Curacao's Air Defence Wing

**Curacao's Air Defence Wing (CADW)** is a planet wide military unit formed entirely by fighter and bomber aircraft of the Commonwealth, their main role upon entering active warfare is to provide air coverage and defensive capabilities, as well as to serve to the ground troops as Close Air Support (CAS) during battles on the surface of the Planet itself. However, seeing that conflict within the space of Curacao is close to impossible, this Air Force has been reformed into an elite recruitment training group, often called by the recruits who served inside the Air Force as *“The flying Circus of Hell”*. The **CADW** trains the most respected and elite fighter pilots of the Commonwealth, many of which join the Carrier Group operating inside Task Force Manticore, while others tend to enter air units inside the army during planetary engagements against the Commonwealth.

## **History**

In 2249, after dealing the last blows to the Biluan defenses during the Commonwealth Conquest of Yadra and establishing control of the planet, the army, mainly led by General Branicki, was in dire need of reinforcements to act both as a police force against Kartherman rioters, and a cleanup detachment to deal with the remaining Biluan swarms inside Yadrani. The orders of the army were issued, and in the 14th of May, Curacao's factories commissioned the **CADW**, previously known as the 1st. Independent Air Wing, set to complete its formation 150 days later.

At the final days of the Wing's deployment, Commonwealth officials soon realized that the aircraft they were building, although very suitable for the conditions of Curacao, were neither capable of being transferred to Yadrani nor operating there because of the lack of infrastructure present for the housing of the unit. Not only that, the atmospheric pressure, along with the different gravity level and weather conditions made flying almost impossible for the aircraft presented to the unit, the A-17 Republican Fighter-Bomber, as tests later proved that, for the Commonwealth to get the aircraft working on the planet, it would require an outfit costing double the standard price of a operational **A-17**. The order to dismantle the wing was about to be issued, but Curacao politicians and military officers decided to deploy the unit anyway, in order to at least provide defensive planetary support to the Commonwealth's biggest 'Forge World’.

Most within the Commonwealth saw the formation (And almost dismantling) of the wing as a enormous and unnecessary bureaucratic error, treating the unit with little respect, and mocking the lack of utility of such force in the heart of a ever expanding nation like the Commonwealth herself. Comedians, politicians from other worlds, and even members of the **CADW** itself crashed down into the unit's standing and overall prestige among the Armed Forces, turning the Wing into one of the most mocked units among the general public of nation. If the conditions continued the same, however, it would be certain that the Air Wing would be dismantled in the following years of its deployment.

It was clear that something had to be done in order to prevent the decommission of the 1st. Independent Air Wing. The solution only came months later, however, with the discharge of the commanding officer (A Jir named Yalvel Kirstoph) after a drunken brawl with civilian journalists inside one of the pubs of Curacao, where the involvement of the officers themselves on the affair was quite clear for the media and the military responsible for the overview of the Wing. Days later, a military veteran who fought for the Commonwealth during Aramathi Liberation War was placed in charge of the unit. Her name was Veronika Bashirovka, and she carried orders from Curacao High Command to turn the unit into an elite military training and disciplinary force, quite the opposite of what the Air Wing was at the time. The change in command was brutal for the pilots in early stages, Veronika directed a policy similar to the ones enacted by special forces detachments, taking into account any error committed by recruits and applying severe punishments as a consequence. She would later be nicknamed by Admiral Ibrahim as *“The Dagger of the Skies”*, after Satayesh learnt about one of Manticore's Fighter pilot's story, when Veronika stuffed a knife deep into a pilots hand whilst he had been playing with it, during one of the many daily briefings the Air Wing did.

Years later, knowing that the unit wouldn't be relocated to another planet anymore, the government stepped in to reform the Fighter-bomber military group, finally renaming it into the **Curacao's Air Defence Wing**, and enacting the official role of the unit as one of training and planetary-wide defense.

With the training programs swinging at full capacity, and with the placement of a competent and extreme officer in command, the **CADW** quickly turned into one of the most promising training facilities inside Commonwealth space, turning naïve recruits into the most hardened and experienced pilots for the Aircraft and Spacecraft Wings of the nation. The unit's renown increased significantly, and with it, the prestige reached the top of the ranks.

