Part 30: Japan Pt. 2

Should...should I order the full retreat? ED helicopters are in the center of our base, the defenses are failing. Our Tigers are out of ammo. More ED tanks are pouring out of the base. The Gargoyles are being picked off one by one by attackers. A retreat here would at least let us keep our units and have a fighting chance in the next mission. If we stay and fight and lose we'll have no chance of winning the next mission.

Is this the end of Japan?





















No





No UCS commander worth his salt would give up now. We fight on...to victory!

The Gargoyes rally to the ridge east of the base. From there they can take out the few tanks they see. Meanwhile the ED copters are shot down by a combination of building weapons and that Tiger III 20mm you see in the foreground. He's a heroic little robot



Make no mistake, we have a tough mission ahead of us. A ground assault is hopeless and a direct air attack when we don't have superiority is similarly out of the question. So what can we do?

What hope do we have against such a force?



We have the tunnels. They are not guarding the tunnels.



And so we will dig into their base. We will sneak in like a thief in the night and slit the throats of any Eurasian soldier we find. Our robots will not have died in vain this day, this I can promise. We will have vengeance!



While we work on tunnel construction, I send our Shark out to scout.



Looks like this doesn't lead to the ocean. Unfortunately that bridge we built is in the way of our move to the south.



It will need to be destroyed, stranding the Mammoth on the other island. We shall not forget its sacrifice for the greater good of the United Civilized States.



I order a series of night raids into the ED base to try and destroy the air cover as best I can. If those helicopters are still around they'll be able to spot our tanks. I keep the air force out of the range of any of the structures to avoid enemy fire.



We're going to need this upgrade if our sneak attack is to work.



We take heavy losses, 3 out of our 8 Gargoyles by my count, but we have superiority over this ED base. Now to pick off the Boyars to keep the ED from reloading.



That was easy.



Alright, with the air force out of the way let's see what this NEO fellow has defending his base.

A zillion tanks and some small towers. I'm thinking a ground assault is going to be out here.





That's a lot of helicopters. Way more than I can possibly clear with just 5 Gargoyles. They look like they're only defending NEO's base, so we won't have to worry about them with the brown ED base but they're going to be an issue.



The way to the sea is clear!



The way to the sea is blocked by a very large rock.

We will not be using our navy due to these physical limitations. It's all on the army and air force at this point.



I've constructed some Large Towers to defend the base entrance. These should stand up to enemy fire for longer than our Small Towers. I've also rebuilt the UCS air force to prepare for Phase Two of the attack.



Our primary resource field is exploited and there's not much left at the secondary field. We'll need to be thrifty the rest of the way.



Dynasty helicopters from yet another faction attack. It looks like they're going for the LZ to trap us here and prevent a tactical retreat.



Once again, they fail. It seems like our defenses are holding the line against attacks, but until we have our tunnel we won't be able to go up against the ED. Turtling is our best option now.



And right after I decide that our resources run out. We have 21,598 CR to work with the rest of this mission. There is nothing to use at HQ. We will live our die with what we've got.



Our tunnels have almost reached the ED base.



Looks like the ED navy is having issues too. We built our base far back enough from the coast that these boats can't hit anything. Finally a stroke of good luck.



Night has fallen and another ED attack has failed. It's time to begin Phase Two of our assault on the ED base.



We're running lights off again. To make us even stealthier we're hiding behind the mountain range. The ED know they're being hit but they can't figure out where the rockets are coming from.



This is why we needed the 50% homing rockets, otherwise the ED maneuvers would keep any tanks from being destroyed.



We can't suffer any of these laser tanks to live. Or any other tanks for that matter. It will take some time for our forces to emerge from the tunnels and if they spot us before we're ready our strike force will be wiped out.



At day break we are spotted. I order all Gargoyles to return to base.



Mother nature decides to help when the morning fog rolls in and provides cover for the retreating Gargoyles. The operation destroyed at least 8 ED tanks and we didn't take a single scratch.



The Dynasty counter-attack flails at our gates.



Our tunnel is ready. And the ED have not spotted it, thanks to the work of our Gargoyles.



We'll need cover while our army moves into position, so the Gargoyles begin a strike on the ED production facilities.



