Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger

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Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger
Wing Commander III box
Developer(s) Origin Systems
Publisher(s) Origin Systems
Designer(s) Chris Roberts, Frank Savage (engine)
Release date(s) Late 1994
Genre(s) Space simulation
Mode(s) Single player
Platform(s) MS-DOS, 3DO, PlayStation, Mac OS
Media CD-ROM
System requirements 80486/50, MS-DOS 5.0+, 256-color VGA/SVGA, 8 MB RAM, 20 MB HDD, 2x+ CD-ROM, sound card (opt. General MIDI)
Input Mouse, Keyboard, Joystick

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger is the second sequel in Chris Roberts' Wing Commander science fiction space simulation franchise of computer games, produced by Origin Systems. Released in 1994, Wing Commander III made the move from the sprite-based graphics used in previous titles to software-driven texture-mapped polygonal 3D.

WC3 featured an entirely new line of ships and fighters, abandoning the technology of WC1 and WC2. Terran craft were redesigned from "planes in space", while Kilrathi craft were totally redesigned into asymmetrical ships with prongs, barbs and cutting-tool-esque surfaces. The new, blockier forms were made necessary by the then-primitive state of polygon graphics, as WC3 was released a few years before the first true 3D video cards and all 3D effects had to be calculated by the CPU.

The game made the transition from cartoon cut-scenes to full motion video, one of the first computer games to do so; it was frequently marketed as the world's first interactive movie. It pioneered the use of CGI backgrounds and greenscreen work, with all sets added digitally during post-production. A large number of branching conversations provide the interactive movie aspect, in which the player must choose what response his character will give; the choice may affect the other person's attitude towards your character, or even the morale of the entire crew. To act in these live action sequences, director Chris Roberts hired a formidable amount of talent, most notably Mark Hamill for the player character; the game's budget was the then unheard-of sum of USD $4 million, making it the most expensive game produced at the time. As such movie content consumes a large amount of data storage, the game was packaged on 4 CD-ROMs instead of floppy disks, another emerging technology at that point.

Finally, the hero "Bluehair" was assigned a full name: Colonel Christopher Blair. 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. Blair's call sign remained customizeable until the future Wing Commander title Wing Commander: Prophecy, where he ceased being a player-character and was canonically nicknamed "Maverick."

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.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] The Game

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The opening cutscene, the first FMV cutscene in the Wing Commander series, depicts a saddening scene: Thrakhath nar Kiranka, Crown Prince of the Kilrathi Empire, presiding over the execution of a group of Terran Confederation POWs. One, however, is left alive: Colonel Jeannette "Angel" Devereaux, 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 either of 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 Excalibur heavy fighter. Blair is given the chance to "borrow" it for a live combat mission, as well as make Dillon request reassignment to the Victory's flight wing. Immediately afterward the Victory is rerouted to the Locanda System, where the Kilrathi are deploying a potent pair of new weapons: the "Skipper" cruise missile, 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 "Flint" 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. Ironically, Blair (Mark Hamill) 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 and challenge him to single combat. Blair's instincts, of course, are to accept, but if he does, the Victory will leave without him. (The player can cheat by shooting Thrakhath with a barrage of long-range missiles and then landing immediately, but Thrakhath survives regardless.)

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 into Kilrathi space. Matters are complicated when the traitor is revealed as Blair's friend Ralgha nar Hhallas. He kills one of the Victory's pilots, Lt. Laurel "Cobra" Buckley, steals her plane and makes for Kilrathi space with news of the planned T-Bomb attacks. Blair has the choice of chasing him or letting him go. If he gives chase, the carrier is attacked and Lt. Mitchell "Vaquero" Lopez is killed in the fight, for which Blair is chewed out; and, oddly enough, the T-Bomb attacks are not complicated or prevented if Hobbes is allowed to escape.

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 up to 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 are preceded by scenes of Melek and Tolwyn formalizing the treaty, and Blair returning home with the love interest of his choice.

