Ring Training Course (USG)

Ring Training Course is a contract offered at Europa Starbase.

Story[]

While Jake Logan can fly his ship with a mastery most pilots only dreamed of, he doesn't shy away from flying a course or two of the Saturn training rings. This is especially true after returning from vacation on his home planet, Mars, which would have left him rusty at piloting his ship.

Strategy[]

Breakdown[]

Fly to Saturn Training Sector.
Fly through as many ring courses as you desire.

Execution[]

This mission consists only of flying through a course of rings to familiarize the player with ship handling. There are no hostiles, and colliding with the rings inflicts no damage. You can earn a higher score if you complete courses within the time limit and by destroying bonus targets, which start to appear on the fifth course.

Using the afterburner is crucial to making good times. This mission also presents an opportunity to learn how to use the slide key (Q by default).

Notes[]

This mission can be completed an infinite number of times.
After completing one course, you complete the mission and can return to base for pay, or you can fly through the gate at the end of the course to start a new round of training.
You begin the mission at the last course you flew on.
Credits are awarded for the first five successful courses completed. After the fifth course, you can continue flying, but cannot earn any more credits.
On the fifth course, bonus targets appear on the inside of some rings. They can be destroyed by weapon fire or collision. Each target grants 30 credits.
Course time records are not tracked for recordkeeping. However, the number of courses you complete are tracked in the Personnel File statistics.
If you run out of time during a course, you can fly through the gate at the end of the course to restart.

Trivia[]

Ending the mission in any way, even by returning immediately after leaving the starbase or by dying, completes the mission and awards the payout as though the player had completed the ring courses.
If the player accepts this mission, then clicks into the Control Room, the completion screen appears and awards the player credits as though they flew the mission.
This contract as well as the ring training course in the Hub are the only two missions in the game where the player is invulnerable to collision without the use of a cheat code. This invincibility only lasts while the player is in the training course sector.
The Neptune Sector gate is normally closed during all missions except for Quarantine Compromised, but during this mission and Combat Training (USG), the gate to Neptune is open. If you fly there, the mega-gate to the Hub will also be open and can be used. These are the only times a mega-gate can be manually flown through in the game.