Description
An unattended Shivan cargo dump has become a target for the GTA. Also, some guest appearances from Curly (3 stooges), a Pakistany dude, and the King himself: Elvis! Check it out...it's hillarius. (Note: don't mind the spelling mistakes. =) )

Storyline:
Most of the story is contradictory: there's a desterted Shivan cargo depot, but it's still guarded by patrols and capital ships. After the depot is destroyed, a massive defense force arrives. The Terrans send in reinforcements even though all of the objectives are completed and the battle is fought over the empty wreckage. This military strategy seems sound only to those following the Phyrric school of tactics. <p> The humor in this mission results from voice impressions, not from a creative storyline. Even though the various voices are amusing, they're just slapped on in an attempt at humor.

Balance:
There are plenty of missiles and cannons to go around, but not an excessive or disbelievable number. Pilots can choose from any ship, including the bombers. Since choosing a bomber would be an absurd choice for a scanning misison, it is hard to understand this decision. At most, it gives the player the option to choose to be more prepared for the first or the second stage of the mission. In the first stage, the best ship is the default GTF Ulysses. It handles well against scouting waves of Scorpions, Basilisks and Manticores. However, at the end of the mission, a large amount of Terran reinforcements arrive to fight off a Shivan cruiser. Since the cruisers aren't well-defended by fighters, the Ulysses won't be as useful in this stage as a GTF Hercules or even a GTF Apollo.

Design:
This mission is better designed than Left Unattended v.2. Both stages of the mission appear to run correctly, and the amusing in-flight sounds work correctly. <p> In the first stage of the mission, transports will pick up and offload cargo. Both ships will have almost completed their tasks by the time Alpha arrives in the vacinity, so it is difficult for pilots to appreciate their significance during the first run-through of the mission. <p> The mission also contains a few minor annoyances. First, no directives are used. Alpha will have to "wing it" (bad pun, I know) should they bypass the bug and make it to the second stage of the mission. Second, the Shivan and Terran cruisers are horribly placed. The Shivans begin facing their Terran capital ship enemies, who appear as reinforcements only seconds after the Shivans. Are both the Terran and Shivan commands telephathic? I doubt it, more like the mission designer is hoping no one noticed this abberation. <p> It is also strange that all of the ships and cargo containers are placed on a two-dimensional plane (x, 0, z), and this mission contains a pathetic asteroid field. You barely notice the small smattering of asteroids. I still wonder why the first wave of Terrans just didn't arrive on the OTHER side of the asteroid field, where the Jump Node is located and the Terran reinforements arrive.

Gameplay:
The first part of the mission is just simply boring. Most of the action in this mission occurs in the second stage, where the action isn't too shabby. The Shivans give a good fight and the AI differences are apparent between each wing of fighers. <p> With more chances to actually fight the Shivans, rather than waiting around in the debris of the cargo depot, I found that the second wave to be somewhat overwhelming. I didn't enjoy fighting the capital ships in a Ulysses without any missiles, but I suppose there are other fighters to choose from in the loadout. Since the two stages in the mission don't mesh together well, however, either the beginning or the ending will be frustrating to play. My repeated attempts to destroy the capital ships in a Ulysses made me think of shooting fishes in a barrel -- but I was the fish and the Shivans were using a shotgun. But at least there were amusing sounds.

Other Thoughts:
This mission is a working version of Left Unattended v.2, demonstrating that the mission doesn't deserve to be on the Top 10. If you're willing to take the plunge with either mission, definitely choose this one and pass on the other.