Tactical Operations Briefing: Rebel

XvT Combat Engagement: Rescue from Imperial Prison Ship Dargon

Skill Level: Hard
Duty Roster: Slot 2, X-wing Rogue
Ship: A-wing
# of craft: 1
# of waves: 3
Armament: Concussion Missiles
Countermeasures: None

At mission start, target DREAD Dargon and place it in memory location F5 so as to easily check up on its status throughout the mission. Next, drop ELS settings to 0/0 moving shields to face "aft" and telling A-wings Red 1 and 2 to evade as well as X-wings Rogue 2 and 3. Order Gold 1 to wait for further orders, placing his ship in memory location F6 (Note: Delta 1 in most circumstances targets Gold 1, so by telling Gold 1 to wait for further orders, this causes Delta 1 to travel further to reach his target). Set cannon fire to "fire-linked" and arm concussion missiles, setting them to dual fire. Target Delta 1 and stay a little bit below and to the left of his ship until he gets within 1 klick. Now move recharge ratings to 75/0 and drop engine speed to 1/3, pulling in behind Delta 1. Go to full power and immediately dumbfire 4 missiles into Delta's 1-3, finishing each off with lasers if needed.

With T/A group Delta out of the way, drop recharge ratings to 0/0 and target GUN Tau 2. When you're within 2.5 klicks of Tau 2, put recharge rates at 75/0 once again and transfer shield energy to lasers if needed. Now with lasers fully charged, quickly fire lasers and pursue Tau 2 until he is destroyed. Do the same to Tau 3 and Tau 1. If by any chance you lose your craft by this time, BE SURE to quickly target any GUNs from either Tau or Nu and destroy them. (Note: The key to even getting a chance to beat this mission on hard depends on how quickly you, the player, can dispose of the GUN's.) When the GUN's have been destroyed you'll more than likely get swarmed by T/A group Alpha. (When this case came upon me, I dropped recharge rates to 0/75 and flew in circles at full power while the T/A's "tried" to destroy me.) Doing this will give the Y-wings some breathing room to get in their and disable the DREAD Dargon. (Another note: the Y-wings will not always be successful in disabling the DREAD before it hypers out of the area. They were only successful 1 out of 6 times that I played this mission, so get ready to be a little frustrated.)

When the Y-wings have disabled the DREAD, the CRS Columbia will enter the combat area and deploy 3 Assault Transports from Typhoon group. ATR Typhoon 1 will attempt to board and capture the DREAD while 2 and 3 will go after T/A group Alpha. As long as the player keeps his ship alive while doing circles the T/A's will keep their focus on the player's ship. However, if the player dies while evading Alpha, the T/A's will attack and destroy the ATR's. When ATR Typhoon 1 has captured the DREAD Dargon, pop off a few shots at each T/A to bring its shields down enough so that when they attack the DREAD, they'll be too weak and be destroyed. After popping off a few shots at each T/A, move as quickly as possible to destroy ATR Typhoon's 1, 2 and 3 then turn your attention back on the T/A's and any follow waves of theirs that comes in (Each of the 4 T/A's from Alpha have 2 follow up waves). After the DREAD Dargon enters hyperspace the T/A's will make a run for it?easy pickens to destroy these guys now.

When all of Alpha is gone and the CRS Columbia has left the area, the VSD Callisto will enter the area and launch ATR XP-1 as well as 4 T/A's from group Zeta. Make sure that your shields and lasers are fully charged and that you're at least 5 klicks away from the T/A's before proceeding. Now the best way to take care of the 4 guys from Zeta is to run at them with recharge ratings at 75/0 and shields facing aft. Target Zeta 1 and when you break 2.3 klicks away from him, start opening fire with your lasers (fire linked). Not only will your lasers hit him, but he should be nailed by gun fire from his wingmates as well - this usually destroys Zeta 1. With Zeta 1 out of the picture, pull your craft into a full 180 and head the opposite direction from the rest of Zeta group dropping all recharge rates into your engines (ELS 0/0). Jink and weave if necessary to avoid fire from the T/A's, just make sure you're heading away from them at full speed. When they are .6 klicks behind you, they will stop firing and just pursue. Keep heading away from them but charge your ELS to a 0/75 rating, this setting should still give you enough speed to get away from the T/A's without them gaining on you. When your shields are fully charged, drop ELS to 0/50 until the nearest T/A is at least 3.30 klicks behind you. When the nearest target is this far behind you, move shields to aft and drop ELS settings to 75/0 while transferring shield energy to lasers. Cut throttle to 1/3 and come about, moving back to full throttle when you're facing the nearest enemy craft. Again when you break 2.3 klicks, open fire on the T/A and pursue until it is destroyed. You will more than likely have to evade a lot while trying to destroy the target you are pursuing. When that T/A is destroyed, drop ELS settings back to 0/0 and move any shields you have left to face aft. Pull away from the T/A's, and when they are .6 klicks away, put recharge ratings to 0/75 to start recharging shields again. When shields are at 200% and the nearest craft is 3.30 klicks away from your craft, move shields to aft, drop recharge ratings to 75/0 and transfer energy to the cannons while coming about on the new threat. When he is within 2.3 klicks, open fire and pursue until he is destroyed. The last T/A of this wave should be an easy kill as long as you don't let him stray off too far. Keep ELS at 75/0 and stay on his tail until he is destroyed. Destroying the last T/A will bring in another wave of Zeta, but you should be far out enough that they will ignore you. This gives you time to recharge everything to full. When you're at full on everything, move in to intercept the newly arrivals using the same tactic used against the first wave. There will be one more wave after the second wave is destroyed so pace yourself for a long ride. When the third T/A wave has been destroyed, it's time to take out the VSD. Set recharge rates at ELS 100/100 until everything is full, then move recharge rates to ELS 50/50 and start moving in on the VSD. Destroy the VSD by blindspotting it (Look in the Intel section of the Liberty site to find out the VSD's blindspot). After the VSD has been blown sky-high, it's time to destroy the last remaining imperial ship, the ATR XP-1. Be cautious when trying to destroy this thing because it is a deadly craft. The best thing to do is "hit n fade" attacks until it is destroyed.

Mission Complete, another TP awarded and a long rest before the next "impossible" mission.

Author: 	Josh Kinney (Hellcat - Rogue 8)
Strategy: 	Vince Rambo (Stryker - Rogue 1)
          	Josh Kinney