The Gunyoki does sound like a powerful fighter, and the example given of Nathan's fighter is interesting because with the enhanced power supply even with his limited experience he was only just outmatching the other fighters.
Going forward we can expect that either more advanced power sources would be used or ad least the adapted 2 field model would be applied, this would mean that fighter pilots would have more power and not need to be as reliant on the power management.
The Weapons used on these fighters namely the 40 stub missiles (that is the number I picked up from my initial read) really packs a punch remove the range issued by adding a jump drive and that is an arsenal.
I have been thinking about Pilots these last few days following the last book drop and it appears we have 5 different levels of Pilot capability:
Untrained Button Pusher - The limited experience pilot of a Ranni Jump Shuttle or similar highly automated ship
Trained Pilot - Someone who has been trained in piloting and will know their ships, but likely not how to get the best out of them. would be largely unprepared for a gunfight. In saying that, knowing your ship is the first step to defending it (ie shields here are strongest face them to attackers)
Racer Pilot - like the younger Gunyoki Pilots. These people know how to use their machines to a high level of proficiency, they may however have difficulty dealing with the multitude of targets and dangers faced in an actual gun fight.
Military Pilot - Like the Takaran fighter pilots. These pilots don't flinch at combat, they fly straight in and get the mission done (albeit we still loose people)
Master Pilot - Someone like Josh, Nathan, or a Master Gunyoki pilot. These people can do things with a fighter that even trained pilots wouldn't be able to follow on a slowed down reply.
Saying someone falls in one of these categories doesn't necessarily mean that they are more capable then those that precede it but largely its what you would expect.
I would not have put Nathan in as a Master Pilot until I read who impressed Master KoKu was with his progress, which made me think about how he was able to transfer his experience with flying vastly different vessels to one he had never flown before so quickly even if partly due to his enhancements following the cloning process.
The only question I have now is why would a world like Rakuen and its neighbor Neramese have a war over water when Rakuen was 90% water... seems to me that they have water to spare??? Maybe Nathan can swing a New Alliance with these two peoples. Water for Land?
