Half an hour before the battle between the 0th Magic Fleet and the Judgement Fleet.
Mu Empire Battleship 'The North Star'
The ship's bridge.
Battleship 'La North Star' is again moving towards the ocean after joining two Victory-class destroyers heading towards the western islands at full speed. They were trying to assist HME's 0th Magic Fleet.
North Star Class Battleship
Dimensions: Length 218 m, width 31 m
Displacement : 38.000 ton full load
Propulsion : Hybrid CODAG-Electric : 6 x 8 MW Turbo Diesel, 5 x 20MW Gas Turbine. 4 x 40,000SHP Electric Motor Driving 4 shaft
Speed : Maximum 32 knots
Range : 18.000 NM @ 15 knots
Weapon 3 x 3 410mm Gun, 10 x 2 130mm DP Gun, 26 x 2 40mm cannon 24 x 4 20mm cannon, 2 x SA-1 Rapier (40 missiles per launcher), 2 x 7 SS-1 Comet (3x1 over 4x1 per group), 10 x 100kg depth charge, 2 throwers
Aircraft : 3 helicopters
Sensors: Radar, sonar
Magic shield : equipped
Crew: 1,600
Victory Class Destroyer
120m long, 12m wide, displacement of 3,200 tons at full load. Diesel-Electric Propulsion, 6x turbo diesel generator 51,000HP/33MW, 3 39,000HP electric motors driving 3 shafts. Speed 34 knots. Range: 5,000 NM at 20 knots.
Weapons: 3 x 2 130mm DP gun. 4 SS-1 Comet Missiles. 4 x 1 550mm torpedoes. 6 x 2 40mm AA guns. 1 x Rapier AA Missile system, 40 missiles. 20 100kg depth charge + 2 depth charge throwers.
"Admiral, we got satellite info from 'Uscru' that there are 2 groups of ships from Gra Valkas that are north of the western island. One group of 12 ships is rapidly approaching HME's 0th Magic Fleet, and the other remains in the north. It seems that the fleet that remains in the north includes aircraft carriers." Said the captain of 'La North Star', Arkaile, while handing over satellite photos from 'Uscru'.
"Hmm, there is a possibility that they fought and then attacked with fighters. Ask our carrier to launch its fighters to assist the fighters possessed by the HME." Said Admiral Antroide, the leader of the Mu Empire's small fleet, at the 11-country conference.
"Yes, admiral." Said Arkaile, who ordered the communication to relay that order.
"What is the distance between Gra Valkas's fleet attacking the 0th magic fleet and the 0th magic fleet?" asked Antroide.
"About 45 minutes," Arkaile said.
"There's no way we can help them, the navigator plotted a course for the fleet to the north." Antroide said.
"Yes, sir," the navigator said.
"Hmm, change the order. Order the bombers from our carriers to attack the Gra Valkas ships attacking HME's 0th Magic Fleet." Antroide said.
"Yes sir." The communications officer said.
---oOo---
Holy Mirishial Empire, 0th Magic Fleet
Upon hearing the lookout's report, Fleet Commander Ultema looked up. It was a pleasant, clear sky; it'd be ideal if it weren't for the tiny speckles invading the picture, like a beautiful painting with flecks of black ink dropped onto it. Those flecks gradually grew, both in number and in size.
"There sure are a lot of 'em... what do we have for air cover?" asked Ultema.
"48 Alpha-3, 12 Alpha-3A, and 20 Beta-2. That's left over from the attack on the enemy fleet earlier." Captain Infere said.
Going up against so many enemy aircraft, he couldn't help worrying over how few friendly aircraft they had.
"Commander, we still have 14 ships capable of fighting." Captain Infere said.
"But there are two that are heavily damaged. Order them to be in our midst to be able to protect them." Ultema said.
"Commander, signal from manacomm, aircraft from the Mu Empire are on their way to help us!" said the communications officer.
"Very good. That is very good news. ETA?" asked Ultema.
