Outskirts of Qua Toyne City, Qua Toyian Principality
Temporary PK-KQ Airbase #235
Central Calendar 1637 (2028), April 12th
At the entrance to the temporary airbase, guarded by fences and Vietnamese air force personnel wielding STV-410s, flashed a bright red sign noting the airbase with the words "Sân Bay số 235, Phòng Không-Không Quân (Airbase #235, Air Defense-Air Force)".
It was currently a rough field as cement was not flown in from the mainland presently, due to the need for aircraft to be on the ground first. The sonic booms of a green colored Su-27SK and a Su-30MK2 were heard as they were both descending on parallel runways. They were the 11th Su-27Sk and 10th Su-30MK2, respectively, to be on the airbase. The Vietnamese aircrews helped the pilots to descend their aircraft, then once on the ground, storing them in a formation with other aircraft inside some temporary hangars built up from steel bars and tents. Needless to say, the pilots were a bit irked at their current situation.
"Couldn't we have taken a bit more time to build it up? Right now it's a bit of a mess don't you think?" An Su-27SK pilot in his normal service blues was sitting in a chair looking at the distance.
"Well, something about Qua Toyne needing our help before the Lourian invasion prompted us to come here sooner, but...they're not attacking." Another pilot sat in another chair beside the first one.
The first one sighed. "The reason is that they're prepping more forces on the border between Qua Toyne and Louria. Heard it's gonna take them till January."
"Wyverns?"
"Probably. Highly doubt it'll do much against a late 20th century fighter jet. But as high command said, best be on our guard."
"Yeah...this world really is something of its own."
The two pilots took out water bottles to drink. After all, it had been a long 20 hours after all the planning before taking off on a 10 minute long flight to the Qua Toyian capital.
As per orders, the Vietnamese pilots were to train the Qua Toyians on how to operate the modern Aero L-39 jet trainer. It took some persuading to get the Qua Toyian Wyvern captain some of his younger men out as they were used to the wyverns they had trained for many years, spanning from childhood to adulthood. The time difference between a Vietnamese trainee and a Qua Toyian wyvern rider would be a big gap, as one had the modern mindset on how a fighter jet would work, as well as understanding the math and science involved in piloting the Sukhois, coupled with reading the Czech letters inside the aircraft.
This would be more of a challenge to the wyvern rider, as they would have to grasp everything mentioned with the Vietnamese trainee, in addition to being able to control a modern fighter jet to not crash it to the ground. It would take time to get them started, as Vietnamese Air Force command estimated it would take at least 3 to 4 years of training before they would become barely qualified enough to fly the steel machine. For now however, it was basic training as the wyvern riders were introduced to the machine they would be flying eventually.
Needless to say, the younger wyvern riders felt a wave of emotions run through them. Some were shocked, some were surprised, while one other looked in excitement.
"Will this be enough to fend off against invaders?" One of the wyvern riders asked in a bit of concern.
"Well to be brutally honest, yes. The technology used in this aircraft far surpasses those used by Louria and your Qua Toyne. Unlike riding a wyvern, this has an assortment of weapons that can be used from afar instead of up close with a fireball. Here, take a look."
The Vietnamese pilot who showed the riders around were greeted by sets of what looked to them huge spears of light.
"Are these the spears of light that we have been getting rumors of?" Another one of the riders asked the pilot.
"Yes. These are R-77 missiles, comparable to the American AIM-120 AMRAAM. We modified them to have better radar than the stock export, as our adversaries used the same R-77 missiles as well."
Moving along the pilot went to the Su-30.
"This is the Su-30, more specifically the Su-30MK2, a two seat version of the Su-30. What's different in this compared to the Su-27SK is the avionics. It is more modern by a slight bit because this was produced after the Su-27 as part of the Su-30 line of fighter jets. The modernizations from the Su-30MK2 were able to be carried to the Su-27SK, as you can see, the R-77 missiles that are armed on the fighters were not an option on the original Su-27."
