Communications Technician
Story 1: Installation, Utilization, & Operation of Basic Comm Equipment

PFC Ken Alibek walked anxiously down the hallway toward the classroom with his datapad, nearly twenty minutes early. He came to the door, tried the handle, and found it was locked. He looked around, then turned and leaned against the wall to wait. He took a moment to smooth his uniform, then crossed his arms. A few minutes passed...

"Get the hell off my wall!"

All the blood fell out of Ken's face as he sprang away from the wall and turned to stand at attention facing his superior. Before him stood a muscular officer, almost six inches taller. After a quick glance at the man's rank, he apologized.

"I-I'm sorry, Captain!" he stammered.

The officer bared his teeth and jabbed a finger at his own rank insignia. "I am a Major, but you don't call me that. You call me sir. I guess you weren't listening at orientation, huh?" He slowly examined Ken, from his haircut to the shine on his boots. "Private Alibek. Your boots look like shit. What did you shine them with, a candy bar? And put some creases in that uniform. With starch this time."

Ken saluted as he accepted the order. "Yes, sir!"

The Major returned the salute, grunted, and turned to the door. When he unlocked it with his keycard, a lump came to Ken's throat. "This is the instructor?" he thought. The Major propped the door open and disappeared inside. He glanced at his watch and saw that there were ten minutes left until the class was scheduled to begin. He looked down the hallway and saw more students coming, so he stepped inside and took a seat near the middle of the room. The Major was seated at a desk in the back of the room, and didn't look up.

One by one, the other students trickled into the room. Mostly PFCs, but a Lance Corporal and a full Corporal as well. When six men were seated, the Major stood, walked to the door, and shut it. He began introducing himself while he walked to the podium at the front of the room.

"Good morning, gentlemen. I am Major Niv Mannock, and I will be your instructor for the first phase of your training as Communication Technicians. First, let's make sure you all belong here."

Sure enough, all of those present were enrolled in the class. Ken relaxed, glad that Mannock wasn't trying to humiliate him in front of his peers. He must be too professional for that.

"Alright, let's get down to business. The business of a Communications Technician is manipulating signals. Sending, receiving, intercepting, radio signals, electrical signals, whatever. Now, any trooper can use his comlink for short-range transmissions, but a skilled Comm Tech can hack into Rebel comsats, or jam distress signals from a base under attack. Obviously, a Comm Tech provides his squad with a lot of opportunities." Mannock began walking toward the rear of the room. "Most of this is accomplished with our special toy, the Omninode Communications Set. I have one here to show you."

Mannock reached behind his desk and produced the equipment. He returned to the front of the room and set it down on the podium so he could exhibit its features to the whole class.

While he displayed the set, he explained its capabilities. "Your comlink provides basic communications abilities on set frequencies with limited power. This OCS can transmit and receive through nearly every band, has fantastic power, includes advanced cryptological software, and much more. It has a superb integral antenna, as well as plugs for external antennae, one of which is included in the Imperial issue."

The instructor passed out a copy of the set's manual to each student. He told the class the specifications of the set, and Ken dutifully wrote down each detail. The lecture moved on to how to actually use the set. Ken learned about its different indicators, controls, and ports. He learned how to assemble and where to place the external antenna. It wasn't in the official curriculum, but Mannock taught the class how to make a simple program to transmit a sinewave on a fixed frequency at intervals.

"As I said, we mostly depend on the Omninode Comm Set. Depending on your circumstances, it may be necessary to use other equipment. For instance, if your set is destroyed, you could capture a commercial radio station, or take a different portable set off of a dead enemy."

Mannock briefly described other transceivers in common use, but remarked that this would not be covered in detail until later.

"Your examination today will be practical," Mannock told the class. "All you have to do is follow my instructions. Real easy. Now, are you all going to pass today?" The small class immediately replied, "Yes, sir!"

As punishment for the incident prior to class, the Major had Ken perform his examination last. Ken strapped on the set and followed Mannock outside and onto a small hill dedicated to this particular examination.