"First wave ETA 15 minutes," said the communications officer.
"Estimated enemy attack?" asked Ultema.
"10 minutes," said the communications officer.
"Signal air cover, they must intercept the enemy at a distance of 10 km from the fleet. Best possible speed away from the enemy!" ordered Ultema.
Fleet Commander Ultema pushed away his anxiety and continued watching the sky.
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Holy Mirishial Empire, airspace 10 km above the 0th Magic Fleet
The high-pitched trill of the magical light discharge-type compressed air engine reverberated inside the aircraft. His breathing was raspy, a reminder that he was nervous.
In the naval skirmish earlier, unbelievably, the empire's ships had taken damage. In recent years, no country had been able to even set foot on the empire's soil, and the world's number two, their ally Mu, would never betray them.
Squad Captain Omega, a Beta-2 pilot, found sweat dripping down his face when he imagined facing a powerful enemy the likes of which they had never seen. His heart was beating like a drum.
They had no idea what strategy this enemy would employ. Hypothetically, if they were facing Mu, military leadership would have determined that the best course of action would be to leverage their superior speed and adopt guerrilla hit-and-run tactics; Omega himself agreed with this assessment. Considering it again, regardless of how powerful their enemy was, the hit-and-run maneuvers they'd practiced countless times would be the best choice here.
Squad Captain Omega began to lead the 20 Beta-2s as they ascent to medium altitude. Far above them in the clouds were 48 Alpha-3s and 12 Alpha-3A air superiority fighters. They were all heading towards the enemy in greater numbers.
Moments later, a number of enemy aircraft rose to the altitude where the Alpha 3s were, and the Alpha-3s and Alpha 3Bs began to dive towards the enemy. The Alpha fighters' high dive speed meant they were not easily targeted by the climbing enemy aircraft, and enemy aircraft speed was decreasing.
The two groups of fighters began firing at each other, but it seemed that in this first exchange, HME's Alpha fighters had the advantage, nearly 20 enemy fighters were seen puffing smoke and descending from high altitude, while 4 HME aircraft also appeared to be hit. HME's aircraft immediately passed through the enemy and faced the main body of the Gra Valkas air fleet from above. As a result, all of the Gra Valkas fighters began to scatter, avoiding the attacks from the HME fighters. Some who were not quick enough to dodge were seen emitting smoke and falling towards the sea.
After that, the two sides locked into a dogfight. The inability of the Alpha-3 fighters to deal with the enemy was evident. One by one, the Alpha-3s began to fall, only taking down a few enemy fighters in exchange. But it was a different story with Alpha-3A, the Gra Valkas fighters had difficulty dealing with the Alpha-3A aircraft, and the Alpha-3A fighters dropped quite a number of enemies before being overwhelmed by enemy fighters and shot down one after another.
Captain Omega's Beta-2 squadron approached a group of enemy aircraft that were still maintaining formation amidst the chaos of the dogfight. It appeared that these were the enemy bombers. Some of the opposing fighters seemed to be trying to get close to Captain Omega's squadron, but the fighters of Alpha Squadron always tried to block them.
In the end, 70 aircraft began to evade simultaneously. Captain Omega's squadron moved to catch up, but when they finally got behind the group of planes, they noticed that the distance between the planes of Captain Omega's squadron had not decreased at all! It appeared that the enemy fighter was completely superior to the Beta-2 fighter. The Beta 2's speed of 410 km/h was no match for Gra Valkas' Sirius-type aircraft.
The enemy aircraft quickly approached the position of the 0th Magic Fleet.
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Holy Mirishial Empire, 0th Magic Fleet, Mithril-class battleship Eckes
"Enemy aircraft are approaching us!" said a lookout.
"Anti-air magic light cannon automatic spellchant complete, fueling at seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred percent, rapid-fire configuration complete! Spell composition is fourteen explosive, sixty-five wind, and twenty-one fire. Anti-air magic light cannon firing preparations are complete!!!"
