trans_9 | Do you have what it takes? [OPEN]

PT finished at 0700, and the pilots and new recruits got a half hour to cool off before they got into the cockpits of their assorted craft. In the two hours since 0500 they ran several miles, did push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups, and then a hundred jumping jacks to get the blood pumping. "You don't even want to think about how much force you put on your body when you're piloting," Trudy said at the start of the exercises. "Pilots need to be in peak condition to handle it."

Those who were used to doing the training five days out of the week would be out of breath but not exhausted. Anyone new, however, might have a little trouble getting their wind back.

"All right everyone, gather around. We have a few new recruits today, so we're not going to be running the Zokez scenario. I know you're all heartbroken." She kept a straight face, but that was a definite joke. She was sick of running the Zokez scenario. "We'll be doing some standard training exercises - maneuverability and gunning practice."

The track and exercise equipment melted away, and in its place the hangar of the Macross Quarter materialized with all its fighters and mobile suits. "Outside is a standard sim course. I'm going to have the recruits run it first to see how they handle and then the squadrons will go out as a unit. Recruits, let's put you in birds."

((OOC: This log is for anyone who signed up to fly a mobile suit, a VF or an X-wing and is not already in Starfighter Command. The flight sim is like something you'd see out of the training missions on Star Fox - fly through the rings, shoot the enemies, avoid the obstacles it throws at you like sheets of scrap and asteroids. EDIT: Subthreads for the squadrons are now up!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sonic listened to Trudy's explanation, but a lot of it went over the hedgehog's head. He did get a basic understanding of what he's dealing with: a fast airplane with multiple forms which take too long to switch from. Though, since speed's his game, he could probably make the most of it. The only thing that worried him was the lack of melee weaponry - it seemed too reliant on guns, and while he wasn't a gun person, he could manage for the time being.

"3.5, huh? Sounds like my kind of thing." Sonic said, nodding. Pointing to the plane, he continued. "I'd take it this one's "mine", then?"

"We'll see which one you fly if you make it through the test flight," Trudy said. She hadn't told the new recruits or Command about their recent intelligence - she didn't want to cause too much of a panic or inflate anyone's expectations. But the impending battle meant she looked a lot closer at the recruits, given what little time they had to train them.

If he didn't show some skill, he wouldn't fly with them. "The suit's not going to fit you so have the Sensoriums make one up. Let's see what you can do."

"Eh, works for me." Sonic said, shrugging. In an instant, the Sensoriums created a flight suit for Sonic (though, keeping his trademark shoes visible) and the hedgehog made his way up to the seat.

"Let's see what I can do." he muttered to himself, making a minor adjustment to the seat and strapping himself. He screwed up on that wedding planet and KAIN made a fool of him. He wasn't going to go down here.

A moment later, the aircraft's engine kicked on and prepared to move out, maneuvering the plane into the sky.

The obstacle course the Sensoriums had created worked on the principle of increasing difficulty. In the beginning were some very basic tests of maneuverability - the pilot needed to fly through all the rings. As errors decreased, the sim would move on to the next stage where debris started to appear.

Trudy pulled up a feed of Sonic's simulation and watched him fly.

With his usual confidence, Sonic pushed forward. Though he was used to the speed, he wasn't used to the controls just yet, easily shown by initial misses and near misses. However, as he got used to the controls, he started to be a natural to the whole thing. Or at least a natural in the sense that he's doing this by the seat of his non-existent pants.

"Alright, what's next-- WHOA?!" Sonic uttered, caught a bit off guard as the debris came at him.

The debris varied from small chunks of asteroids to larger sheets of metal that appeared to be blown off the side of a ship. It moved at varying speeds, but all of it seemed to be aimed in the general direction of the fighter.

This sim would last until Sonic crashed the fighter - after he proved adept at maneuvering around the debris, enemy fighters would start to spawn and take shots at him.

Sonic was more used to plowing through debris in space, mostly due to the fact that he was Super Sonic in those times. But, he also learned that doing so slowed him down, so he was quick to start evading the debris.

Of course, nothing could last forever and Sonic's sim ended after getting caught in a set of debris he couldn't escape out of in time. He made a mental note of making sure that never happened again...

...as soon as he pulled himself out of the reverse evasion after the first shots came at him.

"Woah...! Now, we're getting to the good parts!" Sonic said, with a grin, thrusting forward and shifting into GERWALK mode.

Eventually, he would get overwhelmed. Trudy was reluctantly impressed by his performance, but the program was designed to throw more and more enemy ships at a pilot until there were simply too many. It wasn't possible to win, just to last.

But when enemy ships got thick, Battdroid mode was best. He had already transformed once, so Trudy watched to see whether he would continue to the mecha.

Sonic wasn't the one to give up. Wasn't in his vocabulary. Despite the overwhelming odds, the blue hedgehog soldiered on, resorting to his fists when he lost the unit's machine gun. Realizing that the intermittent form wasn't working, Sonic finally made the switch to Battdroid form and went at it.

But, even that wasn't enough and when the sim ended, Sonic was tossed back near Trudy unceremoniously on his rear.

"Let me have another try!" Sonic snapped, hopping to his feet. "I'll get them all next time!"

"Slow down there, killer, you lasted a lot longer than I expected you to," Trudy said. And watching him fight his way through the enemy fighters like he would not go down was more encouraging than how quickly he adapted to the fighter. "The program is designed so that you can't win. Doesn't mean you're not a good pilot."

He would be a credit to Skull Squadron, that much was for certain.

Do you have what it takes? [OPEN]

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