Cutting-Edge Fan Theory: Why The Kilrathi War Lasted So Long

[Malcolm Reynolds]

Hi all! Been about 1000 years. I missed this place.

I was recently feeling nostalgic about Wing Commander and decided to read the Heart of the Tiger novelization. It's actually pretty good! Now that I'm a little older, something struck me:

How is it that the active duty military pilots spend all of their free time in the bar? When your carrier could be attacked by a wing of vicious space-kitties, wouldn't you want your crack pilots, (your last line of defense between being vaporized or jettisoned into the void) to be...I don't know...not intoxicated?

This is probably why the Kilrathi war lasted 20+ years. The humans would have had it in the bag, but their pilots were all half in the bag. I'm 99% sure that every single Wing Commander game supports this theory.

"Welcome back from the mission Hunter. Pour yourself a whiskey and we can discuss why your wing man was incinerated...no...it's not your fault. There's nothing you could have done. Not your fault you were hungover. Can't think like that!"

Obviously I'm kidding but is there any real-world equivalent to this? I would assume all active duty combat pilots are forbidden from drinking.

 

[Mace]

You might remember some other posts from Paladin on this subject..
And "Pilot Country", a drink helps for stress relieve.. The only one who ever managed to get dead drunk in a fighter unnoticed and make it back was Blair.. to be downdressed by Paladin.
Like in real life, you have shifts. In my language we have a saying: "De boog kan niet altijd gespannen zijn"(the bow can not always be tense).
Also in the 90's few of us had internet access and if we did, most of our friends did not.. remember top gun, tour of duty, socializing in a bar was the only way to relieve yourself?

And not every drink in a bar contains alcohol.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Welcome back! And you make a good point.


In real life, this varies depending on the country. United States naval aviators would not be drinking aboard their aircraft carrier as alcohol has been banned aboard ships since 1914… but others navies are still 'wet.' Here's an article about how there's a pub on the British Royal Navy's newest carrier: https://www.militarytimes.com/off-d...-just-opened-a-pub-on-its-prized-new-carrier/


Wing Commander I (and by association all the other Wings Commander) seems to take the drinking between missions more from the European theater in the World Wars; the bar is more local village watering hole than something you'd find on a carrier. And one thing we don't see so much in Wing Commander is that pilots work on shifts;in the real world, for instance, a squadron with 12 planes might have 18 pilots… and they'd have different status levels during their down time: sometimes you'd be off the roster entirely and could go have a drink, sometimes you'd be on alert waiting in case of emergency.


The most unlikely thing, though, is that Blair would be able to fly drunk. It feels like he's seriously abusing his authority if you make that choice. We've seen Shotglass shut down the bar when everyone was on alert before and we've seen medics shoot an inebriated Hunter full of 'green goop' that quickly detoxed him when he was needed for a mission in a hurry… so Blair really has no excuse.

 

[Malcolm Reynolds]

In Star Trek they have 'synthohol' which allows you to drink while avoiding the deleterious effects. I believe you could get intoxicated on it but a hypospray or 'green goop' injection was able to sober you up quick.

I can't wait for the future when I can drink all night and then just inject myself before bed to turn off the hangover.

Paladin is definitely on his third drink in the above picture. Someone should open a space pilot themed bar. That'd be great!

 

[Mace]

In Star Trek they have 'synthohol' which allows you to drink while avoiding the deleterious effects. I believe you could get intoxicated on it but a hypospray or 'green goop' injection was able to sober you up quick.

I can't wait for the future when I can drink all night and then just inject myself before bed to turn off the hangover.

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Paladin is definitely on his third drink in the above picture. Someone should open a space pilot themed bar. That'd be great!

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The specific episode that explains Synthohol, is about Scotty being found after staying for years and years in a transporter and finding himself from ST:TOS in ST:TNG.. While Synthohol does give some stress relief, it does not have thesame bite, and Data gives him a bottle of real alcohol from Picard's personal stash.. The hypospray you mention is from ST:VOY, where they defrosted the companion of Emilia Airheart, when he was wounded and intoxicated himself constantly his blood would not cloth because of his alcohol abuse and modified the spray negating the alcohol in his blood so he can treat him proper(he also still got a hangover). Also, hunter smoking a cigar is not likely to happen in the modern era. Wing1 was designed with an 80's mentality(where I grew up in) when you could still pour a drink end of the day(or during) and smoke behind your desk, until 2004, this was still normal in our offices.

And to go back to WC IIRC, alcohol is contraband on a carrier during WCrophecy..

 

[DefianceIndustries]

Actually no. Only the Altarian Brandy is considered contraband. Finley and Zero both mention that Casey should slow down because the drinks are alcoholic. Casey also returns the favor by telling a pissed off Finley that he never saw anyone drink that much and live.

Also Boom Boom is a generic term for really potent alcohol, normally home brewed. Finally the SO web fiction mentions concerns over Maestro's drinking - which wouldn't be an issue on a dry carrier.

I think it's safe to infer that the Midway is most definitely "wet".

Though the idea of a self service bar seems questionable on a carrier...