Kea Interceptor

## Tactical Analysis

* **Noteworthy:** What was supposed to be a step forward for the Peacekeeper air arm, the Kea is the world's fastest and maneuverable conventional fighter thanks to its scramjet engines. Twin metalstorm cannons give it an added punch against the thin armor of enemy aircraft as well.

* **(Title 2):** Once out of ammo or targets the pilot can fire off their Scramjet afterburners to returns back to the Launch Pad at supersonic speed, looking like a flaming arrow streaking across the sky. So fast in fact that most rounds either miss or didn’t make proper impact, reducing overall damage.

* **Parroting:** Unfortunately the Kea suffers in the armour department and is highly vulnerable to air to surface defenses.

* **Orange Wings:** Elite Kea pilots are given the access needed to start testing a new, experimental system on the Kea; a gravity bubble that can be targeted on enemy planes, drawing the Kea's rounds straight to target.

## Excerpt from a letter by Dr. Kasper Jørgensen, Chief Engineer, Project: AJAX

*"I say again sir, the Contingent's designs are what should rightfully be our own. This isn't like what those fools on PALADIN let happen either, this is serious. The Contingent are doing more than taking our designs, they're using them for something.*

*As one example, my own project. AJAX was based off the chassis of the F-11, a complement to ACHILLES that would handle more 'mundane' threats as ACHILLES focused on enemy heavy aircraft. Of course, testing was to be carried out in Woomera in order to protect against Soviet infiltration of the project. Rather than fusion engines, the project focused on scramjet technology; essentially a jet that forces the air inside in order to cause propulsion rather than turbojets (which require numerous fans to push the air in and out of the engine) or ramjets (which must decelerate the air flow to produce combustion).*

*Our initial tests were carried out with the hope that we could possibly create a suborbital shuttle after creating the fighter, capable of travelling the world in hours rather than days. Craft that could be launched into outer orbit on their own power, and return themselves without damage. Of course that was when the Empire invaded and all teams were recalled to Europe. Why they thought engineers were any good at figuring out psionic powers, I can only imagine it was desperation.*

*I digress, at any rate when the war was over we returned to find our facilities ransacked of everything worthwhile. Our fears of the Empire stealing our designs was quickly put to rest when, on our trip out of the newly-formed Contingent, a flight of their new 'Kea' interceptor was spotted as we boarded the plane. A near replica of what we had worked on.*

*It was obvious the Contingent had turned it into their own warbird, with a few distinct changes. To start, they had created a jagged, sharp looking monstrosity compared to our own F-11 inspired creation. The only impressive advancement they'd made was that they added two ramjets, making their monster what would probably be the fastest conventional fighter on Earth.*

*As welcome as that could be for our own needs, the Contingent want something else. Even after seeing them for a few seconds, I could tell what they had changed. The underside looked similar to the heat shielding we install on all spacecraft. The design looked like it could fly in any atmosphere, even to the very edge. What truly intrigued me was that the scramjets were positioned like any other aircraft engine instead of under the main fuselage.*

*The Contingent have clearly had a reason to modify our original designs beyond what we had created, butchering our creation worse than what happened to PALADIN or HIPPOCAMPUS. Why the need to create such strange modifications when the original plans worked so well? Their gravametric technology could essentially destroy invading armies in seconds, yet they continue to create new aircraft and vehicles. Are you telling me ACIN knows nothing about what they're planning?"*