After the nightmare of the previous mission, I was really hoping for something simple next time. But when the Colonel was announcing mission assignments during the next briefing, well, I have fond memories of my time as a cadet on the TCS Formidable. Colonel Halycon was nice enough to oblige.
We ran into a half-dozen Dralthi waiting around at the jump point for something to show up. A 2v6 of Rapiers vs Dralthi was hardly a fair fight. The flying pancakes never stood a chance.
The four Krants halfway home were a different matter. The cats seem to have this weird predilection for building fighters that are either under-gunned or under-powered. Krants and Gratha are probably the closest they get to a sweet spot, and even then I question the design choice to only put a pair of lasers on the Krant. I still don’t like facing them though, especially when they’ve got us outnumbered.
The cats went straight for the Formidable. I handed off the leader to Bossman and went for the trailers. I may think that Krants are a bit under-armed, but there’s no question about their durability – those things can take a beating! I was glad that I hadn’t wasted any missiles on the Dralthi earlier, because I sure needed them now. The pilots must have been rookies though, because they were target fixated on the big, fat, vulnerable destroyer in front of them, and not the pair of pissed-off Rapiers rolling in from underneath them. I punched off my Iffies as fast as I could, then got lucky with a DF. The fight was over almost before it started. No complex maneuvering, just missiles and gun kills.
It felt good to walk onto the Formidable as a Major, rather than as a Cadet. Same halls, same metal and grease smells in the air, but definitely better when you know you’re not the one going to be scrubbing toilets that night, but get to have a drink with the captain instead. Much better.