The instructor stopped and gave Ken his first instructions. "Alright, Private, take off the set and hook up the external antenna."

"Yes, sir," Ken replied. He unstrapped the set and set it down on the ground, then removed the tripod antenna. He placed it on flat ground, then plugged it into the set.

"Turn on the set and tune to 630 kilocycles, straight amplitude modulation. Let me hear it on the speaker. Do not transmit."

Ken looked at the control panel. Recalling the diagram he saw in the manual, Ken quickly turned the set on and tuned into the desired frequency. A news announcer's voice came through the speaker, and the instructor nodded. "Very good. Now tune it to 99.1 megacycles, straight frequency modulation. Again, do not transmit."

Ken complied, a little bored with the whole exercise. When he tuned to the new frequency, music played out of the speaker. "Very good. Now  put on the headset and tune it to 120.45 kilocycles, single side band modulation. This time, transmit the voice message, "Hamburger and fries."

Ken smiled and complied. Mannock nodded as he heard the words over his own receiver. "Very good. Now shut it off and pack it up."

Ken grinned and got to work, turning the set off and packing up the antenna. The Major was satisfied with his performance! He stowed the collapsed antenna and grabbed a strap, glancing at Mannock to make sure he wasn't getting ahead of him. The instructor just nodded his approval, so Ken put the set on his back and went back inside with the instructor.

They returned to the classroom, and Mannock took the radio set from Ken. "You picked this up quick, but being a good radio operator doesn't make you a good soldier. Take pride in your appearance and in your professionalism. Don't give our enemies anything to gloat about. That's all for today, Private. You are dismissed."

Private Alibek came to attention and saluted the Major, remembering this piece of military courtesy primarily from holovids. He turned about and left the room. Time to shine these boots!

Indirect Fire Operations
Heavy Weapons Specialist



“I hope you all like math. Because that is 98% of running an artillery nest: math.” That was the first thing Sergeant Major Sandra Rycce said to the twelve person class of soldiers that had come to her to learn the basics of artillery.

A few people groaned. Vince didn’t mind. He was quite familiar with math, since he had had to use it in the mines. He was seated in a building just off the main complex. It was a small briefing room, meant to give classes just like this one. There was a screen behind the podium, on which different mathematical equations were showing.

“These are the basic ballistic calculation formulas,” Sandra said to the class. “Copy them down, make note of them, do whatever you need to do to remember them, but whatever you do don’t forget them.”

Sandra advanced slides, and now a layout of a battle field was on the screen. The layout had measurements, indicating the distance to the target, the elevation of the gun site and the target, and various other stats. Vince felt he knew what was coming.

Two techs passed out datapads to each of the troopers. After they were all done, Sandra spoke up. “Alright, let’s see what you can do. For starters, find the elevation I would need on the gun if there was no wind. Should be easy enough. Raise your hand when you are finished and I shall check your answer.”

Vince switched on the datapad and referred to his notes for the formula he needed. After he found it on the datapad he entered the distance indicated on the layout. He had the datapad do the calculations. Vince stared at the answer. It didn’t seem right. After staring at it some more, he turned back to his notes. He checked the layout again. Nothing. He just couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it.

Then he understood. It was the elevation. He had forgotten to take the elevation into account. He quickly entered the numbers, and got an answer. This answer looked more correct, and Vince raised hand. He wasn’t the first one done, nor was he the last. After about thirty seconds the sergeant made her way over to Vince.

She quickly glanced at the answer and nodded. “Good work,” she said to Vince.

They did much the same thing for a couple hours. The equations gradually became harder and harder as time passed, but so did the ease in which Vince found the equations and entered the correct numbers. He passed most of the questions, got a couple wrong, and came very, very close twice.

After they finished up equations the sergeant introduced the Imperial Heavy Artillery Platform. This artillery unit made of the majority of the Vast Empire’s projectile artillery and could fire several types of round extreme distances. It did come equipped with a repulsorlift, although it took almost a half an hour to deploy and pack up. This meant it was not often used during quick strikes, but more commonly for large scale engagements.
After the explanation of what the IHAP was, they moved on to the types of rounds. There were incendiary rounds, fragmentations rounds, explosive rounds, chemical rounds, sonic rounds…just about everything imaginable. Vince had never realized the different type of round that could be fired from artillery.

