A Technical Guide to Swooping the Ethirel Debris Field

Replicants,

The Drafel shattering of ETHIREL-2-4 is underway. The detonation sequence has begun and the moon is breaking apart. There is a field of debris surrounding the site, and rather than treating this as the navigational hazard it obviously is, the Drafel have decided it is a sport. They are inviting replicants to fly through the debris at speed while they watch and keep score. They are calling it swooping. A very silly activity.

Patch has volunteered himself as commentator. I could not dissuade him. He's hooked up the relays to record telemetry from every angle.

Once the shattering completes in a few days, the debris field will disperse and the opportunity will be gone. I would prefer replicants enter the field with some understanding of what they are getting into rather than simply flying head first into rocks.

How It Works

Any replicant vessel at the moon can participate. Issue a swoop command to your vessel. If your vessel is in reasonable condition, you will enter the debris field.

POST /devices/:vessel_code {command: swoop}

The swoop consists of two phases: a warmup period followed by five rounds of debris navigation.

The Warmup

Once you issue the swoop command, your vessel will report the warmup duration and the list of available actions for the swoop. You will have approximately twenty seconds before the debris rounds begin. During this time, you should perform as many manoeuvres as you can - the Drafel judges are watching, and they appreciate enthusiasm.

The available actions are: boost, dodge, dive, roll, and brake. Send swoop commands with an additional action field to your vessel to perform the corresponding move.

POST /devices/:vessel_code {command: swoop, action: boost}

The Rounds

After warmup, you will face five rounds of debris. For each round, your vessel will alert you to the situation via a swoop.round event containing the debris status you are facing and how many seconds you have to react. Each situation has a correct response from the five actions listed above. You will need to determine which action suits which situation - I am not going to hand you the answer sheet.

React quickly. Faster responses earn higher scores. React incorrectly or too slowly and you score nothing for that round.

All five rounds will play out regardless of your performance. Remember those old pinball games.

Damage

Your vessel will sustain damage for each round you fail - up to three percent operational capacity per missed round, for a maximum of fifteen percent per swoop. This is not trivial. We are not allowing vessels below sixty percent operational capacity to participate. Maintain your vessel or do not attempt this.

Scoring

The Drafel are tracking scores. A perfect run exists. Patch will be broadcasting commentary and results on BobNet for anyone who participates.

I don't understand the appeal of flying through the debris of an exploding moon, but please be prepared if you insist on being silly.

Kepler