

Janice Polito has just arrived, telling you to come find her on Deck Four, but as you start your journey toward her, all you encounter are scenes of carnage and chaos the logs of the crew members that you find do not yet explain what has caused things to go so very wrong. Your character is one of the Rickenbacker's soldiers and, after training, the game starts as you find yourself waking from cold sleep aboard the Von Braun with no memory of the past weeks. The Rickenbacker is crewed by UNN Navy, Marines, and the OSA-experts in psionics.

Later, a compromise is reached: a TriOptimum corporate starship, the Von Braun, is constructed, but on its maiden voyage it will be accompanied by a UNN heavy destroyer, the Rickenbacker, in case of any hostile alien encounters. TriOptimum scientists develop the theory for a faster-than-light starship drive, but the UNN is unwilling to allow TriOptimum sole access to the rest of the universe. It is 35 years after the destruction by an unnamed hacker of the TriOptimum-owned Citadel Station and Shodan, the rogue AI controlling it. System Shock 2 is the sequel to the award-winning original System Shock.