Continuing to be amazed at the fighters and even touching the metal on the steel, pilotless "wyvern".
"How, how is this all possible? Even in the most advanced nations like Mu, they haven't reached...all of this. They use those flapping things that spin on the nose of the steel wyvern." The rider asked the pilot.
"Propellers I would assume. Well those are relics of the past, now most aircraft use engines. There are some exceptions of course, but I'll talk about that another day. Now here we have the Aero L-39, or the jet trainer you be trained on-"
The Vietnamese pilot continued on as wyvern riders nodded as he gave to give a basic tour of the three types of aircraft. Some distance away, a three starred, two striped Lieutenant Colonel and a one starred, two striped Major were chatting.
"So, where are we going from here?" The Major asked.
"Well, other than training the Qua Toyian riders on future jets, nothing much else. For now we're pretty much stuck here doing nothing but reports and exercises." The Lieutenant Colonel replied.
"Just as usual, huh? Guess command doesn't want us 'accidentally' starting wars. More like the itchy Lourians are on the verge of invasion."
"They won't be coming for the next 9 months. Until then, we have time to prepare once we get the go ahead. However, this is Qua Toyne's fight for now. We are just here for advising and that's it."
Both men looked at the purple sunset in the distance, reminiscing of how Earth was like.
"At least our cell phones work," The Major said.
"Yeah, we got that coming. Though we did have to suffer for two days before the cell signals went back up. Glad those satellites up in space came with us." Looking, the Lieutenant Colonel looked as if he was thinking something.
"I wonder how we're gonna be able to fix it though if they do run into an issue. Maybe the VNSC (Trung tâm Vũ Trụ Việt Nam/Vietnam National Space Agency) and VSC (Ủy Ban Vũ Trụ Việt Nam/Vietnam Space Committee) will think of something. We won't be like this forever."
The Lieutenant Colonel looked back at his subordinate and nodded.
"Now. Time to get to work."
--------
Near the Qua Toyian-Lourian border
Central Calendar 1637 (2028), April 14th
"What do you think those Lourians are doing with those wyverns?" A First Lieutenant pilot in an Su-30MK2 in the front seat, asked.
"Well...they are sure to be bankrupting the Parpaldians and themselves with the amount of breeding wyverns at this amount of speed." The Captain, who sat in the rear seat controlling the aircraft, chuckled.
"So I guess we just survey what's going on and then fly back?"
"Yep. We're too high up for the Lourian wyverns to catch us so let this be an opportunity to survive their force. Those are gonna juicy targets to hit once we get the green light."
"Question is: why did they send only us to recon the area? Shouldn't we have gotten at least two or more aircraft?"
"Probably has something to do with the technology gap. Considering Louria compared to us, we hold the superiority as it's basically comparing a 11th century siege weapon to a 21st century jet fighter. It's too much of a gap to really fight back, so one of us should be enough."
"Still, we should be on our guard. Doesn't matter we can hold off like we did the PLA, we should treat our enemies like they're on the same level with us."
"You're not wrong. However again, there is a technology gap. I don't expect them to have SAM systems anytime soon."
"Rõ."
As the aircraft neared the Lourian lines, they were expecting some sense of fire from arrows or ballistas. However, none came, mainly because the Lourians on the ground were too shocked to comprehend what they saw.
"What is that?!" One of the Lourian ballista operators asked.
"It looks like some kind of spear of light! Is this the rumored unknown country, or some kind of sorcery?!" Another one yelled out in worry.
"You buffoons, fire at it with the ballistas!" Their captain yelled and pointed at the rapidly approaching Su-30MK2.
Both ballista operators got the giant arrow onto the platform, turned it into the sky, aimed and fired...which promptly missed the aircraft as it dipped down black down to Earth, hitting a tree instead.
"That...power! What are we dealing with?!"
"It looks like some kind of god-like power from the heavens! We can't fire at it!"
"Dammit!" The captain gritted as he was helpless.
