2306 April 18th, 2020 CE

0233 Sun 19th, 196 AE

Port City of Jahlean, Elven Nation

Ara looked at the ceiling in her bedroom. Being a Major General had its perks. It meant that she had her own personal room in the barracks. She thought over what had happened when she got back. The moment they had gotten off of their ships, they all were escorted away. Here, being a Major General also had its downsides. It meant that she was grilled for information for hours on end and had to recount her entire experience from beginning to end. Then she was warned that revealing anything about the defeats was treason. Of course, this also applied to everyone else as well.

She sighed and got off of the bed. She muttered to herself.

“I wonder if they have any leaf juice left in the cafeteria.”

0844 May 13th, 2020 CE

0722 Sun 43rd, 196 AE

Yeallean Forest, Elven Nation

In the bushes, Pablo stared at the camp through his binoculars. Fences surrounded the entire place. Elves armed with bolt action rifles walked around the perimeter. There were sniper towers placed at the corners. Although he didn’t spot any, he wouldn’t be surprised if there were machine-gun nests. Dennis whispered to him.

“This is the what? Third one we found?”

“Yep. So far we got a total of 12 of them. Some smaller than the others.”

“Hm. Invasion should be starting soon. Weren’t we supposed to monitor the situation in the capital?”

“Saving people is much more important. We will be rendezvousing with the others soon. We got orders to take one of the smaller concentration camps once the birds have flown.”

Dennis nodded and grunted in acknowledgment. Pablo did one last scan of the fenced area.

“Let’s go.”

Crouching low, they quietly walked back into the dense forest.

Beaches of the Magus Imperium

Nick’s M1A1 Abrams got onto the USS Bonhomme Richard. The tank lurched forward before coming to a stop.

“Dammit Connolly! You nearly rammed us into the ship! Slow down.”

“Sorry ‘bout that.”

Dillian and Brian laughed. Nick sighed.

Issac sat around doing particularly nothing. The construction of the temporary ports has been mostly finished. The marines were going to be the ones to clear the beach so he wasn’t part of the first wave. He wondered how his wife and kids were doing back home.

2324 May 13th, 2020 CE

0242 Sun 44th, 196 AE

Narman Temporary Air Base, Magus Imperium

At early dawn with the sun barely up, a company-sized element of the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, around 200 men, loaded onto the 4 MC-130J Commando IIs. In other air bases, other Ranger Regiments and special force teams got onto their MC-130Js.

Washington D.C.

“The air campaign will begin in the next hour. The Special Forces units have already taken off.”

President Haye stared at his water. Chief of Staff John Wills interrupted his staring contest.

“Mr.President?”

“Ah, sorry. It’s nearly midnight.”

The President rubbed his eyes and gave a sigh.

0030 May 14th, 2020 CE

0315 Sun 44th, 196 AE

Esnthas Temporary Air Base

One by one, an entire squadron of F-35s took off. All of them carried AGM-88G AARGM-ERs, anti-radiation missiles capable of locking onto radar signals.

Southern Sector Elven Detection Station

Senior Lieutenant Theodas Trismyar yawned as he walked into the detection room while sipping on his tea. Multiple elves had headphones on and were staring at screens. He looked around and found Lieutenant Folas Joyarus.

“Anything on the MUDs of MWEs?”

“Nothing out of the usual.”

“Well just tell everyone to keep a lookout. I got orders that there might be unusual activity and to report absolutely anything.”

“Well, will do, Theodas.”

Theodas walked out of the room, still holding on to his drink. Even though he just woke up, he decided to go take a nap. Being in charge of the detection station meant a dead end to his military career. However, he didn’t really care. Most of the time, he got to do whatever he wanted. He was just getting paid to do almost nothing.

Skies over the ocean between Magus Imperium and Elven Nation

>>

The squadron of F-35s all started banking to their left to turn back.

Washington DC

“There seems to be a slight issue.”

President Haye furrowed his eyebrows at those words.

“What happened?”

“The anti-radiation missiles aren’t locking on. The elves either don’t have radar or their detection technologies are different from ours. Seeing that the elves are capable of long-distance command and that we have images of what we believe to be radar, I’m betting that their detection technology is different. Probably based on magic. That would explain why our jammers seemingly didn’t work on affecting the elves’ combat capabilities.”

“Then why weren’t they able to detect our stealth aircraft if they aren’t using radar to detect things?”

“They probably operate under the same principle as normal radars. Some sort of energy bouncing off an object. The F-35 and F-22 are shaped and painted to lessen the amount of energy that is bounced off. On the other hand, jammers and anti-radiation missiles depend on the emissions of the radar”

“Ok, then what should we do now? Their radar will be an issue.”

“The old-fashioned way I guess. Drop a cluster bomb on it. We will most likely have to delay the start of the operation for about 30 minutes.”

