"F-Missions" is a term for when the members of the Freighter undertake a mission, such as shutting down the Tempest("The Other Woman") or capturing Ben Linus("The Shape of Things to Come"). The term was built upon the secretive or duplicitous nature of these missions in contrast to the A-Missions, B-Missions, or O-Missions in which consensus on what needed to be done was usually well-voiced amongst those members.
This duality and lack of consensus were highlighted during a heated conversation between Martin Keamy, head of the mercenary team aboard the freighter, and Captain Gault, the supposed authority of the Kahana("Cabin Fever").
An "F-Mission" refers to a mission comprised of Freighter agents either on the crew, science team, or mercenary team, which usually includes a combination of Faraday, Miles, Charlotte, Frank and Naomi, with Keamy as the major antithesis to the survivors' well-being.
“
KEAMY: ...and if Linus knows that we're gonna torch the Island, there's only one place that he can go.
GAULT: What do you mean, "torch the Island?" That was not the agreement. I agreed to ferry you here for an extraction mission.
Faraday helps the survivors get to the safety of the Freighter when Keamy and his team track Ben to Orchid. (4x124)
After the Oceanic 6 left the Island, the remaining freighter members merged with the "A-Team." ("LaFleur")
To be considered an "F-Mission", at least one Freighter member must be responsible for the idea of performing the mission, though one or more members of the "A-Team,", "B-Team" or even "O-Team" may support this plan. Additionally, any of the base members of the "F-Team:" Faraday, Miles, Charlotte, Frank and Naomi may assume leadership of a mission. This number has been supplemented from time to time as Keamy has stepped up to join them on the Island from the freighter. However, Miles Straume is currently the only living member of the F-Team.
An "F-Mission" is further defined here as a quest which may either directly aid or harm the survivors or the Others depending on who is leading the mission. Therefore, missions led by Naomi have different motives and outcomes than do missions led by Keamy.
The term for a primary survivors mission is an "A-Mission," the term for a supportive or independent survivors mission is a "B-Mission," and the term for an Others mission is an "O-Mission." Each are interpreted as the foundations of the tactics and strategy behind the "F-Missions".
Miles Straume, son of DHARMA Initiative scientist Pierre Chang, was the spiritualist on the science team assembled by Matthew Abaddon and led by Naomi to the Island. His skill of communicating with the dead has caused him to foresee ominous warnings and has kept him on-edge and frequently cautious.
Frank Lapidus was the pilot for the Freighter who brought the science team to the Island after Naomi failed to return from her expedition. A mild-mannered, agreeable man, he served as a pilot (both willingly and under duress) for most of his missions.
Daniel Faraday, the son of Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore, was the physicist on the science team assembled by Matthew Abaddon and led by Naomi to the Island. Although suffering from memory loss (resultant from his prolonged exposure to radiation in his Oxford experiments), he soon found himself slightly healed on the Island, as his passive and helpful nature soon found him leading many missions. He was accidently killed by Eloise Hawking.
Charlotte Lewis, raised on Island by her DHARMA Initiative parents, was the cultural anthropologist on the science team assembled by Matthew Abaddon and led by Naomi to the Island. She had a blunt and cynical demeanor to most of her team, except for Faraday who she had an affection for. She died because of the Time Flashes.
Naomi Dorrit was the leader of the science team and hired by Matthew Abaddon to ferry them to the Island. She was a commanding military operative who hid her agenda from the Freighter crew, though she served as an energetic and informative aid to the survivors. She was murdered by John Locke.
Captain Gault was the captain aboard the Freighter who brought the science team and mercenary team to the Island after Naomi failed to return from her expedition. Originally believed to be an intimidating, ruthless man, Gault was revealed to be more sympathetic to the survivors' cause and he sought to assure them that they were there to capture and transport Ben Linus. He was murdered by Keamy, another F-Team member.
Martin Keamy was the leader of the mercenary team assembled by Charles Widmore to capture Ben Linus and "torch the Island." He was a highly skilled and cruelly relentless soldier who was known to exert lethal and intimidating force when his demands were failed to be adhered to (whether directed at friend or foe). He was murdered by Ben.
Omar was a trooper in the mercenary team assembled by Charles Widmore to capture Ben Linus and "torch the Island." He was a loyal subordinate of Keamy and followed him in his mission to extract Ben Linus from the Island by any means necessary. He was killed by the Others.
