Rise of The Terran Alliance- Crosspost

Chapter 15- Battle of Tehran

Chapter 15- Battle of Tehran

A series of explosions rock the earth on the outskirts of Tehran, killing a number of Iranian soldiers.

When the Separatist forces coming down towards the Middle East had been detected by the US, the Americans assumed Saudi Arabia would be the likely place for them to try and land. Instead, 250,000 battle droids and about 2,500 heavy droid units landed in Iran, just 60 miles east of Tehran.

The Battle of Tehran has now been raging for almost 32 hours. The Iranians, despite their declared neutrality in the wider conflict, had immediately counterattacked, fighting back against the invasion with all they had.

However, the Iranians had been taking fierce losses. Almost 40 aircraft of the Iranian Air Force had been destroyed, and the Iranian Army had taken almost 50,000 casualties. In return, they had only destroyed about 40,000 battle droids and 500 heavy droid units.

Now, 32 hours into the Battle of Tehran, droid units were moving into the outer edges of eastern Tehran. Attacks from Hyena bombers had caused heavy damage to the Iranian capitol, and destroyed a large number of Iranian tanks in the city, weakening the Iranians' heavy firepower. The fact that Iran had also not been armed with blasters by the Republic made things far more difficult.

Iran's neighbors had so far remained quiet regarding the invasion. Given Iran had made it abundantly clear in the months leading up to the invasion that it would not send aid to other countries in the event of invasion, and would only fight if they themselves were invaded, made their neighbors reluctant to send aid. The Saudis, who had taken up occupation of Iraq in the aftermath of Operation Thunderstrike, had massed soldiers along the Iran-Iraq border, but those soldiers were still holding their positions inside Iraq.

As the droid army pushes further into Tehran, a formation of 33 Iranian T-72 tanks makes a sudden push against the droids' northern flank, firing their 125 mm guns into the oncoming droids. Several AATs return fire, and successfully destroy 5 T-72s before the Iranian tanks destroy them.

B2 battle droids fire at the T-72s as they approach. However, their blaster bolts have little effect on the armored tanks. Soon, the tanks are directly on the leading droid ranks and just keep moving, literally running over droids as they continue to fire.

More AATs come into view and open fire, destroying 5 more T-72s. Then, several Hyenas dive down and drop proton bombs on their positions, destroying all but two of the T-72s. The surviving tanks turn and retreat to regroup.

As the tanks pull back, from the south, a large Iranian airstrike approaches, comprised of 12 Su-24 attack jets, 16 F-4 Phantoms armed for ground attack, and 6 Su-25 attack jets, with 14 F-14 Tomcats providing escort.

Thirty Vulture droids turn to engage the incoming Iranian aircraft. The F-14s fire a volley of AIM-54 Phoenixes, bringing down 13 of them before they come within visual range.

The F-14s engage the Vulture droids in a furious dogfight, allowing the Su-24s, Su-25s, and F-4s to slip past them and continue on their path to attack. The Tomcats destroy the remaining Vultures while losing 4 Tomcats.

However, these Vultures had just been intended to keep the Tomcats busy. As the Iranian strike force nears its targets, more Vulture droids dive down from the sky, having just come down from orbit. Laser fire down three Su-24s and two F-4s before the Iranian pilots even realize what's happening.

The Iranian F-4s, which are each carrying some air to air missiles for self defense, jettison their weapons as soon as they're within range of the droids on the ground, then pull up to engage the Vultures. Unfortunately, the Vulture droids heavily outnumber the Phantoms, and some continue to chase the Su-24s and Su-25s while the rest engage the Phantoms.