OOC:

I decided to do all three ancillaries here on this topic. That way I don't have to create a new topic for each one, so here is A2.


A2 Pilot: Speeders
WC: 2,111

“Before I let you ladies handle my machines, I want a full report on each vehicle you plan on operating. Be it speeder, tank, or a shuttle. I want you to know what the vehicle is capable of, how far you can push it, and where its weakness lays.” It was the fourth time the instructor had repeated the statement. Anival was starting to question the elder officer’s mind, but rules were rules. Anival picked up the manual and read. It was his third day at the installation. So far, he had yet to be put behind the controls of a vehicle. 

The Reconnaissance Troop Transporter seemed to be a vehicle drawn up by a not-so-bright individual. Why would a trooper willingly stand on the outside of a speeder, patrolling for danger? Yes it had the advantage that the troopers could spring out quickly, and the light twin blasters and those were about its only advantage. Where did he begin with the drawback? A major flaw was the six troopers on the outside were more than likely to get picked off by enemy snipers or a well placed mine, or even by a collision.  Overall he would be safe, and the troopers were armored…..

He gave it a B


The Imperial Patrol Speeder was a bit better. To Anival it looked more like a local sector security vehicle. It was sporty, had a hood mounted cannon. It could hold four armored troopers.  No real disadvantage and its only good point was its speed.

He gave it a C.

Now, the Aratech 74 Z that was a bike Anival wouldn’t mind riding, it was simple. A speeder that could clear most two story buildings, outrun most civilian speeders. It had twin under-mounted laser cannons. Draw back was that it could only carry up to two troopers, but with that speed who cared?

He gave it an A.


Time progressed, the reading of manuals, getting into the cockpit of each vehicle and pointing out controls, and quick-fix solutions to common mishaps in the field, were all learned, and recited to the utmost extreme.  One day the instructor told Anival he was going to run the Aratech through a course, it was a no fire course. This was to be the beginning of the real course. They were going to pilot each of the vehicles in this course.  The bike was already on, just hovering in place, ready for its rider. He walked up to it, and studied it, fully aware he was being watched and graded. He took his time; examining the fuel lines, the hydraulic lines, the repulsor engine, and finally the gauges. After being satisfied with the examination he straddled the bike. It felt good to be on a bike, he had ridden the 74 Y, but not the Z type. So he wasn’t a virgin when it came to speeder bikes.
He looked back at the instructor, waiting for a nod of approval.

“Go ahead.”

Anival smiled, and gunned the throttle. The force nearly knocked him off the bike. Adrenaline quickly built up in his veins. He was sure that if his helmet wasn’t on, he would have been blinded by the wind and choked by the insects in the air. As it was, the experience was joyful, the scenes blurred by quite quickly, trees and logs, and shrubs, all melded into a single entity, a single vast, vegetative organism.

At just 210 KPH Anival decided to speed up, he switched gears with his foot, and accelerated. The gauge was reading 378 when the first curve came into sight. He didn’t slow down, it wasn’t sharp. Instead, he kept the same speed. The turn was successful, but was followed by a sharper turn. One, which was densely covered by foliage. Again the turn was achieved, but this time, a fallen log crossed the track. It was too long, and he was going too fast to swerve around it. Instead, he opted for a different approach. Sure, he could just blast the damn thing, but then debris would be in the air. He hit the altitude control, and cleared the tree.  Everything went fine for another five minutes; surely there was another obstacle to overcome. Just as he was starting to think nothing else was going to be thrown at him. Four digital targets appeared, all going the same speed that he was.

Anival regarded each one, one was a friendly and two were hostile.  Manipulating the thrust controls, he slowed down; a small groan escaped his lips. About two hundred meters ahead was a ramp, certain speed was needed for it to be crossed. He was going 312 KPH, which meant he was averaging 26 kilometers a minute, he quickly did the math. He had around six minutes to get rid of the three hostiles, and another two minutes to accelerate enough to clear the ramp.

He swerved to the left, firing his cannons. The first target didn’t react, and quickly dissipated, the other two remained in their same formation, and he smiled. Again he settled up behind the enemy speeder, only this time, one of the other two slowed down, and positioned itself behind him.  He didn’t have time to react. His engine stalled, and came to a slow stop. He wondered what was wrong. A transmission came through his helmet.

“You fail. You have the maneuvering down, but you don’t have the double concentration yet. Finish the course at any speed and report back. Reread the “Speeders and You” manual again. We will try again tomorrow.”








Anival was infinitely confident he was going to pass. He had failed with the Aratech and Reconnaissance Troop Transporter. He had only passed with the land speeder. So naturally, practice on the handling of the other two had increased, and with time he had honed his school, to a level where he could at least pass the exam. His chosen vessel was Reconnaissance Transporter.

Again he went through the motions of checking the vehicle. He climbed in the cockpit. He did a quick systems check.
“Alright Sergeant, you’re mission is to get those twelve troopers to designated point beta, return for a prisoner in point Romeo, and Return to Alpha with the troopers. This will be a live fire exercise so be aware of that.”

