- "This is missile destroyer Gumrak of the glorious Yuktobanian Navy. We cannot follow a Fleet Commander willing to sink one of his own ships. We will protect Prime Minister Nikanor. All ships who are with us, change course and follow us."
- ― Gumrak admiral
Operation Glory Horn, also known as the Battle of Ceres Ocean,[1] was an emergency defense operation by the OFS Kestrel and her allied fleet against warmongers within the Yuktobanian and Osean forces. It was a pivotal turning point in the Circum-Pacific War, and the penultimate battle of the Kestrel.
Prelude[]
On December 29, 2010, a large force of Yuktobanian ships sailed toward the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet in the Ceres Ocean. Yuktobanian Prime Minister Nikanor, recently freed from captivity and now aboard the Osean aircraft carrier Kestrel, called out to the Yuktobanian fleet. He announced that he was on the Kestrel and that he planned to restore peace between "our Yuktobania and the country of Osea."
The Yuktobanian Fleet Commander didn't want peace between the two countries, claimed that Nikanor had sided with Osea, and ordered his ships to sink the 3rd Fleet with Nikanor. The captain of the Krivak-class frigate Pitomnik pleaded with the Fleet Commander to stand down, stating that they didn't know what they were fighting for. In response, the Fleet Commander ordered his ships to sink the "traitor" Pitomnik, and two of them swiftly did so.
The captain of the Sovremenny-class destroyer Gumrak then declared they could not follow a "fleet commander willing to sink one of his own ships" and defected to the 3rd Fleet with two fellow destroyers: Chuda and Dub. The Kestrel Fleet was thus unofficially formed.
Battle[]
Captain Andersen of the Kestrel recognized the Yuke defectors and expressed his gratitude. He ordered the 3rd Fleet and the Razgriz Squadron to engage the enemy and protect their new allies. Some Yuke fighters were also launched to engage the Kestrel's fighters, but their pilots were all afraid of the Razgriz.[2]
Part way through the battle, an Osean battle group led by the carrier OFS Barbet entered the battle area. Having listened to the Kestrel's communications, Barbet's captain accused the 3rd Fleet of joining with the Yuktobanians and attacked. Members of the hostile Osean fleet, recognizing the Razgriz, denounced the squadron as traitors.[3]
In the end, Razgriz defeated all hostile Yuktobanian and Osean air and naval forces.
Result[]
After the battle, the Kestrel and the remnant ships from the 3rd Fleet officially left the OMDF and formed the Kestrel Fleet with their new Yuktobanian allies. Their only goal was to defeat the Grey Men and thwart their plans.
Sometime during or after the battle, Nikanor had left the Kestrel on Andersen's advice, to join Osean President Harling at Bright Hill, Osea to call for peace.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Various Yuktobanian ships were mentioned during the battle, but not seen in the game. Among the ships from the enemy fleet are the Granat, Zavtra, Svabodney, and Boyky; among the Yuke ships who defected to the Kestrel Fleet are the Bystry and Budusheye.
- Despite there being a carrier amongst the Yuktobanian fleet, the Fleet Commander evidently commands from a surface ship near the middle of the fleet, likely the Kirov-class cruiser Umely.
References[]
- ↑ Aces At War: A History 2019, page 144.
- ↑ "Mission 26: Sea of Chaos (Ace Difficult) - Ace Combat 5 - 60 FPS" by Zaptroxix on YouTube. See dialogue at 5:24
- ↑ Ibid., dialogue at 6:38