SepThe Y-Wing was, in Kytra’s opinion, an under-appreciated technological marvel. Most people looked at it and saw its poor maneuverability, its maintenance heavy weapons and power systems and relatively poor forward firepower and thought it was a failed attempt to make a versatile bomber. Measured on the ideal of a bomber that could match a fighter in a traditional dogfight, that assessment was true.
But that was where the traditional assessments were wrong. The Y-Wing had a twin-power plant set up - the cause of its heat problems, but also its biggest advantage. The layout and raw energy output allowed the pilot to switch power focuses quickly and efficiently. It charged shields more powerful than those on the X-Wing. It ran a dual targeting system that was faster and more accurate than any other fighter on either side that Kytra knew about. It allowed a fully turreted secondary weapon, and it powered the massive engines that let the heavy craft match an X-wings acceleration.
Flying it required a different skillset to most fighters. The pilot needed to be a good multi-tasker to manage the power allocations, turret and targeting systems all at once. They had to be cool under pressure, because getting hit was more of a ‘when’ than an ‘if’ and when it happened they had to be ready to adapt. If you did, they could keep it flying despite damage that would turn a smaller fighter in so much space dust.
Kytra had mused on this in the early segment of the battle as she kept the squadron back. She hoped the new pilot in the squadron had really understood it when she had briefed him earlier. But now was the time to focus - now was the time to engage. The fighters had engaged the vast majority of the TIE fighters now, leaving a largely open corridor towards the light cruisers that provided escort for the Majestic.
So far, those light cruisers had avoided engaging properly, the close confines of the battle making their larger weapons risky to employ for fear of hitting the massive Venator. They were both moving away from their echelon formation now, heading on a long circular arc to cut off the escape routes of The Keep.
“Alright Thranta, we’re going in. Target the lead Arquitens. Load proton torpedoes. Flight one engage first to drop the shield, flight two finish them off.” A series of acknowledgements came back to her over the com, and she gunned the engines to begin the run. Below her, the ship vibrated as the magazine rotated and, with a dull thunk, rammed a pair of proton torpedoes into the launch tubes. The squadron was armed with a salvo of ion torpedoes, but it would be a waste to use them on an Arquitens when they had the power to disable a Star Destroyer.
As the Arquitens grew larger before her, Kytra set shield power to double front and activated her targetting computer. It smoothly slid in place over one eye and started beeping to inform her of its status. It would tell her the ideal moment to fire.
“TIEs incoming!” Lieutenant Barizan urgently stated over the coms. Second flight hadn’t started their run yet, so had a little more situational awareness.
“Stay on target. Roll and show ‘em the sides.” Kytra ordered. She rolled her ship to present the slimmer and better protected side profile. At the same time, she heard the turret rotating to take aim. It was wired to allow her astromech - Gizka - to control it. Otherwise it had to be preset to specific fire angles which, of course, reduced its versatility.
[THERE ARE X-WINGS CHASING THOSE TIES. CAN I FIRE ANYWAY?]
The incoming communication from the trigger happy droid annoyed Kytra a little. The droid had no respect for fire vectors. She didn’t respond directly to it, but instead gave orders to her flight. “Hold your turret fire until the X-wings are clear.” Before quickly switching to comms with Kal. “Alter your run to put down some turret fire on those TIEs while they chase me.”
Moments later, as the light cruiser loomed large before her, the targeting computer beeped out its readiness. Kytra squeezed the trigger then pulled sharply in one smooth motion, adjusting her shields to full rear as she did so. The flight followed suit, only slightly out of sync due to the new arrangement of pilots. Behind them, there were six colossal flashes as the heavy warheads impacted the cruiser. Shield were demolished and armor scored and seared. The ship skewed to the side, clearly having suffered some damage to its thrusters, but it was still quite intact. For now. Kytra only saw it as dots meeting on her scope, followed by the cruisers status readout altering to show the vulnerable state of the Arquitens.
Now it was up to the second flight to finish the job.
But that was where the traditional assessments were wrong. The Y-Wing had a twin-power plant set up - the cause of its heat problems, but also its biggest advantage. The layout and raw energy output allowed the pilot to switch power focuses quickly and efficiently. It charged shields more powerful than those on the X-Wing. It ran a dual targeting system that was faster and more accurate than any other fighter on either side that Kytra knew about. It allowed a fully turreted secondary weapon, and it powered the massive engines that let the heavy craft match an X-wings acceleration.
Flying it required a different skillset to most fighters. The pilot needed to be a good multi-tasker to manage the power allocations, turret and targeting systems all at once. They had to be cool under pressure, because getting hit was more of a ‘when’ than an ‘if’ and when it happened they had to be ready to adapt. If you did, they could keep it flying despite damage that would turn a smaller fighter in so much space dust.
Kytra had mused on this in the early segment of the battle as she kept the squadron back. She hoped the new pilot in the squadron had really understood it when she had briefed him earlier. But now was the time to focus - now was the time to engage. The fighters had engaged the vast majority of the TIE fighters now, leaving a largely open corridor towards the light cruisers that provided escort for the Majestic.
So far, those light cruisers had avoided engaging properly, the close confines of the battle making their larger weapons risky to employ for fear of hitting the massive Venator. They were both moving away from their echelon formation now, heading on a long circular arc to cut off the escape routes of The Keep.
“Alright Thranta, we’re going in. Target the lead Arquitens. Load proton torpedoes. Flight one engage first to drop the shield, flight two finish them off.” A series of acknowledgements came back to her over the com, and she gunned the engines to begin the run. Below her, the ship vibrated as the magazine rotated and, with a dull thunk, rammed a pair of proton torpedoes into the launch tubes. The squadron was armed with a salvo of ion torpedoes, but it would be a waste to use them on an Arquitens when they had the power to disable a Star Destroyer.
As the Arquitens grew larger before her, Kytra set shield power to double front and activated her targetting computer. It smoothly slid in place over one eye and started beeping to inform her of its status. It would tell her the ideal moment to fire.
“TIEs incoming!” Lieutenant Barizan urgently stated over the coms. Second flight hadn’t started their run yet, so had a little more situational awareness.
“Stay on target. Roll and show ‘em the sides.” Kytra ordered. She rolled her ship to present the slimmer and better protected side profile. At the same time, she heard the turret rotating to take aim. It was wired to allow her astromech - Gizka - to control it. Otherwise it had to be preset to specific fire angles which, of course, reduced its versatility.
[THERE ARE X-WINGS CHASING THOSE TIES. CAN I FIRE ANYWAY?]
The incoming communication from the trigger happy droid annoyed Kytra a little. The droid had no respect for fire vectors. She didn’t respond directly to it, but instead gave orders to her flight. “Hold your turret fire until the X-wings are clear.” Before quickly switching to comms with Kal. “Alter your run to put down some turret fire on those TIEs while they chase me.”
Moments later, as the light cruiser loomed large before her, the targeting computer beeped out its readiness. Kytra squeezed the trigger then pulled sharply in one smooth motion, adjusting her shields to full rear as she did so. The flight followed suit, only slightly out of sync due to the new arrangement of pilots. Behind them, there were six colossal flashes as the heavy warheads impacted the cruiser. Shield were demolished and armor scored and seared. The ship skewed to the side, clearly having suffered some damage to its thrusters, but it was still quite intact. For now. Kytra only saw it as dots meeting on her scope, followed by the cruisers status readout altering to show the vulnerable state of the Arquitens.
Now it was up to the second flight to finish the job.