Star People

Chapter 24

Atlans, Naran, Free Land and Zedan

Jan 12^th, 13 AE…

On board the Naran carrier Free Will, Admiral Radel Errons nodded as he watched from the bridge. Several Sky Blade II fighters were being prepped for launch. Despite having new and powerful, turbine-driven engines, the upgraded and heavier aircraft needed something extra to get them flying. They couldn’t rely on turning into the wind and hope to gain enough airspeed. Therefore they would be using new technologies and techniques that were given to them by Free Land.

The catapult launch.

 Captain Visteria nodded as she gave the ground crews the ready signal as her fighter was being locked into place on the steam catapult launcher. Her engine began building up as panels were raised up behind them. A few seconds later, the pressure reached optimal levels and was released. The Sky Blade II fighter rocketed down the runway at over 150 knots. It was able to achieve enough airspeed to achieve lift as the magic jet shot up into the skies.

The Sky Blade II resembled the F9F Panther jet of Earth and was capable of 575 mph. It was armed with four 20mm cannons mounted on the nose. Like their allies from Atlans, they were also armed with the new armor-piercing rockets. However, on the downside, due to their new, more powerful engines, the upgraded jets were very fuel hungry and had a shorter flight time of about 2 hours. Furthermore, the pilots were still getting acclimated to the higher speeds and altitudes of the new fighters. This would be their first trial-by-fire.

Remember to attack from above. Use your speed and altitude to your advantage. Do not be lured into a turning fight with slower opponents. If the position is not favorable, do not hesitate to use your speed to break away and re-engage when it is favorable. Watch your wingmen’s backs and they will watch yours.

In her mind, she went over and over on all the tactics she had learned from the simulator and her mock battles with the Star Alliance. The pilots of Free Land were well-versed in terms of fighter combat and had pointed out the deficiencies of the Naran pilots’ training. Naran pilots tended to go headlong into combat and relied on the supposed superiority of their aircraft. The main idea was to force your enemy to fight on your terms, not try to fight on his. When a Free Land pilot single-handedly defeated a squadron of five Sky Blades using only a P-40 Warhawk, it was apparent that Naran pilots needed to learn the fundamentals of dogfighting. Advanced fightercraft still meant nothing if the pilot didn’t use their strengths and their skills to their fullest potential.

After months of training and hundreds of combat simulations, Visteria and her wingmen were now competent fighter pilots. They weren’t on the same level as the Star Hawk and Byatta squadrons, but they could hold their own. Now they were on their way to intercept a flight of Zedan fighters and bombers on their way to attack the Bisra mainland.

A few minutes after the Sky Blade II fighters were launched; several squadrons of P-51 Mustangs and P-40 Warhawks were put into the skies from their own carriers from the Kingdom of Atlans. They would intercept any enemy aircraft that managed to get past the Naran magic jets. They would be the second line of defense.

Leading a squadron of P-51 Mustangs, Captain Berin Vask was feeling much tension as his plane reached its operational altitude of 40,000 feet. This would be the first major operation for the Mustangs and Warhawks as they would face off against the best pilots of the Zedan Empire.

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One hour later…

Some fifty miles east from their invasion fleet, the two hundred Zedan dive bombers and torpedo bombers were escorted by three hundred fighters. The pilots were supremely confident in the imminent success of their mission, though they had not yet received word of the utter failure of the Merdov invasion armada and the loss of their greatest commander, Erstal Rommett.

In his own fighter, Major Lero Sarx was already imagining the glory as he led his squadrons toward their primary targets. The Zedan scouts and radar had picked up the Atlans fleet and they had been launched to sink it. However, what they didn’t know was that the Kingdom of Naran had already sent a fleet to intercept them and that their new Sky Blade II fighters were flying toward them.

Ten minutes into the flight, the lead Zedan planes radioed that they had spotted several dozens of objects heading toward them at high speed and at a greater altitude. The pilots began to chatter as they got their first glimpse of jets.

“What the Hell are those?!”

