Vax's Starfighter Guide

[Meatslopper]

File Name: Imperial Starfighter Combat Guide
Authorisation Level: Imperial Navy, Starfighter Corps and Sith
Published by: Neophyte Vax

OPEN

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction

The Empire fields many damn excellent vessels in her navy, yet most starfighters sacrifice survivability for speed and most capital ships offer the opposite. Both take immense amounts of kriffing skill to coordinate and just fly without gettin’ blown up in seconds. That’s what this guides ‘bout, never been behind a Capital ships bridge giving orders. Yet even for those not sippin’ tea and praising the view, the inner workings of both must be understood to get the true potential out of you.
This guide will focus on your bloody starfighters an’ basic fleet tactics, formations and kark you need to know to get the best results on the micro scale, cause we can’t all sip tea and point to our officers. Welcome to your Starfighter wing and let me coach you along.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your starfighter

Your Starfighter is your life. Kriffin’ literally, hours worth of maintenance in all craft is expected from your average pilot, either done by yourself or engineers. Long before you get shootin’ or flying in general, mistakes in any required aspect can see your death, so don’t skip work.

------------------------------------------------

Starfighter Functions:

The bloody point should be obvious to anyone who isn’t a total moron. You need to understand your kriffin’ starfighter to fly, this’ll go over some basic ass functions but it’s karkin’ important you remember to learn your *own* Starfighter an’ her functions not the general ones presumed, each have their own damn charms so don’t be a total muppet an’ try to fly a bomber like a supremacy.

Primary Functions

Yoke: The Yoke is the bloody controls at the center of the machine. This arrangement is the one typically used on Imperial vessels to let you control as much as possible without takin’ your hands away, makin’ flyin’ at a base level a breeze an’ letting you change important kark without takin’ your hands away from the controls. Some vessels use other arrangements so while focusin’ on your own line of vessels control wise is for the best, it might be a hassle when gettin’ in others.

Weapons Systems: Are your ships main weapons, in normal settings the karkers work independently on cycles, cross the board if you have multiple linkin’ all systems means you can put out max amount of fire at cost to your heat and obviously rate of fire, best to use to burst down a bastard with a tough shield.

Sublight Engines and Thrusters: Kriffing obvious ain’t it? These are you standard Starfighter sublight engines, they make you fly at incredible speeds.

Throttle: A lever that adjusts the overall power supply available to all systems, for movement.

Power Management Display: This display is a cornerstone of flight, it allows you to divert different shite across the subsystems of your vessel, this allows you to immediately apply power where necessary to increase speed or blow the kark out of the enemy. This’ll typically be split into basic groups by:

-Weapons

-Shields and Avionics

-Engines and Thrusters

Yet, they can be altered to provide more specific an’ more complicated power distribution control in exchange for the immediacy and ease of access.

Hull Integrity Monitor: A display that monitors your vessels hull an’ shields if you ‘ave em. It’ll warn you if some bastards struck you, an’ what damage has occured throughout your ship, vital for quick repairs an’ accounting for new damages.

Life Support: The air that keep you alive. The systems, can be dumped or disengaged if you’re really confident in your suit an’ have a ever growin’ fire to disable it. It’s often got microbacteria in it to keep it recyclable an’ healthy, even then Imperial ships have got tiny ‘mounts of life support, wastin’ it can hurt your overall travel time and see you needin’ to return far more than you might otherwise need to.

Stabilizer: It’s used to keep the vessel stable, temperamental if it’s blasted open it might make the whole vessel shudder an’ make it difficult to maunver or keep in a straight flight path.

Inertial Compensators: Is somethin’ everyone needs, from the smallest fighter, freight all the way to the massive ass Harrowers. The incredible potential speed the vessels can toss out in atmosphere an’ in the aether, create incredible ‘mounts of resistance if you’re vessels got it shot or blown apart, you’ll have to go slower or your bloody pass out. The more used to fightin’ you get, the more you can afford to turn it down a bit, especially as a tough ass Sith, fullpower compensators will kriff up the maneuverability of your craft for safety.

