Bushwhacked
Bushwhacked
Arc: None
Summary: Big ambush. Marko almost dies. AQ gets like 500 kills.
Date: 2657.345
Related Logs: Just the FACs
Participants: Pickett, Aquilina, Markovic

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Far From Home The Void
Troy System, Humboldt Quadrant — 2216 Hours 2657.344


Out in the infinite void of space, at the edge of the Troy system and the far end of a fighter craft's operational range. The system's bright yellow star is merely a slightly larger speck among the billions of points of light visible in the black. This is the realm of recon patrols, tanker-supported strikes, and pilots who are about to be in a whole world of trouble…

A trio of Stiletto-class fighters zip along through space, heading away from the main body of the system… towards a swirling blue jump vortex in the distance.

"Hope you're all enjoying your diversion from patrol duty" the newly-minted Wing Commander comments with a chuckle into his comms. "We're coming up on the jump point now, stay sharp. We picked up something out here on long range sensors, but we're not sure what. Could be fighters, could be a small capship."

Markovic's Stil slides along next to Pickett's. She chuckles softly over the comms. "It beats my newfound love of paperwork, sir." She keeps her eyes sliding over the surrounding stars, a light smile to her face. "A lot of activity out here normally, Major?"

«Paperwork. The two of you are the reason I strive never to be promoted.» Alex has his ship in formation on the other side of Pickett's bird, hanging back just a little bit from it. «Keeping eye out for the jump point.»

"Mine too. Just be glad I didn't use my newfound powers to take this hop in a Raptor" Pickett jokes. Really, he seems to be quite happy sticking with his Stiletto at the moment. "Coming up on the jump to Regallis now, let's see what we have here…"

"Somehow I do not think you would be so eager to abuse the rank, Arch'." Markovic's accent seems to be muted a touch by the communications and encryption. She can be seen in her cockpit to turn her head and look out toward the swirling blue, head bobbing a touch. "Is Regallis still hot?"

Aquilina's pale eyes skim the stars ahead of them, then flick down to his screen. His voice, when it comes over the channel again, has a distinctly more serious tone. «Arch, Needles. Contacts on scanners, showing se-…eight bogeys. Dralthi, all of them.»

"Abuse says you, enjoying a priviledge of rank says I…" Pickett replies with a little chuckle. "Truth is, I suppose I've gotten used to flying these flimsy little… Pickett begins, before pausing for a moment at Aquilina's report. "Well, I suppose that explains our contact" Pickett comments with a little sigh, even as he's already turning his fighter to close the distance with the Kilrathi. "Let's have some fun"

Markovic sits back in her seat and tightens the straps on her seat, firming up her position. 'This should be fun,' she mutters to herself, cracking her neck. A hand reaches down and flicks off her Master Arm. "Copy that, sir. Going hot."

«Oh, baby.» Alex reaches up and flicks a couple switches, bringing his weapons out of 'cool' phase into 'hot'. Blue warms up on his undercarriage, a missile loaded into its tube. «Weapons hot and ready to play, sirs.»
The two groups of fighters close rapidly, the lovely little dots on the radar screen quickly converging as the craft race towards each other at nearly a thousand kilometers a second.

"Good." Pickett replies to the reports from his wingmates. There's a little chuckle as he lets his fighter barrel straight into the middle of the Kilrathi formation, turning quickly to try and angle on one of the craft in front of him for a good shot. "Hate to think I was getting sedate in my old age…"

Markovic slides out a little from Pickett, giving him some room to maneuver on the bandits. "Torch, stay on me and we will Deuce the Major." Her words are firm and sure, the beeping of a seeker head audible over the radio as she talks.

FS-3 is already angling into the fray, manuevering to keep Alex's side away from the single Dralthi that's screaming towards him. Missile fire aimed for the craft that Dejana's got her sights on. «Already there, Needles. Can't shake me that easy.»

<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-2 with Heat Seeker - Moderate wound to Nose (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-2 with Heat Seeker - ARMOR on Nose stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-6 with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-8 attacks Aquilina with Mass Driver - Light wound to Tail (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-2 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.

The two groups of fighters finally merge into a single, twisting mass… Mass Driver shots flying through space, most missing… though a few manage to score the tail of Aqulinia's craft. At the same time, a missle from Markovic tears the leading edges of a Dralthi's pancake wings away.

"Nobody dead?" Pickett asks with a little chuckle as he continues to maneuver his fighter after his target, weaving and shifting to try and keep the ones trailing him from drawing a clean shot on his Stiletto. So far, at least, it seems to be working.

Markovic's Stil slides across the stars, throttle a little retarded to make sure she keeps maneuverability. She dances past some tracer fire as she looses a missile. "Fox Two!" It scores a hit, but not a kill. "Going to guns!" The throttle is nudged up slightly and she moves in closer, still.

