngsters have a mission today, Supreme Commander Nuttall and the higher ups were up last night drafting it up. Apparently Japanese Special Task Forces going to go recon the area and meet the local populace to prepare for our assault on Italic Fortress." As the two rounded a corner past some parked Oshkosh's L-ATV, Itami's expression changed to shock.
"Whoah, whoah. Wait, recon? With the entire Special Task Forces? What the hell, Sir ?" Itami was no stranger to sudden missions. A life of quick reaction force drills and missions in Lebanon taught him to be prepared for them, but the words coming out of General Hazama's mouth were as alien as the language spoken in this alien world.
Recon was one thing, but using heavy tanks, SP artillery, attack helicopters and jet fighters to do it? That was not in their M.O. Search and destroy missions? Sure. Overwatch missions? Sure, but Recon with winning hearts and minds thrown in? That was a big negative. A Combined Arms Task Force were hardly a friendly image after all .
As the General sighed and put his hands behind his head, he went into detail. "Look I'm no fan of it myself, but apparently our civilian political leaders don't want you guys leaving the wire without good fire support and until more of the ground assets start getting shipped in."
It was time for Itami's rebuttal however and he quickly tried to lay down the lack of logic in the plan. "Look sir, The Third Japanese Special Task Force are trained to bypass the enemy cities, encircling the defender then shelling them to dust, to spend as little of our troops blood as necessary when firepower could do the job with a lower butcher's bill. The fact is we aren't train to enter the enemy population center where there could be traps in every corner, if something happens who's gonna tow us out for God's sake?"
General Hazama shrugged as the pair stopped at an intersection, Itami pausing to turn around and wave before picking up his pace to head back to his platoon.
It was going to be a long day.
Before we continue let examine the command structure of the Third Japanese Special Task Force.
The Third Japanese Special Task Force was one of the sixteen Japanese Special Task Forces created after the Rumbling incident, it was established to assist UEADF in exploring planet Falmart and bring the perpetrators of the Rumbling incident to justice.
Composition
-1st ,2nd and 3rd Combat Unit ( Mixed Corps )
-4th Combat Unit ( Airborne )
-5th Combat Unit ( Air Defense )
-1st Medical Battalion
Commanding Officers
3rd Japanese Special Task Force: CO: Lieutenant General Yōji Itami
-1st Combat Unit: CO: Colonel Takeo Kurata
2IC: Lt. Colonel Sōichirō Kuwahara
-2nd Combat Unit: CO: Colonel Akira Tomita
2IC: Lt. Colonel Tetsuya Nishina
-3rd Combat Unit :CO: Colonel Daisuke Tozu
2IC: Lt. Colonel Wataru Katsumoto
-4th Combat Unit: CO: Colonel Shino Kuribayashi
2IC: Lt. Colonel Hitoshi Furuta
-5th Combat Unit: CO: Colonel Hayato Sasagawa
2IC: Lt. Colonel Higashi Azuma
-1st Medical Battalion: CO: Lt. Colonel Mari Kurokawa
0300 Hours Local Time, FOB Alnus Motor Pool
As Lieutenant General Yōji Itami and various JSDF Combat Unit COs stood across from each other, Itami went over the briefing for how the recon operations were going to be carried out.
Their mission was a simple one, they would use maps provided by short range UAVs and intel teams to scout potential FOB locations and learn the way of the land and enemy positions from the locals. A native named Tuka Luna Marceau would help guiding them.
"You can go out now." said Itami.
In that moment, a beautiful, blond elf with blue eyes and pointy ears, who looks like a teenage girl despite her age appeared in the meeting room. She wore a white short-sleeved shirt which left her stomach exposed, and a belt that fastens thin blue jeans which didn't completely cover her legs and red shoes. She also had a red band around her neck, the only article of clothing she retained from her former life before her captured in Tokyo.
"Hi, everyone. I'm Tuka Luna Marceau. I'm here to help you make contact with my people."
The appearance of Tuka was a surprise to many. There was a few talking back and forth but then everyone calm down.
"Any questions ladies and gentlemen?" Itami had finally asked as the briefing was completed. Several officer's hands had went up, the first of whom belonged to Kurata.
