TF Amethyst

TFA1 7.15 - Point Air Defense

While grinning from ear to ear, Brigadier Zaak looked at Castle Lagra in the distance. If so far, the foreigner's Riders still hadn't welcomed him and his Riders, then his assumption that they couldn't fly and fight during the day seemed accurate.

'Everything has advantages and disadvantages,' Brigadier Zaak muttered as he decided to change the attack plan.

The attack plan which had been drew by Marshal Ducie personally was, 71st Regiment from 3rd Fleet and the 53rd Regiment from 4th Fleet would conduct a scorched earth attack as fast as possible to Castle Lagra. Then, they would refill the lamp oil and immediately join forces with elements that attacked the foreigner's strongholds.

The scorched earth attack had the possibility of destroying food, Nouel, and other valuables in the castle.  However, this possibility had to be taken to ensure victory could be achieved in the shortest time possible. As right now, Kingdom of Buriek had to focus on an opponent who was much stronger than Sandhur Region.

Unfortunately, Brigadier Zaak had his own idea. He believed that Marshal Ducie overestimated the foreigner’s combat capability. So he intended to minimize the damage on Castle Lagra.

Brigadier Zaak estimated that Riders who were attacking the foreigner strongholds would receive no significant resistance. It was very possible all targets would have been destroyed by the time 71st Regiment arrived.

Without delay, Brigadier Zaak grabbed crystal communicator on his shoulder. "Attention, we have adjustment on our attack plan. We will circle Castle Lagra to deplete the defenders' morale. 

After they are paralyzed by fear, we will launch a full attack on the defenders on top of castle’s walls to make an opening for ground element.

And remember! Don't attack the inner areas of the castle. Our prizes are located in those areas."

[[[Roger!]]]

The three Captains in 71st Regiment answered in unison, while inwardly Brigadier Zaak was very satisfied. 

'We will spare nothing for 56th Regiment.'

Brigadier Zaak then led a hundred Riders from 71st Regiment to circle Castle Lagra, like a python circling a cornered and frightened little hamster.

--- 

West wall of Castle Lagra

07:40, 2 Sept 2025

Point air defense basically was a deployment to shoot down any flight up to 20 km from the objective that had to be protected. Inside the area of point air defense, Command Center would ensure there were no friendly flights that entered it without notification.

Therefore, air defense elements would be able to react as quickly as possible, for they already had the green light to kill any unidentified flight.

The QRF element at Castle Lagra also applied point air defense. However, their killing range was much smaller as their main armament was only Stinger with an effective range of 4.5 km.

Above the castle wall, members of the Stinger team vigilantly scanned the vast sky. This primitive detection system using the combination of binocular and naked eye was widely known by TF Amethyst’s personnel as Eyeball Mk.1, where rotation was carried out every two hours.

When Command Center suddenly issued a warning that a large number of Riders were approaching at full speed from the west, all personnel who were on duty as Eyeball Mk1 immediately looked up to the western sky.

And as soon as dozens of black dots appeared in the distant sky, they instantly gave a warning call. "Be ready for contact!"

Without delay, defenders on top of castle wall prepared their weapons. The ground defense team prepares their Medium Machine Gun M240 7.62 mm and Automatic Grenade Launcher Mk19 40 mm. While the air defense team prepares their Heavy Machine Gun M2HB 12.7 mm and Stinger missile.

For the machine gun and auto grenade launcher, the preparation was simple. They only had to load and lock. While for the Stinger team, they had to follow some procedures.

To fire stinger missile, a BCU (Battery Coolant Unit) had to be inserted into gripstock. This device consisted of a supply of liquid argon which was injected into seeker to cool it into operating temperature, along with thermal battery that provided power for target acquisition.

A single BCU could provide power and coolant for roughly 45 seconds. After that, another BCU must be inserted if the missile had not been fired. Therefore, Stinger Team would inserted BCU only when they had positive fire mission.

The stinger shooter calmly waited for opposing Riders to come within range, but then something unexpected happened. They suddenly turned around, circling Castle Lagra at a distance of 4 km, at an altitude of 800 meters.

The QRF element on top of castle wall was stunned, but only for a moment before an order from Command Center entered their ears.

[All Air Defense teams, weapons free. I say again, weapons free.]

The Stinger shooters immediately inserted Battery Coolant Unit before taking an aim. Then, they waited until the crosshairs turned red and a long 'Beeeep!' of lock-on ringtone was heard. Wasting no time, they immediately squeezed the trigger.

Salvo of Stingers in instant flew to the sky while leaving a loud whirring sound. However, every Stinger shooter didn't bother to check the result of their fire mission.

All Stinger shooters swiftly removed the empty tube from the launcher grip and threw it over the castle wall. Then, they received new Stinger tube from their assistants. A few seconds before the BCU ran out, every Stinger shooters had managed to lock onto their second target and fired second salvo.

---

On the castle wall, there were 56 Stinger teams, and in less than 40 seconds, 112 Stingers spike to the sky while leaving behind a trail of smoke. They flew towards Buriek Rider’s formation in straight line. In a few seconds, they had arrived at a distance of one meter before their target. Then, they exploded and sending heat wave and lethal fragmentation up to a radius of 5 meters.

Some Stingers indeed aimed at the same target, but because Buriek Rider’s formation was so tight, all Buriek Riders more or less get hit by the heat wave and lethal fragmentation. The oil lamps in the Cloud Hawk's back then lit and burned fiercely.

Most Buriek Riders instantly fell to the ground, while some Riders who tried to approach castle wall were welcomed by a shower of 12.7 mm tracer lead. In short, all Riders from 71st Regiment were killed without being able to retaliate.

For QRF personnel, the Stinger explosion was no different from fireworks, but to defenders at Castle Lagra, it was miracle that symbolizes hope and regret.

With joy, the defenders at Castle Lagra watched how Buriek Riders fell like rain.  But there were no cheers or shouts of victory, the defenders at Castle Lagra instead shed tears while praying and telling their fallen comrades and relatives that their revenge had been avenged, so they could cross into afterlife in peace.

Some defenders also sobbed and lamented why TF Amethyst did not come before their friends and relatives died.

Meanwhile, on one of castle walls, Baron Ossik clenched his fists tightly. When black dots appeared in the western sky, he had hardened his determination to fight to the last drop of his blood.

However, Buriek Riders who for the last few days scorched Lagra City along with more than 380 thousand of its residents were now being massacred in matter of seconds without being able to provide a fight.

With a complicated gaze, Baron Ossik looked at the trail of black smoke that filled the sky while inwardly he wondered, 'These formidable guests, who are their real identity?'

*****