Not long after the so awaited commission of the Faust-Class Light Carriers, the **CADW** initiated drills to instruct pilots to fight in carrier led operations, rework their formations to fight inside tight fleet engagements, and fight with the newly added Carrier Fighter, the Ulan, the Carrier Interceptor, the Cossack, and finally, the Mamluk Carrier Bomber.

   During fleet battles, pilots previously posted in the **CADW** were the ones with the best performances, scoring several feats in matters of single hours. These pilots were the first steps for a creation of the Fleet's famous Elite Squadrons, which would later become the pride of Manticore, housing the best of the best and functioning as a massive propaganda boost to the nation's morale and spirit.

In 2305, the Commonwealth faced one of it's greatest tragedies in history, a surprise attack known later as Last Light. At the time, **CADW** was also affected by the attack, as half a dozen of pilots unauthorizedly took off from their bases and headed straight towards government buildings located in the planet. Their mission, to bomb the political sectors of Curacao, resulting into plummeting the entire globe into disarray and greatly hitting the economical production of the Commonwealth as a whole.

The rest of the wing did not stay idle however. Veronika herself assembled her personal squadron, **Kosciuszko Squadron** (More information listed below), along with many others, and set out to hunt the rogue pilots.

At the end, all of the enemy aircraft were shot down. The damage inflicted on the buildings was not catastrophic, as most of the rogue pilots fell from the skies even before they had reached the political center of the planet, however, many crash sites occurred in civillian regions, making the casualties toll skyrocket in comparison to what it would have been if the government sections had actually been hit. Afterwards, this resulted in a very harsh treatment of the psionic newcomers, as punishment, most were allocated to special squadrons in much worst conditions than the standards of the **CADW**.

## **Structure, Hierarchy & Command**

As it stands today **CADW** has largely the same structure as all other Commonwealth Air Forces; it's made up of one HQ, three command centres, groups - then stations, wings and flights.

* **HQ**: Also known as Curacao High Command (CHC), this is the central HQ for all of Curacao's military organisations. This is where the top brass reside; said top brass consist of all the highest ranking members from their respected branch of the military (The Air Force, The Military, The Navy).
* **The Command Centres**: These centres are responsible for the defence of their own respected regions, each region having a coverage of roughly a third of Curacao; to maintain military and logistical cohesion one of these centres is made the 'first amongst equals' and this centre has overall control of the entire Air Force. Though this is meant to increase co-operation in war-time occasions it has had quite the opposite effect in peace-time endeavours; the three centres fiercely compete with each other for the position as 'first among equals' as the position grants a substantial influence over the allocation of resources and the title holder can grant itself a substantial portion of these resources. A command centre each has there own inner-hierarchy like all command centres do.
* **Groups**: A group is just a grouping of stations; containing between four-to-five stations each, the stations themselves are assigned a group based on there location and wings within this group co-ordinate with each other more-so than wings outside their group. A group is Commanded by a Group Captain, who ranks directly above a Wing Commander and directly below an Air Commodore.
* **Stations**: A station is a location that contains at least a hangar, an airstrip and an ATC; a single station houses no more than one wing and multiple smaller stations will house segments of the same wing if there is no station large enough to fit an entire wing. Every station has there own inner-hierarchy which answers to their command centre and disseminates orders from the top down to the wings and squadrons.
* **Wings**: A wing is made up of 20 squadrons. The highest rank within a wing is Wing Commander, who ranks directly above a Squadron Leader and directly below a Group Captain, these personal will be a head of one of their own squadrons, who themselves will be the best flyers within that wing.
* **Squadrons**: A squadron contains 20 aircraft; if the head of a squadron is not the Wing Commander then the commander is a Squadron Leader, who ranks directly below a Wing Commander and directly above a Flight Lieutenant.

## **The Kosciuszko Squadron**

Though **CADW** is already known as a elite recruitment organisation, there is one Squadron within the unitthat possesses inside its ranks the most talented pilots among the entire Commonwealth; the men, women and Xenos within it are the unmatched rulers of the skies.

