Mission 02 - The Cavalry has Arrived

## 02 - The Cavalry has Arrived

UX22A facility under Black Swan control. But not for long...

## Belligerents

* United Federation

* Black Swan

## Commanders

* Benjamin Colburne

* Unknown Black Swan commander.

## Forces

* Hurricane Fighter squadrons.
* 12th Cavalry Squadron, including Orca Corvettes.
* UFN Trinity.

* Looted Hurricane Fighters and Gunboats.
* Modified Icarus cargo ships with 130mm Guns.
* UX22A and UX22B automated defenses, including KEIKO Sentries.

## Objectives

* Reclaim UX22A and UX22B facilities.
* Eliminate all occupying enemy forces.

* Defend UX22A and UX22B facilities.
* Rout Federation reclamation forces.

## Casualties and losses

Substantial
Severe

## Involved Characters

* Benjamin Colburne
* Vera Vargas
* Greg Leskovski

*The Cavalry has Arrived* is the second mission in Chapter 01 - Hostile Visitors in the Five Nations campaign.

## Setting

The following day after repelling the Black Swan assault at the UX22 station, Benjamin Colburne, Greg Leskovski and Vera Vargas meet to discuss the reclamation of the UX22A and 22B facilities, with Leskovski helping Colburne form a strike team from nearby patrol flotillas - one of them being the 12th Cavalry squadron, consisting of A30 Lancaster "Orca" Corvettes.  Vera elaborates that, due to the value of the equipment and materials being extracted at the facilities (Metal and Helium-3), both UX22A and UX22B were guarded by a full array of Barricade Sats and KEIKO Sentry Pods, which were hacked by the Black Swan using high-tech equipments, turning them against the stations' security forces.  Vera also pointed, however, these automated stations were dependant of energy from local Fusion Reactors, which would make the defenses be inert if the reactors were to be destroyed.

## The Battle

With the knowledge of the defenses and taking full advantage of the present weakness, Colburne's forces deactivated the defenses of UX22A and reclaimed the station facilities.  In one moment, Leskovski pointed the advanced state of the KEIKO defenses, claiming they were 'too advanced for a mining corporation', raising suspicions.

However, the Black Swan reacted to Colburne's takeover of UX22A, quickly amassing for a counterattack.  Colburne decided to strike first, utilizing UX22A and it's resources as a staging ground for additional forces as they formed a defense against further Black Swan raids, consisting of Hurricane Fighters, Gunboats and even captured Icarus ships modified with 130mm cannons.  Despite the battles of attrition, Colburne's forces eventually managed to recapture UX22B, even disabling it's defenses, driving out the Black Swan whom even established a makeshift Pirate Port to collect it's resources.

At the aftermath of the battle, Colburne and Leskovski found suspicious the level of security for such simple mining facilities and the Black Swan's near-suicidal commitment to capturing them, sacrificing 'too many resources, vessels and men', something considered too unusual for the pirate group.  Colburne would later summon Vera again to inquire on such things.

## Walkthrough

The player starts commanding the UFN Trinity, a few Hurricane Fighters and some Orcas, which the player will find are very potent against other Hurricanes, Gunboats and modified Icarus as their weapons deal excellent damage against hull, but are weak against targets with shields, requiring some Hurricane support or the Trinity.  The player will only have one direction, which is northwest towards the first base the player will rescue.  Along the way, the player will meet a modified Icarus, and thus should use the Trinity and it's shielding to block it's fire and have the Orcas at the back shooting it down.

At the entrance to the base the player will come across the first Fusion Reactor guarded by a KEIKO Sentry.  It's recommended the player uses *only* the Trinity and the Orcas to destroy the reactor - Not only the reactor explodes violently when destroyed, potentially destroying all the attacking Hurricanes close by, but the strafing nature of the Hurricanes when attacking can cause them to accidentally rescue the stations' buildings, which will get readily attacked by the guarding Black Swan and automated defenses (if the Fusion Reactor is still operational).  After the reactor is destroyed, the KEIKO sentries will be disabled and the player can move in to neutralize the guarding Black Swan units.  After the base is cleared up, the player will receive a trio of Engineer Shuttles and some resources.

From this point, the player should remain mostly on the defensive while expanding Metal (and then Helium-3) income by building further Engineer Shuttles, plus a Mining Station at the nearby Helium-3 asteroid field and attaching a new Icarus, to allow further building of additional Orcas and Hurricanes.  The player may also want to build at least two additional Solar Stations to increase energy income, allowing researches at the Research Center (especially RDX-2, which grants higher range to Orcas, and Whirlwind Thrusters that grant higher speed to Hurricanes).  For defense, the player will want to build one or two Barricade Sats at the nearby Metal and Helium-3 asteroid fields, as well as building a couple of Barricade Sats at the entrance, using either Supply Silos or a second Ship Factory to barricade incoming fire from Hurricanes and Gunboats.  Further to the south are additional, richer Metal and Helium-3 asteroid fields that can be mined, but given these are outside the building radius of the base and the player cannot build Kutuzov ships, the player will have to station squadrons of Hurricanes to protect against enemy raids.  For faster incomes, the player will also want to research resource related upgrades at the Mining Station (especially Extraction Operations, which increases the mining speed of worker units).

After income is secured, the player should secure a force of Orcas, leaving the Hurricanes for defense.  About 12 or more Orcas should suffice, and the player should take the Trinity to assist with EMP bursts and Flechette missiles.  A good suggestion, rather than advancing from the southern entrance, which is heavily guarded, is instead heading northeast from the player base's entrance where a few, small destructible asteroids are present, which can be shot down, opening a way into the enemy base and right into the Fusion Reactor the player can readily destroy.  From there, the player can advance into the base, fighting towards the Pirate Port, which the Black Swan uses to both collect resources and build units, making it a priority target.  When the Pirate Port is destroyed, the player can mop up the remaining defenders, finishing the mission.

## Notes

While the Barricade Sats at the second base (Black Swan) are all owned by the orange player (Automated Defenses) and thus are inert when that fusion reactor is destroyed, the Barricade Sats at the first base (Player's base) are not.  It's not known if this was intentional.