“Halia nearly encircled! With the Fall of Heiflitz and the ongoing Battle of Ruwelt, Halia’s lines of supply and communications are now being crippled and threatened. The Queen is still reportedly holding out inside of the now-dubbed “Ludendorf Pocket” as the Grand Duchy Campaign rages on. The IV Armored Corps is now in a longstanding duel with the Putschists on the Ruwelt Salient. NORTHCOMM (Northern Command) also initiated a counter-offensive from the Free Confederation, forcing nearly a dozen Putschist divisions holding the northern front in off-balance. Clearly, the tide of the Grand Duchy Campaign can swing at any side at any moment – and thus, the fate of the world order.”
- Geopol Press
+++
North Allas Ocean
Strike Force 7
ONS Rebenslof
November 24, 2024
“I heard you and the Empress got into another verbal spar, sir,” James said, laughing a bit to himself. “Think you should visit her less often?”
Albert for his part kept sipping his coffee without much response. He shook his head and sighed.
“Not really. She’d go insane talking to no one.” Alber replied. He had made it a daily chore to visit the brat each day, just to check up on her. Regardless of his contempt for her, the girl was, well, a girl. A seventeen-year-old barely in her adulthood. Sure, a war criminal, but it was hard not to simply leave a young girl alone in torturous conditions.
Or, perhaps, I had just gone a bit too soft. Albert really didn’t understand it. Perhaps, even with Katerina’s absolutely venomous being, she reminded him too much of Amelie, or Alice as well. He imagined that had things gone wrong, or had the circumstances been different, perhaps his two little sisters wouldn’t be too far from her.
After all, they were the same. Both tried to search for ways to save their own skins while being at the head of a system about to implode on itself. Katerina merely chose the bloodier, and more self-serving path.
In any case, that’s what she chose. He reminded himself. She’d pay for her crimes.
“And you’d go insane talking to that brat,” James said. “Many matters are of more importance than her. Our scouts are now close at locating the Matriarch.”
“She barely takes half an hour of me,” Albert said, giving another sip of his coffee. “It’s not a big deal. As for the Curaisser, where what’s the status of our rendevous?”
“The Curaisser is still en route to meet us. We should reunite soon.”
“Well, the 2nd Fleet has to. We can’t beat the Matriarch otherwise.”
“Strength in numbers?”
“Well, if the last battles were of any indication, not exactly.” Albert laughed to himself. “Still, I’d prefer to have the numerical advantage this time. Luck and skill are good, but I wouldn’t bet our success on it as much as possible.”
“Well, you have no disagreements with me, sir.”
Albert soon gave the order for the Rebenslof to increase speed. While they were currently scouting for leads in the hunt for the Matriarch, or her raiding underlings (submarines and destroyer wolf packs), he also needed to speed up their travel time straight to the port of Halia. He knew his little sister, Amelie, was now in dire straights. While he counted on the Chief Air Marshall and General Albrecht to restore the land connection from the south (and prevent a collapse of the Ludendorf Front), he would not fully place all his bets on that.
If she were to be encircled, he’d break through any naval blockade and air attacks to evacuate her and Alice. There was no way he’d leave the two stuck in the ruins of Halia, to be potentially captured and executed by rebelling men. No way. Not to Alice nor Amelie. The Rebenslof and the 2nd Fleet would ensure their safety regardless of the results of the Grand Duchy Campaign.
That was his duty not just as the Admiral of Strike Force Seven, but also as the older brother of his remaining family.
But the day slowly grew different. Each report from his scouts gave an air that something was brewing. They were on the trail of something, something which he knew he should chase. And chase, he ordered. After all, his main goal was to drive off the Matriarch from imposing a blockade on Halia, raiding shipments headed there, and ensuring that Orland’s most advanced carrier would not threaten the 2nd Fleet as they supported the Grand Duchy Campaign.
“And as such, we have no choice but to give chase.” He declared on the set of gathered officers. Their meeting cabin was almost dark, but he could see most nodding. “If this is of any indication, it’s clear that the Matriarch is lurking nearby.”
Captain James Vogel, now technically the CO of the Rebenslof (as Albert was now the full flag officer of Strike Force Seven), raised a concern.
“Sir, if that’s the case, then why haven’t we warned the civilian convoys in the vicinity? They’re headed on the way to another large naval battle. We should make them all turn away right now.”
“But then again that would indicate our presence to the Matriarch,” Albert said, considering all of his options. Quite frankly, fighting that ship was going to be difficult regardless of what he did. His LF-12 Zappers weren’t going to fare extremely well against the Matriarch’s stealth-capable LF-20 Phantoms, which were new in the Orlish Air Force and Navy. He already gave the order to load his planes with IR-Seeking hard points and began preparing his electronic warfare aircraft squadrons to fight closely with his LF-12 Squadrons.
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Hopefully, by combining infrared-seeking missiles, surface skimming maneuvers to reduce their profiles, electronic warfare, and baits, he could trap the Matriarch’s singular LF-20 Phantom Squadron straight into an unfavorable fight where his LF-12s could reliably gang up on them. Of course, he couldn’t bank on that fully, the enemy wasn’t dumb. They knew of the counters and vulnerabilities of stealth.
