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The SSS Centerprice was a Sirian spacecraft that appears in both Serious Sam: The First Encounter and Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, and later making more appearances in the Xbox, HD and VR ports. The spacecraft plays a significant role in The First Encounter.
Overview[]
The SSS Centerprice was a large, black saucer-shaped spacecraft. It's not known how many people could fit in it, since only Sam was seeing boarding the ship.[1] Having been made by the Sirians, a technologically advanced race, the ship was capable of being controlled automatically, and could also receive a transmission signal from an incredible distance. An instance of this would be the ship receiving a signal from Saturn's moon Titan all the way from Earth, which is a distance of approximately 746 million miles.[2]
The ship was equipped with advanced technology and systems, such as its large database stored on a main computer. NETRICSA, a computer implant located in Sam's head, was capable of remotely connecting to and interacting with the ship' computer in order to access its database.[3]
For the ship to be sent to Earth, the Sign of Amon-Ra, an extremely valuable artifact that was used by the ancient Egyptians, was needed. The Egyptians would use said object as part of a religious ritual in Thebes to activate the rising obelisk that would power up a transmitter to send the ship to Earth.[4] After receiving the signal, the ship would head to Earth, fly over the Great Pyramid of Giza, illuminate a beam over the pyramid, and then depart back into space back to where the Sirians originally hid it.
The Amon-Ra sign was also needed to begin the boarding process of the ship.[5]
Weaponry[]
The Centerprice was equipped with a laser cannon, which the ship used against Ugh-Zan III during the fight inside the Great Pyramid. This cannon was capable of damaging and even killing certain beings, and magnetize other ones, for example, it could kill Ugh-Zan III but it could also magnetize humans on-board. It was extremely powerful, as demonstrated when it was used on Ugh-Zan, where it could deal a lot of damage to him, despite his colossal size and ability to regenerate.[1]
History[]
The SSS Centerprice making its way to Earth.
Several thousand years ago, the Sirians used the SSS Centerprice as one of their main forms of transportation during their interstellar travels. Eventually, they came across the Solar System and discovered Earth. They would use the ship to visit Earth and fly over the Great Pyramid in Egypt whenever the Egyptians took part in their religious rituals.[4]
Soon after the Sirians found out that Mental had attacked Sirius, the survivors took the Centerprice back into space and left it on Saturn's moon, Titan, as a temporary measure. They believed that, at the time, humans were too primitive to learn space travel, so they would leave the ship until humans became technologically advanced enough to find the ship and while Mental laid dormant.
Many thousands of years later, in the middle of the 21st century, humans discover the devices and mechanisms left behind by the Sirians. The implications of these discoveries led humans to becoming advanced enough to reaching interstellar travel. Soon after, they discover the hidden Sirian spaceship left behind on Titan. In the year 2063, professor Linda Bennett led an Internation Space Mission "Prospector" in search of the spaceship.[6] The mission succeeded in 2063, and the work began on preparing the ship for transporting to Earth. However, for some reason, the ship never made its way to Earth, so it is unknown if it is still located on Titan by the time the Serious Sam series takes place, or if was indeed taken to Earth.
Appearances[]
Serious Sam: The First Encounter[]
The SSS Centerprice departing to Sirius.
NETRICSA tells Sam that in order to depart to Sirius, he will first need to find an important item; the Sign of Amon-Ra. Once he acquires said artifact in the city of Memphis, he makes his way to Thebes, and NETRICSA says that the Egyptians who lived in Luxor, a religious part of Thebes, used the Sign of Amon-Ra as part of a religious ritual that invited the gods over to Earth, and they would light a beam at the Great Pyramid. NETRICSA believes that this is the spaceship that Sam needs to make his way to Sirius.
With this crucial knowledge on hand, Sam makes his way into Luxor and activates the transmitter. The SSS Centerprice is shown in a cutscene flying through space and making its approach towards Earth. Having bought the ship to Earth, Sam waits for the ship to arrive at the Great Pyramid. However, Mental is not going to let Sam slip away so easily, so he sends out one of his dreaded servants, the Great Warlock Ugh-Zan III, to stop him. After Ugh-Zan is killed, Sam departs onto the ship and heads to Sirius.
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter[]
Just as the Centerprice is about to leave Earth, the ship is hit by something (the original and Serious Sam Fusion intro show a Croteam Crate Bus crashing into it after going into "hypercrate" mode), which deals heavy damage to the ship. With the ship unable to function, it falls back down to Earth and crash-lands in Palenque, Sierra de Chiapas. Though the ship was destroyed, its main computers were still active, as NETRICSA told Sam she was still connected to the ship's database.
What happened to the ship after Sam left the Mayan period is unknown.
Trivia[]
- The name of the ship is based on the famous Star Trek ship, the USS Enterprise.
- Its design is based on classic alien motherships.
- The ship is mentioned in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem on a sample of a newspaper that can be found in the final level, Crime And Punishment, which documents professor Bennet departing to Titan in search of the Centerprice.
Gallery[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam: The First Encounter (First appearance)
- Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam: Xbox (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
- Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam Classics: Revolution (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem (Mentioned)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Great Pyramid ending cutscene
- ↑ Luxor rising obelisk cutscene
- ↑ Serious Sam: The Second Encounter - NETRICSA Strategy - Sierra de Chiapas
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Serious Sam: The First Encounter - NETRICSA Strategy - Thebes - Luxor
- ↑ The Great Pyramid boarding cutscene
- ↑ Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem - NETRICSA dossiers - "Morning News", March 21, 2063
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