NationStates Jolt Archive

Looking out over the Winklersee from Burg Rickenbach, Brigadier Jonas Eichmann watched as a small ferry began to cross the lake. Right behind him, two others had a short conversation as they waited for Brigadier Eichmann to hand out orders. At the castle entrance, a further two men stood, dressed in plain civilian clothing. Even while one of them indeed was a civilian (though he usually resided in a palace in Luxembourg and this castle was one of his properties), the second civilian was well-built, muscular and carried a G-07 assault rifle.
As he walked away from the other man, the armed civilian joined the group with military officers, who all saluted.

‘Capitaine Laval, it is a great pleasure to have you here. I might want to introduce you to Colonel Fenstermacher, of the National Reserve, and Major Baumgartner of the 3. Schweizerwuecht. Colonel Fenstermacher, Major Baumgartner, Capitaine Laval of the Reebouwuecht.’ Brigadier Eichmann said, introducing the officers to each other. He then turned to the one remaining civilian at the castle entrance, and motioned for him to come closer. As the man did so, all officers saluted, before the man arrived at their location.

‘Yes, yes. Alright, stop the saluting, you’re going to see me a lot more during this exercise. If you mind, I think I am going to change to my uniform, so you can talk some deployment orders without me.’

‘Very well, sir. I’ll speak to you later.’ Laval spoke, as he was supposed to be responsible for the castle’s security.

Colonel Fenstermacher wanted to speak out just at the moment Eichmanns’ telephone rang.

‘Eichmann. Very well. As said before, Gutenburg Marine Station it is. No, there should be enough space there. Okay. Ädi.’

It was only a short conversation, and the others would soon find out what Eichmann was talking about.

‘That was the commander of the ZMS Carasso. His frigate is busy redirecting all those foreign naval vessels to a port in Van Luxemburg. Like I said, Gutenburg should be the best place, at some 450 km from here. I guess we’ll have to wait for our foreign counterparts to start planning our strategy.’

(OOC: This is just a basic opening post for MILEX: Since we’ll start in about three weeks time, you people will have ample time to arrive (you may skip the parts in which you’ll need me for responses, if you want to speed things up. In fact, you may skip the entire arrival, if you’d like, and go straight on to the planning.) And perhaps plan out some strategy and get into positions. The OOC Thread can be found HERE (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=560690) and should be used for all OOC clutter during the RP.

Just as a repeater:
MAP of the STANZERTAL (56K, big, etcetera.) (http://www.mijnalbum.nl/GroteFoto-U8OPTWB3.jpg)
MAP of VAN LUXEMBURG (56K, big, size problems, etcetera.) (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b76/VanLuxemburg/VLRoadsTest8.png)

Thank you, and have fun!)

Unidentified Port, Van Luxemburg

The day had been hot and muggy as a large number of Kunde-Class Transport Vessels slowly lumbered into port, their large black hulls carving dull, wide paths through the blue sea. Originally super oil tankers, these twenty-five vessels had been re-fitted over five years ago to serve as transports for large peacetime military operations outside of Gahrodanth. Even though they carried refurbished interiors and re-made bridges and electronics as well as a new paint-job, their original purpose was still very identifiable even from afar.

The ships lumbered into port like massive inebriated whales, directed by a small contingent of Van Luxemburgian frigates, and were slowly eased into dock by a fleet of tugboats, courtesy of a privately hired agency within the nation by the Navy. By the time the sun had passed over the center-mark of the sky they were all docked and tied down as numerous, thick steel ramps were hastily extended from the vessels in several places onto the docking platforms as tanks, self-propelled artillery batteries, infantry combat vehicles, trucks and numerous other support and combat vehicles - some that were recently re-camouflaged for this area, some simply pitch-black in color - traversed off the ships in neat lines into a make-shift parade ground in front of the dock complex where thousands of infantry in similar camo or black patterns were already working, having been flown-over the previous evening. Numerous helicopters began to fill the sky with sight and sound as they were freed of the steel cord that had safely tethered them to the decking of the ships on the voyage over, as the sounds, smells, sights, and tremors of major mechanized military operations filled the air, ground, and sound waves.

At the heart of the operation was Colonel Riesutteu of the kiith Nabaal. Although he was normally found on-base in his command center in northern Nabaal and was by no means required to make the voyage, he had decided to make the trip with his men over to command them personally, seeing as the reputation of not only his men were on the line, but all of Nabaal and indeed Gahrodanth. Normally tasked with defending a mountain, he and his men would now assault one. While he was a bit rusty on the application of direct offensive power - he hadn't had to actually assault anything with live-fire in over seven years, he and his men having soldiered in the mountains nearly his entire career of twenty-two years in the Army as well as defended it in numerous yearly war-games between Nabaal and Siddim bases to the north had given him a unique perspective on how exactly one should go about attacking the area.

The Colonel himself, commonly referred to as the "Mountain Lion," was possessed of a tall face and stature, fare skin and well-cut blond hair with a very masculine chin and lanky but fit physique. Very young for his rank, he earned it quickly due to his superb ability to adapt to new outfits, tactics and changing situations. He exerts an almost hypnotic influence not only over his own troops but also over the enemy as well. Even when the legend surrounding his invincibility during the Second Heresy War was overturned at Sajiir-Al-Amin, the aura surrounding him remains unsullied. As a leader of a small unit during his first combat assignment, he proved himself an aggressive and versatile commander, with a reputation for using the battleground terrain to his own advantage, for gathering intelligence, and for seeking out and exploiting enemy weaknesses. Ground is considered for the killing, no more and no less. Riesutteu will gladly retreat from a good position if irreparably overwhelmed in order to save Gahrodanthi lives, setting-up ambush points all over the retreat line in the process. He is always seen wearing a distinctive costume of ballistic tanker goggles, black leather greatcoat, scarf and medals; Riesutteu deliberately plays the part of a noble warrior. His tactics rely mostly on swift and unerring counter-attacks, never leaving people in the same place long enough to be zeroed in on. He is well-known throughout Gahrodanth for the "Offensive" Defense, in that he rarely has well-prepared defenses that can be pulverized by artillery fire, and in lieu prefers rapid retreat and ambush and outflank maneuvers instead. On the offensive he is usually seen near the advance, preferring to be near the action; in his own words: "You can't really tell what's going on unless you're seeing it."

He relies mostly upon the shock value of very strong advances and the surge of morale upon constantly moving the ball forward on the battlefield to protect his flanks, and was the key catalyst - albeit unwittingly - for the RFID program in which the Army now tags each soldier with an encrypted radio-frequency chip so they can be tracked via satellite. This program came into fruition in the wake of his advances, which were often so far ahead of the front line that his entire unit was marked-off as lost by high command on two occasions. They were eventually caught up to both times after having run out of fuel and were forced to stop and dig-in while re-enforcements came upon their positions.

The soldier crouched on his haunches, staring intently at the fire. Rhythmically, another soldier picked up lengths of wood, slammed the blade of a hand-axe into the end, and lifted the entire length of wood off the ground before hacking down with the axe. The wood, held against the blade by natural tension, split nicely. Thud. Whack. Crack.

He fed a split of wood into the fire, edging the piece in underneath the grill standing on skinny metal legs a dozen centimeters over the pit's rim. The birch crackled, disappeared into white flame. Birch always burnt so cleanly.

A pan was on the grill, two hares cooking well with a little olive oil and wild garlic. Sprigs of tarragon and rosemary simmered in the oil next to the meat. His companion wiped the blade of the axe, clearing away sap and slivers of bark. He took a stick, poked apart the fire to reveal the bed of embers, let the heat reduce. It wasn't the first time the two had cooked this dish together, and they both knew the process well.

The first soldier pulled a birch-handled knife from its sheath on his belt and cut through a lemon. The other produced a bottle of vodka, a half-dozen raspberries and a slice of lime resting at the bottom. He squeezed the lemon over the pan and scraped the pan's bottom with a pair of tongs, freeing up the drippings. His companion poured a hefty dram of vodka into the pan. This served a dual purpose, to deglaze and flavour. They sat back and watched the fire, ignoring the noise made by someone rustling around in one of two tents to their backs. Novokshonov wiped the blade of his knife clean just before his vision was obscured by dark hair hanging in front of his face.

"I wish you wouldn't do that here."

Delicate pianist's hands rested on his shoulders. He kept staring at the fire through the curtain of hair and spoke back to the voice above his head.

"No bears in these woods. No wolves either."

His companion, Sotnikov, spoke up. "More's the pity." A beautifully maintained SVT-53 rifle sat by his side. Sotnikov jingled two brass casings in his left palm meditatively as supper cooked.

"Oh."

Novokshonov smiled and tilted his head back to share the smile with his wife. She kissed him on the tip of his nose and flitted off back to the tent to wait. Sotnikov looked over his shoulder at the tent - a more jealous man would have thought that he was watching Alyona Pyotrovna Novokshonova retreat back to the tent. Arkady Shepelovich knew his comrade was looking for his own wife, the red-haired Ulyana Evgeniyevna. She was deeper inside a tent, trying to force her way out of soaked jeans. Frustrated, she called for her husband who handed the casings to his comrade and disappeared inside the dark blue tarpaulin. The entrance fell shut behind him. He heard a playful squeal, and glanced behind him to see his friend reappear carrying denim wrapped around his right hand and plates in his left. He caught a flash of white skin and a long-muscled leg, instantly averting his eyes skyward and looked back to the fire.

"Sorry."
"Bah. She was covered, no worries. I'd be more concerned if you didn't look at odd noises. The one time you don't do that when it matters, and pfft." He tried to draw his finger across his throat and waved the denim in front of his face instead. He unrolled it and laid the jeans beside the fire to dry.

"Heh, covered. No wonder she's cold."
"I know." The jeans steamed gently. Vadim Nikolayevich sat down cross legged and fit a new piece of birch under the grill and onto the flames. "I offered."
"Of course."
"Sir! New mission orders: Supper first, then dessert. End quote."

Novokshonov grinned at his friend and executive officer. "This is done, then."

Alyona reappeared with handfuls of asparagus, grilling them while the pan rested on the grass beside the quieting fire. She rolled them over with the tongs, produced tin plates, and plucked rabbit and asparagus up in quick moving tongs, plating supper and passing the first dish to Sotnikova, who sat beside the Colonel with baggy Kamysh combats covering her dancer's legs.

Days later, the Brigadier General bent over his wife's supine form and went to kiss her. The digital clock on the bedside table read 04:00 in stark red numbers, and Alyona's arms wrapped around Novokshonov's neck, pulling him in close to her. He dropped his kitbag and returned the embrace, kissing her goodbye. This was nothing new, had become a tradition whose roots lay a decade and a half in the past. Setting her back down, he pulled the covers back over her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"See you when I see you."

A minute later he locked the door of his house behind him. He could see Sitnikov in the Wazik from the Regimental motorpool, tossed his kitbag in the back seat, and settled in the passenger seat.

"Hey boss."
"Morning, mate."

--

The Vixen, as the L-16ISC was known, was a heavily armed wheeled vehicle that could carry a full Infantry section in the rear, hence the designation ISC; Infantry Section Carrier. Lightweight and with good mobility over most terrain, the Vixen was considered the ideal vehicle for use by the First Battalion of the 37th Motor Rifle Regiment in MILEX 08. The Regiment had only been reequipped with the machine two years ago, trading in their venerable BTR-80 APCs and derivatives thereof for the Nielander design that had seen extensive service with the RA.

Cross-loading onto the large military transports that would carry them to Van Luxemburg meant that the Movement Control Officers had their hands full. It very much was "organized chaos" to the outsider. Camouflaged vehicles and men were clustered together in groups of varying side on the quayside, most lounging on the roof of or inside their machines. The men of I/37.MRR had decided that the MCO's superiors thought loading by companies was anathema to their doctrines of 'make everything take as long as possible' and while they understood the reasoning behind cross-loading units in a combat situation, this was not meant to be combat. This was an exercise. MILEX 08, the first time the Russkyans would participate in the prestigious exercise.

A MCO waved a L-16 command vehicle forward, as it led the headquarters element of C Company into the portside vehicle bay of RNVL-3002 Maria Ivanovna. He halted the double column as his compatriots went up and down the formation, counting vehicles and tapping away on their calculators to check weights. The calculations had already been made, of course, it was just that the hallmark of the Russkyan Army was a careful attention to detail. This gave the entire organization a precise air, something seen on the parade square and the battlefield. For the drivers of I/37.MRR, this was the first time they'd loaded onto a ship. Rehearsals had been made, but the taped out lines back at base did nothing to prepare the men for the towering mass of the transport ships. The men of B Company watched the ship drop further into the water as more combat material was loaded aboard, the freeboard markings disappearing beneath the edge of the pier.

Once the vehicles were loaded, the drivers returned to their sections and the units formed up into marching order, hefting olive green kitbags. Most equipment was contained in their onloaded vehicles, save for their combats, weapons, webbing, and a basic load of ammunition. The kitbags contained a variety of clothing, mostly in the order of spare combats, PT clothes, authorized off-duty wear, spare boots, and personal items. Troops filed aboard the troop transport ships that would carry them. The job of the MCOs didn't end there, it simply transferred to other logistics specialists. The harbourmaster, tug captains, and pilot boat skippers were a professional bunch employed full time by the Russkyan Navy, and proudly wore their RVMF badges. Under their care, Maria Ivanova and other ships like her were guided away from the quays and out into open water.

Troops thronged the rails, watching the spectacle. Low-visibility grey-blue warships shepherded the convoy as it formed up and began steaming away from their homeland. There were no civilians to wave goodbye to. The time for that was yesterday and last night. The soldiers had been on the move since 04.30. Embarkation was scheduled to last until 14.00. Brigadier General Novokshonov stood on the bridge of the Helene, a guest of that ship's captain, and felt the rumble under his feet as the engines kicked into full operation. He admired the vessels as they shook out into columns and marveled at the number of ships required to transport his command to Van Luxemburg.

--

"So what?" Zyuzik shot back. "Maybe I want it to mean something."

The poor cross-loaded Air Force bastard known as "Zyuzik" shared his quarters with men of Mortar Battery, I/37.MRR. The mortarmen were like their weapons: loud, wide-mouthed, less than subtle. The electronics-savant Zyuzik was so fresh out of the RVVS training facility at Segenkaya-on-the-Morava (Segenkaya na Moravye) that the smell of the school hadn't left his duty uniform. He'd been at Segenkaya na Moravye long enough to learn the systems that the RVVS used, passing all tests above the ninetieth percentile. He was comfortable in the military - in the Air Force. None of this changed the fact that poor Zyuzik was barely nineteen and a strange quirk of genetics meant that he was not yet shaving, save for a faint goatee regulations forbade him from cultivating. Smooth-cheeked Zyuzik, hauling his kitbag into the compartment shared with a mortar crew and a forward observation team, had instantly been dubbed "the virgin."

Unfortunately for Zyuzik, he'd taken it literally. In the RA, "virgin" was anyone new to any unit, or a service branch as a whole. He had thus opened himself up to endless torment for the first night. As the FOV team leader observed over lunch the next day, talking with his colleagues: "It was, fuck, 'Target, reference hatchway, drop two meters, fire for effect.' He understood none of the culture - but he's from the central province, and in the goddamn air force. You'd think they'd know better."

"You're just getting your dick wet, Zyuzik. You'll be more nervous than a Jew at Oktoberfest '39 if you wait until you have someone you care about."
"I was more scared bedding my girlfriend than getting shot at on the border. At least on the border I knew what to do."
"Kill the bastards." The rest of the compartment chorused.
"Well, yeah, but,"
"Leave the guy alone for a minute, I'm trying to read. You zapadnikii, just because the only thing open more often than your mother's legs is a broken window doesn't mean you can't appreciate romance."
"As misguided as it might be."
"As misguided as it might be," Master Corporal Koshkets agreed, if only to stifle conversation long enough for him to finish his chapter.

Port, Van Luxemburg, 2000 hrs

The once burning sun that had baked the soldiers of the seventh armored mountain at high-noon now cast long, dark shadows behind their figures as it settled peacefully in the sky, slowly becoming night thanks to the engulfing horizon. A canvas of blue sky was flooded with long, deep beacons of red, orange and yellow that emanated from the sun as thin, wispy pale clouds heralded rain in the coming weeks made a sparse but noted appearance in the shining heavens.

Over the past eight hours, the over four-thousand-three-hundred men of the seventh had met up with their squads, joining men, machine and material together. Together they had created a small temporary base on a flood plane just northwest of the port that was within a couple miles of a major city connected to the port via highway. The field, once a golden-green array of foliage, was now checkered with black and mountain camouflage, and mud in neat, perfect rectangles and squares as the numerous vehicles, both land and air of the brigade were lumped together for storage and maintenance for what was to be the next few critical days of planning before the exercise actually began. Always fast to act and first to respond, the Gahrodanthi military took pride in its ability and reputation to be the first on the spot, and had actually arrived even before Russkyan forces. Since the Russkyans were the lead offensive forces for the operation, until they arrived to coordinate an offensive-wide plan, the men of the seventh had standing orders to hold position and await their arrival.

Inside the center of the base, the checkerboard of vehicles and mud was replaced by the organized chaos of the bulk of the men, who, when not parking and maintaining vehicles and patrols, had been hastily erecting structures that made the area appear as a central square that was convoluted with a myriad of black field tents encased in thick mud that was the fruit of thousands of men laboring on wet soil, marching over and over again. Some tents were small, others large, and a deep presence of mixed company was felt as was common in the army; officers received only minimally better conditions than enlisted men in the field as was inclination and tradition. Despite this, battalions however were very individual, and there were distinct lines that crisscrossed the area, dividing the camp into eight groups; one for each brigade, the last being the brigade command company, seated in the center of the entire base. Inside, the Colonel and his brigade commanders hotly discussed the plan of attack, and the role that their men were to play in the coming exercise. A large rectangular black-brushed metal table laden with documents, and back lit with a large computer screen on the top that displayed the topography in detail sat between them as a hustle of comms, computers and radio activity was all around them.

"Colonel," said Lt. Colonel Adler, drawing a thick, brown cigar that had been nearly worn down to a stub from his mouth with his meaty, leather-bound hands, "It is my personal and professional opinion that we have the Air Assault Corps only act as a force to preserve our flanks en route to battle, and to jump to hotspots in cites to re-enforce. I believe that they will more than have their hands full with that alone," he finished with a flat face and intonation, drawing the cigar from his side and placing it back in his scarred, muscle-bound face as the cherry on the cigar slowly became more dim.

"And what about the initial assault on the main highways and roadways, Adler?" Shot back Lt. Colonel Heller, his voice dripping with criticism on his fit and young face. "Who's going to secure them, then? There's far too little cover near the road for Airbourne to do it, Light Colonel Emery and I have already discussed it."

Emery nodded in agreement as Adler's eyes shot quickly to Emery's thin, tall, sun-reddened face and well-kept rust-colored hair, his right hand stroking his chin as his left hand supported it in thought. Emery was not one for words, he never had been. It's what made him such a great airbourne commander; he rarely had to speak to command his men and only spoke when needed, and this reflected the stealthy demeanor that he and his men wielded on the battlefield.

"Colonel, what do you have to say on the issue?" asked Lt. Colonel Hal Moore while crossing his arms, a sensible no-nonsense get it done infantry commander whose well-cut face bore the lines of woe that a hardened and tried battlefield commander and father would posses.

Colonel Riesutteu sat quiet for a moment, then took off his cap and ran his hands through his dark brown hair and stood up as he began. "I believe that you are both correct. Initially, we shall commit the Ground Assault Corps to securing the front-line, with the Air Assault Corps moving up with them to attack en masse and then shift immediately to the outside flanks. We need those bunkers in-tact, so I will only permit limited artillery support. Afterward, the AA Corps will provide as stated support. More importantly, I need the Airbourne to be ready to jump behind the bunkers on the highway and provide a flanking position immediately after we silence most of the AA in the area. I want you to wait in ambush for the defenders who will most-likely retreat after being overwhelmed, or any re-enforcements that come to support them. I want no successful withdrawal or re-enforcement for them, do you understand?"

Emery nodded.

"The nearest permanent AA installation is only one kilometer away on the other side of the river, so you should encounter some resistance in that sense, at least at first, which is why you will fly nap of the earth wide around the left flank, dropping your men off at the base of the hills leading into the valley," he stated, his hand curving around the mountain and pointing near the motorway. "As that's happening, we need to drive a wedge between the two bunkers and begin to capture the crossroad between the two major roadways. I'll relegate that to you Moore. Do you think you can do it?"

Moore looked at the map with decided interest momentarily, then stated plainly, "Yes. Do I have any support?"

"Of course," Riesutteu replied as he eyed a thin, wiry artillery commander, whose rank and appearance truly matched the Light of Light Colonel. "Helmuth will support you. I also want the artillery to be silencing any anti-air, anti-armor or artillery from outside the bunkers."

"I'll set-up positions on the hills in-between the two roads and provide in-direct fire to the entire theatre as necessary," he stated loudly and clearly as he cleared his throat and continued. "All I ask is that you leave some armor and helicopters near us," he concluded.

"We shall set-up armor in front of the artillery on the slopes leading downward," Riesutteu stated as he moved his fingers across the screen. "They shall act as your shield in front, and we'll position HELOs at your flanks, just in case. I also want that area to be the line from which we'll support Moore's men with heavy armor." A bulky man of forty years looked intently at the map, scratching his shaven head. The Lt. Colonel Sharpe in charge of the heavy armor support nodded his muscle-bound stump of a neck.

"That intersection is vital gentlemen," Riesutteu stated, pointing his finger at it. "We need to have it to advance heavy armor into western Lichtenberg, and you can bet the enemy knows this. More immediately it shall also be the position from which we drive a wedge in-between the two bunkers and surround them," he stated, running his hand in-between the two bunkers on the map. "Once we have them cut-off from re-supply and retreat, we'll pound them with attack helicopters re-enforcing the AA corps from their outside flanks, and with armor from the intersection established by Moore." Hastings, the Baby-Faced Lt. Colonel in charge of the HELO support nodded in silence, his eyes flickering over the map, silently calculating exactly how best to position his helicopters in support of the Air Assault Corps, and Airbourne behind the bunkers...just in case.

