Part 43: First Encounters, Sol System, Sol Sector (Story)
30th December 2668, Sol System, Sol SectorEpisode 5, Mission 1 - First Encounters
The Firekka launches a recon wing to check on the state of the Kilrathi fleet post-Sirius, and escort a ferry flight of Rapiers back to the carrier whilst they're at it.
Pre-mission cutscenes:
Cougar discusses the whole planejacking event with Bradshaw, adding "Captain Angry" to his repetoire.
Cutscene Video (YouTube)
: Well? What do you have to say for yourself?
: [sighs] I'm sorry about grounding you like that. It was unfair. : Good grief Captain, I don't care that you grounded me, I got over it.: But risking yourself like that? The last thing this fighter wing needs is a dead Wing Commander. : What do you expect me to say, Cougar? I lost one of my closest friends, I think I was entitled to be pissed.: Look, we're really sorry about Spoons, we know how you feel. But that doesn't make it right for you to get all suicidal like that. : I don't care if you were trying to get revenge or if you were trying get yourself killed, you just can't fly when you're in a state of mind like that.: I know. I'm sorry, Cougar. I won't let it happen again. : Well, I guess we're even now I suppose. Just try not to get yourself killed, alright?: Yeah. You too. (this is another cutscene which Bradshaw's English accent makes strange, because "pissed" only means "angry" in American English - it means "drunk" in Britain)
Five e-mail messages for us. Tolwyn is exhorting the troops again:
IES Message - Received at 1213 hours GST on 2668.365 posted:
From: Adm. Geoffrey Tolwyn (TCN, TCS Concordia)
To: All Personnel, Confed Armed Forces
Subject: General briefing
Pilots, officers, enlisted soldiers of the Confederation. We enter now the final stage of this battle. On this day, like never before, the fate of the Confederation is in our hands.
Everything we hold dear - it will all perish, if we fail today.
To so many of you, this is already a reality. Hanover, Warsaw, Sirius, we've lost so much already. On every ship, there are men and women who have lost their worlds and families. I have no words of consolation for you, only this ugly promise - that if we falter, soon many others will lose as much as you have.
I say this to all of you, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter what you've lost or what you stand to lose - let us go, dear friends, once more into the breach.
But this time, we shall not close up the wall with our dead - we shall do it with theirs!
Adm. Geoffrey Tolwyn
Commander-in-chief, Third Fleet
For those of you Philistines whose education is lamentably lacking, Tolwyn is referencing Shakespeare, though incorrectly:
Henry V, Act III, Scene I posted:
KING HENRY
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
Henry V, Act III, Scene I posted:
On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war.
Ahem. Aaanyway, back to the e-mails. The second one is yet another e-mail about the Shok'lar stealth fighters; it's identical to the previous one, I'm not quite sure why it's here and I'm not going to waste your time by posting it again. If you want the full experience, you can go back to the start of Episode 4 and read it again, substituting "by the TCS Firekka in the Weslyn system" with "by the Fleet in the Sirius system".
I thought we'd seen this message about Stealth fighters too, but I can't see where if we have:
IES Message - Received at 1336 hours GST on 2668.365 posted:
From: Capt. Theodore Murphy (TCSF, TCS Firekka)
To: Capt. William Bradshaw (TCSF, TCS Firekka)
Subject: Re: Fwd: Intel Addendum: Shok'lar Stealth Fighters
Marksman,
...Don't you have anything to say about yesterday?
Anyway, here's what we've got about them. There's a lot to dig up about them in our database, but most of it would take days - and half of it is beyond our security clearance anyway. You've seen those clips of the hidden supercarriers, right? Well, the ship that recorded the footage was attacked by these.
I also found something in the Jrathek file, of all places. Apparently, that cat scientist that defected with the Jrathek specs also mentioned a new Kilrathi stealth fighter called the Shok'lar. The stats he provided were vague, but seem to match up with our info.
I've modified one of the missions in our simulator to include a combat encounter with this Shok'lar. I'll make sure the other pilots play it, and you'd do well to try it out too. I'm not telling you WHICH mission I modified, though - the thing about stealth fighters is that they always have the element of surprise, so I'm not going to give you an unrealistic advantage by revealing when you can expect them. Just one hint - it involves a convoy.
Cougar
> I got this from Intel. Before I brief everyone about them,
> I want you to check the database - there may be some more
> info out there somewhere.
>
> ...Stealth fighters are about the last thing we need here.
Saxman is getting some strange combination of nostalgic and fatalistic.
IES Message - Received at 1243 hours GST on 2668.365 posted:
From: 1st Lt. Robert Collins (TCSF, TCS Firekka)
To: Capt. William Bradshaw (TCSF, TCS Firekka)
Subject: Showtime...
Well, maestro, looks like we may be coming up on the final act now. And things are really gonna get interesting on this one...
Hey, remember how I was whining about Reismann being a hardcore nutcase? Ok, I shouldn't say "I was whining"... makes it sound like I think I was wrong. And I wasn't, that man really is a total and complete hardass.
Marksman, I can't believe what I'm saying, but damn, am I glad we had that bastard on the Firekka right from the start. Those sixteen hours a day that asshole put us through is probably why I'm still alive. You tell him that next time you see him.
Why am I even writing stupid crap like this? Guess I just want something to be left if I... gaaaah! Gotta stop thinking about that.
Well, guess I'll see you in the recroom...
Saxman
And finally, the flight deck update, in a rather more belligerent tone than you might expect from somebody who really should have checked over the Rapiers better so that one of them didn't do a critical shutdown while it was sitting on the Firekka's electromagnetic catapult. Apparently we've been reinforced up to a full complement of halfway-decent fighters again. I don't recall that happening the last time I played through these missions.
IES Message - Received at 1442 hours GST on 2668.365 posted:
From: Chief Petty Officer Jean Henderson (TCN, TCS Firekka)
To: Capt. William Bradshaw (TCSF, TCS Firekka)
Subject: Latest flight deck status
You're still a jerk, Captain. And you'd better apologize to Cougar.
Anyway, here's the latest data about the ships you've got available.
...Jerk.
Rapiers: 18
Sabres: 18
Crossbows: 6
Stilettos: 11
Gladii: 4
Jean
Also,
Psion posted:
IT NEVER HAPPENED
My personal view of how this all fits together is that the primary source for the script of the thing that didn't happen is what Blair said to people in bars during his period on Caernarvon station. The battles more or less happened, he didn't have anything to do with them, though.
Right, now I'm off to deal with one of the most dangerous Kilrathi fighters ever, in a goddamn Stiletto. Standoff
