Part 10: Mission #10: 7 May 2654, Dakota system

Mission #10: 7 May 2654, Dakota system

Previously on Wing Commander: We helped protect some medial supplies transports carrying Vaccines to help contain the spread of Watson's disease, which made us feel really good.


Spirit and Knight. You will recall that we are currently flying with Knight. You will also recall that there was some serious badmouthing of Knight coming from Maniac and Hunter last time (the two people who really shouldn't be complaining about others!).



Heard you had to take out some Krants last time out. Glad to see you made it back in one piece. Those babies can be tough... but I hear the Jalthi's even tougher. One of those six-shooters on your tail, you can kiss it goodbye. But I'll bet if you get low an' behind a Jalthi, you'd toast it. She's got no rear visibility, and big ol' bullseye exhausts. Bad design no matter how many guns she's got up front. Just jam a missile up those rear pipes and -- BOOM No more kitty.

Unfortunately this info comes a bit too late, since we already know this.



I've heard some talk lately that burns me up. Someone's saying I'm unsafe to fly with... and that I'm a cat-lover. Well, I won't stand for that kind of slander. It's not true. I may not be as high-flying as Hunter, but I get the job done...in one piece. But hey, you're not the guy to complain to... after all, we've flown together now. You know you can count on me. It's just a matter of trust.

I agree. I'd rather fly with anybody else but Maniac, for sure.





I have been studying the history and progress of the war... and I see that things are going fairly well for us. To maintain our position, we must be ever diligent, ever alert... We must fight as if there were no tomorrow, for in truth that is the case. Every day, the Kilrathi bring up more troops. They challenge us harder each time we fly.




No pressure, though.



Mission Time!

Oddly enough, no particular mission specific info seems to have been divulged in conversations this time around....



[Ten minutes into the briefing]

...which brings us to our patrol wings. Lambda wing will fly a three point patrol. Things have been quiet lately... too quiet. The Kilrathi are definitely out there. Problem is, we don't know where. Your job will be to locate the enemy and report back to the Claw. Maverick, you and Knight will investigate. Maverick will lead the mission.



Your patrol will be as follows... Computer, display Lambda.


I can definitely see asteroids, however...

There's some debris near Nav 1. Could be rocks, could be mines...stay alert. The jumppoint at Nav 2 seems to be clear... As does Nav 3. Make the rounds and return with your report.









So it's a patrol mission this time, and apparently all Nav points are supposed to be clear of enemy activity so we'll just fly around and come back home, right? Don't make me laugh! Of course not!

• Mission Video (Youtube)
  

A dogfight in an asteroid field, huh? Those can be really annoying as you need to restrain yourself from going for the afterburner button and it's not easy. Luckily they don't happen very often and enemies are also at the same disadvantage that you are and are just as prone to bump into a rock, thus helping you destroy them. If you end up on deeper losing branches, you actually get the dubious pleasure of fighting enemy inside of a minefield! Luckily, as long as you are mostly winning you are spared from having to do that.

It was possible to earn a medal in this mission, but we didn't get it because we didn't destroy both of the fighters in the asteroid field ourselves. We have enough anyway and there'll be plenty more in any case, so nothing to worry about.

Our kill score is still doing very well though:




Next time on Wing Commander
A Jerry Bruckheimer production of a Michael Bay movie!