November 17, 1640

Holy Mirishial Navy Zeroth Fleet

HMS Quasar

Alarms blared throughout the ship as Mirishial, Agarthan, and Centrallite sailors alike scrambled to their posts. While enlisted personnel hurried around the vessel to conduct their duties, the officers remained relatively calm. The men on the bridge had no duties to hurriedly accomplish; all they could do was wait as their subordinates carried out their pre-established plans. Although they seemed calm on the surface, many – if not all – of the officers were tense, breaking out into cold sweats or desperately staving off creeping anxieties.

“That is one hell of an air force,” Admiral Tetryon said, voice laden with uncertainty. Having previously engaged in battle with Gra Valkan carrier fleets, he knew first-hand how potent their fighters and bombers were. They outclassed every counterpart in the EDI arsenal, save for American-bought jets and Mirishial Alpha-4 fighters.

The Eimorian attache haughtily dismissed Admiral Tetryon’s uncertainties. “Fret not, elf. Our Plasma Dragons have humbled even Pal Chimerae. No matter how many planes the Gra Valkans throw at them, they will be no more of a nuisance than a swarm of gnats.”

“I admire your confidence, Commander Draudak,” Tetryon said, unconvinced of the Eimorian’s words. “While their fighter’s guns stand no chance of penetrating the hides of your Plasma Dragons or the shields of our Pal Chimerae, their rockets can. You’ve read the report on the Battle of Otaheit, yes?”

Draudak nodded, shifting his tail as he elaborated. “Your forces worked with the Muans to achieve victory over the invading Gra Valkans. The Gra Valkans matched your numbers, but you were able to turn the tide with the use of Pal Chimerae and American weapons.”

“It was a pyrrhic victory, more akin to a defeat than a win,” Tetryon lamented. “We won the battle, but lost half of our assets. Even a Pal Chimera was damaged, rendered immobile by a direct hit from the enemy’s flagship, the Grade Atlastar. Had it been fully shielded, it may have been able to withstand the strike. However, an attack run by Gra Valkan fighters dealt significant damage to its shields.” As he said it aloud, he became more wary of the Gra Valkans’ capabilities and stressed his concern once more, “If 30 fighters were sufficient to weaken our shields, then it is likely a hundred or so could overwhelm the Pal Chimera.”

Draudak realized what Tetryon was implying. His pupils widened as his hubris was shattered and with a shaky tone, he pointed out what Tetryon already knew, “The enemy has almost a thousand aircraft. The Plasma Dragons are more vulnerable than your Pal Chimera, so casualties may be unavoidable…” His emotions darkened, reflecting his trepidation at the likelihood that he could do nothing about losing some of the Eimor Kingdom’s most prized assets. “What can we do?”

“We can only hope that our first strike is enough to even the odds,” Tetryon admitted. “Our heavy aerial units will pull back to draw the enemy in, but there’s no guarantee we can pull off any tactics when our forces are too busy fighting their overwhelming numbers. On top of that, there’s no telling what new tactics or weapons the enemy is bringing to the battlefield this time.”

A solemn silence swept over the increasingly despondent leaders. They had grown overly confident in a naval victory and the strength of their superweapons, causing them to neglect the power of enemy air assets. Only the Pal Chimera had sufficient point defense to ward off fighters. He couldn’t say the same for the Plasma Dragons, which relied on heavy magic strikes.

A new voice spoke up, raspy yet wise, “It is possible for us to illusify a Plasma Dragon or Pal Chimera. This was never part of the original plan due to the sheer amount of mana required to perform this task, but we can choose to forego creating illusions of our fighters in order to illusify a larger decoy instead. If done correctly, we can cause them to waste their attacks, but this will only work once.”

Tetryon hummed in agreement, “Hmm, you may be onto something, Archmage Varsian. I don’t fancy the idea of leaving our fighters to fend for themselves, but protecting our superweapons is of utmost importance. During the Battle of Otaheit, Gra Valkan fighters held 4 large rockets per fighter. We can bait them with an enticing target, and have them waste an entire volley’s worth of ammunition.”

