Terran Plot (Page 1 of 3)

Written by Spike





As one of the original plotlines, only very early versions of the game have appreciable bugs. However, if you have mods, it is possible that they may introduce problems with the plot. As this is a Vanilla forum and a repository for information and issues regarding the unmodded game, if you have a problem with a modded game you are requested to post in the Scripts and Modding forum.

The Terran Plot begins immediately if you begin as the Terran Defender.
Otherwise, you have to complete the bridging mission to access it;
- Bridging mission,

---

The Sol Incident

You begin by getting a message from Lt Samuel Plinter, a USC Commander in Uranus sector with your patrol assignment. Fly there and talk to him to begin the plot. You don't have to go immediately, you can do some trading first if you want.

The patrol mission you are given begins quite simply. Just set your autopilot to follow Plinter's ship. It won't take long for the first part of the plot to get underway.

Your squad mates will pick up targets on their sensors moving in from the outer Solar System. Plinter thinks they're meteoroids until a distress signal comes in from ships in Neptune under attack by AGI - Xenon - forces. Plinter will head over there, keep following him.

When you arrive in-sector a cutscene shows Terran and Xenon forces battling. Head over and join them. Terran forces will make short work of them, and if you're in the Terran Defender starting ship, you won't have even the basic combat amenities such as auto-aim, making killing enemies quite a challenge. Just do your best.

Xenon forces will continue to jump in in the vicinity of a jump beacon. After a couple of waves, you are ordered to scan the beacon; to do so, simply fly in close. A scan notification appears at the bottom of the screen when you're close enough; stay in range (about 300m). Once scanned, the beacon turns red; blow it to pieces.

Word now comes in of a bigger attack wave that has broken into a Mars research lab and is now in the Oort Cloud; you have to head over there and patrol the gate for stragglers. Off you go; it's to the West. Some good news; Plinter has finally figured out that you're not fighting meteoroids. Our esteemed commander isn't totally incompetent after all.

Docking and saving is a good idea at this point; if this isn't your first plot and you've got some Salvage Insurance, then there's no need to dock to save. Either way, you should save regularly.

When you arrive in Oort Cloud, a cutscene shows a message drone making a run for it. Your mission is to follow it; use the autopilot. It may jump out before you catch it; if so, return to the gate and wait for the next one.

You'll follow the drones to an Argon Nova sitting next to a jump beacon. When you get in range; the Nova will blow the beacon up and jump out. Mission complete. Save, and return to Lt Plinter's ship for the next mission.

We're heading to Pluto to clean up any remaining Xenon ships. You'll be paid a bounty for each one you destroy. Once they're all dead, you do the same thing in Neptune. Once all of those are dead (they may be finished off by security forces before you get to them) you head to Uranus. Same again; wipe out all AGI forces. Keep saving.

Saturn next; dock at the Saturn Research Station to upload your sensor logs for the Terran scientists to take a peek at.

---

Terran Recon

You can break from the plot to do some trading here if you like.

Next mission is to meet with Major-General Ichiyama in the Asteroid Belt. Head on over, dock at the base, and he'll start chatting to you. Being a man in the elite AGI Task Force, or ATF, working for him is a big promotion.

Apparently, the Argon ship is causing quite some concerns. You're now being allowed into Mars sector, and you've been given a new ship to play with, an M5 Rapier. You have to dock at the Shipyard to get it; do with it as you please. The M4 Sabre is a better combat ship but the M5 Rapier is much faster and makes a reasonable scout craft. And for the next mission, you want a decent combat ship.

Once you've picked up your scout, head back to Ishiyama's patrol base in Asteroid Belt. He passes the buck to Mark Jackson in Heretic's End, one sector south of your current location. Go there.

If this is your first time playing, then say hello to your first jumpgate. The Trans-Orbital Accelerators you've been playing with to date are nothing compared to this baby, and outside Terran space they're the one single way of getting around. They're better than TOA's because a jumpdrive can lock onto them, taking you anywhere in the X-Universe except, of course, Terran space, as it has no gates.

Jackson's briefing is a little long; they know that the Xenon attacks are being manipulated by an entity in the Commonwealth, possibly the Argon, and they need you to find the base of operations. He'll contact you when a suitable Xenon raiding party to follow is found. It won't take long; mine was in Nyana's Hideout and I think this is always the case, but it might be different for you. Just follow the signs.

You'll come across some Argon stations in the south end of Heretic's End. They're a little smaller than Terran equivalents. Docking at them is much more pleasant.

At your destination, a cutscene of a Xenon strike force with our Argon Nova will play. We have to follow the Nova. Be careful, as the Xenon ships may be bigger than anything you have encountered before; skirt round them. Their weapons will shred anything smaller than a heavy fighter in seconds. Follow the Nova at a little distance; if you get too close an anxiety meter will appear and if it counts to 100% you fail the mission, but the same happens if you get too far away. The match speed key is your friend; look it up in the controls menu if you don't know what it is.

The Nova will lead you through Teladi space to the Unknown Sector east of PTNI Headquarters. Save when you enter the Unknown Sector. There, it will dock at a Pirate Base, which you have to scan. Problem is, there's a welcoming committee for you; several Xenon and Pirate ships. You can either try and hide behind the base whilst the scan completes, which is darned near impossible, or you can fight and destroy your opponents before scanning in clear air. You'll probably need that save whichever option you pick, unless you've got a decent ship by now.

Once you've worked your way past that bit, save again. You don't want to go crashing into the next station you dock at to find you have to do that really hard bit all over again. You'll probably want to go spacewalking to repair your ship with your suit's Repair Laser as well.

Then fly back to Jackson in Heretic's End. If you like, you can break from the plot again before doing this.

Jackson's next mission is another patrol. This time, though, you're the leader. You are given two Sabre escorts and three drone Rapiers. Best use for the Rapiers are as scrap for cash, but take off their expensive weapons first and put them on something a bit more worthy. When you're ready, fly to your Sabres. You're better off in something faster if you're early in the game; an M4 is ideal. If you are later you might need something bigger.

Your patrol route takes you through Circle of Labour, Omicron Lyrae and Treasure Chest. In the first two you meet Xenon; in the last one, you come across your first Terraformer ships. Just destroy red blips until you're told to move to the next Sector, and remember to save between sectors. At the end, you are told to return to Jackson to fill him in on the latest bad news. You don't have to go immediately though, if you want to do some more trading etc then feel free.

When you dock, Jackson pawns you off back to Plinter, who is escorting a convoy to Venus. Your access rights are now upgraded to include Venus in your list of allowed visits.

Rendezvous with Plinter and comm him to start the mission. There's USC and ATF patrols everywhere so we won't run into any trouble, he says. I for one don't believe him. Weapons at the ready.

When you reach Mars, a report comes back that a lone scout has breached the lines. It gets to Mars and drops a Jump Beacon. An entire Xenon fleet jumps in, and guess whose job it is to blow up the jump beacon? That's right. You've got two choices, either engage elements of the Xenon fleet (the whole lot will be too much for you unless you're flying a Destroyer) and fight your way through, gaining a bit of rep and rank in the process, or skirt round them and perform a surgical strike before showing the enemy the true meaning of cowardly. Either way you have to destroy the beacon, because otherwise the Xenon will lay waste to mars sector. Then get to Venus, leaving the locals to mop up the mess they've created. When you get to Venus, talk to the girl with the book symbol. She gives you a rest and an Advanced Discoverer. That's why they call them the 'fairer sex'!

Wait for orders. Do as you please in the meantime. When you come back, it'll be to Jackson in Heretic's End.