Faction Dodge a Wrench, Dodge a TIE (Rimward Trade League)

[Roth Tillian]

SUSEFVI ORBIT
GOLAN III
PILOT TRAINING CENTER
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Roth flicked a toothpick into a rubbish bin and stood as the chrono chimed that it was about time for the class to start. It was an open class, much to the chagrin of the station commander, but Roth ran a special squadron. That meant that he could make a request higher in the chain of command than the station's colonel. It helped of course that he was also a Colonel, with a dual commission.

He recognized early on that the League was in no position to build a massive starfighter arm, although the Ranger Corps and Rescue Service did both have their own starfighter forces to augment their missions.

But what the League had was a large number of pilots, especially freighter pilots, with their own ships, which pretty much all had weapons. That was an asset the League could leverage, and if the gossip was true, would be shortly with an expanded privateering program.

However, it meant they needed freighter pilots who knew how to fly in combat. In most cases, they could serve as gunships. History was replete with exceptional freighter pilots who could turn the tide of battles and wars.

Roth intended the Outer Rim trained a number of excellent freighter pilots who could hold their own against the threats of the galaxy. Not just pirates, but hostile warships and fighters as well. He'd sent an invite through the length of the League to the Free Traders and Merchant-Marine for civilian pilots who wanted training in combat flying.

There were at least a few who would be coming, he was sure. It would give them an edge in the galaxy, as dangerous it was. He'd worked on the holosimulators and unlocked the customizable controls to ensure everyone would have a chance to upload their specific ship configuration into the simulators.

If it went well, they could use training lasers and dummy targets, but he didn't want to put them out in the busy space of Susefvi to practice formation flying and dogfighting. That, frankly, was a terrible plan, even for Roth. So he would start here and then see how they progressed.

"Welcome to combat flight training, pilots," Roth called out as the door slid open to admit them all. "I'm Colonel Roth Tillian, of the Susefvi Defense Forces and Rimward Ranger Corps. I'm here to help you fly your best against whatever the galaxy can throw at you in your own ship. Come on in and get comfortable."

 

[Audren Sykes]

Audren was a Jedi as well as a businessman. It was a complicated combination, one he was still working out specifics for even years after he'd made the initial decision. He was far too stubborn to give up and relegate one or the other to the back burner for long however and this resulted in a lot of flying. Most of it was alone; while a copilot or gunner could be useful and there was plenty of space in the ship he preferred the solitude. For all that flying he was really only a passable pilot, good enough to get his pilot's license and a bit beyond that. Even with his occasional bouts of instinctive flying genius and the advantages of his Force senses nobody would ever call him a prodigy in the cockpit.

In spite of this he'd worked with a team at his company to design and build a custom ship. Some might have called it a byproduct of being rich - he wasn't - but the vessel was more for appearance's sake and a selling point. They'd still built decent capabilities into the thing though. So when the opportunity arose to possibly improve his less-than-stellar capabilities he'd almost jumped at it. The Rimward Trade League training was designed around freighters, no doubt with the idea of having a force of irregulars available at need. Technically his vessel wasn't quite a freighter, more along the lines of a star yacht. It was roughly the same size and tonnage as some light freighters though - the category was rather broad - and carried weapons so he figured it would be close enough. There was some hesitation when he considered whether he would be required to reveal some of the more clandestine capabilities of the vessel but that was pushed aside. Had to trust someone.

There were more than a few in the group that walked into the training hall once the doors slid open. Like most of them the Sephi wore casual clothing rather than a pilot's jumpsuit, but it was designed to not hinder movement or have loose odds and ends that could get caught in equipment. The quality of attendee clothing ran the gamut of utterly informal to the smarter side of casual; his was roughly aligned with the more successful merchants. His lightsaber was decently hidden in the custom holster.

Another Tillian was leading this class, this one claiming the rank of Colonel. It was possible there was no relation...nah, who was he kidding? This was Susefvi, there was a relation. The family had more than its share of excellent pilots though so the training should be pretty good.

Roth Tillian​

 

[Roth Tillian]

Audren Sykes
===============================================

Students filtered in and Roth nodded to them all, giving them a half salute as they entered before taking seats next to a variety of simulator banks. "Welcome aboard the local defense station, everyone. I'm sure a few of you have been aboard in much less welcome circumstances..." He paused for a moment to let the chuckles disperse as a few self-deprecating shrugs circled around the room.

"Anyway, nobody's getting arrested for almost anything that happens in here today," Roth turned a chair and swung a leg over it and leaned forward over the front. "This will be casual. You're all experienced flyers at this point. You know what throttle does and not to confuse a throttle with the pitch control. And you're not flying Z-95s or X-Wings which are designed for combat, so there is a universal strategy for flying them in combat. We're going to start more theoretical while in the simulator to get adjusted to thinking about your ship differently."

