Disclaimer: I don't own either of the Code Geass, Gundam Seed or Star wars franchises. This story is not written with commercial purpose in mind. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.

Chapter 6: The First World War

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Part 3

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6 May 2009 A.T.B.

Admiral's office

Command bunker

Gawain Naval base

Cam Ranh Bay

I sat in front of Admiral Stein's desk nursing a cup of whiskey, courtesy to the nervous man. I suggested it as a way for him to soothe his nerves before suffering a heart attack after his close encounter with father. I was still unsure if the Admiral was fain of heart or if I should give credit to Charles for turning the man into a nervous wreck with a single short long-distance call.

At least the whiskey was all right - black label from the Royal Distillery in Kentucky.

Stein drained his glass, poured himself another and finally the nervous energy he radiated subdued a bit. "I'm at your command, your Highness. I apologize for this unseemly display." The man bowed deeply before sitting behind his desk. "What do you need of me and my people, sire?"

"Short overview of modern naval combat, detection ranges, etc..." I smiled disarmingly.

The Admiral stared at me for long seconds before groaning. "We're all going to die..." He muttered. "You've been trained as infantry officer, weren't you, sire?"

"That's correct." Veil did have a bit of experience with a naval engagements a long time ago, before becoming a Sith. That however was in an era of direct energy weapons and BVR combat at least as long as there wasn't a Neutron Jammer fucking up long range detection and targeting.

Stein looked at his second glass of whiskey, downed it too and poured himself a third for good measure. "The primary weapon in modern naval combat between peer opponents is a Carrier Air Group - CAG. In simple terms, a naval engagement consists of locating the enemy, especially their own carriers, then sinking them while protecting our own. Most other ships act as primary escorts or depending on the mission profile, naval based fire support. At least in theory, there are tactical conditions where carriers can be defeated by a battleship centric fleet - if they can catch a CBG during a storm bad enough to compromise launching and recovery of air assets of if friendly air power has caused sufficient attrition upon the enemy CAG. Needless to say, that is not something that can or should be relied upon. As the Pacific War demonstrated, old fashioned battle ship centered task forces have terrible time when facing carriers."

"Fair enough. I understand that there are two Chinese carriers and their battle groups converging at Hainan as we speak. They are the primary threat we need to neutralize to make an evacuation to the Philippines viable, are they not?"

"If our friends in ONI are right for a chance. As of four days ago, the third Federation carrier was way up north at least a week away. Their other two are in the middle of refit cycles and elements of Third Fleet did pelter their docks with cruise missiles before being forced back to cover us and avoid engaging overwhelming enemy forces. We won't need to worry about them in the short term. One of the three Japanese carriers is sailing towards the Philippines and the CBG from Seventh Fleet in the area to fend it off. We do have other elements of the Japanese navy converging on our position and are likely to strike at us in conjunction with the Chinese. Japan does have two more carriers they can deploy - one was north keeping an eye of the Federation and Russians up there and the other was two weeks away from finishing its own refit cycle - they'll rush that as much as possible."

"Submarines?" I inquired.

"Ours and theirs are out in force patrolling and hunting shipping. Locally we're at disadvantage. While we have the largest navy in the world, fully half of it is in the Atlantic keeping an eye on the Euros and a large number of escorts is needed to cover our trade navy and escort convoys. In the long run, especially if we can keep the Philippines, we should be able to starve the Japanese and cause the Chinese a serious amount of trouble even without setting a foot on the Asian mainland again." Stein sighed. "However, if they can defeat our naval forces in the region while suffering acceptable casualties, our hold on the region might become untenable, especially if the Euros jump in on the fun."

"Less than ideal."

"No offense to your person, sire, but you being put in charge of this theater of operations without any experience and training is quite worse than less than ideal." The Admiral finally showed a bit of spine.

He was right of course. Even with Veil's memories, my only viable option was to cheat as if there was no tomorrow and hope that it would be enough. I wasn't qualified for the job, however I couldn't decline it, nor could I fail.