"And what about the over-looking bunkers to the west and the two to the east?" Sharpe replied, plodding his sausage-like fingers on them.

"Well," began Riesutteu, "Our allies will take care of them. We have to let them feel needed too," Riesutteu joked as a smile crept across his face, as did that of every commander attending the meeting in the dimly-lit quickly-fashioned war room.

"Launch boats!"

IRMAK 130-class inflatables pancaked into the slight chop of the blue-hued ocean, each with four sailors aboard. Their diesels roared and they cut through the water, forming into echelons left and right on the lead two Ship's Boats launched from the powerful cruiser heading the convoy.

A dozen RHIBs and a pair of Ship's Boats were launched from the portside convoy escorts. Eager to break the tedium, RA soldiers sat, stood, crouched, and leaned on and against the decks and superstructures of the troop transports and watched as a squadron of multirole fighters dropped out of the low clouds and headed towards the convoy. For the sake of practice, antiaircraft lookouts called them out as they would targets. It seemed archaic, but radar could and did break, and in any case wasn't always active.

"Aircraft far, approaching. Multirole fighter. Count twelve."
"Red Four-Five. Angle of sight two zero five."
"Air Defence Control. No sighting."
"Aircraft, mid-distance, approaching. Multirole fighter, confirm twelve."
"Red Four-Five, angle of sight two ten."
"Air Defence Control. Sighted and confirmed. Carry on."
"Red Four-Five carrying on."

Each pair of fighters released a set of external droptanks in sequence as they passed over the rigid-hulled inflatable boats and the sturdier and larger Ship's Boats. These skipped off the surface a few times and eventually came to rest at the fore of the convoy. They floated, the boats accelerating towards them to hook buoys and lines to them before they filled with water and sank. They would be recovered for later use - each Sukhoi completed their mock skip-bombing run and climbed back above the clouds. The soldiers aboard their transports watched the spectacle and returned to their routine of sleeping, eating, exercising, inspecting gear, reading, watching TV, and listening to radio.

--

Looking to make an impression, the RVVS fliers of First Squadron, Fourth Expeditionary Air Wing (1SQN/4 Wing, Overseas) arrived in a tight Vic formation over the Egethof Airbase. Following directions issued by the Air Traffic Controllers, they swung around wide and came in low, breaking into flights and switching into the easy finger four formation to land one flight after the other. As their wheels touched ground, the pilots gently tapped their wheelbrake controls and throttled back quickly and smoothly.

Each Sukhoi made a ten point landing, save for White Eleven.
"Eleven, Nine. What the Jesus?"
"Nine, Eleven. That was a bad gust, boss. I'm one hundred percent."
"Eleven, Nine. Good to hear."
"Nine out."

It had been a pretty piece of endurance flying to get the lead squadron to Egethof. Multiple midair refuellings had been carried out and two of those IL-78s followed them down onto the runways of Egethof to take part in MILEX 08. The fliers were there ten hours - most of which they spent sleeping after two hours spent thoroughly checking over their warplanes - before the convoy arrived in Gutenburg.

--

"It didn't look like so much back home."

Engineering equipment belonging to 84.SER's demibattalion was being offloaded now from the Athene and Killjoy III. Huge amphibious tracks rolled out onto the concrete and were rallied by MCOs before being dispatched to the rear of heavy transporter trucks, two per trailer, as they were light despite their size. Bridges followed, of the ribbon, pontoon, and AVLB variety. Recovery vehicles and then the combat vehicles of the assault company were offloaded next.

"We showed up late. This was already in the holds."
"What a display. Join the RA; see ballet performed with mass-fucking-ive ships."

Koshkets swung himself up onto a wheel and pulled himself up onto the roof of his L-16FOV. He lifted the tarp, inspecting the systems for damage with a critical eye, and replaced it in order to keep them concealed during the drive to the Egethof. The Vixens were one of the few combat vehicles being permitted to take the roads on the four hundred and fifty kilometer journey to the Stanzertal, though they too would have to keep to the hard shoulders as they'd been informed by at least four different stern-faced Movement Control Officers. Anything with tracks was loaded onto a transporter. Once on the roads, the marching column would take up nearly 47 kilometers of highway shoulder.

A L-15CCV was escorted by a Badger IFV as it approached the bivouacs of 7th Mountain. The tracks easily took to the churned soil around the camp while the troops of the Russkyan contingent rested, waiting for their commander to return before beginning the move. This time was being used to organize additional units being offloaded, and examine the order of march again. The drivers of the two vehicles idled their engines at the gate, waiting for the sentries to approach the vehicles.

Leaning on the door of his Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon, Marechaussee Colonel Dieter Wölff watched as several thousand Gahrodanth troops unloaded their equipment on the quays of the naval base on which he enforced the law. Soon, other foreign military units would join in the endless convoy of military goods that headed towards the Lëtzebuerger Alpen. As he saw the first units lining up, he reached back in his car to engage the lightbar of the vehicle and set the area bathing in amber lights. He had chosen to use his non-emergency amber lights instead of the regular blue lights on the Pabst LB-25LED Lightbar, as he wouldn’t need to attract the attention of any drivers on the way to Egetshof. That was the task of the police units escorting the endless column of military equipment. His task would be to announce the start of the military column, and meanwhile guide it to it’s destination from his lightly armoured Alfa. It was easily recogniseable as a Marechaussee vehicle, being olive green with a very obvious orange line painted all around the vehicles. The letters ‘Marechaussee’, placed just above the orange line, showed the vehicle was part of Van Luxemburgs’ military police, an independent part of the military that was also responsible for civilian law enforcement and customs duties. Essentially being a Gendarmerie force, it was the third-oldest unit in the military, following the Arméi and the Marine.

The Naval Base of Gutenburg, meanwhile, was flooded with foreign troops who were guided around by sailors of the various Van Luxemburger naval ships that were moored on the long quays of the base. Even while the majority of the foreign military vehicles had already been waiting in line to leave, the sailors guided the last few troops and vehicles to their local destinations, even if those meant giving instructions on how to reach the toilets.

As the first vehicles waited behind him, Colonel Wölff slowly headed out of the naval base, signalling the foreign military units to follow him. He then turned onto the exit road, heading out of the naval base and skilfully guiding the units around the city itself, of which the lights could be easily distinguished in the distance, it’s houses having been built up against a hill. It was not long before they reached the first crossroads, which had been completely locked down by local police officers on motorbikes, who kept all the civilian traffic at bay. Military convoys had priority in Van Luxemburg, a 70-year old traffic law that dated from the Second World War. It had never been removed from the law, and was still used to date.

The Alfa then accelerated in a calm fashion, heading onto an Autobahn entrance and motioning the convoy to follow him, and remain on the hard shoulder. This was another rule that remained in Van Luxemburgs’ traffic law; Military convoys always had to travel on the outer right lane, regardless of the lane’s role: even a lane reserved for public transport was used to guide the convoy past the deregulated asphalt roads of the Autobahn. This was all carefully watched by units of the Autobahnpolizei, it’s four-hundred horsepower V8 Monteluci Duca’s were parked either by the roadside or in the lane directly to the left of the hard shoulder, and almost reminded oneself of Christmas trees, due to the amount of LED lights that had been integrated in the vehicle.

Even though it was early in the morning, the military convoy attracted quite some attention from civilian onlookers. Regardless of the Autobahnpolizei trying to speed up traffic, a long queue of commuter traffic easily formed on the Autobahn lanes left for civilian vehicles. This caused a rare sight on the road: civilian traffic was moving slower than the military convoy it was watching, no matter what the Autobahnpolizei was attempting to get traffic flowing again. Soon, local radio and television stations reported low-speed, high-intensity traffic on the A710 from Gutenburg to Kehrsiten with a staggering length. It did not take long before the Autobahnpolizei realised it’s attempts to speed up traffic were hopeless, and implemented the ‘Plan Palomar’, leading to the shutdown of all motorway entrances. It indeed killed traffic, but also lead to major traffic jams on secondary roads, who were not up to the task of carrying large amounts of traffic: they were simply not wide enough. It would however be a matter of hours before this would all solve itself: traffic would decrease after 9 o’clock in the morning. The traffic increase at around 4 in the afternoon was a problem that would need to be solved later on.

Meanwhile, the military convoy moved on at a slow but steady pace, covering a distance of about 50 kilometres per hour. With Egetshofs’ military base being 400 km from the Naval Base of Gutenburgs’ naval base, it would take them some 8 hours to cover the distance between the two. Another hour had to be calculated before the troops that belonged to the Van Luxemburger side would reach their destination, the Stanzertal itself.

At around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the first units flooded Egetshof, and were once again greeted by native military units, in order to guide them around the military installations. An hour later, the Van Luxemburger Alpenwächter were doing the same with their friendly units in the Stanzertal.

Hotel Zur Post, Zell an der Stans

It was a man in his early fifties, who sat in the restaurant of the local hotel. Alone at a table, he observed the glass in front of him, filled with Jägermeister. He only took small sips of the powerful alcoholic drink, sometimes looking out on the street to see what passed by, then looking back inside the room and admiring the traditional decorations of the room, in which wood and white plaster dominated the colours. It would have been a very normal scene, especially if one knew that the person seated there was the owner of the establishment.

However, hotel owner Horst Fenstermacher was not clothed in his traditional sweater and trouser combination, but in an immaculate military uniform, his Müller Waffenwerk rifle hanging by the side of his chair, a magazine lying on the table next to him. The insignias made clear he was Colonel Fenstermacher, commander of the Stanzer Nationalreserve, and perhaps one of the most influential non-political persons in the area.

He barely noticed the men arriving at the hotel, instead wondering why three cars at a time would arrive at this distant hotel – especially if the valley was to be closed down for military exercises later this week. Looking closely, he found out that all three cars had drivers which remained in their vehicles, with the three passengers each going another way, carefully choosing positions in which he knew they could oversee who was heading in and out the hotel. Just as he wanted to rise from his table and walk outside to ask what the men were planning to do, he was tapped on the shoulder. As he turned around, he looked straight in the face of a General-Major of the Grand-Ducal Marechaussee.

‘General-Major Daniel Waldmann, Marechaussee. I am responsible for the organisation of MILEX, and I believe you are the commander of one of our national reserve units?’

Fenstermacher was stunned by the man’s swift entry, and could only nod yes.

‘Very well. And you are also the owner of Hotel Zur Post, which has the best local speciality restaurant in the area?’ Waldmann added.
Horst nodded again.

‘Very well. At the end of the exercise, we would like to dine with all the commanders, of all sides and from all nations involved. Can I reserve a table for fifty, please? MILEX Committee prefers to serve traditional, local products. Would that all be OK?’

This time, Fenstermacher answered the question.

‘Very well, Sir. I’ll instruct my personnel.’

‘Good, Colonel Fenstermacher. I will have to get going now, Tschüss!’

Waldmann walked out of the restaurant, calling his men together and sending them back to their vehicles. He himself got back into his Maserati Quattroporte, and ordered his driver to head back to the headquarters.
The vehicle took off with an aggressive roar, followed by two Lancia Thesis’es.

Meanwhile, Colonel Fenstermacher emptied his small glass of Jägermeister in one movement, and walked back to the bar in order to get a new one.

OOC: First post. If you see anything objectionable, feel free to tell me. Not yet familiar with the nuances of what is allowed and what is not, so please be patient. :wink:
IC:
At the head of the Nord-Brutlandese convoy was a nondescript Brute all-terrain truck with a pair Brutland and Norden flags festooned on its front. Inside, leaders of the Nord-Brutlandese contingent were busy, thrilled, and driven at the country's first international military exercise.

Radios inside cackled to life as they directed movements of the other parts of the convoy. "Verdune sorchecci," one of the radios spat out. Coltt. Lamberto Cannizzaro took on the command. "Compiece la conte. Asicurece il s'completa," he said on the radio. As the commander of the Reinàgno Battalion of the Third Airborne Division, he has to ensure that his equipment are present and working. As their name goes, they are here to deliver rains of fire on their opponents and hopefully their toys can take care of that.

On the other end of the truck were Coltt. Paolo Pasquarello, commander of the Volpe battalion, and Coltt. Adam Biancafiore, commander of the Teschie battalion, poring over the map of Stanzertal. That nice mountain valley? That is their expertise. Their men are experienced in fighting in dangerous terrains. "Battaglione Teschie desembarcheco." Coltt. Pasquarello handed the radio to Coltt. Biancafiore. "Battaglione Teschie desembarcheco." Coltt. Biancafiore pressed the talk button. "Recevecce. Mellece Trentinella e Luporini docche a contècapito e contètrezzato." Coltt. Biancafiore's battalion was just disembarking from the ships at Gutenburg. About 1,000 men in all, with tanks, trucks, and other vehicles. Fortunately Gen.Se. Thorizio Riscagliamenti was able to get the Royal Nord-Brutlandese Navy to help. From the huge ships LVS Sperrigano, LVS Mascoline, and LVS Biella emerged the Teschie Battalion of the Mountain Division of the Nord-Brutlandese Army. The Teschie, known to be very different from your typical battalion, is headed by the youngest Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Nord-Brutlandese Army, Coltt. Biancafiore. The Teschie is also famous for having a significant number of women in the fighting forces... yes, lots of chicks with guns. The voice on the radio reminded them just that.

"S'nore," the sexy voice of a woman called out from the radio, "La Squale seche io desembarchecche. Noi pemmisecche mai?" That was Mag. Adriana Trentinella, the commander of the Teschie "A" company. Coltt. Biancafiore pictured her in his mind. Mag. Trentinella was a feisty beauty queen-turned-soldier, looking as sexy in camouflage and rifle as in a gown and scepter.

Coltt. Biancafiore turned to their overall commander, the leader of this operation, Gen. Colombano Santaniello. "S'nore, la Squale seche io desembarchecche."

The general smiled pleasantly. "C'e?"

"Mi battaglione fantera desembarcheco."
"Del probleme. Mai useche la morlo ontra. Il oaciertece tu, non il dell'urtece nostri impete."
"Sis'nore."

Gen. Santaniello gestured for the radioman to connect him to Mag. Pierro di Ponchielli, the commander of the Squale Company A of the Second Marine Division. Both Biancafiore's and di Ponchielli's men and equipment would be brought ashore simultaneously at Gutenburg.

Di Ponchielli was bringing in with them an assortment of small watercraft - fit for amphibious operations along waterways. Their biggest problem is bringing their watercraft to the location. They can release the watercrafts to travel up along the Stans River leading to Winklensee, or bring them to location via specialized trucks.

Meanwhile, the EC-7 helicopters and planes of the Third Airborne Division whirred overhead, heading for the small airbase inside the small valley. Coltt. Cannizzaro smiled when he heard his planes overhead. All is going smoothly...

MoD Building, Stockmoor, Laceenia
The Laceenian Armed Forces was not geared up for large deployments overseas. Having been primarily viewed as a defensive force for the better part of half a century, getting over four-thousand troops and their equipment anywhere outside Laceenia was going to be a mammoth task requiring absolute co-ordination between the navy and air force, and needing several chartered aircraft and vessels to get the force to the theatre.

This is why I keep pressuring these damn advisory boards to give me more vessels, not take them away Hayden Gardiner tossed a crumpled ball of paper in the basket next to his desk. Laid out in front of him was a list of every blue-water capable vessel in the Laceenian Navy, along with many of the larger civilian operated vessels. His attention was currently focused on getting the heavy equipment to The Grand Duchy of Van Luxemburg. The LAF could shift men, ammo, rations and other light equipment. They could maybe handle a few of the lighter vehicles, but the tanks, APC's, AA vehicles and other heavy armour couldn't be moved efficiently given the Air Force's current lift capabilities. They should give the fly boys more capacity too, make my life one hell of a lot easier.

His eyes had been drawn to a civilian cruise ferry, the LSS Azure, several times as he skimmed the list. Capacity for over seven-hundred cars and twenty-five hundred passengers meant she could carry a substantial part of the deployment alone. He dragged the tip of a highlighter over her name, promoting her to the elite group of vessels he felt were suitable for the task. Today was going to be a long, tedious day of highlighting, organising and, most likely, reorganising.

Fort Redbeck, Northern Laceenia
The base was heaving. Designed to maintain a small garrison of several hundred troops and support staff, having over one-thousand additional men scattered across the base was putting a huge strain on the locals. The guests stood crowded around braziers as the sun continued its slow decent towards the horizon, even though it was still a fairly warm sixteen degrees Celsius in the sun. One particular group of soldiers were already disputing the finer points of logistics with all the expertise of a drunkard discussing astrophysics.

"All I know is, unless they're planning on sending the ships back and forth between here and there a fair number of times, we're probably gonna need to break out the wet-suits and swim. That or we'll use several hundred Zodiac's." Lance Corporal McKenzie drew hard on a hand rolled cigarette, grinning as he blew the smoke out of his nose, looking like an enraged beast.

"Bullshit, man." Private Hawthorne had gained a reputation for being argumentative, over simplistic, and capable of going on a five minute rant without repeating a single curse, but with one of the sharpest eyes and quickest trigger fingers in his unit, "Ever heard of a little thing called a cruise liner? We aren't going to run the risk of sub attacks getting over there, so they're going to put us all up on a luxury liner. Yeah, I can see it now. Hot-tubs, five-star grub, hitting golf balls on to the decks of nearby frigates. It'll be the best damn deployment we've ever been on."

McKenzie snorted as he flicked the end of his cig in to the flames, "Until we get there. Then it'll be fighting eighteen hours a day and drills for the other six. And what for? The knowledge we can shoot the other guy before he shoots us. Great. I already know that, or at least that if he gets me first, I'm not going to care about it too much."

Hawthorne just screwed his face up a little. He'd been on operations before, and knew exactly how this sort of thing worked. Maybe the section 2IC was exaggerating slightly, but sleep would be a luxury once they were boots down, as would a good meal. From somewhere in the crowd, Corporal Duffy slid back to his men.

"Alright, gents. We've got our embarkation papers. We're on the LNS Jäger and move out in ten."

"Jäger? That's a fucking frigate! An old one too. Why the fuck, when we're got cruise ships with gourmet chefs and five-star facilities are we getting stuck on an old rust bucket?" McKenzie clearly wasn't happy. The thought of getting a luxury ship had lifted the mood. Now the fact they would be put up on an older Type 21 frigate had but a total dampener on their hopes.

"Don't shoot the messenger." Duffy cracked a little smile, "Unless you can put me down hard enough that I'll not get back up and shoot you back. Anyway, you think you're gonna get the holiday treatment onboard the liners when they're full to the brim with servicemen and their shit?"

MoD Building, Stockmoor, Laceenia
There wasn't much left to chance on the deployment, every vehicle had been assigned a place on a vessel, even if it had taken the better part of eight hours to do so. It would've taken seven, but one hour was lost to the explanation that whilst a ferry could hold, say one-hundred cars, she couldn't carry one-hundred tanks. For some reason he had been assigned some fresh faced recruit who, for all his qualifications and recommendations from his military school, didn't have much more than the most basic grasp on physics and battle loading.

"Get that list to the deployment commanders, make sure they get it ASAP. Sooner they can get it implemented, the sooner they can complain to me that the vegetarian rations aren't on the same ship as the vegetarian troops on half the shells are too far back down in the hold for quick turn around, the sooner I can tell them where they can stick it and I need more vessels. Not that they'll listen."

To the messenger, he was just another complaining, high-ranked member of the military. He didn't pay much heed to the gentleman's rambling, being used to how the top officers viewed the ever declining state of the Laaceenian Armed Forces. Instead, he took the envelope, saluted, and left. Half an hour later the wad of papers found its way into the hands of Brigadier Melissa Robinson.

LNB Grimmelthal, Northern Laceenia
The first of the massive cruise ferries sat in port, taking on her part of the forces. Most of the heavier armour was already loaded, spread across the naval landing vessels, merchant marine transporters and civilian car ferries. The LSS Azure was nearly fully loaded with tanks, troops and equipment. The dock workers, in tandem with the military, were making good headway through their part of the operation.

Four kilometres out of port, the majority of the convoy was stationary, holding position and awaiting the rest of the ships that would move to join them once loaded. The last vessel was due to join the fleet at 1930, shortly after which the whole lot would begin the journey to their destination.

(I'm back, but with some serious sort of illness or another that's got me heavily bedridden. In fact, of the thirty-six since I got back I've slept about thirty of them. Hopefully I'll get better over the next few days, but until then I'll be pretty intermittent in my posts, and the quality might suffer some.)

The staff of Gutenburg weren't being inconvenienced in any way, despite several thousand Russkyan Army personnel crowding most available free space as they prepared to begin the route march to the Operational Zone, better known to Western militaries as the Area of Operations. Vehicles were lined up in orderly columns, ready to roll out of the base - as the tail of each column passed through the gate, the head of the column parked next to it would start rolling. Even the mess hall wasn't crowded with Russkyan soldiers, most of whom had been fed before disembarking the ships that had only now begun to cycle out of the harbour facilities, their cargoes offloaded.

A small command post had been set up, and served as the gathering point for battalion officers from across the Brigade. Novokshonov adjusted the brim of his field cap for the seventh time in as many minutes. He'd had a new one issued barely a week ago and it hadn't quite broken in yet. He much preferred to wear the forest green beret of the Infantry, but knew the field cap would be a necessity later on and was looking to break it in as quickly as he could now. He listened to a kettle begin to boil as his operations officer marked routes on a acetate-covered map.

"Zvezda Nine, Kon Four, traffic over."
"Kon Four, Zvezda Nine. Go ahead."
"Zvezda, Route Copper leads onto Route Bronze as indicated, juncture at Point Mercury. Confirm, go."
"Kon, Zvezda confirms route information."
"Wonderful, Zvezda. Uploading computerized route data now."
"Received and understood, Kon. Anything else?"
"Negative, Zvezda Nine. Cops seem eager to help. Maidens are beautiful. Cops may be less eager to help after local maidens discover how studly this callsign is."
"This station copies, Kon. Looking forward to the march. Find us something comfortable at destination."
"Zvezda, Kon Four acknowledges your last: bachelor pad bivvy. Kon Four out."

