| “ | Commander Bowden, this is Artemis Task Force 7, You are the interfering party, not us. Your fleet is ordered to withdraw from these waters at once, or face the consequences.
— Artemis naval commander to Adam Bowden
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” |
Artemis Global Security (AGS) is a private military corporation that recruited a elite squadron of US Air Force veteran pilots, including the game's main protagonist David Crenshaw, the High Altitude Warfare Experimental (HAWX) squadron. Artemis possessed an arsenal rivaling a large national army, including infantry, armor, artillery, air and naval forces.
Artemis came into conflict with the US when they started taking the place of Artemis forces in aiding the Brazilian forces in a war against a South American anti-US alliance PMC called Las Trinidad. Artemis decided to make a contract with Las Trinidad, attempting to destroy the USS James Lawrence carrier strike group in the Straits of Magallan. Fortunately for USS James Lawrence, Captain David Crenshaw and his wingmen are currently in the employ of Artemis defected back to the US and destroyed the Artemis' powerful flagship, the Myrmidon.
After the betrayal, the US Air Force launched a bombing attack on Artemis' Operation Center in the Carribbean Sea. At this point, Artemis CEO Adrian DeWinter ordered a full-scale invasion of the US, with Artemis forces reached Washington, DC and damaging the White House before being pushed back. Artemis also disable the SLAMS (Space, Land, Air Missile Shield) and captured at least twelve nuclear warheads from Norfolk Naval Base, and then threatening to destroy entire US cities if the President does not surrender in 24 hours.
In the end, Artemis is defeated by the efforts of the US, NATO, and the Japan Self-Defense Forces, who aided to defend USS Andrew Jackson carrier battle group in Tokyo Bay. DeWinter was traced to an secret base, which was bombed by Crenshaw, killing him and his board of directors. After their surrender, Artemis was disbanded and the UN ordered all PMCs to return to providing only logistical support or disband altogether.
Battle vs. Army of the New Millennium (by SPARTAN 119)[]
Artemis Global Security: 20x Sukhoi-25 "Frogfoot", 20x F/A-18, 20x F-15 ACTIVE, 15 Sukhoi-47 Berkut, 2x Tu-22M "Backfire", 6x Destroyer, AGS Myrmidon
Army of The New Millenium: 20x MiG-21 "Fishbed", 2Ox F-15E Strike Eagle, 20x Sukhoi Su-37 "Flanker", 15x ANM-50, 6x Destroyer, ANM Admiral Boschev
20 miles off of the Rook Islands, ANM F-15 Strike Eagle "Havoc Lead"
It had been six weeks since the Army of the New Millenium had easily crushed the Rook Island Republic- a state set up by the island's Rakyat natives after the downfall of pirate warlord Hoyt Volker. Unable to spare the forces to engage the ANM, the United States hired PMC Artemis Global Security to counter this act of ANM aggression.
Six weeks later, Artemis arrived with a fleet of ships, including the state-of-the-art aircraft carrier-missile cruiser hybrid Myrmidon, the largest warship ever built, twice the length of an American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
"Havoc Lead" was the lead pilot of a flight of ten F-15E Strike Eagles armed with anti-ship missiles, the main strike force, as well as ten old MiG-21s- cannon fodder. Escorting the flight were five Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker fighters.
And yet, they had met no Artemis opposition, and they were nearly in missile range. The skies were quiet... too quiet....
"We are now in missile range of the Artemis fleet", Havoc Lead said through the radio, "Havoc flight, aircraft release ordnance!"
"This is Havoc-1, Rifle-1, I say again, Rifle-1", Havoc Lead's wingman said, denoting the release of an air-to-surface missile. Sure enough, two Harpoon anti-shipping missiles streaked over the horizon, towards their distant targets.
Soon after, Havoc lead and two other aircraft had released their missiles when suddenly, a thunder roar filled the air. A missile slammed into Havoc-5, sending the aircraft up in a flash of fire.
The Su-37 escorts broke off to engage a foe coming in from above as MiGs and F-15s exploded around them. Missiles swarmed in, immediately blasting half the F-15s and all but two of the MiGs out of the air.
