OFS Kestrel II — June 15, 2019/1639
It is now time to take on the capital of Louria itself! The Osean battle plan will once again rely on our air force to eliminate any assets that the Lourians may attempt to use against our naval and ground forces.
The LRSSG will first secure air superiority over the city of Jin-Hark, before moving to neutralise AA and ground units defending the city walls. Ground forces advancing from Gim will proceed to break through the eastern gate and secure all administrative buildings in the capital, while a team of special forces will infiltrate the castle itself and capture the King, whom we believe to be the mastermind behind the invasion of Qua-Toyne.
The technological disparity between us and the Lourians remains as wide as ever, but our scientists believe that the enemy’s magic capabilities could cause significant damage to your planes. Be wary at all times, and do not underestimate these people—for them, the survival of their kingdom and their way of life is at stake…
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Jin-Hark — June 16, 2019/1639
“This is Long Caster to all callsigns: you are cleared to engage the Lourians. Pick whatever dish you like, cause we definitely aren’t going to pay for it!”
“Copy that, Long Caster. Strider and Cyclops Squadrons, start dining! Engage at will!”
Húxiān grinned savagely as her commanding officer quickly swooped down towards the harbour. “Got several Lourian vessels down at the harbour—looks like three schooners and two wyvern carriers trying to flee. Hey, you got any LASMs by any chance?”
“Way ahead of you, Cyclops Four. Use your lasers to take out anything that survives the blast.”
“Wilco—firing…now!”
Two anti-ship missiles burst through the wooden surfaces of the ill-fated wyvern carriers, setting off a chain reaction of magical, biological, and chemical explosions that almost instantly consumed the mouth of the harbour in a giant, bright emerald fireball. Wiseman and Húxiān veered sharply upwards to dodge their fiery handiwork, admiring their results while already locking on to their next targets: a pair of ballistas being hauled towards the piers, their crew already starting to run away from their would-be executioners.
In a matter of minutes, a series of explosions had rocked the city surrounding the castle, the King residing within no doubt observing his armies collapse all around him. To the north, several Chinooks buzzed noisily through the smoke and flames, its passengers seeking a quick end to the conflict with their target in their custody.
“Long Caster, this is Basilisk Team. We’re approaching the AO and are preparing to deploy into the designated LZ; are we cleared to land?”
“Affirmative—all enemy AA and ground units are either combat ineffective or busy elsewhere. You’re cleared to begin operations, but keep an eye out for—”
Húxiān’s eyes widened. “Magic! They’re shooting magic at the helicopters like AA rounds! Evade!”
“Watch out for the magic yourself, Húxiān! There’s a glowing ball on your six, closing fast!”
“What? Shit, evading!”
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Basilisk Actual groaned as he slowly pulled himself out of the wreckage of the downed Chinook. “That’s definitely one for the books…is everyone alright?”
“I think we got a few injured near the front, boss!”
“Basilisk Team, report! This is Long Caster—what is your status? Are you alive?”
Quickly reaching for the radio of a nearby Osean, Basilisk Actual barked angrily into the receiver. “We’re alive, but we have casualties in need of medevac! Squads One to Five, what’s your status?”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“We managed to dodge most of the magic that they sent, but Three was also hit! They were able to make an emergency landing, but they’re also taking contacts from the local garrisons! What are your orders, boss?”
“Waste the magic bastards and then proceed with the mission! We’ll try and hold out here until the regular forces arrive!”
“Wilco, out!”
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“Got a visual on the mages—they’re at the top of the keep, Boss! Are we cleared to hit them?”
“Negative, negative, Lanza—any bombs or missiles we drop on them may bring down the castle itself and bury our HVT. Use your guns or lasers to take them out!”
“Already on it,” Cyclops Four spat out, slowly manoeuvring to face her reticle at the keep itself, “firing at their shields!”
“Oh, no—”
“Jaeger, what is it?”
“Wiseman, the GPB we dropped on the gate ended up blocking the path for our forces to enter the city. They’re going to have to go around while their engineers remove the rubble.”
Long Caster’s voice quickly responded. “Copy. Your new objectives are as follows: eliminate any mages that try to fire on the remaining Chinooks, destroy the northern gate without causing too much damage, and take out any ground targets that Basilisk Actual designates for us.”
“Copy. You heard him, people—let’s fly!”
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“Basilisk 1-4 to Long Caster; we’ve entered the throne room, but the HVT is nowhere in sight. We’ve got two civilians in here, though—females, by the looks of it.”
“What? We haven’t seen any carriages or thermal signatures to suggest the King might have left the castle—”
“Shit, behind the pillars! Open fire!”
A dozen figures clad in silver sprung out at the operatives, immediately grappling with several Oseans for their rifles or attempting to stab them—the other soldiers were quick to respond, a series of sharp staccatos swiftly bringing down their assailants.
“Bayonets, bayonets—get your hands off my gun! Sand, pop him!”
“Forward! Forward! Glory to Louria!”
“No nades, no nades! We might hit the women!”
“Do not let these Oseans break through—”
“Oh, shut the fuck up!”
With a final gurgle, the last of the Royal Guards collapsed onto the castle floor in a pool of their own blood. Basilisk 1-4 sighed as his men swept the throne room once more for any unpleasant surprise—he glanced towards the two women, who were now cowering behind the throne in sheer terror.
“Somebody calm those civvies down and ask them where the hell King Hark is!”
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Osean Broadcast Corporation — June 17, 2019/1639
In a public statement this morning, the Osean Department of Defense confirmed that the capital of the Kingdom of Louria, Jin-Hark, was captured by IUN ground and naval forces in a fierce battle yesterday afternoon. King Hark Louria XXXIV was also captured and is now in IUN custody, and he will likely face trial for the atrocities committed by his armies in Gim and western Qua-Toyne.
IUN forces faced fierce resistance from the Lourian defenders, and strong magical attacks were able to disable vehicles and cause severe injuries amongst the Osean and Selatapuran forces—however, elements of the Osean Air Defense Force were able to destroy the enemy’s mages before they could cause any more disruption to the general advance. With most of Louria’s armed forces either captured or destroyed, Vice Chairman Edwards of the Osean Defence Forces’ Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that the Kingdom’s capitulation appears to be all but inevitable at this point:
“We call upon all remaining soldiers within the Kingdom of Louria to lay down their weapons and cease fighting; we will treat them with the dignity and respect afforded to all prisoners of war under international law. We believe that the process of negotiating peace with the Kingdom will be as swift and successful as this offensive proved to be, and we are looking forward to working with the Lourian government towards reconstruction and reparations towards the peoples that they wronged—”
In other news, the OFS Admiral Andersen arrived at the Parpaldian Empire’s capital of Eshirant yesterday, where Ambassador Harling was received by Director Kaios of the Departments of Foreign Affairs. Despite several minor misunderstandings, the two parties were able to successfully smooth over their differences; they were later joined by Lady Remille of the Royal Family, who welcomed the Ambassador to the Empire and formally opened diplomatic relations with the Osean Federation.
A separate diplomatic mission also made contact with the Kingdom of Altaras, an island nation to the south of Parpaldia and east of Louria. A formal invitation was extended to both Parpaldia and Altaras to send delegates as non-member observers to the IUN; both offers were quickly accepted by the two nations, and their representatives will be accompanying the respective Osean delegations back to Oured.
The Kingdom of Fenn has announced that its upcoming naval festival will be taking place as planned; in an official statement, the Fennese government confirmed that it would take measures to ensure that—