Feint! Parry! Riposte!

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FreeSpace 2 Campaign Walkthrough

Next Mission or SOC Loop 1

ACT 1, MISSION 10

Fighter squadron: 242nd Suicide Kings

Description: The 242nd attacks two rebel cruisers and their escorts in an attempt to lure the NTD Repulse into position.

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Background

The 242nd Suicide Kings and the GTC Rampart are to act as bait for the Neo-Terran Front. Their orders are to launch a feint attack on two NTF cruisers, which will hopefully lure Rear-Admiral Koth's warship, the NTD Repulse, into the open.

Walkthrough

At the onset of the mission, the GTC Rampart, a Leviathan-class cruiser, will be behind you, it will be escorted by Iota and Zeta wing. About four kilometers in front of you, will be a NTF wing of six Hercules-class fighters. Further on are six more fighters and two cruisers. Avoid face-to-face combat with the Hercules on higher difficulties as they have a lot of firepower. You can try sending your wingmen out ahead, or stay abreast of them; this makes it easier for them to cover you. After the initial approach, if you took a GTF Perseus, you can dogfight the Hercules fighters in one without much trouble. The Herc II isn't a bad choice in this mission either, and good shield and energy management in one can be just as effective in the mission opening.

You will be facing a total of twelve Hercules fighters and two Fenris cruisers, the NTC Majestic and the NTC Refute. They may only be Fenris-class, but the cruisers' AAA beams are a danger to you and your squadron.

Taking down the second wing of Hercules is much more difficult. You'll have to get within the cruisers AAA range. It might help to take down some of the anti-fighter beams, but on higher difficulties this can be nearly definite suicide. You are much more likely to survive if you try to lure the Hercules fighters away. Approach the fighters carefully, and pull back when they attempt to intercept you, keep them at a safe range, but not too far ahead. I find that 1400 meters is a pretty good distance.

Once they give chase you can either have parked your wingmen nearby (perhaps guarding a support ship) and lure the Hercs to them (highly recommended if you outfitted your wing with Herc IIs) or, you can fly back to the Rampart. Once the fighters are down, do not continue (or start) attacking the cruisers. Pull back and rearm while Iota and Zeta wings break formation and bombard the two NTF cruisers. At this point, the cruisers should be within beam range, so they will be firing at each other. The Leviathan class Rampart will be in little danger from the Fenris class cruisers.

When both the Majestic and Refute have their hull integrities reduced to critical, the NTD Repulse will jump in. Defend the Rampart from the Lokis that will begin launching from the destroyer. Shortly after the Repulse's arrival Command orders the GTVA Colossus in. Avoid the beam salvos between the two vessels. The Colossus orders Rear-Admiral Koth to surrender, but Koth instead sets the Repulse on a collision course with the Colossus. The Repulse will be destroyed on contact, and you will be ordered to return to base.

Notes

• In some versions of FS2 the Repulse gets halfway inside the Colossus before it is destroyed.
• You can attempt to disable the Repulse's engine subsystem so that it cannot ram the Colossus, but it will explode before you can do so, and the damage done to the Allied warship will still be the same.
• If you wait for the NTC Majestic and NTC Refute to finish most of their waypoints before destroying their fighter escort and engaging the Repulse's escort so the Colossus will jump in, the cruisers will end up in the juggernaut's upper-rear blindspot and will slowly beam it to death. The Colossus will remain immobile and unable to return fire, as all of its beams are mounted on the side and front.

Total number of forces

Forces involved
Belligerents
GTVA	NTF
Ships
1 GTVA Colossus Colossus 1 GTC Leviathan Rampart	1 GTD Orion Repulse 2 GTC Fenris Majestic Refute
Strikecraft
3-7 GTF Perseus Alpha (4) (*) Epsilon (3) 4 GTB Medusa Zeta (2) Iota (2)	12 GTF Hercules Capricorn (3) Scorpio (6) Gemini (3) 12 GTF Loki Aries (4) *2 waves Libra (4)
Casualties
0-1 GTC Leviathan Rampart 0-6 GTF Perseus Alpha (3) (*) Epsilon (3) 0-4 GTB Medusa Zeta (2) Iota (2)	1 GTD Orion Repulse 2 GTC Fenris Majestic Refute 12 GTF Hercules Capricorn (3) Scorpio (6) Gemini (3) 8-12 GTF Loki Aries (4) *2 waves Libra (4)

(*) May be replaced with the GTF Hercules Mark II

Technical information

Feint! Parry! Riposte!
File name:	SM1-10.fs2
File size:	66.0 KB
Author:	James Agay
Total number of objects:	36 (+6 waypoints)
Total number of wings:	9
Number of mission events:	69
Number of messages:	26
Event music:	3: Leviticus
Briefing music:	Brief3