Chp. 33: A Coalition of the Willing
November 19, 2049
Oured, Osea
A rare sense of hope was present in the president's office. Cautious though it was, the military aspect of the defense of Chakari had begun to have better effects in the diplomatic aspect. Charney was never too optimistic, though, and she'd insisted she deliver the "bad news" first.
"They don't intend to support the Eruseans militarily, but we can expect the Nords to use their political and economic influence. The Nordic Coalition Party managed to overcome the opposition, and the Prime Minister intends to make an official address around 3 PM our time." She remarked flatly.
Nearly a month of debate in their parliament and we get this McBride thought. She had somewhat expected it, but had noticed the opposing parties had put up quite a fight. Nordland's historic relationship with Erusea had, in the end, prevailed.
"Will that influence anyone to join their camp? I can't imagine that Varcia or Verusa would be swayed to side with right-wing populists." The President asked.
"It will influence smaller countries some, but too much and they'll just end up feeding their opposition. Stoking anger over foreign influence. Verusa and Varcia will keep their friends by sticking to the "two sides of the same coin" platform."
"So the most probable outcome will be a growing number of countries opposing both sides. Even if they don't all do it for the same reasons."
"Most likely, which is just as good for Erusea as having allies. Our next area of focus will be the EOAS. The Department of Commerce and my people have been looking over possible economic packages to help sway them more firmly to our side. They're inside the folder I gave you at the start of the meeting."
McBride lifted the object and appraised its thickness as she nodded. The East Osean Alliance of States (Fato, Gebet, Recta, and Ratio) had been a wild card since the start of the 21st century, but had no love for Erusean political objectives. According to what Charney had said anyways, but McBride kept her around for a reason. She stopped a train of thought about who would oppose the motions. Who would stamp their feet and shout "They're taking our jobs!". Instead, she looked at Admiral O'Neil and nodded.
"So what exactly are the details of this turn in the war, Admiral?"
The man stood up and set up a 3D map projector to accompany his briefing. He drew attention to a series of symbols and arrows towards the bottom.
"While the Eruseans were aware of our massing of forces near Kinglane, they seemed to have assumed we intended to reinforce the defenses around the city. Instead, the Osean 10th Corps and Lenish 7th Corps maneuvered right of the city and conducted a flank attack on the Erusean advance. This is where they were when we made contact…and this is where we stand now."
McBride was pleased to see that there was a solid shield between the Eruseans and Kinglane's east side. Full encirclement had been avoided, and the two Corps had taken a bite out of the Erusean advance.
"The Eruseans have shifted the bulk of their forces in the area to contain our counteroffensive. This means that the Sotoans are the only force moving on Kinglane. They're coming in from the direct north, where the rest of the 2nd Marine Division and elements of the 101st Airborne that haven't been knocked out are digging in. The heaviest elements are going right for the Eruseans' equivalent forces, while others are moving further north to cut their axis of advance."
"And there's no further threat of an amphibious landing south of the capital?"
"No ma'am; Erusean amphibious assets in the theater have been sunk or so badly damaged they're combat ineffective. Our defense of the coast would only grow stronger in the time it would take them to organize a new landing force. The best bet my counterpart has is to seize control of the coastal areas so he can raid with impunity."
"Do they have a chance of accomplishing that?"
O'Neil changed the focus of the map to the ocean and the positions of friendly and hostile groups. The latter, though estimated, showed that most of the ships out of port were smaller surface combatants. Others were troop ships, bringing the first men of two fresh mechanized divisions to the war.
"We have a week or two before the Eruseans and Sotoans have the resources to go on the offensive in that theater. The Joint Chiefs duly recommend that we keep up the pressure to completely destroy the threat. With this counteroffensive, we hope to slowly free up more units to attack targets in Sotoa. On a consistent basis, too."
"And what would that mean for the defense of Kinglane and Port Jubilee?"
"Port Jubilee is being evacuated as we speak, and our ground offensive should be sufficient to help the Chakarians hold their capital. However, I recommend that we go on the offensive at sea."
"On what grounds?"
