ABS FIESTA REDUX

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko keeps his energy up and begins tracking Fishbed-5.

[Ad Bot]

[Tayasaurus]

"Just give me the go-ahead and we'll bust some chops."

[Qwepir]

"The bulk of them are still moving towards the fleet, maybe we should have Tippy take the rest of the flight to hit those guys while we're tied up here."

Ellie takes a little time to aim at Fishbed-2 before opening up.

AC5 accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of 4
Aim provides bonus of 10
Small target provides penalty of 5
Test taken at 59
Roll: 25 - success
Result: 2 hits to fuselage

Markus continues aiming at Fishbed-2 and fires his cannon again.

AC5 accuracy 50
Aim provides bonus of 10
Small target provides penalty of 5
Test taken at 55
Roll: 25
Result: 2 hits to fuselage

Scorch and Skytracer put down a MiG.

Jaakko keeps his energy up and begins tracking Fishbed-5.

It's just flying directly at you, along with the other members of its flight.

Fishbed-3 goes all in on the evasive action in a bid to not get murdered by Blackeye and/or Snowman.
: Gah! I still haven't seen them fire a single missile, what gives? Did they not bring any?
: You'd have to be crazy or stupid to fly into battle with no guided munitions! They must be up to something.
: Forget their weapons! All you need to worry about is stalling them for long enough that the attackers can take down their carriers.

Another flight of enemy planes emerges from the radar disruption.

Crash, Skytracer, and Scorch are at gun range of Fishbed-3, 2 turns to gun range from Fishbeds 5-8.
Blackeye and Snowman are at point blank of Fishbed-3, 2 turns to gun range from Fishbeds 5-8.
Fulcrums 1 and 2 and Fishbeds 13 and 14 are now entering missile range.

 

"Just give me the go-ahead and we'll bust some chops."

not to speak for crash but i think you have an implicit, standing "go-ahead" order

[Gojira]

Markus moves to engage Fishbed 5, waiting for the Fulcrums to get in range.

[NoZoner]

Lorens goes after Fishbed 3.

"Blackeye, are you hit?," he inquires.

"Yeah, that starfish put a few holes in my fuselage. Tore it up real good," Ash responds.

"Bug out! If you can't continue with the original flight plan, go back to the carrier!"

"I'm going! Crash, this is Blackeye, I've been hit, I'm turning back North."

Ash breaks away from the formation and tries to get away from the fight. He checks to see if the Tigershark sprung any leaks.

Lorens gets a bead on the third Fishbed and fires his guns.

[Operator¹]

Ellie starts lining up her shot on Fishbed-5.

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko fires on Fishbed 6 and jinks.

[Qwepir]

Ash breaks away from the formation and tries to get away from the fight. He checks to see if the Tigershark sprung any leaks.

Nothing is leaking fast enough that you won't make it back to the base if you make a beeline for it now, so relatively speaking everything is fine. Except for the two heatseekers coming at you fired by Fishbed 5.

Lorens gets a bead on the third Fishbed and fires his guns.

AC5 accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of 2
Aim provides bonus of 10
Small target provides penalty of 5
Point blank provides bonus of 20
Evasive maneuvers provide penalty of 20
Test taken at 57
Roll: 81 - failure
Result: miss
A last minute jink from the Fishbed takes it out of your crosshair right as you squeeze the trigger. It blows right past you.

Jaakko fires on Fishbed 6 and jinks.

You whiff, and the target launches a single heatseeker at you.

Fulcrum 1 launches a single heatseeker at Scorch.

[Gojira]

Markus opens fire on Fishbed 5 before going evasive, hoping to break the lock without CM.

[Operator¹]

Ellie groans and shifts her aim to Fishbed-7.

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko, mindful of his countermeasure count holds his last flares. He evades and fires on Fishbed 6.

"CIC, are we too far out for the battlegroup's missiles to help us?"

[NoZoner]

Ash's heart sinks at the wail of the MAW tone. "... That's two more missiles! I don't know if this thing can take any more hard Gs!"

Lorens merges with the third Fishbed. He pounds the dashboard in frustration as it shoots past his canopy. "Blackeye, defend!"

