Sneak Attack - Air Wing
Sneak Attack - Air Wing
Summary: CAP gets a little too interesting when raiders ambush the vipers on the edge of an asteroid field.
Date: PH122 (18 August 2009)
Related Logs: None
Players:
Jupiter..Kai..Hale..Willem..Antioch..Sparro..Timon..Seriy..Legacy..NPCs..

Space, Old Shipping Lanes, Asteroid Field
IC Time: Post Holocaust Day #122
OOC Time: Tue Aug 18 18:11:48 2009

[TAC3] Seriy says, "CAP, this is Kharon… CAP, please be advised that you are approaching an asteroid field. We will be altering course to avoid it. Please standby for new course information and be advised there may be debris in your area."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Copy, Kharon. Snuggling up to Momma with a weather eye to the rocks."

[TAC3] Seriy says, "CAP, Kharon. Please proceed forward towards the asteroid field. We shall be making a close pass and would like your assistance in reconnaissance."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Kharon, Fingers. Wilco."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Merlin, watch my six. I just had this viper shined."

[TAC3] Merlin's reply is brief. "Fingers, Merlin. I'll keep 'em off your ass if you quit coming on to 'em."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Wow, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the escort carrier. Give my love to your left hand, and tell it to get back to work. Damn."

[TAC3] Seriy says, "CAP, Kharon. We have unknown Dradis contact bearing niner-zero degrees carom one-six-two. Please investigate immediately."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Kharon, Fingers. Copy that. I saw a warble on my DRADIS too. Alerting course to intercept estimated position. Merlin, hammer down, kid."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Kharon, Fingers. ETA 3 minutes."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Kharon, Fingers. I've got a mess in here. Attempting visual confirmation. It's like looking for a deranged sugar high riding four year old in an arcade at night. This could take a few."

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] Fingers and her wing, Merlin, approach and breach the very edge of the field of asteroids. The debris is pretty well spaced, and blocks most of the field of vision for any real distance in every direction. Light space dust and small debris patter over the ships, skipping off the body and canopy.

[TAC3] Seriy says, "Fingers, understood. We shall be waiting."

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] Going first is a lot like being the bait. Fingers should have sent Merlin, the bastard! There's no warning before a pair of raiders pulls out of the shadow of a larger hunk of space rock, and sneakattacks! Merlin gets a shot off, but misses, and not before his lead is pegged twice, nose and controls. That's gonna slow down some reaction time. Frak.

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Frak. Raiders confirmed up my ass. Kharon, request immediate assistance. Wake those lazy fraks up and get them out here before you have to send Captain Legacy to scrape me off a rock."

[TAC3] Merlin comes across the wire with a little more professionalism in his communications, "Two confirmed bandits. Alert vipers would not go amiss."

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] It's whiffing all around on the part of the cheating raiders. Sneak attack round two fails, and Fingers and Merlin are left with a serious bee in their collective bonnet. Return fire is returned with a vengeance, and one of the raiders is pegged by each of the vipers, blasting the crap out of the right wing. That should trim the edge off of its maneuvers.

[TAC3] Seriy says, "CAP, Kharon. Support is being launched."

[TAC3] (from "Fingers" Jupiter) Fingers sounds a little tense when her voice comes over comms, "Kharon, Fingers. Good to hear, better to see."

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "Kharon, This is Rabbit, green for tubes-Shoot me out."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Vigilantes, launch as soon as you have clearance from CIC and form up on me once we're up there. Black Cat, keep your raptors spooled and on standby for a possible SAR."

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, "Spider, Rebound. Copy that."

[TAC3] "Black Cat" Legacy says, "Copy Spider. Got a trio ready to go on your mark."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "If you lot put down a hard burn, I might not need that SAR. Bring the big guns, these frakkers are slippery little suckers."

[Into the Wireless] Jupiter says, "If you lot put down a hard burn, I might not need that SAR. Bring the big guns, these frakkers are slippery little suckers."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Kharon, boards are green, on your mark."

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, "Fingers, Rebound. We are en route, Kicking in full burn, repeat, full burn. Now's the time to appreciate cheap shots."

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "Spider, Rabbit. Copy Safe t' assume weapons are free."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Rebound, you're with me. Rabbit, Screamer, attack pattern delta, weapons free."

