Description
This mission gives you command of 3 wings of fighters and bombers. You must take out a HOL Flagship and a fleeing convoy.

Storyline:
This mission is no David versus Goliath story. It's a tale of a Hammer of Light destroyer escorting several transports across the galaxy and a massive assault on that convoy. Did I say that <u>destroyers</u> are guarding your standard convoy? Yes, I did. And, unfortunately, the mission briefing fails to explain why this convoy is so critical that the Hammer of Light would send a destroyer with only a few fighters to escort a convoy through Terran territory. <p> Perhaps the answer has something to do with the HOL army of rebels on Charon, which is mentioned only in the debriefing but nowhere else. Did the Hammer of Light or the Shivans ever have ground forces? Alternate storylines with new concepts should be explained or introduced. Worst of all, a Terran destroyer will unexpectedly explode due to "sobbotage" (not my spelling). I found this difficult to believe, since subterfuge serious enough to reduce a destroyer to 2% hull would be very difficult to accomplish. <p> Additionally, the mission briefing suffers from severe icon crowding. These overlapping icons are even named by their default settings.

Balance:
The balance on this mission needs a complete overhaul. The briefing warns you to expect "heavy resistance," but I've seen heavier resistance in some patrol missions. Since the Hammer fighters appear in waves and the Terran fighters appear all at once (except for unnecessary reinforcements), the Terrans have numerical superiority over the HOL. Without fighters to defend it, the Hammer destroyer dies quickly. Frankly, I'd expect a Hammer destroyer to be well-defended and busy doing other, more important, work. <p> The overabundance of military resources doesn't quite hold true for the weapons loadout. Even though pilots can choose from any ship, their cannon choices will be restricted to the high-end weapons: 2 Avengers, 1 Flail, 7 Prometheuses, and 64 (!) Banshees. At least the missile loadout is more than adequate.

Design:
Ship placement is particularly poor. The capital ships arrive in the mission practically on top of each other and at a 90 degree angle. All of the fighters are placed on a two-dimensional place, and 12 Terran fighters are crammed into 404 meters of space (about 50 m apart). Expect a few fender benders, even though the effect of placing Alpha 1 behind the teammates helps to reduce the damage and results in a beautiful screenshot of the massive assault force. <p> There are a few in-flight messages to highlight the key portions of the mission, but I didn't notice them being triggered by the events.

Gameplay:
Although Alpha needs to do very little to succeed in the mission, it is enjoyable to participate in a massive assault on the giant destroyer. Perhaps a little unfair, given the numerical advantage of the Terrans. Perhaps the most aggravating part of this mission is that, to make any difference in the outcome, Alpha must attack the escaping transports instead of participating in the slugfest against the giant cruiser. This makes for an anti-climactic battle, since most of the action will appear in your rear view. For a more enjoyable game, send your other wings to attack the convoy as you participate in the assault. <p> Even with the large number of Terran fighters, I experienced minimal slow down on my system. It accomplishes the feeling of a large battle without falling prey to the Battle of Endor Syndrome.

Other Thoughts:
The Terran destroyer, the GTD Vortmax, sounds like a vacuum cleaner, not a formidable capital ship.