Seconds later, a computerized voice spoke to into Havoc Lead's ear. "Radar Lock Detected".
Havoc broke off, but the missile alert never came. Instead a stream of 30mm tracer rounds perforated the last surviving MiG, immediately to his right. The aircraft went down, trailing flames and smoke.
A black-painted Sukhoi-47 blew by Havoc's aircraft. At a range of 1500 meters, Havoc fired his only two Sidewinder missiles- most of the aircraft's ordnance was taken up by the massive Harpoon missiles.
Havoc fully expected the supermaneuverable fighter to evade the missile, but to his surprise, it didn't. One of the Sidewinders slammed into the back of the AGS jet and sent it up in a ball of flames.
But Havoc Lead's victory was short-lived. As he was about to turn back towards his airfield, Havoc felt an a powerful force vibrate his aircraft, like the turbulence from hell. Looking behind him he realized one of his engine was burning.
Havoc lead pulled the eject lever, but nothing happened- his only hope for survival was dead. As he realized this, Havoc Lead looked down on the ocean that would be the last thing he would ever see, and saw, silhouetted in the distance, a fleet of seven ship- Artemis.
Havoc slammed the throttle forward, muttering a prayer that his aircraft would not explode, not until he had exacted his final vengeance against the agents of the American war machine.
CIWS turrets on the destroyers and the Myrmidon itself blazed, riddling the second engine with bullets. As flame erupted around him, Havoc One gave a final furious shout as his stricken aircraft slammed into forward vertical launch system of the Myrmidon.
The ANM "kamikaze" attack set off the warheads of the several of the missiles, causing a sheet of flames to erupt from the missile launcher. The front upper decks of the Myrmidon burned, releasing a towering column of black smoke as damage control crews raced to douse the fires and keep them from spreading to the rest of the ship. And yet, the Myrmidon stayed afloat.
Reaper Lead, AGS Sukhoi-47 Berkut pilot
The ANM strike had left the forward missile launch systems on the Myrmidon completely disabled, and the missile strikes had also sunk two destroyers of the ANM fleet. AGS had also lost ten aircraft in the defense of their fleet. Understandably, every man in the AGS force was now out for blood.
A voice on the radio gave the AGS pilots the news they had been hoping for: Their wish for ANM blood had been granted: "RADAR reports a group of bandits moving in from the south at high speed, looks like high-level bombers with escorts moving in on Myrmidon. Engage and destroy, Reaper flight, do not let them get in firing distance."
"Roger, Citadel", Reaper Lead replied, "Moving to engage bandits".
Reaper lead pulled his stick to the left, banking in the direction of the radar contacts at high speed. After about ten minutes of flight time, they were within range of the targets.
"This is Citadel", the AGS radar operator said, "I read five contacts breaking off from the bomber formation and heading in your direction".
"Thanks for the heads up, Citadel", Reaper Lead replied, "We've got these guys".
Reaper lead heard the radar lock tone fill his ear as he pressed the button on top of his stick, sending a radar-guided missile towards the one of the incoming bandits. As he did so, the other five aircraft of his flight also fired off their missiles.
In the distance, Reaper Lead though he saw a flash of fire as his missile struck a black dot that was his foe. Sure enough, the radar showed one less bandit in the sky. The others, however, had dropped flares or evaded.
The enemy ANM-50s fired off their first salvo of missiles, setting off alarms in Reaper's cockpit. "Missiles incoming, BREAK!", his wingman, Reaper-2 yelled.
Reaper-2 did an abrupt J-turn, pulling the throttle down and making a tight 90-degree turn as he dropped flares, before pulling the throttle forward again. At the same time, the rest of the formation broke apart.
Four of the flight survived, but here as a distress call from Reaper-3: "Reaper-3 is hit, I'm bailing out, notify search and rescue!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Reaper-Lead spotted an ANM-50- an exact copy of his Berkut turn and engage Reaper 2. Reaper-Lead locked on and pressed the fire button twice, yelling "Fox One!" into his radio, having ripple-fired two missiles at ANM aircraft.