[Wolf-5: Willem] Wolf-5 exits the tubes with a familiar blue glow from the rear of the bird as his engines flicker and bloom, tearing ass through the blackness of space(tm). Of course, it's an asteroid field, so it's not a straight shot towards the target. There is requisite bobbing and weaving as he forms up on Spider's wing, settling comfortably on the CAG's Seven.

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, "Spider, Rebound. Copy that, sir!"

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] Fingers and her wing, Merlin, are just within the edge of the field. Every now and again a viper and a raider pop out, one tailing the other in a very deadly, fast paced game of hide and go seek.

There's a lot of debris out here, some space dust, some small chunks, some viper sized, but also quite a few massive bodies that could hide any number of unpleasant things. There's a nigh constant assault upon the ships by varying size chunks, and the occasional shot pings past one of the good guys, but they seem to be hammering the shit out of at least one of their contacts. One of them, the sneakier of the two, dissappears every now and then, only to pop up on Fingers' ass.

[Wolf-3: Hale] Breaking the tubes comes Rabbit within Wolf-3 Already he is moving to get into formation Delta, taking up the other pinion and kicking the burners in order to keep up and catch up to where Merlin and Jupiter are within the CAP pass. If they have any luck when the rest of the vigilantes come to the rescue it will be short work, and back to base. There's a waggle of his wing in order for Antioch to form up. This is what he does…As for the debris-he's ready to juke his way through

[Wolf-6: Kai] Spider sails smoothly out of the tubes, lighting his 'burners as his fighter strafes away from the ship and loses the launch rails' inertia. Weapons are switched on, and he keeps a steady hand on the stick as rocks and dust begin to pelt his canopy. Thump, thump, THUD. That was lovely. He swings out of the way of a larger obstacle, and lances his way through once he sees an opening.

[Wolf-12: Antioch] Wolf-12 zips up to join the others in formation, ready for action. He's quiet, intent on the job at hand, and totally not lamenting that book he was reading when the call to arms came. Really.

[TAC3] "Black Cat" Legacy says, "CIC, Black Cat. Is Kharon in range to jam those Raiders?"

[TAC3] Seriy says, "Negative Black Cat. There is too much interference from the asteroid belt for effective jamming of communications."

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] Just as wolf-8 slides into view once more, it takes a solid hammering to the weapons, which promptly blow off, and the viper scrapes hard against the side of a rock the size of a VW van. There is no peace and love there. No peace and love at all. The canopy cracks and splinters, and a wing shears off, buckling part of the body of her plane as Fingers spins out of control. Bonus, though: She and Merlin send one of those raiders to its maker before she got bent over the rail.

[TAC3] (from "Fingers" Jupiter) Fingers gets off a partial transmission, "Son of a—" *STATIC*.

[TAC3] "Black Cat" Legacy says, "CIC, Black Cat. Then why the frak are we… Belay that. Permission for three Raptors to leave the barn to back up our Vipers."

[Wolf-6: Kai] He was playing it safe. He really was. But as that ominous message crackles over the comms, Spider apparently decides he's done with the gentle approach. He kicks his throttles into overdrive and muscles his way through with a growl of thrusters that's lost to the vacuum of space. The hunk of rock that decides it isn't moving aside, is given a helping hand, courtesy of his viper's cannons. It's neatly vaporised, and he slices under his wingman as a larger boulder pops up to impede his progress. And then, he's at full burn and lining up a shot on the remaining raider.

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Kharon, Spider. I need a SAR out here for Fingers."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "And negative on the raptor backup, it's like chunky soup out here as it is."

[Wolf-3: Hale] With the message that breaks over there is a small curse that breaks out over the coms as Rabbit's viper kicks it into overdrive if such a speed was capable. And given the bloody Debris, Rabbit is falling into his callsign quite nicely. Bounding up and over a rock Rabbit's doing his best to keep up or compete with his boss on who gets there first-bloody don't need Spider to get there and be short handed.

[Wolf-5: Willem] Rebound's learned a couple lessons over time in being a wingman. Never, ever, ever leave your sec-lead. Especially when your sec-lead's hauling ass towards a combat zone in response to a downed squadron member. A few choice shots are squeezed off as he scatters some of the debris as well, plotting a fast, simple, high-velocity course to the target, throttle is -kicked-. Massively kicked. One eye on DRADIS, he is paying more attention to visual scans here, helmet-clad head arcing round in the cockpit just on the off chance that there are more sneakyraiders out there. So far, just this one. And he's going after it.