A number of cylindrical objects were pointing up into the air on the Mithril-class battleship Eckes. Their mouths glowed a faint red from the little spherical grains that were being sucked up into the barrels.
"Commence anti-air attacks!"
"Fire anti-air cannons!"
Every ship in the 0th Magic Fleet began firing small, fast balls of light into the air. A glowing carpet of light rose up to meet the Gra Valkas bombers. But due to their high speed, not many hit their targets. Only three Gra Valkas were shot down by the first AA barrage from all the ships of the 0th Magic Fleet.
Moments later, the Gra Valkas had reached the optimal point for dive bombing. Only seven aircraft fell victim to the AA attacks of the 0th Magic Fleet.
But suddenly a number of lights followed by smoke approached the Gra Valkas planes that were starting to dive towards their targets, the ships of the 0th Magic Fleet. The lights chased the Gra Valkas aircraft even as it maneuvered away. There appeared to be a number of explosions blossoming in the air, each explosion consuming one Gra Valkas dive bomber.
"What's going on?" said Ultema.
"Aircraft from the Mu Empire have arrived. They opened fire!" said the XO.
24 F3 fighters from Mu Empire split into 2 parts: one part chasing the dive bombers from Gra Valkas, and the other one participating in a dogfight against the fighters from Gra Valkas. Each F-3 carried 4 AA missiles similar to the first generation Sidewinder missiles from Earth.
AA Missile AA-1 (AIM-9B Sidewinder Inspiration)
Length 2.9m, weight 90 kg, propulsion: solid rocket, range: 12km, speed: mach 2.5, warhead: 10 kg blast frag, guidance: uncooled IR sensor, electronic: solid state
The 12 F3 fighters chasing the Gra Valkas dive bombers had finished firing all their missiles, causing 34 dive bombers of the Gra Valkas to become casualties. But there were still a number of dive bombers that slipped up to the bomb release point.
"They're bombing us! We're right under them!!!" shouted the XO.
"Hard to starboard!!!" ordered Captain Infere.
The battleship's course slowly changed. It looked like they would avoid a direct hit.
HYUUUuuu......
HYUUUuuu......
HYUUUuuu......
More bombs fell.
"They're still bombing! We can't avoid this one! It's going to hit us!!!" the lookout reported with a shriek.
"All hands, brace for impact!!!" the XO shouted.
There was a blinding flash on top of the Eckes. The bomb unleashed all of its compressed firepower in a violent explosion of searing flames, causing the surrounding sea to shake with sheer force. The large battleship rocked back and forth.
"Damage in the rear! A fire has broken out!!!" said someone on the bridge.
"Put out that fire!!!" ordered the XO.
Eckes's bulky armor on the rear end of the ship caused the 250 kg of Gra Valkan explosive to erupt on contact. The shockwave swept violently across the top of the ship, causing damage to its superstructure.
"The anti-air magic light cannons in the rear have taken heavy damage! The barrels on our secondary armaments are bent, they're unusable!" said an officer on the bridge.
Another bomb that landed in the water nearby exploded, causing an enormous pillar of water to erupt into the air.
A column of flame flared up over the ocean, along with the resounding boom of an explosion. Inside the ship, reports on the fleet's status and damage to their own ships continued pouring in.
"The port-side anti-air cannon has been damaged! The distance measurement device is broken!"
"Battleship Culliver has been hit, a fire has broken out!"
"Light cruiser Silver has been hit, they've been severely damaged!!!" Shouts of reports rang out on the bridge of 'Eckes'
For Fleet Commander Ultema, all the reports pointed to the 0th Magic Fleet's situation worsening minute by minute.
"...This is not good." Ultema thought
Ultema turned to speak to Captain Infere. "Some of our ships have taken too much damage. While none of the battleships have been sunk yet, I cannot say our current situation is promising. What about the status of the air battle?"
