Skirmish at Mu Southern Airspace

### Result

**Gra Valkas Strategic Victory*** Super Heavy Bomber Regiment makes it to the Riem Kingdom

**Mu Tactical Victory**

* Field test successful

The **Skirmish at Mu Southern Airspace** was a minor engagement between the Gra Valkas Empire and Mu during the Great Naval Invasion of Japan, where the large formations of the Gra Valkas Imperial Super Heavy Bombing Unit fly in the airspace over the south of Mu. Mu uses the first prototype X Shinden Kai jet fighter to intercept the single Guti Maun heavy bomber, which turns back to Leifor due to engine trouble.

* Air Gunner Den Taruk
* Super Heavy Bombing Unit
	+ 212 Guti Maun heavy bombers
		- 1 Guti Maun Heavy Bomber No. 18 (engine failure)

**Advanced Technologies Test Site**

## Background

### Gra Valkas Empire

The Great Naval Invasion of Japan had already suffered a major set back when Japan, using guided munitions, annihilated the 1st and 2nd Advanced Fleets of the 1st Battlegroup acting as the vanguard of the invasion. Seeking to keep Japan's limited forces tied up, General Caesar Roland ordered Gra Valkas forces stationed in the Riem Kingdom to begin attacks on Japan's northern territories. To support these, he used his authority as one of the Great Generals to order the Super Heavy Bombing Regiment to deploy and be part of the attacks.

The Special Extermination Operations Division under command of operations director Arley Tolliger was given orders from Admiral Caesar to move out and start bombing raids on Japanese cities to assist Caesar's plan, using their new heavy bombers, Guti Maun. Their target was Nagoya, one of the Japanese major cities. Despite the Guti Maun's long-range flight capabilities, it was still not enough for the bombers to fly directly from their home base to Nagoya. Hence they would be attacking from the Third Civilization regions by making a total of five stops for refueling, including through Leifor as the first stop and Riem as the last stop before heading toward Japan's Home Islands. Since they are expecting no resistance in Second Civilization, Central World, and Third Civilization that can reach the Guti Maun's altitudes, the bomber crews felt safe taking this route to Japan.

The Gra Valkas Empire Special Extermination Operations Division Super Heavy Bombing Unit had decided to participate in the attack on Japan. 212 Guti Maun heavy bombers, which took off from each airport, flew into the azure sky ahead to the Riem Kingdom. The regiment chose a flight path that took it over Mu's territory, confident that their ability to fly at high altitude would make interception impossible.

### Mu

Thanks to Japan's help, Mu had successfully defended itself from the Gra Valkas Empire, and the front was quiet while their enemy dealt with the unprecedented capture of its Crown Prince Gra Cabal. Mu used this time to rebuild and strengthen its forces.

Technology Officer Myrus, who had witnessed Japanese technology firsthand, visited the Advanced Technologies Test Site. The commander of the Advanced Technologies Test Site explained to him that Mu deployed their rudimentary ECM equipment built using an outdated secondhand laptop as the main computing core from Japan to disrupt the Gra Valkas Empire communications. Right in front of Myrus’ eyes were several massive, long antennas connected by cables to a downgraded PC imported from Japan. Then he led Myrus to the hangar.

At the hangar, they built the first prototype jet fighter of Mu, the X Shinden Kai, with a rear, propeller engine, but was intended to be outfitted with a jet engine of the Kawasaki T-4 Trainer Jet Aircraft, the XF3-400. The ATTS commander explained to him that the jet engine would be substituted in place of the T4 engine for research purposes, making him surprised at the presence of an afterburner. The frame was constructed from lighter and stronger materials, also imported from Japan. The Shinden Kai was still subjected to further improvements like installing onboard radar and a larger ammo size for four 30mm autocannons mounted on the nose that could shoot down the aerial battleship Pal Chimera, in preparation for the return of the Ravernal Empire.

## Battle

### Air Interception Failure in High Altitude

212 large formations of the Guti Maun Heavy Bombers of the Gra Valkas Empire flew in the sky over the Mu Continent, at the air control center of the Hath Airbase in the southern regions of Mu. A female radar operator looked on Mu's latest 2D radar, using technologies described in textbooks imported from Japan, managed to detect enemy aircraft from more than 200km away. She spotted the Gra Valkas Imperial Army heading straight for the base 203km away and yelled throughout the base issuing a repeated broadcast that heightened tensions.

