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[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14215']Just what everyone wanted

[/feedquote]

[feedquote='Star Citizen','https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/16493-CitizenCon-2948-Announcement']

On Wednesday, October 10th, we invite you to join us at the Long Center, in Austin, Texas, for a full day of presentations and interactions, exploring the current and future developments in Star Citizen and Squadron 42.

Building off your favorite elements from last year’s event, and taking advantage of everything the venue has to offer, we are excited to bring the event back to where CitizenCon began!

Ticket Details

CitizenCon 2948 will be held on Wednesday October 10th, 2018 at the Long Center in Austin:
701 W. Riverside Drive
Austin, TX 78704

See a live presentation from Chris Roberts, and meet the team behind the game. We’ll also have plenty of activities and demonstrations around the venue, throughout the day to keep you entertained.

This year we will be offering two ticket types: General Admission for $87 and Premium Access for $130 (prices include local sales tax). Premium ticket holders will gain access to the seating section closest to the stage, as well as a premium registration service. Store credit cannot be used to purchase tickets.

Tickets will go on sale according to the following schedule:

• Wednesday May 2nd, 12PM PDT: 450 Standard & 150 Premium tickets available to Concierge and Subscribers
• Wednesday May 2nd, 6PM PDT: 450 Standard & 150 Premium tickets available to Concierge and Subscribers
• Thursday May 3rd, 12PM PDT: 450 Standard & 150 Premium tickets available to all backers
• Thursday May 3rd, 6PM PDT: Remaining 450 Standard & 150 Premium tickets available to all backers

---

Tickets will be available here

- Frequently Asked Questions

What Should I Bring?

Please remember to bring your printed ticket or a digital copy stored on your phone, and your photo ID. If you have a Citizen Card or any Star Citizen and Squadron 42 clothing or accessories, we encourage you to wear them. Cosplay is appreciated; however, local laws and venue restrictions prohibit prop weapons (the Long Center is effectively an Armistice Zone) so please leave those at home.

Will There Be Food Available?

We will have a selection of food trucks on the terrace, along with bars throughout the venue for your convenience. There are also a range of dining options within walking distance. Outside food and beverages are not allowed inside the venue.

Where Can I Park?

There is a 1200 space parking garage next to the venue: Parking for Palmer Events Center / Long Center, as well as other options within walking distance.

Is the Long Center wheelchair accessible?

Yes. There is wheelchair access to nearly all of the venue, including restrooms. A selection of locations will be available for wheelchair users to enjoy the show.

Will there be seating available?

Yes. This is a seated event for everything happening in the main hall. Other locations for demos and activities may have seating as appropriate.

Is there an age restriction for the venue?

Yes, the event is 21+

Can people bring their own seating for the wait?

You may bring a small foldable seat to use while outside the venue; however, use of them inside the premises is prohibited, so you would need to use the coat check once inside. Please only bring what you’ll need with you to the event.

Can I Bring Gifts?

Although we truly appreciate the sentiment, many of us will be flying out the next day, and we are unable to accept gifts at the event.

Is there a Coat Check?

Yes and attendees will be encouraged to store their belongings in the visitor’s coat check.

Anything planned for Tuesday or Thursday?

If you’re planning to be in Austin the day before or after, or you’re already there, keep an eye out for updates on meetups as we get closer to the day. We do enjoy taking every opportunity to meet our fantastic community.

Can I buy a ticket for my friend?

No, as tickets are non-transferrable. Ticket purchases are also limited to one per person.

If there are unsold tickets from the first day of sales, will they be available to all backers when tickets are added on the second day?

Yes. Any unsold tickets from the first day will roll over to the second.

I can’t attend anymore, can I cancel and get a refund?

Tickets may be cancelled up until 30 days prior to the event and refunded for store credit. No refunds will be granted within 30 days of the event. Tickets are non-transferrable.

Stay In The Loop!

Look out for latest news, contests, and additional information about CitizenCon. Whether you’re with us in Austin, or back at home, keep up to date with all things Star Citizen by following our various channels on social media:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Photo credit: Scott Melcer (Exterior) and Jerry Hayes (Interior). [/feedquote]

[feedquote='Star Trek Online','/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10888134-romulan-imperial-minefield'] Long-time veteran players of Star Trek Online may well remember the team events of Gorn Minefield and Federation Minefield – queued activities in which your team tries to free captive freighters from clusters of mines, then drives off enemy ships in order to retake asteroid mining facilities, all capped with a battle at the end against a powerful enemy flagship. The Minefield events are some of the earliest queued content that players will see, as even low-level captains can play them. Of course, the Minefield queued events come from the earliest days of Star Trek Online, and so it’s about time we put a little bit of polish on them! As part of the release of our new landing page, designed to help players find interesting things to do, we’ve updated the Minefield queued events and turned them into a new, slightly different story: The Romulan Imperial war machine, always hungry for raw materials, has taken over a remote asteroid mining facility. Starfleet and Klingon officers alike can join together, along with allied forces, to stop the Imperial military from stealing refined materials to make more warbirds. You’ll find the gameplay of the Romulan Imperial Minefield is substantially the same: Alongside a heroic Starfleet captain, move in on Romulan ship formations, clear out mines, rescue freighters, repair the mine facilities, and finally face off against an Imperial Romulan Scimitar­-class dreadnought warbird. To make this event even more enjoyable, though, we’ve made several changes, including: You can now team up across factions; Federation and Klingon captains, and Romulans aligned with those factions, can work together against the Romulan Star Empire in this event. The mission map now includes waypoints, so you can tell where you need to go to find freighters in need of rescue or enemy ships to fight. The enemies are, as you’d expect, now Romulan ships, and their minefields include plasma mines and cloaking tractor mines! Any captain of level 11 or above can play! Enemy ships scale to the average level of the players in the event. All player captains have their level set to this same value, so low-level players can still contribute, while high-level captains still have the benefits of their many available powers. (Romulan captains must have chosen an allied faction; 23rd century Starfleet captains must have reached the 25th century.) There’s no cooldown – play as often as you like! We hope that you enjoy this chance to revisit one of our earliest pieces of content in an updated format! Jesse Heinig Staff Game Designer Star Trek Online .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(http://images-cdn.perfectworld…157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .TW { background-position: 0 60%; } .share-footer .FO { background-position: 0 80%; } .FB:hover { background-position: 100% 0%; } .TI:hover { background-position: 100% 20%; } .YT:hover { background-position: 100% 40%; } .TW:hover { background-position: 100% 60%; } .FO:hover { background-position: 100% 80%; } .share-footer a:hover { opacity: 1; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } $(document).ready( function() { $('.show-lightbox').click(function() { var $el = $(this); var link = $el.data().lightbox; $.colorbox({href: link, maxWidth: '90%', maxHeight: '90%', scalePhotos: true}); }); }); .headerimage { border: 2px inset rgba(255, 255, 255, .05); border-radius: 2em; box-shadow: 5px 5px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .3); -webkit-transition: all 500ms ease; -moz-transition: all 500ms ease; -ms-transition: all 500ms ease; -o-transition: all 500ms ease; transition: all 500ms ease; } [/feedquote]

[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14214']

UnnamedCharacter

's latest creation is an assembler/disassembler app for Wing Commander 2. He provides examples of disassembled code and how the program works in practice. It all looks way more advanced than my simple mind can comprehend, but there is one cool demonstration of the possibilities. After digging in, tweaking the text at the right point allows for manipulation of the cutscene subtitles. Although it would be no small undertaking in the least, really cool hacks like this make you visualize how some really cool Wing Commander 1/2 mods could be possible one day. Grab the new program for yourself

here

.

