[sasahar17]

Originally Posted by wavehawk

Partial first draft. This was the easy part. The bulk of the story is what's been driving me close to suicide.

Erm, there really isn't much for me to comment on since I have no context on what's happening. All I can tell is that an Aussie chick has just arrived in England with orders she doesn't understand, then the helicopter that dropped her off leaves, and then a TSF that looks like it just returned from a particularly nasty brush with death shows up. I'd like a little more to go on before I form an opinion.

I can say that what you have so far sets the atmosphere nicely, but without more to go one I have no clue what's going on. Good start though.

EDIT: Decided to add something else in. Here's the next writeup on the next VTF I've been brainstorming about.

Spoiler for ML:DYRL, EF-2002 Dragoon:

Euro Fightas EF-2002 Dragoon
The first official production model VTF ever made in the world, the EF-2002 Dragoon (henceforth 'Dragoon') may not have been as prolific as the VF-8 Crusader II, but it was no less lethal. Credited with almost singlehandedly reviving the Luftwaffe and the RAF as relevant fighting forces, the Dragoon has a solid reputation as a quick, silent and reliable BETA killer on the western front.

Background

Unlike the Crusader, the Dragoon is actually a series of related machines rather than a single model. While it was the first production VTF, much of the machine was still very much experimental and pilot feedback became essential to bettering the machine. As a result, characteristics between different versions of the Dragoon can vary wildly, particularly between the earlier and later models. However, the one common factor of the Dragoon was that of all the VTFs that were deployed during the war, the Dragoon always had superior ammunition counts to its comparable machines.

Development History

During the Battle of Lyons, Project Valkyire's Argos flight and several members of the 44th Cerberus Battalion's Rot Squadron used 12 VTF-0(2) Proto-Valkyries to create the opening for the assault team to capture the Lyons Hive. Were it not for those Valkyries, it would have been impossible for the battle to have been won. Although EU High Command had initially been skeptical about the VTF platform, the resounding success at the Lyons Hive removed all their doubts; in fact it made them desire a domestically produced VTF of their own.

The speed in which the Dragoon was rolled out was probably a testament to how impressed the EU High command was with the VTF. It only took four months from the start of the talks between Euro Fightas and Boening for the license to mass produce a variant of the VTF-0(2) to the first delivery of the Tranche-1 Dragoons for its OPEVAL in late May '02. In fact the process had gone through so fast, it beat the Crusader, which had been developed by Project Valkyrie and was deployed onboard the USS Enterprise in mid-July '02, by a full two months. To cut down on fabrication times, many parts used in the construction of the Dragoon series of TSFs came from Euro Fightas’ other main platform, the EF-2000 Typhoon TSF, although as time progressed less and less parts from the Typhoon were used to build the later versions of the Dragoon.

Named after the ancient cavalry warrior who would ride into battle on horseback and dismount to do battle, the Dragoon functioned in much the same way as its namesake. Of all the VTFs that fought during the war, it was the only model that had the endurance to fight alongside TSFs on equal footing for any length of time. This allowed the Dragoon to be integrated into regular TSF squadrons, and indeed the German and British Armies were the only armed forces in the world to have mixed units of TSFs and VTFs for this very reason, making Dragoon pilots unusually popular among TSF battalions.

One point to note is the Dragoon's powerful active and passive stealth features, which are on a par with the F-22A Raptor while in fighter mode. This feature almost spelled the end of the Euro Fightas-Boening negotiation before it even began. The US was initially reluctant to allow another nation to possess such stealth technology, especially when the US Navy’s own VF-8 Crusader lacked even the most basic stealth functions, but they eventually relented. To this date it is unknown as to what caused the US Joint Chiefs to back away from the talks and allow the production of the Dragoon to go ahead with its stealth capabilities, but popular speculation has it that Director Yui Takamura of Project Valkyrie spoke at great length with Secretary of Defence David Anderson and managed to convince him to intervene.

Variants

Although there were many variants of the Dragoon, some operating in vastly different ways from the others, they all shared several common characteristics. First, all Dragoons used a Canard-Delta wing configuration that gave them high-stability in their flight. Second, the Dragoon is the only VTF, and VF for that matter, to have a single tail stabilizer when in Fighter and Gerwalk modes. Thirdly, the Dragoon is large for a Valkyrie, with its Battroid form standing at almost seventeen and a half meters in height. Other than those similarities, each variant of the Dragoon behaves differently from it’s brethren.

Tranche-1: The earliest and most common variant of the Dragoon, the Tranche-1 Dragoon was what gave the series of machines its reporting name. Being the first VTF, it was designed to operate much like a TSF when in Battroid mode, to make the machine more familiar to both the newly trained pilot and military planners. Indeed, the Trance-1 Dragoons functioned just like a regular TSF when in Battroid mode, save that its combat endurance was limited when compared with a normal TSF. It was for these reasons that the Tranche-1 Dragoon was very popular with mixed VTF-TSF battalions, since it was received as nothing more than a more mobile TSF with a PPB that occasionally transformed into a fighter plane when it needed to hunt Laser Class or get somewhere else very quickly.

The Tranche-1 Dragoon also has the unusual distinction as one of the two VTFs that possesses its own melee halberd class weapon, the 'Gram-1' high-frequency vibro-rapier (the other being the Tranche-3 Dragoon below). Combined with its gunpod, which was either the 36mm ‘Micro-Gun-Pod, Model 5’ (MGP-5, modeled after the real world HK MP5) or the 12.7 x 99mm NATO Universal-Micro-Gun-Pod (UMGP, modeled after the experimental HK G11) depending on the time, and its two internal missile bays that could load up to 8 micro-missiles each as well as several spare magazines for it's gunpod, the Tranche-1 Dragoon was a respectable machine that could hold its own and keep pace with a TSF battalion.

