Mystique Studios

While ZHU was still rolling hot, I asked Strategia for permission to write unit lores, which he gladly agreed. Now, though, we're unofficially dead.

I really do not want ZHU to be dead, but it's a fact: everyone in this team are either overtaxed on their RL schedules and plannings, or they want to help but can't.

I doubt this topic will attract many readers, but still, I shall present to you unit lores written by me and edited by Strategia. If possible, I will keep releasing new lores on a weekly basis.

Vulture Attack Aircraft, General Juhziz

On April 18, 1943, The 339th Fighter Squadron, headed by Captain Thomas Lanphier and his co-pilot 1st Lieutenant Rex Barber, was tasked with the mission to intercept a Japanese heavy bomber designated as carrying an �Important High Officer�. Lieutenant Barber shot down a Japanese bomber down to the forest, while Captain Lanphier shot down another. The �Important High Officer� was found dead near one of the wrecks on an island. His name: Isoroku Yamamoto.

With this victorious interception, and lots of other records, the P-38 Lightning entered the list of the finest piston-engine powered fighters, but although it was a capable aircraft, soon the age of the jets arrived, and it silently quit the air over modern battlefields. However, impressed with its tough armour, heavy armament and modifiability, terrorist organizations all over the world used any means necessary to get this aircraft. The Global Liberation Army was one of them.

Followed by the hollow defeat in Europe and Asia during the First and Second GLA Crisis, the GLA �ran away from us, just like mice run away from cats�, so said by the Director of Chinese Army Intelligence.

But the USA and China were both fooled by the GLA. The GLA assembled a team of strategists, tacticians and veterans from all over their territory, and established a sophisticated intelligence/military agency, designed to counter the enemies� strength. This team�s first mission was to analyze why the GLA lost this �Crusade of Freedom� to the �imperialist pigs�. One of the reasons soon emerged: The GLA didn�t have an air force, which severely limited their attack power and mobility, proved by large supply of �Young, brave fighters with great knowledge� being sent to the Infantry Regiments, pathetically cut down by Dragon Tanks, Pathfinders, etc. There was a dilemma: To build an air force, or not. After three weeks of discussions, arguments and shouting, the decision was made: Yes.

With this in mind, the GLA�s junk dealers searched all across the world for aircrafts that could be acquired without attracting too much attention from American and Chinese intelligence agencies. One of the aircraft they found especially intriguing was the P-38.

The GLA managed to get their hands on a couple of P-38s still in working condition. When the top designers, salvagers and builders in the GLA arrived, process of upgrading and copying P-38 started. With half a year�s tests, failures, and successes, they finally managed to produce a small squadron of 20 fighters. These all went to General Juhziz, who had taken a special interest in the upgrade of the P-38. The rebuilt P-38s received a slightly outdated, but sturdy composite metal structure, a lengthened cockpit, low-efficiency-but-working radar, and modern turboprops to summarise the main structural changes.

The armaments of these P-38s were greatly enhanced. A B-17 gun turret was slapped on the back of the plane with 2x.50 calibre machine guns for AA self defence, but if ordered, the pilot could also fly the plane towards other aerial targets while the gunner unleashes a hailstorm of AP shells. The storage area inside the turret and the cockpit is large, so the plane can carry enormous amounts of ammo. The main shell-based weapon was changed into 4 30mm auto cannons. These auto cannons uses newly developed AP rounds, making them into very deadly weapons, against both ground as well as air targets. The most devastating armaments though, are 8 HE unguided rockets. These rockets have their HE warheads freshly-made with enhanced formula, and 8 is enough to destroy most land-based vehicles and severely damage buildings, if not destroying smaller ones altogether. The GLA has intensely trained pilots for the aircraft, and they learned a lot about this. One of the things they learned was to not fire all rockets at once, to conserve ammo. The auto cannon shells can be stored in the hull, but the large, heavy rockets are mounted under the wings, so an aircraft must return to base to reload these weapons.

With all these modifications, the speed of the P-38 is increased by 25%, armour has been improved a whole lot, and it should be safe to say that its combat firepower has been doubled or tripled, according to test missions.

On April 18, 2038, General Juhziz officially named the new aircraft Vulture, and authorized the mass production of this aircraft. Being Juhziz�s �Death from Above�, it sends destruction and fear towards the frontline troops of the USA and China, even seasoned veterans.