Description
The Fleet stationed at the Kranthos Installation has left to attack the Vasudans. This leaves only Alpha, Beta, and Delta wings left to protect the installation.

Storyline:
Your usual "defend the Arcadia installation" mission set during the Terran-Vasudan war. However, the mission doesn't really explain the timeline or build up the environment.

Balance:
A limited selection of three Apollos and three Valkyries, but with a reasonable weapon and missile loadout. Unfortunately, the weapons loadout contains many cannons and missiles that couldn't have been developed yet (Avenger, Flail, Stiletto, Interceptor, Phoenix V, Tsunami). The Vasudan attackers are similarly armed (one bomber even with Harbringer Bombs from the end of the Great War!). However, no ship has a shield system. <p> There is a delicate balance here: the enemies must be a credible threat to the station, making it necessary that Alpha have the weapons to defend itself. However, each fighter can be easily destroyed without the shield system to protect it. Although this seems to balance out overall, the result is that every fighter can die extremely easily.

Design:
Beta is assigned to patrol, but doesn't seem to complete its patrol. This might be for the better, since the patrol route was created almost on top of the Arcadia installation. <p> The directive events are correctly done. Enemy wings are sufficiently far from the station to obtain missile locks. However, the enemy ships are placed extremely close to each other, particularly the next-to-last wave. <p> The mission avoids the over-use of capital ships, instead choosing to send several waves of fighters and bombers at the installation. The timing is realistic and believable, but generally not overwhelming.

Gameplay:
If you wish to defend the installation (instead of letting the Arcadia return fire and decimate the attackers for you), this mission is extremely difficult. Even with the reinforcements, the final bomber wave is tightly-packed enough so as to form a virtual wall that responding defenders will repeatedly crack their head against. This ship placement aggravates the deadliness of the weapons balance, given that there are no shields. <p> Early waves fall quickly, but the defenders lose ships quickly in the final wave. This creates the opportunity for lots of replay, but repeating this mission will often be frustrating. The real challenge to this mission is finding a solution to the final mass wave of six or seven ships. You might be more foolhardy than me, since I was forced after the fifth mission to hide out along the opposite side of the station watching the self-defense batteries decisively end the battle in my favor. My excuse for this cowardiance is that I needed to see the debriefing. :) You might not be able to avoid the charge of "chicken" so easily.

Other Thoughts:
I suggest joining the Vasudans for an interesting (if tounge-in-cheek) debriefing, since I doubt the Vasudans can pull off the destruction of the station without help.