The Field of Battle

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ACT 1 MISSION 2

Fighter squadron:
Description:

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Background

There have been a number of recent attacks by the Vasudans in the Betelgeuse system. They have been making strikes on Terran convoys en route to the Betelgeuse-Antares jump point. The Vasudan attacks have been staged from a nearby asteroid field.

Terran intelligence is certain that there are four small attack wings responsible for the attacks on our convoys. There have also been reports of a Vasudan ace piloting one of the Seth class fighters in the area.

You are to sweep the asteroid field and take out the four Vasudan attack wings. Be aware that the asteroids will be causing interference with your sensors. You won't be able to target the Vasudans until they are near, but they won't see you either.

If you encounter the Vasudan ace, you may use your discretion whether or not to engage him. Keep in mind that your primary objective is to take out the four attack wings. Check your loadouts and commit when ready.

Walkthrough

If you fly straight at the beginning of the mission, you will see a formation of red dots flashing on your radar. The group that is the farthest to the left is Pisces wing. The topmost is Cancer, the top-right one is Virgo, and the bottom-right one is Aries wing. Keep one group of red dots in the center of your radar and fly straight at it.
You will eventually encounter a wing of 3 Anubis fighters. Destroy them and fly toward another wing. Repeat this process again. All the enemy wings are identical.
After you destroy the third wing of fighters, the Vasudan Ace will jump in, flying a Seth-class fighter. The Ace will shoot missiles at you upon encounter, so make sharp turns or just keep flying in circles until you have dodged the missiles; use whatever missile evading technique you're most comfortable with. Once you have neutralized the attack wings and the Ace, jump out.

Alternate Missions

If the Orff was whittled down to around 80% in the previous mission, then the Vasudan Ace will not appear in this mission, nor will he appear in the mission briefing. Guess the designers decided that if you couldn't defend a well-protected Fenris from several Anubis fighters, you wouldn't stand a chance against the Ace. Please note that this also makes missions 3 and 4 that much harder.

Notes

This mission is very early in the campaign. On that note, there's not a great host of enemies in this one. In order to maximize your kill ratio, you can order your wingmen to depart right at the start. This way you'll receive the maximum amount of possible kills. The asteroid field is a much greater nuisance to the AI pilots than you, including your wingmen, who are just as crippled by the semi-randomly flying boulders.

Killing the Vasudan Ace will grant you a medal, if on Normal and higher. Speaking of such, the equipment of the Ace is increased depending on the difficulty, ranging from dual Ml-16 lasers, to Avenger cannons that haven't even come out yet.

Please also note that you can jump out at the beginning of the mission without engaging the hostiles at all. You will pass.

Well, there is the off chance you can fail by dying. Without shields, even hits from Vasudan Light Laser pea shooters add up.

The mission is much harder in the FreeSpace Port than it is in FreeSpace 1.

Notable ships present

None