Air war in Europe, Story of Major Nikolai Shoigu Options

[3rdShockArmy]

This is the first time I write fan-fiction, so feel free to rip it to pieces. How else I'm gonna know if I'm a complete noob, or not?

This is the story about the Russian pilot, Major Nikolai Shoigu.

2045
Descending from a family well-known in Russia, Nikolai was a grandson of former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Ever since the deposition of the former government, it was hard for the young man to fit in to this new Russia. Often seen as an offspring of the old KGB elites, he had to double his efforts to prove himself just to get the same treatment as other cadets of the prestigious Moscow Military Academy. Unfortunately this didn't change, not even when the Russo-European War started. Just a mere month after the graduation, they were all sent to VVS bases across Western Russia and given orders of a full-blown invasion of Europe. Nikolai still couldn't understand what was going on, until someone told him about what happened in Kaliningrad. He had his doubts, especially about how fast the response of the military was. Even after years of diplomatic strains with the ECA, it would take months of preparations for the quantity of aircraft and missiles he was seeing now. But, if he was to ever win the trust of his colleges and senior officers, asking too many questions was not a very good start. So, he decided not to. He wasn't just another rookie. Being suspicious for his background made him a not very much liked rookie. After a few short flights in a Berkut, he was given orders to escort two Backfires with the rest of the squadron. The mission was a go.

''Comrade Colonel, targets are in range.'',the voice of Backfire pilot confirmed.
''You are authorized to fire, Major!'', Colonel replied.
Soon after, four cruise missiles rained down on the Polish military airbase near Cracow. Despite the range of the missiles, Nikolai could still see the destruction from afar. The mission was a success. After they returned to their base in Brest-Litovsk, everyone were thrilled about the news of great victories in the initial phase of the war. Comrades in the Russian Army were storming the whole Eastern Europe. VVS support was of great importance, the moral was high.
Months passed. At fist he was sent to do some of the most dangerous missions. Some of them included facing ECA fighters that managed to escape the destruction of most of European air assets on the ground. Russians didn't want anyone to comprise their undisputed airdominance. Nikolai was well know by now. His seniors were satisfied. They didn't started to like him any more than any other pilot, but at least he wasn't looked upon with distrust and sometimes even with disgust. His colleges started to respect him . Many of them had flown together in the last few months. Having shot down dozens of Tigers and few Harriers in such a short time meant a lot to his reputation.

2048
Three years have passed. Major Nikolai Shoigu is one of the best pilots in VVS.
In three years he has piloted Berkuts, now-retired Frogfoots, new Sokols, Backfires and even a Blackjack. He was awarded four times, including a medal for managing to escape unharmed, after being shot down by a Wotan over Netherlands, while still under control of the ECA forces, something that was considered impossible, due to the number of hidden bulldog turrets and other types of defenses used by the dug-in Dutch General van der Meer.

It was a regular day in the base, when someone turned on Channel One.
''US President William Bradford was authorized by the Congress to use military
force against the Russian Federation, citing America's geo-political responsibilities
and Russian warcrimes as his justification to support the ECA. The United States of America declares war on Russia. War is officially declared World War III.''
Initial silence soon gave way to loud shock. Some were afraid what might follow, since both countries still had thousands of ICBMs, some were confused and shocked, especially after years of US isolation, and some were even happy and eager to settle old scores with their long-time rival.
Nikolai, on the other hand, knew that itwould be a real mess. The skys will be filled with Rapors and Stealth Bombers, and the land will be swarmed by thousands of drones, which won't be easy targets for Russian aviation, due to their size and stealth capabilities. Will the Military be able to counter this new threat, he was to find out very soon.

It is my third, unplanned, night shift, because I'm doing a favor to a college, so forgive me if there's too much typos. :-)

This post has been edited by 3rdShockArmy: 3 May 2015, 10:14

[3rdShockArmy]