"Isolating the Erusean-Sotoan ground offensive is how we push them north in the long run. I can attest to the sway that carriers have over the strategic situation. With nothing to oppose ours, we can beat up on units and supplies heading south. In 2024, part of what caused the Veruseans to stall was the constant raids on supplies and reinforcements heading across the Sea of Shimoji."
Everyone was aware of the man's record during the war; he brought it up often to justify his recommendations. If anyone had any remarks on that, they kept it to themselves. In the moment of silence, he changed the map to focus on a single airbase in south-central Sotoa.
"In this case, the Erusean reinforcements include some of their B-08 Habroks. Strategic bombers, much like our B-21s, that arrived a day ago. Eight of the twenty-four deployed are currently stationed at Haraaparvat Air Force Station…pretty sure I mispronounced that but it's besides the point. The rest are near the city of Nadriakat, likely waiting for room closer to the front line. These represent another escalation of Erusea's commitment, but also place our forces in Kharmata under direct threat again."
"So how soon do we intend to attack these bomber bases?"
O'Neil pushed back a sleeve and checked his watch.
"The attack on Haraaparvat should be commencing in concert with a cruise missile strike on Nadriakat within the hour."...
The Federation of Kunlun had been very firm about its neutrality regarding the ongoing war. The small but wealthy nation boasted some very modern weaponry, and it was ready to use it to defend its sovereignty. From Sotoa, Erusea, even Osea and Chakari; that point had been hammered in repeatedly during the morning's briefing. Jed glanced down at his GPS, which put him about three miles from the border. A Lunese radar station atop the mountains had been watching him and the other F-24s as they crossed into Sotoa. They'd even scrambled a pair of J-10 Firebirds to shadow the aircraft they could detect. He wanted to be petty and flip them the bird, but his more mature self kept intervening.
"Pendragon this is Skull Lead, those Firebirds still on station inside The Wing?" Conman radioed.
"Ahh copy, they're still circling their last reported position." A Lenish Wedgetail replied.
The Oseans rounded the extreme west of Lunese territory, nicknamed because of its shape, and increased their speed as they ran the length of the Kupurris. Six Chakarian F-72s split to the left and completed the wedge that shielded eight Falcon IDS interdictors of the Belkan Luftwaffe. The strike aircraft dipped just below the peaks and split into their fourships while the four Falcon ECRs following them moved to the front. Very quickly, it became apparent that an Erusean A410 had noticed something was cruising into Sotoa without permission. Nobody said anything as they waited to see if the AEW would take the bait.
"All aircraft be advised, we're picking up activity near Passhtui AFS. Intermittent radar contacts last spotted at Heading 272, Flight Level 5500 and 236 Kilometers." Pendragon reported.
"Copy Pendragon. In layman's terms?" Conman replied.
"Bandits are at an altitude of 18,000 Feet, 147 Miles away."
"Thank you very much, Pendragon. Bear, we're gonna keep heading north to support you. First shots are yours; you've got the reach."
"Copy that Skull."
The F-24s were armed with four Sidewinders and four AMRAAMs to deal with bandits who got close. The F-72s boasted Meteors to hit targets further out, including the A410 that was trying to get their exact location. The Hellcats took over the wedge as a whole while two of the F-72s dropped to the left and the other four stayed high and fast.
"Additional aircraft taking off from Passhtui. Pendragon now has at least four intermittent contacts approaching; all indicators suggest they're Trishulas…okay, we've got a solid track on them." The AWACS intoned.
"Understood Pendragon. Skull, Bear will remain committed to the bandits coming from 272. Can you have two of your aircraft stay behind as backup?" Bear 2-1 radioed.
"Copy that, Bear. Glue, take Brick and go with the F-72s. Everyone else maintain course. Eule, what's your status?"
"Eule is still ten minutes from exiting the mountains. Should we press on?" The lead Falcon replied.
"Copy, push it up and stick close to the remainder of Skull Flight. Bronco, Tsun-Tsun, sweep the western slopes."
"Five." Jed replied.
"Six." Annie added, making sure her visor was all the way down.
