The two veritechs move into position for the combat air patrol, and remain at the velocity of 0.25G’s while using veriner thrusters to make course corrections and adjust direction.

In reply to Darkside Trooper (msg # 1):

The launch itself was fairly uneventful, though he always marveled more at acceleration in zero-g. Along the ingress, he busied himself, establishing data links to the Cat's Eye, Rabbit, Skipper and with Sunshine. He would never use them all at once, though could use them in a composite, or cycle between data sources. Deep space networking, if you will.

[Private to GM: Skill Check:
Computer Use: 16:23, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 32 using 1d100 ((32))/78: PASS]

Satisfied, he selected the "Kitty" as his primary source, and his wingman his second. Skipper third, then "Bunny." The final data stream came from SDF-1. Then, he called "Buddy Spike on Reindeer 17!" over the tacnet, using a radar beam to tag Skipper. He used that data to calibrate his search and weapons radar and IRST, along with Targeting Systems. Then he checked the nav computer against celestial navigation vs. the SDF-1's relative position and his own just to make sure his presets were correct and accounted for any conditions needed to be seen. He engaged all radar and missile warnings. Finally, he checked fuel capacity.

[Private to GM: Skill Check:
Weapon Systems 16:34, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 45 using 1d100 ((45)/60): PASS.
Read Sensors: 16:36, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 8 using 1d100 ((8)/55: Pass).
Navigation/Space: 16:43, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 26 using 1d100 ((26))/60: Pass.
General piloting/fuel calculation basic maneuvering and gauge watching: 16:44, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 43 using 1d100 ((43))/75: Pass.
ECM: 16:52, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 93 using 1d100 ((93))/50: Fail.
ECM: Fail
ECM: Fail]

When ordered to break and proceed to the patrol waypoint, he turned toward it, keeping his radar and IRST in search/nav. He fired the main engines to accelerate to a cruising velocity, then coasted on. Scanning and listening, nearly silently in the black and silence of the night. of endless night.

As he rolled away, he keyed his mic in response.



"Reindeer Four reading five by five. Ingressing to station, nose hot. Having a hard time calibrating RWR but functioning within spec... Will run diagnostic. Happy hunting. Reindeer 4 out."

He cycled the power on the RWR again and re-engaged, crossing his fingers. It still showed an error, but was better than it was. He'd run a diagnostic along the way and try to recalibrate. It was functioning well, but he was a bit of a perfectionist. Fucking papa oscar sierra...

[Private to GM: Skill roll ECM, fail, but only by 6]

Then he keyed to Sunshine. "Reindeer 4 to Reindeer Niner," he said switching to VHF. "You doing alright back there, Matlock? I can't fine tune my RWR, but it's reading green. What say we go in line abreast to waypoint one, doing a 360 sweep about every 5 mikes? Sound off if you need a pit-stop..." Speaking of that, he was glad he wore adult diapers, thinking of the American aviator with the "Kidnapping thing a few years back." What was her name, Novak?

Launching into space for patrol is little different from when he first arrived and was sent out to so search-and-rescue.  The acceleration, the shift from 1 gravity to no gravity, the vastness surrounding his view from the cockpit.
He maneuvers the plane into his proper position using telemetry readings from the ship and the surveillance planes.  Watching his instruments, he still scans out the cockpit bubble.  Never in his life had he ever expected to go into space.
It dawns on him that he is not just a fighter pilot any more.  He has joined that illustrious corps of astronauts. He thinks back on history, reminded of the crazy West Virginia mountain man with exceptional eyesight who flew planes in combat in three wars, was the first to break the sound barrier (not just the first time, but multiple), and was even the man to train the first astronauts, despite never becoming one himself.  General Chuck Yeager, the only Air Force general to insist flying the plane himself when he travelled by military aircraft.  He wondered what he was up to now.  Last he had read, the general had retired from the military to work as an aircraft engineering consultant.  Douglas had been surprised not to see the Legendary pilot on Macross Island for the ceremony.  After the attack, was he even still alive?
The young pilot breaks off that line of thinking before he starts wondering about his parents, and friends and other family members.  He goes back to watching his instruments and listening for radio chatter.
19:51, Today: Douglas Jennsen rolled 26 using 1d100 with rolls of 26.  Sensory Equipment @ 45%.

