Mission 04 - The Deal

## 04 - The Deal

The EIRA expedition finds they are really not alone in the universe...

### Aftermath

Phyrric EIRA Relief Force/Annaki Victory* EIRA expedition retreats to the Sol System assisted by the Annaki Order.
* UFN Pacific destroyed protecting escaping ships, Anton Vargas confirmed KIA.
* Annaki Order retreats the Hathor-4 System with stolen Sylon Generator.
* Sylon technology still smuggled to the Sol System by EIRA.
* Events falsely reported by Jacques Boyer as an expedition with fruitless results, Vargas' sacrifice dismissed as a congenital heart attack.

## Belligerents

* EIRA Relief Force
* Annaki Order

* Sylon Collective

## Commanders

* Anton Vargas *(KIA)*
* Nephral

* Sylus

## Forces

* Hurricane fighters
* Orca corvettes and Gunboats
* Trinity-class frigates and Hailstorm cruisers
* Pasteur and Joseon support vessels
* St. George carriers and Khan battleships
* Athrael arsenal except Harbingers, Invaders, Motherships and Theocrats.
* UFN Pacific *(Destroyed)*

* Full Sylon arsenal except Assimilators.

## Objectives

* Deliver the Icarus transport 'Pandora' to the Athrael forces in exchange for passage to the Sol System.
* Destroy the Sylon Quantum Core] preventing the wormhole generation process.

* Eliminate all enemy forces.

## Casualties and losses

Severe
Extensive

## Involved Characters

* Anton Vargas *(KIA)*
* Nephral
* Jacques Boyer

> Christ, gone crazy? Am I dreaming or hallucinating? You... Are you real?
>
> Anton Vargas to Nephral

*The Deal* is the fourth and final mission in Prelude - Calm Before the Storm in the Five Nations campaign. While completing this mission unlocks no new chapters, it elaborates the events leading towards Chapter 01 - Hostile Visitors.

## Setting

After having temporarily evaded the Hathor-4 alien pursuit and found a better place to hide and defend, Anton Vargas was reviewing possible defensive strategies of their current position, ordering the UFN Pacific's AIDA to run an analysis of the sector, when he suddenly suffered a migraine and started hearing voices and beholding the vision of a humanoid alien being, which identified itself as Nephral, a legate of the Athrael Theocracy and High One of the Annaki Order, whom offered to assist Vargas and, by extension, the EIRA Institute's expedition.

After soothing Vargas' intial fears that he might have been going insane and hallucinating by elaborating the communication was a form of telepathy, Nephral elaborated that the Deuterium enrichment technology stolen by EIRA from the local alien forces, identified as the Sylons, had made the whole of humanity a target and that the device, also known as a Sylon Generator, could also be used as a communication tool that would inevitably allow the Sylons to easily trace it back to the Sol System. Thus, Nephral offered to assist Vargas and the expedition in opening a wormhole back to the Sol System in exchange for the stolen technology, which the Athraels would take with them to mislead the Sylon pursuers, giving time for humanity to prepare for the inevitable Sylon retaliation. Nephral explains he and his Order were doing this as he believed the human race had a strong potential and the United Federation would be instrumental in upcoming future events. Nephral then informed Vargas he would send the coordinates for a rendezvous.

The Pacific's AIDA then picked up alien signals, apparently astrometric coordinates not far from the expedition's current location, by the gas giant. Vargas, interpreting this as the coordinates sent by Nephral, ordered the expedition to pack up any possible equipment and head out to the designated location.

## Stranger Things Have Happened...

> Athraels, Sylons? Anton, get some treatment! I understand that we are far from the Sol System and you got a little battlefield shock, but listen, even if somebody had contacted you, how do we know we can trust them!?
>
> Jacques Boyer

Upon the expedition's arrival to Nephral's designated coordinates, an upset Jacques Boyer contacted Vargas demanding explanations as to why the expedition left the station on the asteroid field behind, on which Vargas explained the properties of the stolen Generator which the Sylons used to track down the expedition and could expose Earth to the Collective, his contact with Nephral and the agreement to hand over the Generator to the Athraels in exchange for return to the Sol System. As Boyer furiously declared Vargas a traitor and then a possible lunatic due to recent battlefield stress, Vargas retorted by reminding Boyer that most of the expedition's current conditions were due to EIRA's - and Boyer's - recent decisions, and that the Athraels were more likely telling the truth than Boyer ever had. Vargas sent a squad for Boyer, confining the agent to his cabin as the Admiral took full control of the expedition.

Not shortly after, Nephral contacted Vargas informing that, while the Admiral made the right decision in accepting to come to the rendezvous, more problems have arisen as the Sylons located the Athraels and started attacking their position. To further complicate matters, the Sylons had also established a device known as a Quantum Core to disrupt the Athraels' warping capabilities, making them unable to open a wormhole to the Sol System as promised. Vargas pledged, in addition to delivering the Generator stored aboard the Icarus cargo ship 'Pandora', to assist Nephral in destroying the Quantum Core by any means necessary.

