| Red v. Blue |
| Summary: | The CAG creates an exercise to take the measure of Cerberus' pilots. The peanut gallery observes. |
| Date: | 17 Feb 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Red v. Blue - Briefing |
| Players: |
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SPACE — THE URAM SECTOR
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie starts up her pre-flight stuff, sitting comfortably in the pilot's chair. Glancing back to Trask, she smiles, "I'm Julie Walker or 'Easy', whichever you prefer." Flicking a few switches she states, "How about we show those frakkin viper jocks what a Raptor can do."
"Easy, huh?" It's asked somewhat slyly. "I'll keep it in mind, but you should know I'm something of a tease. Maybe after 3 dates at nice places, I'll let you grope me, but only if you lie and tell me you'll respect me in the morning." For his part, Trask was already aboard the Raptor, doing his pre-flight checks. "Kal Trask. They call me 'Bootstrap'. And I've been rarin' t'go. Just waitin' on you slackers." He's all smiles, though. Totally pumped to rock this shit.
Julie meets her ECOs comments with a laugh and says, "Well flyboy, I'll have to keep that in mind for like never." She shakes her head and teases, "Three dates to grope? Frakkin' prude." All strapped in and ready to go she says, "Well, hold tight Bootstrap, let's take care of business." With a look of childlike joy, she guns the Raptor out of the launch bay.
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Ready to kick some frakkin' ass guys?"
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Orr enters the ship after everyone else and closes the hatch behind them. He sounds like he's whispreing a checklist under his breath as he's doing so. There's a nervous smile flashed to the reporter as he moves to make sure she is strapped in and her helmet is tight. "Any questions, Mis- Ma'am?" he asks as he settles into his own seat.
Evandreus goes over ship rules briefly, and helps show Sawyer the ways to make certain her flight suit is on securely before launch. Afterward, he leaves her mainly in the hands of his trusty backseater, heading up front and negotiating launch with CIC before heading out toward the game field.
Sawyer had to have some help getting everything sealed correctly on her flightsuit and now her voice sounds a little tinny to her own ears once she's sealed in a helmet. "Call me Sawyer. I'm fine. Too bad they don't tell you what to do in case your lunch decides to revisit." She offers a wane little smile to them both, and tugs on her seat harness to make sure it's secure. Well. This is what you get for wanting to be right up in the action. Becareful what you wish for.
"Just try your best not to let it splash back up your nose," Evan gives his own two cents on the vomit issue. "Press your forehead to your faceplate and try not to let the barf hit the glass." He sounds quite serious, as though this is something that has happened before and will in all probability happen again.
"Uhm. Right Mi- Sawyer. Well if you feel sick, uh." He glances to Evan up front then back to her. "Well just get sick. Just, you know-" He gestures to her helmet. "Don't take that off for any reasons. If something happens you will need it for survival." He swallows hard and turns back to the ECO panel, Orr reading off a quick checklist. "Okay, ready back here, Bun. Sir."
[TAC4] Kefir says, "Alright ladies, this is blue lead. I don't honestly like our odds in this, but we'll do what we can. Priority is on whatever is shooting at the dummies. They might have the raptors go after the dummies and the vipers go after us, in which case, we ignore the vipers and pray they dont hit us, and try to sink their big birds. If they ALL engage the dummies, I'm gonna put the two of you on a big bird, and I'll sortie with the vipers and try and take them out. I'll call target changes if I see anything out there."
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] Whatever response Sawyer was expecting, neither seems to comfort her. Ah well, time to suck it up all in the name of getting the story. The reporter makes one last check of things, then gives the thumbs up. Hopefully the pilot and the ECO will be too busy on launch to see her eyes shut, a quick prayer mouthed, and then her holding on for dear life as they take off for the black. Apparently, someone's never been on a space fairing vessel /quite/ this small.
[Harrier-307: Trask] "Prude? Hardly. I just make people pay for a sip of my milkshake." Cheeky ECO is cheeky. "Right, girly. This'll be a date they won't soon forget."
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Laskaris is quiet as he puts his ship through preflight. He quickly initials the checklist he's handed, then leans back in his seat and closes his cockpit after handing the clipboard back to the crew chief. Then, the deck crew maneuvers his bird into the tube, the heavy blast door closing behind the Viper. There's a quick exchange of thumbs-ups with the deckie in the booth, and then the catapult flings his Viper into space.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Evandreus nods to the call from his backseat, "And we're green up front," he notes, getting the CIC on the line and getting clearance for the up-and-out, forming into a loose formation after his lead, ready for instruction.
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Shiv's one of the last vipers to be disgorged from the tubes, owing to a minor hiccup involving his Mark II's left stabiliser— which is still acting a little funny. The less-than-sleek fighter emerges smoothly enough, however, and corkscrews into a lazy wing over wing roll to bring it just ahead of its larger wing and posse of raptors.
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Daphne's preflight is, unsurprisingly, meticulous. She goes through everything one step at a time, double, and even triplechecking things to be sure they're on the level. Once she's sure she's green, she gets clearance, shoots out the launch tubes, and twists her Viper on course, falling into formation with her squadron leader. The sleek war machine rolls onto his seven o'clock position while its pilot does her level best not to chew her own lip off.
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris snickers into the com. "Sort of a redundant question to ask a Viper stick, innit, Easy? Let's do this."
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Shiv, Bunny, reporting Harrier-305 past proximity and ready to run."
[TAC4] Daphne says, "Blue Lead, Blue Two. Copy on that. V-Vector Alpha is anything on our honor. Am packing and ready to play."
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] Tisiphone's Viper is vaulted out into space near the end of the crew as well. Her pre-flight ritual may be less picture-perfect than Daphne's, but it doesn't make it much faster. Her ship twists in a long, lazy barrel-roll — the sort of maneuver that would leave licorice-like contrails, were there atmosphere — before she arcs off to form up with the rest of her team.
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Laskaris' Mark VII emerges from the tube, a tiny pinprick of silver against the behemoth that is Cerberus. He circles around the hangar pod for a bit, waiting for Sitka and the Raptor contingent to emerge. When they do, he turns the VII over in a sharp arc and guns the throttle, coming into position just behind and starboard of Sitka's fighter.
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "Shiv, Lasher. Got your wing."
[BlackKnight-308: Kefir] 308 whips out of its launch tube, and rolls lazily as it moves away from the main body of Cerberus. Inside, the Blue Team leader checks his instrumentation, locating the defensive objectives, and makes a slow turn to put his bird on line to meet them. He glances to his left and right inside the cockpit, and then again to the instrumentation. Then the ship puts on a bit of thrust to head toward the operational area.
[TAC3] (from "Shiv" Sitka) Sitka's radio crackles a couple of times as he adjusts the frequency, then the Captain's voice comes over it reasonably clearly, "Lasher, move out and form up loose on my wing. Standard escort, you know the drill better than I do. Bunny, Easy, I want you on split formation. Force them to pick a target. Lasher, stay mobile."
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "Lasher copies."
