The East PacificBoard

A letter arrive at Yukobasa Naval base, on the island of Kokura, which lies 150 miles off the coast of Kian khe. It is marked with the red lily of the Charitian imperial war office, and it contains one simple instruction. To carry out the operation Scarlet Silk to the best possible conclusion. As the commander of the base reads through it, he lets out a tired sigh. He puts down the letter, and pulls out his phone. "Hello, I'd like to contact the admiral of the first combined fleet... Yes it's urgent."

Days later, soldiers in Yokubasa stare with unease at the endless grey sides of cargo vessels, which line the bay completely. Coating the horizon can be seen the pale forms of warships, each one moving in unceasing patrol around the islands like a swarm of sharks. Dark grey cruise missiles are stacked endlessly along the fortress, or being shipped out to locations along the islands. Every other hour, a white plume of smoke rockets into the air, as Kianese satellites are systematically downed along the entire Charitian border.

"What's this? Silk already? The crazy b*tch in charge must be joking." huffs Grand general Nakajima Sokawa, from his post in Kurakona. He discards a plain manila envelope casually, continuing. "This is nowhere near the threat necessary to pull that crazy ass plan." He rubs his forehead tiredly, then states to the dispatcher, who remains politely bowed before him. "Fine, tell her Kurakona garrison is ready for warfare."

In the grand airfields of Kaishujo, south Charitia, the newest generation stealth fighter rip through the air at supersonic speeds. Whole squadrons leave the endless airfield and roar off into the skies simultaneously, as hangars are emptied. Several contingents of aircraft head north to annihilate the Kianese aircraft, however, most head further into Charitia, to less conspicuous airfields. They fly over batteries of mobile artillery, above the blunt noses of missiles aimed into the sky. Finally, they descend in airfields deep within the Chairitian mountain ranges, far behind the capabilities of a pre-emptive strike.

The Shouko armored division roars south, passing through the idyllic countryside of Charitia. Tank commanders peer from the hatches of their vehicles, at the rice fields and grand temples that fill the ancient fields of Fukami. The old shattered fortresses of the unification war still peer through the grass, and rusted steel and twisted wrecks of tanks litter rice paddies.

Across Charitia, a red envelope appears in the houses of aristocratic families and corporate giants. The infamous production mandates had arrived. The empire industrializes shifting into gear for the coming war, and mobilization mandates head to across the empire's countless subordinates. If the Kianese people so desperately want war, the Empire shall pay them in full.

Lady Ishtar sips her tea slowly as she watches the Premier of Kian Khe rant into the screen before her. She sighs, and turns off the television, as one of her military aides enters the room. He's a tall man, with short black hair and piercing eyes. His suit appears freshly pressed, and he bows crisply to the Empress. Ishtar watches the man, then asks the heavy question; "Did they launch a pre-emptive?"

"Yes madam, several squadrons of aircraft. The Hunter Killers have picked up Sonar transmissions, and your majesty's military bases have been subjected to a light barrage of missiles. All of our information capabilities were left intact, and our generals see no AA/AD strategies employed yet." He chuckles to himself. "It seems your majesty's intuition was correct, it was merely a ruse for war."

Ishtar smiles at that, sipping her tea while her hand catches an errant strand of her dark gray hair. "Inform Lady Lala of this most interesting mistake by our enemy, and continue Scarlet Silk, modified for interference. I am sure that The sanada clan has an excess of crosses already prepared for these errant people." She lets out a small laugh and dismisses the minister with a wave of her hand.

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The Charitian first grand fleet is a colossal organization of ships, logistics resources, and men. Currently stationed around the grand naval bases that reside on the Charitian isles, they are adeptly prepared to deal with threats. Part of their defenses is a large flotilla of hunter-killer submarines, which lurk far from the main fleet, silent, to kill their prey. They sit at the very bottom of the abyss, blind without their sonars running, but always listening. They have equipped type 36 torpedoes, utterly silent, and until essentially right on top of the enemy, invisible to SONAR systems.