Story of Major Nikolai Shoigu
PART XIV

The Su-50s were converging on the Manticores' position.
Alexeiev: "This is it! On my mark, we fire the missiles at the same time. Nikolai you..."
A strange alert interrupted Alexeiev.
Nikolai: "What? What's wrong, Alexeiev?"
Alexeiev: "I can't target the Manticore! It's like there's a fricken blackhole in it's place now!"
Stechin: "The same is with me! What a hell is going on? Are our targeting systems working at all?"
Nikolai: "I can lock-on those Geppards and Leopards, but not the Manticore. Nothing's wrong with the targeting. It's somethin' else."
Stechin: "Oh, shit! I know what it is! Remember what happened in Marseille last year?"
Nikolai: "What happened in Mars... Oh, for fucks' sake! Not again!"
Alexeiev: "What? What's going on?"
"C'mon, Alexeiev. You're a G...", Stechin stopped when he realized that he was about to blow Alexeievs' GRU cover and continued: "You're an experienced pilot. Is it possible you've never encountered these things?"
"Oh, God! These idiots will blow my cover, ruin years of intelligence work, compromise the entire operation and probably get me killed in process!, Alexeiev thought and than responded: "What things? What are you talking about?"
Nikolai: "Anvils! Fucking Anvils! This is how they work. They mess up your targeting!"
Alexeiev: "Shit! I know about Anvils! I just didn't thought they got past the prototype phase. But still, how the hell can they disrupt Sokols' targeting!? That's impossible! It has the best targeting system in the world!"
Stechin: "That's exactly the point! We don't have a slightest clue how does it work! The Euros are keeping at as a highly guarded top secret. We'd need to capture one."
Alexeiev was in a very difficult position now. He had the secret orders to capture any experimental weapon he could, but this was pretty much impossible. Especially considering the fact that the ECA battlegroup was heading towards Pogosyans' troops.
Nikolai: "What a hell are we gonna do? Should we attack the rest of the group?"
Alexeiev: "Just let me think for a moment, guys!"
Nikolai and Stechin kept quiet.
It was a very hard decision. All GRU assets "on the ground" had the same order. Capture ECA high-tech. At any cost, if necessary. Alexeiev knew that the Hanover Command would get the after-mission reports. And Anvils would be at the very heart of the attention. Especially for the GRU department. And if he destroyed it now, he would be responsible for failing to follow the orders coming from the top.
Alexeiev: "Major Yuri Alexeiev speaking. Colonel Pogosyan, do you read me?"
Pogosyan: "I read you, Major. We've got two Grumbles further behind our lines. They'll take care of those Tigers and Harrier. Besides, the Berkuts are on their way here, as we speak."
Alexeiev: "Yes, Sir, but that isn't what I'm trying to say. Sir, we have a serious problem."
Pogosyan: "Well, spit it out. What's wrong?"
Alexeiev: "That Manticore. We can't take it out. It's protected by an Anvil Bot."
Pogosyan: "Shit! Can you take out the Anv... Nevermind. Try to take out as much armour as you can. Leave the Manticore to me. My Sent is more than a match for it. My problem is that we need to get to other parts of the frontline. Our guys are getting pounded by those damn Euros. This just means more of our guys dead in other parts of the front."
Alexeiev: "Yes Sir! You heard the Colonel, guys. Let's move."
Pogosyan wasn't GRU, but he was a high-ranking officer and he had the same orders as Alexeiev did. They were never to talk about it to anyone, thou and this was the first time the experienced, old Colonel was to encounter an Anvil Bot.

As the 3 Su-50s were flying over the unaware ECA battle-group, Nikolai, Stechin and Alexeiev were trying to figure out how to deal as much damage as possible.
There were dozens of armoured vehicles and hundreds of well-equipped infantry below them.
Alexeiev: "We should target only the Leopards, but that will leave us vulnerable to Gepards."
Stechin: "Than how about we wait for Pogosyan to arrive and we fight them together and use the confusion to our advantage?"
Nikolai: "Good idea. But there's one problem. We still have that Manticore and Anvil together. How the hell is Pogosyan to defeat them if he can't fire on them?"
Stechin: "Yeah, you have a point."
Alexeiev: "That's not entirely true. Our targeting data is disabled by that Anvil, but what if we don't need the data at all. We already know where's that Manticore."
Nikolai: "That would work. If our Sokols had any unguided weapons."
Alexeiev: "Who said anything about Sokols? One word, boys. ", he paused for a moment and than continued: "Hinds!"
Stechin: "Damn. Never crossed my mind. Great idea."
Nikolai: "But how far is the closest Hind squadron from here?"
Alexeiev: "Let me take care of that."