The pilots jumped into their parked Marin fighters. One by one, the Marin fighters accelerated and took off from the runway, and flew into the sky. The radar operator analyzed on the radar, commencing altitude measurement. She reported to base commander Yellow after completing speed and altitude calculations that the Gra Valkan aircraft were at 14,000m altitude, traveling at more than 700km/h. Yellow was stunned that Marin fighters could not reach that altitude. Moreover, their anti-aircraft guns didn’t even reach that high.

In the face of this overwhelming disparity in capabilities and hopelessness, Yellow could only imagine the sight of the base being one-sidedly destroyed. Unable to steer clear of the impending doom, the personnel of Hath airbase panicked and rushed to mount whatever they could to soften the damage. Fortunately, the Hath Airbase was not bombed.

At the same time, Arley Tolliger on the Guti Maun heavy bomber heard the report from the subordinates that there was no sign of Mu's Marin fighters in the high altitude that was wandering far low in circles right below them. Seemingly uninteresting, he threw it away. Their objective was Japan and only Japan. Mu, while exposed to their attack, wasn’t in their sight. The subordinate reported to him that the number 18 Guti Maun heavy bomber had trouble with the 4th engine. He instructed the bomber no. 18 to return to Leifor's Love base without problem. The number 18 Guti Maun heavy bomber took the course toward the Love base in Leifor.

### Air Combat Test

At the Advanced Technologies Test Site in Mu, a young officer reported to Myrus and the commander that the Gra Valkan massive plane was heading straight for Mu base after passing over Hath Airbase. At that point, Myrus decided to send the X Shinden Kai to intercept the intruder as a test flight.

Meanwhile, the experimental Shinden Kai was preparing to take off from the runway. From the back of the Shinden Kai, the afterburner spitted out a jet of flame. After achieving a certain speed, it surpassed every single Mu aircraft up to that point as it swiftly flew up and disappeared into the sky, climbing over 11,000 meters altitude. The Shinden Kai fighter got visual confirmation on the enemy aircraft and commenced its attack on the Gra Valkas super heavy bomber, the Guti Maun.

Den Taruk, sitting in the lower machine gun seat, gazed at the bottom of Mu's territory. The next moment, he saw something like a dot from the bottom for a moment. Den Taruk's doubts instantly turned into the conviction that unfamiliar aircraft appeared in the distance. He grabbed the machine gun and tried to aim it. At the tip of the sight, the Shinden Kai fighter started shooting. The sudden approaching Shinden Kai fighter escaped from the bottom to the top and ran up to a higher altitude. After hearing the sound of a cannon landing, the sound of something igniting and the burning heat was transmitted. On the wing, the propeller stopped after one of the five engines was on fire. The upper machine gunner seemed desperately fighting back. They tried to shoot down the Shinden Kai fighter with their defensive machine guns. However, due to its speed, it managed to dodge the defensive fire.

Den Taruk reached for an oxygen mask and put on it in a fading consciousness. He heard an unpleasant voice from the gunners and a crunching sound again. The Shinden Kai fighter managed to shoot down the Guti Maun No. 18, with its 30mm autocannons, causing the bomber's wings to begin to burn with the sound of the explosion. Grabbing hold of a parachute, he desperately opens the escape hatch and emerges from the plane. He looked up while receiving the falling speed and wind pressure. Enveloped in flames, the Guti Maun heavy bomber fell out of the sky, crashing down to the ground. Despairing, Den Taruk also continued to fall into Mu territory.

## Aftermath

In the grand scheme of the battle, the impact was minimal. The majority of bombers made it to their staging area for attacks on Japan. However, the skirmish displayed the rapidly shrinking tech gap between the Gra Valkas Empire and its many enemies in the New World.

The remaining Guti Maun heavy bombers had arrived in the Riem Kingdom, where they would be refueled one last time and escorted by fighter planes to Nagoya. The presence of Guti Maun made King Bank of the Riem Kingdom fall into a false sense of security, and his deluded mind told him that the Gra Valkas would never lose to Japan.

At the emergency meeting in Japan's capital Tokyo, the Prime Minister was informed that a 200-strong aircraft formation passed through the Mu continent after completing replenishment at Leifor and headed straight to Riem. Moreover, 52 Gra Valkas imperial cruisers and destroyers had gathered at the capital Hilkiga of the Riem Kingdom, and a further 300 aircraft were positioned in the airfield within the kingdom. Japan Mainland Defense Command certainly couldn’t rule that possibility out, but according to the Mu spies in Riem, there was no doubt that once the 200 enemy aircraft reached Riem and completed preparations, they would immediately launch their attack on Japan's mainland while a simultaneous attack with the Gra Valkas Empire's Great Fleet off Newland. Instead, Japan planned to launch the attack as soon as the entire Guti Maun had taken off from the Riem airfield, destroying all of them within the airfield.