Commonwealth Fighter Pilot Course

## Instructor Caleb

"Welcome to flight school rookie, I'm only gonna tell all this to you once before we throw you into the pot so listen up"

## Welcome Recruit

*Alright everyone listen up, my name is Caleb and I'm your flight instructor; with the current state of affairs we're being pushed pretty hard for pilots who are worth a damn, so: sit up, shut up and pay attention, you fail today and you're crashing out this course like a new-born Vrinn on roller-skates.*

### The basics

*Now I'm going to assume you've all read your manuals and done your homework you received 6 months ago when you all applied; if any of you have come here and don't know what an angle of attack is or can't figure out how to switch the republican fighters on then we'll soon see, what you'll need to know right now is that there are three main things I want you to be thinking about before we go up into the simulation... your own species, g-force and your loved ones... because if you pass the course and go up against a real foe you'll want to know what you're fighting for.*

*So right now there are three main factors that determine how and what you fly: your species, your sex and how that effects g-force... everyone fortunate enough to be human or a Karthema will have a better time than most.*

*And I can hear you all at the back, "cor what a racist", well I'm not gonna sprinkle it for you, high-speed combat is extremely taxing on the body and species without the proper build will die pulling off the manoeuvres a human can do. You've all heard of the Curacoa Air Defence Wing and the elite Kuscinosomething squad, there is a reason most of them are human...*

*For a quick run down then:*

* *Any Aramathi here hoping to fly with the fighters are not going to like what I'm going to say; you are too damn big to survive a sharp turn at speeds faster than sound, the g-force will crush your bones under those fur coats you have... your eyesight is also pisspoor in the dead centre of you vision and you'll fly straight into debris, you will all be bombers so that your wider field of view better serves you in evasion.*
* *The same goes for any of our fungoid friends out there I'm afraid, even for those of you who have better coned vision your non-fleshed and boneless bodies make you bounce like jelly in the fighter cockpit*
* *That also mean any Lluvanux are out, he may look humanoid but pilots **need eyes!** without em you can't see further than grandma can see her teapot.*
* *You Queptiliums will* *fair better than most. Your eyes are however on the sides of your head and have a reputation for cracking in the most strenuous situations, you'll be placed in the combat oriented bombers like but you won't be racing along the top cadets.*
* *I swear to the stars if I see any more Uri here then I will shoot the folks back at the recruitment centres... **Uri are a floating species** and they can't handle being strapped down to a chair and operating controls, anyone who thinks that having planes with unbuckled pilots are also going to be shot... because when you turn in an aircraft you do not turn with it unless you are strapped into it, that means Uri go splat against the glass panels like they're in one of those comical movies where the guys face slowly slides down a window.*
* *Now onto the Humans, the Vrinn and our favourite sword wielding lizards the Karthema. Not to toot the humanoid horn here but humanoids, especially female ones, are much better suited to the demand of combat. We have less overall mass than most other species and leaner, that's why women tend to do better as they exemplify these traits; our eyes are front facing and monocular whilst our bones serve as inner structure reinforcement... adding a little bit of genetic modification can hollow out our bones to make us even more resilient to g-force. For all you thinking why we don't just GM every species is simple maths*
* *The maths is: Our genomes are complex bastards and don't like being changed, if a human bodies DNA was just 0.25% different we'd be fucking dolphins... say we all have 10 points of genetic upgrades available well while we spend 3 just sorting out the problems of an Aramathi's eyesight or growing the Queptilums a spine the humans spent 3 points **upgrading** their sight... see what I'm getting at?*

*Right then that about does the introduction, get in the simulators and we'll take off, if any of you have had lunch we'd appreciate it if you don't coat the inside of the pod with it... actually we don't care because you're the ones who'll be cleaning it up. While you're in there we'll have an a.i. reviewing your performance and directing assisting your first few exercises.*

*Oh and we know none of you have flown before but with a simulator we'll learn right quick whose got the natural skills needed, like I said you fail here and you're out; not to put any of you off but typically 87% of you will end your career here.*

*Please keep your arms and arse inside the ride at all times...*

## A.I Instructor

Hello. I am your A.I. overseer. Please follow instructions

**CNS synchronised. Uploading simulation, you may experience nausea... this is normal.**

**The Commonwealth is currently driving for additional void-pilots... … void scenario selected... uploading basic schema for aircraft control... you now have the knowledge of basic aircraft control... How's that for the first day?**

**Combat scenario #6574 selected.**

1. **First objective: Learn Manoeuvres**
2. **Primary Objective: Destroy the 'Radiant Host' & Protect Task Force Manticore**
3. **Secondary Objective: More than 7% survivors**
4. **Tertiary Objective: Do not die...**
5. **Note: You will probably die, in the simulation.**

