Terran Conflict vs Albion Prelude ... plots?

[DamnNamesAlwaysTaken]

OK .. here's the deal.
I've been playing the X games for a long time but about the time TC wa released I had other RL issues and didn't do much gaming.

I've just now purchased TC and AP.

Questions are ...

They run as seperate games, do I need to run TC first then play AP?
Or can I run through the TC plots as normal while playing the AP version?

I'm a bit lost in the AP plot line .... doesn't make any sense to me why the terrans are enemies to argon etc. ... Is this because I've 'skipped' the TC plots?

It's been some time but I seem to recall the last X game the terrans basically showed up and 'saved the day' at the end.

My AP game is stuck at the moment ... was doing the "Jofferco(sp?) headquarters under attack" mission but there are no orbital lasers to destroy so it's stuck for now.
Anyone familiar with this bug?
I have a few custom ships installed so it could be a conflict there.

[ApatheticEthic]

I have the stream version, but I just have to run AP with TC installed for it to work.

There were a couple plotlines in TC that showed tension between the Argon and the Terrans, but the video you see when starting AP basically shows the cause. An Argon blew up the Earth Torus, so the Terrans go to war.

Are you sure the orbital lasers aren't just outside sensor range?

[Zaitsev]

I'm a bit lost in the AP plot line .... doesn't make any sense to me why the terrans are enemies to argon etc. ... Is this because I've 'skipped' the TC plots?

No, according to the lore they became enemies because Saya Kho, an Argon secret agent, destroyed the Earth Torus because she feared Earth would defeat the Argon. With the Torus destroyed, the whole thing turned into an open war.

It's been some time but I seem to recall the last X game the terrans basically showed up and 'saved the day' at the end.

That would have been Reunion, not TC. In the X-universe, TC takes place three years after Reunion ended.

[Dog G6]

I'm a bit lost in the AP plot line .... doesn't make any sense to me why the terrans are enemies to argon etc. ... Is this because I've 'skipped' the TC plots?

No, according to the lore they became enemies because Saya Kho, an Argon secret agent, destroyed the Earth Torus because she feared Earth would defeat the Argon. With the Torus destroyed, the whole thing turned into an open war.

It's been some time but I seem to recall the last X game the terrans basically showed up and 'saved the day' at the end.

That would have been Reunion, not TC. In the X-universe, TC takes place three years after Reunion ended.

Also, Saya Kho was a character in Reunion, but the trailer Saya and the Reunion Saya seem way different.