I had technical issues running Act IIIHFH had the artillery bug and the casualties debriefing bug, EitS had the flying-out-of-the-map bug. I got around them though.
I read most of the material in the DreamscapeAnd by most I mean all. The story and characters wouldn't have made sense other wise. Very creative, guys!
I released the Gefs in "Nothing is True".Whatever situations the Fedayeen threw me into, I was determined to stick to the straight and narrow whenever I had a choice. Two Gef pilots wouldn't cost us the war... would they? Anyway, it did me some good to hear Kukri 2 shout, "Gaia bless you!" as he left.
EDIT: I heard one of the Gef pilots says, "Ghanna, I'm coming home!" if released. Isn't Ghanna Sergei's daughter? The Hostage? Implying that her husband was a Prisoner of the Fedayeen all the way back in act one, since he clearly didn't know she was dead/captured. Ouch.
I don't think the Ridwan pilots had to die.It took me a while to sort out the morals of what we were doing on that mission. The attack itself? Perfectly legit strike on enemy forces. Blaming it on the Gefs... that's pushing it, but Kostadin Pilots really did attack the convoy, UEF pilots really did try and help the Vasudans, and MacDuff really was cheating Steele, even if not in that instance. You could argue that we didn't lie, we just didn't speak up. It's a tough question, and I'm not sure of the answer. But killing allied pilots in cold blood was wrong. We should have tried SOMETHING; identifying ourselves and telling them to keep mum, or even demanding that they come to the Masyaf and sit out the war. We might not have succeeded, but good ends don't justify evil means. I wouldn't do it myself, so Falconer did the job.
Kovacs was my favorite wingmanFalconer, quite frankly, was creepy. I couldn't make heads or tails of Viduara. Kovacs was no serial killer, just a shell-shocked veteran who wouldn't give up. While he might not have been as enthusiastic about Laporte as Viduara, he recognized talent when he saw it (much faster than Falconer).
I had a horrible time with that assassinationThe problem was I did understand the "com spike" feature. I thougt I had to "guess" which transport had the traitor by watching the comms meter, with the result that I would jump the nearest transport as soon as I had a spike. Once some fellow players explained that it would tell me when I had found it...
I pulled that assassination off with NO ITEMSOver the weekend I'm gonna replay that mission and try a more finesse approach. As it was, I had scanned all the station's subsystems, but once I found the transport I just jumped it. Long-range Shrikes to the engines, some escort dodging, a Gattler burst, more dodging, alt-J and it was done. Now Steele, THAT'S a legit stealth attack.
I captured the Gef habitat in "One Future"Again, Straight and Narrow. I highly doubt that the people on board the habitat were happy with MacDuff's plans (I noticed MacDuff himself wasn't going to die for Gaia, oh no. HE had to command the operation from the safety of his superdestroyer.)
"One Future" didn't change my mind about the Gef pilotsIf anything, I was vindicated that they hadn't persuaded Steele. After fighting the Moreena Macduff, two extra cruisers were easy as cake- my Arquebus cut through them like butter.
I loved flying the Custos-XIt was an awesome cross between the Katana in "The Blade Itself" and a normal strikecraft. Tell me it comes back in part 3! Please?
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I adapted well to "Her Finest Hour"And I thought you guys wouldn't be able to top "One Future". WOW. I actually did take notes on the briefing and the Wiki article
. I was able to accomplish most of the preparation directives (saving the Serenity, knocking out both AWACS, eliminating the Mjolnirs, destroying the minelayers, wiping out Pisces wing, infecting the sentries, smashing the Carthage's Radomes, and even demolishing ALL THREE Corvettes). I got the debrief bug, but when I redid it in the techroom I got the accurate "light losses". Basically a Freespace RTS, with my main job (other than infecting the sentries) being to direct the battle. I tried it a couple times to get around the debrief bug; on my "Official" beating of the mission I got the Carthage so fasdt I didn't have time to call in the Toutatis!
I took the Carthage's surrenderHonorable agreements save lives in war. I respected Lopez; unlike Steele she takes care of her soldiers and doesn't commit war crimes. If I were a Tev pilot I'd sign up for the Carthage. The surrender reduced casualties on my side. Most importantly, it proved that Laporte could "Toe the line... Do this without becoming a monster". Besides, think what we could do with a whole Orion and 10,000 POWs?
Placing turrets was tricky in "Eyes in the Storm"Mainly because of bugs. REALLY creative Freding guys, but it needs some work.
"Universal Truth" really freaked me outThat one mission had more shocking revelations and scary implications than the whole of Age of Aquarius. Basically it was the whole of Transcend packed into one mission. Incredible job, guys!
I'm uncomfortable with the FedayeenI recognize the necessity of the FedayeenI might not like them, but we do need them. See the next comment
Sides...I WAS on the UEF side. After Universal Truth, I don't think I can trust anyone OUTSIDE the Fedayeen, although Calder and his men, while they might not understand, are sincere and willing to help.
Humanity has a chance!We've got Ken, we've got Me. We can do this.