Part 15: Let's play First Strike

Let's play First Strike

That Cain doesn't stand a chance... or does it? (No).

Or use the official Viddler player or the
backup on Dailymotion

The Good Conduct medal was just for succeeding - you can't beat the level properly without getting it.

The Galatea is in Ikeya today.



More node nonsense! The movie showed the node between Ikeya and Ribos, and specifically called it the only way out. Yet in the briefing, we're stopping them at the nonexistant Ikeya - Beta Cygni node. Tombaugh Station, where the Taranis was towed, is later seen in Ribos, so it was just a typing error I guess.

Let's meet the Athena and Stiletto



As I said in the level, the Athena is a very nice bomber. It's not as strong as some of the later bombers, but it is agile enough to take on an average fighter, and that's way more important in my opinion. Ordering the fighter wing to cover you generally just means more allies crashing into you. The missile banks being on the sides is a little tricky at first, but the two shots being so close together means that they can both hit even at close range.



I think the Stiletto must have been changed a few times in development, since in the loadout screen, it claims to be aspect-seeking, but here is called heat-seeking (yet somehow like the Interceptor, which is not?) It is, in fact, heat-seeking, and the Wiki claims that this will home in on the closest system or turret it's facing, even if that isn't the one you're targeting. As seen, it's great for taking out whole systems, but I'd stick with the Disruptor for turrets, since they're pretty small, and don't take many shots anyway. Really didn't need to be dual-firing them, but 5 shots of them was plenty anyway, and easier than switching it back.



Next time onto disc 2! (Why does the FRAPS counter decide to show up in this picture? We may never know...)