Roland Zuccali

After a tumultuous but nonetheless brilliant ascent to the FDS Academy for elite pilots, Roland Zuccali is finally grounded after testing positive for a Mush infection. Manipulated by his superiors despite being proven innocent, Roland loses all confidence in the FDS and finally deserts during the Dirty War against the rebels. He then becomes the pilot of the Daedalus.

Skill Summary
Sprinter: You earn an additional 2 MP every time you convert AP to MP. This skill is useful for a lot of things; to move stuff around, to do a little investigation on your own etc... it's useful in any condition. It also allows you to visit one more zone on expeditions. But does not let you pilot.

Pilot: Allows you to use patrol ships and be the terror of the skies! This competence fits Roland since he wins his glory by killing Hunters.

Shooter: Perfect combo with Pilot since this competence gives you 2 free shots per day. You can use them from a patrol ship, from a turret or to shoot down those mushes who are infecting your ship!

Fire Fighter: The Extinguish Fire action is always successful and some bonus for some projects. This isn't his major competence but it can be useful. It fits with Sprinter, finding + extinguishing fires can be hard sometimes.

The Optimist: You are the soul of the ship, you see the bright side at any time! You'll lose one less morale point per day

Creative: Now we're talking! This skill gives 50% chance to gain 1 AP after each failed action. Very useful when you miss your shots or even for killing some mushes.

How to play
His main job is to take down Hunters, but Roland can be useful in many more situations. With his capacity for moving around, he can investigate, do relays, take care of some internal issues etc.


 * You have to kill Hunters, so it is your only good choice. Invest the 5 to get this ASAP.


 * / : The best combination. You will receive free shots and higher critical chance, so you will become "flying nemesis".
 * / : Also good combination. You will have chance (50%) to receive when you miss. It won't happen often, so Shooter is better choice.


 * Your first four skills are enough to have all you need. At level 6 you can exchange with . But this is a gamble if no one else has this skill, since the  could dismantle the extinguishers and leave your ship's fate in the hands of the Automatic Sprinklers project. (And since you won't miss that many shots once you have, Creative is not quite as great for flying as it sounds. More so for harder things like repairs - or extinguishing fires.)


 * Roland has no special strengths as Mush aside from being a, which usually means he is too important to be killed over a loose suspicion. Permanent access to spaceships makes is easy for him to fly off with a few crucial items in hand, or go on a suicide trip with the Icarus, IF doing that is really enough to kill the Daedalus at a given time (it usually isn't) or the only thing left to do.
 * Him being a carrying an  around can lull the crew into a false sense of security... until there is a fire, and the "Firefighter" flies away with all the extinguishers instead.
 * "Accidentally" shooting a transport ship with a good trade will make it leave at the end of cycle. This can actually happen if people forget to select a target. And others may not even notice the damage.
 * He might get into trouble when people want him to eat in order to gain a few quick to fly, unless he can imitate the  gain with.
 * Also be aware that everyone can see how many shots were fired from a patroller by by examining it.

Useful tips

 * Examine your patrol ship before taking off! You don't want to end up vs a swarm of hunters with no ammo!
 * You can select your target to shoot by clicking on it.
 * Never use the Pasiphae if there are still enemies around the ship (Even Asteroids can hit the Pasiphae).

Biography

 * 3145 : Roland joins the SDF to realise his life's dream of becoming a space jet pilot. He quickly established himself as a talented pupil in the academy by accumulating 1600 flying hours in a single year. Unfortunately, half of his hours were unauthorized which resulted in regular suspensions. However, his reputation as a prankster made him extremely popular with his squadron.
 * 3146 : During a parachute jump on the surface of Mars, Roland is suspended for taking an SNC journalist on the jump with him... without a parachute. After spending 6 months in jail, he is finally freed in order to defend the Federation against the Sol invasion...
 * 3149 : During a forest survival mission, Roland played a practical joke on his squadron. He pretended to have caught the Mush infection from a toadstool. His superiors took the threat seriously and transferred him immediately to a quarantine cell.
 * 3150 : Roland's infection is confirmed by the Encelade science department. Despite his protests, he is locked in an SDF laboratory then used as a guinea pig for the IOM cannon, a revolutionary procedure which is capable of destroying a layer of mycelium without damaging human organs.
 * 3151 : After only 2 exposures to the anti-Mush rays, Roland is declared clear of all infection. He is immediately sent to Ross154 to join the Dirty War. After 3 successive refusals to carry out orders to bomb inhabited colonies, Roland is branded a deserter and put back in quarantine. Once there he is again treated as a carrier of the infection, but manages to escape.
 * 3152 : When Roland tries to get in touch with the rebellion to share his information, Roland gets in touch with the journalist Eleesha Williams who he pushed into the sky on Mars. She is then hunted by the Federation for treason and finds refuge in a base on Jupiter where she starts planning the construction of an Ark to flee Sol.
 * 3153 : Roland is accepted into the Daedalus team which is seriously lacking pilots for patrols. The explorer Jiang-Hua teaches him the intricacies of engine management and plans his training on the orbital platform.
 * 3153 : Following an unprecedented solar explosion, a melting wing on his craft forces Roland to negociate an emergency landing on Mercury. With Jiang Hua, his co-pilot, they are forced to wait 36h in extreme temperatures until help arrives.