messy
very fast and the more anti-air that went their way the better. The Voku
fighters were more heavily armored than the skeets and could take a greater
pounding, hopefully allowing the Star Force fighters some breathing room to
maneuver.
By the time the group arrived at the LZ there were
already over 50 walkers on the ground and the fighters knew better than to try
and hit them. Instead they climbed and stretched out into a long line, some 5
or six fighters wide, and struck like a plasma streamer at one of the
descending transports that had four Type-3s suspended underneath plus who knew
how many infantry inside.
The Voku hit first, pounding and breaching its shields
as they shot past taking what anti-air fire could hit them as more and more
fighters struck the ship enroute to flying to the far side. Riona’s group was
in the back third of the lot and unloaded their maulers and what missiles they
had on the target before zipping past and out of sight as the Skarron fighters
emerging from multiple transports, most of which weren’t even on the ground
yet, poured down on them and the Voku in turn turned their attention to
neutralizing that threat as the transports continued to flow down to the
surface.
Riona’s squadron turned back after some dicey
maneuvers to avoid collisions with the Skarron fighters and dove after the now
smoking transport. Alternating between short attack runs and flanking ‘stalls’
that allowed them to pound the craft from short distance the skeets added to
the existing damage and managed to knock it out of the sky before it could
sufficiently decelerate.
The transport rammed the rocky ground, smashing the
four walkers underneath it and crumpling on impact, killing who knew how many
inside. Riona couldn’t watch long, for the enemy fighters were increasing in
number and before too long they’d be outmatched and would have to flee, but she
was content that they’d taken out those four walkers…which would mean less for
their ground troops to deal with later, though given the overall numbers the
Skarrons were deploying it seemed that it would matter little.
Riona brought her squadron back up to the Voku and
assisted them with killing several hundred fighters before the airspace became
too clogged and they had to pull back, bringing the enemy with them and
fighting an ongoing battle while retreating all the way back to the evacuation
zone perimeter defenses where the land-based mechs added their anti-air fire to
the mix and more Star Force and Voku fighters arrived from other locations to
assist.
Knowing that they had to kill as many of the fighters
now, while they could before more unpacked from the transports and literally
choked the skies, Riona flew hard and aggressive, more so than normal in order
to rack up a high kill count but the overreach eventually came back to bite her
as she risked going back into the thick of the fray with too low of shields and
got hammered by a group of Skarron fighters working in concert as the two Voku
fighters nearby her went down and left her momentarily isolated.
She saw the vulnerability immediately and tried to go
evasive, but too much plasma was coming her way and her armor could take only
so many hits. A long loop towards the ground ended with her tail being blow off
and her skeet hitting and rolling across the ground in a very pod racer-like
crash, with the numerous flips tearing off what appendages the enemy fighters
had left intact. The last few rotations banged her around inside the cockpit as
the IDF lost power, leaving her dizzy and disoriented for several long seconds
after the remains of the skeet finally came to a rest.
“Damn it,” she swore, grabbing her rifle, popping the
canopy open, and rolling out to drop onto the ground as she fell a couple of
meters, leaving her staring up at the sky.
Riona got to her feet and looked around, seeing the
fighters continuing their battle overhead but at the moment it looked like they
were ignoring
very fast and the more anti-air that went their way the better. The Voku
fighters were more heavily armored than the skeets and could take a greater
pounding, hopefully allowing the Star Force fighters some breathing room to
maneuver.
By the time the group arrived at the LZ there were
already over 50 walkers on the ground and the fighters knew better than to try
and hit them. Instead they climbed and stretched out into a long line, some 5
or six fighters wide, and struck like a plasma streamer at one of the
descending transports that had four Type-3s suspended underneath plus who knew
how many infantry inside.
The Voku hit first, pounding and breaching its shields
as they shot past taking what anti-air fire could hit them as more and more
fighters struck the ship enroute to flying to the far side. Riona’s group was
in the back third of the lot and unloaded their maulers and what missiles they
had on the target before zipping past and out of sight as the Skarron fighters
emerging from multiple transports, most of which weren’t even on the ground
yet, poured down on them and the Voku in turn turned their attention to
neutralizing that threat as the transports continued to flow down to the
surface.
Riona’s squadron turned back after some dicey
maneuvers to avoid collisions with the Skarron fighters and dove after the now
smoking transport. Alternating between short attack runs and flanking ‘stalls’
that allowed them to pound the craft from short distance the skeets added to
the existing damage and managed to knock it out of the sky before it could
sufficiently decelerate.
The transport rammed the rocky ground, smashing the
four walkers underneath it and crumpling on impact, killing who knew how many
inside. Riona couldn’t watch long, for the enemy fighters were increasing in
number and before too long they’d be outmatched and would have to flee, but she
was content that they’d taken out those four walkers…which would mean less for
their ground troops to deal with later, though given the overall numbers the
Skarrons were deploying it seemed that it would matter little.
Riona brought her squadron back up to the Voku and
assisted them with killing several hundred fighters before the airspace became
too clogged and they had to pull back, bringing the enemy with them and
fighting an ongoing battle while retreating all the way back to the evacuation
zone perimeter defenses where the land-based mechs added their anti-air fire to
the mix and more Star Force and Voku fighters arrived from other locations to
assist.
Knowing that they had to kill as many of the fighters
now, while they could before more unpacked from the transports and literally
choked the skies, Riona flew hard and aggressive, more so than normal in order
to rack up a high kill count but the overreach eventually came back to bite her
as she risked going back into the thick of the fray with too low of shields and
got hammered by a group of Skarron fighters working in concert as the two Voku
fighters nearby her went down and left her momentarily isolated.
She saw the vulnerability immediately and tried to go
evasive, but too much plasma was coming her way and her armor could take only
so many hits. A long loop towards the ground ended with her tail being blow off
and her skeet hitting and rolling across the ground in a very pod racer-like
crash, with the numerous flips tearing off what appendages the enemy fighters
had left intact. The last few rotations banged her around inside the cockpit as
the IDF lost power, leaving her dizzy and disoriented for several long seconds
after the remains of the skeet finally came to a rest.
“Damn it,” she swore, grabbing her rifle, popping the
canopy open, and rolling out to drop onto the ground as she fell a couple of
meters, leaving her staring up at the sky.
Riona got to her feet and looked around, seeing the
fighters continuing their battle overhead but at the moment it looked like they
were ignoring
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