[Polaris] In the distance the pilots will see burning the brilliant blue star that gives this sector its name: the Uram supergiant, glowing blue and white and beautiful though fully three asteroid rings shield it from view. And glimmering with reflected light are four Mark II trainers parked in open space some ways away from the battlestar, in which are sitting four equally bored trainees. One of them is reading a magazine; two others are listening to music; the last is drawing a picture on a little notepad. It could be a crude depiction of the Praetorian and the Corsair; it could be two basset hounds in the act of mating. Hard to tell.
"I can't believe I volunteered to get blown up today," comes one voice over the coms. "Bad luck somewhere. Whatever. All ships, this is Dummy Lead. We're just going to sit here and enjoy the light show. Ready when you are!"
[Harrier-307: Julie] Holding her Raptor steady in formation behind the Vipers on her team, her bird settled in front of the other Raptor. Upon hearing her orders, she banks her Raptor to the far side of the Vipers, maintaining a loose formation.
[TAC4] Tisiphone says, "Blue Lead, this is Blue Three. Copy that. Suggestions on bringing down a Raptor as fast as possible?"
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Roger that Cap'n. I'll make them dance."
[Harrier-305: Tillman] Ensign Orr takes a quick look aorund the inside of the Raptor to make sure nobody is watching. He slips a hand into a pocket and starts going over a few small notes, glancing up to the ECO board quickly. He flips a few switches and powers up the guidance systems for the faux-missiles. The notes are then tucked back away as he looks to DRADIS.
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Shiv, Bunny, I hear you."
[TAC4] Kefir says, "Cockpits, weapon mounts, or engines from the back. Most of the main body is pretty heavily armored."
[TAC4] Kefir says, "And if you're clear of any tails, they're pretty slow, so steady yourself, line up your shot, and relaly let them have it (OOC: +combat/stance banzai :)"
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] As Easy's ride takes its own course, the Bunny marks the path and with a clattering of flightsuited fingertips over keyboards modified to be able to handle such augmented digits plots its inverse, then plots a bit of torque to the plot to add incrementally at his discretion and keep the vipers on their toes later down the line. Inside the bird there registers just enough motion to give people unused to the sensation that brief feeling of weightlessness in the pit of their stomach, like going over the crest of a hill in a car just a little too fast.
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Once his team's in formation and he's verified that his comms frequency is correct, Red's lead lights his engines and strafes out ahead to the combat area. A switch above his head is flipped to adjust his weapons to their training setting, and a quick glance given Lasher— whom he's never flown with before, of course, and thus needs to keep closer tabs on.
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] Well, to her credit, Sawyer hasn't needed to use that advice on how to vomit in a flight helmet. Yet. She's hanging in there as the teams form up for their little war game. Blessedly, with the stabilizers, there's little turbulance in space.
[Harrier-307: Trask] Trask is used to heavy combat zones that most pilots never see. This exercise is about as eventful as looking for a pair of socks. The consoles are in check and DRADIS is displaying 'friend requests'. As for the ECO, he's whistling a jaunty, little tune that some might recall as being a major hit on the charts some 20 years ago — one that still gets used at major sporting events, for it is a timeless classic. Yes, it's the chorus of "Rock You Like A Hurricane".
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] At Shiv's orders, Lasher eases off the other fighter's wing a bit as the attack element falls into the ordered formation. His training safeties are flicked on, and double checked a moment later. One can never be too careful. Eyes flick down to the DRADIS screen at the center of the console; most notably, to the three icons of the fighters of Blue Team. And then Sitka's off; again Lasher opens the throttle, his Mk VII keeping up effortlessly with the older craft.
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Raptors, hang back to start and give me a little electronic interference. If we can take down the fighters a notch or two, you should have an easier shot at the targets."
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie shunts some power into the engines of her bird, lining up for an attack run on the target. No rookiee herself, she has a knowing smile on her face as she goes through the motions of preparing herself for the inevitable fact that she is going to be shot at. Clearing her throat, she's about to tell Trask something when Shiv pipes in, "Alright Bootstrap, let's get some active jamming on those vipers and give our boys a little help." She's back to making herself a hard target, weaving her Raptor around with real skill to make herself harder to lock on to.
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "We got your backs Shiv, Easy out."
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "Commencing Operation Jock Block."
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Evan calls back to his backseat at the word from the Lead. "You got that, Gasm?" Having, after all, seen the target search from up front.
[Harrier-305: Tillman] "Wait? He wants us to..?? Oh. Hell. Uhm, yeah, one second. I was set-up for shooting." The ECO has a small helmetfire in his brain as he quickly tries to reset the system. It takes a few seconds but he finally finds the right switches. "Okay. I think this is right." He glances back to Sawyer. "First time in a combat outside of the Academy."
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Shiv, Bunny. Gasm's on ECM. Wilco. Let us know when you want us to go to weaps."
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] The reporter gives Orr a reassuring smile and a thumbs up. Nevermind the fact that she's starting to sweat a little bit in that flightsuit. Great. One more thing to be nervous about. Thankfully, Orr isn't doing the driving.
[Harrier-307: Trask] "Already ahead of you, Easy. Seriously," the ECO glibly comments, "maybe you should consider the callsign of Slow-Poke. And if you're into tender lovemaking an' not hot an' dirty, steamier than an active shower stall, it could also be a double-entendre. I'd be sorely disappointed in you, though, if you were that kind of girl."
[BlackKnight-308: Kefir] Once Kefir's Blue Lead arrives in the zone, he does a quick pass of the target ships, going so far as to wave through the cockpit window at one of the bored ensigns inside. Luckily he doesn't see the starship pr0n. As soon as they've moved in, he brings his wing around to an interdiction course. The thruster burn is medium, bringing the viper up to a decent cruising speed. As soon as they have DRADIS contacts for the opposing squad, however, the engines flare, and 308 moves to engage. The lead viper moves to sortie with the other fighters.
[TAC4] Kefir says, "I'll storie the vipers, two of you get on 305."
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "Shiv, Lasher. You set em up, I'll take em down."
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Evandreus with KEW - Moderate wound to Controls (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Trask suppresses Daphne with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Trask suppresses Kefir with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Trask suppresses Tisiphone with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Sitka attacks Kefir with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Evandreus passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy4 passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy1 passes.
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Kefir with KEW - Moderate wound to Nose (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Kefir attacks Sitka with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Ens Orr suppresses Daphne with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Ens Orr suppresses Kefir with ECM. <unsuccessful>
<COMBAT> Ens Orr suppresses Tisiphone with ECM. <unsuccessful>
<COMBAT> Dummy3 passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne attacks Evandreus with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Shiv, Easy here. Permission to go weapons hot. Bunny's bird can keep jamming."
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Lasher, break after your next pass and give me a sandwich on Kolettis. I'll try to keep the Lead's crosshairs off me a little longer. Permission granted, Easy. Go to town."
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "Copy that, Shiv. One rook sandwich, comin' right up."
