Galacean Incident - January 2021.

[TUFM]

Bilson was tired but couldn’t think of a reason why. He hadn’t particularly put himself out today, in fact it had been calm, two short meetings, a long lunch and that was pretty much it. He was looking forward to snuggling down in front of the TV tonight, with a glass of Whiskey when the intercom buzzed on.

 

“Sir, its Colonel Rogers.” His Secretary called through.

“Send him in” He said sitting up in his chair.

The door to his office opened and an immaculately dressed officer entered. Resplendent in his Number 2 uniform with ribbon bars galore and bright badges of rank shining. The Union itself had seen a huge reformation since the start of the Alliance with West Tuddenham and a lot of the old school elements such as shoulder boards and talk of the revolution had since left.

“Comrade Secretary.” Said Rogers. Comrade as a term of affection had survived in higher circles it appeared.

“William, what can I do for you?” Bilson replied.

“Flash Intelligence sir.” He said and handed him a file.

“Please, break it down for me” Grimaced Bilson and waving at Rogers to sit down.

“Galacea” Asked Rogers

“Yes, the tropical 'paradise'?” Smiled Bilson.

“Well, that Tropical Paradise went into revolution. The government has been overthrown and they have placed a Colonel Nyeng into office.”

“...And why are you bringing me this?”

“It comes to you before we take it to the big boss.”

“But it’s in our constitution to support revolution. Are we playing a supporting role here?”

“No sir. Nyeng is a staunch anti-socialist. Him being in power cuts our trade routes with the nations further south, not to mention our trade directly with them. Also…” Rogers hesitated.

Bilson looked up from the file. “What?”

“A West tuddenham Airlines flight that was mainly made up of TUFM citizens travelling lawfully across their airspace was shot down under the immediate orders of Nyeng. We don’t imagine there are survivors. Further to this a Union flagged Cruise ship has been captured in international waters off their coast and taken to Hylian near the Capital.”

For the first time in the conversation Bilson was genuinely surprised. “Jesus.”

“The boss will want options.”

“He will, I think its clear we need to support the old regime as well as get our people out of there.”

“I agree sir, but that’s going to be down to the Supreme Socialist of course.”

“Indeed. What are West Tuddenham doing about it?”

“We have shared our intel as per the Armford Agreement.”

“Good.” He picked up the phone. “Lucy, get me a line directly to the West Tuddenham Minister of Defence. Let’s see what they have to say about this."

Edited February 17, 2021 by TUFM

[West Tuddenham]

"Mr Bilson!" - Exclaimed a slightly nervous Salah, He knew what the call was regarding..

"I've seen the report you have sent, i wish i had an explanation.." - Salah had only been in office a few months and knew that he would be under the spotlight to react quickly to the report.

"I know, I know. What's your official stance? What are West Tuddenham doing?" - Bilson was always direct in his questions.  Salah had already informed the President of the two aircraft lost, TUFM only seemed to have knowledge of one passenger aircraft downed. The other was a military cargo transport aircraft. It had lost comms over Kutskya. Salah didn't know if it was just coincidence and wasn't sure if he should mention it.

"We've lost two aircraft, the commercial airliner over Galacea and....." - He paused, almost stuttering,  "A Cargo transport, military...I am awaiting details of the cargo"

"Bilson, You know our policies, since the Alliance agreement was signed we have shared everything we know. The president doesn't want to over react on this and cause panic by standing the military on alert. We need confirmation that Nyeng is at the bottom of this.."  Salah then expressed his deepest sympathies for the TUFM loses and promised that he would remain in contact, hanging up the phone without waiting for a reply. He didn't even know that a TUFM registered cruise ship had been captured. He almost suspected that TUFM was up to something. But didn't know what..

West Tuddenham intelligence was slow, it had always been more reactive than pro active. They had almost no knowledge of the incident, But they couldn't look incompetent, not to TUFM, they would expect better from a now ally..

Salah called an immediate Meeting with his heads of staff, he needed to get his shit together and have better answers the next time Bilson called. And he needed to know more about what is on that cargo plane, and where it was now..

[TUFM]

"Do we have anyone on the ground?" Bilson asked Rogers,

"Yes Comrade secretary. We have a team plotted around the Capital, 3 of them have not checked in recently, 2 have sent urgent signal requests. We will be debriefing them as soon as we can."

