Mission 03 - Pandora

## 03 - Pandora

Once brave explorers, now on the run from the local natives...

## Belligerents

* EIRA Relief Force

* Unknown Aliens

## Commanders

* Anton Vargas
* Jacques Boyer

* Unknown

## Forces

* Hurricane fighters
* Orca corvettes and Gunboats
* Trinity-class frigates and Hailstorm cruisers
* St. George carriers
* Pasteur and Joseon support vessels
* UFN Pacific

* Basic Drone vessels, including Spears and Twinblades
* Assault Drones including Glooms, Caldrons and Arsons
* Eclipse drone carriers
* Automated defenses including Aegises, Pillboxes and Leech Mines

## Objectives

* Protect the EIRA expedition (especially the Icarus transport 'Pandora').
* Eliminate all alien manufacturing facilities.

* Eliminate all enemy forces.

## Casualties and losses

Severe
Extensive

## Involved Characters

* Anton Vargas
* Jacques Boyer

> Boyer, many people have died and I'm under the impression that you don’t tell me everything. I couldn't care less whether this operation is under the full control of EIRA, if you want my support you have to tell me what the hell is going on here.
>
> Anton Vargas

*Pandora* (also titled after the Icarus cargo ship of the same name) is the third mission in Prelude - Calm Before the Storm in the Five Nations campaign.

## Setting

Following the defense of the EIRA Institute's expeditionary station in the Hathor-4 System, Anton Vargas inquired Jacques Boyer on the actual reason of the alien attacks against the expedition (beyond the fact that EIRA had been abducting and tearing apart the alien vessels), especially given the extensive losses while fighting the aliens at every turn.

Boyer elaborated that while the wormhole generator found at the end of the DEMA war was an impressive device, it had a visible issue of requiring too much energy, especially at the United Federation's current technological level, to establish stable routes between systems. However, EIRA had discovered that the local aliens possessed a means of Deuterium enrichment capable of establishing 'artificial, stable and next-to-unlimited energy sources to supply their drone vessels and stations', and this could solve the issue of establishing stable wormholes, innaugurating a new golden age for the human race.

Realizing that EIRA, aside from tampering with the alien vessels, had also stolen a technology from the aliens, Vargas was extremely critical of this blatant act of thievery and how this would inevitably lead to a long and devastating war between the aliens and the Federation.

As the UFN Pacific's AIDA had picked up more incoming fleets of alien drone vessels, accompanied by larger, disguised moving objects causing gravitational distortion, Vargas assumed total command of the expedition and ordered it to leave the original station, despite Boyer's protests, knowing that the EIRA station was too vulnerable to attack and the expedition's lack of warships.

The expedition moved out to find a well-defended area which could also hopefully serve as a hiding place until the wormhole at the Sol System was established and ready.

## Digging In

The EIRA expedition stragglers, including a Kutuzov vessel with the equipment of the previous Command Station, arrived to a dense enough asteroid field that could serve as a defensive point against further attacks by the unknown aliens. Amongst the ships was a particular Icarus cargo ship, codenamed "Pandora", which Boyer had classified as top priority and should be protected by any means.

Vargas forces had to harriedly establish themselves even as an alien manufacturing complex had just activated close by and started sending forces against the defenders, disrupting preparations frequently. AIDA informed the expedition had limited time - close to 15 minutes - before the enemy fleet would arrive. Vargas planned a layout defense of KEIKO Sentries, Barricade Sats and a small, but robust infrastructure that allowed the deployment of warships, including Hailstorm cruisers and St. George carriers, to counter the incoming enemy attack force.

The enemy attack force, consisting of a large number of enemy drone ships and even artillery platforms, had arrived and was costly countered by Vargas' defenses, but AIDA informed that the aliens had escalated their efforts and were now using the manufacturing facilities to full effort. Boyer ordered Vargas to neutralize those stations and thus cull any chance of an alien onslaught.

Even with the resources outstretched from having to have prepared a defense, Vargas was able to assemble a strike force to neutralize the often heavily guarded alien manufacturing facilities, earning yet another brief respite for the EIRA expedition...

