Star Saga: One - Beyond the Boundary - MJ Turner, Ace Pilot

Please note that each character entry will contain spoilers. If you're looking for an overview of the basics of this game, I suggest looking here.

MJ Turner is arguably the best pilot in the Space Patrol, although he handles his ship as well as any of the other five characters. As part of the Space Patrol he's been assigned out of the academy to guard the Boundary surrounding the Nine Planets. However, he notes how no one ever seems to catch any of the reported smugglers. It's almost as if there's some conspiracy to let them through.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, and the fortunate regular event of being confined to quarters, Turner found himself as acting captain. Under his command, his assigned ship had successfully captured 3 smuggling ships in the span of a week. For his efforts he received a long stay in the brig, followed by a proposition: 10 years in prison dishonorably discharged or take on a secret Space Patrol mission outside the boundary.

With his new ship, the Barratry, he set forth to find Dr. Shottkey on Para-Para who would explain his new mission. Turner's task: Find and capture the salty pirate Silverbeard and his ship. Dr. Shottkey is part of the ISE (Institute for Space Exploration), and it's been decided that Silverbeard is impeding progress. To accomplish this venture Turner is urged to outfit his new ship with alien weaponry necessary to overcome Silverbeard's own defenses.

Getting a new improvement for my ship.

Coming up against Silverbeard early in my search didn't work out so well. Helpfully, the game seems fit to remind me of my previous loss and suggests I upgrade my ship.

Through some rough times I'm able to scrounge enough commodities together and purchase the right equipment to overtake Silverbeard. The fight is regaled in such detail that I'm somehow able to see the color of the button, red, and words on a sign, "Emergency Escape Pod," as Silverbeard detonates his ship and makes good on his escape. Well, there goes the plan to bring in his ship to recover the tri-axis. Every other character has Silverbeard escaping.

Taking some of the pieces back to Para-Para, I come to find the tri-axis drive they offered blew up as well. Like all other characters, I'm provided a Flame Jewel and told to seek out the planet Outpost. At the same time, it's suggested locating Silverbeard to recover his body to learn how he could survive for the past 300 years, as reports indicate he's at least that old.

Building the tri-axis drive is always satisfying

Yes; hopefully Outpost has hints about Silverbeard's current location, *wink*wink*. I spent some time testing the defenses of outpost with different equipment. There are 4 layers before getting to take on Silverbeard and I'm slowly mapping what weapons are most effective. It seems it's not possible to get through without one of the constructed defenses.

Final Score: 4380
Turn: 209

* * * * * * *

Taking a look at the numbers, I'm finding it's not really possible to lose the third battle if you succeed with the second. This suggests the numbers or fights were somehow reversed. I can't imagine how something like this got by the developers as they put so much thought into making sure alternative paths had unique entries in the text, including what I believe is failing against this antepenultimate fight. With nearly 200 passages still undiscovered in my playthroughs, which includes a quick multi-player effort, I have to wonder if I missed a large section of the game or if there are some misleading entries.

After my victory, I noticed I hadn't actually gotten past some obstacles with my ship and decided to take the final weapon and defense for a ride around the known galaxy.

A value of 100 is enough to win.

The Plasma Beam takes out the hatch on FLN-1 at the highest value at 4950. I was even able to take aim them at the Boundary patrol as MJ Turner is the only character that doesn't have his main quest take him back through.

Next up is the final character, Valentine Stewart, a smuggler by lineage and choice. He couldn't be more in contrast to Turner.