Difference between revisions of "Pilot Candidates"

Revision as of 01:01, 24 June 2010

Pilot Candidates are chosen by a combination of chance and deliberation. A number of psychics are discovered during casual screenings at health clinics, but not all psychic phenomenon is easily detectable. Some forms are more subtle, noticeable only to a skilled Pilot, and those psychics are also swiftly thrown into the program. Candidates come from all over the place, from all different backgrounds and ages and castes, and in the Pilot Program caste and status doesn't matter a bit. All are equal...which means all have the same fifty-fifty chance of either passing the program and becoming a Pilot, or being sent to TRIM.

During their time as a candidate, candidates may find themselves paired up with a Pilot mentor if an eligible Pilot takes an interest in them. However, some candidates may go months without having a mentor while others may be snatched up right away. Mentorship is an extra and informal part of the program, and Pilots choose their candidates at their own leisure.

As can be expected, training is brutal. However candidate death, whether by physical trauma or suicide, is very uncommon and is considered a failure on the Pilot's part. Any Pilot who kills a candidate purposefully or by accident would be harshly disciplined for destroying the nation's investment, and other Pilots would look down on them for their lack of self control. Pilot's are responsible for candidate suicide as well. It takes great skill to break down a candidate's personality and build it back up again, taking them to the brink of despair and then bringing them back from it. Any Pilot who fails in this and loses a candidate to suicide would be considered grossly incompetent. In either case, a Pilot whose candidate dies would never be allowed to train again.

Only a small percentage of Pilots are cleared to train candidates, as they are considered valuable resources and there is much more to training them than just tormenting them. It takes self control, patience, and a keen grasp of psychology and behavioral analysis to successfully train candidates. Candidates are all individuals with different strengths and weaknesses, and to be a mentor the Pilot must realize that, as a "one size fits all" training approach simply will not work.

All Pilots have a keen, unspoken understanding that you do not discipline another Pilot's candidate too harshly. Corrections and minor discipline is acceptable, but the candidate is ultimately the responsibility of their assigned Pilot, and it is only proper etiquette for the other Pilots to remember that and to, essentially, mind their own business. The exception to this rule is outright insubordination, and this is the only case in which another Pilot may punish a candidate that isn't theirs by whatever means seems fit.

Rules and Expectations

A candidate's uniform consists of a short gray coat with long sleeves, cuffs, a medium collar, and matching gray pants. All candidates are expected to be in uniform at all times, save on special, rare "off" days where they may dress normally, though the activity is confined to their dorms and rec. rooms. Candidates are all expected to keep their uniforms, shoes, and living spaces spotless and fastidiously clean, their beds made each and every morning and free of wrinkles. They wake at 0500 each day, and they must be dressed and ready for the day by 0530.

No candidate can leave the ATC without the written permission of the Director of Candidate Affairs and a Pilot escort. Candidates are not allowed pets, either, unless they are given one for training purposes or otherwise given permission to keep one.

Candidates are expected to follow proper military protocol. They are typically addressed by Pilots as Candidate + Last Name (for instance, Candidate Smith), and they are expected to address Pilots by their rank and last name and to show them, and other military officials, the highest respect. Insubordination is not tolerated and is met with harsh consequences.

Among themselves, the candidates do not have so many rules and bullying, even sexual abuse, is sadly common. The Pilots leave them to sort out their own squabbles and do not generally intervene on conflicts short of, well, candidates maiming each other; life threatening injuries, or injuries that could be permanent, are not allowed. Aside from that, it's considered part of the toughening up process and a Pilot's typical response to candidates dealing with bullying and abuse is, "If you don't like it, don't let it happen." They expect candidates to fight their own battles, and this is part of the reason the Pilot Program is so difficult. Pilots want only the strongest candidates, both mentally and physically, and those that can't handle it are those that get culled. A candidate that breaks under the pressure of candidacy is a Pilot who wouldn't last long after graduation.

