- "Zed Waters here with some great news. Rumour has it that our angels in from Khesed have joined up with the Emmerian military in Silvat. Oh Yeah! They're charging in like rhinos, folks! I think a lot of positive things are about to happen!"
- ― Zed Waters[1]
The Battle of the Selumna Peaks was a battle during the Emmeria-Estovakia War.[1]
Prelude
Ever since the Federal Republic of Estovakia military's withdrawal from Khesed Island, the Emmerian military began a steady push eastward to the Anean Continent. Recently, they managed to acquire a decent force after the standoff in Silvat Town, thus allowing them to move forward towards the mainland.[2]
In order to achieve general victory in the War, the Estovakian military would lose strength as losses are suffered in sectors of the mainland. Thanks to the Emmerian Department of National Safety, there was a lowly defended enemy contingent in the Selumna Peaks region of central Anea. There was a steep, snowy path amidst the mountains, which not only is difficult to advance through, but also renders any vehicles traveling through this route to air attacks.[3]
Battle
Breakthrough
On February 12, 2016, a mobilization of Emmerian troops, both air, and ground-borne towards Selumna was carried out. In no specific order, the Warlock & Quox battalions would advance through the Selumna Peaks covered by Windhover Squadron, Sky Kid Squadron and multiple squadrons of both F-16C Fighting Falcon and F/A-18F Super Hornet. While Snake Pit escorted by three Republic of Emmeria Air Force squadrons made up of both F-16Cs and F/A-18Fs would provide electronic support to allied forces, and the Avalanche Squadron would attack Estovakian jammer aircraft.[1]
Through mutual cooperation, the Emmerian craft managed to clear most of the local airspace, including ESM craft and even supersonic bombers gunning for the ground forces.[1]
Shimmering Death
After the airspace had been mostly wiped clean, all of the remaining Estovakian aircraft unexpectedly were given a withdrawal order; many of the retreating aircraft were destroyed by Emmerian planes as they left the mission airspace.[1]
During the enemy withdrawal, however, small, slow moving craft were detected in the proximities. Thought to be completely inoffensive, the Emmerians were caught by surprise once massive explosions went off around the aforementioned drone.[1]
Estovakian aircraft attacking Snake Pit
After the initial onslaught, many aircraft were wiped off clean from radar. This forced Emmerian command to issue a general retreat order to all units in the Selumna Peaks range. The Garuda Team were ordered to destroy the guidance drones while friendly forces withdrew from the mountain range.
While looking defenseless, the guidance drones were extremely quick & nimble, being able to pull impossibly tight high-G turns. However, they had a weakness: the craft had to slow down to a crawl during missile impacts, thus rendering them sitting ducks Being able to exploit this fault, all guidance drones were soon eliminated from the mission airspace.[1]
Result
Soon after the Selumna Peaks confrontation it would be found that the missiles & guidance drones were a product of the P-1112 Aigaion, which is what allowed the Estovakians to take over the Anean mainland in the first place. Emmerian contingents were in range of the Aigaion's cruise missiles after passing the Selumna Peaks, hence a plan to remove the Heavy Command Cruiser out of the question was formulated.[1]