Description
Two Vasudan cruisers attempt to hold the Shivan invasion at the Epsilon Pegasi node. Allied Command dispatches your squadron to help. Defend the cruisers and hold the node.

Storyline:
It's just above minimal. There's no Command Briefing, but the Briefing and the Debriefing are well done. Essentially, two Vasudan Mentu cruisers have engaged a Shivan fleet of a Lilith and a Rakshasa. All was going well until Gemini Wing arrived, comprised of Astaroth Interceptors. It falls upon Alpha, Delta, and Epsilon to save the day. The Briefing is nicely done, and the author even took the time to set the Jump Node icon to represent a Jump Node (an oversight by many designers).

Balance:
Very well done. The player will definitely have to intervene, otherwise the twin Mentu cruisers are history. A varied assortment of bombers with fighter escort will arrive. It can and will be a suspenseful mission.

Design:
There are only a few flaws to an otherwise great design. First, there should be more in-flight messages. Most of them are cluttered around the major events, but there is a lot of silence in the interim. Second, the duel between capships at the end of the mission was a nice touch, but doesn't feel quite right. There isn't too much fighting at this point and you get to sit back and watch a Moloch get hammered by every known anti-cruiser weapon in the book.<p> Another "quirk" I found was that the final two messages could misled players who aren't totally reading the text. One says "Sweep the area, and then return to base," and the other essentially says "Return to base." The former message is probably not needed or could be rephrased. The fourth point, which is really nitpicking, is that there are a few grammatical errors.

Gameplay:
Tight gameplay here makes this mission quite fun. You will have to do a lot of bomb interception and chase down the bombers themselves quite often if the Mentus are to survive. Overall, it's just a really fun mission.<p>

Other Thoughts:
The mission seems like it has a nice in-your-face quality about it. Many of the fights against bombers happen within 200 meters of either ship. Also, the background work is quite aesthetically pleasing.