Well, I just finished up the campaign again, and I have to say that, besides the always-awesome "Into the Lion's Den," I think that my two favorite missions are the last two, "Clash of the Titans II" and...well..."Really big sun 'splosion"
. (I've never been able to remember that one's name, but I somehow think you know what I'm talking about.
) In these two missions, more than ever before, you really get a sense of how overwhelming the Shivans are. When trying to protect the Bastion, the Shivans are throwing bomber wings at you left and right, all of them armed with Helioses. (And let me just say that those Nahemas are seriously
fast.) By the end of that one, I had one Aeolus left at 11%, and the Bastion itself was all the way down to 5% by virtue of a last-second Helios. Then, the thing decides to start spinning around in the node itself in order to properly orient itself.
I was relieved to get out of it with 92% hull integrity; at one time in the past, I ended it at 25%, and I had to replay it since I kept getting killed in the final mission.
That final mission, though, takes the cake for being overwhelmed. You've got 20 or so allied transports, freighters, medical ships, cruisers, corvettes, etc. at any given time that need protecting. The Shivans are simply throwing bomber wings at you, along with a few cruisers; at one point, they send in two Cains at once. Even before you here about the supernova, you're absolutely guaranteed to lose some escort ships. The best part about this mission is, no matter how many ships you lose, it doesn't matter. Hell, you yourself can die at the end, and you'll still get the ending cutscene. That's what makes this mission so great; you're not the all-powerful Alpha One here, you're just one lowly fighter being overwhelmed. You have to accept casualties; you have to live with the fact that you can't save every ship. This is especially true at the end, when you look out and see the 20 or so ships that have no hope of making it to the node in time. This mission, more than any other, really touches on the realities of fighting in a war.
One final note: if you're more than about 3000 meters away from that node when all hell breaks loose, you haven't got a prayer. Having played through it previously is a huge advantage, as you know about when to start your run on the node. As for your wingmen...ah, just leave 'em behind.
P.S. I know this has been discussed to death, but the mission "Their Finest Hour" has some serious design flaws. The allied "fleet" consists of two cruisers and one corvette, none of which have had "beam-free-all" applied to them. They're almost useless against the Shivan capital ships, which you and your wings have to take out almost single-handedly. The only way to get the Perseus/Boanerges reinforcements from the Colossus is to get Beta wing completely killed. As for the Big C itself, even though its engines show up as disabled, Command still yells at it to evacuate, and its captain refuses, even as the ship is decimated. Hate to tell you, buddy, but even if you had tried to jump, you wouldn't get very far.
Another funny bit is that the Sathanas usually manages to cut off about half of the Colossus's last words; "Hurry up and die already!"