"What is the military option?" Bilson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We shouldn't move without West Tuddenham. If we do anything we should do it together, this will minimise negative responses from NATO." 

"Do we have anything close?" there was a distant optimism in his voice. 

"A Carrier Group is about 600 Miles out, its the closest we have. West Tudd have a Smaller Flotilla another 200 north, we had just completed a resupply exercise in tropical waters. Theoretically they could turn around and we could have a Naval Task force off of their Coast in about three days."

"But what about troops?"

"They have one of the Commandos spread on the ships, part of the exercise was moving a brigade from one carrier group to the other." 

"Is that all?" Bilson asked disappointed.

"It wasn't out there with the aim of being deployed Comrade."

"Okay, turn them around, get in contact with West Tuddenham and ask their Flotilla to re-rendezvous with our own fleet. We also need as much intelligence as we can. Get the Air Force overhead, I want round the clock High altitude surveillance on the capital and any troop movements. Redeploy one of the Satellites we have in the Indian Ocean over the Country. Contact the Ground, Sea and Air Command Boards and have them in here within an hour. Inform the Supreme Soviet we have a serious situation and get me the West Tuddenham Ambassador." 

"Yes Comrade Secretary." Rogers said turning.

"Oh and Colonel..." 

"Sir?" Rogers said stopping in his track. 

"Ask the intelligence Secretariat how they missed the fact an allied military aircraft being lost had slipped their mind."

 

[West Tuddenham]

"To be honest, we don't know where it is.." Farooq nervously wiped his sweaty forehead..

"We have a last location, the beacon just disappeared, we suspect the aircraft has crashed into the sea of the Katskyian coast. A report is on its way to you with the details as we speak. We have a rescue crew on its way and have sent a P-8 to scan the area for debris." Farooqs voice broke from the nervousness, Rogers started to thank the intelligence secretary for the update, but Farooq interrupted him..

"Wait there's more.."  Again, hesitantly... Rogers sighed as if to lose his patience..

"Please Mr Secretary, I have to report back to my superiors"

"We now know what was on the plane, it was carrying spent fuel from one of our reactors to a repository...Its all in the report" Farooq was almost relieved to had told Rogers 

Rogers relayed his superiors orders and informed the secretary that the flotilla was to turn around and head back to rendezvous with the TUFM flotilla.  Rogers ended the call hastily. 

The aircraft in question, callsign Delta-38 is a Antonov AN-22. It's an old aircraft, left over from the revolution wars, its has been through many modernisation programmes and was a regular flight. 

West Tuddenham was happy to have an almost bigger brother looking out for them since the Pact was signed, although TUFM didn't see it the same way, it expected much from its allies and did not want a hanger-on nor could afford it, even though it was a far richer nation. It had done much to help West Tuddenham since the wars and wanted it to stand on its on two feet.

West tuddenham had the potential to be a very rich nation due to the natural gas fields that fall within its territorial waters. It just didn't have the money to invest to exploit them. TUFM knew this and it knew that there was increasing pressure from outside influences to allow other countries to export the gas..

Farooq made the call to his department of defence, he ordered that the military be alerted and put on stand by for deployment. If TUFM was moving flotilla's, he knew that WT had to show they were doing something. WT moved its readiness status to Amber, it operated a simple RAG system and Amber was enough to mobilise its entire military. Its territorial waters and airspace are closed except for military movements. WT had never been in Amber before, in fact, it had never fully utilised the RAG system and it done nothing more than cause mass confusion throughout the Military.  

[TUFM]

Three days had passed since the Incident began. In that time facts had slowly started to emerge from the mess. D38 had scattered spent uranium across an area fortunately only around 12m square. The crew had not been heard from and were presumed dead. The Ocean Liner SS Grandeur still berthed in Hylian harbour, with its passengers imprisoned on board. 

UFM and WT High level Recce flights and Satellite images confirmed minimum civilian movement in the Capital and major cities and large build ups of military vehicles and men at staging points in the thick Jungle surrounding the Flood plain in which both Hylian and its second city Sumdara sat. Clandestine Special forces had deployed via civilian airliner to a neighbouring nation and had crossed the border within hours of the incident and were now feeding information back to the Joint UFM/WT command team, sat on UFS Agatha, the Flagship of a now expanding joint carrier fleet which sat squarely 200 Nautical Miles from the coast - Just within international waters. 

