Description
Before a campaign to conquer the Shivan-Controlled system Capella can begin, you must jump to the Capella side of the Vega-Capella jump node and clear all hostile forces so the destroyers and cruisers can jump safely.

Storyline:
The Shivan threat has subsided, and now the GTA is on the offensive, clearing systems of Shivan influence. An armada is assembled in the Vega system, destination Capella. But before they jump in, you are sent to clear out the other side. Basic storyline, and the systems involved correspond to their status at the end of the Freespace campaign: Vega was indeed Terran-controlled, and Capella was Shivan-controlled. While riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes, the Command briefing outlines the plot well and includes references to Altair data allowing decoding of the Shivan language and a sensor jammer that can be used in asteroid fields. Neither of these are used in this mission, however. <p> The briefing, too, is short and to the point, and it, too, is also riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes. It comes complete with the all-too-common mistake of showing a NavBouy model for the jump node icon. One briefing transition is a fade from a blank screen to the grid, which is a nice touch.

Balance:
This mission isn't Scramble, and isn't Red Alert, but it might as well be. The default loadout consists of two starting wings of eight Ulysses fighters with a set of Avengers, ML-16s and MX-50s. Your ships and weapons pool consists of 5 surplus Ulysses fighters, 30 MX-50s, and 6 Avengers. That's all. So aside from upgrading some ML-16s to Avengers, there is absolutely nothing you can do in the way of ship or weapon selection. <p> But despite the fact that you are left with legacy weapons, this mission is a cakewalk. You are attacked right away by a meager 9 ships to your 8. If you call in reinforcements - a wing of four Hercules fighters - the mission gets even easier. The weaker ships are quickly removed to leave behind 4 dragons. Severely outnumbered, they can be destroyed with nothing but patience, and once those four are gone, no further waves arrive to replace them. <p> Then a Lilith shows up. While it may take some persistence to destroy it before it can warp out at the node, it's certainly possible without any casualties, and is certainly possible with those reinforcements around. <p> Finally, the player is presented with a Shivan cargo container, which a transport warps in to retrieve. Since no additional threats arrive, this is basically four minutes of waiting for a Bonus objective. (Why is it a bonus objective? People probably got sick of waiting )

Design:
Well, there really isn't very much to make a design blunder with here. The ubiquitous "Jump Node 0" makes a triumphant return. There are some minor ai hassles: the starting wings have no initial orders. Beta 1 is smart enough to give an attack order, but Alpha wing waits for your command and remains in formation till they are released. That cargo mentioned earlier is not flagged "protected," so having it blown up by fellow wingmen is a great possibility, even though Command makes it clear that they want it picked up. Some odd wing naming, as well, and the reinforcements should have been named Delta or Epsilon so they get a place on the HUD, but I'm just nit-picking at this point. <p> Directives are used to good effect, with a single "destroy hostiles" directive for all wings. The Debrief covers all bases, and is what one would expect. General look-and-feel is mediocre overall.

Gameplay:
With a limited loadout and minimal opposition, this mission simply isn't any fun. There are no major surprises, many ineffective lulls in the action, and little dramatic tension. The small element of strategy involved in destroying the Lilith before it can warp out is welcome, but it simply isn't enough to carry this mission. <p> While "Clear out Jump Node" really isn't that bad technically and possesses a feasible storyline, very little distinguishes it from the crowd, and it's far too easy to boot.

Other Thoughts:
When a ship is given a "disable" order, it will switch to whatever weapon it has that does the least amount of hull damage. While this is great when you need a ship intact, it does not necessarily damage the system very quickly. With the "destroy subsystem" order, however, your allies will be much less cautious about collateral damage, going in guns blazing. This tidbit is useful against that Lilith.