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Ghost's Gambit (ST-HJ6XD8SJH)@NCC-89471
"[Ico] Ghost's Gambit" (ST-HJ6XD8SJH) is the first of three missions in the Amargosa series. The [Ico] tag in the title identifies this mission as part of Tales from the Frontlines: An Iconian War Anthology. This mission takes place during the Iconian War, between Cryptic-authored missions "Delta Flight" and "House Pegh".
Unlike previous mission series by this author, Amargosa is presented as three separate standalone missions, as they do not form a single overarching storyline; they merely share a common MacGuffin and a few other, minor plot elements. The Amargosa title itself is used only informally by the author; none of its three missions include it in their own titles.
Synopsis
The player is contacted by Temporal Agent Philip Crey, who asks the player to meet him at Earth Spacedock. He explains that he's just received a temporal distress signal from himself, less than an hour in the future, indicating that Devidian intruders would attempt to kill him. The player returns to Earth just in time to witness an Iconian ambush. The docked ships are scrambled to assist the player in fighting off the enemy ships, but Heralds also board Spacedock and begin what appears to be a methodical search of the facility.
Beaming into Spacedock's launch bay, the player finds that the Heralds have scattered several devices about the launch bay, equipped with phase discriminators allowing the Devidians to shift into the player's reality. The player must fight his/her way through the launch bay and into the main atrium of Spacedock, engaging Devidians (and the occasional Herald group) and shutting down these devices along the way. The player must get just close enough to each device to transmit its shutdown code; get too close and another wave of Devidians emerges to attack.
In the command center below Admiral Quinn's office, the player discovers that an Iconian virus has infected the Spacedock communications system, preventing any contact with the outside. The player must repair and reinitialize the system in order to contact Quinn, who has retreated to Earth along with most of the Spacedock staff. He says 347 Spacedock crew members are missing and presumed dead, and dispatches a MACO battalion to help the player secure Spacedock. The MACOs arrive in time to help the player defeat the last of the Devidians and Heralds in Club 47.
Once Spacedock is secured, the player's ship detects a transporter beam in Admiral Quinn's office. Presuming that's Quinn himself, the player heads back to the office to make a report. Instead, they find Franklin Drake at Quinn's desk, apparently having planted false information for the Heralds to find. In fact, the entire Iconian assault on Spacedock seems to have been the result of Drake having lured them there. After Drake departs, the player discovers an encrypted file named "Amargosa", presumably containing Drake's disinformation - but without the necessary clearance level, the player is unable to open it. Quinn and Crey then return, but neither man knows anything about "Amargosa" either. Crey is, however, at least able to explain the connection between the Iconians and the Devidians, which goes back to the events of the Ghosts of War mission series.
Outline
Mission text
Now, the Heralds have targeted the heart of the Federation.
Or... have they?Objectives
- Ambush
- Approach Earth Spacedock
- Defeat the Iconian invasion fleet
- Ghosts of Another War
- Investigate unknown device
- Defeat the Devidians
- Shut down phase-shift device
- Find another phase-shift device
- Shut down phase-shift device
- Find phase-shift device near door
- Shut down phase-shift device
- Wolverine Redux
- Concurrent objectives:
- Re-establish communications
- Contact Starfleet Command
- Approach phase-shift device (x8)
- Shut down phase-shift device (x8)
- Survive Herald ambush (x3)
- Concurrent objectives:
- The Second Battle of Club 47
- Concurrent objectives:
- Clear out the Devidians
- Clear out the Heralds
- Talk to Adm. Quinn
- Talk to... Drake?
- View recent computer activity
- Concurrent objectives:
- Talk to Adm. Quinn
- Talk to Agent Crey
- Concurrent objectives:
Walkthrough
- There is no walkthrough for this mission, yet. You can help STOWiki by writing it here.
Gallery
Notes
- This mission was originally conceived as a one-off story, and a vehicle for an updated version of the battles aboard the old Earth Spacedock interior from "Ghosts of War, Part V". This is hinted at by the last three map titles ("Ghosts of Another War", "Wolverine Redux", "The Second Battle of Club 47"), each of which reference the older mission.
- Agent Crey's presence in this mission was meant, in part, to complement the Delta Recruit content that had been added to all six missions in the Ghosts of War series.
- The twist ending was added late in the story's development. It was not necessarily meant to set up any sequels, but merely to reintroduce Franklin Drake as a dangerous rogue. This time, his secret operations have led to Starfleet deaths with no clear benefit - and not because they went wrong, but because they went as planned.
- After publication, the author had still not come up with a coherent idea for a sequel, so he briefly invited other authors to make one instead as part of the Tales from the Frontlines anthology. Eventually, the author did write and produce "Trouble In Paradise" as the follow-up to this mission.