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Freya 7
Just finished the mission. No bugs sighted during gameplay, one in the debriefing already reported here.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
Pretty fun mission, escorting marines to the planet fighting off the Ekapshi atmospheric fighters and Drakhai (nice markings on those Dralthis) was a lot of fun. After Deathfang appeared things got a bit tougher. Firstly I concentrated on taking down the Kilrathi ace, but seeing his shield drop at very slow rate I engaged his buddies first. After they were taken care of our flight finished Deathfang once and for all (finally!). I'm just sad that I couldn't make the final blow 👿 . The skybox in the atmosphere is spectacular, better than Vega 4. And the radio chatter from Blair, Maniac, Vagabond and Flint on the way to home plate was great tie in. Were they already cloaked at that point or was it the interference that Venom talked about? (Yes I know, I have to replay WC3 😉 ). I laughed my ass off at the before-landing-conversations, Avatarr is hilariously sick 😂. Nice to see some info about Blair secret op in the debriefing.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
Launch was successful.
At Nav 1. we linked up with the Marines. (That Marine over the comm reminded me on Dekker)
On our way to Nav 2, we took down 2 wings of Darkets and 2 wings of Dralthis.
At Nav 2, multiple Dralthis ambushed us. We were able to protect the shuttles.
At Nav 3, we engaged many Ekapshis. I was surprised that they didn'T go after the shuttles.
The Ekapshis at Nav 4 were easily defeated. A few minutes later, Dralthis piloted by Drakhais appeared. We took them out. Then Dralthis and Ekapshis appeared. All destroyed. Then Deathfang and a few Vaktoths appeared. Vaktoths destroyed and Deathfang cloaked. We detected him with the "shiny thing" and fired our missiles. He has bitten the dust.
At Nav 5, the Marine CO gave us a compliment.
On our way to Nav 6, we received some comms from the Lancelot flight. Venom told us not to worry about them.
At Nav 6, I listened to the chatter, laughed a bit, especially when everyone told Avatarr to shut up, and landed.
No issues yet
Spoiler (click to reveal)
That was a very thrilling mission. I was positively surprised when I watched the briefing and heard that there is another in-atmosphere mission to come. When we met the Marines, Sandman is asking if it was "that" Marine. It wasn't Dekker, was it? I wonder what Sandman meant. It was a good feeling to hear the "3...2...1... KILL!" through the comms.
The battle against Ekapshi fighters and the Drakhai was tough since there were so many of them, getting reinforcements all the time. It was very fun to wipe them out. When Deathfang appeared I swore to take him out once and for all. He took four missles and a full salvo of direct hits till he cloaked. When he disappeared again, I was shouting out loud several ugly words 😊 I wish I could've taken him out by myself - the shiny thing was a good idea, but I thought it would only highlight Deathfang on the radar so that I can shoot at the cloaked ship or so. Somehow the satisfaction is missing if you're not able to take him down yourself.
On the way back, the comm chatter of Maniac an the other Lancelots gave me goosebumps. The Temblor bomb was on it's way! I had to laugh when Sweeney was announcing Avatarrs next sentence, followed by the multiple "shut up Avatarr"s 😁
The skybox was indeed beautiful.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
It's not Dekker guys. It's the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the head Marine. Much like how the Commandant Duke Grecko personally led the counterattack against the supercarriers in the Battle of Earth, I wanted this to mirror that, the entire "lead from the front". Also, every sci-fi game/movie needs at least one planetary drop 😁
Also, the "shiny thing" (love that technical term!) will eventually lead to the sensor equipment that allows Black Lance Dragon fighters to detect cloaked ships, and shows a tie-in with Venom and his future post-War affiliation (as confirmed by the ending cinematic).
Another funny thing. Is that even though in the games we all kill the Kilrathi Aces, they are all magically revived, as per the WC Arena manual. I guess Cats do have nine lives!
Spoiler (click to reveal)
Perhabs they managed to eject like Thrakhath did in WC2. (sorry for getting off-topic)
Spoiler (click to reveal)
This mission worked out really well. I feel like it packs in some of the comic relief before the big epic finale and I think the pacing between the last two missions is very good. This is still a very important mission with the ending fight with an Ace being a great way to finish it off.
My only comment is that the Ekapshi do seem to be a bit clumsy at times. I think their initial spawn locations pack them so closely together that they crash together quite a bit trying to vector on to their targets. It doesn't happen a lot but I thought I would mention it.
I loved the Dralthi coming out of the sun. Not sure if that was intentional or it just worked out that way but it looked brilliant!
This mission is also a bit of an endurance test but as much of it as I have survived is not much more than a standard escort mission for the most part. I have yet to lose a single landing craft. The thing that stands out to me the most about the mission is the Ekapshi. These were in WC3 one of my favorite targets, I found them fun to kill. However in Saga, like you did with the Sorthak, you made the Ekapshi into a serious and respectable threat. The way its rapid fire guns are arranged reminds me of the Border World's Banshee in how it can pour fire on a target and swarm an opponent. They are vicious.
I have gotten as far as Nav6 in this mission when the Dralthi IV's diving on us from space got me. I should be able to get though it in another try. I will post more at I have it to post.