Talon Pilot
| One of many Jobs |
| Talon Pilot |
|---|
| "The pilot's job is to fly the ITV Talon in the most efficient and profitable way possible." |
|
Alt-Titles |
| None |
|
Department |
| ITV Talon |
|
Access |
| Talon |
|
Duties |
| Keep the ship from crashing |
|
Supervisors |
| Talon Captain |
|
Difficulty |
| Very Hard |
((PLACE HOLDER TAKEN FROM PILOT JOB PAGE))
The pilot is responsible for flying the excursion shuttle (and any other shuttles that require a manual pilot). They are generally better trained to operate the shuttle than others, and may have benefits in terms of shuttle travel speed and failure rates when piloting. 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.
The shuttle will not take off during the first 30 minutes of the shift, in order to give potential expedition members time to join and gear up without someone blasting off out the hatch without them.
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 expedition 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 Colony Director 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. 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').
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.
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 |