[Wolf-12: Antioch] "Oh, balls," mutters Antioch, as he watches Jupiter get frakked by the raiders. He's not about to stand for this sort of thing, and he makes it clear by targeting that sneaky raider as well. Grrr, argh.

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "Spider, Rabbit. Breaking formation, mainly cause of the rocks out here- Oi Watchit!"

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, gruffly, "This is Rebound. Splash one. I want to glue this thing's ass back together just so I can shoot it again." A pause. "We allowed to do that?"

[TAC3] Seriy says, "Spider, Kharon. We… should like to know if you would be able to… draw the raiders in closer and away from the detritus."

[TAC3] "Screamer" Antioch says, "Careful, everytime someone says that, something bad happens."

[TAC3] "Black Cat" Legacy says, "Birdman, Black Cat. You're clear to launch for SAR on Fingers. Bring her home. Ivory, you'll be next out if we're needed."

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "Rebound, Rabbit. Nice bloody shot"

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "*whistles* Good hits, Rebound. Kharon, all enemy contacts are eliminated. Holding for SAR on Fingers."

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] There's naught but silence from Fingers' comms, and no response to any type of hailing. Her viper has drifted out of sight, floating deeper into the field with no one controlling the direction. Here's hoping she doesn't get sucked into something large and unpleasant while the rescue ride is cruising.

Three more contacts ghost in then break from larger bodies within the field, as their fellows drop. The engagement is sudden and there's barely a DRADIS blip before they engage. It's the field, it's blocking effective use of early detection. All confirmation is visual at this point. Zoiks!

[Wolf-5: Willem] Sneaky Raider was not sneaky enough. Unfortunately he was drawn out at exactly the right time and the combined assault of five Vipers probably wasn't what the Chrome Doctor ordered. Maintaining a relative attack vector on Kai's wing, Wil manages to dart out of the way of a medium-sized rock chunk and return to his original position, but in the process, just happened to get a damned lucky angle on the Raider's wing. There's a spray of cannon fire which does a very good job of ruining anything it had resembling structural integrity on that side. This done, now he rolls back into formation with a nudge of the stick, blue-tinged engines leaving a flickering arc through space.

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem murmurs a quiet, "Thank you" over channel but is otherwise silent.

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Belay my last, Kharon. I'm reading three more contacts, bearing three four carom niner.. Rabbit, take detached escort on our incoming raptor. The rest of you, engage. Slash and dash, cover your wingman."

[TAC3] "Birdman" Sparro says, " Copy that, Black Cat. Birdman leaving the barn."

[Wolf-3: Hale] Even as Rabbit is bandying about in order to dodge rocks, he does notice when he dives in on the inhate that the poor sneaky raider catches his own shots go wide. A quick turn of his head though as something silverly and bloody not nice shows itself on Hale's three, which causes for a break and a spin before thrusters are kicked in as he is moving towards the bogey even as the KEW starts streaking both ways. Already the soup seems to be thicker than the shite, as it were.

[Wolf-12: Antioch] Antioch is suitably pleased when the one Raider goes down, but the pessimistic side of him knows, just knows, there's more where the first batch came from. Never fails. He shakes his head in silent dismay as his suspicions are confirmed, and tips around to join Hale in dealing with one of the newcomers.

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "Spider, Rabbit. Copy that-got a bloody bandit on my three-make that twelve now. I'll cut my way to the Raptor."

[Wolf-6: Kai] Spider's shots are wide, probably owing to him having taken up a weak firing position from too great a distance. After his message over the comms, he swallowtails into a hard burn, and lights up his guns again once he's got Rabbit's bogey in his sights.

[TAC3] "Ivory" Timon says, "Roger that, Black. And Birdman: good luck out there."

[Wolf-5: Willem] This done, more flies pop into the soup as Wil, already making visual scans notices a blip. A contact, may be something. Circling his head inside the cockpit he begins to notice something rather unpleasant, a new Raider who's probably not too happy with his continued breathing, streaming up his Six. Rather than flipping his bird 'round to engage he starts increase throttle on Spider's wing, bobbing and weaving amongst the debris of said soup.