In Season 4, the standard F-Mission was two-fold: explore the Island and capture Benjamin Linus. Of course, there were two very different teams contracted for these overlapping assignments: the science team led by Naomi Dorrit and the mercenary team led by Martin Christopher Keamy. The science team included physicist Daniel Faraday, spiritualist Miles Straume, and anthropologist Charlotte Lewis. They were placed under the command and protection of Naomi Dorrit, who was hired by Matthew Abaddon, a spiritual journeyman working for Charles Widmore. The mercenary team was quite different in nature, comprised strictly of military-trained, black-ops specialists brought in for an extraction mission also at the behest of Charles Widmore. The crew of the Kahana, led by Captain Gault, was substantially minor when compared to the skills and charges of these respective teams, which eventually grew to interfere in each other's missions...
Mission: To locate Desmond as per the coordinates given.
Corresponding A-Mission: None
Corresponding O-Mission: None
Background: Commissioned by Matthew Abaddon, who posed as a representative of Penelope Widmore, Naomi was given specific coordinates and took out a helicopter from the Freighter to survey what she believed to be nothing but ocean.
Discoveries: {{{discoveries}}}
Relation to Lost storyline: Upon reaching the Island, her helicopter's instruments malfunctioned and she was forced to bail out, impaling her side on a tree branch before being discovered by Desmond, Charlie, Hurley, and Jin. Naomi conveyed her backstory to Desmond and the other survivors, informing them that her company was hired by a woman named Penelope Widmore.
Make Contact with the Freighter
Make Contact with the Freighter
Outcome:Half-Accomplished, Although Naomi was able to make contact with her boat, she was unexpectedly knifed in the back by Locke shortly thereafter, leaving Jack to talk to Minkowski and deal with Locke.
Mission: To clear a channel for communication between Naomi and the Kahana.
Corresponding A-Mission: None
Corresponding O-Mission: None
Background: Having parachuted onto the Island when her helicopter went down, Naomi found herself being nursed back to health by the survivors of Oceanic 815, and informed them that they needed to clear a channel for her satellite phone so she could contact her boat.
Relation to Lost storyline: After Charlie sacrificed himself to succeed in his mission to disable the Looking Glass radio-signal jammer, Naomi realized her satellite phone is now able to contact her boat. At that very moment, she was impaled in the back by a knife thrown by Locke, who had specific orders to prevent contact with outsiders. Jack defied Locke’s threat and told the man on the phone that Naomi was with them and they sought rescue.
Re-Jigger the Satellite Phone Settings
Re-Jigger the Satellite Phone Settings
Outcome:Half-Accomplished, Although Naomi was able to recalibrate her satellite phone signal vis-à-vis the Freighter, she soon succumbed to her knife wound and died.
Mission: To clear a channel for communication between Naomi and the Kahana.
Corresponding A-Mission: None
Corresponding O-Mission: None
Background: Believed to be dead, Jack and Kate took their attention off Naomi's body and focused on organizing their people. It was during this distraction that Naomi regained her remaining strength and fled, bleeding into the jungle.
Relation to Lost storyline: After disagreeing over which trail was Naomi's and which was a fake, Jack made the wrong choice and found a dead end. Kate, having stolen the satellite phone from Jack, was ambushed from above by Naomi who forced her to contact Minkowski so that the freighter could get a lock on her phone signal. Naomi died shortly thereafter, giving her coordinates to Minkowski in her final breath. This enabled her science team to travel to the Island and locate her signal.
Relation to Lost storyline: During an electrical storm, the team is forced to parachute out of the helicopter. Faraday lands near the cockpit and is immediately intercepted by Jack and Kate; Miles hits the cove and passes out; and Charlotte gets snagged in a tree and intercepted by Locke’s group. Frank manages to touch down the helicopter safely on the Island. They tell the survivors that they are there to rescue them.
Mission: To find Naomi’s body and determine her cause of death.
Corresponding A-Mission: None
Corresponding O-Mission: None
Background: After receiving Naomi’s coordinates and parachuting onto the Island, Faraday and Miles attempt to rendezvous with the rest of the team, but are intercepted by Jack and Kate. Miles pulls a gun on Jack, demanding that Kate take him to Naomi, who he knows has died.
Discoveries: Ben has a man on the Kahana, Widmore wants Ben found, the Freighter members don't fully trust or know each other
Relation to Lost storyline: Applying his mediumship, Miles learns that Naomi was brutally attacked by Locke and realizes that the people on the beach do not want to hurt them. Still, Miles stay vigilant and aggressive until he is forcibly disarmed by Sayid and Juliet. They all regroup with a dazed Frank at the helicopter.
Mission: To receive the payload and conduct an experiment.
Corresponding A-Mission: None
Corresponding O-Mission: None
Background: While Sayid and Kate took Miles to infiltrate Locke’s group at the Barracks, Faraday began to set up a series of mechanical instruments. Frank informed Jack that they were harmless experiments that he did all the time back on the boat.
