Wing Leader (Thread II): The Calter System [CLOSED]

[OOC]: Ever wonder why it takes me so long to update this thread? Get a snack, make yourselves comfortable, and take a glance at the novel below to find out. O.o [/OOC]

~ Flight Deck ~

Vixen

Though Greaser is very busy overseeing all of the fighter preparations and launches going on, he does still have a moment to hear out your request.

"Sorry, Vixen. Normally I'd be glad to, but Cougar specifically requested that you all be given a standard loadout on your first mission. He generally takes the standard load himself, and often tells new pilots to 'try them before you deny them.'" He shrugs. "Can't say I disagree really. No telling what you'll run into out there, so it's generally best to be prepared for any situation. Nevertheless, I know better than anyone how every pilot has their own style for missile use, and I don't want to tell 'em I know better when they're the ones doing the flying." He stops for a moment, apparently listening to something over his headset before turning around and giving a hand signal to a group of techs across the deck. "Sorry. Look, just humor Cougar for this one mission and, after that, I'd be happy to let you make the decisions. Sorry, I gotta go." He turns and shouts "Hey! The label says 'No Step' for a reason!"

Once you reach your fighter and ask about it, the techs who are there look at each other, then back to you. "Uh...we didn't spend two weeks in the Luis system playing poker, ya know. All fighters are ready to go. If they weren't, Greaser'd never let 'em fly." Once they're sure you're convinced, they'll help you finish getting strapped in.

Candyman

The crewmember looks at you blinking. Then he blinks at the candybar. Then he blinks at you again. "Um......Oookaaaaaay." O.o

~ Space ~

Everyone

Despite the large number of ships being readied for launch, your wait for takeoff is relatively short. A few fighters already took off while you were getting ready, either to go out on their own missions or simply to provide protective escort for the Fang. Most, however, won't actually launch until you or others return from your own missions. No sense sending everything out at once and leaving the fleet without some level of fighter cover.

One-by-one your fighters are each taxied over to one of three available catapults (two leading off the bow of the ship, and one off the aft,) hooked up, given one last check, then hurled at high velocity into space. You feel a bump as your ship slides through the invisible energy barrier separating the artificial air and gravity environment of the Fang from the cold, weightless vacuum of space. And then...you take control. A quick check of both your radar and HUD shows Cougar's Katana, along with the other fighters in your wing (depending on when you launched.) Once all eight of you are spaceborne, your wing leader's voice comes over the com.

"All right, everyone. Form on my wing. Wildecard, Boomer, Judge, Candyman, Vixen, Pussycat, Phantom, and GareBear, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cougar and I'll be walking you through your first mission. First of all I want to say what an honor it is to be with you on this patrol. A lot of pilots gripe about the Academy not training cadets the way they feel they should be trained, but given the chance, few of them actually want to teach new lieutenants the real-world skills they picked up during their own time on the front. Me, I love being able to impart my wisdom on the next generation. Heh, must be the grandpa in me."

There's a short pause before the com crackles to life again. "Anyway, you can consider today to not only be your first real mission, but also your last training lecture. I know you all have spent countless hours in the classroom as well as in the simulators, but flying a real fighter into actual combat is a different experience in a lot of ways. Those of you who paid attention and took notes in school can relax a little and consider the next few hours to be a simple brush-up. Those of you who slept through class better pay close attention.

"Okay, first thing's first. I want you all to take a good look at your fighter's cockpit. Though every fighter class has their instruments arranged in different ways, they all relay the same information, so once you know what everything does, you should be able to move from ship to ship without any trouble.

"The large circle in the center of your console is the Radar Display. This is probably your most important piece of equipment, because not only does it tell you where everything in the immediate vicinity is, it also helps you navigate. Objects in the small, center circle are located in front of you. The round pie-wedges surrounding it represent the sectors above, below, left, and right of your ship. And finally, the ring lining the outer edge is for objects behind you. Don't forget this, because in the heat of battle when you lose visual contact with your target, the first place your eyes should go is down here to find out where he went. No Usari will be able to slip in on your tail without your radar telling you about it, so it's a good way to keep track of the battle even if you can't actually see most of it.

"Every important object is represented by a different shape and color for easy identification. Friendly fighters show up as blue triangles, and friendly capital ships show up as blue squares. Enemy ships show up as red triangles and squares respectively. The size of the shape determines their relative range from your fighter, so a fighter at close range shows up as a large triangle, whereas distant ones appear as small triangles, and so forth. Missiles and torpedoes show up as small, yellow dots, so if an enemy launches one at you, you can keep track of it with your radar. Finally, the white diamond you see there now represents a Nav point. Your mission parameters have all been downloaded into your ship's computer, and it will automatically show you where you need to go at the appropriate times. All you have to do is point your ship in the right direction and hit the gas.