Jed looked back to his wingwoman as they pushed their throttles forward and signaled she was free to break from his lead. She nodded and went from a bank into a hard left. Jed drew in some breath for courage and nosed up, rolling inverted as he reached the top of his climb. The scene below seemed clear for now. He rolled upright and nosed down, going to the west, then the east, and finally going up again. Two of the ECRs, Geists 3-1 and 3-2, pushed ahead of the strike aircraft to help the CAP clear the airspace. The RWR on each aircraft listed a new contact; it was the fire-control radar of an SA-21 battery.
"All aircraft be advised, Geist has identified a hostile radar. One Grave Stone…appears that the enemy AWACS is providing detection." Geiet 3-1 reported.
"Copy that Geist, Bear is going for that A410." Bear Lead replied.
Annie looked at her RWR as the SAM battery worked on picking out the enemy planes. Something struck her as odd, what with one SAM site in the middle of nowhere.
"Bronco, do you have anything else on your scope?" She asked.
"Negative…watch for bandits. Reverse SAM trap. Maybe?"
"Possibly. Geist, how soon can you have that radar suppressed?"
"Standby, Skull 1-6."
Jed turned towards the source and checked the range. He listened to see if the decoys heading towards Passhtui had done anything, but Pendragon was still tracking the bandits heading east. He rested a hand near the switch for his radar, then moved it back to the throttle. The Growler battery had a nice position against the mountains; anyone who wanted to hit it would need to go high, or come from the western plains. He was growing very, very tired of SAM batteries being so crafty. Strafing them for their infuriating behavior seemed almost worth it right now. Y'all are lucky that Annie's more valuable He thought with a sneer.
"Pendragon, y'all got anything from the direction of Haraaparvat?" He asked.
"Ahh, standby Skull 1-5…no new activity. Two Big Bird radars north and south of the target are still transmittin-wait, disregard my last. We just got two contacts leaving one of the runways. Looks like Nosferatus based on the signature; they're increasing speed and altitude. Current range is…133 Miles."
That eased Jed's concerns a bit, but not by much. Per his GPS, they were very certainly being set up to get squeezed against the border. The A410 gained a better view of the Osean and Belkan jets as they showed more and more of their side to its radar. To counter that, each jet turned directly towards the source to make their RCS drop rapidly. Four more Nosferatus got airborne, and turned towards the F-72s.
"Skulls 1-5 and 1-6, Geist 3-1 is going to take a shot at that Grave Stone." Geist Lead spoke up.
"Copy 3-1, go for it. Tsun-Tsun, y'all got anything along the west slope?" Jed encouraged.
"Negative Bronco, nothing to be seen. EOTS is clear as well."
"Copy, dump yer tanks and return to my position. Ah wanna get a shot at those Nosferatus before they can engage Geist or Bear."
Annie let her EOTS do a final sweep of the ground, then switched to her radar display and followed her lead's orders. The ECR exited the mountains and hugged the ground while they swung towards the nearest bandits. They activated their radars and let the radar zero in on the CFAs. Between breaths, Jed heard Bear engaging the first Trishulas; Conman sent Glue and Brick north to help them.
"Bronco, keep your heading. We've still got our radars off; we'll sneak in closer, try and overwhelm them." The former radioed.
"Copy." Jed replied.
The Nosferatus banked to the east, looking like they'd turn around. Jed followed them while Annie stayed on her current heading. She weaved back and forth a few times to keep the growing gap covered until the second pair could take up that mantle.
"First two bandits are now turning north and descending. They just split." Jed reported.
"Geist, do you have anything transmitting down there?" Glue asked.
"Negative on transmissions, switching to EOTS. Standby." the ECR replied.
Seconds later, the Belkan fired a HARM in the direction of the SA-21. The radar kept transmitting despite that, and it continued to try and track the F-24s closing with the CFAs. The second pair of Nosferatus had dropped down and deployed countermeasures; Annie switched her attention to them while Jed took the first pair.
"Skull 210, Fox 3 Fox 3." He radioed.
After the missiles cleared his jet, he turned and dove, deploying countermeasures. He spotted Annie's plane as she fired two AMRAAMs. He checked to see how far out his missiles were when a new threat popped up on his RWR. It was another Grave Stone, almost directly below him. They'd walked right into a SAM trap, and they'd even suspected it too.