As the most prestigious aerial recruitment organisation, **CADW** is never in short supply of fresh recruits, of which they only select the very best. Its strict regimes, drills, extensive scenarios, and discipline ensure that **CADW** becomes nothing less than a master at aerial combat... But then, there are those pilots that become this and go on to surpass it; as more recruits flocked in so did the candidates with unmatched skill, and so, the elites needed their own elites to rise up.

It began with 5 flyers; flyers who had breezed through the simulations, who had redefined aerial combat, who'd run circles around the instructors and made a mockery of their tests. Veronika, after personally analysing each pilot, pulled them all together to form a new Squadron, and, under her iron leadership, the recruits would be moulded into true warriors of the sky; members of this squadron would forget the feeling of earth beneath their boots, the sky would be their new home from now on.

Over the years, the squadron would take on new members... However, as time continued passing by, the squadron would also lose some; the training exercises would push some pilots to limits too far, a maneuver gone wrong mere feet above ground...or just a technical fault, the slightest lapse was fatal and death was a moment away. But eventually, Veronika's personal squadron came out to reach the wholesome limit of 20 hardened elite pilots.

### **The Pilots**

* Veronika Bashirovka - Human Female (Age 147) - OLD GENERATION
* Irena, Kulbacka - Human Female (Age 177)

* Rüdiger Schröpfer - Human Male (Age 167)
* Zygfryda Smuszewska - Human Female (Age 147)
* Kraeknul Helta - Aramathi Female (Age 145)

* Aurelia Tarka - Human Female (Age 141)
* Iga Korczynska - Human Female (Age 135)
* Aragog Velin - Jir Male (Age 126)
* Nina Andrzejewska - Human Female (Age 115)
* Paulina Krupa - Karthema Female (Age 113)
* Käthe Slesinger - Human Female (Age 97)
* Folmon Wrangella - Thradrakos Male (Age 93)
* Silke Hauck - Human Female (Age 90) - SPACE GENERATION
* Karina Rosa & Kamila Rosa - Human Females (Age 87)
* Cecylia Bosak - Human Female (Age 85)
* Jakub Brzezinski - Human Male (Age 83)

* Genowefa Ogorek - Human Female (Age 81)
* Annika Vahlen - Human Female (Age 79)
* Martyr Tagg - Karthema Male (Age 62)
* Gustaf Tallberg - Yaanari Male (Age 57)
* Zaehma Luva - Aramathi Female (Age 51)
* Hyuga Tar'Bir - Karthema Female (Age 49) - YOUNG GENERATION
* Elena Kavaliauskas - Human Female (Age 46)
* Adrius Midiosec - Human Male (Age 46)
* Yuri Angelika - Human Female (Age 41)
* Mep Isdema - Jir Male (Age 38)
* Arius Wrangella - Thadrakos Male (Age 33)
* Ulryk Kucharski - Vrinn Male (Age 29)
* Klymski Hada - Alir Female (Age 28)
* Haya Mànina - Human Female (Age 25)
* Anastasia Vasilievich - Human Female (Age 21)

As you may have noticed; a large portion of the squadron is Human, and most of those Humans are female. It may seem disproportionate at first, given the large diversity in the Commonwealth, but the reason is down to hard scientific fact... Humans possess a unique anatomy to the majority of the other species that makes their bodies better suited to aerial combat. And because of most other species lack of anatomical structure necessary for combative flight their are few non-human air pilots.

Fast flying, tight maneuvers, rapid acceleration and deceleration are the founding blocks of aerial combat; these kind of actions exert massive pressures of g-force, the amount of forces exerted in an A-17 and later models can be anywhere from 3 to 13 times higher than even the greatest g-forces exerted by the older fighter jets from old Earth. If too much gravitational force is exerted on a pilot, then said pilot can be knocked out, put in a coma or just straight up die under certain circumstances; but as it turns out, human bodies are some of the most apt ones to handle these conditions, and female humans tend to fare even more so than males. Whilst certainly not the most apt; in comparison to literally avian species, little comes close in comparison to other species that evolved on land.

