'' is the second sequel in Chris Roberts ' Wing Commander Science-fiction Flight Simulator franchise of Computer Game s, produced by Origin Systems .
Released in '' to be "Maverick."
As the man giving the orders, Blair (the player) often gets to choose what ship he will fly, what missiles it will carry, and what wingman (wingmen) he will take with him. As in ''WC1'', some wingmen can be killed permanently in combat.
A novelization of the game, by William R. Forstchen and Andrew Keith , was published in 1995 . A Collectible Card Game adaptation was published in the same year by Mag Force 7 Productions, under the helm of noted science-fiction authors Margaret Weis and Don Perrin . The sequel ''WC4'' was released in 1996 .
An unprecedented opening movie depicts a saddening scene: , due to her status among the Kilrathi as a respected warrior. The scene then cuts to the planet Vespus, where Christopher Blair and Brigadier General James Taggart inspect the downed wreckage of the TCS ''Concordia'' . The carrier is a total loss.
It is the year 2669 , and the Terran-Kilrathi War has been going for over thirty years, with no signs of stopping. Blair, by orders of Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn , is transferred as Wing Commander to the TCS ''Victory'' , a ''Ranger''-class carrier older than he is. Her captain, William Eisen , has been with her for many years, and is proud of his ship. There are a few old faces—Col. Ralgha ''nar'' Hhallas , and Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall —but all the other pilots and staff are people Blair has never met. He makes quick friends, though (if the player chooses to be friendly), most notably with fellow pilot Robin "Flint" Peters and Chief Fighter Technician Rachel Coriolis , with whom the player may eventually choose to start a romance.
The ''Victory'', a re-commissioned carrier twice as old as Blair, is currently assigned to the Orsini System, nowhere near the front. That doesn't mean things stay quiet, however. A test pilot, Lt. Jace "Flash" Dillon, drops by the ''Victory'' with his prototype warcraft, the F-103A , which is equipped with a Cloaking Device , and a truly nasty genetically-engineered Bioweapon for use against the Locanda colonies... Which, by coincidence, is where Robin Peters hails from. Blair and his wing are scrambled to defend Locanda against several flights of these nasty missiles; regardless of whether the player succeeds in catching them all, Flint races off with vengeance on her mind, forcing Blair to decide whether to chase after her or not (she returns safely in both cases).
Not long after, Admiral Tolwyn arrives on the ''Victory'', escorted by several destroyers. The shabby, unassuming ''Victory'' is the key to his latest plan, which involves the escort and defense of the TCS ''Behemoth'', which is basically a down-scaled Death Star . Unusually for Mark Hamill, however, Blair is to ''defend'' it, while it is used against Kilrathi assets. Thrakhath, in the area after a demonstration in the Loki System, taunts the ''Victory'' over subspace radio and reveals that Blair is the game's titular "Heart of the Tiger;" the Kilrathi have bestowed this warrior's name on him as a sign of respect. Soon after, the ''Behemoth'' comes under attack. This time, however, a traitor aboard the ''Victory'' has transmitted comprehensive targeting data to the Kilrathi, and the ''Behemoth'' is destroyed. Thrakhath then takes space in his personalized Bloodfang fighter to sneer at Blair with an FMV recording of how he disemboweled Angel. Blair's instincts, of course, are to chase Thrakhath, but if he does, the ''Victory'' will leave without him.
After a retreat to the Alcor System, Paladin arrives. He, too, has a crackpot scheme for bringing about the end of the war. He reveals that it has something to do with why Angel was captured; he also reveals that he's known about Angel's death for months. Paladin's scheme involves a weapon called the Temblor Bomb. The Kilrathi home planet, Kilrah, is seismically unstable, and if the Temblor Bomb is dropped in just the right place, the planet will shake itself to pieces. Angel was assigned to set up a number of hidden Asteroid supply caches, which the delivering pilots (Blair and his wingmen) will use to resupply for the long journey in. Matters are complicated when the traitor kills one of the ''Victory'''s pilots, Lt. Laurel "Cobra" Buckley, steals her plane and makes for Kilrathi space. His name is Ralgha ''nar'' Hhallas. Blair has the choice of chasing him or letting him go. If he gives chase, Hobbes shoots down another pilot, Lt. Mitchell "Vaquero" Lopez, before Blair can get to him.