Secondary Functions

Ejection: The emergency ejection is a bloody last resort in all cases. If your vessel is unrecoverable an’ you are important nuff to be recovered an’ all that shit is met, your ejection lever is suddenly your best friend. It uses jet thrusters to toss you out, if in space your suit may give you minimum oxygen to keep you alive, if you’ve somehow busted that, go down with the ship an’ hopefully engage in atmo. Atmosphere ejection is always better.

Self Destruction System: Boom.

Countermeasures: Countermeasures exacts vary but the bastards keep you goin’ ‘gainst missiles. This can be from the basic flares against heat seekin’ missiles or a electronic system that slices into the targetin’ computer of a chasin’ missile. They are pretty useful if you can’t be arsed or aren’t able to outfly due to circumstances the little cunt chasin’ you.

Afterburner Boost: Afterburners are a engine component, which temporarily transfer an increased mass of unused power to the engines lettin’ you boost the engines far beyond normal capacity, for a sudden increase in available power an’ speed, lettin’ you escape slower foes at cost to some maneuverability, unless you can account for it.

Repulserlift: Repulserlift tech, is useful in the takin’ off an’ landin’ process, keepin’ your vessel steady fore you engage your engines and can be useful for more percise takin’ off. Landing Jets, on craft also assist in this but chances are you tiny fighter don’t ‘ave em.

Blackbox: It records flight data for your Flight Controller an’ anyone who recovers your vessel, wipe it if you can’t self destruct the vessel if it’s bloody guaranteed to end up in Republic hands.

S-Foils: Used for openin’ an’ closin’, it let’s out heat faster increasin’ the cycle rate of the engines an’ afterboost, an’ lettin’ you fire more often mostly open in battles they can be closed for tight maunverin’ as well at cost to your vessels overall heat.

Sensory Systems:

-Radar(Passive and Active): Radar is pretty self apparent, it’s a sensor sweep that either actively pings the environment for new bastards an’ by doin’ so can reveal your presence while passive, tracks already pinged threats at less power cost an’ allows you to be more or less silent, keepin’ you ‘quiet’ on other cunts sensors, even if it’s far easier to be tricked an’ won’t update you on if anyone else comes in.

-Targeting Computer: Is a focused sensor that lets you keep on your targets ass, it calculates the angle of deflection for you. Keep your target within the center, to aid your aim an’ keepin’ locked on will let your secondary weapons such as missiles lock on to them with ease. It allows you to follow it’s directions, to keep on the ass of your targeted ships an’ once it’s filled with the target you can blow them to pieces.

-Focused Sensor Sweep: Usin’ high tech scanners, this lets you search a vessel for people that don’t kriffin’ add up or alternatively for electronics or cargo, you might know the existence or composition off. To search for more specific things it ain’t impossible but it takes a hella advanced sensory suite and knowledge of what you’re lookin’ for, especially for chemicals.

-Hyperwave Signal Interceptors: Comes part an’ partial with some radar systems, can be linked to sense radiation signatures that indicate a vessel jumpin’ in or out. Gives you early warnin’ to stop you gettin’ struck or to identify enemy bastards.

-Collision Avoidance System: An immediate warnin’ system, tellin’ you if you get too close an’ are in danger of crashing into em by accident, for newer pilots this can be fed into the autopilot to in essence stop stupidly risky moves, but limits your combat capabilities that one.

