Here's a piece of a fanfic that I am writing up. Feel free to post any comments or remarks if you have the time to read it.
The Ralari turned hard to starboard, another explosion ripping through its hull from a concentrated missile impact, moving its bow to face the oncoming Gettysburg-class cruiser. The Ultimatum's laser turrets furiously pelted the Kilrathi destroyer, but the captain had been smart enough to position his ship's strongest facet in the line of fire, where the energy barrage merely smacked and dissipated against strengthened shields. Then the Ralari was kind enough to unleash its own barrage upon the Confederation ship, and space was lit up by red-orange streaks of energy.
It was in this conflicting mass of brutal engagement that Bandit's Raptor heavy fighter spun, rolled, juked and jinked, as energized death pursued him while he himself dealt it out to his enemies. An enemy Krant disappeared in a ball of flame, courtesy of his neutron and mass driver guns, then he snap-rolled to the left to avoid a volley of laser, followed by another Krant that flew through his previously held position.
Bandit vectored to pursue it, holding its tail within his gunsights while his 'burners flared behind him, and fired several rounds of ammo, hitting the craft dead centre in the engine ports. First the shields dropped, then the Krant's aft armour was visibly breached, the fuel tanks igniting and engulfing the fighter in flames.
As he passed through the burning wreckage, he saw from the flank of his canopy the remaining two Krants forming up at least 500 klicks from the Ralari's port side, holding up for one last 'desperate' defence of their home base. Stalling for time was more like it, Bandit mused, while their littermates could join the party. His long-range sensors detected another Ralari and a Fralthi some 100,000 klicks away, rapidly closing. He cursed under his breath as the Ultimatum was stuck engaging the current Ralari warship. This was supposed to have been a quick retreat from the system, but instead had turned into a mousetrap right at the jump point, where the Kilrathi destroyer had suddenly emerged from jumpspace and taken the Ultimatum by surprise. The Ralari was delaying the Ultimatum's retreat long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
"Delta Wing, form on my wing. We've got to focus our attacks on the destroyer's rear. The armour's weakest there." Bandit commanded calmly over the comm.
"Copy, Captain." a Delta Wing pilot responded.
Subsequently, two Raptors formed on Bandit, one for either side. Bandit sighed inwardly. There'd been a fourth pilot, Payday. He hadn't made it. Shaking off his fading grief, Bandit led his wing into action.
"Target remaining missiles for the exhaust ports. Shoot off your cannons once the missiles have hit their target." Bandit ordered as they came within a thousand metres of the Ralari's six.
The wing's missiles were launched almost simultaneously, a sum of three dumbfires, two heat-seekers, and an identification friend-or-foe. With the destroyer already weakened from taking fire on all sides, the wave of missiles easily punched through, exploding on the hull and rupturing coppery-coloured armour plating in a shower of flaming sparks and globules of molten alloy. To add to the destruction, Bandit's wing unleashed a torrent of cannon fire, striking further into the capital ship. The Ralari appeared to shudder for a moment, and then in one mighty burst of fiery calamity, spewed its various pieces of mangled debris in all different directions.
"Good work, Delta Wing. Assume formation on the Ultimatum's left flank." the comm officer's voice crackled over the channel, hinting at a tinge of anxiety over the close call of battle and the adrenaline rush. "Zeta Wing, Phi Wing, form up at the fore. We've got company."
Bandit vectored in his wing on the Ultimatum's port flank, carefully matching speed with the cruiser, and watched as the other wings, comprised mainly of Scimitars and Raptors, formed up only several hundred metres ahead of their mobile base, also matching their speed to that of the cruiser. The radar read that the Fralthi had launched several fighters ahead to deal with the Gettysburg's remaining fighter escort, and Bandit judged from past experience that they would most likely be heavy gunslingers like the Gratha. HE was gratified to find that his instincts had mostly proven correct, but only to a certain extent, as the targeting system identified the first Gratha heavy at a distance of several thousand klicks and closing. Cycling through his targets, he identified a further two Gratha, as well as a pair of Salthi light figthers.
"Stay cool, Delta Wing." Bandit told his wingmen in as stoic a tone as he could manage, presuming that they had become edgy in the agonizing wait for contact with the enemy. "Acquire your targets. Don't be shy to gangtackle them. We'll need the advantage."
The Ralari and the Fralthi were approaching only a few thousand klicks behind the approaching fighters. When the first Salthi came within attack range, Bandit gave the order to break, almost in unison with the other wingleaders. Laser bounced his shields as he accelerated forward into battle, a Salthi zooming towards him with guns flaring wildly. Bandit made short work of it, ending the suicidal charge with a short but deadly triple burst of all guns. The second Salthi had already been dispatched by the time Bandit got around to selecting his next target, the victorious Scimitar pilot hooting over the comm, only to be blown up mere seconds later by a Gratha's IFF missile.
