Rebel Pilots are trained in every space craft the alliance has. They first train in wildspace with Z-95 Headhunters. Then they advance to more heavy crafts like the X-Wing and Y-Wing. They train to specialize from very light but fast crafts to more heavily armed crafts. They train also with groundcrafts such as the T2-B Repulsor Tank.

Training takes place on Yavin IV to Wildspace

[First Impressions]

Feeling a bit nervous, Jin-ho knocked on the door before entering. The door itself was not impressed, of course, and she wondered if the sound had even reached through it before mentally slapping herself back to her senses.

- "Umm.. excuse me? I came to see if i could get some training here?" :unsure:

She noticed a tank parked nearby, and looked at it in wonder. She had seen them on the Holo-News on occasion, but this was the first time she had seen one up close in person. She vaguely wondered if her landspeeder license would allow her to drive one of those, before she looked around to see if any of the instructors would have freed up some time to talk to her.

An instructor spoke, "You can train in one of the flight simulators, once you're confident with that, I would then try your hand at a speeder bike...... Once you've mastered that, you can try the X-Wing...... But be careful! It's not easy!"

Jin-ho grinned as she looked at the type of simulator she was supposed to take the first part of the tests in. She took a seat in the machine, closing the door behind her to be completely surrounded by monitors forming a controlled 360º environment. A quick tutorial program booted up to familiarise herself to the controls, and Jin-ho repeated every step to herself to confirm.

Her father had owned one of these on the ship she grew up on. The Carrack-class cruiser he used as his merchant vessel had the option of docking a few fighters on its exterior hull, and the program and simulator had come pre-installed in the mainframe. Even though the fighter docking points were rarely used, the simulator found a second use as a source of entertainment for the crew. And Jin-ho, not having a role, had built up quite a reputation on board.

Needless to say, after taking the first couple of minutes to familiarise herself with the differences between the controls, she got the hang of it, and the first wing of enemy fighters were turned into (virtual) scrap metal before they had even come within shooting range of the Battleship she was supposed to guard.


After her own fighter got 'destroyed' after taking a hit too many, the door opened again, and Jin-ho stretched out after stepping out of the simulator again. She took a brief glance at the killboard, and tsk'ed to herself.

- "Man, only managed to get 54 kills... Been too long since i last took a go at this, i suppose..."

True enough, it was still nowhere near her record, but she hadn't been in a simulator since becoming a Handmaiden, and the control layout was different than the one she was used to. Though she could understand why this version lacked a 'TIE Fighter' cockpit layout.

The next test on the list was the speeder bike. The objective, the instructor told her, was to drive it around a preset course without hitting anything -- or as least as possible, anyway. Jin-ho got on the bike, noting to her satisfaction that it was the same model she had taken for a spin in the Rebel Base at Dantooine, back when she had come across that cavern with the straneg crystals (and rather hungry looking monsters).

Dantooine had been covered in wide grassy plains, with hardly a soul living near the Base. In other words, it had been perfect to get used to driving a speeder bike, since small mistakes didn't automatically result in a crash like on the busier planets.

The course, intended for trainees that were still relatively 'green', was an easy one. On occasion, she found she couldn't quite resist cranking up the speed a little, and the engine revved a bit too much at times, but overall things went smoothly, especially when she got a bit more used to the course after the first few laps.

Getting a signal that that was enough, she parked the speeder bike again. There had been some danger of going too fast to make a certain curve a few times, mostly due to her trying to turn it into a race, but all the bike turned out with were a few scratches to its paint job. Not like it didn't have them before she got on it, anyway; she suspected not everyone knew how to drive a speeder bike properly.


The last test on the list was the infamous X-Wing. The simulator she had played in had her fly a fairly basic Z-95 Headhunter, and she knew from the information the instructor had given her that the X-Wing was basically a more advanced version of it -- though some of the older crewmen on her father's ship tended to disagree -- but that meant the cockpit should still retain some similarities, being of the same model line.

