NationStates Jolt Archive

"And by the glory and might of Pallas Athena, a deem this air wing and all whom man it to be Royal Pilots of the Trojan Royal Air Force forever."

The crowd cheered after King Priam III concluded his speech. Behind him were 92 SF-1 Starfighters, the first ever to be built by Troy. One-by-one the pilots climbed into their cockpits, strapped their helmets on, closed the door shielding the cockpit, and take off into the air. Manuevering in all directions at incredible speeds, they were a dazzling sight to see. The funding of "Operation: Star Wars" had been worthwhile. The first air wing had been completed and the second was nearly finished. A third, fourth, and fifth were planned to be built. Already, a flight academy teaching the art of flying the SF-1 and all its descendants had opened and hundreds of hungry young cadets, as well as former Royal Air Force pilots flooded its gates.

"It is coming together," Priam whispered to General Aeneas who stood beside him.

Both were dressed in lavish tunics detailed with fine designs and bright colors. Atop of Priam's head, lay a golden crown encrusted with many jewels and he wore a golden ring on the ring finger of his right hand.

Aeneas lowered his chin from looking above into the skies and replied thus to his Royal Majesty, "Yes, my lord, it is. It is indeed."

***

The SF-1 Starfighter was directly based off of the X-Wing featured in the Star Wars series (thus the operation codename "Star Wars"). Of course, this fighter is not equipped with laser cannons or proton torpedoes. The fighter is still equipped with conventional bullets and space missiles. Instead of laser cannons, four 20 millimeter ramjet round firing cannons are used. Replacing proton torpedoes are an array of 16 AASMs (air-to-air space missiles). Air-to-surface missiles can also be carried in replacement of the SCRAMjet powered AASMs, however, they are sparingly used. The x-like shape of the wings can fold done to form a horizontal line. This is how the missiles are locked and ready to fire. Once the wings close, an automatic system activates the missiles and the pilot fires them accordingly. Atop of each top wing are four missiles and four missiles are attached underneath each bottom wing. This totals 16 usable missiles. A MOAB may also be carried underneath the belly of the craft, although this greatly reduces its speed, mobility, and manueverability. The craft is nuclear-powered and, as its name implies, is capable of dogfighting in outer space.

http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/xwing/img/movie_bg.jpg

Lucius Marcus
-The Imperial Kingdom of Troy-

Experts have branded the SF-1 to cost approximately $132 million per fighter.

Lucius Marcus
-The Imperial Kingdom of Troy-

"And I christen thee to be comrades of thy Royal Air Force, and all whom pilot thee shall be Royal Air Force Pilots, forever."

This was the end of a much less publicized christening and commissioning of the 2nd SF-1 Air Wing. There was no crowd, except a handful of cadets. And there was no sparkling demonstration to accomdate the commissioning. True, King Priam and General Aeneas where both present at this christening, but history was not expected to repeat itself when the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Air Wings were completed and ready for combat.

Already, Priam's attention to the starfighter project had lessened and he know became focused on developing a starbomber air wing to provide heavy weapons against enemy capital ships -- for Troy had yet to build any, and was not expected to either... for a long time at least.

The operation to build a starbomber air wing had already been codenamed and experts from around the nation were gathering to formulate a blueprint of the craft. Priam had issued a timeline for the blueprint to be complete, as well as one for the first prototype to be ready for presentation.

Time was ticking. Something was brewing.

<OOC: bump>

Just so you know, Scramjets are airbreathing engines, and may not function as expected in vacuum.