Confed's Last Best Hope

Invisible fighters, bioweapons and the Excalibur prototype all make an appearance this week as the Victory pushes into the Tamayo and Locanda systems. Apart from a run-in with Skipper missiles, last week's missions mostly involved patrolling and escorting. Here are DaveO's notes from Orsini:

I meet up with Vaquero on the living level, and he's playing a lively tune on a guitar. He notices me sitting at his table, and salutes. I tell him to carry on, and he explains that he's playing rockero from the Celeste system. He makes an interesting observation by saying that you can tell quite a lot about a system from its music. Some places are "minor chords" that make you want to run out and do a suicide mission, and other places heat your blood with a desire to live a long life. I ask him if he’s a pilot or a musician, and he asks me to check the killboard if I have any doubts about him being a pilot. His family has made guitars for several generations and he even has a guitar that’s two hundred years old. He feels the age of that guitar makes its sound richer, and he tells me of his dream to open a cantina. He'll recruit the best players for that old guitar, and have it open to everyone. He'll just sit back, look at the pretty women, and listen to the music. I tell him that he has a nice dream, and that he should hang on to it. Vaquero observes that some are here for the kills, but he feels he'll be able to walk away without looking back. He starts playing the same tune on the guitar, and I take a few moments to admire the music and admire his passion.

I see Cobra in the berths, and she's busy sharpening a hunter knife. I tell her that it's time for us to have a talk. She says there is not much to talk about since both me and "it" (Hobbes) got the job done on our first mission. Cobra says that she can't fly with Hobbes, but I tell her that she will have to sooner or later. She says that she won't defend him if it comes down to it in combat, and I ask her why. She says that she's hardwired with a hatred for the Kilrathi, and won't go into further detail for the moment. In the interest of keeping peace aboard the Victory, I say that I'll do my best to keep her and Hobbes on separate assignments. She insists that she needs no special favors. I tell her that we need every good pilot available, and that I'd trust Hobbes with my life. Cobra says that's my choice and goes back to her work on the hunter knife. More memories of my hostile reception on the Concordia drift back to my mind. I hope I can be instrumental in turning the tide on the bad opinions for Hobbes. I head down in the elevator lift and enter the briefing room to receive my mission assignment. Eisen tells me that a tracking station has reported Kilrathi activity in the region. My job is to do a sweep of the area, and to be ready for a possible Kilrathi cap ship. I give the mission layout to the pilots, and pick Cobra in an attempt to get her mind on more important matters than her hatred. Before launch, I see Rachel and have the Hellcat, Arrow, and Thunderbolt available. Due to the cap ship possibility, I select Thunderbolt since it has a torpedo and the other ships don't.

I adjust power ratios, switch to full guns, and takeoff. At our first Kilrathi encounter, Cobra decides her hatred of the cats is more important than following orders. She breaks and attacks during my pursuit of a Darket fighter. She kills the Kilrathi pilot without much trouble, and I nail the other one before she can finish it off. That Darket makes an impressive debris field, and we head off for the next nav point. Here there are two more Darkets defending a Kilrathi transport. I afterburn closer to the transport, and my shields take a few minor hits. I let loose with my torpedo, and turn back to engage the fighters. Cobra makes my work easy by nailing one Darket before I can even see them thru my cockpit. I hear the communication scream from the Kilrathi transport as my torpedo hits it. I then spray full gun barrages at that last Darket and take him down. I ask Cobra how she's doing, and her ship is in good condition. We head back for the Victory, and Rollins is impressed. Rachel gives me the standard "attaboy" after landing.

• Community Replay - General Discussion
• WC1 Week 1 - Enyo, McAuliffe, Gimle, Gateway, Cheng-du
• WC1 Week 2 - Brimstone, Dakota, Kurasawa, Rostov, Port Hedland, Hubble's Star
• WC1 Week 3 - Venice, Hell's Kitchen, Alternate Paths
• Secret Missions Week 1 - Goddard, Border Zone, Midgard
• Secret Missions Week 2 - Jotunheim, Bifrost
• Secret Missions Week 3 - Valgard, Vigrid
• SM2: Crusade Week 1 - Firekka
• SM2: Crusade Week 2 - Corsair, Near Firekka
• SM2: Crusade Week 3 - Corsair, Charon
• WC2 Week 1 - Gwenydd, Niven
• WC2 Week 2 - Niven, Ghorah Khar
• WC2 Week 3 - Novaya Kiev, Heaven's Gate
• WC2 Week 4 - Heaven's Gate, Tesla
• WC2 Week 5 - Enigma
• WC2 Week 6 - K'tithrak Mang
• SO1 Week 1 - Pembroke
• SO1 Week 2 - Rigel
• SO1 Week 3 - Ghorah Khar 1
• SO1 Week 4 - Ghorah Khar 2
• SO2 Week 1 - Canewdon 1
• SO2 Week 2 - Canewdon 2
• SO2 Week 3 - Canewdon 3
• SO2 Week 4 - Ayer's Rock
• WC3 Week 1 - Orsini
• WC3 Week 2 - Tamayo, Locanda