Mission 04 - Precious Cargo

## 04 - Precious Cargo

The most critical element to the Athraels' survival hangs in the balance.

### Aftermath

Critical Athrael victory.* Ark successfully evacuated from Imperial Thorun pursuit.

## Belligerents

* Annaki Order
* Azrati Order *(Reinforcement)*

* Thorun Empire

## Commanders

* Nephral
* Adikara
* Zeraphim

* Kagan

## Forces

* Surviving scattered Athrael vessels
* Reactivated Craft Mill
* Pair of recalled Rectors
* Azrati Order strike group, including Lancets and Martyrprobes
* Neda
* Anoch
* The Ark

* Patrolling Thorun craft including Marauders, Havocs, Devastators, Corsairs and Flagships.
* Predator strike group, in both Fighter and Assault modes.
* Raider strike group.
* Thorun blockades, including Guard Stations and one Ion Cannon.

## Objectives

* Deliver the Ark past the nebula.

* Destroy all Athrael stragglers.

## Casualties and losses

Minimal
Substantial

## Involved Characters

* Adikara
* Nephral
* Zeraphim
* Cesral *(Briefing only)*

*Precious Cargo* is the fourth mission of Chapter 03 - Cataclysm in the Five Nations campaign.

## Setting

As the Children of the Izlar lied in preparation for the eventual deliverance that would soon come upon them, outside the Izlar, the war between the nearly collapsed Athrael Theocracy and the Thorun Empire was not going so well - even with most of their forces apparently having retreated from the Sedra System, the Thorun forces still managed to overpower the few pockets of Athrael resistance, which suffered great losses in their task of evacuating and protecting the Ark vessel - which carried the seventy-two primordial gene pools necessary to clone the Athrael species - since it was evacuated from Vemana.

During the escape however, in which the Ark and it's escorts - including the Mothership Anoch under High One Nephral and the Invader destroyer Neda under Consultant Adikara, both of the Annaki Order - were forced to hide within a nebula, the Ark's warp engines were damaged, rendered inoperable. In addition, the nebula prevented the opening of any wormholes leading to the Hathor-4 System, where the Ark would be safe from Thorun pursuit.

Nephral reported this to Patriarch Cesral, whom in turn emphasized the importance of the Ark as the most precious cargo to ever be protected - it's loss would effectively mean the extinction of the Athrael species. Nephral ensured Cesral the Ark would be delivered into safety, no matter the cost.

## Saviors of the Lost Ark

As the Ark's escorts regrouped in preparation to escort the Ark through the marauding Thorun patrols, Adikara informed that the Ark's ion thruster engines were also damaged, and thus the vessel would be capable only of the lowest speed. Adikara suggested leaving it in hiding to preserve the current lives of the Athraels', but Nephral immediately dismissed the recommendation, stating that there would be no more new brothers and sisters if the Ark were to be found and lost, meaning it had to be escorted out of the nebula by any means necessary.

Outnumbered and outgunned, the Athraels had the difficult task of navigating through a perilous asteroid field within the nebula as they encountered heavily armed Thorun patrols and blockades (although Athrael stragglers were also found), often forcing the reluctant Athraels to use the Ark's extensive shielding to bulwark the heavy weapons of Thorun vessels as the other vessels fought back with a cost. Eventually, the Annaki forces would find a deactivated Craft Mill which they utilized it to repair the Ark's warp engines, and they could use the engines to outrun several perils, such as a large force of Raider assassin craft waiting to intercept the evading Athraels.

However, as they nearly reached the edge of the asteroid field, Nephral's forces encountered a Thorun blockade too well fortified to attempt passing or breaking through. At that time, Nephral was contacted by High One Zeraphim of the Azrati Order, whom had arrived with a heavy strike force at the Patriarch's request, to assist the Annaki forces in breaching through the blockade.

As the blockade collapsed, the Athrael forces could deliver the Ark past the asteroid field the Azrati staging ground.

## Walkthrough

The player will start with the Ark, the Neda, the Anoch, a Warpglider and a Clairvoyant, and should **immediately** engage tactical pause (F8) after the initial dialogue. The reason for this is that shortly after a Thorun force of two Corsairs and three Devastators will rush the player from the radioactive nebula to the northwest. The player will have a better chance to survive by stationing the Ark at the entrance to the nebula and the Anoch and Neda behind it, to force the Thorun ships to attack while witihn the nebula, thus taking damage to shields, power and then hull. In addition, the player should turn off the autocast of the Clairvoyant's Restoration ability and be prepared to cast Forced Shield on the Ark as it starts taking shield damage, to allow it to quickly replenish shields and fend off the vicious attacks of the Devastators. The Ark must be retreated if it's shields collapse - losing it as much as losing the Neda or Anoch will cost the player the mission.

After this attack is fended off, the player can send in the Neda or Anoch past this nebula, where it should find a couple of destructible asteroids, destroying the smallest one and passing through to rescue an Invader nearby, as well as send another ship down southeast *(see image for references)* to destroy another two small asteroids and passing through the nebula to find a Flanker and another Clairvoyant. With these forces rescued, the player can head northeast and break through the first Thorun blockade, protected by Guard Stations, Marauders and Havocs. The player should use the Neda and Invader to out-range the Guard Stations, but also pull back and destroy the Marauders and Havocs that approach to intervene. After passing through the first blockade, the player can head further north to fight an additional force of Marauders and Havocs guarding the Craft Mill the player should rescue, as it will grant the ability and resources to research Space Bending, granting warp drives. The player will definitely need this research later on.

The player can then head southeast, where it will be revealed a large group of Predators, some of which are in Assault Mode, but Adikara will also bring in a couple of Rectors that should be deployed at the left side of an asteroid. If the Predator's will not attack, then they must be baited in, but the Rectors should deal enough damage to destroy most, if not all of the Predators. After this, further ahead is a lone Flagship with a Marauder. The player, for this, should send in the Ark with full shields ahead to receive the Flagship's Antimatter Beam that can lay waste to the player's other cruisers, as the other ships destroy it. Note that destroying the Flagship also destroys it's Hunters, so the player can and should focus fire. After the flagship is destroyed, the player can move ahead and rescue a trio of Flankers right before the next enemy blockade. Here, the player should engage with the Flankers and pull back to draw the defending Havocs out, destroying them and then destroying the enemy Guard Stations.

After this blockade, the player should be prepared to move the Flankers and at least the Invader and Anoch quickly to the rescuable Polaron Sphere, using the Warp Engine ability. This is because, as the player reaches the proximity of the Polaron Sphere, a force of Raiders will advance and the player MUST neutralize them before they can destroy the Sphere and thus cause serious damage to the player's forces. After the player manages to destroy the Raiders, all units can move across the stellar cloud field to engage the three final Corsairs. After this, the player needs only move one unit past the radiation nebula and then pull back after the Thorun blockade is revealed.

A few seconds later, the Azrati Order's reinforcements (red) will arrive, and the player needs only sit down and enjoy the battle as the mission will automatically finish a few seconds after the battle starts.

## Trivia

* The gameplay hinting the player should use the Ark as a shield to tank heavy damage recalls *Daedalus* in Chapter 01 - Hostile Visitors.
	+ In addition, the introduction of Rectors to be deployed against a large group of enemy fighters (especially Thorun Predators) recalls *False Flag* in Chapter 02 - Ascension.