“We must be careful though,” Varsian said. “By the time the first wave of decoys hits the enemy, they’ll recognize that we have the ability to create illusions. They may not be able to detect them, but they will know something is amiss if the bait is too easy.”

“Hmm, yes,” Tetryon agreed. “We’ll have our Pal Chimera operate alongside the decoy, but we will keep it a bit further back. The rest is up to you and your men, Archmage. See to it that the enemy wastes their opportunity to strike us down.”

——

Gra Valkan Sirius-class dive bombers and Rigel-class torpedo bombers descended upon the Zeroth Fleet’s capital ships like hawks swooping down to snatch their prey. They braved continuous volleys of anti-air fire, with a few unlucky pilots being shot down. Undeterred, the pilots continued along their attack run. Then, they finally unleashed their payloads.

Admiral Tetryon gripped a steel rail tightly, bracing himself for the torrent of bombs while the mages on board casted defensive spells. Walls of ice sprung up from the water, accompanied by tornado-level winds that reduced the accuracy of the Gra Valkans’ bombing run. Many bombs detonated in the water or on the ice, but some found their marks and tore apart the magically-reinforced mithril, causing ships to begin drawing water.

His own vessel did not escape unscathed, despite being sheltered in the rear of his fleet. Massive shockwaves rattled him and exploding ordnance rattled the hull of his flagship, threatening to shatter the windows on the bridge.

“Damage report!”

“Sir,” one of the sailors responded, “Armor integrity is stable, no damage on any section!”

“The Supernova has been hit and is currently taking in water! They’re still in fighting condition, but cannot take another hit!” One of the communications officers reported. “The Event Horizon reports minor damage to its hull.”

After more reports came in, Tetryon was able to see a clear picture of the attack run’s aftermath. A small number of destroyers and cruisers were sunk, but not as many as he had expected. His suspicions were correct: the enemy had prioritized attacking their capital ships – battleships and carriers – and managed to sink 2 carriers. While it was a devastating loss, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. A significant number of illusions had disappeared, meaning that they had taken the brunt of the Gra Valkan aerial assault. The attack also happened to coincide with a strike from Gra Valkan submarines, which the fleet’s destroyers were currently engaging.

On the other hand, the Gra Valkans lost a substantial amount of aircraft in their first wave. The preemptive strike from the Plasma Dragons knocked out dozens of fighters from the sky, but that was mostly a win for their aerial assets. The preemptive strike destroyed no bombers, and the anti-air response from the Mirishial fleet barely managed to remove three squadrons’ worth of bombers from the playing field. This fact gave him some hope, until he saw the next wave of aircraft flying through the storm.

“Prepare for the next wave!” He announced, gritting his teeth. They were on their own, with no support from the Pal Chimera or the Plasma Dragons. He could only hope that they too would weather the storm, for his entire fleet would be doomed if the full might of the Gra Valkans was brought upon him.

—-

GVN Carrier Air Wing 4

Fenrir Squadron

A bright lance flew past Captain Sinhelm’s craft, incinerating two fighters behind him. They tumbled lifelessly out of the sky, their metal frames reduced to molten slag by the powerful beams of the Pal Chimera ahead. He and his squadron encountered stiff resistance, with some unfortunate squadrons already completely wiped out.

To the Pal Chimera’s side was another one, which lagged behind and seemed to have a sputtering engine. It blinked continuously, turning on and off, as if it was malfunctioning. Curiously, the vessel was also not firing back, which led Sinhelm to assume it was a damaged vessel. The other squadron leaders took note of this, and one of the commanders began prioritizing the damaged vessel.

“This is Mjolnir Leader, we’re diverting our forces to engage the rear saucer!”