Bandit's target, yet another Gratha currently in the process of flying a torpedo run against the Ultimatum, grew larger and larger within his green crosshairs as Bandit's afterburners roared him to intercept. His first three rounds diminished the Gratha's aft and topside shields, and as he swept past it and came around for another pass, the Kilrathi broke off its torpedo run and pitched up to engage him. A small batch of lights on Bandit's console momentarily sparked and then went out, as his shields were buffeted by a volley of laser and mass driver that struck deep enough to fry into armour plating. Hastily pumping his rounds until his gun's capcitors were drained, Bandit managed to smack through the Gratha's fore shields and reduce it to scrap. As he banked right to assist in the main dogfight, he made a mental note never too try a head-on charge against a heavy fighter in a Raptor again. The Raptor may have deadly firepower, but is shields were definitely nothing to shout about.
The remaining two Grathas were currently busy engaging Zeta, Phi, and Delta wings, and were quickly reinforced by a clutch of Dralthi and a trio of Jalthi, the Ralari and the Fralthi rapidly closing.
A scream pierced his ears from over the comm, and Bandit judged its origin from a Raptor that was in the process of exploding as a Gratha razed it. That had been Wickman, and now another Delta Wing pilot had bit the dust. Hopelessness threatened to overwhelm him, but he forced it down and steeled himself for the battle. If this was his last fight, then he'd take down as many of the furry bastards with him as humanly possible.
Another Scimitar was hit by a Jalthi's six-shooters, sending it in a death roll with no clear direction, smoke trailing behind it. Yet by some miracle, the pilot within the mortally wounded craft had survived the initial impact, and was now struggling to adjust his flight path for the approaching Ralari's bridge, intent on kamikaze action. He never made it, as the Ralari's turrets demolished him within a second.
The enemy task force approached in a swarm with malicious intent, sending ahead missiles and sizzling energy bolts. Then, as they were about to close the gap between themselves and the Ultimatum's defenders, an intense bright light of swirling white-blue energy currents ripped open the void, expanding into a vortex maw that was something akin to a galactic whirlpool. From this bright maw spat forth a sight that stirred Bandit's heart in recognition and relief, and for a moment he though that the illustrious Tiger's Claw had emerged to save the day.
Continued in next post...
The Ralari turned hard to starboard, another explosion ripping through its hull from a concentrated missile impact, moving its bow to face the oncoming Gettysburg-class cruiser. The Ultimatum's laser turrets furiously pelted the Kilrathi destroyer, but the captain had been smart enough to position his ship's strongest facet in the line of fire, where the energy barrage merely smacked and dissipated against strengthened shields. Then the Ralari was kind enough to unleash its own barrage upon the Confederation ship, and space was lit up by red-orange streaks of energy.
It was in this conflicting mass of brutal engagement that Bandit's Raptor heavy fighter spun, rolled, juked and jinked, as energized death pursued him while he himself dealt it out to his enemies. An enemy Krant disappeared in a ball of flame, courtesy of his neutron and mass driver guns, then he snap-rolled to the left to avoid a volley of laser, followed by another Krant that flew through his previously held position.
Bandit vectored to pursue it, holding its tail within his gunsights while his 'burners flared behind him, and fired several rounds of ammo, hitting the craft dead centre in the engine ports. First the shields dropped, then the Krant's aft armour was visibly breached, the fuel tanks igniting and engulfing the fighter in flames.
As he passed through the burning wreckage, he saw from the flank of his canopy the remaining two Krants forming up at least 500 klicks from the Ralari's port side, holding up for one last 'desperate' defence of their home base. Stalling for time was more like it, Bandit mused, while their littermates could join the party. His long-range sensors detected another Ralari and a Fralthi some 100,000 klicks away, rapidly closing. He cursed under his breath as the Ultimatum was stuck engaging the current Ralari warship. This was supposed to have been a quick retreat from the system, but instead had turned into a mousetrap right at the jump point, where the Kilrathi destroyer had suddenly emerged from jumpspace and taken the Ultimatum by surprise. The Ralari was delaying the Ultimatum's retreat long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
"Delta Wing, form on my wing. We've got to focus our attacks on the destroyer's rear. The armour's weakest there." Bandit commanded calmly over the comm.
"Copy, Captain." a Delta Wing pilot responded.
Subsequently, two Raptors formed on Bandit, one for either side. Bandit sighed inwardly. There'd been a fourth pilot, Payday. He hadn't made it. Shaking off his fading grief, Bandit led his wing into action.
"Target remaining missiles for the exhaust ports. Shoot off your cannons once the missiles have hit their target." Bandit ordered as they came within a thousand metres of the Ralari's six.
