Aphrodite (Planet)

Aphrodite is a planet in the Olympus System and is the second planetary body located from the burning G-Class star Zeus.

Due to its proximity to the star it is subject to high temperatures of up to 180 degrees Celsius. It's environment consists of Iodine based Oceans which span over 86% of its total surface area. Small continents towards the poles of the planet are exposed and constitute the only land.

Colonists however, choose to live on suspended colony rigs in the shallow seas. There they use unique Fusion Generators to harvest energy and starship fuel. Colonies are generally safe and utilize high-tech ventilation systems to filter out the Iodine rich smog from the air. When outside colonists must wear environment suits at all times. Exposure to the atmosphere is considered fatal for many reasons.

## **In Project Reaper**

Aphrodite is home 2 missions in Project Reaper

The planet serves as the opening planet of the game and places Reaper in the fuel mining Colony C42.

During the events of the game, the colony is assaulted by Dakota Farris, a notorious bounty hunter performing a supply raid with the help of GenEx Industries. It is later revealed that he was hired and given information to coordinate the attack, his informant was the Nibean Senator, Nyoka Jino.

Reaper was dispatched on his pilot mission in order to arrest Farris.

## **First Mission**

### Story Mission 1: Aphrodite

Arriving Aphrodite, Reaper was informed that an allied ExoDus ship had crashed into the Ocean nearby, having been shot down by Farris' men. Before meeting his fate, the pilot was able to jettison the cargo he was carrying to the nearby hospital, inside was a vital Targeting Beacon which could be used to destroy the bounty hunter's ship, trapping him on the surface.

After locating and collecting the beacon, Reaper made his way to the Main Fuel Line. There he encountered Farris and the two engaged in combat. Just as Reaper thought it was gaining the edge, Farris engaged his RAGE module and prepared to destroy the synthetic. Reaper calculated that its odds of winning were virtually impossible, and seized to fight. During this time Farris instead engaged his cloak and escaped, taking advantage of the A.I.s state of confusion.

Farris left his entire squad behind and fled for an unknown location. After examining the scene of the battle, Reaper located a small log containing details on black market transactions. The log eluded to Farris' purchase of volatile software designed to cripple interplanetary communication systems.

This prompted Reaper's creator Dr. Amagai to redirect him to the nearest planetary communication hub on Aphaea.

### **Secret Area**

There is a secret area on Aphrodite that can be found by shooting a hidden switch in the Main Fuel Line area, in order to open a bridge leading east. This will allow the player to travel to bombarded landing area. There they can encounter their first Lieutenant and grab a vital piece of Class Armour, their helmet. It is extremely critical to grab the helmet if the player is either the Uhlan and Sentinel classes as their helmets are the source of their class' inherent status buffs. (5% WPN and 5% DEF, respectively.)

### Supply Crate Manifest

There are 13 chests which can be collected during Story Mission: Aphrodite.

## **Second Mission (Vignian Update)**

### Deception: Aphrodite

The Vignian Update added the new Deception mission type, the first of which sees Reaper return to Aphrodite, in order to track down an ExoDus defector who is serving as a spy for GenEx. Reaper must locate the fugitive, Kyn Rel, and successfully assassinate him without being detected.

* If the player shoots a colonist the mission will automatically be failed.
* If the player is able to detect Rel and assassinate him without his detection, the hit will always be a 1-hit kill.
* If the player approaches Rel and he becomes alerted, he will gain a stat boost and engage the player in combat, he will no longer die in one hit and the player's credit reward at the end of the mission will be halved (They will still receive their weapon reward).

Kyn Rel wears the same ExoDus armour as all of the other colonists, but he can be easily identified by the X on his helmet. The player will not be alerted when they successfully kill Rel and must return to their ship to complete the mission.

The reward for assassinating Rel is a variable amount of credits and the VA Salamence.

## **Weapons Depot**

   There is a Weapon's Depot on Aphrodite in the Colony C42 Map. The stock it carries is the same during both visits. Aside from basic supplies the played can also purchase:

 GX Plasma Shotgun

*\*This is the only place in the game where the VA Anubis Axe can be obtained.*

## **\*Trivia**

* As the player returns to their ship after facing Farris, one can witness the downed Archangel mentioned by Amagai at the beginning of the mission. It is located to the east in the Reaction Converter Walkway map, burning in the shallows of the Iodine oceans.
* The two GenEx Heavy Mech's in the mission each have a 12.5% chance to drop the loot item Recoil Buffer, having one of these in their inventory will allow a member of the ExoDus Chione Base Squad to spawn.
* Flipping the Fuel Security Override will force the player to complete Defend: Chione before being allowed to undertake Story Mission: Aphaea I.
* Aphrodite was the first map developed for Project Reaper during early 2014, at that time the maps of the mission were slightly smaller, lacked fog details and many of the unique tiles found on the map. These maps were also indefinitely more challenging, as they featured far more snipers with much higher damage.
* The Uhlan class can Flash Step across the first bridge in the mission, however they will not be able to proceed to the next map without actually opening the bridge, since Flash Step has no TP cost, it is thankfully not possible for the player to become stuck due to this.