Tactical Operations Briefing

Combat Chamber: Gun Mission 4

Escort Duty

Craft: Assault Gunboat (Tau 1)
Warheads: Concussion Missiles (16)

Primary Goal:
100% of Freighter group Rugle complete mission

Secondary Goal: 
Destroy 50% of all Rebel fighters

Bonus Goals:
Destroy FRG Dodger
Destroy SHU Leap

This is a fairly simple mission, but it takes a while to complete. The hardest goal to complete is the destruction of the FRG Dodger. At mission start you and your wingman will be in the midst of the three FRTs from FG Rugle, which are cruising to their hyper point, which is a good 10 or 11 minutes away. Your mission is to protect them from the weak Rebel assault force consisting of varying Rebel starfighters. The FRG Dodger will hyper in and launch one A-wing from FG Gold, which will target you. Since the FRG is about 7 klicks out from you, switch to Concussion missiles, fire-link them, and dump your entire salvo into the Dodger when you get a lock. This will drop its shields down to about 60%, and make your mission easier later on. Tell your wingman to wait or go home, to allow you to get all the kills and gain maximum points.

Note: At the beginning of the mission, when you bring up the Goals screen (toggle G key), it doesn't list any secondary objectives. However, once the first A-wing launches, a new goal, "Destroy 50% of all Rebel fighters", pops up. However, unless there was a consistent glitch in my copy of the game, there were 9 fighters total and the destruction of 6 of these (as opposed to only 5) completed the goal.

Engage the A-wing head-to-head using the lasers/ion toggle trick to drop its shields fast and possibly disable it. After the A-wing dies, one Z-95 Headhunter from FG Gold exits the FRG's hangar and targets you. Again, use the toggle trick, and since it's a Z-95, it should die very quickly on the head-to-head run. Next will be a Y-wing from FG Red, which will target the convoy. Move quickly to chase it down and destroy it before it can do any damage to the 3 freighters. After that is another A-wing, from FG Red, but this one is packing concussion missiles. Go head-to-head and shoot down its warhead if it gets a lock, and destroy it.

Another note: should you ever take extensive damage from any craft, feel free to disable the fighter you're dog fighting with to give you time to let your shields or systems recharge. The FRG Dodger is at 0% throttle for the majority of the mission, and doesn't go anywhere until the convoy has safely made it to hyperspace.

Next is an X-wing from FG Blue, which targets the convoy craft. Move to intercept and destroy it. After the X-wing, two more Z-95s will come in with missiles, targeting you. Go head-to-head and shoot down their missiles and toggle weapons when firing on them. I managed to actually kill them both on the initial pass, since they're so weak. The destruction of one of the Z-95s will complete the secondary goal of "50% of Rebel fighters destroyed". At this point the convoy should be pretty close to its jump point, if it hasn't hypered out already. 2 B-wings from FG Gold will come in targeting you. They'll use missiles, so again, go head-to-head and take down the missiles, and then toggle to drop their shields quickly. After they're gone, you only have one target left: the FRG Dodger.

Cut throttle and target the FRG, and shoot down every missile it shoots at you until its missile compliment is depleted. After that you can target it safely without the threat of a concussion missile taking you out while you're on a strafing run.

Wait to allow your lasers and shields to recharge to maximum, and then move in towards the FRG at max throttle with ELS at 0/0. Toggle fire and try to get as many accurate shots in as you can while evading the FRG's fire. When you're fairly close, turn around and head out at maximum throttle until the FRG stops firing. Cut throttle, come about, and recharge everything again. Repeat this method again and again, and try to drop the FRG's shields by at least 10% on each pass. Despite the fact that the FRG starts moving once the convoy is gone, it's still at least 12 minutes from its hyper point, so you've got plenty of time to take it out. After the shields drop, switch to ion cannons and make a pass to disable it. Disabling it shouldn't be too difficult, as it doesn't take a lot of hits to drop the systems. Once it's disabled, switch back to lasers and open fire. When it hits 50% hull, a shuttle, identified as SHU Leap, will exit the hangar and try to escape. Quickly move to destroy it, and then go back to strafing the FRG. When it dies, feel free to quit the mission.

Author:  Syntax, Rogue Four
Strategy:  Syntax, Rogue Four