Part 7: Mission #7: 2 May 2654, Gimle system

Mission #7: 2 May 2654, Gimle system

Previously on Wing Commander: We flew in a Raptor; it was a bit of a close call with that Exeter, but in the end we did manage to save it. Rumours keep swirling around about these new Rapier fighters, wonder when we get to try them out!



Maniac and Hunter... what a combination.



You heard about those new Rapiers? Ever'body's talkin' about 'em. I'm not so sure about 'em, though. I flew jus' about my whole career in Scimitars an' Raptors. Liked the Raptor best, even though she didn't handle too good. She sure was fast once you got her goin', though!

Based on our previous mission, who wouldn't like Raptors really!



The Claw's gettin' a prototype Rapier to test fly! I've been lookin' over the specs on 'er. She's tagged a light fighter, but she's better armed than a Scimitar. There's a pair of laser cannons, for distance work, an' a set of neutron guns, for the dirty infightin'!



Right. They are going to give them to YOU to test, of all people.

They say she's got tougher shields than anything in the fleet. She must be just about invulnerable!



She may 'ave God's own shields, but she's armored like a light fighter. If they knock down the shields, she's no tougher than a Hornet.



Maniac needs to try thinking a bit more often...



Mission Time!

I suppose you can guess what's coming in this mission then!



...and the last patrol will be Omicron wing. That'll be Maverick and Angel.

Right, sir!

It's a simple, three-point patrol route. Let's take a look at your flight plan. Computer, display Omicron.



There's a field of what looks like asteroids around Nav 1... so watch yourself in that area.

Awesome, the asteroids are back! It's been a while, though.



We've just gotten a pair of prototype starfighters, Rapier-class. The brass wants to know how the Rapier performs in action... so I want you to put her through the paces.

Even more awesome, we get to test a new ship!





This is a hot piece of hardware, but it hasn't been tested under fire. No one really knows what she can do... or what she can't.

Well I'm kinda hoping that people who engineered her know at least somewhat what she can do...



Good. Now, if there aren't any questions...



So we get to try out the new Rapiers. We won't be flying them for real for a little while yet, though.

Rapier

Class: Medium Fighter
Length: 24 Meters
Mass: 13.5 tonnes
Max Velocity: 450 kps
Cruise Velocity: 250 kps
Acceleration: Excellent
Maximum Yaw: 10 dps
Maximum Pitch: 10 dps
Maximum Roll: 10 dps
Weapons: Neutron Guns (2x), Laser Cannon (2x), Dumb-Fire Missiles (2x) Image Recognition Missile, Friend-or-Foe Missiles (2x)
Shields: Fore: 7 cm equivalent; Aft: 7 cm equivalent.
Armour: Front: 5 cm; Right: 3 cm; Left: 3 cm; Rear: 4 cm.

Despite what Hunter said, the manual classifies Rapier as Medium fighter. This is probably another error as it really is only 1t heavier than Hornet, so it probably qualifies more as a light fighter really. To achieve this weight, unfortunately some compromises had to be made. First of all, it has barely any armour, just a tiny bit more than Hornet; it has good shields though. Second, and more importantly, the missile loadout is a bit sub-optimal. I would have preferred something else instead of the dumb-fires, but what can you do. And thirdly, instead of Raptor's mass-drivers it has a pair of lasers in addition to two neutron guns as before. So it does a bit less damage, but it has longer range.

So, let's take it out for a ride!

• Mission Video (Youtube)
  

Honestly, you can think of this mission as taking out a nice sports car for a ride around the countryside, because that's really all it is. We did encounter one new kind of enemy, but other than that, it really was just a test drive. No medals are possible, and why should there be, in a relaxing mission like this.

Oh, and like I mentioned before, Angel managed to get in a kill!

The new enemy fighter:

Gratha

Class: Heavy Fighter
Length: 36 Meters
Mass: 18 tonnes
Max Velocity: 320 kps
Cruise Velocity: 200 kps
Acceleration: Average
Maximum Yaw: 6 dps
Maximum Pitch: 6 dps
Maximum Roll: 6 dps
Weapons: Mass Driver Cannon (2x), Laser Cannon (2x), Image Recognition Missile (2x), Heat Seeking Missiles (3x), Porcupine Mine (2x)
Shields: Fore: 11 cm equivalent; Aft: 10 cm equivalent.
Armour: Front: 15 cm; Right: 10 cm; Left: 10 cm; Rear: 14 cm.

Just a little faster than Jalthi, but with less firepower (not that this will help us in Kurasawa, mind you!). The only kind of enemy fighter that doesn't have a named ace associated with it, which leads me to believe that it may have been a late addition in the game development.


Exactly half-way there:




Bonus
So you know the Origin logo from the 1990s where they had the orchestra with conductor in front of planet Earth (watch this game's intro video in the first post to see it). Well, one time they decided to change it, it was for their RPG game "Martian Dreams" and the logo featured, appropriately, Mars instead of Earth. Here is that alternate version:

• Origin Mars Logo (Youtube)
  

Next time on Wing Commander
How would you like your pancakes?