"Mr. Trent, we need to talk! I was with you on Freeport 7! We met on the rescue ship! Something's going on: I'm being followed... Other survivors from Freeport have been disappearing. Please, meet me on Los Angeles. Dammit..." - Brandon Rowlett's last words
Brandon Rowlett's Rhino Freighter
Bio[]
Brandon Rowlett is a survivor of Freeport 7, and one of the previously unnamed persons mentioned in Edison Trent's log (see Mission 1). Brandon is apparently being stalked by the same shadowy group that hunted Sam Lonnigan and later force Trent and Juni to flee Liberty space.
Death[]
"Brandon Rowlett, you are under arrest. Cut your engines and stand down." *Rowlett attempts to run* "All units, fire missiles..." *each ship fires a dozen missiles, Rowlett screams as his ship explodes* "Civilian ship, this was a classified Navy operation. Do yourself a favor and keep this quiet."
Rowlett is killed almost as soon as the player meets him; he asks Trent to meet him on Planet Los Angeles to discuss what's going on. Shortly after meeting Trent at the Jump Gate, Rowlett is stopped by a flight of three Corrupt Liberty Navy Defender Heavy Fighters, which launch an overwhelming salvo of Class 5 Moonstalker missiles that destroys Rowlett's Rhino Freighter. The Navy craft warn Trent that this killing is a classified operation, and to keep quiet about it.
Rowlett's Revenge[]
A Class 3 laser turret called "Rowlett's Revenge" can be acquired by killing Rowlett's murderers. This turret can only be acquired this way. Be careful, the fighters are armed entirely with class 5 missiles, making them incredibly overpowered. Taking an accurate volley from one is instant death. If you die, load from the last permanent save (preferably somewhere close to the California system Jump Gate, such as West Point Military Academy) to try again; loading the autosave does not bring back Rowlett or the fighters. An easy way of getting the "Rowlett's Revenge" turret is to have a full Countermeasure dropper and Seeker Mines and just circle around pressing the hotkeys for the mines and countermeasure so as to cause damage to the fighters while shrugging off every missile they fire at you. In fact, you may not need to do this for very long as the fighters will quickly run out of Missiles and can subsequently be finished conventionally using your ship's Guns and Turrets. Destroying the Liberty Navy Defender Heavy Fighters will not tarnish your Reputation with any legitimate Liberty faction at all, which when combined with the fact that it was a "classified Navy operation" *Spoilers* raises the possibility that the fighter pilots involved have gone rogue due to Nomad infestation.
Trivia[]
Rowlett is named after the Freelancer developer Brandon Rowlett, who is credited for "Game Programming" in the credits.