Part 8: Mission #8: 2 May 2654, Gimle system

Mission #8: 2 May 2654, Gimle system

Previously on Wing Commander: A nice ride in one of those new Rapiers, but now it's back to work!


Iceman and Knight, they should probably have something interesting to say. But first...



Word is, one of their boys ran into Dakhath on patrol yesterday. You know Dakhath, right? The Kilrathi ace that flies a Dralthi? He's got 78 confirmed kills, counting fighters and capital ships. They say his name means 'Deathstroke' in Kilrathi... 'cause how he gets his jollies. He likes to shoot pilots who've ejected as they wait for a pick up.

Gulp. Ok, why do all the Kilrathi aces have to have such threatening sounding names?





I read that we're getting the first Rapier squadron on active duty. Colonel's already named the squadron Black Lion... I wonder who'll be assigned to it?

Oh, gee... I have no idea. Who could it possibly be?



Well, don't sweat that fuzzball too much.





...but he's not so tough if you're still in your ship. Watch him when you're on his tail. He likes to burn out with his afterburners... or he'll try to get behind you with a kickstop.

Ok well, good to know.



Mission Time!

This is our last mission in the Gimle system, let's see what awaits us!



All right, boys and girls... we got several groups of bogies on the move. Either the Kilrathi are pulling out of Gimle... or they're gearing up to push us out. Either way, we got to find out what they're up to. First up on the hit parade is what looks like a squadron of fighters.



Computer, display Tau.



We believe the bogies are Dralthi... and we estimate their present location here.



...but break off if the squadron turns out to be too big to handle. Remember, Maverick, I need information worse than I need heroes. Any questions, then, Tau Wing?


You know, there seems to be way too many rumours floating around on this ship!



Dakhath is very dangerous... we need to know if he's here.



Right then, let's move along.

[The colonel runs through the rest of the assignments, dispatching four more wings to check out other bogies.]



Ok, so this Dakhath guy is actually pretty scary looking:



Dakhath, whose name translates literally as Deathstroke, is one of the most dangerous pilots alive. According to our (incomplete) records, he has 55+ confirmed kills on file. He pilots a Dralthi-Class Medium Fighter.

Strengths: Dakhath appears to be utterly without fear. He never retreats from an engagement until every enemy within 1,000 klicks is destroyed, and will not abandon a wounded enemy until that enemy is destroyed. This courage and lack of self-preservation instincts make him particularly dangerous. So does his apparent affection for inflicting pain.

Weaknesses: Dakhath lives only to kill and will not retreat or change targets until his first target is dead. If at all possible, use his single-mindedness against him... if only by leading him away from a strategically-important target so that he can concentrate on you.

Tactics: Dakhath launches his missiles at maximum range (he appears to like explosions), then closes for the kill on one target. He will cling to that target until he destroys it, then choose another, as methodical as clock circuits.

Recommendation: It might be possible to lead him into the path of fire friendly to you, and is equally possible that he won't notice new pursuit on him until it's too late. (Important Note: If your ship takes a lot of damage and looks shaky, do not eject if you're in the vacinity of Dakhath. One of his hobbies is target practice against ejecting pilots.)


Well the good news at least seems to be that this guy won't try to escape like Bhurak that we had a bit of trouble chasing down a couple of missions ago! And Dralthis shouldn't pose much of a threat against a Raptor (yeah, we're back in Raptor again)--although they seem to be mentioning a "squadron" of Dralthi... wonder how many we'll run into.

• Mission Video (Youtube)
  

Looks like one enemy managed to escape... oh well, there were a lot of them, we couldn't keep an eye on all of them at the same time. On the other hand, Dakhath was not nearly as much trouble to bag as Bhurak, so that's good. The requirement for medal in this mission was at least 8 Dralthi so we managed to get one.

We are going to make a sideways jump into the Dakota system now, in order to prepare for the final push towards Venice! As will be seen, the Dakota system missions are quite a step up in difficulty (not the least because you are simply given more to do in each one).

I am not posting the losing cutscene for this series as there isn't one, you simply fall back to Brimstone, same as if you lose McAuliffe.

Since we have all three "normal" medals now, we're only going to be getting extra bars at this point.


And the kill board:



Next time on Wing Commander
Two escort missions for the price of one!