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Daphne manages to bloody her lip and the shooting hasn't even started yet. She hits the overthrusters and shoots across the void of space. « Blue Lead, Blue Two. Bogey bearing one seven three carom two two. » She sways her craft along a long portside sweep and immediately finds her computer systems going nuts. Talk about manual aiming. The screen may as well just be a big lead box at this point. Her shots streak wide. Way wide. She bites her lip again.
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Shiv, Bunny. We're hit, but still flying. Will keep those jamming suites coming."
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Copy, Bunny. Fall back a little, make them chase you. We'll give them a little heat."
[TAC4] Kefir says, "You got tails, blue 2."
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "Shiv, Bootstrap. Gonna see what's behind door number 3."
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] "You heard the plan, Gasm," Bunny calls back, hooking the Raptor to look as though it's making a run, then peel off and south of carom, jigging like a bit of bait in water, trying to get a fishie to come and chase.
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Shiv's Mark II lets loose a snapshot at the end of his pursuit curve, but the rounds go wide as he's trying to jink out of the Blue Lead's firing solution. He lights his engines, slots back in on loose formation with his wingman, and switches targets.
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie chokes just a little at Trask's comment to her, teasing, "Well, you ain't gonna find out anytime soon Bootstrap. With practiced precision she continues to weave her bird around, in a seemingly random pattern that lines her up with the dummy targets. "Time for some fake fireworks.."
[Harrier-305: Tillman] "Aye, sir," Orr's voice cracks. He's working the ECO controls as fast as he can.
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] The initial exchange of fire is mostly a wash; although one of the rooks manages to score a hit on the raptor, Laskaris retaliates by scoring a decent hit on the fore quarter of Kefir's Viper. Then he's got new orders. Lasher's Viper breaks abruptly; he brings his ship up and over in a wide arcing manuever until his and Sitka's ships are bracketing Daphne's fighter. Another burst of simulated fire is unleashed as Lasher squeezes his trigger.
[BlackKnight-308: Kefir] On approach, 308 accelerates, rocketing straight ahead, and then banking late to break its approach. Inside, Kefir spots first one approaching Viper, and then a second. Inside, he smiles. The three ships approach, and break in a tangle of KEW fire. He swerves into a half-strafe and fires on Sitka's old bird, avoiding fire from the target but not managing a good solution. A bit of sudden thruster to break away from 312 isn't fast enough, however, and the bird takes a few shots up its nose.
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] Well, if anything comes of this, it'll be Sawyer trying to dig up where all these interesting callsigns came from. The reporter is just along for the ride, as the training mission goes as well as can be expected. Nevermind the fact she's white-knuckling it back there.
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] As Blue Lead's Viper peels off one way, Tisiphone's Viper abruptly doubles back and heads another. The two Ensigns peel high and low, sandwiching Evandreus's craft between them. « Target hit! » comes the jubilant report, only to be cut off with a burst of ECM-induced static. Her Viper abruptly changes course, twisting hard to the left.
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Viper 310 strays off, veering widely once the alert tones of a faux missile lock are relayed to her from the dummy vipers. Daphne's knuckles whiten around the steering yoke, something she can feel even if her gloves get in the way. She rolls hard, glances around her canopy, and mutters "Frak." to herself as things prepare to get far more interesting for her than she'd initially planned when she got dressed this morning.
[Harrier-307: Trask] Bootstrap drily replies to Easy, "I guess that I'll just have to sate myself with the orgy outside."
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Kefir attacks Sitka with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Evandreus with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Sitka attacks Daphne with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dummy3 passes.
<COMBAT> Trask attacks Dummy3 with Missile Ap - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Daphne with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Evandreus passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy4 passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy1 passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne attacks Julie with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Ens Orr suppresses Daphne with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Ens Orr suppresses Kefir with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Ens Orr suppresses Tisiphone with ECM. <unsuccessful>
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
[TAC4] Kefir says, "Blue 3, get back on your damn target."
[TAC4] Kefir says, "Get a visual if you have to, and join 2 on the big bird."
[Polaris] "Ow," calls the trainee pilot reading the girly magazine. "Good hit." Bored eyes look at the drone now parked by his cockpit, eyebrows raised as he examines the bright red nose to starboard. "Damn, am I glad that thing isn't real."
[Harrier-307: Julie] The Raptor piloted by Julie continues to bear down on the objective even as it's peppered with fire from the other team. Banking her Raptor hard to avoid Daphne's fire, she laughs inside the cockpit, "Damn nugget thinks she can play tag with me." While she doesn't turn around or offer the thumbs up she wants to, she remarks, "Nice, nailed him with a facial."
[TAC4] Tisiphone says, "The whole frakking console's gone! How-" After a short pause, she continues, audibly restraining herself. "Blue Lead, this is Blue Three. Copy that."
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Hey guys, I've got a misquito on my six. Wanna swat it?""
[BlackKnight-308: Kefir] Kefir ends up chasing Sitka as he breaks from his first pass and follows Daphne. Inside, the Captain might be seen saying something rather… sternly into the radio. Someone is a bad girl! Well, presumably, since his wingmates are both female ensigns.
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Sitka's antique of a red and white fighter lances off a few potshots aimed at Daphne's craft, but the Ensign's a little too quick for him, and they pepper off into space. Of course, he's more concerned at the moment with shaking Kefir off his tail. As the opposing Captain gains a bead on him, he drags his smaller craft in a hard breakturn to port, all three engines firewalled as he comes around for another go.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Bunny's boat leads Tisiphone's straight out of the combat zone, evidently working as an effective enough lure, then, in a moment, turns on three axes at once, not slowing down but re-directing its momentum briskly just off-kilter from its line of retreat enough not to smash headfirst into the Viper pursuint it on its way back toward the combat zone. Though its close.
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Lasher mutters a curse as Daphne's Viper remains untouched by the fusillade of fire from Red Team's Vipers. "Just you wait, rook," he mumbles, his jaw set in determination as he goes for another targeting solution. His mood does brighten a touch, though, as he notices one of the dummy fighters' icons blink with a missle hit.
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "Nice shot, Bootstrap."
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Daphne's eyes are everywhere but in front of her. With not one, but two fighter jocks on her, it's taking all of her attention just to avoid getting turned into swiss cheese. She jinks hard to one side, grits her teeth a little, and then pulls back on the stick to take her craft 'up', if such a thing could be said to exist out here. With all of this going on, aiming for Julie's raptor is somehow way, way more difficult than it had seemed a second ago. A glancing shot finally presents itself, and streaks wide. Big surprise.
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Smartly done. Shiv, I've got one tailing me. Should I lead her out again? See how far she'll chase me?"
[Harrier-307: Trask] When his missile hits, it's a small, self-satisfied smile that Trask sports. "Looks like the skank wants to taste my big, red rocket of love, again." Letting off a somwhat dramatic sigh, along with an equally dramatic rolling of his eyes, he adds, "I suppose I should forego being a tease, just this once."
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Stay on target with me, Lasher. Let's try for another pass. Good hits there, Bootstrap."
