MIssion 8: Fractured Alliance
What is it ? : So we're back to the Empire, the Overseer arrives heavily damaged in the Remitik System, where there is an Imperial Supply depot ran by Colonel Graim. The Colonel refuses to help Captain Kerrill as his base is under attack by Rebels and he orders her to help him.
Terisa Kerrill decides to fight the Rebels attacking the supply depot, but to also steal the supplies she needs during to chaos of battle. In the Hangar your squadmate, Rella Sol expresses surprise at the power of the Starhawk, and frustration at being denied the munitions they need to attack it.
In the Briefing room, you are ordered to defend the station, however you are also to scan for Baradium, an explosive material needed for the next battle with the Starhawk. You are told that the station has three towers loaded with munitions stockpiles, so if they are attacked the depot will probably be destroyed, and the Overseer with be defenceless.
After the briefing LT-514 apologises for the failure in intelligence about the Starhawk, and that he agrees Colonel Gralm is wrong as Captain Kerrills mission is more important, and expresses that the Colonel is an obstacle, not an enemy.
Back in the hangar, Shen tells you how this feels familiar to him, that every time he is shot down, he needs to help up before he can seek vengeance, and the Overseer is in the same position. While Havina Vonreg is frustrated with Gralm, seeing he is the same kind of bureaucrat that caused her brothers deaths, just as surely as the Rebels that fired the torpedoes.
Launching into space, you head to the nearby station, and begin securing the area, scanning the freighters for the Baradium, but you locate none. However, Shen has an idea and leads you into the superstructure of the station, where he eventually discover two shuttles containing the Baradium. Regrouping with you squadron, 4 X-Wings and 4 Y-Wings arrive and begin to attack the station, planning to destroy the towers, however if you destroy the Y-Wings, the X-Wings leave without continuing the battle.
A Corvette arrives escorted by some more X-Wings and Y-Wings, and once again the X-Wings leave if the Y-Wings are destroyed, and with the help of your squadron you can take out the Corvette before it destroys one of the towers.
As the stolen shuttles head to the Overseer, they come under attack by some A-Wings, and you need to defend them against 3 waves before the shuttles reach the Overseer.
Finally a Nebulon-B frigate arrives, and you need to target it's turrets to disarm it and allow you to destroy it at your leisure. Once it explodes, Gralm orders you to land at the station for a debriefing, but Captain Kerrill orders you back to the Overseer, which you return to to end the mission.
High Points : Flying around yet another station feels familiar by this point in the game, however the surreptitious nature of scanning for the Baradium and stealing it from under the nose of your ally makes it feel like something more. There's also an element of tension added due to the volatile nature of the munitions in the towers that the Rebels are attacking, knowing that they are far more fragile, and their destruction will lead to the catastrophic loss of the station.
Low Points : Whereas some of the recent missions have had interesting twists and turns, as the flow of the battle has changed, this one is far more straightforwards, and just consists of defeating wave after wave of enemies, with the only variety coming from that the attacks are coming from different locations making you be far more mobile in this mission than many, sprinting across the map to defend the different towers, then rushing to defend the stolen shuttles.
So what do you really think ? : Squadrons is a solid game, so while the mission is very conventional, it's still fun. But while the storyline makes this feel as if it's an unconventional mission, it's just a matter of racing around the map taking out attackers at various points to defend a stationery target.
Final Words : Last mission the Overseer was seemingly badly damaged, and although some of the dialogue with your squadmates continues to indicate that the Destroyer is still recovering from this damage, it's basically ignored after this one mission, and this mission isn't about repairing the ship, it's just about resupplying it.
It would have been nice for the Overseer to have remained visibly damaged, a sign that the Empire isn't as powerful as it once was, unable to spare the ship until it is totally repaired. But it losing the last battle basically has no repercussions for the Empire beyond this point.
Score : 8/10
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