///:Simulation Loading... Loading... Loading...
///:Simulation: Balmorra Combat Drop Loaded.
///:Prepare for launch
The screen around her lit up, revealing the familiar cockpit of the puddle jumper. Beyond the simulated transparisteel she could see the assault bay of a Valor-class cruiser. The Ithor. Before her was a brown sphere, tinged with green suspended in space. Balmorra. And between her and the planet raged the last Battle of Balmorra. The Republic's last attempt to retake the planet, just a couple years before the Treaty of Coruscant. As simulated support teams busied themselves outside she reviewed the mission objectives: Punch through the Imperial blockade, make it to the surface, unload her squad, and return to the ship. She banished the objectives panel and brought up her HUD.
Reiyan took a deep breath as she took the stick. This simulation was the true vetting of a combat drop pilot. Only the best made it to a safe landing. Only the very best made it back to the Ithor. She flexed her hands and closed her eyes, preparing for the simulation. The interior lighting switched to green, indicating all were aboard and the ramp was secure. Time to launch. She flipped the ion exhaust to off and revved it up, keeping it at maximum output for when she needed it. The repulsors were already engaged, ready to nudge the shuttle out of the bay and into space. Over the battlenet she heard the order: "Mynock launch."
Her shuttle joined every other shuttle in the bay in hovering above the deck. The internal lighting switched to amber. She nudged the stick forward and the shuttle dipped it's nose and slid forward, past the containment field, and into space. Then suddenly the shuttle lurched forward as she engaged the ion engines. She shot out, away from the Ithor, then rolled over a Thranta-class frigate before her. On her HUD orange triangles displayed the telemetry computer's best course solution. The route that could take her to her designated landing zone the quickest while maintaining a minimum distance from the Imperial capital ships. She followed it for now, smoothly threading the shuttle through each triangle. Emerald and ruby laser fire filled her vision as she entered the engagement zone, the part of space where Imperial and Republic ships were sitting still trading weapons fire, trying to force a retreat. She switched the internal lighting to red as she pulled away from the path and arced over an Imperial Harrower-class dreadnought splitting it's fire between it's attackers, a trio of Thranta-classes.
As she turned the corner of it's hull a klaxon sounded. She reflexively yanked back on the stick and banked, putting the shuttle in a tight spiral. She watched the missile streak past as it overshot her. She slammed the stick forward and pulled it around to face the planet again. The missile came about, looking for it's lost prey, but the sudden dive had taken the shuttle out of the detection arc. Laser fire cut through space just ahead of the shuttle and she slammed the accelerator while twitching the stick to the left. Laser turrets from the dreadnought and a Terminus-class destroyer fired shots the filled the space around the shuttle, but failed to find their mark. She pulled up, bringing the shuttle out of the turrets' firing arcs. She leveled out the shuttle.
The Imperial blockade group was all that stood between her and the ground. 2 Harrowers and 8 Terminus-classes hung with their wedges pointed straight at her. They opened fire. Reiyan jerked the stick and danced on the lateral controls and her shuttle danced around the incoming fire. Her shield flashed as a shot found it's mark. And another. And another. She glanced at the corner of her HUD. Shield strength at 16%. She slammed it into a spiral. 8%. 4%. She came out of the spiral and banked, bringing the shuttle into the blind spot behind one of the Harrowers. The shuttle lurched as the shields failed and laser cannons clipped it's wing.
6 fighters were in pursuit. Reiyan pressed back into her seat as she pushed the shuttle to it's fastest acceleration. The edge of her vision began to blur and turn grey as the simulation's inertial dampeners simulated the g-force of the maneuver. The fighters kept pace and she lost the left wing entirely as laser fire cut through it. She strained against the stick as she fought to keep on course. She was once again following the green triangles, hoping the fighters would break off and let the ground defenses finish her. More emerald streaks shot past her and she began to weave. The shuttle lurched again as it entered the atmosphere and it's damaged repulsorlift strained. As she began to level out and the external heat gauge rose, the shuttle was hit again, this time on the servomotor above the right wing. Reiyan exhaled and pulled the shuttle into a tight spiral. It was a risky maneuver in atmosphere, at least at these speeds, but it might keep the fighters from killing her.
The stresses pulled at the damaged servomotor and the right wing broke free. She strained against the stick, trying to pull a response from it as she switched the interior lighting to blink. The repulsors she would normally fly with in atmosphere were gone. The ion engines were damaged and would shut off in a second anyways, to avoid irradiating the planet. She used what maneuvering thrusters she had left and the ship's gyroscopic controls to pull out of the spiral, but the shuttle was now in a sideways spiral, left over right. In the bay behind her the soldiers would be stimming up in preparation for a crash landing. The shuttle struck the tip of a mountain. It stopped spinning and slid to a stop in a watery valley. The simulation screen went black, and read out her score.
82%.
Engagement zone cleared with 0% damage.
Blockade cleared with 96% shield damage.
Atmosphere cleared with 100% damage.
Return failed - Shuttle rendered unflyable.
Final shuttle condition: 30% operational.
94% of strike team delivered.
0 fighters destroyed.
Reiyan leaned back and opened the simulation pod. "Not bad. I'll see about beating it after lunch."
