Part 79: Delta Quadrant

We've found the last quadrant after some uh, enhanced interrogation of an LC prisoner. If we destroy this then PROJECT SUNLIGHT should be history.



At least we get to build units and a base this time.





I start sending over units from HQ and GOOD GOD look at all those resources. I guess this is gonna be a long mission then.



There's only one land exit to the valley we start in which should make it rather easy to defend against LC land attacks. Air attacks are a bit more of a concern, so I build a Heavy Tower network around my critical structures.

Research: Upgraded Plasma Bombs



It looks like this is another mission that connects places using very narrow valley paths. One Fortress should be enough to halt any LC advance.



A Scout I send out confirms that the paths are all crawling with LC units waiting to ambush us. If I use the Scout to uh, scout ahead, we should have ample warning before we run into a trap.



My scouting pays off. The LC are waiting for us at the end of the first valley with a rather impressive blockade. I see 3 Thunderers, 3 pieces of artillery, a Guardian and a few land units to round things out.

We'll use the same solution we did last time; blast them with our own artillery since we have a range advantage over the LC.



Orrr not.

The devs have gotten clever to our tricks and made all the terrain in the valley unstable for building except the very edge. We won't have enough room to build a power plant, and thus we can't establish a forward artillery base. We'll need to do this the bloody way.

Research: Upgraded Bomb Bay



Step one: draw out as many of the mobile defenders as possible before I rush the artillery.



A patrolling Thunderer has spotted our Scout and alerted the other Thunderers. Let's see if I can't draw them back to where my attack force is waiting.





Success! I manage to draw in both the land and air units, which don't have a prayer against the massed plasma I have.



Or all the rockets I have.



I decide the best bet here is to use our stealth fields and get as close as we can without being detected. It's not much, but the stealth generators are the only defense we have against that artillery.



I move our Scout in closer and notice that we've got more artillery over to the south (the camera is rotated here) of the entrance of the base. We don't want that turning around to target us while we rampage through the base, so it also will need to be destroyed upon our entrance.



Alright robots, let's g-wait a second? Why are the fences off?

Di...did the LC manage to overload their power grid?



Yes! Yes they did! All the static defenses of the base are dead. In all my years playing this game I have never seen the AI be so stupid. We immediately exploit the situation and have penetrated the base's defenses.



A handful of units isn't enough to stop us.





The LC artillery is quickly neutralized. Even though the power has returned, it's too little too late. We're already in and the artillery is down.







Without the protection of the artillery the base crumbles in minutes.



To their credit, the LC do launch a minor counter-attack on our base but my earlier planning has made the area completely inhospitable for enemy aircraft. This Super Fighter is quickly engulfed by AA plasma and rocket barrages.



The Scout moves south and finds the second LC encampment.

I have a clever plan for this one.



The strike force slices through the few units lying in wait in the valleys.





And here's my clever plan. We are right on the edge of the LC's artillery range. And like I said earlier, we can build on the edge of the valley. So I've built a tunnel entrance and begun digging towards the LC base.

Whatever for though?



So I can destroy the base from underground with Earthquake Generators.



We're a third of the way done with the mission and we haven't even made a dent in the mineral field. Shit, we're already sitting on 53k in resources. This field probably has enough to make an entire evacuation fleet.





The LC realize what's going on and attempt to intercept the Earthquake Generators in the ruins of the first LC base. Fortunately all of them make it to our staging area.



But perhaps the interdiction of the Earthquake Generators was just a ruse. 3 Fat Girls attack the Fortress while a number of anti-air units try to neutralize our power. Fat Girls pack a serious wallop, this might be an issue.



Fortunately the Fat Girls and air units decide for some strange reason to sit in the area between my Fortress and my Heavy Towers, allowing themselves to be targeted by both. That was...really, really dumb.



Meanwhile in the tunnels we've almost made...

Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me.



God damn it. I order the Mammoths to go back into the LC ruins and see if there's a path to the the southern LC base from there.





The Earthquake Generators try giving it a shot anyway, but they're nowhere near enough to the base. They can take out the Guardian at least I guess.



WELP. I moved the attack force to protect the Mammoth while it's building in the LC ruins and I've now trapped my poor Earthquake Generators in this tunnel. This sucks.

Why did I want to use Earthquake Generators again?



The tunnel is built and now all I have to do is see if there's a path into the southern LC base. Given that there's a very robust tunnel system down here, I'm guessing the answer is "yes".