The war within Galacea itself was going less well for the rebels and the Regular Army had managed to gain a foothold on the South Coast and were very slowly pushing the rebels back. All in all, the news was reasonably positive, that was, until Rogers entered Bilsons office half an hour before the daily briefing. 

'Can it not wait?' Bilson said not looking up from the paperwork he was preparing.

'Not really, comrade.' Rogers replied. Bilson looked up. 'Gian are stepping in, supplying the rebels. Tanks, Weapons, Aircraft.'

'Don't be so ridiculous' Snapped Bilson.

'I wish I was sir, picked up by three of our sleeper agents and confirmed by one from Tudd's as well'

'when did this happen?'

'It hasn't yet, but Air Rec shows a build up on Gian's Southern Border.'

'Then we need to move quickly.' Bilson stood, and beckoned Rogers to follow him. They entered the briefing room together, all seats other than their own were full and the ensembled men and women were engaged in small talk, jovial in nature. 

'I'm sorry to start to abruptly.' Bilson said walking to his sear. The room was ushered into immediate silence. Around the table sat the head of each branch of the armed forces. Two Senior WT officers, starred generals, one from the air force and one from the Army. The Home Secretary, The chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary for Transport and Supply sat at the opposite end, and then at the far end of the table, in a commanding position the Supreme Socialist. Bilson looked at him. 'My apologies Comrade.' He said. 

'No, you have the floor comrade Secretary of Defence.' The supreme Socialist said. The atmosphere within the office was always more official. 

'We have received information that the Sovereign State of Gian is to begin supplying the Rebel Forces within Galacea.' There was a brief murmur of surprise. Relations between Galacea and Gian had always been extremely strained and many in the room initially believed a conflict in the region would be between those two states. 'Unless we move quickly, we will lose the narrow window we have to retake the Grandeur with minimal friendly bloodshed.' He said.

'What do you propose?' The Supreme Socialist asked.

'We have discussed our options, and I think Option C is the one.' Bilson replied.

'Remind me Comrade Secratary'

'We take the port of Hylian with a fast landing both air and sea. We create a buffer zone around it and we wait. At the same time, we launch a massive air campaign against the Rebels, taking out bases and staging points, including the ones in Gian. Once the port is secured, we move an expeditionary Force to the South and retake the Capital - at this point we either hand it back over, and let them fight on themselves, or we move north, pushing along the rebels with them.'

'You are talking about war with 2 nations?' The home Secretary interrupted.

'No, Gian is a nation, but the rebellion is not recognised and would not stand up to an assault by us.' 

'What resources would we need to accomplish this?' The Supreme Socialist asked.

'Well the issue is the Jungle, it makes up the vast majority of the ground. Armoured vehicle movement is going to be an issue. We need a parachute unit to take the port, followed by the Commandos to secure it. Then an Armoured Division To move in and make sure they don't take it back. A further 2 divisions to then move South.'

'5 Divisions? That's huge.' Again, from the Home Secretary

'I've not even come to Air and Sea power yet.' Bilson said, trying hard to ignore his annoyance.

'What would you need from us comrade?' Admiral of the Fleet, John Tranter, Commander of the UFM Navy cheerfully asked. 

'Comrade Admiral, The Flotilla we have is well placed but will soon need to move into potentially hostile waters. A Submarine Squadron to picket the Coast and prevent anything from intercepting the Flotilla. The Rebels have no Naval Power, but Gian's Navy is not to be sneezed at. We could use a Second Carrier as well, for air power'

'You shall have it.' Tranter replied.

'And us?' Asked the Marshall of the Red Air Force, Steven Larrson.

'We need to be able to deliver round the clock for approximately 14 days.' Bilson Replied checking over his plans. 

'Say, 4 Squadrons of Predators, as well as the ones on the carriers?' Larrson replied writing notes.

'Yes, as well as their support aircraft.'

