Darkest Hour

The following information has not been confirmed by Volition and is therefore not canon for the FreeSpace universe.

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MISSION 06
ACT 1, MISSION 06

Fighter squadron: 170th Fighting Navajas

Description: The Navajas are scrambled to defend Earth-orbit Rheza Station from fighters and warships from the GTD Imperieuse battlegroup.

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Background

Shortly before this mission begins, Enabran Kassim, unable to cope with the massive loss of life involved in the war, suffers a nervous breakdown. In an alcohol-fueled episode, he "goes off like a magazine breach" and is subsequently removed from active flight status.

Later, Admiral Byrne reports to the crew of the Solaris that the GTVA, in the personage of the battlegroup of the GTD Imperieuse, has launched a major assault on Earth's orbital installations. The Navajas are scrambled to assist in defending Rheza Station, which is under attack by the GTCv Redoubtable and several fighter and bomber wings. While Athens Station and Malta Station share an orbital slot with Rheza, their contributions to the war effort are not as important as Rheza's; as a result, they are given a lower priority for defense.

Walkthrough

The loadout can't be changed in this mission, you start in an Uhlan and are given a Vulcan and Maul primaries and a bank of Javelin and Hellfire.

As soon as you start, you see Rheza Station is under attack by the Redoubtable, a Deimos-class corvette and some strikecraft consisting of Artemis bombers with Myrmidon escorts, with the Vatican, a Sanctus-class cruiser defending it. If you want the Vatican to survive, destroying the beams on the Redoubtable is your first priority. You probably want the Vatican to live, as she will save you a lot of trouble later. You only need to destroy 3 beams -- the two front beams and the rear left beam. Destroy the left beams first, as they're already in firing range; you can leave the rear right beam intact since it usually won't have a chance to fire. You can see the enemy cruisers Novikov and Courageous in the distance, but they are very far away and not a concern.

Once you've sufficiently disarmed the Redoubtable, you can ignore it and start focusing on the strikecraft attacking the station. A wing of Uriels (Omega) will arrive to bomb the Redoubtable and sending them running. After the Redoubtable leaves, you get a short break, but probably not enough to rearm yourself. If you want your wingmen to survive, it is a good idea to order them to cover you. Soon, a wing of Boanerges and Medusa bombers will arrive, along with their Myrmidon and Kulas escorts. If the Vatican survived to this point, the Medusas will attack the Vatican, so you can ignore them for now and focus on the Boanerges and their escorts, which will head straight for Rheza Station. The Vatican and Rheza's fighters usually can fend off for its own for now, so you can pretty much ignore it.

Once the wave of bombers are destroyed, a few enemy fighters may jump in and harrass you. However, the one to watch out is the two wings of Rheas which will launch a volley of Trebuchets at you. Evade the Trebuchets and if you wish, destroy the Rheas, though you will only be able to attack one wing since they will come in opposite directions of each others. They will jump out shortly after, so destroying them is not necessary.

Soon, 3 Charybdis-class AWACS ships, the Sagacious, Acuity, and Killian Bard, will jump in. They will continually call waves of Boanerges bombers close to the station until they are destroyed or left. If the Vatican survives to this point, they will begin attacking the AWACS, so you can just focus on the the enemy bombers. Otherwise, you need to destroy them ASAP. Once it is over, just destroy remaining fighters and bombers until the next big thing...

The Valerie, a Diomedes-class corvette, will jump in close to the station. It will launch a wing of Medusas from its hangar. Intercept the bombs if you can but don't get in range of the Valerie. Soon, the Indus will jump in and attack the Valerie. After this, the mission pretty much plays itself. The Atreus will come and attempt to attack the station, but will be fend off by the arrival of a pair of Narayana-class frigates. After this, you can jump out or stay a little longer for the dialogue.

Notes

• Sometimes it is quite hard to ensure the Vatican's survival, as the Valerie often destroy it. The Valerie also sometimes managed to destroy the Indus, resulting in a failure.

Total number of forces

Forces involved
Belligerents
UEF	GTVA