Mission 02 - Exodus

## 02 - Exodus

The Praetor's assigned forces prepare to depart the Caribou System...

### Aftermath

Strategic Sylon Collective Victory* Sylon Praetor forces exit the Caribou System.

## Belligerents

* Sylon Collective

* United Federation

## Commanders

* Praetor (protagonist)

* Unknown local commander.

## Forces

* Spear fighter drones
* Twinblade patrol craft
* Absorber support drones
* One Caldron mine-layer craft
* Automated defenses including Pillboxes, Aegises and Repair Stations
* Deactivated local Sylon units, including Support Centers and a Plasma Raid battleship
* Host Vessel

* Hurricane fighters and Orca corvettes
* Hailstorm cruisers
* Pasteur support vessels
* Avenger battleships
* Defenses including Barricade Sats and KEIKO Sentries

## Objectives

* Establish enough Support Centers to support warp shifting.
* Accumulate enough Energy to commence warp shifting.

* Neutralize Sylon forces. *(Arguably achieved)*

## Casualties and losses

Substantial
Substantial

## Involved Characters

* Praetor (protagonist)
* Cura

*Exodus* is the second mission of Chapter 02 - Ascension in the Five Nations campaign.

## Setting

Following the initial forays into the Caribou System, the subsystem Praetor assigned by the Sylus to construct a Relay Node at the system discovered an unexpected hostile presence, by the number of forces the United Federation had present, that clearly outnumbered the Sylons. The drone forces were insufficient to accomplish the Sylus' directive, and thus the Praetor asked Cura for advices regarding a cost-efficient program.

Cura suggested to relocate to the Hathor-4 System, given the predecessor Praetor had accumulated numerous units at that area that just needed to be reactivated. As the Praetor contested this advice, claiming that the Collective hadn't given any permission to conduct operations in the Hathor-4 System, Cura reminded the Praetor that the directive was to construct the Sylus Relay Node with maximum cost-efficiency, and this clearly required additional forces to protect construction efforts.

The Praetor, seeing the logic in reuniting deactivated forces rather than constructing them, accepted Cura's advice and would start warp shifting preparations.

## Not Enough Energy

As the Sylon forces prepared for departure, Cura informed the Praetor that there was not enough energy to sustain the opening of a passageway to the Hathor-4 System. Hence, a large number of Support Centers (fourteen, approximately), accumulated to their fullest with energy, would be necessary.

Cura also informed the Praetor of an encroaching Federation presence that would attack them, and thus this required the Praetor to commit to defensive strategies. For this, the Praetor would make use, in addition to Pillboxes, of both Aegis anti-cruiser platforms and Repair Stations. Cura also suggested the deployment and use of Absorber support drones, based on the knowledge of the Sylon Collective that most Federation weapons were ineffective against Sylon shields, and thus the Absorbers would assist in reducing enemy damage against shielding by 33 percent. The Federation would attempt at making efforts to breaching the Sylon base, but the Praetor's defensive compositions would prove firm.

Eventually, the Praetor did construct the necessary amount of Support Centers and accumulated the necessary energy to open the wormhole to the Hathor-4 System. The Praetor and it's drones departed the Caribou System, leaving the stations and the assailing Federation forces behind.

## Walkthrough

The player will start in command of a light, but spread out base in a large area, and thus must prepare accordingly, prioritizing in acquiring Labors to increase resource income. The player's initial objective will be to construct at least 14 Support Centers while fending off Federation attacks, consisting of Hurricanes, Orcas and Hailstorms supported by Pasteurs. Each Support Center costs 125 Metal, hence a higher focus on Metal should be a priority, although Helium-3 shouldn't be neglected either. The player can find rescuable Support Centers close to the northwestern corner of the map, and these do count as constructed Support Centers towards completing the objective. To the southwest corner of the map, the player can also find a Plasma Raid that will be useful for defending the southwestern base entrance, provided the player also has Spears and Pillboxes to fight off Hurricanes. Note that the Plasma Raid is effective only when it can reach it's firing distance, and thus is vulnerable to units that out-range it, such as Hailstorms.

The Federation base, extending from the southeastern to the northeastern corners, is heavily defended and also includes an Avenger, so attacking it is a waste of resources and time, and the player will still have to build the Support Centers and gather energy to win the mission. Hence, the player will be much better off committing to defending, with building at least a couple of Pillboxes and two Aegises at each entrance, along with a Repair Station close by to repair the defenses' hulls. The player will also have access to a Defensive Server and Absorbers, which should be also stationed close to the entrance, as their ability to provide further resistance to shields against attacks also applies to stations. The player should also have a modest force of Twinblades (at least ten) as well as a full complement of Spears with the Sol Thruster upgraded at the Transponder to help fight off Hailstorms, whom can't target enemy fighters. The Praetor's Host Vessel should be kept in the back, close to the Installation Prime to help recover units' hulls with it's regeneration ability. To assist in defense, the player can also use the sole Caldron available to place Leech Mines at some entrances, which can soften up some particularly heavy Federation attack waves, though the Leech Mines can be detected and destroyed by Hailstorms.

When the player constructs all 14 Support Centers, the energy count will reset to zero and the player will be tasked with accumulating energy to it's maximum count (3200). The player can choose to wait or build at least one more Support Center to assist with accumulating energy, but the player will still need to be waiting and defending against Federation attacks for some time.

When the player has accumulated at least 3200 energy, the mission is finished.

## Trivia

Both this mission and it's previous one (*The Birth of a New Praetor*) are references to the first *StarCraft* Zerg missions *Among The Ruins* and *Egression*. Both the first missions are basically a tutorial that culminates in the destruction of an enemy base through overwhelming numbers, while the second missions both revolve around leaving their initial system through warp capabilities.