The wing's missiles were launched almost simultaneously, a sum of three dumbfires, two heat-seekers, and an identification friend-or-foe. With the destroyer already weakened from taking fire on all sides, the wave of missiles easily punched through, exploding on the hull and rupturing coppery-coloured armour plating in a shower of flaming sparks and globules of molten alloy. To add to the destruction, Bandit's wing unleashed a torrent of cannon fire, striking further into the capital ship. The Ralari appeared to shudder for a moment, and then in one mighty burst of fiery calamity, spewed its various pieces of mangled debris in all different directions.
"Good work, Delta Wing. Assume formation on the Ultimatum's left flank." the comm officer's voice crackled over the channel, hinting at a tinge of anxiety over the close call of battle and the adrenaline rush. "Zeta Wing, Phi Wing, form up at the fore. We've got company."
Bandit vectored in his wing on the Ultimatum's port flank, carefully matching speed with the cruiser, and watched as the other wings, comprised mainly of Scimitars and Raptors, formed up only several hundred metres ahead of their mobile base, also matching their speed to that of the cruiser. The radar read that the Fralthi had launched several fighters ahead to deal with the Gettysburg's remaining fighter escort, and Bandit judged from past experience that they would most likely be heavy gunslingers like the Gratha. HE was gratified to find that his instincts had mostly proven correct, but only to a certain extent, as the targeting system identified the first Gratha heavy at a distance of several thousand klicks and closing. Cycling through his targets, he identified a further two Gratha, as well as a pair of Salthi light figthers.
"Stay cool, Delta Wing." Bandit told his wingmen in as stoic a tone as he could manage, presuming that they had become edgy in the agonizing wait for contact with the enemy. "Acquire your targets. Don't be shy to gangtackle them. We'll need the advantage."
The Ralari and the Fralthi were approaching only a few thousand klicks behind the approaching fighters. When the first Salthi came within attack range, Bandit gave the order to break, almost in unison with the other wingleaders. Laser bounced his shields as he accelerated forward into battle, a Salthi zooming towards him with guns flaring wildly. Bandit made short work of it, ending the suicidal charge with a short but deadly triple burst of all guns. The second Salthi had already been dispatched by the time Bandit got around to selecting his next target, the victorious Scimitar pilot hooting over the comm, only to be blown up mere seconds later by a Gratha's IFF missile.
Bandit's target, yet another Gratha currently in the process of flying a torpedo run against the Ultimatum, grew larger and larger within his green crosshairs as Bandit's afterburners roared him to intercept. His first three rounds diminished the Gratha's aft and topside shields, and as he swept past it and came around for another pass, the Kilrathi broke off its torpedo run and pitched up to engage him. A small batch of lights on Bandit's console momentarily sparked and then went out, as his shields were buffeted by a volley of laser and mass driver that struck deep enough to fry into armour plating. Hastily pumping his rounds until his gun's capcitors were drained, Bandit managed to smack through the Gratha's fore shields and reduce it to scrap. As he banked right to assist in the main dogfight, he made a mental note never too try a head-on charge against a heavy fighter in a Raptor again. The Raptor may have deadly firepower, but is shields were definitely nothing to shout about.
The remaining two Grathas were currently busy engaging Zeta, Phi, and Delta wings, and were quickly reinforced by a clutch of Dralthi and a trio of Jalthi, the Ralari and the Fralthi rapidly closing.
A scream pierced his ears from over the comm, and Bandit judged its origin from a Raptor that was in the process of exploding as a Gratha razed it. That had been Wickman, and now another Delta Wing pilot had bit the dust. Hopelessness threatened to overwhelm him, but he forced it down and steeled himself for the battle. If this was his last fight, then he'd take down as many of the furry bastards with him as humanly possible.
Another Scimitar was hit by a Jalthi's six-shooters, sending it in a death roll with no clear direction, smoke trailing behind it. Yet by some miracle, the pilot within the mortally wounded craft had survived the initial impact, and was now struggling to adjust his flight path for the approaching Ralari's bridge, intent on kamikaze action. He never made it, as the Ralari's turrets demolished him within a second.
The enemy task force approached in a swarm with malicious intent, sending ahead missiles and sizzling energy bolts. Then, as they were about to close the gap between themselves and the Ultimatum's defenders, an intense bright light of swirling white-blue energy currents ripped open the void, expanding into a vortex maw that was something akin to a galactic whirlpool. From this bright maw spat forth a sight that stirred Bandit's heart in recognition and relief, and for a moment he though that the illustrious Tiger's Claw had emerged to save the day.
Continued in next post...
. Also, the British have used such names prior to WWII too, and are still using them now. They simply have a different naming tradition compared to the US.