Previous Chapter: The Great Empire Wavers 3
The skies above Valkyries, Gra Valkas Empire
“Air region 2, clear.”
“Roger that. Check air region 3.”
Stabal of the 22nd Army Aviation Squadron of the Gra Valkas Empire’s Leifor Occupation Army finished his task for air region 2 and was moving to air region 3. In order to leave nothing unnoticed, they flew in formations of 3.
The reason for their advance warning flights is the visit of the imperial family, particularly that of the Crown Prince, the next-in-line to the throne. In the unlikely chance that they were to let enemy fighters or enemy ground forces slip past them, it would be outrageous. They were all fired up more than they would usually be.
It seems that their enemy has introduced a monster called an aerial battleship in the great naval battle. Furthermore, most of the frontline soldiers have already grasped that the Valkyries base getting attacked may have possibly been due to a surprise attack by Japanese fighters. Due to nervousness brought about by their enemy and the fact that they are the Crown Prince’s shield, he and his comrades were more concentrated than usual.
The sounds of the radial engine groaning and the winds getting hit reverberated within the cabin.
“Hm?!”
He felt something off about the sky in front of him. Within the next moment, he felt a silhouette close the distance towards them at ultra high-speeds.
A flash of light ran across the vicinity from one of his comrades flying in front of him, engulfing the airframe in a fierce explosion.
“W-woah!!!”
Not understanding what had happened, the terror of a friend suddenly dying ran through his entire body. Stabal’s instincts urged him to fire his machine guns with all his might. He knew there was no reason to do something like that, but he nevertheless gave in to his instincts and fired at the empty sky in front of him.
Ratatatatatata
20mm machine gun rounds were fired forwards followed by the heavy, solid sounds of the propellant expanding and pushing them out of the barrel.
In the following moment, another one of his comrades flying above to his right was blown out of the sky after an intense, thunderous sound.
“W-what’s going ooooon?!?!?!”
He shouted as he kept his finger firm on the fire button. What happened right after will be considered a miracle in the history of air combat. A 20mm round fired from the machine guns onboard the Antares fighter of Stabal impacted a Type 99 medium-range air-to-air guided missile (AAM-4) fired from a Japanese F-2 fighter.
A huge fireball manifested in front of him. Metallic fragments dispersed by the explosion hit his fuselage, producing unpleasant sounds within the cabin. The Antares fighter that had miraculously managed to avoid getting hit by an air-to-air guided missile suddenly turned and dropped. With the engine in full throttle, Stabal rapidly dove.
“Aaaaahhh!!!”
With the surface getting closer and closer, he tried to raise the aircraft’s nose when…
Plop!
With violent vibrations and black smoke beginning to rise from the engine in front, the propeller that was just spinning so powerfully suddenly came to a halt.
“Wha-!!!”
With the ground getting closer and thick, black smoke blocking his view, he desperately tried to raise the aircraft’s nose. However…
“Fuck!! It won’t go up!! I’m gonna crash!!!”
Unable to respond adequately to the sudden trouble and reduce his speed, he crashed into the trees that came into view.
“Uwahh!!!”
Travelling at more than 500km/h, the Antares fighter’s wings were caught in branches, tearing them off from the plane and trees, respectively.
“Aghh!!!”
The fighter eventually came to a half on top of a tree and everything went silent. For some miraculous reason, he was safe. He looks up at the sky above.
“Wha-!!!”
Multiple contrails drawn at speeds he had never seen before pepper the skies.
・・・
Frontline base Valkyries, Gra Valkas Empire
“Huh? What?!”
The comms officer noticed that the radio he uses to regularly contact their patrols was completely busted. With the Valkyries base’s radar sites destroyed, they rely on radar information communicated to them from the surrounding bases for their anti-air early warning. The radio, which was supposed to be lively due to regular activity, was completely silent.
Thinking that there’s a possibility that it’s a malfunction, he tried contacting the forces set up within the base. Pressing the press-to-talk button, he speaks through the microphone in intervals.
“Command to 21st Platoon.”
No response.
“Command to 21st Platoon.”
…
“This is command to all units. Please respond if you have intercepted any forces.”
Still no response.
“Fuck! Not good!!!”
Thinking of the possibility that an enemy attack is coming, the comms officer immediately reports to Vice Commander Gaia who was in the same room.