Just in coincidence, their camp commander happened to past by.
"Commander! A perfect time! When do we start our invasion of the dreaded Qua Toyne Principality? These nuisances in the sky have been bugging us since they first started, and we have no way of being able to shoot them down!"
The commander shook his head side to side in disagreement.
"Patience, captain. Just because these objects can surpass us does not mean they are from the rumored country. It could be just a Muian jet lent to the Qua Toyians. However, do not fret, we still need time to prepare our forces for the invasion."
He pointed to the wyverns being flown in each day.
"You see? With this massive force on hand, we will be able to crush anything in our way. We can overtake those flying objects with the number of wyverns. It will not matter if they can take down a single one, as more will show up. I assure you, captain, that everything is going to plan."
"Everything is going to plan? But we should've taken down that flying object! It could've done surveillance on our positions or worse, it could've used weapons to destroy our carefully planned invasion in a few minutes! Sir, with all due respect, I believe we should be more careful with how we are conducting our invasion plans! We need absolute secrecy in order for the invasion to succeed in the first place!"
"Now, now, calm down, and don't worry. In nine months when this invasion begins, we will show them the full might of the Kingdom of Louria."
Back in the air, the Su-30MK2 was taking pictures of the invasion force at hand.
"That's a big formation of wyverns. I think they are planning on some sort of air campaign before they do the ground assault," The front seat Lieutenant said.
"It'll take them nine months before their invasion starts. Still, we can't be sure of what could happen next," The rear seat Captain said.
"I feel like it's not just the air force that's getting a bunch of new stuff, but the ground force seems to be equipped with more rifles. Those rifles could be matchlocks as well."
"Highly doubt it'll penetrate through our body armor, but yeah, it is concerning. With those guns they would be able to do more tactics other than charging with spears. Probably a square formation to maximize the ability to use rifles. Anyhow, let's return to base, we got reporting to do after all, and with the new information we got, this can be an advantage to what we could be facing in this new world."
"Rõ."
They returned to base as fast as they took off from the airfield.
--------
Airbase #235
Central Calendar 1637 (2028), April 29th
It was the day marking the anniversary of the Liberation of Sài Gòn, and the airbase was relatively quiet as the airmen were relaxing, with not much action being done on base for the three day weekend. However, two high ranking officers, the same Lieutenant Colonel and Major, were discussing several incidents of provocations between Lourian wyverns and Vietnamese pilots, with the Lourians being the aggressors.
"I wonder why they're coming into Qua Toyian airspace? It's not like we had done anything to them. The provocations are starting to get out of hand." The Major asked in curiosity.
"Beats me, I'm starting to wonder if they're starting their invasion sooner than expected with the amount of wyverns almost hitting low flying Su-27s. Either way, I got a feeling it's not good where this is going." The Lieutenant Colonel could only wonder.
"So what do we do? We're the closest unit to the potential frontline. Shouldn't we be able to do something? Anything at all?"
"Well, you're not wrong. The best solution, though, is for us to wait and observe what the Lourians are up to. We already deduced from numerous surveillance photos that they are going to start massing on the borders. They are going to prepare more forces than the ones we saw throughout the month. I'm going to report this to high command and see what we can do, but for now, there's little we can do but wait for the impending storm to come."
The Major sighed in acceptance.
"I understand that, but now that we've gotten rid of our old policy, shouldn't we be able to strike first? If it's not longer an obstacle, we could bomb the oblivion out of the Lourians and ward off pressure from Qua Toyne so that we can go home."
"Yes, we got rid of our old policy, however, just because it's gone doesn't mean we can start going gung ho. The casus belli needs to be there in order to wage such an operation. Let the Lourians come first, or declare war. Once we get confirmation, they won't be able to get far."
"I guess. Plus, rumors are spreading around about them being a medieval level of technology. I don't know if this is true or not-"
"Yes, it is quite true. Command did confirm it a few days ago."
"So we were right before we came here."