I put together a simple assembler/disassembler. Although it lacks the sophistication demonstrated by lskovlun, it does have the basic functionality of managing jump targets. Unfortunately, it does have problems with two files, when disassembled they will not re-assemble:

• SERIES.S00-ContainerBlock005-ContainerGroup-SequenceGroup-ScriptGroup-OffsetChunk.asmerror: undefined symbol: _08b2
• SERIES.S00-ContainerBlock013-ContainerGroup-SequenceGroup-ScriptGroup-OffsetChunk.asmerror: undefined symbol: _2442â

The problem are jump values that appear to be too large, they jump beyond the end of the file. For the time, avoid these two files.

[/feedquote]

[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14213']Not quite a "Gash" Dekker, but he has heart.

[/feedquote]

[feedquote='Star Trek Online','/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10888174-pc-patch-notes-for-4%2F26%2F18'] New Features: Kobayashi Maru: The Kobayashi Maru weekend event has returned! In the simulation of the original “No Win Scenario”, protect the Kobayashi Maru from ambushing enemy ships. A new reward has been added for this event: The Prolonged Engagement Power Dynamo Console. For more details, please visit the Kobayashi Maru Weekend event blog at: https://www.arcgames.com/en/ga…-of-the-kobayashi-maru%21 Romulan Imperial Minefield: Captain Nog has requested the help of Captains from all factions to defend a mining asteroid field that is being overrun by Romulan Imperials. The Romulan Imperial Minefield queue replaces the Gorn and Federation Minefield queues. This new version allows all factions to team together. General: Extending Renegade’s Regret as a Featured episode. This will allow players to continue to earn the weekly choice of Specialization Point or Tech Upgrade. Everything Old is New: Slight alterations to behavior of McCoy to prevent certain issus that could hinder mission progression. Khitomer Accord: Adjusted behavior for the final boss so that it should not get into a state where it fully heals in between phases of combat. Resolved an issue which could occasionally cause a crash when in the ship tailor and the player joins a queue. Animation now plays correctly while equipping the Draconian Polearm [/feedquote]

[feedquote='Star Citizen','https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/engineering/16537-Q-A-Origin-100-Series-Part-II']

Q&A: Origin 100 Series Part II

Following the launch of the Origin 100 series, we collected your questions in an effort to provide more information on the brand-new starter ship from Origin Jumpworks.

If you missed part I, you can read the answers here, and the Origin 100 Series promotional page here.

Special thanks to John Crewe, Corentin Billemont, and Todd Papy for their help with answering your top-voted questions.

With the 100 series now filling the “Origin starter” slot, will the role of the 300 series be impacted?

Yes. When the 300 series will get its rework completed, it will fill both a higher tier place in the ship hierarchy, and have its current roles more defined and focused. The 100 series is a great entry point for what the 300 series will become in a future release.

Given that the Mustang Delta and Aurora-LN are much more powerful than the 125a, will you consider upping the armaments on the 125a to 2 x S2 guns and 4 x S2 missiles?

There are no current plans to adjust them at this time but as always we might consider changing the size of its guns during future balance iterations to bring it more in line with some similar ships if we feel the 100 series is seriously disadvantaged compared to other equivalent ships, but a missile upgrade is unlikely given how they are integrated on the hull.

What is the advantage of the base 100i model compared to the other variants?

While the 100 series share a lot of their features, the 100i will have a better maneuverability than the cargo variant. The 100i and 125a are very close together but the speed/offensive loadout make the 125a better in combat. That said, as they are all starter ships, those differences wouldn’t necessarily be as noticeable as in bigger ships.

Will we get a bit more room for living quarters in the 100i Touring model if the 125A has a missile bay and the 135C has cargo?

No. The 125a and 135c take advantage of changes on the exterior of the ship, but without getting bigger. The interior of the ship is the same between all 3 variants and already pretty spacious for a starter ship.

What’s inside? On the picture of the interior we see the bed and the cockpit, but what will be in the back (out of field) of the cabin.

On the other side of the cabin, you’ll be able to find room for 2 SCU as well as easy access to most ship components (some less important won’t be accessible without removing the SCU first).

With the article on Fuel Mechanics and clarifications on the AIR system, does the 100i Series come with more than one Fuel Tank to facilitate collection or use of multiple types of refined plasma on the fly?

As discussed in the Shipyard post only one type of fuel can be contained per tank and the 100 series only comes equipped with one tank as standard, the benefits of the AIR system allows you to be able to stand a better chance of being able to scoop fuel wherever you are due to the expanded range of gases that can be processed above default.

Why should I choose the 135c over the Avenger Titan for Cargo since it is more expensive?

While the Avenger Titan has a 2 SCU better capability than the 135c and has better weapons, its rework will change where it stands and make it more in line with some other ships around it. The 135c has a very respectable cargo capacity for its size, and its size and fuel capabilities allow it to have better flight maneuverability than the bigger Avenger.

Will the 100 series internal 2SCU be visible or invisible the player.

The interior ship layout has been planned to be big enough to have the cargo visible!

Will the 100i have the ability to equip, or possibly come equipped with, exploration sensors similar to the legacy 315p?

The 315p focuses on its Pathfinder role that has no comparable equivalent in the 100 series. As such, the 100i should be compared to the current ingame 300i instead and has no utility itemports that can have sensors attached to it.

Is there a speed/atmospheric composition at which the AIR intake will generate fuel faster than it is being used by thrusters?

Speed and composition will factor in to the conversion rate when the system is implemented ingame, it’s hard to give some concrete numbers as to how much better it will be at this early stage however.

[/feedquote]

[feedquote='Star Trek Online','/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10883414-30%25-off-duty-officers-and-personnel%2C-today%2C-4%2F25%2C-only%21'] Temporal Anomalies have opened a hole to an alternate universe, one with a fantastic sale, Captains. But this Flash Sale will only be available for a limited time – from 10am-6pm PST today only, on all three platforms. Hurry and grab yourself some items at a one of our largest discounts ever, before the portal shuts and it’s all lost. Today’s Flash Sale is: 30% OFF EVERYTHING IN THE "DUTY OFFICERS" AND "PERSONNEL" TABS IN THE C-STORE! Don’t wait! The Flash Sale Anomaly can be gone before you know it! .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(http://images-cdn.perfectworld…157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .TW { background-position: 0 60%; } .share-footer .FO { background-position: 0 80%; } .FB:hover { background-position: 100% 0%; } .TI:hover { background-position: 100% 20%; } .YT:hover { background-position: 100% 40%; } .TW:hover { background-position: 100% 60%; } .FO:hover { background-position: 100% 80%; } .share-footer a:hover { opacity: 1; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } $(document).ready( function() { $('.show-lightbox').click(function() { var $el = $(this); var link = $el.data().lightbox; $.colorbox({href: link, maxWidth: '90%', maxHeight: '90%', scalePhotos: true}); }); }); .headerimage { border: 2px inset rgba(255, 255, 255, .05); border-radius: 2em; box-shadow: 5px 5px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .3); -webkit-transition: all 500ms ease; -moz-transition: all 500ms ease; -ms-transition: all 500ms ease; -o-transition: all 500ms ease; transition: all 500ms ease; } [/feedquote]

[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14211']A

teaser

trailer was leaked/released this week that shows off a new chapter in the Commander & Conquer series, Red Alert Online. The game is designed for mobile devices, and amazingly, this it's actually not the first time this has happened. C&C3 was first released for

mobile

in 2008, and a

version

of Red Alert came out

for iOS in 2009

. A ton has changed in the past decade though, and iOS/Android games can now compete with modern consoles or PCs in many cases. With the right hardware, they can even be streamed to large screens. The developer of the new Red Alert is

Tencent

, which is the Chinese studio behind the highly acclaimed mobile version of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds. The internet's reaction has been mixed so far, but it'll be very interesting to see how this turns out.

