[Euran War] The Butter Bull Blesses

[Neoptolemus]

The Pentheros was on the bridge of the Troikos, reading a message from Aldin, Metrobosarch of Keltia, in which the metrobosarch was accusing Neoptolemus' revelations and testimony of being false. He had made a mistake in making that boy a metrobosarch, his inquiry was bordering on heretical. He'd have to deal with him after the present situation. He deleted the message and asked for a status report from the captain of the Troikos.

"Holiness, our reports indicate that the Jingdaoese now have a solid grasp on the Constancian city of Pontus Felix. They have established an airport thoroughly secured from the ground. Our presence here has been noted by the church of Walstadt, who have undoubtedly informed fellow Siseranists within the Jingdaoese government."

The Pentheros nodded, was silent for several moments, before speaking in the prophetic tone he had learn to affect over his decades as leader of the church, "Our worldview is divided into fours, the Butter Quadrate has the Cow, Bull, Man, and Spirit; representing the dichotomies of Law and Chaos; and Locality and Universality, respectively. As Pentheros, I have relied on only two of these: law and universality, I invoke the Butter Cow and Butter Spirit in my teachings of Bovic discipline in a world church. But today I see that the Bovic Church must look locally, as represented by the Butter Man, who had real and understandable mortal emotions and concerns. The concern I personally have for the Constancians who are being subjected to invasion and violation. The Church must embrace, also, the doctrines of the Butter Bull, chaos, aggressiveness, assertiveness. This is why we are here. This is why we must do more than observe and condemn. We must take action. We must take flight and rain the Vengeance of the Butter Bull down upon these Jingdaoese aggressors!"

The captain, who had his head bowed in reverence to the words of the Pentheros, breathlessly exhaled, "Acow!" before turning to the rest of the crew, "Prepare a plan of attack, I would like to see strategies and loss analysis reported to me by 1800..."

A young lieutenant, manning the communications console, interrupted him, "Sir! We are getting reports from our contacts in Vey, there is some sort of commotion in Portus Felix, a Constancian defector was the target of an assassination, the defensive forces around the airport may be distracted, or on heightened alert. At top speed we can get our N-1 atmospheric fighters and HB-3 bombers to the city within the hour, we're 1,100km away."

The captain looked at the Pentheros, the Pentheros closed his eyes, seemed to pray, "The Armored Goats were once known as fanatical devotees to the Pentheros and Defenders of the Church, let us remind the world. The Butter Bull blesses us, let us seize this opportunity as the Bull would, by chaotically charging forward," and then nodded to the captain.

"Quick launch! Four bombers, 16 fighters. Diamond defense formation around the bombers. Primary target is the airfield and its support structures. Crater the airfields to prevent large aircraft from landing.



Flight path of the Naval Phalanx's Air Squadron, launched from the carrier Troikos in the Bay of Vipia.

[Lord Erion]

His Holiness' radio crackled and a new voice spoke with some urgency.
"Forgive me for intercepting your communications, your Holiness, but can you confirm if your intended operations fall within or without Athlon's territorial waters and reserve zone as defined by the MTO Convention on the Laws of the Seas?"