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 This page will tell you how to get all the medals in the game, in a mission by mission format. Note that you must play at least on the Medium difficulty level to be eligible for many of the medals.

First off, there are three Ace Badges. You need: That being said, here are some tips to maximize your kill ratio:

Main FreeSpace Campaign Missions

1.Training Missions 1 through 3
Kills: 0
Medal: Pilot Wings
Just do what the instructor tells you. There are only two reasons to play this: if you don't know what you're doing, or if you don't have your wings.

2.The Eve of Destruction
Kills: 10
Medals: none
I don't think it's possible to fail this mission.

3.The Field of Battle
Kills: 13
Medal: Distinguished Flying Cross
Destroy all 4 Vasudan wings, including the Ace. In order for the Ace to appear, you must be above 50% health.

4.Basic Training Stage 4
Kills: 0
Medals: none
Another training mission. Do as you're told.

5.Small Deadly Space
Kills: 23 (2 freighters, 7 cargo containers, 12 fighters)
Medals: none
If you do attack the cargo, be careful, as the one with the Weapons Prototype can't be destroyed.

6.Avenging Angels
Kills: 13
Medal: Commendation Medal
Destroy all enemy ships, disable both the Rasputin and the Omega, ensure that both the GT Intelligence 1 and the GTT Comet survive. You'll need to fend off the fighters before turning to disable your targets.

7.Out of the Dark, Into the Night
Kills: 13 possible (you'll probably get fewer than 6)
Medals: none, but you have to complete this mission to get it in the next one.
When the Vasudan ship arrives in the distance, afterburn towards it to fulfill your order to get a visual. Once you get confirmation that you have, turn around and afterburn back to your escort. Let the Shivans take care of the Vasudans. You can't save the ship you're escorting, but you must save it's escape pod. Kill a Shivan fighter. The Scorpion stays longer, but the Shaitan are easier to kill.

8.Paving the Way
Kills: 2
Medals: Distinguished Flying Cross
Complete the previous mission, and keep the Galatea's hull above 50%. To do so, focus on the asteroids. When the two Shaitan jump in, your wingman keeps them busy, so continue to shoot rocks.

9.Pandora's Box
Kills: 12 (If you shoot some of the cargo after you scan it, but be careful.)
Medals: none
Target the nearest cargo container and afterburn towards it. Most of the cargo is destroyed before you get there, so just scan what you can. Your wingmen will be taken out quickly, so you need to be swift. If you have the hull strength after scanning what cargo is left, you can easily take out some sentry guns to add to your kill score.

10.The Hammer and the Anvil
Kills: 39
Medals: Vasudan Alliance Medal
Make sure all 3 shield prototypes survive. If you're good, you can go save the Vasudan ship that jumps in at some distance. When the Poseidons are about 1:30 from their point, some Vasudans jump in, claiming to be your relief. Target one of them, and kill him and his buddies as soon as their brackets turn red.

11.Advanced Training 1 & 2
Kills: 0
Medals: Advanced Pilot Wings
Do what your instructor says.

12.The Darkness and the Light
Kills: 35
Medals: none
Order all fighters to Ignore the Ramses. Take out all the fighters first. After they stop jumping in, take out the cargo. Unless you're really fast, the Shivans will have destroyed the Ramses by then. You can safely ignore the Taranis, as it's part of the next mission.

13.First Strike
Kills: 59
Medal: Good Conduct Medal
Disarm, disable, and capture the Taranis. Ensure both the Omegas and the Halkins survive. Alpha and Beta wings have Disruptor Cannons, so you can order then to Disarm and Disable the Taranis. This way you can change your loadout to full Avengers. Once the Taranis is dead in the water, order one wing each to protect Omega 1, Omega 2, and the Halkins.

14.The Aftermath
Kills: 41
Medals: none
Escort Iota wing until you're relieved. This is easy. Just engage all hostiles that jump in. The other wings will protect the other transports, and Alpha wing already has orders to protect Iota.

15.The Big Bang
Kills: 15
Medal: Conspicuous Gallantry
Keep both the Asimov and Ravage alive. Order all ships to protect the Asimov. The Ravage should be able to take care of itself. Take out Indra bombers first, then the fighters. Bheema is also a bomber wing.

