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    • Aurelian Airforce Journal
      • Volume 01
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    • Air Power
      • 4/2004
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      • Summer 2004 - Touchdown
      • 10/2004
    • Air Ustio
      • 3/3/1995 - Ustio Lessons
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      • 7/3/1995 - Tanker of the Sky
      • 8/3/1995 - EA-6B
      • 9/3/1995 - Mirage 2000D
      • 10/3/1995 - Tornado GR4
    • Belkan Air Power
      • First Edition, Part 1
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      • Second Edition
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      • 3/3/1995
      • 4/3/1995
      • 5/3/1995
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      • Genette's Memo
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The World of AC04


The Arrival of the Ulysses Asteroid

Picture
July 1999, a fragment of Ulysses captured on home video.
A precarious balance of power known as the “armed peace” had endured between the major power of Erusea in western Usea, and the continent's other, smaller nations.

It was then that a single asteroid approached the surface of the Earth. At first “1994XF04,” later famously christened “Ulysses,” it passed through the earth’s Roche limit five years after it was first spotted, breaking into over a thousand fragments and countless splinters as it fell to the surface. 500,000 souls perished in the first two weeks on the Usean continent, and damage was inflicted equivalent to 18 months of the entire continent’s GDP. Additionally, meteorites would from time to time continue to fall as if a recurring memory to torment us for some years afterwards.

However, unlike as had been written in many sci-fi comics, civilization did not come to its end. Rather, it created economic and refugee crises everywhere. For good or ill, the world Ulysses left in its wake was not a dead one but one full of life. It’s been four years since the summer when the meteorites fell.
​
The Erusean military has begun its invasion of the neutral nation of San Salvacion.

The Erusean Military's Invasion

Picture
A rare close-up of Stonehenge.
A land whose importance to trade on the continent has made it a battlefield time and time again throughout history has once again been consumed by the flames of war. After three days of ground fighting following aerial bombardment, Erusean forces occupied the capital city of San Salvacion. The Stonehenge meteorite interceptor cannons within the country were then taken over and transferred to military control.

Stonehenge was originally a railgun built to intercept meter-class meteorites so that the continent would not be turned to cinder. With joint international supervision, it was constructed and collectively managed in San Salvacion, nearly at the center of the continent, but Erusean forces have taken it.
​
Other countries which opposed this aggression organized into ISAF (Independent States Allied Forces) and established a joint front. However, the Erusean military, appropriating Stonehenge for military use as an anti aircraft weapon, dominated the skies over the continent with its range and destructive power. With air support unreliable, ISAF fought a defensive ground war, retreating further and further eastward.

The Evacuation of the Continent

Picture
This photo of the 5 Erusean aircraft has been censored by ISAF and marked with a large red cross, indicating its unsuitability for public dissemination.
Having withdrawn to the eastern metropolis of Los Canas, ISAF approved plans to attack Stonehenge on the grounds that any further retreat would place the guns beyond the range of fighter-bombers. A special attack force was created, with the best pilots recruited to fly twelve F-15Es armed modestly in order to extend their range and twelve F-15Cs to achieve air superiority. When the opportunity arose, the ISAF commenced its attack.

As the attack group approached Stonehenge, the supporting AWACS picked up five unidentified contacts on radar. The five popup bandits shot down F-15 after F-15 in a stunning display of fighting skill. The ISAF aircraft fought tooth and nail, but all resistance was vain, and they were destroyed to a man. The city of Los Canas surrendered several days later.

Without any direct means of attacking Stonehenge, ISAF forces were pushed back towards the East Coast. ISAF GHQ decided to abandon the continent and a large-scale evacuation to the island country of North Point, located to the northeast of the Usean continent, was commenced.

A Patchwork Army

Picture
ISAF’s new GHQ was located at North Point, but it was known as a “papier-mâché base” for the weakness of its defensive firepower.
A year after the Erusean military’s invasion of San Salvacion. With the exception of some parts of the East Coast, the continent has almost entirely fallen under Erusean control. North Point is the only country participating in ISAF left unscathed, this only because it is out of Stonehenge’s range. Bombers have gathered at Rigley AFB in the east in order to finish off the defeated troops who have fled to the island nation.

