Ascraeus, I mentioned this before in an e-mail, but now that we have the two maps (official one and yours) side-by-side, there's something I want to discuss.
There are a number of GTVA systems mentioned/marked on your map that are not in the official Volition map. These systems have the following names: Gienah Cygni, Kaus Borealis, Mintaka, Delphi, Tania Australis, Tegmen, Epsilon Eridani, and (most importantly) Ghenna and N362.
My beef is this: since these systems are not in the Volition map, but are in yours, we need to find a rationale for having these new systems appear in your map that is consistent with official FS2 canon.
You mentioned in your outline that the Anhuradha juggernaut was captured in Delta Serpentis and that a great deal of intelligence info (including jump node maps) was salvaged from it.
My rationale for the new GTVA systems is as follows: We know that the Shivans visited GTVA space before, 8000 years ago when they destroyed the Ancients. So it stands to reason that the Shivans have more extensive knowledge of the number of jump nodes in GTVA space. (This can also explain how the Lucifer fleet managed to outmanuver the Allied fleet in the First Great War, traveling between systems without apparent jump nodes.) So these new GTVA systems (Gienah Cygni and so on) are only very recently discovered because of the info gleaned from the Anhurada's database. As such, these systems, when they are referred to, should be either (especially in the case of N362) military bases closed to non-civilian traffic or VERY new colonies. Since these systems were only discovered just 3 years after the events of FS2, any Terran or Vasudan presence there would have to be very new (and probably minimal as well).
Concerning Ghenna: Considering that Ghenna is a newly discovered system that did NOT have its jump nodes collapsed to cut off its route to Shivan Space in FS2, this will have to be accounted for as well. Perhaps, when the Anhuradha was captured, the GTVA saw right away that the Ghenna and N362 systems led to Shivan Space and went into an enormous tizzy fit when they saw that two routes allowing the Shivans to re-invade GTVA space still lay open. The GTVA then immediately deployed another decomissioned Orion loaded with a cargo of Meson bombs to collapse the Ghenna jump node in the Ribos system.
Additional note: this operation to collapse that node (and maybe the Ghenna system's very existence) was in all likelihood classified at the highest level so as not to start a general panic in the civilian population. It's doubtful that this operation requres an another mission in the FS2.9 campaign. If the Shivans are ignoring the GTVA because the Shivans have prioritized battling the Andarta before dealing with the GTVA again, then no Shivans would have been about to invade GTVA space from Ghenna when the GTVA went to collapse the Ghenna node in Ribos. (Creating a mission that would have no enemies to fight would be pointless, after all.) Since there were no enemies to fight, the operation to seal off the Ghenna system probably went off without a hitch (for once).
We also see that N362 also has nodes leading to Shivan space, but GTVA Command (apparently) decided to leave those two nodes open in order to leave itself an opening for the GTVA taskforce to enter (and return from) Shivan Space. To guard against any new Shivan invasion in the meantime (while the taskforce is being prepared), a (very) large military presence would have to be required at N362.
Perhaps the entire existence of N362 was concealed from the public at large as well. After all, telling the public that you're leaving open a route that leaves the GTVA vulnerable to a new Shivan invasion might start a new general panic also.
Having the player deployed to "a new secret base in a classified system" also adds a bit more mystery (in addition to what's already there
) to this story as well, IMHO
Ascraeus, I think you might need to state these rationales (or something like them) in your campaign somewhere.
What do you think of all this?
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FRED Zone's Grammar editor/ FS history moderator
Former member of TCA
Member in good standing of 99th Skulls
Honorary member of TCS and UGC
"I created your civilization...now I will destroy it!"
--Ra, the Sun God[This message has been edited by Su-tehp (edited 12-06-2001).]