Vargas and Nephral coordinated efforts against the local Sylon installation housing the Quantum Core and it's numerous drone vessels, including larger ones that indeed validated Nephral's claims of the danger the Sylons posed. Refitting the eventually established Dockyards to be able to construct Khan battleships while dispatching forces past Sylon blockades to relief the Annaki stations constantly under attack, Vargas spearheaded the temporary joint Human-Athrael forces against the heavily defended Collective facility, where long ranged bombardment and decisive divide-and-conquer tactics proved key. In one point, Vargas eventually delivered the Pandora to the Athraels, whom then started their preparations for an eventual departure, but had also kept their word and assisted the human forces in breaching through the Sylon lines.

Eventually, the combined Federation-Annaki forces had reached a firing distance of the Sylon Quantum Core and destroyed the structure. Nephral declared he owed a debt of honor to Vargas for his assistance in aiding the Annaki Order and neutralizing most of the Sylon threat, and would thus open the wormhole to the Sol System, but the wormhole could hold only for a brief period of time. The Annaki, on the other hand, would take the Pandora and the Generator to mislead the Sylon pursuers to gain as much time as possible for the evacuating human forces.

Nephral advised Vargas that, upon return to the Sol System, he should prepare the United Federation for the eventual siege the Sylons would unleash, as humanity would be struck by a gigantic war soon enough...

## A Hero Forever Unsung

The remainder of the EIRA expedition (including Jacques Boyer) had abandoned all stations and equipment and boarded both remaining military and civilian vessels, heading to the wormhole which was open. However, during transit, the UFN Pacific's AIDA informed Vargas that enemy Sylon vessels were on fast approach to cut off the convoy's escape, especially the slower Icarus ships carrying the technical staff. Vargas ordered all crew aboard the Pacific to abandon ship and head to the wormhole via Hurricanes with the other vessels, while Vargas would steer the Pacific single-handledly to draw enemy fire and buy time, even with AIDA warning him it was suicide.

Aware of his final moments, Vargas could only lament he would never see his daughter Vera again, and could only hope the United Federation, by the time they were warned about the Sylon menace EIRA had drawn, would be prepared for the eventual storm that would befall them. The Pacific withheld the Sylons for as long as it could, but it was eventually destroyed by the enemy numbers and firepower, with Vargas aboard it.

Upon return to the Sol System however, all surviving EIRA personnel from Operation Broad Jump were forced into silence by Boyer, whom had even returned with some stolen Sylon technology to an EIRA facility in the Epsilon-Eridani System to soothe away any potential charges for the fallout his deeds had caused. This technology would eventually allow larger developments for EIRA, despite the greater prize - the Sylon Generator - being taken away from them.

Boyer also wrote an "official" report of Operation Broad Jump, on which he had rewritten the expedition's original intent (collecting Sylon specimens on the Hathor-4 System) to one of "exploring the Byrd-2 red dwarf star, a hundred light-years away from the Sol System, for potential inhabitable worlds and signs of extraterrestrial life", which were inconclusive. The report totally omitted any mention of either Sylons or Athraels and the eventual engagements, as well. Anton Vargas' sacrifice was rewritten too as a death by heart attack due to a congenital cardiac disease, where he received a "rest in peace with a full military tribute and respect to his will".

Since then, the United Federation would naively continue it's routine, unsuspecting of the events that would come almost a decade later...

## Walkthrough

The player will start with two forces - the first being the EIRA expedition at the northeastern corner, with the UFN Pacific, a few Orcas, a Kutuzov, some Engineer Shuttles, an Icarus and the "Pandora" which must survive, and the Athrael base at the northwestern corner, with a Central Pyramid, a Cabal, a Haven, the related tech structures for all units (Dome, Conservatory, Martyrium and Monument of Will), plus some Intruders, a couple of Warpgliders and a Rector, as well as some Drones and Mass Transmitters close to the Metal and Helium-3 asteroids.

The player should take the early time to assess the benefits AND issues with both bases: As the EIRA expedition's base must be *totally* built from scratch, it will take a while before a defense can be established and ships produced and this base has early access to Metal and Tachyon but not Helium-3. A large Helium-3 deposit lies south of the player's initial position, but the position of this field means Mining Stations built too close, as well as any Engineer Shuttles extracting them, are likely to be attacked by Sylon forces without any defenses able to be built until a second Kutuzov can be deployed close by, and whose deployment is tricky. On the other hand, the Athrael base is developed to allow construction of all it's units, already provides a modest Supply and Energy amount, can research it's respective upgrades for their units at all available structures and has a large enough Metal asteroid field to sustain the player for most of the mission as well as some Helium-3, but no Tachyon whatsoever. Plus, the player is unable to build Gatherings, Drones and any Athrael structures - even Polaron Spheres and Obelisks from the already present BioSpheres and Power Cores - and the base can fall to a dedicated Sylon attack if it's not helped. The Athrael base also has a second, modest Helium-3 field a bit to the southwest of the Central Pyramid, but the fact that Mass Transmitters cannot be built means the player will need to move in a Kutuzov as well before establishing a mining operation.

