[Kestrellius]

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=87508.0;nowap

So a while ago Lepanto adapted "Sink the Bismarck" to Freespace. I discovered the original song yesterday, and it made me remember coming across that, and I figured I'd try my hand at cleaning up the lyrics a bit. Partially because I kind of want to sing this and make a VGMV of it someday. 

So without further ado:

"January, '67, the Incursion had begun.
The Shivans launched a battleship that ruined all our fun.
Ravana was the toughest ship that ever faced our fleet;
On her prow were fangs like Fenrises and beams we couldn't beat.

Out of the crimson nebula emerged the Delacroix.
And all its many fighters were ready to deploy.
They had to slay Ravana, the terror of the fleet
Stop those hangers full of Manticores and beams we couldn't beat.

CHORUS:
We'll find the Shivan battleship that's making such a fuss.
We've got to slay Ravana; the Alliance counts on us.
Yeah, get those fighters running and you let your bombs away
'Cause we've got to find Ravana, and we've got to make her pay.

Delacroix met Ravana and on that fatal day,
Ravana opened fire more than twenty klicks away*,
We've got to slay Ravana -- we can't let our systems down.
But when the beams had faded, mighty Delacroix was gone.

The Terrans and Vasudans readied for another fight.
And Petrarch told his ships to put their bombers into flight!
'Cause somewhere in that nebula, Ravana hungered still,
And they had to slay Ravana 'fore she made another kill.

We'll find the Shivan battleship that's making such a fuss.
We've got to slay Ravana; the Alliance counts on us.
Yeah, get those fighters running and you let your bombs away
'Cause we've got to find Ravana, and we've got to make her pay.

The Ravens they were scrambled, and they found her, red and black.
Two jumps away from allied space, she met the fleet's attack.
Admiral Petrarch of the Aquitaine, he ordered bombs away!
For they'd well engaged Ravana, and they'd slay her here today.

The bombers made their run, sent the warheads thick and fast.
The first bomb struck Ravana, and they knew she couldn't last.
The Great War's just a memory; the nightmare's long since passed.
Slay Ravana, and the war is won -- the Shivans' die is cast.

We found Shivan battleship t'was making such a fuss.
We had to slay Ravana; the Alliance needed us.
You got those fighters running and you let your bombs away, yeah,
We found that old Ravana, and you bet we made her pay.

We found Shivan battleship t'was making such a fuss.
We had to slay Ravana; the Alliance needed us.
You got those fighters running and you let your bombs away, yeah,
We found that old Ravana, and you bet we made her pay."

(EDIT: And, of course, credit to Lepanto for coming up with the idea in the first place, and writing the first version.)

*Okay, yes, the range is four kilometers. But for one thing, that doesn't fit and there's no easy way to make it fit, and for another, this kind of throws it into sharp relief just how absurd that number is. The original song says fifteen miles. That's right, this cutting-edge eldritch Shivan space ubership of the 24th century has a range that's more than a tenth of that achieved by a 20th-century German sea ship.

[niffiwan]

*Okay, yes, the range is four kilometers. But for one thing, that doesn't fit and there's no easy way to make it fit, and for another, this kind of throws it into sharp relief just how absurd that number is. The original song says fifteen miles. That's right, this cutting-edge eldritch Shivan space ubership of the 24th century has a range that's more than a tenth of that achieved by a 20th-century German sea ship.

I get your point.. but at the same time a 20th Century ship doesn't have the ability to emerge from subspace within primary weapons range of their target with practically no warning! The ships capabilities determine the armament, maybe a comparison with a submarine would be closer (but still off).

[Kestrellius]

*Okay, yes, the range is four kilometers. But for one thing, that doesn't fit and there's no easy way to make it fit, and for another, this kind of throws it into sharp relief just how absurd that number is. The original song says fifteen miles. That's right, this cutting-edge eldritch Shivan space ubership of the 24th century has a range that's more than a tenth of that achieved by a 20th-century German sea ship.

I get your point.. but at the same time a 20th Century ship doesn't have the ability to emerge from subspace within primary weapons range of their target with practically no warning! The ships capabilities determine the armament, maybe a comparison with a submarine would be closer (but still off).

Hm, fair point. Still, unless they're deliberately reducing their range, it's a bit dodgy. These weapons are...well, okay, we don't know what they are. But they're in space, which means range should be practically infinite until bloom reduces the weapon's effectiveness, assuming that even applies to whatever these beams are supposed to be.

Basically, though, I'm just taking artistic license and saying that since we never saw the fight with the Delacroix, maybe the Ravana actually has longer range but it's never used in-game but it was used in that fight. Which is kind of unlikely, but hey. Worth it for the sake of the meter, I guess.

[niffiwan]

Yep, a little artistic license fits the mood of the song perfectly

Also, you should have a look at Vassago's Dirge for a Ravana that opens fire at a much longer range (it's a super cool mission!)

[Kestrellius]

I still need to reinstall FS2, and hopefully it'll work properly this time since I know more of what I'm doing. For some reason half the mods that are supposed to show up just aren't there on my current installation, including VD (if it is actually packaged with the launcher, that is. I haven't checked). Oh well. Shouldn't be hard to reinstall as long as I just go ahead and do it instead of waffling like I always do.

(Among other things, one of the missing mods is AoA, so I still haven't played BP.)

[Lepanto]

Wow, never thought anyone would remember this.

Sounds a whole lot more natural from someone who can actually into meter and stuff.