One pack of such submarines lie in wait outside the border of Kian Khe and Charitia, assisted by a squadron of ASW aircraft that probe the depths with listening devices. Their commander, Yukaro Habakaze, sits at his chair, watching the reports. Triangulation by passive sonar in use by helicopters had located large fleets of incoming submarines, at least thirty. Now he was coordinating with the grand admiral, preparing his comeback. There were five submarines in his pack, hidden in the depths. They were close enough now that his own group could detect their sonars, and now it was just a matter of time.

Finally, he leans back, and states. "Well Grand Admiral, I suppose its just few submarines, although I can't imagine the Kianese having more then fourty or so. We'll launch a spread of twenty or so of our long ranged torps, and force them off. You'll get the rest I suppose."

The face on the screen responds, his voice static filled due to the ocean's interference. "Aye, good luck."

The courses for the torpedoes are plotted using maps of the ocean's seafloor, and the torpedoes are launched. No sound is sent from the firing, due to the water injection method used. The torpedoes move off, a wave of blinking blue arrows plotted on the screens. They are pre-programmed, to home in on the enemy as they get within 2 kilometers of their target using, an active SONAR. As they move in, locking onto the enemy submarines, helicopters, hovering just above the water, drop their charges upon the rest. They are homing depth charges, and race into the depths to annihilate any submarines that get past the wave of torpedoes.

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Camoflaged radomes, equipped with phased array radars, detect a blizzard of enemy aircraft incoming, as well as their missiles. AEW&C detect the incoming cruise missiles far before they hit their targets, and broadcast their warnings back to the Charitian strongholds. The sky fills with the haze of surface to air missiles, each one with extreme range, and lethal accuracy. As the vast waves of surface-to-air missiles launched by the Charitian military bases meet the attackers, so do the air to air missiles of Charitian Combat air patrols.

Several Charitian Military bases erupt into blossoms of fire. Personnel rush to begin damage control operations, as the combat air patrols move to engage the Kianese aircraft. Smoke fills the pristine air of the Chairitan countryside, as the war commences.

Guided by the radars equipped by AEW&C aircraft, Charitian stealth interceptors pump hundreds of Takeshi-75 high mobility air to air missiles into the enemy from dozens of kilometers away. As the skies fill with flak and the plumes of smoke turn the azure field into lacework, the third part of the defensive operations take place.

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A wave of radar guided missiles erupts from military bases across southern Charity. Unlike standard cruise missiles, these hunt down radar nodes and destroy them. One hundred and fifty missiles are launched, each on seeking out the enemy's vision, with the intent of utterly destroying it.

4/6/236 Imperial calendar
The Lady Marianne looks at her phone with distaste edging her face, sitting by the windows of the Maruyo. She wears a sharp black jacket and jeans, and her hair is neatly held in place by a platinum barret. Finally, she looks up and turns to Yuno, who happened to be sitting next to her. Ferocity burns in her eyes and the poor woman looks at her quite helplessly. Finally, Marianne manages; "Well! It looks like Kian decided to play mind games with Ishtar. The one time I'm not in charge, and he wants to play mind games. Ishtar of course, because she's as tame as a cup of water, hasn't even done anything worth noting!"

Yuno raises a hand as if to shield herself from the outraged former empress, and stutters out; "W-well, madam. It's only been a week or so since the whole thing began, and we don't know how far she'll go..."

"No. I want to be amused by this, and Ishtar doesn't have the guts to do anything more than defensive action. Here, I know, I'll send her a call." She pulls out her phone as Yuno frantically tries to dissuade her, and dials Ishtar.

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In the Grand Imperial Palace in Kyoku, Ishtar sits at her desk, her mind mulling over the discussion from earlier. Her generals had rated the situation as favorable, and the first battle had resulted in the devastation of the Kianese underseas fleets. Casualties were lower than expected, and the enemy had withdrawn from Opstan. This would be where peace could be made, after all, things had reached a satisfactory conclusion. Ishtar pulls out a cigarette, lighting it with a flick of a stainless steel lighter, and takes a long drag. As she exhales the wispy smoke, her phone buzzes.

