Mystery of the Trinity

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ACT 1, MISSION 5

Fighter squadron: 107th Ravens

Description: The GTD Aquitaine sends out many fighter patrol wings to explore the nebula and report any findings.

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Background

The Aquitaine entered the Knossos portal in Gamma Draconis and fetched up in a nebula, a vast field of cloud and gas. With the destroyer's long-range sensors severely compromised by this natural phenomenon, Alpha, Iota, Kappa and Zeta wings from the 107th Ravens are deployed to scout the nebular theater around the Aquitaine and report any findings as they do so.

Walkthrough

This is the first mission in the nebula. You can take off, even without authorization, and follow Zeta 1. Stay within 600 meters of Zeta 1 or he will warn you to stay close to him. If you fall too far behind, you will lose him in the nebula, and Command will order you to return to base.

During your journey with Zeta 1, you will encounter two waves of Shivan Manticore fighters. Command will issue directives to destroy them, so do so. In the nebula, you may encounter problems seeing your opponent, so rely on your targeting system to hit them. If you loaded your ship with Rockeye heat-seeking missiles, use them to handle the fighters.

Eventually, Zeta wing and your wing will enter a small field littered with Terran Debris. Beware that they give off a small blast when you or your wingmen shoot them up. At about the same time you start seeing pieces of debris drifting about, Zeta 1 discovers "something big, a cruiser or a corvette". When Command asks him if it is a Rakshasa or a Cain, he replies that it is neither, and that it is a Terran Fenris cruiser.

A long sequence of dialogue ensues as Zeta 1 hails the cruiser, and it identifies as the Trinity, with Captain Arthur Roemig, an NTF commander, speaking. Command threatens Roemig with destruction if he does not surrender the Trinity, so Roemig complies, but only if Command gets the cruiser out of the nebula. Roemig continues by saying that his ship repelled a Shivan attack, but suffered critical engine damage in the process. He powered down non-essential systems on the Trinity to avoid detection, and the cruiser has been drifting in the nebula uneventfully since then. Roemig also adds that his chief engineer believes that a field repair of the ship is possible; doing so should re-enable the Trinity's engines and allow it to jump out. Command asks for the cruiser's diagnostics and deploys a damage control team before asking Roemig what he was doing out in the nebula. Roemig, in response, declines to answer, using BETAC as protection.

Shortly after this, the Discovery, an Elysium-class transport, will jump in very near the Trinity and approach its docking point. At the same time, your radar will show several new hostile contacts out of sensor range. As they fly closer, these hostile contacts are revealed to be Shivan fighters. Engage and destroy them. Once they are eliminated, the Discovery will dock with the Trinity.

You receive new orders from Command to defend the Trinity and the docked Discovery while the cruiser undergoes a quick repair. You have to hold the Shivans off for about fifteen minutes in order for repair works to be complete. However, after two waves of Basilisk fighters, the Shivans start to swarm the area with many Dragon-class fighters, and your wingmen lose ground.

Keep in mind that the Trinity must be destroyed in this mission, so do not get too frustrated if you fail to defend it for fifteen minutes. Dragons are notorious for their speed and maneuverability, and in the nebula, flying a Hercules Mark II, you and your squadmates are ill-suited to repel them. The Discovery, however, will undock with the Trinity and take severe damage just as the cruiser blows up and try to make a run for it. You can try to protect it, although the chances of it surviving long enough to jump out is very low. Its survival will not change the debriefing anyway; you will still get the same debrief as when both ships are destroyed.

Once the Trinity is destroyed, you will be ordered to return to base immediately. Do not try to engage the Shivans, or else Command will scold you.

Notes

• The Aquitaine disappears when you get several kilometers away from it to maintain the illusion that your sensors are having problems with the nebula.
• Shortly after you find the Trinity, Iota wing will swing by to back you up.
• This mission can end only if the Trinity is destroyed. You can try to keep it alive for over fifteen minutes, but the repairs on the Trinity are not meant to be finished quick enough for the cruiser to survive the engagement.
• You can, against Command's orders, continue to engage the Dragons for a reasonable period of time for kills. However, it is not recommended even if you are able to handle the Dragons, as waves will continue to jump in endlessly as you kill them, eventually overwhelming you.

Total number of forces

Forces involved
Belligerents
GTVA	Shivans	NTF
Ships
1 GTD Hecate Aquitaine 1 GTT Elysium Discovery		1 GTC Fenris Trinity
Spacecraft
12 GTF Hercules Mark II Alpha (3) Zeta (3) Kappa (3) Iota (3)	12 SF Manticore Aries (5) Leo (4) Virgo (3) 4 SF Basilisk Aquarius (4) 42 SF Dragon Cancer (6) *5 waves Libra (4) *3 waves
Casualties
1 GTT Elysium Discovery 3-10 GTF Hercules Mark II Alpha (2) Zeta (2) Iota (3) Kappa (3) (MIA)	9-12 SF Manticore Aries (5) Leo (4) Virgo (3) 4 SF Basilisk Aquarius (4) 0-42 SF Dragon Cancer (6) *5 waves (unlikely) Libra (4) *3 waves (unlikely)	1 GTC Fenris Trinity