Aquians Attack (Part 3) - The Blitz

Last night, I ran an experiment of my starfighter version of Eindekker (see my earlier post). I randomly rolled a Scramble mission so my pilots were going to be fighting off an attack by the enemy. Fortuitously, this made perfect sense for the campaign I've been playing.

When we last left the pilots of the 501st Squadron (the Blue Genies), they were unable to prevent an enemy torpedo boat from sneaking past and striking their carrier (read about it here). The crippled ship was towed to space dock while the Blue Genies were stationed on Moonbase Alpha. Soon after, alarms sounded. The Aquians were attempting a major attack!

Upon receiving the alarm, Lts. Ray Gunn and Ty Rowe scrambled to their fighters. Fortunately, the alarm was given with plenty of time so they cleared the hangers and were zooming through the Omicron system before the spotted the enemy. Ahead, a flight of torpedo boats was speeding toward the space dock where the Genies' crippled carrier lay. Gunn and Rowe kicked on the afterburners and were on the enemy in no time. Their first pass damaged the two TBs, but they still kept on target. The Genies turned and bore down on the enemy once again. This time, their shots ripped into the enemy. Pieces of ship scattered into space. The damaged TBs turned and ran.

Gunn and Rowe had no time to celebrate; two Aquian scouts pounced upon them, Soon, they were twisting and turning through the system, trying to line up a shot. Rowe struck first and a scout was vaporized. Gunn then hit his target and the scouts were no more.

More blips showed on their heads up display; the Genies accelerated toward their foe. They came up along the rear of two more torpedo boats and rushed to the attack. Their accurate fire destroyed one of the ships. The turret of the other TB opened fire,raking Gunn's ship and damaging the hull. The duo then turned on this foe and blasted it from the sky.

Belatedly, the TBs' escort turned on the Genies. Laser fire slammed into Gunn's ship. He was severely damaged. "Get out of here!" Rowe cried over the comm system. "I'll hold them off!" Unable to continue the fight, Gunn reluctantly complied and accelerated toward the moonbase. Rowe then put on an impressive display of acrobatics, dodging this way and juking that. Although he took a hit, Rowe began to find his mark. One by one, he took out the enemy scouts until no more Aquians remained. Rowe was then able to limp his damaged ship back home.

After Action Report:

• Enemy destroyed: 6 (2 by Gunn and 4 by Rowe)
• Enemy damaged: 3
• Enemy getting through: 0
• Friendly ships lost: 0
• Friendly ships damaged: 2 (1 heavily)

Overall, an excellent victory for the Genies.