On the other hand, ISAF has begun reorganizing their defeated troops at their general headquarters in North Point, beginning by organizing their air forces. However, it isn’t a matter of simply organizing their forces by divvying their remaining pilots on each front numerically. Multiple types of aircraft are mixed within the same unit. For this among other reasons, the current state of things is incredibly patchwork. The overwhelming difference in military strength and the continent dominating power of Stonehenge are known even among civilians.

It was whispered on the continent that the fall of North Point is just a matter of time. But then a hero said to be “the best pilot of the war without a doubt” appeared, and even though no one could imagine hope being restored to the continent, it’s only natural that they thought this way.

Original Text

| A C 0 4 の 世 界 |

小惑星ユリシーズの飛来

ユージア大陸の西に位置する大国エルジアと、大陸内のそのほかの小国は、 「武装平和」と呼ばれる一触即発の勢力均衡を長年保っていた。 
そんな時、1つの小惑星が地球に接近する。それは始め「1994XF04」、 後に「ユリシーズ」と命名され、発見から5年後の7月8日に地球のロシュ限界の内側を通過、 1000以上の核と無数の塵に分裂したのち、地表へと落下した。 ユージア大陸では始めの2週間に50万人の命が奪われ、 大陸全体のGDPにして18ヶ月分の被害を受けた。さらにその後数年間にわたって、 時折思い出したように落ちてくる隕石に苦しめられることとなる。
しかし多くのSFコミックが描いたような文明の終末が訪れることはなく、 かわりに経済恐慌と難民問題が各地にもたらされた。良きにしろ悪しきにしろユリシーズ以後に残されたのは、 死者の世界ではなく生者の世界だったのである。 そして隕石落下から4年後の夏。 
エルジア軍は中立国サンサルバシオンへの侵攻を開始する。 

 エルジア軍の侵攻

大陸の交通の要所であり歴史上なんども戦場となったこの土地は、再び戦火にまきこまれた。 空爆に続く3日間の地上戦の後、エルジア軍は首都サンサルバシオンを占拠する。 そしてその国内にある隕石迎撃砲『ストーンヘンジ』を接収し、軍の管理下に置いた。
ストーンヘンジはもともと、大気圏で燃え尽きずに残った数十メートル級の隕石を迎撃するために作られたレールガンだった。 国際的な協力と監視のもと、大陸のほぼ中央にあるサンサルバシオン国内に建設され共同管理されていたが、 エルジア軍はそれを奪ったのである。
この暴挙に対し他の国々は、ISAF(Independent States allied Force:独立国家連合軍)を組織し共同戦線を張る。 しかしストーンヘンジを軍事用の対空砲に転用したエルジア軍は、その射程距離と破壊力を背景に大陸の空を支配。 航空支援に頼れぬISAFは地上戦においても防戦一方となり、東へ東へと後退していった。

ストーンヘンジを間近でとらえた、貴重な一枚。

5つの機影を捉えた写真はISAF軍の検閲により、 「不許可」を示す赤い印がつけられた。

 大陸からの撤退

東部の主要都市ロスカナスにまで撤退したISAFは、これ以上東の基地では戦闘攻撃機が届かなくなることを理由に、 ストーンヘンジ攻撃作戦にGOを出す。最高のパイロットを選抜し、 航続距離の問題から遠慮気味に爆弾を積んだ<F-15E>12機と、 空戦を担当する<F-15C>12機による特別攻撃部隊が編制された。 作戦は満を持して実行に移される。
攻撃部隊が目標に近づいた時、作戦空域を監視していたAWACSのレーダーに5つの機影が映し出された。 突如現れたこの不明機はその恐るべき戦闘能力でF-15を次々と撃墜、 ISAF機も応戦するがその抵抗もむなしく部隊は全滅する。 こうしてストーンヘンジ攻撃作戦は失敗におわり、その数日後ロスカナスは陥落する。
ストーンヘンジに対する直接的な攻撃手段を失ったISAFは、 それ以後組織だった抵抗すらできないまま東海岸に追いつめられる。総司令部は大陸の放棄を決定、 大規模な撤退作戦を敢行して海峡を渡り、大陸北東に位置する島国ノースポイントへと撤退した。

