The Terran Confederation is losing. The Kilrathi, a warrior species of alien felines, have pressed humanity back across the frontier, and the carrier TCS Tiger's Claw is holding what ground remains. You are a rookie pilot assigned to that ship, working through a branching campaign of dogfights and escort runs. Wing Commander's departure in 1990 was its presentation: mission briefings with barked orders, a crew full of pilots with names and grudges, branching story outcomes tied to your performance. It treated the space combat simulator as a vehicle for cinematic storytelling at a scale PC games had not yet attempted.