Recce patrols were conducting a route reconnaissance, their light Stoat LRCs working with the heavier Vixen-derived CRVs and the Marauder HACs to survey the roads the unit would have to take. The Marauder in particular was an impressive vehicle, the Heavy Armoured Car designation being rather apt given its LWLR-30 125mm primary ordnance. L-16CRVs were known affectionately as Foxes. Three hundred kilometers away, a Stoat scout car pulled up next to a Autobahnpolizei vehicle. The car commander flipped open a guide, sticking his head out of his hatch and calling out to the law enforcement officer. "Gibt es eine landschaftliche schöne straße nach Egethof, und ich hätte gern ein großses helles Bier. Bitte, ja?"

Maps of the area were available, and had been taken advantage of. The two-dimensional scrolling map displays in the vehicles had been updated with the local geography, including road maps and "milspec" topographic maps with all terrain features listed, for both the operations in the Stanzertal and the route march to and from the Stanzertal. But as with many other things, the professional thoroughness of the RA dictated that the armoured recce be sent out on a route recce. It also gave the locals a chance to acclimatize to the relaxed Russkyan soldier, however briefly: A polite fellow with a ready smile, he'd almost always make an attempt to learn at least a few simple phrases in your language and would consistently make attempts to buy alcohol of any sort from you. He would also do his best to woo any attractive and single women, or attractive women with weak looking husbands/fiancees/boyfriends not carrying firearms.
This was especially true of the men of A Squadron, who came from a Cossack Regiment and as thus were Cossacks themselves. As one Aequatian MP had said on an exercise not long ago: "I don't care who you are, you do not ride off into the sunset with our women."

At one entranceway to the Gharodanthi encampment, Colonel Sotnikov dismounted the Badger CCV and greeted the sentries in fluent although mildly accented English. "Good afternoon, soldiers. I am Polkovnik Sotnikov, of the Russkyan Army contingent." He smiled. "Take me to your leaders."

The LSS Cerulean had recently joined her sister ship in the open seas, both loaded with vehicles and troops and ready for the voyage to Van Luxemburg. After several hours loading, the port area was just starting to return to some semblance of normality. One of the dock workers checked his watch. 1815.

The LNS Visionary sat waiting her turn to dock. The Albion Class vessel had been designated to carry the 601st Recon Battalion, although in the heat of the loading phase all order seemed to have collapsed and the 601st were split across several smaller Merchant Navy ships owing to them sitting near the front of the docks. This left Visionary to carry part of 7th Headquarters and a pair of Westland Gazelle helicopters.

Just over an hour later, the final vessel, LSS Northern Glory, a Merchant Navy vehicle carrier, began to pull away from port and towards the fleet assembled just outside the safety of the harbour. So far everything was running to schedule and the force was minutes away from beginning the journey.

Sitting at the local air-force base, just over one thousand troops sat waiting for the aircraft which would carry them to Van Luxemburg. Their deployment was scheduled for over thirty-six hours later than that of the troops travelling by sea. Idle chatter filled the messhall, much as the additional soldiers filled every available square-foot of space for accommodation. The base commander had made it perfectly clear he'd be much happier once his base was cleared of the latest batch of guests, although few blamed him for his opinions. Things were incredibly cramped.

Hauptmeister Hahn sat inside the Bugatti Veyron, observing the passing traffic with one leg out of the vehicle, with his lollipop stored in his boot. The mighty line of military vehicles would almost certainly destroy the hard shoulder, regardless of what he would try. Therefore, he had given up trying to slow down the vehicles moving over the road, and now looked at the traffic passing by.

Next to him, a rather attractive blonde-haired woman sat behind the steering wheel of the Veyron, looking at the sector they had been ordered to control by means of a pair of binoculars. Her nametag was simple, but clear: Hauptmeister Faber was her name. If one would try to guess her age, he would most likely be wrong: She was not in her later twenties, and certainly not younger. In fact, her birth date was 1970: she was 38 years of age, and one of the prime examples of the Autobahnpolizei’s emancipation programmes: she was indeed the regular driver of one of the most powerful vehicles in the inventory of the law enforcement agency. Her colleague, of the same rank as she was, mostly did the talking when the team pulled someone over. If the civilian drivers eventually saw who was behind the wheel of that insanely powerful sportscar, they were very surprised, a thing that perhaps pleased her the most.

While they were both looking at the vehicles passing by, sometimes looking back at soldiers who were wondering what such a sportscar was doing in police service, they did not speak a word, and noise could only be heard coming from the passing vehicles. This became clear as a Russkyan scout car halted next to the Bugatti, causing the two police officers to look up. They were surprised by the scout car having halted next to their patrol vehicle, and their mood was even improved by the question the Russkyans posed.

‘Wir sind doch keine Biergarten, ja?’ Hahn laughed as he lifted himself out of the dark brown leather interior of the Italo-French product. He then looked at his colleague, who had already closed the driver side door of the automobile. As she nodded and pushed the engine to start, Hahn signalled the driver of the Stoat Scout Car. He then switched on to a mildly accented English, and resumed in asking the driver to follow him.

‘For the… ehm… nice road to Egethof, please follow us. We will guide you.’ He said, while he got in the passenger seat of the Veyron and closed the door. The car immediately accelerated, and while it was only a short sprint, the vehicle was catapulted away in such a way that they had to wait before the Stoat could catch up. As it neared a motorway exit, it quickly used it’s two-tone siren, aided by the blue LED lights that had been mounted everywhere on the vehicles. In case the drivers would not react to the two-tone, it also quickly outputted a signal with it’s Wail/Yelp siren. It then left the motorway via a gap in the column, signalling the Russkyans to follow them.

- Several hours later…

With the vehicle spitting out a mighty roar, the engine cut out and the two police officers stepped out of their Bugatti, waiting until the soldiers in their scout car would do the same. In the last few hours, the two vehicles had driven through hilly valleys, past sleepy villages and moderately large cities, staying away from the motorway and steadily following B-roads. It had taken a tank and lunch stop (on governmental costs, of course) in a village about halfway the route, but all in all, the Russkyans would have a better understanding of the area they were travelling through. Next to that, the two police officers had a nice paid day off in the countryside, instead of checking if all military troops moved neatly in line towards their final goal.

‘It was a pleasure meeting you. I think that an Aufwiedersehen is completely justified.’ Hauptmeister Faber shook hands with the crew of the Russkyan military vehicle, and knocked two times on the armour of the Stoat, as a sign of the esteem she had developed for the mighty military weaponry that she had seen in her rear-view mirror throughout the day.
Hahn then also shook hands with the crew, before he got back into his patrol car. Only seconds later, the car took off with the familiar 16-cylinder roar everyone in the group probably had gotten used to, and the Veyron vanished in the distance, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Despite Kon Four's unplanned "reconnaissance in depth" of the local countryside, the remaining "Kon" elements completed their mission in good time and made sure to relay the appropriate data back to the headquarters established in Gutenburg. With that complete, the column began rolling towards the Egethof.

Corporal Symyrenko shook hands with Hauptmeister Faber, returning her compliments and auf weidersehen. He was immensely pleased that he'd had the opportunity to stretch out the legs of his Stoat and show how well it could take corners even at high speed, despite the armouring and "box with wheels" shape of his vehicle. Thinking it only fitting, he admired Faber as she returned to her vehicle, much has he had admired the vehicle on the way up.

Logisticians would establish a regular route from Gutenberg to the Egethof, where they would build a forward supply depot to route fuel, oil, coolants and other fluids needed by modern machines of war forward to the combat elements inside the valley itself. Ammunition would also be brought via this route, and a pair of consultants from Rothstein and Lange had been brought into the operation to help estimate potential damage to the beautiful Luxemburgian system of motorways. They had all but rubbed their hands with sheer unadulterated glee upon seeing the size of the MAZ and BAZ type trucks that had been converted to serve as heavy logistics vehicles. When the Laceenians arrived in Gutenburg, the Russkyans present would be sure to forward them to the headquarters being established at the mouth of the valley.

The journey had been uneventful aside from a minor incident with the LNS Finch's navigation systems which had seen her unceremoniously towed by two County Class destroyers for most of the journey until the fault was eventually rectified.

Now in the hands of local port authorities, the job of getting boots on the ground and to the combat zone was in full swing. Helicopters buzzed to and from the frigates and destroyers, ferrying troops and supplies from the grey hulks to the various vehicles that would carry them to the front lines.

The Laceenian contingent planned to handle logistics in a completely different way to their Russkyan counterparts. In place of huge trucks, much of the supplies were to be carried in the front-line vehicles. Fuel was carried in specialised tankers, designed to operate as close to the front lines as needed. This created a level of mobility amongst Laceenian troops some other nations could only dream of.

For the moment, however, most of the vehicles were yet to roll off the vessels and troops, ammo, rations and other provisions were starting to pile up on the dock. Eventually dozens of Land Rovers, Warriors and other armoured vehicles would swarm over the docks, men would load what they had been allocated into their vehicles and the HQ vehicles would clear up the rest.

A Gazelle passed low overhead, hovering above a hastily laid out landing zone. Aboard was the Supreme Commander, Van Luxemburg Operations (SCoVaLO), Brigadier Melissa Robinson, and two bodyguards from the elite Varulv Battalion. For now, getting the men and their kit off the boats and onto dry land as quickly as possible was going smoothly enough for her to focus on other matters. The first piece of business was to liaise with the locals and her allies as to the most suitable route to the OZ, and also the ETA on those troops landed by commercial jet as whichever airport they'd been directed to.

No sooner had the skids touched the ground than she was moving towards the temporary command post, operating out of the cabin of a Agusta A109. It wasn't luxurious, but it had comms, maps and, most importantly right now, a full thermos of decent coffee."

Egethof now hosted the entirety of the Fourth Expeditionary Air Wing, protected by the organic air defence vehicles of the Wing Headquarters Group. This would be supplemented by other equipment shortly as the Russkyan Army contingent completed its route march to the Egethof and the mouth of the Stanzertal itself. The pilots of the various Sukhoi-designed aircraft that sat well dispersed across the Egethof Airbase's grounds were sunning themselves in the sunshine, enjoying the twenty-five degree heat. Groundcrews were also resting, the aircraft having been fully serviced long ago. Unlike the "flying egomaniacs," the groundcrews preferred to rest in the shade of tents and the comfortable buildings allotted to them by the gracious staff of the Egethof AFB. They listened to music, brewed tea in tall samovarii, played cards, and exchanged stories. Major Bykov strode past a small gathering composed of the few mechanics and specialists required by the Su-25RM bomber, caught an avionics specialist tracing the exaggerated curves of a story's female protagonist in the air out of the corner of his eye, and flagged down a pair of PAF-04s.

Bykov's coveralls bore Army rank slips, because he was an officer allocated to the Brigade Support Battalion, clumsily abbreviated as BDESPBn. The light general purpose vehicles dropped him and a handful of other men off near a Flying Box, the aptly nicknamed Ka-29. This troop transport helicopter lifted off shortly thereafter, Bykov nodding off as the counter-rotating props carried the ugly machine through a calm blue sky back towards Gutenburg. They passed over a POL column headed towards the Egethof.

One of the soldiers aboard the Kamov had his arm in a sling. A tumble from the roof of a L-15 had ended his participation in MILEX early, landing heavily on his elbow he was lucky not to have broken it. Instead his upper arm took the majority of the impact and would take some time to heal. His replacement would go out to the staging areas on the Ka-29 when the helicopter returned to the forward positions this evening. The Kamovs were from Naval Aviation, and as a result of this the flight crew wore navy blue flightsuits as opposed to olive drab. They weren't happy with this, as they'd been assigned to support Army troops and if they were shot down on the front line they'd possibly have to E&E from enemy forces. As a result, some of the better looking female members of these flight crews had taken it upon themselves to charm combat jackets from Army quartermasters for their own use and that of their crewmates. The helicopter flared and dropped altitude, waking Major Bykov.

A Laceenian helicopter passed by as Bykov and the others departed the troop bay of the Kamov. He flagged down Senior Lieutenant Yagudin.
"Some of our friends?"
"Yes sir, Laceenians. They seem capable enough - I was just on my way to meet them. We didn't know when you'd get back."
"Not to worry, Yagudin. The boss is pretty busy, let's get this done quick. Do we have a liason team to introduce?"
"No sir. General Novokshonov told us that everything was going forwards. They'll have a liason assigned up at the JFHQ."

The two approached what appeared to be a platoon group and singled out one of the officers. Yagudin admired some of the equipment while Bykov explained their presence and was pointed towards the temporary headquarters setup in the back of a A109 helicopter. He thanked the platoon leader and headed in that direction, picking the officer with the most metal on their rank slips to introduce himself to, smiling benignly at the others until he found the one he was looking for. Noting the bodyguards, he hung back a few paces and introduced himself from distance.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I am Major Bykov, this is Senior Lieutenant Yagudin. We're Russkyan Army officers, here to arrange a liason team."

Melissa Robinson took a few moments to react to presence of the Russkyan officers, her attention focused as it was on the pair of maps laid out before her, fingers dancing delicately over the canvas, tracing the routes of major roads.

"Ah, yes. Major Bykov, was is?" She straightened up and turned to face the newcomers, waving the pair to her side. "My men look forwards to working with your people out in the field." He tone was professional, but sincere. "I myself hope our time operating together can teach us both some new tricks. Nothing like a foreign perspective to help show up flaws, and better we find them here, eh?"

Piled next to the maps were over half a dozen simple ring-binder folders, labelled as everything from troop rosters to mechanical guides to meteorological repots. It seemed either her style of leadership was very 'hands on' or this bird had been designated 'Dumping Ground Alpha-One' by the clerks of HQ Battalion. Near the top of the pile, one folder was labelled up as being 'Mechanical Guide, Vehicles, OPFOR Equipment'.

Pinned to the bulkhead between the cockpit and the cabin was a single A4 page with nine airline safety card style images under the heading "Tactical uses for your KFS during E&E". It was again hard to tell is that had been a new addition, fresh from someone locker before they deployed, or it it had been part of the furniture for a while. Either way, it brought a smile to several peoples faces whenever they had to poke their heads into the aircraft for one thing or another.

"I hope you'll excuse the mess, but I'm sure your just as aware how much effort landing a force can be. But yes, liaisons, you say? I hope you've got maps of the best routes to the OZ, that would save a fair bit of time. Not that we've got much better to do until the damn roll-off's get docked and unloaded." She glanced out of the window, staring at the mass of men and equipment. It was clear from her behaviour that the files were here because of her, and were not just some clerks stash "I think I need to get at least part of us on the road. The better part of five-thousand men would make this dock extremely crowded."

"We completed a route reconnaissance not long ago and are set up for operations at the mouth of the valley. As I understand it though, we're a little light on boots and would greatly appreciate some more of what you've got back there."

Bykov gestured over his shoulder in the general direction of an Infantry unit they'd passed earlier. Yagudin chimed in: "Fuckin' right, mate." Bykov half-turned, appalled. Machinegun-quick Russkyan punctured Yagudin's quasi-hopeful-quasi-helpful demeanor.

"While colloquial, Senior Lieutenant, that most certainly was not polite. Who taught you English?"
"No one, sir, I just learned it from fellow soldiers."
"Which soldiers?"
"Recce, sir."
"Oh God. Retrain yourself as soon as possible, Lieutenant."
"It was that bad, sir?"

The Major indicated the Brigadier. "Yes, Yagudin, it was." Yagudin turned.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. My English is from soldiers, not teacher."

"We can get you some maps to sort out your movements quickly, and once you arrive forward someone will send around a liason team with comms and the like, Brigadier."

The air was cool that morning, regardless of the good weather that was predicted for the coming days. A foggy cloud covered the Winklensee, and blocked the panoramic view of Burg Rickenbach. It would be useless to stand here any longer, the man standing on one of the castle’s balconies thought. Longer than the average Van Luxemburger, he was around 1,95 metres long, and he had short blonde hair. He looked fit for the age of 45, but his age could clearly be seen on his face. He had originally been clothed in the Van Luxemburger uniform of a General-Major with the Grand-Ducal Marechaussee, but a bright orange safety vest covered most of his body parts. The vest also made clear what his function was: large capital letters formed the words ‘MILEX COMMITTEE’ and ‘MARECHAUSSEE’: He was General-Major Daniel Waldmann, one of the committee members and the person who would be responsible for the practical execution of MILEX. He would command a small contingent of Marechaussee troops, who would control the exercises and go out in the field to observe the goings of the troops.

As he looked down, towards the parking lot, he saw his men walk towards the Toyota Land Cruisers and VLT L9’s that stood parked there. Originally, they had been painted in the Marechaussees’ olive green colours, but these vehicles had quickly been repainted with large orange squares, on which they had placed the same words as on the safety vests the drivers, and indeed General-Major Waldmann, wore.

As the 4x4’s left the parking, he sighed. MILEX ’08 would start soon. It was 1145hrs.

FROM: MILEX COMMITTEE, GRAND-DUCAL MARECHAUSSEE
TO: ALL INVOLVED
SUBJECT: EXERCISE START

ALL UNITS IN POSITION, EXERCISE START SHOULD COMMENCE AT 1200 HRS.
MILEX SIMULATION WILL BE ACTIVATED AT 1215 HRS, KILLS MADE BEFORE THIS MOMENT WILL NOT COUNT.

OPFOR UNITS WILL START 5 KILOMETRES FROM THE FRONT LINE. THIS TO SEPARATE OPFOR AND VL-FRIENDLIES BEFORE THE SIMULATION START.
ALL KILLS WILL BE LOGGED. EVERY SOLDIER WILL GET A READOUT OF HIS KILLS AND STATISTICS.

PLEASE HOLD FIRE ON ORANGE 4X4’S: THESE ARE MILEX COMMITTEE INSPECTORS. THEY CAN ALSO OVERRULE ALL ORDERS GIVEN BY YOUR COMMANDER, THIS IN THE INTEREST OF PUBLIC SAFETY.

MILEX COMMITTEE IS STATIONED IN BURG RICKENBACH. IF REQUIRED, THE COMMITTEE CAN BE REACHED AT AM 148.000 MHZ.

WE WISH YOU A PLEASANT EXERCISE.

SIGNED,
GEN-MAJ. D. WALDMANN
MARECHAUSSEE
MILEX COMMITTEE

(OOC: Exercise starts now, ladies and gentlemen. Good luck!)

Day One, 12.15hrs Stanzertal Time

"Light Troop will conduct reconnaissance and screening operations in the unoccupied zone forward of our positions from 12.20 to 00.00 hours today. Medium Troop is to separate into Fox and Marauder teams, objective being the establishment of several observation points to monitor the unoccupied zone by 15.00 hours. Marauders are to support Stoat LRCs as much as possible after escorting Foxes to their positions. Expected resistance in the forward area are enemy observation points and listening posts. The enemy may also conduct forward reconnaissance. Light Troop will have priority of fires from One and Two Batteries, First Battalion of Two-Three Artillery. Medium troop has priority of fire from the 9P140 batteries. There will be no interdiction fires today, so keep an eye out for flashes and try to plot them as best you can. Questions?"

There were none. The highly trained men of A Squadron made the appropriate notes regarding the Signals Equipment Operating Instructions (SEOIs) and conferred over maps. They camouflaged themselves thoroughly and boarded their vehicles. Each patrol group moved "in the red," which was to say highly cautious and alert for any sight or sound that could indicate the enemy. All roads, side-roads, and alleyways were checked for signs of defenders, the Russkyan recce troops demonstrating no hesitation to debus their vehicles and advance in pairs as quietly and invisibly as they were renowned for world-over. Contacts would be radioed in, plotted on maps, and evaluated.

By 15.00hrs, there were four observation positions in the unoccupied sector between the two forces' start lines. These consisted of two L-16CRV vehicles parked in concealment, draped in infrared suppressant and radar-masking camouflage net, known to the Ukrainians as "Kontrast" netting. Observation equipment was set up to monitor wide swaths of ground, and the areas around the OPs were boobytrapped with trip-flares and DAPM-30 "Scythe" mines. With these positions well camouflaged, the Marauder heavy armoured cars went to rendezvous with the scout cars. These patrols, widely separated to cover the necessary frontage, reconnoitered an area up to one kilometer from supposed enemy positions; these being the bunkers to the south of Lichtenberg.

At the same time the Armoured Recce troops were receiving their briefing, one A-50RU and one IL-76PP/R lifted off from the runways at the Egethof. They would cruise at 10,000 meters in a simple oval over friendly airspace, the A-50RU's Airborne Early Warning RADAR activated and the IL-76PP/R's signals monitoring equipment operating alongside. They were escorted by two flights of Su-37/R fighters, fully loaded for air to air combat. On the taxiways of the Egethof AFB, other Terminators were on a five minute alert, ready to cycle airborne to replace a "bingo fuel" flight or respond to a Luxemburgian incursion.

On a spot of high ground outside the valley, nearer Egethof, men of the Theatre Air Defence Group were busily working away. The 91N6E system was mated to the 40V6MD mast and slowly raised up off the ground, a process that took the trained operators just under an hour. A 96L6 RADAR on its MZKT carrier was operating three hundred meters away, the truck covered in Kontrast netting, as were the other vehicles. The half-group dug slit trenches outside their vehicles while other crewmen monitored the screens, recording skies clear of unknown tracks for now. A 92N2E was three hundred meters to the other side of the 40V6MD mast. Four TELs were centrally located, missiles ready to fire. Fibre-optic cables were run to reduce the electronic signature of the position to radar transmissions only, the "battlenet" coordination systems held in standby. A URAL truck arrived, running cables for PZK field telephones and fibre-optic cables back to the group command vehicle, parked in a protected location.

The soldiers of I/37.MRR took up defensive positions and waited for their allies to contact them. The Joint Forces Headquarters (JFHQ) was fully operational, route maps, SEOI, and the other necessaries of coordination distributed to Laceenian, Gharodanthi, and Zanziim commanders. An SvL-11 helicopter flitted over the frontline to the west of Lichtenberg, darting at low level over an area between two bunker complexes marked on the map, an antiaircraft position worryingly close. The pilot edged the helicopter closer to the ground, dodging a stand of trees and proceeding northwards to take a quick look at Matzelsdorf before exiting the way he'd came. The gunner/observer, seated below the pilot and to his front, operated the reconnaissance equipment and kept a close eye on the Kirovensk-Taganrog manufactured Threat Warning System.

