Part 99: Western Europe
rest of briefing posted:
Good luck Comrade! May the Khan's breath, redolent of all things sweet, blow strongly in your direction! (And may you remain upright when it reaches you!)
Signed, General Tsugai Shakt, Mobile Commandos
First the LC, now the UCS. Everyone wants to use our missiles against us. This time it's a bunch of mobile launchers rather than silos, but the threat is in no way diminished.
This is a really exciting mission, trust me.
Oh yeah, and this time there's a timer. We have a little under 2 in-game days to recapture the nukes.
Compounding our problems we are almost directly underneath this artillery. It will, without a doubt, bombard any land units the second we leave the base.
The captured mobile rocket launchers are here to the east of the artillery. Unfortunately, this scouting trip confirms that the only land path to the base is right through the crosshairs of the artillery. We're going to have to go right into the lion's jaws to pull out this mission.
We haven't even finished unloading the Ukraine and we've already come under attack by Dragon bombers. Hope you brought some anti-air units or you're going to lose the mission before you even get going. A single Cossack isn't enough to fend off this kind of firepower.
UCS AI is improving. They've broken off the attack on our units and are going right for the LZ. Fortunately for us, they were too late in re-prioritizing their target and we're able to fend them off.
...Just in time for another wave. Of Jaguar HP+P units.
I give the UCS tons of credit here, the only way to really force a loss this late in the campaign is by putting extreme pressure on the player in the opening minutes of a mission before you've shipped over every unit you own.
We're in no way prepared for this type of assault. I order the Groznys to soften up the Jaguars as much as possible, although we've barely scratched them by the time they open fire on our ground forces.
We can't retreat as we're at the ends of the map, nor can we maneuver out to meet the UCS in the field due to the artillery.
We must make our stand in this valley.
Their firepower is almost too much. I can feel my place as the Khan's right hand slipping away...our cities engulfed in nuclear flames...
But all is not lost! I forgot about the
LASER units we started with. They heroically charged onto the battlefield and laid waste to all the enemy Jaguars. Never before have I seen a group of throwaway starting units pull me out of the fire.
To the pilots of the 3 Siberia Ls who saved us, I award you the Order of Bravey
You can expect a very creepy meeting with the Khan after this mission is over.
Our losses are close to catastrophic. Only the helicopters, the Siberia Ls, a Pamir and a Grizzly survive. We'll need to bring in reinforcements.
There. Much better. I've even put up a makeshift base to ensure we can reload. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to waste time. The UCS surprise attack and ferrying of reinforcements has taken up almost a quarter of our time. The UCS artillery still stands and while normally I'd try and take it out to minimize losses, there simply isn't the time.
I order the army to make a break for the abandoned rail yard in the center of the map. They'll come under fire from the artillery but from there I can plan a more coordinated assault that hopefully won't put us right in the heart of the artillery fire zone. Perhaps we can find a way of getting underground and bypass the UCS defenses entirely.
Losses are minimal but in searching the wreckage I cannot find any hopes of entering the underground and digging back up to the UCS base in time.
My Groznys have scouted along the path the artillery is guarding. It all leads up to this bridge, which looks to be the only way in or out of the UCS base. If artillery shells hit it we'll be unable to rebuild in time to reach the rocket launchers in time. But we also cannot afford to delay the army's movement while the Groznys knock out the artillery. This requires a simultaneous strike and a whole lot of luck.
The initial strike on the artillery position is successful in knocking out the Energy Transmitters, but the artillery is so close to the power plants it does nothing. Our first group of units to navigate the cliff side pass are dying in droves.
The fate of the mission lies in the hands of these Grozny pilots. Without the artillery knocked out our losses will be too great to mount the quick strike we need against the UCS.
This is an excellent shot that really puts into perspective just how compact this area is. If the UCS really go for broke they can order their artillery to fire on us even after we've entered the base.
Luck has come our way! The Groznys are able to take out a Condor while it was reloading an artillery piece.
The vanguard has crossed the bridge and engaged enemy defenses. The Cargo Salamanders exit the base to meet them.
