Part 96: Izbekistan

Welcome to Izbekistan (misspelling of Uzbekistan?) everyone. The UCS have managed to capture a group of our soldiers. Normally this wouldn't be a concern, however rumor has it one of the Khan's many nephews are amongst the soldiers. The ED is not very experienced at clandestine operations of this nature. Our only real specialty has been implanting double agents (which is how we got this information).

To that end, the mobile commandos have been asked to lead the operation. To assist us, we've managed to bring in a few soldiers experienced with NEO's hacking methods. I'm sure you've all heard of NEO by now, and while we'll have some of his people helping us they don't have nearly the breadth of knowledge he does. We've been promised that they can get us access to the Salamander, no more. Any of you who had hopes of a mission like what happened at New York are in for a disappointment.



We don't start with much. This solitary Truck is all we get. The hackers we borrowed from NEO's group are in there and we must keep them safe if we're to capture the Salamander we need to accomplish Phase 2 of Operation Troy.



Within seconds of our first wave's arrival the UCS have moved in Grizzlies to investigate. Well...maybe this mission can be like New York after all!





Yes! That one Grizzly has the firepower of our entire army. Score one for Dynasty ingenuity!



They're sending more Grizzlies! Wow, what a lucky day we're having. It'd be rude to turn them into scrap, so I get back to work on capturing them.



Some Tigers and Spiders have moved in and are attempting to stop our capture operation. Some electro-cannon lets them know that won't be allowed.



Oh shit. One of the Grizzlies has broken free of the ion cannon's effect. And it's heading for the LZ! Quickly, re-disable it, before the entire mission is lost!



We've saved the LZ, and the Grizzly too! It turns out Grizzlies can automatically regenerate their electrical systems. If you want to keep one down you'll need to keep pelting it with ion blasts.



The rouge Grizzly is under our control and the Ukraine has returned with the rest of the task force we'll need to capture the Salamander.





The UCS attack on our main base was stunning. I'm worried about conditions at the research and recycling bases so I've decided to beef up the static defenses. Now any attackers won't have such an easy go of it with all the new towers and actual guns on any buildings that can mount them.





Our army is in place in Izbekistan. Time to start our push. To be safe, I move the Groznys out to scout the area.



Smart move on my part. Unable to dislodge us, the UCS have instead moved to contain us. An indestructible minefield, a full compliment of towers and Fortresses, not to mention actual walls are pinning us in.



Unfortunately for them, they didn't count on us having a working airforce. I suppose they thought their last strike at HQ knocked them out.



To the west we can see the power generation facility General Shakt spoke of. The defenses are incredibly stout, we'll need to see if we can avoid a direct attack and instead cut the power to the Energy Transmitters.



Our plan worked! The mines still work, but the rest of the area is completely useless. I'll send in some units to clean it up.



After they burn down some trees to maneuver around the minefield, our mix of Grizzlies, Craters and a moon are enough to start damaging the base. I only sent energy weapons forward as we do not have a Supply Depot. We'll need to keep our powder dry in the event we need to punch through tougher defenses.



We've knocked down the barricades and most of the outpost. With that taken care of, we now need to find where the Salamander is hiding.





Great. The Groznys discover not only another minefield, but a series of Fortresses guarding a bridge. If I were a betting man, I'd bet the Salamander was on that island. Unfortunately, if we engage the Fortresses while on the bridge they'll just shoot the ground out from under us and render the island inaccessible.





Good thing the UCS have poorly defended power lines!



The power to the island has indeed been cut, and just as I suspected, the Salamander lies in the middle.



After destroying the first outpost, I noticed there was a supply cache conveniently located in the rubble. After clearing the rubble our Groznys are now able to refuel and resupply to their heart's content.



And now they can grab us some cash!



The Sierra Club is gonna be real pissed at us wantonly blowing up the forest. Of course, they're probably more upset with the whole "impending destruction of Earth due to mankind's folly" thing so maybe they won't notice.



With the forest wantonly destroyed, the Truck with our hackers can safely make its way to the Salamander's location.



The hackers need a direct link to the Salamander so we knock down the barriers protecting it. In the background the rest of the army is going to town on the unpowered towers.



"Okay Viktor, navigate through the narrow ravine. By the way, if you screw up we all die horrible, horrible landmine deaths. No pressure!"




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R6HM_fpPAY

Success! The Salamander is ours!



Now all we need to do is fly it out of here and we're ready for Phase 2.





Remember those Unit Transporters I built? Yeah, they'll be extracting the Truck and Salamander by air. Now we don't have to worry about any idiot drivers bumping into a landmine.





With the Truck and Salamander delivered safely back to the LZ we're free to move on to Phase 2.

Except...

I really, really want to blow up everything in Izbekistan.






Our three captured LC units flank the base while the Groznys take out the plethora of Small Towers guarding the northern approach.



The Recycling base is upgrading its defenses as well. I don't care how useless it is, no robot is gonna ruin my chances to be the first LEED Platinum certified military operation.



More Grizzlies have shown up to try and stop us from killing absolutely everything on the map.



Why sure, I'll take another walking battleship into my army!



Five more?



Okay, why not? The more the merrier.



See, UCS, this is why you don't send a bunch of unshielded Grizzlies off to attack the guy who runs around with ion cannons everywhere. It does not end well for you.



Hmm...If we disable the buildings I wonder if we can capture them too?



Oh yes, yes we can. And you can sell them for cash too. We're going to make a profit on this mission.

Research: Upgraded Repairer

With all these new captured units coming in, it'll help if we can upgrade the rest of our army to keep pace. The upgraded repairer will let us upgrade units.




We continue disabling and selling buildings, and I continue researching.

Research: Siberia mk 2 and Laser Cannon



The last building is in our possession, which means we've managed to destroy or capture every UCS thing on the ma...wait what's that noise?

That...can't be? No. It's...IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPkOCqnDRgc




So after watching more bad acting, we've got our second award. And yes, the video is literally the exact same for every promotion. Couldn't they mix it up a bit?



DAMN destroying all the UCS in that mission gave us a ton of career points. We just got promoted and are only 10 points away from our next rank.

While I transport everyone back I do some more research. I now actually feel somewhat comfortable with the army I can put on the field. I research the upgrade Scout solely because it's really cheap and I don't have enough money for a real research.

Research: Siberia mk 3, Scout mk2 and Large Tower





I have no clue why the game thinks we built one unit. Maybe capturing the Salamander counts?



Next time: Phase 2 of Operation Troy. I'm sure it won't involve using the Salamander in a nefarious fashion.







This is it, the last piece of music in the game. Hopefully you've all enjoyed the chance to listen along with the missions. Enjoy the 4th ED battle theme, because the ED are so good at war they get 4 themes.