"Oh for fuck's sake! Got another Grave Stone, Tsun-Tsun. We're right on top of it." Jed spat.
"Copy, defending." Annie replied, keeping herself as cool as possible.
Jed made a mad dash for the ground, turning on his EOTS to find the signatures of launch vehicles below. He spotted them for no more than a second at a time as he was busy defending. When he finally reached the end of his dive, he circled around to try and get a lasting view of the SAM battery. Three more radar sources came online: two Big Birds and another Grave Stone. Jed looked to his RWR for a brief second, and guided his EOTS to one of the sources.
"All aircraft be advised, that was a decoy transmitting! Initial Grave Stone was a decoy!" Geist 3-1 spoke up.
Jed looked to see why the man was shouting, and saw what seemed like a thousand lights rise from the ground. He turned towards them, and his EOTS showed the shapes of QRSAM launchers. The sheer volume overwhelmed the Falcon ECR, and as the crew was trying to make another transmission its back half disappeared. The missiles that were a second behind flew into the blossoming fireball.
"Geist 3-1 is down, Geist 3-1 is down…Geist 3-2 what's yer status?" He reported.
"Geist 3-2 is west of the mountains at low level. Going for shots against those two Grave Stones at this time." The second ECR outlined.
"Copy, be advised that those two contacts are legitimate." Annie interjected.
While Jed pulled away from the short-range launchers, Annie banked to the left and tried to put some distance between her and them. The RWR was crowded, so crowded that she stopped giving it attention. Her concern switched to the bandits still heading their way; two Trishulas and two Nosferatus were trying to pin them against the mountains. The apparent demise of three of their allies had enraged them. She reneged on her decision to see if the Firebirds were still near the border. As expected, they were still watching the battle. The QRSAMs turned their attention to the F-24s, even as they jumped all over the sky. She saw Jed when he dropped more flares, then keyed her radio.
"Geist 3-2, can you engage those QRSAMs?" She asked.
"They appear to be using the S-400s for guidance." Geist revealed.
Annie just clicked her mic to avoid saying something stupid. Jed went to her far right, apparently trying to get back to her. She helped him by moving his way whenever she could. The QRSAMs launched a salvo of four missiles at the fighters. Another four were launched as Geist 3-2 declared "Magnum" twice. The ECR ducked towards the F-24s for protection as they tried to stay too low for the S-400s to effectively engage. They pushed further into the plains, and closer to the enemy aircraft bearing down on them. Jed selected the first two he actively noticed for another pair of AMRAAMs. He looked back as one of the SAMs curved up to try and reach him, only to finish the turn too late. He watched the other one fly past without so much as a twitch and flipped the bird in the direction of the SAM launchers and their burning radars. Hope more of 'em got faulty wiring!
"Those two Trishulas are mine, Tsun-Tsun! Get the Nosferatus." He ordered.
"Copy. Geist, suggest you push southeast towards the mountains. Skull Lead, what's your status with Bear?" Annie replied.
"Engaged with six Trishulas; one Sabertooth down." Conman replied without pause.
Glue and Brick entered the fight proper while Jed and Annie were finally afforded a little breathing room. Their reinforcements split to support the already-committed Hellcats. The Oseans took that momentum to push the fight away from the Lunese. Jed waited just long enough for Glue to get a solid track on the Trishulas, then they fired a staggered burst of six AMRAAMs. The Trishulas split, then the leader snapped back and fired two Astras at the Oseans. Jed went to the right and dropped chaff, while the Sotoan pilot turned to reengage him. The missiles fired by both sides followed their respective targets, racing to hit maximum speed.
"Bronco I'm going low and coming right, so hold on!" Glue spoke up.
"Copy, Glue. Standby." Jed grunted.
He held his turn for a few seconds, then realized that one of the Astras was getting much too close to ignore. He pushed the throttles forward and reversed as hard as his body could stand it. The entire cockpit, the entire plane, seemed to shake violently as the Astra detonated behind him, it felt like it was right next to him in fact. Jed looked at his displays with frantic breaths to see if anything had been damaged. The plane made a fuss about the concussion wave, but it seemed that he'd survived. He kept up his speed and turned towards the lead bandit again. He also checked westward to see what'd become of the second Trishula. It'd managed to shake the first two missiles from Glue, but the third caught it as it was diving for the ground. Jed banked left and made a wide turn. One of the remaining CFAs took notice and added him to the multiple aircraft it had targeted. Annie and Brick stayed on the Eruseans to try and keep their fellow flyers from getting overwhelmed.
