“How do I fly this thing?” Access: Hangar Bay, Flight Deck Additional Access: Maintenance Difficulty: Medium Supervisors: Flight Leader, Air Traffic Controller Rank: Sergeant (SGT) Duties: Fly fighters. Take down Syndicate carriers. Yell for help over the radio when you inevitably get blown up trying to take down Syndicate carriers. Guides: Guide to Fighters; Guide to enemy types

You are a fighter pilot, one of the many key parts of NovusCorp's conflicts against the Syndicate. You are responsible, with the help of your mothership, for using your Fighter to eliminate Syndicate craft and provide combat support.

Bare minimum requirements: Get to your fighter, start it, exit the hangar, shoot the red people, get shot by the red people, and try to return home.

Being a Fighter Pilot

As a fighter pilot, you answer to the flight leader directly. The Munitions Officer outranks all of you, and your flight leader outranks you specifically. Your job is to provide CAP for the main ship in combat, operate Raptors to rescue pilots and perform utility work, and provide transport during boarding actions against hostile ships. You may also be called on to provide CAS in the event of an assault on a fortified planet.

Make sure to listen to your Flight Leader and Air Traffic Controller, as they will be vaguely trying to coordinate you during battle. The ATC also has access to DRADIS, and will be able to vector you to hostiles more effectively.

Getting in the Air

When you first start, you'll have the opportunity to choose a fighter and get your flight suit on. Get in your assigned fighter, give it a reasonable name, and get yourself to move your fighter to a mag-cat so that you can be launched. You can also spray-paint your fighter and flight suit to stand out from the other fighters. Then, when the ship jumps into combat, tell the ATC you're ready to launch and get ready to start shooting. Don't forget to disable your safeties after you leave the ship and don't forget to turn them back on when you're finished!

You may also wish to get pre-scanned for cloning, should you be killed during combat and rendered otherwise unretrievable.

Into the Danger Zone

Knowing how to fly is a must for this job, but just because you can doesn't make you a good pilot. A pilot needs to know how to coordinate themselves and their fellow pilots while in combat, in order to be effective. This means constant communication while flying, lest you wish to die an embarrassing death. Good pilots constantly radio their current state, and are always willing to call for backup. Another important aspect to keep is that size matters. One should never try to take on a carrier by themselves (at least in a light fighter). Be sure to not fly in any pressurized environment, as it will drag you on the floor and damage the ship. Instead, use a ship tug to drag you out of the pressurized environment and onto a magcat.

Knowing your role is also very important. Light Fighters are much more effective against other fighters, however their missiles are less effective against heavily-armed cruisers and carriers. Heavy fighters are less maneuverable than light fighters, but their heavy guns and torpedos can do significant damage to even the heaviest of ships.

You've got a Hole in your Right Wing!

No matter your skills, eventually you're gonna take a hit. Depending on the weapon that hits you, this can be anywhere from inconsequential to devastating. In the event of a hit, you should do this:

Check your fighter's durability. Is it still high? keep going. Is it low? Get the fuck out of there before something worse gets damaged, and get repaired.

Check for a master caution. If you hear an annoying beeping, check to see if the master caution light is illuminated on the fighter control panel. That means one of your components is damaged, and you should probably RTB to get it fixed. Don't turn off your engine either, as your APU could be damaged and you'll be stranded in space if you shut down.

Check your canopy. It'll be quite obvious if it's breached, and if it is get your internals and hardsuit spaceworthy before you suffocate. While you can still fight without a canopy, you're a few shots away from ejecting entirely. Unless the situation is dire, your best option is return to the mothership for repairs.

When you land, yell at an MT to fix your fighter or (more likely) repair it yourself.