Still, actually sitting in a cockpit prepping for liftoff and sitting in a simulator are entirely different things, and as such Jin-ho was feeling quite a bit more nervous. In contrary to the simulator, she felt every movement of the fighter through the vast array of physics available to Man, causing her to compensate not only the craft's movements, but also her own.

Thankfully, a more experienced co-pilot was behind her, ready to adjust when things threatened to get out of hand. To her knowledge, the man hadn't needed to intervene prior to starting the same set of basic movements she had been taught in the simulator, although she figured things would be much easier training in zero G. Then again, given that she was in a Rebel Base at that time meant she'd have picked the safe concealment of the jungle above open space right then.

After the set of movements had been completed, the co-pilot took over, landing the fighter safely on the platform to prevent damage to the Landing Pad -- not to mention the fighter itself -- and tapping the red headed girl on the shoulder to signal she could get out now. She pulled back the cockpit's canopy, and climbed out of the fighter, eager to find out how the instructor thought she did on the tests.

- "So umm... How'd i do?"

In her own opinion, she had done fairly well on the first two parts of it, both being things she already had experience in, only she wasn't all too happy with her performance during the real thing, as the short flight had been far to unsteady compared to her simulator results.

"Looked good out there Jin-Ho! you're progressing nicely! I'd practice more on the X-Wing, test out the blasters and torpedos more...... There's a training range a few miles north of here....... Once you've gained more from training there...... Come back and we'll see how you can handle a Y-Wing!" The instructor smiled a little.

Jin-ho nodded, a bit relieved at hearing her performance in the X-Wing didn't count all that much toward her final test results. She took a deep breath while looking at the fighter that had just touched down, and a brief nod from her co-pilot told her that as far as he was concerned, she could give it another go.

A bit more used to the controls, as well as the feeling of actually having to pilot a flying chunk of metal, the second run ran along a little more smoothly. Having gained some confidence in her abilities, a third run was made, and the red headed girl sped up the run, shaving off some of the time she had taken the last two attempts.

Her co-pilot told her where the practise range was, and Jin-ho flew towards it. Various targets lined up on her radar screen, and she tried to spot them through the canopy as they approached. Much as she expected, the targets were stationary, and unless she missed her guess her blasters were set to minimal output to prevent having to build new targets after every run.

The first run turned out nicely, mostly due to Jin-ho having gotten the hang of piloting 'in real life' as well as the target practise she had learned from the simulator back home. She hadn't fired any of the missiles, preferring to keep them for when things got rough just like she did in-game. X-Wings weren't exactly known to have a massive missile payload anyway, they weren't bombers.

A couple of additional runs later, Jin-ho had gotten used to the G-forces enough to start ignoring them, and as soon as that happened she treated the training course like just another simulator run. After one such run allowed her to destroy over half of the targets in a single pass, she gave her co-pilot a thumbs up before flying back to the Landing Pad.

Touchdown was still a tad hard, but nothing the landing gear couldn't handle. The canopy went up, and Jin-ho head over to the instructor with the datapad her co-pilot had handed her. It contained the data from her flight computer including statistics on her hit ratio, average speed and a bunch of other things. It'd all make sense to the instructor though.

"Woah! Fantastic work Jin-Ho! Your flying skills certainly seem to be secure as far as I'm concerned...... But now I think you should progress to the Y-Wing..... It isn't a fast ship, but it's fire is far greater than that of an X-Wing, and thats what you need to practice with...... See how you get on, but take it easy, the torpedos on that ship are devatating!"

Jin-ho stood on her toes, looking at one of the Y-Wings over the heads of a few pilots that were talking not too far away from her. From what she could tell, the design was wingless, which meant it sacrificed manoeuvrability for an increased flight stability. Although she preferred agility over power, it was supposed to have stronger shielding and more firepower compared to its cousin due to the addition of an ion turret on the hull.

Jin-ho nodded to the instructor, and started walking towards the ship again. True, she knew about the schematics and general handling from the simulator, but if the X-Wing had been any indication she'd need to make more than a few adjustments to the real thing.

