Dirty Dirty Bomb

Prereq

Familiarity with pilots in the mission Maybe some steal materials mission

Reward

Some money and the questioning of the morality of the Dvaered-FLF situation.

Concept

FLF have acquired goods to make a dirty bomb. They want to launch it at FOO planet where warlord BAR will be staying temporarily. The plan is to sneak into that planet posing as a merchant convoy and avoiding patrols. The Dvaered have no notion of the stealing of the goods as they were provided by another faction.

During the briefing one of the guys mentions all the dead civilians (not a small world) and the morality of it. He gets reprimanded and told that if he doesn't feel right with it he should sit this one out. The plan is to retrofit a mule to contain the bomb and enter atmosphere to drop it in a strategical position. It will need protection as it'll be slower and weaker than usual.

On the way there, the player engages a patrol which they talk their way out of (border) and pay the corrupt guys to let them through (from another warlord). The second one has to be dispatched silently to avoid making a fuss. Other than that there aren't too many problems. With contraband random patrols could also be there and need distracting.

Once the player reaches the target system they are flying towards the planet when the guy who complained about the morality jumps in and cruises past, broadcasting the fact that a bomb attack is imminent. The Dvaered patrols over the planet kill him when he gets near. They then order the convoy to stop.

The leader is a bit upset now, another guy wants to call it off and he jumps away. He tells you to go distract them while he gets closer, as he will have to be on top of the planet to launch it. Player is told to shoot Dvaereds and try to keep the attention on him while the koala does the approach. He makes it to the planet and his mechanism jams, so he has no choice but to try to immolate himself. He does that, but it turns out the material was much less strong than promised, and does a big explosion only wiping out civilians and not reaching the actual warlord.

The player then runs away and finds a note left on his ship but the guy who warned the Dvaered since he's the "new guy". Note talks about morality and decisions and how the FLF is radicalising and isn't as ethical as it used to be. However the conclusion is that it is still right and changes need to be done from the inside. It also mentions that he was expecting to survive but if the player is hearing this it's because he's dead and he would like someone to have a word with his parents. This is not as a mission objective but it's along the way and optional.

If player lands on the planet and goes talk to his parents. It turns out the entire village where they lived was ravaged by the Dvaered for "harbouring illegal fugitives". It seems like the Dvaered got an id on the guy before he immolated himself.

Conclusion

This mission tries to touch a bit the moral and ethical fibres of the player and make him question the values of both the FLF and the Dvaered. It should appear more or less early on when the player is still green and the FLF isn't doing too well thanks to the player's actions.