[Clawandfang]

What I've always wanted to see is a short campaign about the Taranis, knocking out it's fighter escort, destroying transports which intend to re-supply it etc.

Is there one?

[Colonol Dekker]

Yeah it's called FreeSpace lol. Good idea though.

[terran_emperor]

No what he means is the initial missions against  the Taranis before the one in FS1 where you capture it. In fact, according to the reference RBible, there was supposed to be a series of missons against the taranis which ultimatley culminated in the Taranis being caught. T

[Dark Hunter]

I find it odd that they went to so much trouble for a single Cain-class cruiser...

For that matter, why did the Shivans place so much importance on it? It's like their weakest capital ship!

[Clawandfang]

As to the importance placed on the Taranis, I feel that the shivans would destroy any major captured ship, given time. The only other ships I can think of which get captured by the GTA/GTVI/whatever are the SF Dragon, the four SF Mararas and the freighter in the Hall Fight scene. Did the GTVA manage to capture anything else I've forgotten?

[Dark Hunter]

I meant why did the Shivans make a cruiser, and a Cain at that, their command ship for that sector? This makes no sense to me.

[Clawandfang]

I meant why did the Shivans make a cruiser, and a Cain at that, their command ship for that sector? This makes no sense to me.

How big was the sector again?

[Mongoose]

I don't know that it was the Shivans placing any specific importance on the Taranis as much as it was them taking advantage of an opportunity to strike at the GTA in a particularly overwhelming fashion.  The Shivans had to assume that the captured Taranis would be taken to a large installation of some sort, so tracking it and attacking its destination would be an easy way to cause some damage.  I don't know that the Lucifer was deployed in this situation for any specific reason other than its ability to get the job done easily (and, of course, for dramatic storyline effect); it would have to show up sooner or later anyway.

I'd definitely be interested in playing a mini-campaign of the lead-up to the Taranis's capture; it always felt like a bit of a letdown that we went right from learning about this incredibly daring plan to seeing its conclusion.  A creative campaign maker could probably come up with 3 or 4 good missions detailing the elimination of the ship's support and escort.

[Dark Hunter]

So the Taranis was bait... that does make more sense, I'll admit.

[Clawandfang]

I don't think a craft has to be terribly big to be the source of command for a sector. All you need is a group of shivans who have the time to pour over maps and make decisons, not immense firepower.

[Snail]

So the Taranis was bait... that does make more sense, I'll admit.

No it wasn't, since Shivan fighters attacked the Taranis after it was captured. Play the mission if you don't believe me. A few Basilisks do try to blow it up.

[Dark Hunter]

They could have been doing that for show, though.

[terran_emperor]

I figure it had intel on the GTA/PVN fleet movements and/or info about the positioning shivan forces. Therfore shivans chose destroy rather than destruction

[Snail]

They could have been doing that for show, though.

I suppose, but they went a bit too far when they blew it up entirely.

[Clawandfang]

They could have been doing that for show, though.

I suppose, but they went a bit too far when they blew it up entirely.

No, what he means is that the fighter wings were attacking the Taranis for show, so that they could then track the Taranis to where a GTA base was.

[Colonol Dekker]

Yeah but if in mission you let 'em blow it up, they will i reckon if the Shivans know how to find a homeworld a station should be pretty easy once in system to track down

[Clawandfang]

Reading that made me think; did the Shivans actually know they were headed for our homeworld, or were they still looking for it? We were in a race against them, but did they realise they were in a race?

[Jeff Vader]

They could have been doing that for show, though.

I suppose, but they went a bit too far when they blew it up entirely.

No, what he means is that the fighter wings were attacking the Taranis for show, so that they could then track the Taranis to where a GTA base was.

Sounds plausible. Attack the Taranis so that the GTA will stick to it even tighter, instead of becoming suspicious. Then again, I suppose it is possible that the fighter wings were actually attempting to destroy the Taranis. They failed. Then, the Shivans simply tracked it and, for some reason, deployed the Lucy. Maybe it was in the vicinity. Maybe they really wanted to prevent the GTA from acquring data from the Taranis and decided that excessive firepower was the only option. Maybe that was a show. Taunt the GTA with the Lucy to make them understand why capturing Shivan capital ships is not tolerable.

[Snail]

If it was bait, then why the hell would the Basilisks destroy it if you fly away and don't defend it?

[Clawandfang]

If it was bait, then why the hell would the Basilisks destroy it if you fly away and don't defend it?

This is probably a gameplay issue rather than a plot issue. After all, why make a mission to protect a craft if the enemy arn't even going to destroy it?