Description
About five to ten years after the second Shivan Invasion, a Knossos to Sol has been built and activated. Though recon ships have been deployed, all have failed to respond.<p> Meanwhile, in Delta Serpentis, there have been reports of hostile activity. The GTD Mecross is sent in and you fly Escort/Bomber Intercept.

Storyline:
By the looks of it, a Knossos portal has been constructed to Sol. The GTVA investigates in Sol and thereÂ’s a fairly good twist there. However, how Bosch got there and the way in which heÂ’s dealt with is fairly poor. Then, somehow the Shivans show up in Beta Cygni, despite it being miles (figuratively) from Sol. The briefing is written fairly well but suffers from being 2 stages long. The icon for the Mecross is also wrong.

Balance:
The mission is basically two capital ship duels, the first of which is less well balanced than the second is. Having a Demon (armed with 3 LRed cannons, no less) take on an unmodified Hades, with only a wing of fighters for support is somewhat unfair. If you can destroy the cannons on the Demon in time, and the small number of bombers it launches the Hades can easily carve the Jeanenairre to pieces, though it takes quite some time. Destroying the Shivan Moloch is quicker and more action-packed, though not a great challenge, to be honest.

Design:
The author had the foresight to place the Jeanenairre in the fields of fire of the feeble beam cannons of the Mecross, and there’s some nice axis work in general. However the weapon loadout leaves considerably more to be desired – though I suppose that if the author intended you to spend all your time attacking the cannons, it was a good idea to leave out the Trebuchets. Obviously beam-free s-exps have been applied where necessary, and the background isn’t bad at all.

Gameplay:
The word that sums up the first part of this mission, to be honest, is ‘tedious’. Blasting the beam cannons from point-blank range is easy, but time consuming. It’s also boring, as is waiting for the Mecross to finish off the crippled and defenceless destroyer. You’re at risk from a few fighters and bombers, but they’re easy enough to dispatch. The second part of the mission works fine without the player, though your help destroying beam cannons, once again, will help. In a sense, it’s good that you have to intervene to save the Hades – but in the worst possible way.

Other Thoughts:
If you rearm the Hades, it can become a fantastic vessel. Yes it can, IceFire... >:)