by Jeff Sims
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Bill Blaze was one of the first people to buy the flight simulator. He hooked it up on his Playstation®4 and played it and played it until he became tired of crashing into the wall. He tried everything he could think of to pass. One time, he got a brilliant idea. He asked the Advranki female at the start of the course to exchange the ship buster missile for a gravity missile.
Karen said, “No.” This was her standard response.
However, Bill was not to be denied, so he asked, “Why not.”
Karen responded, “You haven’t given me a compelling argument.” This was a change. Normally, she simply said no, but this time it seemed she was open to discussion.
He said, “Look Karen, the gravity missile is significantly cheaper than the ship buster missile. If you let me change and I live, you can be the hero for allowing the change. If I die, you will be the hero for saving money on missiles.”
This logic must have made sense to her because she allowed the missile change. Blaze put on his flight helmet and heard the status checks whispering in his ear. He checked his weapons package and verified the missile change. Then he launched from the Advranki cruiser and flew through the obstacle course.
As he was approaching the 90 degree turn, he fired the gravity missile. Then he set his shields to maximum at the bottom of the ship. He veered his ship hard to the right and let the gravity wave from the explosion bounce him away from the wall and carry him though the turn. It took him four tries to make it through the turn. If the shot and turn weren’t timed perfectly, he would smash into the wall or be destroyed by the gravity wave. Even then, it was a rough, bouncy turn and the art of bouncing off of a gravity wave could best be described as inelegant.
Despite the lack of grace, he exited the turn alive. He was the first player (in Alliance history) to complete the first stage without dying. He gained a fair amount of notoriety when he published his solution on the chat boards.
Based on his initial success, Blaze tried to request a different missile at the next stage. Karen told him no. He asked a second time and got another no in response. Blaze realized that no matter what the request, the first time he would ask Karen for a different missile she would always respond no. If Karen was asked the question a second time, she would either respond no or respond with a variation of “Why.” If the second answer was no, then the missile could not be changed. If the answer was anything other than no, then there was an opportunity for replacement.
He decided to review all of the available missiles. There were 40 different missiles to choose from. He asked the Advranki female to trade every weapon for every other weapon at every stage and charted the results. Now, with a simple cheat sheet, gamers knew exactly what missile they could get at what stage. However, at no stage did she give them an additional ship buster missile or even allow them to have their original missile back if they traded it away before the obstacle course.
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Edward Williams noted that the Hiriculans responded to an incoming missile in a predictable pattern. The enemy fighter would either roll left, right, or down on a proscribed arc. Therefore, to kill the solo fighter, one only had to fire a missile at it, watch the way it dodged, then fire a dumb missile on a straight line a based on where the fighter was going to be in a few seconds.
A dumb missile is a missile fired in a straight line at the opponent with the intelligent tracking turned off. It appeared that the Hiriculan fighter ignored, or perhaps didn’t detect, the straight line (dumb) missile. Edward posted a video of his move on the internet and the chat boards had a lively debate concerning the possible reasons.
Several more players tested variations, such as firing it dumb, then turning on the electronic tracking package at the last moment. The enemy fighter would respond by trying to dodge as soon as the electronics were activated, but it was nearly always too late.
Others tried firing the missile with the tracking on, then turning it off in mid-flight. This option didn’t work. The enemy fighter continued tracking the missile after it went dumb and always avoided it. This option was considerably worse than just leaving on the electronics throughout the entire missile flight path.
The leading theory was this - since no one could hit a target using a dumb, straight line missile; it was pointless to fire it. Since it was pointless to fire it, it was pointless for the enemy fighter’s defense systems to acknowledge it. Regardless of the theory’s validity, defeating the one-on-one fighter became almost an afterthought.
While this strategy worked great for the single fighter, it didn’t work nearly as well for the three fighters. While it was possible to anticipate the flight path of one fighter and fire a missile appropriately, it was impossible to track all three. Further, there wasn’t enough time to fire six missiles.
Edward eventually solved this problem. He had grown tired of being killed by the two remaining Hiriculan fighters after killing the leader. So, one time he simply fired three missiles at the enemy and flew past them. The enemy fighters seemed to panic at the unexpected move and temporarily broke off their attack to avoid the missiles. He flew directly to the fourth challenge with the Hiriculan cruiser in front of him and three enemy fighters behind him. Now, video gamers were making it to the Hiriculan cruiser with all three lives.
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Russ Brand, like most others, now made it to the final level without issue, but kept dying. If he put his shields to the front, the three enemy fighters from the previous screen would kill him. If he balanced his shields, the cruiser would kill him. At some point this pissed him enough to give up playing it - for a day. But that was all it took. Unlike some others, he firmly believed that the video game designers had created a solution, it simply hadn’t been found yet.
He realized that day that he needed to go faster, to anticipate the shots better, and to simply play better. He thought about the basic flight simulation, how it forced everyone to switch the fighter to manual and experience the rush of information to his brain. He reasoned that there must be a reason why the game designers created a manual mode.