“Vice Commander Gaia!!! I’m getting nothing from the radio! The possibility that multiple radios have failed is exceedingly low, so this must be radio interference!!!”
“H-huh?! The Crown Prince is here!!! We’re fucked if we’re actually under attack!!!”
“Requesting permission to sound the emergency siren!!!”
“W-wait!!! The siren might scare His Highness and if there was actually nothing wrong, we’re done for!!!”
“But!!! It would be bad if we do nothing knowing that this might be an attack!!!”
“Use the emergency light signal!! His Highness won’t understand what’s going on using that!”
“Yes, sir!”
In the event that the siren is broken, the emergency light signal on top of the building flashes, signalling that there’s an emergency. The meaning differs by how the light flashes, with the flashing this time signalling the possibility of enemy attack and telling everyone to get into battle stations.
The lights on top of the building all flash red simultaneously, repeating at set intervals. Leaving behind others to welcome the Crown Prince, the military personnel hurriedly run to their positions.
・・・
The Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas Empire, Gra Cabal, has landed at the Imperial Army frontline base of Valkyries. Descending down the flight of stairs attached to the plane, he was greeted by a thunderous applause as a band started to play music. After emerging in front of the soldiers, they all saluted to Cabal.
One can infer from the simultaneous salute the high amount of discipline the soldiers have.
“Hmph. Just as I expect from the elite Imperial Army!”
Gra Cabal mutters as he is guided by base commander Gaoggel to the command room.
“Hm?”
12 Antares fighters were about to take off from the airport. They were mobilized in an emergency since an attack was expected, but Gra Cabal misunderstood the fighters taking off as a demonstration for his welcome.
“Hoh! As I expected from the elite Imperial Army Air Corps! What a smooth and orderly take off!”
The beautiful takeoff scene captured his attention. Within the next moment, 3 fighters that were trying to take off exploded, falling down on the runway. 2 other fighters that were trying to take off got caught up in the explosion, crashing down after the first 3.
The fighters that fell on the runway had their fuel ignited, exploding with enough power to push the onlookers’ bodies from far away and producing huge amounts of smoke. Unable to comprehend the sudden and somehow unrealistic scene unfolding in front of his eyes, Cabal froze.
“Y-Your Highness!! Over here!!”
Base commander Gaoggel takes his hand and guides him to the command room which was in a far more robust building.
“Hey!! What the hell is happening?!”
“It’s an enemy attack!! Please, let’s hurry!!!”
His first ever look at the raw battlefield. There was no way they could have saved the people who were on board the fighters that crashed. People die too easily.
He has seen with his own eyes the number of people that have died based on reports from the battlefield. He used to think that such one-digit levels of casualties were acceptable.
However, 5 people swiftly perished right in front of his eyes. With their level of skill, they must have done a substantial amount of training. They may have also spent a fair amount of studying to become Imperial pilots.
They may have also had families of their own.
Gra Cabal has finally realized what the battlefield is like.
“Is… is this war?! I… I didn’t know!!! I was foolish!!!”
Sacrifices needed for the empire to pursue their military rule, whether they be friend or foe, was inevitable.
That’s what he thought.
It may have been politically correct, but with the absurdity of death that has happened before his very eyes being limited to simply being sacrificed for the empire and recorded in reports as the number “5”, his heart may not have been moved at all.
Reason and emotions mixed. Unfinished thoughts run across Cabal’s heart.
Intense, unrelenting explosions continued to successively emerge from the runway.
“Fuck!”
No…! Is this what it’s like to fear getting killed?
Anti-air cannons fire tracer rounds into the sky, drawing bright lines of light throughout the heavens. The siren has sounded throughout the base, fully mobilizing every soldier.
Base commander Gaoggel and Crown Prince Gra Cabal enter the robust underground command room inside the base’s command building. Even if the radio were to be unusable, the command room is lined with messenger tubes towards the other encampments, allowing them to maintain contact. They started gathering information on the base’s situation. A periscope-like installment in the command room allows them to directly see what’s happening outside. The sounds of explosions from the outside echo relentlessly within the command room, adding to the dread.
“All AA emplacements are silenced!!!”
“All aircraft within the hangars are destroyed!!!”
“Heavy equipment and tank units are all destroyed!!!”
“The hangars containing the mobile AA guns have all collapsed from the bombing!!!”