“They’re moving so fast!”

“They don’t have any propellers!”

“Look out! They’re attacking!”

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At an altitude of about 48,000 feet, Visteria nodded as she saw the Zedan aircraft below and signaled to her squadrons to begin their attacks. They only had enough fuel for a few minutes of combat and needed to take out as many of the enemy as they could.

“ATTACK!”

As soon as she gave the order, over fifty Sky Blade II fighters began diving toward their opponents with cannons blazing. This was a tactic used in World War II known as ‘boom and zoom.’ They would use their superior speed and altitude to make slashing strikes against their opponents. Almost immediately, the Zedan aircraft broke formation to evade, but a few were hit and sent crashing toward the ocean, trailing flames and smoke. At the bottom of their dives, the jets used their momentum to begin climbing up again.

After peppering one of the lead Zedan planes with 20 mm rounds, Visteria pulled back on the control stick to begin climbing again. She looked over to her right and saw one of her wingmen foolishly turning toward another Zedan fighter.

“Vartz, don’t get into a turning fight with the enemy!” She warned as she had to pitch her jet over to the side to come to his rescue.

The Zedan fighter that had been targeted was able to turn tighter and get a bead on his attacker. He began firing his machine guns at a very high angle. The Naran plane received several rounds into its fuselage, near the cockpit. As his jet began to trail smoke, the Zedan fighter was about to claim his victory when it was suddenly struck by cannon rounds, causing it to explode.

The wounded Sky Blade II climbed back to altitude as its pilot radioed his thanks to his savior. The elf female nodded as she escorted her wingman back towards friendly skies. The other jet fighters made a few more passes and took down several more Zedan aircraft, including a dozen bombers. After that short engagement, the pilots had to break off the attack as they had barely enough fuel to get back to their carrier. Within two minutes, they had shot down 80 planes with no losses.

For the first combat mission of the Sky Blade II fighters, it was considered as a success. Now it was up to the Kingdom of Atlans and Free Land to take care of the rest.

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As the Naran jets broke off their attack and streaked off into the distance, Lero breathed a sigh of relief. He had heard rumors of the enemy jets and had thought it to be nothing but fantasy until he saw them for himself. They had been fast, murderously fast and quite agile. And those cannons were no joke. A single burst was enough to shred a fighter or bomber in an instant.

He could only assume that the jets had broken off their attacks due to running low on fuel. That was one of the main reasons why the Zedan Empire had stopped their own plans on creating jets. The project proved to be too costly and the early prototypes were so fuel-hungry that sustaining them during wartime was just not feasible. A high fuel consumption rate meant that jets could only stay in the air for a half-hour at most and had an extremely short range. Their mainstay fighter, the Rakerat, could fly for up to three hours and had great range. In the end, the jet project was scrapped and deemed as unworkable. And after receiving a report that one jet had been damaged during the assault, Lero was convinced that the Naran planes weren’t invincible and could be shot down.

Though their forces had been savaged by the enemy jets, they were still considered as formidable as they re-organized themselves and continued on towards their target.

However, another wave of enemy planes was headed for them. And though they weren’t as advanced as the Naran jets, they still represented a huge step forward in aviation technology for the Kingdom of Atlans.

The P-51 Mustangs and the P-40 Warhawks.

The Mustangs were considered to be the epitome of the propeller-driven fighter planes. It had excellent speed, range, agility and firepower. The Warhawks were not as advanced but were reliable and could take a lot of punishment. And thanks to the flight simulators loaned to them by Free Land, the Atlans pilots were capable and well-trained.

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Fifteen minutes later…

Major Samso Vilga nodded as he and his wingmen sighted the approaching Zedan formation. They were coming in low to minimize radar detection. Captain Vask signaled that he and his men had also sighted the enemy. They would split their forces into groups. One would go after the dive bombers, while the other would destroy the torpedo planes.

“DROP TANKS AND ATTACK!”