The ANM pilot maneuvered to evade the missiles, but was immediately struck by the second missile, sending it up in flames.
"Nice shooting, I thought he had me", Reaper 2 replied.
Seconds later, more good news came over the radio- "Reaper 5 has a kill, repeat Reaper 5 has kill"
Then, the bad new- a stream of tracers flew past Reaper-Lead's canopy- an ANM-50 was about 200 meters off his tail, and lining to fire a second burst. Hoping this would work, Reaper-Lead lowered the throttle and nosed up. The aircraft did an ultra-tight loop, it almost looked like it did a backflip in midair, and, in the process, dropped speed.
The maneuver, which used thrust vectoring an a controlled stall, called a Kulbit, has worked. The ANM-50 had overshot him. Reaper Lead held down the trigger for less than a second- that was enough to put several rounds into the enemy's tail and send it down in a fiery spiral into the sea.
"Bandit down, I say again, Bandit down", Reaper-4 said- the flight had eliminated the last of the fighters".
"The fighters are history", Reaper responded, "Lets deal with those bombers".
That was the easy part- the slow-moving B-52s the ANM had gotten a hold of were easy targets. Reaper Lead took out two of them himself.
"Hey Lead", Reaper Two called over, "Congratulations, you are now official the first PMC ace, and in one day to boot. Beer's on us tonight!"
He had just realized he was correct- three fighters, and two bombers- five aircraft. An ace in one day.
Thunder Lead, F-18 pilot, Artemis Global Security, several hours later
This was it, the final mission of the battle. Only twenty minutes previous, a squadron of Artemis Tu-22M bombers, callsign Drake, had scored several anti-ship missile hits on the ANM fleet. Four destroyers were sunk, two more damaged, and the Admiral Boschev was on fire and badly listing. The ANM has also lost much of their air power.
The squadron was now in visual range of the smoke columns which marked the crippled enemy vessels. As the pulled the trigger, Thunder Lead almost felt sorry for the poor bastards on the enemy vessels. Two Harpoon anti-shipping missiles flew off into the distance from each F-18.
Not long afterwards, six of the missiles slammed into the Admiral Boschev, blowing holes in at the waterline in a flash of fire.
About half an hour later, during the final debrief, Thunder lead heard the good news- the Admiral Boschev had sunk in the channel between the two islands, and the other two destroyers were retreating.
And with this victory came a nice fat paycheck from their clients, not to mention a performance bonus for Thunder Flight for their involvement in sinking the Boschev.
WINNER: Artemis Global Security
Expert's Opinion[]
Artemis Global Security had the superior aircraft in the categories that mattered most, including advanced fighter aircraft. They also took the edge terms of firepower of their flagship. This allowed them to triumph over even the well-armed ANM.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. Heath Oslo's Organization (by SPARTAN 119)[]
Somewhere in the South Pacific
The massive Artemis Global Security warship Myrmidon sailed across the open ocean, somewhere in the South Pacific. On board were a full compliment of fighter and attack aircraft, plus enough long-range anti-ship missiles to wipe out a carrier battlegroup. The ship was hired by Artemis' clients, who sought to eliminate the Tartaros, a similarly massive warship owned by Heath Oslo, a notorious arms dealer and PMC suspected of terrorist connections.
The Captain John Williams and everyone else on the bridge of the Myrmidon heard the radio crackle to life. "This is Citadel reporting to the AGS Myrmidon", said the voice of the AWACS radio operator, "We have located the target, updating GPS coordinates now. Be advise, I have detected aircraft launches from the target, they may know we are here."
"Roger Citadel, coordinates received", Williams replied, before switching to the intercom, "Enemy target detected, all personnel to battle stations. Scramble all CAP fighters. Strike aircraft are to be placed on standby to attack."
15 minutes later
A force of 30 F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets belonging to Heath Oslo's organization flew towards the Myrmidon, loaded down with anti-shipping missiles, with the mission to destroy the vessel.
