As more and more Allied forces from all over the Asia-Pacific poured into India, I realized sooner or later we will bring the war to their territory, started from Pakistan.

Well, correction, the pushback had started in Somalia.

Yoel had let me know that in the East African Theater the Navy had successfully regained control of the country days ago and a new Federal Government of that country from the element of a group called SLF has been installed by Allied Forces.

Meanwhile, Pact forces had occupied the former territory of autonomous Somaliland and established a parallel government.

He also told me that scheduled in March, his carrier group will be relieved by the Sriwijaya. Definitely a good news for Gloria.

I just landed from a particularly gruelling air-to-air and air-to-ground mission which managed to eject UCC forces from the state of Himachal Pradesh, south of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory. Their hold there was shaky and Indian resistance forces there was so much that one Indian Army division with ample air and artillery support managed to destroy it's counterpart with only 30 percent casualties.

And so, I'm going to blow off some steam with Evelyn in the base's Officer's Club. Also, I am going to swim in the base's pool, as tomorrow my flight was off duty.

Back to the last battle, opposing the Allied force in that battle was UCC elite 95th Infantry Division (Mountain). As many of those troopers in the 95th were Pakistanis or defecting Indians and know the terrain well, it unleashed a long and brutal house to house fighting against the lead Allied force, Indian 10th Infantry Division. 

They want, or need, to reach the Kashmir quick as the Chinese-led Pact forces engaging the UCC forces along the Karakoram Highway corridor are making a significant progress and in a striking range of three former Pakistani cities in the territory; Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar. 

There were lot of Chinese interests in the region, but India want to at least have some of the corridors of it for a while in order to give them a leverage in the ensuing post-war conferences as it kicked off it's own reconstruction effort, with POWs mobilized for that case.

"Good afternoon, our Indonesian friends, Coffee, tea, beer, anything?" asked the bartender.

"Two Tulsi Spritz" I mentioned one of the Indian cocktails written in the menu. Tonight is one of the nights officers are permitted to wear casual garb, resulting in the surprising lack of olive green or sky blue.

Meanwhile, as we're waiting our orders Evy stood up went to the nearby digital jukebox and after exploring the song selection. In the end, she selected one of my favorite pop, Nicholas Duff's We Can't Stop Moving Forward.

Then she selected an older one which is also my (and her) favorite. Coldplay's Hymn of the Weekend.

We went into one of the vacant table near the counter. Most of the 42nd are doing their own thing today after blowing things up and they know I need a good dose of privacy. Or in this case, a good date.

"Let's drink. For victory" I took the lead and hit the vessels.

Along with the Indian cocktails, I ordered roasted pork sandwich, meanwhile Evy was indulging her taste buds with curry and Bhatoora, a type of deep fried bread.

"How's flying?"

She'd flown at the same time as me, but in a different mission in a different flight.

Emerald 2 flight, in which she is now the flight lead upon promotion to Major like me, was tasked with escorting Indian B-5 bombers on a raid against Heavy Industries Taxila plant, one of the UCC's tank factories.

"Tough. But good news first, we got a new ace, Warthog."

"And the not so good news are we faced a squadron worth of JF-20s, TF-25s, and Bayraktars on our way and Nozzle almost getting shot down if his maneuver fail to confuse the missile. We also lost one bomber in the process, by SAM but we can live with it. After all..."

She showed me the after action photograph inside her military-secured tablet. "Nothing left from the factory"

It might be an exaggeration, but I know what she means, as I looking at the extent of the damage the Indians inflicted on the complex.

For once in my time knowing her. I focused my minds about her well-endowed figure.

"What? Surprised about my build after all we had done together?" She giggled

"I like you dressed up, let me be blunt." I admire her conservative light blue party dress.

"Hey, this is a place for that. And I love how you dressed up for this." She refer to the light gray suit with black ties I wear.

"You know, this set is one of the first of this kind I bought with my own money. Added from some good investment with my brother." I explained the memory behind what I am wearing today.

"Good to know"

---

"Please be seated" Medi commanded.

