THE JUMPGATE DEFINITIVE GUIDE - Tripod

production, the scout craft became an integral part of most combat
encounters and allowed the newer pilots the ability to take part in
some massive battles. Without the scout craft Ikeprof would not be
blind, but he knew he would be lacking the important vector and
velocity information that only the scouts could provide.
Ikeprof quickly scanned the action on the CC scope, rotating it
dynamically while taking stock of friendly and foe forces. Apparently
the typical strengths and weaknesses of the factional craft were
showing through again. The bulk of the Octavian bombers and heavy
fighters were concentrated mid sector in an almost perfect sphere with
guns pointing outwards. 3 Condor class tows were parked in the center
of the sphere loaded out with PWD100’s in order to negate missile
threats. A scattering of light fighters equipped with relic gear
harassed the enemy bombers and heavy fighters with minimal success at
the top of the display. Watching as the vectors of 4 of the enemy
bombers converged at the top, Ikeprof readied himself to counter what
was obviously the preparation for some form of assualt.
Using the Mechanical Organic Unified Sensory Enhancer (Mouse), Ikeprof
simply had to click on a friendly dot, drag the dot onto an enemy dot
to create a target for his pilots to concentrate fire upon. Using a
variety of key presses on his ships data entry keyboard, he could
elevate a target’s level of urgency, create fire teams to work together
on a target, create flight groups that he could communicate to
directly. The huge radar scope was capable of rotating on any axis
using his ships flight control hotas in order to get the best angle to
view the battle.
Dragging a box around the 4 bombers, Ikeprof tagged them as a group.
Dragging a box around the sphere of his main forces, he deftly tapped
the key strokes signifying the primary targets and ordering them to
maintain current position and attitude while awaiting the next move.
Quick acknowledgements from his pilots filled his comms screen as the
enemy bombers began their run. Mentally extending their vector
forwards, he could see they intended to pass tangentially to the sphere
and focus on one or two of his bombers rather than attempting to pass
through the middle of it and exposing themselves to the bulk of his
pilots devastating firepower.
Having seen this type of run before, Ikeprof knew the lightness of the
Solrain bomber made vector extrapolation deceptive. If these pilots
were under the command of a competent CC, it may be a ruse to which any
attempt to counter position his forces could result in more damage than
simply bearing the brunt of the run as it stood. He decided that
patience was the only option.
Watching the progress of the bombers, Ikeprof realized the opposing CC
was not new at this. At roughly 10K distance the first enemy bomber
released a single morning star. Bomber pilot Quick indicated missile
lock but calmly held his position. At 1K intervals each of the other
enemy bombers released a single Morning Star missile also. This type of
run was very textbook in terms of forcing exhaustion of PWD100’s. With
15 PWD’s left in the Condor group, Ikeprof was not worried.
Watching the 4 enemy bombers pass by the defensive sphere Ikeprof grew
98