The Decider

Ten A-10 warthogs screamed overhead, their wings

heavy with a variety of missiles and bombs. They
hurtled towards the city of Kavala, a usually peaceful
city, yet now in 2018 was filled with invading Russian
forces. Kavala was a seaside city, on Altis which is a
large island near the coast of Greece. It had been a
NATO operated island, with around 15,000 stationed
infantry units dotted around the island, and over 20
CAS/support aircraft. Yet in the close of 2017, Russian
brigades had launched a blitzkrieg style attack upon it,
capturing most of the lower southern area. They
amassed to approximately 20,000 infantry and 0
planes. Neither sides had tanks, due to transportation
being a major issue. NATOs weapons were far superior
and better quality, yet the Russians had more, more
brutally made weapons. It was a fair match.
But now, on the 11th of July, 2018, the final match was
to be set, the final card pulled, and only one victor
could emerge. Russian units had been pushed back to
Kavala, yet they still had many more men, but hardly
any aircraft.
The sun was slowly setting, as men from the 12th
brigade slowly double checked their standard NATO
equipment. Some said some prayers, some wrote in a
diary, ink seeping onto the page, while some blankly
faced the white-washed walls.
Inside the cabins of the 1st and 4th CAS units, these men
did the same. Commanders delivered the final briefings
along the remaining men, their faces etched with
determination.
On the Russian side, the usual duties occurred. Men
paced around their barracks, some patrolling outside,
some having drinks with their friends. Life was normal,
they were ever so unsuspecting of the slaughter about
to commence.

The A-10s continued to scream and howl their way

towards Kavala. As they broke over the silent city of
Kavala, their Gatling guns immediately spat into
working order, firing over 1000 high explosives rounds
into the heart of the city. One by one they peeled off,
breaking into an attack motion. They roared over the
city, Russian ground units already spreading out into
defence formations. As one of the ten A-10s blasted
over the city, an anti-aircraft missile flew out of a static
launcher to greet the jet with disastrous effects. They
pilot having no time to react, yanked at his eject lever
just before the missile flew into the aircraft, ripping it
apart, the fuel igniting and the shell collapsing.
Meanwhile another A-10 roared past him as his
parachute opened. Yet he was not safe as the ground
units began to open fire on the helpless NATO pilot. A
bullet punched through his chest, shredding arteries
and veins and staining his clothes a dark red. Fire
ceased as his corpse drifted helplessly down to earth.
Chatter erupted on the Russian and NATO sides, as a
small hum of APCs filled the horizon. The Russian
commanders spotted this, and released hell itself upon
the units. Bullets screamed past, some hitting the APCs
and ricocheting off. As they reached the outskirts of
Kavala, infantry poured out of the armoured personal
carriers, sprinting clear as fire continued to rain in.
They began to advance, making use of cover, while in
the background, two more A-10s went down, both with
no ejections. The seven remaining A-10s broke away,
returning to base due to the anti-aircraft being too
heavy.
Russian ground units began to react to the advancing
units, heavy machine guns began to strafe the ground
between them, and light arms lit the ground too.
Undeterred, the battle hardened NATO soldiers
advanced, their losses still minimal. All of a sudden two
rockets streaked in, splitting an APC in half. Fire carved
the city, yet this made the soldiers push on.
Two hours later, they were preparing to breach the
main city, 2 companies headed West into Altis, and the
rest into the centre. Already a small throb of Russian
helicopters were in the distance. Some men were
jumping into the harbour, in attempt to evade the
brutal NATO men. Some never gave up, and continued
to make men fall, yet they were torn into with bullets.
NATO was winning, and just North of Kavala, landed 10
Russian heavy duty helicopters. The Russians began to
swarm towards the helicopters, some being cut down,
others making it. Bodies littered the ground like
rubbish, but as night fully set in, the NATO commanders
declared a victory. Soldiers were still grim faced, their
fallen comrades beside them. Despite the city now rid
of hostiles, one thing never changed.
War never changes