"I do agree with you, however that is a moot point, Admiral. My father gave his orders. If we don't see them through, it won't be just me paying the ultimate price, but my family too." It was my turn to grimace.

"Pendragon politics." Stein spat.

Was that the alcohol speaking or did he finally find his balls? I might be able to use him after all.

"Yeah." I commiserated. "Admiral, tell me, what do we need to kill two Chinese CBGs if locating them is taken care off?" I asked.

"That's almost harder than actually taking them off!" Stein scoffed.

"Please, entertain my curiosity."

"Air assets to neutralize their CAP, enough bombers and multi role fighters to break through the escorts and strike the carriers."

I had to remind myself that despite what was available as cutting edge technology, we were still in the era of visual range air combat and bombardment. Without observers in place able to sent corrections, hitting a maneuvering ships at sea with what passed for guided munitions in this era was a pipe dream and that was before taking into account reasonably accurate radar guided AA and AA missiles with infra-red seekers.

As far as radar and radio guidance went, it was an open question how well that would fare against Chinese and Japanese jamming, which in practice left air strikes upon the enemy from visual range. It was the same issue with he cruise missiles - they could hit roughly the area they were supposed to but actually striking a specific target within a military base for example took a lot of missiles unless you had something like the Thors, FAEs - which were not ideal for use in our current generation of cruise missiles or nukes - and no one upon this Earth had the later.

"Admiral, assemble a strike package - every fighter and bomber that can get to Hainan and back to either here or the Philippines with a decent combat load on the way. Third Fleet's CBG as well. I want to know how long it would take. Leave locating the enemy to me." I was going to pull all the stops as far as divining the future went. "We'll be hitting the Chinese during the night. Oh, I'll need a two seater from where I'll command the battle."

Stein stared at me with open-mounted expression of horror. He glanced down at his third glass of whiskey, back at me and drained it in desperation.

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Part 4

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7 May 2009 A.T.B.

Sabre flight

Kingdom of Burma

"Sabre One, Sky-Eye Two. Incoming bandits, your four o'clock..." A gruff tired voice sounded in Major Maya "Rapier" Brightman's helmet. The sound was thick with the hiss of static caused by heavy jamming.

"Sky-Eye Two, Sabre One. Roger that, moving to intercept. Sabre Flight, Sabre One. Two, you're with me. Three and Four, Sky Eye will vector you in." The squadron leader ordered and banked right to follow the AWAC's directions.

Maya hit her Eagle's afterburners and acceleration pressed her back into her seat. A tired sigh escaped her lips. This wasn't right - after two weeks of combat against the Burmese Royal Air-force and another of fending off constant Chinese air-raids, she no longer felt the familiar joy of combat. What she lived for, what she loved most in her life slowly but surely became a chore. The Major glanced at her radar and frowned - it was a white haze as she expected to see. Jammers - Chinese and Britannian alike blanketed the airspace in the region. Her fighter simply didn't have the juice to burn through the interference and see anything beyond ten to fifteen kilometres; that was for ground, ship and AWACS mounted installations, which had space to mount not only much more powerful arrays but the power-plants needed to run them.

The "friendly" jamming coming both from the naval base where Sabre Squadron was stationed and that from Third Fleet in the sea to the west didn't help matters - when combined with the enemy's efforts, everyone's fighters and bombers had to fly blind guided by heavily escorted airborne radars or ground stations. Fortunately for Maya and her people, that particular game favoured the defender. Even better, this time the enemy came flying close to the shore, which meant Sabre Squadron was going to jump them with the sun behind them - and that was going to help, a little bit, with fooling enemy IR seekers. Unfortunately, with everyone and their uncle jamming as if it was going out of fashion, almost half of Maya's arsenal - the four radar guided Arrow missiles her Eagle carried, were practically useless. That left her with four heat-seeking Javelins and the cannon meant for dogfighting, which consider the less than stellar agility of her fighter wasn't something she was looking up for. She already had to use it three times since the Chinese joined the party and those were all adrenaline fuelled roller-coaster rides that almost got her killed. That's how Sabre Six - Mathew Banks got shot down behind enemy lines five days ago while they were escorting a bomber squadron on interdiction mission.