Anival waited for confirmation from each of the six outboard troopers. Once they were all clear. He eased on the controls and accelerated the transport. At six and a half meters long, it was the longest and bulkiest of the three speeders. The speed wasn’t felt like it was in the Aratech, and the maneuverability wasn’t as great as it was in the patrol speeder. Anival kept in eye on the road, and on the read outs, he was scanning to make sure no other speeders or traps were laying around in wait. In his two weeks at the camp, he had developed the double focus that was critical to being a successful pilot.
A small blip was on his radar, he ran the codes that were being broadcast, and recognized it as a friendly.

“Gunner, be advised friendly ahead forty meters, do not engage.”

“Copy, helm.”

He wasn’t focusing on the scenery this time. He was fully alert, looking at the road ahead for anything the equipment might not pick up, and checking the equipment for anything visuals failed to see.  He got to the drop point and the troopers got off, only the gunner and two other stayed. Anival waited until he was told to leave. Once he was told to leave he checked his console for vitals. There were eight. The gunner and himself.

“Gunner, what are those six other heartbeats?”

“Not heartbeats, false info reported from dummies placed in the spring carriers, so don’t crash.”

“Copy, thanks for the heads up.”

Again he started to accelerate.  Soon they were on course to the second stop.  Another blip appeared on the radar, this time it was accompanied by a shrill whine.  An invisible fist slammed into the side of the speeder, it swerved a bit, nearly scraping a tree.

“Gunner unidentified…”

“I know, I know. Damn, I’m not dense.”

“Copy, then shoot back.”

“Copy.”

Again the shrill whine, and the impact, this time while they were hitting a curve, the shot hit the back end of the speeder, and it started to spin. They went off track and hit some shrubs and a tree, two blips dropped of the vitals screen. He swore. 

“Gunner are you sleeping? Two UES, incoming fast.”

As quick as they came they left.

“Gunner stay sharp.”

They arrived at the second spot; Anival reported the attack like he was supposed to and opened the ship. They loaded the prisoners and Anival checked to make sure they were secured, it might have been only an exercise, but he was determined to do it right. Once they were all ready they again left.

“There seems to be six vitals again.”

“Yeah, now we have live troopers.”

“Copy” Anival swallowed, hoping they wouldn’t be attacked again. He turned the radio to sweep as much as its limits would allow it, and set it to every frequency.

Nothing was appearing, a hope that no other attack would fallow was shattered by two blips on the fringes of the radar, and they were still fifty meters away.

“Gunner, to UES forty meters at your 12, be advised.”

“Outward troopers, guns at the ready, not sure how much damage those guns you have will be effective, but we have two bogeys at our 12.”

Ten meters before they arrived at the possible ambush, Anival stopped the speeder; he kept the nose of the transport facing the two hidden speeders. The two speeders came into view; they were camouflaged by shrubs and a green and black paint. They had two cannons each; both seemed to be light duty. No warning came before the first shot. Blue bolts rained towards them. Anval hit several controls; the speeder went four meters horizontally to the left, the bolts dissipated harmlessly into the ground.

“Are you guy’s asleep, fire!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, shots rang towards the speeders, sever shots connected, but did no visual damage. Anival judged the speeders height, the ground in front of them. Then recalled what the speeders max repulsor height, it was around four meters. He guessed the height of the other speeders at around the same height. He took a deep breath, and gunned the controls. Everything happened quickly. The transport lurched forward, and strained to move the bulky contraption, then started to clear. At first it seemed the distance was going to be insufficient, they didn’t have enough speed. Anival toggled the controls for the height control, and they rose higher, and higher. The machine started to shutter as its max height was achieved. He didn’t check the readouts, he just kept going. The other two pilots seemed to have froze. A meter away, and it didn’t look good, the nose was going to hit the viewport and tip offer.

That wasn’t what happened; a terrible screech filled the transport. Anival didn’t even wince. They rose a little higher as the repulsors found something else to push off of. The result wasn’t pretty. Anival hadn’t known what was going to happen, but it happened none the less. The weight of the transport and the strength of the anti-gravs bore down on the other transports roof, and smashed it down. Not enough to kill everyone inside, but enough that the gunner would be severely injured. A readout showed one of the anti-gravs was damaged. Again Anival reported it as protocol. No reply came. The rest of the way was quite, not a single disturbance. It seemed he had either failed or passed.

Once they were in base they were greeted by a guard of four men, and what seemed to be a planetary security officer. Anival powered down the speeder, and checked on the prisoners. For a simulated transport they seemed to be in rough shape. He payed it no mind, and walked outside. There he was greeted by the instructor and slapped on the back.

“Congrats, you succeeded and passed.”

He was confused, had the instructor made a poor choice of words?

“This was a life-fire exercise, at least, until you dropped off the first scouts. You were actually doing us real transport job. The first bogey was fake, ours naturally, but the others, they were trying to help their buddies escape.”

Anival sighed; relieved he hadn't hurt a fellow trooper.