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "I aim to please, boys."
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Affirmative, Bunny. Pull her out, and give her the slip. If it gets too hot for you, we'll swing in and help."
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "Shiv, Lasher. I copy. Let's splash the rook and have done, shall we?"
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Shiv, Bunny, I hear you. Teasing the greyhound."
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Harrier-305 makes another sudden three-axis shift to its course, bringing it hard past Tisiphone's nose and running for it just south-carom of the combat field.
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "Bunny, Boostrap. Lemme know if you'll need the fox to frak with the hounds."
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Sitka attacks Daphne with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Evandreus passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy4 passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy1 passes.
<COMBAT> Trask attacks Dummy3 with Missile Ap - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Julie with KEW - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Daphne with KEW - Moderate wound to Controls (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Kefir attacks Sitka with KEW - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Ens Orr suppresses Daphne with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Ens Orr suppresses Kefir with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Ens Orr suppresses Tisiphone with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Dummy3 passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne attacks Julie with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Viper-4157f has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dummy3 has been KO'd!
[Polaris] "Boom," says the bored pilot, not bothering to look at the second drone. "Dummy Three is gone. Goodbye, stupid exercise. And he-llo Miss February."
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Frak. I lost the hound. Think I was looking too desperate? Shiv, Bunny, we're unattended, out here. Should we open fire?"
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "I think your ECM is doing a frakkin good job disrupting them but not my call."
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie isn't surprised at all by the pair of Vipers going for her, she was afterall flying the bird that was doing the damage, even if she wasn't taking the shots. "Woohoo! Nice one Bootstrap, maybe one day I'll get to see you shoot at a target that can bite back." As she takes a light hit to her Raptor, she says, "Wow, the frakkin nugger got a shot in on us, who would have guessed." Corkscrewing her Raptor around she tries to line up another good shot for her ECO.
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] Tisiphone's Viper has some sort of Jeckyll-and-Hyde moment as it tears off after Evandreus's ship, turning as wildly as thrusters — and perhaps the venomous cursing of the Ensign within — can bring it round. The new Hot Target is Julie; as she swoops low then high again, roughly mirroring Daphne's route, she squeezes off a few imaginary rounds to give the Damage Control simulator something to chew on.
[BlackKnight-308: Kefir] Kefir settles in nicely behind Sitka now, the younger bird hounding the older bird hounding his wingman's younger bird. CONGA LINE. Or something like that. He's finally able to get a good solution, and peppers his target with his KEWs. Or, well, his imaginary KEWs, which are actually pew-pew laser pointers. He doesn't look off his target as the dummy blows - his instrumentation, jammed to hell as it is, might not even register the kill. Certainly there's no actual explosion to visual on, and visual is all he has right now.
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Second verse, relatively close to the first. Daphne evades like a madwoman to the point that it's starting to adversely affect her speed, which is doing nothing to help the rookie until she remembers to give her afterburners a good tap to keep her moving acceptably. Her goal is no longer to actually hit Julie, but instead she's firing bursts, attempting to guide the Raptor into the waiting arms of her wingmate. And then Laskaris' virtual bullets lead to a death rattle as half the panels on her viper blink out, and the flight stick becomes less than responsive. "Frak me!"
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Flashing red lasers from Lasher's fighter strike Daphne amidships; a solid hit, but it doesn't seem to slow the rookie down much. Scowling slightly, Lasher pauses before firing again, taking enough time to settle his targeting reticle over Daphne's cockpit before firing again.
[TAC3] (from "Shiv" Sitka) Sitka's radio static is filled with the roar of his viper's engines working at full output for a few seconds, mostly obliterating the start of what he says. His voice cuts in after a moment, "-on her, Lasher. You've got this. Easy, how're you looking over there? Let's go with a full spread, both raptors, engage your targets at will once you're in range."
[Harrier-307: Trask] Kal's gone back to whistling that song, breaking tune to reply to his pilot in a quasi-flirty tone, "Maybe you'll see more than that." He lines up the next shot. "Best stop thinkin' 'bout me an' all my overwhelming sexiness — I know, I know, easier said than done — but it's poor form to be so distracted by my overwhelming sexiness that you get hit by a rook."
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Yeah, A-OK Shiv. I'm in more trouble from Bootstrap then the nuggets."
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] Tisiphone's Viper has some sort of Jeckyll-and-Hyde moment as it tears off after Evandreus's ship, turning as wildly as thrusters — and perhaps the venomous cursing of the Ensign within — can bring it round. The new Hot Target is Julie; as she swoops low then high again, roughly mirroring Daphne's route, she squeezes off a few imaginary rounds to give the Damage Control simulator something to chew on. (repeat, I think everyone's kicking again.)
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Red Lead's fighter drops into a more defensible position after his sensors register a hit. The Mark II doesn't contain any of the fancy training equipment in the sevens, but there's no mistaking being tagged. Engine one is cut, engine two is firewalled, and he corkscrews around in a hairy high-G ratchet before streaking off and disengaging from Daphne.
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "Gasm, Bootstrap. Number 4 has been eyein' me all night, so I'm gonna nail her sister. Feel free to take her out. I'm sure she'll let you get to at least third base."
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] Sawyer remains tight in her seat, beginning to hum Flight of the Valkyries underneath her breath. Thankfully it's not loud enough to trip the comms.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Harrier-305 speeds away south-carom of the fight in hopes of getting the greyhound pup to chase the bunny. Tisiphone, however, goes off to join Daphne after Julie, so, once he's got some distance on his run, he jigs back around, angling northcarom as if trying to jig again. This time, though, the Bunnygasm's missiles go hot mid-jig. Just a feint? Or for real? Time will tell.
[TAC4] Daphne chuckles nervously over the radio, "Blue Two to Blue Lead, uh… I'm really popular over here."
[TAC4] Kefir says, "Stay on target, I'm on one of your tails. We're a little outnumbred here."
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Kefir attacks Sitka with KEW - Moderate wound to Nose (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Message from Sitka: Evan needs to target.
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy1 passes.
<COMBAT> Trask attacks Dummy1 with Missile Ap - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Julie with KEW - Light wound to Controls (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sitka takes careful aim at Daphne.
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Message from Sitka: Never mind lol.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Daphne with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Evandreus passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy4 passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne attacks Julie with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Ens Orr attacks Dummy1 with Missile Ap - Critical wound to Nose.
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Viper-3946u has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dummy1 has been KO'd!
[Polaris] "Dummy Lead is down," says the pilot in question. "You know what?" he speculates idly on the com. "I think the CAG set this up to make the Wing look good, else they'd let us fly around and evade. But I suppose it wouldn't do for the Harriers to look like they can't do what they're supposed to know how to do."
[TAC4] Tisiphone says, "Blue Lead, this is Blue Three. Blue Two's selling herself short. I think they're all coming to play."
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Looks like Blue Lead's not going to take no for an answer, Lasher. You want to pick him off my tail?"
