Lambda Wing (Dakota System)
| Lambda Wing | |
|---|---|
| Fighter | Rapier |
| Wingmen | Joseph Khumalo |
| Notes | Proceed to Nav 1. Proceed to Nav 2. |
| Previous | Gamma Wing (Dakota System) |
| Next | Epsilon Wing (Dakota System) |
Mission Layout
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The Memoirs of Lieutenant Colonel Carl T. LaFong
This was a mission I could enjoy. Just fly a three-point patrol and report back to the Tiger's Claw. Halcyon didn't say not to engage, but he didn't order it either. I wasn't looking for trouble, and almost wished we were flying the quick Hornets instead of the heavy Raptors.
Knight and I weren't far from Nav 1 when we hit the asteroid belt and immediately set speed to 250 KPS.
"Looks like it's going to be a long day, Captain. Keep formation," I called.
We were sneaking through the rocks when Khumalo noticed two Gratha on the radar display. They were heading our way. Knight wanted to attack, but I was hoping we could avoid a confrontation. We couldn't.
The first Gratha launched a missile and came straight at us. I told Knight to break and attack, since I wanted to give him some flexibility as we worked around the asteroids. I switched to the powerful neutron gun and broke left to avoid a looming asteroid.
The Gratha were moving faster than we were and trying to use their speed to gain position. While I often blast asteroids with my guns instead of dodging them, during combat I wanted to make sure my blaster power stayed near the max level.
"Patience is the key to this battle," I said to myself.
I couldn't use my afterburners effectively in the dense field, but I did employ occasional bursts of speed during the dogfight. I always returned to 250 KPS, however. Knight was holding his own with one of the Kilrathi ships, but I had already taken heavy damage from my opponent's lasers and mass drivers.
I got a break when the Gratha crossed in front of me and turned toward Knight. He must have thought I was out of commission, but I chased him with my neutrons and finally locked on with a Javelin HS. Somehow, the missile avoided all the asteroids and rocked the rear of the Gratha. It was almost enough to take him out. One more neutron and he was done. Meanwhile, I watched as Knight chased his quarry into the asteroids and managed a kill without firing a shot. In his panic, the Gratha pilot had hit a large asteroid head-on. We escaped from the asteroid belt and made it to Nav 1 without any more problems.
We saw the Krant when we were about 18,000 kilometers from Nav 2. Telling Knight to keep radio silence, I hit the afterburners and headed to the right of the targets. It was no use. That easy mission had become a dream. The Krant pilots weren't the most seasoned in the Kilrahti force, because they just headed straight in. We broke and attacked, coming in from the right and left with our neutron guns blazing. Sliding with our afterburners, we took out two, quickly hitting their weak side shields. I told Knight to attack my target, and worked until I was behind and to the left of the third Krant. I hit him three times with full guns and launched a Pilum Friend-or-Foe missile, when my blaster power was down. The Krant turned into shards of metal.
The last Krant was on my tail by now, so I hit the afterburners. He increased speed to follow. Then I remembered the dogfight my roommate fought with Maniac in my plebe year. I turned slightly to the right and hit the backspace key to come to a full stop. The Krant rushed by, and I just rotated and hit him with full guns. Then I burned again to follow and took him down with continued gunfire.
By this time, new enemy targets had appeared on radar. A fighter escort and capital ship. This time I didn't want to avoid a fight, I wanted that destroyer. The fighter escort didn't last long. Knight and I kept to the guns so we could save missiles for the Ralari. It was a good strategy.
With both of us attacking, I turned at full speed to approach the Ralari from the rear. At 3000 meters I launched a dumb-fire, then waited for it to hit before hitting hard with full guns. At 1000 meters, I broke left and circled to hit the Ralari again, but I was too quick and almost collided with the large ship. I'd learned a lesson, and next time I hit the afterburners to give me some distance before turning back and attacking from the rear again. Without a fighter escort for protection, the Ralari exploded.
Now the mission turned into what I had expected. We didn't hit any enemies at Nav 2 or Nav 3, although we were slowed by asteroids on the way back to the Claw. Mission accomplished.
