The Posts
Welcome to the final chapter of your Basic Training. You've come a long ways, read a lot of different and probably new material and more than likey- you are restless. So, we ask that you simply hold on for a little longer, because its just about to get fun.
Now, when you are assigned to a squadron you will have many duties. The number one duty is to follow orders of course, but that normally entails one basic order- post on the story. Every squadron will have some activity going on to occupy your time and hopefully entertain you, but ninety percent of the time, that's going to be a squadron, wing or VEN story. Don't worry, you don't have to create massive backdrops or underlying stories for everyone to break off on, but you do have to post. Time to tell you how!
Contents
Three is the magic number...
The basic necessities for a VEN story post: 1) There was an event. 2) It makes you wonder... 3) It's clean. Now, that makes no real sense now and it obviously doesn't have the depth or understanding a real story post should have, but allow me to indulge you and you'll see first hand how all of these affect your post and your overall career in the Vast Empire Navy.
Event
Okay, the gist is this- you need something to happen in your story post- an event. You need an event or some kind of new information or how is it a story post? You can do this in a number of ways, for instance, creating a sequence where your group overcomes a challenge or obstical like an opposing fighter squadron. Now, it doesn't have to be an entire squadron or the entire battle by any means, but something must happen. That doesn't mean you should just say something like 'I flew hard...' It means, have something happen and explain it in detail. There are different levels of events, ranging from inconsequential (the uninportant- I spilled my coffee and need another cup) to the dynamic and pivotal plot movements we've come to know from the Star Wars movies (Anakin is Vader!?). The point of all of this is to help contribute to the story and its movement in storyline.
Another way to do this is to provide a flashback, whether it pertaines to your character or not. This can be used to inform people of character or battle history and introduce them to a broader and more provocative universe.
Thought Munchies
Probably the second-most important factor of story posting is emotions and other thought provoking material. When you are able to excenuate your character's emotional as well as physical aspects, seducing people into reading the rest of your work will become a minor challenge. When I mentioned "thought-provoking material" I simply meant that it requires other people to reflect and say- "That is interesting..." An idea with that goal in mind has an enormous and innumerable playing feild. It can be a paradigm where the line between right and wrong is unclear or an equivocal event that makes you wonder- "I wonder what that is reffering to..." I don't mean be overly-consumed by thought or try to confuse people with an over-abundance of unsurmountable vocab, but to give your writing an edge, something that makes it unique. This ideas ties in relativelly well with our final concept and component of story-writing. <p>
Creativity
One might further ask- how can I keep this from being boring while I run through this information and emotional backgrounding? The answer is simple- you tell us! In order to succeed, you must be inventive and contain a level of ingenuity and fluid motion that keeps the reader on their toes. A lot of times, this can be fixed by reading the story-post yourself and pointing out areas needing work or fine-tuning. Taking time to work through these areas will not only satisfy your taste for this one post, but teach and prepare you for the next one, and the one after that. Through this simple series of cleansweepings, you will become a better writer on every level. It will become easier every time to make a post and get what you want in if you do this from the beginning- you could very well become better than your squadron members if you take this system to heart...
NOTE: All of these components must be finely tuned and honed if somone where to ever be interested in getting into the DJO. The DJO is our signature writing/RPG group and only accepts the best for members- it takes atleast a few months of active duty and awesome story posting to get in.
TIME TO WRITE!
Now that you've seen all of this information and I've provided you with atleast three points you need to be thinking about when writing a story post, its time you wrote some! This is the final task in the chapters of Basic Training.
Now, you need to write atleast two seperate story post- both of those post will be about you in a fighter during Training. The first will be space flying, and the second atmospheric. The optional third, if you can and both your story post are acceptable, is ground training! So- what's the background for these post?
Before you write up a post, you need to pick a training officer for your character. Yes, you can actually pick the guy or gal who trains you- kind of cool, huh? Well, each training officer will stress certain things and have an attitude or obvious character that you will be able to use in your Training Operations (Training Op). Once you post with that training officer, they will be your officer for the rest of your training although some people may have other ideas and decide to change this up. The backgrounds and facts are for you to mess with and experiment; for instance, some might decide to get in a lot of trouble their first mission and get transferred to another training officer or they might decide to show themselves as unable to perform simple task because of pressure or whatever else is going on! This is an opportunity for you to get creative, have your way with the story but just keep it clean and understandable. That is what we are looking at here as well as creativity, so do be careful. You can find a list of Training officers or other NPCs (Non-Playable-Characters) here-
Now- lets get to it!
