I'm hunting the SDF with a midline fleet: Conquest (me), 3 Hammerheads, Venture, and fighters to fill. Normally its a pretty easy fight... but this time things get fubar.
I'm finishing off one Onslaught after some hard close in fighting (sucked burn drive'd right into me!) when another burn drives into fighting range on my other side and unloads its thermal cannons. I pop up my shield to block them, but mistime my drop and overload! So I'm in a pretty intact but overloaded Conquest square between one almost dead Onslaught who is just finished venting and another one with high flux but full health! I was totally convinced I was dead.
Enter my elite Hammerhead, my flagship for countless battles before I moved up. It comes roaring up into the back of the crippled Onslaught with its heavy mauler going double speed - I'm pretty sure it was actually swarmers that finished the Onslaught off, but thats just a nice ironic twist. The explosion was really painful for my Conquest however and the other Onslaught is breaking my starboard armor pretty fast. The Hammerhead swings around the hulk and me and gets right between me and the Onslaught! It goes toe to toe with the beast protecting me. Overload finished I was still forced to back off as the blast and beating had knocked out most of my weapons on both sides. The Hammerhead pulls back but is chewed to hell - at this point another (just veteran, my number 2 ship) shows up and starts kiting the Onslaughts engines. My weapons come online, the storm needlers do their work, and I sink 4 reapers into the Onslaught face. Just as it blows though, a Lasher sinks a harpoon into my venting buddy. You had to be a hero! *sniff*
I have no idea if the AI actually has 'here I come to save the day' coded in where ships will protect vulnerable other ships, but it made for a hell of a sight!