Chapter 6
The first week went by without any issues and the pilots and marines were settled into their temporary quarters. I was down in the hanger in Betty and had just fired up the simulator. The simulation used the flight helmet and Panther’s controls to allow me to pretend I was flying while still parked in the hanger. but unlike the usual mission selection screen I instead received a mission briefing right away I was with a converted freighter turned carrier we had a odd mix of old corvettes converted freighters and missile boats, jump capable shuttles with a bunch of missile launchers bolted onto them, my force seemed like a well built pirate fleet that was probably supported by a state actor selling stolen ships and paying organized bribes or taxes to planet authorities in exchange for things like repairs, ammunition, foodstuffs and other logistical supports a fleet would need.
Against us was a squadron of League ships escorting a convoy one light carrier two destroyers and 4 frigates the pirates were out classed and it took me a minute to realize that the carrier and two destroyers had arrived in the middle of the pirates attack and the pirates were withdrawing my objective was to delay the League fighters long enough for the carrier to reach the gate but disengage with enough time to land or be left behind. The briefing cleared and unit select popped up.
My Panther was automatically locked in but I got to pick two wingmen the parameters were set to craft at least 15 years old. I immediately changed that to twenty because I hate the modern tactics that resembled something from the flintlock age where fighters flew at their target launched their missiles then flew back to rearm while another flight repeated the process it worked well if you were the only one with fighters or had more reloads then the other guy but I was unsure how well it would work for near pear forces.
So I looked at the available ships and decided to have some fun and test a theory. I set one of my wingmen as another panther and next I set the unit selector back to the max allowed. I picked a Porcupine. It was a Tau Ceti design from 15 years ago. It's a shuttle sized electronic warfare vessel normally made to advance with destroyers and jam enemy sensors and launch missiles at fighters. I had the simulation strip all the missiles out and the simulation didn’t restrict ordnance age so I found anti missile/anti torpedo modern ordinance and filled all the launchers with those.
I marked my unit as ready and the heads up display or H.U.D faded in and the panther was on a janky looking flight deck. Hanger doors on the left and right were open, I requested departure clearance and got cursed at and told to just get out there so I launched and my two wingmen fell in. Both sides were busy charging, launching, and trying to retreat when out of missiles. one group of fighters waited behind the skirmish, probably armed with torpedoes and were my main target.I issued some basic orders to the AI wingman first the Panther was instructed to not retreat to reload when missiles were expended and also only use them with a solid lock while the Porcupine was set to fire whenever a missile came anywhere near our three ship formation. And with that we dove into the fray.
Our fighters were being worn out by the league forces who had better missiles and jamming so as we pulled up I locked up a League fighter a good second after he launched a missile at me. I returned the favor with interest, launching two of my four at him and began maneuvering wildly to throw off the missile. In the vacuum of space most small payload missiles need a direct hit to cause any real damage. I need not have bothered as the porcupine launched two counter missiles. smaller than regular missiles and full of ball bearings designed to knock out incoming missiles, the counter missiles made quick work of the two missiles.
My missiles followed the target but one was jammed spinning off into space chasing a ghost. My second missile though slammed into the wing buckling the already weakened shield of the fighter and causing it to spin off out the fight destroyed or disabled either way no longer a threat to my carrier. another fighter vectored in and my wingman launched all of his missiles eviscerating the target and wasting two missiles. my fault for not ordering it to keep its missile usage down as well as solid locks.
More missiles came in and the Porcupine kept them off us. My other two missiles were used to knock out an electronic warfare or E.W. fighter that strayed too close to my line of attack. Breaking through the fight I detached the Porcupine my instructor had always said to train like you fight and the Porcupine was down to a third of its counter missiles and would need most of those to make it back through the fight to re-dock with our carrier. but no longer stuck at the Porcupines speed I had us drop the hammer, the plasma shields of the Panther were heavier then modern fighters using a plasma generator for shields allowed the fighter a better gravity field allowing for a higher acceleration before the compensators were overcome and the G-forces could be felt.
The only problem was regeneration time, plasma shields had a much slower regeneration rate then modern counterparts. I kept the throttle firewalled as we dove into the unprotected torpedo loaded fighters and switched on the guns. It took a good burst to get through their shields as they scattered. My wingman and I managed to shoot down four more each before a nearby fighter loaded formation noticed us and started to maneuver our way.
