523rd, detached surveillance squadron
“Sagan’s Scouts”
Captain Dick “Rip” Sagan, commanding
Motto: “Finders, keepers”
The 523rd is a relatively smaller squadron in the Galacteer fleet consisting of three flight surveillance teams and a command team. Each flight surveillance team has two Class II Supernova ships with stripped down weaponry to make space for sensory and data-gathering equipment. Three Class I Comets serve as escort. The command flight consist of a Class III Pulsar serving as a command post, and two Supernovas and three Comet as escort, for a total of 21 ships. The force is commonly attached to fleets in active theaters and rarely sees any downtime. Though Captain Sagan is in command, he likes to “get his hands dirty” and will usually pilot a Supernova in one of the surveillance flights.
The 523rd is responsible for seeking out the enemy beyond the usual combat space patrols with standing orders to find the enemy, observe and report movements, and beat a hasty retreat. Though listed as a surveillance/scout squadron, Rip Sagan has a reputation shirking orders and taking his flights directly into combat once the enemy is found. Cpt. Sagan even has a habit of removing sensory equipment to make space for torpedoes. Galacteer combat units usually only arrive after they hear the battle chatter from Sagan’s pilots. Sometimes, fleet command sends a combat unit to “escort” the scout teams. Though known as “Sagan’s Scouts,” the fleet jokingly refers to the 523rd as “Sagan’s Sideshow” since the unit always seems to want to put on a little bit of entertainment before the main show begins.Captain Sagan insists the 523rd IS the main show.
Rear Admiral “Bulldog” Blake threw the scotch glass past Cpt. Sagan who stood unflenchingly at attention.
“INTERSTELLAR FLAGRANCY!!!”
“Sir.”
“You took two Supernovas on a torpedo run against the Tiamat?! What the hell were you thinking?!”
“Sir, I was thinking of killing the Tiamat. There’s always a chance. Sir.”
“There’s always a chance that I’m gonna kick you in the pants and demote you to command of a mining hulk! Your mission is to find the enemy and reports his movements! What part of those orders can’t you handle?”
“Sir, my orders were understood, and my mission was complete. I saw an advantage. My boys and I took it. Sir.”
“Advantage? Advantage?! The Tiamat and the entire Fangs squadron, and you had an advantage?! What in the hell was this ‘advantage’ you had, pray tell.”
“Sir, we had gumption. Sir.”
Bulldog stopped, thumbed an itch on his chin as he eyed Captain Sagan. The war wasn’t going well, and the rear admiral knew the fleet needed to take chances if it was going to regain any momentum. But high command had been riding him since Sagan’s Sideshow had been attached to his fleet, and he needed to vent to the younger officers.
That was all part of his plan, though: He knew, Captain Sagan, under that eyepatch, was red with fury. He knew Captain Sagan would not show anger to anyone but his own men. And he knew Captain Sagan would take out all that rage against the forces of Marduk.
Bulldog smiled inside. Even though Captain Sagan sensed it, he didn’t say anything. The rear admiral sat down, opened the desk drawer and pulled out another scotch glass and a bottle. He poured himself a drink.
“Rip, if you break any of my ships, I’m gonna send you giftwrapped to Emperor Marduk. Get the hell outta here.”
Captain Sagan saluted, turned and walked out of the office thinking about how lucky he would be to meet the emperor, and of how many torpedoes he would bring to that meeting.
523rd Surveillance Squadron (entire force: 21 ships, 290 pts)
Surveillance flight 1 (81 pts)
Class I x 3 one with crack pilot (32 pts)
Class II x 2, both with low-tech weapons,
one with a torpedo and Cpt. Sagan (Gallant Cpt.) (39 pts)
Surveillance flight 2 (61 pts)
Class I x 3 one crack pilot (Lt. Drummond) (32 pts)
Class II x 2, both with low-tech weapons, one with torpedo (29 pts)
Surveillance flight 3 (61 pts)
Class I x 3 one crack pilot (Lt. Brace) (32 pts)
Class II x 2, both with low-tech weapons, one with torpedo (29 pts)
Command flight (97 pts)
Class I x 3 one with crack pilot (Lt. Jones) (32 pts)
Class II x 2 (30 pts)
Class III with force field and atomic engineer (35 pts)
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