The Trench was like nothing Titus “Slammer” Green had ever seen before. It was a massive geological feature, a deep chasm cut in the opaque ice that covered Abrae’s surface. It wasn’t very wide, roughly twenty meters at the top, and it gradually narrowed to about ten meters near the bottom. Dispersed along the sides and bottom of the trench were a variety of targets and defensive positions. For this live simulation, the opposing forces would use low-power tagging lasers that would indicate hits on Slammer’s ship, but would not cause any real damage that might endanger his life as he flew through the narrow trench. Similarly, Slammer’s own weaponry and been replace with tagging lasers, and instead of the standard half-dozen proton torpedoes the Interceptor usually carried, his ordnance bay was loaded with six ‘dummy’ warheads. The goal here was to test his skills, not endanger his life, and everything about the simulation had been set up to provide a realistic combat experience without any significant amount of risk.
Which didn’t mean that Slammer wasn’t nervous about flying through the Trench, although perhaps nervous was too strong of a word. Eager might have fit his mood better. A verifiable thrill junky, he had been looking forward to running the Trench ever since he had first laid eyes on it, and now the moment had finally arrived. Angling his Interceptor towards the start of the course, Slammer waited impatiently for the orders to begin the test. And the entire time, beneath the bulky helmet he wore, he had a huge grin plastered on his face.
After a few long minutes, Slammer got the command he was waiting for. “Senior Crewman Titus Green, call sign Slammer,” a metallic voice spoke into his ear, “you are cleared for trench run. You may proceed when ready.”
Slammer didn’t waste any time. He slammed the throttle of his TIE Interceptor to full open, roaring towards the Trench at monumental speed. He slowed only slightly as he neared closer and closer, adjusted the Interceptor’s course slightly, and then…
He was in. The walls of the Trench seemed to close in on him as he navigated through the slim canyon at breakneck speed. He pushed the Interceptor faster and faster, loving every second of the thrill, of the risk. It wasn’t until another voice broke in over his communications unit that he finally slowed down to a more manageable speed.
“Slammer, this is Trench control. You’re approaching the first set of targets, we advise you decelerate and commence your run.”
Grudgingly Slammer eased back on his throttle, slowing the Interceptor slightly. After the initial rush of danger wore off, he began to scan his readouts for the designated hard targets, all the while making sure to keep an eye on his surroundings to make sure he didn’t fly into a wall. It was tricky, but the targets had been ‘painted’ in advance, making them easy to identify on his scanners and his heads-up display. So as he guided the Interceptor around a gentle corner, the first target immediately flashed red in his vision. It was a mobile artillery platform, positioned on a ledge cut into the ice shelf, and sitting on either side of it were two portable anti-aircraft heavy blaster cannons. As soon as Slammer rounded the corner the cannons opened up on him, letting loose with their quick-firing bursts of energy. The individual bolts were relatively low powered, but in aggregate they could very easily cause massive damage to the lightly armored Interceptor. It was a threat he hadn’t been expecting, but one he immediately had to take into account.
Inching his throttle up slightly, Slammer began to weave as much as the narrow trench allowed, trying to make it harder for the cannons to hit him. As he neared the ledge, he swung the TIE craft up slightly before nudging the fighter’s nose down once again. Then he let the Interceptor’s targeting computers go to work, making minute adjustments to the angle of the fighter’s quad-linked laser cannons. This was the most dangerous part of the strafing run. Slammer only had a few seconds to successfully destroy the target, and he was completely exposed for the entirety of that time. Gritting his teeth, he suppressed the urge to pull up out of the trench and avoid the enemy fire. Instead he maintained his course, and a few seconds later he got a ‘good tone’, indicating that his fighter had finally calculated a clear firing solution. The tone came just in time, as Slammer’s firing window was fast closing. With an uncaring grin he depressed the trigger on the fighter’s joystick, causing the Interceptor to spit out a torrid of thick green lasers. The lasers smashed into the ledge at incredible velocity. In a real combat situation everything on the platform would have very likely been vaporized, but as it were any effects from the strafing run were strictly simulated. All the same, both the artillery platform and the AA guns disappeared from the scanners, indicating that his initial run had been quite successful. A few of the blaster bolts had splashed across his shields in the final few seconds of the run, dimming them slightly, but none had reached the Interceptor’s armor plating. So far, things were going well.
Slammer’s elation was short lived, however. Almost immediately after the first target the Trench narrowed slightly and began to cut back and forth at random intervals. This made flying even more difficult, and Slammer began to wonder if perhaps he had made a mistake. His palms began to sweat in the heavy gloves he wore as he quickly maneuvered the Interceptor through the harrowing Trench. Then, just as things began to widen a bit and straighten out, Slammer caught site of his next target: a pair of heavy laser towers guarding a tunnel—the exact same tunnel that he would have to fly through momentarily.
Slammer laughed aloud as the heavy towers opened fire on his small fighter. The energy bolts roared past him, slamming into the Trench’s walls on either side, but he didn’t slow. Instead he accelerated even further and punched a quick succession of buttons on his targeting computer. Both the towers lit up in Slammer’s heads-up-display, a tone sounded in the cockpit, and Slammer hit yet another button, this time located on the fighter’s control stick. Two torpedoes fired from the Interceptor in quick succession, streaking towards and ‘detonating’ on each of the towers. Slammer smiled to himself and pushed his TIE even faster, urging it onwards into the tunnel.
There were more targets, of course: a tank, a speeder, an infantry position. All were dispersed on ledges throughout the trench, presenting Slammer with difficult but rewarding targets, and testing his skills in the process. Eventually, however, Slammer came to the end of the Trench, and caught sight of his final target: a heavily fortified command bunker ringed with anti-aircraft turrets. Anxious to be done with the simulation, and at the same time lover every second of it, Slammer began to climb slightly. The only vulnerable spot on the entire bunker was an angular port that ran perpendicular to the rest of the Trench. Slammer would have to circle around and come in from above, all while avoiding the heavy AA fire from the surrounding towers.
Weaving at nearly breakneck speed to avoid the heavy lasers streaking through the air around him, Slammer made his way around the bunker as fast as he could. There were a few close calls, enemy laser bolts that passed close enough to light up his shields, but the lithe Interceptor managed to avoid the worst of the enemy fighter. Finally Slammer reached his target, and began to climb again to gain the altitude necessary to dive in on his target. He decelerated slightly as he reached the top of the parabolic arc, leaving himself wide open to AA fire in the process. However, before the enemy gunners could land a substantial hit, he accelerated again rapidly. As he dove towards the bunker he let loose with his last two proton torpedoes. Then, just before he impacted with the surface of the bunker, he pulled the fighter into a tight climb and streaked up and out of the trench.
He slowed his ship to a stop once he was out of the engagement zone. Checking his scanners he noted that both his final torpedoes had found their marks. The bunker was effectively destroyed, and as far as Slammer was concerned he had passed his Ground Attack test. The instructors back on the Platform would give him his exact scores, but Slammer had never been nervous about receiving exam results.
After all, how could he fail.
