Burn Down the Mission

"Burn Down the Mission" is the tenth and final song on Elton John's album Tumbleweed Connection, released in 1970.

Song information

"Burn Down the Mission" is musically driven by the story told by Bernie Taupin's lyrics, as is common in John/Taupin collaborations.

The lyrics themselves, while telling a simple story, are vague enough to be open to interpretation. Ostensibly the story is that of a poor community oppressed by a rich and powerful force, and the narrator, driven by some sort of revelation, has decided to take direct action to remedy the situation. However, his attempt fails and he is "taken away", presumably to meet his fate, and justifies his actions as an attempt to defend his family.

The music reflects this narrative structure by starting with a slow piano introduction and the telling of the hero's situation and his progress towards direct action; the middle section, which is faster, jazzier and brings in full instrumentation, can be read as an interpretation of the actual struggle in which the hero engages. Finally, the struggle has ended and the music returns to its initial understated form, reflecting the eventual defeat of the hero. The song ends with a restatement of the middle section while it fades out.

Far Cry

The Far Cry series is a franchise of first-person shooter computer and video games, named after the first game of the series. The first game, Far Cry, was developed by Crytek Studios in Germany and published by Ubisoft on March 23, 2004 for Microsoft Windows. Far Cry received positive reviews upon release. The original game has been followed by three sequels: Far Cry 2, Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4, and spawned many spin-off games, including Far Cry Instincts, Far Cry Instincts: Evolution, Far Cry Instincts: Predator, Far Cry Vengeance and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

A 2008 English-language German movie entitled Far Cry was based on the game.

The Far Cry franchise has been known for putting players in exotic open world environments, from the Himalayas to the plains of Africa. The series has also included an immersive map editing program that lets players create and share their own custom maps for use in multiplayer.

Main series

Far Cry (2004)

Far Cry is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Crytek Studios from Germany and published by Ubisoft on March 23, 2004 for Windows.

Star Citizen

Star Citizen is an upcoming space sim video game for Microsoft Windows and Linux.Star Citizen will consist of two main components: first-person space combat, mining, exploration and trading with first-person shooter elements in a massively multiplayer persistent universe and customizable private servers, and a branching single-player and drop-in co-operative multiplayer campaign titled Squadron 42. The game is built on a modified CryEngine and will feature Oculus Rift support.

Both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are set in a 30th-century Milky Way centered on the fictional United Empire of Earth (UEE), an analogue of the late Roman Empire. A central theme of the game is citizenship – or lack thereof – in the UEE, which must be earned through player actions such as completing a period of military service. It is anticipated that citizens will enjoy certain in-game benefits, like paying a reduced tax rate, but the exact details are yet to be determined.

A strong focus will be placed on player interaction, with player behavior influencing and being influenced by a dynamic economy system.

Far Cry 4

Far Cry 4 is an open world action-adventure first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. It is the successor to the 2012 video game Far Cry 3, and the fourth main installment in the Far Cry series. The game was released on November 18, 2014.

The game takes place in Kyrat, a fictional Himalayan country that mostly consists of sprawling mountains and forests, vast water systems, and villages. The main story follows Ajay Ghale, a young Kyrati-American, as he is caught in a civil war involving Kyrat's Royal Army, controlled by tyrannical king Pagan Min, and a rebel movement called the Golden Path. Gameplay focuses on combat and exploration; players battle enemy soldiers and dangerous wildlife using a wide array of weapons, while completing side missions, collecting useful items, and progressing through the game's main story. The game features many elements found in role-playing games, such as a branching storyline. In addition to the game's campaign, the game features a map editor, a co-operative multiplayer mode, and an asymmetrical competitive multiplayer mode which was developed by Red Storm Entertainment.

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. They were used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST); conducted science experiments in orbit; and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station. The Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds.

Shuttle components included the Orbiter Vehicle (OV), a pair of recoverable solid rocket boosters (SRBs), and the expendable external tank (ET) containing liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The Shuttle was launched vertically, like a conventional rocket, with the two SRBs operating in parallel with the OV's three main engines, which were fueled from the ET. The SRBs were jettisoned before the vehicle reached orbit, and the ET was jettisoned just before orbit insertion, which used the orbiter's two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines. At the conclusion of the mission, the orbiter fired its OMS to de-orbit and re-enter the atmosphere. The orbiter then glided as a spaceplane to a runway landing, usually at the Shuttle Landing Facility of KSC or Rogers Dry Lake in Edwards Air Force Base, California. After landing at Edwards, the orbiter was flown back to the KSC on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a specially modified Boeing 747.