Part 74: Tamayo System, Vega Sector, Mission 1 (Story)

I'm pretty certain that there's no sector in the Confederation which the Kilrathi have never been to. Argent, Hawking and Avalon saw very little action in the war (Sol sector is between them and the cats) but I don't think it was supposed to be none. So "no Kilrathi ever" might be a bit of an unrealistic definition of kitty free. Anyway, time for an update. Tamayo definitely isn't kitty free...

Tamayo System, Vega Sector
Flight Deck, TCS Victory



The Victory and her escorts make one jump away from the front line, back to the Tamayo system, where they meet up with Major Jace "Flash" Dillon and his F-103 Excalibur prototype, who buzzes the Victory a couple of times and performs other assorted hotdogging before landing.



Blair meets up with the test pilot on landing. It doesn't take long to form a first impression.

[with a pretty informal salute]: Ah, Colonel. Which way to the bridge? Confed's expecting my tech debriefing.
: I caught some of the incoming radio, Major. How long have you carried that Flash handle?
: Since my first day at Academy. I don't think you should ever apologise for sporting a little style.
[to crewmembers beginning to cluster around the Excalibur]: That baby's still classified, folks!
: You think you could keep your people at bay a while, Colonel...?
: Christopher Blair.
: Ah, I read about you, way back when I was flying with training wheels. Is it true pilots don't get older, they just get better?

That's our first conversation choice; there's another one coming up slightly later on a similar theme, so those combined will be the choice for this update. After showing Flash the way to the Bridge, we head over to Gunnery Control where we learn that Flint has apparently got used to dealing with Maniac...

Gunnery Control


[Maniac and Flint watch as Flash's Excalibur loops the loop and spins on its axis (you'd normally call it an aileron roll, but I don't think you can do an aileron roll with no atmosphere) and do not seem particularly impressed.]
: They oughtta shoot that kid, if you ask me. At least strap him to one of my thrusters on the next mission.
[catching Blair's eye as he walks up behind Maniac, who fails to notice]: As usual, Maniac, your solution to the problem is brainless.
: Well, me? Any chance I get, I'm up in the air. I mean, they'll have to pry my dead carcass out of the cockpit.
: Oh, stop banging your chest. You're gonna bruise it. The Colonel will deal with him...
[rolling his eyes]: Look, the Colonel is a spineless...
: I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you, Major.
: Uh, we were just speculating on when the new pilot might pull his own weight.
: Uh huh.

And here's our second conversation choice for the mission. They're both on the same theme - is Blair tolerant of Flash's attitude or does he think that Flash needs to be taught a lesson?

After that, well, we can look over the killboard, where we've almost caught up to Maniac - though note how, despite getting several Kilrathi in the last mission, Flint hasn't actually increased her score (I commented on this in the mission video, and was a bit surprised by it - I'd always thought the game tracked how many kills your wingman got).



Mission Briefing
Bridge

No fighter or wingman choice though, because when we drop in onto the bridge to say hi to Eisen and Hobbes, this happens:



: I wish they wouldn't send me these... Academy hot shots.
: Youth and wisdom are rarely combined, Captain.
: But it's still your ship, Captain.
: He answers only to Admiral Tolwyn.
An alarm goes off. Eisen listens to his headset briefly.
: Colonel, we're under attack. Launch all fighters.
[into intercom]: Red Alert! Red Alert! Launch all fighters. Launch all fighters. This is not a drill! This is not a drill!

The fact that it's a scramble means we'll be in an Arrow with Hobbes (and, I think, Flint as well this time), and have the Arrow's default loadout of 4xIR, 4xHS.

Choose your own Blair!

This is about our attitude towards Major Jace Dillon - is Blair tolerant of his behaviour or does he think Flash needs to be taught a lesson?