But holy cow, if ever there was a gaming franchise with nine lives,

this is it

! We've followed this series over the years for a number of reasons. For starters, most of the CIC Staff has been playing these games since the mid '90s, including playing the original Red Alert via dial up modem together in 1996. There are also some strong parallels to Wing Commander. C&C was highly regarded for its video cutscenes, and the developer was also bought by Electronic Arts. It kept going well after the RTS heyday and EA doubled down in 2007 with its

Battlecast

streaming C&C themed sports show. EA kept supporting live actor FMV as late as 2009 in Red Alert 3 and 2010 with Command & Conquer 4. Malcolm McDowell starred in RA3, and there was an official

advertisement

for that game that entirely focused on his performance in Wing Commander 4. In addition to these games, the series was most recently rebooted as a

browser game

in 2012. A couple of first person shooters and a sequel to C&C Generals were also in work over the past number of years, but were canceled. Still, it's remarkable how many times the series keeps coming back. I'm truly happy for C&C fans. The RTS genre and space sims both seem to be making a bit of a comeback these days, so seeing a classic EA franchise return like this helps give Wingnuts hope that Wing Commander could still make a resurgence someday.

[/feedquote]

[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14212']But who runs a better high end event planning

business

?

[/feedquote]

[feedquote='Star Citizen','https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/serialized-fiction/16533-The-Cup-Part-Three']

Writer’s Note: Part three of The Cup was published originally in Jump Point 1.10. Before reading the final chapter, check out Part One and Part Two.

Recovering from her disappointing start in the Cup series, Darring has worked her way back to the front of the pack. She is on her way to victory in the Sorrow Sea — the Boneyard — when her ship explosively overheats . . .

Darring awoke in a quiet, sanitized room of white walls and beeping monitors. She lay in a medbay tub containing a pale, viscous gel. There were monitoring nodes on her neck and chest. She lifted her arm out of the fluid and tried sitting up. A strong hand kept her from doing so.

“Not yet,” the voice said. “Not until the doctor says it’s okay.”

She laid her head back against the tub wall and blinked repeatedly until the figure above her came into focus. “Zogat,” she said, her voice cracking, her throat dry and pasty. “Where — where —”

“Carrier infirmary,” he said, “in orbit above Ellis VIII.”

She tried sitting up again and felt a deep pain in her shoulder as she moved her arms. She reached across her chest and felt a layer of burnt skin, soft and supple due to the fluid, but still present. Terrifying memories flooded back. “My ship?”

Guul nodded. “Unsalvageable. It’s now a part of the Sorrow Sea.”

Darring massaged her sore shoulder. “What happened?”

“They do not know for certain. But your ship went through a rapid temperature increase that ignited the power plant. It’s a wonder it didn’t explode while you were still strapped in.”

“Do they know what caused it?”

“They couldn’t recover enough of the fuselage and its monitoring equipment to know the exact cause. But . . .” He paused, letting the word linger there in the space between them. “Remisk has confessed.”

“What?”

“He’s confessed to it. Went mad, in fact, attacked a reporter, nearly ripped off her face. He says he put some kind of capsule into your tank; or rather, hired someone on your crew to do it, which, by the way, has been scrubbed. He even confessed to sending those thugs against us.”

She nodded, feeling a moment of relief. “Then Mo‘tak is finished as well.”

Guul cast his eyes down. He shook his head. “No, Hypatia. Mo‘tak has confessed nothing, nor has Remisk implicated anyone else. He’s gone catatonic, can’t speak, can’t move. He’s on something, but it can’t be detected. They fear he’ll die before he’s interrogated. He’s out, but Mo‘tak is still in and has condemned Remisk publicly in the most powerful words. The race has been suspended for a few days so that all remaining crews can conduct a mandatory check of their ships. Then it will resume.” He shook his head. “There are three things certain in the galaxy, as you Humans might say: Death, taxes and the MCR. The race will go on.”

Darring closed her eyes and laid her head back once again. She fought tears. “Yes, but it’s over for me.”

A pause, then, “Not yet.”

She tried asking how, but on cue, the room door opened and in walked Mo‘tak, straight and proud, wearing a fresh jumpsuit of gold and purple. Three reporters followed in his wake, one with a camera. He pulled his mouth back and said in a sincere voice, “Ah, I am so glad to see you awake. You had us all worried.”

I bet. She wanted to say those very words, but the strong pressure that Guul placed on her arm with his hand recommended otherwise. She forced her anger down and tried to smile. “It seems as if the Fates are on my side.”

Mo‘tak nodded. “Indeed. And it would also seem that Lady Luck has granted you favor as well. With my gift, you can now return to the race.”

“What gift?”

Mo‘tak seemed surprised, “Your friend hasn’t told you?”

“I was just about to,” Guul said.

“Well, then let me say it proudly for all to hear.” Mo‘tak adjusted his position among the reporters, giving them time to ready.

The Xi’an cleared his throat. “I and the Xu.oa family corporation want to again strenuously condemn Ykonde Remisk’s actions. His cowardly assaults are inconsistent with what I and the MCR are all about. The integrity of the race must be maintained. Thus, as a gesture of good will and healthy competition, I have donated my personal M50 so that Hypatia Darring can return to the race.”

It took a moment for the announcement to register in her mind. To help drive the point home, a vid screen activated to reveal a clean, gold-and-purple trimmed M50. It was brilliant, beautiful. Darring loved it, but worried about Mo‘tak’s motivation.

“No way,” she barked, pulling herself up in the tub. “I’m not putting one toe into that —”

Guul applied pressure to her arm once again. “What Ms. Darring is saying is that she would be honored to accept your gift and looks forward to further competition in the days ahead.”

“Hey,” she said, pulling her arm away. “Don’t answer for me. I’m not a child, dammit!”

“Well, let’s leave Ms. Darring and Mr. Guul alone,” Mo‘tak said. “Clearly, they have much to discuss.” He leaned over Darring’s tub and stared into her eyes, his mouth inches from her face. “I’m so glad to see you well. Please do accept my offer. It would be a shame to lose one with so much talent.”

They scurried out, but left the image of the M50 on the vid screen. When the door closed, she rounded on Guul. “You don’t answer for me.”

Guul shook his head. “If you refuse this offer from Mo‘tak, he will have won thrice: by getting rid of Remisk, by getting rid of you, and by further damaging your reputation. Racing is as much about your public image as it is about skill. You already have a bad reputation. Don’t damage it further by being ungracious.”

“But it’s his ship!” she said, pointing to the vid screen. “He’s done something to it, I’m sure.”

Guul shook his head. “No, he’s not that stupid. There’s too much light on the competition now, too much that’s transpired. He can’t afford to offer this gift and then sabotage it. He’s done all he can do. It’s a matter of who’s the best now. There’s plenty of racing left, Hypatia. Go out there and prove to everyone, prove to Mo‘tak, that you will not be stopped, that you are the best.”

