Protostar: War On The Frontier - Plot

Plot

The player character is a covert agent operating region of space where an antagonistic race of aliens known as the Skeetch are gaining power. As the Skeetch are currently waging war against Earth, the Protostar Initiative is launched in an attempt to convince four alien races to ally with the Human Defense Forces and disrupt the Skeetch supply lines through the region. As in the Starflight games, the initial goal is to upgrade the poorly-equipped spaceship with which a player begins the game with the best available accessories and assemble a well-trained crew. Moreover, the Human Defense Forces require financial support so that they are able to continue resisting the Skeetch. Accomplishing these goals requires the player to assemble a trained crew and earn money by, for example, scouring planets for saleable minerals and lifeforms.

Convincing the four alien races to ally with humanity is primarily a matter of discerning what each race needs and providing a solution that fulfils the need. Two of these races have a similar problem; some of their members are being held captive and require rescue. Another race, the Ghebberant, lives on a resource-poor planet and needs the player's help to find a more suitable world for them to colonize. A fourth race, the Kaynik, are aggressive warriors who initially attack the player's spaceship. Once the player has successfully demonstrated an ability to defeat their vessels in battle, surrendering without a fight in several subsequent encounters causes them to become bewildered and thereby opens a line of communication with them. Through the ensuing conversation, they can be shown the importance of joining a larger, multi-species, alliance. Once these alliances are formed, the player's spaceship becomes embroiled in a battle with a Skeetch dreadnought that determines the outcome of the game; destroying it secures victory for the alliance against the Skeetch threat.