«Just one playing a little grabass back here.» Alex sounds mildly grouchy at the scratch on his paintjob. It doesn't throw him off too badly, missile hitting but stopped by the Dralthi's armor. He flips over to guns himself, still chasing the wounded beast that Dejana managed to nail.

<COMBAT> Dralthi-2 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-2 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Weapon.
<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-6 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Weapon.
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-2 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-8 attacks Aquilina with Mass Driver - Light wound to Right Wing (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.

"Come on, let's stop flirting and see if we can't puch these guys out…" Pickett grumbles into his comms, still weaving his fighter past the weapons fire of the collection of Kilrathi craft on his tail. "These odds are gonna get real unfriendly if we don't narrow 'em down a little…" he adds, idly toggling a heat seeker to try and finish off the craft he's damaged.

The sound of gunfire can be heard over Dejana's reply. "Trying, sir! Slippery chap!" Tracer's tap at the rear of her fighter and she dodges out of the way. "Hell! How are you holding up, Torch?" She lines up another shot, glaring at her HUD and the target dancing in front of it.

Aquilina plugs the Dralthi right on one of its side guns, spin-turning away from it just as the one on his tail nails his right wing. A little bit. «Fucker's trying to papercut me to death. I'm fine. Let's get rid of this damn thing.»

<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-6 with Heat Seeker - Light wound to Body.
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-2 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-8 attacks Aquilina with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-2 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-2 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-0797e has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-2 has been KO'd!

"Sunovabitch" Pickett grumbles as his missile detonates too far away to cause signifigant damage to the fighter that he's chewing on the tail of. "Come on, kitten… die already" he grumbles under his helmet, before he keys his comms again. "Thankfully these guys can't shoot for shit"

Markovic's Driver shakes the craft, spewing a line of tracers out. They cut aross the path of the Dralthi and walk right up into the cockpit, shredding the canopy glass and anything inside it. It tumbles away fro mthe engagement mostly intact. "Splash one bandit. "Alright Torch, I am on your bandit. Take him down to free you up! Going to missiles!" A flip of her finger and the missile tone warbles in her earphones as she maneuvers back on his trailer.

«Son of a bitch.» Alex manages to miss that next shot somehow, but as a small grace he doesn't get tagged again by his trailer. «Copy that Needles. Coming around to pull him into your path. Blast your name into its side for extra points.»

<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-8 with Heat Seeker - Light wound to Left Wing (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver - NEAR MISS!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-8 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-6 with Heat Seeker - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-8 attacks Aquilina with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver - Serious wound to Weapon.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.

"Come on, come on…" Pickett grumbles to himself in disbelief as the Dralthi he's been chewing on absorbs a second missile impact. Switching his weapons back to his guns, Pickett cuts loose with another round of fire at the Dralthi that just seems to refuse to die.

"What the fuck?" Needles grumbles over the radio as the missile hits and the Dralthi shrugs it off. "Bad batch of warheads, sir! Wonderful place for th-" Tracer fire rakes the back of her Stil and she throws herself into a hard roll away. "Son of a bitch! Still in it but I have oil pressure warnings on number two!" Still on the missiles, Marko backs off a little.

FS-3's guns open up on the Dralthi just after FS-2 does, blasting its cockpit and doing an embarassingly small amount of damage. Alex exhales through his teeth, catching some ka-boom going off behind him. «Damn, Needles. Don't go soft on us on now.»

<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Tail (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-8 attacks Aquilina with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver - Light wound to Tail (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver - Light wound to Weapon.
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-8 with Heat Seeker - ARMOR on Nose stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-6 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-8 with Heat Seeker and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Stiletto-4472c has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Markovic has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Markovic spends a luck point to keep fighting!

"Don't think we're going to get the better end of this one, folks" Pickett says idly as the weapons fire from the Kilrathi continues to batter the Confederation fighters. "If you an get to a position to disengage from this mess, it might be a good idea. Should outrun a Dralthi pretty handily" For his part, however, Pickett goes charging straight into the group of Kilrathi even more aggressively.

Markovic's Stil takes a bad series of hits and smoke billows from the engines. Somewhere inside the sealed frame a fire is burning. "Shit! Fire in number two! Shutting it down!" There's a moment before the smoke cuts in half but her Stil is in bad shape. "I disengage when you do, sir!" Or when someone kills her. Despite the intense fire, she still stays on Aquilina's bandit.

«What the fuck.» Alex's missile just got a perfect angle on a Dralthi, and dudded against the thing's nose. «Did they forget to put the fucking warheads on these things?». Being the least dented among them at this point, FS-3 doesn't pull back. It'd mean leaving the more wounded fighters in the fray, and that ain't happening.