0102 May 14th, 2020 CE

0331 Sun 44th, 196 AE

Esnthas Temporary Air Base, Magus Imperium

This time, the squadron of F-35s carried Mk.20 Rockeye II cluster bombs. They were also accompanied by F-22s as an escort.

Narman Temporary Air Base, Magus Imperium

Only a few minutes after the takeoff of the F-35s and F-22s, squadrons of F-15s and F-16s took off from their runways.

First Lieutenant Scott Miller got into his F-15E Strike Eagle. He looked back at his Weapon System Officer, Gerald Wallace.

“Ready?”

Gerald gave him a thumbs up.

Hasta Air Base, Magus Imperium

B-52s and B-1Bs took to the skies. Multiple C-130s followed right after.

Affanore Human Concentration Camp, Elven Nation

A guard blankly stared at the forest. His mind was wandering around. Inside a building in the camp, shouts from other elves could be heard amidst the noise of machinery

“What are you stopping for!”

An elf officer looked angrily at a human man who had a dazed look on his face and was sitting with his back on the wall.

“Please sir, I’m too tired. Can I…”

The elf officer pulled out his pistol from his side holster and shot him in the head. The human collapsed face first in the ground. The officer looked around at the other humans in the factory. They had all stopped their work and were staring at the commotion.

“Anybody who stops like this human will be shot!”

The officer walked away. Although the humans didn't understand him, they understood what he meant. The elf guards inside the factory whispered to each other.

“What’s this? The sixth one he shot?

“Eh, bunch of inferiors. Can’t even work like the cattle they are.”

In the forest, Pablo surveyed the area with his binoculars. The rest of his team sat quietly behind him.

“We have a few guards at the gate. I can see two sniper towers from here. We’ll need to neutralize all of them. Good thing that factory there is making a lot of noise.”

150 miles off of the coast of the Elven Nation

A massive carrier strike group that consisted of the USS Gerald R. Ford, USS Harry S. Truman, USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Ronald Reagan, and USS Abraham Lincoln moved slowly through the ocean. Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Jacob Brown approached the commander of the entire five-carrier carrier strike group

“Admiral, the Air Force birds have flown. It’s about time that ours did as well.”

Vice Admiral Angela Walters nodded at his deputy’s reminder.

“Get the Super Hornets in the air.”

Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Halbert Johnson watched the deck as F/A-18 Super Hornets, loaded with Harpoon missiles, launched off of the USS Abraham Lincoln.

0137 May 14th, 2020 CE

0348 Sun 44th, 196 AE

Southern Sector Elven Detection Station

Theodas blearily opened his eyes. Rubbing his head for a bit, he got out of bed and decided to check on his men.

Scratching his head, he went up to Folas.

“Anything so far?”

Folas grunted a single word.

“Usual.”

In the air

F-35s swooped down towards their target

>>

A massive system of radar towers and stations was in front of them.

Southern Sector Elven Detection Station

Suddenly, one of the operators popped up.

“Sir, we got something!”

That got Theodas’s attention as his eyes shot up.

“Hm? Where is it?”

“Right on top of us.”

“What?”

At that moment, multiple explosions ripped apart the station.

In the air

“Target neutralized. RTBing.”

While the F-35s quickly swung around, the F-22s kept moving forward.

10 minutes later

Nase Ancalen Air Base

An elf mechanic, Vulmon Chaehorn, whistled as he tended to an Ea-192. In the air, a squadron of Ea-192s flew in formation. Suddenly an explosion made him stop what he was doing. Vulmon looked around fearing that someone had accidentally dropped a bomb while carrying it. Sweeping his eyes from right to left, he saw a few elves point up at the sky. He looked up just in time for another explosion to occur. This time he saw one of the flying Ea-192s burst into flames. The sirens of the airbase blared.

“ALL AIRCRAFT PREPARE TO LAUNCH”>>>

Vulmon quickly hastened his work and started skimming through all the unchecked parts.

A squadron of Ea-192s lined up on the runway and got ready.

Quickly finishing, Vulmon shouted for someone to help him. He looked outside. The propellers of the Ea-192s on the runway started spinning.

“Hey! This one is fixed! I need some people to help me get this outside!”

Two elves came running towards him. Just as the first aircraft were about to take off, a few massive explosions rocked the runway. The force of the explosion knocked the two elves off the ground. The runway was completely cratered and the aircraft that had attempted to take off were turned into metal charcoal.

More explosions started blanketing the airbase. Vulmon quickly dived under a table.

In the sky

Scott looked out of his F-15E Strike Eagles and down at the elf airbase. Dark plumes of smoke rose to the sky. His plane turned around after the strike.

At many other Elven Air Bases, similar situations occur.

150 miles off of the coast of the Elven Nation

From the Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from every ship capable of doing so. White streaks trailed behind each Tomahawk. Angela was watching the spectacle when Jacob came up to her.

“The Super Hornets are about to reach their targets.”