Jed, throttles still well to the front, tightened his entire body and rolled towards the ground. The F-24's engines roared as the descent gave him even more speed. He completed the roll and put himself behind Annie and Brick as the CFAs got their locks first. They fired four AP-13s at their closest opponents, and four more seemed to be going elsewhere. Jed turned his ears to the radio as he realized he hadn't been fired on. It soon became clear that Eule had exited the mountains and was trying to get off its payload. The Nosferatus had jumped on the proverbial feeding frenzy, even as the Hellcats were working to defeat their shots and press the attack. Jed immediately felt like he'd missed something vital.
"Pendragon, this is Skull 1-5 requesting a SITREP." He called, trying not to sound too obvious.
"Skull 1-5, Eule has moved to secondary launch point. Bandits numbers seemed to have leveled out at this time." The AWACS replied.
He tuned his ears to the waves a bit more and recognized that the Belkans were lobbing their KEPD cruise missiles. Still, he felt like he was in the dark. Though one thing was plenty obvious, and that was the Trishula he was gunning for.
"Copy…Skull 1-1, what's yer situation?" He breathed out.
"Skull 1-5, keep those bandits in your sector busy while Eule heads south." Conman snapped.
Jed clicked his mic and closed in on the Sotoan fighter, even as the Nosferatus took notice of him again. He spotted Glue doing the same from below and committed to the closing Eruseans. He switched from his AMRAAMs to his Sidewinders; one CFA in particular caught his eye as it twisted and dove to get behind a Falcon. He put himself head-to-head with the offending aircraft.
"Falcon IDS engaged with a single Nosferatu, this is Skull 1-5. Break left and increase speed. Ah'm head-on with yer pursuer." He radioed.
The Belkan snapped left as hard as his aircraft could and Jed pulled back the throttles. He nearly kicked the right rudder pedal and turned his head with the CFA as it broke. That gave him the lock he needed.
"Skull 210, Fox 2." He announced.
As soon as the missile was away, he pushed the throttles forward and moved the stick up and right. The CFA disappeared from sight; he rolled to keep the bandit in his view. The Sidewinder went in for the kill, but the Nosferatu pulled just hard enough to use its momentum against it. Jed followed through with his turn and came around to find the Nosferatu had launched a missile at its original target. The Falcon moved to defend itself while Jed pounced on the CFA again.
"Bronco, what's your status?" Annie spoke up.
"Engaged offensive with one CFA, near the rear of Eule's formation." Jed reported.
"Copy…okay I see you. Standby."
With the Falcon dispatched, the Nosferatu had begun engaging in a game: who would bleed too much energy at first? Jed stayed above the Erusean, trying to get a chance to dive and fire a second Sidewinder. The Nosferatu used most of its energy to stay directly below him until Jed couldn't go on any longer. He hit the gas and banked to the right, where Annie was approaching. She dove at the vulnerable Erusean and fired a single Sidewinder.
"Skull 208, Fox 2." She declared.
The Nosferatu deployed flares, but without airspeed it was a sitting duck. As Jed was back to a speed that eased his worries, he looked back to see the Erusean pilot eject from his doomed plane. Eule's surviving aircraft had slipped back into the mountains; Skull duly followed them as its first pair and four of Bear's flight came to cover their retreat. Jed went high and circled when they turned to catch up. The Nosferatus had turned, and so had the Trishulas. At the edge of his radar, he could see fresh bandits inbound. The thought of another fight made him feel twice as fatigued as he already was. He turned when he was getting too far from the rest of the formation and let Annie take up the hot leg. When she came back to join him, the RWR had finally returned to a periodic beep. The three bandits that'd survived the initial encounter might've been on the winning side, but Jed decided that they'd go home shaken. Shaken, perturbed…anything to comfort his bruised ego.