"So let's do so now. All of you, turn your ships toward Nav 1 and set your throttle to 450 KPS. I know Daggers can go quite a bit faster than that, but I don't want to get left behind." He waits until you all get into position and moving towards the first Nav point, the Fang falling away behind you. "You'll notice that the Nav point target shows up on your HUD once it's in front of you. Overlap that cross mark with your guns' crosshairs (also on the HUD) and you'll be perfectly lined up.

"Speaking of your velocity, take a look at your Speed Indicators just to the upper left and right corners of your Radar Display. 99.9 percent of the time, the numbers displayed there will be equal in value, but don't forget that the one on the left is your Actual Speed, and the one on your right is your Selected Speed. These babies perform really well, but they don't start or stop on a dime, so just remember that if you set your speed to 0 KPS, it'll take a few seconds before your ship actually stops. Likewise, you'll have to wait a few seconds to get back up to speed, even after you've set your desired velocity. Daggers are the fastest ships in the ConFed's inventory, and have a maximum cruising speed of 540 KPS. The Katana I'm flying, however, can only go 450 KPS. The other ships just get slower from there. If you're flying with a mixed group, or escorting a cap ship, be sure to keep your speed in line with theirs so you don't get separated.

"Oh, and the 'KPS' stands for 'Klicks Per Second,' not 'Kilometers Per Second.' If it was the latter, you'd be travelling much too fast to be all that effective in a dogfight."

"Okay, next I want you all to look at the bar of seven lights just above your Radar Display. This is your Blaster Charge Indicator, and it tells you how much energy your guns have. Your guns are your primary weapons, and every shot you make takes the same amount of energy from the guns' capacitors. As you shoot, you'll notice the lights along your indicator slowly begin to wink out and go black. When they all go out, your guns are empty, and you'll have to wait a few seconds for them to recharge. Daggers are equipped with light guns that do the least amount of damage, as far as lasers go, but have the longest range and take the least amount of energy. If you fired them as fast as you could with a full charge, you should be able to get a good 10 shots off before they went completely dry. It's best not to let that happen, however, since you'd be left defenseless. When in battle, you'll have to shoot as straight as you can, and try to delay your shots so you don't drain your guns too quickly. If you can help it, it's a good idea to try and keep a little bit of energy in your capacitors when engaging the enemy. But if he's close to dying anyway, you can shoot a little more and finish him off quickly. It's a judgment call that will be left up to you to make during each given situation.

"Just as important is the small, rectangular window just to the left of your Radar Display. This is your Armor and Shield Indicator, and it's the one thing that'll tell you how much protection you have between you and the cosmos. The thick lines along the top and bottom are your first line of defense: your shields. They actually surround the whole of your fighter, but are primarily directed to the front and rear and are on independent charge circuits. Each one is given a numerical value depending on stopping power. In the case of the Dagger, it's 40. The best thing about shields is that they'll slowly recharge back to full power after they've been hit, meaning that they're essentially unlimited. The trick is to make sure you don't get hit in the same area too many times too fast, or they'll quickly get drained to nothing.

"If that happens, your second line of defense is your armor. Armor covers all sides of your ship, and though your display doesn't give it a numerical value, for Daggers it's also 40. Armor will protect you when your shields are drained, but remember that they don't recharge, so treat them as an emergency reserve. Once they're gone, they're gone until Greaser gets a chance to replace them. Oh, one last thing about the shields, don't forget that they're tied into the same recharge generator as the blasters. If the generator has to recharge both your guns and shields at the same time - which is nearly all the time - it'll take a bit longer than it would for either one individually. Something to be aware of.

"With a rating of just 40, the Dagger has the weakest shields and armor of all the fighters in the fleet, so remember to use its high velocity to evade incoming missiles and stay out of the crosshairs of enemy fighters. The best way to protect yourself from a bullet is not to get hit by it.

"Just over to the right side of your Radar Display, you'll see a couple of indicators. The 'Lock' Light at the top is simply a flashing beacon that tells you if a missile is locked on to you. You'll hear a warning klaxon in addition to this, so when that happens, drop what your doing and either take evasive action or release a decoy. Most of the time you can avoid a missile simply by evading it, but in large-scale battles there are often lots of missiles flying about, so you may want to drop a decoy to take out a bunch of them at once. Daggers have 8 decoys.

