Pilgrim (Wing Commander)

Pilgrims are a Human derived species that feature in Wing Commander.

History

Pilgrims were a branch of the human race that began to develop in the years leading to their first forays into interstellar space. Thus, they quickly became the first explorers and settlers that journeyed into deep space where they defied the odds of the hazards of space travel. This led to them eventually embracing the concept of space travel and they suffered some form of mutation as a result where they gained a unique natural gift with a flawless sense of direction. They gained the ability to sense magnetic fields that were generated by quasers and black holes which in turn allowed them to navigate through singularities. Pilgrims were special in the sense that they did not just navigate the stars but space time itself. This led to them becoming skilled navigators for a period of five centuries. One of the many such sites that the Pilgrims charted was an unstable region of space time with this distortion being referred to as Scylla after the Greek myth due to the dangers involved in travelling through it.

Eventually, technological development led to the creation of Navcom AI's that were based on the natural skills of the Pilgrims though were inferior to them. However, it was said that a growing division began to form between Pilgrims and base-line humans. It was claimed that they had spent so long in space alone that they had lost touch with their human heritage and began to see themselves as being superior to normal mankind. Thus, they began to grow arrogant and decided to abandon all things that identified themselves as humans with them instead embracing their own concept of "destiny". It is even said by some that these Pilgrims began to see themselves as gods compared to ordinary humans. This ultimately brought about a terrible conflict between normal humans and the Pilgrims in a series of skirmishes known as the Pilgrim War. The war was brutal as the Pilgrims fought against the Terran Confederation with the Peron Massacre being one notable infamous skirmish. Ultimately, the Pilgrims lost the war and a large number of their race was killed as a result.

Despite their death, a number of Pilgrims did manage to survive through inter-breeding with normal humans leading to hybrids that retained the navigational traits of the divergent race. Since the end of the Pilgrim War, not a single new quasar had been charted. Not only that but by the mid 25th century, no human ship had jumped a Pilgrim for over forty years. The result of the Pilgrim War meant that general humans came to greatly distrust and even hate Pilgrims due to their actions in the violent conflict. This persecution continued to their half breed children as a result who struggled to gain acceptance in the Confederation. Thus, these half breeds became the descendants of a dying race with a only surviving over the centuries. Eventually, the Confederation suffered from a new conflict with an alien race known as the Kilrathi where persecution of those with Pilgrim blood continued as there were rumors of Pilgrim sabotuers supporting the Kilrathi against Confederation targets. By 2454 in the Kilrathi War, one of the few descendants of the Pilgrims was Lieutenant Christopher Blair.

Overview

Pilgrims were a divergent breed of Humans that evolved among Mankind and possessed inherent skills that allowed them to explore space. It was said that when they first looked at the stars they felt it was their destiny to chart them and people often looked to their kind in exploration activities. They were the first Human space explorers and settlers and for five centuries they defied the odds as they embraced space and they were rewarded with the gift of a flawless sense of direction. They were ale to feel magnetic fields that were created by quasars and blackholes as well as negotiate through singularities. As such, they were able to navigate just the stars but the space-time itself.

Though these abilities seem to mimic that of the Navcom AI, it was infact the opposite. The billions of calculations each second necessary to lead through a black hole or quasar is the Navcom recreation of the mind of a single Pilgrim.

By embracing space, the Pilgrims had lost their Humanity and their heritage which resulted in them, in time, thinking themselves superior to mankind. It is said that in their arrogance, they chose to abandon all things Human and follow what they called a "destiny". Some claimed that the race believed themselves to be "gods". Paladin believed that the race were not gods but were touched by God.

Members

• Christopher Blair : a half-Pilgrim child.

Notes

• Pilgrims were an original creation of the 1999 Wing Commander movie and do not feature within the game continuity.

Appearances

• Wing Commander:

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