<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-8 with Heat Seeker and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Markovic's weapon clicks empty.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 tries to attack but has no target!
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-8 with Heat Seeker - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-6 with Heat Seeker - Serious wound to Tail (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-8 attacks Aquilina with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 tries to attack but has no target!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 tries to attack but has no target!
<COMBAT> Pickett has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-8997e has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6097e has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-8 has been KO'd!

"Settle in for a long fight, then Needles. I'm not pulling back" Archangel reports flatly, giving a feral grin under his helmet as his missile slams into the aft section of the Kilrathi fighter, breaking it rather neatly in two. "One less" he reports with grim satisfaction, even as his nose is already turning for the next target.

"Won a medal for much worse, sir. You have to kill me to shake me." Markovic's voice is ice by this point, her focus split between flying a near-dead fighter and trying to dogfight her way through this. "Torch, how about you take some of this heat off me??" Marko shoves the throttles up on her remaining two engines and barrells around the sky like a bat out of hell, trying to set Aquilina up for a good shot.

FS-3 shoots up at a breakneck angle, the speed of the turn throwing off any targetting guns. Risky manuever but it works, letting Alex come back down on an aggressive dive towards Markovic's new target. «On your ass, sir.»

<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Right Wing (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-4 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver - Light wound to Weapon.
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-4 with Mass Driver - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.

Pickett seems focused enough on the target in front of him that he cheerfully ignores the two behind him, letting his weapons chew into the Dralthi even as his own fighter rocks from another series of hits along the hull. "Just a few more seconds…" Pickett grumbles to himself, though whether that's a request of some sort to the flight or just asking his craft to stay together is an open question.

Markovic's Stil takes more hits but she manages to stay in it. "Glacing shots. Still engaged!" she grits through her teeth, shoving her fighter around the sky. All the while she's still trying to get hits on her bandits.

Aquilina turns his fighter on another hard dive on his target, flipping from guns back to his heat seekers. "Come on, come on." The little craft strafes by the Dralthi, and he launches the missile when he has sight of the thing's cockpit.

<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-4 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-4 with Heat Seeker - Moderate wound to Right Wing (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 attacks Markovic with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Pickett has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.

Pickett sighs as his fighter's guns glance harmlessly off the Dralthi's shields. "I'm going to try something" Archangel informs his wing, before keying an open channel and snarling something into his communications. Sure it seems like a bad attempt of a human to imitate the sound of a catfight… but it certainly seems to get the Kilrathi's attention.

"Sounds like a plan, sir!" Marko calls back over their own frequency. She's still fighting to stay in it. The smoke has mostly stopped at this point but its obvious her maneuverability is hurt pretty well..

Only thing that can be heard over Alex's comm is some vague swearing. Hit with a heat seeker and it barely tagged the thing. The Stiletto screams about for yet another pass on that particular Dralthi, aiming as best he can at this dogfight speed. «They'd better have a 'Fight with the Fleet's Shittiest Missiles' ribbon waiting back there.»

<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-4 with Heat Seeker - Serious wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-4 with Mass Driver - Serious wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Pickett has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-2997e has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-4 has been KO'd!

Drawing the attention of a whole wing of Kilrathi certainly isn't the most comfortable of persuits. "Come on, come on…" Pickett grumbles under his helmet, waiting until the craft are nearly ontop of him, before slamming his afterburners and the z-axis thrusters on the nose of his craft simultaneously. The ship pitches up drunkenly before the afterburners kick in, sending his fighter screaming up over the Kilrathi, their shots passing underneath. "Make it quick, I can't play this game forever…" Pickett grumbles from where he's pressed back into his chair, already turning in towards the Kilrathi again.

Marko looks around suddenly and they all left her alone. "Sierra Hotel!" Needles yanks back on the stick, little puffs of smoke trailing behind her at random intervals. She rolls in onto a Dralthi, guns blistering away at the same moment Aquilina's missile strikes. "Working on it, sir!" She rolls out and finds another Dralthi in her gunsights. "Guns guns, from two!"

Aquilina might've gotten a little annoyed with that last shot. Annoyance is good though; apparently it makes him shoot better. His missile slams into the Dralthi's cockpit and FS-3 turns on a dime back into the fray. Two guns on one, and he grabs a different target for a round of gimping the enemy fighters as much as possible.

<COMBAT> Pickett has changed weapons to heat_seeker.
<COMBAT> Pickett will attack Dralthi-5 this turn.
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-7 with Mass Driver - Light wound to Nose (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-5 with Heat Seeker and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.

Pickett lets loose with a heat-seeking missile at a target that stays in front of his nose too long, watching the mass driver shots begin to fly past his cockpit… snap-rolling his fighter hard right, then pushing the lateral thrusters to slide hard sideways, away from the rest of the volley. Well, it might at least explain a little of his affection for the Stiletto.

