You  know, after some nosy cadets blew up Bong’s  novel, it got me to thinking. So much that we space explorers do to fly our ships and complete missions involves keyboarding. And I don’t mean that hunt-and-peck stuff. I’m speaking about keyboarding with speed and accuracy.

Imagine if you’re trying to activate your lasers and you key in the wrong codes — you might end up with a disco ball spinning in your ship during the middle of a battle. (And believe me, that happened a lot when Bong first got started as an explorer!)

So, as part of your training we’ve included Alpha Defender to hone your keyboarding skills. On the beginning levels it’s pretty easy. But each level brings new surprises, so you have to be alert or suffer the consequences.

You need to report to Photon Station to begin. Once you reach Photon Station, walk towards the right until you reach the end of the station. You’ll see our friendly robot friend offering you a hand as well as the train sign telling you what stops at the station. Just above the sign you’ll see a button. When you place your mouse over that button you’ll see Alpha Defender sign.  Click it and begin your mission.

Equipped with these tips you should get those keyboarding skills up to speed quickly:

• Levels 1 & 2 consist is the warm-up. You get single letters to type and destroy.
• Beginning at Level 3 your targets start changing. In addition to the single letters, you’ll also start getting small words to type and the speed increases.
• The word “Explosion” will give you additional bombs to use when you need them
• The word “Slowdown” will slow the words and letters down so that you can take a little breather. Enjoy it while you can because your break won’t last long!
• The word “Recharge” will re-energize your shields
• Your Space Bar will unleash your bombs and explode all the letters on your screen. You only have three bombs when you start the game so use them wisely.

I look forward to seeing your successes on the Pro board! Live long and type faster!