Imp

134-gamma-23 was not supposed to dream. He was the typical cloned soldier, about 5’ 11” tall, fairly well proportioned, bald and the plainest looking features you could find. He was unremarkable when compared to any other cloned soldier except for his one pet peeve of dreaming. Of course he did not have anyone to talk about this certain “flaw” with. Into stasis, out of stasis for a battle and quickly back in. Not that any commander really cared if one clone out of 1 trillion or so was prone to dreaming in stasis! The last dream was like all the rest a dream of flying into a forested planet. The lush vegetation of trees below, animals roaming around, the sight of waterfalls in motion. If 132-gamma-23 could very well be classified as a nature nut if he was in a more normal society. Though for a cloned soldier with concept of the outside world it was all too strange to him, despite all the conditioning and engineering some kind of ataval instinct was perpetuating this dream. It was the freedom he craved, not cooped up in some battlepod, frozen in between mission and then shoved into battle, just to rinse and repeat until he died. If he had any resources or concept of free will at all he should break off at the first opportunity and seek the freedom his ataval instincts were trying to tell him. Alas he did not all he could really do was to survive and in between dream. His vision of flying around like a bird was suddenly interrupted by a slight buzzing. The buzz got more and more intense as time passed soon his whole conscious was taken by it. It was the typical Golden Hemogeny wakeup call; it was supposed to rouse the conscious halfway in preparation for the mission. He would be very quickly feed the battle plans and then off he would go. He had about 15 minutes before the ‘S’ hit the fan so he mentally prepared himself for what was to happen.

In his half-awake state he heard the sound of his commander’s voice, Gerald-158 he believed he was called.

“Bomber squadron gamma-23 you will be tasked with two objectives. Objective 1 is to do a quick smash and run against any Zaibatsu capital ships you may run across. As always let the fighters take care of any opposition just concentrate on getting those torpedoes to their target. Last objective is to carpet bomb the landing zone for the troop carriers. Other Grenadiers will be ferrying in troops but the transports are key. If the landing zone is not clear then use everything you have to make sure the transports touch down, even if this means suicide attacks to get rid of any opposition. Gerald-158 out.”

And like that 134-gamma-23 was back to a blank state in limbo. Slowly he knew he would be allowed to wake further, already he was feeling his body’s fluid starting to flow again. Very quickly he would be awake in the cramped cockpit of his Grenadier class bomber. Designed in response to the tougher opponents the Golden Hemogeny was facing in the third interdimensional war. Before it was perfectly acceptable to let the ground forces provide their own fire support or to have lighter fighters provide cover from the air. However the opposition was using heavier and heavier ground forces never before encountered and a better combined arms approach was needed. Taking a leaf from the pages of the Grand Alliance more and more explosive ordinances were being developed. A one kg mass driver round was fairly good against a single target but explosives still provided the best area of effect. The “imp” as it was mockingly called was a glorified bomb truck. Not exactly fast and a large target it was easy picking for most space fighters. It was however still remarkably maneuverable so perfect for making precision bombing runs for a skilled pilot. However clone trooper training was not that great and most commanders usually resorted to carpet bombing tactics.

The launch doors opened and the void of space was sprayed all over the panoramic monitor of 134-gamma-23’s cockpit. Just as quickly his fighter was suddenly jettisoned and the thrusters kicked to life. Slammed back against his chair 134-gamma-23 gripped the two control orbs with each hand and adjusted them so that he was flying straight and away from the now vulnerable carrier. With each launch bay opening the carrier had a limited field of fire and if the enemy was smart it was this exact moment when they could tag the most fighter before they were ready. Unfortunately for them this was not Gerald-158’s first rodeo. He had smartly launched launch cylinders at enemy carriers and formations. Suffice it to say they were most definitely occupied. The imps and harpies quickly barreled towards their target, they were soon joined by older wasps and mosquitoes. Even with the end of wasp and mosquito production in favour of harpies, there was still what would call a glut of fighters. Even with atrocious casualty rates the Golden Hemogney had still not run thru all their old fighters. Not that this was something any commander wanted to see, by last count there were still close to 1 billion of these older fighters! The counterattack was by now under way and fighters all around 134-gamma-23 were being wiped out of existence. Weaving as best he could 134-gamma-23 locked onto a larger capital ship and unleashed a torpedo. The projectile streamed towards its target and produced a small explosion against the energy shield of the carrier. This was just one of many torpedoes and in a brief moment the capital ship had absorbed more than 1000 torpedoes from other imps. This storm of fire downed the capital ship and the angry swarm moved onto other targets. Another capital ship was downed almost as quickly no amount of shielding or amour could protect anything form the amount of missiles, mass drivers, and torpedoes the swarm could unleash. Quickly moving towards the beleaguered planet below 134-gamma-23 unleashed the imp’s missiles and lone mass driver. Lacking any big punch these weapons were however perfect for the many thousands of Zaibatsu combat drones that were starting to appear. The Golden Hemogeny had to strike fast or the numerical and surprise advantage they had would be lost. Launching the rest of his cruise missiles 134-gamma-23 ejected the cruise missile pod and started the steep dive into the atmosphere. More explosions appeared around him as the anti-fighter turrets and defenses on the planet were starting to tag the incoming fighters. These too were being silenced as the capital ships were finally getting into range to bring their mass drivers into play. With the defenses distracted on the more tempting targets of the capital ships and larger battlepods 134-gamma-23 could proceed relatively unmolested.

The outside of his battlepod glowed bright red as the re-entry was causing friction to build up on the outside of his fighter. Now he was the most vulnerable without any way to fight back or maneuver effectively. Seeing the green foliage of the planet below 134-gamma-23 was suddenly entranced. Was he dreaming or was it real? He was still wondering this as a flight of anti-fighter missiles impacted against the relatively thin armouring of the imp tearing his fighter to shreds…

Specs

Classification: Grenadier bomber battlepod

Superior Alliance reporting name: Imp

Length: 16 meters

Shielding: Golden Hemogeny shield unit level 2

Armour: Golden Hemogeny armour plating 4 cm thick base armour

Powerplant: Golden Hemogeny power storage battery level 5

Top speed: Mach 30

Weapons:

1 x Missile port (20 missiles for on board storage), 1 x .001c mass driver turret, 2 x weapon rack attachment points

Designed to fulfil the bomber role in the GH forces. In previous interdimensional wars this role was not really needed. However in the current conflict the enemies have gotten smarter and deadlier and a more combined arms approach was needed.

These bombers can fulfil the role of a precision bomber well if piloted by someone of high skill. Unfortunately the likely pilot candidates were clone soldiers who did not have the necessary training or survival rate to develop such skills. Carpet bombing tactics are common. Able to carry a wide assortment of ordinances the “imp” would prove more than just an offensive weapon.

Overall a well-balanced machine but slow and as always for a GH machine fragile.