Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Su-17 "Vulture"

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The Su-17 "Vulture" is a aircraft used by the MLA. is planned to be voiced by *TBA*

Overview
Formerly based on a fictitious concept, the Interceptor is now modeled after the Su-17 'Fitter' which was exported to Voshkod client states in Africa and the Middle East. The new Interceptor, nicknamed "Vulture", will also be functionally different in that it's default armament now consists of two externally mounted 30mm autocannons and UB-32 rocket pods.

History
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Short story
"This is outpost Molotok, come in! Anyone, please come IN!" the radio operator yelled in a fruitless attempt to get through the signal interferences that turned every message going in and out of the base into a garbled mess of static, occasionally broken up by distorted fragments of speech. Across the entire region, Voshkod forces found themselves in the same chaotic quagmire. Back home, Premier Cherdenko had canceled all his meetings, observing the unfolding crisis alongside his chiefs-of-staff, who had all been used to comfortable desk work after General Aleksandr's glorious victory over the Sino-Aquilan task force at Kurmuk in 2040. Now, they could only sit and watch impotently as Africa was falling and with it the dream of a Voshkod "tropical" empire. Suddenly, someone inside the command tent noticed a group of armed fighters at the entrance. The operators scrambled for their pistols, but the strangers lobbed a number of Molotov cocktails into the tent, immolating it along with every poor soul inside it. The rebels chuckled at the sight and moved on, only to get gunned down by an enraged General Orlov as he and Lunafreya, the last remaining Spetsnaz trooper, fought their way through the base. Meanwhile, Arkady Federov and his co-pilot climbed into the cockpit of their Mi-24. Foregoing any system checks in the heat of the moment, they tried to get the rotors to full power as fast as possible to evacuate the General. "We're almost there, Sir, hurry!" Lunafreya reassured Orlov who remained silent and looked at the carnage around him as if in some kind of daze. Columns of fire and black smoke rose from all corners of the base while the air was filled with the sound of wild gunfire and frantic screams.

Suddenly, he made out a flying object approaching rapidly from beyond the horizon and signaled Lunafreya to halt. "You see that thing? Is that a plane?" the General wondered. "Ha! Looks like frontal aviation's coming to bail us out!", Lunafreya exclaimed with new-found hope, raising her fist to cheer. But then, the suspicious plane opened fire, completely mauling the helicopter along with its pilots in a murderous barrage of 20mm rounds. "P-P-Planes!?" Lunafreya uttered in total disbelief. "They have planes now!?". Mere moments later, the plane turned around and unleashed a rapid volley of rockets onto the remaining vehicles while a second squadron rained down rockets on the fleeing Voshkod soldiers who were now abandoning all their posts and fleeing for their lives. This was the cue that snapped Orlov out of his temporary daze. "Everyone! After me! Follow me to the Shelter!" As he ran, he grabbed Lunafreya, who was still frozen in shock, by her shoulder and pulled her with him. What he and everyone else oft-ironically referred to as "the Shelter" was indeed little more than an improvised contraption of metal cargo containers buried in the sand, with only a small hatch and a short air pipe sticking out at the surface. Originally set up to protect personnel and equipment from mortar barrages, no one wanted to spend much time inside these "steel coffins", for the lack of proper air conditioning made them exactly that. But Orlov knew that the battle for his base was lost and that anyone caught out in the open would be slaughtered. Their only choice was not to fight but to hide.