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The R-Gray 1 is one of the two playable spacecrafts in the 1996 Taito shoot 'em up RayStorm (alongside the R-Gray 2). It is a state-of-the-art spacecraft developed by the Barca Section, a rogue fraction of the Secilia Federation in order to prevent the latter from destroying the Earth as part of a mission codenamed Operation: RayStorm. It is the more balanced of the two spacecrafts.
History[]
RayStorm[]
In the year 2119 A.D., humanity had finally achieved the ability to travel into outer space. All of Earth's nations collaborated with each other to expand their colonial reach into the rest of the solar system, setting up colony after colony across various worlds. In order to maintain peace and order, Earth established the Star Federation, a governmental body that controls the smaller local governments of the colonies.
One hundred years later in 2219 A.D. however, Earth's colonies had managed to expand to reach the constellation of Orion. However, due to the ever expanding reach of the colonies, the Star Federation found it increasingly harder to maintain its authority across all twenty established colonies. As a result, they declared martial law on all the colonies. In response, the planet Secilia, which was home to the strongest of the twenty colonies formed a rebel organization called the Secilia Federation in an attempt to mutiny against the Star Federation. They launched a number of battles against the Star Federation and ultimately won, defeating its fleet during the battle of LaGrange 4. Following their victory, Earth's government surrenders and the Secilia Federation orders the expulsion of Earth's inhabitants to other colonies before announcing their ultimate yet sinister plan: to destroy the planet Earth. They proceed to quell the opposition before sending out a special strike force to destroy the planet. But all hope wasn't lost, hidden deep in Earth was the Barca Section, a secret organization created by the Secilia Federation that was expelled to Earth at unknown point in time for no reason, feeling betrayed by the Federation, the Barca Section chooses to side with Earth and launches a special series of starfighters codenamed "R-GRAY". Built from the remains of thirteen previous Secilia ships, the experimental fighter is launched in order to stop the Secilia Federation by destroy it in order to save the Earth from its inevitable doom, thus beginning Operation: RayStorm.
The R-Gray 1, alongside its counterparts travel across Earth's surface in order to locate the Secilia Federation's special strike forces scattered across the planet, finding them occupying Albion D.U., Old Gual City, and Palmyra Valley. In each zone, the fighter ultizies its unique weaponry and technological systems to destroy these forces before confronting a commanding unit leading the enemy units, where they proceed to eliminate it.
Once Earth's surface is secured from the Secilia Federation, the R-Gray 1 and the other two fighters leave the planet's atmosphere to fly towards planet Secilia in an attempt to bring the fight to the aggressors. After fighting through Secilia forces in space, the fighters manage to reach Secilia, where they proceed to launch a counterattack on its capital Etruria. From there the fighters proceed into the near network of the planet called the Juda Central System, where it navigates its defenses to locate and destroy the central computer system known as Spartacus. Once Spartacus is destroyed, the R-Gray fighters travel deeper and locate the true leader of the Federation: Yggdrasil. The supercomputer attacks the fighters using a vast array of lasers, energy shots and drones. Despite the difficulty, the fighters endure the battle and target the enemy's main weak point, the central core. Upon crushing the core, Yggdrasil explodes, causing the entire central system to self-destruct. In the process, the R-Gray 1 manages to escape through an escape route just as the exploding system destroys Secilia, bringing an end to the Federation and its plans to destroy the Earth.
With Earth saved, the R-Gray 1 and its R-Gray 2 counterpart fly through the debris that once was Secilia before making their way back to Earth, where the two fighters are joined by a fleet of allied star cruisers. above Earth's atmosphere.
RayCrisis[]
The R-Gray 1, alongside its counterpart appear in RayCrisis as unlockable ships. In order to obtain the R-Gray 1, Original mode must be completed using all three Wave Riders. In-game, its performance is nearly identical to that of RayStorm, however its Lock-On Laser and Special Attack are stronger than that of its RayCrisis counterpart the WR-01R, however it lacks the flexible crosshair that the latter has as a counterbalance.
Weapons[]
The R-Gray 1 is the more balanced of the R-Gray crafts, it is armed with two main weapons: the Wide-Pattern Laser Cannon and the Lock-On Laser, as well as two special weapons: the Hyper Laser and the Laser Barrage. The fighter is available in two versions: Type A (Auto), which enables a computer-assist Lock-On Laser system, and Type M (Manual) which enables the Cybernetics Link System into the pilot's interface, but is more difficult to use. All weapons can be upgraded by means of differently colored diamond-shaped power-ups: collecting three red diamonds or one yellow diamond will upgrade the Laser Cannon, whilst each green diamond obtained will add a lock-on laser to the targeting system. There is also a blue star power-up which will automatically max out the "Special Attack" gauge displayed at the top-right of the HUD.
- Wide-Pattern Laser Cannon - the primary weapon of the R-Gray 1, it fires a spread of green vulcan-like laser cannons that are capable of dealing with small enemies easily whilst requiring additional firepower against larger ones. When upgraded, the number of shots as well as their damage output and spread will increase.
- Lock-On Laser - the signature secondary weapon of the R-Gray 1, it launches a laser that locks onto up to eight enemies with impeccable accuracy and speed. It however can only target enemies on the lower plane or certain areas of bosses. When upgraded, the number of lasers that can be fired increases to a maximum of eight.
- Hyper Laser - A unique special weapon that can only be utilized once the Lock-On Laser is at max power. When all eight lasers are targeted onto a single enemy (most often times a boss), they will unleash a powerful attack in the form of multiple concentrated explosions which deal significant damage to the enemy they targeted as well as any other caught within their area of effect.
- Laser Barrage - the special attack of the fighter that is indicated by the namesake gauge on the HUD. This gauge slowly increases when destroying enemies with the Lock-On Laser. Once full, the fighter can unleash a power attack that releases a screen-clearing bomb in the form of a massive barrage of blue lasers, destroying smaller enemies and projectiles in tfront of the fighter instantly whilst damaging larger ones at the same time. It however cannot hit enemies behind or right next to the ship.
Trivia[]
- The R-Gray 1's design between its CG render/kit model and its in-game model are notably inconsistent. The CG render/kit model lacks the large ventral fins on the nacelles that the in-game model is depicted with.
- In the ending of the Sega Saturn version of the game, the R-Gray 1's main fuselage/cockpit can be seen detaching itself from its engine/weapon nacelles, where it serves as an escape pod for its pilot. This feature however is not present in the other versions of the game.
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