Stanzerburg, 1215 hrs

As the words ‘Exercise start!’ blared over the radio equipment of the Van Luxemburger troops, they did not have to leap into action so much, as most of the troops had already taken up their position in bunkers, improvised defence posts and vehicles. They shared all their positions with troops from Barronia and Brutland & Norden, making it a truly multinational force.

In the Stanzerburg, Lieutenant Melanie Schreiner overlooked the valley with her binoculars. The view was excellent, panoramic even. However, she was not here to admire the view, or have a holiday. The answer to the question what she was really doing here was simple: it could even be answered by looking at the officer. Wearing a G-07 over her shoulder and being clothed in a simple pair of trousers and an pullover, both olive green, she could be identified as a Reebouwuecht soldier, preferring non-standard weaponry and clothing. She wore a bullet resistant Type IV vest under her pullover and carried the rest of her fairly basic military equipment on a simple belt along her waist, confirming the unique look of a Reebouwuecht soldier. If one would look around, more of these troops could be seen, talking with some troops of the Schweizerwuecht and the National Reserve. The differences between the troops were rather obvious, even when one only would identify them by the rifles they carried.

These troops here were part of a force that would protect the Stanzerburg, but also mount actions behind enemy lines if necessary. They had a pair of helicopters available in Zell an der Stans if necessary, but they were expected to move by foot or light vehicle, down into the valley. There, countless other troops from three nations awaited to open fire on the first traces of enemy soldiers, invading the mountain valley that would be ‘theirs’ for the time to come.

‘Bergadler Alpha calling Maulef Hotel’ Schreiner used the mobile radio that had been set-up in the castle, trying to reach one of the bunkers down in the valley.

‘Maulef Hotel.’ The answer was short, but left no questions to be asked: the requested bunker was available on radio.

‘Bergadler Alpha here. SITREP?’

‘No enemy units in sight yet. Maulef units are all set. Barracuda Charlie One should go overhead in mere minutes, to recon the situation. You will be updated momentarily. Maulef Hotel out.’ The commander of bunker Maulef Hotel quickly reported the situation in the valley.

‘Roger. Maulef Hotel Out, Bergadler Alpha.’ The connection was closed again and radio traffic was once again reduced to a minimum.

St. Jakob Airbase, 5 minutes later

The EADS Barracuda UAV lifted from the tarmac of the landing strip, it’s Pratt & Whitneyjet turbine was pushing out maximum thrust, pulling away from the airbase at an ever-increasing speed. Flying low over Lüterswil, it broke the relative silence of the day, deep in the Stanzertal. It then quickly increased it’s altitude, climbing to over 3 km’s. Flying over the Winklensee, the operator saw fabulous views of the turquoise colour of the water, before it could admire Zell an der Stans. This however wasn’t a holiday, but work. The Barracuda was stabilised at an altitude of 3,500 metres, and continued in the direction of the valley entrance. Flying over Matzelsdorf, it now rapidly approached the frontline. Climbing even higher, gaining altitude by every circle it made above the frontline, it was set to reach 10 km’s of altitude and start reconnaissance tasks from there.

Moments after the Barracuda left, a Saab Argus was also gearing up to leave and establish a early warning system over the Stanzertal. It would be escorted by a CAP of four Eurofighters, two of which had been equipped for air engagements, the two others for ground attacks. This was deemed essential by the Arméi Loft Divisioun, since that meant the aircraft could also be used for close air support. Being loaded with Brimstone and ALARM missiles, as well as a pair of JDAM 450 kg bombs. The air engagement EF-2000’s carried IRIS-T missiles, and would have to rely on their on-board cannon in case they were unable to fire their missile load.

The aircraft headed forward, roughly following the same route as the Barracuda, but the Saab limited the speeds they could achieve to 500 km/h, and the Eurofighters broke out off the formation just past Aschau, leaving the Saab to make it’s surveillance flights circling above Aschau. The fighters continued, lowering their altitude from time to time, until they had reached the frontline. Pulling up just past the first bunker, the aircraft climbed almost vertical to return to the Saab AEW jet, awaiting their orders. Their small trip to the frontline had more to do with reassuring the troops there that the Army Air Arm was there to support them.

Some hundred meters away from the first line of bunkers, FlaK Lichtenberg 1 was alarmed by an incoming enemy object, that halted close to the bunkers and was undoubtedly a helicopter. The operator of the LAG-89S Anti-Air station responded immediately by contacting the bunkers to confirm his spot.

‘Fochs Lima Eins calling Maulef Hotel, Confirm visual, helicopter, OPFOR, at 11 o’clock of your position, over.’

‘Maulef Hotel. Visual confirmed. Russkyan markings. Light armed reconnaissance helicopter….. Hold on… Type SvL-11.’ It took some moments for Maulef Hotel to tell the operator the exact type of helicopter, most likely because he was looking it up in an identification manual.

‘Fochs Lima Eins. Confirmed. I am initiating the fire sequence.’ The operator answered, flicking a few switches to let the machine start the automatic target acquirement process and looking at the radar screen to see if it had selected the right target, and confirmed his choice. The system reacted by firing one of it’s Mistral missiles, and loading it’s cannon for a stream of 40mm bullets, if required.

The Mistral, meanwhile, had started it imaginary flight path, while the launcher spat out an empty booster rocket, a shell that would land on the ground after several metres. The MBDA product was a proven weapon, and was brand new at the time the LAG-89S was placed in the Stanzertal in 1990. It was however the first time it would have to fire a missile against a foreign helicopter for the Van Luxemburgers, so the operator was somewhat excited to have accomplished this historical event. He however kept his finger close to the ‘automated cannon fire’ button, in case the missile would be unsuccessful.

The missile launch was followed by the men inside the central bunker of the first line, Maulef Hotel. One of it’s soldiers was standing by with a Starstreak MANPADS missile, in case the AA station would completely fail to hit it’s target.

"Roger roger. Operation is a go. All units, you are green to fire, and remember - watch for the orange."

"Confirmed control. Recon teams, you're up, strike teams to follow in 5. Let's keep it clean, in, out, without incident."

In the Forward Command Operator's Station, several men and women now were typing furiously, whilst at the same time barking orders out to the forward troops over the radio.

In the mountainside above, various teams of scouts and strike pairs readied their cycles. Loaded with enough equipment for 2 days travel, they would be surveying and launching guerilla-style strikes against notable convoys and targets of interest.

At the Stanzerburg, Colonel James Fulford surveyed the land before him. From the view that presented itself to him, Van Luxemburg would make an excellent holiday destination - he'd take advantage of it when the leave kicked in after the exercise. However, for now - business called. His team of 20 who had set themselves up in the Stanzerburg along with the Lieutenant from Van Luxemburg were managing the overall effort - they had brought with them a miniature version of ObServ: ObServ Lite. Composed of a series of servers, a touch-sensitive table and monitors, the system was designed to be deployed quickly, managed by minimal staff, and yet provide an effective organisation system for maximum efficiency.

So whilst the organised chaos ran on, orders being dispatched, conditions relayed, and observations brought in, the Colonel, in his pullover, trousers, and finely-polished shoes, began taking command of the show.

Day One, 12.23hrs Stanzertal Time

The TWS beeped at the gunner/observer. He checked the display screen.

"Missile launch warning eight o'clock. Infrared sensor - no laser, no radar warning."
"Evading."

With his left hand the pilot pushed the collective towards the deck and flipped the automatic flare release system. It deployed three flares every two seconds. As this happened, the pilot pushed the cyclic stick forward and dropped his nose towards the ground, diving. He leveled off three meters above the lush grass of the valley and pulled his collective to the neutral position. His infrared signature was massively reduced by the simple design decision that had rerouted the exhaust into the rotor blades, dissipating it almost as quickly as it was produced and inducing IR-guided missiles to aim "high" on the target profile. Quickly he put a copse of trees and a slight rise between him and the launch point. The missile killed one of the flares rather effectively, and the pilot wallowed in ground effect for a few moments before nudging his cyclic and carrying on at extremely low level.

Ten kilometers in the air, the air volumetric search radar operator watched the blips representing Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. They dropped low. The radio operator alerted the escorting Sukhois.

"Red Flight, Eagle. Angle 110, incoming targets. Crossloading targeting information now."
"Eagle, Red Flight Leader. Confirmed."

A flight - four - Su-37/Rs edged over to the right, leaving Green Flight to escort the A-50RU. The datalink was established between the AWACS platform and their missiles, providing the R-77M1 missiles with targeting information. The kinematics were good: The Terminators were high, the missiles would be headed at a down angle, velocity and therefore available energy would be increased drastically by not having to fight gravity. A tone sounded in four headsets and the pilots tapped the weapon release. The volley approached the Eurofighters at 4.0 Mach. The beauty of this guidance was that the AWACS had been the first to illuminate the target, and that the suite fitted to the A-50RU allowed for guidance via the search-and-tracking radar: the targets would not be alerted by their warning systems that they'd been locked onto. As the Eurofighters popped up at high speed to return to the side of the Saab, they only made things easier for the R-77M1 missiles.

As the missiles approached the terminal leg of their journey, they flipped on their active radar seekers. Each centered a Eurofighter inside its 'Kill-Box,' with no missiles double-targeting thanks to the initial guidance provided by the AWACS. Each EF-2000 would find its energy depleted at the top of the vertical manouvre they'd made to climb to altitude in order to return to the Saab, and the BVRAAMs were still traveling at 4.0 Mach. The engagement mathematics worked in favour of the RVVS fliers.
In the event that the soldier manning the Starstreak MANPADS could still see the SvL-11 after its defensive manouvres, the Threat Warning System would immediately alert the pilot and gunner to an attempted laser lock, giving them the option of pounding the area with the Yak-B rotary heavy machinegun.

Signals Monitoring Specialists aboard the IL-76PP/R noted the conversations between the Pan-Arab Barronian personnel over their radios, and the same for the Van Luxemburger positions. They noted the frequencies in use, signal strength, and made an estimate of type of transmitter and location. This was passed on to Brigadier General Novokshonov's staff at the JFHQ.

Nord-Brutlandese Teschie HQ
Hidden Location
1230 hrs

"Teschie Bratto-Ero-Osse-Doz' in cesto."

Coltt. Adam Biancafiore smiled as he replied curtly, "Recce. Scordeche per mestri." One of the communications people in the HQ maintained the connection with the squad, blurting out instructions and commands from the higher ups. This squad was the last to occupy its designated post, and all of the Nord-Brutlandese troops were in position.

The headquarters of the Teschie Battalion operated out of a heavily-camouflaged Brute all-terrain military truck for mobility and ease of movement. This was the standard Nord-Brutlandese HQ; the Army, especially the more specialized divisions such as the Mountain, Marine, and Airborne Divisions, disliked fixed headquarters. This Battalion, in particular, can operate out from a cave if needed... and in the Stanzertal, there seemed to be plenty of them.

A steady stream of reports came in from the squads out in the field, with no reported ground activity yet. Perhaps the people in the Airborne Division already have a hint of the enemy's ground movements.

"Reinàgno Sede, hoci s'Teschie Sede," Coltt. Biancafiore began.
"Teschie Sede, hoci s'Reinàgno Sede, avantece."
"Reinàgno Sede, oageche a brelte di movi di truppu, finta."
"Teschie Sede, de brelte s'vanettía noval. Ci senteche il asap, finta."
"Gradece, Reinàgno Sede, finta."

Coltt. Biancafiore's stomach grumbled, and he reached out for the food being offered by his Timberlander communications technician. Hopefully the enemies aren't eavesdropping; but even if they did, their procedure of communicating in their obscure language, Nord-Brutlandese, should be enough to slow down the enemy's understanding of their internal communications. However, their external communications with their allies may not be safe, it had to be conducted in English...

He looked at the map of Stanzertal, with colored pins denoting the locations of the sixteen squads under his command, and two are directly on the most probably line of attack.

Bunkers
400m south of Lichtenberg
1230 hrs

"Piú d'emicu," Snd. Cristina Sortino remarked as she put down her binoculars. The bunker they occupied offered a good view of the road intersection. With that good view, they also have to have a good sniper and machinegun coverage of the area.

"Teschie Arbo-Dito-Nete-Doz', hoce s'sonzio," their radio cackled.
"Teschie Arbo-Dito-Nete-Un', hoce s'sonzio, avantece."
"Sonzio, vosi ojecco l'emicu pre?"
"Nila pre, finta."

As the conversation went on, Snd. Sortino peered out of her binoculars again, looking at the other bunker occupied by the other squad. They, too, were waiting.

As the Mistral missile missed it’s intended target, the operator cursed. He immediately pushed the button for automated cannon fire, and the turret on top of the Anti-Air system turned towards the reported radar position of the helicopter, and opened fire. The Italian-designed OTO Melara Fast Forty guns, basically improved Bofors 40mm Anti-Air guns, opened fire at an impressive rate of 450 rounds per minute from both guns, essentially producing an even more impressive 900 rounds per minute. The radar on top of the Anti-Air emplacement guided the bullets fairly accurately, even if it wasn’t one of the newest systems available.

The constant stream of bullets was assisted by the launch of a Starstreak missile, accurately fired by a trained soldier from one of the bunkers, where he had a fairly good sight of the helicopter, which had tried to fly away from the AA station, but not from the bunkers, apparently. The operator had of course trained many launches with the laser-guided missile, but this would be his first battlefield-like experience. Following the helicopter, that was passing low over the trees, he pinpointed the laser beam at the helicopter, letting the missile move forward to it’s target. It was now moving up close, but the trees were a decisive factor in this stage. If the helicopter would hop over the small hill now, the missile would be worthless. However, the helicopter would be in the AA stations’ line of sight again.. It would be one or the other for the pilot.

Meanwhile, one of the Eurofighter pilots noticed that four dots rapidly moved across his radar screen, and could not identify as anything else than supersonic Anti-Air Missiles. Seeing that he was not warned by his Missile Approach Warner, he figured it had to be guided by the A-50RU that was behind his back. While he warned his wingmen that there was a volley of missiles approaching, the MAW also picked up the R77M1's as they went into active radar seeker mode. This meant the system automatically deployed chaff while the EF-2000’s each went another way, making G-intensive manoeuvres to escape the missile lock. The system also activated the ECM modules aboard the aircraft, trying to effectively decoy and jam the radar that was looking for them. This was increased in effectiveness by the Elettronica Cross-eye module, that tried to fool the missile into thinking the Eurofighter was completely in a different position.

Several seconds later, the MAW deployed it’s last-ditch method: Deploying the Towed Radar decoy in the starboard pod. Each Eurofighter in Van Luxemburger ALD had been issued with one, and would be deployed if the situation called for it. A 100-metre long Kevlar cable unfolded from the pod, carrying a decoy that would try to fool the missile, letting it think that the decoy was actually the aircraft itself: this was assisted by a jamming system included in the TRD unit.

The Eurofighters then made a dive back to the ground, turning hard to avoid collision with various buildings around the countryside. The fighters then turned again, and blasted over the landscape at speeds of Mach 1.5 and up. They surpassed the Saab at mind-boggling speeds, and returned by banking hard and climbing to pass by the Argus in another direction. The aircraft then dispersed again, meaning they would all return to base separately. The use of advanced radar-guided missiles would mean the EF-2000’s would have to be equipped with Selenia Aspides, which would need to take out the attacking Sukhoi aircraft, as well as any other hostile aircraft. They were meanwhile replaced by another flight of four jet fighters, already set-up to provide backup, which would remain close to the Saab and protect it with their missiles.

Several minutes later, a Rousseau Aerospace 04 ‘Tigre’ attack helicopter took off from a field just past Lichtenberg, equipped for both air-to-air combat and ground support, with PARS3 LR ATGM’s and Mistral AA missiles. This was further backed up by a 30mm GIAT autocannon, which would prove to be very useful against infantry and other ‘soft’ targets. The helicopter had been called in to support the Van Luxemburgers during the meeting with the Russkyan helicopters, and deter any other helicopters from breaching their lines, while also keeping an eye on movements in the frontline area. The troops already knew this would be a harsh exercise, seeing the first reaction from the friendly ‘enemy’.

Day One, 12.26hrs Stanzertal Time

Kirovensk-Taganrog had produced a good unit. It had to be, to pass the stringent tests imposed by any of the Russkyan Military's service branches. It first shrieked about a radar lock, then shouted a warning about an attempted laser lock. The radar warning was made just as the SvL tandem-rotor helicopter disappeared behind the hillock, masking itself from the OTO Melara guns. A good thing too, because while the helicopter could survive a lot of things, forty millimetre automatic cannon fire was not one of them.

There were a number of flaws in using a SACLOS system to guide an antiaircraft missile. The first was that a laser lock was easily directionalized by most threat warning systems. The second was that the operator would have to maintain this lock as the weapon intercepted the target, and there were a lot of things a skilled aircrew could do to make this an nonviable proposition. Mounted to the top left of his forward cockpit window was the pilot's display for the Kirovensk-Taganrog Threat Warning System. It indicated the bearing the laser was coming from, and the pilot nearly touched down when he pushed down the collective lever. They were already wallowing in a near-hover, sheltering behind the terrain from the automatic cannons as the pilot decided how to get them out of that particular trap.

A quick kick of the left rudder pedal spun the helicopter's nose to face the laser's source. The gunner/observer pressed a button on his weapon control, and the computer aligned the optronic gunsight. He bent his head to his sights, examining the target area. If by "examined," one meant systematically firing bursts of twenty to thirty rounds from the Yak-B rotary heavy machinegun until the laser source snapped off.

At a much greater altitude, the four launched R-77M1s were enjoying themselves as much as inanimate objects could. The easy targets had since taken advantage of their potent stallfighting capability and had made themselves scarce, activating any number of countermeasures. The encounter was being recorded aboard the A-50RU, and one operator was suitably impressed when the radar decoys deployed. One R-77M1 stayed with an EF-2000 until the pilot's manouvres brought the Typhoon nose to nose with the BVRAAM. At this point, the rapidly deploying radar lure and crosseye jamming had its desired effect - crosseye jamming techniques didn't work in both directions, fore and aft of the aircraft, only one. Decoyed towards the lure, the R-77M1's guidance decided that this indeed the intended target and killed it with gusto. The Russkyan fliers did not have their radars activated, relying instead on the A-50RU to warn them of any incoming tracks that would require them to go live themselves. The electronic intelligence provided by this brief encounter outlined the capabilities of the EF-2000's radar suite and the potential of the airframe in high G manouvre, which matched that of the Su-37/R. Any within visual range dogfight would be quite the spectacle.

Another R-77M1's seeker latched onto a Typhoon and made its way there at high speed. As the pilot dropped the aircraft towards the ground, the missile followed, picking up speed. The increased energy allowed it to stay with the EF-2000 despite some impressive skidding and spirals that RVVS fliers referred to as "Now I'm Here, Now I'm Not" flying. The problem was simply that the pilot could not withstand the number of Gs that the airframe could, and neither could compete with the missile's ability to withstand G forces. Two other missiles had similar experiences.

"Archer, Eagle. Traffic."
"Eagle, traffic go."

The SAM operator's ears perked at his comrade's response to the hail from the A-50RU on the encrypted radio network. They sat within the carefully camouflaged control van back with the half of the Theatre Air Defence Group that had been deployed.

"Archer, swat Track 0093 for me."
"Archer copies request Eagle. Launching."

Selecting one TEL vehicle, the operator informed it that it was to fire a pair of 9M96E2 missiles from the medium range/short range pack. The missiles were assigned Track 0093, which was the Saab airborne early warning radar. These launched, and proceeded under inertial guidance to the target area. They received a midcourse update from the radiating 96L6 and then tracked in on the AEW at high speed, actuating thrust vectoring and canards as needed to achieve what had been described as a "ridiculously high" angular capability. The missiles carried a small twenty-four kilogram blast fragmentation warhead, as the robust missile design required to withstand tremendous G forces limited the amount of explosive that could be carried. The designers had made up for this however, with a fantastic detonation system that was about to be demonstrated on the AEW. The detonation system utilized a number of initiators to shape the detonation wave as it traveled through the explosive, creating what was for all intents and purposes a steerable shaped charge.

Tracks 0091 and 0095 were also designated for destruction by the remaining two 9M96E2 missiles in the quad-pack aboard the TEL, sharing the space with two larger containers and another quad-pack. Track 0095 was the EF-2000 whose towed radar lure had decoyed an R-77M1, and Track 0091 was an unknown contact type at nearly ten kilometers altitude on a circular climb pattern. Track 0091 was engaged when the circular climb brought it closest to the SAM site. The very powerful 91N6E fitted to the 40V6MD mast was paying off, simply generating too much power to be confused by signature-reduced aircraft in this fine weather.

A convoy of Strykers, XM2002s, and various other refueling and ammunition bearing vehicles raced across the lush landscape that was the Stanzertal toward the JFHQ. At three kilometers out, they radioed their intentions to enter the area, and rushed in. Almost immediately, they formed a perimeter inside the area, and men and material flowed-out in a well-orchestrated flurry of activity that resulted in numerous tents and triage centers being put-up. Although this was only an exercise, it was still necessary to see how quickly the HQ could be made ready, and in the event of injury, the triage center. Even though this was make-pretend war, it was still war. People can get hurt.

A large number of men carrying demolition fuses and explosives in their hands and packs made their way to a large clearing populated only by thin, but tall trees, and began wrapping white cord around the bases of the trees in a square pattern that from overhead, might likely resemble a grid with the trees as pegs that the lines were bent around. After the entangling net had been crafted, an angry looking first sergeant screamed "Clear the field!" thrice, with a long pause in-between each call, and then finally "Fire in the hole!" as he snuck behind an IFV and covered his ears. A deafening series of explosions issued forth, and what was once a small, budding forest became a flat plane upon which engineers moved onto, placing beacons that would digitally identify the constraints of landing pads in lea of paint which would be taken care of by the fall of the sun.

