Breathing FT life into a description

Hey,

I'm running a RPG based off the show Space: Above and Beyond.  I have a
good RPG
system, however I'm looking for a good space combat system to run my
occasional space
battles. I want to use FT because I know the system and because I have
some RPG
conversion rules for it (complements of The EarthForce Source Book).
However, I want
some tips to better modify FT to fit my vision of space combat. Here is
a description
of a space battle. Read it, and give any tips you want. Thanks ahead of
time : )

Scott

On board the USS Pensacola, Wolf 3725 Star System, 7 light years from
Vesta Colony. Sunday, April 15, 2063 0915 hrs GMT.

Commodore Jeffrey Owens sat in his chair on the ship's flagbridge, and
was very bored! Owens could never quite get use to these 'new
fangeled' starships. They were just too odd to him as there was no
feeling of motion at all. In the blue water navy, you could feel the
rise and fall of a ship, even on a 10,000 ton cruiser, in even gentle
seas. That feeling of motion gave you the feeling of progress, like
you were getting somewhere. However, starships were a different matter.

There was no feeling of motion in space, atleast, not with the ship's
dampers (coming from the ship's faster than light drives) and
artificial gravity generators on. Everything thing was a steady, and
boring 1 G. And with no waves... you never felt like you ever went
anywhere! Throw in the terribly dull routine of anti-piracy/anti-AI
patrols and star system surveys... Jeff began to wish that he never
left the blue navy.

But... things do change. Here he was, Jeff Owens, a Commodore,
commanding cruiser division 22 on a deep space patrol. And here he
was... bored out of his mind!

Normally, Jeff commanded four ships: the USS Pensacola (SCGN-31), the
USS Astoria (SCGN-33), the USS Virginia (SCGN-44), and the USS Truxton
(SCGN-45). However, on missions like this one, his division was split
up into task groups. The Virginia and the Truxton were escorting the
battlecarrier Yorktown, while he patroled with the Pensacola, the
Astoria, and a quartet of destroyers, and a pair of frigates. Now even
that small group had been split up to cover several systems, and the
Astoria developed problems with its FTLD... sending her and the
frigate Samuel B. Adams back to base. All Jeff had with him was the
Pensacola and the destroyer Patterson. Just two little ships, and not
much to do...

"Sir" chimed a voice behind him.

Jeff slowly turned his chair around and looked at his young commo
officer.

"What do you have Cathy?" Jeff asked.

"Captain Dillard on intercom" she said.

"Okay, switch 'em on"

Jeff turned his chair to face the smallish commo screen. Captain
Jessica Dillard's face quickly appeard, and she seemed rather tense.

Might be something interesting...

"Sir" she snapped quickly, " passive sensors have detected a group of
unidentified
starcraft emerging from the system's debris field, and on a rapid
approach vector
toward us. Time to contact, six minutes!"

Jeff arched his eyebrow, "What the hell do you mean, 'unidentified'?"

"Just that sir! Only two ships match general profiles as being heavy
transports. The other... profiles are UNKNOWN! None of the ships are
transmitting positive IFF codes. I recomend that the task group goes
to general quarters!"

Jeff considered that for a second, and nodded.

"Javis, signal the Patterson- General Quarters. Captain Dillard, bring
you ship to General Quarters and launch your ready five fighters.
Vector CSP to intercept the bogey force, and tell them to get a visual
on them. However, NOBODY is to FIRE unless instructed by ME!
Understand?"

Dillard nodded, and her face vanished.

"Cathy, bring up the tactical tank for me. Lets see what LIDAR has for
us."

"Aye sir!"

In seconds, the large holo tank in front of Jeff burst into light,
showing the system's primary and its simple debris field. Wolf 3725
wasn't much of a system, just a primary and several debris belts. It
was a still born system... a little engine that billions of years ago
'couldn't'.

Soon, small colored blips appeared, suspended in space. Just outside
the main debris field, four blue blips with American flags emerged
with small tags identifying them: the Pensacola, her escorting
destroyer, and two tiny blue dots representing a pair of SA-43
Hammerhead fighters on combat space patrol (CSP). A couple of feet
away, a small swarm of red blips appearded. Three were the size of the
Patterson's blip, and two had tentative tags identifying them as heavy
transports. The third had a single word under it- UNKNOWN. Around
these three ships were three trios of tiny dots, the size of fighters,
all tagged UNKNOWN. A single thin red line linked the two clusters of
ships, and it shrank constantly- showing the bogie's approach.

Jeff activated his throat mike and spoke into it, "Captain Dillard,
have the bogies responded to hails?"

Her voice filled his small head set, "No sir, no response."

"Okay, stand by."

"Cathy, bring up the task group push"

"Your on sir."

"This is Commodore Owens, the Patterson will take her anti-missile
position and fighters from ready five will assume close escort duty.
Task group will alter course to an approach vector toward bogie group.
All weapons will be at stand-by. Pensacola  will lock onto targets
labeled Alpha and Bravo. Patterson will lock onto Charlie and assume
close defense duty. There will be no firing unless the command is
given. That is all."

Jeff turned back to the open channed to Dillard, "Keep up the hail,
what's the status on our CSP?"

Dillard snapped back, "CSP is on approach to bogie group, ETC is one
minute. Ready five fighters are being launched... NOW!"

