At 10:58 a large BoC raiding force attacked the Saltwater Carrier Nation. Twelve torpedo boats and a destroyer charged into Saltwater waters, bombarding shipping. The defences went into overdrive: six AC-M47E Libellule fighters and four Dark Arrows were scrambled into action, eight Scorpion-class torpedo boats and the Devastator-class destroyer SWS Eagle raced to meet the attackers and eight Osprey II strike fighters were diverted from exercises.
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The Dark Arrows quickly despatched the destroyer, but the torpedo boats appeared more elusive. Three were destroyed by the Saltwater Navy fleet. Four FF-17-B Falcons fired attack drones into the enemy force, destroying three more. The Libellule stealth fighters destroyed two, as did the Osprey IIs. Finally, after a three hour struggle, one more raider was eliminated by a Hellfire MAD-T defence turret.
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However the last torpedo craft evidently saw the writing on the wall and rammed the nearest vessel in a suicide attack. Unfortunately this ship was the vintage cruise liner SS North Devon, which had a 35 metre wide hole ripped into her by the explosion. After 45 minutes the huge liner rolled over and sank, taking 2400 passengers with her.
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Having seen the raiding force devastated by the defences a BoC cruiser charged towards NovrdLisch, firing a salvo into a residential district and killing 60 civilians. Two Dark Arrows that had been circling at 9,000 feet dived in to attack the aggressor, but were smashed out the sky by a pair of surface to air missiles. At this point, having been calibrating her weapons for most of the battle, the space-carrier Deutschland rounded Despondent Point. As she passed over the grave of the old Saltwater fleet she fired a full broadside, reducing the Brotherhood vessel to a floating wreck.
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As UH-60 Black Hawks and Archer-class minesweepers headed out to pick up survivors the exhausted defenders returned to base. The attack had taken a heavy toll on the Saltwater forces.
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Allied Losses:
1 Osprey II destroyed.
2 Osprey IIs damaged.
2 Hellfire MAD-T turrets damaged.
2 Dark Arrows destroyed.
1 Dark Arrow damaged.
2 Scorpion-class torpedo boats destroyed.
2 Scorpion-class torpedo boats damaged.
26 killed.
5 wounded.
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BoC Losses:
One cruiser sunk.
One destroyer sunk.
Eleven torpedo boats destroyed.
One torpedo boat scuttled in ramming attack.
1024 killed.
112 captured.
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Civilian Losses:
2498 killed.
787 wounded.
113 houses and flats destroyed or damaged.
57 vehicles destroyed or damaged.
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The Saltwater Armed Forces high-command has decided that the Brotherhood leadership must be eliminated, and therefore the SWS Retribution; escorted by the SWS Eagle, SWS Meteor, SWS Merlin and SWS Dragon; has been deployed. It has five S-3 Vikings, five Merlin AWACS, ten Sweepstreak Peregrines, fifteen Osprey IIs, ten Dark Arrows and five V-22 Ospreys on board, as well as five Terminator-Es and ten UH-60 Black Hawks. It also has 120 RSD.1 Nemesis scout drones and three cropdusters loaded. The Saltwater Carrier Nation also asks her allies to contribute to the fleet.