Wing Commander Part #61 - Mission #57: Niven planetside base, Niven system

Part 61: Mission #57: Niven planetside base, Niven system

Mission #57: Niven planetside base, Niven system

Previously on Wing Commander: Delivered an "important" message from Tolwyn to Niven commanding officer. I guess that's the best we can hope for in these circumstances. Some nasty stuff going on on Concordia. We'll see what happens with that.

We are still at Niven base.

Well hello there.

Man, I wish.

See you back at the Concordia, I guess.

So, a new person.

Lt. Ross Baldwin ("Downtown")

Downtown, in his mid-twenties, is originally from Ghorah Khar. His family, when fleeing from their home planet during an ememy invasion, was captured and sent as slave labor to a Kilrathi prison camp, but through a series of circumstances he managed to escape several years later.

Let's see that mission then.

So we are EVERYBODY's errand boy now, is that it?

You'll escort the Bhomis and the Excalibur to their jump point. After they jump out, proceed to the Concordia by your programmed route.

...there's been an increasing amount of enemy activity in this system. A long-range patrol ran into Drakhri fighters less than three hours ago.

An escort mission, yay! So, remember how I said that big ships now have phase shields that cannot be punched through by ordinary weapons? Yeah, I was a bit imprecise there. Not all big ships have phase shields. In fact, transports most definitely don't and they aren't any sturdier than they were in WC1. And we are alone here protecting two of them! And to make it worse, they are loaded with medical supplies so you will also feel guilty if you fail this mission. Oh, joy.

In any case, here is what a civilian transport ship looks like these days:
Free Trader Class: Transport Length: 83 Meters Mass: 2000 tonnes Max Velocity: 150 kps Cruise Velocity: 100 kps Acceleration: Poor Maximum Yaw: 2 dps Maximum Pitch: 2 dps Maximum Roll: 2 dps Weapons: Flak Cannon (1x) Shields: Fore: 10 cm equivalent; Aft: 10 cm equivalent. Armour: Front: 9 cm; Right: 7 cm; Left: 7 cm; Rear: 9 cm.

This is definitely a known quantity. There is very little difference from the old transports we had to escort in WC1 (although technically speaking, those were military ships and these are civilian, but still). Let's see.

Mission Video (Youtube)

Yeah, that was actually fun. Be just a little careful with those Sarthas since they have neutron guns after all, but otherwise just don't go too far way as usual and there should not be any problems to keep both transports alive. And how about that guy deciding to come back after all!

Mind you, not that you need to. Even if you don't, you'll still be moving down the victory branch as it is not possible to lose in here in Niven, you always continue the game down the winning path, no matter how you do in this mission set. However, as I've said, you will feel guilty about losing medical supply ships.

It's pretty cool that as you approach the Concordia, you can actually see its escort, the William Tell, flying alongside! (Unlike in WC1 where such things, like TCS Austin, were just mentioned but not actually seen when flying.)

On another note... is it just me, or do these missions seem a lot faster paced than what we had in WC1? I recall a few 20+ minute missions in SM1/SM2, but here it all seems to happen much quicker.

Landing time!