Description
After leading a botched raid on what turned out to be a Civilian operation, Alpha Wing must now escort a pair of ungrateful vessels to the Tau Jump Node. This is part three, following Welcome to the Boonies and Bait and Switch.

Again, the sound files are large, but helpful to the mission.

Storyline:
Once again, the storyline to this follow-on the Welcome to the Boonies and Bait and Switch has a very high quality storyline, assisted with excellent sound recordings. The story genuinely gets more interesting with every instalment and the plot twists and turns all over the place. Briefing and debrief are well done. All the icons and ships match up, and spelling is good. As is becoming obligatory here, IÂ’ll say the storyline is expanded upon during the mission through some excellent messages. Which is true; donÂ’t get me wrong.

Balance:
Balance in this mission is good. Your wingmen are set at the very highest AI level, and so are no pushovers. On the other hand, most of the enemies are at a very low AI level – which is fortunate considering there are about 35 of them. They will attack you for the most part, but when they turn on the freighter you’ll have to be quick or they’ll cream it. Once again the author provides you with two objectives that are literally impossible to complete together, but I wouldn’t worry – the second objective is in the Red Alert mission the author says is following.

Design:
The design on this mission is, as ever with this series, excellent. There are send-message-list s-exps; changes in AI orders and a frustration prevention s-exp to stop the freighter being killed once the attacking wing are dead. Directives work too. All in all, excellent design.

Gameplay:
Gameplay is good in A Time for Penance. The messages guide the action along, which is nice. There’s usually something happening in the mission, be it a message being sent or a pirate wing attacking. It’s also a good stress reliever to blow 30 retarded Lokis into oblivion though there are a couple of small lulls in the action, especially at the very end. No big problems though.

Other Thoughts:
Yay! My prayers have been answered and there will be a campaign of this mission series.