Part 103: Torgo System, Epsilon Sector, Mission 2 (Story)

Torgo System, Epsilon Sector (Mission 2)

The Victory stands guard in Torgo while the Behemoth is made ready to move out.

Flight Deck, TCS Victory

Rachel's not all that impressed with the Behemoth, primarily because the writers couldn't resist the opportunity to throw in more innuendo in order to make another joke based about Ginger Lynn Allen's background.


(ugh. You win this round, 1994 video compression/WC3 lack of lighting)

[looking at a Behemoth spec sheet]: My, my, Grandma, what a big gun you have.
: They don't get any bigger.
: That's what they all say. Talk is cheap. Maybe you haven't noticed, but the shields on this thing are really thin. I suppose it sucks up so much juice that the usual standard equipment gets short-changed.
: That's probably in the specs for next year's model.
: Yeah. And Christmas tree lights, too.


Lift

Rollins has found...something. He doesn't know what, but, being Rollins, he thinks it's probably bad news. Either way, he figures he shouldn't be the only person who has to worry about it so he's spreading the concern around a bit.



: I suppose this wouldn't interest you.
: Coded transmissions?
: Yeah, about a million of 'em. And they're weird, too - not the usual codings. I can't even begin to break 'em.
: Lieutenant, we have an Admiral on board. Now, his transmissions are supposed to be coded.
: Colonel, I've been around high-rankers before, this is definitely different.
: <sigh> Damn Tolwyn's always got something up his sleeve. You sure about this?
: Sir, I know there are times when you think I'm a little crazy, but I do know my job.
: Keep me posted.
: Yes, sir.

Bridge

Blair wants to know what Tolwyn's actually planning, causing the Admiral to unleash the most famous (and probably the best, too) line in the game. It's fairly clear that, despite Tolwyn's line towards the end...well, OK, they might have gained a certain amount of respect for each other's skill, but they don't like each other much. Tolwyn clearly resents Blair's getting most of the credit for any Confederation victory he might have been involved with (and consequent "hero" status), while Blair...well, the reasons why he dislikes the Admiral are never stated, but presumably relate to Blair being blamed for the whole Tiger's Claw fiasco and consequent time spent on Caernarvon. Neither of these are particularly fair, since it's not the Colonel's fault that journalists like to lionise fighter pilots (I'm going to assume this hasn't changed in seven centuries), and it's not the Admiral's fault that he happened to be the man who put the official face on the belief basically the entire Confederation had about the loss of the Claw. The Kilrathi revolt on Ghorah Khar is probably more to blame than anything else - had it been less successful, Strakha production might have been transferred to a more stable system, and further reports of cloaked Kilrathi fighters would have backed up Blair's claim. As it was...



(Oh yeah, and, like Eisen before him, Tolwyn likes standing in shadows - though here the severe lighting is probably rather deliberate, making Malcolm McDowell look slightly more foreboding).

: Ah, our local hero. Well, I must say that so far I'm very impressed, you haven't lost your touch.
: May we speak privately, Admiral?
: Get it off your chest, Colonel.
: Sir, it's a little unclear to me precisely what your status is aboard this ship.
: Look, I took the helm of the Behemoth project 10 years ago.
: And there's no intention to usurp command?
: I'd be a little more careful regarding my choice of words, Colonel. Admirals, by definition, do not usurp. I thought at long last we'd achieved a measure of... respect for each other, obviously I was wrong. You may realise by now that your assignment here was a little more than merely fortuitous.
: We're headed to Kilrah with that thing, aren't we?
: Well, what would you aim for if you had the biggest gun in the universe?

The other interesting thing here is the note that Tolwyn's been shifting as many top-line personnel to the Victory as he could reasonably do without attracting attention, intending all along that it would be used as the Behemoth's escort. Presumably his reasoning is that the Kilrathi keep tabs on the doings of all Confed's front-line fleet carriers, so if he's going for a quick strike with the advantage of surprise, those are all out - the next best thing is to beef up one of the old light carriers as much as possible. With this in mind, the events in the Tamayo system take on a new meaning. Tolwyn, who (according to the novels) has very little tolerance for spoiled brats in fighter cockpits, probably intended for something to happen to Flash along the lines of what actually did. It's certainly notable that not form of official disapproval ever attaches itself to Blair's decision to go joyriding. Tolwyn's not actually a jerk, but I can see how he's the sort of person you get on with best when they're in a different sector.

Rec Room

Just the killboard, where we're 800 up in total kills. For, what, about four losses? Let's not think too much about that.



Mission Briefing
Briefing Room

We set to mining the various jump points into Torgo in order to protect the Behemoth from further raiders. It's an interesting change of pace, but it does somewhat open up a can of worms inasmuch as if mining jump points is possible, why aren't the vast majority of jump points except those necessarily for civilian traffic heavily mined already?



: Looks like it might be getting back to normal around here.
: Can't say it'll ever be normal while the Admiral's on board. Takes a certain sort to be an Admiral. Me... I'll take guiding just one ship, the day-to-day successes are more tangible. Let's get to it, Colonel. The Behemoth's not ready to move out yet, and we need to keep the Kilrathi away from it. Mine these four jump points and make sure that they take out all comers. We'll eventually need this fifth point for our exit with the Behemoth. Clear?

By "mine these four jump points", Eisen means that we've got to drop two Porcupine mines at each nav point (the computer will tell you to move on when you've dropped enough mines at a nav point). This presents a problem...

Choose your own Blair!
Not very many choices at all here, actually. Despite there being three conversations none of them come with a dialogue choice, perhaps in part because none of them involve our wingmen. That leaves fighter and wingmen. Now, in theory we've got the choice of the Longbow and Thunderbolt for this mission, but if you vote for the T-bolt I'll ignore it. Why? Well, like I said, to win the mission you've got to drop two mines at each of four nav points. That's eight mines total, and of course the T-bolt only carries six missiles (mines count as missiles). There is no way you can win this mission in a Thunderbolt. Yes, the game lets you screw yourself over at the fighter selection screen (you can also take a Longbow but not enough mines, though the default loadout does carry eight mines). Fortunately losing the mission has no actual consequences, but still, what the hell, Origin? So it's just wingman to be chosen, and, I suppose, difficulty level. Anybody except Flint, and anything from Rookie up to Hard.