X-9 GHOST UNMANNED FIGHTER
(PROTOTYPE) STATS
BACKGROUND
The X-9 Ghost is a top secret unmanned high performance transatmospheric prototype fighter developed in 2039 by the UN Spacy and the Macross Consortium. The Ghost was the brainchild of General Gomez, who wanted to develop a way to expand UN Spacy military might while decreasing the costs of training and maintaining fighter pilots. Unmanned fighters promised to be an ideal solution to this problem. They could be mass-produced in greater numbers and were far less costly than recruiting and training new pilots, and could be sent into combat and high-risk situations without endangering human lives. General Gomez was secretly working on the Ghost fighter at the same time he was overseeing the Project Super Nova design contest, intended to develop a new manned advanced variable fighter (AVF) for the UN Spacy. However once the prototype X-9 was perfected he cancelled the Super Nova contest (before a winning design was selected) and planned to unveil the Ghost at the UN Spacy's Armistice 30th Anniversary celebration on Earth.
The X-9 Ghost is an extremely advanced combat fighter. Approximately half the size of a standard variable fighter, the Ghost mounts three revolutionary thermonuclear turbine engines and numerous maneuvering verniers that give the fighter incredible speed and agility both in an atmosphere and in space (and the Ghost can be mounted with FAST packs for additional thrust if necessary). The armament for the drone is more modest but still impressive, including five pulse lasers and 29 high-maneuverability micro-missiles. In combat the Ghost relies on its speed and maneuverability to conduct hit-and-run attacks on multiple targets, allowing it to often take out entire squadrons before the enemy has a chance to retaliate. But the most impressive feature of the fighter is its onboard AI (artificial intelligence) computer system. The X-9 can be piloted by remote control from a UN Spacy starship, or can be allowed to operate autonomously in combat. The AI system is quick, clever, and almost savage in the ferocity of its attacks. The system uses bio-neural circuitry modeled after a human brain, which permits the AI both to formulate new plans and strategies on the fly as well as learn during combat to improve its performance. The combination of the Ghost's intelligence, speed, and weaponry make the small drone extremely deadly in combat, able to hold its own against even advanced VFs such as the VF-19 Excalibur and VF-22 Sturmvogel.
The prototype Ghost fighter was taken over by the renegade AI Sharon Apple during the Armistice celebration and used against the YF-19 and YF-21 prototypes which had travelled from Eden to Earth. After an extended aerial combat pilot Guld Goa Bowman managed to defeat the X-9 at the cost of the YF-21 and his own life. Although the project was not cancelled immediately after the incident, unexpected problems appeared during later testing of additional Ghost prototypes. The bio-neural circuitry of the drone possessed an erratic self-preservation tendency that sometimes caused the AI to disobey orders, even to the point of attacking other drones that were supposed to be fighting on the same side in mock combats. In addition, simulated engagements with experienced pilots in VF-19 Excalibur prototypes resulted in victory for the Ghost fighter only 55% of the time, leading to debate about whether the drone was actually superior to piloted variable fighters. Eventually the X-9 Ghost was turned down by the UN Spacy as a replacement for manned fighters. However AI research continues at the Macross Consortium, so it may only be a matter of time before a new Ghost fighter is produced that is superior in every way to combat pilots.
