Part 123: Interlude: Alcor System, Vega Sector, Mission 3 (Story)

Alcor System, Vega Sector
TCS Victory

The Victory closes to within striking distance of the Kilrathi prison colony on Alcor V; still undetected by Kilrathi patrols, but also still with a traitor aboard.

That-didn't-happen content:

Flash was at-risk in this mission, and so could theoretically have died. If he had, we'd have got this on landing:


: Major Jace Dillon was a reluctant warrior in our battle. Nevertheless, Flash never turned his back when the going got tough. He more than made up for his youth and inexperience by flying with courage and vigour.

Back to what actually is happening now...

Rec Room, TCS Victory

As always, Vagabond knows more about our objectives than we do; though this time with good reason.



: The grapevine's really been humming. Everyone knows we're getting Dr Severin. Or Dr Death, as he's known to some of his old friends...
: You know him?
: Yeah, we go back, Sevvy and I. Now, you ask me, the Kilrathi did the right thing locking him up.
: Why do I get the feeling this has to do with your classified past?
: Look, you know I haven't always been a pilot. You ever hear about Pax 7?
: Yeah. A lot of people got killed. Uh, it was an accident of some sort.
: Millions got killed. And it was no accident. Just one of ole Doc Sevvy's demolitions tests. I was working for him back then. I'm certain he knew exactly what was going to happen, but he saw no reason to warn the civilians. Afterwards, Confed tried to cover it up. But who really cared, anyway? The Paxons were just a backwards people who had nothing to offer the war effort. That's when I quit demolitions. In the cockpit, I can see the enemy - they line right in my gun-sights and I can... And the pilots I shoot down sure ain't civilians. But if there's a hell to go to, I know they've got a special place reserved for me. And Sevvy.

Never really understood the point of this conversation. I mean, it's a nice bit of characterisation for Vagabond, but in terms of the overall story arc, what the writers seem to be suggesting is that planning to blow up an inhabited planet isn't a great enough wrong, so to get you to that point we'll have you collaborate with someone who's responsible for the deaths of millions of innocents. But we're planning to kill billions of innocents on Kilrah (in, it should be said, the name of survival), so why should this make a difference?

Anyway, this is a dialogue choice. Blair is either worried that Vagabond is too emotionally involved with this mission (after all, remember how well Locanda went), or else he just thinks that Vagabond needs to stop beating himself up over this. Either way, once we've finished the conversation, Rollins's voice comes over the intercom:

: Flight deck! Emergency! We have trouble on the flight deck! Flight deck! Emergency! We have trouble on the flight deck!

And just to make sure you don't miss it, the game screen tells you the same thing:


So pausing only briefly to glance at the killboard, where we note that Flint has now overtaken Maniac and is, therefore, clearly the most awesome wingperson:


we make our way down there, to discover that the traitor has struck and tragedy has befallen our flight wing.
Flight Deck


That or Cobra's having a nap, anyway. I never thought this scene looked very convincing. Well acted, though.

: Colonel?
: Hobbes?
: <nods>
: He was trying to send this...[she gives Blair a datapad-like thing]
[on datapad]: Over the last decade, work has proceeded on a tectonic-frequency weapon - the "Temblor Bomb". The theory goes that if we can fire this thing with absolute precision, its detonation will achieve a proper resonant frequen...
[realising]: All this time, he's had us bugged...
: We have to get her to the infirmary.
[weakly]: No - get Hobbes - you still have time.
: That's a negative, Colonel. We're almost at Alcor V, and a pursuit now will jeopardise the entire operation.

And there's the second, and last, choice - get Hobbes or obey orders?
I'll have more to say about this in plot terms later.

Mission Briefing
See above. If we obey orders I'll make another post containing the mission briefing for the next mission we're actually supposed to do.

Choose your own Blair!
Two choices here - firstly, is Vagabond too close to what's going on in Alcor or does he just need to stop beating himself up about his previous association with Dr. Severin? Secondly, do we go after Hobbes or obey orders? This second decision isn't just "do you want more content [y/n]?" since, well, since if there were no adverse consequences to chasing Hobbes, Captain Eisen wouldn't have forbidden you to do it, would he?