Part 76: Death Canyon

Our advance has been stalled here in what UCS commanders have dubbed "Death Canyon." It was originally believed these bridges were only weakly defended, but we've lost all contact with the last two attack groups sent in. It may be a minor engagement, but we cannot afford to delay anymore. Thus, I've decided to take control of the situation myself.



We are given a nice compliment of Panthers and Jaguars to start the mission. The Jaguars are particularly nice as this mission is the first chance we have to research them. There's a mineral patch to the right of our starting location, so let's get the base set up there.

Research: I research the Heavy Plasma Cannon II (the one that lets you equip a sub-mount) while building the base.



Or not. The LC hit us with lightning-quick speed and manage to destroy the Refinery before it's built. The Jaguars and Panthers will take care of them though.



Uh...maybe not. Thunderers are tough to bring down when you only have 2 anti-air units and no Resupply Depot.



The Albatross has arrived just in time. The Panther hRs are out of ammo and without reinforcement we'll be defeated.



I think that has to be one of the most opportune reinforcement moments in this game. We were lost without the addition of these units. Now we can get the base up and running.



The first attack came from the west. I wonder what's up to the north? I can see the faint outline of a Mine up there. I wonder if we're right on the LC's doorstep?



Eh, not quite, but Assault 1 takes out the light LC patrol around here.



It looks like the first bridge is to the west of our present location. I have no idea what's out there, so I order the entire army to take a look.



The LC have put Crion tanks on the bridges! This is why our earlier attacks were useless.



See? This Crion took out that Repairer in one shot. We must destroy these Crions or we'll never manage a breakthrough.



We've killed the Crion but the LC are not going to go down so easy. They send a literal armada of Thunderers to try and repel us.



Our investment in anti-air plasma and heavy rockets is paying off though. The Thunderers are melting and we've nearly crossed the bridge.



What cunning! What dare! The LC have maneuvered a Crion into the rear of our line. It is a miracle that we catch it before it destroys the Assaults.



The first bridge is ours! Huzzah!



There is some bad news though. We've taken extraordinary losses due to the Crions and Thunderers. Making matters worse, we still have two more crossings to secure and what looks like an LC base to destroy.

First things, first, let's take a breather and resupply.

[i] Research: While I wait for everyone to get healed up I research the two remaining heavy rocket upgrades.



Now then. Let's bust down this ba-ANOTHER CRION!? REALLY!?

The Gargoyles have been sitting at the base. This seems like a good use of them.



You little....

The LC foresaw this happening and equipped the turrets at the second bridge with their anti-air rockets. It's not quite anti-air plasma but it punches right through the armor of our Gargoyles. They're dead before they can even fire on the Crions.



The Crion has moved closer to our position on the bridge and has begun to shell us. If we cannot dislodge it we will have to retreat and allow the LC to retake what we fought for so bitterly.

Perhaps a Spider P can get in close?



Yes! It can! Thank you Spider P!



With the Crion destroyed, we can move against the LC base and prevent them from rebuilding.





It's not a very well-constructed base, more of an outpost really and falls in only a few minutes.






Upon our exit from the other side of the outpost we're jumped by a few Moons and Lunars. Is this a serious counter-attack? We quickly brush it aside.



Since the Crions we destroyed were guarding the second bridge and the power has been cut, it's rather simple to secure the second bridge. One more to go.



I hate you Crion. You're killing all my fantastic units.



There. Take that. Now all the Crions should be dead and we can go home.



Oh come on!



The Panther manages to kill the Crion just as the Crion kills it. Oh well. They're all dead now, right? RIGHT?





Yep. Mission complete! We can continue our advance.

While I mine out the map, I did some research into new Moon Project advances. Since these ones are new I'm going to actually show them to you.



This is the Heavy Tower. It's a Large Tower, but with 2 additional weapon mounts for small weapons. If you need more guns but you don't want to go all the way up to a Fortress the Heavy Tower is your new best friend.





This is the new Earthquake Generator. What's it do?



Exactly what it says on the tin. The Earthquake Generator (EQG) destabilizes the ground and causes damage to all nearby enemy units and structures. It won't do any damage to your own stuff though. Think of it like a physical damage version of the Sonic Cannon.



This is the Anti-Rocket. It's a rocket interdiction system and it will shoot down incoming rockets. More of a novelty, but it's useful if you need to defend a high-value target from long-range attack.

[i] Research: In addition to all that I also research the Jaguar. I make a Jaguar HP, P, P chassis and a Jaguar R, anti-rocket, hR chassis.




All of those dead units came from the Crions or the anti-air towers. If the LC had put a bit more emphasis on those they might've been able to hold us back.



With Death Canyon seized we can move into Death Canyon. It's a bit funny though, according to what I'm seeing from NEO, ARES and the other AIs the power in the Project SUNLIGHT ring has remained stable through all of this. Are we sure we're actually hitting the power stations? Gamma Quadrant has an underground computer system. If we steal the data from the computer we can see if we're actually having an impact on the project.


I'm going to try to get another update done tonight or tomorrow because I'm on a trip next week and then visiting family for Christmas and don't wanna keep you guys waiting now that I've finally gotten some momentum going with this.