Despite the logic in his words, Darring wanted to refuse Mo‘tak’s gift. On the other hand, to beat Mo‘tak with his own ship would be so lovely. But it wasn’t just a matter of getting up and strapping into the cockpit. Every M50 had its own quirks, its own personality. There were always balancing issues, thrust issues, drift issues that needed to be identified and learned. The cockpit displays would need to be configured to her own preferences, which would take time to sort out. And it could take weeks for her to get comfortable on the stick and throttle. She had maybe 48 hours to make it all work. Her burns were healing in this goo around her, but her flesh was tight and still stung beneath her movements. Mo‘tak was setting her up to fail. He didn’t need to sabotage the ship, she realized. Her current condition was enough to slow her down.

And now Guul was taking advantage of their new friendship. He had no right to interrupt her and speak for her publicly. Guul may admire me, she thought as she pulled herself up and sat on the edge of the tub. Now, he needs to respect me.

“Okay, Zogat,” she said, looking around for a towel. “You win. I’ll accept his offer. I’ll show him I’m the best, but more importantly . . . I’ll show you.”

* * *

Hello again, and welcome to another GSN Spectrum broadcast of the Murray Cup Race. After the tragedy rising from the Sorrow Sea, Darring’s near death experience, and Remisk’s shocking confession, the competition has gotten back on track and has settled into a sweet groove. From the midway checkpoint and out all the way to Ellis XII, the top racers have pushed their craft to the limit. Hypatia Darring has come back with a vengeance, accepting Mo‘tak’s M50 and taking two of the last three stages through the asteroid belt and back to the final checkpoint at Ellis VIII. The competition around Ellis IX, in particular, proved raucous, as Darring slowed to allow Mo‘tak to gain the lead while dogging Guul’s Hornet, forcing him to flirt with the Eye’s crushing tidal forces. No love was lost between those two during the following press conference. But now the Tevarin veteran has surprised everyone once again by taking the final obstacle course in the outer asteroid belt, showing a refinement that proves he will go down in history as one of the finest pilots ever to race The Cup. Now, the competition enters its final leg with only 65 racers remaining, and the top three positions held by Mo‘tak, Darring and Guul. Can these three power-houses hold out, or will someone else fly past and beat them all?

The final leg awaits. Let’s kick it back to Mike Crenshaw who’s in the thick of it. What’s the mood on the carrier, Mike?

* * *

Raw.

That’s what Darring was. Just a raw nerve, always ready to spark if given a chance. Guul had hoped to share with her a little of his experience, teach her some wisdom, in a sport just as rough on the spirit as it was on the body and mind. And perhaps she had learned a little.

She was racing better, maneuvering better, taking to heart his philosophy . . . speed is life. But looking across the carrier bay floor at her as she ran a cloth across the belly of her borrowed M50, Zogat Guul could not tell if Darring’s improvement was motivated by skill or anger. Did it really matter? In the end, if she blew across the finish line in first place, it would all boil down to victory. And that was the ultimate goal of everyone in the race. Go home a winner . . . or just go home.

“Hypatia Darring has it out for you, doesn’t she?”

Crenshaw’s face was all perky as if he had just said something infinitely clever and devious.

Guul did not take the bait. “She is a tough competitor. Like a Tevarin, she shows her enemy no mercy.”

“But she held back around The Eye just to force you to lose. That’s the move of someone bearing a grudge. What did you do?”

What indeed. Perhaps he had come on too strong. Was it when he interrupted her and spoke for her publicly at the hospital? She would not say when he asked; instead, she would change the subject or walk away. But direct action, direct speech was his way. Surely she realized he was right. She had to compete. She had to accept Mo‘tak’s offer and finish the race. Not just for herself, but for the honor of her family. Surely she did not blame him for pointing that out.

“Scurry away, bug.”

Mo‘tak appeared, alone this time, and flicked his fingers at Crenshaw as if he were swatting a fly. “The Tevarin warrior will not condescend to answer such a silly question. Shoo! Go bother someone else.”

Crenshaw pulled a rueful face but retreated nonetheless.

When he was gone, Mo‘tak closed on Guul and offered his hand. “Good luck,” he said.

“You want to break my hand like you tried to break Hypatia’s?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, my friend. I merely want to wish you a safe final course. This is your last, isn’t it?”

Guul nodded. “Perhaps.”

“And you are braced to win it all and be remembered as the greatest racer in the history of the sport. For that, I wish you good luck.”

Guul took the handshake reluctantly. Mo‘tak’s fingers were firm but not vise-like. He moved until he was beside the Tevarin. Mo‘tak placed his free hand on Guul’s back.

“Look at it all one last time, Zogat. All of it. The bay, the racers, the media, the hustle and bustle of the crews. You will miss it. But I think you will miss that young lady right there most of all.”

Before Guul had a chance to speak, Mo‘tak pushed his hand hard against the Tevarin’s neck.

Guul felt a slight pinch and jerked away. A warm flush spread across his skin. “What did you do?”

Mo‘tak maintained his composure and kept looking forward as if they were having a pleasant conversation. “To win against racers as skilled as yourself and Darring will be quite the honor,” he said, as the media crowded around once more. “Good luck out there, old friend.”

Guul rubbed his neck. The Xi’an had done something to him, but Mo’tak had again done his scheming in such a way that left very little evidence. Perhaps if Guul called the MCR authorities over now, they could find something, but more likely his accusations would prove to be unfounded. He looked out at everyone suiting up, strapping in, readying for the final course. He could choose not to race. If Mo’tak had drugged him as he suspected, then it would be quite dangerous to climb into his cockpit. But he quickly shoved the thought aside. He couldn’t get out now, not when the end was so close. It wasn’t in him. He had to take his own advice. He had to finish the race.

He looked across the bay floor, toward Darring. She was putting on her helmet, getting ready to climb into her cockpit. He tried catching her attention with a wave. She did not see him, or she was ignoring him. Whatever the reason, he was grateful that he had had an opportunity in the twilight of his career to race against such a warrior, such a competitor as she.

Speed is life, he thought as he put on his helmet with shaking hands. But as always, speed also might mean death.

* * *

Guul was just ahead of her, Mo‘tak at her six. She was perfectly placed to take advantage of the Tevarin’s erratic behavior. He had been speeding up, slowing down, speeding up, as if unsure what to do. Or perhaps he was playing with her, working to sap her resolve, force her to slow down and deal with his uncharacteristic movements, thus giving the lead away to Mo‘tak. But that was silly. Guul did not want the ruthless Xi’an to win any more than she did. So, what was his game?

They raced in high orbit above Ellis VIII. The final stretch was a long, loping crazy-eight of rings that flashed brilliant reds and greens and whites, keeping a tempo with the natural flow of the racers as they shot past one another near the intersect. It was a dangerous place, for racers coming out of those rings could slam into one another and ricochet into space. Even if your ship survived, the time it would take to recover from such a collision would be race-ending.

Two orbital grandstands just outside the course held spectators and prominent dignitaries that had come out to see and share in the glory of the winner. The MCR allowed the energy and excitement of the crowds to be broadcast into the cockpits of each racer as GSN announcers gave the minute-by-minute account of the final laps. Some racers thrived on the energy of the crowds. Some reveled in the noise. Darring muted it all, preferring instead to concentrate on the racers around her.

