Operation Whale Hunt

"This operation is vital to the survival of our nation and our war effort, as well as that of our capial, Griswall! We must destroy the Gandr at all costs before she reaches Griswall! Or else our capital city and the forces stationed there will be decimated and our beloved lands trampled under Leasathian jackboots. The destruction of the Gandr will cripple Leasath's war machine, she is the pillar of their war effort, her destruction will also raise the morale of our forces and put on an equal footing. Launch now and send that whale to the bottom of the ocean, where she belongs! Best of luck to all of you."

- The Aurelian base commander to the 51st Tactical Fighter Wing of the Federal Republic of Aurelia Air Force

Background
Operation Whale Hunt, also known as the Battle of Griswall Bay, was the penultimate military action of the Alendal and Leasath Campaign, the military offensive by the Union of Earth States and Aurelia against the Confederate States-aligned Democratic Republic of Leasath.

By the time of the operation the Union forces had suffered a number of crucial and embarrassing defeats at the hands of their Leasath foes during their attempted invasions of Leasath, putting them on the back foot. Diego Navarro, the Head of State of Leasath, had grown tired of the failed invasion attempts on his nation, and so gave the order for the Gandr, Leasath's first Gandr-class Aerial Cruiser, a giant airborne fortress carrying burst missiles and a highly destructive Shock Cannon, a laser weapon which essentially created mini-Earthquakes through massive shockwaves, damaging everything below the vessel, to be used against Griswall, the capital city of Aurelia, in an attempt to force Aurelia out of the war.

The battle
"We shall crush Aurelia under our heel and restore peace to these southern lands! You warmongers have tried so hard to destroy our nation, now we will return the favour!"

- Edward Pyke, the captain of the Gandr, taunting the 51st TFW

After departing her base in the Gaspar Islands, Leasath's southern-most territory far to the west of Aurelia, the Gandr set course for Griswall, seeing her in flight from their satellites and tracking her flight path, Aurelian High Command knew she was heading for Griswall. They hastily brought the local fighter wing, the 51st Tactical Fighter Wing, to emergency readiness and brought the Aurelian Second Fleet, which was based in Griswall Bay to action stations.

Upon reaching the Danern Islands the Gandr met with the Chimaera Squadron, one of Leasath's elite fighter units, together they headed westwards, towards Griswall. Around the same time the 51st TFW scrambled from Griswall Air Force Base and the 2nd Fleet set sail to the east.

About halfway between Griswall Bay and the Danern Islands the two forces met in action, 2nd Fleet opened fire, damaging the Gandr and disabling her optical camouflage system, despite taking damage the Gandr was able to destroy the fleet with her Shock Cannon system, those not obliterated in the blast, which had the force of a miniature Nuclear bomb, were swamped by the Tsunami caused by the shockwaves.

A number of unfortunate 51st pilots, who were busy engaging the Chimaera Squadron at the time, were underneath the Gandr as the Shock Cannon was fired, they were shot down and exploded instantly, the rest struggled against Chimaera and Gandr. Despite this success Captain Pyke didn't order the Shock Cannon to be fired again, he was worried he would destroy the Chimaera Squadron as well in the blasts.

Some 51st pilots managed to destroy some of the Gandrs weapons systems, realising that conventional weapons weren't going to be enough, Captain Pyke wished to fire the Gandrs burst missiles, which would destroy everything above the Gandr, however, as with the Shock Cannon, the fear of destroying the Chimaera Squadron in the blasts prevented him from doing so.

"You have damaged the Gandr, not bad, especially with the Chimaera Squadron after your blood. However, you sadly can't be allowed to succeed in your mission, you see the Gandr is my girl, my baby, my pride and joy, I am her proud captain, and I can't let you just destroy my ship and our nation's best hope now, can I?"

- Captain Pyke to the 51st TFW, after the Gandr had taken moderate damage

As more and more of his defences were destroyed Captain Pyke ordered the Chimaera Squadron to withdraw from the battle so he could use the Gandr's special weapons again, Chimaera did so unwillingly, and withdrew, they had lost several members.

With Chimaera no longer a worry, Captain Pyke ordered the Gandr the use of the Shock Cannon and the burst missiles, however only one could be fired at a time, due to power concerns, as a result the Gandr alternated between the two, after the first few attacks the 51st learnt to quickly dive and climb to avoid the attacks, this was helped by the fact that it was obvious when the Shock Cannon was going to fire, due to its firing charge time, as well as AWACS being able to see when the Gandr had launched a burst missile, which took about 20 seconds to impact after being launched.

