Bottom of the Barrel

This article is about an in-game mission. For the in-universe event, see Operation Guillotine.

"Actual combat, I can't believe we're fighting!"

― Bookie

"Bottom of the Barrel" is the first mission of Project Wingman: Frontline-59. The player, now an inducted Reserve Divisions member called Driver, escorts surviving Pacific Federation fighters fleeing from Cascadian Independence Force mercenaries after the disastrous furball in the Bering Strait.

Objectives

The player must first taxi onto the runway once the hangar doors open and fly towards the Bering Strait, indicated by a blue map circle and the HUD flashing "BERING STRAIT." Wave after wave of fighters will spawn, all in pursuit of Federation aircraft.

After all mercenary fighters are downed, Crimson Team - now cut from its imposing eight-man glory to a trio of defenseless fleeing survivors - appears briefly on radar. Head towards them and face off against the Thorn Rose Gang, their pursuers. Defeat this boss group to complete the mission.

Mercenary difficulty

Thorn Rose Gang comes equipped with HPBCs, railguns, and an AOA Limiter module even for their F/D-14s. They also receive a substantial manpower boost.

Enemy List

Section		Unit	Points	Count	Mercenary
Initial Waves		F/E-4	250	3
		MG-29	250	9
		SV-37	250	6
		F/D-14	250	6
		SK.27	250	6
Crimson's Pursuers		F/D-14 "THORN ROSE"	250	5	✘
		F/D-14 "THORN ROSE"	250	9	✔
		SK-27 "THORN ROSE"	250	5
		F/E-18 "THORN ROSE"	250	2	✔
		F/D-14 "THORN ROSE"	250	2	✔

Trivia

• Brick's "do some of that piloting stuff" line is a reference to a quote from Nick "Goose" Bradshaw in Top Gun, where he asks the same to Maverick.
• This is one of the four missions (the others being Express Lane, Faust, and Kings) where the mission splash doesn't appear at the start of gameplay.