-Lock-Threat Warning System: This works in tandem with countermeasures an maneuver, let’s you know if some bastard is targettin’ you, typically tossed onto your HUD

----------------------------------------------

Flight Checks

The main subsystems must be checked before any form of combat, for each type of fighter this’ll be different but the general protocol for checking your vessel is while not in flight is:

Spoiler: Pre-Flight Exterior Checks

Pre-Flight Exterior Checks

The purpose of exterior checks is to ensure the Starfighter is visually operational if not under supervision, this is checking for bloody blatant or less blatant damage starting with the Engines and working around towards them again. Notice any anomalies in your vessel, then a in depth check must be done or you’ll be kriffed, should be done either by yourself if qualified or engineers. You’ll want to focus on these karking sections.

Thrusters: Are a great start, most are exposed cause they build up unmakerly kriffin’ amounts of heat, which makes it super easy in atmo to see things get stuck around or in them, even if anythin’ touching the heat will be burnt or tossed aside, these things are your fighters life. With the Empire’s Starships focused on speed, even small problems in your thrusters can see you crash or get kriffin’ shot down, without the armour or shields to make up for your moronic behaviour.

Fuel injectors and Tanks: Shouldn’t be leakin’ anything, fluids of any kind, an should be properly secured with feeding them if any.

S-Foils(If you have them): are properly attached an locked in, they ain’t loose or left open, they are there to regulate heat an’ very important to keeping your craft flyin’ once open an stablise you for in-atmosphere combat. Any loose joints or somethin’ small can see it ripping, knocked off or other nasty things.

The wings: No shit.

Laser Cannons and other weapons: All kinda things can obstruct the holes where the shots come out, this might not be noticed on technical readouts and can seriously kriff you up in combat, the same applies to missiles, bombs, anythin’ that can go boom if trapped inside.

Cockpit and main structure: Again, no shit. Keep your window spotless as you can, you’d rather have the ability to see beyond your implements aye?

Anything else: Just cause it ain’t all that important, doesn’t mean it can’t kriff you up, coolant pumps can flood you with toxic gas, even the small things goin’ wrong can just make a single maneuver go wrong and that’s all it takes for you to be snuffed out in space. Starfighter pilots have the most balls cause of that.

If under supervision, checks will already be bloody expected. If somethin’ fails it ain’t your fault, but dependin’ on the time and situation I’d still suggest giving the once over, just cause someone else’s ass is gonna get shouted out, don’t mean kark to you if you die cause of it. An' for a Sith sabotage is always a option.

Spoiler: Pre-Flight Interior Checks

Pre-Flight Interior Checks

The purpose of interior checks is to ensure the internal systems are churnin’ along hard as can be. You’ll wanna do several things before you even check on your subsystems or the shite that’s gonna see you flyin’.

The Ejection Seat: Should be damn safe, with the handle locked closed. The Empire’s often a jammy bastard with safety tech, all to make you more fearless, these crafts ain’t for cowards who pull at the first sign of trouble. The ejection systems are only to open up for those at serious risk, unless you’re fallin’ helplessly to the ground' chances are you’re gettin’ shot for pullin’ that’s if it even works. On the craft that don’t have these, skip this course.

Self Destruct Systems: Should be disengaged for obvious reasons, if your cockpits flashin’ with self destruct warnin’ anytime you don’t want, get the hell out. If you’re connected to the ship for a power recharge or bloody refueling, chances are your vessel can be remotely shut down, an if not, get to cover. Someone’s kriffed up royally, or it’s sabotage.

Main Power: Shouldn’t be engaged, the Empire’s fighters have a short nuff lifespan an life span as it is without wastin’ it. Someone’s probably been lazy an’ probably should be executed for wastin’ time, this one can be sorted pretty quickly by disengaging it yourself an’ callin’ it in, you should check your fuel an’ air reserves once you reboot her, they’ll ask for that also.

Controls: Check to see if someone hasn’t jacked off in your cockpit, if your main FCS or yoke are sticky or you struggle to turn them more than usual, maybe something's kriffed.