“Base radio station was bombed!!! Our radio is gone!!!”
Multiple hopeless reports came in. They were quickly losing their fangs to counterattack.
Gaoggel desperately thought of something.
“Contact the regular units! We have the Crown Prince right here. Get them to get down to the vicinity of the underground room and tell them to strengthen our defenses!!!”
“Yes, sir!”
The orders are swiftly passed along.
The intense bombing more or less ended and silence almost immediately took reign over the atmosphere in the command room.
“The first wave seems to have wrapped up. Get me damage reports!!”
At Gaoggel’s commands, damage reports flooded in. Radio, AA guns, aircraft, tanks, heavy equipment, and mobile AA guns were all destroyed. A bombing unparalleled in accuracy; the same as last time.
“Incoming reports from lookouts!! The second wave is approaching!! They’re all biplanes!! We’re counting more than… 300 planes!!!”
“Say that again?! Shit!! They’ve really gone serious now… But 300?! Do they plan to make this place a wasteland?!”
Sending 300 planes to attack a small base… Mu is serious…
“Hey!! What’s going on?!”
Unable to keep his anxiety in check, Gra Cabal asks Gaoggel.
“Your Highness, this command room is a fortress buried into the earth. Even if the base above were to be laid to waste due to bombings, we are safe here.”
“I-I see… My bad. Carry on…”
“Yes, sir!!!”
The bombs dropped by Mu bombers whistled as they fell. The sounds of explosions, as well as sounds of machine gun fire from Mu’s fighters continued on, sending unpleasant vibrations into the command room. The sounds of biplane engines, which usually didn’t bother them, now terrified them to their souls.
“Are we really just going to let this pass???”
Gaoggel muttered. As if replying to him, one of the officers in the command room speaks up to him.
“Commander!! Valyries’s air cover isn’t limited to the airpower we had! We don’t know the situation since we lost our radio, but our Imperial Army Air Corps will soon shoot these biplanes out of the sky!”
“…How naive.”
“Sir?!”
“I said that that’s naive! Our air units have been shot down in the first attack and what fighters we had parked have all been destroyed too. It’s proof that our air cover from other bases have also been wiped out. If anything, it’s extremely likely that all of our fighters from other bases have been completely shot down. All we can really do now is stand firm and not rely on reinforcements.”
A sensation of tragic heroism envelops the command room.
Gaoggel continues.
“Fortunately, the command room is so robust, it might as well be an underground fortress. It won’t yield from a bombing of Mu’s caliber. Orders were also sent out to the regular units to retreat underground. However, as for those on top…”
The hopelessness that the base will be wiped out and the reassurance that the place that they’re in is safe mixed together. Complicated emotions were filling all their hearts. The seemingly endless sounds of explosions ceased as Mu’s bombers left the area. Silence wraps the command room.
“What’s the situation outside?”
“I can’t get hold of the lookouts.”
“Is it that desperate? Can we verify the number of regular troops that managed to evacuate underground?”
“We’re currently verifying. I think there are roughly 350 of them.”
“Wha-!!! We’ve lost so much… What exits remain unfazed?”
“We’re still verifying, but Sectors 12, 18, and 24 all have working exits. Also, we haven’t been able to ascertain any damages to the tunnels leading outside the base, but all of them are still up.”
“We’re still expecting more attacks. Get the best among the regulars and form a unit of 30 to escort His Highness out of the base through the emergency tunnels!”
“Yes, sir!”
Orders were transmitted to the letter and the selection for the escort unit has begun.
Gaoggel turns to Gra Cabal.
“Your Highness, I am truly sorry for showing you such a disgraceful appearance. However, allow us to place utmost priority on your life and protect you. We have started to form an escort unit to help you evacuate out of the base using the emergency tunnels. Will that be alright?”
Prioritizing the Crown Prince’s life, Gaoggel tells Gra Cabal with a little directness.
“Y-yes… Thank you. The formation of the unit will take time, yes? Before it’s done, I want to see the current state of the base with my own eyes. I will head up top for a bit.”
Gaoggel froze at the completely unexpected reply.
“Please wait! The Army currently doesn’t have air superiority! We are in a state wherein we cannot deal with sudden attacks from the sky! We cannot let something unexpected happen to Your Highness! Your evacuation is our priority!”