"The arrival of Mu Empire's aircraft turned the tide, many enemy aircraft have been shot down and others are fleeing." Reported captain Infere amidst the smoke that began to enter the bridge.
"We only have 42 aircraft left, half of them are Beta-2s that didn't have time to fight." The XO said.
"We still have 24 aircraft from the Mu Empire. They seem to be using jet aircraft. The technology must have been provided by the Myto Empire." said Captain Infere.
Before Commander Ultema could answer, there was a sudden report.
"Sir!!!" A magic detector technician cried out in alarm, interrupting their talk. "Magic power is detected at extremely low altitudes! Port 35 degrees! Fo... Forty-five kilometers out! Eighty-two of them!!!"
"What?! They're already so close!!! All hands, anti-air battle stations!!!" said Ultema. "Order air cover to intercept them!"
Ultema carefully scanned the skies off the port side.
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45 km from the 0th Magic Fleet
The Gra Valkas Empire's Rigel torpedo bombers skimmed a tight 20 meters above sea level at a speed of 370 km/h. The 82 aircraft each carried an 800-kg torpedo. Their mission was to annihilate the fleet extolled as the world's strongest, the Holy Mirishial Empire's 0th Magic Fleet. High up in the sky, the Antares carrier-based fighter planes were locked in a dogfight with Mu Empire and HME aircraft, and the enemy fleet was already smoking from the multiple bombings. While it was possible to drop the torpedoes outside the range of the enemy battleships' anti-air coverage, in order to guarantee they hit, it was necessary to be much closer, so everyone in the wing was quite nervous.
"Thirty seconds until we reach the torpedo drop point!" said the navigator.
The enemy anti-air fire was now going to be aimed at them; they could tell since the ship started to turn. Fear and death were inextricably connected, and Squad Leader Paschim was determined to return alive. Inside the plane, the star-shaped engine roared, making it vibrate so hard that anyone calling it a smooth ride would immediately be called a liar.
Suddenly, a ball of light appeared from above. Squad Leader Parschim looked up and saw a number of fighters heading towards them while spewing fire. Yet another large number of AA projectiles were heading towards them from the direction of the 0th Magic Fleet. Gra Valkas' torpedo bombers were in deadly crossfire.
"Keep on target. Increase speed to maximum!" ordered Squad Leader Parschim.
One after another of the Gra Valkas' torpedo bombers exploded under fire and fell into the sea, but a number of aircraft continued to head towards the torpedo release point, some could not contain their fear and broke the attack, fleeing.
The planes still heading for their targets were constantly being fed instructions via radio.
"...Four, three, two, one, drop!!!"
14 of the Rigel torpedo bombers successfully dropped their payloads. Because the wing was so large, that turned into an amazing number of torpedo trails. Having lost its 800 kg of cargo, the plane suddenly felt a lot lighter. Squad Leader Paschim was able to escape Mirishial's anti-air net and retreat out of their range. Unfortunately, before he got far, an F3 of the Mu Empire approached him, and a barrage of 12.7mm cannons pierced the fuselage of his aircraft. Squad Leader Paschim felt a sharp pain in his chest as a 12.7mm cannon pierced his chest, and his consciousness slowly faded away before his plane crashed into the ocean.
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Holy Mirishial Empire, 0th Magic Fleet, Mithril-class battleship Eckes
"A bunch of things are coming right at us!!! They look just like whatever sank the Variant! Thirty-seven degrees off the left side, two thousand meters away!!!" said a lookout.
They could be seen clearly from the bridge—the lines of bubbles left behind as the torpedoes sped toward the flagship Eckes. There were many of them, and whether they accelerated or decelerated, steered to starboard or to port, some of them would definitely hit.
Eckes's captain, Infere, yelled out urgently, "They're going to hit! Magic response! Reinforce armor!!!"
"Magic circuits to the maximum! Focus all magic power on port!!! Eighteen seconds until reinforcement is complete!!!" said an officer.
