The North PacificBoard

The rattle of propellers and droning of jet engines intermixed over the city of Sentanun. Gothilum Biplanes dipped and weaved, avoiding enemy .50 caliber guns that could very well rip through the soft exoskeleton of the planes. While the Enemy had the upper hand in speed, that meant little to nothing with the in-your-face, tight combat where Gothilum Aerobatics and Maneuverability ruled, able to outturn and out maneuver any Flandonipian Aircraft. Enemy Air-to-Air missiles ripped through the sky while Gothilum wing-mounted rocks whistled. With every explosion, the air itself rattled.

Jets pursued closely behind by slightly lagging biplanes made a run at the Fourth Grand Fleet that had shimmied itself closer to the mouth of Sentanun. Tens upon tens of anti-aircraft batteries mounted across the ships present opened up in clumps as planes neared. Thousands of rounds from Flak 30 and 50 caliber anti-aircraft guns shot towards the approaching planes, the red tracer-rounds intermixed with regular ammunition scathing through the darkening evening sky. Some planes had wings torn off or were otherwise disabled, plummeting into the harbor.

But that did not disparage the enemy air-wing that fought for capital- or what would be left of it by the Gothilum Fleet was done. Romeo Unigild, Commander of the Fourth Grand Fleet ordered his fleet to push on, deeper into the center of Sentanun from their position on the outskirts of the city. Under enemy fire, the hulking gray bastions lagged their way nearer; surrounded by their support fleet.

Large ripples were sent through the water as a Flandonipian air launched anti ship missile collided with the port side of the Heavy Cruiser Devreteaux; with a large boom and sheen of dust and debris accompanying it. In a second, water started to flood into the lower portions of the ship, dragging it deeper into the harbor. After several moments, The IGNS Jusko nearby came to aid as the many lifeboats on the edge of the ship were launched with haste as the ship showed no sign of stopping plummeting.

Despite this, the Fourth Grand Fleets barrage had not stopped. Slowly creeping its way westward, deeper into the harbor that Sentanun lay on the outer edges of, the indiscriminate shelling worked its way throughout the city without remorse. Entire neighborhoods and historic buildings were leveled as 12”, 14”, 16”, and 18” shells tore through the sky. They whistled for a few seconds before colliding with innocent buildings and streets, exploding in a bombastic fury. The Ground shook and bellows of smoke reached high into the sky. Neighborhoods and Squares were lit ablaze by HE rounds; the fire consuming whatever the rounds couldn’t destroy.

At the helm of the Dreadnaught Liusmold, Romeo Unigild looked over the burning city of Sentanun with joy- with every moment, the loud booms of Fourth Grand Fleet’s ships echoed through the sky, returning with the clatter of shells impacting their nondescript targets. Under the guise of explosions and the current air battle over the capital that continued to near the fleet as both sides' numbers dwindled, he stood steadfast and proud of his wretched work; the destruction of Sentanun. The scorching of a capital.

But the battle was not yet over. While the ground and sea was secure, the air was not fully in the Imperial Realm’s hands. The dogfighting continued. In an immediate dispatch back to the Gothilum Aircraft Carriers on far-outlying edges of the battlefield, more air-units were called forth. Returning limping planes were buzzed over by newly-launched aircraft then unutilized or hastily repaired from the first and second wave that peppered the Flandonipian Capital at the start of the attack. Fitted with air-to-air rockets under their wings, and some having Gothilum Aerial X-tubes strapped to their bottom to be launched before entering combat, they headed west to join the fight.

Those planes that hobbled their way back and landed on the rocking carriers were immediately brought aside for repairs or refitting with fresh ammunition to be once-more dispatched.

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2300 Kilometers away in Fleurdelice, Occidenatha, a new plan was underway. The failure on Darvanyc had forced the Empress to almost dismiss the Military Overseer of the important Island and brought fury upon Alexandria von Navona, the Imperial Commander of the Air Corps, after her branch's failure of a response in light of approaching enemy air units before the wretched attack. The former half of the Fourth Grand Fleet had been dispatched just hours before the surprise attack while the latter half remained in port but suffered minimal casualties.

Soon, the currently unutilized remaining ships of the Fourth Fleet would be mobilized and sent towards the city of Plosa which would suffer a fate eerily similar to Sentanun.

Now, the true 1st phase of the naval war could begin. The Attack on Sentanun was the mere spearhead- an answer to the attack on Darvanyc, with the next attack on Plosa and wherever else the Empress commanded systematically neutering the Flandonipian State’s ability to wage war. A new hand in the Gothilum approach to the naval war would too enter the fray;

As the sun started to set on the Continent and the battle in Sentanun raged thousands of miles away, the rest of the Submarine Fleet of the 4th Grand Fleet- Approximately 40 submarines and 100 more- one quarter of the 5th Grand Fleets’ received orders declaring Open Season on all ships within the Flandonipian Territorial Waters.

Across the seas and within harbors, over a hundred submarines escaped into the open seas or turned towards Sentanun. The prior reconnaissance and planning during the failed Peace Accords that preluded the war were spent identifying weaknesses of the Flandonipian State, and it's great dead interior and expansive coastal metropolitan areas told a tale of starving them out.

Nothing would come in, nothing would go out.

The coming of full-out submarine warfare would shortly be followed up by a broadcast by Felix Kilgoric the Second, Imperial Minister of War, on all achievable broadcast channels and aimed towards the International Community- A stern warning of what would come if any were foolish enough to enter an active warzone.

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In Darvanyc, the 6th Amphibious Division arrived in the port of St. Aledya before being loaded into trucks and were brought slightly inland to the Addamirov Military Base- their declared new home in light of the outbreak of war. It was apparent in every soldier’s mind the reason for their transfer and the continued drilling once they arrived. With a war far from home and the Navy currently leading the charge, it was only a matter of time before they were called into action to fight the wretched enemy dogs on their turf.

Increasingly, the island militarized. The arrival of the Fourth Grand Fleet before they were eventually dispatched was closely followed by hardened battalions that reinforced the Island Garrisons, an influx of Gothilum Aeroplanes as the Air Corps worked double-time with patrols that far-exceeded the bounds of Darvany as well as brand new Radar Equipment, and now the 6th Division. Every day it seemed like more troops trickled in.