For the next four hours they studied how the IHAP worked. They studied its deployment, and how to orient the cannon. How to deploy the platform and how to pack it up. How to store the rounds, load the rounds, fire the rounds, and eject the empty shell. But most importantly they studied safety.

At the end of the lecture they were told to take an hour for lunch.

***One hour later***

Vince returned to the training area to find most of the squad assembled. They were loaded on to a troop transport. The transport took them about four miles outside the facility. They came to a camp where four artillery units were sitting, in their travel configuration.

Sandra divided the squad up into four groups, three to a group. One was a pilot/tech, one was a gunner, and one was a plotter. The pilot/tech was responsible for driving the vehicle and organizing its deployment. Once the vehicle was deployed the technician would monitor the generator.

The plotter was responsible for locating targets and computing the exact firing positions of the cannons. This was perhaps the most important job. If the plotter screwed up, then the cannon missed. It was also the job with the most pressure.

The gunner was responsible for firing the cannon. He loaded the cannon, adjusted its firing position, and pulled the ‘trigger’. This was the sought after job among artillery troops, as it was perhaps the easiest and most fun.

They would change groups every hour. In each group each trooper would take a job he didn’t already have. They were assigned groups to make this system work. In Vince’s first group he was assigned the position of pilot. He wasn’t too thrilled about it, but he didn’t complain.

His first order of business was to move the vehicle to the proper area. When the other two group members were loaded up, he started up the platforms reactor. When it was warm, he took the control stick and turned it slowly. The IHAP was not a nimble vehicle and required a deft touch. He gently guided it about four hundred yards to their designated target site. Once there he began to deploy the platform.

First he activated the brace arms. Two stretched out from the front of the vehicle, two from the back, and they braced the vehicle, providing a more stable platform for firing. This would normally be an easy job, except that a chain had to be run from brace to brace. Also, to deploy the actual gun, Vince was going to have to climb up on top and make the adjustments necessary…by hand.

Half an hour later Vince was sitting in the technicians chair in front of a monitor. It was the control monitor for the power core. From here Vince would monitor the power supply of the gun and the vehicle in general. If the reactor began to overheat, he would attempt to cool it down. As the guns began firing, Vince watched his monitor closely.

After an hour of firing at imaginary targets it was time to return. It took Vince another half an hour to prepare the vehicle for transport. When it was ready he drove it back to the staging area and found his next group.

The squadron repeated the process two more times, each time with a different group and each group member having a different job. It was stressing and exhilarating at the same time. Vince was amazed by the sheer power and range of the large vehicles.

After the exercise was complete, Vince and the other squad members were loaded back up in the transport. They returned to the small briefing room, tired and dusty and sore. It had been a long day of work. But they weren’t done yet.

The sergeant wanted to go over the practical exercise results. She seemed generally pleased.

“You all did well,” she said. “You hit most of your targets, and when you missed it wasn’t by much. There was that incident in group four on the second rotation involving the dud shell, but you handled that well. Just so you know, that wasn’t a training procedure. If that shell had gone off the four of you would have died.”

Vince nearly fainted. That had been his group, and he had been the gunner. The shell hadn’t gone off when fired, so he had had to dispose of it. He thought it was just a training maneuver. Now he knew he was wrong.

“I hope each one of you will continue your training. You all passed. Squad, Dismissed.” Sandra quickly exited the room.

Vince turned with the rest of his squad and filed out of the room. He immediately headed for his quarters. He wanted a shower. A long, hot shower.

Range Finding & Advanced Vector Calculation
Heavy Weapons Specialist



Vince sighted down the barrel of the rifle. It was an expensive sniper rifle, a Whisper Subsonic Slugthrower Sniper Rifle. It was the sniper weapon of choice for the Corps, and was a very effective weapon.