At that command, every Atlans planes dropped their auxiliary fuel tanks. Almost immediately, the majority of the P-51 Mustangs went after the dive bombers. The remaining Mustangs and all of the Warhawks focused on the torpedo bombers. Both groups also engaged the Zedan fighters that protected bombers. It soon became a huge, swirling melee as the two sides clashed.

Putting his fighter into a barrel roll, Vask lined up the enemy fighter in his gunsight and pulled the trigger. Fifty-caliber bullets hammered away at the Zedan fighter’s fuselage and tail, causing it to emit sparks and smoke. A few seconds later, it briefly exploded into a small, reddish-orange ball of flame before dropping toward the ocean.

“Scratch one.” Vask declared. The Mustang’s performance was beyond anything that his old biplane was capable of and the Atlans ace was extremely thankful to Free Land.

The Warhawks were no joke either. Even though they lacked the high-altitude performance of the Mustangs, they were still considered as formidable at lower altitudes. Since the Rakerat pilots had to protect the slower-moving torpedo bombers, they had no choice but to engage the Warhawks at lower altitudes.

Lieutenant Haya Belara made a banking turn to starboard and let loose with a short burst with her machine guns. The Zedan torpedo bomber exploded as the rounds ignited the fuel tanks and the torpedo beneath it. Just as she flew past her latest kill, her plane shook violently as a cannon shell exploded near the port wing. Thanks to the Warhawk’s innate toughness, she was able to keep on flying, despite the hole near the wing’s tip.

She made another turn toward her attacker, and saw that a Zedan fighter was diving right at her. Learning from her time in the simulator, she determined that the best dogfighting tactic was to meet her opponent head-on. Both planes began exchanging fire.

The Rakerat threw 7.62 mm bullets and 20 mm cannon shells. Haya answered back with her six, fifty-caliber machine guns. Both planes started to take hits. Both planes had armor protecting their vital areas. However, there were a few key differences. The Warhawks and Mustangs had recently been upgraded with two new features, courtesy of the Star Alliance. The first was advanced lead-computing gunsight technology. As a result, more of Haya’s rounds were landing on target, even at the furthest range of her guns. And the second advancement was the introduction of lighter, stronger polymers, which made the armor plating of the Warhawks and Mustangs lighter and stronger than ordinary steel plates.

 As a result of that slugging match, the Rakerat blew up first. After her second kill, Haya scanned the skies for her next target.

However, despite the extra advancements for the Atlans pilots, the two forces were more or less evenly matched. Pilots from both sides fell in the fray. No quarter was given and none were taken. And the Zedan pilots had a much longer history of aerial combat than Atlans. At the moment, they had the advantage in numbers. The problem was that the Zedan fighters had to defend the bombers, while the Atlans planes could shoot at either one. So at that moment, it was basically a stalemate.

The stalemate ended when a Zedan pilot screamed out.

“LOOK OUT! THOSE JETS ARE BACK!”

However, these fast-moving craft weren’t the Naran jets. These were Sky Hawks and Byattas from the Star Alliance carrier Lexington.

In his starfighter, Commander Daniel Craights nodded as he signaled to the other Star Alliance pilots.

“Here comes the cavalry! Shoot down anything with a Zedan symbol!”

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On board the carrier Lexington, Admiral Silana nodded as she watched the tactical display on the bridge’s main holo-viewer.

After arriving at the intercept point, the Kyteeri admiral immediately ordered half of her fighter compliment to launch and aid the Atlans Army Air Corps. Though she didn’t doubt the ability of the Atlans pilots, it would be best to sweep the skies clear of the Zedan forces before moving on to destroy the Bisra Invasion Fleet. The quicker they dealt with this threat, the sooner they could focus on the invasion of the Zedan continent.

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The Star Hawks immediately scattered and began aiding the Mustangs, while the Byattas went to support the Warhawks. Many of the enemy pilots were shocked and horrified, at how much faster and better armed these newcomers were. The Naran jets didn’t even compare. Zedan planes began to fall at an alarming rate under kinetic rounds, particle beams and positron cannon fire.

