Goddard Space Center (mission)

The Brotherhood of Nod's first strike on the Goddard Space Station was an operation whose aim was to take out GDI's A-SAT defense system, as part of preparations for the destruction of the Philadelphia and the Third Tiberium War.Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Nod mission 1: "Goddard Space Centre".
==Background==
Kane planned to assassinate all of GDI's top leaders in one surgical nuclear strike, thereby starting the Third Tiberium War with GDI leadership beheaded, so to speak. Most conveniently, those leaders were all scheduled to be gathered on the GDSS Philadelphia, GDI's space station. Unfortunately, it was protected by a layer of A-SAT systems, and to make matters worse GDI also had spy satellites and weapons platforms that could easily detect obliterate Nod forces if left online. They had to be eliminated if Kane's plans were to proceed.
Nod had previously obtained the blueprints for GDI's space assets, and discovered one critical, almost laughable flaw: all of GDI's orbital equipment relied on one ground control center, ostensibly to cut down on costs. This structure was located within the Goddard Space Center, defended but loosely so; GDI had long since believed that Nod had dissolved into in the flames of the Firestorm Conflict and internal strife, and only a small percentage of skeptics even considered the possibility that Nod lived on.
Kane assigned a Nod Commander, supported by intelligence officer Ajay, to do the deed and show GDI the consequences of their arrogance.
==New Units==
*Militants
*Militant Rocket Squads
*Fanatics
*Saboteurs
*Shadow Teams
==Walkthrough==
Being the first mission in the Nod campaign, it is quite straightforward. Following the mission directives should be enough to complete the mission.
Begin by using the Fanatics to blow a hole in the perimeter wall. Two Guardian Cannons flank the complex's main entrance, but they are of no concern to your forces - they have dreadful accuracy against infantry, and do not inflict much damage even when they do land hits. Capture - but do not sell - the Command Post behind the wall. The loss of the Command Post in any way will result in a mission failure, as will the death of the Saboteur or the Fanatics (if the wall-related objective has not been accomplished).
The map will expand, revealing the rest of the complex, and several squads of veteran Militants and rocket-armed Militants will be airlifted in via Carryall. A mission timer will also begin, initially set at twenty minutes. Use the given troops to clear out nearby Rifleman Squads and Pitbulls, ideally by garrisoning the nearby structures (which reduces the damage dealt to the infantrymen themselves). The Pitbulls are of only mild concern, as they lack effectiveness and accuracy against infantry and cannot even run your troops over. Most of the damage they inflict is a result of the splash damage from their missiles on the condensed formations of weak Militants. Note that any destroyed Pitbulls will be replaced by a War Factory near the second pair of power plants, though the factory itself will not be rebuilt if destroyed.
Destroy the pairs of power plants keeping the Watchtowers online, as indicated by the primary objective. Squads of Fanatics will continuously be airlifted in near the captured Command Post, and they are quite effective against all ground forces. Alternatively, they can be destroyed by the Militant Rocket Squads.
There is a Reinforcement Bay to the right side of the compound as the subject of a secondary objective. Clear out the guarding Rifleman Squads with Militants (ideally by garrisoning) and capture it to receive three Militant Squads, two Militant Rocket Squads, and two teams of Fanatics. Note that they do not have any veterancy. The Saboteur that is used to capture it will not be flown in until after both power plants are destroyed, however.
Regardless of whether or not the Reinforcement Bay is captured, the elimination of both pairs of power plants will result in the entrance of a Shadow Team, and a directive to destroy the A-SAT control center itself will be issued. The Pitbulls can be something of an annoyance, as they can detect the invisible Shadow Teams and have perfect accuracy against them while they are in flight. Nevertheless, they can be maneuvered past or outright destroyed to eliminate this issue. Two pairs of still-online Watchtowers guard the entrances to the A-SAT control building, and rushing them with infantry can work, but is certain to result in losses. To minimize casualties, the Shadow Teams can be flown in and landed right behind the remaining power plant. Landing too close to the Watchtowers will result in their immediate evisceration (as defenses can also detect invisible units), though in the event the Shadow Team is killed, another team will be flown in. Both the power plant and the A-SAT building itself can each be destroyed with one set of explosive charges. 
Once the A-SAT control building is destroyed (in a rather spectacular explosion), Ajay will triumphantly contact the Commander and the mission will be won.
==Aftermath==
After the destruction of the ASAT control center, Kane congratulated the commander on the success of his mission. His reward was to push the button that would launch the missile strike on the Philadelphia and start the Third Tiberium War - "the war to end all wars".
With GDI's ability to respond effectively reduced to zero, the Brotherhood's forces began launching massive assaults on GDI territories worldwide. The defenders were often shocked and caught off-guard by these attacks, and Nod made massive territorial gains in the initial stages of the invasion. 
==Trivia==
* It is possible for the Fanatics to glitch through the wall via ordering them to garrison the civilian building bordering the wall segment. However, this only works because of their squad size, and the Saboteur cannot take advantage of the same exploit.
** It is still possible to glitch the Saboteur through the wall, though since it abuses the Saboteur's turn radius combined with the map border, it is significantly harder.
*Despite being listed as a primary objective, the destruction of the wall segment is not actually required to complete the mission.
*The Saboteurs deployed in this mission are curiously fleet-footed, almost as though they were upgraded with Cybernetic Legs (a Kane's Wrath-exclusive upgrade).
**The Saboteurs deployed at Ayers Rock have similarly above-average speed.
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