As all this occurred, five companies of men from each Battlaion, fully half of all the combat forces in the theater under Gahrodanthi rule, was lining up along the edge of the engagement zone, preparing to pounce on their pre-established positions in accordance with plans set-up to capture the two bunkers west of the river and all the major roadways north into Lichtenburg. Some men waited in the helicopters, others in IFVs and tanks, still more in self-propelled guns, all waiting to execute the plan with all the precision that Colonel Riesutteu demanded of his men.

The Colonel himself, having left his IFV as soon as it entered the JFHQ, was escorted by his entourage of support and comm staff, followed by the High Command of each Battalion and their respective support staff as several companies of men flooded the JFHQ command structure and began setting-up com stations and linking-up with the company commanders in the area. Colonel Riesutteu, always seen wearing a distinctive costume of ballistic tanker goggles, black leather greatcoat, scarf and medals, quickly made his way toward the Russkyan command to introduce himself and gather the situation as well as inform the Russkyan command of his plans for victory. He was not one for beating around the bush.

Whilst missiles left streaks across the sky above, and most of the Laceenian troops were still getting organised behind, a group of seven heavily armed and well trained soldiers from 'Varulv' special forces battalion advanced towards the front-lines. Equipped for a heavy engagement, they carried a HEDP AT4, along with their standard collection of L85's and an L86.

Six hundred yards west of them, another seven man section moved near silently towards their target, carrying almost identical equipment, bar the AT4, which had been replaced with a man-portable Starstreak.

In total, twenty-eight men, one platoon, were preparing to harass the bunkers ahead. Their orders were to watch the scene, then move up and help cause as much damage as possible once the heavy equipment rolled through, although the dull rumble to the rear told them they might not be waiting too long for the armour.

The lead section halted, all seven men dropping a knee in almost perfect sync. I radiated from there, with all four sections stopped dead within two seconds. This was it. Cover. The hand gestures were simple enough to not be misinterpreted by the troops, yet unique enough to the Laceenian armed forces that any observer would be hard pressed to tell what the orders were based on the hand movement.

Seconds later, anyone watching would have noted how ninety percent of the men had seemingly disappeared. In fact, they were making use of whatever cover they could find. A bush. A hillock. The undergrowth. Slowly, on their bellies, the platoon moved forwards, the L86 gunner first, weapons ready. The moment they had a line on the bunkers, they would stop, and they would wait. As a support weapon, the accuracy of the '86 was redoubtable. As a marksman rifle, in the right hands, it was deadly.

All they could do now was sit, and wait for their targets to come in to view. Four snipers, each with their own designated field to monitor. Their orders were simple reconnaissance at present, and the range was too far for effective fire. Once the armour arrive, however, they were close enough for harassing fire, and would hopefully keep the enemy's heads down long enough to minimise incoming anti-armour fire.

Day One, 12.45hrs Stanzertal Time

"Here comes Rommel."

Novokshonov was about to reprimand that particular member of his staff when he laid eyes on Colonel Riesutteu. The Brigadier General shook hands with Riesutteu and welcomed him and his staff to the Joint Forces Headquarters Operations Room with a wave of his hand, indicating the equipment, map tables, and encompassing the canvas walls of the position. Soldiers outside were quickly digging slit trenches, and communications trucks were running fibre-optic cable and PZK field telephone lines to and from depots and alternate radio transmitter sites.

He listened to Riesutteu's plans, laid out succinctly and completely on a map table. He nodded slowly, running his tongue over his upper teeth as was his habit before opening his mouth to respond. "Colonel, this is a solid plan. Your forces will be detailed to act as breakthrough units. Laceenian troops will help screen your flanks, and all of your organic fire support remains at your disposal. I will dispatch liason teams to your battalion commanders and place a forward observation team at their command as well, in the event my gunners need to add a little more weight to your fires. We have a phased plan in place here, phase two being the set-piece offensive you seem ready to carry out.

"I'm sure you'll make good use of the time between now and when Phase Two kicks off. Good hunting, Colonel." Novokshonov was not as ebullient as his executive officer Colonel Sotnikov was, on the job.

Outside the JFHQ, two liason teams were dispatched to the Laceenians and the remaining two to the Gharodanthi. Members of the target acquisition platoon for 23rd Artillery's First Battalion were sent to liase with the Gharodanthi, the Laceenians instead being detailed a radio frequency they would use to contact the 23rd's fire directors when the need to rain steel death upon the enemy arrived.

Bunkers
400 M south of Lichtenberg
1245 hrs

"Me ojece mai," Snd. Sortino whispered. Her squad commander, Sgt. Bruno Gagliardini, also started to peer through on his binoculars. "Quo?"
"Cichècente metri, te la sorde... Mai vegreco."

Sgt. Gagliardini looked harder. He hadn't seen what his lookout saw. There was nothing, nobody. If there were enemies, then they better get ready for action.

"Tu sicura?"
"Sis'nore."
"C'el, noi oispetteche." Sgt. Gagliardini trusted her and believed in her, even though he hadn't really saw what she saw. Sgt. Gagliardini turned to the radio operator and the rest of the squad and started issuing orders. The wait was over.

---

The bunker across the road crossing also came to life. Like the men and women of the Teschie ADN2 Squad, signals were passed from inside the bunker out onto the posts outside: the two machinegunners, the two snipers, and the rifleman hiding from positions near the bunkers. The machinegunners can and would deliver a blanket of fire on anyone trying to march up the road with the rifelman supporting them. The snipers, with their X750 and X2000 sniper rifles, they would be capable of hitting targets 750 meters and 2000 meters away, respectively. Most of the other squad members were inside the bunkers, weapons trained at the road crossing and through the peepholes, looking for enemies that might encroach and attempt to wrest away their stronghold.

Snd. Franco Pettinella was wielding the X2000 sniper rifle for Teschie ADN1 Squad. Nearly turned away from the Royal Nord-Brutlandese Army because of his eyes, he would be turning his hyperopia into an asset. With his eagle eyes, he spotted something moving about almost 300 meters away, close to the ground. Fixing the moving patch on the crosshairs of his X2000, he pulled on the trigger.

---

Meanwhile, upon being alerted by the bunkers, the vehicles of Teschie ADN Section moved forward from south of Lichtenberg, positioning themselves behind the small hill north of the crossing. From there they can target both the motorway and the regional road into Lichtenberg, which winds to the west and to the east of the hill. Units of the Monstràccio BFS2 Squad of the Eleventh Armored Division assembled 300 meters north of the hill, ready to hit on oncoming tanks. Should the tankfight progress, they can always call on reinforcements...

As the Eurofighter headed away from the place where the R-77M1 missile impacted, he let go a sigh of relief, and immediately banked back to base. He was now keeping track of his radar screen more intensive than before, and saw another series of dots appear on his radar screen, unmistakably another pair of Anti-Air missiles, but not directly aimed for him, apparently. They were heading straight for the UAV and the AEW aircraft, and this was also seen by the pilots of both aircraft. While the two aircraft could not do much more than deploy chaff and move away from the missile with several fairly illogical manoeuvres, LAG-89S stations on the ground also picked up the missiles, alarming the operators they should take action. The respective operators indeed took action, by selecting the target and firing both weapons they had at it: The stations launched two Mistral missiles, one per Sadral missile launcher, followed by a true barrage of double 40mm rapid cannon fire. The operator was forced to look at the automated movements of the AA system through the video aiming device that was mounted inbetween the two gun mouths of the OTO Melara Fast Forties.

‘VERDAMMTE SCHEISSHUBSCHRAUBER! SCHWEINHUND! NAZI!’ A true waterfall of curses followed the attack with the Yak-B cannon aboard the SvL helicopter. The soldier that operated the Starstreak had aimed and fired the weapon from just outside the bunker complex, and had been trying to accurately guide the missile to it’s target from that position. As he was attacked by the helicopter, he was able to leap inside the bunker, only suffering minor injuries according to his exercise system. The Starstreak that had already been fired would have been on it’s way to the helicopter, but had now lost it’s guidance as the operator fled back into the bunker. It carried on moving forward, but could not actually see the target. Eventually, the missile ran out of propellant, and lost speed, eventually vanishing into the trees.

This all unrolled before the eyes of the approaching Tigre helicopter crew, who were busy locking the IR-guided Mistral missiles at the SvL-11 helicopter. Currently, the gunner had to wait on the orders of the pilot before it could safely fire the Mistrals and switch to the 30mm GIAT cannon.

‘Waffen frei. Ziel Svl-Hubschrauber, 12 Uhr. Zwei Mistral Infrarot.’

The cool answer of the gunner followed only a second later.
‚Ziel Bestätigt. Waffen frei.’

‚Feuer.’

The single word meant that two Mistral AA missiles were fired from the tubes, locked onto the SvL helicopter. The Tigre helicopter then vanished behind a series of trees, protecting it from enemy missiles and gunfire. The helicopter was assisted by a direct uplink with the air search radar of the LAG-89S, making it able to follow the enemy helicopter without having to use it’s own radar. The trees in front of the helicopter severely limited radar coverage, after all.

Several kilometres behind the front line, in Zell an der Stans, a pair of Eurofighters passed low over the river, still chased by the R-77M1 missiles. In a spur of the moment, the pilots decided to jettison their towed radar decoys and go for a daring plan: usually only depicted during air shows. The first Eurofighter decreased it’s altitude; down towards the water, it was followed by the second jet. Rapidly approaching a bridge over the river, the jets produced a cloud of water drops, trying to disrupt the radar seekers aboard the missiles. Then, they went for an even more shocking move: flying straight towards the bridge, one of the Eurofighters engaged it’s afterburner, hurtling along, under the bridge, and coming out on the other side. The second Eurofighter then also engaged his afterburner, and pulled up before the bridge, leaving a column of water rising up from the jet engine’s displacement. Passing just over the bridge, it dispensed another series of chaff.

The last Eurofighter had less luck than the others. As all of his jamming and decoy attempts failed, the jet was extremely close to the R-77M1 missile it was trying to ditch: As the pilot pulled the fighter up for one last time, the missile collided with it in mid-air. Somewhat irritated by his early dropout, the pilot switched off his exercise systems and radioed St. Jakob Airbase for permission to land. He was out.

Meanwhile, just a few kilometres away from Lichtenberg, Lambda platoon, 3. Battalion, 21. Regiment, was on a reserve duty, their vehicles hidden under camouflage netting, modified with natural features such as leaves, grass or tree branches. This made the vehicle extremely hard to spot, and, thanks to the Infra-red reflective coating, the vehicles would not be that obvious on specialised equipment. Several land lines had been set up by engineering units of the regiment, allowing the battalions’ radio crew to contact the front line without major concerns about enemy interference.

Some kilometres ahead, on the frontline, Jota and Kappa platoons of 3. Battalion awaited the enemy in their bunkers, together with the foreign allies they had in the troops of Brutland & Norden and Barronia. While most infantry troops resided in the bunkers, all vehicles had been hidden under the same sort of camouflage the Peloton Lambda used, adapted to the local circumstances, as Arméi regulations prescribed. Some hundred metres behind the front line, the mortar teams of both Pelotons waited for their orders to open fire, brilliantly camouflaged behind a small forested area. They would have to rely on spotter information to guide their projectiles to the respective targets, but in emergencies, they could rely on informations sent by UAV’s or other aircraft.

The ‘large’ artillery component of their company awaited enemy responses around 1 kilometre behind the front line, hidden all across the village of Lichtenberg. There, they would rely on spotter information from the same spotters the mortar teams used, or their own spotters, located in the belltower of Lichtenberg’s small church. This very same church was also in use as headquarters for the units’ company, and an extensive amount of landlines were laid throughout the village, both towards the frontline and towards other villages. In emergencies, the troops communicated via civilian telephones or wireless military radios as carried by every squad.

Some kilometres west, the same was happening around Hausenbach and it’s frontline: it was occupied by the second (Beta) company of 3. Battalion. Further back, into the valley, this situation repeated itself: the aim was that 1 company would be responsible for every defence line, sometimes supported by more units, if deemed necessary. Remaining troops had been placed in villages and in forests, camouflaged to remain hidden from enemy eyes. It was probably only a matter of hours before the next units would have to leap into action, the commanders in their safe bunker system assumed.

The scene amongst the Laceenian troops was one of utter chaos, with men moving seemingly randomly between sections and vehicles. On closer observation, however, it became clear every soldier seemed to know exactly what they were doing, where they needed to be and where what they needed was. Tents had been hastily erected, providing the troops with mess, medical and admin facilities, along with space in which to carry out maintenance on the vehicles. At the rear of the cantonment, the aviation units sat next to their aircraft, awaiting any orders that were forthcoming.

"I want the Light Gun's set up there" she gestured to an empty space some five-hundred metres outside the perimeter of the encampment. "As soon as we get the intel, or the order from JFHQ, we need to be able to rain shells upon OPFOR positions. We're well within range here, so for the moment we won't actually need to move the guns forwards." Melissa cast her glance over the crews of the artillery battalion. For now, the AS-90 crews were on alert and would be called upon if extra fire support was needed. The M270 crews, however, were already aboard their vehicles and ready to launch a bombardment as soon as the order came through. They were simply waiting for the opportunity to demonstrate why they had earned the nickname 'Grid Square Removal Service'.

Elsewhere, a column of twelve Warrior IFV's idled at the front of the base. In the midst of the IFV's sat a trio of Stormer HVM air defence vehicles, there to protect the advancing troops from enemy air assets. Right now they, and the identical column some twenty metres to the right, were simply waiting for the command to roll out. Behind them, two companies of Motorised Troops were also awaiting the order to move, holed up inside their Spartan APC's and Land Rovers, also accompanied by a quartet of Stormer HVM's. Heavy support was to be provided by a dozen Challenger 2 MBT's, although the infantry's complement of anti-armour weapons would ensure that even large armoured resistance could be handled.

* * * * *

The special forces had barely reached their positions when they met their first sign of opposition, and gained their first casualty of the operation. Had it been a real operation, his family would've been getting a visit from a member of the armed forces within the next day. As it was, he was to lay still and, for all intents and purposes, play dead.

As soon as the rest of his section realised their gunner had been hit, they began to lay down fire on the nearest bunker. Only the one section returned fire, the rest holding their positions and keeping the safeties on. With a little luck, they'd go unnoticed and only the one seven-man section would need to retreat.

The section leader, a grizzled looking Corporal, gestured a private to his side, "Get HQ on the blower and update them. Tell them we've got one KIA to bring back. Don't mention the other sections, for all we know the enemy isn't aware of them and we don't want to give them up." The signaller nodded and began her transmission.

This was not how the Corporal had envisioned his operation starting. He made a pair of hand signals. Pop smoke. Move back. At the same time, the soldier carrying the AT4 aimed at the bunker and pulled the trigger, the unguided projectile shooting out of the tube, its large back blast scorching the ground behind the man. Seconds later, two smoke grenades began to shroud the troops in a grey fog. Soon they'd be able to slink back towards their base.

Day One, 12.28hrs Stanzertal Time

As the 9M96E2 missiles streaked by overhead, they easily outran the Mistral SAMs that would chase the strongest heat signature in their seeker head's view. This was the plume of exhaust at the tail of the missile, which disadvantaged the Mistral. However, the guns were able to aim ahead of the missile quite quickly thanks to their radar targeting systems and create what the "cloudpunchers" referred to as the "death cube" to the missile's front, which it would fly through. The problem then became one of time: projectiles take X amount of time to move to a location, the blast pattern of the projectile takes Y amount of time to form, and the missile is traveling at Z velocity. Should Z be greater than X or even Y, the probability of a kill was greatly reduced, especially against such a difficult target as a missile.

While the 40mm cannons engaged the SAMs, they could not engage the SvL-11. The pilot was safe from radar illumination from the LAG-89S station; he was sheltered behind a knoll which saved him from the 40mm automatic cannons earlier, and continued to shield him from illumination and cannon fire. As such the Tigre would not have a view of the agile recce helicopter once it popped down behind the tree cover, but by that time the pair of IR-guided AAMs had been fired. The pilot made a split second decision.

He dropped his nose, displacing the lift disc to the rear and causing the helicopter to begin moving forward. As the rotor blades came into contact with (relatively) undisturbed air, their efficiency increased tremendously and he held the collective lever steady, maintaining his very low to the ground altitude as the numbers on his True Airspeed indicator on his HUD began increasing rapidly. The gunner/observer activated the automatic flare system and the automatic chaff system for good measure, a flare being deployed in the middle of a cloud of chaff every two seconds. As the helicopter's exhaust was redirected inside the arc of the rotor blades, the very act of flying the helicopter would greatly reduce its infrared signature. The AAMs would have to decide between a weak IR signature moving rapidly away or a strong IR signature at a much lesser velocity. "Targeting-in-Agreement" systems would be confused as well, the chaff would simulate the helicopter's fuselage on a radar screen and thus a combination radar/IR guided weapon would also be likely to lock onto the decoy.

The forty millimetre cannons in the LAG-89S stations banged away at the skies, hammering one of the two 9M96E2 missiles designated for the Saab AEW out of the air. The operators disabled that missile and it redirected itself to the west, to crash land outside the exercise area in a designated "safe field." As this happened, the SvL-11 was racing back towards friendly lines, putting any terrain feature between itself and the known AAA positions. It had collected good data, and the very failure of its mission to approach and reconnoiter Matzelsdorf helped the RA determine the strength of the air defence network in the valley. That said, the helicopter and its two man crew weren't out of the scheisse yet.

Of the three surviving 9M96E2 in the air, one was targeted on the EF-2000 that had escaped one of the R-77M1 BVRAAMs. One was assigned the Saab AEW, and continued approaching rapidly, easily maintaining the target picture once it activated its terminal radar guidance. It was almost cruel, the equivalent of a cheetah chasing down a fat kid smeared with bacon grease. The third missile continued towards the UAV at 4.0 Mach and accelerating. As for the two R-77M1s that continued to chase the daredevil-piloted Eurofighters, they followed the targets down to the deck and then maintained fifty meters altitude, keeping their sights on the very rapidly moving aircraft that were at the head of the distracting plume just behind. The Eurofighter that stood on its tail and climbed would discover that the missile tracking it had chosen to kill the fake target generated when the afterburning engines created a false signature underneath the aircraft. It crashed into the river.

The other missile however, could not see the false signature generated by the Eurofighter climbing out on the far side of the bridge, as this signature was masked by that of the bridge itself. This missile dropped in on the Eurofighter as its airspeed dropped when the pilot stood his aircraft on its tail. Microchips decided that the best part to aim for was just forward of the center of the target profile: just behind the cockpit, in other words. As the missile was not a kinetic kill vehicle, it chose to "detonate" the 30kg blast fragmentation warhead as the EF-2000 triggered the laser proximity fuze at the optimal distance.

While a set of stationary AA defences hammered away on the Russkyan missiles, there was one station that hadn’t been involved in this action: FlaK Lichtenberg, which still had it’s 40mm guns trained on the forested area that the SvL helicopter used to hide itself. However, the Mistral missiles from the Tigre helicopter forced it to move away from it’s safe cover, meaning the LAG-89S quickly had locked onto it again. This time, the operator didn’t waste time, and opened fire with the double 40mm cannons, firing a grand total of 900 rounds per minute at the target. Even while the IR signature of the helicopter was greatly reduced, it wouldn’t help the SvL when a barrage of gunfire followed it’s every movement.

While one of the Eurofighter pilots now sighed of relief, the second Eurofighter wasn’t lucky. The missiles reportedly crashed mid-center into the aircraft, meaning the Eurofighter was out of the exercise. Pulling away from the valley, the pilot followed one of his counterparts, also on his way to a final landing for now. The last Eurofighter pilot wasn’t out of trouble yet, but expected this would be easier than the previous missile. He repeated the previous measures he took in rapid, coordinated moves, letting the Missile Warning System take over much of his tasks. This meant that he deployed chaff, and took all previous measures, while remaining low to the ground.

The Saab AEW had already been warned by his colleagues that there were one, maybe two missiles approaching him, and had quickly turned off all external radar equipment, in order to minimize it’s radiation. As the Saab 340 was nothing more than a civilian aircraft in service of the Van Luxemburger ALD, it was only equipped with several chaff canisters, which it deployed when the missile closed in on the aircraft. Even though the pilot attempted some defensive movements, he was limited by the low speed and agility of the civilian jet. The aircraft was merely waiting for the missile to attack, like an old man smeared with honey.

The UAV meanwhile, had also encountered it’s competitor, another 9M96E2 missile. By requests of the Van Luxemburger ALD, however, the Barracuda was equipped with virtually the same towed decoy as they used on the Eurofighters, complemented with chaff and flare decoys. In a split second decision, the operator on St. Jakob decided to throw out all decoys available, as he was unsure what missile he would be encountering. Flares burned amidst several clouds of chaff, while the towed radar decoy of the comparatively slow Barracuda UAV unrolled. The vehicle then stopped it’s circular climb pattern, and started turning back into the Stanzertal.

Meanwhile, on the ground, a bunker commander cursed at the damage done to the bunker by a Laceenian AT4 missile. Even while it had not penetrated the bunker and only would have caused damage to the outer shell of the construction, it was still irritating to him. As a result of his rage, he immediately used the wire telephone inside the bunker to get in touch with his own commander. The company HQ was then faced with a difficult decision: They could call in mortar fire at the reported location of the attackers, or order the bunker to order fire by themselves. In order to protect the positions of his mortar crews until the major attacks would start, he decided to go with the last option.

‘Ehm, Maul Delta, benützen sie deine eigene Verteidigung. Mortierfeuer ist jetzt nicht zu benützen. Das war’s. Papa aus.’

At this point, the commander of the bunker almost had steam coming out of his ears. He paced into the bunker, and immediately ordered the gunner of an AGM-54Z machinegun to open fire on the area where the missile came from. The gunner then had to climb up to the machinegun, which had been placed on top of the bunker in a dome that could be turned 360 degrees, before firing the first rounds at the targets. Soon, more followed, coordinated bursts of fire directly aimed at the landscape in front of them. This was assisted by small arms fire (MG-04), fired from various places around the bunker.