She pulls it out and looks at the number displayed on the glowing screen. Ishtar's face curls with frustration as she sees Marianne's number displayed. With a violent tap, she accepts the call, lifting the phone to her ear. Ishtar grits her teeth, as the soothing voice of Marianne, ever so tinged with insanity, comes out. "Hello Ishtar dear, I'm so glad you took my call."

"You've made a fine mess of things. What do you want?" Ishtar's voice is sharp, biting with frustration at the former empress, who now seemed devoted to making her life difficult.

"Oh, nothing dear... Well except one thing. I want you to ensure that the empire is never touched again. You're not tough enough Ishtar, you're soft. I'd imagine you want to stop here, to simply make peace with your enemies and move on." Marianne pauses, awaiting a response, yet Ishtar has none to offer, simply clenching her fists with frustration. Marianne's high, psychotic laugh fills the air, and she continues. "I guess I'm right. Ishtar, your enemies gather around you like dogs, baying for your blood. There is only one option left for you, and that is to crush them into bloody ruin and laugh at their pain. Never stop until they no longer have the spirit to oppose you. I have prepared a plan for you, one of my servants shall be delivering it shortly..." there is a brief pause, then Marianne continues; "Oh, and Ishtar, I do hope you pay attention. I hold the government of Charitia in my hands, it would be terrible if there was a coup, wouldn't it be?"

There is a click, and Marianne is gone, leaving Ishtar holding the phone with shock playing upon her face. The door clicks and a secretary drops a folder on her desk. Ishtar eyes him, as the man walks out, and then her eyes drift down to the document. It reads in bold, huge letters;

OPERATION TERROR

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Kaishu Sajuka grips the throttle of his aircraft, veering hard to avoid the flak burst of another Kianese missile. The enemy was putting up a heavy fight, but they had little chance. His aircraft now outnumbered them, and with guidance from weapons on the ground, were picking the enemy aircraft off one by one. His aircraft rips through the azure sky with ease, followed by the rest of the forty first aerodrome's combat escort squadron.

Their current target was a broken-off wing of the Kianese airforce, which was making their way towards the fortress of Aikuba. They register on his HUD as a large echelon of red arrows, beset by blinking green missiles. Since they flew over Charitian territory, without any sort of command and control aircraft or satellite direction, they were on all sides barraged by concealed missile trucks. Anti-aircraft artillery was filling the skies with flak bursts, and now his combat group was about to descend upon them.

"Launch!" he states, as he presses release. There is a clunk, and his missiles rocket out in a swarm towards the enemy. The rest of his squadron follows suit, and their missile swarm blankets the sky in grey lacework. He grins like a wolf spotting a sick lamb, as he, and his squadron, beset the stricken air wings.

Further off, Charitian bombing raids have begun. The heavy bombardment has hit the Kianese radar capabilities hard, and now, the charitian air force descends on the blinded foe. Most attacks are comprised of AEW&C guided precision missile strikes against the Kianese defenses from over 30 miles away. More numerous aircraft guided strikes using vision denial, anti-radar weapons begin. Missile strikes against Kianese infrastructure have begun, along with light artillery guided by sattelite recon.

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In the heartlands of Fukami, Kobashi Izuka is playing with a wooden doll in a store. Her mother stands beside her, absentmindedly chatting with the storekeeper. A flash catchers Kobashi's eye, and she looks up, letting out a small gasp of surprise. She shoots up her hand, pointing. "'kaa-san! A shooting star!"

Her mother turns her head and watches as ten or so objects glimmer in the light. Long trails of smoke follow them, as they plummet slowly to the earth. Silently they land, and a nearby ridge disappears, the long terraces of the rice farms turning into a wall of debris. The pair stand still, as they watch the debris shoot into the air, seeming to touch the sky. The shopkeeper moves to duck, diving behind the counter.

