Synopsis: The events leading up to the disaster of the North Wind

[Agiel7]

Not really an analysis topic, more like trying to lay down in stone the actual plot elements (one point of discussion includes the time discrepencies in the plot).

The official website states that the North Wind is of the "Arktika" class of icebreakers. However, a quick visit to Wikipedia states that the first ship in the class was commissioned in 1975, yet it is stated that the Captain has been in command of the ship for 20 years (this makes the idea that the story takes place in 1968 even more implausible). One can conclude that the North Wind was actually a sister ship to the NS Lenin, the first nuclear icebreaker in the world, commissioned in 1955, and that the North Wind was refitted to the specifications of the Arktika class later on in its service life.

Given how it would be financially unfeasible to re-purpose the cargo holds of a ship the size of the North Wind into holding cells, and the fact that the security officer, who was on familiar terms with the captain, was experienced with handling prisoners, its likely that the North Wind was a career prison ship. This also explains why there is a substantial arsenal aboard the ship, in case a situation like the prison-break in one of the mental-echoes arose. However, it was merely a token armory, as the North Wind was given what was obsolete, surplus WW2 weaponry, and the crew was more apt to use it for hunting down the polar bears of the North Pole for sport.

In 1981, the North Wind is given another assignment for prisoner transport from Murmansk (to, I don't know, Siberia maybe). The ship is assigned a new executive officer, one who is confident, yet inexperienced. Even the captain, who has 20 years of experience, is overconfident as well. This costs the ship and its crew dearly. A collision with an iceberg causes the ship to incur major flooding and its starboard crane being damaged, in addition to a few casualties. The flooding is stablized, but the ship is deemed out of commision until on-site repairs are completed. The ship's first mate, probably unhappy with his posting, sends a message to Murmansk, claiming that the captain is incompetent and the ship unfit for future voyages. Having had both the captain and the ship on their hands for 20 years, this is enough for HQ.

The news hits the captain hard and seeks the help from the ship's chief engineer. The chief engineer has also been on the North Wind for throughout its service and has grown attached to the ship as well. However, with the recent incident, and the rapidly deteriorating state of repairs, he is at the end of his emotional tether when the captain approaches him and berates him instead.

The morale of the ship is crippled, as the ice continues to hold the ship down. It is then that the captain recalls a story from his younger days, "The Flaming Heart of Danko," (hence, why Nesterov finds excerpts from the story throughout the ship) and realizes that he must lead the ship and its crew to safety. He gambles on a risky manuever through the ice, and is incapacitated when the glass windshield breaks and cuts his face. The ship's first mate and the security officer attempt to pull the ship out of the path of another iceberg, an attempt that proves costly, as this exerts considerable strain on the ship's reactor, putting it on the edge of a meltdown. The first mate, the security officer, and the chief engineer resolve to escape by the onboard helicopter, but this plan is foiled when some of the escaped prisoners manage to destory the chopper. It is at this time that the reactor explodes, launching a whole new set of problems for the crew.

With the ship severely damaged and most of its functions, from central heating and lighting, disabled, the crew is forced to make do. Probably unaware of the reactor meltdown, they take shelter near the warmth of the reactor's remains. This accelerates the effects of radiation sickness that begins to plague the crew (the sick bay sequence in "Cold"). Some of the crew still attempt to make repairs to the ship all the while this is happening (the diving suit sequences) and they are able to stay in radio contact with HQ, at least for a while. As armed struggle begins between the "zombified" crew and prisoners and the still health crew, there is only silence from the North Wind.

Thinking that the situation was not of huge concern, HQ contacts the nearest arctic station to investigate, and it just so happens that Alexander Nesterov pulls the short straw. He's sent by way of dogsled to the North Wind's last known location and is tasked with boarding the ship and re-stablishing contact with the crew, it is then that the game starts proper.

One of the reasons I started this topic is because of the date discrepencies in the plot. It is established in the telegraph to Alexander that the date is 1981, yet another entry states that the ice-berg incident takes place in 1968. The latter date could possible be oversight on the part of the developers, or its possible the entry describes an entirely different incident earlier in the North Wind's career. In addition, its a bit farfetched that only a single man is sent to explore the remains of a wreckage thats been stuck in the ice for more than a decade.