Last week we took a look at the losing side of the Tesla system. This week, we’ll take a look at the winning side. The overall plot is largely the same, but there are some interesting design differences.
The first mission once again serves as the re-introduction of our old friend Paladin. What’s interesting is that in the mission briefing, Angel starts by briefing a completely different strike mission utilizing torpedo armed Epees. This is, to my recollection, the only time torpedo armed Epees are ever referenced. We never fly one with such an armament.
The other interesting bit here that isn’t in the losing track is Bluehair’s discussion with Angel after the briefing but before launch. Go figure, fraternization down the chain of command can cause problems. Not that we’ll see much evidence of that later on…
That neither of these bits make it into the losing system mission is interesting to me. I wonder what the designers were thinking when they made that decision. So many other missions are practically identical. It’s surprising to have a large scene like the Bluehair/Angel pre-launch discussion which only appears in one track.
Overall, both winning and losing missions are largely the same easy patrols. Tesla Alt features one fewer waypoint and Drakhri and Jalkehi enemies, while Tesla Prime reduces the fighter count, swaps in Grikhath, and adds an asteroid field.
Both versions of this mission are single nav-point strike profiles. The winning side is significantly easier, by dint of the targets being Dorkathi transports, rather than Ralatha corvettes.
Things diverge pretty significantly between the two paths here. Tesla Alt starts off with a similar briefing – escort Paladin outsystem, but things quickly fall apart after launch and the mission turns into a simple defense. On the winning side we actually do escort Paladin and The Bonnie Heather to the jump point, but as you return to Concordia, you’ll encounter Khasra. In either case, Khasra’s quest for glory ends in a ball of rapidly expanding plasma.
In the alternate system, this is where we try escorting The Bonnie Heather out again. However, since we successfully accomplished that in the previous mission, the designers needed to give us something else to do. Instead we’ll escort the TCS William Tell on a strike mission. Keep the fighters off the capital ship and let them do the heavy lifting of knocking out a Kilrathi heavy capital ship.
Next week, it’s on to the Engima System, one of those convergent systems where winning and losing paths meet.