Fighter Bay (Bay 3) (Deck 11)

Fighter Bay Three is considerably lower-ceilinged and more tightly packed than the ship's main shuttlebays one deck above, built to the compact dimensions of single- and two-seat attack craft rather than full-size shuttles. The bay's flat grey deck is marked out in broad yellow parking outlines, seven of them arranged in two staggered rows down the length of the compartment, each currently occupied by an AC-409 Mk.III Valkyrie fighter: sleek, angular craft finished in matte charcoal-grey hull plating with a narrow cockpit canopy of tinted transparent aluminum set low into a wedge-shaped fuselage, twin engine nacelles flaring out at the rear above swept, downward-canted wings. Retractable docking clamps rise from recessed floor housings to lock over each fighter's undercarriage, their yellow-striped arms folded flat against the deck between uses. Toward the aft bulkhead, in a slightly recessed alcove separated from the main fighter rows by a portable equipment barrier, sit the squadron's two Scout-class stealth reconnaissance craft: noticeably smaller and lower-slung than the Valkyries, their hulls finished in a duller, near-matte black that seems to swallow the overhead lighting rather than reflect it, with a smooth, unbroken profile free of the sensor blisters and hardpoints visible on the fighters nearby. A retractable overhead gantry crane, mounted on a track running the length of the bay's overhead, stands parked near the forward wall, its hook and cable assembly hanging just above head height. The forward bulkhead is dominated by a massive two-piece blast door leading to the launch tube, its seam running vertically down the center and marked with alternating yellow-and-black hazard chevrons; a secondary personnel-sized hatch is set into its lower left corner for foot traffic when the main doors remain sealed. Overhead, rows of recessed lighting run in tight parallel bands, brighter and more evenly spaced than in the main shuttlebay, casting hard-edged shadows beneath each fighter's fuselage. The air carries a sharp tang of ozone and coolant, and a persistent low mechanical hum underlies the space, occasionally interrupted by the clank of a docking clamp cycling or the hiss of a hydraulic strut settling under a fighter's weight.