Two systems down the losing path, and things are starting to feel just a little bit more grim. On the winning track, we do this segment in Raptor heavy fighters. Here we’re still flying Hornets, but the opposition is definitely ramping up. There’s a definite qualitative difference between a Hornet and a Raptor.
Mission #1 sends you off to assist another Hornet pilot coming back from a recon mission with bandits hot on her tail. Interestingly enough, it’s another pilot we never fly with as a wingman.
No idea why Valkyrie couldn’t just outrun her pursuers. Maybe she had engine problems? The idea of a dedicated recon Hornet variant, a la the RF-4 or RF-8 is intriguing as well, though completely non-canon. As far as we know, Valkyrie’s just flying a bog standard F-36.
Another quirk that shows up in this specific playthrough is that the enemies are scripted in two waves. I’m not sure why the second wave never showed up, although it likely had to do with one of the Krants in the first wave running out of range. Since that fighter didn’t die, the second wave never showed up. Unfortunately, since the only nav point is Valkyrie’s Hornet, there’s also not a good way to go back and find the remaining enemy fighters.