Discoveries: There is an exponential time difference between the island and the Freighter
Relation to Lost storyline:Faraday called Regina, asking her to send him the payload. She confirmed the launch, but it did nor arrive until 31 minutes after it was supposed to. Inside the payload was a clock, confirming that there was a delay in time between the island and the Freighter.
Find Ben Linus
Find Ben Linus
Outcome:Half-Accomplished, Miles located Ben at the Barracks but was imprisoned by Locke, preventing him from telling anyone about it.
Background: Under orders from Widmore, the Kahana was dispatched with two teams: a science team and a mercenary team. Both had different leaders and different agendas, yet certain figures in each group knew of Widmore's true intentions in commissioning the Freighter to find the Island: the location and capture of Benjamin Linus.
Discoveries: Miles’ bribe of $3.2 million, the Freighter has a detailed roster of Kate when they got her name from the satellite phone
Relation to Lost storyline:Miles knew full well that he was there to extract Ben Linus, and accompanied Sayid to the Barracks where Locke's group had fortified themselves with Ben. Yet, Miles was traded for Charlotte and was prevented from extracting a bribe from Ben in exchange for reporting his “death” back to the Freighter.
Mission: To return Desmond’s consciousness to the present day by finding him a constant that exists in both times.
Corresponding A-Mission: None
Corresponding O-Mission: None
Background: By following Faraday’s bearing of 305, Frank pilots the helicopter carrying Desmond, Sayid, and Naomi’s body off the Island. However, the electrical storm around the Island causes his bearings to go off mark temporarily and Desmond (being recent exposed to massive amounts of radiation and electromagnetism) becomes “unstuck in time.” His consciousness travels back and forth between 1996 and 2004, while he believes he is in 1996 in both times. Aboard the Freighter, Desmond is treated in the sick bay by Ray, while Sayid and Frank sneak down there to give him a satellite phone.
Relation to Lost storyline:Faraday is on the phone (informed of Desmond’s condition), and tells Desmond to find him at Oxford when his consciousness once again reverts to 1996. He does so, gains Faraday’s trust, and is instructed by 1996-Faraday to find a constant that exists in both times or he will suffer a brain aneurysm and die. Desmond knows he must use the Freighter radio room to contact his love, Penny or he will die. After his consciousness flashes back and forth more rapidly, Desmond, Sayid, and Minkowski escape from the sick bay and make it to the radio room where Sayid repairs the phone and Minkowski dies from temporal displacement. Desmond calls Penny and tells her not to give up hope for their reunion, his mind restored to 2004.
Background:Faraday and Charlotte leave the beach camp abruptly in the middle of the night, proceeding directly to the Tempest, a DHARMA Station that experiments with and controls the distribution of toxic gas, with the intention to shut it down and render it inert. They run into Kate along the way (returning to the beach camp after being banished from Locke’s group), and knock her out when she starts rifling through their packs.
Relation to Lost storyline: Upon arriving at the Tempest, Faraday begins to type furiously on the main console to override its apparent authority to release the toxic gas in an Island-wide attack similar to that of the Purge. Juliet catches up with them, with Jack, and Kate lagging behind. Juliet threatens Faraday at gunpoint to stop, believing he intends to release the gas. She is the attacked from behind by Charlotte who urges her to put down her gun and let Faraday finish his task. Faraday succeeds, and Charlotte offers to take Jack and Kate inside to show her how they just saved their lives.
Background: Embarking on their mission handed down by Charles Widmore, Keamy and his mercenaries reached the Island via helicopter (piloted by Frank) and initially encountered Alex, Karl, and Danielle Rousseau en route to the Temple to seek refuge with the Others. They shot Karl and Danielle and took Alex prisoner, giving them access through the sonar fence to the Barracks.
Relation to Lost storyline: While the initial assault killed several survivors, destroyed Claire's house, and rattled Locke's group, they refused to surrender Ben to the mercenaries, even after Keamy shockingly executed Alex right in front of his eyes. Due to what Ben summized as Charles Widmore "changing the rules," he summoned the Monster which effectively devastated the mercenaries and forced them into a full retreat.
Background:Keamy's original plan was to simply capture Ben Linus and leave the Island. The failure of the first attempt at the Barracks led Keamy to review the plans for "torching the island," the Secondary Protocol.
Relation to Lost storyline:Frank reported that Mayhew had died of his wounds, so Keamy took matters into his own hands. Omar hooked up a dead man’s trigger to Keamy and the mercenary team began to load the helicopter with guns and munitions for the return to the Island. Acting on Michael’s warning, Frank refused to fly the team back to Island, which prompted Keamy to slit Doc Ray’s throat and throw him overboard. Captain Gault pulled a gun on Keamy, but became distracted allowing Keamy to pull a gun and shoot him dead. The Freighter now leaderless, Frank relented to Keamy and started up the helicopter to return to the Island.