Anything else: If anything seems out of place, somethin’ could be up, by intention or otherwise. Don’t put your life on trustin’ the guy who came before you, chances are he ain’t a superior or in your squad, make kriffin’ sure there isn’t no bomb in your cockpit. There also may be manual systems that ain’t been mentioned, especially if you’re ‘borrowin’ someone else's starfighter.

Entry Hatch: Should be closed real tight, if everythin’ else is alright make sure it’s secure, any leakage or damage to it, may kill you.

Spoiler: Pre-Flight System Checks

Pre-Flight System Check

Once you’re properly seated inside, that’s when you start checkin’ your electronics and controls, you need all the bloody help you can get. Especially you Imperials, we Sith can mostly work off our senses for some of the kark our fighters do, even then there’ll be stuff your techs tellin’ you that’s important. Just wouldn’t trust it ‘bove my senses if I were you.

Main Power: Should be turned on, there are two whole bloody protocols seperate for this. Immediate deployment and slow deployment, dependin’ on your orders or the situation.

-Slow deployment is turnin’ the power on slowly, keepin’ it to low power systems and advancing through the checks by diverting it to each system as you do the checks. This is to ensure everythin’ is perfectly operational, often used as a method of checkin’ the craft in drill or exercise or ‘fore patrol. May also be used to catch sabotage early, if your boss’s gettin’ paranoid.

-Immediate Deployment is sendin’ the bloody power to the systems immediately, this is for combat, or really most scenario’s you’ll be facin’ as a pilot. You wanna check over them as swiftly as possible, doin’ just enough to ensure she can fly an fight.

Ship Readouts: Should be displaying the ship as neutral, there should be no alerts of damage or irregularities.

Power Management Display: Should show only what has been diverted in slow deployment, or in immediate deployment should show all subsystems sharin’ equal power unless required otherwise.

Throttle: Should be set to 0%

Radar: Should be showing nothing but friendlies in the hangar, if you really wanna bloody test her in slow deployment or if you sure she ain’t working the Empire have a manual hangar ping system, usin’ a in hangar IFF transmitter to act as a false ship ping. If you can bloody see her an identify correctly to control, you’re good to go.

Auto-Pilot: Should be ensured to be off, but most Imperial Starfighters have a standard set of auto-pilot protocols able to be activated you should check. These’ll be imputed by your commanders an’ officers and able to coordinate you lot out the hangar, without relyin’ on your skill or tractor beams fore you take control.

Targeting System: Needs to be on and properly ready, while checking this ensure your weapons are bloody disabled you muppet. Including any special targeting computers for torpedoes or bombs.

Missiles or bombs: You can rotate the loading system to ensure her karking mechanics ain’t jammed.

Spoiler: Pre-Launch Fighter Checks

Pre-Launch Fighter Checks:

This is the step you’ll start to hover, it’s a short ass one. You just gotta ensure a few things ‘fore you get out to fly proper.

Stabilizer: Check to see if your ship is stable an kept in place by the repulserlifts we don’t kriffin’ want some wobbling or some nonsense. In flight this’ll make it bloody hard to move unaided an properly get your aim

Auto-pilot: Has to be activated to the launch protocol your local ship uses to leave dock. It’ll help ensure you ain’t bashin’ into any karkers on the way out.

Spoiler: Flight Checks

Flight Checks

Once in flight, you’ll wanna do a comms check with your Squadron and turn off your bloody autopilot once clear of the capital ship. Check your Etheric Rudder is operating properly, lettin’ you drift through space an make proper turnings, as well as your Inertial Dampener so you don't kriff yourself when goin' fast.

Your S-foils can be tested or anythin’ that your systems show as a problem. In immediate deployment, all fighters should immediately through their full throttle power to 100% and join whatever formation their squadron leader has decided to take up. Keep your distance. And check immediately for contacts, begin your standard scanning patterns unless ordered otherwise.

