"We will all pay for the sins of our fathers - to the last man standing."
- Erwin Richtofen, 17th Penal Air Squadron
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"Your Majesty, quite frankly, I believe you are being delusional."
The condescension that came from Walter had stung deep into Amelie's heart. So much so that even the new Prime Minister, Jacqueline Heiss seemed appalled.
"Walter! You can't just speak to the Queen like that!"
"So? I just did. I'm pointing it out clearly. Strike Force 7 went silent in the Northern Sea out of nowhere. What more could this be than a Larissan surprise attack?"
Amelie sunk into her chair as she deflated. Occupying her office was Foreign Minister Adelaide Wallenstein (who, through the UOPs clever negotiations, managed to keep the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Jacqueline herself, and of course, the new Deputy Prime Minister under Jacqueline - Walter Plock.
The three met ahead of the first scheduled cabinet meeting of the new Heiss Government, mainly because Amelie panicked when her brother's Strike Force disappeared in the Northern Sea, just hours after she met the Admiralty.
Adelaide, still calm and serene as always, cleared her throat softly.
"Mr. Plock, I believe you are being too paranoid. The Northern Sea is currently experiencing a severe storm for the next month. It is only reasonable that the ONS Rebenslof could momentarily disappear."
"Oh, you're all kidding me. Momentarily my arse, it's been 8 hours already. 8 goddess-damned hours. You're telling me, a modern fleet would disappear for 8 hours, because of the damned weather?"
"Don't use the goddess' name in vain, Mr. Plock."
"Stop being naive in my face first, Lady Wallenstein."
"And stop suggesting war in my face and Her Majesty's presence, Mr. Plock. I can handle this and secure peace."
"Enough."
The battle of condescension between the two parties ended with her words. Amelie thought about it with her heart pounding faster and faster, for her brother's life and the lives of many more were at stake.
Now it was quite established that our esteemed Queen hated war, and would do anything to avoid such lamentable events. As such was the situation at hand. She had ringed the three, especially Minister Adelaide to consult upon them about how they would approach the Larissan question.
Walter, upon hearing of it, immediately agreed to the Admiralty's plan to send the navy to Lorathia and even to strike first. When Adelaide, and especially Amelie denied such a notion, his defensive bloodthirst exploded. He insisted that such measures must be done immediately to prevent a breakdown in the Ivory Alliance's strategic outlook (and thus reduce the casualties they would suffer) but alas, he was shot down.
Amelie tried again and again to convince the Deputy Prime Minister that war was unlikely, which Walter, not being a naive type of a person, denied aggressively. So much so that even Amelie herself now had second thoughts about pursuing peace.
"Adelaide, do we still have contact with the Empire?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Our diplomats are still active in our embassy in St.Theodora. They have not reported any development from the Larissan government."
Indeed, the Kingdom of Orland and the Empire of Larissa had an embassy in each other's capitals. Even during the absolute quagmire that was the Great War, diplomatic contact between the two was never broken.
Then there is still a chance…
"Walter, I have said it once and I will say it again. No war."
Even Jacqueline nodded in agreement. Mostly because she also hated the war in its entirety. It killed many young men, including her own lover (which was why she became a reformist politician) which was why she held a confused expression when men like Walter, the only people sent to war and its hellish fields, would himself advocate for it.
"Walter, she is right. I really do not understand why you insist we approve the Admiralty's plan. We have just ended the war to end more deaths for men. Surely you can understand why we won't."
"Do the three of you even understand what's at stake here? 400,000 Orlish servicemen under VACCOM would be in danger if we sit our asses and do nothing-"
"And millions more men, including my brother, would be in danger should we enter war again. Walter, I can tolerate a lot of things, but not this."
Her sudden seething gaze at Walter from her seat seemed unnatural for him. Normally, the ever so gentle and soft-spoken Queen was now very much not so. Yet Walter needed to convince her, and all of them to approve the Admiralty's plan.
He knew what would happen if VACCOM wasn't mobilized for a war footing. He knew what would happen if a preemptive strike wasn't conducted. He knew. But they didn't.
"Your Majesty, you are making a grave mistake."
"No, you, and Halberd, and every man that asks for this war are the ones making a grave mistake. Adelaide, send the delegation. We are talking to that brat again."
She nodded in her orders.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Let it be assured that we will prevent war."
…
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DesDiv 18 (Destroyer Division 18)
Northern Sea
Three Orlish Gallant-Class Guided-Missile Destroyers slipped through the stormy seas in formation. The three patrolled the Lorathian territories for the past months against repeated Larissan provocations. These warships, much like their class name, served with gallantry in the high seas, as they held and enforced the territorial waters of Lorathia and the Ivory Alliance.
The Gallant Class, already two decades old, still made up the backbone of the Orlish Navy. Designed to have a tonnage of 9,000 tonnes, these ships fought through the Great War as an effective vessel of war, and death, for most ships sunk were Gallant Class destroyers as well.
Under the banner of these distant matriarchies, these men continued to defend them in the uncaring coldness of the Northern Seas, even now that their Kingdoms faced rot and collapse.
Currently, the day had been no different. Much of the crew tended to their daily tasks of running the ships, while the officers planned and ran drills in the ships.
