Hobgoblin

Alpha-7770 didn’t know if he could actually take on the Zaibatsu Raptor he was currently facing. The sleek bird of prey looking fighter was outmaneuvering his much slower and lumbering fighter-bomber. Not that the Cannoneer class strike fighter was by any means a slow or lumbering, it was after all designed for use by Neo-soldiers so this meant nothing less but the best in parts and design. Normally he could even keep up with Punisher class strikers but the Raptor was out turning him as if he was standing still. Turning around as fast as he could he let loose several bolts from the psy boosted induction beam cannons set for burst mode. Bolts of yellow energy flew quickly at the Raptor but at the last moments the Raptor quickly corkscrewed around the bolts in a physically impossible maneuver all the while its many guns still tracking on the Cannoneer. A quick burst of antimatter rounds impacted against his psychic shielding. The last few hits were somewhat inconsequential but every round he had to shield against was going to wear him down and it seemed like the Raptor pilot’s endurance was unending.

Unleashing a salvo of micro-missile Alpha-7770 suddenly jerked his fighter down in a nose dive to better gain distance between the two of them. Even with a cloud of explosions Alpha-7770 was sure the Raptor was mostly unharmed and was right on his tail. His torpedoes were too slow for anti-fighter work and were better suited for anti-capital ship destruction. His psy boosted induction beam cannons would be the more appropriate weapon for the situation only if he could get a clear bead on his enemy which he was not at this moment. He was almost out of micro-missiles and his lower weapon mount was currently occupied with an Anti-capital ship cruise missile earmarked for a cruiser.

“Not looking too good.” Alpha-7770 figured. He had to get into a better position or lose this boogie or he was dead. Before he could form another strategy the Raptor had obviously grown impatient with this game of cat and mouse that had played out for the last 15 minutes, he had bigger fish to fry then this mere fighter. Opening its launch racks the Raptor disgorged its 20 Kunai attack remotes in a blink of an eye. Now with 21 quick maneuvering boogies Alpha-7770 was surely sunk.

Now it seemed only a matter of time before the Raptor could bring its heavy anti-capital ship beam to bear and slice apart the Cannoneer. Before it could even get even a millimeter closer the Cannoneer suddenly expanded a sphere of crackling orange energy around itself. Expending some psychic energy Alpha-7770 was able to cheat death for the moment. The Raptor was down about 15 Kunai though the Raptor itself seemed unharmed. Almost as if on cue the Raptor started barreling towards Alpha-7770 again. As both fighters charged headlong into each other they were opening up with everything they had. Warning klaxons were screaming at Alpha-7770 as the missiles, guns and anti-matter beams started to impact against energy and psychic shielding. Finally in a final fiery explosion the Raptor was finished only after expending all his torpedoes. Alpha-7770 warily looked around and saw many more Zaibatsu craft heading to his location as they were attracted by the intense fire fight. Determined to complete his mission and seeing the damage his Cannoneer had taken, he only had one choice. Gunning up his engines Alpha-7770 flew his craft head on towards the closest capital ship, he might die but an old earth saying seemed appropriate at the moment:

“Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.”

…

“Huh didn’t know the Gold Heges could actually make something like that.”

-Striker pilot commenting on the Hobgoblin

Specs

Classification: Cannoneer Strike fighter battlepod

Superior Alliance reporting name: Hobgoblin

Length: 25 meters

Shielding: Golden Hegemony shield unit level 4

Armour: Golden Hegemony armour plating 15 cm thick base armour

Powerplant: Golden Hegemony power storage battery level 8

Top speed: Mach 60

Misc system: FTL drive

Weapons:

Psy boosted induction beam launchers x 2, micro-missile pods x 3, Torpedoe tubes x 20 (5 reloads), Face shield psy field offensive system x 1 (Blast or all round burst) Lower hard point x 1

History

Advance second generation battlepod designed for use with neo-soldiers. The Kwan Dao was still the undisputed craft of choice for neo-soldiers but their talents had yet to be exploited in the whole sphere of combat. This craft was designed to carry a heavy payload to destroy hardened targets with or without the need for escort battlepods. To achieve this design goal a combination of weapons were included with this craft. For general dogfighting and possible heavy target elimination two psy boosted induction beam cannons were equipped. They could either be fired in machine gun like fashion or as a concentrated psy boosted beam. 100 torpedoes were carried in 20 launchers and were perfect for general attack on slow fighters or fortresses. Rounding out the fixed armament were three micro-missile pods. The most important weapon was the single heavy hard point on the bottom of the fighter that could be used to carry a multitude of ordnances. Unfortunately for the Golden Hegemony they may have created a powerful and advance strike fighter but the pilot skill was still somewhat low when compared to their newer enemies. As always this was somewhat offset by the high number of pilot and battle pods available (numbering in the low 5 millions).