Wing Commander IV: Sol System

Pliers: Load it up on the double! Blair! I’m prepping a new bird for you now, kid. I can rig this Flash-Pak gadget for you if ya want. Seems like it’d be just the ticket for taking out the Vesuvius. Only thing is…

Maverick: What is it?

Pliers: Well, I’ve been studying the specs Captain Eisen sent us.

Maverick: Yeah?

Pliers: That alloy used for the skin of the super-carriers? Well, I don’t know if the Flash-Pak will work on it from the outside. Seems like your best bet might be to fly inside the Vesuvius and, uh, lay the Pak down its innards. Yeah, yeah, get replacements for it. Yeah, firing it on the inside should work.

Maverick: Well, that’s what I gotta do. Load her up, Pliers.

Pliers: Okay. Come on, let’s get this out of here.

Maverick: <sigh> Could be suicide. It’s too risky.

Pliers: All right. Come on. Conventional weapons only. Let’s go!

Sosa: Sir? We have an incoming transmission.

Tolwyn: Well, I have to hand it to you, Colonel. Your, uh, tenacity has always impressed me. But don’t think you can hide behind the shield of the St Helens any longer. She’s taken far too many hits. Never should have been jumping in the first place. <chuckles> She wasn’t really ready. You may be tenacious, but I’m the one who’s invincible. You should know that by now. You won’t prevent me from addressing the Assembly as Space Marshal.

Tolwyn: I think it’s time to take care of the Colonel.

Seether: With pleasure.

Tolwyn: “The Heart of the Tiger”: he’s always been a thorn in my side. He could have been, truly, a great warrior. Now he’s nothing more than a traitor.

Maverick: I’ve got one more surprise for Admiral Tolwyn and his ship. A little bell-ringer called a Flash-Pak, which I intend to deliver personally.

Eisen: Good luck, Colonel. I hope you can do it.

Maverick: All right people, let’s move.

Maverick: We’ll all do the best we can, sir.

Hawk: Let’s go.

Sosa: Mayday! Mayday! Situation critical! We require assistance! <static>

Eisen: Colonel. The Admiral has given us the slip. He’s holding all the cards now. If we even make a move towards Earth in force, it will only lend credence to his case: that the Border Worlds are on the war-path. I understand you got a look at Tolwyn’s Black Lance operations from the inside.

Maverick: Yes, sir.

Eisen: The way I see it, if there’s any hope of stopping this war declaration, you’ll have to head to the Assembly yourself and tell these politicians what you know. Problem is, you’re a hostile in this airspace. No doubt Tolwyn has alerted Terran security, you’ll face substantial automated lunar and Terran-based defences. You’ve got your work cut out for you, Colonel, but I have faith that you can do it.

Hawk: Good luck.

Maverick: Thanks.

Panther: You can do it.

Seether: Obviously, your kind won’t be around for long.

Sosa: Mayday! Mayday! Situation critical! We require assistance! <static>

Paladin: The Assembly is in session. Today, we honour the man who has dedicated his life to the protection and defence of Humanity. We congratulate him on his promotion to his new post: Space Marshal Tolwyn.

Assembly: <applause>

Tolwyn: Esteemed senators, um… thank you for bestowing this honour upon me, and for allowing me to speak to you before you cast your momentous vote. Well, we can no longer ignore the obvious. The Border Worlds wage war against us, and we do nothing but issue decrees. We can no longer turn a blind eye. Let me lay out for you some of the more egregious transgressions that have been committed against innocent Confederation civilians…

Tolwyn: …yes, a formal Declaration of War is a very terrible thing. It should not be undertaken unless all options have been exhausted. I’m afraid to report to you that that is the case. We did not fight the Kilrathi for decades just to have an infection hollow us out from the inside. If there is a cancer amongst us, we must cut it out now! I urge you to vote yes on this declaration. Thank you.

Assembly: <applause>

Tolwyn: Seize that man! Colonel. May I present to you the hero of the last war, who has forsaken us and now fights for the Border Worlds.

Maverick: Admiral Tolwyn is lying to all of you. Please, Paladin hear me out.

