Hornet

Looks like we just kicked the hornet’s nest!

-Golden Hegemony pilot commenting on the Hornet

Specs

Classification: Hornet light Air-superiority/Ground attack Gaia Striker

Superior Alliance nick name: Hornet, Stingers

Length: 16 meters

Shielding: Standard strength Energy barrier

Armour: Ne0-Carbonium (New form of carbon material)

Powerplant: Antimatter, universe entropic engine x2 (powered by the entropy of the universe)

Top speed Flying: Mach 25

Max ceiling: suborbital on Earth standard planet

Range: Unlimited

Seating position: Yamaha R6, Triumph 675 Daytona

Weapons:

Rotary launch system x2 (Panels are on the undercarriage of the Hornet. Total missile capacity is 12 missiles.) Micro-missile launch bays x2 (on top of the fuselage, carry *classified* amount of micro-missiles), 45 mm gatling cannons on movable armature x 1 (Mounted underneath cockpit, concealed when not in use, can move and aim guns in a 45 degree cone in front of fighter, carry 3000 rounds), Energy projection system x 1

The Hornet is equipped with an overcharge system which draws on the energy of the on board reactors. They require 4 seconds to charge and have a cool down of 15 seconds before the system can be used again.

Mode A

General

Normal

General use concentrated fire. Typical of most Strikers mode ‘A’ fire.

Overcharge

Anti-armour screw laser, good for punching thru most armor.

Mode B

Explosive

Slow firing exploding (on impact) energy spheres. Good for taking out groups of enemies or for large targets such as battleships or bases.

Overcharge

“Megasphere” of exploding energy. Really good for large armoured targets.

Mode C

Electric

Three seeking “tesla” beams. These beams or crackling electrical energy are good for stunning and damaging quick moving targets. Self-guided these beams only had to be assigned a target and the system would take care of the rest.

Overcharge

All beams are converged onto a single target rendering most target’s electrical systems disabled or worse.

Special A

All the weapon systems of the Hornet are concentrated for a quick barrage to hopefully destroy a single target. Needed 6 seconds to charge and 20 seconds to cool down.

Special B

Due to the smaller size of the Hornet a stealth system has less work to perform to make a smaller target less visible. By applying the overcharge system to the stealth systems the Hornet for shorts periods of time (10 seconds) become invisible to most electronic sensors. Needed a 30 second cool down and 6 seconds to charge.

Misc systems

overcharge weapon system, barrage missile targeting system, discreet active stealth systems, Multi-lock radar

General

Seen as the smaller and younger brother to the Diavel the Hornet was a light air superiority Striker. It was faster and more maneuverable but due to its smaller size could not carry the mission load that the Diavel could. Singularly the Hornet was a fast interceptor, extremely competent dog fighter and light strike craft which could destroy single heavy targets alone. In small packs of three or more the Hornet was an absolute terror of the battlefield, easily ripping thru companies of enemies. Combined with this was the ability to actively cloak for short periods of time allowing for the Hornet to either evade or get the drop on enemies. This Gaia Striker contributes greatly to the Superior Alliance dominance of planetary based operations.

Weapons

Well-armed for a light Striker the Hornet was equipped to deal with multiple situations. The same 45 mm gatling gun used on the Diavel was applied to the Hornet. A small load of 12 missiles were loaded on small rotary launchers and a modest bank of micro-missiles rounded out the missile payload. An advance energy projection system with overcharge capability was installed on the Hornet but the Hornet needed to charge the system with its onboard reactor instead of an energy absorb barrier.

Weakness

As with most high performance Gaia Strikers the Hornet was thin armoured and was easily shot down if the pilot was not careful enough. Pushing the Striker to its limit and the willingness to take big risk were key to any pilots wanting to pilot the Hornet.