She maneuvered her M50 to the right of Guul, taking advantage of the loop. He swung his Hornet out a touch too far, and she slipped right in beside him. His wing grazed the invisible walls of the ring course, letting the tip of it cut through the barrier like a shark’s fin cresting a wave. He’d lose time for that, but he didn’t seem to care, keeping his craft pressed against the loop to ride it all the way around. He’s getting old, she thought, letting a smile slip across her lips. Can’t handle the rigors of such a sharp turn anymore. Then she thought better of gloating. She wanted to beat him, to make him see her as a racer, an equal, not as a puppy dog to counsel. But she didn’t want him to leave the race. There was still plenty of track left, plenty of twists and turns, and Mo‘tak was right on them.

The Xi’an thrust his 350r down to run right below her belly, preventing an interloper behind him in a souped-up Avenger from making a move. Darring banked to the right and felt the tug of strong G’s despite being held tightly in the chair. Her skin had healed well and there was a little pain in her shoulders, but such a move reminded her of the frailty of flesh and her own mortality. Bank too strongly, and you could pass out.

“You’re not winning this one, Mo‘tak,” she said into her comm. Only her crew chief could hear it, but he shared her sentiment. He gave her directions which she accepted and moved her craft to the left as they cleared the loop and headed for the final intersect.

Guul came up to her side again, but he was still moving oddly, letting his wings wobble on the rebalance. She shook her head and focused on Mo‘tak, who had gunned his engine, showing significant burn out of his exhaust nozzles. He wouldn’t dare cross her cockpit now, not with the MCR looking on so intently. In fact, Mo‘tak had acted reasonably well since his vanity display at the hospital. He’d let his racing skills speak for themselves. So perhaps he wasn’t such a rotten son-of-a bitch after all. But she wouldn’t be keeping his gift after the race.

Red blips danced on her radar, showing hazards as she crossed the intersect.

She drifted up in the lane, taking the traditional approach for a right-side cross. Mo‘tak followed, but Guul struggled to drift up, taking too long, letting his craft fall behind once more. She fought the urge to link into his comm. Mo‘tak tried to force her down. She gripped her stick and moved with him, not letting him gain advantage. The blips on the screen grew brighter. She keyed her focus, thrust her M50 forward and sailed into the intersect.

Lagging ships flew past her at the right angle, trying desperately to keep up with the pack. One nearly clipped her wing. She banked left just in time. She tried finding Guul and Mo‘tak in the flurry of crimson blips on her screen. It was impossible. She banked left, right, left again, swirling through screaming racers.

Darring flew out of the intersect, righted her ship once more, and prepared for the final run. She checked her radar. The madness there settled to show those that had gotten through and were in pursuit. Damn! Mo‘tak settled again beside her, and Guul was not far behind, though struggling still. Why can’t I shake these bastards?

Finally, Guul made the move she was expecting. The Tevarin thrust his Hornet forward, clipping between her and Mo‘tak at such velocity that he was nothing but a blur. Her heart raced alongside him. She gunned her engine, falling just behind him, watching as the blips on her radar were replaced by the long green pulsing line of the final straightaway. She could hardly contain her excitement. She, Hypatia Darring, in second place on the final lap around Ellis VIII. The perfect position to make a final move and win it all. And there was Zogat Guul, the master, egging her on, forcing her to put away her silly feud and chase him, chase him for glory, for fame, for personal fulfillment. A laugh of pure joy escape her lips.

Speed is life.

They hit the final stretch together. One full lap around rocky Ellis VIII. Full bore speed. There was nothing like it in the galaxy. She could not contain her excitement. She screamed into her comm. Mo‘tak tried to muscle his way into her space. She refused him. He tried again. She pushed her M50 even faster, keeping pace with Guul, letting the green lights of the radar draw her forward.

Guul slowed, fell alongside her, slowed again, letting her take the lead. Bullshit, she thought, frustration growing as she punched a panel and said to him, “What the hell are you doing?”

She was greeted with coughing, spitting and moans. Something was terribly wrong. “I’m glad to speak to you once more, Hypatia.”

“Do you remember what you told me? What you made me promise? If I were in a position to win, I’d win. And now here you are, about to win, and you’re falling back. Explain.”

Guul coughed. It sounded thick, bloody. “It isn’t important that I win, Hypatia. I’ve won enough in my life. It’s time for others to shine. It’s time for you to shine. Now, go beat him. And remember what I told you.”

He cut their link. Darring shouted, but he was gone. Guul fell back, and back, until she could not see him anymore.

Mo‘tak pounced and took the lead. Shit! She gunned it, moved down in the lane, set her craft just below Mo‘tak’s. The sleek, long body of his 350r shadowing her smaller M50. There was no doubt his craft had the endurance; in a rough and tumble, he’d prevail. She had to get out from his shadow, his influence. The only way to do that . . .

She tried pushing her plant, thumbed the throttle hard, but it did not register. She tried again. Her dashboard controls blinked, once, twice, then resettled with different settings, measurements, displays. What the —

“How’s my ship?”

Darring’s heart sank. “Mo‘tak!”

“It is indeed,” he said, his voice fuzzy over the comm, “and now that I have your undivided attention, I will reclaim what is mine.”

Nothing she did registered. She tapped panels, flicked switches, tried raising an MCR official over the comm. Everything was null, but her ship responded quickly to Mo‘tak’s remote commands. He banked to the left; she did the same. He banked right, she followed. The Xi’an finally settled his 350r beside her, waved smugly at her through his cockpit window, commanded her ship to move slightly ahead, then said, “I’ll let you take the lead for a little while, my dear, then I’ll dramatically pull forward at the last minute, flying on to victory, while you spiral out of control, hitting the royal grandstand and killing dozens. You’ll be remembered as the Butcher of Ellis.”

She pushed and prodded at the stick, banged at the dashboard. She even struck the eject controls. Nothing. “I’ll kill you first, you sorry son of a bitch.”

“And how will you do that, my dear? You have no control over anything . . . and your Tevarin is gone.”

As if on cue, a bright streak soared past them both, a flush of red and gold nozzle fire. It was burning, its power plant pushed beyond integrity. Darring squinted to see who it was. She recognized the blue Tevarin lettering on the hull.

Guul.

His Hornet barreled ahead, all flame and fury. Darring could hear Mo‘tak curse beneath his breath. She tried again to take control of her stick. Nothing. She tried calling out to Guul, but all she could hear was Mo‘tak’s agitated mumblings as he commanded her ship to move up and ahead of him. Darring watched intently as Guul flipped his burning craft around, shifted it to align perfectly with her own, and headed straight for her.

Her comm crackled with another voice. “Move!” it said, ragged, faint. “Dive! Dive!”

“I can’t!” she screamed back, but there was no response. Only Mo‘tak’s maddening cackle could be heard. “Say to him whatever you wish. He cannot hear you.”

Guul banked left. Darring’s ship moved to shadow the Hornet. He banked right; she banked in kind. Guul’s weakening voice continued pleading for her to get out of the way. Tears streamed down her face; her voice broke from exertion. Mo‘tak laughed and laughed.

Her ship spun like a cork-screw on its long axis. She closed her eyes, waited for impact, whispering softly to Guul, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry . . .”

Then she remembered.

Beneath the dashboard of every M50 lay a panel, and inside it, a power cut-off valve independent of the main electrical and command systems. Could Mo‘tak have forgotten it? He might have, so foolishly overconfident in his scheming and backstabbing, and spending too much time in his 350r to remember all the systems of his secondary ship. But it might be: A mistake . . . finally.

Through the dizzying haze of her spinning, she reached beneath the dash, found the panel with shaking fingers, ripped it open, and pulled the valve.

