Tod 5 op 7 Clear the Shipping Lanes (Replaces tod1 op7 Max10)

A group of mines was scattered near the Illinii's shipping lanes.  The Empire has resorted to more mines since we have been successful in reducing their forces here.  They expect them to be attacked, and will usually respond by sending some tie advanced fighters or some gunships to destroy anything that gets away from the mines.

An Awing3 was dispatched to the area in order to deal with the mines, and report back before it continued on it's recon patrol for the remaining Empire capital ships in the area.  There should still be at least one star destroyer and two frigates plus various corvettes, gunboats, fighters, and bombers, to say nothing of freighters, transports and shuttles.  

Illini production of new "3" series fighters has allowed us to replace all the old "1" and "2" series in this area at least.  The "1" series of all the fighters was a little tired when this war started.  The caldron of battle revealed many weaknesses in that series, especially speed and handling.  The "2" series corrected many of those faults, and the installation of rotary drum magazines greatly increased the missile and torpedo count on board that ship group. Furthur study of the shield technology used in the Ram's Head operation led to the installation of still larger and more powerful engines in the "3" series not for even greater speed, but for more shield and laser power.  New weapons pods were invented and installed in order to be able to load more weapons and laser points on the various "3" series craft.  The "3" series is 15% larger than the other series were, but it is proportional...  a mere twist of the dial to the Illini.  This allowed for the engines to be large enough to support the extra equipment and weapons loads, and for those to be placed on the ships.  The humanoid pilots like it because the old cockpits were a bit cramped for them, and they say these are about right.  

Though not invincible, these "3" series A, Y, and Xwings are so vast an improvement over the original models as to be a laughable comparison.  They are not only the best defensive craft in the galaxy, they are superb attack craft, any one of them being capable (in the hands of an expert pilot of course) of taking on a star destroyer and having a chance to not only survive and escape, but to win.  It would take a while, but it has been done. For this reason, a group of "hunter/killer" squadrons has been made up.  The Awing dispatched to the area of the mines is one of these.  Their primary responsibility is to locate and engage the few remaining Empire capital ships in the Illini system.  It is hoped that these ships can be quickly found and eliminated, as they are like a knife at our backs until then.  

The "Hunter/Killer" planes have been equiped with ion cannon also so they can disable a capital ship should they bring down its shields.  This takes many guns out of the fight unitl the usual fighter screen can be dealt with and the mothership attack continued to destruction.  Their shields are very robust and the hull strength is up in the enlarged "3" series but pilots rely on their new maneuverability and speed to avoid hits.  Bulling one's way against a star destroyer or frigate is not recommended and they know it.  The "3" series allows each pilot to vary the laser arrangement considerably depending on what he/she and the crew chief think he/she will need on the mission.  This greatly enhances pilot confindence in a fight... to say nothing of their concentrated firepower.

Illini technology had reduced missilery to a fine art.  While our end of the galaxy concentrated on lasers they had been engineering projectile weapons.  They have reduced the size of the standard concussion missile with the same impact potential by 76%.  This plus new model rotary magazines also of Illini manufacture have made our fighters potent indeed.  

Improvements were also made to torpedos.  Similar Illini technology was employed, and instead of lighting off the proton flash with a high intensity internal laser shot, they use a nuclear fuse.  It showed an equal size reduction because of the lack of lasing apparatus and power of the nuclear fuse, and all fighters were so equipped.  

Sporting all this new equipment the "3" series fighters in the hands of  experienced pilots with a willingness to attack (or a seeming disreguard for their own life) has been the force that has pushed the Empire back.  Thoughts of all those pilots who went out to meet the enemy and their maker in the old "1" series planes can only lead to the deepest regrets.  