“I’m sorry, but I… As the Crown Prince, I have an obligation to verify with my own eyes the raw battlefield and the way of life of those that fight and give their lives for the sake of the empire’s citizens. Even if my life is in danger, I have a duty to see the defenders that desperately tried to fight for the citizens!”
“Your Highness, please reconsider!!!”
“Thank you, but I will return with haste.”
It is not only your life at stake! The heads of all the military officials are at stake as well!!!
Gaoggel swallowed the words that were just about to come out
“Well then, I will go as well.”
The Crown Prince, Gaoggel, and the other base officers emerged from the underground command room to take a look at the nearly destroyed base.
・・・
The dirty door of the entrance that was slightly protruding from the ground opened and some men slowly emerged from the entrance. After some of them had gone out and verified that it was safe, the Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas Empire, Gra Cabal, ascended from the entrance.
“Wha-!!! Is this… war…?”
Clusters of what were once buildings lay burning and demolished, with some of what had remained being littered with holes. The runway was completely destroyed, with the Imperial fighters that had once boasted powerful strength now burning on top of it. The bigger buildings have more or less crumbled under the bombing. Cabal felt the heat from the thick hot air that arose from all the fire on his cheeks.
Looking around, what may have once been people lie scattered here and there. Those that were reduced to ashes and those that no longer looked human truly described the scene as hellish.
There weren’t any other responding people in sight. Valkyries, having suffered casualties to the point of annihilation, ceased to function as a base, with some ruins scattered here and there.
Roaaar!!!
They heard a sudden, frightening roar. Within the following moment, lines of fire erupted towards the sky, followed by light sounds of gunfire.
“Survivors?!”
They looked towards the ends of the lines of fire that emanated from the building.
“Wha-!!!”
The tracer rounds fired from rifles were flying towards something that looked like a dragon. Using magic isolated from humans, the dragon unleashed a magical flame bullet. Several flame bullets landed directly on where the sounds of the gunfire came from, enveloping the place in flames.
“What the hell…”
There were dragons flying all across the sky. There weren’t just one or two, but more than 100 dragons were circling the skies above the base. It was a terrifyingly shocking sight.
“Commander!!! Your Highness!!! Please get back underground!!!”
The dragons that were flying in the sky didn’t seem to have noticed them yet. However, it was still an extremely dangerous place. A soldier looking out from the opposite side of the building catches the Crown Prince’s attention.
“5 aircraft approaching from the west!!!”
Gaoggel immediately moves to a place from where he can see them.
“W-what are those?!”
With Gaoggel in shock, Gra Cabal joins him to take a look.
“A-are those…?!”
The aircraft had small but wide airframes and they made an unfamiliar high-pitched sound. Their size betrayed their expectations and they moved at a terribly fast speed. The aircraft didn’t have any propellers.
“I-it’s so big and fast!!! Whose planes are those?!”
Gra Cabal, which had completely stood up in the open, was approached by soldiers.
“Hurry!!! Please evacuate now!!!”
“We have confirmed red circles on the wings and body of the aircraft!!! It’s a Japanese aircraft!!!”
“Please evacuate!!!”
Planes and dragons all flew in the sky. The soldiers irritatedly urged the officers and the Crown Prince to evacuate.
At speeds that betrayed their common sense, the aircraft reached the skies above the base and suddenly dropped in speed.
“They might start bombing!!! Hurry!!!”
By the time that Gaoggel and Gra Cabal started to run for the entrance, several white flowers bloomed across the sky. As the aircraft circled, flowers successively opened up in the sky. A marvelous and eye-catching sight.
“T-they’re people!!! Paratroopers?! They’re sending ground troops now?!”
The 1st Airborne Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force conducted a parachute drop around the vicinity of the base. Their numbers slowly increased.
They promptly ran back down to the underground command room.
The Gra Valkas Empire was also in possession of paratrooper units in its Army. However, parachuting from the sky was dangerous and required lots of practice while those that can conduct parachute drops were not much experienced in ground warfare.
They must also not have a lot of experience…
“No! I must get rid of these naive thoughts!!! They’re Japan, for crying out loud! They’re an enemy that betrays common sense!”
Gaoggel thought that if they shut themselves underground, they’d be safe. As they were not expecting the deployment of ground troops, Gaoggel’s already sweaty face became even more sweaty.
