Thread:ArmInAss/@comment-25405125-20141210054424/@comment-24664052-20141228122315

'''Dragonborn Air Regiment (Modern Dragoons) '''

Officially, the MSLA does not have an air force aside from their UAVs, but in practice, however, they have managed to procure various military aircraft by smuggling former Quarantian military aircraft out of Quarantia (most of their inventory are of First Quarantian War-vintage, but they have been upgraded), buying Zipangu-made aircraft or making use of captured Imperial aircraft. Overall throughout the war, the Dragoons have scored 500 enemy aircraft kills with only 7 losses.

Since the MSLA has focused on developing robotic drones and antiaircraft weapons to challenge Imperial air superiority, the Modern Dragoons initially received little support from the MSLA, especially when even the High Command acknowledges that they cannot outmatch fascist air superiority; even their advanced Type 11 Aerial Attack Drones’ AIs are no match for the Apollo Fighter pilots in dogfights. As a result, Major Lothar Drakwald and his Dragoons initially took from their own pockets to procure aircraft, ammunition and supplies for their own; the meager funding they received are just enough for maintenance of their aircraft.

It took many losses of Type 11 drones in many engagements, increasingly destructive bombings, and the spike in the use of World War-era Grand Slam bombs to blow up their underground tunnel systems, the seemingly diminishing effectiveness of antiaircraft units against the newer aircraft churned out by the fascists (the newer bombers are able to get to higher altitude to evade antiaircraft fire and the installation of point-defense lasers vastly reduced the possibility of SAMs to hit them) for the High Command to realize that they will need any degree of fighter capability if they are to even last the war, since antiaircraft weapons, drones, stealth capability and underground networks are all becoming in vain in the face of increasing effectiveness of Imperial aircraft and aircraft tactics. Fortunately, by this time of dire need, the Dragoons had already accumulated enough experience to show the High Command that fighter pilots will be very invaluable for the war effort.

The Dragoons’ efforts bore fruit; the High Command, even if they have no plans of creating an air force for the MSLA, eventually increased financial and moral support (propaganda in Shinomori helped to propagate the Dragoons’ stories of their fights and victories against the so-called unmatched Imperial air force, but they are still being kept a secret in the mainland.)

Thanks to the modifications and upgrades the Special Weapons branch voluntarily made, the supposedly-obsolete aircraft had been upgraded to the point of being able to keep pace with their more advanced counterparts. For some examples; all aircraft had been installed with GPS Scramblers or have been drastically modified by coating with radar wave-absorbent black paint to evade radar detection. Aircraft engines had been modified to run on hydrogen fuel-cells instead of aviation fuel. The Dragoon aircraft also became beneficiaries of the Chameleon Program, with four fighter aircraft had already been installed with Black Widow active camouflage systems. The Special Weapons branch even made a few indigenous aircraft that had been inspired by science fiction works, which will be kept classified for now.

But all of them are only means for the true showcase of the Dragoons: the Dragoons themselves.

Most of the Dragoons are former fighter aces who fought in the First Quarantian War, or descendants of former fighter pilots (and to some extent, of famous original Dragoons who flew with their Wyvern wives to battles in the sky), and they have lived up on their name as the “Modern Dragoons”. Currently numbering only 100 men with only 20 aircraft (not counting training aircraft, drones and future aircraft orders) from the original four maintained and piloted by 20 men, they may still be a small force, but may the Chief God help the Imperial pilots facing them on battle.

'''Dragoon Objectives: '''

Although the Modern Dragoons are top-notch pilots and have unlimited degree of freedom in their fighting style against enemy pilots, their most common objective is to harass, and if possible, cripple Imperial aerial supply lines and down enemy bombers and supply aircraft before they can reach their objectives. Drakwald and the Dragoons, although seeing no thrill in these missions, view them as very practical and even deem it as their most important contribution in the war; blunting enemy air superiority. Most of their enemies in dogfights are Apollo escorts to their targets.

'''About the Commander: '''

Like the rest of the Dragoons, former Drakunistani Army Air Corps Major Luthor Drakwald is a former fighter ace, scoring 34 dogfight wins during the First Quarantian War and 66 dogfight wins (and counting) during the MSLA resistance. He also descended from the Dragoon family line of Drakwalds; his great grandfather having fought during the First Order Invasion of Quarantia, his grandfather fought on a war between Drakunistan and Uraganistan, his father volunteered to fight for the Mist Continent’s Emperor to subdue rebellious provinces and eventually became the General of the Air Corps when the First Quarantian War broke out (sadly, he was killed in a dogfight).

His wife Saphira descended from the Wyvern wives of Luthor Drakwald’s ancestors (it is a Dragoon for a human Dragoon and a Wyvern to marry, even if they’re blood siblings; and also the Dragoon must take a human wife to bear a human son who will become the next Dragoon). One may think that Drakwald is now only doing this out of custom, but he is an avid hobbyist of Dragoon combat of the past centuries, and they always fight in friendly tournaments against other Dragoons. Together, they have accumulated 35 victories, 1 loss and 4 draws. And also on one dogfight on the skies of Akulanistani coast, Drakwald, piloting a MiG, combated four Apollos which had the intent of intercepting a group of refugees being evacuated by boat. He got three of them, but the fourth Apollo managed to damage his MiG heavily by cannon fire. After he ejected, Saphira rescued him from being shredded by the Apollo’s continuous cannon fire. Using a GPS Scrambler device, they hid themselves from the Apollo’s radar and finally, using a grenade launcher with EMP grenade rounds, they downed the last Apollo. This feat had become a real-life legend amongst the Shinomori inhabitants.

Although Drakwald acknowledges that the time will come for the robot drones to dominate the skies just as the descendants of primitive tanks eventually dominated the ground, he views the artificial intelligence inferior to human piloting, despite that he knows that the former has lower possibility of suffering from human error (to which he counters that they cannot commit human error because they are not human in the first place, but still they commit errors despite following the programming code down to the letter). He only acknowledges the importance of drones in other uses except for engaging in dogfights. At times, he may come arrogant about how human piloting is still superior to artificial intelligence in terms of aerial combat.

''“Are those supposedly fighter drones or flying target ranges?” – Major Drakwald commentated on an air field dogfight between a prototype fighter drone and a MiG piloted by one of his student pilots. The dogfight lasted twenty seconds; the pilot won. ''