“You lose, Mo‘tak!”

The power plant died, and with that sudden lack of propulsion her ship spun to port. Zogat Guul slipped right past her, hitting Mo‘tak’s ship square in the front, exploding on impact, and sending their shattered, burning hulls into the void.

The cockpit came alive, her stick again responsive. She pulled her ship out of spin, reignited the plant, and blew across the finish line ahead of all others.

Her pit crew went wild, matching her own screaming, but for different reasons. They were joyous, elated, happy that their racer — the youngest Human to ever win the MCR — had just done so, and in a blaze of glory. They were happy, and they deserved to be.

She was not. Oh, she was happy to have won, to have taken the Cup, to have proven to her father that her choice in career was not foolish. She laid her head back into her chair and cried. Cried joyous tears for Guul. She understood fully now his words, echoing loudly in her mind. Speed is life, and there was no life without speed. She understood that now.

The Cup was just one race in a thousand that lay ahead of her, and there would be no true happiness until she had raced them all and chased down that beast that lay in front of her, that lay in front of all racers. In his fiery death, Zogat Guul had finally caught the beast. Now, it was her turn to chase it, and she would do so for him, for Guul . . . forever.

Beyond the finish line, beyond the grandstands, beyond the accolades and cheering fans, Hypatia Darring gunned her power plant and kept racing.

THE END

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[feedquote='Star Trek Online','/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10887074-community-q%26a-with-jeffrey-combs%21'] The Star Trek Online team got a chance to catch up with Jeffrey Combs, who plays Weyoun and Brunt in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and our upcoming PC expansion, Victory is Life. During this time, we fired off some questions from our community that were gathered from Facebook, Twitter and the forums. Read on to gain intel on what it was like to be on the set of Deep Space Nine. “First off, welcome home! How does it feel to be back, and how was it slipping back into everyone’s favourite Vorta after all these years?” –Adam C. (Facebook) Thank you for your kind words. It is a thrill for me to revisit one of the most exciting periods in my career. I cherished my time on Deep Space Nine playing Weyoun and Brunt. It’s a big honor for me to be asked to revisit. It’s kind of like going home a little bit. I’m really happy about it. “Which Weyoun clone was your favorite?” @RealDawason1945 (Twitter) This is an interesting question. I get this often when I go to conventions. The truth is I look at Weyoun as one character and I never chose to play one Weyoun different than any other. The situation may have changed, so different colors of the character would come out. My thinking was that when Weyoun was cloned, the technology was so good that he came back without missing a beat. He was fully intact with no learning curve, whatsoever. Of course the exception to that would be the so-called defective Weyoun, which did have some problems, according to the Founders. Other than that, I chose to play them all the same. So I don’t have a favorite Weyoun; they’re all my favorite. “I was wondering what it was like playing as two characters, Brunt and Weyoun, over the duration of DS9. Was it exhausting or a really rewarding experience?” -mirrochaos (STO Forums) Exhausting? Maybe being there at 3:30 in the morning to get into makeup. But it was always such a joy to play either one of them. I knew I was one the luckiest actors in LA to be able to have two recurring roles on Deep Space Nine. When I would get booked for an episode, my question was always, “Which character?,” which was a rare thing for an actor. You have to realize these episodes were shot over a period of time. Only on rare occasions was I ever jumping between makeup. It wasn’t really exhausting; I’d say more rewarding. “Would you have liked an episode with both Brunt and Weyoun in the same episode?” –John C. (Facebook) There is one. I believe it’s the third to the last episode of Deep Space Nine that was shot. I actually appeared as both characters. My only request was that they could be on screen together. That would have been delicious. When an idea gets broken down into logistics, that’s a little more difficult and expensive. It would mean that would I have to get into the makeup and have a double get into makeup, and then we’d have to switch out. I was just honored that I had billing where I was Jeffrey Combs as Brunt and Weyoun. “Of the three characters you played in Star Trek, (Weyoun, Brunt, or Shran) which, as an actor, did you find the most interesting, challenging, fun?” –Sean H. (Facebook) I can’t really answer that. They all have their own specific challenges. Some are perhaps a little more fun in a silly way, like Brunt. Really, they were all fun to do. I often get asked which is my favorite, to which I always answer by asking the person if they have children. If I’m lucky they say yes and I’d say, “Which is your favorite?” Then they begin to realize I love them all. “Which makeup did you prefer to be in: Vorta, Ferengi, or Andorian? Which make up was the most difficult?” –@courtdesign (Twitter) Again, it’s hard to answer which is my favorite. What I really like are the differences between them. They were so diverse. I could behind each one, without having everyone know that it’s the same actor. Having said that, Ferengi makeup is hell on wheels. You have these big ears and yet you cannot hear. It’s like a big orange helmet glued on your head. You have no ability to modulate if you’re loud or soft. It’s really like having a big head cold for 15 hours. You can’t imagine the sounds of joy that actors emit at the end of a long, long day when they’re getting their Ferengi heads taken off. Such a relief. I don’t miss that, but it’s a joy, nonetheless to play a Ferengi. “Having played in so many iterations of Star Trek, what was it like getting to work with so many different crews?” – Aaron M. (Facebook) That’s a good question. Star Trek franchises are all part of such a well-run machine. Let’s say I make automobiles. Ford is very efficient, no matter what the car is, everything is on a well-made assembly line. That’s what I would say about Star Trek. Very professional. Nothing was less than an attempt at doing the best and providing the best support, be it wardrobe, make-up or catering. I would say that between the different crews, there was some overlap, but really kind of the same vibe. Very efficient, very friendly and professional. They were all incredible. “Is there a specific species you’ve always wanted to portray within the Star Trek universe and would you play that species if given the opportunity today?” – Carl J. (Facebook) Now you’re asking how greedy am I. I’m blessed to be able to play seven characters, three of which were recurring roles. My cup runneth over. I didn’t want to tempt the fates by wishing that I had yet another one. The other actors already hated me. Not really.At least, I hope not. “First I'd like to say thank you Mr. Combs for your outstanding performances. My question is what was your favorite episode that you played in Deep Space Nine?” –Kane D. (Facebook) Because of its challenges, I supposed my favorite episode was “Treachery, Faith and the Great River.” It’s the episode whether there is a supposedly defective Weyoun, who wants to get away from the Founders and join DS9. Of course, he can’t do that, and that was a real challenge. It was a different color for Weyoun; an innocence and a peek into what it would have been like if he were not genetically altered to be completely and unquestionably loyal to the Founders. It was an interesting challenge as an actor and featured some really great story writing. And of course, it was great to be able to spend an entire episode on a shuttlecraft with the great René Auberjonois as Odo, a dear friend of mine. “Weyoun, Brunt and Shran sit down for a game of poker, who would win?” –@MPR35 (Twitter) Probably Brunt because he would cheat and therefore he would win. Or I think Weyoun. I don’t know, maybe Shran. I can’t decide. How about I play three poker games with each one and see how it goes? As we wrapped up our interview, we read some of the encouraging messages that our community wanted to share with Jeffrey Combs, to which he replied: Please convey to my Star Trek fans out there that I’m deeply moved by their kind words. Live long and prosper and long live Star Trek. .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(http://images-cdn.perfectworld…157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .TW { background-position: 0 60%; } .share-footer .FO { background-position: 0 80%; } .FB:hover { background-position: 100% 0%; } .TI:hover { background-position: 100% 20%; } .YT:hover { background-position: 100% 40%; } .TW:hover { background-position: 100% 60%; } .FO:hover { background-position: 100% 80%; } .share-footer a:hover { opacity: 1; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } $(document).ready( function() { $('.show-lightbox').click(function() { var $el = $(this); var link = $el.data().lightbox; $.colorbox({href: link, maxWidth: '90%', maxHeight: '90%', scalePhotos: true}); }); }); .headerimage { border: 2px inset rgba(255, 255, 255, .05); border-radius: 2em; box-shadow: 5px 5px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .3); -webkit-transition: all 500ms ease; -moz-transition: all 500ms ease; -ms-transition: all 500ms ease; -o-transition: all 500ms ease; transition: all 500ms ease; } [/feedquote]