"Just below that, you'll see your Fuel Indicator. Remember that this gauge only refers to the amount of afterburner thrust you have left. Your cruise engines and maneuvering thrusters have unlimited energy, so you won't have to worry about running out of gas in the middle of space. With your afterburners on, your fighter can boost forward at well over 1000 KPS. At that speed, you can avoid missiles more easily, catch up to fleeing enemy fighters, or close the distance between you and an enemy cap ship more quickly. Heh, a lot of pilots use it to make several hour-long patrol missions pass more quickly, which is fine, as long as you make sure to save some for a potential battle."

Cougar glances down at his console as a new set of data flashes across his screen. "Well ladies and gentlemen, looks like we've made it to Nav 1. Doesn't appear to be anything of interest here, so let's go check out Nav 2. Take a quick look at your Radar Display. You'll notice that the diamond representing Nav 1 is gone and one representing Nav 2 has taken its place. The computer does that automatically so you don't get caught going to the wrong place. All right, everyone stay on my wing and adjust your heading to Nav 2 while I continue going over your flight systems. Any questions so far?"

~ Heading to Nav 2 ~

Everyone

Cougar's voice comes back over the comm system. "Good question, Vixen. Remember though that our ships don't actually use 'RADAR,' but rather a far more sensitive array of detection equipment. Not only can they pick up objects in all directions, they can also differentiate between rocks, mines, and ships and track each one simultaneously in real-time. They can identify an enemy fighter's class and condition, and send countless amounts of optical data to your ship's CPU so that it, in turn, can generate artificial and spacially accurate sound effects through your headset. All the engine noises and laser blasts and explosions you'll hear are actually artifacts of your computer, and are linked directly with your sensors. Sorry, but there is no passive mode. We just call it 'RADAR' because it's part of the popular lingo."

Once he's made sure that all of you are still in formation he continues with his lesson.

"Up at the top of your cockpit you'll see your Eject Warning Indicator. In the heat of battle a lot of pilots find it difficult to keep track of their ship's status, and wind up believing that their shield strength is higher than it actually is. This device is meant to help counteract that. When your ship is in imminent danger of collapse, this light will blink and a loud klaxon will sound over your headset, overriding everything else. The first thing to remember when that happens is don't panic! The warning will shut itself off once your shields have had a chance to recharge, and if you're not under intense fire at the time, it's better to try and recover your fighter than to simply throw it away by ejecting needlessly. Most of the time, you'll use this indicator not as a recommendation to eject, but rather as a recommendation to get serious about defense. If you're on an enemy's tail and you hear it go off, disengage immediately and take evasive action, because it probably means that another fighter has placed itself on your tail and is aiming to kill you. If you keep taking hits and you just can't shake the fighter or fighters on you long enough to recover, then you'll want to pull the eject lever. Remember that punching out should only be used as a last resort. Our side doesn't have the resources to sacrifice planes everytime the paint gets chipped."

Cougar glances out through his viewscreen. "Alright, folks. Looks like we're coming up on that asteroid field Dragon mentioned during the briefing. Everyone drop your speed back to 200 KPS and keep your eyes open. While it's true that the Usari love to hide in asteroid fields, they aren't the only things you need to watch out for. Your fighter's defensive systems are designed to repel energy blasts and small-scale collisions, such as with missiles and other fighters. They aren't designed to protect you against a collision with something as large and solid as these boulders. Always always always remember to reduce your speed before entering an asteroid field, because if you hit just one at full-throttle, you're dead. The same rule applies when travelling through Usari minefields as well, though the threat there is explosive, rather than kinetic energy. Oh, there's one other important difference as well." Cougar slowly angles his fighter to bear on an incoming 'roid and engages, firing his blasters and striking it over and over until at last the rock disintegrates into a shower of fragments. "You can destroy asteroids with your guns if you hit them hard and fast enough, so if you see one coming at you, don't be afraid to blow it away. Mines, on the other hand, cannot be destroyed. They're too small to target effectively, so you'll just have to dodge them.

"Remember that while fighter craft are small and agile enough to navigate through asteroids and mines, capital ships are not. So if you're on an escort mission, you'll have to go around any fields that you find.