Yep, there's a path. And yep, it's filled with LC units



Enough of this bullshit, everybody get in the tunnels: we're going hunting

Research: The Building Grabber



Hunting status: completed.



Meanwhile on the surface, the LC have noticed we have some units guarding a new tunnel exit. Why do we have units guarding a new tunnel exit?



Because we still need to get the Earthquake Generators over to the new tunnels. And with the tunnels now under fire from a two Crions and god knows what else we might be building more Earthquake Generators instead.



We are outgunned, out-manned and outmaneuvered here. Our only hope is that these units hold on long enough for the Earthquake Generators to make their escape.



A kamikaze attack on the LC's position is our only chance to save the Earthquake Generators. Charge!



The LC respond with another doomed aerial attack on our base.



Those air units should've stayed back at the tunnel exit. Because without them there our units are able to successfully escape!

The sacrifice of our units will not have been in vain!



The Earthquake Generators make their way to their position while I pull the rest of the army out, having cleared out all the enemies.



A single Super Fighter is no match for us now.



Our units are in place! Let the earthquaking begin!



...


...


...


Well fuck. I forgot they have a tunnel entrance in their base they can use to kill the Earthquake Generators.



It's time for a new strategy. And that strategy is called "use a building grabber."



But what's a building grabber? A Building Grabber does the same thing a repairer does to disabled buildings. Except you don't need to disable them first. Throw a whole bunch of these in an enemy base and you'll laugh as the enemy spends more time blowing its own structures up than trying to kill you.

Research: 20mm bullets and the upgraded Shadow Generator




Oh and I've built a shitload of Earthquake Generators to replace the ones that died.



And I'm sending an escort this time. This time...this time I'll be victorious!



DIE YOU EARTHQUAKE HATING MOON HIPPIE!





It takes a bit, but our Earthquake Generators are able to level this Supply Depot without giving the LC a chance to respond.



I send up some of the escorts as a decoy...



...while the rest of the army marches in. The Earthquake Generators have been working on the LC Main Base and it's almost dead as you can see.



Add in some plasma and it's done. Second base is cracked!



Time for...more underground disturbances!







Meanwhile the building grabber starts grabbing buildings left and right. They can't do anything but...



Destroying the LC's PROJECT SUNLIGHT power sources with their own self-destruct sequence is very satisfying.



This Crion is the last of the resistance in the southeast LC base. I dunno why she didn't respond back when that kind of firepower could've turned the tide of the assault. That's the AI for you I guess.



Our Scout finds the last LC base. It's in a large clearing, just like the other two bases. And it looks to have the same defenses. We've tried the battering ram approach and the clever underground approach. Now let's try an aerial approach.

Research: Upgraded grenade launchers, 120mm cannons, grenade ammo, basically anything left on the list



I've got a nice group of bombers and escorts ready to kick down the door and let in the rest of the robots for a robot party.

Robot parties are the best parties.



Given that these Bats are in range of the LC's anti-air rockets, they're not long for this world.





But that doesn't really matter when the Dragon bombers can knock out each building with one bomb.





Screw killing everything, let's just kill the Xyrex and get the hell off this rock.



Hooray! We won! We won! We...wait a second? Why isn't the PROJECT SUNLIGHT ring shutting down? Why are the cannons still online?

WHY ARE THEY POWERING UP FOR AN ATTACK ON OUR SPACEPORT?




ATTENTION: ALL ROBOTS ON DECK! WE'VE GOT TO DESTROY THE RING ITSELF OR THE LC WILL DESTROY OUR SPACEPORT! PREPARE TO DIE (er, be disassembled? be decommissioned? Robots don't really die...) FOR YOUR COUNTRY!





These long, brutal missions always have hilarious end-scores. I collected 379,250 credits worth of minerals, and the mineral patches weren't even half depleted. So basically we could've won the entire Earth 2150 campaign with the credits we had available in this mission.

Sure. That makes sense.



Our final mission. We MUST destroy SUNLIGHT's control center. If we don't they will destroy our Spaceport and this entire campaign will be for naught.



With the UCS campaign almost at a close it's time to vote on whose campaign you want to see next. Would you rather see the LC's side of these missions and their attempt to take back the moon from the robot invaders? Or would you like to see what the Eurasian Dynasty has been up to on the surface while the UCS and LC battle for the Moon?

As usual, vote with the images below. The vote will close when I post the next update (probably Friday or Saturday).

Eurasian Dynasty
Lunar Corporation