We've crushed the Salamanders and somehow I selected a Gruz. Now to move into the base and secure the missile launchers.
We've entered the base proper now. With nothing to stop us I order the only useless unit here, the Gruz, to enter the tunnels and find a way to recapture the missile launchers.
UCS ingenuity! They've sent a single Panther hP into our base and destroyed the LZ. If we lose that Gruz everyone is trapped in Western Europe. I hope there aren't any mines underground...
The static defenses on the surface have been destroyed. It's all up to the Gruz now.
Go little guy! You can do it!
WARNING NUCLEAR LAUNCH DETEC-oh it's just a power plant blowing up. Thank the Khan. I was really worried there for a second.
There it is! That will give us control of the missile launchers.
You bet your medals I'm gonna destroy the enemy base. I wanna test out these new nukes.
With the timer stopped it's time to spend some cash on research.
Research: Rocket Launcher II
But mere seconds after we've captured the missile launchers the UCS launch a counter-attack. But this time we have our defenses prepared.
Oh yes. Quite prepared indeed.
Before they even reach the plateau they've taken losses.
And in just a few short seconds it's all over.
Meanwhile, our Gruz has discovered piles of gold bars under the base. Maybe its the legendary lost Nazi gold?
The army moves south towards the second UCS base. They offer nothing but token resistance on the way.
Research: Khrushchev mk 2 
Our scout has confirmed the location of the UCS base. Now all we need to do is let the rockets fly.
NUCLEAR LAUNCH DETECTED
Goodbye UCS base. No one liked you anyway.
Research: Laser Cannon mk 2, Laser Cannon mk 3, Heavy Laser Cannon mk 2, Heavy Laser Cannon mk 3 
More losses than I typically see and we didn't grab a single nickel but we won.
INCOMING TRANSMISSION //Intercepted by ED Intelligence\ Origin - LC Celestial Council posted:
IV RAVENNÈ HABUTAI - XENOANTHROPOLOGIST OF THE LUNAR CORPORATION
The following is an excerpt from a report on the recently discovered alien base
... the aliens were definitely humanoids, and, at an average height of about 1.5 meters, rather small by our standards. Furthermore, there are no signs pointing to the existence of different sexes. Unfortunately, the base has been thoroughly and systematically plundered, so we have no usable artifacts from which to draw conclusions as to the aliens' culture. From the ruins of the base we can, however, determine that the thought processes of these creatures is at least somewhat similar to ours.
Easily the most important discovery was the control panel in Reactor Area II. The written characters we discovered on it bear a 70% similarity to Aztec pictograms dating from the period of their mass murder by Spanish religious fanatics! This is proof that the aliens discovered Earth ages ago. An analysis of the base's foundation using the C-14B method shows it to be between 500 and 700 years old. This means the energy gun was built at the same time the Aztecs were exterminated. Based on the marked similarities in their written language (unfortunately, we have only piecemeal translations of Aztec writings, most of which are based on assumptions) I consider it highly unlikely that this is all a coincidence.
The question of whether the builders of the Moon base pose a serious threat can probably be answered with "no". After all, the cannon was never fired. Plus, it is almost impossible that the glider we salvaged over 50 years ago was built by the same creatures. It is similarly clear that the glider was destroyed by an energy weapon, whose design and construction matches that of the large cannon we discovered. The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that two extra-terrestrial powers fought a war in our solar system.
Based on the scanty information available to me, I cannot make any more specific statements. My recommendation, however, is that we intensify our deep space reconnaissance in order to reduce as far as possible the risk of a surprise attack.
Health and Happiness.
So this "Project Sunlight" the LC have been working on isn't really their own design. It was so obvious. How could they manage to build a giant cannon pointed at the Earth at the same time as building their evacuation ships? I suppose the plundering of this alien technology explains why their anti-gravity technology is so much more advanced than the UCS's. While it appears their current target is the central command hub of GOLAN we cannot rule out a strike on the Dynasty. For that reason, we, the Mobile Commandos, will destroy this weapon. OPERATION: UMBRELLA is a go.
Buckle up Comrades, we're going to the moon!