Part 19: Mission #16: 19 May 2654, Venice system

Mission #16: 19 May 2654, Venice system

Previously on Wing Commander: Trying to track down the Kilrathi Vega sector command base; in the meantime, enemies getting increasingly desperate!


Maniac and Bossman. Should be fun.


Yes I did, but he won't be coming back!

Man, that hairball's needed killin' since I was a rookie. One of the pilots from Killer Bee squadron was in earlier...


Uh, no they won't be doing that... for a good reason too!

Thought you might like to know, so you could keep an eye out.


He mentioned Maniac and tactics in the same sentence!

We're likely to be coming up against an increasing number of big ships. It is important to know how to approach them. When attempting to destroy a large ship, such as a Fralthi... I prefer to attack from the rear. A large vessel's armor is always weakest around the engines.




Based on what we know of Kilrathi, this is complete nonsense, of course...




...as everybody except Maniac seems to understand.



...but I like to approach the big ones from the side. They've got all their missiles to the front... and most of their guns to the front and the back.






I think I'll stick to the Bossman-style strategy to be honest.



Mission Time!

Since that conversation about capital ships was a bit too late to be of much use, let's keep looking for the location of that base then!






...our patrols have located and identified a number of Kilrathi vessels. In our next several missions, we'll be engaging and destroying these ships.


Yes, we get to do a joint mission this time, there's going to be a whole bunch of us going together!

...which has recently joined us in the Venice System. Maverick, you're first up with Nu wing. I'll keep Hunter on your wing for now. You'll be going after a Fralthi with a couple of the Kyoto's fighters. Computer, display Nu.



From this point, you'll proceed to Nav 1... skirting the edge of an asteroid field. Then you'll head on to Nav 2, the last reported position of the Fralthi. She can't be far from this point, and she's an awfully big bogie. You shouldn't have any trouble finding her.







...and either Salthi or Krant flying close escort. Anyone else?









So, we need to intercept the Fralthi-class carrier, with the usual assortment of fighters floating around. It's a bit unusual that we are expecting to see Salthi light fighters, but I guess the enemy are throwing in everything they have at this point.

• Mission Video (Youtube)
  

Ok, that wasn't especially strenuous really (and like I said would have been fine even with just us and Hunter or even alone). As a former US president would say, "mission accomplished", and we have ascertained the location of the Kilrathi command base (and who gives a damn about that stupid Fralthi!); we need to do some preparation before the final assault though.

As far as the other two Rapiers from the Kyoto are concerned, they are largely useless, since they aren't even on the level of our usual wingmen. The only thing you need to be careful about in this mission is to not get into the line of friendly fire, which is more of a risk due to 3 friendly ships instead of just one.

And the killboard (note that Maniac actually doesn't have a bad mission/kill ration compared to others!):




Next time on Wing Commander
A kind of a calm before the storm...