Training Regimen

All Pilot candidates go through a standard training program designed to cull the undesirables and ensure only the best and most loyal become Pilots. The following is the basic framework of the candidate program, however, a candidate's experiences and training tend to be highly individualized, especially if they have the benefit of a Pilot mentor. Stage 1 is the only stage with a specific time frame. Candidates will pass the other stages when and if they are deemed fit. The responsibility of deciding who passes to the next stage and when falls on the Director of Candidate Affairs, though the recommendations of the Pilot mentors are taken into account. Stages are denoted by colored stripes on the collar and cuffs of the candidate uniform. The youngest age at which a psychic can be entered into the Pilot program is thirteen, and they must be at least eighteen years old with a minimum of four years of training to graduate.

Stage 1

A six-month grace period that all candidates receive. During this time, "gracies" participate with the regular military recruits in the harsh Aedolian Basic Training program and cannot be sent to TRIM. At this point they are considered the lowest military rank. Training is not limited to the physical, as candidates must also pass the classroom portion of the course, most of which consists of basic subjects such as Aedolian history, the sciences, and mathematics. Little to no psychic training occurs during this stage, as its purpose is to determine who is even worth psychic instruction in the first place. This stage exists to weed out the truly hopeless cases. Its color is green, and on average 80 percent of candidates pass to the next stage.

Stage 2

Having finished Basic Training, candidates will move on to Intensive Training, which is more physically and mentally demanding than Basic. Classroom work includes much instruction on the histories of Edanith and the space stations, plus classes on Aedolian government and politics. They will also be required to pass courses on psychic theory and brain anatomy, the goal of which is to give them a knowledge foundation upon which to build their psychic abilities. With increasing frequency, they will begin to receive instruction and training apart from the regular military personnel. Pilots make intensive appraisals of a candidate's strengths and weaknesses during the course of this stage. This is the most difficult stage to pass, and the criteria for moving on is vastly more challenging than in Stage 1. Pilots are far less forgiving of faults in this stage, and are looking specifically for candidates with the potential and desire to become loyal, useful Pilots. Only an average of 50% will make it through this stage. The color is sky blue.

Stage 3

Physical training still occurs at this stage, but the focus shifts to special ops and the time spent for it is pared down while time spent on the candidates' intellectual training increases. They take extensive courses on the anatomy and functional biology of the brains of over a dozen sentient species. There are psychic theory courses coupled with practical application of powers. At this point, candidates are almost fully separate from other military personnel in their training and are now higher ranked than most soldiers. It affords them a level of power previously unknown to them. As the number of candidates has greatly decreased by now, they receive much more one-on-one training from their Pilots and the Director of Candidate Affairs. An average of 70% of candidates pass this stage and the color is white.

Stage 4

This stage focuses almost entirely on the psychic aspect of being a Pilot. Candidates are expected to adhere to a physical fitness regimen to maintain their bodies and combat skills, and this regimen is almost identical to the one Pilots themselves are held to. Most of the candidate's time will be spent putting the knowledge they gained in previous stages to work as they apply what they know to controlling and utilizing their psychic powers. They work closely with the Pilots throughout and receive personal instruction to overcome their difficulties. The time necessary to pass this stage varies greatly from candidate to candidate, and some have been known to skip it completely if their mastery over their psychic abilities is considered adept enough. The only candidates likely not to pass this stage are those who, for whatever reason, are simply unable to learn to control their abilities. The color for this stage is yellow.

Stage 5

The final stage. Candidates who reach this level are moved out of the Advanced Training Complex and required to live in the the Citadel where they will act as personal assistants to the Pilots. This is to immerse them in the life of a Pilot so that they may acclimate themselves to the lifestyle and learn things that just cannot be taught in a classroom. In addition, it allows the dragons to familiarize themselves with the candidates at their leisure and get to know them as potential Pilots. Candidates in this stage are second in rank only to the Pilots themselves, and a large part of their duties entails teaching lower candidates. Their color is red, and they pass this stage and graduate when a dragon chooses them as a Pilot.

Traditions

After graduating, the new Pilot gets a week of leave to go and do whatever they like, a sort of vacation after all their hard work...before they have to get back to work.

As a tradition, Pilots often celebrate the anniversary of their graduation. It's also a tradition for the Pilot's former mentor to give them a gift.