Description
You are a spy for the GTF on a covert operation to discretly take down a renegade space station. Your cover is almost blown when the Shivans arrive to try to spoil your plan. It takes skill and quick thinking to carry out your mission as planned.

Storyline:
The storyline for this mission does not live up to the originality of its premise of a covert operation. The name of the station "Babylon 10" tells only about the designer's preference for a certain sci-fi television show, not about the reason <u>why</u> the space station has gone renegade or must be destroyed. Similarly, no attempt is made to explain why the Shivans would try to "spoil" the plan. The mission briefing contains several transition problems, but has a very nice movement effect for the transport icons.

Balance:
No weapon selection, which is completely inexcusable given the loadout -- 2 Banshees, 40 Hornets and 5 Phoenix Vs. I couldn't think of a loadout less suited to take out the maneuverable, quick Shivans. Unless you are a crack shot, the Banshees will quickly drain your weapon energy. Your missiles will be little help when the power runs out, since these missiles will take forever to lock-on and only moments for a Shivan to evade. The challenge in this mission exists mainly because of the poor weapon loadout!

Design:
The interesting part of this mission revolves around a remote detonation command. However, you will also have to wait as transports slowly cover a long distance haul of over 15,000 m -- at least 15 minutes of travel time! The delay is prolonged as transports collide before each docking. Not one, but two, sets of transports must dock (and collide) to move the cargo. Why didn't Omega already carry the cargo? Why does the first convoy self-destruct rather than undock? Even a lame excuse to explain this event would be better than nothing at all. <p> Worst of all, the warp drive is broken without any warning or reason. The only way to leave is to make sure that all of the Station's fighter defense is destroyed. Easy to do, since those ships don't fight the player at all. A bug, perhaps, with the key command in an event? <p> However, the author was able somehow to incorporate some very slick key-check and flashing HUD effects. The player icon in the mission briefing identifies the name of the pilot flying Alpha 1. Unfortunately, the messages at the end overlap and not all messages are sent. But if you've been missing the sounds from the X-Wing series, the sounds available with this mission sound eerily familiar.

Gameplay:
Weapon balance ruined this mission for me. Thankfully, there aren't many Shivans in the mission. The enemy arrives in small groups, but in many waves. The player has enough time chase the fighters away from the transports, but scoring a kill on the Shivans is almost impossible given the weapons configuration. Unless you enjoy chasing Shivans without a hope of killing them, most of the mission will be spent waiting for the cargo ships will deliver their deadly cargo so that it all will end. However, a great satisfaction exists at the end when, with a single keypress, an Arcadian station is destroyed in a beautiful explosion. <p> Shivan capital ships appear in the distance, but are no threat to the player. These ships sit off in the distance as window-dressing, not moving and without an escort.

Other Thoughts:
The mission requires the patience of a saint, not quick thinking, to carry out the mission as planned. A great premise and some slick events, but the storyline and the design fail to deliver the goods. <p> <strong>Warning:</strong> The sound file "m_fail.wav" appears to conflict with a sound file Volition uses when missiles have been depleted. Deleting this .wav file after playing the mission should resolve the file conflict.