Previous Chapter: The Great Empire Wavers 3
The skies above Valkyries, Gra Valkas Empire
“Air region 2, clear.”
“Roger that. Check air region 3.”
Stabal of the 22nd Army Aviation Squadron of the Gra Valkas Empire’s Leifor Occupation Army finished his task for air region 2 and was moving to air region 3. In order to leave nothing unnoticed, they flew in formations of 3.
The reason for their advance warning flights is the visit of the imperial family, particularly that of the Crown Prince, the next-in-line to the throne. In the unlikely chance that they were to let enemy fighters or enemy ground forces slip past them, it would be outrageous. They were all fired up more than they would usually be.
It seems that their enemy has introduced a monster called an aerial battleship in the great naval battle. Furthermore, most of the frontline soldiers have already grasped that the Valkyries base getting attacked may have possibly been due to a surprise attack by Japanese fighters. Due to nervousness brought about by their enemy and the fact that they are the Crown Prince’s shield, he and his comrades were more concentrated than usual.
The sounds of the radial engine groaning and the winds getting hit reverberated within the cabin.
“Hm?!”
He felt something off about the sky in front of him. Within the next moment, he felt a silhouette close the distance towards them at ultra high-speeds.
A flash of light ran across the vicinity from one of his comrades flying in front of him, engulfing the airframe in a fierce explosion.
“W-woah!!!”
Not understanding what had happened, the terror of a friend suddenly dying ran through his entire body. Stabal’s instincts urged him to fire his machine guns with all his might. He knew there was no reason to do something like that, but he nevertheless gave in to his instincts and fired at the empty sky in front of him.
Ratatatatatata
20mm machine gun rounds were fired forwards followed by the heavy, solid sounds of the propellant expanding and pushing them out of the barrel.
In the following moment, another one of his comrades flying above to his right was blown out of the sky after an intense, thunderous sound.
“W-what’s going ooooon?!?!?!”
He shouted as he kept his finger firm on the fire button. What happened right after will be considered a miracle in the history of air combat. A 20mm round fired from the machine guns onboard the Antares fighter of Stabal impacted a Type 99 medium-range air-to-air guided missile (AAM-4) fired from a Japanese F-2 fighter.
A huge fireball manifested in front of him. Metallic fragments dispersed by the explosion hit his fuselage, producing unpleasant sounds within the cabin. The Antares fighter that had miraculously managed to avoid getting hit by an air-to-air guided missile suddenly turned and dropped. With the engine in full throttle, Stabal rapidly dove.
“Aaaaahhh!!!”
With the surface getting closer and closer, he tried to raise the aircraft’s nose when…
Plop!
With violent vibrations and black smoke beginning to rise from the engine in front, the propeller that was just spinning so powerfully suddenly came to a halt.
“Wha-!!!”
With the ground getting closer and thick, black smoke blocking his view, he desperately tried to raise the aircraft’s nose. However…
“Fuck!! It won’t go up!! I’m gonna crash!!!”
Unable to respond adequately to the sudden trouble and reduce his speed, he crashed into the trees that came into view.
“Uwahh!!!”
Travelling at more than 500km/h, the Antares fighter’s wings were caught in branches, tearing them off from the plane and trees, respectively.
“Aghh!!!”
The fighter eventually came to a half on top of a tree and everything went silent. For some miraculous reason, he was safe. He looks up at the sky above.
“Wha-!!!”
Multiple contrails drawn at speeds he had never seen before pepper the skies.
・・・
Frontline base Valkyries, Gra Valkas Empire
“Huh? What?!”
The comms officer noticed that the radio he uses to regularly contact their patrols was completely busted. With the Valkyries base’s radar sites destroyed, they rely on radar information communicated to them from the surrounding bases for their anti-air early warning. The radio, which was supposed to be lively due to regular activity, was completely silent.
Thinking that there’s a possibility that it’s a malfunction, he tried contacting the forces set up within the base. Pressing the press-to-talk button, he speaks through the microphone in intervals.
“Command to 21st Platoon.”
No response.
“Command to 21st Platoon.”
…
“This is command to all units. Please respond if you have intercepted any forces.”
Still no response.
“Fuck! Not good!!!”
Thinking of the possibility that an enemy attack is coming, the comms officer immediately reports to Vice Commander Gaia who was in the same room.
