Mission 07 - Unsecured Perimeter

## 07 - Unsecured Perimeter

The battle to reclaim and reawaken an industrial paradise long lost is now afoot.

## Battle Information

### Location

Krion manufacturing complex, Krion System

### Aftermath

Decisive Athrael victory.* Krion System secured.
* Krion facilities fully reactivated.

## Belligerents

* Annaki Order
* Krion Facility

* Sylon Collective

## Commanders

* Nephral
* Adikara
* Nimir

* None *(Sylon forces on automatic mode)*

## Forces

* Complete Athrael arsenal.
* Neda
* Anoch
* Nimir's Rector

* Complete Sylon arsenal.
* Assimilated ages-old Athrael vessels and facilities.

## Objectives

* Eliminate all Sylon drones and facilities, including assimilated Athrael vessels.

* Eliminate all hostile units.

## Casualties and losses

Extensive
Total

## Involved Characters

* Adikara
* Nephral
* Nimir

*Unsecured Perimeter* is the seventh mission of Chapter 03 - Cataclysm in the Five Nations campaign.

## Setting

Following the awakening of the initial facilities in the Krion System, including it's last survivor Nimir, High One Nephral and Adikara of the Annaki Order arranged a meeting with him, where Nephral at first apologized for his race for all the years of isolation caused on Nimir before updating him on the Athraels' delicate situation, whose circumstances do raise Nimir's suspicions. Nimir then asked Nephral whether he expects all of them to survive, which Nephral answers he doesn't expect to survive to the end of the war, and that between this and a failing victory, he would not like to make the choice.

Nimir then agreed to lend his help, being thankful for the described war to be so dreadful, else the Athrael species would have been too fond of it. He then determined that the remaining Sylon forces and dominated Athrael vessels had to be destroyed, as Krion required first and foremost a threat-free environment to resume it's operations.

## Cleaning House

As the primary Krion facility was activated, Nimir informed Adikara and Nephral of a major Sylon complex - which was the primary operation center of the Sylon Praetor that invaded the region - that was activated by the arrival of the Annaki forces, as well as a secondary station with "familiar technologies", which Adikara recognized as Athrael vessels and structures, more specifically the ones infected by Nimir that established a base after the Praetor assimilated them. Nimir determined both forces had to be eliminated to fully secure Krion.

Adikara and Nephral wasted no time in establishing defenses and assembling a force, in spite of the limited resources available to them. Utilizing the Krion facility to their advantage, the Annaki forces were able to deploy the full extent of their capital ships, including Invader destroyers, Motherships and Theocrat support craft. One notable element of the Krion facility was the extensive number of Havens that were also used to deploy considerable numbers of robotic units to assist in defense and surgical strikes against enemy opposition. Adikara and Nephral were eventually able to neutralize both enemy forces to the last.

## "Crime" and Punishment

With the Krion facilities finally secured, Nimir only asked for a place to stay, declaring he'd then "change the odds of this war". Eventually, the ancient manufacturing facilities of Krion totally awakened and the production of a new armada, capable of standing against the Thorun Empire.

However, while indeed breathing a chance of hope for the Athrael Theocracy, Nephral was nonetheless never allowed by the Patriarch, Cesral, to pursue this solution. As a result of this disobedience, Nephral and the Annaki Order were issued a status of "anathema", effectively casting them out of Athrael society.

In the meanwhile, heeding Zeraphim's suggestion, the Patriarch reunited what remained of the Armada of the Patriarch and the Azrati Order to return to the Izlar...

## Walkthrough

The player will start with the Anoch, Neda, Nimir's Rector, a normal Rector, a Harbinger, a couple of Explorers and three Drones, in a rather spread-out base and open to attack from several directions, hence a few defenses will be needed at the main enemy attack routes - west, southwest, southeast, north and especially the south where the Mass Transmitter is located. *(image)* While the player will also receive over 1000 of each resource (Metal, Helium-3 and Tachyon), there will be almost no energy at the start, so a modest quantity of Power Cores (+16 energy income) will also be needed. The player should take the chance to research both Nuclear Binding, Extraction Operations and Prefining at the Mass Transmitter as quickly as possible, as units and production will be needed. Nimir should be stationed close to the Mass Transmitter and it's future defenses *(right image)* as it's shield restoration, shield resistant bonus and attack speed bonus will benefit the defenses and Drones considerably. The second, normal Rector should also be deployed by the Mass Transmitter as to help defend against the attacking waves of Intruders, Martyrprobes and Lancets.

