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DEUS EX MACHINA v1.3.1
A Freespace 2 Campaign
Created by Goober5000

You may redistribute this campaign, provided all files remain intact and
you do not modify the copyright information.  You may modify the missions for
your personal and private use; however, you may not redistribute the modified
missions.

All custom mods for this campaign were created by and are copyrighted by me,
except for the NTF command briefing animation (adapted from a squadron logo
created by Black Wolf), the Bosch Beer cargo container (created by Krackers87),
and the Teletubbies sun (created by Sven).

The red shirt element in the 47th Red Shirts squad logo is adapted from a drawing
in the Star Trek Encyclopedia, copyright Paramount Pictures.  The Teletubbies baby
image is copyright Ragdoll Limited.  Use of external artwork is authorized under
the provision in United States copyright law for parodies and satirical works.
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Version History
---------------
1.3.1   Better handling of Iceni positioning in mission 5
1.3.0   MediaVP 4.3.x compatibility.  Used the SCP $Display Name feature for the
        Llanfair PG.  Added a nameplate for the new Orion.
1.2.1   Added a mercy/anti-frustration flag to the final mission.
1.2     MediaVP compatibility.
1.1     Modified mission 5 to allow easier plotting of the escape path.  Changed all
        the SC Parvatis to show the same name in-mission.  Added the Bosch Beer
        cargo container and the baby sun.
1.02    Updated the copyright and mission hints sections of the readme.
1.01    Fixed a small bug in mission 1 that would cause it to not red-alert in rare
        instances.  Also changed the Music Trigger ships to Pegasuses so they
        would not show up on sensors.
1.0     First release.


Story
-----
You're a new recruit to the NTF, and you've come at a crucial time for the survival of the rebellion. GTVA attacks have been severely damaging morale. Pilots are frustrated. Wingmen are dying. It's up to you, Alpha 1, to save the day again.

Your squadron, the 47th Red Shirts, has been called in on a mission of utmost importance. Allied raiding parties have seized several shipments of Bosch Beer, and the Bosch Shipping Lanes are in danger of falling to GTVA control. The Admiral wants the shipping lanes secured at all costs.

Your job won't be easy, pilot. Command bureaucracy, continuity glitches, and impossible mission goals abound. Your wingmen are incompetent. Your fighter is a piece of junk. And, as usual, you're the only pilot who uses his own brain. Are you up to the challenge?


Features
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Encounter the Colossus, the Sathanas, AND the Lucifer all in the same campaign!
Watch Allied Command reach a landmark new level of stupidity!
See Alpha 1's wingmen all die in the first 30 seconds!
Witness when ETAK first goes on-line!
Meet the mission designer face to face!
Plot holes!
Surprises!
And much, much more!


Background
----------
This campaign was inspired by comments made on the Hard Light Productions forums (listed below).  The idea kind of grew until I decided to actually make a mission parodying FreeSpace 2.  The end result was way too big for one mission, so it evolved into the campaign you have now.  As far as I know, nobody else has ever made a serious (?) attempt at a parody campaign.  I'd love to know what you think.  Email ipw47@yahoo.com.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the name of a city in Wales.  Do an online search. :) The pronunciation is, approximately, "hlan vi [long i] er poorhh gwin goorhh go gur ihh hwirn dro boorhh hlan tee see lee oh go go gohh". :D


Inspiration from the Hard Light Productions Forums (http://www.hard-light.net/)
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The cargo containers:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,9238.msg165957.html#msg165957
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,9238.msg166104.html#msg166104

The Bosch Beer:
http://www.robotechlan.com/freespace2/bosch/

Comments on the Colossus:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,5324.0.html
and c.f. the FS2 mission "Their Finest Hour"

And here's where the idea for Mission 5 came from (many thanks to Stryke 9!):
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,450.msg8214.html#msg8214


***** SPOILERS BELOW *****


Mission Tips
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Mission 1: Make sure you destroy GTVA - Epsilon wing as soon as possible at the beginning so they don't harass your bombers.  Hang around the back of the Orion when it jumps in so you're close to the wing when they arrive.  It is possible to successfully guard the entire convoy on Medium.  Use the delay when the capture and rescue wings arrive to your strategic advantage.

Missions 2, 3, and 4: If you need help on these missions, you shouldn't be playing FreeSpace. :)

Mission 5: Speed counts in this mission.  The trick here is to destroy as many fighters at the beginning as you can before your bombers warp in.  The fewer Shivans there are to harass your pilots and the quicker you can destroy the capital ships, the more friendly fighters are left to protect the Iceni later on.  What I've found works most of the time is to fly a Herc II with double Subachs and one bank each of Harpoons and Trebuchets.  Set weapons to double-fire as soon as you arrive, then destroy as many fighters as you can before Delta and Epsilon jump in.  Once they do, hightail it over to the Sycorax and destroy the main beam cannon that's closest to the Iceni.  Then go back to shooting fighters.  If you pull it off right, the second part of the mission should be relatively easy.


Extra Special Mission Hint
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If you haven't figured out how to plot a departure point successfully in Mission 5, go watch Star Trek II.  Specifically, the part where Kirk outmaneuvers Khan in the nebula.  (Space has three dimensions!)


How To Survive the Last Mission
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We've all experienced the frustration of winning a hard-fought battle only to get destroyed at the last second as we jump out, and have to replay the mission.  I figured that this would be a fitting end to a campaign parody: it's impossible to complete the last mission and so it's impossible to finish the campaign.  (You can't jump out without dying in missions 1 and 2 either, but this isn't really noticeable because of the red-alerts.  And you can't jump out at all in mission 3.)  Alpha 1 flies for the 47th Red Shirts in this campaign, and we all know what happens to red shirts. :)

But this gets frustrating after a few runs through, so I built a cheat code into mission 5 that lets you survive.  At any time before jumping out, press Alt-J, then hit Escape and press Alt-J again.  Pressing Alt-J twice within two seconds deactivates the Alpha 1 self-destruct SEXP.