WC4 Polaroids: Com. Specialist

This is part of a series analyzing newly discovered Wing Commander IV continuity photographs. You can find the previous posts collected here.

We're stepping away from flight suits for today's Wing Commander IV Polaroid post. What we have here is something intriguing: a young woman in a non-standard uniform with a nametag that reads "LOATS". The picture is labeled only "Com. Specialist" and features no visible insignia patches, making this one an interesting challenge... or not, because despite two typos the start to our seach is right in the manual connected right to the text under the photo: "Circle V Comm. Specialist - Saxon Trainer". The 'Circle V' must actually be 'Circe V', an embattled planet you (optionally) visit midway through the game and a short Google search revealed that "Saxon Trainer" is really Saxon TRAINOR.

Who, then, is LOATS? If you tend to side with Panther over Hawk then you may just remember her: at the end of the Circe series she contacts the Intrepid to thank you for your help. She actually has some pretty extensive dialogue, quoted below... along with possibly one of the single worst phrases ever put to script in which she describes a transmission she is sending to you as "a hefty data-squirt". She's credited as "Circean Communications Specialist" in the script and the scene is all about rewarding Blair and company with a package of spy data that Circe's deep space network has collected. The scene is likely forgotten because this never really pays off in terms of the implied gameplay reward... but you can tell it was intended to be something of a hook/reward for players who suffered through the tougher do-gooder Circe missions rather than collecting toys at Speradon! But nothing was ever implemented, so it doesn't change the ending of the game or add access to any special equipment.

C.I.C. - SOSA -K3
Blair sees sosa at her console...

SOSA
Sir, I think you're going to find this very interesting...

as he moves closer, Blair sees a CIRCEAN COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST on Sosa's terminal screen.

CIRCEAN (COMM SCREEN)
Colonel, I just want to tell you how much your efforts have meant to all of us here in Circe.

BLAIR
Just doing our duty. I'll pass your thanks on to the crew.

CIRCEAN (COMM SCREEN)
We have something else we'd like to offer you... During the Kilrathi war we built a pretty extensive eavesdropping web around the outer edges of this system. This civil war has narrowed our focus greatly, so there's been little time to process what the web's picked up -- it's mostly been archived. Parsing this encrypted stuff isn't a priority for us, but maybe you'll find some use for it.
(to Sosa)
It's a hefty data-squirt, Lieutenant. Hope you have the bandwidth.

SOSA
Hell, yes. Open the floodgates.

she hits some buttons and we see an "upload thermometer" engage.

BLAIR
Keep me posted on this.

The Google search which located the correct spelling of the actress' name also turned up some excellent news: unlike several of the other featured players we've showcased in this series, Ms. Trainor is still working in Hollywood today! She has wracked up dozens of familiar credits over the years and even runs a company called The Studio that offers acting classes and coaching! Genre fans will be happy to hear that she has appeared in episodes of just about every series you fondly remember, from Star Trek: The Next Generation to Sliders to The X-Files!

In the end, this one little preserved Polaroid has taught us quite a bit of Wing Commander IV lore, from what a specialist uniform looks like to the fact that the character was named Loats! Just the connection that she was calling from Circe V or the fact that people from the system are called Circean are on their own interesting. If only more of this kind of material had survived!