Hey, guys. Back with another chapter.

Hope you guys like this one.

CT7567Rules: Anakin was flying the F-14D. At this point in time, the F-14D had mostly replaced the F-14A in US Navy service.

Chapter 14- Battle of Australia

In the Australian outback, a formation of aircraft from the Australian Air Force streaks north, low over the ground. The formation is comprised of 12 F/A-18 Hornets and 8 F-111 Aardvarks, all armed for ground attack.

The Battle of Australia has been going on for almost 24 hours. An initial droid landing near Sydney had proven disastrous, as Australian fighters had devastated the landing ships before they could even touch down. And once the droids had been on the ground, Australian troops had devastated the droid formations. The result was the loss of 30,000 of the 45,000 droids in the initial landing force.

10 hours into the battle, the Separatists had switched tactics, and landed a very sizable force in the Australian outback. A total of 180,000 battle droids and 2,000 heavy droid units had been landed while Vulture droids kept the Australian Air Force at bay. While the Australian fighters had destroyed most of the Vultures while taking few losses, the Vultures had managed to keep them away from the landings.

Australian airstrikes against the droids had started as soon as the aircraft could be armed for the strikes. Some Australian soldiers stationed in the Outback had engaged the droids and managed to slow them down. Now, 20,000 troops, which comprise about half of Australia's troops, are on their way to engage the droids, along with 5,000 clones. The air attacks so far and the advance troops have whittled down the droid forces to about 160,000 droids and 1,600 heavy droid units.

Finally, the Australian fighters come into view of the advancing droid armies. The F-111s streak ahead of the Hornets, descending to just 500 feet. They streak low over the droids and drop cluster bombs on the droids. The heavy load limit of the F-111 is shown as the over 60 cluster bombs split open, spreading their bomblets over the droids and destroying almost 7,000 droids.

As the F-111s climb and prepare for a second run to drop their remaining weapons, the F/A-18s streak in for their runs. Each Hornet is armed with 8 AGM-65 Maverick missiles and three 1,000 lb bombs.

The Hornets descend and begin firing their missiles at AAT tanks. Once their missiles have been expended, they drop their bombs on any other tanks they can get to. By the time the Hornets have started climbing again, they've destroyed 132 AAT tanks and over 500 battle droids.

As the Hornets climb to establish a protective patrol in case of a Vulture attack, the F-111s fly in the release their remaining bombs. Dozens of cluster bombs fall on the battle droids, destroying another 8,000 of them.

As the Australian fighters start pulling away, a squadron of Vulture droids streaks down from the sky. The Hornets pull up to engage them as the F-111s continue their path home.

The Vultures fire their laser cannons at the Hornets, but the Australian pilots weave their way through the laser bolts and get past the Vultures. Once they get past the Vultures, it's over for the droids. The agile Hornets turn sharply and get behind the Vulture droids. They start firing their AIM-9 Sidewinders, each missile scoring a kill. It doesn't take long before all the Vultures have all been shot down.

As the Australian fighters retreat, and another wave takes off and prepares to head to engage the Separatists, the Separatists decide to try a new tactic. As the next Australian attack wave heads towards the outback from its base near Sydney, a Boeing E-7A Wedgetail AWACS aircraft detects a massive formation of aircraft coming down from orbit. The formation is 60 Vulture droids, 100 Hyena bombers, and 40 Tri-Fighters.

The Australian fighters react instantly. The F-111s in the strike force continue in the direction of the Outback, while the 24 F/A-18s in this strike force turn towards Sydney, jettison their air to ground weapons, and prepare to engage. At the same time, in Sydney, surface to air missile batteries, exported from the US in preparation for the Separatist attack, begin warming up.

The droid fighters arrive first. Patriot missile launchers begin launching their missiles. Unfortunately, the Australians have only received a few Patriot launchers, and not all of them are in Sydney. Only 32 missiles are present in the city. 30 of them score kills, downing 18 Vultures, 3 Tri Fighters, and 9 Hyenas.

