The Locanda System was located in the Epsilon Sector on the outskirts of the Terran Confederation.
History[]
It was close to the war front and was a primary target for the Kilrathi Empire. Locanda was home to several human colonies, but the largest was Locanda IV. The system was home to Lieutenant Robin Peters of the TCS Victory, who was born there in 2632. Her father taught her and her younger brother David all about flying in the Locanda System. According to Lieutenant Peters, Locanda has plenty of beautiful worlds with equally beautiful moons orbiting each world.
Locanda has experienced a bloody history during the course of the Kilrathi War. Before 2669, Locanda had a surplus of natural resources, making it a coveted target for the Kilrathi invaders. They proceeded to raid each world and before long, Locanda fell under Kilrathi control. All efforts by Confed to expel the invaders failed as the enemy enslaved millions of Locandan colonists and forced them to harvest their own home's resources. It is unknown when Locanda fell, but it remained under Kilrathi control for years afterward and thousands were worked to death across the system. Peters and her father were lucky enough to leave the world before this happened, but David Peters died at age 22 when fighting the Kilrathi.
During the year 2669, Crown Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka and his aide-de-camp, Melek nar Kiranka, passed through the Locanda System to determine its current strategic value to the war effort. By this time, Locanda's resources were depleted, and the population was proving to be more esistant to Kilrathi rule than they initially had been. Seeing no point in maintaining control over a human system that had outlived its usefulness, Thrakhath chose to "surrender" the system to the Terran Confederation. In reality, he was intent on wiping out the remaining population with biological weapons. The TCS Victory was assigned to investigate this matter and to wipe out the Kilrathi raiders in the system in hopes of finally liberating the system. Confed was not yet aware of the Kilrathi's intent to use bio-weapons, only having heard such possibilities from local rumors. The Victory and her pilots succeeded in killing many Kilrathi raiders, eventually driving the survivors out of the system.
A few days later, Colonel Christopher Blair and his pilots received horrific news: The Kilrathi were targeting Locanda IV while their main fleet evacuated. There was a very high possibility that they were going to use biological weapons to infect the planet with a virus with a half-life of 500 years. If such a strike succeeded, Locanda IV's population would die slow, agonizing deaths while the entire system would be rendered uninhabitable. Blair and his wingmen immediately launched an attack on the Kilrathi, who sent a lone Ralarrad-class Light Destroyer to launch bio-tipped warheads at Locanda IV while defended by a wing of Strakha stealth fighters. Tragically, despite their best efforts, five warheads hit Locanda IV and strike at high airbursts, dooming the population. The Victory then called back its forces and prepared to evacuate Locanda.
During the disaster, Lieutenant Peters hijacked a F/A-76 Longbow Bomber and faced off with a Fralthi II-class Cruiser, seeking to kill as many of the Kilrathi as she could in order to avenge Locanda. Colonel Blair and his pilots managed to escort her home after wiping out another fleet of raiders, but Locanda was lost and the Victory was forced to retreat.
The virus in the Locanda System forced Confed to quarantine the entire system and to retreat from secondary territories, including the space station in the Blackmane System. The population at Locanda presumably died off afterwards.
Fate[]
- Although Locanda is lost by official Wing Commander canon and WC3's novelization, it is ultimately up to the player to decide the fate of Locanda. If the player succeeds in destroying all of the Kilrathi warheads (By afterburning after them), then Locanda IV will be spared. This is especially important because when you jump into the Blackmane System, you will be fighting on the winning streak rather than the losing streak. If this is the case, you will be helping the Blackmane Station to wipe out the Kilrathi invaders.
- If you fail to save Locanda, you will be on Blackmane's losing streak and helping the personnel aboard Blackmane Station to evacuate the system, resulting in another defeat for Confed. These losing streak missions have known glitches, notably the seccond mission where evacuation transports often fail to jump requiring the player to replay the mission.
- After the second Locanda mission, the player must decide whether to save Lieutenant Peters or not. Even if you choose not to go after her, she will be brought back home safely by Lieutenant Laurel Buckley.