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Description
A small Terran outpost has been cooperating with the Neo-Terran Front. Alpha and Beta wings, from GTA Special Ops will make a surgical strike to eliminate the outpost under a communicatons blanket provided by the GTA Silencer, as part of Operation Hammer.
The balance has been redone so it should be a lot more forgiving (and quite different). Enjoy!
Storyline: 
The briefing is well done - there are no spelling errors, all the ship icons are correct, and it gets the point across. The storyline is more original than most, and holds some surprises as well. All in all, the storyline is probably the best part of this mission.
Update: Nothing new here, the author (wisely) left the storyline and briefings alone.
Balance: 
Unlike the storyline, the balance is definitely NOT the best thing about this mission. The first part of the mission is perfectly balanced. In the second half, though... it's not. Your four wings of fighters must race back to defend the AWACS, which has been ambushed. The opposition is completely overwhelming. To put things in perespective, I played the mission on easy and lost four times in a row - and I'm no pushover. The well-balanced beginning is all that saves this mission from an even lower score.
Update: MUCH better. The first half hasn't changed, which is good - but the second half has. Friendly and enemy forces are more or less equal, but ultimately YOUR actions will change the results of the battle - the ideal balance.
Design:
In contrast to the awful balance, the design of this mission is nearly perfect. All events execute flawlessly, and the overall design shows an excellent knowledge of FRED2. The author uses several send-message-lists, waypoints, and generally uses the cleanest and quickest methods to accomplish things. Bonus points for the loadout - no bombers or Kaysers in this mission (although given the bad balance, they could have helped).
Update: Well, since there was a 5.0 here before, there obviously wasn't much room for improvement, but the author did place some new messages, objectives, and events. The design certainly didn't get any worse!
Gameplay:
An even 2.5 here. Balance notwithstanding, the mission's excellent storyline and outstanding design would make it a blast to play. The first half of this mission is fun and well balanced, and would make a decent assault mission in itself. Unfortunately, the second half is literally impossible, and no fun at all to play.
Update: Forget what I just said. The second half of the mission is now every bit as good as the first part. This is definitely a blast to play.
Other Thoughts:
This is a good example of how important balance can be. This mission could quite possibly have gotten a 4.5 or 5.0 if the balance had been decent. I enjoy a challenging mission, but this goes a bit too far.
Update: Definitely - this mission got the score it deserved. It should be an example to all designers of just how important balance can be - the outcome of the mission should depend on the player's actions.
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