With this assessment done, the player can choose between either playing safe, establishing the human base and developing it with the Athrael Drones assisting with the income, building Athrael units for defense until the player can garner enough forces to destroy the Sylon blockade south of the EIRA expedition's start point (with an Aegis, Arsons and full of Leech Mines) that provides a link between both bases, or attempt a risky maneuver through an alternative path using the UFN Pacific's warp engine ability, heading south through the eastmost stellar cloud and then all the way west, past between the northern corner of the red Sylon base and the southern purple blockade at the center of the map, to the western most Sylon blockade with only an Aegis, an Arson and a couple of Leech Mines the Pacific can tank as it enters the westernmost stellar cloud and heads north to the Athrael base. Reaching safety, the player can toggle the warp engine ability off and use the Pacific's recall ability to transport ships, especially the Pandora, Kutuzov, Icarus and Engineer Shuttles to the Athrael base and build inside it, reinforcing the Athrael mining lines with further workers. The player should follow the route described *(see minimap image to the right)* and totally avoid the most direct path where the sole Sylon blockade is, as it has the most Leech Mines that can destroy the Pacific, failing the mission.

Both approaches have an advantage and disadvantage - playing safe can make the player vulnerable, especially at the EIRA side, early on the game, but as the player holds, the benefits eventually roll on with Tachyon coming up early, but so do the Sylon attack waves, and the Athrael base will eventually need human assistance to defend, as it's destruction will also fail the mission. On the other hand, the risk with the Pacific allows to start a very early fast mining that requires only researches at the Mass Transmitters (which Drones and Engineer Shuttles can transport resources to them with no race restrictions) and readily take the Helium-3 deposits to the southwest of the Athrael base using the Icarus (not the "Pandora") to haul loads, greatly assisting with fast development, but at the cost of Tachyon access being delayed until later, when the player is able to deploy more Kutuzovs, and all Sylon attacks will be practically focused on one location. As the player deploys the initial Kutuzov into the Command Station, the player will receive the objective to destroy the Quantum Core.

Because of the access available to the tech trees of two different races, despite sharing the same Supply (whose maximum is 350), the player can make liberal combinations to form a large fleet, and thus should form one using the best elements of each race - for an instance, Intruders and Lancets will make better fighter squadrons than Hurricanes, those docked within St. George cruisers and the UFN Pacific with Aether Thrusters researched at the Dome, while the main fleet composition can be a durable one, with Hailstorms (for their detection abilities and multiple attacks that can dodge obstacles) and Flankers (for both their high hull and armor count as well as their dedicated attacks against Hull which are slightly better than Orcas). Anti-fighter cover can be provided by two to three Rectors, as these can devastate swarms of Spears in a row, especially those docked within Eclipses, provided the player remembers that Rectors must be deployed to unleash their weapon and returned to mobile mode to be able to reposition. Pasteurs and Clairvoyants also have a great synergy, with the Clairvoyant aiding the Pasteur in healing units' hulls fast while Pasteurs is recharging any shields available. Orcas and Warpgliders will be better suited for defending the bases, and while Hailstorms fare as better detectors, Explorers (with Absorbent Coating researched) deployed at key routes for early warning on attack waves are not a bad idea, either. The Sylons will attack with virtually all units, their sole tech restriction being no Assimilators available.

The Quantum Core is the sole target for the player to destroy, and can be reached in multiple ways. The most direct one, by sieging the Sylon base, will indeed require a large fleet, especially one with Khan battleships and St. George carriers filled with Intruders and Lancets (as the player will have no access to nuclear missiles), and thus will require Tachyon. A second option revolves heading to the eastmost stellar cloud close to the player's EIRA start position and then head south, where the player can reach the backdoor of the Sylon complex where the Core can be focused down with a dedicated force of Hailstorms (with the M.R.A upgraded at the Astro Telescope) as well as some Intruders and Lancets for distraction. A third option is to collect Tachyon and then build a large number of Martyrprobes, sending them through the eastmost stellar cloud to the back of the Sylon base and focus down the Core until it is destroyed.

When the Quantum Core is destroyed, the mission is finished.

## History and Background

It was eventually elaborated by Cura on *Jigsaw* in Chapter 04 - Endgame, that it took over nine years since the destruction of the UFN Pacific for the Sylon Collective to localize the Sol System and prepare the invasion of the United Federation in Chapter 01 - Hostile Visitors, meaning the Annaki Order was most likely successful in their foray to mislead the Sylons. The equipment abandoned by the EIRA Institute's expedition would be seen again only in *Shadows of the Past*.

Jacques Boyer's official report to the Federation regarding the expedition and the circumstances regarding Anton Vargas' passing would be debunked to Vera, Anton's daughter, by the conclusion of *Strange Liberators*, also in Chapter 01, when Nephral disclosed to her of Anton's heroic sacrifice.

## Notes

Regardless if the player did deliver the Pandora to the Athrael Central Pyramid first or not, the dialogue regarding the Sylon Quantum Core is *only* played when the player unpacks the starting Kutuzov into a Command Station. Even if the player delivers the Pandora first, it will not issue the objective of destroying the Quantum Core.