[Foxbat-8: Sparro] Birdman immediately starts his Raptor on the little dance that is flying through an asteroid field. His DRADIS and his ECO's both humming as they search for the downed pilot. "They weren't frakking kidding," he mutters to himself.

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, "Viper Wing, Rebound. Looks like we've got another bogey coming up behind me. Doesn't like me. Trying to shake him."

[TAC3] "Birdman" Sparro says, "Spider, Birdman. Do we have any notion of Finger's last position and trajectory? Eyeball scanning will be better than DRADIS in this mess…"

[TAC3] Seriy says, "Spider, Kharon. As soon as your pilot is recovered, you are requested to withdraw back to the ship. We are a little concerned of what else might be hiding amongst the rocks."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Birdman, Spider. Kharon has her last coordinates, but she- *there's a rattle of his guns* -ted off course. Recommend initiating mid-range sensor sweeps."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Fingers, Spider. Do you read me?"

[Wolf-5: Willem] Swing and a miss. Strike. On both counts. Hopping back and forth amidst the rocks, Wil adeptly avoids the fire of the Raider on his tail but unfortunately misses his volley. Lightning did not strike twice. He brings his bird around hard in a drastic roll for another pass.

[Wolf-6: Kai] Rebound jukes, Spider shoots. It's textbook, really, and the raider's scraped with a few nice racing stripes across its flank, for the CAG's efforts. He doesn't let up, however; now that he's got the bogey in his little arachnid sights, he scuttles in quickly with a tap-tap of his thrusters and lets off another volley of rounds at it.

[Wolf-3: Hale] As the Bullets rip and kiss into the Raider's wing Rabbit is quickly spinning and going belly up as he begins the ride on out past a bloody big rock-A means to try and get the bogey off his tail-though in doing this he's scraping his bird bad along the buttom of a rock, sending some landing gear on out. A grimace, but he is hurrying towards Birdman, in case someone comes ripping out of anywhere and decides to come down on the SAR bird.

[Foxbat-8: Sparro] Sparro frowns at all the shooting around him, but continues his scanning of the field.

[Wolf-12: Antioch] Wolf-12 fires off a salvo at the Raider targeting Rabbit, and then immediately wings around again for another pass, intent on removing that threat as quickly as possible. When it comes to killing toasters, Antioch doesn't mess around.

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, "Spider, Rebound. Watch out, boss. Looks like you made him mad."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "I'm sure it's my sparkling personality. Birdman, any luck?"

[TAC3] "Birdman" Sparro says, " Negative, Spider, this is like trying to follow a shout in a echo chamb…. belay that! I have positive contact on Fingers, sector 567 karom 4.2. Negative on ejection, moving in for tow."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Copy, Birdman. Let me know as soon as you have her in."

[Wolf-3: Hale] Rabbit continues moving providing for a rather tantalizing target for the incoming Raider. Here's hoping that Screamer can keep covering him as he plays the hare to the hound, keeping himself screaming through the rocks, on his way towards Birdman-upon coming up towards the raptor thrusters are cut and the stick jerked

There's a whip back and spin as Thrusters kick back in, time to play protect the package.

[Wolf-5: Willem] Zzzip. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-PLINK. Foom. Whether it's the general misery of the situation or his little note of thanks to Hermes before getting fired out of the tube, Rebound should finally be feeling a little elated glee as he is slightly vindicated for the generally dismal showing he put in on his last training exercise. Wolf-5 comes hurtling through a pair of drifting rocks as he banks slightly, drifting through the junk and squeezes off what appears to be a series of lucky shots as soon as the offending Raider pops back into view. Its sights were set on Spider, but the pincer-like attack of the two Vipers was enough to put the bandit in a seriously prone position as cannon fire bursts through its frame with an oscillating whirr and a crackle-FOOM. The angry, shifting red eye on the Cylon ship makes its final wink as it goes to pieces.

[Wolf-6: Kai] Looks like Spider's aggressive gambit paid off. As he chips a few shots across the raider's tail, the bandit spins away from its original target and brings its guns to bear upon the Captain instead. Spider's off like a shot— which is to say, he drops. And drops. In fact, his engines are cut completely as he falls away behind a meteorite. Sneaky little web spinner. Rebound, meanwhile, is left to take out the trash.

