Today it begins!

The biggest battle of the war so far, a full blown MDA attack on Wright!

Allow us to specify, because Wright is currently under control of the Retronian Colonial Forces, the enemy of the MDA as of now. For how much longer, though...?

The strike began as an absolute brawl, with the MDA engaging and decimating Retronian Colonial Forces. Due to the fast-paced whirling of fighters and destruction of enemy aircraft, this part of the missions was dubbed
The Cyclone.

An SK-3 in pursuit of an enemy fighter flies by a friendly F-200, providing a perfect example of just how chaotic The Cyclone was.

A different angle. The F-200 is clearly terrified, as you can see.

Now that's ruthless. The fight was "exceptionally easy" partially because the MDA barely even let enemy aircraft leave the ground...

The explosion itself. Drone warfare might not be the main force in this universe, but the Hsiangs certainly wreaked havoc today.

This one didn't even let the man leave his hangar.

Yet another Retronian "Redfale" is obliterated by the Hsiangs.

The F-36 Phoenix-Attack showcasing why it's TUPL's main air superiority fighter, taking out an enemy air unit.

Second splash...

...and through the clouds. The F-36A is a highly-potent fighter, but part of its success today was largely because of ambush tactics, diving down from the clouds, then retreating to strike at any moment.

An RCF A400 stands no chance against the F-33. So the Falchion is a good interceptor. But how does it actually do in a dogfi-

Nope, nevermind, he gotem.

Including the last two, this specific F-33 would score four air-to-air victories on this day. The F-33 may not necessarily be perfect, but when the world needs him, he can get the job done. No wonder they haven't retired these guys yet.

The Kraguj is back, and it has 100mm cannons (as well as a new 5-bladed prop). Despite being one of the propeller aircraft here- alongside the F/CAS-12, P-72B, Type 44, TK-3, P-19, and Tiltwing Superfortress II, if we're excluding helicopters- the J-20 proved a fearsome opponent with its new configuration, decimating a large number of air and ground opponents.

Kraguj with FRCM S-25M is real. You can run now.

The FI-90A is clumsily smart, he was aiming for an A400 but hit that Redfale instead. So, technically speaking, the FI-90 has better aim than me in War Thunder.

A friend of mine once told me that "Delta" stands for "Don't Even Leave the Airport," and I guess this CFA-44 is precisely why. A400 barely even got the engines set to max before it got strafed.

If this isn't a sign of air superiority, I don't know what is. This 92-year old Type 44 fighter somehow proved itself stronger than some of the RCF's best jets. At the same time though...

...I wouldn't exactly take it as an insult; this picture taken from an F-20 (not the Tigershark) illustrates precisely how tight the turn radius of the Monsoon is.

The legend himself returns from the clouds to claim a kill! OK, no, he never left, he's been loitering around Wright since the war started.

Heellooooo

A Retronian fighter is destroyed. What's that plane though? That MDA aircraft doesn't look familiar...

A Retronian A400 is obliterated by the strange, new fighter. All crew members survived and bailed out, but were rescued/captured by MDA naval forces. This was actually a dangerous move by that MDA ship crew, because if you remembered, the Wright coast is still mined thanks to those B-7Bs.

But that was only the beginning. With air superiority established, then came the bombers. Thanks to the weather slowly declining in terms of passivity, this part of the mission was known as
Rain of Terror.

Good morning, Wright!

The ACI-A-200 deploys its payload to Wright airport, and the enemy units occupying it.

Then again. Just to be safe.

An A-19 flying gun attacks enemy positions on Wright. For the sake of the story, ignore that there's only two hangars, Wright airport would be significantly larger in reality.

A bomb from the same A-19 hits an enemy vehicle.

A400s really just don't have good luck today. Even the A-14s launched from the Alicorns are dive-bombing them before they could take off! Also, the Alicorns in question directly participated in the attack, but the lag would (probably) kill my device so I couldn't do that ;-;

The aftermath of the A-14's attack.

An F-13Q bombing targets... you're gonna see a lot more of that, trust me.


Both of the above showing a UH-102B Illinois attacking buildings in the area. Man, how is this airport not completely erased?!

A TC-156 on its bombing run.

Hit and run- the TC-156 flees the scene once the job is done!

B-8B follows suit.

Ah yes, the crescent of havoc. An ancient but deadly technique.


An FA-32B on its attack. Please, PLEASE do not comment on its nickname.


ZOV-1 anti-air defenses were quick to hop into action, but equally as fast were located and destroyed by a Crestan TK-3. Now, the MDA has multiple TK-3s, quite a lot actually, but they only used one for the entirety of this mission just to show how much damage these guys can do.

Fearlessly diving over Wright. It's offscreen, but he would be flying over what remains of destroyed air defenses.

The last moments of a ZOV-1 about to be annihilated by an SK-3 upgraded with 75mm cannons.

A Redfale attempted to intercept the said SK-3, but you know what? Screw it. PSM SK-3. Unfortunately, the SK-3 was not built for PSM and flew out of control, but with the help of a green CFA-44, he was able to regain balance and continue the rest of the mission.

B-7B formation flying to the battlefield. A marvelous sight, honestly, unless you work with the Colonials.

After breaking off from the group, he drops his bombs, but he has to be quick to avoid both the shockwave and whoever survived the blast.

Not exactly everyone's definition of up-close and personal, but this F/CAS-12 certainly doesn't care.