"Hard to starbord!! Port engines at flank, starborad angine full reverse." Captain Infere ordered.
Eckes was wrapped in a faint blue light. With all the magic power being poured into the reinforcement, the shield rang like an alloy, becoming as hard as metal. Meanwhile, the 'Eckes' spun quickly in the direction the torpedo came from.
"Armor reinforcement is complete! The enemy's underwater attack will hit in twelve seconds!!!"
Sweat surfaced on Captain Infere's forehead. The Gold-class battleship Variant sank in this underwater attack. Its firepower was immense, dealing far greater damage to a ship's body than their magic cannons could. He wondered how much punishment the armor reinforcement could withstand.
In the ocean, the arrow-like objects surged forward, directly for them.
"All hands, brace for impact!!!" Infere bellowed.
Seconds later, the giant battleship shook, and two columns of water violently blasted into the sky from the port and starboard sides of the ship. Infere's head slammed into a wall, cutting open his forehead, from which blood streamed into his face.
"Gh! Quickly, damage report!!!"
Within the ship, various alarms were now wailing.
"The port side aft has been breached! Starbord front was also breached! We're now taking on water!!!" said the XO, who had held on so as not to be thrown off.
"Reverse all engines, full stop! Don't let us take on water!" ordered Ultema.
The Gold-class battleship 'Eckes' decreased its speed, and its entire body was enveloped in black smoke due to the fire caused by the torpedo explosion.
"Put down the fire!" ordered the XO.
"Many of our firefighting pumps are not operable!" said someone in the background.
"Damage report of our fleet!" ordered Ultema.
"Battleship Culliver is heavily damaged! All of our cruisers are sinking or heavily damaged!" said captain Infere.
The Holy Mirishial Empire's Zeroth Magic Fleet, praised as the strongest force in the world, was nearly destroyed and practically out of commission by the western uncivilized country, the Gra Valkas Empire, but also inflicted so much damage to Gra Valkas.
The second wave of Mu Empire fighters in the form of 48 F1 fighters arrived late to participate in the battle, but they patrolled over the 0th Magic Fleet while F3 returned to the Mu Empire's aircraft carrier.
---oOo---
100 km north of the 0th Magic Fleet.
Gra Valkas Jugdment Fleet.
"Sir, the eastern fleet air attack failed to destroy HME's 0th Magic Fleet. 60% of its aircraft are lost!" said Captain Beegel.
"What! How come?" asked Artemis.
"It seems that Mu Empire's fighters participated in the battle and caused the defeat of our air arm." Captain Beegel replied.
Before Artemis could answer Captain Beegel's words, the XO suddenly shouted, "Sir, the radar has detected 12 objects in the air moving quickly towards us!"
"Whose aircraft is it?" asked Artemis.
"It can't make contact, and its speed exceeds the speed of our aircraft. It appears to be an enemy aircraft!" replied the XO while looking at the radar screen.
"All hands, battle station ready for anti-air battle!!!" shouted Artemis. "Reconfirm whose plane it is! Try contacting them!"
"No response from them!" shouted a communications officer.
"It must be them, the planes of the Mu Empire! Make sure all AA weapons are ready for use." Artemis ordered.
"Yes, sir." The XO said.
Alarms rang out across the ships of the Judgement Fleet. All ships prepared themselves for an air attack. But before the enemy planes came within range of the AA guns of the Judgement Fleet, suddenly the enemy planes fired something.
From each enemy plane, two lights with smoke behind them quickly headed towards the ships of the Judgement Fleet. There were a total of 24 objects approaching. It was an air-to-ground missile fired by the B1 aircraft of the Mu Empire. The missile was named AS-1 and was similar to the AGM-65 Maverick missile from Earth.
Length 250 cm, diameter 30 cm, weight 250 kg. Motor: solid rocket motor. Speed: 1,000 km/h. Range: 25 km. Warhead: 100 kg dual warhead HEAT and blast, with stone dust booster equivalent to 250 kg HE. Guidance: simple solid-state conical radar.
