Finbar “Echelon” Bandoran sat patiently in the ICF
II Fearless as the simulation crew prepared the TIE Vanguard mock cockpit. He sat on a sturdy metal chair in a medium sized room that was filled with viewing screens to watch the simulation take place, and he was dressed in a TIE Vanguard flight suit that had been modified for the simulation. The atmosphere of the room was a mellow but busy feeling, and Echelon slumped back and relaxed. A man dressed in a grey uniform that matched his retreating hair came over to Echelon and said, “Welcome to the simulation Crewman Echelon. If you don’t mind, I’ll give you your briefing.”
Echelon casually replied, “Go ahead.”
The man pulled out a handheld holoprojector and turned it on. A small blue array of light came out of the device, and showed a TIE Vanguard being piloted. The man cleared his throat and said, “You will step into the simulator where you will simulate piloting a small TIE Vanguard to a simulated New Republic base on an asteroid. The base was built on an old mining facility.” The projector showed the asteroid and the New Republic base. “You will then report back to us what you find there. That includes but is not limited to star fighters, capital ships, satellites, and weapons. Once there, you will pilot the Vanguard to the opposite side of the asteroid where you will land. For the sake of the simulation we’ll say that you weren’t detected on the other side of the asteroid, and you managed to get into the base from one of the old mining tunnels. That covers your scouting ability.”
The holoprojector showed the TIE Vanguard flying into one of the mining shafts on the asteroid. Echelon looked at the man, and said, “Ok. That makes sense.”
The man continued the briefing by saying, “Good. You will then get out of the mock TIE Vanguard cockpit, and walk down the hall and into Phase Two: Infiltration. We created a small mock facility in the
Fearless that is the New Republic base. The facility has many rooms and hallways so it should be very realistic. It also has live personnel and security cameras that guard the hallways, so you’ll have to be careful.” The holoprojector showed guards walking in a hallway with security cameras slowly panning above them. “Your job is to find the room that has a computer terminal without being detected. If you’re detected, the simulation will stop. That will cover your infiltration ability. Make sense?”
Echelon quickly replied, “Mhmm,” for he was eager to hear the rest of the briefing.
“Once you’ve found the terminal, you will have to slice into it and download a hidden file named ‘pants.mkk’ onto your datapad. Your datapad includes several programs that will help you hack the computer and find the file. Once you’ve found the file, the simulation will end, and you will be awarded with the knowledge that the Vast Empire knows that you’re competent enough in these skills to perform them in real life.”
Echelon smiled in a way that showed the long scar across his face in a funny way. He then said, “That sounds easy.”
The man turned the holoprojector off and said, “It’s far from easy. I forgot to mention that the New Republic ships can detect you and pursue you. You will have to travel far enough from the base that they will leave you alone, so you can come back to the opposite side of the asteroid. If you survive, you will have to travel across the facility without being detected by guards, cameras, and I forgot to mention the last part, sensors! If you manage to slip by these obstacles, you will then have to slice into the terminal. There’s one more thing I forgot to mention: the computer could become aware that its being sliced and alert your presence. Thus, failing the mission.”
Echelon frowned and said, “You seem to have forgotten a lot of details that you should have mentioned before.”
The man chuckled and said, “It’s my old brain sonny. Anyway, we’re ready for you to begin. Come right this way.”
Echelon got up from his chair and followed the man from the viewing chamber to the TIE Vanguard cockpit. On the other side of the cockpit, there was the hallway that led to the New Republic base. Echelon would go down that hallway later, if he survives the scouting mission.
It’s funny how the man forgets the details that make the mission harder.The man smiled at Echelon and said, “Here you go! Hop in and we’ll start. I also forgot to mention that only 23% of people who do this mission succeed.”
Echelon just shook his head at the old Vast Imperial officer who seemed to forget everything important, and climbed in the cockpit. He adjusted his seat, put on his helmet, and closed the hatch. The radio from his helmet came on, and he heard the voice of the grey uniformed man say, “You’ve experienced Advanced Heads Up Display before, so you should be used to the advanced…everything!” Echelon had tested out the prototype AHUD at a secret Vast Imperial Research Facility. He ended up being captured by New Republic soldiers, but that’s another story.
Yes! AHUD is awesome! Though, I had bad experiences before with it, it was till awesome.Suddenly he heard one of the simulation technicians say over the radio, “5…4…3…2…1!”
Time to fly!- OOC:
- Word Count: 917. This is the introduction to the ancillary skill missions that I will perform. Scouting, Infiltration, and Slicing. If you want to read Echelon’s adventure with the AHUD go to http://comnet.imperialnetwork.com/topic/15087/. I should write a post per day starting with scouting tomorrow. I know these are ancillary skill missions, but I would like feedback as if it were a story (which it is too).