Vince thought back to the lecture earlier that day. He listened as his spotter read off ranges and various wind readings. He knew that at this range he would have to take everything into account.

***Earlier that day***

There were only six people in this class. It was the smallest Vince had attended yet. He liked the small classes though. It removed distractions. He was a few minutes early for this class, which was ok. They were in a small room today. It couldn’t even be called a briefing room. Vince knocked on the door, and then entered. He was met by a Lieutenant Yillis Verring.

“Greetings trooper. Take a seat,” the lieutenant said.

Vince did so, and glanced around the room. It consisted of a long table with chairs around it, and at each space was set a binder. At the head of the table was a chair with several papers on the table in front of it. In the middle of the table was a holoprojector. It was a basic conference room, converted for a class.

Vince didn’t have a problem with that. He could survive anywhere, under any conditions. Well, maybe not wealthy conditions. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself. His time in the mines had caused him to lose his sense of self-comfort. He could sleep on the ground, or in an old-fashioned feather bed. It didn’t matter to Vince.

Vince pulled the binder to him and began to leaf through it. The first few pages described the situation a sniper would be used in. The next pages described the sniper rifle they would be using, the Whisper sniper rifle. The binder went on to describe the basic trajectory and ballistic formulas used, as well as what type of conditions could affect a bullet, how they could affect the bullet, and what to do to correct for the conditions.

Vince found it fascinating. He had always enjoyed long range shooting, and had been fond of hunting as a teenager. He had used an old czerka slughthrower hunting rifle, but he had been successful many times. He had, however, never understood the complex mechanics that went into long range shooting.

Vince read through the binder while he waited for the rest of the class to file in. Slowly, the other troopers filed in. When they were all present the lieutenant looked up from the papers he was reading.

“Greetings, all of you,” the man said. “If you have made it this far, then you have qualified for a variety of weapons.”

“This course will take you on an in-depth study of sniper techniques. This is a two day course. Today, the first day, will consist of classroom work, while tomorrow will be the practical part of this course.”

The lieutenant looked around at each trooper. He had serious eyes, deep brown eyes, and brown hair. He was a few inches shorter than Vince, and he had a deep voice. Vince liked the man. He was serious, calm, and collected.

“A little bit about my self before we begin. My name is Yillis Verring. I served two years as a scout/sniper in Gryphon Company. I was reassigned here only recently to teach this course.” The lieutenant paused again. “Lets begin then,” he said, “If you will open your binders to the first page and direct your attention to the center display, we will get started.”

“The first thing to realize about sniper rifles is the sheer range at which one uses these weapons…” the lieutenant began.

Vince listened to the officer and watched various holofilms for the next three hours. In that timed they studied the basic components of the Whisper sniper rifle. They studied ballistic trajectories and formulas. They studied how weather can affect a bullets flight, how wind and rain can hamper a bullets trajectory. Vince learned that even something as subtle as humidity can affect a bullets path when firing at distances of two or more miles.

After three hours they were given a twenty minute break. Vince used the ‘fresher and got a fresh up of caf. He returned to the room, where they resumed their studies. Now they were studying advanced ballistic formulas.

Vince had his datapad out and was taking notes constantly. He had never realized the complexity that went into making a two mile shot. He was, however, starting to appreciate modern ballistic computers.

After they had learned about ballistics and bullet trajectories, and of the rifle itself, they moved on to tactics. When and where to use a sniper rifle was perhaps the most important part of being a scout/sniper. Knowing when to take a shot, and how to take a shot, was the most important skill a sniper could ever learn. As the lieutenant put it:

“You can make a two and a half mile shot every time, you can hit an apple at two miles, but if you choose a bad time to shoot, then you’ve wasted all your skill, all your talent. You’ve wasted my time.”

They went through a variety of scenarios. In each scenario the lieutenant explained the best course of action possible. Then they ran scenarios where the troopers had to decide what to do. Each trooper made a decision, and the lieutenant graded their decision. In the beginning most of the troopers answered incorrectly. As time progressed, however, more and more of the questions were answered correctly.