**Before we begin combat let us perform some tests. All good pilots check before take off.**

* **Go to half power, check all is in order.**
* **Weapon check, do your guns and missiles lock?**
* **Ensure thrusters are synchronised**

**Good; now take off, clear permission with flight control to launch from your carrier.**

**The best way to learn is to 'get stuck in' so you organics say, so you and your squad will navigate through this asteroid field laden with mines to reach the operational zone. Remember that I have uploaded all you need to know about how to fly the craft, so the 'first day' excuse will not hold weight.**

**Remember, your squad are also people in the simulation, they can also make mistakes and crash into you... enter the asteroid field.**

**… … … … … … … … … error in logic, do not fly through the holes of large asteroids, during the time in these holes other rocks may float in front of these holes and you will fly into them... … … … … .. … … … … … … maintain spacing between squad-mates, if one makes an error you may suffer for it... … … … … .. … … … … good … … … … … … mines spotted, consider notifying other squad-mates?**

*Right cadets this is Caleb speaking, it has been 10 minutes since the sim began and out of the 400 of you; 17 have crashed into rocks, 5 into mines and another one fired her weapons inside the carrier... a better start than usual so keep it up.*

**… … … … Contacts; it's an ambush, evade evade… … work together to counter the Zracon attack, use your 6 month training lessons... … … … … … … … … … one is tailing you, try to shake it, call for help if you cannot... … … … … … … … … you're weapon locked, pull hard and pray... … … … … … success, acquire a target and seek better positions...**

*Why is it taking so long? the main fleet will be stranded without fighter coverage and the Zracon will send more if they see you struggle to fight them off...*

**… success. Congratulations, you are among the 237 survivors of an ambush of only 30 Zracon ships.**

*Don't let the casualties dishearten you, the ones that got shot didn't have the pilot skills needed, if they'd gone up against trained pilots like you'll soon be then that ambush would have gone much better... clear the asteroids and join the fleet.*

**Now begins a time trial, the fleet is about to engage; you all have 3 minutes to clear 50km of thick asteroids, begin.**

*While you do that I'm going to be telling you the best ways to approach the upcoming battle; so you'll have to multitask, I did it, my friends did it, you can do it... or crash like 3 of you have while I've been talking.*

**Well done. Fly to the other side of the planet and join the fleet, do not get caught in its gravity.**

*I like round numbers... which is why I hate to say only 197 of you have made it this far; that is just less than half the starting number, good job.*

**Observe that the battle has begun, the fleet needs you as point defence; protect the CSV's and stay alive, observe a friendly station as also been destroyed, the debris will soon litter the void.**

**… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … you have destroyed 4 missiles, excellent … … … … incoming fighters, you are 8 to 1, pull back to the range of friendly point defences...**

*The top 30 of you will soon be given a new task...*

**… … locked, missile away, poor... … … … … … … locked, missiles 2 and 6 away, two hits... … … … … … … autogun range achieved... … … … … … incoming friendly fighters... … … … … another kill, impressive...**

*Alright you are one of those 30, your job is to attack the enemy fleet, how?... that's all you cadet; I sure hope you read the manuals on fighter vs corvettes & bigger even shit.*

**Find a path with your other 30 best fighters... choose between a fast route or a more subtle approach… flying through the destroyed station is not advised... suit yourself**

*Leading the pack eh... well that means you're leading 29; no, 28 now, others through a field... can they take it?*

**Incoming counterfire, act accordingly... … … splitting up is a sound choice**

*You have a straight path cadet; that is some fancy crap you just pulled, you sure you haven't done this before?*

**Missiles locked... firing all missiles is not a-- missiles away; all hits, reactor destroy, corvette destroyed**

*Butter a biscuit cadet, don't revel in it and beat it back to the fleet; without missiles you'll be toasted by heavy fighters.*

**You are one of the 6 survivors of the 30; Zracon ships are tailing you, shake them... … … … … shake them... … … flying back through the debris is---**

*Are you listening? I mean you're pulling it off but still, with over 47 Zracon behin--- oh, I know what this is; Erika, the game is up this is meant to be a cadet only sim...*

**Simulation End. You are one of 37 surviving pilots; primary objective achieved, secondary objective achieved, tertiary objective achieved... Is there anything you'd like to say for the records:**

> *"Your a.i. is obnoxious; the asteroid field is too dense for cadets, the ambush was bullshit - I would have seen it coming -, the time trial should have been 2 minutes in a less dense field and everyone knows the weak spot of bloody Zracon ships these days"*
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>  **- Erika Ibrahim -**
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