"Banshee Fighters!!!" Some well-informed recruits shouted at the top of their lungs.
By now, even recruits who had only glanced at the news could recognize some of the notorious units of the Separatist army.
Among them, the locust-like Vulture droid fighters that ravaged everything in their path and the Banshee Fighters, invisible killers in the sky, were what they feared most.
Perhaps, strategically speaking, commanders feared powerful units like Siege Tanks and Viking fighters even more. But ordinary people cared more about whether deadly firepower would rain down on their heads without warning.
Pew pew pew! Pew pew pew! The close-in laser cannons mounted on the armed train cars had already opened fire. Red laser beams streaked continuously through the air. Some successfully struck the invisible enemies in the sky, but far more missed because the fire-control systems could not lock on.
The invisible Banshee Fighters maneuvered nimbly. Their ducted turbofan engines gave them exceptional subsonic agility.
Dodging laser weapons in an atmosphere was extremely difficult. Unlike in space, where even ordinary people could pull dozens of Gs under advanced protective measures and move too fast for turrets to track, atmospheric combat relied more on agile maneuvering to prevent lasers from remaining on target for long.
Then there was another method—turn the enemy's fire-control systems blind.
To the recruits aboard the train, their side's firepower seemed to be shooting at nothing but air, clearly incapable of causing any damage.
An uneasy mood began spreading through the cars. Suddenly, someone shouted, "We're going to die! We're going to die! The Banshee Fighters are invisible... we don't even know where they are!"
Once that started, crying and cursing immediately erupted throughout the carriages. Some people even ran over and pounded on the doors, trying to jump from the train.
But the doors