Just like in McAuliffe, the final mission in the Gateway system is a Drayman escort. Bar chatter is pretty much identical between tracks – you’re still a newbie, after all. Once again, the game design really wants players to succeed here – the opposition is actually lighter here than on the winning path, plus it’s easier to chase down Starkiller in a Hornet than in a Scimitar.
What’s interesting here is how winning this system causes players to completely miss flying with Angel and jump straight to Brimstone to fly Scimitars with Maniac. If you don’t have a flowchart mapping out the various campaign routes, the game campaign feels a lot bigger than it really is, because some branches are really difficult to reach.
The other funny thing about this mission is the barroom chatter. It’s all about Paladin, and how he’ll be retiring soon. Oh yes, he “retires”. To go join Terran intelligence, and eventually go into politics. I guess it’s a retirement in that he mostly stops flying pointy-nosed fighters, but it’s hardly a retirement of the “Sipping Mai-Tais on the beach” variety.