Hawk's Background

[LeHah]

I swear Hawk is from the borderworlds and that he never fought in the Terran confed military...

Hawk was drummed out of Confed service after a bad accident where a training manuver in an asteroid field killed an academy cadet. I think he kind of "floated around" in careers before landing in the BW militia. As Maniac says "Now, he wraps himself in his paycheck instead of the flag" (This is covered in the WCIV novelization and probably the Bradygames's WC strategy guide)

He later returned to Confed service after his help taking down Tolwyn's conspiracy in WCIV. (Which leads me to my question: What was the whole of WCIV labeled as? A police action? Is there a specific name for the events that happened in this time frame?)

 

[Bandit LOAF]

I swear Hawk is from the borderworlds and that he never fought in the Terran confed military...

The Border Worlds were part of the Confederation during the war; being from a colony that later seceded (especially since, by and large, the colonies were where the war was being fought in the first place).

I'm not quite sure how you'd have that idea in the first place, since part of the story that introduces Hawk involves him revealing that he'd seen Seether while he was at the Academy...

We know quite a bit about Hawk's career.

He enlisted in the Space Forces in the mid-2650s where he served on TCS Tiger's Claw as a communications tech. Iceman Casey quickly reccomended him for OCS, which he pursued. Next he attended Flight School (with Seether) in 2656 and had his first combat posting that same year (in all likelyhood aboard TCS Austin).

He flew for the last ten years of the war (2659-2669). He scored 96 kills, including five during the Battle of Earth (where he earned a citation for bravery). He and Panther served with some distinction in the Astoria System (enough for Blair to recognize Hawk's name in WC4), though I don't believe details of this have ever been filled in.

Hawk was drummed out of Confed service after a bad accident where a training manuver in an asteroid field killed an academy cadet. I think he kind of "floated around" in careers before landing in the BW militia. As Maniac says "Now, he wraps himself in his paycheck instead of the flag" (This is covered in the WCIV novelization and probably the Bradygames's WC strategy guide)

Actually, the WCP Guide changes somewhat the end of his Confederation career: "Hawk was formally reprimanded for negligence, and dismissed from his flight school post. Although he was not (contrary to some rumors) drummed out of the service, he felt his career was effectively over and tendered his resignation."

He returned to the Confederation much later, specifically to become Wilford's top pilot.

(Which leads me to my question: What was the whole of WCIV labeled as? A police action? Is there a specific name for the events that happened in this time frame?)

I suppose police action is technically correct, since it was a military action taken without a declaration of war. Since the Senate officially declares "there will be no war with the Border Worlds" at the end of the game, presumably the courts can't go back and establish that it was actually legally a war (as happens in 'real life').

I've never understood how the political situation worked, though... I'd call the whole thing a rebellion and still want the Confederation to put it down regardless of bioweapons and secret, unmarked fighters.

 

[Delance]

Arguably the Border Worlds might call it their "War or Secession" but that would be essentially wrong, since all their efforts were to aver war to begin with. In fact, that's the whole point of WCIV. From their point of view, they were fighting to prevent a war. Ironic.

Blair was not, it seems, a Border Worlds nationalist, and was more interesting in defeating the renegade faction at confed. Rebellion or not, the BW probably have the rights to their independence if they feel they are being treated unfairly. You know, since I live on a former Colony that declared independence, and all.

EDIT: Actually "War of Independence" would make more sense if they were colonies and not member-states. Ah, anyway, "Conflict" is better than "Rebellion", since it was not simply a matter of the BW rebelling, but mostly the actions of the Black Lance.

 

[LeHah]

He returned to the Confederation much later, specifically to become Wilford's top pilot.

Was Maniac or Hawk in charge of the Black Widow squadron? I had assumed it was Maniac but I don't know why now. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure who's the Wing Commander on the Midway; it's been so long since I played it.

Also: I'm fairly certain that the end of the WCIV novelization refers to Maniac getting his own command on a ship thats not on the Midway. I take it thats all we heard about that assignment?

I suppose police action is technically correct, since it was a military action taken without a declaration of war. Since the Senate officially declares "there will be no war with the Border Worlds" at the end of the game, presumably the courts can't go back and establish that it was actually legally a war (as happens in 'real life').

I guess I was fishing for something more like an offical name like "Persian Gulf War".

 

[Sarty]

Maniac gets promoted to Squadron Commander during the game and Hawk shakes him up a bit, but I really don't know who commanded the squadron before Maniac did. That scene always puzzled me anyways. Maniac says something along the lines of "finally my own squadron". But we know from the WC3 and WC4 novels that Maniac has commanded squadrons before. Is being commander of Black Widow Squadron that much more of a jump in ranks?

