Description
A new shield protoype has been discovered by a recon ship. Unfourtunately, all contact was lost with the ship, and it is now your job to find out what is going on.

Storyline:
A recon ship discovered some Shiva shield prototypes that work in subspace, and we want 'em. We sent in a freighter - the Lashka - to get the prototypes, but lost contact with it. This might have been a good plot, but it's ruined. First of all, if it's something as important as a subspace-functioning sheilding system, why are only a pair of Ulysses sent to guard it? And if the Lashka is heavily damaged and disabled - which it is - where are the ships that damaged it? Why are all of the cargo containers undamaged? Why don't we send in a freighter with Alpha wing to grab the cargo in the first place? The list of plot-ruining design elements goes on and on. The briefing, at least, is passable.

Balance:
There is a third Ulysses available for reinforcements, but even with it, the odds are absurdly balanced against the player. The only other help the GTA can provide is a Fenris, and then only when a Cain warps in. The Cain, by the way, doesn't destroy the shield prototype. In general, the enemy comes in large numbers, hard to stop, and when an Asmodeus jumps in to steal the prototype in the middle of an especially large attack, no warning is given. Thus, a player who isn't watching for it - that is, a player who's playing for the first time - will lose the cargo. In addition to all of that, the shield prototype's IFF is always Hostile, so your "command" - is a pair of fighters really a command? - can't be set to guard it.

Design:
Those aformentioned problems are absolutely unbearable, and the design in general is absurd. Why does the enemy Cain jump in, kill all the cargo but the prototype, and jump out? Why is the objective to kill all fighters a Bonus Objective when the player is specifically instructed to "clear out all remaining fighters and return to base"? Why was this ever submitted to the Archive? And why for god's sake is there a cargo container INSIDE the polygons of the Lashka, containing misspelled Dilithium rods?

Gameplay:
Extrememly frustrating because of the way the mission is set up. Would it be that hard to give the player an entire wing? It took me 7 tries on medium to beat this, and only then because I was able to know exactly where the next threat would come from. Trying to beat Confusion was one of the most frustrating experiences I've gotten from Freespace since I tried to play it over the 'net on my 28.8 modem.

Other Thoughts:
This is sad. There are no hopes for improving this mission, but hopefully the author's next mission will be improved. It'll be hard for it not to be.