Blair tests a Temblor Bomb on a planet in the Hyperion System, giving the player a chance to practice their in-atmosphere skills and get used to the Excalibur, which has just become available. He is also forced to choose whether to romance Flint, Rachel or neither; Flint refuses to fly with him if he chooses Rachel, Rachel refuses to help him with his missile loadouts if he chooses Flint, and both are grumpy with him if he chooses neither. Finally, he launches against Kilrah, with three wingmen of the player's choice. After successfully downing Prince Thrakhath above Kilrah (and Hobbes, if he was not killed earlier), Blair descends to the surface and delivers the bomb. The resulting explosion wipes out a great deal of the Kilrathi fleet, but damages Blair's fighter as well; a surviving Kilrathi capital ship tractors him in, and he fears the worst. To his surprise, however, he has been retrieved so that the Kilrathi, commanded now by Thrakhath's retainer Melek, can beg for peace. The war is over. The credits roll.
While mostly following the plot outlined above, authors Keith and Forstchen made a number of decisions and changes to increase the tension of the novel. In chronological order:
- Blair's Gold Squadron flies Thunderbolts exclusively before transferring over to the new Excaliburs. Green Squadron runs the Longbows, Red Squadron has Hellcats and Blue Squadron flies Arrows.
- Flash arrives, not as a test pilot for the Excalibur, but from the Locanda system as a replacement contributed from a Home Defense squadron. He s a major instead of a lieutenant, leaving Blair the unwelcome problem of having two extremely senior officers on his flight wing who are also complete hot-doggers.
- Blair fails to save Locanda.
- Forstchen-created character Kevin Tolwyn makes an appearance as a courier, preparing the ''Victory'' for the admiral's arrival. Lone Wolf, now a major, declines to join Blair's wing only because it would pain his uncle.
- Flash is killed in defense of the ''Behemoth''.
- Blair chases and defeats Hobbes, resulting in Vaquero's death. The novel then goes on to include a scene cut from the game: Blair finding a message in Hobbes' locker, explaining his treachery. Ralgha ''nar'' Hhallas was once a loyal subject of the Empire; he volunteered for a special operation, in which his original personality was overlaid with one that would be much more sympathetic to humans. This personality ("Hobbes") defected to the Confederation over ten years ago and served them loyally. However, ''nar'' Hhallas's original personality could be reasserted by certain audio cues—namely, hearing Thrakhath saying the phrase "Heart of the Tiger." In the end, though, both personalities have come to respect Christopher Blair and value his friendship, and it is with some regret that ''nar'' Hhallas betrays him.
- Blair chooses Rachel.
- Flint, Winston "Vagabond" Chang and Maniac, the only remaining pilots in Blair's squadron, fly with him to Kilrah. Vagabond is killed on the second leg of the journey (problematic, as he returns in ''WC4''), Flint is killed in space above Kilrah and Maniac downed but ejected in its atmosphere.
The ''Wing Commander: Collectible Card Game'' was an effort to combine the franchise's rising fortunes with the rising interest in card games, as '''' was revolutionizing gaming centers the world over. The CCG was based exclusively on the ''WC3'' intellectual license and contains no characters found elsewhere.
The game supports two players, one as the Kilrathi Empire and one as the Terran Confederation (rules modifications may be made to allow teams of players instead). In the pre-game phase, players set out five "Nav Point" cards in an X pattern, with a Terran and Kilrathi carrier at either end (to form a hexagon). During gameplay, players may deploy fighters, and then deploy pilots and equipment upon those fighters. Every card has its own "Power Point" cost; players start with 30 Power Points and gain two each turn. The designers recommend pencil and paper for the keeping-track of Power Points. Finally, certain cards feature "Medals," which also feature as a resource, as some elite cards require the "tapping" of Medal-bearing cards to deploy.