[feedquote='Star Trek Online','/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10883394-face-the-test-of-the-kobayashi-maru%21'] This is the Kobayashi Maru... nineteen periods out of Altair Six. We have struck a gravitic mine and have lost all power...our hull is penetrated and we have sustained many casualties. Prepare to face the most infamous Starfleet test! The Kobayashi Maru, the “original no-win scenario,” comes to Star Trek Online as a limited-time challenge for your captains. How long can you hold out against ambushing enemy ships? Can you keep the Kobayashi Maru intact while facing down waves of hostile attackers and space hazards? What would Kirk do? The Kobayashi Maru event will come in two forms: timed and untimed. In each case, you will fight to keep the freighter intact while destroying successive rounds of enemies who will become more and more dangerous as the simulation continues. The longer you last, the greater your rewards! Once everyone on your team is defeated at the same time – or when the timer runs out, if you’re playing the timed version – the mission ends. The mission also ends if the Kobayashi Maru is destroyed. Participating in the Kobayashi Maru Event each day will earn you a Weekend Event Voucher and your choice of marks. After collecting at least 3 vouchers, players can purchase a new ship Console, the Prolonged Engagement Power Dynamo Universal Console! It is designed to passively capture energy from the routine mechanical operations of combat, and convert it into useful electricity that increases your ship's Subsystem Power levels. As the skirmish endures, the excess power grows until the console’s internal capacitors are filled. At any time, the Console can be activated to temporarily double the accumulated power - however doing so will flush the console’s capacitors of energy and briefly disable the Power Proliferation protocol for a brief period. To get to the Weekend Event Store, simply open the context menu for a Weekend Event Voucher and “use” it to open the store, much the same way that Lobi functions. From there you can spend your Weekend Event vouchers on any item of your choice. The Kobayashi Maru event will run on PC starting on April 26th at 8 AM PST through April 30th at 10 AM PST. The queue is available to all captains of level 50+. Robert Hrouda Systems Designer Cryptic Studios .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(http://images-cdn.perfectworld…157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .TW { background-position: 0 60%; } .share-footer .FO { background-position: 0 80%; } .FB:hover { background-position: 100% 0%; } .TI:hover { background-position: 100% 20%; } .YT:hover { background-position: 100% 40%; } .TW:hover { background-position: 100% 60%; } .FO:hover { background-position: 100% 80%; } .share-footer a:hover { opacity: 1; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } $(document).ready( function() { $('.show-lightbox').click(function() { var $el = $(this); var link = $el.data().lightbox; $.colorbox({href: link, maxWidth: '90%', maxHeight: '90%', scalePhotos: true}); }); }); .headerimage { border: 2px inset rgba(255, 255, 255, .05); border-radius: 2em; box-shadow: 5px 5px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .3); -webkit-transition: all 500ms ease; -moz-transition: all 500ms ease; -ms-transition: all 500ms ease; -o-transition: all 500ms ease; transition: all 500ms ease; } [/feedquote]

[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14210']TechRaptor has published an article on the history of Origin Systems. It's a rather in-depth piece that focuses on many of the notable developers who joined the company in the early days and then went on to influence the industry for more than three decades. Wing Commander is acknowledged as the powerhouse alongside Ultima, but there is also due credit given to how ground breaking Ultima

Underworld

was and how it then also went on to directly feed games like Doom and System Shock. It's a good refresher for fans who might just be familiar with how Wing Commander came to be. The tone does shift quite a bit at the end when they talk about an "aggressive takeover" by Electronic Arts that led to the company stealing its innovations. We've been outspoken when it comes to EA's series of mistakes that resulted in the cancelation of numerous promising WC games in the early 2000s, but that's only half of the story. Origin was a standalone company for less than a decade when they began struggling with the costs of scaling up to large multi-disk games. EA resolved that crisis and funded everything after WC1&2, so it doesn't seem quite fair to just cast them as the villain without considering that context. Check out the full article for yourself

here

.

With the Ultima games becoming progressively bigger and more complex, Origin also began to pivot to other genres and niches. It was at this time that Chris Roberts joined the company and directed the RPGs Times of Lore and Bad Blood, which became mere footnotes to the 1990 release that defined the company’s identity as much as Ultima… Wing Commander. There were space combat simulation games before Wing Commander, but it raised the bar for the whole industry in terms of production value and realistic simulation.

Wing Commander was a great commercial success, and the demand for expansions and sequels didn’t diminish for most of the 1990s. Origin Systems was fully established as a powerhouse of both RPGs, simulation games, and first-person 3D technology.

[/feedquote]

[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14209']There's two ways this could have been handled