In reply to Douglas Jennsen (msg # 3):

Gangnam switched Using the data-feed to Jennsen, Gun Ho sent a transmission about halfway to the starting waypoint. "Sunshine? Gangham. Let's try a little maneuver. We're just coasting now, so why not let's try a scanning sweep? I'll go counter-clockwise in X, Y and Z, using verniers, and you go clockwise, opposite me. We'll continue our ingress along this heading, just gyroscope our craft to scan through 360 degrees in 3-d? This will give us a good look all around us, and switch it up to air search mode. This will be sort of a practice, and will allow us to scan all around us. We'll repeat in five minutes along the ingress and again at an irregular interval. Pull a 360 sweep anytime you like, just keep your velocity constant. I say again, hold heading and current velocity, just rotate 360 through every access. We'll scan in a ball. In space, it's sort of like playing gyroscope to create a rotodome. It's almost as good as a cat's eye out here."

He demonstrated, gyrating his plane in all 360 degrees in the X, Y and Z around his craft, keeping the fighter on the way to the waypoint. It was simple, but lamped a lot of space in the process. Any contact would get a look-see with the EuroFIRST PIRATE, most likely an astroid, but who knew... Maybe I can find Pioneer 10 out here...

He tried re-calibrating the RWR again, just trying to optimize performance or fine tune it as needed.

[Private to GM: Skill check ECM 21:45, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 69 using 1d100 ((69)). Another fail... Wah!
Skill check: Read sensors, 3D/360 air sweep:
21:48, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 99 using 1d100 ((99)).Fail ]

"Showing clear skies, and sunshine, Sunshine, recheck in five mikes, if you confirm. Starting at... Mark."

He checked the Cat's Eye's feed to see if it was seeing the element, and if his scope was clear, too. A contact could break up monotony, but it could be fatal. He remained buried on the scopes, breaking irregularly for visual scanning.

In reply to Gun Ho Pak (msg # 4):

A fair minute had gone by since Gangnam transmitted to Jennsen, going un-copied. Weird things could happen in space. Sour air, the bends, nitrogen narcosis. Pretty much everything a scuba diver could see times ten..
.
"Gangnam to Reindeer Niner? You holding up back there? Everything a-o-k? Just a quick soundoff, if you would, please."

He sipped his own water, to remain hydrated. "Hey you need water or a few calories?"

Busy trying the maneuver you suggested, he responds.  Hopefully without over-compensating and having regain my position.  They also changed out my RADAR from ground attack
Unfortunately, his voice is strained as he has lost control and struggles to regain it.  Happily, he pulls it out of a spin that had somehow gotren too fast.  He even somehow manages to pay attention to his sensors.
08:21, Today: Douglas Jennsen rolled 21 using 1d100 with rolls of 21.  Sensory Equipment @ 45%.
08:21, Today: Douglas Jennsen rolled 41 using 1d100 with rolls of 41.  Regain control.
08:21, Today: Douglas Jennsen rolled 68 using 1d100 with rolls of 68.  Veritech @ 55%.

This message was last edited by the player at 18:14, Mon 25 Mar 2019.

In reply to Douglas Jennsen (msg # 6):

"Alright, don't fight her. You've got it with a little finesse. There ya go... Remember, no air resistance, no lift or aerodynamic forces. Valkyrie is about twice as electric as a Viper and 5 times more maneuverable. Let her do the work with gentle encouragement." He smile and conducted his own 360 degree sweep in a leisurely rotation on all axises. "This your first combat hop?"

Why not? It's only my second combat hop...

[Private to GM: Skill Checks:
Read Sensors: 84/60 fail
ECM 55/50 fail
Piloting 39/75 pass]

For now, he flew on and listened for chatter or instructions, watching scopes and added a little visual scanning for maximum situational awareness. He used his radio to scan for "other" transmissions.