Fighters, with pilots and secondary armaments potentially attached, move among the nav points, fighting with each other and attacking the enemy carrier. During combat, either player may play "Maneuver" cards to fortify their fighters (assuming the targeted plane have a Maneuver statistic high enough) or "Battle Damage" cards to cripple their enemies; both have Power Point costs. Attacks are then resolved by comparison of the aggressor's Attack value with the defender's Defense value (with Support values from allied ships augmenting as appropriate). Each card lost results in the loss of one Power Point as well.
There are two ways to win: to destroy the enemy carrier (with the successful use of Torpedo cards) or to reduce the opponent's Power Point pool to zero.
- ''''' snubfighter jock Mark Hamill . Blair continues his tradition of boy-scout moral judgment and personality.
- '''Colonel . Stolid, reliable and a consummate pilot, he serves as Blair's second-in-command. Played by John Schuck in an animatronic costume.
- '''Major of '' Back To The Future '' fame. An inspired but undependable flyer, Maniac is the source of much of the humor in the game—as well as many of the outtakes provided in the game's special edition.
- '''Lieutenant .
- : his most prized possession is a six-string Guitar , which he is often found playing. He dreams of opening a Cantina after the war. His devotion to music disappears in the cockpit, though. Played by Julian Reyes .
- : a women driven entirely by hatred, her entire family was killed by the Kilrathi. Got her call sign after Captain Eisen saw her direct, lethal flying style. A cold, private woman, she actually shows a sense of humor on the few occasions Blair manages to get her to relax. She is extremely suspicious of Hobbes, but has just been convinced to trust him when he kills her. Played by B.J. Jefferson .
- : a witty, pleasant brunette who loves the purity and freedom of flying. Her father and brother served in the Locanda System Home Defense Force; Davey was killed on his 22nd birthday, and her father vowed to dedicate his next 22 kills to his memory. He was going after the 22nd when he too was lost. Now Flint flies for all three of them. Played by Jennifer MacDonald .
- : an incredibly gifted pilot, but so conceited that even Maniac notices. If the player chooses to "borrow" Flash's Excalibur, Flash challenges Blair to a simulator duel; if Blair wins, Flash joins the Victory's flight group. Played by a not-yet-discovered Josh Lucas .
- '''Captain plays the middle-aged captain of the ''Victory''. Though initially he and Blair are a bit wary of each other, they soon come to respect each other.
- ''' in her first "respectable" role.
- : The ''Vic'''s communications officer, and a fount of paranoid theories and doom-saying. Played by Courtney Gains .
- ''' in a portrayal so celebrated that it has been Retcon ned onto all of Tolwyn's previous appearances. Wily, charismatic and not a bit unbalanced, he is still one of the finest and most respected admirals in the fleet.
- '''.
- '''Colonel .
- Crown Prince provided by John Rhys-Davies.
- .
Because Kilrathi and Terran craft use similar armaments, they are covered first.
- '''s boast this weapon on a turret mount.
- --- : an upgraded laser with slightly more damage, slightly less range, slightly more gun-energy drain and slightly slower refire.
- ''', this weapon nonetheless appears on Confederate craft. It does fairly good damage but only at short ranges, does not fire very fast, and eats up enough power for several other weapons.
- : a medium-range, medium-damage, medium-refire reate, medium power-requirement weapon. Where it gets "mass" for its projectiles is not addressed for a very long time.
- : fires "nuclear particles," described elsewhere as the "opposite of Ion s," for destructive force. It does moderate damage over long range.
- : requires more gun energy than the Particle Cannon, does less damage, has less range, fires slower. Why did anyone bother?