"Colonel, can you switch to a secure com-channel?", Alexeiev asked Pogosyan.
"Channel secured. What's the problem, Major?", Pogosyan responded.
Alexeiev: "I've got the order to capture the Anvil, Sir. And I need all the help I can get. I know you have 3 Hinds sitting in your base. We need them here, ASAP."
Pogosyan, unaware of Alexeievs' GRU background was surprised to hear that the Major knew about such a top secret order, but he decided not to react suspiciously: "I see. Well, those Hinds are heavily damaged and unlikely to survive an operation as big as this one."
Alexeiev: "Yes, I'm fully aware of that, Sir, but we need to get that Anvil. And since we can't target it, those Hinds are the only chance we've got. That Helipad should be over by now. All you have to do is give the order and they'll be repaired at Suvorov2 and then be here in less than half an hour."
Pogosyan knew how important was that Anvil, but he had to play it dumb: "But that may leave 'Yuri Dolgorukiy' base without it's last card incase we lose the fight. I would be risking my last line of a serious defensive and offensive potential for this."
Now Alexeiev was unsure what to do. He was considering telling the Colonel some facts, but that could blow his cover. Before he was able to say anything, Pogosyan spoke: "But, if that order came from the top, I guess we'll have to comply it. I'll give the order. Secure channel out."
"Thank you, Sir! I owe you one! Alexeiev out.", the GRU Colonel sighed in relief.

Nikolai and Stechin were keeping the formation, watching the ECA group activity and waiting for Alexeievs' response.

Alexeiev was finally there: "Listen up! Those Hinds will be there in about 30 minutes."
Stechin: "Can we hold on for that long?"
Nikolai: "We better do, because those Tigers and Harriers are about to attack Pogosyan!"
Before Nikolai could finish, two huge rockets buzzed over Pogosyans' Sentinel, continuing further.
"Two Tigers are shot down. The third one's damaged and is about to crash!", one of Pogosyans' soldiers exclaimed.
Pogosyan: "Those S-300s are a blessing. But don't get overconfident, boys. There's still 5 of them more and 2 Harriers behind as well. I want those Tunguskas locked and loaded!"

"Wo-fuckin'-ho! You wanna fuck around with our VKO?! Come on! We're just getting started!", Stechin was excited.
Nikolai: "That was fucking awesome! I'll never stop being amazed by those damn Grumbles!"
Alexeiev: "Don't forget that those Berkuts are about to arrive in... "

"This is Kutuzov1 Squadron reporting! I understand you're in need of some assistance, Major.", Berkut commander interrupted Alexeiev.

Nikolai: "Wait! I know that voice!"
Stechin: "Me too! Damn! Agatov?! Is that you!?"
"Yes, Sir! As a matter of fact, I am.", Berkut commander confirmed his identity.
"It's bloody good to hear from you again, comrade!", Stechin continued.
Agatov: "I will gladly catch up with both you and Major Shoigu later, Sir. But now, we need to get those Harriers converging on Colonel Pogosyans' position."
Alexeiev: "Absolutely, Captain! Continue with your mission. I'm sure you'll get plenty of time later with both of them."
Agatov: "Yes, Sir. Agatov out."

They could see the traces of shells being spit from Berkuts targeting the 2 Harriers. The cumbersome European jets were struggling to avoid the 6 Berkuts cannon bursts, while deploying chaff countermeasures to brake missile locks. While this unequal dogfight between the multirole European and purpose-built air-superiority Russian jets was happening, the Pogosyans' Tunguskas were taking care of Tiger gunships.
The mission was running smoothly for Pogosyan so far.
After the Harriers were unable to lose the Berkut squadron, their pilots decided to cause as much damage they could. They turned to Pogosyans' land troops. One Harrier broke off the chase and managed to fire on the Kodiaks and BMPs loaded with infantry. The Kodiaks were heavily armoured and took the hit quite well, but the BMPs were struck hard. After the first BMP exploded, Berkuts finally shot down the Harrier which was, thanks to the pilots' last-ditch kamikaze effort, crashed very close to a group of BMPs, damaging them to an extent. The other Harrier wasn't that lucky and it exploded to bits in sky after being hit by two Berkut AA missiles. The rest of the Tigers were finished off by the remaining Berkuts and Tunguskas.

Pogosyan was upset because he lost that BMP, but he knew that the entire situation would've been worse if the three Majors didn't warn him and those Berkuts didn't show up.

Alexeiev: "Are everyone ok, Sir!? Do you have casualties?"
Pogosyan: "SOBs took one BMP out and I have a couple of wounded in the other one, but we're pretty much fine."

Nikolai: "Alexeiev, those Hinds are about to arrive."

Alexeiev: "Sir, is your group ready to move. Hinds are about to show up."
Pogosyan: "That was faster than I thought. Ok. Lets get that damn Manticore!"
Alexeiev: "Damn right, Sir! Nikolai, Stechin! Lets pick those Leopards one by one, until Colonel Pogosyans' troops get in range."
"Yes, Major. Lets do this!", Stechin exclaimed.

This post has been edited by 3rdShockArmy: 11 Jan 2016, 6:46