"For now on, we're going to bring the war to their own turf. Tomorrow, up to 5 million men and women will execute a multi-pronged assault, air, land, and sea, towards Pakistan with the following main objectives; Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, and Gwadar. And link up with Chinese-Russian forces up north occupying Islamabad and Rawalpindi."

"Our forces and theirs had also struck many important targets inside Pakistan. Weapons and armor factories; power lines, oil storage facilities, refineries, radar and SAM sites, and many more. In the meantime, the Navy reported that the landing operations in Somalia was an astounding success which will relieve a significant number of enemy pressure from our Indian allies."

"The loss of their oil storage will definitely hurt them the most as they might get oil from neighboring Iran if their own production facility went offline, but no place to store it."

"Your mission tomorrow will be air cover as strikers are going to attack enemy fortified camps in the Thar Desert, to open path of our armor to advance into Pakistan. Furthermore, they still have up to five forward airbases in the desert not yet being knocked out or taken over by ground forces, along with existing former Pakistani bases like the Bholari AB, in Thatta and Shahbaz in Jacobabad..."

"Also expect always other allied aircraft present in your sector and requests for backup...."

"Expect all-out resistance. In fact, intelligence found that the current ace of aces in the UCCAF has been deployed to the theater and expect his presence anytime. He is an Arab-Indonesian by the name is Lt. Colonel Rizieq bin Abdulaziz."

"...His callsign is "Aulia" which fit his personality as a leader. As his family is a significant supporter of 'extraparliamentary Islamist opposition' before the Civil War they 'voluntarily' left Indonesia. Since then, he lived in Saudi Arabia when he joined its air force prior to Saudi-Iranian war."

"...He's currently the commander of the 101st TFS, Quds Legion "Waleed", currently flying upgraded Eurofighter Typhoons. Even the Israelis with their best trained and most combat-hardened air force in the Middle East had regarded his squadron as one of the most capable Arab squadron ever pitted against them. So be extremely careful if those guys are in your area."

"Alright people, get a good rest but always be vigilant! Dismissed!"

---

It's another day for the largest city of the Caliphate Special Province of Jammu and Kashmir, consist of former Pakistani Azad Kashmir and Gilgat-Baltistan, as normal as it could be, as UCC soldiers moved around, fortifying the city as the Indians are expected to attack. Civilians were already being evacuated southward, while some opted (or ordered) to stay put, especially males, and resist the certain Indian and PPDU assault, to the point of strapping explosives to their chests.

Unknown to them, the Indians are having a surprise for the city and the province's capital; Muzaffarabad.

At 0600 local time the sky were covered in several bright lights from the outer space. The city center were soon engulfed in the light, before a massive explosion took over.

The laser bombardments, executed by the Indian Armed Forces Space Command, were executed as a retaliation of usage of chemical and biological weaponry by the UCC during the invasion and occupation of part of India.

Upon the dust settled; up to three mountain divisions of the UCC has been rendered combat ineffective with almost 28.000 soldiers and unknown number of civilians were killed.

-------------------------------------------------------

0600 local time, we're back in the air.

As we refueled we have been updated about the Indian usage of their laser satellite constellation, codenamed Ganesha after a Hindu god of knowledge, against Caliphate' portion of the region of Kashmir, long a source of constant conflict in South Asia.

"They deserve it." I said to myself while I am focusing on the plane.

We reached Thar Desert, flying at 30.000 feet. This is our third mission in which the entire squadron are committed on a single objective. Force concentration, they say.

"This is Kestrel 1, we're all good and ready" reported the flight leader of four-ship Singapore F-35D/SG, Major Conrad "Nanyang" Parker from the 140 Squadron "Osprey". 

"Emerald to Kestrel, let's do this together!" called Medi to the Singaporeans. 

The offensive campaign, called "Operation Chandragupta" called for a massive air campaign to target UCC field armies deployed to the what the Alliance called the Indian Ocean Theater of Operations (ITO) or for VP, Indian Ocean Front.

In the meantime another Indian-led operation was underway, codenamed "Operation Vijay III" in memory of the 1999 Operation Vijay, known as the Kargil War, with objective is the liberation of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"AEW had reported that special ops had knocked out UCC early warning radars in the border" said Ahmad.

Behind us our airborne controller, a Japanese E-787, get to work.

