The Other Side of the Story

by Matthew Zinno, Staff Writer

30th June 2014

Looking at the new missions in The Maquis, I get the sense that I've been in this room before. Continuing from the introduction of the concept in Homefront IV, three of the missions in this set are new versions of existing mission personae (all from the original Deep Space 9 expansion).

First up is the Badlands planet which was the focus of the Baj/Fed mission Search and Rescue. While Kira and Sisko are on one side of the story (spaceline) trying to rescue Dukat, on the other side we have a new mission to represent what the Maquis are doing there: Break Prisoner. It is attemptable by Bajoran and Non-Aligned (representing the Maquis), and also by some other affiliations which have been known to capture and interrogate prisoners (Romulan and Cardassian). It's even worth additional points if you are escorting a captive at the location when you solve. The requirements fit the story of interrogation (including Biology, to make it hurt).

Next, we have a rendezvous point in the Badlands. We've seen it before when Kira and Dukat met with Razka Karn in the episode "Indiscretion", on the card Verify Evidence. Now the designers have revealed that this mysterious spot was so good to use for a clandestine rendezvous, later that year (in "For the Cause") Kasidy Yates used the same location to deliver smuggled goods to a Maquis Raider. The new mission is Divert Attention, and represents the Maquis' interest in that episode, specifically the part where their Maquis ship met with Kasidy (a meeting which was spied upon by the Defiant, thanks to a tip from Eddington). Later, of course, the Defiant followed the Xhosa there again, bringing Sisko away from the station so that Eddington could defect and steal industrial replicators. Your need Treachery, making it fit well as a thematic Maquis mission (though other possibilities include Ensign Davis), as well as the Navigation x2 which is seen on many of the Badlands missions. The Maquis often hide out here, so they even get a span discount.

Third on today's tour is the Orias System, where for years we have seen a joint force of Keldons and D'Deridexes gathering to Intercept Renegade ... that is, Thomas Riker on the stolen Defiant. Today we get to see Riker's side, in his effort to Expose Secret Buildup. Following Thomas Riker, it's a Federation mission, also attemptable by some known enemies of the Cardassians: Klingons (from the Klingon-Cardassian War) and Bajorans (from, basically, all the time). Even the Cardassian affiliation is interested in discovering this secret: remember, the Obsidian Order was hiding this from the Central Command. Ironically, a force might use the Obsidian Order skill to meet this mission's Intelligence requirement (alongide Legate Damar, who singlehandedly provides the other skills); can use Section 31, can use their Intelligence, and and are most likely to fall back on the CUNNING alternative. The multiple icons will allow you to use HQ: Defensive Measures, which is important because at 40 points, it's vulnerable to theft.

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