[ Stage One ]

[ Stage Two ]

[ StageThree ]

[ Stage Four ]

[ Stage Five ]

[ Stage Six ]

In Space combat you rarely actually see your enemy until the battle is done. Scanning and tracking him is done thousands of miles away, with only the energy spikes and a smudge of heat against the mantle of space to signify his presence.

Combat begins with stately movements and thoughtful actions as the combatants move and observe the void, looking for a tell tale spark that will give them the first look/first shot advantage. Combat ends in less that a heartbeat, when you fly your wasps everything is measured in microseconds.

My lecturer in Combat tactics at the academy used to say that it was always better to have avoided combat than to have simply won it. We used to poke fun and call him a wuss, but when I saw my first action during the Lamberdeen ‘police action’ back in ‘92 I understood what he meant. We burned those pirates bad, but there’s a cost to be paid for every victory, sooner or later it’s going to be you or your ship.

-Captain Igor Shamrayev      CONFEDERATION NAVY