Pilot

One of many Jobs
Pilot
In the pipe, five by five
Alt-Titles
Co-Pilot, Navigator, Helmsman
Department
Civilian
Access
Shuttles, EVA, external airlocks, maintenance
Duties
Flying people places
Supervisors
Head of Personnel
Difficulty
Medium

The pilot is responsible for flying the various shuttles upon each map (as well as the Steller Delight itself, with assistance from command staff). The pilot reports to the Head of Personnel and is considered a member of the Civilian staff of the station.

Set Up

There is no equipment that a pilot particularly needs over other equipment. Should they wish to depart the shuttle while away, they will need appropriate vacuum or atmosphere rated equipment to don before disembarking. Otherwise, having a toolbox for field repairs and a radio are suggested. Pilots are also equipped with a taser for the defense of their ship in an emergency.

Whilst the shuttles can be launched almost immediately, it's advisable to give their SMES power-banks time to charge. This also allows anyone coming along to have time to equip themselves appropriately.

Muh Spaceship

While a pilot is on a shuttle, they are responsible for the crew on board. All passengers must listen and follow pilot instructions with regards to their shuttle. This only applies while the pilot has assumed responsibility for the shuttle, of course, not while they are off-duty.

The pilot's main responsibility is being available to fly a shuttle should an expedition begin, and to remain able to fly the shuttle if the away-team needs to return to the station. This does mean that the pilot should stay in relatively safe areas while the expedition is ongoing, preferably near their ship where they can monitor the equipment and conditions at the landing site for changing weather. If the site is confirmed non-hostile, they may disembark and explore, but should remain available for their piloting duties.

It is within a pilot's right to evict people from their shuttle, though overt discrimination is usually against company policy and can be reported to Central Command. The pilot can even demand that a Site Manager leave their shuttle, and this is a fully legal order (however, the Captain/Director can just immediately fire them, removing their authority, if necessary).

Note: Using the right of eviction to assist people evading security is sedition.

Piloting

The various shuttles available for use by the pilot include both short-range and long-range ('overmap') craft, depending on the map currently in rotation. The former usually just has a list of destinations and button-push will take you there. If the short-range craft is docked onto a long-range craft, then the destinations available will vary depending on where the long-range craft is currently located, otherwise they will have a fixed list of destinations they can visit.

Short-range craft don't have any requirements for maintenance or fueling aside from the physical integrity of the hull itself which can need repairs if it's docked and is impacted by meteors or other sources of harm.

Long-range craft require two separate types of fuel: short-jump fuel and engine burn fuel. Several gasses can be used for both purposes (hydrogen, phoron, welderfuel) which may have varying efficiencies to each of them. Try different gasses, but in general, the more of it, the more distance you can get out of it. Short-jump fuel is used for 'shuttle' moves, stored in handheld tanks and loaded into the ship's fuel ports, where the pilot picks a destination and jumps there with a short transit time. This is typically used for entering overmap sectors or moving between spots in the same sector (see below). Some ships may not be capable of short-jumps and are confined to overmap movement. Engine burn fuel is piped directly to the engines of the ship usually from portable canisters, and powers movement on the overmap. Each engine burn uses fuel and expels it from the engine nozzles to produce thrust.

Also, long-range craft require a significant amount of power to manage the engines. There are two types of engines: fuel-burning, and ion engines. Fuel-burning engines require a source of fuel, as mentioned above, but require less power than ion engines, which require no fuel but more than twice as much power. Both types of engines require power and consume it as long as they are powered up (though ion engines consume less 'idle' power, and more power during each 'burn').

The fleet

Across the three current maps, there are numerous shuttles and two ships/vessels available to fly, a list of each maps compliment is provided below.

The Tether

• Exploration Shuttle - The traditional, NT-approved excursion shuttle. Capable of both overmap travel & short jumps, it comes with plenty of cargo-space, it's own backup generator, a sleeper for medical emergencies aboard and a small set of quarters for bunking down. Access is via either the aft-mounted cargo blastdoor or the starboard-aft airlock, with the seating & cockpit sections to the fore of the craft. Amidships contains the fuel & power storage in either side of the hull.
• The Tourbus - A small, multipurpose shuttle that comes minimally equipped with much else besides seating for passengers. Very much a 'space bus' in function, though it can achieve surprisingly high speeds with enough fuel thanks to it's relatively low mass.
• Medivac Shuttle - One of the two shuttles docked upon the Tether's docking arms, this multipurpose shuttle is tailored for recovery & transportation of wounded individuals. The cockpit opens for both pilots & those with medical access, though it requires the access of the former to fly fully. Comes with a body scanner along with a sleeper in it's main hold, with a small containment room for patients carrying communicable diseases/viruses.
• Securiship Shuttle - The second of the two docking-arm bound shuttles, this one is geared more towards recovery & apprehension of wanted suspects, with a secure holding cell in it's main hold alongside the seating for crew. Similar to the Medivac shuttle, this one allows those with security access into the cockpit area too, though again, it requires pilot access to fly fully.