[Private to GM: Skill check:
Radio basic to scan all frequencies 55/70, pass...]

Pak, almost immediately after tagging Reindeer 17 with a 'Buddy Spike' there is a spike in return from Reindeer 17 followed by an indication that your bird has just been locked up and is being tracked. (Continuous tone). Given the level of reply, it would be akin to having poked a bear, and now that bear has stood up and is growling at you.

Kiroileva Siili, the 'Swearing Hedgehog', is 'swearing' at you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:54, Wed 27 Mar 2019.

Yes, Douglas responds as he regains control, but not my first time in the Black.  I don't think I'll do that again.
He goes back to scanning, starting to wonder if there is a way he could set the autopilot for the CAP.  Probably another bad idea.

Reindeer Four receives a return radar spike and then a subsequent continuous tone lasting ten seconds indicating a radar lock.

[Private to Gun Ho Pak: At this point your get a notification that the European designed/built electronic warfare jammer on your veritech has suddenly stopped working. A quick assessment indicates that there is something wrong and it is no longer operable.]

---

The first Combat Air Patrol comes and goes with nothing out of the ordinary occurring other then Reindeer 4’s ECM breaking down. The decision is made to keep Reindeer 4 on station.

---

For the second Combat Air Patrol, Reindeer 4’s ECM is back up and running.

---

At three hours and thirty-nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds into the third Combat Air Patrol what would later be known as ‘The Battle of Pluto’ begins.

The four wing pairs from Hävittäjälentolaivue 11 are at the UES Macross’ Ten O’clock (relative to the vessels bow) when (what must be) several hundred thousand kilometers away from the UES Macross’ Ten O’clock (again relative to the vessels bow) five large neon green balls of bright light appear. One ball is significantly larger than the other four. The attached RC-4C (Callsign Golpher Nine) vectors towards the nearest wingpair (Vermillion 7 & Akula 6).

OOC: You’re in ‘combat’ now. Please make one post. Please DO NOT wait for the other character in your wing pair to post. One of my pet peeves is a player stating “I’m waiting for so and so to post” in a situation where I have not noted a posting order.

In reply to Douglas Jennsen (msg # 9):

On the 3rd CAP:

Hearing Jennsen sound off he smiled... The kid was alright. "Hey, so how do you think March Madness is going?" he said on the VHF. "You're doing fine, Matlock. You pulling for Wildcats? Think Gillespie will keep the job? I got into basketball when I was posted to Nellis. UNLV! Basketball isn't so big in Korea... It's like we're a country of short people or something. Everything still showing green on your monitors? Nothing to report here."

He executed another 360 degree sweep on three axises looking for anything and everything that wouldn't squawk on his IFF, figuring astroids or anything else would stand out like sore thumbs in the void of space. Anything pinged, he'd check the IFF, then the PIRATE for a visual ID. Unless the Jolly Green Giants found them in this back of beyond corner of the solar system, it would be a long, quiet ride home. And that was okay by Pak.

Then the call from 17 with possible bogeys on screen. <b>Maybe it won't be so quiet afterall...</b> Then looked about for any "green flashes." He keyed the mic again to Jennsen, "Tally ho! Go nose cold and stay frosty back there, Matlock... " He switched his own radar to passive reception, going naked now, but not yet getting a spike. Then he throttled back from the advised patrol velocity by 10% to stand out less as a "moving target," and conserve mass for use in ACM


[Private to GM: Skill Checks:
Pilot: Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 67 using 1d100 ((67)) PASS.
ECM (passive detection, RWR):12:27, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 30 using 1d100 ((30)) PASS.
Read Sensors (IRST):
12:28, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 40 using 1d100 ((40)): PASS.

Dodge Rolls:
12:39, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 47 using 5d20 ((19,5,9,2,12)). Add +12 to all rollie pollies.]