16.La Ruota Della Fortuna
Kills: 25 (including 1 Cain cruiser and 1 Lilith cruiser)
Medal: Distinguished Service Cross
Keep the Galatea's hull above 50%, and destroy all enemies.

17.Where Eagles Dare
Kills: 27 (including 5 freighters, 4 cargo containers and 3 sentry guns)
Medals: none
Take out the fighters first.

18.Tenderizer
Kills: 44 (including 1 Aten cruiser)
Medals: none
All cheats allowed
It's a trap. Target one of the sentry guns and be prepared to destroy it as soon as the brackets turn red. After the Galatea jumps out, you continue into the next mission.

19.Shell Game
Kills: 18 (including 4 freighters)
Medal: Good Conduct Medal
This is a continuation of the previous mission. Destroy all fighters. Destroy all freighters, but make sure all the cargo survives. Make sure the Harmon and Macros survive.

20.Enter the Dragon
Kills: 16 (including 5 cargo containers, 4 sentry guns, 1 freighter, 1 transport, and 1 Cain cruiser
Medal: Distinguished Flying Cross
Disable Arjuna 1 before Delta wing jumps in, and then kill all the rest of the ships in the area.

21.Playing Judas
Kills: few (It's really hard to kill all the ships before they jump out.)
Medal: Meritorious Unit
To get the Unit you have to scan all ships and cargo (except the fighters and sentry guns).After you scan the Lucifer, you're asked to get into the launch bay. Target one of the fighter bays as a sub-system, and fly towards it. Soon after, you'll be attacked by the fighters that launch out of the Lucifer, and your jump drives aren't working yet. Kill at least two of the fighters attacking you before jumping out. Otherwise you get pounded, and probably killed before you're fully jumped out.

22.Evangalist
Kills: 14
Medals: none
All cheats allowed
Not much to say here, except that you continue into the next mission.

23.Doomsday
Kills: 20
Medal: Galatea Survivor
Continues from the previous mission. Ensure all of the escape pods survive. The Galatea must not be destroyed by anything but the Lucifer.

24.Exodus
Kills: 38 (including 2 Cain cruisers)
Medal: Meritorious Unit
Make sure all freighters, cargo, and the Mecross survive.

25.Last Hope
Kills: 35 (including 2 Lilith cruisers)
Medal: Conspicuous Gallantry
Protect the Hope! Order all fighters to protect it. Target incoming bombs and destroy them, just make sure they're far enough away that their blast doesn't destroy you.

26.A Failure to Communicate
Kills: 24-50 (depending on how you play the first few minutes)
Medal: Good Conduct Medal
Save at least 2 of the escape pods, and the Aquilae Coummunication station.

27.Reaching the Zenith
Kills: 18 (including 1 Lilith cruiser and 1 Aten cruiser)
Medal: Legion of Merit
All cheats allowed
Destroy both the Zenith and the Benedict. Flows directly into the next mission.

28.Running the Gauntlet
Kills: 118 (119 if you didn't kill the Zenith in the last mission)
Medal: Commendation Medal
Continues from the previous mission. Make sure the Rosetta and both Omega transports survive. If you stick around after the transports successfully jump out, the Lucifer spits out a whole lot of fighters.

29.Black Omega
Kills: 22 (including 1 Typhon destroyer)
Medal: Medal of Honor
Make sure both Omega transports survive. Destroy the Anvil. Order either Beta or Gamma wing to protect Omega 2. You go straight ahead and take out the bombers that jump in about 9 or so klicks ahead. After that, Omega 1 should be ok on its own. Once the bombers are gone, go help take out the Anvil. The sooner it's gone, the sooner it'll stop spitting out fighters.

30.Clash of the Titans
Kills: 33
Medal: Military Defense Shield
Quite possibly the most difficult mission in the game. Keep the Bastion's hull above 35%, and destroy the Tantalus. Order all fighters to protect the Bastion. You go take out the Tantalus yourself. You might consider taking a heavier fighter, or even a bomber. The sooner the Tantalus is gone, the sooner it stops spitting out fighters and bombers, and then all you have to do is wait for the Bastion to jump out.