The storm in the Northern Sea had served much pain for both the Orlish and Lorathian navies. Under the heavy rains and powerful waves, both of their defensive operations had been hampered.
As such, it was no surprise that the CIC (Combat Information Center) thought that such contacts were a mere malfunction. Or at least, until the radar contacts grew to hundreds upon hundreds.
And upon such revelation, the ships, and their alarms, were alight.
"General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations!"
The two ships at the sides of the formation turned east to the direction of the radar contact, while the lead ship began turning to Lorathia.
At the skies above them, fast-moving cruise missiles burned toward Lorathia, as some of them broke off and redirected themselves toward the direction of the three ships.
"Fire all available missiles to intercept!" The Captain of one of these ships barked at his men. Immediately, the CIC, already a confused and busy mess, turned more chaotic as the missiles closed in.
Immediately, the VLS (Vertical Launch System) cells of each ship opened up, as plumes of smoke and missiles rose atop them to intercept. In moments, the skies kilometers away were filled with detonations, as Larissan and Orlish missiles once again met each other in the air.
But many passed through.
"Incoming! Incoming! Targeting with RPDS!"
As one of them turned a hard bank to the west - to the direction of Lorathia, their RPDS (Rapid Point Defense System) opened up at the incoming cruise missiles. With great fury, these guns fired at missile after missile and unloaded thousands after thousands of red hot 20 mm in a matter of seconds.
The crew held their breath as dozens after dozens of missiles were wiped out, detonations filling the air - and then, the first ship detonated.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Water furiously flooded the hull breach, as the lead ship capsized and detonated its magazine in a brilliant explosion that lit up the dark seas. Men, young men who tried everything to escape, died as all hands were lost.
More detonations followed as more cruise missiles scored their hits. The fires grew as blood filled the dark, stormy waters. It was but a silent, watery grave of three lone ships unable to prevent a surprise attack.
…
Alfast Joint Naval Base
VACCOM (Vaeyox Continental Command) Headquarters
5th Orlish Fleet Home Port
1st Lorathian Fleet Home Port
Kingdom of Lorathia
Alfast was a quaint and silent small city on North Lorathia, its streets filled with much calm as the rain continued to pour down on the island nation.
Today's school hours had just ended for two young girls, who stopped under the shelter of a random convenience store on the side of a road that overlooked the coast and the nearby, sprawling naval base.
"I wonder when this stupid rain will stop."
"Eh, momma said it would not stop for a while."
"Ugh, it's just so unpleasant. It's getting lousy up here, always raining and stuff…"
Indeed, the two young ladies had disappointment and dissatisfaction painted upon their childish faces as they watched the downpour.
In minutes, another childish complaint came from one of them.
"My stupid brother is taking too long again. He said his car would be here to pick us up. It's been 15 minutes already!"
The other girl covered her mouth as she laughed.
"He's a lousy guy, isn't he?"
"Boys, they're so stupid."
She rolled her eyes as the other girl continued to chuckle. Their little time continued as the sounds of raindrops were interrupted by the loud air raid sirens of the city.
A wave of anxiety filled the two, as the familiar siren that had plagued their nights during the Great War sounded once more.
"...What?"
"Elisse! We need to hide!"
"I-it's that sound again…"
The two of them had their eyes widened as loud and powerful explosions blanketed the port. Gunfire and missiles rose from the port, and the two ran and cried over the downpour, as the sounds of warfare once more triggered their instinctual fear of anything war-related.
On the naval base itself, troops and men scrambled out of the buildings and they rushed to occupy their defensive positions, the sound of sirens blaring as they did.
"Move! Move! All of you, get those AA mounts up and running!" Barked the officers as many land-based RPDS opened fire at the missiles that streaked through their base.
Missiles, one after another slammed upon fuel storage facilities, hangars, depots, and the airfields that lined upon the base. Ground-based air defense systems opened up in vain as both surface-to-air missiles and point-defense guns filled the skies with lead.
But what made it worse was when Larissan jets finally showed up atop the skies. Guided bombs dropped again and again at both naval ships and ground-based installations, its devastating yields raining havoc upon the Ivory Alliance's most prized base in Vaeyox.
On the harbor, aircraft carriers ONS Leifwall and LRN Serene burned as they listed. Secondary explosions lined up and detonated below their decks, as men of all kinds jumped to escape the burning wrecks.
<
Three bombs detonated at the control tower of one of the largest airstrips, as RPDS guns beside it turned red hot. The continued dispersal of lead at the hornets high above took a toll on its materials.
But the Orlish Airforce won't back down without much fight. Dozens after dozens of LF-12 Zappers took off as the hangars around them turned into burning wrecks. Their air-to-air missiles zoomed toward the Larissan planes as they played the turkey shoot atop the base - while the turkeys began to fire back.
Balls of flame fell one after another from the sky as an aerial dogfight developed, missiles and gunfire being exchanged in frantic close-ups rarely seen in modern air warfare.
But as the hours of the attack dragged on, it seemed as if the defeat was utterly in the Ivory Alliance's hand. The base was up aflame, as ships, big and small burned and sank.
And as the bodies of the dead and wounded were recovered by wide-eyed first responders, it was clear to all that was present. The Great War had resumed.