OFS Kestrel II — May 3, 2019/1639
All right, folks—it’s finally time for our forces to liberate the town of Gim from the Lourians! Airborne units are already en route to the city and will begin deploying into the town’s outskirts in about an hour, so I expect you to be in the air as soon as this briefing ends.
With the destruction of the Lourian fleet at sea and their advance force halted at Ejey by our helicopter divisions, the garrison at Gim is the only remaining military force within Qua-Toyne itself—once that has been dealt with, we will be able to focus on Jin-Hark and bring about a swift end to the conflict. Our primary objectives in the upcoming battle will be to secure air superiority and eliminate all enemy weaponry that could be used to hinder our ground forces’ advance. As per our previous sortie, the sheer disparity should mean that any resistance will be quickly eliminated.
Once the DZ for our paratroopers has been secured, the OGDF will deploy and move into the town itself—they will likely begin marking targets of interest for us to take out, but at that point they will likely already be able to handle all remaining threats on their own.
It’s a fairly simple operation—I’d be surprised if we actually take any losses. Any questions?
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“This is AWACS Skykeeper to Golem and Mage Squadrons—you’re all cleared to engage the Lourians.”
“Copy that.” Knocker’s eyes panned towards the field before the smoldering ruins of Gim, observing the still-visible carnage below. “Damn, looks like we couldn't have arrived any sooner.”
“I think I can see bodies on the streets! Are those civilians?!”
“There’s no point worrying about them, Brownie,” Mage One sighed. “At least we’re here now, and we can put a stop to all this. Golem One, how are we dealing with this?”
“Right. We’ll establish air superiority first by eliminating all their wyverns, hopefully before they can deploy and attempt to attack us. Head for the stables and take out everything in it—”
“And off Trigger goes again!”
“—eh, screw it. Clown, get your ass moving!”
“What the hell do you think I’m doing?! Trigger, wait for me, you idiot!”
Gunning hard on the engines, Mage Squadron’s most insane member shot forward on his Mirage and almost immediately began spewing missiles and machine gun fire at the wyverns parked before the makeshift barracks—in a majestic swoop, Mage Two proceeded to reduce almost every one of Louria’s prized beasts into gibs of wyvern flesh. Clown soared in not too long after, a well-aimed GPB mopping up the remaining human survivors within the vicinity.
“Mage One here: all enemy air assets eliminated. Moving to deal with the remaining ground defenses.”
Knocker nodded in acknowledgement. “Copy. Golem Squadron, let’s deal with the defenses facing our advance; Mage Squadron, head to the ones facing the border. We might actually be well ahead of schedule.”
“In other words, Trigger needs to calm down?”
“…yeah, sure, why not?”
Clearing up whatever defenses the Lourians hadn’t already destroyed in their efforts to capture the city was a simple task of merely lining up the reticle with the designated targets and releasing the payload—without any radar targets to lock on to, the IUN fighters brought along simple bombs and rockets. Each projectile quickly found their mark, a series of bright flashes marking another ballista eliminated or a defensive tower collapsing into the panicking soldiers below. In a few minutes, the best pilots of the Old World had successfully rendered almost every asset capable of hindering the Osean advance ineffective, no better than the ruined buildings they were meant to defend.
“Sky Keeper to Golem One, we’ve received confirmation that the paratroopers assigned to liberate Gim will be arriving shortly. Is the drop zone clear, over?”
“Affirmative, the DZ is clear and all major enemy defenses are no factor! Tell our boys the path is clear!”
“Roger, I’ll spread the word. Great job out there; remain at the AO for further tasking, but I’m not expecting anything else to happen—”
“This is the Osean 5th Paratrooper Division, ready to deploy! You ready for some action, boys?!”
“Locked and loaded! Woohoo!”
“All right, we’re over the DZ! Go, go, go!”
As the carrier planes soared over the field, several dozen armored vehicles along with scores of infantry shot out of their holds and glided gracefully downwards as their parachutes quickly deployed. From far above, the IUN pilots could see the numerous inhabitants and soldiers within Gim gawking at the otherworldly sight—
“Wait, what the hell is that—”
“Watch out for whatever that is!”
