Blue Javelin is one of the protagonists of the 1995 Shoot 'em up arcade game Viper Phase 1 (alongside its counterpart the Judge Spear). Blue Javelin's name was never mentioned in Viper Phase 1, but during its debut in Raiden Fighters. Its bomb attack as seen in Viper Phase 1 also returns as the standard bomb weapon for the Judge Spear. Originally one of two spacecrafts (the other being Judge Spear) belonging to an enemy military, it was captured by Earth's infiltrators and deployed into battle fighting for the side of Earth.
Plot[]
In the far future, mankind began expanding onto space in search of habitable planets. Eventually by the year of 2050 U.C.(Universal Calendar), humanity colonized multiple planets and established their own science/technology, cultures and laws. For a time, all was good but the antagonism between humans, which had been a bane of humanity throughout its history, persisted even into planetary settlements like some bad cultural baggage. Antagonism led to feuds, and feuds led to wars between planets. Inevitably, the spillover of planetary conflicts also spread to planet Earth. One faraway planet a powerful rebel faction with ambition to dominate pan-galactic took over the planet and began massive buildup of a grand military. Using superior science and technology, the planet's military invaded, laid a planetary siege upon Earth and demanded an unconditional surrender.
In response, Earth Defense Military initiated Operation Viper Phase 1, a highly classified military scheme involving sneaking into an enemy base, collecting data, capture the most advanced enemy fighter, and using the stolen fighter to take on enemy military. Beginning with destroying the spaceport which served as the enemy's outpost, Blue Javelin along with Judge Spear wreaked havoc upon the enemy military as the two fighters inched ever deeper into the enemy headquarter, crippling enemies' capacity to wage wars. Eventually Blue Javelin and Judge Spear smashed into the enemy's home planet, broke their final defense and laid waste to the enemy capital. But the enemy still had one last card left: in a final act of sheer spite, the enemy launches its own WMD in a shape of planetary ballistic missile capable of wiping out a planet, and its destination is Earth. Blue Javelin and Judge Spear have limited amount of time to intercept and shoot down the missile. But it will not be an easy task: remnants of enemy forces and Copper Caoineag which serves as the final boss of the game, accompanies the missile to ensure the missile reaches its destination. Even if Blue Javelin and Judge Spear succeed in shooting down the missile, they still have to contend with Copper Caoineag.
In the old edition of Viper Phase 1 game, if Judge Spear and Blue Javelin succeed in destroying both the WMD and Copper Caoineag, then the game informs that the enemy forces used time warp technology at the last minute to send the two starfighters back to the beginning of the war, thus the starfighter duo must repeat their war all over again with their enemy better prepared. If the duo starfighters fail to stop the missile in time, Earth is destroyed in a fiery Armageddon but this time it is Earth Military Defense that uses time warp technology to send the starfighter pair back in time to retry their final mission. The time warp in both endings are used only once, and if Judge Spear and Blue Javelin fail to stop the enemy WMD in the second loop, then Earth truly will be lost and the starfighter pair's mission would fail. But in the new edition of Viper Phase 1 game, there is no time warp technology to exist so Judge and Blue have only one chance at stopping the enemy WMD along with Copper Caoineag. If they fail Earth is doomed in a fiery Armageddon. But if Judge and Blue succeed Earth will be saved, are greeted by the Earth's fleet as a bonus.
The game ends with the final comment that the heroism of Judge Spear and Blue Javelin stopping the hostile force's hegemonic ambition will be told forever.
Crossover Appearances[]
Raiden Fighters Series[]
Blue Javelin makes its crossover debut in Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive as a guest character fighting for the side of Gun Dog squadron which seeks to defend the newly established government from an old regime led by a tyrannical dictator and his loyalists. In this game, Blue Javelin had a different weapon set from the Judge Spear, and had slightly higher defense than Judge Spear: it is armed with burst missiles and its main shots had been upgraded into narrow but spread 3-way shots. While slower than its red cousin, Blue Javelin still possesses high speed but more stable and is able to control Slave drones. Its main weakness, however, is the slight delay in detonation of Dimension Mine bomb, which may lead to potential demise of the craft because the smart bomb is not detonated in a timely manner.