"This is Taiyo, to all unit, save ingress and egress corridor are being uploaded to your systems as I said. But always expect the unexpected. Out."

"All flight, spread out. You're cleared to engage any target of opportunity". Emerald 1-1 ordered.

Australians flying EF-35 Raven II and Woomera supersonic UCAVs were the first to act. Using their jammer pods and EMP missiles, they proceed to permanently fry the enemy's radar and other electronic systems in it's wake.

The missile's blast radius was specially tailored to ensure no harm to friendlies in the vicinity, allowing the Indians to pass through and put bombs on the airbases, destroying scores of parked UCC jets and drones.

"Kestrel 1-3, I got bogeys on my one o'clock, Angels 15 heading 180 and closing on the strike package!" A Singaporean was the first to recognize that we were having contacts ahead. My display also showed that the bogeys, immediately recognized as Bayraktar Kizilelma IIs, were closing on radar missile range to engage the Indian strikers.

"Understood, moving to engage hostiles"

Me and my wingman Bachtiar turned right to engage the threat, while the second element led by Capt. Gary "Lookout" Sutrisno in his fourth sortie with the 42nd and his wingman 1st Lt. Maulana "Pustaka" Yusuf remain focused on babysitting the strike package.

I gave Bachtiar the honor for a first shot.

"Emerald 2-2, fox two!"

"Good hit, the Falcon is history"

In the meantime, I'm closing on the second drone and as I move my head aiming at the target, and soon, an R-75 snuffed out the poor obsolete Falcon.

"Splash one."

"All aircraft be advised we have a new group of bandits closing in heading 060" radioed Taiyo.

I ordered the second element to close in on the new set of targets.

"Copy that, tally-oh on the bandits." replied Lookout.

"Roger, engaging" his wingman said, and soon he obtained his second kill in his career upon downing another Bayraktar unaware of the presence of the stealthy Su-65s.

"Be advised, allies confirmed that they had knocked out the South Pakistan air defense command uplink sites in Karachi. This will degrade their air-defense capability in the area for a while. Also, the main ground assault is now underway. Taiyo out."

"Oh yeah!" Evelyn, leading the third flight cheered upon the announcement was made.

"Enemies are retreating" Pandu called as the surviving drones left the battlefield.

"ECM!!" 

Suddenly our electronics began to act funny. In the meantime the Indians had brought their strike package back home unharmed, but we are still ordered to be present in the area for a second strike package mostly tasked for close air support.

"Taiyo, respond"

"Taiyo, come in!"

"Son of a bitch, the jamming cut off the comm with Taiyo." grumbled Evelyn's wingman, Capt. Petrus "Smoke" Wenda.

"Taiyo.. to all.."

"Say again, Taiyo."

"Alright, we got a breakthrough. Taiyo to all units, we got three large aircraft on our scope, it must be their electronic warfare aircraft similar in size to our AWACS platform. They are being escorted by a squadron of twenty J-31s. Engage and destroy."

"We're on it sir". I answered.

"Emerald 1-2, here we go, manned hostiles on multiple directions 12, 9, and 3 o'clock, same altitude, they're coming in hot!"

"Kestrel here, we ready to watch your back." said the Singaporean lead.

"Incoming missile, break, break!"

Everyone turning and twisting to outrun the barrage of agile, reverse engineered PL-13 missile from the J-31s which are now visible to the naked eye.

"4-3 is down, no ejection!!"

Andri "Ghost" Sulistyo's aircraft vanished from radar.

"Goddamn!" cursed Emerald 4-4 loudly.

Another part of my heart was taken away upon hearing we had lost Captain Andri.

Then, Evy reported that she had killed the first J-31 thanks to the UCC pilot was so target-fixated with her wingman.

On other side, 10 miles of my right side, Capt. Garrett "Rum" Liu and his wingman 1st Lt. Siti "Shifty" Halimah found themselves passed by a pair of Firehounds below theirs. Despite their F-35s were running out of missiles the Singaporeans chose to engage. One conducted split-S and gained a lock, but the J-31 pumped flares. Undaunted, Halimah countered it with a high yo-yo over 9.000 feet and fired another AIM-10, which also decoyed.