Out of nowhere, a glowing ball of blue light smashed onto a tank still in the process of floating to the ground, exploding in a blinding flash. Knocker winced and raised his hand to block the blast, his plane complaining even as he maneuvered to avoid any possible shockwave.
“What was that?! Where the hell did that come from?!”
“Hey, are those guys alright?”
“Affirmative! There’s a huge scorch mark on the side of the tank and our electronics are fried, but we’re still alive!”
The squadron leader snarled, quickly switching his radio back on. “Golem One to Sky Keeper, be advised: we may have magic in play amongst the Lourian defenders. Attacks may have EMP capabilities, but we’re unsure as to what extent are they capable of further damaging the Osean ground units.”
“Copy, I’m relaying this information to HQ; try and locate where the attacks are coming from. The mission remains the same: stop anyone in Gim from attacking our forces!”
“That’s our cue. Brownie, you see anything?”
“Negative.” Golem Two looked at the smoking town below. “I’d guess any magicians would likely be deploying from a high vantage point or a defensive position we haven’t struck yet—hang on, another blue ball just emerged from the citadel, over at the main keep!”
“Crap, it’s headed towards the tanks again! Somebody stop that magic shit before it does any more damage!”
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“It’s no use, my missiles and guns aren’t doing anything!” Clown angrily barked onto the mic, “Trigger, try and see if you have any luck—”
“Direct hit on another tank!”
“Fuck! Trigger, you still have one of those GPBs? Blow that damn keep to kingdom come!”
A lone Mirage shot downwards from the sky towards the keep, where a single man in robes could be faintly seen raising a staff in the air. From the very tip, another blue ball could be seen coalescing and rapidly expanding—and as Knocker watched, it promptly shot forward, this time avoiding the landing tanks and instead soaring upwards to meet Mage Two.
“Trigger, incoming! Evade, dammit!”
Through some inhuman feat of piloting, Mage Two’s fighter performed a barrel roll at literally the last second—the magical ball of pure energy shot right past the Mirage but slowly began to circle back around, slowly inching its way back to Trigger.
Sky Keeper’s voice burst through the radio. “Mage Two, Fox Three! Now evade that damn magic beam!”
“Trigger,” Clown spoke up, “if that magic works like a homing missile, you might be able to confuse it with your countermeasures. If that doesn’t work, then maybe you could try making it fly into a wall at the last second—use one of the ruins to avoid civilian casualties.”
“Tracking the GPB Trigger dropped,” Brownie nervously observed, “and it’s…impact! Direct hit!”
“Affirmative, enemy mage splashed. Nice one, Trigger—now use those countermeasures!”
“He’s dumping flares!”
A series of bright chaff and debris shot out from the rear of Trigger’s Mirage, the bright heat signatures causing the bolt to swivel and swirl uncontrollably in its course. The plane arched and pointed upwards as its trajectory saw it curve just above the ground, sending a blast of supersonic air billowing through the surrounding neighborhood—Trigger soared upwards just as the bolt smacked onto the street below, exploding in yet another blinding burst of light.
“Yeah, good work, Mage Two! Looks like that takes care of all the remaining defenders!”
“OGDF forces calling HQ, be advised: we’ve landed on the DZ and repaired the damaged vics; we are now en route to the city gates! Hey, Steve, play that thing on the loudspeaker, will you?”
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To all Lourian soldiers in the town of Gim:
This is a message representing the Osean Ground Defense Forces on behalf of the International United Nations and the Qua-Toyne Principality. We are here to officially expel all Lourian forces from Gim and all other territories of the Qua-Toyne Principality currently under illegal occupation by the Kingdom of Louria. We have successfully eliminated all ground and aerial assets capable of damaging our equipment, and our technology is capable of rendering any attempts at resisting futile; we therefore call on all remaining forces within Louria to surrender immediately to our advancing forces.
All those who surrender will be treated in accordance with international law, and will be returned to the Kingdom of Louria following the direct resolution of the ongoing conflict. In order to signal your intent to surrender, please wave a white flag above your current position and lay down your weapons—your lives will be spared, and you will not be harmed in any way. This offer will remain open, but any attempt to resist or retaliate will be met in kind.
I say again, this is a message representing the Osean Ground Defense Forces…
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Bright Hill — May 5, 2019/1639
Taken from government records detailing a meeting between Osean and IUN government officials regarding the future of both the Osean Federation and the International United Nations in the world of Elysia.