He hit a button and the simulators all opened up with a hiss of mechanical controls. "You can adjust your controls in the simulator and the characteristics to better match your own ship, and nobody else will see the data you input. I'll be speaking over a public channel through all simulators and you also have access to a private channel me to ask questions. I'll be sensor designation Knight One on the simulator scans, flying a Z95."

Roth pulled on a helmet and adjusted his helmet so the mic was easily accessible. "When it comes to combat flying, at the abstract level, we're talking about lethal applications of physics at speeds that most organic bodies cannot naturally endure. Clear-headed, rapid, and deliberate action go a long way in these sorts of contexts. Like all spacefaring, panic kills. I'm sure many of you have heard the statistic that fighter pilots have a very high chance of getting spaced in their first five missions, but a significantly higher chance of survival afterward. It's true. It's why our starfighter programs have so many wargames and simulated training missions. And we may not entirely have enough time to get you through all five missions today, but I want to get you through a few."

There was a pause as he buckled himself into the simulator and began speaking over the comms, as well as a little hologram image in each cockpit. "Some fundamentals we're looking at are blind spots and the ideas of maneuverability compared to speed, which I'll get into once everyone's settled and ready."

The simulator screens wouldn't activate until people had their vessels programmed in and ready to go. Once they were, an open piece of deep space would generate in the screen, with the various ships being generated in life in a loose sphere. A classic Imperial-I Star Destroyer loomed in the distance, but gave no sign it was active yet.

 

[Audren Sykes]

Judging by Roth's opening comment about 'being aboard in less-welcome circumstances' it seemed a couple of those here were on the less-legal side of things, or that they at least dabbled there. The Sephi didn't hold it against them; the group members were here because they were part of the Rimward Trade League, which meant they were at least tangentially allies. That he hadn't crossed over that line directly yet didn't mean that there weren't good reasons for doing so - the Rebels of ancient times certainly had their share of miscreants - and it was quite possible that their reasons for being aboard had been false positives.

With the press of a button the room's simulators cracked open. The class started making their way to the equipment and climbing in. Only two of the attendees rushed, but they looked related and barely of adult age. The remainder were old enough to realize that this room was likely on a closed or semi-closed network and physical proximity wouldn't much matter. Nobody was loud enough to drown out the instructor's words; he'd kept talking, explaining that he'd be using designator Knight One in a Z95 then giving a high-level overview of general combat flying and why training was done the way it usually was. Having never attended formal training for combat flying the overview made a certain sort of sense and would likely make more once they got into it.

As he approached his own simulator pod - he'd happened to get one on the outer edge - he saw a couple of the students pairing their single-person pods. That also made sense; if they typically operated as a duo they should train like it. Audren didn't typically fly with others personally but it was good to know the capability was a thing. Like most of the others present he didn't pull on a helmet. It was far more likely that he would be dressed similarly to his current getup when flying the Tínen Sûl than as a fighter pilot. Instead, he fitted a headset on and plugged it into the simulator. The module began closing up as the Jedi began configuring controls and inputting variables, occasionally glancing at his datapad to ensure he got the numbers right. Once everything was in place the previously-blank walls vanished behind a wave of darkness that resolved itself into deep space.

A multitude of other vessels were also present. Every one that he could see was a different model; the sensor readout largely confirmed that and showed they were arranged in a wide sphere. Clearly this simulator set was one of the more expensive ones. Despite the schematic inputs and configurable controls he had halfway expected everyone other than the Z95 to be dropped into some generic YT-model freighter and strung out in a one-dimensional line like they were at the starting lane of a race. Maybe this would be realistic enough.

Roth Tillian​

 

[Roth Tillian]

Audren Sykes

Roth watched the instructor readouts as the class members activated their pods and began initializing their own ships.

He keyed up the first run, which adjust the displays to indicate firing arcs based on the ship statistics everyone had input into the computers.

“These are representations of firing arcs, all the areas that a ship’s guns can reach without moving the ship itself,” Roth was talking as he continues to fine tune the controls. “So as a pilot, your two goals are simple- stay outside their firing arc and keep them in yours.”

He nudged the throttle forward, and the simulated fighter cruised forward past the assortment of freighters towards the Star Destroyer in the distance. They were just out of range of the capital ship, and the firing arcs faded out not far from them.

“This is where you’ll want to brush up on your math, folks. Velocities, mass, angles, acceleration. All geometry in a multidimensional environment that you’re going to want to be able to process on the fly. This is where we start making our first decisions to trade off- speed and maneuverability. Speed is usually measured in a straight line, maneuverability involves rapid changes in direction. It’s harder to track, but it means rapid changes in velocity, and thus speed, meaning time spent in range of a firing arc. Who can think that through and explain the importance of that to me?”