The Predator is the Unions License Built F22 Multi-Role Combat Aircraft. In Later 2015, the Union purchased licenses from 3 former Weapons building Companies, giving them the rights to their older technology and the rights to name use. The companies, Sankey, Abbey and Triumph were now geared towards military and vehicle production and were amalgamated in 2019 to forum SAT Union Systems, SATUS for short. SATUS now built all union military equipment and exported what it was allowed. In 2020, facing criticism of the huge spiralling costs of the project, the united States allowed SATUS to build the F22-Raptor for an unkown fee, though estimated to be in the hundreds of billions. 

'Who will you earmark Field Marshall?' Bilson asked Field Marshall James Mustard. 'We will send 3 divisions, and WT 2.'

"6th Parachute Division will take the port. They have 2x Parachute infantry brigades, and a Brigade of Red Viking Commandos. 8th Armoured Can move in to secure. 14th Rifle Division can then go in to head south, they are mechanised and can move with or without their heavy equipment.  9th Airborne Rifles will be on reserve and embarked as part of the flotilla.' Mustard replied, almost instantly knowing the answer. 

He turned to the Senior WT officer present. 'We require 2 Divisions, as well as air forces. What can you offer comrade? The Joint Task Force will be headed by General Larkspur from UFM, with the Land and Sea Forces under overall UFM command, but we would like WT to command the Air Campaign'

and waiting for a response, Bilson finally sat down to take a breath.

 

   

[TUFM]

From: UFM Command

To: Senior Command, Red Army, Red Navy, Red Air Force.

Subject: Deployment.

 

Message: 

Following Units to Deploy immediately. All Brigade Reservists to be recalled where necessary. 

6th Parachute Divsion [1 PARA, 2 VIKING, 2 PARA] to REDAF Georgiagrad to Emplane.

8th Armoured Division [7 LANCERS, 13 REDTR, PROLETERIA LI] to Armfield Naval Station to Embark.

14th Rifle Division [18 REDTR, DOCKHEAD RIFLES, BALLAHOO RIFLES] To Armfield Naval Station to Embark.

9th Airborne Division [31 LANCERS, GEORGIAGRAD RIFLES, ROBERTOGRAD RIFLES] To Armfield Naval Station to Embark.

No1 Squadron REDAF to Carrier UFS AGATHA for deployment.

No3 Squadron REDAF to Carrier UFS RONAN for deployment.

No14 Squadron REDAF to Carrier UFS RONAN for deployment.

 

All Brigades to maintain High alert due to possible related terror incidents. Alert Status has been Lifted to IMMINENT. 

 

Situation Map Attached. 

Figure 1: Situation Map - Day 2 of Operations

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by TUFM

[TUFM]

The following Morning, on Cold and windswept Drills Squares throughout the union, men and women of the 6th, 9th and 14th Divisions Stood Coldly to attention whilst commanding officers briefed them enmasse and political officers gave them a last injection of tired patriotic fervour. Political Officers we're almost a non-entity these days and indeed the POLCORPS had lowered in numbers so much that now days they attached a single Officer Per Brigade rather then the days immediately after the revolution when each platoon had one attached. Enlightenment they called it, or the 'new system' Socialist at heart but much more diverse in thought and action. Shortly before 0600 the Divisions moved to their relevant embarkation areas - the 6th made their way by Coach to a REDAF Station to the South of GEORGIAGRAD where they were embarked into Patriot Aircraft. A Refuel plan was drawn up and each man was issued extra rations to consume in the aircraft on the long journey South. 9th Airborne made its way with its own mechanised transport to Armfield and was joined by the 14th Rifle Division who had done the same. Here they were loaded onto 4 Fleet Auxiliary Ships which had already been cleared for their embarkation. Every Soldier in the Expedition had by now been reissued with the New Service Rifle, the L21 IBR and has received training on it - The Ship bound troops would receive extra training on the Journey South. They had been issued Lightweight Jackets for use in the jungle and Jungle issued boots which they all wore in a feeble attempt to break in - They were not good for the UFM weather, especially in these winter conditions and many literal Cold feet were felt across the Troops before the fleet got into warmer waters. The 3 REDAF Squadrons were formed into the 1st Expeditionary Air Force and their Ground crews and support staff had made the journey to Armfield Naval Station by coach and finished it in Helicopter before the Aircraft themselves landed in Early afternoon on the Decks of the AGATHA and RONAN which were now firmly on route towards the rest of the Flotilla. Cavalier Tanks and lighter Armoured from the Rifle Divisions rolled onto 12 Calisto-Class Landing Ships which would join the Fleet and deliver, where necessary the 2x 200 Strong Tank Brigades, plus Armoured Fighting Vehicles for the Infantry. It was no mean fete, but it was something that was practised regularly. Divisional Mobilisations were hit out at least once a month and twice a year the Secretariat of Defence insisted on a Corps Get together. Interestingly now, they deployed individual divisions out of their normal Corps but clever commanders knew it would only be time before the rest would be joining them.