[edit] The Novel

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 is 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.
  • Thrakhath's declaration that Blair is the game's titular "Heart of the Tiger" occurs while the pilots are in their cockpits, scrambling to defend the ill-fated Behemoth (instead of standing around on the Victory's bridge. Flash, flying on Hobbes' wing, is killed in the ensuing fight.
  • Since Hobbes knows about the Temblor bomb project, there is no question of allowing him to escape. Hobbes uses voice recordings to impersonate Buckley, but when Vaquero (Cobra's wingman) hears what has happened, he engages Hobbes, as per Blair's orders to "stop that bastard at all costs", and is killed just as Maverick arrives to finish the job.
    • The novel includes a scene inexplicably cut from the PC version of the game, though not the PSX version: Blair finding a message in Hobbes' locker, explaining his treachery. Ralgha nar Hhallas, a loyal Kilrathi, volunteered for a special operation, in which his original personality was overlaid with one that would be much more sympathetic to humans. This personality defected to the Confederation over ten years ago and has served them loyally. However, nar Hhallas's original personality could be reactivated via certain audio cues—namely, hearing Thrakhath saying Blair's Kilrathi warrior name, "Heart of the Tiger"—and this personality has served Kilrathi interests with characteristic loyalty. In the end, though, both personalities have come to respect Christopher Blair and value his friendship, and it is with regret that they betray him.
  • Blair chooses Rachel.
  • Flint, Winston "Vagabond" Chang and Maniac, the only living Gold Squadron pilots at this point in the novel, fly with him to Kilrah. Vagabond is shot down on the second leg of the journey (though he survives through unspecified means to return in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom), Flint is killed in space above Kilrah, and Maniac is shot down in the planet's atmosphere, though Maverick is desecribed as catches a glimpse of what might be an ejection seat (Marshall also returns in WC4).

[edit] The Collectible Card Game

The Wing Commander: Collectible Card Game was an effort to combine the franchise's rising fortunes with the rising interest in card games, as Magic: The Gathering 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.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Terran Pilots

  • Colonel Christopher "Maverick" Blair: the player character, played by Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame. Blair continues his tradition of boy-scout moral judgment and personality.
  • Colonel Ralgha "Hobbes" nar Hhallas: a Kilrathi defector who brought the Ghorah Khar system into the Confederation. His callsign is sometimes said to reference an old comic strip character. Stolid, reliable and a consummate pilot, he serves as Blair's second-in-command. Played by John Schuck in an animatronic costume.
  • Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall: the frenetic, irresponsible younger brother to Blair's more calm personality, played by Tom Wilson 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. In a famous outtake used as a "stinger" after the end credits, Wilson/Marshall points after the recently departed Blair/Hamill and asks wingmate Robin "Flint" Peters (portrayed by Jennifer MacDonald), "Isn't that the guy from Star Wars?"
  • Lieutenant Winston "Vagabond" Chang: rarely found far from a deck of cards in the Victory's rec room. He is older than Blair and has seen quite a bit of the galaxy. He once worked for Dr Severin, a scientist of dubious conscience who will nonetheless play a significant role in the Confederation war effort. Played by François Chau.
  • Lieutenant Mitchell "Vaquero" Lopez: 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.
  • Lieutenant Laurel "Cobra" Buckley: a women driven entirely by hatred, her entire family was killed by the Kilrathi. Received 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. Naturally, she is extremely suspicious of Hobbes and takes every opportunity to implicate him as the cause for their misfortunes. Played by B.J. Jefferson.
  • Lieutenant Robin "Flint" Peters: 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 both of them. Played by Jennifer MacDonald.
  • Lieutenant Jace "Flash" Dillon: 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.

[edit] Terran Personnel

  • Captain William Eisen: Jason Bernard 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.
  • Chief Petty Officer Rachel Coriolis: the lady in charge of keeping the Victory's fighter craft in fighting condition. Played by pornstress Ginger Lynn Allen in her first "respectable" role.
  • Lieutenant Ted "Radio" Rollins: The Victory's communications officer, and a fount of paranoid theories and doom-saying. Played by Courtney Gains.
  • Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn: played by Malcolm McDowell in a portrayal so celebrated that it has been retconned 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.
  • Brigadier General James "Paladin" Taggart: Blair's fellow Tiger's Claw survivor is now deeply entrenched in Special Operations work. Played by John Rhys-Davies.
  • Colonel Jeannette "Angel" Devereaux: Blair's lover, referred to by Thrakhath as his "lair-mate". She is involved in a top-secret operation for General Taggart, the results of which prove to be vital for Confederation war effort. Played by Yolanda Jilot.

[edit] Kilrathi Personnel

  • Crown Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka: the grandson of the Kilrathi Emperor and first in line to succeed the throne. A much more devious villain, he still meets his end at Blair's guns. Voice acting provided by John Rhys-Davies.
  • Melek: Thrakhath's retainer, the first Kilrathi to bow to the Heart of the Tiger. Voiced by Tim Curry.

[edit] Weapon Systems

[edit] Armaments

Because Kilrathi and Terran craft use similar armaments, they are covered first.

