In this manual prospective pilots will learn about what it takes to be a Black Talon pilot.
Black Talon pilots are expected to be in the line of fire every day. You are the primary line of defense to make sure that our convoys and shipments make it through to their intended destination. Our customers are depending on you to make sure they receive what they ordered on schedule.
Your primary job is to escort Republican (RepEx) ships to their end destination successfully. Secondary jobs include escorting other shipments, destroying pirate vessels, assisting Rheinland Lawfuls against pirates, smugglers, and Liberty Navy forces, and finally, assisting Republican Paramilitary operations in other Houses.
Now that your duties are clear, let's focus on getting your new ship properly registered and equipped.
-First, register your ship using the format RepEx|Pilot.Name and use the Sirius Code /restart Rheinland
-Take your newly postitioned ship to either New Berlin to pick up the Falcon Heavy Fighter or to Holstein in Frankfurt to pick up the Tiger Shark Light Fighter.
-When you are in position send a message to one of the CEOs (mwerte or Ivr56) and they will send you a 5 million credit subsidy for your ship.
-Once you have acquired your ship and some guns head to Hamburg and take missions for Republican until you have the Republican IFF and ID.
-At that point, feel free to start escorting!
Black Talon fighters and bombers use the naming format RepEx|Pilot.Name and Behemoths use the format RepEx|Rheinlandname
Ships and Equipment
The following ships are available to Black Talon personal.
Recruit:
Light Fighters: Tiger Shark, Ki, Griffin
Heavy Fighters: Falcon
Escorting
Black Talon exists to get RepEx shipments to their end destination successfully. But how do we do that?
The first way is by not allowing our protected cargo to come even within sight of a pirate. If we fail to do that we have lost. The Black Talon vessel should travel one trade lane ahead of the cargo vessel or vessels. This ensures that you encounter the pirate vessel before the valuable cargo does. Have some quick reference words set up with your escorte so that they know there is trouble ahead. I find that 'Drop' or 'Flee' work nicely.
When you come to the end of the trade lane, wait until your escorte is in sight, and then take the next lane. I always tell my escorts that I assume the lane is safe unless otherwise stated. When you come to a JumpGate, use the same procedure, wait until the trader is in sight, then jump. Normally though, tell the trader to wait until you give an all-clear.
It is important that you and your escorte plan your route ahead of time, that way neither of you are surprised. It is also important to keep in mind escape and alternate routes for your escorte, and know which way they will run if confronted, so that you can draw the pirate in another direction. Don't be foolish though, once your escorte is out of there or safely docked, scram. Nothing says you even have to engage the pirate, just give the shipping captain notice that he's there, and keep tabs on the pirate until the shipment is safely away.
Special Ops
On occasion Black Talon pilots will be tasked with escorting very important cargo through very hostile territory. In these instances you will need to cover the escape routes, and make sure that nobody is following you. The best way to deter pursuit is to shoot down tradelanes after you exit them, leaving the cargo ships to move ahead without fear of being chased. This works best when there are two Black Talon pilots escorting a convoy, and one can scout ahead and protect the convoy from that angle, while another pilot keeps the pursuit ships away.
Keeping Rheinland Safe
If there are no ships to escort, Rheinland is full to the brim with pirates, assisting the Rheinland Military with patrols will earn you bonus commission pay from Republican, and it builds good will between us and the government, which is always a good thing.
Advancement
When you have successfully completed an escort run (one run is from beginning to end, for example, buying Engines at Oder Shipyard, going to New London and back to Oder is one run. One leg is from New Berlin to New London) report it to the Corporate Office to receive credit.
After you have successfully (meaning your escorte was not pirated or blown up) completed four (4) escorts, you will receive your promotion to Veteran Pilot. With that promotion comes a 5 million credit subsidy from Republican, to go towards your new VHF or Bomber ship. You may upgrade your current ship, or register a new one. After you have completed two more escort runs, you will be promoted to Veteran Pilot, and receive another 5 million credit subsidy for your new Behemoth. Veteran pilots are required to keep at least one fighter class ship and one Behemoth on standby at all times.
In total to receive maximum promotion, you will have to complete six escorts. Note that these escorts do not all have to be of RepEx ships, we would like to extend our services to other corporations, and get paid for it, but it is preferred if you focus on escorting RepEx ships when available.
Behemoth Raiding Wing
Sometimes it is beneficial to take resources out of the pocket of our competitors. And sometimes Republican needs proprietary goods that are not available through official channels. To help in that department Republican Corporation has set up a wing of Behemoths, piloted by veteran pilots, who know how to go in, retrieve goods from hostile territory, and get out safely.
Once a veteran pilot has set up a Behemoth, he or she will join an elite corps of pilots, striking deep inside Liberty, hijacking shipments of useful cargo from Libertonian corporations, and getting out again. Remember, only strike Liberty Corporations (Universal, Ageira, Deep Space Engineering, and Interspace IDs) inside Liberty. We can't risk offending Bretonian or Kusari shipping interests.
Pay special attention to Gate and Lane parts, Republican has a special use for them in the upcoming months.
That is all, you should be arriving at New Berlin now,