On attack, the FA-31 is! Rockets are his first method of attack, but he prefers the cannons-

Why, isn't that new? He just dropped the missiles WHILE using the cannons!

Ouch... there goes Wright Airport...? Surely that's a finishing move...

Except, it wasn't just yet! The final attackers came to the scene, ready to cook the opponents one last time.
One of the survivors of the attack, whilst in MDA custody, said...

"...I would've aimed at the sky. I was in the ZOV-1. But something was wrong. It sounded like a tornado. So many tornadoes... and sirens... and then I saw them... incomprehensible mutter... I don't know what I saw, but I never want to see it again."
-Anonymous, September 26, 2024

What he described was the sound of several MDA monstrosities coming to finish the job. And yeah, if I were in his shoes... I wouldn't wanna see it either.

An A-40C using its literal weakest attack, firing rockets that decimated several small structures and vehicles.

The world's only A-40B-350 fires its cannon, striking several vehicles. Was it a stupid idea to put a tank turret on a heavy attack aircraft? Yes. But does it work? Heck yeah.

Skywolf 3.0 firing his laser at Wright. I mean, it's not too severe, right? How ba-a-a-ad could it be?

Oh flickleflaps. How did anything even survive that?

Lagwing arrives to help! But what's this? Looks like this RCF F-14 isn't afraid to tackle the behemoth head-on!

"How... can a fat guy... turn that fast?!"
-Probably that F-14

The Lagwing responded with his turrets. Ouch.

Nobody stands in Lagwing's way, allowing the F-11Y3s to be dropped for attack.

Boom boom boom! He can't stop singing this bloody tune tune tune! It's gonna make his brain go boom boom boom! If you get it you get it, and if you don't move on XD

The A-40C on his strafing run. Honestly, the A-40C is so feared, and certainly has more explosives than the soon mentioned, but the A-40C's guns kinda look like the starter's edition when directly compared to the Skywolf 3.0. Kinda makes sense though, the maker of the Skywolf series, TheMouse, essentially tutored TUPL.

All units involved did their best today, but the A-52 really gave it his all. In a display that everyone watched in anticipation for a painstaking 30 minutes, the A-52 literally dragged the USS Beast aircraft carrier 10 miles across the ocean just to throw it at Wright airport to deal a massive hit. Now that's dedication right there. Now enough of my yapping for now. Enjoy the A-52 wreaking havoc after throwing an entire aircraft carrier at an airport.

Now, with the CAS on their way out and the bombers finally letting the steel rain stop (albeit the real rain continued), Wright fell silent. But only for a few minutes. In spite of the scorched earth, a new power- this time comprised of incoming MDA ground forces- charged towards Wright, ready to claim the aftermath of their brothers' fury for their own, once and for all.

OK, that was poetic. They didn't actually charge. They got airdropped by Hefty, Lagwing, some B-984s, C-20s, and more.

Shrike A2 and TVMX-155 look around at Wright, being the first scouts on the land to pave the way for their allies.

An ARV-22-A1 and Enargite VII on the field. Man, the E.VII is actually huge.

Wait. Sneak attack?

What the- how long has that ACRA been there?! Actually I'm not gonna keep you in suspense, she's been there this entire time. How did she survive? Same reason all the Retronian forces did: plot armor!

Now that's just some serious luck. An RCF F-14 discovered the AMX-10M, but instead the ACRA fired back and destroyed it. The ACRA missiles tend to be... buggy, to say the least, but this time they worked, and it got the AMX-10 a SAM win.

Different angle.

An Enargite VII fires his 50mm chain guns at an enemy ground unit. Hope he looks familiar; he's the same Enargite VII that survived nukes during the TC and TB-Wars.

He called dibs on that hangar. He totally didn't literally drag a Redfale out of there to claim his spot.

The M49A3-C greets a familiar friend... it's Da Tunk!

Aaand he destroyed another RCF ground unit.

Wait now he's attacking their aircraft? That's what the Cutlasses are for, I guess!

Another one bites the dust... cause that Shock used his second Cutlass to bite them.

Have the French and Italians ever gotten along? Well, they are now. The literal biggest French tank teaming up with the literal smallest Italian tank.

Don't worry, Tonk just has 4th wall breaking powers. Yes, he knows everything. He knows what you've seen... and he has your search history...

Hiding in a hangar only works for so long... but it kept this ZOV-1 alive, the Shock instead choosing to spare the ZOV-1 and its entire crew. Remember the RCF survivor we mentioned earlier who spoke about the final air attack? He was on this ZOV.

The mission was considered utmost dominance.
Now, for our last picture, the result of the fight...

And for TL;DR...

MDA Victory.

So concludes the biggest battle of the S-War!

Credits:

MDA:
@TheMouse
@CrestelAeronautics
@MIGFOXHOUND31BSM26
@windshifter1
@Karroc9522
@KPLBall
@Christiant2
@JaxHere
@Randomplayer
@TheUltimatePlaneLover

MDA Allies:
@Marulk (allied supplier of the MDA, specifically with the Hsiang drones and Soko J-20 Kragujs)
@JABH (manufacturer)
@Boeing727200F (builder of the F-13Q and A-19, as well as several other aircraft and weapons utilized by the MDA)
@Noname918181818181818181 (maker of the freaking epic Lagwing)

Retronian Colonial Forces:
@SPSidearm