Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Century Bomber

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The Century Bomber of the Andoran Republic. This unit will set to be planned by

History
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As imminent threat of a third World War engulfed the Andoran Republic, military strategists sought to develop preventative measures against Voshkod attack. Their plan: to maintain squadrons of long-range bombers in contested airspace literally at all times, such that any Voshkod aggression could promptly be countered by bombing runs against high-value Voshkod targets.

Theoretically, at least, this would make the Voshkod think twice before overstepping its bounds. Of course, up until the Third World War, the Andoran had no aircraft fit for the job, for they needed a long-range bomber with maximum fuel efficiency and good-enough amenities to support an in-flight team for weeks at a time. And after numerous design bids from all around the world, the Aquilan-made B-2X Century Bomber emerged as the clear winner, and was put into full production in Allied airbases worldwide.

This wedge-shaped strategic bomber can carry more than enough iron bombs to level an entire city block -- or a heavily fortified enemy compound. The Century is also sturdy enough to hold its own in enemy airspace, thanks to a heavily armored exterior. Redundancy and fire-proofing in the engine compartments help make the Century very good at returning to base in one piece. What's more, its large cabin also makes it an effective troop transport, suitable for paradropping infantry squads deep behind enemy lines. But after one such ambush resulted in the Century bombardier panicking and dropping both paratroopers and bombs onto the same LZ at the same time, Andoran Command had ordered that bombs were never to be carried on the same sortie as a paradrop.

Another of its many advantages versus older bombers is its VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) engine configuration, which facilitates operations in urban environments and speeds ammunition load-out and troop deployment. Note, however, that it still is intended to fly with escort craft, as current models only have a remote-controlled tail-mounted 25mm "Chariot" autocannon turrets as a deterrent against enemy fighters.

The Century's destructive potential is remarkable, though naturally, the craft must return to base to rearm in between bombing runs. It is rumored that the Allies have struggled with this inefficiency, and now are working on a solution in the form of a highly-advanced bomb fit only for a Century-sized aircraft. Such a bomb, it is promised, could cause widespread devastation thousands of times greater than a standard payload, essentially eliminating the need to make multiple bombing runs against a given target. Such information has many replying "You mean like the Nukes used by the Elsword Empire?" (while Elsword high command laughs at the Andoran's attempt in making something stronger than their nukes, while some thinks that the Andorans are actually planning to steal their nukes).

Voshkod information ministers note that the Allies likely leaked this information themselves, in a laughable attempt to instill fear, and recently denounced the Century Bomber and these rumors as a "pitiable and unimpressive response to our majestic fleets of Kirov Airships." In truth, the Century bears little resemblance to the Kirov. It is a faster, more tactical craft.

To fly a Century Bomber has quickly become a source of great pride for many Andoran airmen, especially those hailing from airbases in the bomber's home state of Texas (where it's affectionately known as the "Flying Bull"). In turn, Century pilots are some of the best in the world: They're known for being cool under pressure and for bearing the burden of their responsibility with plenty of wry humor. Though the Century is highly unlikely to explode in midair, this aircraft is fitted with so many sophisticated systems that it is designed to detonate and explode on impact, should it crash. As a result, the Andoran' opponents have yet to recover any data from the few Centuries that have gone down.