Description
It's an escort mission with pirate incursion...

Storyline:
The storyline here is rather basic. Escort a wing of freighters to the Cygnus jump node. Enroute, a GTC Fenris in your path is disabled and pirates attack the convoy. The general storyline is rather basic, but there are a few excellent touches to the pirate attack. I won't tell the entire story, but one of these decoys involves a wing of drones filled with explosives. Also, the sequence involving a flyby of the GTC "Threepwood" after explosions rock the capital ship is very nicely done. These touches increase the drama in what would otherwise be another boring patrol where everything hits the fan. <p> However, the briefing claims that one of the containers is "of particular importance to the crew at the Cygnus Munitions Factory." This isn't integrated into the mission objectives or debriefing, although it would have been simple to implement. I'm also confused by which container is "important" out of the Antimatter, Tsunami Cores, and "LaTrappe Dubbel" cargo. But maybe that's because my linguistic skills are essentially limited to American English. Anyone care to fill me in on the joke?

Balance:
The ship loadout in this mission is suprisingly low-tech. Alpha and all wingmen are outfitted in GTF Apollos. This isn't that bad, since the pirate ships are either GTF Apollos or GTB Athenas. The effect is mass confusion as the pirates zip in and out of your allied craft. The weapon loadout is similarly limited, but appropriate for the setting. Weapons are limited to Prometheus or Flail cannons and Interceptor missiles. Friendly cannon fire is a serious concern, as the Apollos don't have powerful shields, and the trigger-happy might accidentally take out a few of their own wingmen. The situation created by the limitations from this loadout creates an interesting mission. <p> The only problem is that there are just too many pirates to fend off in the battle. Over 32 pirate ships, combined with several capital ships and a wing of explosive drones, make quick work of the GTFR Chronos freighters you must protect. The challenge is made all the more interesting by the fact that the Apollo, even while versatile, has only a limited amount of energy to recharge weapons, shields, and afterburners. I found that there just isn't enough juice to keep alive to finish the mission. And fighting a capital ship in an Apollo armed with Interceptors isn't a challenge that many are capable of finishing. These pirates aren't a puny rag-tag force, but a nasty and intelligent small army capable of pounding you into submission.

Design:
There are quite a few errors which offset the better parts of the design in this mission. One of the best parts in this mission is the sequence involving the GTC "Threepwood." A cargo container obscured by the captial ship explodes during the mission, creating a nice "blast" effect if you speed ahead of the freighters. Also, the waypoints used in Delta Wing's flyby of the GTC results in a "buzzing" of the capital ship. However, these touches aren't always noticable on lower detail resolutions and at further distances. <p> What you WILL noticable at the beginning of the mission is Iota wing bobbing and weaving as the freighters align themselves with the initial Waypoint 1 and then the final Waypoint 2. Only Waypoint 2 is necessary, and the use of Waypoint 1 only causes the AI confusion as it adjusts the headings at the start of the mission. Part of this problem is caused by Alpha Wing's arrival cue being set to a distance of 190 "in front of" Iota 1. This results in Alpha wing arriving directly in front of and in the way of Iota wing, creating a potential ship collission. Just allowing Alpha to arrive where placed in FRED would be better. Another interesting ship placement issue is that the freighters must go around a hostile capital ship. It makes for an interesing challenge, especially as another capital ship later arrives in an attempt to do the same. This doesn't cause problems, but it does dramatically increase the difficulty of the mission since already weakened freighters crumble under the firepower (Fusion Mortars) of a capital ship. But that seems to be the idea.... <p> The secondary objective "All of Iota has left" is automatically satisfied, as the sexp is only "not / is-destroyed-delay / Iota". An "and-in-sequence" operator is required to add the sexp "is-departed-delay / Iota" first, so that the survival of Iota wing is calculated ONLY after Iota departs (and if Iota doesn't depart at all, they're probably dead anyway). Also, Iota can depart even if all of its cargo is destroyed. It might be a good idea to add sexp conditions that require the survival of the cargo in addition to the freighers. Either that or make the cargo the object evaluated. <p> Otherwise, the mission uses inflight messages but not directives. This does a decent job of telling the story in the mission, but the directives would be a nice touch. The built-in AI orders telling Alpha and Beta to "guard the freighters" is a nice touch, but results in your wingmen getting slaughtered without fighting back very fiercely. This is easily fixed in the mission by issuing an order for one of the wings to attack. The briefing is somewhat minimal, but the debriefing looks like it will cover what it needs to. Overall, the design does create a somewhat dynamic mission that unfolds nicely with a few rough edges.

Gameplay:
The ship loadout makes for a very fun, but challenging mission. You can't rely on ship profiles to target the enemy, instead you must pay attention to the IFF of most ships. This creates the kind of confusion I'd expect when a bunch of pirates swarmed in with similar looking ships. This is an interesting situation created by the limited ship loadout and, for that reason, this mission is different from what I've seen before. <p> On top of that, the built-in AI orders will result in your wingmen getting slaughtered. But this, too, is something you'd expect in a suprise attack. Your troops fall back trying to defend the primary objective, but fail to take the initiative and respond intelligently. It's something where your orders WILL make a difference in how the mission turns out. Also, this mission provides a few tempting moments where you'll want to get far ahead of the freighters. It's a bad move, but it plays into the weakness of your curiousity. These touches, intentionally or not, make me enjoy this mission. <p> Yes, there are too many hostile fighters and the capital ships aren't easy to fight (you only have to destract one of them long enough so that the freighters can pass). I couldn't finish the mission after repeated attempts on the medium setting, but it always felt like it was possible. It might be, but should you expect every ambush to be easily thwarted?

Other Thoughts:
There are good parts, but also some obvious problems. Not bad for an earlier FRED mission, but not everyone will agree with my gut feeling of "fun" on this one.