Background: With their munitions refueled and the Freighter in anarchy, the mercenary team followed the Secondary Protocol back to the Island and to the Orchid DHARMA station where Widmore believed Ben would go if he knew the Island was in imminent, grave danger. After handcuffingFrank to the helicopter for his earlier resistance, Keamy and his men arrived there first and waited for Ben to arrive in order to capture him.
Relation to Lost storyline: Laying in wait for their target, Ben stepped right out into the middle of the destroyed greenhouse with his hands in the air signaling his surrender. He was quickly identified by the mercenary team and pistol whipped by Keamy, who personally escorted him back to the helicopter.
Background: After subduing Ben at the Orchid, Keamy and his men were walking him back to the helicopter when Kate ran out of the jungle claiming that she was being chased by Ben’s people. This was a guise to draw out the troops, as they were stealthed one by one by the Others.
Relation to Lost storyline: After his team is murdered by the Others and a live grenade kills Omar, Keamy charges into the jungle after Ben and Kate, only to be tackled by Sayid and thrown into close-quarter combat. He pins Sayid and nearly throttles him, when Richard appears and shoots him several times in the back, apparently killing him. Ben is cut free by the Others, and provides Kate and Sayid with the helicopter to leave the Island at their whim.
Background: With his men dead and Ben about to escape his grasp, Keamy (surviving due to a bulletproof vest) takes the elevator down to the secret Orchid station for a final attempt to subdue Ben and complete his mission. He reaches the secret underground section of the Orchid and finds the lights off and the television monitor flickering.
Discoveries: None
Relation to Lost storyline: Keamy taunts Ben to come out and face him, referencing Richard’s cowardice and the pathetic way in which Alex died. He is then met by Locke, who tells him to lower his knife. Keamy refuses but is attacked from behind by Ben, who knocks him down with his telescopic baton and stabs him in the throat with his own knife. In his last breath, Keamy tells Ben that no matter he goes, Widmore will find him. He then dies, disabling the signal on his dead man’s trigger, blowing up the Freighter.
Get the Survivors Off the Island
Get Everyone Off the Island
Outcome:Half-Accomplished, Despite Faraday conveying a majority of the survivors to the Freighter, it turned out to be less safe than remaining on the Island since it exploded soon after.
Background: Overhearing Keamy’s plan to proceed to the Orchid on the satellite phone, Faraday realized the implications of this and became resolved to get everyone off the Island, which had now become the most dangerous place to be (unaware of the bomb planted aboard the Freighter). Sun, Jin, and Aaron were on the first trip, but Charlotte and Miles elected to stay behind on the Island and take their chances.
Relation to Lost storyline: Working for hours to analyze the circuitry of the bomb, Desmond and Jin attempted to disconnect the trigger, while Michael began to freeze the signal battery with a canister of liquid nitrogen. At the same time, Faraday began transporting survivors off the beach camp onto the Freighter where he believed it would be safe. However, when Keamy succumbed to his wounds, the dead man’s trigger stopped broadcasting its signal, triggering the bomb which blew up the Freighter and killed all on board. Faraday was en route to the Freighter at this time with another group.
Season Breakdown[]
Season 4 - Percentage Successful
53.3% (8/15)
Season 4 - Percentage Half-accomplished
26.7% (4/15)
Season 4 - Percentage Failed
20.0% (3/15)
Season 5[]
In season 5, the F-Mission takes a different approach. The mercenary team is dead, the Freighter is destroyed, and the surviving members of the science team are stranded on a “moving” Island. After the Oceanic 6 is rescued, Frank complies in the lie and returns to his mild-mannered life of piloting. Yet, both the science team and Frank soon find themselves in respective timelines on the Island (1977 and 2007, respectively). By the end of this season, the F-Team is dissolved, with the remnants joining the A-Team or the O-Team.
Background: With the time flashes plunging the Island into chaos, Faraday appraises himself of the situation and tells the survivors that they must find something “man-made” to establish when they are in time. By doing this, he seeks to make contact with his constant: Desmond Hume. Faraday knows that the rules of time travel do not apply to someone who has been exposed to as much electromagnetic radiation as Desmond has been.