[TAC4] Kefir says, "That's good flying blue 2, you're giving them a real runaround. I don't think we're gonna punch through this armor any time soon, but thats solid flying."
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "Gasm, Bootstrap. Fine. I'll take number 4."
[TAC3] (from "Lasher" Laskaris) Lasher's voice has something of an edge on it as he replies. "It'd be my pleasure, Shiv."
[Polaris] "That's pretty stupid, Dummy Lead." This from the man who's just finished up with Miss February. "How do you think the Wing'll look if Vipers can't defend a target?"
There's a beat; then: "Shut up and fap."
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie hides her own annoyance at getting tagged again, even if it was just a little hit, those tend to add up over time. Her Raptor weaves from side to side to still as she circles around to line up another volley for her ECO, "Let's go for three in a row, we've got this."
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Hey Viper jocks, not to be a bitch but less posturing and trying to go for the Captain and more getting these nuggets off me."
[BlackKnight-308: Kefir] Kefir keeps trailing, and keeps shooting. He seems to have a decent beat on Sitka, while Daphne plays bob 'n weave ahead.
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Wings tense like a wire, Daphne continues to lead something of an unwilling chase across the scape of this furball. Even with the controls a little fuzzy, she manages to evade virtual bullets, doing her level best to at least create the illusion that she's got a chance in hell of laying some damage on Julie's Raptor. She exhales and turns her head towards Laskaris while swinging past him and offers a salute from her cockpit, though the look on her face is more sarcasm than reverence.
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Laskaris' hastily aimed shot goes wide, and he curses again. Then, a bit of com traffic passes between him and Shiv, and suddenly Lasher's fighter breaks hastily from formation. He trips his RCS thrusters, bringing his ship into a tight, gut wrenching turn as he settles in behind Kefir. His ship bobs slightly in the aftermath of his maneuver, but Lasher steadies the Viper as he aims and fires.
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Shiv is tagged again by the faster, bigger Mark VII that's been dogging him the entire fight. Rather than continue on his current trajectory however, he cuts all three engines and drags his tail forward in an attempt to send the other Captain slinging right by him— and an attempt to double back on his wing, the as-yet-unnamed Daphne. His training lasers paint wide swaths over her bird as he barrels down on her.
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "And here I was under the impression that you fancy th' females, Easy."
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "Easy, Lasher. If one of us doesn't get this asshole, there won't /be/ anyone left t' cover your arse."
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "Shiv, Bootstrap. Should I be ringin' their doorbells an' runnin' away, so you can deposit a flaming bag of dog poop in front of the back porch door?"
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] Inside her Viper, Tisiphone is singing a nonsensical, savagely irritated song of her own based around a marching hymn with 'frak' as the only lyric. She loops a dizzying-sharp circle around Julie's craft then twists to come round again, squeezing off bursts of imaginary fire.
[Polaris] It's at about this time that Ensign Orr suddenly convulses at his station, and not convulsing in the way his callsign suggests he convulses. Indeed, he's a really terrible actor — after jerking once, then twice, he sits back in his seat. "Sorry guys," he offers apologetically. "I'm supposed to simulate a crisis situation. So, um. I guess I'm shot."
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Easy, get your panties out of their twist and hold tight. Their nugget's a slippery fish. Bootstrap, you got it."
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Crap and frak. Command put on mole on our boat, Gasm's out of the game, here."
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Bunny, repeat your last?"
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] As Ensign Orr gives his best impersonation of a fish out of water, err, an injured backseater, Sawyer tilts her head. Interesting. "Does this qualify as an oh shit moment?"
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "Shiv, Bootstrap. He said that I need to pick-up the deadweight's slack."
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "We should light these targets up and complete the frakkin mission."
[TAC3] (from "Bunny" Evandreus) "Shiv, Bunny. Gasm's out of the game. Something command prepped ahead of time," he explains.
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "The frak? Fine. Bootstrap, line them up and knock them down. Lasher, switch it up on your next pass and merge with me."
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Julie with KEW - Light wound to Engine (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Kefir attacks Sitka with KEW - Moderate wound to Controls (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Daphne attacks Julie with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Trask suppresses Kefir with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Trask suppresses Daphne with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Trask suppresses Tisiphone with ECM. <unsuccessful>
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Sitka attacks Daphne with KEW - Moderate wound to Weapon.
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Ens Orr passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy4 passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Kefir with KEW - Moderate wound to Tail (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Evandreus passes.
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Something's wrong with Harrier-305. It simply comes to a dead stop right above the combat, floating a little about its midline axis.
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "For frak's sake, guys. It's sad when the ECO gets in more killshots than you Viper jocks do."
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Shiv, Bunny, I'm parking us and heading to the backseat."
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "For frak's sake, Bootstrap, the shit you're shooting at isn't moving."
[Polaris] "Ruh-roh," says Dummy Lead over the channels, not sympathetically at all. "Boy am I glad I'm not the only one who's getting fake-killed."
As far as Ensign Orr is concerned, he's about done faking. "Applying first aid to myself," he whistles under his breath. "Got to wait some moments longer. Watch me apply first aid. I'm applying it!" And by 'applying' he presumably means 'sitting back in his chair.'
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "Excuses, excuses."
[BlackKnight-308: Kefir] Kefir fires and fires and fires as he persues Sitka, trying to peel him off his own wingman. When the other pilot suddenly breaks for defensive maneuvers, however, and catching a shot from Laskaris' trailing bird, he suddenly makes a sudden hard RCS turn, breaking from the conga line of doom and zeroing on the raptor they've been trying to pound.
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie curses loudly as her ship takes another hit, a loud "FRAK!" escaping her lips before she begins to work double time at her controls. Biting her lower lip, she keeps the controls gripped tightly and lines up for another pass, doing her best to setup the shot for Trash while evading the twin ensigns on her tail.
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Focus guys, I don't like losing."
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] The reporter leans forward a bit in her seat, her shoulders straining against the restraint harness. "We're stopping? Why are we stopping?" Sawyer's voice pitches a little higher with each question.
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Roger, Bunny. Bootstrap, quit your bitching and focus. Lasher, sandwich again. I'm partial to ham and cheese."
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Bunny shuffles his way in back. "Hey, Magazines, head up front and take a seat. Let me know if anything starts blinking at us, yah?" he chuckles. "Move it, Goldbrick," he laughs at Gasm. "Walk it off," he adds, taking the guy's seat.
[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "Shiv, I ain't the one with my knickers in a twist. If y'all are gonna be that way, though, I'll just go take my toys over to the dummies an' play with them."
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Daphne loses another pretend part of her very real starfighter. Half her kinetics go dead when she zigs when she should've zagged. Or perhaps she zagged when she should've, but didn't zag enough. Either way, she loses more imaginary pieces of her viper while still completely failing to hit anything. At least she's consistant!