  • Laser Cannon: the longest-range weapon in space, and the one that takes the least juice to fire, but also the weakest in terms of damage. Many capital ships boast this weapon on a turret mount.
    • Photon Cannon: an upgraded laser with slightly more damage, slightly less range, slightly more gun-energy drain and slightly slower refire.
  • Neutron Gun: retired in 2668, 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.
  • Mass Driver: 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.
  • Particle Cannon: fires "nuclear particles," described elsewhere as the "opposite of ions," for destructive force. It does moderate damage over long range.
  • Ion Cannon: requires more gun energy than the Particle Cannon, does less damage, has less range, fires slower. Why did anyone bother?
    • Reaper Cannon: seen only on the Excalibur, this gun does not fire reapers, as its name suggests, but rather is a finely-tuned ion cannon.
  • Meson Blaster: does double damage against unshielded targets; equals only the Laser's damage against shielded hull. Atmospheric conditions render this gun ineffective.
  • Plasma Gun: firing superheated hydrogen, it does tons of damage but requires a whole lot of juice. It also doesn't fire very quickly.
  • Tachyon Gun: slows down faster-than-light particles for massive damage and range. Fires quickly, and its projectiles are the fastest-moving gun bolts in the known galaxy.
  • Dart Dumbfire (DF): 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.
  • Javelin Heat-Seeker (HS): 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.
  • Pilum Friend or Foe (FF): relying on identification friend or foe beacons for targeting information, this munition is truly fire and forget... But may attack you, if your IFF beacon is damaged.
  • Spiculum Image-Recognition (IR): though it takes the longest to lock, this missile memorizes the target's electromagnetic, visual and thermal signature. If not thrown off by an electronic countermeasures decoy, it will continue to chase its target until it either 1) runs out of fuel and self-destructs, or 2) ...hits.
  • Leech: this unconventional round overloads all power systems on the targeted craft, much like the Star Wars 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.
  • Lance Torpedo: 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.
  • Porcupine Mine: like all naval mines, this free-floating munition was simply an explosive booby-trap, designed to detonate in the presence of spacecraft. Thankfully, advances in technology allowed the Porcupine to contain its excitement until enemy spacecraft were nearby.
  • "Skipper" cruise missile: 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.

[edit] Terran Fighters

  • Arrow Light Fighter: 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.
  • Hellcat V Medium Fighter: 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.
  • Thunderbolt VII Heavy Fighter: 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. However, the powerful guns could drain a full weapon capacitor dry in only two to three volleys. The "Thud"'s rival on the Kilrathi side was the Vaktoth.
  • Longbow Torpedo Bomber: 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 Pilum fire-and-forget missiles and discharging all of them into the face of a Kilrathi attack.
  • Excalibur Space-Superiority Fighter: the Confederation's newest hot property, this baby can do it all: fly atmospheric missions, run recon using the Confederation's first working cloaking device, 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.

[edit] Terran Capital Ships

  • Transport: 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.
  • Caernaven-class Frigate: three Laser turrets and two FF rounds made this craft marginally dangerous against most threats.
  • Destroyer: 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?
  • Tallahassee-class Cruiser: 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.
  • Ranger-class Light Carrier: 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.
  • TCS Behemoth: "Well, what would you aim for if you had the biggest gun in the universe?" —Adm. Tolwyn
  • Supply Depot: a hollowed-out asteroid, memorial and mausoleum to Jeannette "Angel" Devereaux.
  • Starbase: civilians live on it. Protect it with your life.

[edit] Kilrathi Fighters

  • Darket light fighter: 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.
  • Dralthi IV medium fighter: 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.
  • Strakha-class stealth fighter: armed with two meson blasters, two laser cannons, 5 HS and a cloaking device, 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.
  • Vaktoth heavy fighter: 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.
  • Paktahn torpedo bomber: 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.
  • Ekapshi light atmospheric fighter: 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 Vs, it was wildly outclassed by the Excalibur.
  • K'ha'haf heavy asteroid camouflage fighter: 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.
  • Sorthak superheavy 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.
  • Bloodfang heavy fighter: A custom fighter design piloted by Prince Thrakhath. Equipped with two tachyon cannon, two plasma cannon and nine missiles of varying types, as well as high speed, maneuverability and defense, it was a match for the Confederation's Excalibur.

[edit] Kilrathi Capital Ships

  • Transport: despite its Laser turrets, this craft was still a fairly easy nut to crack.
  • Corvette: 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.
  • Light Destroyer: shaped like a giant multi-pronged spearhead, this craft inflicted as much fear with its appearance as with its eight Laser turrets.
  • Heavy Destroyer: nowhere near as visually menacing, this larger capital ship was distinctly more dangerous, with eight Laser turrets and three fixed-mount Tachyon Cannon.
  • Bhantkara-class Carrier: carrying a full complement of fighters and eight Laser turrets, this craft was the heart of Kilrathi military power.
  • Dreadnought: 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.
  • Supply Depot: built out of an asteroid, this stationary emplacement required torpedoes to really damage.
  • Starbase: a single Laser turret was the only concession to defense aboard this huge immobile emplacement.

[edit] External links

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