Part 133: Hyperion System, Vega Sector, Mission 1 (Gameplay)

19th September 2669, Hyperion System (Mission 1), Vega Sector
TCS Victory

The Victory prepares to test the Temblor bomb on the supposedly uninhabited world of Hyperion, while other earth-shaking matters are happening in her rec room. Namely, the thread picked Flint as its love interest, winning with a convincing 6 (7 if you count me)-2-4 majority over Rachel and neither respectively. Of those who expressed an opinion on whether to talk to the woman we were turning down, most were in favour, so I did that too (definitely the correct decision, in my view - Flint's smug grin while Blair's turning down Rachel is one of my favourite shots in the game). If you care, the canon choice is Rachel, but that's just further evidence that Forstchen is a terrible writer, particularly where romantic sideplots are concerned.

Pre-mission conversations (Youtube) (Polsy)

The dialogue of our set of options is this:
: Command decision-making in action. I’m impressed.
: It’s always moment-by-moment in the cockpit.
: Are we gonna expand upon that moment, are we going to kick in the afterburners here?
: Oh, Rachel. I’m flattered, really. But you and me, we’re oil and water. There’s no future in it. I’m sorry.
[scene break]
: I’m surprised you even noticed me.
: Whatever you may think – Rachel and I are not an item.
: So where’s that leave us?
Approximately here:


: I must be out of my mind. I grew up with nothing but pilots. Deep down you’re all creeps.
: Don’t forget, you’re a pilot too.
: Oh, then I guess we deserve each other…

After that, we have the small matter of destroying a planet to get to.

Briefing Video (Youtube) Polsy (Youtube)

At this point Rachel throws a hissy fit and refuses to set our default loadouts for the rest of the game.

: Can’t say that I’m really thrilled with the flight plan that you followed back in the Rec Room.
: Oh, well… maybe it’s because we’re both pilots, you know. We understand each other.
: Well, since there are things beyond my comprehension, I think you better handle your own load-out from now on. After all, I’m just a mechanic. Can’t possibly understand the needs of a pilot.
[as she leaves in a huff]: Wait a second… Rachel!

This is hardly a problem, since I rarely actually use her loadout and in any case it is not particularly time-consuming to click some buttons to load missiles. Had the thread picked Rachel, Flint would have refused to fly with me ("Then can I make a recommendation concerning your choice of wingmen? Don’t fly with the one you’ve just kicked in the teeth."), and her morale would have been set to 2 (so while you can sneakily avoid the conversation which sets her availability flag, she'll still be pretty useless). If you pick neither wingman you don't get the negative effects of either decision, though picking Flint also sets her morale to 13, so if she wasn't getting the high morale bonus before she will be now. Obviously from a game mechanics point of view Flint is probably the better choice (unless you really like the default loadouts, I guess) - I'm certainly glad you didn't take away my favourite wingman - though I think she's also the better character and more sensible choice, as I explained last update.


Mission Video (Youtube) (Polsy)

Kills this mission: 13 There were 14 enemies, and I have no wingman, so I'm guessing that the thing which I wasn't quite sure whether or not it was a collision while I was playing the game was probably a collision. This mission is really quite ridiculously simple; it's kind of a Temblor Bomb tutorial except that you're not actually told how to fire the T-bomb, though that's pretty easy to work out when the time comes. I guess they didn't want to have players worrying about that before the CLIMACTIC FINAL MISSION and it makes narrative sense to test the weapon. The interesting issue from my perspective, though, is that Blair's told the planet he's testing this superweapon on is uninhabited, encounters short-range atmospheric fighters, and doesn't abort the test?

Ship of the day:
No.

Total kills (Wing Commander III): 31 missions / 352 kills
Total kills (this thread): 57 missions / 718 kills
Total kills (including previous thread): 165 missions / 1625 kills

Next time on Let's Play Wing Commander:
It's nice for the enemy relief force to be the one that arrives too late for a change...