Paladin: Remove that turncoat! The Assembly will now vote. The ‘ayes’ have it. This Assembly votes for war with the Border Worlds.

Miles: The famous hero of the Kilrathi War, also known as “The Heart of the Tiger”, was convicted of treason against the Confederation. No appeal will be allowed.

Soldier: Blindfold?

Maverick: No.

Soldier: Ready. Aim. Fire!

Tolwyn: Launch the attack.

Maverick: There is a cancer that needs to be cut out!

Tolwyn: Seize that man!

Maverick: But it’s not on the frontiers of the galaxy, but right here before you!

Tolwyn: Well, Colonel. This is the great hero of the Kilrathi War, who has betrayed the Confederation and now fights for the Union of Border Worlds.

Maverick: I fight as I always have, on the side of peace and honour. Please, Paladin, hear me out.

Paladin: If any man has earned the right to a hearing, it is Colonel Blair. Let him speak.

Maverick: What price freedom, Admiral? I’ve come here to tell you the truth, the truth about what’s really happening on the outer fringes of civilisation.

Tolwyn: Please, Colonel, you insult me as well as everyone else here. Do you really believe that this chamber is that ignorant?

Maverick: No, Admiral. I don’t believe anyone here is ignorant, least of all you.

Tolwyn: Thank you.

Maverick: I simply seek to shed new light on events.

Assembly: <murmurs>

Maverick: I’m saying this Assembly has been duped by a charade. An elaborate charade perpetrated by you, sir, who requires their ignorance in order to carry out a personal agenda.

Maverick: The Border Worlds have fallen victim to a plot which, if allowed to proceed, will make all of Humanity a victim.

Tolwyn: Well, I suppose there is a strange logic in that. Well, um, please continue, Colonel.

Maverick: Admiral, do you believe in the concepts of law and order?

Tolwyn: Of course. I’ve devoted my life to them. Haven’t we all?

Maverick: And you believe these concepts to be the foundation of a strong society?

Tolwyn: Indeed. Without law and order, we are lost.

Maverick: Do you deny, Admiral, having anything to do with the troubles on the frontier?

Tolwyn: Only in my efforts to end the troubles, to maintain law and order.

Maverick: Law and order. Control. Maintaining the status quo. That’s what this is all about. Harmony among men is a secondary issue.

Tolwyn: Harmony is maintained through control.

Maverick: Was it harmony that made me, as a Confed pilot, party to the theft of a Border Worlds laboratory and the outright abduction of a Border Worlds bio-convergence chemist?

Tolwyn: How you interpret operations, Colonel, is of no consequence. Your job as a soldier is to carry out orders without question.

Maverick: Control at what cost, Admiral?

Tolwyn: I am a warrior, as you once were, Colonel. I do whatever is necessary for victory without question.

Maverick: Without question? Have any of you questioned the Admiral about his Black Lance forces?

Assembly: <murmurs>

Paladin: Marshal, what are these Black Lance forces he’s referring to?

Tolwyn: An elite force of men that I have assembled to protect our galactic interests. (Positive score)

Maverick: And these forces are stationed at a star base in the Axius System, isn’t that right?

Tolwyn: Well, it is my duty to station forces where they may be needed.

Maverick: And the Black Lance has some extraordinary equipment at their disposal.

Tolwyn: Effective soldiers require effective tools.

Maverick: Would you qualify the Gen-Select bio-weapon as an effective tool, Admiral?

Paladin: This Assembly has never approved the development or use of a bio-tech weapon.

Tolwyn: As with any experimental device, I would, of course, have brought it to your attention as soon as it neared readiness.

Maverick: I think the people of Telamon know just how ready it is. The few that are left can speak of a weapon that selectively kills anyone whose physical or, or mental attributes don’t measure up to someone’s predetermined standards.

Tolwyn: Telamon’s tragedy is still under investigation, but I have no doubt it will prove to be the doing of the Border Worlds thugs.

Maverick: Yes, the skies are just full of criminals, aren’t they, Admiral?

Maverick: Like highly-advanced fighters with no markings?

Tolwyn: Prototypes often fly unmarked.