- --- : seen only on the Excalibur, this gun does not fire reapers, as its name suggests, but rather is a finely-tuned ion cannon.
- : does double damage against unshielded targets; equals only the Laser's damage against shielded hull. Atmospheric conditions render this gun ineffective.
- ''', it does tons of damage but requires a whole lot of juice. It also doesn't fire very quickly.
- ''' particles for massive damage and range. Fires quickly, and its projectiles are the fastest-moving gun bolts in the known galaxy.
- : The DF is essentially an unguided rocket, and requires a sharp eye to use. However, its lack of tracking systems allowed munitions engineers to pack in a lot more bang, and a good hit will severely damage any fighter. The advent of phase shielding has rendered it useless against many larger ships, however, and it has seen decreasing service in recent years.
- : this infra-red munition can only lock onto enemy ships from behind, and can be easily countered at long range by simply turning 90 degrees, causing the missile to lose its targeting lock. At close range, however, it's perfect to finish off an aggravating furball when your guns are out of power.
- ''' beacons for targeting information, this munition is truly Fire And Forget ... But may attack ''you'', if your IFF beacon is damaged.
- ''' decoy, it will continue to chase its target until it either 1) runs out of fuel and self-destructs, or 2) ...hits.
- ''''' ion cannon. Capships will only be stunned for a moment, but fighters are permanently incapacited. Unfortunately, ''WC3'' does not take this weapon to its logical extent of allowing the capturing and flying of Kilrathi fighters.
- : shipboard beam weapons have once more conquered Phase Shielding, and in ''WC3'' all capital ships are susceptible to gun- and missile fire. However, the ''fastest'' way to destroy a capship is to use a torpedo, whose sophisticated sensors and circuitry allow it to actually ''bypass'' phase shielding and detonate directly against the ship's hull, with spectacular results. The problem is that torpedoes need about 20 seconds of locking time to do so. Those 20 seconds are generally the longest of a bomber jock's life.
- '''s, this free-floating munition was simply an explosive booby-trap, designed to detonate in the presence of spacecraft. Thankfully, advances in techology allowed the Porcupine to contain its excitement until ''enemy'' spacecraft were nearby.
- : though technically a self-guided munition, these things were nearly as large as fighters... And hundreds of times more deadly. A Kilrathi-only invention that could carry traditional warheads for use against capital ships, not to mention nasty genocidal bioweapons.
- : swift, agile and surprisingly durable, the Arrow carried only two lasers and two ion cannons but made up for it with eight missile slots. Some players favored it over the heavier craft available, and its faster guns and heavier missile load made it a superior choice to the Hellcat V (see below) in virtually all scenarios.
- : successor to the venerable '' Rapier II '' line of all-purpose dogfighters, the Hellcat was something of a disappointment, as its increased shielding did not offset its decreased agility. It was armed with two Neutron Guns, two Ion Cannon and six missile slots. Until the advent of the Excalibur, it was the only Confederate fighter that could manage atmospheric flight.
- : featuring six missiles, a centerline torpedo Hardpoint and an alarming gun rack in the form of two Plasma Guns, two Photon Cannon and two Meson Blaster, not to mention a rear Mass Driver turret, this craft was dangerous against fighters and ships alike. Of course, it needed its heavy shielding. While its top speed of 380 kps was nothing to write home about, its armament was a convincing argument for it. The "Thud"'s rival on the Kilrathi side was the Vaktoth.
- : armed with four torpedoes and a whopping ''sixteen'' missiles, this craft was maneuverable enough to employ its two Plasma Cannon and Neutron guns against Kilrathi fighters, a first for the Confederation. Some players also enjoyed using it as a missile-based interceptor, loading up on fire-and-forget FF missiles and discharging all of them into the face of a Kilrathi attack.
- , tackle any fighter in space with two Reaper Cannon and four (''four!'') Tachyon Cannon, and scare the hell out of cap ships with twelve missile slots. Just don't get too excited; it isn't slated to enter service for months.
