Well the Kilrathi are mighty pissed off now that the Confed Marines made a mess of their Sivar ceremony. Life's a bitch furry bastards. Shotglass has that typical Shotglass remark, we've done good, but we're still in the middle of the Kilrathi fleet. So of course our work here is far from done.
Corsair 5
Escorting Drayman, it's one thing I fear about SM2. Escorting Drayman in a Dralthi, son of a .... And the Kilrathi are mighty pissed about the ceremony. They are going to want vengeance.
I hit space and launch into autopilot. Midway between the Claw and Nav 1 I encounter a group of Gratha and a Ralari. Two things I love to kill. The guns of the Dralthi make short work of the Gratha as I'm able to outmanuever them with some ease.
Instead of using my missiles on the Ralari I choose to stick to guns. I know I'm going to need those missiles trying to keep the Drayman alive.
Krants...if you don't know my feeling about these fighters yet, well, read up. I burn directly towards the Krant closest to the Drayman hoping to throw it off its attack. I use my missiles to down 2 of the Krants rather quickly. As I do so, another one of the bastards has proceeded to stencil his name in gunfire on the side of the Drayman. I immediately target the offending fighter and unleash a maelstrom of gunfire that causes the Krant to quickly disappear. I have to dogfight with the final fighter for perhaps a minute before I manage to nail him as well.
The Drayman is a bit banged up, but I think I'll be able to get it back.
4 Salthi jump us on the way back to the Claw. I nail two on the first passes and get the other two in short order. One manages a few shots on the Drayman, but likely it was on an undamaged side. I feel for the transport pilots that POS is about to fall apart when we reach the Claw.
The most interesting conversation after this mission is Iceman's. He speaks of his daughter being rescued from a Kilrathi slave ship. He is devoted to his children...
Corsair 6
Kill everybody. That sums this mission up. A ridiculous amount of enemies for a WC1 era mission. 26 bad guys including Capships. It's going to be interesting. I'm finally back in a Confed ship in the Rapier. It feels good to have human technology at my fingertips that Dralthi was starting to get to me.
2 waves hit me at Nav 1, Salthi and Hhriss. The Salthi go down quickly and the Hhriss take a bit more finesse. I take a bit of armor damage to my port side, but nothing to worry too much about.
I run into some Gratha in between nav points. I have no problem shooting these Kilrathi down. I take pleasure in destroying Gratha.
Only to be followed at Nav 2 by Krants. There are only two of them so I make short work of them. The AB speed of the Rapier makes it much easier to deal with these bastards who always seem just a bit faster than you.
The second wave is two Jalthi. You have got to be careful around these guys. I usually go for the flank attack followed on by a direct attack at the engines. They crumple after a few passes and I auto to the next nav point.
A few Salthi and a Dorkir. I head straight for the Dorkir and unload all my gun reserves. I then AB'd away and turned towards the closest Salthi. It only takes a few passes to take out all of them and then I return to the transport. My initial attack nailed one side so I follow up my attack in the same area. After 3 passes it explodes into the void.
Nav 3 has three Jalthi and Frathli. Here's their damn carrier. I immediately take on the Jalthi and am careful to avoid head ons at all costs. I take quite a bit of damage (comms damaged, one gun gone, ejection fired) in the ensuing engagements with the Jalthi but, as always, they are all destroyed. I use my missiles on the Fralthi along with gun fire in direct attacks on the flank of the ship. After 5 or 6 passes it goes up and the famous words of Lt Cmdr Bob Dixon "Scratch one flattop, signed Bob!" comes to mind. One less Kilrathi to worry about.
I return to find the Claw under attack by some Dralthi. I have to be careful here, I'm in no condition for doing any stupid moves and getting blown away. I careful pick off the Drathli when the second wave of god damn Krants shows up. Damn it. I've got very little AB fuel left and everything that can flash alarm...is. I finally take them out and request clearance. Get me the hell out of this fighter.
Following the mission I get a transfer back to the Star Slayers and a Gold Star. Both well deserved.
Charon 1
Strategic withdrawal, that's what the brass likes to call retreat that's supposed to be seen as a victory. We are leaving the Firekkans and bugging out. We've got to clear the road for the Claw and take out Kilrathi fleet elements positioned on our path of withdrawal.
I start off with two Jalthi in a minefield. Talk about a bad start. In trying to avoid mines and laser fire, I end up finding both. Damage isn't too bad that damn ejection system is toast again. After a few moments I dispatch both fighters and continue on.
Four Gratha and two Ralari. It's like a dream coming true. I nail two Gratha quickly and the other two in short order. I use missiles and guns on the first Ralari. It goes up with little fanfare. The second I stick to guns and keep attacking the rear. It follows not long after.
The final nav has five Krants and Snakier. A fleet CV! Now here's a target. I give the order to Maniac to attack and weed my way into the fight. I end up using my missiles on the Krants to get them down quickly. Maniac and I team up on the Snakier and go to work. Luckily, I send in the killing blow and get the score.
Upon landing, I receive the Medal of Valor. Feels good to have done that much damage to the Kilrathi fleet.
Charon 2
Scramble! 14 fighters in four waves. The Claw is under heavy attack when I launch and I get to work on the Dralthi. Things develop quickly and before I know it I'm on the final wave excited to land and finish SM2. My fighter isn't too banged up the Claw, on the other hand, is a bit too red for my liking.
We've reached safety. The Firekkans have expelled the Kilrathi and SM2 is over!
I have to say SM2 is an amazing add on. It gives you every kind of mission you love from WC1, only in bigger forms. Any mission where we can take out 2 destroyers and a carrier is fine by me!