She switched to the radar-guided AIM-122, and swiveled his head to lock on the Shenyang; A good lock tone, and she pushed the button just before blacking out. The Malay-Singaporean consciousness returned just in time to see the missile's ECCM system works well, allowing the warhead to went through and destroyed the J-31.

Bachtiar and I rendezvoused with the Singaporean pair to cover them while also looking for the jammers.

"Anti-radiation mode on" the cockpit sound told me that my selected R-87 has been set for passive anti-radiation mode which home on a jamming source to take it out of the picture, in which I volunteered for, while the others engage the escort fighters.

"Target locked"

My last four long-range missiles went off the rails and boring in onto the UCC jammer aircraft, three E-7 Wedgetails, followed by the display showing, "TARGET DESTROYED"

"Taiyo to all units, be advised, radar picture has been cleared."

"Long range missile, out." No problem, I still have a couple of AA-14s and 350-round in the 30mm cannon.

"Tally-ho!" Emerald 2-3 caught a glimpse of two J-31 above him and breaking left before the enemy could spray his Sukhoi with their own cannons. Before the enemy pair can recover from the dive, Gary armed his R-81 and destroyed one Firehound, the wingman retreated for good.

We're soon relieved by two flights of shiny, brand new sixth generations, Korean KF-27 followed by American F-38 Mustang IIs.

I can see their very futuristic look with primarily tailess configuration, firing their missiles and one or two laser shots as we head back to the base. Their maneuverability are also similar to our Sukhois despite their airframes were larger in dimension compared to earlier generations.

The first day of Chandragupta is an astounding success.

.....

The loss of Ghost saddened us, but we have a duty to do.

After a break. I once again in the cockpit with Major Diana leading us. But this time, without Evy, as her sortie was yesterday.

Now I found myself flying an eight-ship formation flanked by two flights of Indian HAL Abhayas, while Indian-led Allied forces below continued their blitzkrieg push into Karachi and into the Iranian border.

"This is Gandiwa."

The A350 AEW supporting us back in Srinagar has come back for us.

To be honest. I like the deep, calming voice of that particular battle manager aboard it. It help me to stay calm under fire, and in dogfights. Not mean I cannot calm in other situation, just admitting what inside my mind...

"Be advised, friendly armored column are reporting they have been attacked by UCC Shafaqs and Bayraktars, take those strike aircraft out of the picture." Gandiwa called.

"This is Kirpan 2, we'll cover you." An Indian flight lead went on the radio. They will cover us in our current altitude, 15.000 feet. while we will cut ours to 8.000 feet.

Smartasses. They managed to slip by hugging the earth.

"Tally ho!"

My wingman for today, a Korean-Indonesian named Capt. Kuk Min-jae, callsign "Cabbage" was the first to get in visual contact with the enemy stealth attack planes.

Immediately I said. "All planes, you're clear to fire"

"I got a solid lock, firing!"

Two short-range missiles went off the side internal bay from Kuk's Sukhoi. The formation of Iranian fighters immediately broke off their bombing run, two were destroyed. Ground based SAM did their job too especially in dealing with it's accompanying Bayraktars.

"Good shooting, 2-2!"

It's his second and third kill respectively.

"This is Badak lead, thanks for the assistance, we'll continue our advance!" the Indonesian armored formation leader piped us from his Korean-designed K3 tank, grateful for our support. 

In the place of the enemy strike fighter, as we climb, I could see glimpses of friendly attack aircraft; American A-11 Invader II and MQ-47 combat drones rolled through the battlefield spewing their deadly GAU-8 Avengers and air to ground missiles with cold efficiency, rendering an entire company of tanks in front of the Allied advance, and its support vehicles into piles of scrap metal.

"Gandiwa here, heads up, we have four B-5s from your four heading for Karachi. All aircraft in the area, sweep airspace ahead from enemy fighters. Also we've sent two flights of Indian missile truck Flankers to your position. Use it well!"

"Kirpan lead, Understood, they won't get past us!" Replied the Indian lead confidently before forming up to approach the city proper while the Korean B-5s, not yet detected by the Sukhoi's radar, were closer closer to the city.