At that point, the Zedan forces tried to retreat, but the Free Land pilots wouldn’t let them. They knew that letting even one Zedan pilot return would only mean that there would be one more enemy pilot to deal with later on. Some Zedan pilots were able to bail out and land in the oceans. They would be eventually picked up by Atlans forces and spend the rest of the war as POWs.

In just under three minutes, it was over. The last of the dive and torpedo bombers were sent crashing into the ocean. The Zedan fighters had been annihilated. There just wasn’t anything the Zedan forces could do against these fast, agile and powerful newcomers. Aside from a handful of pilots and crew that managed to bail out, the entire strike force had been destroyed.

On the Atlans side, they had lost 10% of their pilots, but the casualty levels were far lower than the Atlans high command were expecting, had they kept on using the outdated biplanes. For them, it was a clear victory and proof that Atlans could stand up to Zedan. Yes, Free Land had aided them, but the Kingdom of Atlans, along with the Kingdom of Naran, were now nations that the Zedan could not dismiss as inferior.

Now all eyes turned toward the Bisra Invasion Fleet and waited for it to make the next move.

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Aboard the main flagship, the battleship Kytoria, Admiral Karlon Dorna received some very disturbing news. First of all, he had lost all radar and radio contact with the strike force he had sent out to sink the Atlans and Naran combined fleets. Second, he had just been informed that the Merdov Invasion Fleet had failed.

General Rommett had died in a battleship duel with a Free Land vessel and all remaining ships of the fleet had surrendered. More than fifteen hundred ships had been defeated. Losing that many ships by itself would be considered as a catastrophic failure and would be more than enough reason to turn back. The loss of their best military mind also factored into the consideration to retreat.

However, there were consequences in turning back and the admiral knew it. The Grand Leader would not accept anything short of victory or death. And he would execute all the higher officers and their families, should they return in disgraceful defeat. So he couldn’t turn back and moving forward was the only other option.

But there were other things to consider. It was now confirmed that some nations had jets, the experimental aircraft that the Zedan military had given up on. Furthermore, they also had advanced, monoplanes, when the reports had initially stated that they were limited to antiquated biplanes and riding flying beasts. They also had more advanced warships. And finally, there was the wild card nation, Free Land; in which they knew next to nothing about their technology or military might.

Certainly there were fantastical reports of flying ships, fighters that exceeded jets, guided munitions and giant walking soldiers. These of course were initially dismissed as nothing but rumors. However, with the confirmed loss of the Merdov invasion fleet, the admiral had no choice but admit that there might have been some truth to those reports. And there were no reports whatsoever of damage or loss of life to the Free Land forces. To lose over fifteen hundred ships and not to cause a single casualty among the Free Landers was something he couldn’t ignore.

Now the big question was, what was he going to do now? With virtually no intelligence on the weapons and technology of Free Land, he was basically shooting blind. And the technology of the other nations was more advanced than the initial reports had described. It was already disconcerting to learn that the enemy had propeller-driven monoplanes as advanced as Zedan’s, but to have working jet fighters was even more distressing.

As he pondered on his next tactic, his radar operator cried out. A large number of unidentified craft was fast approaching the invasion fleet’s position. It seemed that the enemy had grown tired of waiting for him to make a decision and had opted to pre-empt him.

He immediately began shouting out orders for all ships to ready their anti-aircraft defenses. He also ordered his carriers to begin launching all available fighters to intercept the attacking wave. However, one minute after giving that order, one carrier suddenly exploded. The carrier Bastica broke in half, and quickly sank, causing the other ships nearby to go into a panic. Where had that attack come from? Then more ships began to explode and sink. Some crewmembers saw large, metal arrows streaking through the sky and that they seem to home in on their targets.