The 24 luminous objects were heading towards almost all ships of the Judgement Fleet.
"All AA stations, shoot those things down." The XO shouted.
It seemed that every ship in the Judgment Fleet was firing their AA guns. The sky became filled with explosions, however, it seemed that the 24 glowing objects were always in front of the explosions. It seemed that the targeting system of the AA gun system of the Gra Valkas was not calibrated for speeds as high as those glowing objects.
"Ineffective, those things are too fast!" someone said.
"Brace for impact!!!" shouted Captain Beegel.
Four explosions shook the flagship of the Judgement Fleet, 'Beetel' which instantly caused the ship to be enveloped in flames and smoke.
"Damage report!" shouted Artemis.
"Turret B has been hit in the barbette, fire has started inside the turret! Danger! Fire may spread to the forward magazine!" said the XO.
"Center and aft hit! Aft hit on the waterline! We're taking water in engineering! Center hit twice above water, destroying the funnel and auxiliary engineering. We are leaking oil, fire is spreading with oil." Another crew member said.
"Quick, put out the fire in Turret B! Don't let it spread to the magazine." Artemis shouted.
"All cruisers hit and sinking!" reported the communications officer.
Suddenly, the ship's lights went out.
"Engineering flooded, all generators were destroyed. Auxilary generator and pump destroyed!" said the XO. "It is not possible to extinguish the fire!"
"Captain, although our ship is in no danger of sinking, the fire in turret B will soon spread to the magazine and destroy the ship. Call for abandon ship, some are still trying to put out the fire in turret B to buy us time!" Artemis ordered Captain Beegel.
"All hands, abandon ship!!" ordered captain Beegel. "Don't rush it, we still have time!"
As the crew prepared to abandon ship, all lifeboats, both rubber and wooden, were lowered. With great discipline, an orderly evacuation is underway. The two remaining destroyers approached to retrieve the crew from the launched lifeboats and also assist in the evacuation of the other ships that were in the process of sinking. The lifeboat lowered by 'Beetel' is also assisting the other ships, as 'Beetel' is not in imminent danger of being evacuated.
In addition, a hose from an approaching destroyer was connected to 'Beetel' to pump water to flood the fwd magazine to prevent an explosion. In the end, the action was successful, and the fire in turret B was extinguished with the help of water pumped from the destroyer. Portable pumps were used to start extinguishing the fire in the center section of the ship.
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2 hours later.
The flagship of the Judgement Fleet, 'Beetel' floated helplessly, shrouded in smoke from the remaining fires. The portable generator brought from the destroyer is restoring some of the electricity in the 'Beetel'. This has made the medical bay operational for the treatment of the injured crew members.
The lifeboats and small motorboats released by the three remaining ships were busy circling around to rescue people on the surface. They were brought to the three ships. On the other hand, there were many people aboard the Battleship 'Beetel' busy repairing the ship, like ants swarming for food.
"Sir, the 'Beetel' is currently in stable condition. We are attempting to repair the auxiliary generators to power the ship. But the propulsion engines in main engineering are all flooded and unusable. We are dead in the water." Captain Beegel reported.
"Continue to rescue crew members who are injured or trapped in flooded compartments. Also, continue to SAR the drowned cruiser crew. We currently only have two destroyers that are still operating properly, right?" said Artemis.
"Yes. Should the flag of this fleet be transferred to one of the destroyers?" asked captain Beegel. "This ship is finished and incapable of functioning as a flagship."
"We will do so when necessary. Right now, this ship can still serve as an emergency shelter. Contact Eastern Fleet to give us a cruiser to tow the 'Beetel'. At least we can still save her." Artemis said.
"Yes, sir." The XO said.
Suddenly, a crewman ran from the radio room.
"Sir, Eastern Fleet is under attack by Mu Empire fighters!!!" the crewman shouted.
"Whaaaat!!!" said Artemis.