Mission 02 - Home too Far

## 02 - Home too Far

The second EIRA expeditionary force prepares for the upcoming onslaught...

## Belligerents

* EIRA Relief Force

* Unknown Aliens

## Commanders

* Anton Vargas
* Jacques Boyer

* Unknown

## Forces

* Hurricane fighters
* Orca corvettes and Gunboats
* Trinity-class frigates
* Pasteur and Joseon support vessels
* UFN Pacific

* Basic Drone vessels, including Spears and Twinblades
* Assault Drones including Glooms, Caldrons and Arsons
* Automated defenses including Aegises, Pillboxes and Leech Mines

## Objectives

* Protect the EIRA facilities from enemy aggression.
* Clear the area of all enemy forces.

* Eliminate all enemy forces.

## Casualties and losses

Substantial
Severe

## Involved Characters

* Anton Vargas
* Jacques Boyer

*Home Too Far* is the second mission in Prelude - Calm Before the Storm in the Five Nations campaign.

## Setting

> "Your men caught the foreign vessels and opened them up as cans? Then I am not surprised at all they do not like us! How could you be such an idiot?"
>
> Anton Vargas, to Jacques Boyer

Following the arrival of the UFN Pacific to the station of the EIRA Institute's Hathor-4 System expedition, Anton Vargas questioned Jacques Boyer on any possible reasons on why the local alien vessels attacked the EIRA relief force on their way to the second expedition's station. Boyer had little information on the matter except that, from the ships 'collected and inspected', the alien ships were highly likely remote-controlled drone vessels.

When Vargas hears the words 'collected' and 'inspected', he quickly put together that the EIRA Institute abducted the vessels and tampered with them, explaining the possible reasons of the aliens' hostile behavior and reprimanding Boyer for it. While Boyer tries defending himself, stating that EIRA had to be familiarized with the aliens and their technology and that the Sol System was relatively too distant for them to attempt a pursuit, Vargas remained adamant that Boyer's actions could have endangered all of humanity with his hasty action.

The Pacific's AIDA came online informing of a nearby alien complex which became active due to the arrival of the relief force, and were likely preparing an offensive.

## Who Kicked the Beehive?

The EIRA relief force under Vargas barely had the time to mount a defensive line, supported by the local resources near the EIRA expeditionary station, before the alien forces assaulted them, causing substantial damage. After repelling the attack, AIDA informed that the hostile aliens were gathering reinforcements for a second attack. Boyer immediately ordered Vargas to take to the offensive, preparing a force to destroy all alien installations, knowing that the aliens would not stop until all of the EIRA stations and ships were destroyed.

The UFN Pacific proved to be the linchpin of the counterattack efforts in destroying the two closest manufacturing complexes to the station, as well as a mixed force of Orca corvettes, Gunboats to help counter enemy fighters, Trinity frigates capable of harassing the enemy vessels with Harpy UAVs as well as small hangars for Hurricane fighters, along with Pasteur support vessels for prompt assistance.

Neutralizing one station at a time, although with severe losses and having to use the best of his strategic acumen not since the days of the DEMA war, Vargas and the relief force did manage to neutralize the enemy stations, ending the immediate threat to the EIRA station.

## Walkthrough

The player will start with the UFN Pacific, some Hurricanes, a couple of Orcas, some Engineer Shuttles, an Icarus, the Command Station (which must be protected), a Ship Factory three Supply Silos and two Solar Stations, protected by spread out Barricade Sats. The player should immediately start building a Mining Station by the nearby Metal and Helium-3 asteroid field and acquire a second Icarus, especially timing before attaching so that the vessels are equally distanced for better income. In the meantime, the player should dock the Hurricanes within the Pacific and send the Pacific and Orcas to the northern entrance to guard it. The player should station the Orcas *behind* the Pacific, so they can be shielded from enemy fire, and use the remaining resources to expanding economy as fast as possible and get more Hurricanes for the Pacific.

The attack from the red Sylon enemy - the only attack ever by the red Sylons - will come from both the northern entrance and to the west of the resource asteroids by a stellar cloud field, both directions using Spears and Twinblades. To avoid much damage, especially from the western assault, the player can use the UFN Pacific's Recall ability and let the Orcas deal with the Twinblades as they'll rather move to their previous position to engage their original target. The player must be certain to prevent any danger from befalling the Engineer Shuttles as they'll be very needed, especially so early in the mission.