WHUMP

The storefront explodes into shrapnel, the windows simply disintegrating into glass splinters. The two scream, as the lethal splinters rip apart onlookers. Boom after boom resounds through the serene countryside of Fukami, each one heavy with the implications of death and carnage.

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4/15/236 Imperial calendar

On Yukobasa naval base, alarms blare as streams of missiles streak from the warships outside the base, and another missile is downed. The enemy is shooting over the navy, making their missiles easy prey for the first grand fleet, which acts as an impenetrable shield for the base. Commanders are gathered outside the base, awaiting instruction. the time was now, for the first real strike against the Kianese. Already the enemy was on a bad footing, and now was the time to take advantage of it.

Finally, a man walks out in front of the crowd, his dark trench coat fluttering in the gentle breeze. He turns to face them, adjusting the cap upon his head. Around the man fly the scarlet banners of the Charitian Empire, and the staff of the military base are lined in precise order behind the banners. Taking a microphone, the man begins; "Hello soldiers of the Empire. Today marks the start of our campaign against the filth of Orientalis. Today marks the beginning of the carnage that will not end until the Ayama union has devoured all of our enemies, and all opposition is relentlessly annihilated before us! The enemy lie exposed, their information capabilities annihilated, their undersea capabilities reduced to ruin, and their coasts open to our assault."

"Today we crush the enemy on the oceans, tomorrow we raze their proud cities and crush their fortresses, and after that, victory shall be ours! The fight shall be long, but believe me, the outcome was predetermined. Our lady Ishtar shall fill the oceans with blood, and the sacrifices to our loving gods shall never end! Now, it is time to begin our operation, and let us watch as the enemy melt before us!"

The crowd roars and the snap of a thousand arms saluting in one swift movement rips through the crowd. The blood-red banners snap in the wind, and the faint scent of blood enters the air. The sky seems to vanish, as the grand fleet lets loose their first salvo, and the azure field that spans the heavens is criss-crossed with the wakes of hundreds of cruise missiles. The sky roars, as the dark black silhouettes of aircraft slice through the sky.

The First Grand fleet is composed of three hundred warships and is responsible for the defense of Orientalis. Each ship is lethal and upgraded to the height of military technology. The enemy fleets, radar locations, and fortifications have been carefully mapped by Charitian surveillance satellites, and now that information comes into play. Wave after wave of satellite-guided missiles streak into the Kianese coasts, aimed at the warships, radar equipment, airfields, and anything of value. Hunter-killer submarines creep quietly through the water, guided by underseas mapping projects and their sophisticated sensor suites, rather than their active sonar. Now, the battle was truly starting.

4/16/236 Imperial Calendar
The skies over southern Charitia roar with the sounds of arrival combat, as the Charitian fourty first and fourty second combat groups slam into the enemy squadrons. Lines of tracers erupt from the rotary cannons of the fighter aircraft, and the sky becomes a muddled mess in the dogfight. Charitian reinforcements from aerodromes deep in Charitia pour in, continuing to pressure the haggard Kianese.

As the Kianese try to put up SAM resistance, they are out-spotted by AEW&C aircraft, which carry high power search radar. A relentless rain of long range, highly accurate missiles begins upon Kianese forces trying to resist. Targeting by sattelite feed and relentless radar coverage leads to a lethally accurate fire, from far out of line of site by the Kianese.

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Captain Tachihama stands on bridge, his hands clasped firmly behind him, and his back ramrod straight. The endless blue ocean stretches far before him, marred only by the black clouds of smoke from the Kianese shore. The white streaks of cruise missiles fly high above them like bolts from a furious God, arcing into any Kianese position, or warship, that the satellites high above could see. Dark planes flit through the sky, their radars peering through the smoke and clouds in lieu of the ships below.

His eyes dart to a dark abarration on the water. A hull that was slowly turning over, revealing it's red undersides to the open air. A fishing boat perhaps, or perhaps a frigate doing defense work. Whatever the case, the Charitian fleet took no chances. His crew work silently, a grim seriousness in the air, as the first surface ship in the dagger that was the Charitian grand fleet, they would make the first visual on the enemy.