Day One, 12.31hrs Stanzertal Time

Guided actively by its own radar system, the 9M96E2 targeting the Saab converted airliner didn't care a whit that the AEW had deactivated all radiating equipment in an effort to throw it. Because the target aircraft was so ungainly and the 9M96E2 was so agile, there was no real chance that the AEW had of spoofing the incoming SAM with this set of evasive tactics. The targeting computer aboard the missile centered the AEW's underside in its seeker's view and triggered the warhead. If this were live, the cone of hypervelocity fragments would have sliced through the fuselage between the wings, splitting the aircraft into four parts: fore end, aft end, and both wings.

The Barracuda had a similar experience, the simple "turn and run" flight pattern doing nothing to confuse the guidance package. Blitzing past the chaff, the missile centered itself on the Barracuda and repeated its performance with the Airborne Early Warning RADAR platform.
As the SvL-11 left its cover, the RWR blared a warning to pilot and observer/gunner. For the sake of it, the gunner returned fire with the Yak-B rotary HMG in the direction of the LAG-89S station. The minimal infrared signature of the SvL-11 did nothing to protect it from the OTO Melara guns as they were radar-directed weapons, highly effective at swatting helicopters from the skies. Especially helicopters not designed to deal with anything more than short bursts of 20mm fire at most. What was especially bad was that like all helicopters, the rotors on the SvL-11 created a truly massive radar signature.

"So... everybody but him, hmm?"
"Yeah. Everybody but him."

To add insult to injury, the Mistrals distracted themselves on the countermeasures. The SvL-11 sat down on the grass and the pilot locked his controls down, taking this opportunity to get out of the helicopter and stretch, waving amicably in the direction of the antiaircraft station. Upon reboarding, they flew back to base at a hundred fifty meters altitude.

As for the final EF-2000, it would quickly deplete its energy with the sharp stallfighting manouvres it used to try and mask itself behind chaff. Any attempt at climbing would only kill what little energy remained as the engines tried to push the aircraft upwards, and raise the target off the valley floor for the 9M96E2. This particular SAM had a probability of kill against a manned target at 0.9, which was a pleasant way of saying there was a slim chance of evading it once it had locked onto you. Thanks to the limited ranges involved in MILEX 08, the 9M96E2 had locked on early.

The incoming fire was halting the troops retreat, pinning them behind whatever cover they could find. The signaller had already brought command up to date with this development, and the idea of commencing the assault early and alone had been toyed with, and was still on the table. Headquarters were also tempted to get the full weight of the platoon to open fire, although that would lose them the element of surprise and destroy any hopes of getting good recon done during the coming hours. For the time being the command was simply 'hold position'.

The six men continued sporadically firing blindly from cover. Then they fell silent. The six live soldiers and their 'fallen' comrade lay perfectly still. If their ruse worked, hopefully the fire would stop and they could slip away. If not, they were in cover, and doubted their opponents would move from the safety of the bunker. That, and they still had a pair of heavy duty smokes if they needed them.

* * * * *

"Get two Apache's rotors turning and crew ready." The air-assault Major was visibly excited to be passing this information down to those under him. During the journey to the combat zone his company had been relegated to little more than runner and transport duties, so the chance to finally see some action had created an almost electrical vibe in the air.

Within minutes, two fully armed Apache Gunships, each armed with the Laceenian standard 'Close Support' complement of sixteen AGM-114's and 4 ATASK Starstreak missiles. All they needed was the order to move, and they could be airborne within thirty seconds.

"Cagne fuchetta!" The soft expletive escaped Snd. Pettinella's lips as he ducked for cover as the enemies returned haphazard fire. The smoke grenade flew overhead and exploded behind him. He still has a clear view of the enemy, but with those bullets overhead, all he can do is to keep track of there they were hiding as they searched for cover. Meanwhile, in the bunker that was starting to fill with smoke, Sgt. Monica Solarussa started issuing orders. The other bunker was being informed of the attack, and nearby units were being alerted.

Furthest from the bunker was Snd. Danica Berruti, one of the chicks with guns, still unaffected from the smoke and the rain of bullets towards the bunker, observing everything quietly from the distance. "Codarda," she muttered as she fixated her sights on another withdrawing enemy soldier. Then, he stopped under the cover. "Mansesso stupida," she thought, "Me cruteche tu sul tu pestreche di la pietro."

-----

The bunker across the road, now became bent on tackling these enemy forces. Since the time Snd. Sortino first saw them. Sgt. Gagliardini had been thinking on the best way to take them out....

The squad leader started telling them their plan through the small radios attached near their ears. "Sondieru, sum s'noi gamme. Noi bangeche simultanal..."

Discreetly, the two snipers set their sights on two enemy soldiers within their range, the three machinegunners fixated on the groups of thinly covered enemy soldiers, the grenadier aimed at the spot of ground with lots of cover and presumably with lots of enemies in hiding, the two riflemen directed their guns towards the enemies nearest to the bunker; all the while the other members of the squad overtly resumed "normal" activites, pretending that they didn't see the Laceenians. Snd. Sortino even momentarily peered out of the bunker with her binoculars, saying audibly in English, "I don't see anything yet."

Sgt. Gagliardini started the signal over the radio. "Un, Doz, Bange!"

The snipers, machinegunners, grenadier, and riflemen simultaneously opened fire on their targets...

The situation was still in flux, but it had been decided that a solid smoke screen would be the only way to ensure a successful return of the troops. Laying low was an option, but it probably wouldn't take long for the enemy to move to flush them out.

A single Land Rover was dispatched towards the front lines, carrying a lone section of Varulv troops, three L16 mortars and several dozen bombs. They had been instructed to get around one and a half klicks from the camp and begin screening the withdrawal with smoke.

Less than two minutes later, the team were in position and the mortars were offloaded and readied to fire. The effectiveness of the Varulv sections was renowned across Laceenia, and within thirty seconds the mortars were aimed in the direction of the ongoing skirmish.

* * * * *

The spacing between the two bunkers, and the position of the Varulv troops in relation to their bunker, spreading out to the west of it, left much of the incoming machine gun and small arms fire relatively ineffective. Only the sniper fire was to prove a major problem, although given that most Laceenian forces were making use of the terrain for cover, even that wouldn't be as effective as it would have been in an ideal situation.

The first trio of bombs impacted thirty metres or so apart, spewing thick white smoke. The next three fell almost exactly in the middle of the gaps between the first lot. There was a longer pause before the third set dropped on the eastern flank of the troops, who had already begun a full withdrawal, screened by the thick smoke that now engulfed much of the immediate area.

So far, casualties had remained light, the one KIA from the initial engagement, one heavily injured by sniper fire in the recent exchange, and one who'd shrapnel injury to a man who'd been a little too close to the incoming grenade. For now, however the entire platoon, bar one section who had avoided the enemy fire, were in what could be described as a tactical manoeuvre to the rear, and casualties were being carried back to the camp.

Day One, 12.45hrs Stanzertal Time

With the skies now effectively belonging to the RVVS's expeditionary wing, the roar of powerful jet engines rolled across the Egethof AFB. Flight 01 ("Red") returned to the Air Force Base on loan from the host nation with a few R-77M1 missiles missing from the pylons they'd been on when the Su-37/Rs had left the airbase this morning. Flight 02 ("Green") was providing escort for the A-50RU and IL-76PP/R while Flight 03 ("Blue") cycled up to meet and relieve them. Flight 03 carried a number of air to air missiles, both of the WVR and BVR variety. Green began their approach to land as soon as Flight 04 ("Yellow") took off with their heavy payload.

Four Flight carried a pair of KAB-1500Kr weapons on their first and second centreline tandem stations. In addition, four R-74 WVRAAMs were carried, better known to NATO as a variant of the AA-11. Each of the eight KAB-1500Kr bombs had been programmed to seek out a target identical to that of the runways or taxiways of the St Jakob AFB in the northern end of the Stanzertal. Their flight plan had them travelling subsonic at eight thousand meters to the north-west, where they'd gently curve around to the east two dozen kilometers to Saint Jakob's north before swinging south, overflying the target area, releasing their weapons and returning to base. The KAB-1500Kr utilized an electro-optical (optronic) guidance package that used a "scene similarity" algorithm to determine what its target was and strike it. As the runways and taxiways at Saint Jakob were surfaced, the weapons would have no problem homing in on their targets. The eight kilometer cruising altitude would keep them outside the range of the LAG-89S stations on the ground.

Five Flight, part of Second Squadron, was loaded for air to air combat and acted as an escort for Four Flight. They would be slightly lower, at 7,500 meters, and a minute ahead of the strike group.

Meanwhile, a pair of Su-34MF/R were climbing to altitude in a safe direction - in this case due south, away from the Stanzertal - with orders to reconnoitre the entire Forward Edge of Battle Area. After checking the FEBA, the aircraft would carry on at four thousand meters with RM400 photographic reconnaissance equipment operating. They would survey everything up to the town of Aschau, maintaining 4,000m AGL altitude all the way. In the event that anything got in the way, two Kh-31R/A missiles were carried along with a pair of R-73R and R-74 missiles. The weapons package was rounded out with the inclusion of R-77MP BVRAAMs. The other two aircraft of that flight were waiting on the tarmac at Egethof, loaded with two Kh-31R/A, a pair of R-74 and R-73R missiles each, and a couple of KAB-500S-E bombs. The smaller 500kg bombs had been programmed to strike at known AAA positions and carried point detonating fuses.

By comparison, the 1500kg KAB-1500Kr bombs were equipped with mechanical delay fuses that would cause them to smash through the runway and detonate underneath, creating a massive crater that would take heavy equipment and steel matting to repair, if not more. Notably, the Russkyans were not deploying cluster bombs or air-deployed mines at this stage as was doctrinal. No, the limited numbers of cluster bombs they had were being conserved for another purpose.

Five of the nine salvoes hit the western bunker where the Teschie ADN2 Squad was. The explosions would have rocked the bunker but would not be enough to destroy it. As members of the squad withdrew from the windows and doors of the bunker, inside, squad leader Sgt. Bruno Gagliardini was calmly calling for backups, adding, rather nonchalantly, that there might be casualties outside.

The sergeant's estimations was right: the squad's grenadier and one of the machinegunners bore the full brunt of two of the explosions. Aside from the two "killed", the rifleman was also "injured". The others outside were not hit, and having seen the mortars, crawled out early from their positions where the bombs hit.

-----

Hearing the firefight down south and alerted by Teschie ADN2, the three FM-12 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_1) tanks of the Teschie ADN Section, located north of the road fork, crested the hill and charged down towards the Laceenian vehicles, firing salvoes of anti-armor "kinetic energy penetrators" and "squash heads (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_explosive_squash_head)" from its turret. Behind the FM-12 tanks, the group's three Max3 IFV sat at the crest of the hill, ready to fire too...

The advancing tanks couldn't be allowed to threaten the staging point, nor the special forces troops now in full retreat. The initial report of the enemy had come from the Mortar teams, reporting their transport had been binned by enemy fire. This had instantly shocked command, who hadn't expected such a sudden attack following the limited recon the Varulv teams had carried out. They had, however, expected attacks at some point, and the pair of Apache gun ships readied only minutes earlier received the order to lift off.

No sooner had they lifted off than they were able to take advantage of the range of their Hellfire missiles. To the crews, this felt like shooting fish in a barrel. In a matter of seconds, each of the three tanks had been identified, targeted and allocated a pair of AGM-114's. As the fire and forget missiles carved their way through the air towards the armoured threats, both helicopters dropped back to mere feet above the ground. The risk of effective anti-air fire was minimal, but the air force trained its men not to take risks, and exercises were no different.

* * * * *

On the ground, the retreating troops now had a problem. The L16 was not a small piece of kit, and whilst it was technically man portable, it was a horrible slog to move it as such. Given the situation, and the limitations on replacing lost equipment, it was decided two sections would return to the staging area with the wounded, whilst the remaining troops would provide security around the mortars.

It did not take long before the Saab was hit by the 9M96E2 missile, and it would have to be abandoned. This meant that the aircraft changed heading, while updating it’s status to the MILEX committee. It turned away from the valley, and would fly to it’s own home base, awaiting further orders.

Meanwhile, the Barracuda pilot was facing the same problem. The only problem was that he was closely being looked after by his commanding officer, meaning he was under more stress than usual. He knew all too well he couldn’t lose the aircraft, but was unable to prevent that it was intercepted by the second 9M96E2. This meant that it had to follow the Saab to their definitive destination for the exercise. Well, at least it’d mean some hot chocolate for the UAV operator, who seemed pretty stressed.

A person who could use some hot chocolate as well, was the pilot of the EF-2000: he almost became the third victim in a row of the Russkyan missiles. The pilot was also unable to pull the extreme amount of G’s the missile asked for in order to be shook off his tail, meaning he had no other choice than giving up the fight. He pulled his aircraft straight, meaning the missile now had an easy task of targeting and hitting the Eurofighter: it was over within mere seconds. As his training systems warned him he was out of the exercise, he turned his aircraft and headed back.

Meanwhile, the air search radars of the LAG-89S stations once again picked up Russkyan jets, but this time far out of reach of any of their weapons. They had to settle for looking at the jets passing by,


On the ground, meanwhile, the Van Luxemburger troops were limited in their abilities to assist the Nord-Brutlandese in their actions to silence the mortars, which had been firing smoke rounds at the bunkers, meaning sight was almost non-existent. This meaned that the bunker commanders were busy talking to eachother via the internal communication lines – via wire telephones -, while also sending messagers through the various tunnels that had been constructed to reach the other bunkers.

‘Bunker Phedra, Zoustand bitte?’

‘Cassé. Ech sinne iwwerhaapt nets, eleng Demp. Erlaabnes den Infanteriekanouns ze benotzen?’

‚Jo, gutt. Ech sall den kanouns alarméieren. Vilmools merci, Moien.’

The commander of bunker Hotel was now aware that all of his colleauges had the same problem: they couldn’t see. The limited amount of thermal imaging cameras meant that only few of the troops were able to see through the thick layer of white smoke. Even though the smoke pulled out rather quickly, the commanders had already thought up a plan, involving the use of the companies’ six 81mm L16 mortars, firing from a field inbetween the motorway and the local road, just next to Lichtenberg. As they received firing orders, they had already separated themselves from the other artillery units, which remained hidden under IR-absorbing camouflage netting, complete with natural camouflage materials.

As soon as the mortars received their orders, they opened fire from their positions, at a steady rate of 5 rounder per minute. It would mean around 30 rounds per minute would fall on the positions designated by troops inside the bunkers. After five minutes and 150 rounds, they would retreat into the woods just west of their position, meaning nothing would remain from their former residence.

Meanwhile, the two Laceenian Apaches had shown up on the radar of the first LAG-89S weapons station near Lichtenberg. There was very little it could do against the Apaches at 6 km distance, but it could at least warn the troops in the field and the Tigre that remained in the air around the front line following it’s action against the Russkyan reconnaissance helicopter. It still had 2 pair of Mistral 2 missiles left, which were subsequently locked onto the Laceenians, two per Apache. As the Tigre fired the missiles, it immediately vanished behind the trees again, a common trick used by Van Luxemburger pilots. It completely relied on radar information of the anti-air stations in the valley, thanks to a computer uplink.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the Mistral 2’s were followed by a pair of Starstreaks fired by several soldiers that had a good view of the valley ahead, and used powerful binoculars to determinate the positions of the Apache helicopters. In total, 4 Starstreak missiles followed the Mistral missiles, carefully guided by Van Luxemburger military personnel with powerful binoculars.

Day One, 13.25hrs Stanzertal Time

Despite the detour, Flight 04 and 05 were now approaching Saint Jakob AFB faster than the norm was for these RVVS pilots. They were used to much longer flights to training ranges back home, but then again the airfields weren't located right next to target areas in the homeland.

Activating the 1500kg bomb's targeting systems as they selected the weapons, each pilot in Flight 04 watched their HUD. When the CCIP pipper shifted inside the area they thought of as the "drop box" they thumbed the release and felt their aircraft rise up, suddenly free of three thousand kilogram's worth of bombs. For their part, each KAB took a good look at the area below them and selected a runway or taxiway. The fuzes would allow them to penetrate nearly eight meters before detonating. The damage done would upset any aircraft parked in the open, badly shake structures, and render the airfield totally inoperable until the damage was repaired.

Tulpanov, Flight Lieutenant, RVVS, enjoyed this sort of calm flying, reflecting on the beauty of the Stanzertal even from eight thousand meters up. His constant scanning of the surrounding airspace gave him plenty to look at, from the unique camouflage paintscheme borne by the RVVS Sukhois to the pleasantly fluffy and unthreatening clouds, below to the lush valley and surrounding area, and above to the azure sky. He banked with the rest of his flight, beginning the return leg to the Egethof AFB.

At a lower altitude, the Su-34MF/Rs were conducting their reconnaissance flight. Appreciation of the landscape was muted by the pressing need to watch for SAM launch trails or the flashing of an automatic cannon. Their altitude should be high enough to place them outside the threat envelope, and if necessary they could easily climb away, but no one ever grew old taking risks where none were needed. Cameras and sensor pods recorded the scene as they passed over areas of interest. Their flightplan gave them an oblique look at many of these areas of interest despite their altitude. Passing far enough away so as to appear to be on a completely different task, these oblique photos would be more useful than top-down photography. Analysis would reveal some concealed equipment, but certainly not all. Exercises conducted against Russkyan units had demonstrated a marked reduction in the value of aerial reconnaissance, and anyone with solid fieldcraft skills could replicate that. However, in the Stanzertal, the thing that would give many away were the tracks their vehicles made. That was what top-down and oblique photos would reveal easily enough and that had been a valuable source of intelligence since the First World War.

Carefully monitoring the flight movements around their air-defence stations, the operators in Vorau and Aschau were alarmed by several flight movements around their airspace: two Su-34’s and several Su-37’s had penetrated into the Stanzertal, each heading another way: the Su-37’s probably on their way back from the recently reported bombing on St. Jakob, and the Su-34’s on reconnaissance, judging by their altitude.

A quick communication between the 5 stations around Vorau and Aschau was enough to let the LAG-89S stations open fire with their 40 millimetre rapid-fire guns: Three had been targeted at the two Su-34’s, which were closeby, and two stations had been aimed for the Su-37’s, operating just under their maximum range of 8,700 metres. Firing at 900 rounds per minute, it spat out HE-rounds at immense speeds, the tracers lighting up the sky, even at day.

Meanwhile, St. Jakob AFB was warned by the wailing of air raid sirens during the bombing run, which immediately triggered the deployment of the AFB’s fire department, using their large Rosenbauer Panther crashtenders to deploy to the runway, followed by numerous engineering vehicles in case they would need to perform an emergency repair to the runway. The explosion had been deafening, and probably had caused

What they found, however, didn’t call for the deployment of the 8x8 fire vehicles. Several large holes had been blown into taxiways and the runway, which had to be cleared quickly to make sure the engineers could start their repair works. The large Kodiak engineering tanks used their heavy bulldozers to push rubble back in the craters, trying to smooth out the surface as far as they could. Meanwhile, Bergepanzers of the same engineering troops utilised their heavy cranes to lift prefab Modieslab concrete runway parts out of their temporary shelters to repair the runway as quickly as possible. They were placed on the smoothed out rubble, and pushed on to ensure they would remain in their position for the coming time.

Now alarmed by the realistic possibility of enemy aircraft destroying their runway, and having no prefab parts left, the engineering units contacted the National Reserve with the question if they knew a place where fighter jets could take off and land with minimal preparations. The reserve troops replied that the B562 had been constructed with that in mind: it could be prepared by removing the crash barriers in the median: this could be done in several hours. The air traffic guidance would be non-existant, thanks to the possibility not having been used in some 60 years. The small airstrip in Zell would take over air traffic control roles for the runway. A borrowed street sweeper could clean the motorway of any rubble, and the improvised airfield could then be used to deploy aircraft from a motorway straight 2500 metres in length, very close to Zell a/d Stans. If necessary, aircrafts could be safely stored under underpasses. As the National Reserve was immediately ordered to do this, engineering components of the Alpenwächter were split up between the two airbases, to establish places to store their aircraft.

Day One, 13.28hrs Stanzertal Time

"Break break break, threat emitter on the dirt, we're illuminated!"

No sooner had 4-2's warning been received by the fliers of Flight 04 than the flight leader issued his orders. Tulpanov, pair leader - or "prime" as the terminology went - of the Second Pair in Flight 04 reacted immediately to the commands of 4-1, his Flight Leader. "Yellow, break by pair and climb."

Divested of three tons of bombs that had weighted them down earlier, the Su-37/Rs leapt above the ceiling of the OTO Melara "Fast Forties." Though their maximum effective range was some 12,000 meters, this number represented a ground target, not an aerial target. The difference between firing at a target on the ground and a target in the sky was that the target on the ground was generally moving much slower and gravity could be used to the shell's advantage, lobbing it slightly into the air where gravity would assist it on the downwards leg and increase the range. However, when firing at targets in the air the shell was forced to work against gravity the whole way, and this was why the effective ceiling rating of most antiaircraft systems was half or two thirds that of their effective range. In this particular case, 8,700 meters.

Tulpanov broke to the right and 4-1 and 4-2 broke to the left, spiralling upwards in a turning climb with their throttles pushed forwards to eighty-five percent power. 4-4, Tulpanov's wingman, drifted from his assigned station, as did 4-2, the Flight Leader's wingman. This was done to separate targets further on the display screens of the LAG-89S stations. At a new altitude of ten thousand meters the Terminators levelled off and returned to their finger four formation. Tulpanov watched as Flight Five banked to the left and came around behind Flight Four, passing them by and resuming station ahead of them, though this time at a higher rather than lower altitude. To escape the AAA threat, they had gone supersonic and rocketed upwards on a thirty degree climb.

Unlike the Su-37/Rs, the Su-34MF/R pilots were not rattled in the slightest by the sudden streaks of light in the sky. It was very disorienting: tracers looked to be ambling across the blue but in reality were travelling at approximately a kilometer a second in the case of these forty millimetre weapons. The pilot of each aircraft immediately aborted his reconnaissance flight and shoved his throttle against the firestops, pulling the stick back to tilt the nose thirty degrees above the horizon, as Flight 05 had done. They were soon outside the engagement envelope of the LAG-89S stations, though Two had picked up some damage from bursting 40mm HE-F. At their lower altitude, the larger aircraft had been exposed to the AAA fire much longer than the smaller Terminators had been.