The class progressed, time flew by, and soon they were being dismissed for the day. Tomorrow began their practical lesson, however, and they were told to be at the range at 0800 sharp.

***The next morning***

Vince arrived at the range on time. He went to the indicated station, and there stood the lieutenant and a few of the troopers. He saluted the lieutenant and waited for the other troopers to arrive. After a while they did arrive, and the lieutenant opened the lesson.

“These are Whisper sniper rifles. These rifles are the most common in the Corps, and are also some of the best performing rifles on the market. They can fire a three inch grouping a two and three quarter miles, and beyond that if the conditions are right. They are also extremely quiet, hence their name.”

The lieutenant looked at them. “Your goal today is simple,” he said. “You must hit every target. Every single one. If you do this, you qualify. If not, then you don’t. The targets are about ten centimeters across. About the size of a human head, give or take.”

“That will come later, however. For now, lets experiment. If you will pair up and find a station, we can get started.”

Vince paired up with another trooper and found a station. At each station was a ballistics chart, a ballistics computer, a rifle, and ammunition. The rifle only had a clip of five shots, so they would need to reload frequently.

The first exercise was fairly simple. The target was at eight hundred meters, an easy shot for the rifle. This was to just get the basic feel of the rifle and the scope, and as a warm up. Vince shot first, and put all five shells within an inch of each other. His partner did much the same.

Next they moved the targets back to a kilometer. To make it more interesting giant fans began to create ‘wind’ that blew across the range. Now it was time to do some ballistics work. Vince was shooting first, so his partner did most of the work. The other man took the range and wind speed and did the calculations. His measurements told Vince just how much to adjust the targeting scope on his rifle.

After making the required adjustments Vince sighted down the scope. He centered the crosshairs on the target and gently squeezed the trigger. He was rewarded with the soft pop of the rifle going off, and a second later he saw the bullet hit the target through the scope.

“Hit,” his partner reported dutifully.

Vince repeated the process four more times, and then it was his partners turn. They changed the wind speed and distance a little bit each time, so each shot was different. He used the rang finders to find the distance of the target, then took the wind speed and direction. He recorded both down and entered them into the ballistics computer. He got the answer and relayed it to his partner. He then picked up a spotting scope and waited.

A few seconds later Vince heard a soft pop, and then the target shuddered as the bullet ripped through it. Vince reported a hit, and the process again repeated four more times. Again, the wind and range was varied.

This went on for some time, the recruits just practicing shooting in different conditions. Eventually it came time for the final tests. Although Vince had done well during practice, he was still a little worried about the final.

The instructor picked names at random for the order. Vince got picked first. The shot was two miles down range, an enormous distance, with no wind. Vince took a seat at the rifle. He had to hit it three out of five times to certify and pass the course.

Vince sighted down the barrel of the rifle. It was an expensive sniper rifle, a nice rifle. It would do its job. Vince would just have to do his. He adjusted his scope for the range and set it to maximum zoom. He had already done the ballistic calculations, so he knew exactly how much to elevate his crosshairs.

Vince gently wrapped his hand around the tactical grip of the rifle. He leaned in and closed one eye, peering down the scope. He aligned the crosshairs on the target, and steadied his muscles. It had gone still in the range. Everyone had stopped out of respect for the feat he was about to attempt.

Vince quieted his mind and focused on the target. He took several deep breaths. When he felt he was ready he took a deep breath, let it half out, and held it. He then gently squeezed the trigger. He squeezed and squeezed…and then the rifle went off.

He waited for the bullet to reach the target. With his high-powered magnification scope, the target appeared to thirty or so yards away. Modern technology was amazing. It took the bullet several seconds to reach the target. Vince waited, holding his breath. Finally, he saw the target shutter as the bullet made contact.

YES!, Vince thought to himself.

Vince repeated the process four more times, only missing once, on his fifth try. He qualified, as did four other people in his class. One person, however, did not qualify. Vince left that course with a new and improved outlook on snipers and long range marksmanship.

The last thought to go through his head as he left the building, shaking with excitement, was Damn, I need a drink.

Placeholder for next one >.<