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Description
You must evacuate your research base or face annhilation. Only one thing stands in your way: a Shivan armada.
Storyline: 
The Command Briefing is used in an unusual way, almost being written like one of the "Ancients" cinematics. The use of various ANI files that go with the text is another high point. Both the briefing and debriefing are very well written. However, I think that the expression "bug out" is used a bit too often (almost as often as "neutralized" in the main campaign).
Update: In a large revision to this mission, the term "bug out" is used a lot less. Other than that, the story is essentially the same.
Balance: 
Going into this mission, you'll definitely by under the impression that you will face overwhelming odds. From a visual standpoint, yes, you are. But from a technical one, the enemy in this mission is all too willing to be destroyed. None of the Shivan cruisers or corvettes blocking the Node use their beam weapons, making all but the Lilith easy prey. A Shivan cruiser that jumps in near the end does use its beam cannons effectively. But one must wonder why the blockade members don't. Perhaps the line "We are also reading abnormal radiation emissions from at least one of the cruisers. We think they may have poorly shielded engines or reactor cores. This may be a potential weakness" in the briefing is an attempt to rationalize this, but it doesn't explain why all of them don't fire their beam weapons.
Update: What a difference a few ship orders can make! In this new version, the cruiser and corvettes are lethal hunters that chase after the convoy. However, your wingmen (even the reinforcements, designated Aries and Gemini - hmm, the Hammer of Light is on our side?) get killed by the end, leaving only you and a Sobek typically.
Design: 
In theory, this design should have worked. It is something that could be synchronized rather well and which is the perfect formula for a suspenseful escort. The problem is, it's not. In fact, one must wonder if the mission was even tested since there is a LONG 5 minute lull at the end where you simply wait for one escort to start and finish their waypoint run.
The mission is poorly synchronized and it feels like it just falls apart. Ships pay very little attention to the escort itself and concentrate their fire on the "sitting duck" cruisers and corvettes. Also messages seem rather haphazard in their placement. The destruction of most of the Shivan blockade is not acknowledged, and a few messages seem to just float in with no relevance to the action.
Update: Forget everything I just said. The cruisers are no longer just sitting ducks. In fact, there is one Moloch that warps in unexpectedly near the end whose position is so strategic that it's perfect. The addition of a few more background elements helps as well. More messages may be good, though - and maybe making the wingmen impervious to beam attacks. Despite the fact that they are set to the highest AI level available, they are swatted like mosquitoes to a bug zapper.
Gameplay:
If you like to watch things blow up, you might like this mission. I mean, seriously - the lull at the end is just unacceptable. There's nothing here that would make me want to play this mission again.
Update: The gameplay has greatly improved, making this is a fun yet very difficult mission.
Other Thoughts:
This mission feels like it could have stood more pre-planning and possibly playtesting as well. Every mission designer owes it to themselves to extensively test their missions and run them by others before releasing them.
Update: This mission should be a model to all other designers who got lower than average reviews. Exodus is full of cool things and offers some pretty tough gameplay.
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