As time went by, it became clear that the EF-2002 Dragoon Tranche-1 was horribly under-armed in comparison to other VTFs of its generation, due to its lack of external hard-points to enable its transformation mechanism, but this did not diminish its popularity as it was still very effective against the BETA. Maximum speed for the Tranche-1 Dragoon is Mach 2.8 at 30,000ft. Service ceiling 80,000 ft. Records show that 64 Tranche-1 Dragoons were built during the war.

Tranche-2: In the wake of the Dragoon's Blue Flag debut in 2002, where it was bested by the Crusader in all its matches despite its stealth advantages, it became clear that Tranche-1 Dragoon would be at a disadvantage against human opponents. This worry was further compounded when the MI-6 uncovered plans by Allegiance operatives to increase their activity in Europe in response to the EU's recent successes against the BETA. While the Tranche-1 Dragoon was certainly capable of fighting like a regular Valkyrie when it needed to, the EU wanted something better for counterterrorism operations. The Dragoon Tranche-2 was officially a variant designed exclusively for gun-sweepers, but in actuality it was designed to take out other TSFs and VTFs. Despite its country terrorism roots the Tranche-2 nevertheless was a powerful weapon against the BETA.

Shifting around its internal components allowed for four external hard-points for armament to be fitted on the wings as well as an additional hard point on each wingtip for a total of six. The internal missile bays were removed to make room for the gun-pod holsters and as many as ten spare magazines. The Tranche-2 Dragoon is sometimes called 'the cowboy' for this reason; it is the only VTF that dual wields a pair of gunpods as its primary means of combat. Indeed, its ammunition counts for its gun-pods are large even by TSF standards. When the UMGP was introduced, Tranche-2 Dragoons went into battle carrying as many as 36,000 rounds of 12.7 x 99mm NATO. This was a machine preferred by pilots who preferred dog-fighting and using their guns instead of missiles. The Tranche-2 Dragoon's agility is truly remarkable; when the Crusader and the Dragoon met again one year later in Blue Flag '03, the Tranche-2 team drew in five their matches and narrowly one won in two.

Although this may not seem impressive at first glance, experts and historians agree that the Crusader II was in fact at a disadvantage to the Trance-2 during those exercises. It is only duo the to the experience and skill of Focker’s team that the Crusader IIs were not completely steamrolled by the Tranche-2 during Blue Flag ’03. It was the result of this exercise that prompted the US Navy to begin looking in to the VF-8’s successor VTF, the VF-12 Valkyrja.
Despite its initial frosty reception by the front lines due to the public perfection that it was a VTf designed to fight other humans, the Tranche-2 Dragoon's large ammunition counts and higher endurance won many believers in both VTF and TSF camps. Maximum speed for the Tranche-2 Dragoon is Mach 2.78 at 30,000ft. Service ceiling 80,000 ft. Records confirm that 48 Tranche-2 Dragoons were made during the war.

Tranche-3 ‘Drake’: When the Royal Navy noticed the prevalence of the VF-8 Crusader II in the US Navy, they decided to have a carrier variant of their own VTF, and thus the Tranche-3 was born. Exclusively issued to the HMS Ark-Royal, the Tranche-3 Dragoons have been nicknamed by the Royal Navy seamen as 'the Drakes' after the famous sea captain, Sir Francis Drake. The Drake is shares significant parts commonality with the Tranche-2 Dragoon, and is essentially a navalised Dragoon, optimized for carrier operations, with folding wings, strengthened landing gear, and corrosion protection measures.

Although it shares the configuration of the Tranche-2 to enable hard points on the wings, the Tranche-3 Dragoon is it’s direct opposite in terms of tactical doctrine. Aside from the 'Gram-1' high-frequency vibro-rapier for close range defense, the Tranche-3's armament consists primarily of missiles, rockets and bombs carried by its eight hard points (four underwing, two wing tip and two fuselage) and two internal missile bays. There is even an optional supplementary package, the 'Longbow SAP’, which enables the Tranche-3 Dragoon to carry further ordinance. A single MGP-5 or UMGP is carried, but only as a defensive measure without additional magazines. Taking a page out of US Navy’s doctrines, the Drake was designed entirely as a quick support unit that world dart in, deliver its strike package, and then get back out again to rearm for another sortie. Indeed, with its Longbow SAP and tactical air-launched weapons, the Tranche-3 Dragoon could deliver so much explosive ordinance to a single location, that there were several recorded instances where entire hordes of BETA that were blown to smithereens by a single passing Drake, leaving stunned TSF and VTF pilots looking at its retreating image and wondering what the hell had just happened.

Exclusive to HMS Ark Royal, only 24 Tranche-3 Dragoons were produced on a limited production run. Maximum speed for the Tranche-3 Dragoon is Mach 3.0 at 30,000ft. Service ceiling 80,000 ft.

Operational Usage

Operational deployment of the Dragoon greatly varied from unit to unit. VTF exclusive squadrons, mostly Tranche-2 Dragoons and Tranche-3 Drakes, operated using similar doctrine to the US Navy VTF Squadrons. Dragoons assigned to mixed TSF and VTF joint units tended to have more flexible doctrine, often employing a combination of TSF and VTF tactics depending on the situation at hand.

I should go away and compile these somewhere...