Squadrons

A squadron is a group of 2-12 starfighters of the same type, attached to the same starship or facility. When combat is likely, a starship Captain may choose to scramble one or more of his or her starfighter squadrons, sending the fighters into battle.

Joining a Squadron
When a pilot enlists aboard a vessel, he or she will be immediately assigned to a squadron comprised of the most capable fighter that pilot is certified to fly. If there is more than one such squadron, the pilot will be assigned to the squadron with fewer PC pilots attached. If this number is equal, the system will choose randomly.

Although a squadron only has a finite number of fighters available, it is possible for any number of pilots to join the squadron. Simply, the pilots who end up getting to fly in combat are the ones whose controlling players are online and playing at the time the battle is joined.

Into Battle
In a tense situation, a Captain may choose to scramble one or more fighter squadrons. When this occurs, alarm klaxons are seen and heard in the hangar decks, and all pilots of the scrambling squadron(s), no matter where aboard ship they may be, receive a system-generated message informing them of imminent launch.

Pilots then have a short amount of time (60 seconds? 120?) to board one of the fighters in their squadron (achieved by simply nearing a fighter and clicking the 'board fighter' pop-up). When this time period has elapsed, all fighters in the squadron launch as one. Fighters not manned by a player will be launched with an NPC pilot at the controls. The launching pilots then experience a loading screen as they are deployed to open space.

Pilots who didn't get to a fighter in time might still be able to join the battle, however. If any NPCs launched with the squadron, an equivalent number of fighters will still be seen waiting in the hangar bay. The boarding player can launch immediately, and replaces one NPC-controlled fighter currently in flight. When all NPC fighters have been replaced in this fashion, no more PC pilots of that squadron may join the battle.