**Aerial Combat & Pilot Species Anatomy:**

* **Aramathi**: A natural Aramathi is tall and almost always of a larger mass than a Human; usually being tall is actually beneficial to the pilot, but only if you are also the same weight and BMI of the average pilot... otherwise the height is a detriment. The large frame and density of an Aramathi makes them generally unsuited to aerial combat. Given the large protruding face/nose the direct centre of an Aramathi's sight is slightly poorer but much better around the sides; this makes them ill suited for dog-fighting but better bombers as they can see threats from the side much better. Overall; without serious and irreversible modification the Aramathi are a poor aerial fighter, however with extensive genetic or/and mechanical modification they can be usable in mid-gravity planets.
* **Alir**: A natural Alir is large and bulky in comparison to a human; while they are actually smaller than the average human they are, due to their outreaching limbs and chitinous behind, much wider. While their movement is by no means stiff or ungainly, their size is of great detriment. A universal fact of aerial combat is that a fighter aircraft must firstly be small, or benefit greatly from slightly increased size, the whole reason a bomber is outmatched by fighters is because they're big and unmanoeuvrable. An Alir is almost 1.25 times the weight of a human and have many long extraneous limbs; an aircraft would have to be almost 4 to 5 times the size and would have to be internally redesigned. Overall: Completely unsuited to aerial combat unless the Alir willingly removes half it's back body, chops off its legs and removes its neck.
* **Karthemas**: A natural Karthema is roughly the same size as a human and equal in many regards; they possess similar bone structures, monocular vision and have suitable reflex speeds. However the Karthema come from martial background that emphasised the prowess of swordsmanship and other traditional arts of war. This culture is still largely ingrained in them and the notion of fighting in the air still seems a bit nonsensical to them, as such few possess the vigour for such intensive training other than the standard training programmes. Overall: They compete well with Humans and mostly require similar enhancements to humans, but they lack enthusiasm and few go on to become aces.
* **Jir**: A natural Jir is, on average, slightly smaller than the average Human male; due to their leaner stature the forces of g-force do not have such an impact. A natural pilot suffers from short sightedness however; due to the broader range of vision given by their eyes they sacrifice any hope of having far sight. Overall: If willing to undergo modification the Jir are largely equal to Human pilots; however, their bones cannot be modified to resist g-forces or they risk damaging their skeletons, this means that human pilots can genetically enhance their abilities to a greater degree than the Jir
* **Human**: A natural Human is small and lean, relative to most other species, possesses monocular sight and their anatomy is suitable for operating in small spaces. Though the average Human cannot resist great amounts of g-force; females, who tend to be leaner, are more suited to this task. Overall: A human pilot naturally possesses many favourable aspects, as such, many genetic/mechanical modifications and focus on enhancing their abilities rather than compensating for shortcomings... This makes fully modified human pilots much better than fully modified alien pilots.

### **Kosciuszko Squadron & Its Members**

**Kraeknul Helta**

Kraeknul Helta, the only Aramathi present inside the squadron, was born and raised on the planet of Tyntregal; she lived her life as a independent mechanic, fixing burnt out servers and replacing broken down robots. Her story began when she took up a lucrative contract with Tyntregal Space Station; the work she did in the station would pay all her living expenses for years to come and still leave some credits for herself. Addition, the station would also pay for family accommodation & education provided they would live aboard the station. At the time, it wasn't hard to make a decision... But later her family would pay dearly for her choice. Some time later, in 2259AD, the station was destroyed during the Battle of Tyntregal; Kraeknul was located at the planet side at the time, her family, however, was not. After the battle, she decided to volunteer for military service, and years later, she would find her way into **CADW** as a expert fighter pilot and engineer, soon joining the squadron for her extensive expertise in flight.

