I believe the general consensus is that the middle or minor victory ending in Standoff reflects the situation at the end of the novel on which it was parly based and, by extension, the official continuity of the Wing Commander series.
So I've been thinking of possible scenarios for a follow up to the "best" ending.
The final cutscene in this ending suggests an almost immediate counter attack with the forces available, namely:
TCS Concordia (Confed Class Dreadnought) (1)
TCS Saratoga (Concordia Class Fleet Carrier)
TCS Ark Royal (Concordia Class Fleet Carrier) (2)
TCS Leyte Gulf (Jutland Class Attack Carrier)
& last but not least
TCS Firekka ( Wake Class Escort Carrier)
+ escorts
(3)
(1) Hailing the Concordia at the end of the final mission on the major winning path suggests that she did not sustain any damage in this version of the Battle of Earth and is therefore still useful as a fleet carrier (no botched refit either).
(2) According to Fleet Action Ark Royal was used as decoy during the battle of Earth and subsequently lost, whereas in the final cut mission she is present with the main body of the fleet.
(3) Given the absence of the Lexington in the final fleet lineup in the last mission it can be assumed she incurred similar damage as in the official continuity.
Since the confed fleet is only two carriers up from the official version of events I personally think that "Next Year on Kilrah" is a tad optimistic, considering that in less than a year later in OTL the Kilrathi had a completely modernised fleet with mindblowingly huge 2 hulled dreadnoughts.
Given the fact that Kilrathi fleet at the Battle of Earth outnumbered Tolwyn's taskforce by at least 5 to 1 and still failed to destroy a woefully underprepared Earth, I seriously doubt Confed would even try to attack Kilrah at this juncture.
I therefore see to possibilites based on the following scenario.
Confed is clearly winning the war but does not yet have the sufficient numbers for the Big Push. With this in mind less attention is paid to the wonder weapons. The T Bomb is probably shelved and Behemoth recieves less priority.
The virtual annihilation of the fleet has serious political repercussions. Thrakhath is executed for cowardice and incompetence. This creates a succession crisis with the Emperor's remaining grandchildren fighting for recognition as
Heir-Presumptive. The constant scheming and infighting undermines the Empires ability to effectively prosecute the war.
And so after roughly a year (say for the sake of argument the approximate starting date for the events of WCIII)
Either
The other clans eventually decide that enough is enough and depose/assasinate the Emperor and install a new ruler from another clan.
Or
Things don't go as smoothly as planned and the Emperor's removal causes a civil war.
Your thoughts?
So I've been thinking of possible scenarios for a follow up to the "best" ending.
The final cutscene in this ending suggests an almost immediate counter attack with the forces available, namely:
TCS Concordia (Confed Class Dreadnought) (1)
TCS Saratoga (Concordia Class Fleet Carrier)
TCS Ark Royal (Concordia Class Fleet Carrier) (2)
TCS Leyte Gulf (Jutland Class Attack Carrier)
& last but not least
TCS Firekka ( Wake Class Escort Carrier)
+ escorts
(3)
(1) Hailing the Concordia at the end of the final mission on the major winning path suggests that she did not sustain any damage in this version of the Battle of Earth and is therefore still useful as a fleet carrier (no botched refit either).
(2) According to Fleet Action Ark Royal was used as decoy during the battle of Earth and subsequently lost, whereas in the final cut mission she is present with the main body of the fleet.
(3) Given the absence of the Lexington in the final fleet lineup in the last mission it can be assumed she incurred similar damage as in the official continuity.
Since the confed fleet is only two carriers up from the official version of events I personally think that "Next Year on Kilrah" is a tad optimistic, considering that in less than a year later in OTL the Kilrathi had a completely modernised fleet with mindblowingly huge 2 hulled dreadnoughts.
Given the fact that Kilrathi fleet at the Battle of Earth outnumbered Tolwyn's taskforce by at least 5 to 1 and still failed to destroy a woefully underprepared Earth, I seriously doubt Confed would even try to attack Kilrah at this juncture.
I therefore see to possibilites based on the following scenario.
Confed is clearly winning the war but does not yet have the sufficient numbers for the Big Push. With this in mind less attention is paid to the wonder weapons. The T Bomb is probably shelved and Behemoth recieves less priority.
The virtual annihilation of the fleet has serious political repercussions. Thrakhath is executed for cowardice and incompetence. This creates a succession crisis with the Emperor's remaining grandchildren fighting for recognition as
Heir-Presumptive. The constant scheming and infighting undermines the Empires ability to effectively prosecute the war.
And so after roughly a year (say for the sake of argument the approximate starting date for the events of WCIII)
Either
The other clans eventually decide that enough is enough and depose/assasinate the Emperor and install a new ruler from another clan.
Or
Things don't go as smoothly as planned and the Emperor's removal causes a civil war.
Your thoughts?