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finishing off one more in a brief fiery explosion I then picked a direction away from the fight and added speed until the fighters and torpedo bombers were far behind, about a minute later I brought us around the fighters had been drawn back into the fight and the torpedo bombers had reformed likely assuming we had returned to the carrier to rearm. I lined up another attack run and made another attack run but the bombers scattered immediately this time. We only got three before more fighters showed up causing us to break off again.
This time the fighters that responded stuck around waiting for us, still a good third of the torpedo bombers were destroyed and I decided to retreat and rearm skirting the fight I returned to the freighter I probably had time for one more sortie before I needed to make sure to land to escape the system. After rearming I reconnected with Porcupine and decided to help out with the main fight again using the porcupine to swat incoming missiles while I dove into the fight losing track of the number of enemies I destroyed.
Finally my wingmen Panther was shot down and looking at the distances and that the torpedo bomber attack had yet to materialize I had the Porcupine do what it could and signaled the other fighters I was withdrawing a few broke off and joined us as we returned to the carrier some that wouldn’t or couldn’t retreat were going to be left behind. The League fighters made a token push to chase us but a salvo of missiles from our corvettes kept them back. I landed followed by the Porcupine and a few others.
Just over a minute later the hanger doors closed and the helmet faded to black with big letters declaring scenario end. An after action report popped up and I took a look. We had successfully defended the carrier and the League had defended the convoy which was no surprise. What was a surprise was the score list I was first then instead of a list of random computer names next on the list was LtC Monroe followed by two names then a random computer then one more name then the rest of the computers. “oh that explains the scenario in progress, whoops”.
I opened the canopy and climbed down, taking off my helmet across from me. The four other fighters opened up as the other pilots climbed out. I could hear two ribbing a third about being out scored by a bot LtC Monroe walked over to me. “Sorry, about that sir I didn’t realize you guys were running a scenario.” I called as he approached “ no worries Captain but I am interested in how your score was so high? We are about to do an after action review. If you're free would you mind sitting in so we can go over the whole scenario?”
I agreed and followed the pilots into the Paladin’s briefing room. First LtC Monroe covered their arrival in system and the fighters defense of the convoy and counter attack against the opfor or opposition force. which I had been a part of. “ Next we will go over the Captains section of the fight to look at how an enemy might adapt to our tactics.” LtC Monroe had the screen focus in and follow my flight through the battle. The room was silent while we watched
“That was enlightening.” LtC Monroe finally said. “What made you think of doing that?” I thought about how to answer for a moment. “two things really, first Paledes and League tactics are based on the last major war with the Theocracy a century ago. at the time the League had longer range missiles so the fire and fade worked to a point before a dogfight would develop then after the war the League has always outnumbered and out ranged the enemies in the small conflicts they have fought but as we have seen from the Porcupine some of the bigger star nations have counters to mass missile attack strategies. A well built team of dedicated Interceptors with a jammer or anti missile bird could tear through our current formations. In fact that's a major part of the Militias training, the Starhawks that are in storage were the last gun model, the instructors trained us to try to break through the missile waves and engage the enemy fighters at knife range.”
“If this tactic is so good why does the militia lose every head to head training exercise during training week?” one of the pilots asked with a scoff. Training week was the big once a year training exercise between the Paledes military, the League military and a large chunk of the militia. it accounted for most of the yearly commitment for the participating militia members. “ I don’t know Sir as I have yet to participate but if I had to guess I am betting the militia normally isn’t supported by heavy EW assistance and normally doesn’t outnumber the military craft by more than they can handle.” I responded mildly. LtC Monroe gave the pilot a sharp glare but didn’t say anything. “So Captain as an outsider how would you fix it?” I figured he asked the question just to move the conversation along but I had kicked the idea around with Emily while I was in training in case I ever bought a modern fighter to use instead of the Starhawk so had an answer.
“ gun pods sir.” LtC. Monroe looked at me funny “gun pods Captain? I am unfamiliar with the term.” I nodded in agreement. It took me a week of research to find out about them too. “ This situation happened once before on old earth sir. Around the year 1970 a major military power at the time removed the guns from their warplanes because missiles were considered the weapon of the future. But they were less dependable at the time than hoped. The solution was to design a pod that could fit on a missile pilon that had a gun and its ammunition.” Monroe gave me a thoughtful look. “ Thank you Captain, your perspective was interesting, with your permission I will pass your thoughts on to my superiors along with the simulation results it might help them consider potential future threats.” I could tell by the tone of his voice he didn’t think it would get far even if he did consider it a good idea. “Of course sir,” I stood up. “Ladies Gentlemen have a good rest of your day. My bridge shift starts soon” with a quick wave I headed to the bridge.