Part 35: Skinning Cats, Sirius System, Sol Sector (Story)
Well, you resisted my invitation to predict the next plot event which is a pity, because I'm kind of curious to know if anyone actually falls for Standoff's attempted fakeout.Aaanyway.
29th December 2668, Sirius System, Sol Sector
Episode 4, Mission 4 - Skinning Cats
The Firekka comes under attack from Kilrathi fighters just as Bradshaw catches up with news as to what happened to Sparrow's wing last time out.
Pre-mission cutscenes:
It was about time something like this happened. We're at war, people:
Cutscene Video (Youtube)
: Bill. I'm...
: What's wrong? You guys look...listen. I know things are going badly, but you can't blame yourselves. 
: Oh. You haven't heard yet, have you?: Heard what? I only just came up from the flight deck. : Bill, it's Sparrow's wing. : What happened? Is she alright?: She, maybe. Spoons didn't. : Wha? That's not a funny joke.: I wish it was a joke. But it ain't. : Bill, he's dead. They were...
[over tannoy]: Attention, all pilots to your ships. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. : Dammit. Alright, let's go. Not you, Bill, you should sit this one out. A short update, but a fair amount of plot I suppose. So, anyone here actually expecting Bradshaw to do the smart thing?
Unfortunately it will be a while before you find out, because I need to buy a new joystick. Failed to find the one I wanted in Cambridge today, so I've ordered it, but there'll be a delay (probably a couple of days) while waiting for it to arrive.
In the mean time, remember when I posted the Fleet Action update on the Kilrathi fleet, including this line,
Fleet Action posted:
"Don't forget the Kilrathi also had a minimum of nineteen other standard carriers and at least twenty heavy cruisers that carried thirty fighters each. That comes to over three thousand seven hundred additional strike craft."
and I said the Firekka's pilots would manage that many kills by themselves:
Yeah, well:
(yes, the blue is impossible to read. Don't look at me, look at EA, it's exactly like that in the game. Apparently the Standoff team couldn't mod that.)
Oh, and this doesn't match up perfectly to my claimed killscore because (I think) the mission that goes into the killboard is always the first successful mission, whereas the video has been anywhere up to the fifth success so far.
Anyway, speaking of Fleet Action, I suppose I ought to clarify what the situation is after the Kilrathi counterattack that took out the Moskva(except it's not quite as bad as this, but this is what "actually" happened):
Fleet Action posted:
Sick at heart, Admiral Tolwyn silently watched as the action reports came in. He coughed again, wiping the tears from his eyes. The Combat Information Center was still filled with smoke, the air filtration plant still offline from the torpedo hit to Concordia.
"Message from Moskva, sir."
"Put it on main."
A young woman, blood trickling down from her forehead, appeared in the flat wavery image.
"Where's Ching?"
"Dead, sir. Last hit took out the bridge."
He nodded silently. Damn.
"Sir, we have to abandon ship, all engines are dead. We're moving on inertia and one bank of maneuvering thrusters only. Secondary generators are going off line, hull integrity lost in sixty-three percent, remaining bulkheads are leaking and will rupture with one more hit."
"Get your people into the escape boats. I'll have Polowski stand by to pick up survivors."
"I'm sorry, sir."
"You fought her well, lieutenant, you fought her well."
He looked back at the action reports that streamed in across the monitors.
Two of the new carriers and one of the old ones had been hit in his strike. The old style carrier was gone, but the two new ones still appeared to be relentlessly moving forward. In return, all four of his carriers had been hit. Verdun was lost with all hands, and now Moskva was finished. Leyte Gulf, which had only joined him this morning, had one bay down from a direct hit. Of the more than four hundred and eighty strike craft and bombers he had launched three hours ago, less than two hundred and twenty were still able to fly. Worst of all was the loss of Broadswords; less than a quarter had returned. Estimates of Kilrathi fighter loss stood at just over seven hundred. He knew the figure would be cut once the debriefing teams had a chance to look at all the camera footage.
In short, he had lost.
Next time on Standoff (once my new joystick arrives):
Another potential thread title.