After ceaseless attacks both the Shock Cannon and the burst missile ports were destroyed, leaving the Gandr defenceless, realising that all hope of successfully attacking Griswall was lost, Pyke ordered the Gandr to retreat from the area and return to the Gaspar Islands for repairs.

"The Gandr is retreating! Quick! You must stop her! You cannot let her get away! You must destroy her before she reaches Leasath territory, where enemy reinforcements will cover her retreat!"

- AWACS to the 51st TFW

Unwilling to let her escape from the area, Aurelian High Command ordered the Gandr be destroy before she crossed back into Leasath territory, where Leasath reinforcements would cover her retreat back to the Gaspar Islands.

The 51st hammered away at her engines and wings, eventually crippling them enough to the point that the Gandr began falling out of the sky. Realising both him and his ship were doomed, Captain Pyke left one final message to the 51st.

"No! You have killed the Gandr! Before both me and my ship die, let me tell you that this is just the beginning! You may think this action will have turned the tide of the war, but you'd be wrong! Gandr was but one of many secret weapons up Leasath's sleeves. You cannot win this war! As we head for the bottom of the South Sea, I assure our spirits will rise to haunt your for an eternity!"

- Captain Edward Pyke's final message to the 51st Tactical Fighter Wing

Pyrrhic victory
"We've done it! The Gandr is going down! Get to the bottom of the sea, you fat whale! May you and the bones of your crew lie there forever!"

- A 51st pilot upon witnessing the Gandr crash into the sea

As the Gandr crashed into the sea a huge form was detected by Aurelian High Command far to the north-east of the battle zone, near the Danern Islands, it was the Gleipnir, the Gandr's sister, built in secret and hidden as an emergency contingency in the event of the Gandr being destroyed.

"Hold on, we've detected a large form moving over the sea to the north-east of you, over towards the Danern Islands. What is that? I think I may know what it is, and it chills me to the bone just think...Burst Missile incoming! All planes, dive immediately! Oh, God, there's another one! How is that possible?"

- AWACS to the 51st TFW

Suddenly, a burst missile was fired at the 51st, in the confusion few planes were able to successfully dive low enough to avoid the blast, most of the 51st's aircraft were destroyed. The remnants of the 51st retreated to Griswall AFB, disheartened that the sacrifice of their fellow pilots had not rid Aurelia of the spectre of the Gandr completely.

The tone at Griswall AFB was sombre, not one of joy and cheering, as most had expected when the 51st were departing, despite this the 51st were still thanked for the action in destroying the Gandr and saving Griswall.

"Pilots, I know you must be feeling awful, but well done, all the same. You destroyed the Gandr and saved Griswall from destruction, I know you lost many friends today, but you did some significant damage to Leasath's war effort, and saved the lives of countless civilians. Good work. Dismissed."

- The base commander of Griswall AFB debriefing the 51st

Meanwhile, in Alendal, capital of Leasath, Diego Navarro was informed about the destruction of the Gandr, he felt cool displeasure, yet was otherwise indifferent to it, which greatly surprised the officer which informed about it, Navarro explained that of course he was angered by the news, the Gandr was to serve as a demonstrator for foreign sales of the Gandr-class, she was but one of the many tools he had at his disposal in order to defeat Aurelia, and he still had the Gleipnir, he did remark that the action was a learning curve, he would not allow the Gleipnir to directly engage enemy forces unless she had a significant escort.

"Yes, I'm upset and saddened at the loss of the Gandr, Edward Pyke was a good and loyal officer, and the destruction of Griswall by the Gandr was to be shown to other foreign powers as a demonstration of which they should by Gandr-class ships. Yet I cannot be too angry, Gandr was but one of many projects at my disposal to crush Aurelia, this war is far from over, trust me."

- Diego Navarro to the officer

Attempting to capitalise on the destruction of the Gandr, the FRAN's First Fleet attempted to launch a maritime invasion of the Danern Islands, however they were intercepted in the Danern Straits by Leasath forces and defeated in the Second Battle of the Danern Straits, the final action of the Alendal and Leasath Campaign, with this loss the Aurelian offensive had completely run out of steam, Leasath took the offensive with the Aurelian Landings and the concurrent Invasion of Aurelia, the Aurelia Campaign had begun, which would end with Aurelia falling completely under Leasath rule, leading to the creation of the Empire of Leasath-Aurelia.