31.The Great Hunt
Kills: 55
Medals: none
If you want to cheat, remove all your wingmen in the setup before the mission. You can even kill the Lucifer here (Use ~k on it a few times, then cycle your guns to the Shivan Super Laser.)
Whatever you do, don't die just as you jump. It screws everything up. This mission flows directly into the next.

32.Good Luck
Kills: 301
Medal: Galactic Service Cross (check the barracks to see it)
You can cheat on this one as well. This time destroy the Lucifer's 2 engines so it can't jump out. Then just wait for it to spit out all it's fighters. After a long time, it'll destroy itself.
Or, you can just sit back at the entry point and wait. Your fellow pilots are competent enough to complete the mission by themselves.



Silent Threat Missions

1.Silence All Voices
Kills: 22
Medal: none
Ares 2 will escape no matter what you do. Order your wingmen to take out Ares 3. Concentrate your initial efforts on Ares 1, then proceed to take out all the rest.

2.The Pursuit
Kills: 20
Medal: none
There will be 4 Atens and a whole mess of fighters, freighters, and sentry guns. Eventually, the Einstein will jump in. Order one or more of your wingmen to take it out, because the shockwave from the explosion covers about 3 klicks.

3.Ghosts
Kills: 21
Medal: none
Protect the escape pods. Try to scan all the "friendly" ships that jump in. There are some Lokis you can't target, but that doesn't stop them from attacking you. They're easy to take out, though.

4.On the Run
Kills: 25
Medal: none
Make sure the Ratna and the scientists' vessels survive. Order all fighters to protect the Ratna

5.Hellfire
Kills: 13
Medal: none
Kill everything.

6.Secret Recovery
Kills: lots
Medal: none
Save the Giordono. Order one wing to protect the station, and another to protect the Epsilon transport. The Ptah spits out endless waves of fighters, but it's too big a target to take out yourself. Just concentrate on the fighters. Once the Giordono has jumped out, you can try to take out the Ptah, or you can jump out.

7.Cloak and Dagger
Kills: 30
Medal: none
Scan all the freighters that come in. Some of them are traitors. You can safely ignore the escape pods, as they should be able to make it out on their own. Hang around the Jump node and kill all the fighters that jump in. Then you can focus on scanning. Your wingmen should handle the bombers that jump in on the far side of the station.

8.Field of Destruction
Kills: 22
Medal: none
Make sure all your escorts survive. Shoot asteroids and take out Shivans as they jump in. Order your wingmen to protect Iota 1. Once the victory music starts, you won't get orders, but you can safely jump out.

9.Exodus
Kills: 17
Medal: none
Kill the fighters as quick as you can so they can't hurt the escape pods too badly. Then have your wingmen protect the pod closest to the jump point, and head there yourself. Stick around and kill the fighters that jump in. The Kiros will die no matter what you do.

10.The Return to Ross 128
Kills: 31
Medal: none
Continues from the previous mission. Start the mission by ordering your wing to form on you. Then come to a complete stop and sit there while the GTI and the Shivans duke it out. Eventually the GTI will come out on top, and you can go in and mop up the few remaining fighters, and finish off the weakened cruisers.

11.The Wait
Kills: 13
Medal: none
For a while, nothing happens. Then all hell breaks loose. After the fighters are dispatched, order your wingmen to take out the cruiser. This will leave you to destroy the freighters. Be careful not to destroy the cargo. If your wingmen kill the Cain before you're done, order them to depart, as they're not as discrete, and will take out the cargo. Friendly transports will jump in and take the cargo. Make sure they jump out safely before you go.

12.Secrets Revealed
Kills: lots
Medal: none
If you're in an bomber, don't try to dog-fight too much. If you sit in the center hole of the Arcadia station, you can still fire off harbingers at the Jotunheim, and nobody will attack you. When the Jotunheim is nearly dead, the Terran version of the Lucifer, the Hades, jumps in. Ignore it until you've taken out the Jotunheim. The Hades will spit out endless waves of Lokis, but there is a place where they won't attack you. See those four big engines on the back? Position yourself in the elbow of one of them and let loose. You may want to rubber-band your trigger and come back later, because it takes forever to kill.
If you're in a fighter, concentrate on fighters and cover your dozen or so wingmen as they take out the Hades. You'll probably end up with 50+ kills this way.

last modified 12 April 2003