In reply to Gun Ho Pak (msg # 11):

"Jennsen? Clear to arm, but status is weapons hold. I say again, arm but hold." With that, he turned his master armament switch to the "Live" setting, selecting missiles, and setting his radar and HUD, still in passive mode, to air combat, doing a brief "wiggle" yawing from left to right to make sure the gunsight tracked carefully and remained on heading.

"When we have a solid contact and confirm bogeys are bandits, I have a trick I want us to try. When we ingress on their position, pitch over 180 degrees, pop two chaffs apply deceleration thrust for five seconds, then pitch down to keep nose on heading and return to former velocity. It's an old ICBM trick to fool ABM's. When the warhead bus separates from the upper chaff, it would spit chaff in front to draw fire... Same when the mirvs split from the bus, sometimes even using dummy MIRVS to draw fire. When we get a bandit spike and lock, we'll ask about going hot on sensors and some active radar jamming. Penetration aids. You tracking?"

[Private to GM: Skill Check, Weapon Systems:
15:00, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 20 using 1d20 ((20)) PASS.]
This message was last edited by the player at 01:40, Fri 29 Mar 2019.

Shit, Douglas mutters as he sees the bogies materialize.  Reindeer 9 tracking bogies passive, he confirms to Gangnam.
He settles himself into that Zen state he goes into on the range.  He had not had much oppurtunity to use the combat simulators back at the air base, but he had made it through the SERE portion of flight school, and he knew that Zen meditational state helps keep emotion under control when anger or fear could cost him his, or someone else their, life.  Without thinking, he flips switches to arm his weapon systems and prep them all to fire.
This message was undeleted by the player at 20:14, Fri 29 Mar 2019.

Reindeer 4 and Reindeer 9 orientate towards the flashes of light and then cut back on their velocity.

Pak in Reindeer 4 doesn’t pick up anything on his veritech’s Euro FIRST PIRATE indication that the flashes of light are not within range of his FLIR.

Telemetry comes in from the nearby Cat’s Eye, Callsign Eyeball Three. The telemetry also indicates that the flashes of light are well outside of radar range.

---

While waiting for the rest of the CAP to form up, the pilot are reduced to using the most basic of sensory instruments: The Mark One Eyeball.

The five flashes of light appear to be alien warships. The bigger one is flanked by four smaller ones, two per side. Flashes of white light indicate either missile launches or the vessels launching their own space fighters.

OOC: You guys are WAY outside sensor range, so please keep the sensor rolls you made for use later. But feel free to make a perception roll (1d20).

As an FYI in game the IRST is really only good for providing bonuses for infra-red guided missiles. The way you guys are trying to use them is as if you had a FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared Imager). Luckily some of you have both IRST’s and FLIR’s.

In reply to Darkside Trooper (msg # 14):

"Well, this is going to be trouble, Matlock. How about hitting them with a cease and desist or a peace bond," said Gangham over VHF. Whatever was launching from the capships would be a problem, either mecha or missiles -or both. At that, he engaged his FLIR to attempt a better look at the Green Shamus.

Suddenly, an idea came to him and he spoke on the tacnet. "Reindeer four to 17... Any thought of using a warhead to create EMP and blind their sensors before we ingress?  No sensor contact, just visual scanning. All tangos beyond sensor and weapon range."

[Private to GM: Perception Roll: 3]
This message was last edited by the player at 19:10, Sun 31 Mar 2019.

That won't even stop spousal abuse, Douglas retorts.  What makes you think it'll stop these jack-holes?  Tell you what.  You take the thousand on the left and I'll take the thousand on the right.  Should be almost fair for them.

Pak and Jennsen are both too busy flapping their gums to take not of the fact that some of the flashes of light are getting bigger...

What alerts them to the fact that they were taking fire was the CO screaming over the radio.



The space around both veritechs is filled with large green cylinders of light. Some of it come close enough to be blinding...

OOC: Please make a single dodge roll, no bonuses are needed. As long as you do not roll a nat 1 you will be fine.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:08, Tue 02 Apr 2019.