“Vice Commander Gaia!!! I’m getting nothing from the radio! The possibility that multiple radios have failed is exceedingly low, so this must be radio interference!!!”
“H-huh?! The Crown Prince is here!!! We’re fucked if we’re actually under attack!!!”
“Requesting permission to sound the emergency siren!!!”
“W-wait!!! The siren might scare His Highness and if there was actually nothing wrong, we’re done for!!!”
“But!!! It would be bad if we do nothing knowing that this might be an attack!!!”
“Use the emergency light signal!! His Highness won’t understand what’s going on using that!”
“Yes, sir!”
In the event that the siren is broken, the emergency light signal on top of the building flashes, signalling that there’s an emergency. The meaning differs by how the light flashes, with the flashing this time signalling the possibility of enemy attack and telling everyone to get into battle stations.
The lights on top of the building all flash red simultaneously, repeating at set intervals. Leaving behind others to welcome the Crown Prince, the military personnel hurriedly run to their positions.
・・・
The Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas Empire, Gra Cabal, has landed at the Imperial Army frontline base of Valkyries. Descending down the flight of stairs attached to the plane, he was greeted by a thunderous applause as a band started to play music. After emerging in front of the soldiers, they all saluted to Cabal.
One can infer from the simultaneous salute the high amount of discipline the soldiers have.
“Hmph. Just as I expect from the elite Imperial Army!”
Gra Cabal mutters as he is guided by base commander Gaoggel to the command room.
“Hm?”
12 Antares fighters were about to take off from the airport. They were mobilized in an emergency since an attack was expected, but Gra Cabal misunderstood the fighters taking off as a demonstration for his welcome.
“Hoh! As I expected from the elite Imperial Army Air Corps! What a smooth and orderly take off!”
The beautiful takeoff scene captured his attention. Within the next moment, 3 fighters that were trying to take off exploded, falling down on the runway. 2 other fighters that were trying to take off got caught up in the explosion, crashing down after the first 3.
The fighters that fell on the runway had their fuel ignited, exploding with enough power to push the onlookers’ bodies from far away and producing huge amounts of smoke. Unable to comprehend the sudden and somehow unrealistic scene unfolding in front of his eyes, Cabal froze.
“Y-Your Highness!! Over here!!”
Base commander Gaoggel takes his hand and guides him to the command room which was in a far more robust building.
“Hey!! What the hell is happening?!”
“It’s an enemy attack!! Please, let’s hurry!!!”
His first ever look at the raw battlefield. There was no way they could have saved the people who were on board the fighters that crashed. People die too easily.
He has seen with his own eyes the number of people that have died based on reports from the battlefield. He used to think that such one-digit levels of casualties were acceptable.
However, 5 people swiftly perished right in front of his eyes. With their level of skill, they must have done a substantial amount of training. They may have also spent a fair amount of studying to become Imperial pilots.
They may have also had families of their own.
Gra Cabal has finally realized what the battlefield is like.
“Is… is this war?! I… I didn’t know!!! I was foolish!!!”
Sacrifices needed for the empire to pursue their military rule, whether they be friend or foe, was inevitable.
That’s what he thought.
It may have been politically correct, but with the absurdity of death that has happened before his very eyes being limited to simply being sacrificed for the empire and recorded in reports as the number “5”, his heart may not have been moved at all.
Reason and emotions mixed. Unfinished thoughts run across Cabal’s heart.
Intense, unrelenting explosions continued to successively emerge from the runway.
“Fuck!”
No…! Is this what it’s like to fear getting killed?
Anti-air cannons fire tracer rounds into the sky, drawing bright lines of light throughout the heavens. The siren has sounded throughout the base, fully mobilizing every soldier.
Base commander Gaoggel and Crown Prince Gra Cabal enter the robust underground command room inside the base’s command building. Even if the radio were to be unusable, the command room is lined with messenger tubes towards the other encampments, allowing them to maintain contact. They started gathering information on the base’s situation. A periscope-like installment in the command room allows them to directly see what’s happening outside. The sounds of explosions from the outside echo relentlessly within the command room, adding to the dread.
“All AA emplacements are silenced!!!”
“All aircraft within the hangars are destroyed!!!”
“Heavy equipment and tank units are all destroyed!!!”
“The hangars containing the mobile AA guns have all collapsed from the bombing!!!”