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[feedquote='Star Trek Online','/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10883384-%22the-past-and-present%22'] Kira Nerys, Kai to the Bajoran people, rubbed her temples. The migraine was coming. Right now, the pain was a low rumbling in the back of her mind. It reminded her of the sound of Cardassian shuttles, sweeping low over the Dahkur Hills as they hunted for her and her friends. By tonight, it would have raged into a full explosion in her brain. It was always this way when she had to preside over a meeting with politicians. Tea, she decided suddenly. Tea would help. Her steps led her out of the meeting room and into the halls of Terok Nor. She would make a nice, big pot of tea, and sit in her private quarters in the temple, and meditate until the distant rumbling passed. Maybe this time she could escape it. The recent attack on Bajor had rattled them all. Even now, decades after their independence, Bajor’s government still felt new and fragile to her. The meeting had quickly descended into factions and shouting. Ave Yett, the young senator from Lonar Province, was pushing the council hard to seek out peace talks with the Tzenkethi, to try and negotiate with them. “We’ve been peaceful neighbors for generations,” he said, “There must be an explanation!” Kira scoffed at the memory as she casually waved to Rom, who was repairing one of the Dabo tables in Quark’s. The old Kira Nerys would have fought that idea, tooth and nail. Seeking peace with an enemy that had attacked them – it felt like weakness. But that wasn’t who she was anymore. She needed to take a deep breath, and think about the Kai that her people nee – wait. Rom hadn’t been at Terok Nor for decades now. The council never met on this space station, not unless there were foreign dignitaries in play. And…why was she referring to the station as Terok Nor? She turned, slowly, realizing for the first time that she wasn’t dressed in her Kai robes. She looked down and saw the form fitting Bajoran uniform that she’d given up long ago. The station was decked out in Cardassian decor, Terok Nor reborn once again. It looked as it had right before the Federation first arrived, torn to shreds, covered in battle scars. Outside, a light burst forth, and the Celestial Temple opened wide. Kira looked up, into the light that gave her people their faith, hoping for an answer. Instead, the wormhole spat out thousands of the buzzing, insectoid ships that had ravaged her homeland. In her mind, she heard Martok calling out over the radio again and again. “The Hur’q!” he screamed, his voice growing in intensity and terror. Kira rushed towards a lift. She had to get to Ops. She was in command, she had to defend the station! As she reached the door, a horrific roar greeted her. The shadow of an alien monstrosity fell across her, and she turned to see a creature she couldn’t even begin to describe swiping its claws towards her face. This was Kira Nerys. She didn’t scream. *** A gentle beep sounded through her quarters. Kira sat up in bed, breathing heavily. It took her a moment to find herself again. She was in the temple on Hathon. Terok Nor was a long, long lost memory. The creature, whatever it was, hadn’t been real. A deep, steading breath, and then another. Another vision, then. They’d been more frequent now, and more intense since the attack by the Tzenkethi and the Hur’q. A deep breath. She could endure this. In the name of her people, she would endure this and discover what these visions meant. The Prophets were speaking to her, they had to be. Maybe…maybe even Benjamin was speaking to her. The communicator beeped again. Kira slapped the button and almost grunted, “Report.” There was a long, awkward pause. “I apologize, Eminence. Did I disturb you? You asked me to contact you the moment we had an answer.” Another deep breath. “No, no, the fault is mine, Doctor Likra,” Kira said. Likra was one of the brightest minds to come out of Bajor in generations, and one of the few people Kira had to talk to these days that she liked hearing from. That she trusted. In a lot of ways, Likra reminded her of Julian. “Please, tell me what you’ve found.” “Our initial reports were correct, Eminence.” Likra continued. “There was no germanium anywhere on Bajor at the time of the initial Tzenkethi attack. Despite the supposed reasoning for their attempted…purification of our world, we can find no traces of these Hur’q eggs, or buried ships, anywhere on the planet.” “Thank you, Doctor,” Kira said, “Please send the report to my private channel.” “I’ll also copy the Science Council, so that we can look into this further.” “Belay that,” Kira said. Anything presented to the Science Council became a matter of public record. “Let’s keep this one between you and me for now.” Another uncomfortable silence. “As you wish, Eminence.” “Walk with the Prophets, Dr. Likra.” Kira ended the call. Kira leaned back on her headboard and sighed. There were enough in the council already calling for Bajor to push the Federation into greater action. Into vengeful action. If word got out that the Tzenkethi had attacked for seemingly no reason at all, those voices would only get louder. She stood up out of bed, and crossed to the small, humble vanity and sink in the corner of her room. The old sink gave out only cold water, but she didn’t even cringe as she splashed it on her face. Living as the Kai was almost the same as living as a freedom fighter. No creature comforts at all. Well, that wasn’t always true. Kai Winn had demanded all the creature comforts she could find. But Kira was determined not to be Kai Winn. She was going to do this thing right. She had been Kai for more than a decade, but she still felt she was living to fix the damage some of her predecessors had done. Her face looked…different now, in the old mirror. Older, certainly, with new lines of both care and laughter. More than that, though, she saw a very different woman than the Kira who’d first become Kai. That Kira Nerys was fresh off commanding Deep Space Nine. She was a woman of action, and she would have been right there, demanding retribution against the Tzenkethi. But she had to be different now. She had to try. For Opaka. For Bareil. For Benjamin, wherever he was. And most importantly, for Bajor. Kira Nerys was going to be the kind of Kai her people could be proud of. Because there was no one else she trusted to take the job. Mike Fatum Community Manager Star Trek Online .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(http://images-cdn.perfectworld…157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .TW { background-position: 0 60%; } .share-footer .FO { background-position: 0 80%; } .FB:hover { background-position: 100% 0%; } .TI:hover { background-position: 100% 20%; } .YT:hover { background-position: 100% 40%; } .TW:hover { background-position: 100% 60%; } .FO:hover { background-position: 100% 80%; } .share-footer a:hover { opacity: 1; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } $(document).ready( function() { $('.show-lightbox').click(function() { var $el = $(this); var link = $el.data().lightbox; $.colorbox({href: link, maxWidth: '90%', maxHeight: '90%', scalePhotos: true}); }); }); .headerimage { border: 2px inset rgba(255, 255, 255, .05); border-radius: 2em; box-shadow: 5px 5px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .3); -webkit-transition: all 500ms ease; -moz-transition: all 500ms ease; -ms-transition: all 500ms ease; -o-transition: all 500ms ease; transition: all 500ms ease; } [/feedquote]

[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14177']

Here's another video article from the Interactive Entertainment digital magazine hybrid. This one goes all the way back to the first issue's included CD-ROM where they interview Origin founder and Ultima creator Richard Garriott. They cover a lot of ground and discuss what projects Origin was currently working on, what was in the cards for upcoming Wing Commander projects and why Origin made so many sequels. The first Interactive Entertainment was published February 1994 although the content appears to have been recorded probably somewhere in the middle of 1993. The ISOs for these issues can be found on archive.org.

This was billed as an "interactive interview" which meant that to watch the interview you first had to choose the question you were interested in from a list and then the answers would play in video format. For this reason, putting this into video format necessitated that the questions be placed in order and title cards added.

Questions answered in this video:

1. How do Origin's and EA's' product lines mesh ?
2. What's this Pacific Strike I keep hearing about ?
3. How is Pacific Strike improved over Strike Commander ?
4. Anything new planned for the Strike Commander engine ?
5. Will there be any new Wing Commander products ?
6. I've played Wing 1 and 2. Why should I buy Wing 3 ?
7. How will Wing 3 be better ?
8. How would you describe the first Ultima trilogy ?
9. How would you describe the second Ultima trilogy ?
10. How would you describe the third Ultima trilogy ?
11. The âdark side of the Forceâ ? How so ?
12. What does the Guardian do in Ultima 8 ?
13. How will the third trilogy end ?
14. How did "Lord British" get credit for writing your games ?
15. Are your products created in-house or by outside developers ?
16. Do you plan to develop all your new products in-house ?
17. Why do you prefer to keep product development in-house?
18. So, no plans to use outside developers?
19. Which product lines are you supporting ?
20. What new technologies are you exploring ?
21. What do you mean by âInteractive Movieâ ?
22. What are you developing in the Interactive Movie line ?
23. Why do you do so many sequels ?
24. Will you continue to do sequels ?
25. How has the merger affected your standing in the industry ?
26. So who do you see as your major competition ?
27. What do you think actually sells a game ?
28. What prompted you to found Origin ?
29. Didn't you have a sickening amount of money to start Origin with ?
30. So what was it like back in the early days ?
31. What's the scoop on your logo ?
32. Weren't most of your early games written for the Apple II ?
33. Why did you stick with the Apple for so long ?
34. What prompted you to move away from the Apple ?
35. What platforms will you support in the future ?
36. How does Origin carve a niche for itself on a given platform ?
37. Where do you get the ideas for your games ?
38. Do you enjoy running a computer game company ?
39. How is producing a game similar to producing a movie ?
40. What's the really exciting part of being in the game industry ?
41. What's the dangerous part of making games for a living ?

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[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14208']K'ha'ha

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[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14146']

The website Arcade Sushi has put together a "Where are they now?" feature on the cast of Wing Commander. This is probably something we should have thought of first, but they beat us to it. Unfortunately the piece starts with some trite commentary on the talentless cast - before immediately proceeding to detail the acting prowess and storied careers of people like David Warner, Saffron Burrows and David Suchet. So the text is a bit disingenuous, but it's still fun to see how everyone's aged in twenty years! Check out the article

here

.

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[feedquote='Wing Commander News','https://www.wcnews.com/index.shtml#14207']It's

true

!

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