Present at the meeting were all major leadership members of both organizations, along with Ambassador Anders on behalf of the Osean Foreign Department and Captain Kei Nagase on behalf of the Osean Aeronautics and Space Association. Captain Nagase participated via videolink due to her duties aboard Pilgrim One, which as of writing was in orbit over Elysia performing reconnaissance and observation on several continents west of Rodenius and Philades.
During the meeting, several points were raised regarding the current situation faced by both entities:
* The ongoing efforts by the IUN-PKF to resolve the conflict in Qua-Toyne and Louria
* The use of magic by Lourian forces during the liberation of Gim
* The future of Pilgrim One and its crew in light of its original objective being rendered moot
* The limbo status of non-Osean and non-Selatapuran individuals in Osea during the Transference
* The ongoing integration of the recently-annexed City of Selatapura into the Osean Federation; on a related note, concerns expressed by Qua-Toyne and Quila regarding the purpose of the IUN following the aforementioned annexation
* The formal requests by the the Kingdom of Fenn, the Kingdom of Calamique, and the Kingdom of Gahara to send observers to the IUN following the opening of diplomatic relations and trade with the aforementioned nations
* A formal request from the Kingdom of Topa to be admitted into the IUN almost immediately after diplomatic relations were established
* Reports of nations with significant levels of industrialisation and technology beyond the Philades continent
* Confirmed reports of a “Parpaldian Empire” within the Philades Continent itself, believed to have near-homogenous control of the entire region and to be highly aggressive and imperialistic in their approach to foreign policy
* Rumors of an “Ancient Sorcerous Empire” or “Ravernal Empire” capable of wielding magic and technology arguably on par with the Belkan Federation prior to the War of 1995
* The confirmed presence of [REDACTED] within the Osean Federation prior to the Transference, and the possible presence of other individuals of interest within the Federation itself
Information gathered by a mixture of intelligence operatives, observers within both the OSDF and the IUN-PKF, diplomats and embassies of the Osean Foreign Department, and scientific data from Pilgrim One was gathered and deliberated over in order to devise a long-term foreign policy for both the Osean Federation and the IUN. Several members emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and not succumbing to the expansionist policies it pursued prior to the War of 1995 and the Ulysses Disaster, while others argued that the highly aggressive behavior of the nation-states within Elysia mandated a strong military in order to dissuade would-be rivals from interfering with Osea and its partners. A variety of proposals were brought up and were heavily scrutinized by those present, before several were agreed upon by general consensus:
* To continue plans to establish a constitutional monarchy within the Kingdom of Louria after the successful conclusion of the conflict in Qua-Toyne, and to offer IUN non-member observer status as part of any future peace agreement
* To admit the Kingdoms of Fenn, Calamique, and Gahara as non-member observers to the IUN and to send observers to the Kingdom of Topa to examine the ongoing situation and determine why it has requested immediate membership
* To order Pilgrim One to return to Selatapura via the ISEV and begin construction on a second Pilgrim craft, its purpose being to continue its predecessor’s current mission of observing and studying Elysia and its surrounding solar neighborhood
* To complete the ongoing census in order to establish a full picture of the current population of the Osean Federation and to identify and provide Osean citizenship to all non-Oseans and non-Selatapurans within the nation
* To begin research into the Ravernal Empire in order to determine the full extent of its technological capabilities
* To begin research into the potential of magic and psionic energy within the Osean Federation and its armed forces
* To begin mass production of the Advanced Dominance Fighter series and begin testing of the Connection For Flight Interface on OADF fighters
* To begin looking into a possible expansion of Arsenal Birds’ range beyond their current limit of 1,500 kilometers as well as its offensive capabilities
* To commission a feasibility study on constructing a second Arkbird for diplomatic and military purposes beyond Rodenius and Philades
* To deploy the OFS Admiral Andersen along with a sizeable naval and aerial escort to the Parpaldian capital of Eshirant in order to formally establish diplomatic relations with the Parpaldian Empire
All legislation and motions pertaining to the policies adopted by the Osean Federation and the IUN as a result of the meeting are to be introduced to their respective departments within twenty-four hours of the meeting’s conclusion.