Note: You must do the space mission before the atmospheric. Space is easier because there is no gravity and thus- no G's. Also, if you must eject, its safer because there is nothing there to inhbit your ejection.<p>
Space Post<p>Background: After months of grueling classes and basic training manuvers ranging from buckling up to safe ejection, you are finally going to fly! This is the first time you have gotten to fly a TIE Interceptor outside of a simulator so you might find it to be very different or relativelly the same, either way- your going to have some kind of emotion toward all of this. You have been transported by bulk cruiser from the surface of Abrae, the VENA's HQ and VEN base of operations, in the Vectra system to the Interceptor-Class Cruiser Perser Summit. The cruiser transports you a little ways from this moon planet to the space surrounding Tague. Abrae revolves around Tague, a gas planet that is totally uninhabitable with Type IV atmosphere, (the most unbreathable). You've been warned to keep away from the planet in case of emergencies. If you must eject for whatever reason, you've also been told to simply do so because it can be done safely in space. There is a small emergency craft about one thousand meters from you- just enough space for you guys to do your training.As for who you're flying with- your squadron commander that you picked is a must, and the rest of your group- simply go to the training roster and pick out two or three other members to put in your group. You will need to read their bios if they have them and incorporate them into your post if you can. What will you do? Since this is your first time in a fighter, you'll probably run through some basic manuevers and then get into some more advanced movements as you get comfortable. Take it as far as you like, but don't make yourself into an unbeleivable pilot, cause chances are- theres no way. However, you can explain the difficulty and pressures of these manuevers as you do them and the releif or disappointment after your done. Did you do well? Do you think your good? Do you think the training officer doesn't know what the heck he or she is talking about? Explain to us, and at the end of the day, you can return to the Perser Summit. Rules: You can not have enemy ships just pop up out of no where- that's riduculous considering we are right next to the home of the Imperial Navy. You may not feel the force and do some incredible manuver, but you may do so on accident or have a lucky try and do something pretty remarkable. You must show off your character dramatically! No flashbacks are necessary, but they will probably be the most effective tool in this post. Ideas Don't expect to get ideas from your commanders once you get into a squadron, but today we'll help you out. Some things you could run through in this training op can be, but are not limited to- target practice on canisters set in open space, painting members of your squadron but not actually shooting (weapons must be locked), Basic Flight Manuevers, Advanced tactics and coordinated attack patterns like formations or flight manuevers like weaves. That is all- post it in your thread after you've completed it for analysis from the training officer. |
Atmospheric PostBackground: After two or three experimental task in space, your commanders now think that your group is ready to try atmospheric flight. You have been transported by bulk cruiser from the Interceptor-Class Cruiser Perser Summit in the Vectra System to Berchat. Berchat is an uninhabitable world with possible mining uses, but the idea has yet to be explored, so it is simply a barren wasteland with a few minor imperial outpost on the surface. This leaves the waste-worthy planet in the hands of the VENA- it is a novice pilot's play ground. The atmosphere is type III so it is not very breathable at all, but is thick enough to present some serious G's if one intended on putting them on. The atmosphere isn't so thick that if a new pilot attempted a simple manuever he or she had done in space, it wouldn't knock them out from shere surprise. The idea behind this is to make it relativelly safe for the new pilots but still present a challenge. The planet is hot and the terrain full of arid expanse and craters- not a happy place. The close to the surface you get, the more atmosphere and gravity put on, so its probably that your group will start in the upper atmosphere and slowly descend to the lower portions to subject you to varried gravities. Who is flying with you? Your group remains the same unless you some how decided to alter it in the last mission. There is one change though; the bulk cruiser that transported you- give it whatever name you please, is waiting in the atmosphere incase of emergencies. It contains anything you might decide to use in your training for this post- five dummie fighters to shoot down for target practice, explosive charges set off when you approach certain parimaters to practice your atmospheric maueviring and reaction (very dangerous and probably shouldn't be discussed around other groups unless you want to get into some trouble), dummie missiles to follow you so you can practice your manuevering... Really- anything you can think up that is probably realistic in the VEN's universe. Your commander might actually take the time to reteach you the manuevers you practiced before, or teach you a manuever of his or her own; they might have a signature move for their group- make one up if you wish or look into some others you've seen. Rules: The rules are basically the same with a few add-ons... You may not destroy the bulk cruiser, but you may kill off one of the pilots in your flight group as long as they are NPC and not apart of the actual training squadron in a freak accident or whatever background story you would decide to provide; you may show that you have technical problems with your fighter and have to fix them during flight but you may not involve some massive conspiracy... Just try not to get out of hand, but do develope your character through background story. If you have any questions about that line between acceptable and impossible- give the training staff a ring. NOTE: Remember to put both of those post in your thread after careful examination of both- this is where we will grade you most harshly and consider your abilities with the utmost perceptiveness; don't let this one just go by. Do your best and if you have problems or need any help whatsoever, contact the training staff by use of your thread or personal messaging. We will do our best to help. May the force be with you. |
