Mission Report: Orbital Attack

Mission Report: Knight 15 on December 10th, 2042
"Orbital Attack"
Rook 9 may be certain that his girl can make it to the station, but I think a lot of us here in ops are a little concerned. I am reporting on a brief skirmish with what turned out to be one of the last batches of the Long Dragon Syndicate escapees from the Voltaire Prison. On board were the "Hands of the Tiger", the two generals who had been behind much of the terrorist and violent activities from the Syndicate in the last few years leading up to the organization's downfall. They fought bravely, but in the end they all died when our weapons breached their hull and vented their atmosphere.
I'm not sure where they got their hands on an Orbital Authorities Hermes class ship, but they did significant damage to Zenlil. I know the boys back at Worldview and Global have been looking for ways to beef up the various weaknesses in the C-3800-D, and this engagement proved just how sluggishly they respond in 0-Grav situations. 
The main weapons on a Hermes ship are the automated drones, and those things chewed up our plating like it was tissue paper. Our point defence lasers weren't able to target the drones, and it was only some superior manoeuvring by Rook 9 which allowed us to take the critical shots allowing us to disable their ship. 
We need to find a way of making the C-3800's more effective in zero gravity. Rook 9's colourful comment about trying to perform evasive manoeuvres likened it to "driving a bloody tank through mud, when your co-pilot's had too much vodka and passed out on the bloody steerin' wheel." It was nearly impossible to avoid the blasts from the drones.
We should also consider looking at more in depth combat training for the Pawns. At least combat preparedness training. While most of them held out quite well, taking fire in the atmosphere is very different than in space. Rook 25 and I noticed that a very real sense of panic gripped several of them, and while still able to do their jobs and duties, it was obvious they weren't prepared. You can parachute out of a falling plane. You can't parachute into the vacuum.
It is my recommendation that we look at armouring the C-3800's in critical areas. Engineering, cockpit, weapons, engines, and others. In addition, we need to examine how the thrusters work in space, as what we have clearly isn't good enough. Highly manoeuvrable, unmanned aircraft are becoming much more popular, and while we may dominate the skies on Earth, in space I'd say we are little more than sitting ducks.
This is Knight 15 and the date is December 10th, 2042. Signing off.
Category:Long Dragon Syndicate
Category:Wade Harris
Category:Voltaire Prison
Category:Rook 25
Category:Zenlil
Category:Mission Report