The Hyenas dive down towards the city and begin dropping proton bombs. The first attack run is made against the harbor fronts. Proton bombs shatter dock facilities, level storage facilities, set fuel tanks on fire, and kill hundreds of civilians.

As the Hyenas pull up and circle around for another run, a volley of Sparrow missiles downs 24 of them. As the droid fighters try and figure out where the missiles came from, the 24 Hornets streak onto the scene, firing more missiles at the droid fighters. The Hornets, recognizing them as the greater threat, focus their attacks on the Hyenas while trying to evade laser fire from the Vulture droids and tri-fighters.

After a fierce dogfight lasting almost 5 minutes, the Hornets have shot down all but 7 of the Hyena bombers. However, 4 of the Hornets have been shot down, and the rest are all out of missiles and are running out of cannon ammunition. The citizens of Sydney have been watching the dogfight overhead, watching in amazement as their fighter pilots fight fiercely against the Separatist fighter and bombers, sometimes chasing Vultures and Hyenas down in between the skyscrapers in downtown Sydney.

As one of the Australian pilots weaves back and forth just over the water in Sydney Harbor, trying to evade a Vulture droid, he spots something just ahead. After a few moments, he realizes what it is, right before the AIM-7 streaks overhead and hits the Vulture blowing it to pieces.

The Australian fighter pilots are very confused about what is going on. Then, to their surprise, they spot a formation of 24 more F/A-18s approaching from the sea.

As the new Hornets arrive and begin engaging the remaining droid fighters, the Australian pilots recognize the markings on the Hornets as those of the US Navy. One Australian pilot is able to make out the words "USS Midway" on the side of one of the Hornets.

The USS Midway was preparing for decommissioning when the Republic first arrived. With the coming war in mind, the Navy had decided to retain her in service. Right before the Separatists arrived, the Pacific Fleet commander, Admiral Robert J Kelley, had dispatched the Midway to the South Pacific.

The Midway's Hornets quickly relieve the beleaguered Australians. Loaded down with air to air missiles, the American pilots easily shoot down the remaining Vultures, Hyenas, and Tri Fighters.

As the last droid fighter goes down in flames, the American Hornets set up a CAP over Sydney. A number of Australian pilots pull up alongside the Americans and salute them before following their squadron mates back to their base to re arm.

As the 24 Hornets are establishing a CAP over Sydney, the 8 F-111s of the second strike force are finishing up their attack, having destroyed over 10,000 battle droids. As they retreat back towards their base near Sydney, they pass a force of 18 F/A-18s. As they are passing the Hornets, they notice the American markings on their fuselages.

10 of the Hornets move forward to engage a few Vulture droids that have arrived over the droid army. The other 8 prepare to attack.

One Hornet pulls ahead of the others. Hanging under its left wing is a single B61 nuclear bomb, equipped with a 15 kiloton yield. It's not a very powerful bomb as nukes go, but still powerful enough to devastate the droid army. And thankfully, the droids are currently in the right spot that the nuke going off won't affect too much wildlife.

The remaining Hornets keep at a safe distance. The Hornet, piloted by Commander Thomas Southerland, makes its attack run. In his cockpit, Southerland presses the pickle button, and the nuke falls from under his wing. Immediately, he turns around and shoves the throttles into full afterburners, streaking away from the droids, quickly accelerating past Mach 1.

The Hornets are able to get 20 miles away before the bomb detonates. Instantly, almost 35,000 battle droids are destroyed, with another 50,000 disabled by the EMP thrown out by the blast. The nuke leaves only about 45,000 battle droids operational.

In orbit, commanders see the effect of Southerland's strike. Immediately, they decide to pull the rest of the droids out.

Within an hour, the rest of the droids have been pulled out. The Battle of Australia is over. The Australian military has taken surprisingly few casualties, although there has been plenty of damage caused in Sydney by the Separatist bombing. In return, the Australians and air wing of the Midway destroyed almost 200,000 battle droids and over 2,000 heavy droid units.

Once again, the Separatists have been dealt a crushing defeat.

And, I'll end there. I hope this chapter wasn't too rushed.

I'll try and get the next chapter up before the end of the year. Until then, leave a review, and have a Merry Christmas!