Armstrong, Lafong, Blair connection...

frostytheplebe

frostytheplebe

Seventh Part of the Seal
I've been giving this A LOT of thought lately, considering the effort to acknowledge them as three seperate people... here is what I've come up with...

All three were on the Tiger claw. SWC was Armstrong, the original was Lafong, and Blair was a rookie pilot whose story ended (temp) after the movie. At this point, the Tiger Claw was brought in for an overhaul, which significantly improved the ships systems and weaponry. They also slightly upgraded her name to Tiger's Claw.

All three pilots participated in the Vega campaign, all participated in operation Thor's Hammer etc. (would much easier explain why maniac and Angel introduce themselves for the first time.)

At this point, the romance between Blair and Angel deteriorates due to Bossman being recovered causing uneasiness... however Bossman dies soon after, this time for real. During the first assault on K'tithrik Mang (sp??) Lafong is sent on patrol, and Blair is sent out to another group of Nav points. This is where Lafong is unable to stop the ships from blowing up the Claw. Armstrong is still on the flight deck preparing for launch. His ship is about take off from the port laucher, when its hit by a Kilrathi missile. He's lost on the TC. Blair picks up the distress call and races back in time to see the ship go up in flames.

Lafong and the rest of the survivors move to the coordinates of the Austin and land there. Lafong is put under house arrest and Blair is questioned as to what he saw. Given that Blair never saw any stealth fighters and that he did all he could (including risking his life to get back to the Claw) he is given a commendation for bravery. Lafong is draws a court martial.

At this point, Blair is given a wing lead position on the Austin, assigned to the Iceman's squadron and under Tolwyn's command. (According to the strategy guide he's still alive.) During this time, another rookie pilot is assigned to the Austin; Lt. Jacob Manley. Iceman gets shot down. Blair is sent out to find his rescue pod and... well ask Hawk about the rest. :p

The Kilrathi Sivar dreadnought is recovered and analized, and soon after, the Confed class dreadnoughts begin construction. Once the Concordia has completed her shakedown, Tolwyn takes command and assigns whats left of the Tiger's Claw's pilots, along with other elites to his ship. Angel is brought on board as Wing Commander. Blair is probably a Major by this point. Spirit, Jazz, Doomsday, and Hobbes are also brought over.

Hawk probably either remains on the Austin or transfers to another ship.

Lafong is the one who is branded a traitor and sent to backwater duty. According to the story line, this would explain why there was no "Your father would be disgusted by you." or "Ease up and give him a fair chance on the Concordia." Lafong is the one who blasts the Kilrathi post, and takes down Ayer's Rock. This would explain the absence of Maniac's taunting, at least it wasn't as harsh. Angel and Lafong have a breif relationship, but due to thier duties, it doesn't last. At this point Angel and Blair are able to get passed the unpleasentries that had happened on the Tiger's Claw. (As would sort of happen later with Rachel)

Blair and Lafong take part in the Battle of Terra where Blair would probably earn his claim to fame (since there is little to no reference of it anywhere in the game.) Blair is injured during BoT, and Lafong remains on the Concordia. During the rearguard action, he flies off the Concordia, but when she's ambushed and destroyed, Lafong does the best he can to get as many people off before the ship goes critical. Tragically, he sustains grievous injuries from the ship exploding around him and although he manages to get off in time, his injuries prevent him from ever flying again and he retires. Thus Blair's story picks up @ WC3. Blair blames himself for both instances as he wasn't there to save either ship.

I think that story covers all the bases with the three characters... I hope. I know its just one fanboy's idea, but let me know what everyone thinks. I tried to make this as close as I could without actually violating the basic storyline of Wing Commander. Or am I way off?
 
It sure is commendable how much thought you put into it but I pesonally think that you're dividing the story rather arbritrarily upon those 3 characters. I think it is very well established that Blair is called the traitor/coward of K'Tithrak Mang.

I still favour the approach of admitting that we don't know what to do about LaFong (and probably Armstrong but I don't know SWC).
 
Didn't Kilrathi Saga default your name to Christopher Blair in WC2? If so, I would definately say that it was Blair who was accused of treason and sentenced to a backwater assignment. Also, I'm pretty sure that in the novels, at some point, Blair briefly recalls being exonerated of treason (He's thinking about Tolwyn at the time, IIRC).
 
Mekt-Hakkikt said:
It sure is commendable how much thought you put into it but I pesonally think that you're dividing the story rather arbritrarily upon those 3 characters. I think it is very well established that Blair is called the traitor/coward of K'Tithrak Mang.

I still favour the approach of admitting that we don't know what to do about LaFong (and probably Armstrong but I don't know SWC).
Click to expand...

And I'm sure thats how most people see it. Until recently I did too, however, I think my way of handling Armstrong is pretty fair. Most everyone was killed on the Tiger's Claw so I see no problem with that.

But this is why I think that my story fits between Lafong and Blair. According to Hawk, Blair picked Iceman's life pod. According to the strategy guide, Iceman was still alive when the Tiger's Claw went down. Meaning that he was still alive during the early events where Blair was Court Martialled during WC2. So if Blair was being court martialled then there was no way he could have picked up Iceman's lifepod.

