Mission 05 - The Last Blockade

## 05 - The Last Blockade

One last Thorun barrier decides the future of the Athrael species, in the truest 'life or death' fashion...

## Battle Information

### Location

Athrael Theocracy staging area, Sedra System

### Aftermath

Critical Athrael victory.* Ark successfully evacuated from the nebula, warped to the Hathor-4 System.

## Belligerents

* Annaki Order

* Thorun Empire

## Commanders

* Nephral
* Adikara
* Zeraphim

* Kagan

## Forces

* Surviving Athrael facilities, including Havens for robotic interceptors.
* Neda
* Anoch
* Nova Shagua
* The Ark

* Complete Thorun arsenal
* Heavy Thorun blockade, including Guard Stations and Ion Cannons

## Objectives

* Deliver the Ark past the nebula before Thorun blockade fleet arrives.

* Hold Athrael opposition until blockade fleet arrives.

## Casualties and losses

Substantial
Extensive

## Involved Characters

* Adikara
* Nephral
* Zeraphim

*The Last Blockade* is the fifth mission of Chapter 03 - Cataclysm in the Five Nations campaign.

## Setting

The next day, after taking the Ark past the asteroid field riddled with Thorun patrols and blockades, the Athrael forces - including Nephral, Adikara and Zeraphim - started preparations for the final push in a staging area before the last blockade at the edge of the nebula impeding the opening of the wormhole to the Hathor-4 System.

## All In

While the Athraels were expeditious in the preparations, the war did take it's toll on the Athrael forces at their most critical hour, with both the technical inability to construct further space stations or Intruder strike craft, forcing the Athraels to rely on the ruins of fallen Starcities for the knowledge to assemble a strike force. However, the Thorun last blockade was indeed a fortified one, sporting an array of Ion Cannons whose numbers, combined with firepower and range, would prove lethal to but an Athrael fleet in large numbers.

In addition, Zeraphim informed the Thorun blockade had warned a nearby fleet, which, if they arrived, would make escape almost impossible. Adikara, in one moment, was also visibly shaken and almost lost faith before Nephral intervened, reminding her to focus.

The Athraels, however, were fortunate to find, amongst the deactivated facilities that survived, some Haven robotic manufacturing facilities, that allowed them to fabricate Martyrprobe and Lancet robotic interceptors, that proved instrumental in neutralizing the Ion Cannons, evening the odds for the Athrael ships to escort the Ark past the blockade, forfeiting the staging ground to the Thorun forces.

As the Athraels could reach the edge of the nebula, Nephral could finally open the wormhole to the Hathor-4 System, evacuating all and the Ark - and securing the future of the Athrael race as well.

## Walkthrough

The player will start with the heroic units - the Ark, the Neda, the Anoch and the Nova Shagua - and a suitable base with a Cabal and Dome, with plenty of supplies and energy, which gives little trouble other than resources for the player to build units. However, as Adikara will point, while the player can build Drones, Intruders and base structures can't be built nor replaced. In addition, the player will only have 15 minutes to get the Ark to the marked position in the northeastern corner of the map, or the mission will be failed.

Because of this, multi-tasking and plenty of resources are key, so the player should immediately trigger the Tactical Pause (F8), assign the current drones to their resource asteroids (Metal and Helium-3), start an immediate Drone production at the Central Pyramid focused on Metal first (14) and then Helium-3 (8), while sending the Nova Shagua down the locations southwest and southeast *(See image for positions and best path)*, rescuing the buildings that will be sorely needed. Location #1 will contain a second Cabal, the Conservatory to allow construction of Explorers and Flankers, as well as a Flanker itself the player should take back to base and join the hero units which will escort the Ark later on. Location #2 is more important, as it contains a third Mass Transmitter, a Clairvoyant, a couple of Martyriums and the most important structure of the mission - a couple of Havens which will allow the player to field Lancets and Martyrprobes to neutralize the Ion Cannons revealed almost one minute into the mission. These Ion Cannons must be neutralized before the player can take the other vessels, especially the Ark and heroic units, as they will take a lot of damage, as well.

The player should have a strong, fast enough resource to be able to trigger the construction of units at once at the Havens - which should be hotkeyed (CTRL + Number) to rapidly select them - so the two most primordial upgrades at the Mass Transmitter, Nuclear Binding and Extraction Operations, should be a priority. After these upgrades are set, the player can divert some Drones to harvest the Tachyon asteroids at Location #2, which the player will need for the Martyrprobes, as they will have a use. The player won't need concern much with defenses, as the Thorun base to the north is more of a distraction than a target, and will only send Predators and Marauders which are a brief nuisance. The player will need only watch out if they target the Lancet/Martyrprobe wings or the Drones at the resource asteroids, retreating the Drones to the closest Polaron Sphere until they can be held off.

The player should concentrate firstly on getting a small wing of Lancets (six to eight) while researching Aether Thruster at the Dome. After assembled, the player can take them to the barrier containing the Ion Cannons, and should micromanage and focus them all down, ignoring the barricaded Habitats and Devastators, as the player's other units will handle these, afterwards. In the meanwhile, the player should use the Havens to deploy a large enough number of Martyrprobes (close to 20) and perhaps use the Cabals to train another Clairvoyant and Flanker. After the Ion Cannons are destroyed, the player can take the Lancets to dock them within the Anoch.

As the Ion Cannons are dealt with, the player can take the Lancets to dock them within the Anoch, assemble the Ark and heroic units (including the Nova Shagua) and strike the first blockade. The Nova Shagua's neutron torpedoes will come of use towards paralyzing the Devastators as the other units gun them down, one by one. In the meantime, the player should take the Martyrprobes assembled and head further to the northeast, where the second blockade lies with a Flagship *(see splash thumbnail above)*, the very target of the Martyrprobes that must be neutralized, as it is a threat to the player's forces towards the final push. After the Flagship is neutralized, the player can move in the rest of the units, taking care only with Raiders lurking close to the second blockade - assigning the Explorer to follow the Anoch to allow detection - and using the Nova Shagua's Antimatter Clouds at the Guard Stations to lure the guarding Havocs for the battlegroup to handle, before the Neda can move in and bombard the Guard Stations themselves.

After this is dealt with, the player can move in the Ark to the assigned location to finish the mission in time. To prevent being too close to the deadline, the Ark should be taken *along* when the attack is joined to diminish the travel distance towards the assigned location.