(Alliance Infantry Mobile Training Facility, Lecture Hall another day)

“Welcome back everyone, take your seats. Today we will talk about the battles around Bespin: the battle of Cloud City and seizing the Tibanna gas mining facility. The alliance moved in on Cloud City shortly after the departure of Lord Vader. The Empire had left but a small garrison, and most of the population had temporarily evacuated the city.

Your objective here is to take the imperial positions along the upper walkway, essentially following the border of the map going up, then left. Start at the lower right position and move north, you will be accompanying a small group of alliance soldiers heading in the same direction so take the opportunity to help each other. Take out imperials as you go and watch out for cross fire! Fighting can get intense in these confined spaces and grenades have a tendency to fly left and right. The open walkways are susceptible for ambushes by dark troopers that jump up from the square below, take care! As soon as you take the first position head west towards the large circular structure and continue to fight until you reach the next imperial command post. After taking that you should control the upper portions of the city, and the imperials should be hard pressed to find any cover in the open square. Move down the stairs, and advance carefully. You should be able to take the imperial command post here without too much trouble: take out any and all hostiles you see on your way down and hug the walls as you make your way towards the command post. At this point all that is left should be to mop up the remaining imperial forces, be sure to do some sightseeing as well; the carbonite freezing chamber is well worth a visit.”

“Let’s now turn our attention to the area immediately outside Cloud City, to the platforms on which Tibanna gas is mined. Alliance fighter squadrons mixed it up with the Imperial TIE fighters and bombers, while lending air support to the troops fighting on the numerous landing platforms and inside the facility.

This is a great opportunity to do some flying since taking out the imperial fighters does give an advantage. Don’t forget that your fighter is equipped with missiles that can be quite powerful against both land and air targets. There are also a few anti-air guns scattered across the platforms that you can take control of and use to even out the odds. An easily overlooked tactic is to use the fighters to jump to enemy controlled platforms, catch the command post and start attacking the enemy from multiple directions. Don’t forget that you can just as well fly above as below the platforms, thus making a stealth assault possible. Eventually you will have to leave the starfighter and participate in the ground battle. The Empire usually controls the central area, and fighting can be quite fierce along the broad stairs that lead up to it. If so, try to head back out, grab a fighter and attack from a different direction. Victory will be close at hand!”

(Next lesson)