Wing Commander Part #71 - Mission #67: TCS Concordia, Heaven's Gate system

Part 71: Mission #67: TCS Concordia, Heaven's Gate system

Mission #67: TCS Concordia, Heaven's Gate system

Previously on Wing Commander: At great danger to ourselves we retrieved a data pod; unfortunately it turned out that it may contain some incriminating information about our old friend Spirit. Also, welcome to Heaven's Gate system!

Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

Let's fly...

Why is there always a 'snag'?

Oh? So that probably means she is not implicated in anything shady at least!

Well, this outcome between Stingray and Hobbes was kind of inevitable for a while...

For this mission, you are in Epees. Like the Ferret, the Epee is small and fast, but has greater fire-power. Your mission profile is already entered in your Nav computers.

There apparently seems to be a tradition of naming human ships after different kinds of swords, thus our new ride is an Epee.
Epee Class: Light Fighter Length: 12.4 Meters Mass: 13 tonnes Max Velocity: 480 kps Cruise Velocity: 250 kps Acceleration: Excellent Maximum Yaw: 10 dps Maximum Pitch: 10 dps Maximum Roll: 10 dps Weapons: Particle Cannon (2x), Dumb fire missile (2x), Heat seeking missile (2x), Chaff pod (2x) Shields: Front: 6cm; Rear: 6cm Armour: Front: 3.5 cm; Right: 3 cm; Left: 3 cm; Rear: 3.5 cm.
Now, I am not going to lie to you: this thing is AWFUL. We are talking Dralthi-level awfulness here. Check out that armour! What armour, you may ask? Well, exactly--it might as well be made of paper. The point is, an Epee can take very few hits (just a couple in fact), before its systems start failing. And if you get hit by a missile? Just don't, really--you are actually carrying a couple of chaff pods for emergencies of this kind. Not to mention, in my opinion, it has the worst cockpit visibility of all ships (yes, even Rapier). I am trying to think of something positive to say about an Epee, but really there isn't anything. You'll be coming out of these missions nearly destroyed and there's nothing you can do about it. If it helps any, there is only three and the first one is actually the worst. A related good news: you will fly an Epee very rarely (basically almost never) after this initial series. So let's take a deep breath and take off...

Mission Video (Youtube)

Yeah, that was a little rough, but we survived reasonably ok. For example, only 2-3 of ship's systems got damaged (including the shield indicator, but who cares--at least it wasn't the radar blown out which is very common in an Epee!).

As for the mission itself, there's not too much to say, just try to stay alive as much as you can. But there is one "snag", as Angel would say: you know that Kamekh? Yeah, you kind of have to destroy it, because you will not be allowed to land back on Concordia if it remains alive! The reason I said that you only "kind of" have to destroy is because of the following: if you don't manage, and are then denied landing at Concordia, no need to replay the mission. Simply wait around and Kamekh will eventually reach Concordia, whereupon it will be promptly destroyed by it. After this, of course you can land.

Luckily, you are flying the Epee missions with Spirit, who is just as good as she ever was. That is to say, pretty good--doesn't get herself damaged and as a bonus now she even gets some kills in. What's not to like? Well, maybe her "Japanese" accent that seems to come and go on a whim in cockpit communications.