[Wolf-12: Antioch] Antioch continues to cover Hale, trying to keep the other pilot out of trouble, even as he's trying to wipe out that one Raider who keeps dogging them. "Here toaster toaster toaster," he mutters, lining up for the next shot.

[TAC3] (from "Rebound" Willem) ..there's the sound of distorted crackling and whirring over the coms as Rebound cuts in, "Splash ONE. You're clear, sir!"

[TAC3] (from "Spider" Kai) After a few moments of silence over the comms, "Copy, Rebound. Kharon, we're wiping the floor with these bastards. Birdman's got a fix on Fingers, we should be RTB in a couple of minutes here."

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, "This is Rebound. Copy that. Hey Merlin. Need some company?"

[Foxbat-8: Sparro] Sparro carefully moves his Raptor into position, ready to lock on and pull her home. Laying his Raptor on the downed Viper like laying a blanket on a baby, Kyle cranes his neck to see if he can get a visual of Jupiter through her canopy…

[TAC3] Merlin's response is somewhat terse, "Blast 'em."

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, "Oh. FRAK."

[TAC3] "Birdman" Sparro says, " Kharon, Birdman. I've got a lock on fingers and I am bugging out but she's unresponsive in there. Gonna need a medteam on the floor when we land."

[Foxbat-8: Sparro] Taking a look around to reassure himself that the asteroids haven't drifted into a trap, Sparro starts moving his Raptor and newly acquired passenger towards the Kharon, taking care to evade any asteroids that could possibly cause trouble.

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] Wolf-8 drifts in range of Sparro as the SAR makes with the pickup. There's no response from the cockpit. Unresponsive and unconscious? Something like that!

Merlin is not so lucky. He takes a shot center mass, is knocked off course, and smacks dead into a large asteroid. If he wasn't dead on impact, he is now, and so is his viper.

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem crackles over the comms. "All ships, Rebound. Merlin's DOWN. Repeat, Merlin's down. Fingers -and- Merlin? We've got…" Pulling it together a little bit. "Chasing down remaining Raider down with extreme prejudice. Spider, Going to break hard left and try to box him in."

[TAC3] "Black Cat" Legacy says, "Ivory, Thorn, Black Cat. Prepare for launch on CIC's mark. You'll be going for Merlin. Bring him home, gentlemen."

[Wolf-6: Kai] Spider's guns light up, then light up again. The report would be deafening, if sound carried at all in space. His hand's white-knuckled on the stick as he continues to pilot his fighter in a tight attack pattern, leading shallow into every dip and turn his target makes. He lines up his shot. He sees Merlin smoke an asteroid. He sees his viper coming apart, fuel igniting and licking away in quickly-smothered flames. He swerves at the last minute and pulls into a hard breakturn, and guns it for the raider again.

[TAC3] "Ivory" Timon says, "Roger, Black Cat. Kharon, this is Ivory, awaiting your go."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Copy, Rebound. Break left, I'll break right, bracket the motherfrakker and stay focused. Merlin, this is Spider, do you read?"

[Wolf-3: Hale] There's a move as Rabbit is taking a position to escort and protect Birdman. With that Wolf-3 is swinging around and coming onto Sparro's wing. It ain't glamourous but it is part of the job-and one that Hale does enjoy performing. All the same consider the raptor covered.

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "Birdman, Rabbit. Got your ass-you're in the clear for the run."

[Wolf-12: Antioch] Wolf-12 stays silent, focused and alert as he strafes one Raider until it dies. Then the last of the toasters takes down Merlin, a pilot Antioch barely knew, and he frowns. Time for some vengeance and stuff. That Raider is in deep, deep trouble.

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Screamer, cover Merlin's SAR."

[Wolf-5: Willem] A few shots are squeezed off as Wil continues engaging the now-unfortunate Merlin's assailant, doing that familiar chase-down game of weaving amongst the rocks as he and Spider continue to assault the Cylon fighter from two angles. His angle of attack is not perfect but manages to lay a couple rounds into the bandit's wing. Not a whole lot of damage, and certainly not enough for poor Merlin. He jams the throttle up a bit further in an all-out attack.

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem merely replies, "Copy."

[TAC3] "Birdman" Sparro says, " Kharon, Birdman. I have an open path and coming in for landing. Rabbit, Birdman. copy that, heading home."

[Foxbat-7: Timon] Foxbat-7's engines roar to life as soon as CIC's command comes through. Seconds later, they're pulsing a brilliant yellow as she lumbers into the mess of asteroids, her scanners active and searching.