"I'll try!" Grasping for a way to lose the missiles, he turns his fighter towards Djuriskas flight and thumbs the comms frequency dial. "Djuriskas actual- Pansar! Someone! This is Mjolnir-5, could one of you throw out some flares!? I've got two missiles tracking me and I don't know if I can trash them!"

Meanwhile, Lorens slams the power lever forward and races to the fifth Fishbed. He puts the solution marker over the bandit and squeezes the trigger.

[Qwepir]

Markus opens fire on Fishbed 5 before going evasive, hoping to break the lock without CM.

AC5 accuracy 50
Small target provides penalty of 5
Missile range provides penalty of 20
Test taken at 25
Roll: 77 - failure
Result: Miss

Fulcrum base EV 77
HSM provides penalty of 25
Test taken at 52
Roll: 44 - success
Test passed
Though your shot whiffs, so does the enemy missile.

Ellie groans and shifts her aim to Fishbed-7.

This happens.

Jaakko, mindful of his countermeasure count holds his last flares. He evades and fires on Fishbed 6.

"CIC, are we too far out for the battlegroup's missiles to help us?"

Fulcrum base EV 77
Experience provides bonus of 2
HSM provides penalty of 25
Test taken at 54
Roll: 10 - success
Test passed
Enemy missile trashed.
AC5 accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of 2
Small target provides penalty of 5
Missile range provides penalty of 20
Test taken at 27
Roll: 93 - failure
Result: Miss

"CIC, are we too far out for the battlegroup's missiles to help us?"

: We've got ten incoming attackers to worry about. Sorry Crash, we can't help right now.

Ash's heart sinks at the wail of the MAW tone. "... That's two more missiles! I don't know if this thing can take any more hard Gs!"

Lorens merges with the third Fishbed. He pounds the dashboard in frustration as it shoots past his canopy. "Blackeye, defend!"

"I'll try!" Grasping for a way to lose the missiles, he turns his fighter towards Djuriskas flight and thumbs the comms frequency dial. "Djuriskas actual- Pansar! Someone! This is Mjolnir-5, could one of you throw out some flares!? I've got two missiles tracking me and I don't know if I can trash them!"

: I see you, kill engine and deploy flares, now!

Pansar is flying directly at you and will either pass or collide with you in mere seconds, too short for any verbal reply to be given.

Meanwhile, Lorens slams the power lever forward and races to the fifth Fishbed. He puts the solution marker over the bandit and squeezes the trigger.

AC5 accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of 2
Small target provides penalty of 5
Missile range provides penalty of 20
Test taken at 27
Roll: 1 - critical success!
Result: 2 hits to roosterpit, 2 hits to fuselage
Though it's difficult to see the plane itself due to the distance, you definitely see the flash as it explodes from the cannon impact a few seconds later.

Fishbed-3 begins turning around to get on Snowman's tail.
Fishbed base EV 69
Test taken at 69
Roll: 47 - success by 3 degrees
Tigershark base EV 77
Experience provides bonus of 2
Test taken at 79
Roll: 77 - success by 1 degree
Result: Fishbed is now behind Snowman
: I recognize that insignia! These are the guys that napalmed the barracks at Concord base!
: Mjolnir is here? Flying those? This is too perfect! A medal for anyone who shoots one of them down!

Fulcrum-1 fires a second missile at Scorch
Fulcrum-6 goes evasive
Fishbed-7 locks and fires on Skytracer
Fulcrum-2, Fishbed-9, and Fishbed- notice Djuriskas and Tippy approaching and shift their focus to them instead.

Fishbeds 5-8 are now in gun range.
Fulcrums 1 and 2 and Fishbeds 13 and 14 will be in gun range next turn.

[Operator¹]

Ellie opens fire on Fishbed-7 and evades.
: Gaffe, Letterman, get in there and assist, start hitting those Fishbeds.

[NoZoner]

Ash sucks in air though his mouth as he closes in on Pansar. Wide-eyed and numbed in a fit of tachypsychia, he throws the power lever back down to idle and pounds the countermeasures release button. Ash focuses on the Fulcrum heading straight towards him and strangles the flight stick in his clutches, bracing himself for the merge.

Further South, Lorens sees the Fishbed fall behind him. "Crash, Snowman, I'm engaged defensive! Can you thatch-weave?" He starts maneuvering to keep away from the bandit's sights.