This is it.  The starmap has been completed and the race is on to discover the Preserver legacy hidden within the Deferi sector.

And what a great finale this mission was.   I was fortunate that I was online at the time it became active, and so it became one of the few that my first run through was with other members of my fleet.  Working together as we ran through the mission was great fun, and with us all being pretty reasonably kitted out Admirals, the Breen didn’t have much of a chance.

If I was going to have a complaint about this mission (just to get it out of the way) its that the final boss, Thot Trel, who had been built up throughout the series, was actually a bit of a pushover.  I’ve now completed the mission on all three of my Federation characters, and each time he goes down pretty easily.  The boss from the week before was a much tougher fight, and so it would perhaps be nice to see Thot Trel given a bit of a power boost to make a more fitting final confrontation.

However, that’s the only negative I can say about a brilliant finale.  Most of the mission takes place on the ground, and there’s some very nice classic Trek imagery.  My whole fleet were squeeing when we went round a corner in the map only to be confronted by a replica of the Preserver obelisk that Kirk found in the episode The Paradise Syndrome.

The revamped caves get another airing as you descend into the area hidden underneath the Obelisk, and again the devs have put together a nice puzzle to unlock the Preserver Archive.  Sound-based this time, its a simple puzzle compared to, say, the starchart puzzle on Defera however its still fun, and nicely broke up the combat.

The really great thing about this mission, is the sense of the impact the events will have for the unfolding universe in Star Trek Online.  The reveal of exactly what the Archive is, will surely come back to the fore in future missions as it represents a major resource that galactic powers are going to squabble over.  And not to mention, with the continual threat of the Iconians lurking somewhere in the background, I can’t help but think the Archive will become a pivotal piece of that conflict when they finally make their move.

The rewards are again inventive, and a testiment to the devs.  The main quest completion reward being a special Breen freeze rifle which I’ve found myself using quite a bit as it provides a good main attack and a devastating secondary fire (neatly counterbalanced by quite a long build up which can be interrupted).

However, this being the finale to the series, there’s a a special reward in the form of a Breen bridge officer.  He’s a purple officer and comes with some neat ground abilities.  Of course, the devs have stated that this reward will only be available prior to the release of series 2, but to me it helps make the weeklies a bit more special, as well as providing a nice incentive to make sure people are checking in on the new missions regularly.   To be honest, knowing the game, I imagine the Breen bridge officer will turn up in the C-store in some form in a few months time, but since we get him for free for completing this set of weeklies, if it does happen, I won’t be complaining.

There’s a couple of weeks until the second series of weeklies, this time featuring the Devidians from Time’s Arrow and promising spooky old Space Stations and some time travel.  This first series of missions has certainly proven to be a massive success, with a lot of love and attention evident on the mission design, so I really can’t wait to see what this second series brings.   If nothing else, its nice to see a really positive buzz about the game following its very rocky first six months and I look forward to it continuing.