**Folman Wrangella**

It is not a rarity to see Thadrakos within the Commonwealth's borders; they are essentially the 21st century version of tourists, they enjoy sightseeing the spectacles that even the 'lesser Thadrakos' and their 'associates' can create. However, seeing one in the Commonwealth's military is indeed a rarity, nigh-on a myth itself for some. This makes Folmon Wrangella, a volunteer pilot from the Thadrakos Families, somewhat of a extraordinary case; not only is he in the Commonwealth's Armed Forces, but also takes part on perhaps the most veteran fighter squadron in the Southeastern Galactic Quadrant. But while this is certainly a great rarity, it is not actually all too hard to explain why his reasons for applying. The Thadrakos strive for perfection, how they strive to do it can vary though. Folman seeks perfection through mastery of aerial and space combat; feeling that his talent was squandered by his fellow Thadrakos counterparts, who did not appreciate the finer arts of aerial flight, he decided to leave his nation to seek out those who strived for the same perfection he did... It only made sense to search the Commonwealth first; they are, after all, one of the few nations of a more sophisticated culture, and it did not take long for Folman to hear to hear about **CADW**￼.￼

> *"You; ah yes you with the hat! You look like the sort to know about where I might find a place to enquire about the variety and multitudes of your armed forces, such as what would equate to land forces, air forces and space forces in your nation? Particularly, I'm looking for associates of whatever organisation can arrange for my application to join specialists of an aerial inclination towards combat... do you perhaps know where I might find one possessing such experts?"*
>
>

Once Folman enlisted, he soon found himself amongst **Kosciuszko Squadron**. One might think that being a Thadrakos would make him one of the more vilified members of the squadron, but he has become perhaps the most likeable character of the unit. Folman is generally often a polite and generous disposition, normally partaking in one-to-one training exercises and assisting other pilots in the most complicated maneuvers. Whether this is because he hopes that others will teach him in exchange for his help, to disguise the more elitist feelings inside him, to simply make up for the stereotypes his species suffers from, or maybe that this is just the way he is, it is all up for debate. Of course some members of the squadron do not trust the Thadrakos; but the twins seem to, and that's usually enough for most of the squadron to open up for the newcomers. After the revolution within Thadrakos territory, most of his noble family came for refuge in the Commonwealth. His nephew, Arius Wrangella, also joined the force, in 2325, depite Folman's quiet protests.

**Karina Rosa & Kamila Rosa**

Karina Rosa & Kamila Rosa are monozygotic (identical) human twins, who, together, are able to perform raw manoeuvres of unimaginable complexity with their aircraft; while alone they compare to the average squadron member, together they can achieve what 2 other pilots could never even try making. This synergy is not the work of an uncanny twin mindset, but rather the very beneficial pairing of identical genetics and their psionic powers. While their powers are by no means remarkable on the individual basis, the rare partnership of psionic twins has an unusual amplifier effect that benefits both users.

Karina & Kamila's psionic powers are mostly basic; some small levitation tricks, limited precognition and very limited mind manipulation i.e. brief illusions. Alone, neither twin can perform these abilities without great exertion, but when standing mere feat apart, some abilities are amplified; with their powers clustered together, they can perform greater acts of telekinesis and can see almost 2 minutes into their own futures (Specifically their own futures, they cannot foresee anything else)… Their powers of creating false images does also extend to other senses like sound and touch, but are not much more powerful than that. However; when together, they can become linked to each others thought and actions, thus being able to see what the other sees and feel what the other feels. The connection could be seen as something similar to the Biluan Mind, except they do not become one-and-the-same. This translates perfectly into aerial combat, as the synergy between the two pilots can set-up each other for the most optimal angles of attack or lead a pursuing fighter into another's crosshairs... Also of use is their precognition; they can foresee surprise Missile launches or Railgun battery fire, allowing the entire squadron to take evasive manoeuvres before landing in the frying pan.

There is, however, a very sensitive drawback in their powers. The twins must be close together to maintain the most optimal powers; and in aerial combat, getting separated, even by miles, is a common occurrence... Their powers do not immediately drop off when miles away and they can maintain their power for almost 20 minutes apart, but the psionic withdrawal is onset further by exhaustion, and if the link is severed too rapidly, they could experience brain trauma or outright damage to their mental functioning.