"Still flyable, but flight computer reports damage to control surfaces. Computer also reports that the triple-A shot out the flight computer. In other words, the exercise system killed itself. Tolya's telling me that according to his display I've taken enough damage that I'm effectively flying a maimed 767, sluggish control and weapons on manual only."

Sergeyev smiled to himself while his copilot made some selections on a multifunction display. Their masks were not in use, as the Su-32MF / Su-34MF had pressurized cockpits to alleviate the need for oxygen masks except at extremely high altitudes. The two "Fullbacks", as NATO called them, looped around wide of Aschau, as they'd been headed north when the antiaircraft artillery had engaged. "Limp home, Two. We'll follow in a moment."

"Will comply Lead. I'm gone."

The second Su-34MF/R rocked its wings to compliment the LAG operator, though this gesture wouldn't be picked up by the radar and it was doubtful anybody would see it. Using rudder moreso than airleron the Sukhoi turned slowly back south and cleared its return with the controllers at Egethof AFB. The airframe was made of titanium and similar high-strength alloys, and this was the one thing that had saved the aircraft in the eyes of the computer. It would take ground crews a day to patch all of the holes, after they spent a day inspecting all internal systems in detail to ensure that they'd been repaired correctly. Lieutenant Colonel (RVVS) Sergeyev looked down at the valley from ten kilometers' altitude.

"Ready, Dima?"
"Да, Подполковник. 193, пожалуйста."

Just as the two helicopters dropped towards the safety of the ground the warning panel lit up. Infrared missiles inbound. Another light. Laser warning. Someone was really taking exception to their presence and was quick on the trigger.

Mentally, the pilots each came to the same conclusion: Flares were good. They'd confuse the infrared guided missiles and, hopefully, put enough smoke in the air to annoy whoever was painting them from the ground. The pilot increased collective, popping up. The HIDAS system would take care of everything else.

Both Apaches lifted back up from the low hover and moved closer together as the began to deploy flares. The logic was simple, a large group of flares would be more tempting to the missiles than the helicopters themselves. That, hopefully, was the infrared homers defeated, leaving only the optically guided Starstreak missiles.

Ideally, the bright flares and the smoke trails they left would have been enough to disrupt the firers vision, but just to make doubly sure the pair broke in opposite directions, diving quickly towards the ground, hoping that somewhere between them and the enemy the terrain would pop up and block line of sight. If not, all they could do was hope they could foil the targeting with a series of high speed manoeuvres.



The mortar bombardment, whilst not surprising to those in command of the operation, certainly shocked the troops on the ground. They had been zig-zagging to avoid sniper fire, and make tracking their retreat difficult. The incoming mortars, however, were more difficult to dodge than small arms fire. They didn't have to be accurate to more than a few metres to cause havoc, and even the mere fact they were dropping from the sky could break the morale of some troops. Thankfully, the Varulv troops were hardened veterans, and had faced mortar attacks on several occasions during their careers and knew the only real option was solid cover. That, or to run like hell. Given the lack of the former, the troops began a quick, short sprint, throwing their zig-zag course to the wind and making for the nearest cover. The mortar crew also left their positions to seek cover, being in the rather enviable position of having a 'wrecked' Land Rover to shelter under.

The bombs had stopped, although the men hadn't emerged from their positions. Five Varulv sections, thirty-five troops, were currently in the no-mans land. Before the mortar strikes, casualties had been limited. After, they were still considered light. Especially after such a prolonged bombardment, given the limited cover available to troops and the fact they had been caught completely by surprise. the KIA total had reached four, with twelve WIA, three of whom we're classed as critical. This really put command on the spot. They needed to evac those incapable of moving themselves. Ideally, they'd use a helicopter, but given the AA in the area, that was out. For now, the men could only lie where they were and wait for further orders. Hopefully, amid the chaos, the enemy might actually think they'd been wiped clean out. Unlikely, but for now, it was the best they had, and given most had found at least some cover, it was a slightly more appealing prospect than another round of mortar fire.

Even though three of the relatively easy to fool Mistral 2 missiles took the bait and went for the flares instead of their actual targets, leaving the Apaches alone. One missile, however, continued on it’s path, completely focused on one of the Apaches. The same was true for two of the Starstreak missiles, even though the operators were having a hard time illuminating the target. Since these two operators had fired from a slightly raised position, namely the outer two bunkers, they had a good view over the valley, leaving the Apaches in their sight, even though the enemy helicopters were attempting to take cover from the missiles, or even get away from them.

‘Kanouns unhalen! Ech widderhuele, Kanouns unhalen!’

The telephone line from the central bunker had a direct connection to the artillery crews, meaning the bunker commander could immediately instruct his crew to cease fire and not fire more barrages: it seemed the area was clear. Now, the situation would return to normal, with troops aiming their weapons for the valley in front of them again, waiting for enemy troops to appear.

Meanwhile, in Zell an der Stans, a man with the markings of a Colonel in service with the National Reserve walked to his Monteluci M6a. The light 4x4 was his personal means of transport while the exercise lasted, and since he currently didn’t have any orders, he could go out to eat. At least, gather his dinner for tonight. Putting his weapon next to him in the jeep, he started the 315-horsepower diesel engine, heading off towards the woods in the distance.

Day One, 13.32hrs Stanzertal Time

Lieutenant Colonel (RVVS) Sergeyev had brought the Su-34MF/R back around to Bearing 193 and throttled back to subsonic. Beside him, Dima flicked arming switches and cycled through a targets list until the marker highlighted the correct LAG-89S station that had engaged them. "Munition ready."

The KAB-500S-E was a satellite guided bomb. This particular example had been equipped with a point-detonating fuse, meaning that upon the bomb striking the LAG-89S station it would initiate the detonation train and set off roughly four hundred and fifty kilograms of high explosive. Very careful to stay outside the ceiling of the dangerous OTO Melara/Breda guns, Sergeyev watched his HUD intently. When the indicator was over the target, he released the bomb. As they were in no hurry, Dima then programmed the second bomb to strike at a nearby bunker complex, and Sergeyev brought the aircraft around to drop the second bomb on that target. Even if the bombs had been unguided, it would have a very good chance of striking within five meters of the target. There was no opposition aside from some "FlaK" and no need to rush, allowing the Lieutenant Colonel to center his pipper on each target in turn and smoothly release the weapon.

Flights 04 and 05 had completed their sortie and were looking forward to the next flight up. As the BLUFOR bunker and AAA positions were marked on the map distributed to REDFOR, the Russkyans had been able to program their flight computers and bomb guidance systems for known coordinates. The aerial reconnaissance performed by Sergeyev's pair of Su-34MF/Rs would confirm that some of these positions were in use, hopefully detect nearby assets, provide additional intelligence on the bunkers and LAG-89S stations themselves, and even provide terrain reconnaissance information vital to the smooth operations of REDFOR armoured vehicle crews.

Artillery Regiment 23 had been set up since the exercise start. Their vehicles were concealed under natural foliage and IR-suppressant camouflage net, ammunition was not in short supply by any means, and the crews occupied themselves by standing watch, playing cards, or reading novels. The modified Regiment had two battalions of self propelled medium guns, a composite rocket battalion (medium and heavy) and all the associated equipment, including the powerful AFFRS-1N system. Because the Stanzertal was so small, there was very little outside their range of fire. They didn't expect to have targets today, as recces would have to be made or the enemy would have to expose themselves to their guns in some way before they started pulling hard on lanyards.

Day One, 14.02hrs Stanzertal Time

The RVVS "lofted" the entirety of No. 2 Squadron, consisting of Flights 05, 06, and 07. Capitalizing on their air superiority, half of these aircraft were armed primarily with KAB-500S-E bombs while the others carried air to air missiles as insurance. They flew directly North from the Egethof AFB at ten thousand meters, well outside the ceiling of the OTO Melara / Breda Fast Forties that had annihilated an SvL-11 helicopter and severely damaged a Su-34MF/R earlier. Their targets were all antiaircraft stations between the Forward Edge of Battle Area (FEBA) and the glorified village of Galgenen.
Each KAB-500S-E was equipped with a mechanically delayed fuze, which would allow the sturdy steel casing to penetrate and then detonate inside the target. Dropped from ten kilometers worth of altitude, the velocity of the munition, plus its weight, would allow it to penetrate a fair amount of protective material. Even if the LAG-89S stations were protected by two meters of reinforced concrete, would could be reasonably expected to absorb the impact of the bomb, though perhaps not protect it from the subsequent explosion, their age would often work against them, as mother nature was rarely on the architect's - especially the defensive engineer's - side when it came to long term emplacements.

By 14.02hrs, the men of Zhenya Yaschenko were approaching their final positions. They'd been exceptionally cautious on the advance, masking themselves from known enemy positions and advancing "in the red," which meant that one LRC, CRV, or HAC would carefully move forward while the others in its patrol covered it. Each vehicle was carefully camouflaged in infrared suppressant camo netting, and the crew were turned out for maximum visibility. They kept their heads close to their hatches, peering out over the rim so as not to present an appealing target to any marksmen they might inadvertently run into - though for this to happen, BLUFOR units would have to be forward of their defensive positions, something that had not been reported to date. The noise of the earlier firefight with the elite Laceenian soldiers had drifted over the valley and dissipated in the warm afternoon.

Taking up position on the reverse slope of a hillside a kilometer back from the FEBA, which had been marked on their maps as the demarcation line between BLUFOR and REDFOR at STARTEX, a patrol of LRCs found hull down positions and dismounted, beginning to camouflage their positions more carefully. Within moments they had established their fields of fire and dispatched two men to creep to the ridge and emplace a tripod-mounted remote controlled camera. This optronic device had a maximum magnification of 24x, had a thermal imaging mode, and was currently observing the bunkers to the south of Lichtenberg on the West side of the river. Other patrols would be monitoring the rest of the FEBA area, with other observation posts using various means to monitor their objectives, including the bunkers on the East side of the river.

Overhead, one of the sensor operators in the IL-76PP?R saw a symbol appear on her screen. She smiled, as it was a Russkyan frequency in use and the brief morse message - QQR - indicated that the observation post had been established and was in full operation.

As the Russkyan planes passed overhead, the Anti-Air operators had to watch them with their arms crossed: the range of the OTO guns was not enough to actually hit them, and thus rendered the stations worthless. The troops of the National Reserve who operated the stations knew what it meant: the Russkyan airplanes probably came in to strike their stations, as they were the most logical targets in the valley. Even while most operators remained on their positions, some couldn’t take the stress and either went outside to not watch the radar screens, or simply to smoke a cigarette.

This possibly saved their life: out of 12 LAG stations, only 2 survived without heavy damage due to either the bomb missing it’s target or being protected by the heavy concrete construction. In other cases, the bomb penetrated straight through the 2-metre thick concrete, thanks to the lack of maintenance to the buildings lately. As it exploded in the heart of the LAG-89S station, it often killed both the operator and the equipment inside, rendering the station useless. Out of 12 operators, 6 survived thanks to either the light damage to the bunker, or the fact that they walked out before the bombs struck.

The LAG-89S station near the Stanzerburg however, was spared because the bomb missed it’s target, one of the rare survivors of the bombing run. Thanks to it’s altitude at 2590 metres, the station was also roughly 2000 metres higher than the others, meaning it was indeed within range of the aircraft, flying at a height of 10,000 metres. Realising this, the operator ran back inside the station, and allowed the system to automatically engage the nearby aircraft, returning from their bombing run.

Day One, 14.23hrs Stanzertal Time

Against a LAG-89S station, a KAB-500S-E was not the best choice of weapon. These particular bombs were not "bunker busters," but did have a very high explosive content and excellent guidance. The RVVS was relying on a direct hit to neutralize each position in turn, looking to kill the operators and destroy the equipment as opposed to point detonating the bomb on the emplacement which would destroy exposed equipment but perhaps leave the operators alive.

Had the bombs been equipped with point detonating fuses, there was a good chance that splinters from the bomb casing or even parts of the nearby environment would have damaged or destroyed RADAR equipment or the forty millimeter automatic cannons themselves. Not to mention what they would have done to comparatively more fragile Mistral SAMs, though these were less of a concern to the RVVS thanks to their limited ceiling and range.
Because they had not been equipped with PD fuse, the one bomb that missed the LAG station near the Stanzerburg buried itself in the ground and opened a large crater. The concussive force rattled the station, but such events had been planned for by the defensive engineers who'd sited and constructed the emplacements. As a result, no concussive damage was done to the simple equipment that comprised the LAG-89S's armament.

Because of the nature of the Stanzertal, with the undulating valley floor and the series of ridges and hills, all RVVS aircraft were required to maintain altitude as according to the Above Ground Level indicator, as opposed to the Above Sea Level altimeter. This meant that, for the LAG station near the Stanzerburg, the Su-37/Rs were now at 12,590 meters, staying outside the range of the OTO Melara / Breda guns. They'd learnt their lesson and now respected the Cold War era equipment.

There wasn't much time for the pilots to react to the latest development, although both knew the only thing to do was pull some serious moves.

The HIDAS kicked out more flares, although at the range the missiles had closed to now it was near ineffective, and the only thing between survival and an cup of tea was their skill and more than a little luck.

"Shit..." The hit registered and the pilot shook his head whilst the gunner deactivated his armaments. As far as either could tell, if this had been the real thing they'd be recovered with a spatula when ground units arrived.

The second bird faired only slightly better. It managed to avoid a direct hit, by sheer luck of being close enough to the first helicopter for the simulated blast to protect them, but still caught more than its fair share of shrapnel.

"I think we're just about binned. I'm gonna set it down and we'll play the downed crew."

His gunner chuckled "Not exactly behind enemy lines, are we?"

They were within a few kilometres of the staging area, walking distance. They could probably have jogged it back to base before their opponents could pick up their webbing.

* * * * *

"Reports indicate both helio's have been downed. No reports from either crew as yet."

"Next time we should hit them from our full range, don't even give them a change to get missiles free." The company commander scribbled some notes hastily on a folded piece of paper before slipping it into the folder at his side.

As he spoke, a pair of markers appeared on the screen. Estimated crash sites. One would be empty. It wasn't Laceenian policy to crash a good bird into the ground just because the simulation said that had happened. The other, however, would be home to a ditched Apache and her crew.

"So we have two downed birds. Unknown survivors, unknown wounded amongst them." We need to get SAR assets out. Obviously air extraction is out. we don't want to loose another bird so soon. It's ground-based only. They're well on our side of the front line, so it shouldn't be too hard to get any survivors out."

With that plan was formulated. A small group of armoured vehicles from the 601st would head out to the crash sites to locate any survivors, provide and medical assistance possible and either recover or 'destroy' the airframes, if anything was left intact. They'd be well armed and protected, although the likelihood of encountering any opposition was slim to none.

Day One, 13.53hrs Stanzertal Time

"They move well." Lebedev nodded in agreement. His counterparts remained monitoring the area around them and the defensive works to their North, while he watched the Varulv soldiers extricate themselves from the fix they'd found themselves in. If nothing else the altercation had allowed the Armoured Recce troopers to set up their observation posts without being noticed. The sky is certainly busy as well, thought Lebedev. He returned to sketching the ground surrounding a bunker complex, and the complex itself as far as he could see it. Information such as this would be valuable later.

Day One, 14.50hrs Stanzertal Time

Once again the RVVS redeployed. Another pair of Su-34MF/Rs were lofted to conduct another reconnaissance mission, this time well outside the range of any antiaircraft weapons on the valley floor. Su-37/Rs were reloaded with bombs and their escorts refuelled to continue the destruction of LAG-89S stations, this time ranging further North after revisiting the sites hit earlier. In the midst of this, a flight made a high altitude pass on all bunker positions to the South of Hausenbach. These weapons were Aequatian in design, a product of cooperation between that nation and the PSR, consisting of a 500kg ground/concrete penetrating bomb equipped with the same guidance that fitted the KAB-500S-Es the Luxumburgers were becoming increasingly familar with as the day wore on.

Day One, 15.15hrs Stanzertal Time

At 15.14, the turret servomotors of an entire battalion's worth of L-25s whined. With the guns locked in position, breeches clanged open. A shell was followed by modular propellant bags, then the breech shut securely behind the ammunition. Gunners intently watched the second hand of their watches tick closer towards 15.15. A few had digitals, just as intently staring at the last numeral. Then guns punched back in their cradles, the Boars roared at the blue sky, and more ammunition was slung into the breech as it unlocked.

The guns began a burst fire - twelve shells a minute - for a full two minutes. At 15.17, they ceased fire. The Boar could provide twenty shells in one minute and forty-three seconds, and in the extra seventeen seconds each gun fired two additional shells. Then their firing position came alive as the non-firing crew jumped out of their hatches and pulled down camouflage netting, storing it quickly in boxes on the roof of the vehicle for just such a purpose, placing the stakes and wire in their respective boxes, and climbed back aboard. By this time the gun had been secured with the travel lock and the vehicles began shifting position. The AFFRS-1N systems and L-15 based command tracks were already moving.

From their carefully camouflaged observation positions, the Armoured Reconnaissance troops watched these shells splash down on top of the positions BLUFOR units were known to occupy or were assumed to have occupied. Each antiaircraft position within range - within 23km of the forward edge of battle area, in other words, as the Boars were ten kilometers back from the FEBA and firing using six modular charges to shove their shells out to a total of thirty-two kilometers - was serviced by five rounds of high explosive, all on variable time fuses. Some would burst in the air, destroying exposed equipment or personnel. Others would hit the ground and then detonate, spraying shrapnel laterally and digging craters. It sounded as if freight trains were passing overhead as each of the 155mm shells went by on its ballistic arc.

Russkyan Artillerymen were some of the most professional troops in the entirety of the Russkyan Military. They enjoyed top notch training and equipment, and regularly competed against the superlative gunners of the Aequatian and Kilrany Armies. And these gunners loved the L-25 Boar, the massively capable SPH that was shifting to alternate fire positions two kilometers forward. Simultaneously with this movement, two companies of the Laceenian 311th Motor Rifle Battalion advanced dismounted from their positions on the FEBA, taking advantage of terrain cover and the brief shelling by the RA.
Operating in support of "Force A," whose objective were the bunkers on the East side of the river, were the mortars of a weapons platoon belonging to I/37.MRR. These fired their ready magazine of five multispectral concealing smoke to blanket the enemy position in orange. They were reloaded, and fired again. Now the orange smoke was smeared with disturbingly white clouds of white phosphorous. The crews hitched the 2B9 mortars to the L-16GPAV, piled into the back, and the vehicles tore off down a track to their secondary firing position.

Force A, for its part, was making the most of its training and the terrain. Because the bunkers had not been well maintained, their fields of fire were overgrown. They made use of their organic fire support assets as well, dropping high explosive mortar bombs on and slightly behind the bunkers to prevent troops from manning weapons and to prevent reinforcements from arriving overland. Force B held itself in readiness, waiting to support A however necessary. In a few minutes more, a mailed fist would be unleashed through the enemy defensive line.

The gunners waited in their new firing positions by 15.23. If only this weren't an exercise, the white phosphorous and high explosive barrages wouldn't have been simulated. Some of the gunners of the 23rd Regiment had seen combat against the Sorachoakai, years ago. They took it upon themselves to describe the effect their munitions on the enemy to the unseasoned gun teams who'd been transferred in to spread the experience of MILEX 08 across the Artillery community.

Day One, 15.25hrs Stanzertal Time

Novokshonov decided not to suppress his dramatic impulse and raised his Gharodanthi counterpart on the radio. Fibre-optic cables had been laid running from the JFHQ's current position to a network of randomly placed transmitters a safe distance from the headquarters facility. Outgoing signals were routed to the transmitters via a computer with a rather simple piece of programming that had frustrated many SIGINT attempts over the years. In essence, various organizations communicated on individual frequencies or a group of frequencies. By coordinating known enemy emissions, or "Kees", with known enemy actions, an analysis of signal intelligence could be made to determine that a particular transmitter was the source of an artillery organization headquarters, for example.

This program prevented that by routing all outbound communications randomly through the computerized transmitters. While one transmitter might at first carry artillery-related traffic, the next transmission from that site might be coordination between the JFHQ and the headquarters for the Fourth Expeditionary Air Wing. There were some discrepancies if insufficient relays were used, or the JFHQ fell too far behind the combat echelons and units went out of range of the transmitters. This however would not be a problem with MILEX, given the limited overall area. Via this method, the Mountain Lion received word that the situation was favorable and that the offensive was to go ahead on schedule. "Foxhound," concluded Novokshonov.

Riesutteu's voice was rich with anticipation. "I acknowledge Foxhound, over."

Novokshonov's reply was almost indulgent, letting the greyhound stretch its legs. "Zero One Romeo out."

‘I already told you he had the best cards.’ The man spoke, holding his playing cards up, so nobody could see them. The five men sat in a circle around a table, lighted by only a single lamp positioned straight above it. The table itself was covered with maps and paper, but two stacks of playing cards obscured most of it.

‘Perhaps you told me so, but I have… a Joker!’ A local reservist smashed the card on the table, making it clear it was one of his best cards. The player next to him complained loudly, as he knew he could not return or send the card on it’s way to another player, and leaned forward to pick up five new cards from the second stack. The others simply laughed, looking at their own cards and realising how lucky they were.

Since it had been roughly an hour and a half since the last ground troops had been sighted near their positions, the frontline troops had already resorted to playing card games. Especially popular under reservists playing these games was ‘Piesacken’, a card game in which you had to lose your cards first. It beared a major resemblance to Mau Mau, but still had some differences, especially in terms of what cards were considered ‘special action’ game cards.

However, this game didn’t last long. Shortly after the second player had picked up his last card, a whoosh announced that artillery came overhead. Immediately, all reservists ducked down, each trying to take cover. The professional soldiers, however, immediately took action and ran towards the entrance to the tunnel system, which also functioned as a bunker inside a bunker to protect from these sorts of attacks. A few seconds later, the reservists followed.

