Free Star Force: Cascade (SF73) by Aer-ki Jyr

rather than lagging back and
playing a more conservative role. He needed anonymity to protect him more than
armor and a secondary shield, and he had to get used to fighting that way in
these simulations now so it’d become second nature when he actually got out
into the field against the lizards at a later date.
    As for the basic design of the skeets, those had
remained the same through all these centuries. T-shaped with spherical pods on
each prong that held anti- grav units. The skeet could
limp around on one if necessary, but all three were required for full
maneuvering capability. The hull was thin save for a bump around the cockpit,
with most of the weaponry lying in the crossbar up front with the sensors,
shield emitters, and other support systems situated behind the cockpit in the
tail.
    Other auxiliary craft had been built for Mainline,
such as the gunships and interceptors, but the skeets had remained the backbone
of Star Force’s aerial division and would remain so, even with other factions
deciding to use different craft. The Calavari Valeries were solid, and the
other models were decent, for Mark had helped in their construction, but none
suited his style of combat more than the skeet. Its narrow profile made it hard
to target, and the T-shape meant there wasn’t much of a silhouette to shoot at
from above or below. Overall it was simply the best design he had ever come
across and Mainline and the Clans would continue using it until they found, or
created, something better.
    If the other factions wanted a unique craft, so be it.
They weren’t going to let them build any junk, but Mark knew that combat could
be achieved in a variety of approaches and if they wanted to pursue different
ones then there was an advantage in that…coupled with disadvantages. Mark
wanted his skeet because it was all around solid, rather than weighted in a
single attack profile. Those singular attack profiles could be very effective
when you got to choose your battles, but when defending and not having very
many options he preferred to be piloting a craft that was nimble and could be
utilized in multiple ways…which was basically the definition of a skeet.
    Some of his fellow pilots that were working with him
on this project had suggested outfitting the squadron with different ships, or
even just altered models of skeets to give him some singular attack or
defensive options but he wouldn’t have it. This project was complicated enough
as it was, and making it even more convoluted by mixing up ship designs would
put more stress on the pilot and reduce the amount of processing power he had.
Mark could pull it off, but those without Sav wouldn’t be able to…at least not as well as he’d hoped. Keeping all the craft
systematically identical was a way to reduce the mental load and free up some
thought for other purposes.
    That and he needed all the ships to look alike to hide
the cradle.
    Mark spun and crisscrossed his 10 skeets around the
pair of turrets on the first rise, stitching them with mauler fire from all the
ships and circling them around behind terrain to get the targeting programs to
dismiss them and chase another skeet. There was no easy way to take down these
turrets, so he just had to make it a slugging match without incurring hull
damage. If he could do that he could buzz around and recharge shields before
heading into the turret field ahead.
    Those would require diving down into canyons to avoid,
for if he pulled up out of them the crossfire would be so intense it was
unlikely that he’d get all 10 ships through…and if he was really sloppy he’d
lose all of them right then and there. He’d tried it on day 3 just to see how
bad it’d get and hadn’t been disappointed, learning from the danger now that he
knew what it was rather than having to guess, and pushed the canyon approaches
with his skeets heading down multiple ones and out of sight of each other.
    The transmitters were powerful enough to punch