I unbuckled from my seat and stood from the pod after it lowered to the ground. Amy and Daren were already out, looking over their pads. I wiped the sweat from my brow and joined them.
“How’d you do?”
“Amy made it through three, I made it to four.” Daren pulled up this overview and passed it over.
“You both ended up making the same mistake I did, burned too much too fast.”
“Yeah, that scenario was killer. Lots of fun but killer.”
As one, our stomachs all grumbled at us audibly. We each looked at the others and then broke out laughing.
“How is Gwayne doing?”
“He just made it to the fifth gate, but he’s used almost no delta V. I imagine he’s got some time in him yet.” Amy smiled at me passing over Gwayne’s flight so far.
“Let’s go eat. We’ll greet him later when he gets out.”
“Absolutely, commander.” She giggled and headed to the locker room.
I shrugged and left to go to my room. We had been in the simulator for hours and hadn’t eaten anything since before the first scenario. It wasn’t the longest I had gone without food, but it was long enough that I was feeling it. I showered and joined them in the mess hall. Glancing around, it was strikingly empty, with just someone manning the line and nobody else in there.
“Hey, what time is it?” I could pull my pad out, but both of them already had theirs out, reviewing their work in the simulator.
“0215.” Daren said deadpan.
Fourteen hours in the simulator, not quite a record but that was an incredibly long time. Sure, missions often were over twice that, but the intensity of missions compared to the simulator was orders of magnitude different. Missions were long, long stretches of nothing, punctuated with a very brief engagement, lasting minutes on the outside. Simulators were almost entirely full action, with almost no deadtime or slack. Sure, orbiting the gas giant was a break, but it lasted maybe an hour at most; an hour of computations and preparation at that. Some missions might have an hour of computations and prep, but it was often after six to twelve hours of rest and silent running.
“You guys did great. The computer told me that it was possible to complete, but I had no delusion that it would be managed on the first try by anyone. No, before you ask, I didn’t look at the solutions, just trusted the computer to be correct.” I put a hand up to forestall the anticipated question before anyone asked it.
“Mmm, you did great commander. Nobody could have predicted that solar projection coming at just that moment.”
“Maybe not, but I had already ruined my chances of succeeding before it took me. I had the delta V for one, maybe two more gates before I lost all control. I got sloppy, didn’t plan my moves carefully enough.”
“It was still damned impressive. Nothing we ever see will be on that level of complexity. It was too dense to actually exist literally anywhere. It could only exist in a simulation like that.”
“That’s true, Daren, but I figured it would be a good way to benchmark one’s skills and give practice for doing the real thing. The number of bodies and complexity of reaching the gates made it so that one had to really work to get their way through it.”
We got our food, chicken carbonara as it happened, and sat at a booth. “I wanted to see where everyone was at in a non-combat situation. One day you might leave being a lancer and move to the conn of a capital ship and these gravity slings become even more important. Our lancers have the delta V to avoid worrying about doing gravity slings most days, but not when we’re in an obstacle course of gravity wells. Removing the distraction of combat allowed everyone to focus on the task at hand: Budgeting your Delta V and calculating courses.”
“Can you explain Delta V? It’s used all over the place but I’m having trouble conceptualizing what it actually is.” Amy looked slightly sheepish as she poked at her food.
“Of course. I didn’t realize the reading material I assigned you left that out. Delta V is the amount you can change your velocity, Delta for change, V for velocity. In space we don’t worry about miles to the gallon, as it were. Once you start moving, you’ll keep moving for the most part. What we care about is the amount we can change our velocity. You can’t bank in space like you can in an atmosphere, there’s nothing to push against to adjust your course. So every maneuver is literally a change in velocity, pushing your course in a new direction.
“This is why gravity slings are important: They allow you to get Delta V from just passing by without using fuel. You effectively are getting ‘free’ Delta V on top of what your fuel will allow. Obviously, the scenario we just left is a surreal situation that we will never find ourselves in, but it makes for excellent practice for very complicated calculations and piloting.”
“That makes sense, I suppose. It’s good to finally have it explained though. A lot of concepts we use are just taken for granted as understood but aren’t ever explained in full.”
I chuckled, swallowing the bite I had taken. “That’s very true. Welcome to the service!”
We finished up our meal and headed back to the simulators to check on Gwayne. The friendly chatting continued between Daren and Amy but I had mostly tuned it out as I checked my pad. It had been nearly 20 hours for Gwayne in the simulator and unlike our fighters, simulators didn’t have full life support systems. Sure, the air worked fine, as did the lavatory systems, but there weren’t any food or water feeds. Nobody was supposed to spend a whole day in the simulator. I had initially booked our pods for twelve hours and all of us had gone over, but Gwayne was bordering on running into a fifth block of simulator time.
I composed a message to the Squadron Commander to let him know about my snafu. I hadn’t looked at any of the data on the new scenario I had made because I didn’t want to give myself an edge on my performance.
To: Commander Vikas
From: Wing Commander Dwayne
Subject: Simulator Time
I sincerely apologize for not requesting the appropriate amount of simulator time, I was testing out a new gravity well simulation (see attached) and did not get an estimate for the time to completion. Also, please release Gwayne from all squadron level duties for the next 24 hours, as he will not have left the simulator for over 20 hours at the time of this message.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Pressing send, I sighed and took a look at the readout on Gwayne’s pod. His vitals all looked good, no signs of blood sugar crashing or anything. Syncing my pad up to his current situation, I took a look at his flight path and smiled.
“Hey guys take a look at this.” I called the other two over and displayed the pad to them.
Gwayne had made it much farther than I had was actually on his way to the last gate before he completed the simulation. He had already far exceeded all expectations and I should probably consider writing him a commendation for his technical excellence. If I made my guess right, this simulation might just make itself a cornerstone training simulation for new pilots and having an example of someone accomplishing it would set a benchmark for everyone to test themselves against.