## Walkthrough

The player will start the mission with the UFN Pacific, five Orcas, a Pasteur, a Kutuzov, some Engineer Shuttles and a couple of Icarii. The player will also command the Pandora, the single Icarus vessel that cannot haul resources (explained in lore by carrying the supposed Deuterium enrichment technology) and must survive or the mission will be failed. After the mission starts, the area is revealed to where the player should establish a base, blocked by a Sylon Refinery, some Support Centers and a Pillbox which the player must clear. Along the way the player will also encounter a small blockade of a couple of Pillboxes and an Aegis which also should be neutralized. To minimize damages, the player should use the Pacific to tank all attacks, especially from the Aegis which can destroy Orcas in a few shots. The player will have 15 minutes before the green Sylon attack force arrives, consisting of Spears, Twinblades, Absorbers and Arsons, so the player must be able to rapidly clear the blocking structures, deploy the Kutuzov and start establishing a base. Speed and efficiency will be key, especially in Hard difficulty, and the player may need to reset the mission a few times to learn the proper pace and decisions.

The player will be totally constructing the base from scratch, hence the player will start needing over two Supply Silos before being able to field further workers. The player will also need a modest amount of Solar Stations for a decent energy amount and income. The player's focus should be on a strong Metal income (14 Engineer Shuttles at least), building a Ship Factory and Research Center and then building Barricade Sats and KEIKO Sentries at the south, southwest and west entrances, as well as Barricade Sats at the mining lines. The player should also, as quickly as possible, start gathering Helium-3, build a Merchantport with a Medical Station and get Pasteur ships before the 15 minute countdown expires, as well as building some more Orcas and Hailstorms, given the player will have access to the Astro Telescope and it's upgrades in this mission. The player will also have easy access to Tachyon in this mission, and should be exploited this time if only for the Level 2 upgrades at the Research Center. While the player can now build a Dockyard, Fleet HQ and St. George carriers in this mission too, the amount of resources the player will have to amass Orcas and Hailstorms will make these structures almost unnecessary.

The player must totally take the Pandora and leave it next to the Command Station, surrounding it with at least a few Gunboats and a couple of Pasteurs, as the Sylons will attack at times with whole swarms of Spears (with Integrated Remodulator researched) and can devastate the Pandora on their own. The base can also be attacked by Spears in any direction, so spreading out Barricade Sats is be recommended. The player would do well to fill the Pacific with Hurricanes as well, as it will greatly help in defense, along with the Pacific's abilities, especially Recall to quickly get Arsons and neutralize them.

As the 15 minute countdown is finished, the green Sylon attack force will arrive and storm the base. Most of the defenders can be handled with the established defenses and a mobile force, but the Arsons may require the Pacific's recall ability to be easily neutralized, especially through Orcas. How the player will be able to carry out the next objective will lean heavily on how much damage this attack caused, even more if both the attack waves from the green and purple Sylon players come at the same time. After the attack is repelled, the player will receive the objective to destroy all Sylon manufacturing facilities, meaning the player will only need to destroy the unit producing structures - Installation Primes, Drone Facilities, Automation Plants and Manufactures - to win the mission.

Aside from the rest of the structures on the main Sylon base to the west, there are two Sylon outposts with Drone Facilities that count as objectives - one to the north, almost to the west of where the player starts the mission, and another at the southeastern corner. The Sylon outpost to the North is guarded by some defenses and Leech Mines, but a small group of Hailstorms and Orcas can neutralize it, especially taking the Support Centers and Complexes along to deny Energy and Supply to the Sylons. The outpost to the southeast can be dealt single-handledly with the Pacific and it's Hurricanes (as well as couple of Pasteurs for precaution), especially as it's front entrance, while guarded by defenses including an Aegis and Arson, has some Plasmoids the player can attack and destroy, triggering a chain reaction that will destroy the Arson and cripple most defenses, including the Aegis.

The main Sylon base will be heavily guarded and thus requiring a bait strategy to draw out it's defenders, neutralizing them with overwhelming firepower, especially from a concentrated number of Hailstorms and Orcas, potentially Gunboats as well. The particular threats will be the large numbers of Spears, Glooms and especially Arsons, which may require the player using the Pacific and it's recall ability to catch and neutralize them. As this threat is neutralized, the player can storm the base, especially targeting the unit production structures to accomplish the objective.

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

## Trivia

The name *Pandora* is a clear reference to the person of the same name in Greek mythology, notoriously known for opening a box which released most, if not all the evils in the world to the present day. This alludes to Jacques Boyer acquiring the Sylon Deuterium enrichment technology which would inevitably lead to war between the United Federation and the Sylon Collective years later, as Salamon Zamor of the Black Swan would elaborate to Benjamin Colburne in *The Bargain* in Chapter 01 - Hostile Visitors.

Ironically, Boyer's predictions of the research in Sylon wormhole technology opening a "new golden age" for humanity would actually come through at the end of Chapter 01 - Hostile Visitors, with the United Federation innaugurating new colonies at the Barnard, Vega and Epsilon-Eridani systems.