Part 74: Mission #70: TCS Concordia, Heaven's Gate system
Hi everyone! Before we begin today's update, I think the following warning is necessary:And now, for those who are still with us:
Mission #70: TCS Concordia, Heaven's Gate system
Previously on Wing Commander: More stealth fighters, another curious flight recorder failure and of course again we have no proof of what happened. Strangely, no one else seems to ever encounter them...
That parked ship isn't something we've seen or had an opportunity to fly before...
In fact, let's go and talk to her immediately since this whole business with her having been contacted by the traitor is getting a little problematic...
Now we know why she was so distracted...
This is really, really, bad.
And on top of everything, she has a "difficult mission" for us!
Your programmed course will take you to Nav 1 and Nav 2, then attack the enemy starbase. Save your missiles for the base. Guns are useless against those shields. You'll have Meron and Dekker for your gunners on this mission. They'll meet you on the Flight Deck in five minutes.Gunners? So not an Epee then. But what then? Broadsword? Or...?
This isn't a joke, you really cannot eject in this mission as that leads to game over!
And with a heavy step, we go to the flight deck...
So, the briefing doesn't really make a point of it, but we get a completely new ship to fly that haven't had the opportunity yet. It is in fact the thing that was parked on the repair deck, and here it is in its full glory:
Sabre
Class: Heavy Fighter
Length: 23.6 Meters
Mass: 22 tonnes
Max Velocity: 400 kps
Cruise Velocity: 220 kps
Acceleration: Excellent
Maximum Yaw: 8 dps
Maximum Pitch: 8 dps
Maximum Roll: 8 dps
Weapons: Mass-driver cannon (2x), Particle cannon (2x), Rear turret neutron gun; missile loadout varies depending on mission
Shields: Front: 10 cm; Rear: 10 cm.
Armour: Front: 16 cm; Right: 11 cm; Left: 11 cm; Rear: 16 cm.
Fighters: 40
As you can see this is kind of like a really souped up Raptor, more or less. It's not super-fast, but it's relatively sturdy and it does have proper afterburners! At the same time, it is intended to also be a strike fighter-bomber, so it can carry torpedoes when needed (such as in this mission). And it even has a rear turret, although due to having afterburners and also less armour, it's not quite as useful as with a Broadsword. Also, Angel is not kidding; no ejecting, as ejecting leads to your capture and a game over (the cutscene is the same as before so I will not repeat it here). Before we take off, I'll just mention that you really, really do not want to skip this video even if you do skip them normally.
So here is a picture of that star base...
...and yes I really did put it up here as just a spoiler buffer.
Anyway. Spirit. Is unfortunately gone. After suffering what appears to be an explosion caused by a sabotage on her ship, she decides to go 神風 on the base, destroying it, but also getting herself killed in the process. We did get a nice parting message from her: "天国でお待ちしています" (don't worry, game will provide the translation shortly) and at least we can hope that now she has finally been reunited with her fiancé, Philip.
The mission itself, is a little tougher than it might seem at first, mainly due to lack of a wingman in second part, or anything else to distract the enemy fighters for that matter. Obviously the two Sarthas are a complete joke and you should be able to nail Rakti "the Blooddrinker" pretty easily one way or another as he is really not that great of a pilot except for the slightly tougher armour that aces/Drakhai normally have.
The fight at the site of former star base is another matter though; I would suggest saving all your missiles for this one. The 3 Jalkehi are pretty aggressive and you will easily see what a difference lack of a wingman makes in this situation. Try not to get caught in between with them shooting at you from all sides, that's the fastest way to die here.
The Drakhri are a little easier, but there is still 5 of them against one of you, so you shouldn't let your guard down. Judicious use of afterburners will make it hard for enemies to aim at you and also feel free to use your remaining missiles here. Unfortunately you are also carrying torpedoes that you can't really use so that's a few hardpoints wasted, but what can you do.
To be honest, I'm really not sure there even WAS a way to help her at this point...
I guess we should go and check up on Angel, who knows how she is dealing with this...
Unfortunately, that is not all... we still have a sad duty to perform.
She lived by a code of honour, and died by that code as well. Our friend is not the only Confederation pilot who has died in the line of duty. Death is a fear each of us must face, everyday aboard this ship. But we cannot forget why we are here, and what we are fighting for.
R.I.P. Spirit.