[Foxbat-8: Sparro] His way clear, Sparro carefully hits the accelerator, moving towards the barn as fast as he dares, what with the whole dragging Fingers thing.

[TAC3] Seriy says, "All aircraft, once the pilots are recovered please return to base. We are warming up the FTL drives now. Kharon will provide covering fire."

[TAC3] "Ivory" Timon says, "Spider, Ivory, request Merlin's last known location, over."

[TAC3] "Screamer" Antioch says, "I reckon that the SAR's pretty well covered… by little explodey bits of dead toaster. Let's take Merlin home."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Ivory, Spider. Sector five six six on Merlin. Bearing three four carom niner. *there's a pause* Be advised this is a recovery, not a rescue mission."

[Wolf-3: Hale] As one Foxbat is dropped off, Rabbit is coming up to catch a hold of Ivory and Thorn as the exit the tubes. Already the wounded viper is still managing to putter along. All the same-Rabbit is covering where his wing should be, and will escort the Raptor to the coordinates that are chirped out over the coms. And there is Rabbit returning to the soup at Ivory's wing.

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "Ivory, Rabbit. Got your wing- you're clear t' search"

[TAC3] "Ivory" Timon says, "Three-four-carom-niner, roger. Good to have you, Rabbit."

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem calls in the obvious. "All ships, Rebound. Uhh, bandit down." A pause. "I don't see anymore. Flying cover for SAR in standard formation."

[Foxbat-7: Timon] And to three-four-carom-niner Ivory goes, the RCS points on Foxbat-7 firing non-stop as he maneuvers through the mess of asteroids.

[Wolf-5: Willem] And the last Raider gets bracketed, all right. With large, pointy metal death. Rebound and Spider do their thing and apparently Screamer joined in the fun, too. The combined weight of fire is much, too much for the old Raider and it gets eaten. Rather messily, in fact. This done, Wil breaks off to regroup with his sec-lead.

[Wolf-6: Kai] Once the last raider's toast, Spider swings away from the exploding wreckage and shaves a close path alongside his wingman as they merge together again. His eyes are half on the DRADIS, and half on the raptor drifting out into the black after his fallen comrade.

[TAC3] "Ivory" Timon says, "*click — followed by a long pause* Spider, Ivory, Foxbat-7 has arrived in designated sector. I see debris, that's all."

[TAC3] (from "Spider" Kai) There's a heavy pause from Spider, and then, "Copy, Ivory. All points, RTB. I repeat, all points, get back to the barn and ready for jump."

[Wolf-3: Hale] Rabbit is remaining doggedly on Ivory's wing even when he stops he cuts his own engines and floats there ever so slightly. A turn of his head as he keeps his eyes open towards the black around them. A turn of his head before he is looking around Silence for a second. However when the call is to RTB the engines kick back on.

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "Ivory, Rabbit. I confirm-See nothing. I'll have your wing back to the barn."

[TAC3] "Ivory" Timon says, "Spider, Ivory, roger. Foxbat-7 is RTB."

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, a little haltingly. "Spider, Rebound. Copy. RTB."

[Foxbat-7: Timon] And up and over goes Timon's Raptor in a truly gut-wrenching maneuver which — if his ship were a Viper — might otherwise look graceful. And then Foxbat-7's aft thrusters kick in as she heads back to base, wings still, running lights blinking off and then on again in memory of the fallen.

[Wolf-5: Willem] At the RTB call, Wil brings his Viper to bear on Kai's wing one last time as he cruises on towards the relative safety of the Kharon's hangar.

[Wolf-12: Antioch] Wolf-12 turns to head on back, answering the return to base with quiet acknowledgment.

[TAC3] Seriy says, "Spider, Kharon, please let us know when everyone has returned."

[Wolf-6: Kai] Spider kicks his viper back in a nose-to-tail, slow-motion tumble. He 'flaps' his rear stabiliser once, perhaps in his own farewell, and then tumbles around to bring him belly-down again, and back onto Rebound's ten o'clock. Back to the barn he goes.

[Wolf-6: Kai] Wolf-6 comes in a little hot, and a little fast, but with remarkable grace as she skids-down and roars to a halt amid a spray of sparks. Combat landings, gotta love 'em.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License