‘Baiting Sentinels’

The preceding story mission was: ‘Blaster Practice’

The following story mission is: ‘Component Upgrades’

So again this qualifies as a story mission, though we’re still effectively in tutorial mode. There’s little choice but to take this mission as there are still no white missions available. Presumably you could go back down to the surface of Kalabesh and fly about killing a few mantis, but as of yet you’ve no repair droid and haven’t been to the Hangar so any damage couldn’t be repaired. I wonder what would happen if you did manage to get yourself podded at this point? Perhaps the game won’t let you lose your ship and the mantis keep ‘missing’ you once you’re down to your last bar of hull integrity. Maybe you go the Hangar and are left to figure it out via tooltips etc. I must try it one day.

Of course most pilots are eager to get on at this point and won’t waste time wondering about such nonsense. Once you accept the mission and return to the surface of Kalabesh you meet up with uncle Darius again. It seems some other rookie pirate is getting his backside kicked by the mantis and together you have to fly to his rescue. You’re told to hurry of course, but there’s no rush. The other pilot evaded destruction while I tootled along checking out the scenery.

Just like in all the best films, you and Darius arrive like the 9^th cavalry and save the terrified pilot from the alien filth. You could probably just hover nearby while Darius takes care of the sentinels that are attacking the rookie, but where’s the fun in that? Enjoy the carnage and reap the experience.

After he’s been saved, the young pilot delivers the moral of the story. He declares that he’s learned his lesson, and never again will he take on an enemy that shoots back without a repair droid fitted to his ship. You can picture Darius sitting in his cockpit nodding and smiling sagely, Bill Cosby-like, knowing that you will learn from the mistake of this week’s guest star.

When I got to orbit after this mission I was made up to level 3 and thus gained 50 lovely bars of gold. If you get the same, resist the urge to rush to the shop and blow it on today’s special offer. Gold is accumulated via real-world money and level advancement, plus very occasionally as compensation for customer service lapses. There are times in the game when it will be invaluable and I prefer to save the gold for then. 50 gold won’t buy you much anyway, especially while you’re still flying tutorials. Leave it in the bank and rush to your next mission. It’s time to upgrade your ship.

Check out the video of this mission on YouTube. Bloody marvellous what you can do these days.