Dangerous Ground - a mission for Freespace 2
Written and designed by Michael "Unlucky" Eisenbrey
Version 1.1
December 24, 1999

Story:
This mission is intended to take place some time after the destruction of the nodes leading to Capella. It may or may not be the beginning of a small campaign, but that depends on what kind of a response I get. 

Two Vasudan freighters, Omicron 1 and 2, were bound for a nearby GTVA installation when they were attacked by pirate fighters, later determined to be NTF craft. A wing of fighters was deployed from the station to assist Omicron wing, but by the time they arrived, both transports had been chased into a small asteroid field, and Omicron 1 had been disabled. The NTF fighters were destroyed, but now command faces an uneasy situation. Omicron 1's crew made it aboard Omicron 2, but Omicron 2's engines have since given out. The GVCv Amenemhet has been deployed to the freighter's location to send a repair crew aboard Omicron 2 and recover her. The GTD Aquitaine has also been ordered to assist. She will deploy Alpha wing to assist Kappa wing (the Vasudan fighters) in defending both the Amenemhet and Omicron 2. Delta and Epsilon wings are on standby if the situation gets worse. Command thinks everything will go smoothly, but the crew is unsure. Rumours persist of NTF cap ships in the system . . .

Strategy:
There are two viable strategies which can be used in this mission. The first is the honest, simple, fairly, obvious way. Since the main target for the NTF forces is actually not Omicron 2 but the Amenemhet, you have no reason to stray more than a few klicks from the corvette. When the two cruisers arrive, order both wings to protect the Amenemhet - this way they will help you shoot down incoming warheads. Destroy Gemini wing as fast as you can (use Trebuchets), then dispatch Scorpio as well. As soon as all enemy fighters and bombers are down, order your wingmen to form on your wing - otherwise they will attack the cruisers and get mauled. That was the hard part; taking down the Bannockburn and Pisces wing is fairly easy, although you may want to try knocking out some beam cannons on the enemy corvette. The Bannockburn no longer has those annoying Piranhas, but its beams can still rip you to shreds - be careful around any NTF ships.

The second strategy is actually not very viable at all - it's just plain stupid. I discovered this one by accident, and I have never technically gotten it to work. Here's what you do: make sure that the Amenemhet's forward beam turrets get blasted. This results in major damage to the corvette (or a court-martial for you), but it means that the cruisers don't get killed - and that means no enemy corvette. Of course, the enemy cruisers will kill the Amenemhet unless you take out their beams too. This is difficult (read: impossible). I don't suggest this strategy very highly.

Mission update info:
Well, I finally got around to fixing all of this, and now I've got a shiny new v1.1 of my mission. It's still fairly tough, so I'd suggest playing on medium or below. A list of changes from v1.0 is below. Assuming this version is good enough, I'm going to leave this mission behind for a while, and move on to some more missions. After the mission design contest is over, I'll update Dangerous Ground again, with voice.

Changes from v1.0:
-spiffy new background with larger planet and some purple nebulas
-fewer baddies to contend with (each wing has only two waves)
-Alpha wing properly identified as Erinyes class when clicked on in briefing
-directives labeled correctly
-all debriefings work now (I hope)
-a little chit-chat before the mission begins
-none of those obnoxious Piranha bombs on the Bannockburn (I used FKs instead)
-slight team loudout changes (HL-7/Kayser is default, no Maxim or Lamprey)
-one less fighter in Scorpio wing
-NTF arrive a little later
Basically, the overall difficulty has been reduced, and the mission has been polished a little more. I still recommend Medium difficulty or below, though.

Contact me or someone else:
If for some reason you feel the need to e-mail me, I will be happy to receive mail concerning any of the following: praise for me, monetary offers for me, requests to hire me for a well-paying job. If you have questions or comments about the mission, or me, or life in general, you may also e-mail me. I just won't be so happy about it. If you want to curse, insult, or spit at me, please send e-mail to my friend Matt.

Me at home: thirteenunlucky@aol.com
(I'm going to ditch AOL as soon as i can, so this one will probably change)

Me at "work" (that means high school): meisenbrey02@gds.org
(Will not change for a few years . . . hopefully)
BTW, don't email me at school when I'm not at school (winter break)

Matt's address: foobar88@aol.com