"Sabre One, Sky-Eye Two. Be advised, we've got more Bandits coming from the west. A major Chinese raid is in progress."

"When it rains, it pours." Sabre Four grumbled on the squadron's channel.

"Sabre Four, Sabre Two. Look it from the bright side - it's going to be a target rich environment." Two paused. "Again." Maya's wing mate's voice was thick with sarcasm.

"Sabre Flight, Sabre One. The more the merrier."

"Sabre One, Sky-Eye Two. We've got four Bandits, thirty kay's from your position. Returns suggest Dragons. Neither ground nor naval radars can see more bandits in your area. I'm vectoring you in..."

"Saver Flight, Sabre One. You heard the controller. Weapons hot. We're going in." Finally, Maya felt a surge of adrenaline and felt alive. It wouldn't last but she was going to enjoy it for as long as she could.

The AWAC's vectored Sabre Three and Four so they would find themselves coming at the enemy from behind once the Chinese detected and moved to engage Maya and her wing mate. With a bit of luck, thanks to the jamming everyone was throwing around, she and her people were going to get the drop on the incoming enemy. With the two groups of fighters approaching each other almost head-on, their combined speed ate the distance in no time at all. Finally, Maya's radar pinged announcing that it got a few vague ghostly contacts among the snowstorm of ECM it struggled to filter through. The distance was twelve kays and falling down fast. The radar returns were just good enough to tell her where the enemy was coming from but far from good enough for the Arrows to lock on them.

"Sabre One, Sky-Eye Two. Bandits detected you - they're accelerating your way. I'm vectoring Three and Four at their six. Gods speed!"

The Major switched on her thermal scope and soon enough the enemy got in range. More adrenaline flooded her veins, her training kicked in and she grinned. This was what Maya was born for! She could see the incoming enemy and she guided her Eagle so the leading Dragon fell squarely in the middle of her scope. Maya waited for a moment until she got a loud and clean tone from the missile and launched.

"Sabre One, Fox Two!" Rapier gleefully announced. Only then she banked sharply, hit the afterburner for all it was worth and triggered a spread of fiery chaff – she learned her lesson after the first engagement with the Chinese. If the enemy was in range of her Javelins, then she was surely threatened by the Federation's own heat-seekers.

"Fox Two!" Sabre Two shouted with just a bit less glee than her, a part of Maya's brain noted.

Two more identical announcements, that were barely audible over the static, followed from Three and Four. Maya's radar finally burned through the jamming and managed to lock get a solid returns from the Chinese fighters – for a few brief moments anyway, before Rapier dived below the incoming enemy who in turn were busy scattering to avoid the two prong attack. The sky lit up with more chaff from both Maya's wing mate and the enemy. A moment later, she caught the flash of a fiery explosion above and to the right.

"Sabre Flight, Sabre One, report status!" Maya snapped in her comm. Her radar's screen blinked in a fuzzy snow covered mess of ghostly returns and just a single solid one that was trying hard to get on her six. She dived sharply, let go of the afterburner and then levelled out briefly.

"Sabre Two, Sabre One. I've got a Bandit on my tail." Once she shed a bit of speed, Maya hit her air-brake bleeding off more acceleration in a desperate attempt to gain more agility. The Damned dragons were almost as fast as her Eagle, more agile, though their acceleration sucked in comparison. If Maya could only get into position to use that fact...

A screech came over her headphones – whoever spoke got their voice drowned in static. Her heart hammered in her chest and she hoped that it was an acknowledgement of her plight or even better – a confirmation that Two was coming to get on the Bandit's tail. Her threat receiver gave out a loud tone confirming what Maya feared – at this point-blank range, the radar of whoever could get on the enemy's six could actually lock on and guide an Arrow or the Chinese equivalent.

That was bad, potentially fatal unless Maya could get out of the enemy's sights and break the lock thanks to the Jamming trying to drown them all. She glanced back and got a glimpse of a dot behind – may Thor bless the designer who ensured that an Eagle pilot got a great view from the cockpit. While she was quite low already, Maya dived again and just in case released another spread of chaff behind. She headed straight for the shore bellow and a hill that stuck like a sore thumb from the water a klick or so off a golden beach.