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] "Frak frak FRAK FRAK frakkity-frak," sings Tisiphone between irritable, scything turns of her Viper. "Frak fraa-aa-aak, O FRAK WON'T YOU DIE, you frakking lumbering pregnant leprous corpse-frakking cow covered in the Lords' own FRAKKING IMPERVIOUS ARMOR-" She could go on all day — and nearly does, until a particularly high-G turn ends it with an, "-uff." More wild sprays of imaginary gunfire. At the rate she's going, the paint will be chipped sometime next year.
[Harrier-307: Trask] Dummy number 2 gets lined-up in Kal's cross-hairs. Big! Boom! Go!
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] Surely this can't be standard operating procedure. Sawyer's eyes go wide behind the face shield of her helmet. "You want me to /what/?!" Her fingers are already fumbling with the buckle that keeps her tethered to the jumpseat. "Out of your frakkin' mind." She mutters at the switcharoo.
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Laskaris curses again as Kefir is hit but refuses to die under his guns. Then, he guns his afterburners and twists away from Kefir as Sitka orders him to go after Daphne again. His Viper spinning, he moves in to complete one half of the bracketing maneuver as he opens fire.
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "I've got jamming suites up and running back here, Shiv."
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Switching from defensive posture to aggressive run, Sitka peels away from his wingman and the previously pursuing Blue Lead, and guns his engines for Daphne once again.
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Maybe you boys can finish off the little ensign in your threesome."
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Julie with KEW - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Sitka attacks Daphne with KEW - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Kefir attacks Julie with KEW - Light wound to ECM.
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy4 passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne attacks Julie with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Trask attacks Dummy2 with Missile Ap and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Daphne with KEW - Serious wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Evandreus suppresses Daphne with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Evandreus suppresses Kefir with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Evandreus suppresses Tisiphone with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Ens Orr passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Blackknight-310 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Daphne has been KO'd!
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Woohoo! Nice shot boys, she didn't see what hit her."
[Polaris] "Holy frak," calls Dummy Two. "Did — did that ECO just miss a stationary Viper? Gods almighty, if those are the pilots Flight School produces — "
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] "Don't worry, dude," Evan chuckles, "Remember that they're not really shooting at you," he notes to the Civvie as she makes her way up front. "Just don't… touch anything, yah?"
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] Okay. So, now she's in the driver's seat of a million cubit DEATH TRAP and no only is one thing blinking at her, -everything- is blinking at her. Or seems to be. Things are lit up all over the console, and she has no idea what any of it means. Sawyer for a moment seems tempted to touch /something/ but that may just blow them to high hell or suck them out into the vortex of space or something equally unhappy. "For the record, this is a VERY BAD IDEA."
[Harrier-307: Trask] "What the FRAK?!" Trask exclaims, examining his console, trying to figure out just how a stationary target could've been missed. Some fiddling later and he's out for revenge.
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie laughs loudly, taking a second to look back at Trask, "Frak, did you just miss Bootstrap?" Pushing her thrusters a little more, she remarks, "And hey, don't start making comments about nuggets tagging me, there's a lot of them."
[Polaris] "Whoa! Whoa!" Ensign Orr bounds up from his chair, letting Bunny take over. "Let me get a picture of this. Hot chick in a Raptor cockpit: mmm mmm!" Somebody didn't get the memo about being courteous to civilians. "Could you, maybe, turn sideways?" A puppy-dog look at Sawyer; then, as if realizing his role: "Oh. Uh. First aid, first aid, first aid!"
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Sitka, mercifully, has nothing scathing to say whatsoever about his raptor missing his target. Maybe they're even now, for the little jibe earlier. Ha! As Daphne streaks past his viewscreen, he jams his weapons controls and paints a swath of laserfire across her flank. The hits are good, and Lasher's are even better. Dragging his older fighter about in a hard breakturn to port, he zeroes in on the opposing team's Captain, hot on his wingman's heels.
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Red light bathes Ensign Kolettis' flight helmet as she's finally delivered enough of a one-two punch. Out of speed, out of wiggle room, and out of luck, her controls return to full capabilities. Simulation over for this one. "Lieutenant Laskari… I'm holding up a finger under the cockpit, sir. Guess which one it is?" Her voice is light and cheery, but ultimately playful.
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] Inside her Viper, Tisiphone has swapped 'frak' for 'die' in her frustrated little song. Her crazy, jinking turns gentle for a moment as Daphne's ship goes dead in the water. Hesitation, mid-combat? Not the brightest move, Rook. A split-second later and she's back to doing her impression of a border collie coralling an elephant.
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Easy does it, Lasher. Reel him in for me. Bootstrap, take a breather and try again. You've got this."
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Theeeeere it is. Sitka's and Laskaris' lasers finally converge on Daphne's ship, skewering the Viper and putting her out of the fight. He smirks. "Dead women get no comebacks, Kolettis." Then, his RCS thrusters kick the Viper into an acrobatic spin as both he and Sitka switch their targets to Blue Lead.
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Julie with KEW - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sitka attacks Kefir with KEW - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Kefir attacks Julie with KEW - Moderate wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Evandreus suppresses Kefir with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Evandreus suppresses Tisiphone with ECM. <successful>
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Trask attacks Dummy2 with Missile Ap and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Kefir with KEW - Serious wound to Controls (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Ens Orr passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy4 passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne passes.
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Harrier-307 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Julie has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Trask has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Blackknight-308 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Kefir has been KO'd!
[BlackKnight-308: Kefir] 308 breaks off to strafe the the Raptor, trying, perhaps, to take down at least some small part of their offensive ouput. But its fairly futile. He keeps firing, ignoring the two vipers on his six. Naturally, though, with no mind paid to defense, and two experienced pilots on his ass, the lasers light him up, and soon his viper shuts off.
[TAC3] (from "Shiv" Sitka) There's a muffled curse hissed into Sitka's helmet that isn't quite cut off in time. "Easy, sorry we couldn't clear up your six in time. You did good. Bunny, go to town for me on those targets, would you? Let's just keep our last aggressor busy, Lasher.
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "Good isn't enough, if this was for real I'd be dead."
[Polaris] "Holy shit," says Dummy Two incredulously, watching another drone soar about what looks to be a kilometer and a half above his head. "Somebody forgot to pray to Artemis or something last morning? Bless her soul!"
Orr, for his part, finishes fumbling about with his pretendy-fun-time first aid, ambling back to his seat. "Oh look, Bunny, I'm all healed," he comments idly. "And — oh look. I think it's about time we started shooting back, sir. Except — oh look." Another shrug. "A complication." His head lolls back as he leans against the side of the Raptor, stifling a yawn. "I hope you know how to shoot that thing, as we're the only ones who, you know, can."
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "tac3.Lasher utters a raspy growl of delight. "Splash one Blue Leader." A pause. "Copy that, Shiv.""
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "And that's on my head, not yours, Easy. The rest of you, stay focused."
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie seems fairly dissapointed in herself, exercise or not for her failure to keep her bird up despite an overwhelming focus of enemy firepower on her Raptor. Glancing back to Trask, she shrugs, "Sorry to getcha killed Bootstrap. On the plus side, you've got lots of wank time."