Shit!  The curse is muttered without thought as the energy blasts come towards his veritech.  A swift but slight shift in the controls allows him narrowly avoid taking any hits straight to his cockpit, or the plane.
Can we go weapons free?
14:45, Today: Douglas Jennsen rolled 14 using 1d20+12 with rolls of 2.  Dodge.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:51, Wed 03 Apr 2019.

In reply to Douglas Jennsen (msg # 18):

Seeing the inbound, Gangham broke hard left, popped a flare and chaff, and attempted to dodge the missiles.

[Private to GM: Roll to dodge: Nat 17+12=29]

"Reindeer 4 to 17, taking missile fire, going nose hot. Repeat, taking fire, and preparing to engage!" At that he engaged his radar and prepared to hunt.

[Private to GM: Action: Engage active radar, Init Roll, if required:
15:47, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 18 using 1d20+2 ((16)).]

As Reindeer 4 and 9 go evasive there is no tell-tale tone of a missile locking onto either veritech. After a few seconds of going evasive the large green cylinders of light stop passing by. One cylinder of green light comes dangerous close to enveloping Reindeer 9. Off in the distance there are still pinpricks of light which appear to be forming up into groups...

[Private to Douglas Jennsen:
So that nat 2 you rolled means you had a VERY close call with death. Make a save vs shitting your pants. Roll a 1d20 get a 14 or above and you don’t shit your pants.]

Damn!  That was close!  Douglas' comment is muttered more for his benefit than anyone else.  In avoiding one, he had almost run right into the path of another.  He narrowly avoided it, his natural calm kilepping his cockpit from gaining the smell of a certain bodily function.

[Private to Darkside Trooper: 00:23, Today: Secret Roll: Douglas Jennsen rolled 18 using 1d20 with rolls of 18.  Pants Shitting Save.  Yay! No smelly flight suit!]
This message was last edited by the player at 13:50, Thu 04 Apr 2019.

In reply to Douglas Jennsen (msg # 21):

"I don't think that was for us, it was for the Macross. Heat it up because they're launching Tri-s to hunt us down. After dodging that, I'm calling weapons free, unless 17 countermands it."

Gangham squeezed the tac-net mic. "Seventeen, they weren't shooting at us. They are shooting at the Macross. Tell Hayese to activate the CIWS, because missiles are incoming!"

Whooo-hoo!  His shout is partially at relief that he narrowly avoided the attack without crapping his flightsuit, and partly in exhilaration of the same thing.
Those weren't missiles, Gangnam!

Pak and Jennsen both look for anything on their radar to possibly launch a missile at.

Neither the Rabbit or Cat’s Eye’s radar data feed is picking up anything, indicating that the enemy is still too far out to be picked up on radar.

Visually, it seems like the pinpricks of light are forming up into six groups...

---

Vermillion 7 forms up with Reindeer 4 and Reindeer 9.

[Private to Jack O'Neil:
You can post in this thread now.]

---

Meved and Reindeer teams form up, the 14 veritechs (it seems like Meved lost a veritech as well) are arranged in four groups of two, and two groups of three.


Eyeball One and Eyeball Three (the ES-11C Cats Eye’s) drop back, as do Gopher Ten, and Gopher Twelve (the RC-4C Rabbit’s).

Gunsight begins to give instructions out over the radio.

Eyeball One and Eyeball Three then begin to feed what data they have to the veritechs based on the return from their LIDAR (Light Imaging, Detection, And Ranging).

OOC: Game Map for Group R (the radio thread) has what each enemy formation looks like.

If/when you launch an Angel of Death, make two strike rolls (due to the built in AI). Strike bonus will be +8. They will technically be launched using Optical Guidance, then switch to Active Radar Homing once within radar range.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:25, Wed 10 Apr 2019.

"Joining up with you guys now" Jack says over the com once he is close enough to be in formation and link up with the others, once in position he watch the increasing numbers of enemy.