"...ne. Sabre One! Bank hard left on my mark! I say again..." The voice sounded like Two but due to the static she wasn't sure.

The Major levelled her eagle dangerously close to the beach below, hit the afterburner and screamed for the hill. Her threat receiver screamed and she cursed viciously. Just a bit more...

"..k. MARK!" That was two, right?

Maya threw her fighter behind the hill in a manoeuvre that slammed her into her seat and drove the air out of her lungs. Her field of view narrowed to a narrow tunnel as her flight suit desperately fought to keep enough blood in her head to keep her from blacking out. Long second dragged out, while she fought with the controls for dear life until she was about to lose the battle with the high-gee manoeuvre and let go of the afterburner and gently got out of the crazy turn around the hill. As the acceleration and gravities pressing her down lifted, Maya breathed deeply from the oxygen supplied by her mask. Her vision cleared a bit and she snapped her head left and right searching for the enemy. She saw the distinctive shape of a Dragon scream behind, no longer on her six. The Major wasn't sure if the Chinese fighter was unable to accelerate fast enough to keep up with her stunt or if it was the Eagle gaining on its heels that persuaded the enemy to break off the pursuit.

Nor did she care – the important part was that Sabre Two made it in time and sent a missile on the heels of the running Chinaman.

"..ox One!" The radio screeched.

Maya's radar pinged another Dragon and she headed that way. However, before she could target it, a fiery bolt came over the sea and blew it up, scattering its burning wreckage over the waves.

That at least explained the sudden spike in Jamming – there had to be a Britannian ship nearby flooding the air with its ECM for all it was worth. For a moment Maya felt indignant that the damn squids butted in her fight, however she forced herself to calm down. Unless Three and Four got the last boogie, there was one more Dragon on the loose and her radar wasn't helping find it.

Suddenly the Jamming cut down significantly.

"... Sky-Eye Two. Sabre One, respond."

"Sky-Eye Two, Sabre One. I read you. Say again."

"Sabre one, Sky Eye Two. Bandits in your AO are down. Good work. Return to base. Command has a new job for you."

"Roger that. Sabre Flight, Sabre One, Report." Well, she survived yet another fight. The adrenaline drained from her body leaving her exhausted.

"Sabre Two, all green."

"Sabre Three, ditto."

A pause followed. "Sabre Four, Sabre One, report." The silence stretched out. Maya's radar continued to show just static and various ghostly returns that might be anything from two to eight fighters in the immediate vicinity alone.

"Sky-Eye Two, Sabre One. Do you have eyes on Sabre Four?" Maya asked, though she feared she knew the answer.

"Sabre One, Sky-Eye Two, wait one... I'm seeing just three Eagles in your AO... damn it..."

Maya closed her eyes and cursed softly. "Sabre Flight, Sabre One. Do you have eyes on Four? What about parachutes?"

"Sabre Three, Sabre One. One parachute visible. It's a Chinaman. No eyes on Four." Came the subdued response. The rest of the squadron followed suit and the news weren't any better.

"Sabre One, Sky-Eye Two. We'll dispatch SAR ASAP. Return to base – orders from up high."

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AN: First attempt for semi-modern air-combat. Feedback please.

We saw precious little air combat in CG – and that was really between floating Knightmares or battleships like the Avalon. The explanation I'm going with is that the Sakuradite and the currently existing cutting edge electronics in verse lead make ECM and jammers mounted on the ground, warships and large planes so powerful that fighters are forced to engage within knife range. While there are radar guided missiles, both air-to-air and SAMs, they're largely useless BVR if there is a large enemy electronic warfare platform in the area – which is almost always the case between peer opponents. In theory that should somewhat change by the time canon season one comes, but by then the Knightmares had proven themselves as the new Queens of battle and everyone is investing in them or in the case of the Empire – in floating battleship/carrier hybrids like the Avalon too. Thoughts?