Admiral Dorna realized that these must be the guided munitions he had heard about. They appeared to look like rockets, but he couldn’t fathom how they were able to guide themselves toward a moving target. Despite the heavy amount of flak and shells being launched at them, the guided rockets were too fast and the ships couldn’t maneuver fast enough to evade them. Much to the horror of all those who were watching, ship after ship were either blown to bits, sinking or were damaged far too much to be considered combat-worthy.

After a full minute of being pounded by proton anti-ship missiles, almost half of the Bisra invasion force had been decimated. And their ordeal was not over yet. The Free Land fighters came into view. Some were sleek, arrowhead shapes, while others were like flying manta rays. And like the missiles before them, they were too fast for the anti-aircraft guns to shoot down.

Then the carnage started anew as Star Hawks and Byattas dived down on their targets.

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“Battleship Regalo has been hit!”

“The carriers Shirdor, Venkat, and Bargos are on fire!”

“The destroyer Albara has been sunk!”

“The order to abandon ship has been given on the Carriga!”

“Battleships Vagato and Shirator can no longer move!”

“The cruiser Paragor has been destroyed!”

“Three more carriers have been destroyed! We can’t stop them!”

The bridge of the Kytoria was flooded with casualty and damage reports as ships were being massacred wholesale. All of their weapons proved to be useless against these insanely fast and destructive craft. A single Star Hawk or Byatta was more than enough to obliterate ships as large as a battleship or carrier. And there were about two hundred of them in the air. Their strange energy beams were slicing through naval armor like paper. Soon their number had dwindled to fewer than 200 ships, then 150 and then under 100.

As the reports continued to stream in with increasing levels of panic, Admiral Dorna knew that he had already lost this battle. At that point, an explosion rocked the Krytoria. A short-range missile had just smashed into the main fire-control center of the battleship. Another strike took out the main radar tower. And a third hit heavily damaged the engines, cutting the ship’s speed in half.

Then more bad news came. The radar of another battleship, the Potomkra, had just picked up the approach of 100 unidentified ships, closing in at great speed. With his armada being ripped apart by these strange craft, Dorna knew he couldn’t hope to meet with this new threat. And the enemy was not giving him the option of retreat. There was only one choice to make.

Surrender.

With a heavy heart, Dorna gave the order for all surviving ships to cease fire and raise their white flags. As soon as they did so, the Star Hawks and Byattas stopped attacking and began flying back toward their carrier, which by then was just appearing over the horizon, along with the other ships of the Free Land task force.

The attempted invasions of the Merdov and Bisra continents had failed.

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On the bridge of the Iowa, General Kurdo and Admiral Kajor were informed of the surrender of the Zedan invasion force at Bisra. Both let off a sigh of relief as one major operation to this war had been completed. Now it was time to prepare for the main event; the invasion of the Zedan continent.

This was going to be a little more difficult than their war with the Sath. The invasion of the Merdov continent was basically a cakewalk since their opponents fought with medieval weaponry and outdated tactics. The Zedan Empire was a bit trickier. Certainly their World War II level of technology was still no match for the Star Alliance, and in terms of conventional warfare, there wasn’t any doubt of Free Land’s inevitable victory.

However, it was the inclusion of atomic or nuclear weapons, which threw a sizeable monkey wrench into the works. Barely a century had passed since the former residents of Earth had stopped using fission reactors and nuclear weapons. They were all too familiar with the potential dangers of having such weaponry and technology and had just barely avoided annihilating themselves.

It wasn’t that they feared the use of such weapons against them, at least not to a great degree. Star Alliance weapons had greater range, better efficiency, more destructive power and their barrier technology could protect them against nuclear blasts and the radioactive fallout. In actuality, they were more concerned with the environmental dangers of nuclear technology. And it was a sure bet that the natives of this world would not have the means to fight against nuclear weapons nor deal with the harmful effects of radiation poisoning and contamination.

Despite having the ability to travel through hyperspace, anti-gravity, ultra-fast super computers, and numerous other technological marvels, the idea of terra-forming a planet was still a far-off dream for the Star Alliance. It was one thing to transform energy into matter on a relatively small scale, but to do the same on a larger amount; say a small country was seen as next to impossible, let alone on a planetary level. If they were capable of such a feat, they would have done so long ago, instead of spend over a decade of wandering through space to find a suitable world to inhabit, like Istaria.

