Enemies

Astrofighters

This mainstay of the Alliance fleet is used for a wide variety of purposes: interception, swarming of larger ships and ground assaults.  Their advanced laser torpedo system gives the ship impressive firepower for its size.  Its small size, speed and agility make it quite an annoyance. 

The Imperial Alliance Astrofighter is the product of one single philosophy of space fighter design; make them cheap, expendable and as many as possible. this allows the Alliance to build literally hundreds of Astrofighter wings to enforce Alliance policy in sectors under their control. The principal tactic of Astrofighters in general is to descend on and swarm their targets in overwhelming numbers. The cost-effectiveness of the Alliance astrofighter allows it to perform this function with deadly adequacy.

Although the craft are designed to be as 'single-use' as possible through computerised or remote operation (removing the necessity for pilots, life support, ejector systems etc.), the craft are comprehensively armed, fast and highly manouverable. This makes any number of these craft a considerable threat.

In the first instance it is armed with a pulse laser system which beyond annoying other vessels is only useful for the widespread, blanket destruction of ground targets. This craft variant has been in production since the dawn of the Alliance and was at that time a ground-breaking achievement. Despite its advanced twin quantum engine system, never before installed on such a small craft the manufacturing costs were kept to a minimum due to modular, interchangeable components and more importantly, the removal of the need for a hyperdrive system. This development was achieved by deploying the craft using medium-sized carrier vessels, meaning that only one hyperdrive vessel could multiply into as many as 7 in order to make its presence felt. This arrangement, the advantages of which are obvious, effectively won every campaign the Alliance undertook during its expansion throughout the galaxy.

The second variant which is fast replacing the one above is armed with a recent advance in weapons technology, the laser torpedo. The craft is equipped with a single laser torpedo launcher, mounted in the craft's nose which can quickly reduce any target to paperclips. the massively increased firepower and pinpoint accuracy, combined with the earlier craft's legendary flight performance make the revised astrofighter a deadly adversary even in small numbers.

Even so, the craft due to its low budget production has one major weakness; its hull strength. Because the craft has no pilot (although models have been built to carry personnel) and no resources have gone into keeping the craft 'alive' they can be destroyed with surprisingly small amounts of directed weapons fire. Hitting them is the only problem.

Earlier versions of the Alliance Attack Astrofighter are equipped with a standard laser system.  This weapon, designed for attacking multiple lightly defended targets is more likely to score a hit but is far less powerful than Laser Torpedo system.

Performance: 60km/s
Armour: 10
Armament: 
 - Laser torpedo system 100 TW
 - Spread-fire pulse laser system 50 TW, 300 rpm

Performance: 60, Armour: 10
Weapons: Laser torpedo launcher; 50-75 or Pulse laser 50-75

Attacker

The Attacker is a rare, high-performance variant of the Astrofighter. One such craft was piloted by Captain Carter in 2999 and crash-landed on an uninhabited asteroid after it was damaged by BrainCom, piloted by Cadet Shiro Hagan. Since the craft survived mostly intact, EDF was able to study the ship in detail.

It is equipped with a rapid fire version of the standard spread fire pulse laser. The extended nose armour contains either a more powerful laser torpedo launcher or dual standard launchers.
Further refinements include improved sensors and variable-dihedral wings for greater manoeuvrability. The Attacker can withstand more damage than the Astrofighter and features a rear pod, containing a powerful ECM generator.

Performance: 60, Armour: 15
Weapons
- Heavy laser torpedo launcher or dual laser torpedo launcher
- Rapid spread fire pulse gun

Astrofighter Carriers

Performance: 40, Armour: 60 - 120
Weapons Heavy laser torpedo launcher 100 (Type G1) or Pulse laser turret 50 (Type U/A)
Fighter Capacity 6 Astrofighters

Astrofighter Carriers - Destroyer Type

The Destroyer variant features a powerful lightning cannon above its head as well as the usual heavy laser torpedo launcher underneath.
This variant cannot carry astrofighters due to the extra spikes fitted to the sides of the ship. These spikes may be heat-exchangers or collimators for the lightning cannon.

Performance: 40, Armour: 120 - 240
Weapons: Lightning cannon (300)
- Heavy laser torpedo launcher 100

Hive Runner, Striker and Defender

The Hive Runner has stronger armour and weapons than the original Carrier.
It mounts dual heavy laser torpedoes, an 8-cell vertical missile launch system and carries 8 Strikers, which are, in turn larger, more powerful versions of the Alliance Astrofighters.

The Hive Runners operate as a detached force, appearing at random throughout the game.

Performance: 40; Armour: 160 - 320 (unloaded), 320 - 480 (loaded)
Weapons
- 2 x Heavy laser torpedo launcher (200)
- 8-cell vertical-launch missile system
Fighter Capacity: 8 Strikers or Astrofighters

The Strikers are armed with heavy laser torpedo launchers and have heavier armour than the standard Astrofighter.

Performance: 60, Armour: 20
Weapons: Heavy laser torpedo launcher (100)

The Defender is a prototype version of the Striker. It is the same size as the Striker but has a similar shape to the standard Astrofighter

Performance: 60, Armour: 20
Weapons Rapid-fire pulse gun (100)

Brad Smith designed and created the Hive Runner, Striker and Defender as 3D models back in 2004.

Enemy Weapons

Laser Torpedoes

Laser torpedoes reach the target almost instantly, making them difficult to avoid. Glancing hits tend not to be serious but prolonged exposure can cause major damage.
You can stay clear of them by using slower weapons that allow you to 'lead' the target.

Damage/second: 50 (normal), 100 (heavy)

Beam Lasers

High-energy lasers are as fast as laser torpedoes and much more powerful. They can quickly inflict substantial damage on players and allies.
However, they consume a large amount of power when firing. This build up of power can normally be detected by the player ship's sensors and red indicator beams warn the player before the weapon is fired.

Damage/second: 150 (yellow), 200 (red)

Smart Missiles

The plasma missile homes in on the player and cannot be shot down by your weapons. After a while, it loses its ability to home in. Until then, you can either avoid it or you can block it by activating the shield.
The weapon explodes on contact with the player or an ally, causing them about 20 units of damage.

Lime	Homes in smoothly on the player
Yellow	Homes in in a zig-zag motion, aiming itself directly at the player at intervals
Orange	Travels in a spiralling motion around a fixed direction
Aqua	Wanders unpredictably; changing direction at random
Purple	Turns 90' towards the player when horizontally or vertically parallel with it

Neutralaser

The neutralaser doesn't necessarily cause much damage, if any, but it disables systems on your ship, leaving you vulnerable to be destroyed by other enemy weapons.

Aqua	Reduces your ship's engine performance by 25% with each hit to the point where the ship can be rendered totally immobile. Engine performance recovers gradually at a rate of 10% per second.

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