I sent the other two to bed telling them to get 8 hours of sleep and be ready for an after action in twelve hours. It wasn’t going to give Gwayne a lot of time to rest before he had to be in the debriefing room, but he could rest more after. I took a seat on the floor and began to go through the data from Gwayne’s flight plan, seeing what he did and did not do and where we deviated.
A cursory inspection indicated that Gwayne began a lot less enthusiastically, probably taking the time to plot out a rough course before he dove in. Even though he passed through many of the same routes I did, his execution was far more precise and clean, using less of his fighter’s Delta V and allowing him to escape some of the hazards I ran into. He also had a much clearer idea about the exploding planet which allowed him to circumvent the initial chaotic conditions and use far more stable ones for his pass. I stroked my chin as I pondered each and every decision he made, making notes to ask him about the decisions I was most curious about as I went.
I wasn’t paying any attention to my surroundings, pondering the paths that Gwayne had chosen when I felt a tap on my shoulder, startling me. I dove across the floor, crab walking backwards for a moment while I assessed my surroundings. Was I under attack? By whom? It’s just Gwayne. I take a brief breath, calming quickly.
“Sorry commander, I tried talking to you but you were absorbed in your pad.” He shrugs apologetically.
“No, no. It’s fine. My mistake, I was just studying your flight paths. What time is it now?”
“0800. I just finished a few minutes ago. That was some scenario. It really gave me pause so I wanted to work out as much as I could in advance before entering in and committing to a path. I guess doing that probably saved me because I managed to mostly avoid many of the pitfalls you and the others ran into.”
“You did a great job Gwayne. I’m really proud of your performance. I’d like you to lead the debriefing tomorrow at 1600. Don’t worry, you don’t have to worry about making it formal, just walk through your flight path, what you did, why, that stuff. It’s not about the form of the debriefing tomorrow, but the substance.”
“I… I guess I can do that commander. Thank you for the opportunity.”
“Go get some grub and then go to bed. I’ll see you at 1600 in the briefing room.”
“Yes sir.”
He turned and left, certainly cursing my name for voluntelling him into that role. It was fine. It was to be expected to be given tasks you were going to loathe when you were in the service. If he was going to rise above the role of Pilot he’d need to develop the skills I was forcing him to use. Out of the three under me, Gwayne had the most promise of rising above the role of Pilot in the Lancer wings and into a leadership role. The other two definitely had promise, but I imagine that both will move laterally to a capital ship position before they rise up in the roles.
It had been a stupid long night, over twenty four hours from waking to my return to my cabin. I sweated, panted, and drove myself to the bone finishing my training today, but it had been worth it. We had accomplished three training scenarios which were brand new and that last would probably enter regular training routines. I sat in my room and checked my status and messages.
Notification: Achievement Unlocked: “Training the Fleet”
You have devised a training simulation noteworthy enough to be transmitted back to HQ and incorporated into the regular training of all future Pilots. Reward: Command talent “Instructor”: Your experience and understanding of teaching others allows you to amplify other’s experience gain by 150% in any skill you have more ranks in than your trainee.
Notification: Your dedication to your physical fitness has paid off. You now have an additional level of strength and a rank in the skill Fitness.
Fitness: You run faster, swim better, punch harder, lift stronger. All physical tasks are easier and you can go longer than the uninitiated.
Notification: Your piloting in today’s training has paid off in more ways than one. By coordinating complicated gravity slings you have gained the skill Navigation.
Navigation: You have learned the methods of heading and control, the ability to follow the curves of time space and manipulate gravity to your benefit. All navigation calculations will come easier and faster to you.
Notification: Today’s training has resulted in 200XP gained.
Name: Dwayne Starflight
Current Role: Wing Commander
Rank: 2
Agility 7
Coordination 11
Small Ship Gunnery 2
Talents: Firing Stability, Targeting Reticle, Exploit Weakness
Pilot 4
Talents: Flight Stability, Precognition
Reasoning 9
Science 4
Talents: Maneuvers (Strafing Runs, Vectored Thrusting, Multiple Axis of Throttle)
Tactics 3
Talents: Weak point identification, Intel analysis (3.8 minutes)
Emotional Intelligence 7
Command 2
Talents: Coordinate, Instructor
Strength 9
Fitness 1
XP: 600
Messages:
To: Wing Commander Dwayne
From: Commander Vikas
Subject: RE: Simulator Time
Not a problem Dwayne. Actually, Admiral Terrorfloof wants to commend you on an excellent simulation. Somehow he caught wind of it before I had even heard of it and he wants to issue a commendation to you for its design. Report to my office no later than 1400 tomorrow so we can discuss this. Good job Commander, this is exactly the performance I was hoping for with your promotion. I hope to see you back in rotation shortly.
I chuckled and reread that message several times. Admiral Terrorfloof, the Admiral Terrorfloof wanted to commend me on my scenario. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming but I appreciated the attention if I wasn’t. I also was happy with the new skills and abilities. That Instructor talent would really help with getting Amy up to spec as a Pilot. I smiled to myself and composed a message back.
To: Commander Vikas
From: Wing Commander Dwayne
Subject: RE:RE: Simulation Time
I appreciate it very much. I’d like to put in a commendation myself for Gwayne, the first pilot to successfully navigate the scenario. He performed admirably and spent an extreme amount of time in the simulator to manage the feat. We’ll be debriefing tomorrow at 1600 if you wanted to be in attendance.
Shooting the message off I laid back and laughed. That had gone far better than I could have even hoped. We’d see how tomorrow… well, later today, would go, but all in all, I could call this a success as I closed my eyes and passed out.