Heyya,
every time i read about the meaning of the mission name of "Straight, No Chaser", i always get the answer, that the expression in bartending language "Pure, without Soda" is meant.
But, how? I mean, this expression does not make any sense to me to the events of the said mission.
I am pretty sure, that this mission name is more a reference to Thelonious Monk's work however.
Unfortunately i am not sure, if this one is a reference to the Track or to the Album of the same name.
As i do not heard the album, i can only talk about the Track. However i have to admit, that four of the six tracks from the "Straight, No Chaser" Album can be a reference to the events of this mission alone, as they are called "I do not know you" (Could be Knossos 2 or the moments were Sathanas 2 is not identified), "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" (Well, the Player is near a Sathanas in a somekind of bluish nebula at least (in Retail. With MVPs it went more reddish) and "We see" (Sathanas identification) and "Straight, No Chaser" itself (the name of this mission).
So maybe there is nothing more than the references to the name of the tracks, as you are able to make a connection to the events in this mission.
If you want to, you can also make references to events of the whole "FreeSpace 2" Campaign...
However i think the Track "Straight, No Chaser" is interesting nevertheless, as this track is about repetition. In the Track "Straight, No Chaser" the same idea is played again and again, however every time there are slightly changes and it has a different outcome.
Which actually fit to the FreeSpace 2 campaign in general.
The Alliance make actually three times the same trap. "The Great Hunt" (even it is not clearly said... but actually the only purpose of Actium/Lysander was to lure the Shivan Base Ship into position), "Feint! Parry! Riposte" and "Speaking in Tongues". Every mission follow the same idea, but well, the outcome is different in every one of them.
Also there are several repetitions from missions from "The Great War" campaign. However, none of them is actually the same like their FreeSpace 2 counterpart.
In the specific "Straight, No Chaser" mission, there are also some elements.
You encounter a Sathanas a second first time. However, how the Sathanas is appearing is actually very similar to that one in "The Fog of War".
However, if you look more to the beginning of the mission, it has nothing to do with "The Fog of War", which is a pure combat mission. This mission however has the same quiet build-up the player already experienced in "Mystery of the Trinity". But instead of a NTC Fenris you found a second Knossos. So far the same idea... but we all know the twist of events after that.
The same idea goes into the debriefing aswell. Once again the Alliance is retreating from the nebula after a Sathanas was encountered... but even that idea get a different direction this time as there are several other Sathanas, now.
Unfortunately i am far away from to be a music expert. And i said it already, i only heard "Straight, No Chaser", but not any other track from that album. And actually i am not very interested in Jazz, but i simple was very curious about, why one mission was named after it. But actually i do not have a big clue how you should interpet some passages in a track. "Straight, No Chaser" is clear in this, because there are countless in-depths analysis on the web, as this composition is simple a Milestone in the Jazz genre.
So, i found that interesting enough to open a thread about it, because i think, that only few know about that connection.
However maybe there are some Jazz ethusiasts among us, who can actually explain if there is actually a deeper connection between the Tracks of the Album and FreeSpace or if Straight, No Chaser as a track stands for itself.
Greetings,
Jenna
