Vienna

#1.01. Dead Drop ~ 8/10

◆ An Introduction

The Wrath Empire has been consigned to the dustbin of history; forces are gathering across the cosmos, hoping to fill the power vacuum. Vienna is just carrying out another assignment, but things are about to go catastrophically wrong…

◆ Publisher’s Summary

Dwarfed by the burning star of the Hyspero system, two devastating battle fleets face each other across the stars. On one side, the Dyarid Primary Vanguard, commanded by Admiral Salaron aboard the starship Custodian. On the other, a Chtzin battle cluster.

Bounty hunter Vienna Salvatori’s latest assignment brings her aboard the Custodian – but completing her mission and earning some poldaks is the easy bit. When all hell breaks loose with the Chtzin and the Custodian is left crippled and plunging towards the sun, a simple assignment turns into a battle for survival for the galaxy’s deadliest assassin.

◆ Vienna Salvatori

Chase Masterson is evidently becoming more comfortable in her role; her performance in ‘Dead Drop’ was magnificent.

Vienna is undercover: she’s taken on the guise of Commander Arcadia Corinth, an executive officer on the good ship Custodian. She’s still making use of memory box technology, otherwise her cover would have been blown in a matter of seconds! Her method of assassinating K’lynn is certainly unique; she has her reach far enough into her mind that she triggers a concealed psychic bomb, causing K’lynn’s mind to overheat and explode! Vienna is quick to expose the Admiral as a traitor to the Protectorate, but manages to expose her own involvement in the Supreme Commander’s demise in the process: not the smartest move she’s ever made. She’s not a psychic, but has undergone some mental training. Whilst inside the Custodian’s psychic interface, Vienna is confronted by a familiar and terrifying voice, and now she has his name: Crevo Finn. The Custodian begins falling into the sun, and it genuinely feels like Vienna has no chance of escaping… until her trusty ship comes to her rescue!

◆ Story Recap

Following the collapse of the Wrath Empire, the Chtzin – a brutal race of hive-minded arachnid warriors – have been encroaching on various sectors of space, in an attempt to fill the power vacuum. The Dyarid Protectorate took notice and decided to launch a reconnaissance mission.

The Custodian is at the forefront of this venture. It’s thirty clicks from end to end; thirty decks, warp propulsion. A crew of five thousand, and supported by some twenty smaller fighter squadrons.

Vienna has infiltrated the Custodian in pursuit of her next target: the Supreme Commander of the fleet, who just so happens to be a psychopath with psionic powers, and can squeeze a skull like it’s a grape!

The contract itself is a walk in the park for a pro like Vienna, but when the Custodian is badly damaged by the enemy, she finds herself working with the crew to help them survive. If that wasn’t enough to be worrying about, the ship is rapidly falling towards a burning star!

◆ Shallow Plot

What if ‘42’ was competently written, and didn’t bore me into an irreversible coma every time I tried watching it?

That’s a pretty accurate description of what happened here. ‘Dead Drop’ isn’t particularly deep, despite how much fun I had listening to it.

That being said, there are makings of a story arc in this episode: it seems that a mysterious figure from Vienna’s past, going by the name of Crevo Finn, is going to be significant throughout the rest of this series.

◆ Sound Design

Howard Carter is somebody with fingers in a lot of BigFinish branded pies. Cinematic soundscapes are his bread and butter, which makes him perfect for a story like ‘Dead Drop’. Grandiose and polished, it’s like this whole production has had a ton of money chucked in its direction.

Shuttle craft commanded by the Custodian swoop and dive through the Hyspero system, carrying out reconnaissance. The Dyarid Supreme Commander uses some sort of psionic powers to explode one of her subjects skulls, which is as gruesome as it sounds! Vienna fires laser pistols at her target, which have very little effect. Alarms blare across the Custodian, as the Chtzin begin a full scale attack. Enemy missiles collide with the Custodian’s hull. The battle between the two factions is absolutely magnificent to hear in action. Blaring alarms mix with the sounds of explosions and general chaos, as the Chtzin begin boarding the Custodian. Speaking of the Chtzin, their scuttling makes my skin crawl!

◆ Music

I expected nothing less than an epic score from Carter, and he totally delivered. I’d also like to praise his new variant of the ‘Vienna’ theme tune, which feels like it could be used for some Hollywood blockbuster!

◆ Conclusion

“In my experience, people’s heads don’t explode of their own accord.”

Mark Wright is someone who I expect brilliance from; especially when he’s paired with his usual writing partner, Cavan Scott. While this solo adventure is nothing original, I’ll still praise it for keeping me gripped and entertained. I summed it up perfectly earlier in the review, because this is literally a more fun and cinematic version of ‘42’.