Description
A rescue operation in a nebula turns into a deadly encounter....

Storyline:
This mission reminds me a lot of the Volition mission "Mystery of the Trinity" when the GTVA first explores the nebula. I have to admit; I was compelled as the story began to unfold, until it started to unfold to nowhere. The player follow Zeta Wing to recover the crew of the GTSC Nobel, and the crew is recovered in a routine operation. I'm sure that the author attempted to create a sense of tension with the long patrol through the nebula, but I didn't encounter a single enemy craft until nine minutes into the mission, when a Ravana class destroyer and several wings of Shivan fighters come out of the woodwork. Little explanation is given for this, as well as what happened to the Science vessels in the first place.

Balance:
The balance isn't bad once combat finally starts. In order for the GTVA reinforcements to take out the Ravana Class Paranoia, the player needs to at a minimum, assist the bombers, and taking out the Paranoia's massive forward beams certainly helps too.

Design:
Which brings up the kind of design flaw that bothers me a lot. There is very little direction from command, or either friendly capital ship in this mission. An adventurous pilot might go after the Paranoia's beams, but without direction from command, you don't know whether to direct your attention to the beams or protecting your bombers. It requires the player to experiment with the mission in order to find out where to dedicate his or her effort.

Gameplay:
The first half of the mission is pretty dull, since you just play follow the leader with Zeta wing. Once you engage the Shivan forces, there is a pretty good fight, since the player has to deal with enemy fighers, protect friendly bombers and make attacks on the Paranoia whenever possible. The nine minute

Other Thoughts:
I thought the debriefing was strange, since if you fail to destroy the Paranoia, the author has the GTVA execute you. This doesn't seem to fit in with the GTVA. Sure, there are capitol crimes, but wouldn't BETAC forbid execution for a GTVA officer for failing a mission?