Needles is still having problems maneuvering and its obvious by the way her Stil just can't seem to line up on a maneuvering target. "Come ON!" she growls, obviously angry at the situation. "Why will you not HIT?!" She knows why, but it makes her feel better.

Aquilina goes to guns for a pass, trying to make just a little crack in the Dralthi's frame. Which he does, barely. As the entire gaggle continues to chase Pickett, he takes his fighter high and angles for a downwards shot on the thing's cockpit, with a deadlier piece of ammo.

<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-7 with Heat Seeker - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6797e has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-7 has been KO'd!

The Kilrathi come in for another pass, and again Pickett puts the Stiletto's absurd maneuverability on display… charging straight at one, diving beneath it at the last second, leaving the ones trailing him in a position to nearly collide. While they might miss each other, they don't do as good a job of missing that pesky heat seeker. "Keep it up, crowd's thinning out up here…"

Marko continues trying to maneuver, firing wildly when she thinks she can get a shot in. Tracers arc back and forth, her thrusters firing off-cue and making it nearly impossible.

Aquilina meanwhile is shooting fish in a barrel. It's like one of those carnival games, except he won't get a fuzzy teddy bear to give to his girlfriend. Now down to three-on-three, he keeps fire on one of the other two from Pickett and Marko.

<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-3 with Heat Seeker - Serious wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5597e has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-3 has been KO'd!

"Nice shooting" Pickett says, as one more dot disappears from his radar. "Think it's time I stopped screwing around now" He adds, quickly snapping his fighter back towards the pair that had been firing on him. There's a limit to the amount of time that he's going to sit and play passive with these guys, it seems.

Markovic's struggling fighter is still doing its best. To miss. Horribly. But hey, suppressive fire is still sending lead at the badguys, right?

Aquilina is still in high irritation mode. Which is good for him and continues to be very bad for Dralthis, another missile taking out a Kilrathi cockpit and blowing it to shreds with one hit. «Splash four» he reports, mildly, turning his last missile onto another straggler. Come on, hit.

<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-1 with Heat Seeker - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Aquilina's weapon clicks empty.
<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-5 with Heat Seeker - Moderate wound to Tail (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-6997e has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-1 has been KO'd!

Staying fixed on the tail of his target, Pickett switches his toggle back over to guns. "And that just leaves one…" he says with a note of satisfaction in his voice. "Sooner or later these bastards will figure out I'm out of their league"

Marko is too busy trying to fly her bird. Magically a couple of tracers walk across the stars and into the target, proving that even a broken clock is right twice a day. She's still blazing away, though, angry as ever.

«Splash five.» As mild as the last pronouncement. Alex turns his guns on the last remaining Dralthi, though with a wider spray to leave room for the other two guns to hit. Have to let command get in some pride, every junior officer knows that.

<COMBAT> Pickett attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Engine (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Markovic attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver - Serious wound to Controls.
<COMBAT> Aquilina attacks Dralthi-5 with Mass Driver - Serious wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 attacks Pickett with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Dralthi-9197e has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Dralthi-5 has been KO'd!

Pickett fires off one last shot, snapping his fighter sideways to let it actually pass between the incoming fire from the Dralthi before returning his craft to level flight as the Dralthi breaks apart.

Marko is probably more shocked that anyone when her tracer fire rakes the cockpit of the enemy Dralthi. "Holy sh-Splash two!" she chuckles, finally letting herself breath again. "WHOooo!" she hoots. "Okay, get me to a carrier on the double. I am dropping fuel and Engine three is shedding oil. I will have to shut it down soon."

Taken down by guns. Poor Dralthi. Alex squints an eye shut as the thing explodes under heavy fire, swooping away from the debris and back into formation. His fingers skirt a few keys and switches, checking on the minor paint damage on his tail and wing. «This is Torch. Coming back up on your four, Arch, clean as a whistle.»

"Amazed I'm not more fucked up than I am" Pickett comments in response, glancing at his own damage display for just a moment. "Right, we've done what we came for. Let's get Needles back to base"

"You were never in any danger, sir. The Lieutenant seems to have some skills that he wanted to flex this evening." She's still fighting with the bird, but she offers her comments lightly, offering a quick thumbs-up to Aquilina as she tries to get into something near formation.

«Not too tough putting a missile up a Dralthi's ass when it's got its backside to you the whole time.» Alex says, wryly. Humility, from a /pilot/? Can't be. «Needles, you and Jia didn't finish all my whiskey last night, did you?»

"Right then. Next time you get to dance with five Dralthi on your ass, and we'll see who's not in any danger" Pickett replies with a chuckle as the fighters turn along for home. "But damned fine shooting, Torch"

Markovic just chuckles on the radio, not bothering to give much of a protest. She continues on without another word, nursing her busted Stil.