UNY I

###February 5th, 2051: Fear the Skies

The Dutch nuclear program had been a point of contention between NATO and the Unity for some time, but in 2051 the Unity made its stance horrifically clear: the Netherlands would denuclearize, or it would be destroyed. When the Unity demanded Germany disable its Kepler ABM constellation, so that they could launch a strategic nuclear bombardment of the Netherlands, Germany predictably refused. The Unity once again took the shortest path between point A and point B: if Germany would not clear the way for the elimination of the Netherlands, they too must be made to capitulate.

On February 5th, nearly one thousand fifth generation aircraft sortied out of Unity airspace on a course for Germany, even as, far above, the Unity’s own reproduction of the Kepler Array began engaging the German constellation. German aircraft rapidly sortied to intercept, forewarned by the Baltic states’ early warning arrays, but as the magnitude of the threat became clear, it rapidly became apparent that Germany’s own obsolete Typhoons and Tornadoes would be woefully inadequate. As Germany activated Article V, American Republic aircraft would sortie in turn. Germany’s nearly two hundred Typhoons and Tornadoes, backed up by the Republic’s 100 5.5 generation Lightnings and Raptors and over 50 more Eagles and Loyal Wingmen. The Dutch, for their part, would contribute 100 more base-model and lightly-upgraded F-35s of various models. Opposing them would be 400 6th generation attack drones, 100 of the nebulously categorized Su-57, 400 more wingman drones, and more than 80 flying-wing stealth bombers. A critical vulnerability would, however, compromise the Unity’s numbers advantage: the hivemind itself. As members of the Unity must maintain continuous electronic contact with the gestalt, the Unity’s manned aircraft were unable to take refuge in radio silence. This would be especially damning for the Siluet stealth bombers, which could otherwise have been a major challenge for even the heaviest of air defenses. The 6th generation Su-45 drone lacked this vulnerability, but had another key issue. Although onboard computers were more than capable of performing most any function of a manned fighter, the systems lacked the tactical expertise and flexibility of a human pilot or onboard AI when disconnected from command networks. The Unity’s aircraft, therefore, found their stealth compromised by the need to give tactical direction to forces coming in contact with NATO air defenses. Not only this, but the attacking aircraft lacked any AEW&C or tanker support, leaving them at a critical disadvantage in intelligence and only able to spend a short time over their targets.

The first wave would be the deadliest; with only three hours to prepare, only locally stationed German, Dutch, and Republic air assets, maintained on quick reaction alert, would be able to sortie in time to respond to the Unity’s thousand-plane alpha strike. The obsolete German aircraft would be savaged in the brutal air battle, while the Dutch Lightnings held their own, but it was the Republic’s advanced late-model stealth jets that would be the lynchpin of the defense. Stalking through the stratosphere, armed with undetectable quantum radars and massive conformal photonic radar arrays, the Republic’s aircraft ripped holes in Unity formations, calling in hypersonic missile strikes from arsenal fighters lurking behind the lines or striking with their own munitions before disappearing into the background noise once more. Onboard quantum computers networked into distributed supercomputing clusters wreaked havoc in the Unity’s massive drone formations, with rolling cyberattacks disrupting communications, but the Unity’s advanced quantum encryption was able to contain most of the damage.

Badly outnumbered, however, this desperate defense would not be enough. Embattled Ramstein Airbase would be badly damaged during the attacks, Republic aircrews desperately fighting to rearm their fighters and get them back into the air, even as the bombs fell around them. Footage of F-22s roaring off the runway as bombs dropped behind them and crews loading a fresh payload into an F-35 as the next hangar over was struck would become some of the enduring images of the battle over Germany. As Ramstein fell, Republic aircraft would fall back to France and Britain, joined by the few survivors of Germany’s Typhoon squadrons.

As the Unity onslaught continued, battered NATO air forces consolidated and fell back, preparing to charge once more into the breach against hopeless odds. The tide would turn, however, with fresh reinforcements from the Commonwealth and Poland. The air battle moved over the Baltic as squadrons of Commonwealth aircraft entered the fray, one hundred sixth generation fighters, three hundred Lightnings, and nearly a thousand expendable drones turning the tide of the battle against waves of Unity reinforcements. As the last squadron of Siluet bombers over Germany struck their targets, however, the seemingly endless waves of Unity aircraft suddenly turned back.

After nearly eight hours of desperate fighting, the Battle of the Baltic was over as quickly as it had started. The toll became clear as German military personnel emerged from the rubble to assess the damage. Germany’s military infrastructure had been ravaged, with airbases and command and control infrastructure suffering the brunt of the assault. The Unity’s true aims became clear, however, when damage assessment teams reached the location of the last strike: the Kepler Array uplink. Communications with the Array were lost; the constellation would be left to carry out its pre-existing orders.