 

Over the next few days, Members of the UFM Armed Forces prepared themselves for what was to happen.

 

Rifleman John Vellosov, 1st Battalion, Ballahoo Rifles. Ballahoo Rifle Brigade, 14th Division - UFM Expeditionary Force.

'We embarked on the JENNIFER. A large Cruise Ship brought into the Service to move us South. Getting on board was easy enough and we made our way with our kit to the grand dining room which was about 5 floors high with a large open area in the middle which looked down to the first Deck. We dropped kit and were given a Speech by the Captain and our Divisional Command, telling us what he expected from us and what he expected when we landed. Shortly afterwards we were dismissed by Brigade, and then by Battalion and finally by Company. My company was taken to where we were to be billeted and were happy to realise it would be actual rooms (Some of the lads ended up on Camp beds in one of the dining rooms, the Casino or stores). We were told where our Stand to Position was, where our Muster point would be and where we would find out life jackets. The main deck had a promenade, a mock shopping street running along the centre which was about 150m long. The shops were closed up, though they stuff a UFI Shop in one and it was quite well stocked and cheap. A Jewellers across the deck was converted into the Armoury and we dropped weapons in before stowing our kit in our rooms and making our way back onto deck for when the Ship left harbour. It was amazing to see the people of Armfield out on the Quayside and with an extremely loud roar on the ships horn, it slowly left the concrete. There was an almighty cheer and thousands of Balloons were let off, all in red and yellow. Once the excitement died down we were called back down for another briefing and the routine of life at sea for a soldier began.'

 

Lieutenant Mark Larrson, 1st Battalion, No2 Red Viking Commando Brigade, 6th Division - UFM Expeditionary Force.

'We would be travelling South to an unnamed friendly Airfield somewhere in the Tropics where we would await the order to strike. The men were in good spirits and I did my best to keep this up. They Brushed their beards to make them appear bigger and they sharpened their Axes and hang them from their webbing like the Vikings of their heritage. We sat in 4 lines staring deftly towards each other knowing that once we were South, anything could happen. The thought of Action was almost inspiring to them and not a single one of my men looked upset, pained or fearful of what was coming, in fact they all seemed to yearn for it.

 

Flight Lieutenant James Calver, No3 Squadron, REDAF. 1st Expeditionary Air Wing.

'We took off from REDAF Killingford shortly before dusk and climbed to 35,000 feet before turning Due South and heading towards the fleet. The Squadron was in fine form and there was excited chatter over the radio. We RV'd with No14 Squadron to the North West of Armford and cheekily found permission to fly over the Capital in Squadron Vic Formation, 24 Thundering Aircraft, it was grand in the cockpit but must of been awe inspiring on the deck.  Once over the South Sea we turned slightly west and got permission to enter the Battle Groups Airspace. It was long before we had landed on the deck of the RONAN, graciously allowing the boys from 14 to land first as they had travelled a lot farther than us. Sea duty would have its challenges but for now the expedition was off to a good start. Once the aircraft were stowed and we were taken down for the first of many briefings.'

 

Trooper Megan Lacey, 7th Lancers Brigade, 8th Armoured Division - UFM Expeditionary Force.