**Update**: When the Last Light occurred psionics across the entire Commonwealth were effected, the twins were no exception. As the psionics lost their control to the Zracon influence many immediately turned to their devious tasks; however, this was not quite the case with the twins... The Zracon seemed only able to control one of the two twins at a time; this led to the two twins pitting themselves against each other, initially starting with the uncontrolled twin Karina yanking Kamila from the cockpit of an A-17 and then the psionic control switching from Kamila to Karina. This kept their duel in a catch 22 situation; the moment one twin came close to winning the psionic control would switch and the combat would continue, the pair would have gone on until one collapsed dead but security teams knocked them both down after 10 minutes.

Since the events the twins awaited their fate inside the confines of special military cells, and returning to **CADW** was unlikely given their access and skill with fighter jets.When they were released, in 2307, they retired from military life. In 2349, they left the Commonwealth altogether, hoping to find a future in the territory of the newly established Forsaken Coven.

**Paulina Krupa**

Paulina Krupa may sound like a human name; and you'd be right, but to much confusion, she is actually a Karthema. Fleeing the oppressive rule of Yadraan nobles; Krupa's parents, whose names are not known neither by herself, travelled across the warp aboard a squalid refugee ship. So cramped the ship was that there was death aplenty; disease, starvation, murder and rape were common sight aboard the nameless vessel... This was no ship bound for the Commonwealth; it was originally one bound for Yaanari space... The smugglers; whose actions were more stirred by notions of profit then of humanity, had manipulated the poor, destitute, and desperate, with promises of the journey towards the Commonwealth, when the true intent was sell them to the Yanaari slavers.

It was through a series of not fortunate events that a baby Karthema would be one of the few to survive the journey; it's not known what happened precisely, but from what audio transcripts could be salvaged, it appears that the hull sustained damage en route to Yanaari space, when some rowdy refugees caused some kind of explosion, rupturing the internal lining of the hull and exposing its innards to the void of space. Though the effected cabins were sealed off, the explosion had done damage nevertheless. It had destroyed the insignia that the traders used to be identified, and, unaware of this, the traders thought themselves to be in favourable trading conditions and pressed the Yaanari too hard. How the situation escalated is unknown, but the trader vessel ended up grounded in it's own fiery wreckage on a large asteroid; eventually, Commonwealth scavengers found the wreck, and during their search of the abandoned vessel they found an abandoned child, wrapped between the dead arms of two adult Karthemas; being generally ignorant of Karthema culture at the time, they did not know how to give an appropriate name for the child, so they stuck with a human name. Growing up within the scavenger society, she proved to be an able flyer of scrap vessels, later applying to join **CADW**... And the rest, as they say, is history.

### **Trivia**

Unbeknownst to most who do not live on Curacao, the squadron is not named after *the Kosciuszko Squadron* in the famous fictional novel, *2284 Orwell,* in which they partake in one of the greatest fictional air battles of the novel known as *'The battle of Britain'.* In reality, **Kosciuszko Squadron** is named after a prolific serial killer who evaded the authorities of the planet for years. While Curacao was in its early days of colonisation, a man by the single name of Kosciuszko had preyed upon solitary victims, victims who he would clinically murder in a fashion akin to a surgeon... And then display the limbs and torso of his victims across the streets, as if they were art pieces. The reason for his explicit actions are to this date unknown, but psychologists believe he may have suffered from uncontrollable psionic outbursts that manifested into violent behaviours and breakdowns. In total, Kosciuszko killed 36 people over the course of 24 years, but his name went down in history as *'The only serial killer to be killed via fighter jets'.*

Authorities called in expert help from Task Force Ethereal to put down the prolific killer; how the operation was performed is largely unknown, but from reports, it is implied that psionic operatives mind controlled Kosciuszko and forced him to walk out into the open artic plains where they intended to let him freeze to death. However, there was a change of heart during the operation. To make an example of him; and as an apology to the citizens of Curacao, who had felt let down by the service, film crews were sent out to film his death. Not death by hypothermia though; death by airstrike, in what is known as the most brutal (and only) official public execution ever to occur in the Commonwealth.

Veronika Bashirovka, at the time, not yet the elite Wing Commander she would come to be known as, was granted the 'honour' of launching the missile aimed at the killer, later, in remembrance of her law enforcement mission, she assembled a personal squadron, naming it as **Kosciuszko Squadron** at last.