He was definitely dead when "the player" starts flying off the Concordia as Jazz says that he only had a few TC pilots left to go and Iceman was not on that list.
 
I can't really comment on Armstrong, having never played SWC (that's on my wish list!), so I don't know how things are attributed to him.

I don't have many WC sources here with me but both the WC IV and WCP official guides spell it out that it's Blair who is considered the traitor and getting court-martialed.


frostytheplebe said:
(...) According to Hawk, Blair picked Iceman's life pod. According to the strategy guide, Iceman was still alive when the Tiger's Claw went down. Meaning that he was still alive during the early events where Blair was Court Martialled during WC2. So if Blair was being court martialled then there was no way he could have picked up Iceman's lifepod.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's impossible to imagine Blair being the one who was court-martialed and still retrieved Iceman's pod. After all, Blair has a story of disobeying orders / going on missions to retrieve a comrade, e.g. Stingray in WC2. He just might have requistioned a jump-capable ship and then he went to the B'shriss system.

frostytheplebe said:
He was definitely dead when "the player" starts flying off the Concordia as Jazz says that he only had a few TC pilots left to go and Iceman was not on that list.
Click to expand...

Jazz could simply be wrong with his list. After all, he forgets about Hunter as well. Though I do personally agree that Iceman is probably dead when the player starts flying off the Concordia. From the WCP manual we know that Iceman died two months before the birth of Lance.

Edit: RogueBanshee's claim does sound familiar though I can't quite put it in context.
 
I think LOAF said something about the Kilrathi dumping Iceman's pod where Blair would find it, I dont know if theres anything in the canon to back that up but it does sound like typical Cat tactics.

Also, it should be Blair that flies the patrol that leads him to the stealth ships, since thats a large part of why he was court martialled, if Blair hadnt seen those ships then he wouldn't have been court martialled like the other pilots that were on patrol. Perhaps LaFong saw a second, seperate group of Strakha that were to be the second wave if the first failed? LaFong reported it when the Tiger's Claw survivors got to the Austin, but his flight recorder was intact (unlike Blairs) so was acquitted of any charges.
 
Where is this B'shriss system, anyway? :confused:

When I played WCP, I always thought that Ice's death had taken place during the campaign that ended in the 'Claw getting nailed in K'tithrak Mang. Off course, back then I wasn't familiar with that rather ambiguous quote from the WC 1 & 2 Guide...

However, according to the star maps in the CIC, B'shriss is nowhere near 'Mang. Actually, I wasn't able to locate B'shriss at all in the maps. :(
 
Assuming I'm reading the maps right Epsilon sector is between Vega sector and Enigma sector so maybe Iceman was killed while the Tiger's Claw was passing through Epsilion sector on it's way to Enigma sector.
 
Iceman16 said:
(...) Perhaps LaFong saw a second, seperate group of Strakha that were to be the second wave if the first failed? LaFong reported it when the Tiger's Claw survivors got to the Austin, but his flight recorder was intact (unlike Blairs) so was acquitted of any charges.
Click to expand...

If that would be the case I sincerly doubt Tolwyn would have dismissed Blair's story as a "ridiculous claim of a Kilrathi cloaking device".

frostytheplebe said:
(...) At this point, the Tiger Claw was brought in for an overhaul, which significantly improved the ships systems and weaponry. They also slightly upgraded her name to Tiger's Claw.
Click to expand...

While I guess a major overhaul after the movie is reasonable, S*S states that the TC had always been commissioned as "Tiger's Claw".
 
I don't recall that being said in the WC2 intro which is from where I took the line quoted by me. Though it's possible that it's written somewhere else. I think Angel once says that it's strange that only you, the player, encounter the stealth fighters.
 
Mekt-Hakkikt said:
If that would be the case I sincerly doubt Tolwyn would have dismissed Blair's story as a "ridiculous claim of a Kilrathi cloaking device".
Click to expand...

maybe LaFong did see them, but didnt believe it and saw what happened to Blair when he told people about it, so he wiped his flight recorder and didnt say anything until he published his memoirs years later.
 
Iceman16 said:
maybe LaFong did see them, but didnt believe it and saw what happened to Blair when he told people about it, so he wiped his flight recorder and didnt say anything until he published his memoirs years later.
Click to expand...

That doesn't make much sense - if you have the proof, why wipe it? why not publish it publicly, or at least keep it for more "relevant times"...
 
Iceman16 said:
maybe LaFong did see them, but didnt believe it and saw what happened to Blair when he told people about it, so he wiped his flight recorder and didnt say anything until he published his memoirs years later.
Click to expand...

Maybe but it's pure speculation and not very probable I think. It would also mean that LaFong was quite an ass towards Blair.
 
or perhaps LaFong was just thinking of himself and didnt want to risk his reputation and career on something that nobody would believe possible.
 
Or perhaps the stealth fighters never actually used their cloak, so it was dismissed as just a new, normal fighter.
 
If we accord the content of the WC1/2 strategy guide to LaFong, then the stealth fighters did engage their cloak, it's spelled out in the story.

And for LaFong not risking his reputation for something "nobody would believe": if two pilots independantly claim to have encountered stealth fighters and one of them even has flight recorder evidence - how much proof can there be?
Also, IIRC, the strategy guide also tells us how "LaFong's" flight recorder was not working.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top