[TAC3] (from "Bootstrap" Trask) A long stream of invectives comes from one extremely pissed-off ECO. "GODS FRAKKIN' DAMNIT!" The sound of Trask digging out his toolkit to make some jury rigged repairs may or may not be heard.
[TAC3] (from "Bunny" Evandreus) "Go to town… like… with the shooty bits?" Bunny wonders, sounding… more than a little uncertain, just there.
[TAC4] Kefir says, "Just shoot their lead."
[TAC4] Kefir says, "Oh wait. I'm dead. Uh… fire at will, I suppose."
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] « Holy frak! Holy motherfrakking frak-on-a-stick! » Tisiphone peels away from Julie's ship, pale eyes wide and full of utter uncertainty. Training saves her rookish bacon; as she tries to figure out who to target, she spins through some evasive maneuvers. Eventually, she sends a few bursts of imaginary fire at Sitka's ship.
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Once again, Lasher and Shiv pull off the bracket to perfection, as twin lasers skewer Blue Lead's craft and put him out of action. Lasher utters a triumphant growl as he zips past Kefir's Viper, wagging his wings tauntingly. One of the Raptors has been taken out, but then there's only one defender left, too. Laskaris forms up with Sitka and, almost as one, they descend on the last remaining 'enemy' Viper. Be afraid, Tisiphone. Be very afraid.
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Shiv swings away from Kefir's bird as it boxes out, swaps with his wingman, and lights his engines as he begins an aggressive run for the remaining 'enemy' fighter.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Evan looks up at Gasm with first a look of hope, then one of amused irritation. "Alright, alright, fine," he mutters, then opens up the weapons control. Fortunately he parked his Raptor only a short distance from the targets, where… it just sort of sits, sans pilot, while Evan fumbles about with those missiles.
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Daphne's viper, unblemished and in perfect condition, swings around the perimeter of the combat area and watches.
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Ens Orr passes.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Sitka with KEW - Moderate wound to Nose (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Tisiphone with KEW - Light wound to Nose (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Kefir passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy4 passes.
<COMBAT> Trask passes.
<COMBAT> Sitka attacks Tisiphone with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Evandreus attacks Dummy4 with Missile AP - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne passes.
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Viper-9360i has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dummy4 has been KO'd!
[Harrier-307: Trask] Bootstrap is decidedly cranky. "I should've paused to make repairs sooner. Missing the target was more than clue enough that something was on the fritz."
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie just shrugs back at Trask, "Look, you did great. If I wasn't getting lit up like a bonfire, we would have been fine. Don't beat yourself up over it." That doesn't mean she isn't pissed.
[Polaris] "Hey guys," says Dummy Two, his head shaking in bewilderment. "I'm still alive. This is — this is insane. Maybe they'll promote me to Captain, if I can evade missiles just by sitting here!"
"He wasn't shooting at you," snaps Dummy Lead, decidedly irritated that his second-in-command has survived while he himself has not.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Harrier-305 finally gets its act together enough to lob a softball toss of a false missile to tink against the top of one of one of the remaining targets.
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Daphne continues her lazy circle, grinning while she watches what's left of the fight, "That's it, Apostolos!" She inverts her craft and begins to circle in the opposite direction, "Go get 'im!"
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] With his simulated weapons on the simulated fritz, and without the aid of the Mark VII's backup targeting computers, Sitka's aim is decidedly shit. Or maybe he just made a bad pass of his target, and frakked up his firing solution. Either way, the Ensign gives him the slip pretty handily, and Shiv's forced to turn and burn into a fleet-footed escape.
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] Sawyer turns sideways as she is bid by Gasm. Why? Because she feels safer the further away she is from anything she can potentially bump into and cause their untimely DOOOOM. "Soooo, I'll just sit up here and keep the seat warm right? I don't have to parallel park it or anything right?" The reporter fidgets when she's nervous, toying with the seal on her gloves in a distracted manner.
[Polaris] "Nah," says Gasm, his boyish face breaking into a grin. Green eyes glance over at Sawyer's gloves. "It'd be nice if those were black and silk, you know." This is his idea of casual conversation. "Minus the hard-seal, too. And good hit, Bunny. You just shit a missile onto a parked Viper."
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] « For the love of frak, NOW what?! » Tisiphone is sounding like she's operating a whole order of magnitude outside her combat parameters, right about now. She may be suffering a wee bit of target lock, too — she follows doggedly after Sitka, trying to line up a shot.
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Lasher's shot glances off Tisiphone's nose, though the readouts seem to indicate that some of it got through the armor. Not enough to really make a difference though. Meanwhile, the rook's lasers bite another chunk out of Sitka's 'battered' bird, and the captain is forced on the defensive, Tisiphone in pursuit. Lasher in turn moves in behind Tisiphone, slightly bemused for his part that Captain Sitka is getting all the attention.
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "Shiv, Lasher. Hang tight, I'm on her."
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] "Holy shit, I hit it." Evan sounds actively startled at the fact, despite his being at a standstill about five meters from the quite still target. Which is really close, in space-fighting terms.
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Sitka with KEW - Light wound to Nose (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Kefir passes.
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Trask passes.
<COMBAT> Sitka takes careful aim at Tisiphone.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Tisiphone with KEW - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Evandreus tries to attack but has no target!
<COMBAT> Ens Orr passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne passes.
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Blackknight-309 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Sitka has been KO'd!
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Tink. Another missile goes floating lazily from the Harrier, hitting the very same target as before. "And I hit it again. Neat."
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] "You weren't really supposed to do that, were you?" Thank you Reporter Obvious. Sawyer, at least, has cracked a smile again, driving some of the tension from her features.
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Maybe they all just want a piece of the visiting Reservist. He does seem to have attracted a lot of attention from the opposing team, and the attention's finally added up— he boxes out from Tisiphone's little lovetap across the nose, and a chuckle might be heard over the comms as he gives her a wing waggle in congratulations and swerves away from the fight.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] "Nnnnope," Evan replies from the back, with an impish grin. "A liiiiitle further out, this time," he murmurs, trying to grannybowl a missile toward the other one.
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Looks like I'm out. It's all up to you boys. Lasher, just keep her off the raptor and we're golden."
[Polaris] "You're not paying attention to me, Reporter," says Gasm, looking a bit wounded. "I'm telling you, it'd be a good look for you. And hey, Bunny! Good hit dude — wait. Wrong Viper."
"Man," says Dummy Two in the meantime. "Artemis, I'd say I love you except you might turn me into a stag or something and have me get eaten by my own hounds. So. Uh. Stay virginal."
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Shiv, Bunny. I think I can hit it."
[Harrier-307: Trask] "Yeah, I did great for a frak-up," the ECO glibly replies, still annoyed, his mouth taking a decidedly downward curve. "Nah, I got stupid. Really frakkin' stupid." In vain, Trask tries and subsequently fails to jury rig the Raptor back into the game. "Well, it's a good wake-up call. I'd gotten used to trusting my last squad with my life some 3 times a day, minimum." His tone is indicative of someone who feels stupid for relying on his teammates when they'd yet to earn enough of his trust. "Watch, Bunny'll be the last one standing. He's not soft like these other frakkers."