Spoiler: Landing Checks

Landing Checks

After returnin’ from a hard day of slapping bastards back to the core. You’re gonna be tired and distracted, maybe your mate got slapped down, good for you, it wasn’t you. Before you cheer your survival an probable success, you still gotta ensure your ship is doin’ alright and if she ain’t ensure your bosses know so they can fix her up.

Ship feel: The easiest manual way to tell on the journey back home is how your vessel feels. You’ve been flyin’ her for kriffin’ ages, if something’s up even if your techs sayin’ you’re doin’ fine who bloody knows what’s happened. Just take note of it and adjust accordingly, convene with your wingman if they ain’t exploded to do a visual check.

Ship Readouts: Are normal, they’ll tell you what’s karked 'bout your hull an' electronics and what’s not typically, but keep in mind they can be wrong. Adjust to whatever nonsense it’s showing.

Landing permission and informing: The Empire’ll guide you in wherever you are, both through visual in areas where you gotta manual it or through your landing autopilot routine. Get permission, inform them and your Squadron Leader of any faults you may have found to ensure they find the best place for you to land. Once you’ve gained permissions get goin’

Anything in your way: Only you really know if something is in your way, you’ll get clonked against it and boom if you don’t notice. Landin’ especially after battle is normally harder for pilots than takin’ off, we can’t prepare as well for it, one hangar may be bombed out, we’ve lost ships and weapons most likely in a battle, debris could be in your way, get close as possible fore engaging autopilot. Who knows, you may need to land in the midst of battle.

Post Flight Checks: Check everythin’ you did preflight just shuttin’ them off rather than opening them up.

Spoiler: Emergency Procedures

Emergency Procedures

If your ships karked, what’d we do? First things you’ve gotta consider before attempting the following solutions is rank and importance to the battle. If you can take out an enemy bridge by ramming it and you ain’t the Wing Commander, a Sith or another member of important personnel, if allowed by your commander course ramming speed my boy. Tradin’ with enemy fighter also perfectly acceptable, the Empire’ll remember it far more than if you eject. This only applies if the bloody situation is judged unsalvageable and aligns with mission objections.

Anti-tumbling procedure: Keep your throttle at current speed, check stabilizer, engage emergency stabilizer and guide her to the easiest flight path.

Unusual Attitude Recovery Procedures: Guide her to the easiest most predictable flight path, regain control by minimizing system output as kriffin’ required.

Out of Control Flight: Check instruments, check to see if you can manually adjust and direct, to execute prior protocols and if you can’t either eject or maneuver in a method that bloody achieves objectives.

Controllability Checks: To ensure your vessel ain’t gonna blow up our hangar if you’re kriffed, coordinate with a wingman or other of your flight or squadron.

Fire/Fume/Smoke Elimination: Identify if electrical, isolate system and disable or reboot if able, if unable dump oxygen and refill with emergency tank, rely on backup suit oxygen.

Low Oxygen: Activate emergency oxygen tank, disable primary tank, if able divert to safe planetary atmosphere, dock immediately or if unable rely on spacesuit to compensate until able.

Display Malfunction: Isolate and cycle display, if it don’t work keep offline an focus on the others best you can.

Ionic Disruption: Reboot all relevant power supply, cycle the display until proper bloody visuals are available, then return to level flight on a visually open flight path if able.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your Unit

Wing:  A wing is the largest bloody unit of starfighters, while the exacts vary from vessel to vessel, mission to bloody mission, officer to officer. All wings are united under a Wing Commander, who reports back to the Captain or Admiral of the ship he’s attached to. She ranges anythin’ from the full complement of a smaller vessel to only a fraction of a larger one. In fleets they are mostly sorted by their accompanying capital vessel rather than any kark to do with numbers.

Squadron: The next unit down from a wing, she’s led by a Squadron Commander, who reports to the bloody Wing Commander and controls all elements further down directly.

Flight: Is a silly term for any number of the small sections under a single ‘Squadron’, these’ll normally be doin’ different things under the Squadron Commanders orders and have their only Flight Commander to relay from. They can be led directly or given’ general orders dependin’ on the whims of the leaders.