Relation to Lost storyline: During one of the time flashes, Faraday realizes that the Hatch is still intact. He tells Sawyer that he can’t knock on the entrance to the Swan, knowing Desmond will not answer. He explains, “Whatever happened, happened.” Sawyer becomes angry and leads his group back to the beach, while Faraday stays behind since he has already met Desmond prior to 2001. Desmond answers the knocking and comes out in a HAZMAT suit with a rifle, but Faraday tells him he just wants to deliver a message. Before the flash comes, Faraday tells Desmond to find his mother. Desmond wakes up in 2007, distinctly remembering the conversation.
Neutralize the Jughead
Neutralize the Jughead
Outcome:Half-Accomplished, Faraday convinced Ellie and the Hostiles to bury the Jughead but twenty-three years later it remained operable, though housed below the DHARMA Barracks.
Background:Faraday, Miles, and Charlotte become detached from Sawyer and Juliet after the assault on the beach, landing in the year 1954 due to the time flashes. They are intercepted by the Others, led by Ellie, who take them to the abandoned U.S. Army campsite and believe them to be part of the unit they wiped out. They are taken to Richard, who tells them that they started this conflict and that he suspects they came back for their bomb.
Relation to Lost storyline: Upon seeing the hydrogen bomb, Faraday becomes resolved to neutralize it, convincing Richard to let him inspect it since he believes it has sprung a leak. Ellie holds him at gunpoint and escorts him to the bomb, which he promptly instructs her to bury in concrete. She presses the issue as to how he knows everything will be fine, and he lets it slip that in 50 years the Island is still there. Just as Sawyer and Juliet move in and disarm Ellie, the time flashes occur again.
Background: After the third time flash, Charlotte begins to suffer an intense nosebleed and collapses on the ground. Faraday tries to revive her, but Locke remains resolute that since this problem started at the Orchid, it can be resolved there. Charlotte regains consciousness and the group continues the trek, enduring a dozen more flashes until Charlotte becomes overburdened and falls unconscious from the mental strain.
Relation to Lost storyline: With Charlotte crippled and Sawyer's group pressing onward to the Orchid, Faraday remains behind with Charlotte who has become temporally displaced and has suffered nosebleeds as a result. As she dies, she confesses that she remembers a creepy older man who warned her to stay away from the Island as a child. She starts to regress to her childhood, as she succumbs to temporal displacement and dies. Faraday weeps over her death as Locke re-sets the wheel and ends the flashes.
Safely Land Ajira 316
Safely Land Ajira 316
Outcome:Half-Accomplished, While Frank was able to land Ajira 316 on the Hydra Island runway, his co-pilot was killed and several other passengers either time shifted or were injured.
Discoveries: Frank discovered that the Oceanic 6 were planning to return to the Island.
Relation to Lost storyline: This event led to Jack, Hurley, and Kate finding Sawyer and Juliet, and eventually to the detonation of the Jughead bomb and the death of Juliet.
Return to the Ajira Crash Site (2007)
Return to the Ajira Crash Site (2007)
Outcome:Half-Accomplished, While Frank was able to land Ajira 316 on the Hydra Island runway, his co-pilot was killed and several other passengers either time shifted or were injured.
Mission: Return to the Ajira Crash Site and Confront Ilana and her people.
Corresponding A-Mission: None
Corresponding O-Mission: None
Background: After the landing of Ajira Flight 316 on the runway of Hydra Island, Lapidus loses control of the camp immediately to the will of Ceasar and Ilana. After the John Locke incident that schisms the camp with the murder of Caesar, Ilana and her people put their plan into action and acquire the metal cargo crate. Lapidus, in his mission to re-establish control over the Ajira campsite, is instead taken prisoner by Ilana and her people.
Discoveries: Frank discovered that the Oceanic 6 were planning to return to the Island.
Outcome:Half-Accomplished, Faraday, Jack, and Kate managed to locate the Hostile camp, but before Faraday could tell his mother why he came for her, she shot him in the back, killing him.
Background: Returning from Ann Arbor, MI, Faraday learns of the Oceanic 6’s return to the Island and becomes resolved to change the future. He enlists the aid of Jack and Kate to help find his mother who is living on the Island at this time as a Hostile. Despite Sawyer’s objections to their involvement, Jack and Kate agree to help.
Discoveries: {{{discoveries}}}
Relation to Lost storyline: After securing guns from the motor pool, the three were caught off guard by Radzinsky who was operating at a heightened state of security after the recent Hostile attack and the betrayal of LaFleur. He saw that Faraday had a gun and opened fire. Jack, Kate, and Faraday were able to escape relatively unharmed and came across the Hostile’s campsite, where Faraday went in alone and held Richard at gunpoint demanding to see Eloise. While threatening Richard, Faraday was shot from behind by a pregnant Eloise, revealing to her in his dying breath that he was her son.