寄せ集めの軍隊

エルジア軍によるサンサルバシオン侵攻より1年。東海岸の一部を除いて、 大陸のほとんどはエルジアの支配下となる。ノースポイントだけがISAF参加国で唯一無傷のまま残されたが、 それも単にストーンヘンジの射程外というだけのことだった。 エルジアは島国へ逃げたこの敗残兵にとどめを刺すべく、大陸東部のリグリー飛行場へ爆撃機を集結し、 ノースポイントをその射程にとらえていた。
一方ISAF総司令部はノースポイントで残存兵力の再編成を開始し、まずは空軍を組織した。 しかしそれは各戦線で生き残ったパイロットを単純に人数分けした組織でしかなく、 同じ中隊の中に複数の機種の航空機が混在するなど、まさに寄せ集めの様相だった。 圧倒的な兵力差とストーンヘンジという制圧兵器の威力は、民間人にさえ知れ渡ってる。
大陸ではノースポイント陥落は時間の問題とささやかれた。 こののち「今回の戦争で間違いなく最高のパイロット」と評される英雄が現われ、 大陸に希望をもたらすことを誰一人として想像できなかったとしても、 それは無理のないことだったのである。

ISAFの新司令部はノースポイントに置かれたが、 防衛火力の弱さから「張り子の基地」と呼ばれた。
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      • 4/2004
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      • 7/2004
      • 8/2004
      • Summer 2004 - Touchdown
      • 10/2004
    • Air Ustio
      • 3/3/1995 - Ustio Lessons
      • 4/3/1995 - Clever Lessons
      • 5/3/1995 - MiG-21bis
      • 6/3/1995 - Taking Off and Landing
      • 7/3/1995 - Tanker of the Sky
      • 8/3/1995 - EA-6B
      • 9/3/1995 - Mirage 2000D
      • 10/3/1995 - Tornado GR4
    • Belkan Air Power
      • First Edition, Part 1
      • First Edition, Part 2
      • Second Edition
    • Belkan Flieger
      • 3/3/1995
      • 4/3/1995
      • 5/3/1995
      • 6/3/1995
    • Color of the World
      • 4/10/2003 - Craters
      • 6/10/2006 - Continent Usea
      • 4/2010 - How to Understand World Affairs
    • From Above
      • Spring 2009
      • October 2009
    • Front Line
      • 4/2004 - The Federal Warbirds
      • 9/2004 - Commander, Third Fleet
      • 9/20/2007 - Air Power Directory
      • 4/2012 - Unneeded Submarine to be Scrapped
    • Gaze
      • 1/1/1999 - Last Christmas
      • 8/22/2003 - War?
      • 8/21/2008 - Arkbird Declaration
    • OBN Journal
      • 9/29/2010 - The Four Wings of Sand Island
      • 7/2014 - Aces, Demons, and Ghosts
    • Our Science
      • 9/20/1998 - Titan Guns
      • 8/2004 - Gigantic Age
      • 8/21/2018 - Reconstruction Usea
    • Usea Today
      • 4/21/1996 - Asteroid on Collision Course with Earth
      • 12/24/2005 - The Days of Shattered Skies
    • Others
      • Confession of a Soldier
      • Emmerian Chronicle - 2/5/2014
      • Genette's Memo
      • ISAF Bulletin - 24/9/2006
      • ПОСЛЕДУЙТЕ - 4/9/1991
      • Untitled Photo Selection
      • Untitled Photographs (Claus Bauer)
  • Out Of Universe
    • ACES WEB
      • AC04 World
      • AC5 Background
      • AC5 Osean Fed.
      • ACZ Belkan Power
      • AC7 World
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        • AC5 Wallpapers
    • OST Liners
      • AC04 OST Liner Notes
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    • Perfect Guides
      • AC3 Usea Map
      • AC5 The Truth Behind the War 15 Years Ago
      • ACX Aircraft Info
    • Aces At War
      • Flags & Insignias, etc.
    • Photosphere
  • License