Outside the cruiser's hull, lights flashed as the hanger bays opened
to the vaccum of space. Then, one after another, two small ships
flashed out of the bays, their thrusters flairing into the cold night.

At the same time, all along the hulls of the two human warships, sensors
missile
cannisters, and cannon were brought to bear toward the inbound ships.
Radar and LIDAR
pierced the night, active and pulsing, straining to 'see' the fleet.

Dillard's voice soon filled Jeff's headset, "Commodore, active LIDAR
feed coming up. We can confirm that two bogies are modified heavy
transports, similar in configuration to AI raider craft! Remaining
bogies don't match any know profiles. We are adding them to the threat
catalogue now."

"Understood Captain. Order the CSP to take a quick look at the unknown
craft and burn back here, QUICK!"

"Fire control, this is Owen's speaking.  You have my permission to get
targeting solutions on AI craft! All commands, stand by to fire!"

"SIR!" yelled the Air officer, "Bogie fighters are breaking away from
the main group and are heading for our CSP! Fifteen seconds to contact!"

Owens spun back to the holodisplay, damn...

"Dillard, get the CSP out of there!"

"Can't sir! Bogies are too close!"

"Commodore! Delta leader has given 'talley-ho'!"

"Damn... Air officer, vector all remaining fighters to aid CSP, tell
them to disengage
as soon as possible and to fall back to the task group, NOW!"

Damn, Jeff muttered... I loosing control over this. Damn...

All of a sudden, the ship's alarm klaxons went off!!

"Flag, this is CIC! We have active LIDAR beams locked on us... HOLY
SHIT!!!! MISSILES OFF THE RAILS!!!!"

Owen's felt all of the color fade from his dark face.

Damn it, gotta do something!

"CATHY! Get a commo off to fleet command: Have encountered hostile
silicate forces,
three light warships and nine fighters. Are engageing! Send it!"

Jeff looked quickly back to the display as it showed a swarm of
missiles racing toward the Pensacola. Fifteen seconds!

"CIC, knock the vampires down! All commands, this is task group:
Commence FIRING! REPEAT, COMMENCE FIRING!!!"

The dark void of space suddenly broke into a fit of hellish violence as
missiles raced
from launchers scattered all over the Pensacola and the Patterson.
Small, fast
anti-starcraft missiles sped toward the in-bound missiles. Soon, other
larger
missiles, Phalanx II missiles flashed from their launchers from the
Pensacola.
Brillant streaks of flame belched from their thrusters as they poured
into space.
These mammoth missiles activated their sensors and followed then LIDAR
tracks
radiating from the enemy ships.

However, other froms also raced from the depths of space. They were
small, and vaguely triangular as their three wings grew from a small,
thin hull. In groups of three, they tore past the small pair of CSP
SA-43s- leaving the earthly craft in balls of flame as bolts of
blue-white plasma
belched from their nose cannons. These fighters, unlike anything any
human had ever
seen, tore after the two larger human ships firing plasma bolts into the
human ship's
armored hulls.

Jeff watched in silent fascination as his task group's missiles slammed
into the
enemy's incoming missiles, all of them exploded on the holo tank. The
explosions were
like a small field of blooming dandylions... in seconds,  the field of
deadly flowers
vanished from sight, and soon the heavy human Phalanx II's reached their
targets.

The small AI ships poured laser pulses and streams massdriver fire into
the
approaching missiles. Some vanished in massive globes of fire and metal,
but too many
made it through, slamming into the tiny hulls of the silicate ships. The
transports,
even with their slapped on armor, were torn from stem to stern. Large
sections of
their hulls were torn open, and in seconds the ships disengrated into
huge slabs of
metal and expanding gas as reactors spiked and weapons burst into
flames. They were
like mini super novas, blasting all of their energy into the cold void
of space.
However they were short lived, in seconds their globes of energy and
light dissipated,
and the only clue of their existance in the universe were slabs of
melted steel,
spinning through space.

The remaining ship, the unknown ship, spat streams of plasma bolts into
the earthly
missiles, killing most of them. The single suvivor was suckered away
from the wedge
shaped craft by jammers and decoys. With its consorts dead and dying,
the remaining
bogie turned quickly and raced back to the debris field.

Jeff felt his own ship shudder as bolt after bolt slammed into it.
However, the attack was short lived. Turrents on both warships quickly
acquired the fast moving fighter fights, and they blasted away at them
with bolts of
pure energy and streams depleted uranium.

Tracers and energy bolts filled silent sky above the two ships, and soon
they found
their targets. Three of the dull grey invaders flashed over the
Pensacola's hull, as
they past its stern, tracers from the cruiser's point defense cannons
converged on two
of their number... both blossomed into fiery flowers of death. Another
craft vanished
in flames as it raced past the Patterson, its life claimed by a fast
moving missile.
Then, as quick as they came, the remaining ships raced away, back into
the depths of
the debris belts while being chased by defensive fire.

Jeff snapped over the com, "All ships, this is command! Cease firing,
repeat, cease firing.  CIC, report!"

A young lieutenant's face appeared on the monitor, his eyes wide with
fear but his
voice was calm, "This is CIC.  We have confirmed kills on six fighters
and the two
transports. Remaining craft have retreated into the debris belt and have
activated
ECM. We lost all four Hammerheads. We will relay damage reports to you
as soon as they
come up. CIC out."

As quickly as it started, it was over. Jeff sat, stunned in his seat.

What the hell happened?