'Our Cavaliers arrived by Rail to Armfield Harbour, where we had been since the previous morning. We were marched to the Railhead to collect them and after some normal confusion we found Gaffy, our Tank. The Gun was secured and everything was stowed away for transport but we were given the order to load onto a Fleet Auxiliary Ship called the Creamfields. The Rest of the Division spread out in the Woodstock and the Glastonbury. Only the Vehicle Commander, Corporal of Horse Gadd and myself being the driver were allowed into Gaffy to drive her onto the Ship, along a narrow gantry as it were - I wont deny I was nervous as we edged forward but once the tracks were secured onto the gantry it was an easy driver forward following a Sailor who marshalled us into a bay. Once in position we killed the engine, secured the hatch and left her for most of the voyage. The Squadron Commander called us together and gave us a basic briefing. We were to be part of a blocking force and if needed but he wouldn't say where we were going. It was all very cryptic. The Quartermaster came around not long after we sailed and we were issued tropical under body armour shirts, cooling undershirts and a bag containing insect repellent, malaria tablets and salt blocks. We knew then that it would be somewhere hot, which would be a nice change. We were issued with our new Rifles which were still in their factory paper and were an immediate improvement on the L1AS (Shortened) SLR we had left behind. Training would commence that afternoon and go on for much of the cruise South.' 

Edited March 1, 2021 by TUFM

[TUFM]

The Taskforce was now well underway. Scattered Naval Vessels of both the West Tuddenham and UFM Navies had now rendezvoused and were steaming steadily into warmer waters. Auxiliary and supply ships had caught them up whilst they refuelled at Ganymede Naval Station, the southernmost UFM Naval Station, a floating Sea base used as a base for Rescue ships, ice breakers and to resupply Ships on long journeys.

Over the next day or so they would be approaching the territorial waters of Galacea and tensions began to raise. The last few days had had an almost carnival atmosphere to the embarked troops. Command had taken the decision to mix units within the Divisions on their ships in case any were lost and generally the WT and UFM soldiery had got on like a house on fire even though only ten years previously some had engaged each other over their rifle sights. The animosity, if any, was in the usual place – that being between the different arms now all packed tightly aboard ships which had only a week before been transporting holiday makers to warmer climes. The irony that a cruise ship was at the centre of the entire crisis was not lost on the troops.

In the bridges and makeshift command rooms officers poured over maps and recce pictures. General Nekrasov was the task force commander and was seconded by Admiral Davies from the WT Navy. O Group meetings with Brigade and ship commanders were organised daily at or around noon and the Flight Deck of the Agatha became so busy with helicopters coming in from the troop-carrying ships that they had to hold Combat Air and force protection patrols going out or coming in for half an hour either side.

Morale was extremely high however throughout the expedition.

  

Rifleman John Vellosov, 1st Battalion, Ballahoo Rifles. Ballahoo Rifle Brigade, 14th Division - UFM Expeditionary Force.

We settled into routine easily enough. Meals were by Company. 3 times a day, hot and tasty and we were much surprised. We were allowed 2 pints of beer each evening when not on duty and no one I know of went mental. Most of the time when we weren’t on guard or training we sat around the lounges or laid on our bunks, there wasn’t much to do seeing as phones had been taken off of us when we embarked. Every day we spent a good 4 hours preparing for what was coming. Our company commander liked to keep us well rested, but rain or shine (and it did both!) we ran around the ship, practised skill at arms with our new rifles and ran through first aid drills and such. It was a pleasant time.

 

Lieutenant Mark Larrson, 1st Battalion, No2 Red Viking Commando Brigade, 6th Division - UFM Expeditionary Force.

After being at sea for a few days I was called into the Company commander and told that each Company in the brigade was to provide a platoon to do a condensed 2-day naval firefighting course, and that my platoon was picked. For 2 days we sat learning about water pressures, foam systems, water monitors, flash overs and when ours brains couldn’t take no more, they drilled us and drilled us in Breathing Apparatus tasks. It was clear the Naval types liked to see us sweat. Once it was finished, we were given a timetable which effectively meant that every third day we were put on standby as fire response. This meant even more laying around waiting but it did get us out of guard duty, fatigues, and any other nonsense they could throw our way!

Shortly after sunrise on the 8^th day of movement south two Predators from UFS RONAN took off for the first manned Recce Flight over what was now openly considered Enemy territory. Flt Lt Calver was one of the.

Flight Lieutenant James Calver, No3 Squadron, REDAF. 1st Expeditionary Air Wing.

