Description
Scientists aboard The GTSC Stand have discovered a new bio-organism capable of eating through flesh. The last transmission from The Stand was that there was a containment leak in one of the labs. GTS Command has ordered the elimination of this science station before the enemy knows of the organism and/or can use it.

Storyline:
An idea taken straight from the imagination of Stephen King, a micro-organism that eats flesh off the victim's bones has been developed on the GTSC Stand. And, typically, a containment leak has resulted in the organisms loose on the ship to kill all the non-GTA sanctioned scientists. Being highly intelligent scientists, this Science Station is located at the edges of Shivan space and "light" Shivan resistance is expected. In addition, Command speculates that this biological agent might have been developed in secret collaboration with the Vasudans. The solution is simple: nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure. <p> Unfortunately, you will find out little else about the origins and purpose of the organism or its attempted abductors. You will never know how the scientists were able to develop this scientific breakthrough in the first place, given the constant Shivan attack waves. And why would the Shivans need some biological death agent when they already have the Lucifer? For that matter, why would the Hammer of Light need to "capture" this biological agent (which by then has been destroyed) when it is supposed to arrive in a "captured" Shivan Lucifer-class Super Destroyer? This is just too much to swallow.

Balance:
The ship selection is limited to the Valkyrie, Apollo, Medusa, and Athena. This wouldn't be a problem, except that the missile loadout is limited to MX-50s and Harbringers. Only one problem -- the Harbringers will not fit on ANY of these ships. Worst of all, you won't have ANY missiles if you choose an Athena bomber, since MX-50s are not a valid missile choice for an Athena. The limited weapon selection (only ML-16s, Disruptors, Flails, and Prometheuses) doesn't help. The Apollo and the Athena can't use the Prometheus; the Valkyrie and the Medusa can't use the Flail; and the Medusa can't use the Disruptor. In the end, you're horribly underpowered and forced to call in the reinforcements who will make quick work of any hostiles. Since the science vessel is a notoriously weak-hulled ship, you're not challenged.

Design:
The directives simply don't work, since they are tied to the wrong events. Directives should be associated with events that, when completed, will mean that the directive has been sucessfully completed. All of the events in this mission are designed to play in-flight sounds, which are well-done even though they don't use the Volition intro/end effects. A few events at the start overlap, so that you don't hear all of the in-flight sounds. <p> The docking ports on the Shivan Freighters are incompatible with the Terran Science Vessel (GTSC Stand), which means that the Shivans can't dock -- and can't steal the dangerous microorganisms. That's not much to worry about, however, as the freighters are easily overwhelmed. <p> The HOL Lucifer-class cruiser doesn't arrive in the mission, which is supposed to arrive as the Shivan Cain-class cruiser is damaged. Even if the Hammer "Lucifer" did arrive, it would likely crash into the Cain cruiser as it is set up to arrive at a distance of only 210 meters. Even though this Super Destroyer isn't invulnerable, it is defended only by one wing of fighters. This section of the mission is obviously tacked-on to the mission as an afterthought. It's just ridiculous, so perhaps it's a blessing that this section of the mission ultimately fails. <p> Another, less serious error in this mission is the briefing icons which are placed so that they overlap each other.

Gameplay:
Not at all - the main part of the mission is over in 2 minutes and then the second part of the mission never starts. If you call in your reinforcements, you're unstoppable. If you couldn't call for help, then the mission might be a little more interesting (maybe 4 minutes long). However, you can hang around to do battle for another 10 minutes as bombers and fighters arrive. The Shivan Nephilim bombers will continue to arrive even after there's nothing left for them to bomb! The more I think about this mission, the more dissatisfied I become with its gameplay.

Other Thoughts:
Rename this file to "SWicked.fsm" if you're running FreeSpace version 1.04, as the long filename can result in the Mission Simulator crashing as it parses this mission.