Maverick: Yes, making it conveniently difficult to identify perpetrators of criminal acts.

Tolwyn: We have identified the perpetrators. They fly the same colours as you do.

Maverick: The skies are full of criminals aren’t they, Admiral?

Tolwyn: It appears so.

Maverick: And the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives have been lost in pursuit of these… phantoms.

Maverick: Admiral, do you believe the strong always survive?

Tolwyn: With every fibre of my being.

Maverick: Is that why the head of the Black Lance forces is a product of the Genetic Enhancement program?

Assembly: <murmurs>

Paladin: That program was cancelled years ago.

Tolwyn: He is more of a warrior than you will ever be, Colonel. He is excellence personified. He is…

Maverick: He is dead.

Tolwyn: He is symbolic of all that we will achieve in the future.

Maverick: Admiral, do you believe in the supremacy of Confed?

Tolwyn: I don’t have to: the Confederation’s superiority lies in all we have been able to achieve.

Maverick: Space Marshal Tolwyn believes that our victory over the Kilrathi was a fluke. That we as a race need tinkering with. Engineering. If a few billion die along the way, well, they weren’t worthy anyway. Why can’t we be more like the Kilrathi? Addicted to conflict, the only meaning to life being found in death. Tell us all, Admiral! Is that the price of freedom?

Tolwyn: Mankind was at his zenith when fighting the Kilrathi. Now our society is crumbling. We have no goals, no focus. We’ve grown complacent and confused. Who will protect us when the next race tries to dominate us? Who can tell where that threat will come from, and when? No. We must be prepared. Progress only comes through struggle. Fighting keeps us fit. Conflict ensures our readiness and our survival. The Kilrathi understood this. They endured for millions of years and so shall we, if we continue fighting. If we continue to perfect our methods of killing…

Paladin: I think we’ve heard enough. The Assembly will now vote.

Assembly: <applause>

Paladin: The ‘nays’ have it: there will be no war with the Border Worlds.

Paladin: This tribunal is now in session.

Maverick: That man has undermined everything…

Eisen: Justice!

Doctor: You saw the results…

Black Lancer: …and I couldn’t go on!

Sosa: …and it is your fault!

Veteran: The honourable Admiral Tolwyn.

Paladin: This tribunal finds you guilty of crimes against Humanity…

Miles: Space Marshal Tolwyn’s appeal was denied today. Tolwyn is now slated for execution tomorrow.

Paladin: So here you are, an instructor. Not a general, or a senator. And you could have had everything.

Maverick: “Everything” means I keep flying. So if you ask me, I’ve got everything.

Paladin: I envy you, laddie. At times I wish I’d made the same choice myself. So, how’s that farm?

Maverick: <laughs> I’m not a farmer.

Maniac: I’m talking about rolling a bomber, not a fighter.

Newbie: You’re kidding!

Maverick: You know, of all people…

Maniac: I’m not enrolled in training!

Maverick: …Maniac taught me one thing.

Maniac: Wha– hey, pal. Uh, Senator. I– What? What?

Maverick: Well you said, “either you’re an earthworm or an eagle”.

Maniac: I said that?

Panther: Hey, Colonel! We’ve got a fresh batch of newbies to shake down.

Maverick: They can wait a bit. I think I’ll log some flyin’ time.

Maniac: Er, Senator, about…

Paladin: Maniac… shut up!

Hawk: The rebellion on Logo VI seems to be picking up steam.

Maverick: Well. Send a carrier in. Have the Black Lance fighters run blanket recon. That should keep them in line.

Hawk: I’ll issue the orders. Good night, Admiral.

Maverick: <sigh>

Maverick: Must we always be at war? Is that the price of freedom, Admiral?

Tolwyn: The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Something your misinformed, misguided mind seems to have forgotten, Colonel. But something that every loyal Confed citizen knows in his heart.

Assembly: <applause>

Paladin: Colonel. I think we have heard enough. The Assembly will now vote. The ‘ayes’ have it. This Assembly votes for war with the Border Worlds.

Soldier: Blindfold?

Maverick: No.

Soldier: Ready. Aim. Fire!

Tolwyn: Launch the attack.