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"Ara ara." Lady Ishtar looks up from the Kianese message with an eyebrow raised. Her long leather jacket is pulled up tightly around her pale neck, and her piercing red eyes focus intently upon her advisor. he squirms uncomfortably in her dark office, sitting on a rather uncomfortable looking chair. Ishtar taps on the desk a few times, mulling over the news. She puts aside the message, and asks the man simply; "So, the almighty Kianese, who decided to ignore our warnings, and invade us over a peaceable neighbor, crawl to us asking peace? I suppose after you kick a mutt, they have second thoughts."

Her advisor merely shifts, tugging at the collar of his uniform. He appears uncomfortable by his rhetoric and the cloying tang of blood that hangs around Ishtar doesn't help matters. "Well yes... However, I believe it would be best for you to take advantage of this. Our advisors are so puzzled by the Kianese inability to defend their assets that they are wondering if it's a trap of some kind."

Ishtar sighs with frustration, whipping out a cigarette and lighting it casually with a stainless steel lighter. Her face glows with the warm flicker of the lighter, and she closes her eyes contemplatively. She takes a long draw on it, exhaling it slowly as she seems to think on the matter. Finally, she turns to the general, and states; "You know how frustrated I am over this whole affair. I'm inclined to agree with my insane predecessor here, dogs who mess in imperial affairs for fun should be razed." She taps her cigarette ash out into a marble dish, then continues. "however... I think it's worth a chance. Perhaps a new partner in the imperial regime of world domination can be obtained. It would be so dreadfully ironic, wouldn't you think?"

The man doesn't seem to know what to think here, and Ishtar frowns. Finally, he nods slowly, and Ishtar sighs. "Next time you have something to tell me, inform general Iro instead. You're too boring to serve as a useful aide. Nevertheless, inform the Kianese that I shall meet them at Kasoji palace, near the border. Let's hope this is an amusing visit."

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4/18/236 Imperial Calendar

The palace at Kasoji is a terrifying structure, built during a particularly grim time in Charity, and designed by a king with a sour sense of humor. Ishtar loved the place, and had seen to it that every place that could reasonably fit the scarlet banner of Charity, held it. Sitting in the grand hall of the palace, she warmed her feet, held in tight black slippers, by a fire. It wasn't particularly cold outside, but the masonry of the structure ensured it was always somewhat chilly. She holds a crystal wineglass in her right hand, red wine sitting inside.

Her aide stands by the door, waiting for the news of the Kianese arrival. The aide's hair is done up in an elaborate braid, and she wears a tight suit and a short black skirt. Finally, her phone chimes, and the aide announces; "Madam, the Kianese premier has arrived."

"I see. Please direct the man inside. I shall be awaiting him here. See to it that the poor man is treated well, he'll go through enough abuse as it is." Ishtar's gaze does not move from the fire, and as she finishes she takes a long sip of her wineglass. She pauses, and turns to the aide, who has opened the door, and is about to slip out. "Oh, and order some tea as well. It should calm my nerves, heaven knows I'll need it."

The aide smiles, slipping out. "As you wish my lady."

At the intimidating entrance of the palace, two massive mobile suits stand at attention. Demiurgian Zaku IIs, massive armor polished to perfection, and long, rapid fire cannons held like a soldier wields a firearm. Their one, huge glowing eye betrays the fact that they are active war machines, not merely decorations. They flank the black doorways of the palace, which open before the Kianese premier. A single woman stands there, flanked by two soldiers. Her blond hair glimmers in the sunlight, and she bows to the premier gracefully. "Greetings foreign visitor. I am Ki Hodokawa, aide to the Lady Ishtar. Unfortunately, lady Lala, reigning empress of the empire is away, I hope my lady shall suffice instead. Please follow me, and I shall take you to her immediately." She pauses, and mischief plays in her eyes. "If you would prefer to stall, these two machines besides me can put out 120, 100 millimeter, rounds a minute. I'm sure you could play an amusing game trying to dodge them."