Return of the Empire, Part I:

NOTE: if you have not read The Snowstone Incident and/or the Wright Cold War this will be very confusing!

Key terms:
KK: Kingdom of Krakabloa
WR: Wright Republic
ML: Maywar Legion
UA: United Archipelago
KM: Krakabloa Militia
SSE: Snowstone Empire

Prelude:
2016-2017:

It had been two years since the Snowstone Incident wreaked havoc on the archipelago, but the Kingdom of Krakabloa, The Wright Republic and the Maywar Legion hadn’t forgotten how unprepared they were for an attack. It claimed the lives of thousands; both civilian and military. In the years following, Snowstone had become a huge oil mine for KK, Wright had to face an insurgency, and Maywar was going bankrupt from failed farming attempts. It was clear that the island chain was not prepared for the inevitable second attack. You see, they had discovered that the SSE Emperor had indeed escaped alive. Him and the SSE remanent had escaped to a secret island thousands of miles away. Because of this, the KK had doubled the funding to the Krakabloan Militia. A new generation of advanced fighters were in production, but they were still a long way of from being battle-ready. The Wright-Krakabloa-Maywar alliance had been dissolved, but a series of peace-talks were underway at the newly-independent Sky Park City. This is where we begin our story.

Treaty of SPC:
November 2017:

“That is why I propose an alliance between our four great governments. We cannot survive the Snowstone Empire again without unity!” proclaimed the King of Krakabloa.

“I second the King! The Maywar Legion is on the brink of destruction! We need unity!” added the Maywar Chieftain, who’s Legion was indeed in very bad shape.

“Sky Park City wishes to join an Alliacne as well. We are not in much of a position to bargain anyways, so we will agree to your terms” announced the Sky Park City Mayor.

“The Wright Republic will also join this Alliance. Our new leadership will prove to you that we are worthy of your respect!” proudly said the Wright Representative.

“If your leadership is so great than why does your President not speak before us today?” defiantly taunted the Maywar Chieftain.

The delegates and representatives whispered among themselves. After a moment of silence, the King of Krakabloa settled matters:

“We must put our personal quarrels aside if we are to unite” reasoned the King.

After a few hours of squabbling, the four governments united and agreed to arm themselves for another attack. They signed The Treaty of Sky Park City. It said:

Under the following Treaty:
1. The Kingdom of Krakabloa, The Republic of the Wright Isles, The Maywar Legion and Sky Park City form an alliance to fight against common dangers. They will be collectively known as the United Archipelago (UA)
2. The theorized “New Snowstone Empire” is an enemy of the UA.
3. Snowstone Island becomes the shared territory of the UA, and home to a missile defense station.

This would “ensure” the survival of the Archipelago. And their timing could not have been better.

Reemergence:
December 2017:

The dark-clothed general walked down the long, metallic hallway leading into the huge throne room. The throne was facing a giant wall of monitors overseeing every function of the SSE’s secret base. He stood before the throne and removed his hat:

“My Lord, intelligence reports that the enemy governments have created an alliance. They have proclaimed us as their enemy,”

The throne slowly spun around, revealing the disfigured face of the Emperor of Snowstone. The General had always been frightened by the injuries to his Lord’s face.

“It [cough] is of no concern” creaked the old man’s voice, “our Air Force is invincible”

The General knew that the Emperor was overestimating their forces, but he’d never dare to say this.

“What are your orders my Lord?”

“Prepare the undercover [cough] squadron for an attack on the Krakabloan planes” said the Emperor.

“Yes my Lord” replied the General.

“And General; do not fail this time” the Emperor warned.

The General bowed and then headed out to the hangar deck to prepare the undercover attack planes. These planes were meant to look like rag-tag bandit planes, however they were heavily armed with the latest SSE tech.

Battle of the Open Sea:
December 2017:

The Phoenix Squadron (the primary squadron of Desert Raiders) and the Grand Airship (KB-0001-A) were out on a routine training exercise a couple hundred miles off the coast of Krakabloa. There was a small island, a little smaller than Sky Park City there, and it had a small base and runway. The GA-A was landed there for refueling when all the sudden 6 planes came bearing down on the island. A Desert Raider was sent to contact the rag-tag bunch of seemingly civilian planes. When it came close, a Cessna-style plane deployed a hidden missile and fired at the Raider. The plane’s countermeasures were ineffective and the plane was destroyed. The rest of the planes deployed hidden weapons; guns, missiles, bombs, and one had a huge cannon underneath. The Phoenix Squadron scrambled to intercept the planes but they were picked off easily. Desert Eagle (KB-0002) used its rear gun to take out two of the planes, but now before half the squadron was destroyed. The Commander of the Desert Squadron kept a continuous transmission to the Krakabloan Command Center (KCC):

“KB-2 to KCC! We’re under attack by unidentified planes. We need help! [*explosion is heard*] Sh*t! We [inaudible] much longer!”

Only the refitted Raiders (including the Desert Eagle) survived the battle, which in the future would prove the effectiveness of the new planes.

The cannon plane flew towards the runway and opened fire on the GA-A, incinerating it’s main vertical stabilizers. The GA-A managed to take off, but it was heavily damaged and unable to destroy any of the planes. Finally, the GA-A captain took the controls of his plane and prepared to ram it into the cannon plane. In his last words to the Krakabloan Command Center, he said:

“KB-1 to KCC: I’m gonna ram this plane right into that b*stard, they’re not gonna get away with this! Long live The Ki-”

The transmission violently cut off. At that the massive battleplane flew into the weaponized private-jet, destroying both crafts instantly. The shockwave destroyed the other attackers, and the surviving planes returned to Krakabloa.

All-in-all, 18 out of 25 Raiders in the Phoenix Squadron were destroyed. The Grand Airship A was lost with all hands, and all enemy planes were destroyed. The base on the small island was also heavily damaged.

Even though the attack was meant to be secretive, after salvaging the enemy planes it was clear that they were from the SSE. The only good thing that came out of this battle was that the new SSE tech was salvaged and later put to use on Krakabloa’s new planes.

This first attack on the United Archipelago was successful, but the leaders were determined not to allow this loss to be a precedent for future battles. The UA openly declared war on the SSE, and the production of new Krakabloan planes was expedited.

But it was only the beginning of the Return of the Empire.

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