“Base radio station was bombed!!! Our radio is gone!!!”
Multiple hopeless reports came in. They were quickly losing their fangs to counterattack.
Gaoggel desperately thought of something.
“Contact the regular units! We have the Crown Prince right here. Get them to get down to the vicinity of the underground room and tell them to strengthen our defenses!!!”
“Yes, sir!”
The orders are swiftly passed along.
The intense bombing more or less ended and silence almost immediately took reign over the atmosphere in the command room.
“The first wave seems to have wrapped up. Get me damage reports!!”
At Gaoggel’s commands, damage reports flooded in. Radio, AA guns, aircraft, tanks, heavy equipment, and mobile AA guns were all destroyed. A bombing unparalleled in accuracy; the same as last time.
“Incoming reports from lookouts!! The second wave is approaching!! They’re all biplanes!! We’re counting more than… 300 planes!!!”
“Say that again?! Shit!! They’ve really gone serious now… But 300?! Do they plan to make this place a wasteland?!”
Sending 300 planes to attack a small base… Mu is serious…
“Hey!! What’s going on?!”
Unable to keep his anxiety in check, Gra Cabal asks Gaoggel.
“Your Highness, this command room is a fortress buried into the earth. Even if the base above were to be laid to waste due to bombings, we are safe here.”
“I-I see… My bad. Carry on…”
“Yes, sir!!!”
The bombs dropped by Mu bombers whistled as they fell. The sounds of explosions, as well as sounds of machine gun fire from Mu’s fighters continued on, sending unpleasant vibrations into the command room. The sounds of biplane engines, which usually didn’t bother them, now terrified them to their souls.
“Are we really just going to let this pass???”
Gaoggel muttered. As if replying to him, one of the officers in the command room speaks up to him.
“Commander!! Valyries’s air cover isn’t limited to the airpower we had! We don’t know the situation since we lost our radio, but our Imperial Army Air Corps will soon shoot these biplanes out of the sky!”
“…How naive.”
“Sir?!”
“I said that that’s naive! Our air units have been shot down in the first attack and what fighters we had parked have all been destroyed too. It’s proof that our air cover from other bases have also been wiped out. If anything, it’s extremely likely that all of our fighters from other bases have been completely shot down. All we can really do now is stand firm and not rely on reinforcements.”
A sensation of tragic heroism envelops the command room.
Gaoggel continues.
“Fortunately, the command room is so robust, it might as well be an underground fortress. It won’t yield from a bombing of Mu’s caliber. Orders were also sent out to the regular units to retreat underground. However, as for those on top…”
The hopelessness that the base will be wiped out and the reassurance that the place that they’re in is safe mixed together. Complicated emotions were filling all their hearts. The seemingly endless sounds of explosions ceased as Mu’s bombers left the area. Silence wraps the command room.
“What’s the situation outside?”
“I can’t get hold of the lookouts.”
“Is it that desperate? Can we verify the number of regular troops that managed to evacuate underground?”
“We’re currently verifying. I think there are roughly 350 of them.”
“Wha-!!! We’ve lost so much… What exits remain unfazed?”
“We’re still verifying, but Sectors 12, 18, and 24 all have working exits. Also, we haven’t been able to ascertain any damages to the tunnels leading outside the base, but all of them are still up.”
“We’re still expecting more attacks. Get the best among the regulars and form a unit of 30 to escort His Highness out of the base through the emergency tunnels!”
“Yes, sir!”
Orders were transmitted to the letter and the selection for the escort unit has begun.
Gaoggel turns to Gra Cabal.
“Your Highness, I am truly sorry for showing you such a disgraceful appearance. However, allow us to place utmost priority on your life and protect you. We have started to form an escort unit to help you evacuate out of the base using the emergency tunnels. Will that be alright?”
Prioritizing the Crown Prince’s life, Gaoggel tells Gra Cabal with a little directness.
“Y-yes… Thank you. The formation of the unit will take time, yes? Before it’s done, I want to see the current state of the base with my own eyes. I will head up top for a bit.”
Gaoggel froze at the completely unexpected reply.
“Please wait! The Army currently doesn’t have air superiority! We are in a state wherein we cannot deal with sudden attacks from the sky! We cannot let something unexpected happen to Your Highness! Your evacuation is our priority!”