We took off at around 0540 from the RONAN. We changed course very little as the ship was steaming in the same direction anyway and immediately climbed high to around 35,000 feet. We stayed reasonably close while we were over international waters. The immediate flight was unremarkable, and we refuelled from a West Tudds refueller not long before we approached Galacean Airspace. After refuelling we confirmed our permission to cross the Galacean Airspace and were given the green light from Fleet. We dropped to less than 50 foot, hugging the waves and we sped up. It was a test of their air defences and a Recce of possible secondary landing sights in one go. We knew our own satellite recce was doing overtime and we also knew that High level recce from other squadrons had also been ongoing. We took our job seriously enough and as the coast smudged into view, we readied ourselves. We stayed close as we flashed over the ground and within seconds the sands of the northern beached melted away into thick tropical jungle. We reached our checkpoint and turned south towards the capital and it opened up ahead of us, grey concrete, inhospitable but as we approached it we could see the docks on our left, we swooped down low and fast past the Grandeur which was still sitting there. We could even see the passengers, herded in the large dinner halls. We flew fast past and were locked up by a SAM somewhere to the south so broke and went high in a flash – we did this mainly for their morale, before turning north again, back towards the fleet.

Figure 2: Aerial Photograph taken from a REDAF Predator Aircraft of the Grandeur lying in Harbour after its capture. 

[TUFM]

A Few days had now passed and the Taskforce was in position. There had been the odd air sortie from the antiquated Aircraft that the rebels has tried to test the Flotillas air defences with but Combat Air patrols had dealt with them long before they even because a glint of a threat. In the transports and Assault ships three days of ferrying had filled the corridors with soldiers and marines from West Tuddenham and UFM, all together and ready to go.

Talks had stalled. The Rebels had allowed a Union supply ship to drop supplies for the crew and passengers of the Grandeur, and had then chanced boarding it, erroneously thinking it was civilian. The firefight had been brief and sharp and the Ship had sailed away with its full compliment still alive and well. 

Plans had been drawn up, ammunition and stores issued to the troops and O-group briefings has been many. Everyone knew their role and the only question now would be when.

 

Rifleman John Vellosov, 1st Battalion, Ballahoo Rifles. Ballahoo Rifle Brigade, 14th Division - UFM Expeditionary Force.

"We paraded in full kit on the quarterdeck. We were told to ditch Armour and wear webbing as we would be moving very quickly, especially during the opening phase. Our Plate Carriers were taken from us and loaded into a container that they said they would ship to us when we moved into a less dynamic role. We were then told that this morning was D-Day and H-hour would be around 4AM. Plane had changed somewhat and our Division would be the first wave to land to the NORTH of the Harbour. For all of the beauty of the area, there was only a 2 miles stretch of landable beach. As we briefed we heard a continuous roar of Helo's from the small flight deck ferrying the Special Forces guys to the Hills behind the landing sites. They would do what they could to destroy the defences on the beach but we were told in no uncertain terms to expect heavy casualties on those beaches. We prepared kit and got ourselves motived. At around 3AM a group of Sailors came in and started calling us out by Company. There they lead us down the maze of gantries to where our own landing craft would be. When we reached the deck it was drizzling but the atmosphere was warm and sticky. We prepared ourselves for the long climb down the cargo net to the craft, with my kit weighing well over 80 lbs it was not easy.,,"

 

Lieutenant Mark Larrson, 1st Battalion, No2 Red Viking Commando Brigade, 6th Division - UFM Expeditionary Force.

"The landing craft pitched and chucked us around but we were laughing on the jag towards the beach. The Brigade was on the Southern most Edge, closest to the Harbour wit the Ballahoo Rifles on our North flank. We were out before them though, as a blocking force to ensure that reinforcements didnt make it to the beach. When we were about 300 Metres from the beach there was an almighty rumble as a naval Missile salvo turned up million tonnes of sand and trenchline, it seems to last for hours but in reality cant of been much more than 20 seconds. It was sharp and it did wonders to buck up our morale."

The Ballahoo Rifles, No2 Red Viking Commando and the 2nd Brigade of the West Tuddenham Light Infantry were now approaching the beach at high speed, going into combat together, as allies, for the first time since the 2011 War between them. Hundreds of men and women huddled down in wet landing craft waiting for the moment the ramps would drop and they could make their way onto and up the wide open tropical beaches of Galacea.