"Copy. Vermillion 7 firing AOD now"  he reply once the order have been given and target his objective after having increased his speed.

Having done that he continue to follow the instructions and hit the reverse for a few seconds before firing his Firebird missile.

And once all missiles are away he spins the veritech around and head back to SDF-1.
"Vermillion 7 heading to second Interception Line with two friendlies"

Fire 1 Angel of Death towards Bogey 1:

Missile 1: 26  and nat 20 (32) DMG:
21:25, Today: Jack O'Neil rolled 26 using 1d20+12 with rolls of 14.  fire AOD.
21:25, Today: Jack O'Neil rolled 32 using 1d20+12 with rolls of 20.  fire AOD.

Fire 2 Firebird missiles at Bogey 1 (if alive):

22:38, Today: Jack O'Neil rolled 8 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 4.  Fire Firebird.
DMG: 400 MDC (200 MDC each)
22:39, Today: Jack O'Neil rolled 20 using 6d6 ((5,3,1,2,5,4)).
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:15, Wed 10 Apr 2019.

Reindeer 9 in position, Douglas says over the radio as he moves into position.  Alpha Oscar Delta away.  He launches the Angel of Death at the designated target, a bit worried about the lack of lock-on.
He then hit the reverse thrusters, dropping back a bit.  Reindeer 9 on station.  Firebird away.
Then he heads for the second station.
Reindeer 9 on deck.
08:20, Today: Douglas Jennsen rolled 18 using 6d6 with rolls of 3,1,4,4,4,2.  ×10 MD.  180 MD.
08:19, Today: Douglas Jennsen rolled 19 using 1d20+13 with rolls of 6.  Firebird.

20:16, Today: Douglas Jennsen rolled 31 using 1d20+13 with rolls of 18.  AofD second roll.

08:19, Today: Douglas Jennsen rolled 24 using 1d20+13 with rolls of 11.  Angel of Death Nuke.

This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Tue 16 Apr 2019.

This is considered as in character info: You guys got the firing solution for the AOD’s and Firebirds from the Cat’s Eye so there is no need to make a weapons system roll. If you want to switch to optical guidance you would still keep the best roll of your two 1d20’s I asked you to roll, but use the strike bonus associated with that guidance type. You can also have the AOD dodge anti-missile fire when using optical guidance. The downside is that you cannot take any actions (dodge, shooting etc) while guiding the missile in. For a single seat VT you’d have to put your bird on auto pilot. For a dual seat VT the back seater can guide the missile in while the pilot does whatever.

In reply to Darkside Trooper (msg # 28):

Gangnam heard the order. He realized he was still probably among the first 50 line officers in the history of the Earth cleared to fire a nuke. It was a dry mouth moment, and he sucked a bit of caffeine water from his helmet dispenser.

Quickly, using FLIR, the data from Cat's Eye, the Rabbit, and even other telemetry. He targeted with the AOD on Track 9...

[Private to GM: Weapons system roll to target track 9: 15:55, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 31 using 1d100 ((31)).

Take AOD missile shot at Track 9: I shat a natural 1. So I figure ham and eggs. 16:00, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 3 using 1d20+2 ((1)).

Second roll to strike:
12:56, Today: Gun Ho Pak rolled 14 using 1d20+2 ((12)).
]
This message was last edited by the player at 17:57, Tue 16 Apr 2019.

After launching their missiles and ‘flipping over’ the pilots of Vermillion 7, Reindeer 9, and Reindeer 4 engage their autopilot. Needing to go in a straight direction required nothing more then the three veritechs to get into formation and each individual pilot to flip a few switches in the cockpit.

With the autopilot engaged the pilots could focus on guiding their respective Angel of Death nuclear missile to target. The biggest target in each respective alien formation is of an unknown type. With a cross section of 30 by 60 meters the vessel has a  single big sensor eye with dual laser mounts on either side, and a large dorsal mounted radome.  The big ‘target’ is surrounded by ten of the alien Tri-Thruster Aerospace fighters. The Tri-Thrusters in each formation begin to scatter as the AoD’s reach their respective target.