A few minutes later, the Y-Wing lifted off, and Jin-ho went through the same basic manoeuvres she had done with the X-Wing to get used to the different handling of the craft. Sure enough, her suspicions were confirmed, as the Y-Wing did indeed handle like a truck. She almost missed a few curves in the beginning of the course, but managed to make the necessary corrections, anticipating the curves earlier due to the increased turning circle.

Once at the target range, the red headed girl hit far less targets than with the X-Wing. Even though that was understandable, considering the Y-Wing simply needed more time to align itself to a target, but it was only a small satisfaction to her that her hit ratio remained more or less the same. It just took way longer.

On the upside, she noted that the missile payload of the fighter was nearly three times that of an X-Wing, making it a good choice to use in fighter-to-ship combat. A few runs later -- this time using the torpedoes -- she was surprised at the destructive potential the Y-Wing could have on a larger vessel. A handful of Y-Wings, along with some X-Wings for fighter support would be enough to hurt a ship bad... Making it a good choice for the guerilla-type tactics of the Rebellion.

Having depleted most of the torpedoes, she flew back again, touching down on the landing pad much slower than she had with the X-Wing. Partially, it was due to the Y-Wing's improved stabilisers due to being a wingless model, but for a small part it was due to the red headed girl getting a few additional flight hours in. She climbed out again, walking over to the instructor with the datapad from the nav computer.

"So? How did you like it? Alot of people don't take to the Y-Wings well.... Not really out of difficulty, but some think its too slow and takes away alot of the fun of flying" He laughed a little, "Personally I think you did a great job...... If there is any other ship you would like to be trained in piloting, then feel free to ask, other than that..... I think you are pretty much done..... The real test comes in battle itself.... But don't worry..... It will come...."

Jin-ho sweatdropped as the instructor hit the nail on the head. Judging from her own reaction, she figured she didn't even need to confirm him that either. Laughing somewhat sheepishly, she shook her head at the man's question, not really knowing of any other fighters save for the Z-something Headhunter.

Besides, she'd had enough flying for one day, and now that she'd returned to stable ground again she started to feel a bit of airsickness she had been too busy to detect before, due to the rugged aereal manueovering compared to commercial transport liners. Best to get some food before trying again, not to mention a good night's sleep.

The next day, she went back to the instructor again, requesting some flight time with the Z-95 Headhunter. It had been the last of the fighter types parked there that were available to trainees, since the A-Wing was considered a tad too hard on inexperienced pilots. Still, the red headed girl managed to arrange a training in outer space, and pretty soon she was lifting off, following the first of the waypoints towards the trainee area.

[Outer Rim -- Head Hunting]

[Head Hunting]

As Jin-ho let go of the ladder, she momentarily lost her balance and fell down, feeling somewhat light in her head due to the renewed effect gravity was having on her bloodflow. Shaking off the dizzyness somewhat, she stood back up again, blinking a bit to stop her vision from wavering. More experienced pilots were helping her up again though, grinning as they correctly guessed what was going on with the girl.

- "Heh, first time training in space huh? Don't worry, you'll get used to it in time." :)

Jin-ho only managed a simple nod. Even if she somehow managed to make out something vaguely recogniseable as a reply, the ring in her ears drowned out most of what they had been saying anyway. She removed her helmet, sitting down for a bit as she took a few deep breaths of fresh air. The pilots said it helped, and it turned they were right.

Feeling a little better -- and far less shaky in her knees again -- she stood up, scanning the people present in the area for the instructor. As soon as she spotted him talking to another pilot, she slowly walked over to him, not wanting to fall flat on her face while he was looking.

"Hey are you alright? You look beat! You should take a rest, can't train all the time!" The pilot spoke to Jin-Ho

Jin-ho gave the man a reassuring smile, shifting her weight between her legs to get her circulation going again.

- "Nah, it's not that... Just need to get used to zero gravity, that's all."

She was feeling pretty spent due to having kept a close eye on those asteroids, and chances were she was going to follow the pilot's advice regardless of whether or not she was tired. She mumbled something unintelligable about her blood circulation before crouching, trying to get her legs to stop feeling numb.

[Pathfinder Training]