As the starting base is also deceptively scarce in resources, a Metal and Helium-3 resource site is available to the far northwest, guarded by a lone Shade and some Leech Mines, and should be taken. Once this site is cleared (The Anoch with an Explorer following it is enough), the player can later move in a Gathering and some drones to appropriate the resource asteroids. Defenses should be set at it's southern and eastern entrances as quickly as possible as this site will be prone to attack.

As the player will already have four Havens available, a Monument of Will should be constructed as quickly as possible, as it will allow Obelisks to be built from Power Cores which will handle most threats except artilleries such as the Arson, Shade, Invader and Harbinger. For these threats, the Clairvoyant is ideal, even more with it's Neutron Torpedoes that can paralyze these units and retreat if necessary, drawing them closer to the defending structures as they'll be a target priority. A general number of 3-4 Obelisks is generally enough to handle most heavy ships. *(left image)* To handle fighters, Polaron Spheres can be constructed behind the Obelisks, although the player must remember a Cabal and Dome must first be constructed.

There will be two enemy forces in this mission, the assimilated Athrael vessels *(pink)* and the Sylons *(white)*. The assimilated Athraels will at first attack with wings of Intruders, Warpgliders and Flankers before escalating with Invaders, Lancets, Martyrprobes and Harbingers, while the Sylons will at first attack with Spears, Absorbers and Twinblades before escalating with Caldrons, Shades with Assimilators (who'll only ever use Nano Clouds), Arsons with Masks (With Cloak Generator researched) and Glooms, Eclipses and Plasma Raids. While the Sylons can cause some potential serious damage, they can be manageable when employing Obelisks, Polaron Spheres and Clairvoyants smartly, and will never research Absorptive Plating, meaning they'll reveal themselves when attacking. This makes the assimilated Athraels the primary first target, as they may become a serious threat as they employ Martyrprobes and fighter wings that can tear the Obelisks down.

While the player's defenses and economy are consolidated on the main base and northwestern expansion, the player should build a Martyrium, research both Fast Charging and Neutrino Sustension that grants the Clairvoyants their Neutron Torpedoes as well as Aether Thruster at the Dome, and use all Havens to make Martyrprobes to attack two particular targets *(right image)* that will cripple the assimilated Athraels. The first is an enemy Mass Transmitter on the Helium-3 asteroid field outside the enemy base *(left image)*, whose destruction will draw most base defenders out of the proximity to the enemy Central Pyramid, and the second is the Central Pyramid itself, revealed to the player. A total of 8 Martyrprobes should be enough to neutralize the Mass Transmitter, drawing out the enemy, while 20 should handily destroy the Central Pyramid. By the time the Pyramid is destroyed, the enemy Mass Transmitters will not be able to process their resources, effectively shutting down the Athrael attacks, leaving only the Sylons to worry about.

As the player will now have access to the Sanctuary and the Basilica, the player will be able to employ Motherships for this mission, which have a strong amount of shields, hull and armor and thus should assemble one or two (Plus the Anoch) with the Meson Accumulator upgrade researched and all ships filled with Intruders, up to 5-6 Clairvoyants and over 2-3 Invaders (Plus the Neda) with the Spatial Astronomy upgrade, to demolish the Athrael base and take over it's resources, especially the Tachyon that will afford weapon and armor upgrades at the Dome. There is also a separate Metal and Tachyon asteroid field close to where the enemy Helium-3 deposit is that can be taken to field additional Motherships and Invaders.

The Sylon base can be attacked from either the north *(right image)*, past a stellar cloud close to the northwestern expansion and guarded by two Plasma Raids or the south, where it's choke point is protected by an Aegis and some Glooms, a Plasma Raid and two Arsons behind defenses slightly harder to reach. The northern approach is thus optimal as it also grants a more open access to the enemy resource site and Installation Prime. The player should move slowly, even more as the first Sylon buildings are attack, leaving the Invaders in a position to fire at the incoming enemy massed Arsons which will move to defend. When these are gone, the player is free to steamroll into the enemy base, only taking some care against guarding Glooms and Aegises, as their weapons ignore shields entirely. As the player approaches the southern entrance from behind, the player can use the Motherships and their fighters to distract the enemy Arsons as the Invaders get rid of them.

The mission is finished when **all** enemy structures of both assimilated Athraels and Sylons are destroyed, defenses and supply/energy buildings included. Thus, a wing of Lancets can be dispatched to scour the map and be rid of all leftovers.