He went back to the basic training program and pushed the button for manual. He was inundated with information flowing through his mind at a torrid pace and he almost quit after a few seconds. However, he let it flow for 18 seconds. Just as he was about to quit from information overload, he suddenly saw yellow. He mentally grabbed the yellow information and pinned it to a part of his brain that seemed to look yellow. Suddenly, he could control his yah rate.
The flow of information was less horrible now. He began looking for other colors, found them, and pinned them to corresponding colors in his brain. He eventually found enough colors to pilot the fighter. With the flight information streaming directly into his head, he found that he could control the fighter much faster than through the computer interface.
Something else strange happened. His breathing slowed down, his heart rate slowed, and he reached a level of calm and serenity envied by a yoga master. The ship became an extension of his own senses and he could see and hear everything. He felt unstoppable.
He became the first player (in Alliance history) to complete the simulation without losing a life. Also, he was winning nearly every on-line battle and group mission. He quickly earned the #1 ranking.
He posted his new finding on the chat boards. Initially, it was met with skepticism as others couldn’t believe that one could understand the direct feed of information, let alone mentally map colors. However, the fact he was ranked #1 and was the only person to complete the game without dying, quickly won the disbelievers over.
Soon, this became the best way to fly. Now, gamers could react fast enough to dodge the incoming weapons and reach the Hiriculan cruiser, fire their payload, and finish the simulation without dying. While this solution solved one problem, it created another.
The new problem was simple. The Advranki female, Karen, would only trade the ship buster for the gravity mi
ssile. So, if you kept the ship buster, you could damage the cruiser, but you would lose a life at the obstacle course. If you gave up your ship buster, you could get past the 90 degree turn without dying, but you could only do cosmetic damage to the cruiser. Plus, completing the mission without damaging the Hiriculan cruiser seemed hollow.
It didn’t matter which way one completed the game. Players that finished the course without dying, but didn’t damage the cruiser scored in the 7,000 – 7,500 range. Players that damaged the ship, but died one time scored in the 7,200 – 7,500 range.
Finally, Jim Donovan put all of the pieces together and solved the puzzle. He traded one of the shield busting missiles for a hyper communication missile. These missiles were designed to be shot through a hyperspace lane to deliver an important communique. These were rarely used in real life though because they were unreliable.
However, this missile was perfect for his plan. Jim changed out his ship buster missile for the gravity missile and changed out a ship to ship missile for the hyper communication missile. With those changes verified, he began his historic run.
He launched and switched to manual, letting the information flow through him. It was a jolt at first, but he quickly locked down the colors in his mind. He sped through the obstacle course, left here, then right, then back left, and finally rode the gravity missile through the turn. He fired a missile at the lone Hiriculan fighter, watched it break left and followed it with a dumb missile to a fixed location. He flew toward the next obstacle, not even waiting for confirmation that he had scored a hit.
He flew past the three fighters without firing at them and flew to the next screen. The enemy fighters followed him and were much closer than usual. He had his electronic warfare package turned on to help keep the threesome from locking on to his fighter.
He approached the Hiriculan cruiser, dodging heavy enemy fire from in front and behind. He obtained a firing solution and fired his shield buster missiles at the shield deflector just above the engine room. He scored a direct hit, causing a small portion of the ship to become unshielded. He fired almost his entire inventory of missiles to partially damage the ship and slow shield recovery. Then he attached his homing beacon to the hyper communication missile and fired it at the damaged portion of the ship that was unprotected by its shields. He had 3 ship-to-ship missiles left.
The three enemy fighters suddenly had a clear, unambiguous view of their target. They locked on the target and fired every single weapon they had, including one ship-buster missile each. The first wave of missiles hit the Hiriculan cruiser and exploded, further opening the area unprotected by the shields. The next missiles penetrated the hull and created an opening to space. Then came the three ship busters, still locked on the fighter’s homing beacon. They ignored every electronic trick and trap and headed directly for the opening in the hull. All three went inside and exploded. The result was unbelievable.
The Hiriculan cruiser blew up, exploding into thousands of particles. Very little was left save a cloud of dust a kilometer in length. Jim pulled the fighter into the hardest loop he could manage. The turn pulled 7g’s and was simulated through the fighter cap. Jim almost passed out, but somehow managed to complete the turn. He fired his three remaining missiles, one at each remaining fighter. The enemy fighters were blinded by the dust from the explosion and didn’t react. He scored three direct hits and killed all three. He was the first person (in Alliance history) to destroy the enemy cruiser and also the first to destroy all three fighters.
He landed on the Alliance cruiser with three lives remaining and watched as a dozen Advranki crewmembers on the flight deck cheered. His final score was 11,130. He immediately jumped in the on-line rankings to #1 overall.