"Who will she stay with, General Itami ?" Kurata asked humorously.
The whole room looked at Kurata with an embarrassed face.
"Definitely not with your ugly ass." Answered Itami. "Ok, anyone have serious questions ?"
Tomita raised his hand. "Yes sir uh, why don't we use a dedicated recon teams doing this?"
"Because almost every recon teams we sent out there were ambushed and killed by monster so this time we will send the heavy gun."
Next was Tozu. "Sir if one of the armoured fighting vehicles go down due to ambushed, do we recover them or destroy them ?"
"If in the event we have to abandon the heavy weaponry due to ambushed and they can't be recover, radio it up and a B-52M heavy bomber will come to assist in destroy them. Remember leave nothing can be used again us to the enemy."
Then came Hayato Sasagawa. "Sir, how are we going to refuel?"
"Every vehicle will be carrying spare fuel jugs for their vehicles as well as the tanks. We also refuel by airlift using the Boeing C-177 ULTRA transport aircraft."
Finally Kurokawa asked, or rather said what was on everyone's mind. "I'm not sure this is a smart idea sir. But the 1st Medical Battalion will try out best to keep our troops healthy."
"Thank you Lt. Colonel."
Just when Itami went to get a coffee another voice rang out, this one belonging to the 4th Airborne Combat Unit CO: Colonel Shino Kuribayashi.
"Lieutenant General, what do you want us to do with the J-86 air superiority fighters ?"
Itami scratched his head for a moment before snapping his fingers.
"Just bring your J-86s fly around patrolling the airspace above the Task Force. Better to have you guys out and about just in case, last thing we need is an enemy air raid."
"Yes. Sir. I will make sure there won't be any flying lizards in 100 miles near the task force."
"Good, I have my faith in and your crews are the eye on the sky and our first line of defence. We are counting on you guy."
Kuribayashi and the rest of her team shrugged and went back to drinking her coffee. With that the Lieutenant General put the squash on all questions and sent the COs back to their teams in their respective meeting spots to get the plan executed.
Itami's office
Setting aside various paperwork, Itami massaged his brow. "Why there were so many paperwork ?" He thought. The Lieutenant General wasn't really a man of the desk after all. Regardless, he had to sort it all out before the deployment.
A knock on a door.
"Come in, Just leave the food on the table " Itami said and looked up in suprise as his aide-de-camp Major Risa Aoi walked into the room.
Risa Aoi is a young woman in her late 20s with braided brown hair. She wears a glasses. She is often seen wearing her service uniform.
Risa stopped in front of his desk. "Sir, I need you to authorize these orders and your fuel request have been delayed due to bad weather in Tokyo."
"Fine. Just leave the file there and tell them to fulfill my request as soon as possible."
Risa continued "I have also arranged a doctor's appointment for you for you high blood pressure problem. I insist that you have to reduce your daily fast food portion sizes before you have a heart attack."
"Thanks Risa, what would I do without you." Despite her age , sometime Itami felt Risa acting more like his mother than a younger subordinate.
"Anything esle Risa ?" Itami asked.
"Yes General, Your daughter Shizuka sent you a gift but I insist you not wearing this Anime T-Shirt in front of the man for your all own reputation." She handed him the presents.
"Yah, ya i know." Itami answered grudgingly.
"Your father, the Defense Minister, also reminds you aren't a child anymore so you need to to answer his calls and mail". Risa paused for a while then continued "One final thing General. You need sort things out with Lieutenant General Akira Yanagida of the 1st Special Task Force. They continue to steal our military supplies like a bunch of pirate."
"That fucking weasel again!" He yelled, this time, it was too much "Ok, i will handle that myself."
Itami care greatly for his man so this was a big no no for him. Yanagida and Itami knew each other since high school. He was sneaky and mischievous. Sometimes he tries to act being more important than he really was. He also likes to annoy Itami. The man hated Itami, who climbed through the military ranks merely by luck, despite how he simply joined the military so he can support his hobby. Yet Itami was quickly promoted after the Ginza incident, as compared to Yanagida who went through a lot of struggle to achieve the same rank.