“I’m sorry, but I… As the Crown Prince, I have an obligation to verify with my own eyes the raw battlefield and the way of life of those that fight and give their lives for the sake of the empire’s citizens. Even if my life is in danger, I have a duty to see the defenders that desperately tried to fight for the citizens!”
“Your Highness, please reconsider!!!”
“Thank you, but I will return with haste.”
It is not only your life at stake! The heads of all the military officials are at stake as well!!!
Gaoggel swallowed the words that were just about to come out
“Well then, I will go as well.”
The Crown Prince, Gaoggel, and the other base officers emerged from the underground command room to take a look at the nearly destroyed base.
・・・
The dirty door of the entrance that was slightly protruding from the ground opened and some men slowly emerged from the entrance. After some of them had gone out and verified that it was safe, the Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas Empire, Gra Cabal, ascended from the entrance.
“Wha-!!! Is this… war…?”
Clusters of what were once buildings lay burning and demolished, with some of what had remained being littered with holes. The runway was completely destroyed, with the Imperial fighters that had once boasted powerful strength now burning on top of it. The bigger buildings have more or less crumbled under the bombing. Cabal felt the heat from the thick hot air that arose from all the fire on his cheeks.
Looking around, what may have once been people lie scattered here and there. Those that were reduced to ashes and those that no longer looked human truly described the scene as hellish.
There weren’t any other responding people in sight. Valkyries, having suffered casualties to the point of annihilation, ceased to function as a base, with some ruins scattered here and there.
Roaaar!!!
They heard a sudden, frightening roar. Within the following moment, lines of fire erupted towards the sky, followed by light sounds of gunfire.
“Survivors?!”
They looked towards the ends of the lines of fire that emanated from the building.
“Wha-!!!”
The tracer rounds fired from rifles were flying towards something that looked like a dragon. Using magic isolated from humans, the dragon unleashed a magical flame bullet. Several flame bullets landed directly on where the sounds of the gunfire came from, enveloping the place in flames.
“What the hell…”
There were dragons flying all across the sky. There weren’t just one or two, but more than 100 dragons were circling the skies above the base. It was a terrifyingly shocking sight.
“Commander!!! Your Highness!!! Please get back underground!!!”
The dragons that were flying in the sky didn’t seem to have noticed them yet. However, it was still an extremely dangerous place. A soldier looking out from the opposite side of the building catches the Crown Prince’s attention.
“5 aircraft approaching from the west!!!”
Gaoggel immediately moves to a place from where he can see them.
“W-what are those?!”
With Gaoggel in shock, Gra Cabal joins him to take a look.
“A-are those…?!”
The aircraft had small but wide airframes and they made an unfamiliar high-pitched sound. Their size betrayed their expectations and they moved at a terribly fast speed. The aircraft didn’t have any propellers.
“I-it’s so big and fast!!! Whose planes are those?!”
Gra Cabal, which had completely stood up in the open, was approached by soldiers.
“Hurry!!! Please evacuate now!!!”
“We have confirmed red circles on the wings and body of the aircraft!!! It’s a Japanese aircraft!!!”
“Please evacuate!!!”
Planes and dragons all flew in the sky. The soldiers irritatedly urged the officers and the Crown Prince to evacuate.
At speeds that betrayed their common sense, the aircraft reached the skies above the base and suddenly dropped in speed.
“They might start bombing!!! Hurry!!!”
By the time that Gaoggel and Gra Cabal started to run for the entrance, several white flowers bloomed across the sky. As the aircraft circled, flowers successively opened up in the sky. A marvelous and eye-catching sight.
“T-they’re people!!! Paratroopers?! They’re sending ground troops now?!”
The 1st Airborne Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force conducted a parachute drop around the vicinity of the base. Their numbers slowly increased.
They promptly ran back down to the underground command room.
The Gra Valkas Empire was also in possession of paratrooper units in its Army. However, parachuting from the sky was dangerous and required lots of practice while those that can conduct parachute drops were not much experienced in ground warfare.
They must also not have a lot of experience…
“No! I must get rid of these naive thoughts!!! They’re Japan, for crying out loud! They’re an enemy that betrays common sense!”
Gaoggel thought that if they shut themselves underground, they’d be safe. As they were not expecting the deployment of ground troops, Gaoggel’s already sweaty face became even more sweaty.
