(no subject)

[philiip]

KING OF THE HILL

Using this period of quiet as an opportunity, Squadron Leaders de Vries, McLeod and Sinclair devise a training exercise designed to test adaptability under fire while deliberately placing the greenest among them in leadership roles. Hold on to your flightsuits, rookies: you're up for command. 🫡

EXERCISE BRIEFING

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At 10:00 on February 8^th, pilots Apollo, Eren, Griff, Irina, and Kit will be summoned to a briefing room, where Philip will outline the flight plan and objective for the day. Designated as Strike Group Alpha, they will be led by Apollo. Their task is to fly to a location identified on their navigation systems as the Hill and disrupt the Hill Holder, whose sole objective is to maintain dominance of the zone for the duration of the exercise.

Unbeknownst to Strike Group Alpha, a second group – Az, Eleanor, Fox, Remy, and Sloane – will have already been briefed separately by Eli. Led by Sloane, they will form Strike Group Bravo. During their initial briefing, Bravo will be told they are undertaking a similar zone control exercise. However, once airborne, their flight plan will change, and Eli will inform them of their true objective: to disrupt Alpha and prevent them from gaining control of the Hill.

In short, Bravo will enter the exercise as hostile elements without prior warning to Alpha. The exercise will therefore test:

• Bravo’s ability to rapidly adapt to a shifting objective.
  
• Alpha’s adaptability and ability to maintain cohesion when confronted with unexpected interference.
  
• The two most junior pilots' command ability under evolving circumstances.
  
• Group cohesion.

Throughout the exercise, air support for the Mnemosyne will be maintained by Squadron 3’s NPC captain and NPC pilots. Those who normally fly with co-pilots will borrow single-seaters for the duration of the drill. The two Squadron Leaders who are not acting as Hill Holder will initially depart with the strike teams before remaining airborne as observers; they will not get involved in the execution of the mission.

Including flight time, you will have 120 minutes to achieve your objective.

Good luck, pilots.

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The Location

The exercise takes place over a remote Pacific volcanic island arc stretching approximately 18 km, selected for its vertical complexity and thermal instability. The Hill zone is defined as a circular airspace within the arc:

• Radius: 9 km
  
• Maximum altitude: 22,000 ft
Pilots must navigate shifting air currents and thermal plumes while manoeuvring between dormant volcanic peaks. Though the volcanoes are currently inactive, heat columns and rising air distortions are present.


✈️ Note: Typhoon jets are capable of flying at an altitude of 55,000 ft; the height restriction of the zone is deliberate. Additionally, Typhoons can efficiently cruise at Mach 1.15-1.2 when loaded with weaponry (supersonic speed is >Mach 1, or >1236km/h), with max speeds of Mach 2.0 (approximately 2495 km/h).

To keep it simple: if the Strike Groups choose to cruise at a training speed of 900km/h, they will get to the location in approximately 40 minutes after departing Mnemosyne.

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Rules of Engagement

• Clean gun solutions (wherein a plane would be destroyed in real combat) are permitted.
  
• Clean gun solutions on the Hill Holder counts as success.
  
• The planes are fitted with Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation modules which interface with radar and gun targeting technology to determine how accurately and effectively a strike lands on target. These modules all speak to each other, and a targeted plane that has taken sufficient damage to be knocked out will announce the kill to its pilot and surrounding planes. No live rounds are fired; this is entirely digital.
  
• A valid kill requires:

  ✔ Proper attack angle
  ✔ Stable firing window
  ✔ Realistic gun range
  ✔ Defender has no plausible escape
  ✔ Sufficient damage taken on by the plane in real life scenarios
  
  If the defender would realistically die: it counts.

  Remember: random dogfights and individual kill counts that don't lead to overall Alpha/Bravo disruption will not win the day here.

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Success Conditions

• The Hill Holder wins if they: retain control of the zone OR both strike groups lose cohesion within the allocated time frame, with both groups failing to reach their objective.
  
  
• Alpha wins if it:
  • Forces the Hill Holder outside the zone and maintains pressure so they cannot re-establish control in a continuous five minute window; OR
    
  • Achieves a sufficient clean gun solution on the Hill Holder such that in real combat, they would have been destroyed.
• Bravo wins if it:
  • Prevents Alpha from taking the Hill within the duration of the exercise; OR
    
  • Causes Alpha to retreat/abort its run/achieves clean gun solutions on all Alpha planes.

ASSIGNMENTS

01

STRIKE GROUP ALPHA

• Leader: Apollo
  
• Pilots: Eren, Griff, Irina, Kit
  
• Objective: Dislodge the Hill Holder by gaining control of the Hill

02

STRIKE GROUP BRAVO

• Leader: Sloane
  
• Pilots: Az, Eleanor, Fox, Remy
  
• Objective: Disrupt Alpha to impede them from achieving their objective

03

HILL HOLDER

• Pilot: Nish
  
• Objective: Maintain continuous control of the zone. He may evade, bait, isolate, and reposition… whatever he needs to do to remain in control of the zone. Leaving the zone for more than 5 minutes constitutes loss of control.

GAMEPLAY & ROLLS

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IC/OOC is probably best/easiest!

Likewise rolls are probably best to kept simple e.g., 2d6, with highest team total wins. Pilots of seniority can roll with a modifier as previously discussed (+1 for every 4 years).

If you want to throw in some environmental factors, the volcano(es) can get involved too! Because sometimes, they... belch: 1d6 for environmental fun! e.g.,

Thermal plume

Turbulence pocket

Sensor distortion

Because this has the potentially of getting complex! on a Sunday night! we will try to wrap up by Monday PM and will roll where necessary for those who haven't been able to so we can get the results.

♥

Comments

STRIKE TEAM BRAVO

[philiip]

Sloane

[foundlostfound]

Interpreting her very middle roll [6] as Sloane prioritizes leadership and communication to her mostly higher-rolling teammates so much that she tries to stay just a little above so she can get a clear view of the situation. The clear view of the situation turns into she gets sucked into a thermal plume, which impedes her visibility for a little while. So she's a little behind after that, but still stays in as much communication as possible. She also swears about the volcano a lot a lot a lot over the comms.

Az

[agueyegrey]

With his 11 Az was his usual self, proficient but profoundly annoying. He was hotdogging, he was making strafing runs, he was catcalling across comms to cheer on his teammates and rag on his opponents. As they got closer and closer to the buzzer, this behaviour probably got worse and worse, as he started to get a little frantic at the prospect of losing.

Fox.

[jinking]

Fox dealt with being passed over for a leadership position by locking in with a 10 on his roll. He stayed focused on what was best for the team rather than any grandstanding or showboating, with every action taken in service of Bravo's objective. Notable exception: when he briefly had the opportunity to target Apollo and escalate his one-sided rivalry into an all out dogfight, volcanic interference disrupted his sensors. Fox took it as a sign from a higher power to behave and follow orders. 😒

He remained (perhaps annoyingly) optimistic about Bravo's chances even after it became clear they weren't going to win.