"Precisely."
The two were both left wondering over a map and videos on their phones of the incidents they were informed about.
"Guess we should go. It is a break day after all." The Major began to sit up, intending to go back to his barracks for a rest.
"Yeah, you can go first. I'll be staying here to finish the rest of the...stuff here."
"Alright good luck."
As the Major walked out of the dark room, the Lieutenant Colonel went back to examining the documents at hand.
"Well, let's see if they can handle 21st century warfare."
--------
Hà Nội, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
308th Headquarters, Ba Đình District
Central Calendar 1638 (2028), May 3rd
"So, it seems like the war faction of your country is trying to get more aggressive. Wonder how that turned out?" Colonel Cường asked the Parpaldian Imperial Princess.
Since Remille was the head of the audit office of the Parpaldian Foreign Affairs Ministry, she was involved back and forth between Parpaldia and the "unknown country", Vietnam, a case she personally took up.
"Yes, they have gotten more aggressive in the political realm, and no, it's so far not materializing other than empty threats to your country and the Qua Toyian Principality."
The Vietnamese Colonel then looked at the news from his phone he got in the morning.
"Apparently, there's been several incidents of provocation between Lourian wyverns and Vietnamese-training Qua Toyian Su-27 pilots. And we believe that the Lourians are getting more and more of their supplies from, and I'm going to be very blunt here, your Parpaldian Empire."
Remille could only sigh.
"Yes, it's true that my country is supplying, formally, aid in the form of weapons and material, to the Lourians for their 'liberation' of the continent of Rodenius."
"And I assume the war faction pushed for this."
"Correct. They hold the majority in the Estates-General. They are using this as an opportunity to strengthen relations, publicly. However, their true intentions, after some digging, is to eventually conquer even the Lourians. Then again, it does not sound surprising."
"Yeah, you're right about that."
Remille looked at the photos of the Su-27s, showing the Vietnamese fighters dodging the wyverns of the Lourians.
"Incidents have been happening these past few weeks. I guess it could be because of the Lourians being agitated to start their invasion," Remille said.
"Your guess is as good as mine. Even with Vietnamese pilots, they're already looking to start a war with us. It's almost as if they're trying to prove that they're superior to us."
"In my humble opinion, as your country would say it: the writing has already been written on the wall. Your military is far superior than the Lourian Kingdom's. Their 'spears of light', or in other words, firearms, is nowhere near the range of your country's, most notably the rifled boring compared to the smoothbore in their, well, matchlocks."
"Well they still have guns."
"Do not be so pessimistic. Just because they have guns does not mean they can do much damage. Again, your country is centuries ahead of them. Those big steel machines with cannons on top? No such country has a cannon that large on those machines."
"You mean tanks, Remille."
"Yes, I meant tanks. Specifically your T-90A. That 125mm cannon can positively destroy the tanks of the Holy Millishal Empire and the Muian Kingdom with ease. The armor on it is impressive. Composite armor...a term never heard of in this world."
"And the protection system."
"Mhm, the Shtora-5. It makes the tank look like it has red eyes."
Remille giggled at her statement, earning a chuckle from the Colonel as he looked at the quite beautiful Princess.
"From my assessment, Vietnam would win in a future war against the Lourian Kingdom. It is just that unfair of a fight."
Cường could only chuckle at the amount of points Remille gave over the past few days of the Lourians. She was right on all points. The Lourians, however scary they may seem at first, are in her words "a paper tiger".
"Very well. I guess the command already knows about this, but best to make sure they know about all those points you just mentioned." He got back to writing something on a piece of paper before looking up at Remille, who nodded.
"The war faction will be very displeased when they get the results of the upcoming war," Remille said.
"Yes, yes they will."
A/N: And that is Chapter 6. Hope you enjoyed!
Equipment featured in this chapter
-Aero L-39 Jet Trainer
-Su-27SK Multirole Fighter Jet
-Su-30MK2 Multirole Fighter Jet