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] Lasher's lasers again nick Tisiphone's fighter, but this time the computer rules he didn't get enough of her to do any damage, the lasers bouncing harmlessly off her armor. Then, he suddenly notices Sitka is no longer with him; the other Red Team Viper's icon blinks inactive on his DRADIS. Shrugging, he looks out the cockpit window as he brings his fighter around to find Tisiphone. "All right, rook, it's just you and me…" he muses, his eyes narrow as he moves in for the kill.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Bunny is the last one standing because he spent the bulk of the engagement running away. But that's his typical MO. Cut and run, hope nobody thinks he's important enough to run after. Tossing missiles, at least, doesn't seem to be his forte, if anyone's actually looking at those tinnybombs he's dropping.
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie doesn't reply to Trask's comments at all, arms crossed over her chest as she watches rest of the engagement play out. Whether her silence is a result of being offended, pissed or both is anyones guess.
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] Daphne grins a bit more as Sitka's viper gets disqualified. She continues her lazy circle around the engagement area and watches as if it's intense theater.
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] Tisiphone is finally stunned all the way into silence, much to the relief of her poor cockpit. Again she stops accelerating for a moment as Sitka's ship is given its coup de grace, doubtless doing a triple-take behind the canopy, before remembering to come around and line up on Laskaris.
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Evandreus attacks Dummy2 with Missile AP but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Laskaris with KEW - Critical wound to Controls.
<COMBAT> Kefir passes.
<COMBAT> Sitka passes.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Tisiphone with KEW - Serious wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Ens Orr passes.
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Trask passes.
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Blackknight-312 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Laskaris has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Blackknight-311 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Tisiphone has been KO'd!
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] "Oops," from Evan, as the missile goes spiralling off into space.
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Err, spoke too soon. Hold on, I can get this."
[Harrier-307: Trask] Looky-loo. Trask was right. Bunny was the last one standing. Sardonically, he smiles.
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Take one more shot at it if you like, Bunny. Then we're RTB."
[TAC3] "Bunny" Evandreus says, "Okay, I'll try. Mashing go, now."
[Harrier-307: Trask] Looky-loo. Trask was right. Bunny was the last one standing. Sardonically, he smiles. Walker's silence doesn't appear to bother him. In fact, he lightly starts-up converstaion. "So, it's been a while, but you're the same Easy from the Chimaera a few years back, yeah."
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone passes.
<COMBAT> Sitka passes.
<COMBAT> Kefir passes.
<COMBAT> Julie passes.
<COMBAT> Evandreus attacks Dummy2 with Missile AP - Critical wound to Tail (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dummy2 passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne passes.
<COMBAT> Laskaris passes.
<COMBAT> Ens Orr passes.
<COMBAT> Trask passes.
<COMBAT> Sawyer passes.
<COMBAT> Polaris has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Viper-7554c has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dummy2 has been KO'd!
[BlackKnight-312: Laskaris] It's a game of interstellar chicken, and as it turns out, neither Tis or Laskaris wins, exactly. Oh, sure, Lask's lasers stitch across the body of Tis' fighter for a killing blow, but he's so focused on the coup de grace that he completely ignores the targeting lock warning that suddenly chimes. As such, Tis barely has to work to get her shot, and her lasers slash through his nose and around his cockpit; his cockpit erupts in a blaze of red warning lights, and his controls shudder and give out as the computer renders him dead. Then, it resets, and he's able to maneuver again. Shaking his head with a rueful smirk, he brings his Viper over in a lazy arc to form up on Sitka's wing as they make their way back home.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] Tink! Bunny's second try clips the tail end of the Dummy. It's not much, but, according to the computers, it's enough. "There we go. Sorry, dudes!" he calls out on ship-to-ship to the dummies he managed to take out in that highly undignified fashion.
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "Beautiful work, ladies and gentlemen. Let's head back to the barn. I'd offer to buy you all a drink, but you'll have to settle for coffee."
[Harrier-307: Julie] Julie glances back to Trask as she prepares to head back to base, a puzzled expression on her face, "Yeah, that's me, my first assignment. I don't remember a Bootstrap though…" Her attention back in front of her, she asks seriously, "How do you know I served on the Chimaera?"
[TAC3] "Easy" Julie says, "A smoke and a coffee, that sounds good now considering I'm a dead woman."
[SnowPetrel-201: Sitka] Shiv reaches above his head to switch off his training program and bring his regular weapons complement back online, before dragging his fighter around one-eighty and slotting back in on Laskaris' wing for the trip back to Cerberus.
[Harrier-305: Evandreus] And with that, Evan's up again, stretching his back. "Okie. Musical chairs time, folk. Mags, thanks for holding down the fort up there for me, yah? Gasm, get your injured ass buckled up, we're heading home."
[TAC3] "Shiv" Sitka says, "We're all dead men, one day, Easy."
[TAC3] "Lasher" Laskaris says, "Hey, we won, that's what bloody matters. Though I definitely agree on the smoke part, Easy."
[Harrier-305: Sawyer] "That's it right?" Meaning, OMGCANIGETOUTOFTHISFRAKKINGSEATNOW? Sawyer looks to Evandreus, because she's scared to move without his say so, feeling like a bull in a China shop. "Yeah? Okay, good." She hoists herself to her feet, and shuffles in the tight confines of the ship, praying her butt doesn't flip a switch or her sleeve doesn't smack the wrong toggle on her way.
[BlackKnight-311: Tisiphone] Tisiphone's Viper slowly barrel-rolls as it coasts to a stop, ending with her floating upside-down — in comparison to the Cerberus, at least. She dangles there for a long while before kicking the engines back on and steering herself back to base.
[Harrier-307: Trask] "Back then, I was still pullin' myself up by my bootstraps," he replies with a wry, albeit good-natured smile. "You transferred before I made Chief Petty Officer, I think. So, I guess you'd've known me as PO1 Trask." If his helmet were off, she might well recognize him.
[BlackKnight-308: Kefir] When all is said and done, 308 comes back 'to life'. Its engines flare up again, light blue against the black of space, and its launches lazily toward Cerberus.
[BlackKnight-310: Daphne] The sound of Daphne's laughter floods the comm channel, "Hey Apostolos…" She actually can't seem to say what she was trying to say… or much of anything at all. She flows into formation with Tisiphone and continues to chuckle, though she keeps it off comms.
[Polaris] Well. That's … not how anybody in the dummy ships thought it'd end. "Close one, guys," says Dummy Two. "I guess with all the Vipers dead, the last Raptor wins." Four training Vipers power up their systems, their engines sputtering to life. "Back to the barn, gentlemen. It's been such a pleasure sitting here and getting nailed like Dummy Lead's mother."
"Didn't even have to pay for the pleasure, too," chimes Dummy Four.
"I can still fail you out of flight school," mutters the lead pilot. "All ships, Lead is RTB."