Stellar Delight

• NRV Stellar Delight - The ship itself is capable of overmap flight, provided the pilot is furnished with access to the bridge & the vessel's fuel pump in Atmospherics is turned on. Cannot land itself, however that's why it carries other ships with it. Comes with fairly significant point-defence coverage to help mitigate damage from asteroids when flying.
• NTV Starstuff - A multipurpose, overmap-capable shuttle. Comes with a small cargo bay to it's aft with the airlock on it's starboard-aft quarter and the fuel & power supply on the port-aft side. Amidships is an area with seating for up to twelve passengers in it's standard configuration whilst up front is the cockpit.
• Exploration Boat - A short jump-only shuttle kept in the deck 1 aft hangar bay. Limited to transporting occupants to locations the Stellar Delight is currently orbiting.
• Mining Boat - A short jump-only shuttle kept in the deck 1 aft hangar bay. Limited to transporting occupants to locations the Stellar Delight is currently orbiting.

Rascal's Pass

• Exploration Shuttle - A multipurpose, overmap-capable shuttle that utilizes ion engines. Has seating for ten passengers alongside the pilot in a central cargo space, with a fore-mounted blast-door for quick loading & unloading. The port-side room contains the short-jump fuel as well as the SMES power supply, whilst the starboard-side room is empty for additional storage or mission-specific constructions. Each of the exterior side doors of the vessel comes with atmosphere-retention fields, however the fore blast-door does not. Beware accidental depressurizations!
• ITV Axolotl - A multipurpose independant vessel docked out at Rascal's Pass's solar fields, similar in design to the standard Salamander-class Corvette, though lacking the long-range fuel tanks. Comes with an engine bay to it's aft, cargo hold amidships with airlocks to either side, a small canteen & shower, along with crew accomidation and an emergency sleeper, whilst the cockpit takes up the foremost section. Comes with fairly reasonable point-defence coverage to help mitigate damage from asteroids when flying.

Overmap

The overmap itself, visible on sensors, navigation, and helm consoles, is divided up into a grid (typically 20x20). Many of these grid points contain nothing, however occasionally they contain events (usually dangerous) or visit-able areas, called sectors. Unless the sector is something you are permanently aware of (like large planets), you will need to use your sensors to discover the locations of the sectors. Using the sensors console, you can adjust the current range of your sensors, which will illuminate an area around your ship on the overmap. Keep in mind that large sensor ranges consume more power, and can overheat the sensors. Also note that sensors only function in a vacuum.

Navigation

To navigate the overmap, use the engines console to ensure you have at least one functioning engine powered up, and use the helm console to control engine burns to direct the ship. The ship will drift endlessly in whatever direction it is moving, so to stop, one needs to use braking burns (the center 'x' direction button) to slow down. One or more burns may be required to alter course, especially if the ship is moving rapidly in a direction already. Using less burns to get to a destination saves more fuel and power, but does take longer. Burning non-stop to get there and braking for the second half of the trip will get you there quickly, but consume huge amounts of fuel and power.

Ships that are capable of overmap travel AND landing into sectors (so-called 'landable ships') must first make a short-jump to "Open Space", which will be listed as a destination on their short-jump console, to get clear of their current location before being able to perform engine burns and traverse locations on the overmap.

Either way, upon arriving in a sector with something worth visiting, landable ships can use the short-jump computer to enter the interesting locations in the sector. On larger ships that aren't landable, they can dispatch shuttles if available.

Interception

Ships can be intercepted by other ships by entering the same grid on the overmap and using the short-jump console to approach from the fore, aft, port, or starboard sides of the ship. Upon 'landing', you will be in the same z-level as the target ship, and the target will be unable to maneuver any longer. Boarding actions or rescue can commence.

Jobs on Vorestation
	Command	Site Manager, Head of Personnel, Head of Security, Chief Engineer, Research Director, Chief Medical Officer
	Security	Head of Security, Security Officer, Warden, Detective
	Engineering	Chief Engineer, Engineer, Atmospheric Technician
	Cargo	Quartermaster, Cargo Technician, Shaft Miner
	Medical	Chief Medical Officer, Medical Doctor, Paramedic, Psychologist, Chemist,
	Science	Research Director, Scientist, Roboticist, Xenobiologist
	Service & Civilian	Intern/Visitor, Bartender, Botanist, Chef, Chaplain, Command Secretary, Janitor, Librarian, Pilot
	Station-Bound	AI, Cyborg, Maintenance Drone, Personal AI, Ghost, Mouse
	ITV Talon	Talon Captain, Talon Pilot, Talon Guard, Talon Doctor, Talon Engineer