This is it! Whether we as players got to this mission by horribly screwing up, or by successfully fending off the hordes of Kilrathi fighters in the past several systems, it all comes down to this: the TCS Tiger’s Claw is retreating back to the Vega System, but not before the cats get in one final attack. We did a pretty good job of pruning down their capital ship strike group in the previous mission, but those remaining fighter pilots are experiencing what might be called a “Significant Emotional Event” at the realization that we’ve trashed their rides home. Oops.
No bar chatter before this one, I think that the implication is meant to be that you’re pretty much turning around after the end of the previous mission, maybe stopping for a quick restroom break, then jumping into a Rapier to help defend the Claw against the cats that picked up your trail. Then again, maybe if Col. Halcyon hadn’t made time to throw a funeral for Maniac and pin a new medal on you, the cats wouldn’t have had time to get an attack together before we jumped out of system.
Structurally, this mission is pretty much identical to the other defensive missions that we’ve run over the course of the Wing Commander I series: kill all the enemies, don’t let the Claw die, and don’t die yourself. Overall enemy forces are relatively light – a couple waves of Dralthi Mk. IIs, some Salthis, and a few Hhriss at the very end. Nothing too challenging. If you managed to keep Maniac alive through the previous mission, then he’ll probably his usual useless, overaggressive self here.
Oh, and don’t grieve too much for Maniac. Canonically, he doesn’t die here. We’ll see him again, eventually.
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