"Okay, now I want you all to take a look at the Video Display Units (VDU) on either side of your cockpit. Both monitors will give you different sets of information, but that information will always be in the same location, no matter which fighter you're flying. Let's start with the Left VDU. Right now you'll see a graphical representation of your ship along with every weapon it's equipped with. I've already talked a bit about the blasters, but you should know that Daggers are unique in that they only have one type of gun. All of our other fighter classes have a mixture of two types, and you'll be able to manually select between them or activate all four at once. Now I know what you're thinking, but use that last option wisely. Though you can cover a wide area with a lot of firepower, you'll also drain your power reserves really fast.

"You can also use this screen to select which of your missiles you want to be armed or, as with the guns, you can set all of them to launch at the same time in a single, massive attack. You really won't use that feature often, but sometimes it's handy against capital ships that you really want to see dead in a hurry. Missiles are generally more powerful than blaster shots and most of them can lock onto and home in on selected targets. But as you can see your supply is limited, so use them only in support of your gunfire, not in place of it. There are four different types of missiles divided into two different catagories: small and normal. Daggers, unfortunately, can only equip small missiles, like dumb fires and heat seekers, but the other fighters can be loaded with any type.

"Right now your ships are loaded with two Dumb Fire Missiles and two Heat Seeker missiles. Dumb Fires have no tracking equipment whatsoever, and will simply fly in a straight line after you fire them. They are, however, packed with explosives, which makes them the most powerful missile type in our inventory. Use them against capital ships or against heavily defended fighters at close range. Heat Seekers are the next most powerful, and as their name suggests they will home in on a target's heat signature after being fired. But always keep in mind that if your enemy successfully evades this missile, it will search for and lock onto the next most opportunistic target, even if that happens to be a friendly, or even your own fighter. I don't mean to scare you, just tell you that it's best to use these when you have a relatively clear line of fire on one or a group of enemies.

"Once you start flying the other ships, you'll have the option of equipping them with Identification Friend-or-Foe (IFF) missiles or Image Recognition (IMREC) missiles. IFFs are the weakest missiles in the ConFed armory, but they're also one of the safest. As you know, all ConFed ships emit coded signals that positively identify them as friendlies. Any ship not emitting these signals is identified as a potential enemy. IFF missiles lock onto the nearest non-friendly ship it detects and tracks them relentlessly. They're quite a bit harder to dodge than heat-seekers, but in the event they are evaded, they'll simply scan the area for the next non-friendly target and go after that. You won't have to worry about killing a buddy or yourself with these, unless their friend-or-foe signal emitters are damaged. It's rare that that happens, though. IMREC missiles are a little more powerful and also very safe. They take a couple seconds to lock on to a target before you can fire them, but once released, they'll go after that one selected ship like a bloodhound. These are the hardest missiles to dodge since they'll only track one specific target, but make sure you know what ship they've identified before you fire them. You wouldn't want to launch one at an Usari fighter only to find out later that the missile's computer recognized the image of the friendly fighter on his tail instead.

"Oh, and before I forget I suppose I should tell you about Torpedoes. They're not actually missiles, and they're massive enough that only heavy fighters and bombers can be equipped with them, but their power is devastating. The bad news is that they can only be used against capital ships, and take between 30-40 seconds to lock onto their targets, during which time you'll be a sitting duck. The good news is that once they are locked on, they can pass through a cap ship's shields and hit it directly. 95% of the time one torpedo hit will utterly destroy a capital ship, no matter how large. This is why it's so important to make the destruction of enemy bombers a higher priority than their escorts. If the Fang gets hit by one of those suckers, it's game over for all of us.

"Besides weapons, the Left VDU will also tell you if there are any damaged systems aboard your fighter. Engines, generators, communications, IFF...stuff like that. Heh, there was one time where my ejection mechanism was destroyed during a battle. Didn't sleep for two whole days after that one.

"The Right VDU gives you information about things outside your ship. If you look at it now you'll see a description of your current heading and just below that the distance between you and your destination. In a battle, this screen will automatically change to display information on your currently selected target; most notably its class, distance, and the strength of its shields and armor. The right VDU is also your comm system. If you get a message from another pilot, it'll come through over here. If you want to send a message to another pilot, you can use this screen to select which person it'll go to. The Usari will regularly try to psych you out by sending taunts or threats, but don't let it get to you. You can taunt them in return, if you like, but remember that your guns are the only real form of 'communication' they'll understand."

Cougar takes a long, sweeping look around his ship. "Okay, looks like we've cleared the asteroids, and Nav 2 is just ahead. Set your speed back to 450 KPS and follow me in. Doesn't look like there's a whole lot to report here, either. Maybe the fish just aren't biting today. You people still awake back there? I hope I didn't put you all to sleep."