---

In Vermillion 7, 2nd Lieutenant O’Neill flawlessly guides his Angel of Death to his target within the first enemy formation despite energy weapons fire attempting to shoot down the missile. The video feed (which gets a bit fuzzy in the last 30 seconds) shows that the accompanying Tri-Thruster fighters beginning to scatter before the only the large alien AWACS/EWAR warfare platform can be seen. The video feed continues until the camera actually strikes the large central mounted sensor eye of the alien AWACS/EWAR warfare platform.

Espada 5 guides her Angel of Death towards an alien Tri-Thruster Fighter.

Vermillion 7’s AoD takes out the alien AWACS/EWAR warfare platform, and four of the accompanying Tri-Thruster fighters.

Espada 5’s AoD takes out three of the accompanying Tri-Thruster fighters.

The firebirds launched from the two veritech are evaded, but it really doesn’t matter as the AoD’s did most of the work, reducing the alien formation designated #1 to only a trio of Tri-Thruster fighters….

---

In Reindeer 9, 1st Lieutenant Jennsen, launches his Angel of Death, and begins to guide it toward the second enemy formation and the biggest target within. The video feed goes fuzzy, probably an indicator that the alien AWACS is also an EWAR bird. Just as the video feed goes to white snow Jennsen sees the side profile of his target as it apparently attempts to bank away.

The other AoD launched at this formation by Reindeer 17 takes out five of the accompanying Tri-Thruster fighters

The Firebird launched by Reindeer 9 fails to lock onto anything. But the two Firebirds launched by Reindeer 17 manage to lock on and each takes out a Tri-Thruster fighter.

The second enemy formation is reduced to only three of the Tri-Thruster fighters.

---

In Reindeer 4, Lieutenant Pak, launches his Angel of Death, and begins to guide it one of the alien capital ships. With his target the furthest away Pak has the longest ToT (Time to Target), but also gathers some valuable intelligence.

---

OOC: Please post when you can. Your still heading towards the Alert fighters. There are no enemy missiles following you. The radio thread will have a status on the enemy formations.

Pak you'll get to see what your missile does in a bit.

The Alien AWAC/EWAR craft
http://mechajournal.com/wp-con...Aerospacecraft-2.jpg

[Private to Gun Ho Pak:
The 2 kilometer long alien vessel http://mechajournal.com/wp-con...-Heavy-Cruiser-1.jpg]
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:01, Sat 08 June 2019.

"Good hit" Jack reply with a grin while pumping his right fist, this was a small revenge for their fallen comrades.

As he comes closer he locate his new position and take over from the autopilot.

In reply to Jack O'Neil (msg # 31):

"Vampire away. This is Gangnam ...Calling my target now... Bandit is a capship, say again bandit is a capship, two klicks in length. Alpha-Oscar-Delta on target. Good track so far!"

It wouldn't do a lot to use ECM on the capship, but it should have quite impressive range in deep space. He decided to engage the ECM to spoof any inbound missiles on his vampire. Then, he squeezed off a shot with a firebird missile to even the odds.

[Private to Darkside Trooper: 1. Continue targeting using the cat's eye telemetry.
2. Engage ECM to jam aerospace defense missiles 31-pass
3. Weapons systems roll to target the tri-thruster 81 fail
4. Weapon System roll to target tri-thruster 27 pass
5. Fire Firebird missile 6+2=8 (I don't know the missile bonuses to strike or what to add for weapon system)

Auto dodges: Gun Ho Pak rolled 52 using 5d20+12 with rolls of 5,6,10,6,13.  Auto Dodge rolls, all +12.]
This message was last edited by the player at 23:50, Wed 12 June 2019.

Jennsen smiles as his Angel of Death strikes his target amidships, watching the resulting explosion engulf the enemy ship.  Then he catches sight of Gangnam's nuke.  Using the plane's optics, he zooms in on the view through the HUD and watches in morbid fascination for the missile to hit and detonate.

