Lone Guardian

Operation: Lone Guardian is the first mission of the Allied campaign of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.Westwood Pacific, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. Allied mission 1: "Operation: Lone Guardian".
==Background==
The Soviet invasion of the American mainland took the USA by surprise but not the European leaders. As Soviet invaders pour into the country from every conceivable direction, the Allied military desperately tried to defend itself from the aggressors. One of the key elements of the invasion was New York City, hit especially hard due to its strong propaganda values.
With most of the military commanders dead, only one was able to respond to the President's Lazarus Protocol, an emergency directive to be activated in the event of an invasion. Coming under the command of General Carville, the Commander was placed in command of every man, woman and child in the Eastern United States and sent to New York City to blunt the Soviet invasion.
===Force composition===
The Americans were caught off-guard by the invasion, and they only had a small force. Nevertheless, Several Legions of GIs were deployed to Liberty Island, and Fort Bradley was still standing. There were also three Grizzly Tanks nearby, but they had lost contact and were unable to get to Fort Bradley. Despite the small numbers, the Allies also had Special Agent Tanya, giving them a major advantage.
Much of the Soviet invasion force was still on the way, and the Soviets were unable to deploy much of their navy, nor any tanks. However, they had four Dreadnoughts that they were planning to use to provide cover support. They also paradropped legions and legions of Conscripts, commanded by a small supply base in the area. Stationed at the base were also a division of V3 Launchers, inciting panic and wrecking the city.
==Key units==
		
==Events==
===Defending the Statue of Liberty===
The mission begins with emerging from her base camp. Once she sinks the four dreadnoughts and the Statue of Liberty is secured, it turns out it wasn't quite safe - A V3 Rocket Launcher brought it down with sustained fire (which was then promptly destroyed by Harriers), after which Premier Alexander Romanov of the Soviet Union and his allies have broadcasted a propaganda statement to American citizens, offering them the choice of either joining the Soviet Revolution, or continue to mourn their past with the ruins of Lady Liberty.
===Link up to Fort Bradley===
Tanya is then ordered to link up with Fort Bradley. While going through the city, Soviet paratroopers drop in as part of the invasion force took place. Having located scattered Allied units, including deployed GIs and the Grizzly Tank trio, and fighting through numerous Soviet paratroopers, Tanya finally reached Fort Bradley.
===Destroying the supply base===
An engineer repaired the only accessible bridge to the Soviets' hastily constructed supply base. Using forces from Fort Bradley, Tanya led her infantry across and announced their arrival to the Soviets by destroying the highly unstable oil barrels placed around the base. Bypassing the Sentry Guns, Tanya quickly made short work of the base, while the GIs took out the bombarding V3 Launchers and the Grizzlies taking care of the defences. In no time at all, the Allies had at last blunted the Soviet invasion of New York.
==Walkthrough==
Since this is the first mission, it is relatively simple. Begin by using Tanya to sink the four dreadnoughts. Once completed, proceed to Liberty Island and quickly eliminate all conscripts. Position Tanya in the Burger McKong parking lot to destroy all Soviet paratroopers. Afterward, advance to Fort Bradley and construct a Barracks. Train a sufficient number of GIs along with an engineer. Use the engineer to repair the bridge, then complete the rest of the assault with the GIs to secure victory.
===Valuable assets===
* Firepower and armor upgrade crates in parking lots at the upper-left corner of the map.
* Four additional bonus crates located south of said parking lots, located on a small pier and as such, accessible only by Tanya.
* Three experienced Grizzly tanks north of Fort Bradley.
* Multiple crates in the enemy base, including money crate.
===Tips===
* Statue of Liberty's health and Dreadnought missiles' warheads were modified so there is relatively very little damage dealt from the Dreadnoughts' missiles against the Statue (and only the Statue; they'll still deal regular damage to anything else), so there's no need to sink them hastily. Order Tanya to help the defending veteran GIs to repel conscript paratroopers is recommended since they can be useful to take out Soviet base.
* There's no way to protect Statue of Liberty from being destroyed by the V3 launcher (it's way out of range), so sell the two Patriot Missile Systems for credits to assist later war efforts, unless you would rather watch them try and fail shooting down the Soviet cargo planes buzzing through the sky during the mission.
==Aftermath==
The Allies lightning counterattack blunted the Soviet invasion, protecting the East Coast. However, it was only a minor victory. The Soviets were still churning in from Mexico and the Pacific. Furthermore, the destruction of the Statue of Liberty was a major blow to the Americans. It was only a matter of time until Soviets reached Washington D.C.
==Trivia ==
* In the last Soviet mission of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Tanya was seen destroying Dreadnoughts attacking the Statue of Liberty, just before the player builds their base.
* If the player does nothing long enough, the Soviet Conscripts will eventually destroy Fort Bradley. When Tanya enters the base, the player will receive Engineer reinforcements if the construction yard has been destroyed.
* The effectiveness of the Dreadnoughts' missiles against the Statue of Liberty has been greatly reduced for the purposes of the mission, but not quite completely, and the Statue's strength has been greatly increased.
** If the player leaves the Dreadnoughts long enough to destroy the Statue, Eva will announce that a critical structure has been lost and the mission will fail. This is demonstrated here: https://youtu.be/PbEKEtHO6JQ?t=420
** Eventhough the Statue of Liberty has been destroyed by a V3 Launcher (the player ignoring the Dreadnoughts), the mission will also fail if the player let the Dreadnoughts escape out of the map.
* The V3 rocket warhead has been modified to deal absurd amounts of damage against the Statue (and only the Statue) to compensate for the Statue's highly increased Strength. This is why it one-shoots the Statue, while the Dreadnought missiles do little (visible) damage to it.
** The numbers: Dreadnought missiles only deal 2% damage per missile to Statue and only Statue (which now uses ArmorType Special_1), Statue's health is 10k at max but it's placed on map with only 51.17% (131/256) of that, and V3 rockets deal 50k% damage per missile to Statue.
==Gallery==
File:Ls800a01.png|Loading screen
File:RA2A01.jpg|Map panorama
==Videos==
==References==