After the attack from the red Sylon base is repelled, the player will receive the objective to destroy all Sylon structures. The immediate structures the player can destroy are a Drone Facility to the north, as well as three Support Centers, and a Refinery northwest of the player's resource asteroid field, where the Sylons will be extracting Metal and Tachyon, so it should be neutralized. For these attacks, the UFN Pacific with a full complement of Hurricanes (twelve) on it's hangar will suffice. While the player can expand to this location, the Tachyon will be mostly unnecessary (it'll only be useful for researching Level 2 upgrades at the Research Center and building a Deep Space Lab and Joseons) and the player will be using mostly Metal and Helium-3 for needed upgrades (both RDX2 and Whirlwind Thrusters, as well as both Level 1 upgrades) and units. The player should also get a Merchantport and a Medical Station and at least a couple of Pasteurs as quickly as possible.

The Sylons will be attacking with Spears, Twinblades and Absorbers, and later on send trios of Caldrons and at least one or two Arsons randomly, so the player should have at least one KEIKO Sentry and a couple of Barricade Sats guarding the west and northern entrances to the base. The player can also build some Gunboats for a temporary defense against enemy Spears, but definitely should have some Orcas on stand by to readily move in and neutralize the Arsons as these can outrange the defenses.

The Pacific also should be headed to the northeast corner of the map, in the meantime, where a Sylon outpost (with a Drone Facility and an Automation Plant, as well as an Array, Offensive Server and Transponder) is, as it will not have much in the way of defenses and the Pacific can (*slowly*) tear this outpost apart. This outpost also has some Plasmoids that can make the destruction of the larger Sylon structures easily, only care should be taken that no Hurricanes are closer to the blast radius, which can be fatal. This outpost is also close to a Metal and Helium-3 resource field that should be taken, as it will help build up forces, especially Orcas, Pasteurs and Trinity frigates, which will be useful for both their Harpy UAVs and the ability to hold two Hurricanes in hangar each. To better defend this site, the player should build and deploy a Kutuzov, especially directly to the north of the field (by the front entrance of the Sylon outpost), where Barricade Sats and KEIKO Sentries can protect it and the workers.

For attacking the Sylon base to the west, which is the main base, the player should acquire at least a good amount of Orcas, Trinity frigates - at least eight - docked with Hurricanes, some Pasteurs for support and have the Pacific healed to full health with a docked complement of Hurricanes. The best strategy is to send the Pacific to attack it's eastern entrance and then pull away as the defenders are drawn, allowing both the Trinity frigates and Orcas to handle them, while the Pasteurs provide repairs. The player can also use the Pacific's recall ability to draw out pockets of defenders (especially Caldrons) to rapidly neutralize them with overwhelming force. There will also be cloaked defenders in the form of Glooms and Leech Mines that the player will not be able to detect except by Moored Mines, which require Tachyon, so the player will need to suffer some losses as the Leech Mines and Glooms attack (as the Sylons have no access to Absorptive Plating in this mission). After neutralizing the defenders, the player can move in and destroy the enemy base. It's advised this be done in a counter-clockwise routine, starting from the north, where there will be Refineries and Labors, than west and southward, focusing primarily on Refineries, Drone Facilities, Automation Plants and the Installation Prime. From there, the player can take the time to destroy all other structures.

When all Sylon structures are destroyed, the mission is finished.

## History and Background

Jacques Boyer's admission of EIRA collecting and salvaging the unknown aliens' (later known as the Sylons) technology would be subtly confessed to both Benjamin Colburne and Greg Leskovski on *Blackout*, in Chapter 01 - Hostile Visitors.

## Trivia

To the south of the Sylon northern base, amidst an asteroid field, the player can see abandoned Athrael ruins. This is likely a foreshadowing to both *The Deal* in the Prelude campaign, as well as the eventual explanation from Nephral to Adikara that the Hathor-4 System was once an Athrael province in *The Assault* in Chapter 01 - Hostile Visitors.