- : two Laser turrets were not enough to keep this space-going 18-wheeler intact when faced with enemy fighters. Allied air support was the only thing that could keep it alive.
- : three Laser turrets and two FF rounds made this craft marginally dangerous against most threats.
- : nine Laser turrets, strong shielding and enough staying power to do some real damage to enemy capital ships. What more could you ask for from a destroyer?
- : twelve Laser turrets and a "light" fighter complement (believed to be below thirty craft) made this the smallest Confed ship to achieve anything near true battlefield autonomy.
- : the TCS ''Victory'' is a proud example of this class of carrier, which was first commissioned nearly a century ago. The old age of the ship gave it the jocular nickname "Tin Can Sally". Carrying only forty fighters, she sported eleven Laser turrets and a Capship Missile launcher.
- '': "Well, where would ''you'' go if you had the biggest gun in the universe?" —Adm. Tolwyn
- : a hollowed-out asteroid, memorial and mausoleum to Jeannette "Angel" Devereaux.
- : civilians live on it. Protect it with your life.
- : armed with two meson blasters and two HS, this fighter was designed mostly to threaten the ''Arrow'' light fighter, a task at which it was not particularly successful.
- : though hardly an inspiring craft, this iteration of the bat-winged Dralthi line was somewhat respectable in combat. It came with a particle cannon, two meson blasters and four HS.
- , this fighter was as much known for its forbidding, totally-asymmetrical silhouette as for its total vulnerability when not playing hide-and-seek against Terran pilots.
- : the standard Kilrathi heavy fighter of the war, this craft was an even match for the Confed ''Thunderbolt VII''; pilot training was often the determining factor in duels between these two craft. Two ion cannon, two plasma cannon, a tachyon gun, a rear turret containing two meson blasters, eight HS.
- : a four-pronged ravager, armed with two ion cannon, ''four'' plasma cannon, two rear mass drivers, ''fourteen'' FF missiles and six torpedoes. Fortunately, it was only marginally more agile than the Confed ''Longbow'', and barely half as well defended.
- : armed with four lasers, two meson blasters (why?) and four HS, this lightly-defended fighter could not perform in space. Designed primarily to deal with ''Hellcat V''s, it was wildly outclassed by the ''Excalibur''.
- : ever seen a rock with engines on it? Four reaper cannon, two meson blasters and sixteen mines combined with heavy defense (IE the fact that it was made of asteroids) for a well-defended but not very aggressive ambush fighter.
- : half fighter, half corvette, this craft was actually armed with six meson blasters on turrets. These in themselves, combined with the craft's eight HS rounds, are not particularly inspiring, but its armor was, and these walking nightmares could trade shots with Confed fighters for a ''very'' long time.
- : despite its Laser turrets, this craft was still a fairly easy nut to crack.
- : small, armed with five Laser turrets in excellent coverage positions, and possessed of shields with incredibly rapid recharge characteristics, this small capital ship could be decidedly lethal to Terran fighters.
- : shaped like a giant multi-pronged spearhead, this craft inflicted as much fear with its appearance as with its eight Laser turrets.
- : nowhere near as visually menacing, this larger capital ship was distinctly more dangerous, with eight Laser turrets and three fixed-mount Tachyon Cannon.
- : carrying a full complement of fighters and eight Laser turrets, this craft was the heart of Kilrathi military power.
- : a massive, multi-pronged ship (22 Kilometers long, as opposed to the 0.96 klicks of the ''Bhantkara'') carrying massive amounts of fighters and fifteen Laser turrets. Obviously, such a large craft was not particularly dangerous to fighters... But likewise, fighters were not particularly dangerous to ''it''.
- : built out of an asteroid, this stationary emplacement required torpedoes to really damage.
- : a single Laser turret was the only concession to defense aboard this huge immobile emplacement.
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