Sinhelm almost acknowledged the order, but something seemed amiss. He thought about the decoys that the first wave of fighters had encountered. If it was possible to create dozens of fake fighters, then it was likely also possible for the Mirishials to somehow create a fake saucer. At best, they would waste ammunition on a fake target and be forced to make a second attack run. At worst, his comrades would be annihilated by another surprise attack. Hoping to prevent his allies from falling into a potential trap, he yelled into his radio, “Wait!”

However, it was too late. Mjolnir squadron and a few stragglers from now-nonexistent squadrons formed up to engage the ‘damaged’ saucer. They approached closer, receiving little retaliation from the other saucer, confirming Sinhelm’s suspicions about this possible decoy. “Mjolnir Squadron, abort! Abort! Hold your fire!”

He didn’t know if it was the chaotic battlefield conditions or the tunnel-visioned attitudes of Mjolnir Squadron’s pilots or something else, but they failed to receive his order. 15 Antares Kaiser pilots launched a complete salvo of 60 rockets at the decoy, reducing their chances of eliminating their actual targets. As Sinhelm feared, the rockets completely phased through the decoy, causing the illusion to vanish into small particles of light.

“Miss! Miss! It was a decoy!”

Their radio network soon filled with the regretful words of their comrades, who had just thrown away their weapons into empty sky. Groans of despair and sighs of regret began to shake the pilots’ morale, but Sinhelm quickly took hold of the situation. “No time to regret! Mjolnir Leader, do you copy?”

“I copy,” the man responded.

“Have your forces join us against the Pal Chimera.”

Sinhelm’s order was followed by a brief silence. Without rockets, Mjolnir Squadron’s only purpose was to serve as decoys – it would be their mission to take hits so that as many payload-carrying fighters as possible could survive. Stricken with regret and now offered a chance at redemption, the man accepted his fate and responded solemnly, “Understood, sir.”

Mjolnir Squadron’s fighters joined Sinhelm’s vanguard, taking up the lead in order to soak up more of the damage. Sinhelm didn’t like having to sacrifice men, but it had to be done. If they couldn’t take the Pal Chimera out of the equation, they wouldn’t be able to strike the well-protected Plasma Dragons and their surface fleet would burn. Filled with resolve, he and his fellow pilots pushed forth.

Small blue bolts flew past his comrades by the hundreds while larger beams blazed through the skies. He couldn’t see well in this weather, but this likely meant that the enemy couldn’t either. The saucer’s accuracy had plummeted significantly compared to their anti-air fire from the beginning of the battle, so he gained some hope. Soon enough, they closed the distance and the massive saucer’s silhouette came into view.

“Target range: one klick and closing! All units, prepare to fire on my mark!”

Sinhelm’s squadrons inched ever-closer to the massive saucer ahead. Although they were traveling at speeds well exceeding 400 miles per hour, it still felt like a drag due to the sheer volume of accurate enemy fire they experienced. Each second felt like an hour, exacerbated by the rate at which their allies were being downed. By the time they finally got within half a kilometer, Sinhelm’s unit had already lost 12 planes, not including the escorts that were tasked with defending them.

He could only hope their sacrifices were not in vain. “Fire!”

84 rockets zoomed past the fighters as they banked away, turning back to escape the jaws of the saucer and resupply. With dozens of dangerous rockets now headed toward the saucer, it turned its attention away from the fighters and toward the fast-moving explosives. Despite its incredible accuracy at close ranges, the saucer’s point defense units simply couldn’t sustain their performance against such a large volume of small targets. 20 of the rockets were destroyed, but it wasn’t enough.

40 rockets slammed into the saucer’s shields, detonating with blinding blue light. An ear-shattering scrape echoed throughout the battlefield as the shields were shattered, followed by the sound of twisting metal as the remaining rockets made contact with the saucer itself. The incredible machine, once seen as an invincible alien battleship, was finally defeated. It sank below the clouds, trailing blue smoke until it finally met its end in the tumultuous ocean below.