Within a few kilometers of their release point, however, the lead aircraft of the fighter formation were struck by incoming missiles, blowing five jets out of the sky. Frantically, the F/A-18s broke formation, trying to evade the next salvo of missiles.
Largely, they succeeded, with only two more of Olso's aircraft going down. In response, the Artemis aircraft, twenty MIG-33 Super Fulcrums and ten Sukhoi-47 Berkuts went in for the kill.
The lead pilot of Reaper flight, Artemis' elite squadron fired two missiles from his Su-47, each one impacting an enemy aircraft and taking them down in a ball of flames. The air around Reaper turned into a "furball"- a swarm of aircraft, missiles, and explosions as the two sides clashed in the skies. Fighters from both Oslo's organization and Artemis fell from the sky in flames.
It seemed like much longer, but the entire engagement lasting only a few minutes. By the end, half of the hostile F/A-18s were shot out of the sky, at the cost of seven of Artemis' aircraft. The rest of Heath Oslo's air forces turned and retreated towards the Tartaros.
30 minutes later
In retribution for the attempted attack, Artemis launched a swarm of anti-ship cruise missiles from the Myrmidon, followed by a force of attack aircraft. With half an hour of launch, the cruise missiles made their final approach on Heath Oslo's massive carrier.
Alarms blared throughout the Tartaros as the incoming missiles were detected. Immediately, the vertical launch system in front of the central bridge fired off several SAMs. These missiles slammed into the first of the incoming Artemis missiles, shooting them down.
As the cruise missiles closed in further, the CIWS guns of the Tartaros roared to life, shooting down more of the missiles. Most of the warheads were shot down, however, three of them made it past the defenses. The three Artemis missiles impacted the deck of the Tartaros, destroying the port catapults and blowing two massive holes in one of the landing strips. The carrier's ability to launch and recover aircraft was essentially cut in half.
Heath Oslo gave the order to deploy all available fighters to defend the carrier. Oslo was not concerned with attacking, for he already had a plan in place to deal with Myrmidon.
Fifteen minutes after the missile attack, Artemis fighters clashed with those of the Tartaros, missiles and planes flying everywhere as flaming metal, the remnants of aircraft on both sides, rained from the skies. While the Artemis Su-47s took their tolls, the superior numbers of Oslo's fighters gradually took their tolls.
The same time, airspace over the Myrmidon
High above the ocean's surface, a group of 20 black shapes flew alone- a squadron of stealth strike fighters constructed by Oslo's arms company, similar in appearance to B-2 Spirit stealth bombers scaled down to the size of a fighter jet. They were in close proximity to the Myrmidon, but they were invisible to radar and using the could cover to avoid visual detection.
One flight of bombers flew ahead of the others, this one armed with laser-guided bombs. They would attack first, the shorter range of lack of a heat signature would mean the Myrmidon's defenses would have less time to intercept.
Down below, the radar operator on the Myrmidon detected the sudden appearance of a number of small signatures, much smaller than an enemy aircraft at close range, converging towards their ship.
Alarms blared aboard the Myrmidon as the CIWS and SAM defenses blared to life. Six of the 20 bombs- two from each aircraft, were intercepted, but one-by-one, the guided bombs hit home. Neither the radar operator nor any of the rest of the bridge crew knew what hit them as the bridge exploded in a ball of flames.
More bombs impacted the ship, destroying the SAM batteries, the flight deck, and the radar mast. At the same time, anti-ship missiles from the second group of stealth fighters slammed into the side of the Myrmidon, blowing gaping holes in the already crippled ship. The main magazine containing the reserve cruise missiles detonated, blowing the bow of the ship, before it began to slip below the waves.
Meanwhile, above the Tartaros, Oslo's air force intercepted the last of the Artemis fighters. In his office on the top of the central bridge of the Tartaros, Heath Oslo received word of the sinking of the Myrmidon on the radio.
WINNER: Heath Oslo
Expert's Opinion[]
While the Myrmidon was a formidable warship equipped with powerful cruise missiles, it has a lower aircraft capacity than the Tartaros. The main thing that won this battle for Oslo's organization, however, was their stealth attack aircraft, which could strike without warning.