In Raiden Fighters JET, Blue Javelin appears as a simulation fighter training pilots of the new government's newly built air force. The simulation training involves several levels of virtual battles occurred in the events of Raiden Fighters and Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive. If a pilot performs poorly in his/her training, he/she is told to do better and the game ends prematurely. But if a pilot excels in his/her virtual simulation training with Blue Javelin, he/she will have an honor of driving the new air force's latest state-of-the-art jet fighter named Ixion. Should the pilot pass his/her virtual training, he/she is immediately ordered to go fight the remnants of enemy military - deployed to an actual combat. Blue Javelin is not seen again afterwards.
Weapons[]
Blue Javelin is equipped with three weapons that allow it to eradicate its enemies efficiently: a default primary weapon, a secondary weapon that can be obtained through power-ups, and a bomb. In the old version of the game, all the secondary weapons are exhaustible, and will be used up when enough shots are fired. In the new version, they have infinite shots, but deal less damage as a counterbalance. The ship's module will flash with the corresponding color of the secondary weapon once obtained.
- Vulcan Cannon - the default primary weapon of the Blue Javelin, it is a standard, rapid-fire capable cannon that can eliminate most small enemies easily. Initially it only fires two shots, but upon being upgraded, it increases to four, which become longer and thicker with further upgrades, thus increasing its firepower. In the Raiden Fighters series, this weapon has a slightly wider spread than the on used by Judge Spear.
- Laser (L) - fires a powerful, penetrating laser, similar to the Lightning Laser from Raiden, the laser has the poorest spread, but deals the most damage out of all the secondary weapons, being able to crush medium to large enemies quickly and decimate bosses the fastest. When upgraded, the width of the laser widens, thus increasing its damage.
- Burst Missile (M) - fires a volley of cruise missiles that travel in a burst pattern, upon making contact with any enemy, they create a small explosion that deals secondary splash damage. Upgrading the weapon increases the number of missiles fired per burst. This is the Blue Javelin's signature weapon, as it is used by the craft in Raiden Fighters.
- Napalm Missle (N) - fires a large cruise missile that upon making contact with an enemy, will explode into a large napalm explosion, dealing secondary splash damage. When upgraded, the number of missiles fired increases to two, and the explosions will create a chain reaction, causing more explosions to appear around the vicinity of the first explosion. These explosions can be risky however, as they can cover up enemy projectiles.
- Wide Vulcan (W) - fires a widespread vulcan cannon to the sides of the primary cannon. It has the highest defensive spread of all the secondary weapons, but is the weakest in terms of firepower. Upon being upgraded, the number of shots fired increases.
- Dimension Mine (B): fires a powerful bomb that covers a wide area of the screen, destroying all small enemies and projectiles upon impact whilst also damaging larger enemies and bosses within the field. The weapon has a limited number of uses however, and must be used strategically.
Variants[]
Dark Sword[]
Dark Sword is a third Viper class fighter and is a secret character to be unlocked in Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive. It is also the black version of Blue Javelin as well as Judge Spear's. This ship utilizes Judge Spear's main shots and uses Blue Javelin's burst missiles but are more enhanced. Notice the connection between the Viper class of space fighters including Judge Spear and Blue Javelin: they all have names of medieval melee weapons. Dark Sword appears only in RF2.
If fully powered up, Dark Sword can fire up to 25 missiles at once, covering almost the entire screen and with its tremendous speed giving itself a very good defense rating. Its speed, however, is its double-edged trait: it is exorbitantly fast (even faster than Judge Spear), thus making this craft extremely unstable to operate. The missile weapon is later on in Raiden Fighters Jet inherited by the Ixion but powered up even more.
Gallery[]
[]
| ||
|
Viper Phase 1 Raiden Fighters | ||