However, the artillery fire passed by. The projectiles hit several AA positions further inside the valley, most of which had already been destroyed by preceding enemy bombings. But then again, several minutes later, just when the troops were about to return to their positions, more indirect fire struck the bunker. Even though it was smoke, the soldiers closed most of the firing ports to avoid possible toxic fumes to enter the bunker. An NBC-protected airconditioning system was started up, the system filtering air from a hidden field station some one hundred metres behind the position. Meanwhile, the troops inside the bunker readied their weapons, and made short phone calls to the headquarters to update their status.

This meant that the company headquarters had also realised that something was going wrong. Immediately ordering the reinforcements that resided behind the first line of defence, headquarters requested the armoured vehicles to go in, and make extensive use of their thermal imagers. Their view would be slightly limited by the smoke, but at least they could actually see their opponents.

It took only about half a minute for the armoured fist to arrive, thanks to being situated so close behind the first line of defence. MT-38 Holzwollefs moved forward to the first line of defence, it’s thermal imagers trained on the fields ahead. Even though the enemy infantry was hard to distinguish thanks to the smoke screen, they wouldn’t have to think about identification: troops on the other side of the line were enemy and had to be fired upon, and that was the end of it. Thanks to the millimetre wave radar aboard the MT-38, the crew could assist it’s thermal imaging equipment in recognising the area ahead.

And so it happened, the MT-38’s BRG-15 coaxial machine guns opened fire on the targets on the thermal imagers, supported by the light mortar that was mounted in the turret bustle. Both weapons fired High-Explosive projectiles, ensuring maximum casualties under attacking troops. Even though this seemed cruel, Van Luxemburger policy said that a dead enemy is better than a heavily wounded and suffering one, for both parties.

The mortars were out of rounds fairly quickly: the result of carrying only 24 rounds per MBT. This meant that the commander operating the weapon quickly resorted to operating the RWS on top of the MBT, firing MAG 7.62 bullets at the enemy infantrymen. This caused an impressive cacophony of war sounds to sound from the first line of defence, not even coming from the bunkers that were intended to lay down fire on attacking forces.

The sounds of war were now increasingly assisted by 50mm,12.7mm and 7.62mm automatic fire, coming from the guns of TP-08 and SPW-08 vehicles. All in all, it meant that an impressive defensive anti-infantry fire mission was initiated moments after the first signs of attack. However, the limited sight, thanks to the smoke screen ahead of them, limited view for gunners with less advanced weaponry, meaning they were literally firing into the dark.

Day One, 15.23hrs Stanzertal Time

Upon the first crackle of automatic fire each Laceenian went belt-buckle down and began crawling. As the fields of fire hadn't been maintained, there was ample concealment - even millimetric wave radars had difficulty with foliage, and the live foliage would also help mask their thermal signature. They then began searching for cover, as opposed to concealment. To advance much further would be suicidal in the volume of fire issuing from behind the man-made fog. Losses were incurred. Wounded moved to the rear, with the incapacitated left where they were. There was nothing that could be done for them until the fire was lifted.

This was the point where the assault was in danger of bogging down. Recognizing this danger, the platoon commanders began chivvying their men on in short rushes, bounding from piece of cover to piece of cover. The movement was across the front of the enemy positions to both sides, the intent being to outflank the bunkers. At the rate they were going this would take quite a few minutes, as the Infantry were still a fair distance from the bunkers. The troopers of the Armoured Recce units that could see this action from their observation posts had noted the arrival of the vehicles and now set to work firming up the enemy's locations with their surveillance gear. This was relayed back to the JFHQ via encrypted burst radio transmission, near-simultaneously with a communication from the AFFRS-1N sets liberally sprinkled around the TO&Es of the Russkyan Army contingent.

When the bustle-mounted mortars were fired, they released their bombs on a high-angle trajectory into the sky. This was picked up by the low-probability-of-detection counterbattery radar sets that were the prime reason for the AFFRS-1N's existence. Both high angle and low angle fire was easy to trajectorize. As evidenced by the number of AFFRS-1N systems available, the RA took counterbattery operations very seriously. Only three systems were radiating, the others in protected positions further to the rear to replace the active systems if required or expand the bubble of detection they offered. Information collected by the AFFRS-1N was presented to battery commanders, who prepared their guns for an immediate counterbattery fire: four rounds fired using a multiple-round-simultaneous-impact technique, three rounds high explosive with point detonating fuse and one round high explosive with a variable time fuse. Two batteries were assigned the initial counterbattery fire mission.

Then the battlenet system was updated from the JFHQ. The enemy had been categorized as "Even-mix Armour" which meant the heavily armed and armoured Holzwollefs were present as well as lighter vehicles, such as the SPW-08. As a result of the Holzwollefs' presence, the possibility of a bustle-mounted mortar having been used as opposed to dismounted mortars or mortar vehicles situated behind the bunker positions resulted in a change of plans. The mortars were dangerous, but that task could be shifted to the 2B9 automatic mortars. The wolves needed to be destroyed or frightened off posthaste.

The entire battalion loaded Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition. Twelve rounds were fired from each tube, each Boar completing the fire mission in 56.64 seconds. This complete, the camouflage was once again taken down and the gun travel-locked, as the unit would now have to relocate to the third position of the afternoon. Each of these shells released bomblets which contained an antitank shaped charge in a prefragmented casing, hence Dual Purpose: the shaped charge was sufficient to knock through the roof armouring of any armoured vehicle, or if by some fluke a more heavily armoured vehicle survived, such as the Swedish Strv-122, Nielander L-21, or Sumerian MCA-7, the bomblet would almost always disable or destroy equipment fitted to the roof. They had an unfortunate habit of coming down on engine decks, causing the vehicle to become a mobility kill as exhaust vents were commonly located there for lack of a better place to put them. Fragmentation from the concussive force of the shaped charge detonating generally resulted in the destruction of exposed equipment such as unshuttered lenses, for instance those found on thermal imagers in use, gunsights, exposed personnel, and so on.

Simultaneously with this effort, 2B9 mortars loaded a "mixed clip." This consisted of two rounds of point-detonating high explosive, one round of white phosphorous, and two rounds of laser-proximity-fused high explosive that would burst aboveground, maximizing the efficiency of the prefragmented 82mm bomb. These were fired at the same target that the self-propelled howitzers had serviced, though the mortars had a much greater dispersion than the Boars. Firstly, this was because a mortar was almost always going to be more inaccurate than a gun. Secondly, this was intentional. The high-angle fire of the 2B9s would arrive shortly after the destruction wrought by the L-25s.

The end result of this, from the Laceenian perspective, would be an apocalyptic series of explosions.

Gahrodanthi High Command, JFHQ

The airwaves hu,,ed with activity as staff at the High Command were furiously coordinating supply routes and movements as the engineers outside finished painting and flattening LZs and put the finishing touches on ammunition depots and the triage center.

Riesutteu's voice, rich with anticipation of the coming attack, was in a furiously fantastic mood as he belted to his troop movement communications officers, "Proceed with Phase 2! Operation Foxhound has a green light!"

Immediately, most of the radio operators switched encrypted frequencies and began barking attack and movement orders to Force Alpha, the large force of fully half of all the combat assets under Gahrodanthi control that were stationed just behind the starting line for the MILEX games.

Force Alpha

The mood was one of nervous boredom as the day wore on. The sun no longer directly overhead, most of the soldiers of Force Alpha had gathered in small circles, still on a one-minute call to arms status. Most of them were simply dozing off or playing cards when the radios on all the vehicles and MANPADs blared with orders. Immediately, an organized panic began as cards, blankets, tables, chairs and in a few instances tents were hastily put together or abandoned outright as men scrambled to their squad leaders and then vehicles. Tanks and IFVs quickly rumbled to life, and helicopters whined as their rotors slowly spun-up and lifted off. The force was quickly organized and sped-off in the direction of their pre-established coordinates and attack paths.

A great iron fist of 30 MBTs and 24 IFVs rushed into the hills just south of the fork in the motorway in-between the two bunkers, tearing through the ground and knocking over foliage as they left the scars of their movement, headed in the fork in the two motorways. Right behind them were twenty artillery batteries, who moved to just behind the tops of the hills and set-up firing positions, ready for any AA or counter-battery fire. To their flanks, the Ground Assault Corps moved-up with three companies to the right supported by heavy armor, and two companies on the left also supported by heavy armor, as the Air Assault Corps and Airbourne helicopters lifted off, and began moving in to provide flanking positions and encircle the enemy bunkers.

The battle had begun.

‘Kanouns! Widderhuele, Kanouns! Holzwollefs zréckzéien!’ The panicky voice of the Headquarters troop came in over the wireless radio, shouting at all armoured vehicles currently in the neighbourhood. A counterbattery radar of the headquarters troop had detected the mortar rounds in mid-air, and was now urging the vehicles to retreat from their positions. They did so almost immediately, but could not prevent that one Holzwollef was hit by a mortar projectile, detonating just behind the cupola, causing fragments to be breathed in by the engine, which cut out as the filter was clogged by rubble. Even though this made the MT38 immobile, it was spared of any further impacts, and could successfully open fire on the Gahrodanthi tanks, using it’s powerful 140mm main gun. It fired the powerful An-1100B APFSDS round, able to puncture roughly 1800 millimeters of Rolled Homogeneous Armour equivalent, from a distance of around 1 kilometre. Since the Gahrodanthi units were fairly close by, it was no problem to fire from within this range. Next to firing the main gun, the MT38 commander had more options: Two heatseeking Mistral anti-aircraft missiles were deployed by the tank against incoming helicopters, followed by a salvo with the 7.62mm MAG that was mounted on the same remote controlled weapons station as the AA missiles. After this had happened, the commander engaged the Aerosol smokescreen, disguising the tank from the human eye.

Meanwhile, the remaining Holzwollefs had retreated to a safe distance and were now accompanied by the additional MT38’s of Lambda Platoon, to augment the capabilities of the Jota and Kappa platoons. In total, the company that guarded the first line of defence could amass some 24 MT38’s, 6 TP-08’s and 6 SPW-08’s. 2 Monteluci M6a’s supported them with their heavy Eryx AT missiles, but were incapacitated by the smoke screens, reducing their view, making them unable to see their targets.

During these actions, activity in Lichtenberg was high, with 4.Cie’s headquarters component, commanding Lambda, Jota and Kappa Pelotons, removing all unnecessary equipment and packing up for an immediate retreat to a second defensive line somewhat back in the mountain valley. As the reserve unit’s heavy vehicles were already moving on the enemy assault, the headquarters also ordered the rest of the peloton to rush in, followed by an order to the self-propelled artillery guns to immediately open fire on advancing enemy troops, before moving to another fire position immediately. Shoot-and-scoot was used also by the LARS units, which fired 110mm missiles at areas just before the bunkers. When they finished their barrages, the vehicles immediately packed up and headed back to the second defensive lines, since it would take them too long to redeploy and reload in order to take action any earlier.

From other fields, a further 3 Rousseau Aerospace attack helicopters – ‘Tigres’ - took off and headed to Lichtenberg, being armed with PARS 3 LR anti-tank missiles that could take out enemy tanks at a range of 8 kilometres. They first opened fire as they got within firing range: 3 PARS 3 LR missiles were fired from the 3 helicopters, supported by a 4th missile fired by a Tigre already in the area. All missiles were equipped for a terminal dive attack, meaning the missile would first climb, and then dive onto the target, utilising the weaker top armour to destroy AFV’s.

As this all happened, the bunkers were secretly disbanded by utilising the tunnel network under them. Weapons were removed and taken into the tunnels, locking down hatches in bunkers to prevent the enemy from breaching into the tunnel network too quickly. A single tunnel lead to the next defensive line, a tunnel which was locked off by a massive armoured door to prevent a further breach of the defenses. Soldiers in full NBC clothing manned pillboxes inside the tunnels, to ambush enemy troops as soon as they entered the tunnel. As infantry began flocking into the second line of defence, complementing the compagnie already stationed there, the silence in the tunnels returned. Only the low buzzing sound of the NBC-grade airconditioning in the tunnels, which could also function against smoke screens created by smoke grenades, for example.

This once again proved the size of the tunnel network under the Stanzertal: hundreds of tunnels all lead somewhere, interconnecting the complete bunker network. Some tunnels were fake, leading nowhere, some of the time equipped with boobytraps that blew up as soon as anyone tried to pass into the tunnel. This system had been deactivated during the exercise for obvious security reasons, but it was still confusing. Codes, painted on the tunnel walls, guided the troops around, codes known only to native speakers who had been in the military meant that not even allied units could go down into the networks without a proper guide. The tunnels that interconnected the lines were wide enough to allow a 4x4 to drive through it, even though there were no preparations to allow these vehicles into the network. However, old ATK-44S cannons remained stored in these tunnels, allowing the operators to roll out these guns from their storages and block the tunnel, allowing them to open fire at oncoming enemy units.

The second defensive line, meanwhile, was also equipped with a number of ATK-78S guns, known for their sheer destructive power against Cold War-era MBT’s and IFV’s. Overall, it was maintained little better than the first line, but at least the troops had the time to clear their line of sight and look ahead.

Day One, 15.30hrs Stanzertal Time

As the enemy armour jerked back out of the anticipated barrage area, the armoured reconnaissance units called in corrections. These included fire plots for any area in the vicinity of the bunkers that could be used to station armoured vehicles, and would be serviced by the guns in sequence, prioritizing on known targets and then pounding the theoreticals with MRSI fires. The immobilized MT38 put up a good fight until the Gharodanthi tankers returned the fire moments before a Boar battery hit the area with high explosive shells on point detonating and delay fuses. The lovely thing about artillery fired against armour was that the armour's only defence was mobility: One simply had to get out from under the shells, as no matter the armour protection of the vehicle the sheer force of the blast would rupture plate-joins and destroy the machine.

There was no doubt about it: The MCA-7E, in its MT38 form, was a highly advanced combat vehicle. However there were some significant problems with its design, including the millimetric wave forward-looking radar that operated in a ground mapping mode to provide information to the tank's suspension system that would allow it to adjust automatically to the terrain ahead of the vehicle. Refraction from this millimetric system was picked up by the very sensitive radar warning receiver and direction-finder systems aboard the A-50RU and, to a much lesser extent, the IL-76PP/R as well. This information was used to plot the locations of enemy armoured vehicles and was cross-loaded immediately onto the battlenet, which in turn allowed the JFHQ and all combat elements to reference their ruggedized LCDs and plan the battle from their end. What this meant for the artillery was that no fires were made on "suspected" armour positions. Further MRSI hits were made on "known" enemy positions instead. As each shoot was completed, they moved a minimum of a quarter-kilometer from their previous fire position and set up again awaiting orders. Only the first battalion of 23rd Artillery had fired in support of the Gharodanthi and Laceenian advances.

By this point, the "Fullbacks" had returned to base and the information their reconnaissance flight had revealed would be analyzed and uploaded to the battlenet as needed. As with all data available on the battlenet, a marker-on-paper-map copy was kept up to date at the JFHQ and at all battalion headquarters. Redundancy was a much loved Russkyan Army tradition and in the event of widespread systems jamming that disabled the battlenet, commanders would be able to continue the battle with minimum delay. As the quick barrages from the enemy artillery lifted, the Laceenian troops resumed the advance. Upon gaining the bunker complexes, they blew open hatches with breaching charges and threw fragmentation grenades inside. Following up, soldiers found the bunkers deserted and noted the number of locked doors. The area was garrisoned, and a work detail organized to relocate the casualties back to the casualty collection point at which the Laceenian company medics were performing triage on and treating the wounded. The worst of the wounded were loaded aboard L-16AMTs from the RA Field Ambulance unit and transported back to the Field Hospital.

Of course, the enemy's artillery could not be left unmolested. II Battalion of 23rd Artillery Regiment commenced firing. The AFFRS-1N systems provided target location data, and referenced against topographical maps, the gunnery officers plotted fire missions that would lay artillery-deployed antitank and antipersonnel mines across viable routes of egress for the self propelled howitzers. Antitank mines would most likely destroy a SPH, or at the very least knock it out of action. Antipersonnel mines were more likely to destroy track segments and damage roadwheels, drivewheels, and bogies, the latter only if applicable to the design of the SPH in question. This would cause the vehicle to become a mobility kill, and force the crew to either abandon it or spend precious time repairing the damage.

To test enemy air defences in the area, two Su-37/Rs made high speed passes within the envelope of the LAGS-89 stations. It was suspected that they were destroyed, but this had to be confirmed. This also had the effect of allowing the Sukhois to fleetingly engage the Tigres with cannon and WVRAAM missiles. None of those attacks would be followed up on, as at low altitudes the helicopter most definitely had the advantage. As each of the Su-37/Rs reached the edge of the plotted area, they executed a high-G turn and rapidly climbed to altitude, keeping themselves away from antiaircraft stations that had not yet been engaged.

As the armoured vehicles had already retreated away from the defensive line, the artillery attack only hit the sole MT-38 that had been immobilised there, obliterating it, and killing it’s crew. The rest of the artillery bombardment was aimed for nothing but empty landscape. However, thanks to the vehicles previously being close to the bunkers, some parts of the artillery bombardment hit the bunkers, impacting from above. This was more so the case for the Russkyan artillery firing on known enemy positions, mostly the bunkers. This meant that most of the bunkers were at least damaged by the artillery bombardment, thanks to decades of no repairs or regular maintenance.

Most MT-38’s in Van Luxemburger service in the Stanzertal indeed used their radars to plot their retreat back to the second defensive line. However, as the radar systems were not needed when the tanks stood still, the system was deactivated as soon as the tanks approached the defensive line: they had stopped running at maximum speed, and would soon be used to position themselves. Adaptive suspension was not needed, and the last thing the tank commanders wanted to do was refuel their tanks amidst the battle, because of the power requirements of the systems. Some commanders had even chosen to completely shut down the radar systems to favour fuel consumption, even though most of these systems could also be powered by the APU. This meant that these tanks were virtually invisible to the Russkyans, especially when on the run. This was an interesting advantage that none of the Van Luxemburgers knew off, meaning they could not use it to favour their tank, or even their side.

As the first defensive line was abandoned, all vehicles retreated before they could be captured or even spotted by enemy units. This also applied to the specialised units in the Stanzerburg, regardless of the secrecy that surrounded them. However, these units did not completely retreat back to the second defensive line: they remained in the forests about halfway inbetween the lines, observing enemy movements and preparing possible actions. While this happened, a small commando group of the Reebouwuecht had joined the battle from the Winklensee, aboard a Nord-Brutlandese CB-90. Moving up to Lichtenberg, the team quickly placed explosive charges on all bridges in between the two defensive lines, but waited with the detonation of these charges until the second Reebouwuecht group, in the forests, confirmed enemy vehicles were indeed close to these bridges, to reduce the morale of the enemy troops. They would however be set off before enemy units could check the bridge itself, to avoid the charges being deactivated, even though the charges had been boobytrapped and would explode on contact, taking the bridge and the troops that tried to deactivate the charges with it.

As the two Su-37’s approached, response did not come from the LAG-89S stations, but from infantry and armoured vehicles carrying various missiles. Infantry troops from the second defensive line were quick to deploy Starstreak laser-guided missiles against the Sukhois, while the Sumerian armoured vehicles used their RWSes to fire the same Starstreaks, mixed with the Mistral 2’s that some vehicles still carried.

Starstreaks were also mixed with Mistrals in use with the Tigres that were also flying back to the second line of defense as they fell under attack by the Russkyan Sukhois. The three helicopters were however relatively successful against the aircraft, because of their ability to quickly shelter behind bushes and trees, obstructing the view of the enemy pilots, and deploying chaff and flares to counter the missiles, combined with their position. As soon as they appeared from cover again, they were quick to deploy their AA missiles against the flyers, joined by gunfire from their GIAT 30 mm guns. Regardless of these attacks, one Tigre was hit by gunfire and a nearby exploding WVRAAM, meaning the helicopter made a belly landing, their rotors and airframe being heavily damaged according to the exercise system. Since the helicopter was close to the ground, the crew did not have enough time to bail out, and was shook around heavily as the helicopter grounded itself. The gunner suffered some light wounding, but both crewmembers were able to leave their ‘wreckage’ and walked back to Aschau.

Day One, 15.35hrs Stanzertal Time

Already at low level, the Terminator pilots demanded more thrust from their Lyulka turbofans, and got it. Cresting 1.0 Mach, the sonic boom rippled up and down the Stanzertal as the Su-37/R's flashed past over BLUFOR's cloudpunchers. One pilot corkscrewed his aircraft up another thousand meters in a just a handful of seconds as he took advantage of thrust vectoring and huge control surfaces to pop out above the winding ridge road leading to Hausenbach. This placed enormous stress on the pilot, but you had to be alive to be stressed by psychology and G-forces. As the Starstreak was a SACLOS weapon, the operator would have to manage to keep the laser target illuminator on the incredibly agile Sukhoi before it left his range or the missile overshot.

Oh my fuck. Those are fuck-off-fast! Darting over the lip of the valley, the pilot was still trying to come to grips with the speed of the missiles that had flashed past him during the corkscrew, shown on one of his multifunction displays that was toggled to display the simulator output.

The other pilot kept his bird on the deck and supersonic, letting the trees mask him from the launched Starstreaks. As soon as the operator lacked a line of sight on the target, the missile would not be able to home on him, and thus staying just above treetop level was to his advantage. Until his missile approach warning system blared. Devoid of altitude, he was out of options and the approaching Mistral had a 1.5 Mach advantage on him. He banked and climbed, trading energy for altitude and allowing his automated countermeasures system to throw flares from their dispensers, blazing like miniature suns.
Then, suddenly, the missile was far too close. His mind's eye played out the next few seconds: ejection, then his plane tumbling to the ground in several parts. Unless he wasn't fast enough, in which case he would accompany his burning plane to the ground. Sighing as he evened out and reduced speed to subsonic, and listening to the husky female voice of the Pilot Information System, Vocal (PISV) inform him that he was dead, he flew back out of the area and rocked his wings to the cloudpuncher who'd given him that knockout blow.