Jim posted the solution on the chat boards and soon everyone was trying it that way. In just a day after he succeeded, over 100 gamers that had scored greater than 10,000 and the number was climbing hourly.
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The on-line solo and group missions were also a huge success. Lorano programmed a series of hundreds of missions and released a few new ones each day. Gamers could form impromptu teams with friends or be assigned to a team randomly. The missions ranged from relatively easy to nearly impossible. Lorano had been feeling particularly malicious one day and released one that he believed was impossible to complete.
The scenario was simple. An Alliance cruiser jumps to an unknown location, and then moves well inside the gravity well of a nearby star to investigate an anomaly. As a result, it cannot jump to hyperspace. Then, the Alliance cruiser detects an enemy destroyer. The enemy destroyer launches fighters. The cruiser launches then responds by launching its fighters (e.g. the 20 gamers) and setting course backwards away from the destroyer and toward the hyperspace window.
Once the fighters are halfway to the destroyer, Lorano had programmed a battleship to make a micro jump from a hidden location to just beside the Alliance cruiser. The gamers now had a choice of generally four options.
(1) They could proceed to the destroyer, kill all of the enemy fighters and blow it up. This is a difficult task, but one that could usually be accomplished by most teams. However, by the time they finish off the destroyer, the battleship will have killed their cruiser. The battleship will then launch 80 fighters and destroy them.
(2) They could sacrifice themselves by distracting the battleship long enough for the cruiser to get away. This is difficult because the battleship is between them and the cruiser. Also, the battleship has 80 fighters, resulting in a very lopsided battle. Teams have been able to save the cruiser, dying in the process.
(3) Launch and stay next to the cruiser. This way, when the battleship appears, they can dock back on the ship. There are 20 fighters and only 2 launch bays, so they have to violate fighter spacing protocols and land as a group to make it back to the cruiser in time.
(4) They can try to engage the destroyer, then race back and dock with the cruiser. The problem here is the Alliance cruiser will jump as soon as it reaches the hyperspace window. If the fighters are not aboard, they will be abandoned. Further, if the cruiser waits for the fighters to slow down enough to dock, it will be killed by the battleship’s missiles.
Players generally try to complete the first three scenarios. The fourth seems to be unsolvable.
Chapter 9
Carank had been monitoring the on-line rankings as well as the results of the simulation. He felt certain that 10,000 was the minimum score for Alliance pilots to pass the test. He was thrilled that human pilots had finally reached that level.
He found Lorano and said, “We finally have enough pilots that have passed the test. We can begin the final phase. I believe that our journey is going to prove worthwhile.”
Lorano was equally thrilled, though more about the prospect of leaving Earth than anything else. He responded, “What criteria are you going to use?”
Carank responded, “Well, my first criteria is simple, I want all of them to be the same sex.”
Lorano answered, “Makes sense, we don’t want them reproducing in flight. I don’t think the life support system could handle it. What else?”
Carank said, “I think their gestation period is a little longer than a few weeks.”
Lorano responded, “These simple beings probably reproduce by mitosis.”
Lorano smiled at the comment and said, “Computer, human female gestation period.”
…38.29 weeks. Natural variation allows +/-5 weeks. Impregnation requires both sexes…
Carank continued, “I am also going to choose candidates that are single. I have found that if they are married or are an only child; too many people will be notified of their absence. People will ask questions and look for them.”
“Makes sense,” added Lorano.
Carank continued, “Finally, I am only going to choose pilots that have completed the simulation and are among the top 100 pilots in the global rankings.
“Can you find 20 in the top 100 that meet all of the criteri
a?” Lorano asked.
Carank responded, “Actually, most of the ones in the top 30 are both single and male. We will have to violate the only child rule for a couple of them, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
Lorano seemed perplexed by that answer. “Why do you suppose that is?”
Carank shook his head, indicating that he understand the question.
Lorano clarified, “Why do you suppose most of them are single and of the same sex?”
Carank responded, “I don’t know. I do know is that a preponderance of the gamers are male. Females don’t seem to play the game very much. However, the few females that do play appear to be as good as males.”
“Okay,” Lorano finished, “I guess it is time to implement operation ‘Candlestick’.” All four crew members had each suggested a code name for kidnaping the humans. The choices had been ‘Victims’, ‘Grab Humans’, ‘Go Home’, and ‘Cranky’. No one was sure how they had settled on candlestick since, like Sunflower; the name had not been an option.
The four assembled in the main hold and sat in the recreation area. Carank brought up a screen showing the list of potential candidates. The list was impressive; everyone had scored above 11,000 on the obstacle course and had won multiple one-on-one battles and group simulated missions.
He had chosen 19 of the top 30 ranked pilots. Numbers 17 and 18 were rejected because they were married. Numbers 19 through 23 had been rejected because they had tightly knit families. Numbers 6, 8, 9 and 14 were rejected because they lived outside of the United States. Carank thought that it would be easier to only grab humans located in the USA since they were physically located in that country.