And since they were in a raiding operation, which emphasized stealth and caution, he could not imagine them getting way too sloppy at fighting. Their guards would be too up for that to simply happen. To hope for that would be the equivalent of a pipedream. He didn’t bank on it. That would be too sloppy of him. He assumed they were being cautious, and he would act by that assumption.
“But we still have to warn those convoys, sir.”
“I understand. But until we have a confirmed sighting, no need to sound the alarm and give up our position.”
“So, more scouting sorties then?” Captain Schlatt asked. “My boys wouldn’t mind, but I should say, this is all getting riskier and riskier.”
“We have no choice. We have to find them first or we’re boned. In fact, we have to keep our eyes peeled at all times for those Phantoms. They’re going to be lurking around.” Albert said, and the officers nodded collectively.
+++
Two LF-12 Zappers hugged the sea closely as they skimmed forward at their cruising speeds. Flying low and fast, they should be harder to detect. Radars, by their nature, were limited by the world’s curvature. By keeping themselves at a lower altitude, the possibility of being detected was limited. But, as a side effect, they were blind. Radar relied on altitude, as being close to the world’s surface meant that there was a large blind spot for their radars. It was a trade-off.
A trade-off made worthwhile by the presence of a nearby AWACS aircraft.
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The two began a course change, changing their heading north. The skies weren’t exactly clear, but unlike the heavy storms that decorated each day in the Northern Sea, this area of the North Allas was calmer. The clutter and radar interference thus weren’t as bad, which was good in many ways for a party that searched for someone hiding.
But they were also hiding, which, in a way, negated that advantage. In any case, the two continued to press on, their radars ready and Ajax Six following them closely from behind, its powerful radars keeping a wide coverage of the skies ahead. Already, the slightly stormy skies were parting away for a clearer one, when suddenly, Ajax Six sounded the alarm.
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Within seconds, the two lined up their noses high into the sky, as their AAIRM-12 missiles launched in quick succession from the pylons of their wings. The two broke off and peeled away, turning east then south back to the Rebenslof.
<
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As the three turned away and prepared for their reports, the four AAIRM-12 missiles flew forward, still in their original trajectories as their IR-seekers attempted to search for a heat source to lock in. While radar guidance was powerful, the faint returns of their targets prevented any accuracy. But they were in luck.
Two LF-20 Phantoms, flying back to the Matriarch up north, had their hot, burning exhausts exposed for the AAIRM-12s. Immediately, the four missiles turned on their infrared guidance systems, locking in hot at the LF-20s. The two unsuspecting stealth aircraft were returning from a recent scouting mission, and their pilots were chatting as if the skies were clear on the comms.
The four missiles continued to burn forward until the two realized their mistake. Hot on their tails, with the AAIRM-12s being only a few hundred meters away by the time they noticed them, the two broke from their formation, pulling away in two different directions. Red hot flares desperately flashed en masse from their rear, but the AAIRM-12s locked on the hottest target, their exhausts.
Two booms ended the short battle.
+++
Strike Force 7
ONS Rebenslof
“The Cuirassier is now twenty miles away from us!” James said as Albert entered the bridge. “They’re already launching scouts up north. Should be an easy game from here on.”
“I doubt that, but I’ll take reinforcement in this desolate sea if possible.” Albert fished out his binoculars to watch two Zappers land on the flight deck. Already, most squadrons of the Rebenslof’s air wing were being prepared, especially their electronic warfare aircraft. They would be instrumental in jamming and countering hostile radar, radio, and their missiles.
VFA-13 (Hellcat One), and VFA-18 (Hellcat Five) would serve as the CVW-3s main delivery punch. Albert planned for them to skim low to ensure stealth while attacking and utilize AAIRM-12s as their main weapon of choice against the enemy’s LF-20s. The remaining planes of VFA-24 (Hellcat Two), on the other hand, would be once again subjected to the sacrificial role. He planned to lure the enemy LF-20s to a position where VFA-13 and VFA-18 could get locks on their exhausts.
In other words, VFA-24 and its remaining six pilots would have to let the enemy Phantoms into a chase on their six. Their goal would be to survive and survive long enough for VFA-18 and VFA-13 to fire off their IR-seeking missiles to take down much of the Phantoms.
Albert sighed. While the entire operation, especially VFA-24, would be supported closely by their LFEW-12s from VAQ-4, there was a high chance of casualties for them. Crazed maneuvers and electronic warfare could only do so much. He expected at least three of them to die. But that would be the prize of war. He didn’t want to compromise VFA-13s and VFA-18s combat potential by suddenly placing them in the role of bait.
And more importantly, the wounded nature of VFA-24 made them the perfect expendable bait. But he knew he would have to let them have their reprieve once this battle was over. They sure as hell would not find themselves flying in the skies of the Grand Duchy once this was all over.
“Seems like Ajax Six and those two spotted contacts up north. They fired their missiles at them. We were right.”
“We’ll get them first,” Albert said as he placed down his binoculars. “We already scrambled our squadrons ahead of time. They’re going to be searching for us first.”
“Though, they know our location, most likely. Our missiles were fired from the south.”
“Well…” Albert looked out on the distant sea, before looking back at Captain Vogel, smirking. “The Cuirassier is here, isn’t she? I’d say the job of protecting the 2nd fleet falls on their shoulders, don’t you agree?”
James chuckled in response. “To place all of our lives in the hands of our sister ship? Well, Admiral Ludendorf, of course, I am in full agreement.”