Description
The old GTD Bastion is waiting for the supply ships to arrive to be refit with the newest weaponry...unfortunately a Shivan destroyer jumps in ready to decimate the colonies on the nearby planet. Without the new beam and flak cannons the Bastion now relies on her fighter and bomber wings to fend of the SD Tragedy.

Storyline:
The story here is that the Bastion is under attack from a Ravana, a Cain, and some Shivan fighter and bomber wings in Vega just before it moves into Capella to collapse the Epsilon Pegasi node. Since the mission is meant to be a scramble-type mission, the story is a little slim. No Command Brief is offered, but I found that I really didnÂ’t miss it too much. It has what it needs, a briefing to let you know where the events fit into the FS timeline, and whatÂ’s going on. I really wish there had been a bit more in-mission dialogue with the pilots and Allied Command to help convey a sense of urgency; after all, the Bastion is the last hope for the GTVA!

Balance:
This mission is pretty well balanced. The loadout screen has all the bombers removed, which is good since theyÂ’re not needed. All your wingmen have Myrmidons except for the AI bomber wings, which donÂ’t show up on the loadout screen because of the wing names anyway. Strangely, Alpha 1 is given an Ares, which isnÂ’t my style, and makes little sense when the rest of your wing is a different kind of fighter. Ah well, to each their own. You arenÂ’t given every single weapon either; the weapons are confined to the ones that a fighter can carry with the exception of the Cyclops; there are 10 extra ones in the loadout, why are they there? I personally would have liked to have seen a few Helios bombs instead, since one fighter can actually carry them (Myrmidon). In mission, there is always something for the player to do, but itÂ’s not overwhelming. You start with a scramble to stay alive as two wings attack your force, and then it cools off for a few brief seconds as you take on some bombers attacking the Bastion. Spacing the Bastion and the Ravana apart helps keep the enemy from swarming the Bastion, especially since it has no beam or flak turrets to defend itself with. It was a good design choice, since if it werenÂ’t spaced like that it would be almost impossible to finish the mission.

Design:
For the most part, the design of this mission is clean. Most of the events are used properly, and there arenÂ’t a whole ton of needless events. All enemy wings that you need to destroy are in the directive window, but there is an event that looks as though it was meant for a wing that doesnÂ’t exist. It doesnÂ’t hinder the mission at all, but why is it there in the first place? One very nice touch is the beginning of the mission. After you launch, a wing of Basilisks is right on top of you, and they strafe the hangar deck as they move towards a waypoint set in a strategic location just before they break formation. It looks EXTREMELY cool, and helps set this one apart from other missions. Strangely enough, the enemy capital ships arenÂ’t actually directed to destroy the Bastion; rather, they go to a waypoint near the Bastion and simply follow default orders. ItÂ’s different, but why go to the trouble to do that? Finally, the order to return to base isnÂ’t listed in the directive window, but is given in a message from Command. Unfortunately, this message is given even if there are still a few hostile fighters left. Overall, though, the design is solid.

Gameplay:
IÂ’m not usually a big fan of Defense missions, but this one was fun! ItÂ’s not incredibly hard, but you have to stay on your toes and constantly blast Shivans into oblivion. When the Ravana finally falls, you WILL feel relieved that itÂ’s all over and you can take a break. This mission starts off fast and keeps you going until the end, but isnÂ’t so overwhelming that youÂ’ll give up. Of course, after you play it once or twice, thereÂ’s really no reason to go back to it right away. But when you need a quick adrenaline rush, load it up and enjoy!

Other Thoughts:
Darksier took the time to make a good mission, and its presence on the Top 20 User missions was testament to that. With a little bit more tweaking, this mission could go all the way to 5 stars.