Planets were relatively easy to find in the universe. Finding planets that could naturally support life however, was extremely difficult. Of course there was the option of either setting up space colonies or use artificial means to maintain life support, such as pressure domes and environmental devices, but these prove too costly to maintain in the long run. Furthermore, extended living in the vacuum of space provided its own problems, especially to organic beings. Without the existence of gravity, all humanoid lifeforms begin to experience a decrease in bone density. During their decade of wandering the depths of space, every ship had to maintain a gravity field similar to Earth in order to avoid this problem. The space colonies that had been set up around Istaria’s orbit also had to maintain gravity fields or risk the same reduced bone-density condition.

In the end, the Star Alliance needed to determine the full extent of Zedan’s nuclear capability, so that they could come up with tactics to neutralize that threat before the Zedan military could use that capability against them. The last thing they needed was for the Zedan Grand Leader to use a nuclear weapon indiscriminately against Free Land or its allies. Free Land could withstand a nuclear attack. The other nations and certainly the planet’s environment couldn’t.

While General Kurdo was coming up with invasion plans with the other high-ranking officers, another major operation was taking place in the capital city of the Zedan Empire.

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Jan 13th, 13 AE...

Rikivak, Zedan capital…

At a café near the industrial sector of the city, a lone figure quietly ate his lunch. Every now and then he’d grimace at the flavor of his meal, or lack thereof.

God, how can the Zedan people stand this food?! I’ve had contaminated Instant Ration Packs that tasted better!

Hanser Kilgar, or as he was known in Free Land, Hans Kihoffer, managed to choke down his entrée of Zedan sausages of questionable meat, and something that resembled sauerkraut, but tasted more like old, soggy cardboard. He then dropped his napkin ‘accidentally’ to the floor, which allowed him to duck under the table and take a small pill. It was the twenty-second century version of Pepto Bismol as he was certain that he was going to develop indigestion later.

It had been three days since he had been secretly brought onto the Zedan continent as a covert operative. He and three others were to infiltrate the general population and collect information about the people, their lifestyles, their government and especially their technological levels; most importantly their nuclear capability. For the last 72 hours, Hans had posed as a factory worker and had been secretly following high-ranking officials as they entered a nearby military base. Using hidden sensor equipment, he had detected large amounts of deuterium and reasoned that the base in question was involved in Zedan’s atomic research.

As a pair of high-ranking officers passed by on their way to the base, Hans used a hidden launcher device in his wristwatch, to deposit a microdot transceiver on the collar of one the officers. It was no bigger than 1/10^th the size of a speck of dust. After extensive surveillance, Hans had determined that this man was involved in Zedan’s atomic project.

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The man in question was Major Crax Vero. He was one of the overseers of Zedan’s Ender Bomb Project. And today, he was being summoned to the main research lab on the orders of the Grand Leader. The Emperor had just received word that both invasion fleets had failed. And with the massive loss of men and material, the Zedan Empire could no longer be on the offensive. From now on, they would be on the defensive and they didn’t have much to defend with any more. The loss of their greatest military mind, General Rommett was especially devastating to the upper brass.

As Major Vero entered the conference room with the other generals, admirals, scientists and top government officials, everyone was being checked by the guards for listening devices or hidden cameras. Security was extremely tight. However, they would not find the tiny and highly advanced surveillance device that was on the major’s collar. A device so advanced, that it could transmit information on a tachyon frequency up to a hundred miles away.

In a small hotel room some three square blocks from the base, four men turned on a very small but powerful holo-viewer device and began to listen in on the top-secret meeting that was just about to begin. Whatever information they gained this day would be crucial. No one spoke a word as the meeting began.

“Gentlemen, the impossible has happened and it seems that we can no longer see ourselves as victors of this war.”

To be continued…