/-\_/-\_/-0_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-0_/-\_/-\_/-\
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/          Rescue on Fractalus        \
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/            Flight Training          \
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/                Manual               \
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/          Issued by Black Cat        \
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/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\_/-\


  Galactic Command has sent out
hundreds of probe crafts in search of
life in the universe. These probes have
gone to every corner of the galaxy.
Some have found barren worlds, others
have found advanced civilizations. Some
never returned...Being one of the hot
shot fliers in your squadron you were
selected to help carry out the search
for the lost pilots of the probes. The
exclesior craft (your ship) are the
best equipped search ships around.
Let's take a look at the controls of
the ship you will soon fly...

  On your console keyboard you have
these keys to use.
L-=>Execute landing sequence
S-=>Main systems off/on
A-=>Airlock open/close
B-=>Ignite orbital booster rockets
Ctrl-S-=>Sound system on/off
Ctrl-R-Abort your mission
Esc key-=>Pauses the mission
Left & right arrow keys-=>Throttle
Left arrow key-=>Select level (before
                 the mission begins)

  On your control column (joystick)
you have these controls to use.
Stick-=>Flight direction
Button 0-=>Fire photon cannons
Button 1-=>Start/stop landing sequence
           and power up systems for
           flight

  Your instrument panel displays a
great deal of information in a small
amount of space. Let's examine it in
further detail.

  There are 3 quadrants to it. Quadrant
1 displays your throttle position, it
is a very good indication of speed
because your ship responds well to the
engines. It also gives you a warning
when the ship gets too close to the
ground. The second quadrant (center)
displays positional status and general
performance. You have an artificial
horizon indicator labeled "AH" to show
the ship's attitude when you are flying
"blind" like at night or when the
ground is not visible. There are two
red bars at the top of the quadrant
to indicate the distance to mountains.
the larger the bars the farther the
obstruction. They are included due to
limited sideways visibility. Next you
have your altitude gauge which is
labeled "A". The purple bar shows your
ships altitude from the ground. The
orange bar indicates distance to large
mountains directly in your flight path.
Use it to avoid slamming into a steep
mountain. In the center you have a
screen, this screen shows when a target
is centered on the gunsights and when
you are heading toward a pilot's ship.
Use this screen to determine what that
point of light is in the distance. Is
it a friend or foe ? Now, to the right
of that screen is another bar graph,
this important indicator is labeled
"E", the bar indicates your energy
level. It starts flashing red when you
run low on fuel, pay attention to it!
Below the screen you have a set of
lights. Those lights tell the condition
of the ship's systems, they are not too
important for immediate attention. The
last thing in the center quadrant is
the long range radar scope. It picks up
the emergency beacons from stranded
ships. It plots the friendly ships
relative to you, with you being at the
bottom of the scope. Its range is about
9 units. That is near the visual limit.
It will not pick up enemy installations
due to clever jamming techniques. The
last quadrant is on the right. This
section gives you mission data. There
are three indicator lights at the top.
One tells when your ship has made
contact with the ground. The second
light flashes on when your base is near
enough for docking. And the third one
indicates whether the airlock on the
ship is open or closed. Then there are
3 digital readouts...The first one
marked "R" displays the range to a
friendly pilot to be rescued. The
second one labeled "E" keeps track of
how many pieces of alien armament you
blew up. And the third one labeled "P"
reminds you of how many pilots you need
to save before your base comes out to
you. There are some other things to
know about like the autosights, these
are projected on your windshield when a
target to blast is nearby. Your total
mission score is printed on the top
right of the screen. Messages from the
ship's master computer are flashed on
the upper left side of the screen. Last
but not least is a good old magnetic
compass mounted right above the
windshield. Sounds like a lot to learn,
but it is really easy and you should
have no problem. Many cadets have
mastered it and there are thousands of
them flying around in these ships. Now
on with the mission objective and
profile.

  The objective of the mission is to
rescue as many stranded pilots as you
can without getting obliterated. Also,
try to blow up every enemy craft and
installation that is possible.

  The mission profile is as follows:
Boot up your flight disk and board your
spacecraft. Once aboard, you'll be
facing a screen that shows what level
you have selected. Use the arrow keys
to change it, the range is 1-16. Then
press the space bar to return and
launch out to a planet. You'll see the
screen split in two. Seconds later
you are shot into space. The computer
finds a suitable planet and then begins
a short re-entry sequence. That only
takes a few seconds too. You are now
skimming the planet and looking for
stranded pilots. Pay close attention
to your two scopes, they are very
useful and always reliable. When you
see an enemy, blow him out of the sky
with your photon cannons. When you spot
a pilot's ship get ready to land near
it. You should reduce speed to around 2
or 3 notches and fly close to ground,
heed the warning of the micro-altimeter
in quadrant 1. Look at your range
display and make sure it is less than
3 units for the distance to the ship.
If not, the pilot won't run that far.
When it reads 2 you should start the
landing sequence. If you are too high
the computer won't land the ship. Upon
a successful landing shut down your
systems and wait for the pilot to
salvage any fuel he can from his ship.
He'll then give it to you upon boarding
your ship. Be sure to open your airlock
for the pilot. Sometimes it is best to
leave the airlock shut till the pilot
comes and knocks on it. There may be an
alien instead of a pilot, in that case
quickly power up systems and fly away.
Usually the neutrino blast from the
engines will kill the alien, it will
also kill a pilot as well, we don't
want a dead pilot. When the pilot is
safely aboard, takeoff and continue
with the mission. When you have enough
pilots call your base. It'll give the
computer the co-ordinates for a quick
rendezvous in orbit. Then you are ready
for another mission, the next one is
harder. The higher ones have bad
weather and changing between day and
night. Your ship is durable, but try
to avoid crashes and brush-bys, they
drain energy. If your mission was well
done you'll be able to record your name
on a plaque with other pilots. When you
are done with rescue operations give
Space Station One a call at these
galactic co-ordinates: 312-893-7346.
Also check out Time Travel Ae at this
location too: 312-529-6779. If there
are any errors in this manual please
report them at once, your co-operation
is greatly appreciated.


                      Cmdr. Cat
