Display MoreEddie Rickenharp is mini-mono artist who has attained megastar status and is best known for repopularizing his genre of music. In 2669, Rickenharp agreed to perform for Confederation forces on Bistango X in a spectacular concert amidst the planet's ancient art treasures. The Kilrathi launched a surprise assault on the planet during the concert which killed thousands and left the artwork in ruins. Rickenharp was badly wounded in the attack and left in critical condition.
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Last time we looked at tHE lOVE aNIMALS, a band introduced in Wing Commander III that doing a TCSO-style performance for the troops. But Wing Commander III actually introduces a second artist with the same setup: "megastar" Eddie Rickenharp. He also has a fictional-but-familiar-seeming genre, "mini mono" and you get the sense that he's some kind of Steven Tyler-style aging superstar in 2669. Rickenharp appears in two of the TCN 'newsbriefs' that only appear in the 3DO and PlayStation ports of the game. In the first, Barbara Miles announces that he will be playing a concert on Bistango X. This news segment can appear starting in the Locanda series:
Scene 514
NEWSBRIEF 15 -> 15NWSNC
This newsbrief can be available anywhere from Series D through Series I.
BARBARA
. . . and now one from our People file: Megastar Eddie Rickenharp, who single-handedly brought back mini-mono as a popular musical genre, has agreed to entertain Confederation forces amidst the ancient and exquisitely beautiful antiquities of Bistango X. This is Barbara Miles with a TNC InfoBurst . . .And then later in the game, starting with the Behemoth missions, there is a terrible update about the fate of the concert:
Scene 515
NEWSBRIEF 16 -> 16NWSNC
This newsbrief should be available from Series J through Series N.
NOTE: Though no scripted midgame currently exists that might complement this newsbrief, it may be possible for Origin’s graphic artists to come up with some matching animation.
BARBARA
. . . elsewhere on the war front, a blitzkrieg Kilrathi assault has taken the lives of thousands of Confederation servicepeople as they were enjoying a concert put on by the megastar Rickenharp - - against the backdrop of Bistango X’s priceless, millennia-old art treasures. The surprise attack has reduced the beautiful ancient structures to rubble and Rickenharp himself is said to be in critical condition.
-> (beat)
This is Barbara Miles with another TNC InfoBurst. Thanks for watching . . .Bistango, invented here, is referenced again on Prophecy's Wing Commander Universe Map, though it's unfortunately spelled "Bistangio". Eagle-eared listeners may note that Barbara Miles pronounces the Roman numeral "ex" instead of ten in the first news briefing. The place is typographically cursed! The story is slightly continued in Wing Commander Arena's manual, which mentions that the ancient artwork destroyed in the story is now protected ruins (and the source of more conflict).
