Display MoreWe've been working on a more expansive atlas of the Wing Commander universe and part of that involves finding all the space stations we've seen throughout the series. I recently went through Wing Commanders Prophecy and Secret Ops and thought I'd share some of my notes here! Here are all the bases we see in the game, plus an extra screenshot of the high poly model if they appear in a cutscene.
Terran Confederation
Ella Starbase
Class: Ella-type
Location: Ella System
Visited by the Cerberus crew in the Ella series. Behind the scenes material refers to it as 'new Ella' indicating it may be distinct from the Ella superbase from Wing Commander IV. The base type has eight targetable bridges, four on top and four on the bottom.
Wing Commander Prophecy includes two different in-engine base meshes: the more familiar relay station and a unique TCS Callisto variant seen only in the game's losing path. Callisto has a unique set of comms and it lacks the large dish seen on the relay station. Wing Commander Secret Ops adds a third base type, the "outpost" which has a von Braun wheel style rotating structure around it. It also adds a superbase model.
Jupiter Station
Location: Sol System
Jupiter Station is named in Secret Ops but it appears in a losing cutscene in Wing Commander Prophecy. Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander Prophecy refers to it as the Confederation headquarters. The mesh does not appear in the game engine. It is the same type of base as Torgo from Wing Commander III and Orion from Wing Commander IV.
Krieger Starbase
Class: Confederation Outpost
Location: Krieger System
Visited by the Cerberus crew in the Krieger series. The Outposts consist of a bridge, two hangars, a main antenna and two secondary antennae.
Luyten Station
Class: Confederation Comm Relay
Location: Luyten System
Visited by the Cerberus crew in the Luyten series.
Relay Station
Class: Confederation Relay Station
Location: H'hrass System
The H'hrass relay station is where Commodore Blair is first abducted by the Nephilim. It consists of a bridge and two hangars.
Talos Station
Class: Confederation Outpost
Location: Talos System
Visited by the Cerberus crew in the Talos series.
Terran ShipYard Arcology
Class: Confederation Comm Relay
Location: Sol System
The TSY Arcology is seen during the introduction to Wing Commander Secret Ops. It is where the Midway returns to refit after the events of Prophecy.
TCS Callisto
Class: Confederation Starbase
Location: Hellespont System
The TCS Callisto is seen during the game's losing series in the Hellespont system. You must save Callisto to successfully return to the winning track.
Unidentified Starbase
Class: Ella-type
Location: Sol System
This station, which is the same type as Ella, appears in the Wing Commander Secret Ops endgames. It is never named.
TCA Base
Class: Confederation Comm Relay
Location: Simulated
The TCA Base is seen in the Midway's flight simulator. It is intended to represent an Academy training base.
Kilrathi Assembly of Clans
Dula Seven
Class: Kilrathi Station
Location: T'lan Meth System
Dula Seven is a Kilrathi starbase in the T'lan Meth which was occupied by the Nephilim. It was destroyed after being used to allow the Midway crew to recover Commodore Blair. The only component of Dula Seven is the bridge.
Hrai Hhallas
Class: Kilrathi Station
Location: Simulator
The Hrai Hhallas station in Wing Commander Prophecy's simulator missions seems to be left over from a more elaborate multiplayer scenario in which different Kilrathi clans would battle it out. It is the same model of station as Dula Seven.
Nephilim
Accretion Device
Location: Proxima System
The alien accretion device appears in the final mission of Wing Commander Secret Ops. It is constructed from the comm facility and drydock models used in Wing Commander Prophecy plus a new gate graphic. It retains the structures of its components: seven antennae and a bridge.
Comm Facility
Class: Alien Comm Facility
Location: G'mar System
The aliens use their comm facility to jam the Midway from communicating with the rest of the Confederation. The Midway crew teams with the TCS Eisen to attack the alien comm facility in G'mar G1. It or its wreckage appear in the following mission, depending on your performance. It consists of seven individual antennae. (This technically belongs in the Confederation section: Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander Prophecy, the installation was modified from a Confederation radar station.)
Drydock
Class: Alien Drydock
Location: G'mar System
The alien drydock appears in G'mar G3 shielding the Kraken ship-killer which the Midway marines board and capture. It has a bridge.
Wormhole
Class: Alien Wormhole
Location: Kilrah System
The alien wormhole begins to deploy during Wing Commander Prophecy's opening cutscene and the game occasionally flashes to scenes of its construction. You must destroy the structure in Prophecy's climactic final mission after the marines (and eventually Commodore Blair) board it. It consists of seven crewed towers.
Can you think of any bases we missed? Let us know on the forums!
