Talk:AFOH/@comment-32153776-20160805222109/@comment-14850713-20160813072532

OOC: Kevin beat me to it, but it's probably for the best...

IC:

Space, over the South Atlantic

A large task force from the 1st Air Fleet deploys with 20 Dismal Regard and 30 Desecration battleships, 30 Venator carriers (with 2,160 Cobra II and 720 Durandal aerospace strike fighters), 30 Devastation battle carriers (with 2,700 Vautour FB-10DS aerospace superiority fighters), 120 Revanche heavy escorts (with 2,400 Vautour FB-10DS), 240 Scimitar light escorts, and 600 Paladin heavy fighters. The first strike wave is immediately launched with half the Cobras and Durandals and two-thirds of the Vautours. As these get halfway to the Protoss fleet the task force escorts launch torrents of FBW-N/Ts and ALHMs, with the Revanches' Mk 16 railguns punctuating each firing. The hypersonic missiles and guided railgun projectiles, now flying so much faster in the vacuum of space, soon overtake the fighters. Hundreds of flashes can be seen as they impact the Protoss ships, with many of the capital ships damaged and the smaller escorts crippled.

The AFOH crews cheer as it is announced that the AIF has joined the fight and is wreaking havoc on the Protoss fleet. The latter, already staggered by the AIF attack and the missile barrage now face the Cobra/Durandal swarm. Several of the outlying Protoss capital and heavy ships are crippled by guided aerial mines, but their numbers are still significant and their extensive defenses exact a terrible toll on the first strike wave with 40% lost and the rest suffering some form of battle damage or another. The carriers now launch their remaining fighters and go to warp (intending to recover them at a predetermined location), while the battleships and half the escorts (after firing their remaining missiles) form up to charge. The task force commander is well aware of the grievous losses to be suffered, but he understands that it must be done to prevent another orbital barrage.

South Atlantic, off the Southern African coast

Hundreds of kilometers below, units of Force Z confront the captured Chilean Fleet. At extreme range, the heavy ships and escorts fire hundreds of ALHMs. These hit the screening formations, crippling most. Then the carrier fighters (Aigle strike and Diable multi-role) and some land-based Cobra/Durandals that could be spared brave the intense anti-aircraft fire to deliver their ordinance on the capital ships. But however lethal, this is only a preliminary to what is to come. Speeding underwater at high-speed and able to outrun and outmaneuver the ASW defenses, the Shadow Wolf and Shadow Hawk attack submarines sink one ship after another. The commandeered fleet is all but destroyed, but even as the Force Z heavy units advance to finish off stragglers many of the officers and crew find themselves looking skyward, fully understanding that the decisive battle is being fought in space.

Southern Africa

Responding AFOH mechanized forces advance to turn back the Protoss ground units under the covering fire of Skysweeper batteries and Mk 8/Mk 16 rail guns, Desperate gunners fire at very low trajectories and some Eirrennes are hit with several seen crashing to the ground, still operational but crushing the troops they have just deployed. The initial counter-attack started well, with missile, rocket and artillery fire decimating the tightly-packed Protoss forces. Then the charging divisions were caught in the open by the Protoss orbital bombardment. Many are destroyed and most are finished as fighting units. This allows the exotic Protoss elements to break-out and attack the formations coming up, leaving paths of destruction in their wake.

The AIF and 1AF attack on the Protoss space fleet and the arrival of AIF flying units firing into the Protoss ground spearheads give the defenders respite. AFOH commanders adjust their tactics, with power-armor troops grouped into composite battalions to bring to bay and kill the Protoss creatures. Thrown into battle for the first time and bolstered by highly-advanced and heavily-armed AIF troops, the powerful ACBs lead fresh armored and mechanized divisions into a new counterattack. The regular Protoss forces, hemmed in on three sides and subjected to intense air and artillery strikes, are stopped on their tracks and pushed back almost to their landing zones.

AFOH High Command

Bouexic looks at the giant screen in the command center. The arrival of the AIF is welcome news indeed, but the heavy casualties suffered by AFOH forces are sobering. He had just fired off his SOS message to the UAC, while reinforcements from the Home Islands (2 field armies plus air and naval units) are now pouring into Southern Africa. But there is no cause for optimism. The Protoss can warp in more forces and escalate the conflict, and he can't expect the AIF and other Coalition allies to continue carrying the cudgels for AFOH. He orders the rest of the 1AF to prepare to warp in and join the battle, and then steps into his office to make call.

He hears the familiar voice of his task force commander.

"TF 11 1AF, go ahead High Command."

"Johnny," Bouexic starts, discarding the usual code-names,"you know what I am about to ask of you and your men." He was one of his favorite students and, as First Officer aboard the flying destroyer Fantasque, was present at the Battle of First October, considered the birth of the AFOH aerospace fleet. Now he's about to order him to make the supreme sacrifice.

"Affirmative," came the unwavering reply. "The fleet exists for the preservation of Hybridland and her dominions. Long live AFOH."

As the 1AF's TF 12 and 13 warp over the South Atlantic on the other side of the globe, their commanders can see thousands of muted flashes in the distance closely packed together forming the shape of an elongated disco ball. Then the battleships and escorts of TF 11 in arrowhead formation partially obscure the view as they close in with the enemy.