 

[Delance]

Was Maniac or Hawk in charge of the Black Widow squadron? I had assumed it was Maniac but I don't know why now. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure who's the Wing Commander on the Midway; it's been so long since I played it.

Hawk was the commander of a Wing, like Casey. That should make them Wing Commanders, but I don't know. Not sure if he was the leader of a squadron. The CAW was Com. Patricia Drake. Maniac gets his own squadron later on, but I don't know if this alter who commands the wings.

 

[Nob Akimoto]

If I recall, "Squadron commander" in the case of WC is actually meant to refer to one of the carrier's 3 air wings, rather than a normal "squadron" and was something of a minor gaff during the script writing process.

 

[SabreAce]

Was Maniac or Hawk in charge of the Black Widow squadron?

Maniac gets promoted to command of the Black Widows just after Casey & Co. join the Widows. Appropriately enough for Maniac, he was passed out from too much drinking at the time the CAG announced his being in command. Hawk did get a nice shot in with the "To be in command? To be in control? To be the one they string up when one of your guys screws the pooch on a mission?".

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Was Maniac or Hawk in charge of the Black Widow squadron? I had assumed it was Maniac but I don't know why now. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure who's the Wing Commander on the Midway; it's been so long since I played it.

Well, the problem there is that the FMV script swapped 'squadron' and 'wing'. The Midway has three *wings* of fighters with a CAG coordinating them.

At the start of the game the Wing Commanders ("Squadron Commanders" in the game) are Hawk for the Black Widows and Stiletto for the Diamondbacks. Maniac was XO of the Black Windows until T'lan Meth 1, where he's put in command. We don't know what Hawks' new assignment was at this point.

Also: I'm fairly certain that the end of the WCIV novelization refers to Maniac getting his own command on a ship thats not on the Midway. I take it thats all we heard about that assignment?

That's correct, the novel ends with Maniac's Border Worlds' rank (Colonel) being confirmed and his being assigned to the light carrier TCS Kiev. We never hear about this again, but Chris McCubbin did theorize in a Usenet post in 1997 that there were any number of things Maniac could have done to screw this up...

I guess I was fishing for something more like an offical name like "Persian Gulf War".

Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander Prophecy says that it is "The Border Worlds Conflict, Also known as the Black Lance Affair".

 

[LeHah]

Well, the problem there is that the FMV script swapped 'squadron' and 'wing'. The Midway has three *wings* of fighters with a CAG coordinating them.

I suspected as much for years but thought I was just losing what was left of my marbles. That makes a lot more sense than only three squadrons on such a large craft.

We don't know what Hawks' new assignment was at this point.

Roughly - how long (in terms of missions or days/weeks) is it between Hawk's reassignment and his death?

That's correct, the novel ends with Maniac's Border Worlds' rank (Colonel) being confirmed and his being assigned to the light carrier TCS Kiev.

So he defected to the UBW as a Major, came out a Colonel for them and then switched back to Confed to be a Wing Commander of an escort carrier - only to later lose his assignment and gain a demotion of rank before we see him again in Prophecy? Thats quite the switcheroo, all things considered.

 

[Don]

So he defected to the UBW as a Major, came out a Colonel for them and then switched back to Confed to be a Wing Commander of an escort carrier - only to later lose his assignment and gain a demotion of rank before we see him again in Prophecy? Thats quite the switcheroo, all things considered.[/QUOTE]

THats actually quite funny...might make u think that confed were pissed of at maniac...and maybe some of the other pilots...for defecting to the UBW during WCIV and as payback got him demoted when he came back...heck!

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Roughly - how long (in terms of missions or days/weeks) is it between Hawk's reassignment and his death?

We don't really have specific dates for Prophecy... but the game itself lasts only a month (Casey arrives on 2681.025 and the first Secret Ops fiction about the victory at Kilrah is dated 2681.055). There are four missions between when Hawk is reassigned (T'lan Meth E1) and when he dies (T'lan Meth F2).

So he defected to the UBW as a Major, came out a Colonel for them and then switched back to Confed to be a Wing Commander of an escort carrier - only to later lose his assignment and gain a demotion of rank before we see him again in Prophecy? Thats quite the switcheroo, all things considered.

Yeah. It's certainly a running theme that Maniac just isn't a commander... from the "Maniac Solution" in the WC1/2 Guide to the Wild Eagles story in Special Operations 2 to the entire Black Widows story in Prophecy, it always turns out that Maniac is a heck of a pilot but not much of a commander (and nor does he ultimately ever want to be).