As the veritech continue vector away from the inbound there is really nothing for the pilots to do but watch the video feeds of the last few Angel of Death missiles targeting the capital ships. The missiles are soon out of range of the veritech’s own optics….

The command veritech in each squadron then pull the video data from the veritech that fired the respective missile then broadcasts it to the other veritechs. Without really saying anything or coordinating the two squadron commanders share data as well. This gives everyone four missiles to ‘observe’.

All four missile show the same thing, but from different angels. The missiles pass several formations of alien aerospace craft on a intercept towards the UES Macross.

As the alien vessels appears in the video feed the pilots can see that there are a total of five vessels. Four small ones (if 500 meters long could be called small), and one big one, that it is over two kilometers long. The small ones seem to not be launching any mecha, but the big one is still in the process of launching hundreds of alien mecha.

As the missiles get closer to the vessels a massive barrage of flack type weaponry is fired from each vessel.

Those watching Reindeer 4 missile watch it ‘dive’ towards its target. Pak manages to evade a few layers of the flack barrage being put up, but the amount of anti-missile fire is just too much and the video feed turns to static.

The same thing pretty much occurs with the other missile as well….

---

The late Firebird launched by Reindeer 4 hits an alien Tri-thruster and takes it out.

Watching the feed from the last missiles he hope that the enemies killed will help them out and as he finally find his position among the rest of the defensive lines Jack takes a few moments to make sure that his ship is ready for the deadly dance that will follow shortly.

[Private to Darkside Trooper: There is no need to roll any skills right? ]

The fourteen surviving veritechs belonging to the CAP (there was 16) soon rendezvous with the 26 alert veritechs (16 from Meved squadron, and 10 from Reindeer squadron) that launched as soon as the alien vessels had been detected.

As soon as the CAP is out of the line of fire, each of the alert veritechs launch a single Firebird missile to intercept the remaining 22 incoming Tri-Thrusters. As the 26 Firebirds vector towards their targets, a second volley of 26 Firebirds is launched.

Before the missiles make their intercept the CAP veritechs form up with the alert veritechs. The forty veritechs (23 Meved, and 17 Reindeer) form an intercept line with 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) between each wing pair, a line 400 kilometers (248.5 miles) long.

Of the 26 Firebirds launched in the first volley, ten (six launched by Meved, and 4 launched by Reindeer) manage to intercept an alien Tri-Thruster fighter.

Of the 26 Firebirds launched in the second volley, ten (7 launched by Meved, and 5 launched by Reindeer) manage to intercept an alien Tri-Thruster fighter.

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The small victory of the CAP and alert veritech being able to take out 6 alien bombers (for lack of a name for them yet) and 60 Tri-Thrusters is short lived.

The data feeds show an overwhelming force on approach to the UES Macross.

An additional 309 Tri-Thrusters, and another 41 Command Pods fitted with space boosters are on an intercept for the UES Macross. Behind those craft is an additional 192 unidentified mecha. Behind them is another 700 mecha….

The veritechs, space fighters and drones from the UES Macross Battle Group are outnumbered roughly 3 to 1.

OOC: Ok you can all post shitting your pants. All the PC’s should no longer have any Firebird missiles, as I believe you each were only carrying one firebird and one nuke.

Starring first at the screen in growing horror before looking out of the cockpit in fear.

Well shit is his first thoughts as sweat form on his face and only his training with determination make him hold his position in the defensive line.

Douglas doesn't bother looking at the screen.  The pinpoints of firing thrusters surround their respective craft like the Corona of a solar eclipse in the magnified view of his HUD.  He is reminded of something said by a famous comedian on videotape he had seen several times with his father.
Talking about his mother always telling him to be sure to have a clean pair of underwear in case of an accident, he made the comment, "Because that is what an accident is.  First you say it, then you do it.  Luckily, he doesn't really have the urge despite saying, SHIT.. But, he now understands the reality behind the joke.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 01:32, Wed 03 July 2019.

OOC: Please post here: link to a message in this game