Description
This mission takes place just before the NTF Rebellion. You are on watch at the Freedom shipyards where the Iceni(known then as the GTCv Iceni, an Aurora class corvette) is being built. There are many, many Shivans (Not going with the orig. story) and....<br> ...Play this mission and find out! <p> Plus!!! I even tried to beat it on Medium! It's pretty hard for me, but i'm only a Commander...

Storyline:
The storyline of this mission, such as it is, is that you must defend Freedom Shipyards where the GTCv Iceni, an Aurora class Corvette is under construction. There are only two briefing stages, which give the bare minimum of information. The briefing icon for Alpha wing doesnÂ’t even have a label! Most unforgivably, you are fighting the Shivans before the NTF rebellion even began. ThereÂ’s no explanation as to why, either. Some kind of reasoning might have made the idea easier to swallow.

Balance:
The mission is basically impossible to complete. Not only do you have a huge armada of Shivan fighters and bombers to destroy, but also the bombers appear so close to the station in such large numbers that it is impossible to save it. The fact that your wingmen all die within two minutes doesnÂ’t help either. On the other hand, the Iceni will get away easily, leaving you alone and at the mercy of dozens of fighters and bombers.

Design:
The design of the mission isnÂ’t half as bad as the rest of it, but it still isn't stellar. Waypoints are used, and all of the directives execute properly. It falls flat in a number of areas, though. ThereÂ’s no background and the mission goals are poorly constructed; for example, a simple has-departed-delay s-exp would have sufficed for the goal to protect the Iceni, but instead one of the three or four bomber wings must be destroyed and it must depart. The Shivans are poorly placed, not utilising the y-axis at all and appearing too close together. They even bump into each other as they exit subspace.

Gameplay:
This mission doesnÂ’t feel like fun, it feels like a sadistic exercise in survival. Fancy going one-against-the-entire-Shivan-fleet? Thought not. Even if the Iceni has departed, more Shivans have to be finished off. To top it all off, there is one message in the entire mission, which came out wrongly on my computer anyway.

Other Thoughts:
ItÂ’s really quite sad, as this premise has potential. Replace the Shivans with the NTF, and perhaps give them capture orders for the Iceni or the shipyard and it might be half-decent. The Shipyard's also too small for my taste.