Elements: Just you and your buddy, the smallest we go. The two wingmen will operate in tandem, to ensure our fighters are never seein’ the enemy go boom without holding hands. They’ll watch your tail an can be uniquely addressed to do certain tasks.

Additional people/groups of importance:

Admiral and Fleet Command: Everyone knows what a bloody admiral is, an all their variants from rear admiral to vice admiral. The admiralty make up mosta Fleet Command often with the high rankin’ Sith makin’ sure the Imps know where to go. They will be the highest authority on a bloody mission involvin’ a fleet, single ships and smaller groups, an their compliments the role falls to the damn Captains instead.

Captain: Often servin’ highest on a vessel or directly under a Sith if it has ‘er. The Captain is the most likely person to be makin’ any sorta order directly to the wing an her comms team will relay them through your Wing Commander as well as coordinate with Flight Controllers normally done through intermediary officers. They’ll be the ones ensurin’ the bigger ships are there to protect your bloody backside.

Aerial Assault Commander: They are ground support officers often times granted the position to organise the stagin’ of and aid in directing joint operations, these bastards will be ensuring bombs land on target and air support ain’t hittin’ thin air that helps kriff all on both sides of the mission. You’ll be given their names ‘fore anythin’ an’ will be workin’ with em to complete ground focused directives.

Hangar Control: It’s in the name, they’ll guide you in an out, as they sip tea in between organise for refuelin’ or decide if fighters are too dangerous to be let in. If her shields are up an she’s bein’ engaged chances are they’ll refuse your weak asses without openin’ up for enemy craft.

Flight Controllers: If there is any goddam person to take from this bloody section it’s these bastards. They are the ones who will be relayin’ with you constantly, to keep you up with real time battle information, this keeps our data condensed means we don’t really have to bloody rely on tech and let’s all fighters be advised of sudden shifts. They’ll likely coordinate with a squadron, so get used to them bein’ the one in your ear an’ decidin’ what you see on your fancy tech.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where are you effective?

Starfighters are only half the bloody battle. You’ve also gotta know when your ship is effective so gotta look at some wider fleet tactics, don’t worry, mosta them ain’t relevant for you, you’ll know when you get your specific orders, but some terms apply fleet wide. Regardless if you wanna kill yourself or relax an take a breather, you gotta have that room.

All ships and fleets have a array of zones, they will all be prefixed by the bloody name or by ‘Fleet X Zone’ to indicate which it’s referrin’ too, mostly in more local comms, fleet wide comms won’t specify unless they bloody have too which is rare and’ll just mean the whole goddam fleet. These zones are:

Long Engagement Zone(Or the LEZ as I like to call ‘er): The LEZ is the area where only your biggest guns can smack the enemy, the rest’ll fade, in this zone they’ll likely be aimin’ an hittin’ the more vulnerable vessels with less shields and armour cause the others will last an eternity. Even then, you’re unlikely to see much action beyond softenin’ them up. At this range the bigger guns do the work.

Kill Zone: This is where your capital ship can open up. Majority of your batteries can hit the karkers, on a Harrower that’s when she starts takin’ names, if a ships there she’s gettin’ kriffed. At this range your fighters still won’t be able to hit em, you’ll likely be allowed to enter the enemy ships Secondary Zone and her Primary Zone when they are within’ yours.

Secondary Zone: This’s when the gunners gotta decide to defend themselves or continue targetin’ the capital ship. A Harrower has point defense turrets to keep you safe in yours an in the enemies you better be goin’ fast, but you’re at range where you can start bein’ some of the most effective ships on the battlefield.

Primary Zone: This is your zone. No matter the ship, starfighters have the absolute bloody advantage this close to a target, practically skimmin’ her to just around her, you’re fast nuff to avoid most big guns here and pick her weakest points an’ break em apart.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------