Mission 13 - Strange Liberators

## 13 - Strange Liberators

Forces strange to one another, allied against a common foe...

### Aftermath

Combined Federation-Annaki Victory* Tenuous military alliance between the United Federation and the Annaki Order established, with Vera Vargas as liason.

## Belligerents

* Annaki Order
* United Federation

* Sylon Collective

## Commanders

* Adikara
* Nephral
* Vera Vargas

* Unknown Sylon Praetor

## Forces

* Intruder strike craft and Martyrprobes
* Warpgliders, Flankers and Clairvoyants
* Neda
* Federation arsenal excluding large capital ships, Crows and Tellers
* Federation defenses including Barricade Sats and KEIKO Sentries

* Complete Sylon arsenal excluding Assimilators and Plasma Raids
* Heavy foritifications including Aegises, Pillboxes and stationed Arsons

## Objectives

* Ensure the survival of Vera Vargas.
* Destroy all local Sylon forces.

* Eliminate all enemy forces.

## Casualties and losses

Severe
Extensive

## Involved Characters

* Adikara
* Nephral
* Vera Vargas

*Strange Liberators* is the thirteenth mission of Chapter 01 - Hostile Visitors in the Five Nations campaign.

## Setting

Months following the Azrati Order's expeditionary debacle in the Izlar, and days following the Federation's victory in Jupiter's orbit (but shortly before Admiral Benjamin Colburne stroke a decisive victory against the Sylons at the Kuiper Belt), Adikara, returned to the Annaki Order, was approached by High One Nephral whom asked her to aid him in a venture to assist the United Federation (particularly a human - Vera Vargas) in fighting off the Sylon siege in the Sol System. While Adikara would not recommend this action, stating that coordinating tactics would be impossible with the humans due to lack of communication, Nephral recounts how a human expedition assisted him and his forces in escaping the Sylons' onslaught in the Hathor-4 System, and he could communicate with the expedition's leader, Anton Vargas, via telepathy, and thus believed he could contact Vera the same way, given she was Anton's daughter.

As Adikara recounted High One Zeraphim's prior statement that the humans were doomed in their war against the Sylons, Nephral championed his theory that the Athrael and Human races were distantly related, their genetics almost too similar due to a possible accidental creation by the Architects, whom once arrived to the Sol System to seed life, particularly on the planet Mars. Thus, Nephral believed the humans could contain the key to save their failing genetics, hence the need for intervention.

## We Come in Peace...?

The Annaki forces, led by Adikara - now at the helm of an Invader destroyer, the Neda - arrived at the vicinity of the Federation station indicated by Nephral to where Vera Vargas was, leading it's defense. The Annaki approached the field close to a recently established Sylon mining facility, where the Athrael forces cleared it and established a staging ground at it's ruins. While the Federation station itself barely held against the Sylon attacks, the number of drone ships and heavy firepower the Collective employed made it but a matter of time until the station fell. Given it'd be a protracted engagement, Adikara was granted the knowledge for constructing Clairvoyant corvettes, for battlefield support to the Annaki fleets, and Martyrprobes for neutralizing critical Sylon defenses and vessels, which would greatly aid Vargas' defense and eventual counter-attacks.

Eventually, the Annaki and Federation forces would encounter each other, with the Annaki, ordered to not harm the humans, providing fire support against the Sylon drones in several moments. While the humans at first were hesitant of the new, strange newcomers, they gradually felt emboldened as the Annaki started deploying their forces against the Sylons, hitting multiple critical locations and deterring attacks at every turn.

The combined Annaki and Federation forces eventually repelled, overcame and destroyed the Sylon forces in the region. Nephral, by then, contacted Vera Vargas by telepathy and stated his wish for Vera to be the liason between Athraels and Humans, joining forces against the Collective, praising her father Anton's honor in aiding the Annaki and saving his people in the Hathor-4 System.

## Walkthrough

The player will start at the northwest corner, right by the entrance of a lightly defended Sylon base (orange), with the Neda, some Intruders and Warpgliders, a couple of Flankers, an Explorer, a Gathering and some Drones, and a few Martyrprobes. It's expected of the player to destroy this Sylon base, which has a generous Metal and Helium-3 asteroid field, and build up in it's place, so this should be done. As the enemy base and it's defenders are destroyed, the player can move in the Gathering and the Drones and deploy the Central Pyramid. The player should have enough investments to build at least two BioSpheres, one Power Core and one Mass Transmitter before starting to build Drones and work from there. The player will also have enough Helium-3 to research Nuclear Binding, so this should be done to accelerate resource acquisition and development early.

While the player has the resources and space to build a fleet, the Martyrprobes, suicidal drones which deal strong damage on impact, will be best applied against enemy defenses such as Pillboxes, Aegises and Arsons, or in high valued enemy units such as Shades and Eclipses. Martyrprobes are built at Havens (as are Gatherings, which the player can now build to deploy in resource sites where a static defense is needed) and require a Martyrium and Tachyon. There is a large Tachyon field to the east of the player's eventual base which can be exploited, as there are additional Metal and Helium-3 asteroids to the southeast, though guarded by Leech Mines, so Explorers will still be required. The Martyrium also allows the construction of Clairvoyants, support units which can restore hull and provide a boost to shield regeneration, so they'll be invaluable in accompanying fleets as much as Explorers are.

The player's hero unit, the Neda, is suitable for either defense or offense, given it has the Restoration ability (which heals Hull to friendly units) that Clairvoyants do and can defend itself against enemy fighters for a while, but great care should be taken with it, that it has some escort and at least one Clairvoyant along to restore it's health, as the Neda cannot heal itself. The Neda can also cause some control issues with it's Restoration's ability auto-cast turned on, especially if Intruders close by are damaged, so it's best for the player to leave it turned off (By right-clicking at the ability button in the command card) in some circumstances. If the Neda is destroyed, the mission is failed.

Vera's base (blue), while modestly defended, *can* fall to a dedicated enemy attack, especially from Arsons, Caldrons, Shades and Eclipses, so the player's cruiser fleets will be best deployed for helping defend while an attack is being prepared. Vera will also send attack waves in the form of both Orcas, Hurricanes and Hailstorms with some Pasteur support, so it's worth to send Martyrprobes to neutralize enemy defenses, especially Arsons and Aegises, as well.

The enemy Sylon base has a vulnerable entry point to the northeast corner of the map, where there is also a modestly defended Refinery by a Metal and Helium-3 asteroid field, which can be neutralized early with a dedicated wing of Intruders and Martyrprobes. To access it with cruisers, the player will need to destroy some asteroids to the north of the Tachyon asteroid field, which grants access to a stellar cloud field leading to it. From there, the player can marshall attack cruiser fleets to slowly destroy the Sylon infrastructure. Special focus should be given to both Automation Plants and Manufactures, to prevent further Arsons, Caldrons, Shades and Eclipses from being assembled, as well as the respective tech structures, the Arrays and Quantum Cores.

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

## History and Background

While the first time there was a cooperation between Humans and Athraels in Prelude - Calm Before the Storm, to the general public of the United Federation this would be the first contact between both species, given the EIRA expedition in the Hathor-4 System was a classified one.

Nephral's praising of Anton Vargas to Vera, a reference to the events of *The Deal*, may have also opened doubts regarding the circumstances of her father's passing, informed by then Chief Operating Officer of EIRA, Jacques Boyer.