The feint is more successful than we could've ever hoped. We've destroyed the power plant as well as the last Gruz in this ED faction.



The lack of tank response indicates between our nighttime strike and the ED counter-attack we've cleared the base of mobile defenders. Our troops are in position and waiting for my command to march through the forest and lay waste to the ED base.

The final phase begins now.



The Vehicle Production Center at the edge of the base is destroyed before the Dynasty even knows what happened. The adjacent power plant is destroyed in similar fashion.



And with the destruction of this power plant the once indefatigable cannons of the ED defensive line fall silent. We have won the day, only cleanup remains.



Sadly these mines are completely tapped out. We'll be getting no additional resources.



I let the Gargoyles pick off the few remaining self-powered Small Towers. The Tiger III grenadiers take care of the rest.

The Brown ED base has been obliterated.

Now to figure out how to destroy NEO's base...



When in doubt, tunnels are your friend.



The most suitable place to pop out of the ground is right next to NEO's HQ. We'll need to clear these towers to ensure our forces can gather.




Another successful night raid from the Gargoyles. If they weren't robots they'd probably name themselves something cool like The Night Barons but instead it's probably something boring like TASK FORCE U3707G. I think I'll start calling them The Night Barons though because that's a pretty awesome name.



The Night Barons have strayed a bit too close to the ED helicopters.



We've managed to clear most of the towers, and we still can't stand up to that force of Groznys and Cossacks. There's no shame in pulling back here.

Besides, I have other plans for The Night Barons.



This is the ED's Pacific Fleet. We need to sink it to make sure there's no reprisal against any of our Pacific holdings.



These are the defenses the ED has prepared for us on its beach. We'll be coming from underground, but a raid here would make them think that we're coming from the ocean. It's worth a shot to see if we can pull the helicopters away from NEO's HQ.



Looks like it worked. And we managed to get the power plant too. That'll make things easier when our Tigers show up.



Further up the coast, we re-discover the ED naval base our Tigers saw before NEO took control of them. Now that naval base is rubble.



The ED navy scattered when we began our attack on the beach. It's time to send them to the bottom of the sea.



Well that one exploded rather than sinking but I'm okay with that. I like explosions.



Our last target in the north are the NEO-controlled Tigers from the start of the mission. I don't know how he did it, but we're not going to give him these Tigers to study for further hacking endeavors.



There we go.



Some Gargoyles returning to base to reload have discovered an ED patrol headed right for our last known location. I think it's time to return to base until we begin our assault on NEO's HQ.



But first we need to outrun those Pamirs. Looks like they didn't invest in homing rockets. Idiots




Our Mammoth is right under the ED base. Now we just need to figure out how to clear the air force and the final assault can begin.



More attacks from that blue faction. Where the hell are they coming from?



Oh I see. We'll ignore that base since it's only a minor threat to our position.

How are we going to clear the ED helicopters though? If you look we only have about 14k credits left. That's simply not enough to trade plane for plane and rebuild after the battle. We'll need to be clever again.



And that cleverness is towers. With these Small Towers in the ruins of the brown ED base, we see a few copters come running when I move a Gargoyle in sight range. I move him back behind our line and the towers take out the helicopters without a problem.



Shit. NOAH I is not happy with us. I'm not sure what we can do, resources are stretched thin as it is on the battlefield. We'll need to divert some research funds to Project MARS in the coming missions.



There are a ton of tanks in that base. Once again, I think we're going to need to use The Night Barons to take them out.



Our attempt at pulling the last of the ED helicopters fails though. They've gotten wise to the tower location.



So let's move the towers and bring in the whole army!



We've only got one shot left at this. All units are ordered lights off and radio silence. We cannot afford the ED to discover our tricks here or we'll be unable to destroy the air force.



The pull begins. It looks like the ED is taking the bait.

I have a video of the ensuing battle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZARxRn7Jzgo



The Night Barons are behind our lines. It's all up to the towers and our army now



It's working, but the Groznys are beginning to falter. We must keep up the pressure.



Go Night Barons!



It worked. I can't believe it worked. We have air superiority. Clearing the base should be easy now.



The Night Barons focus on clearing the Small Towers first.



We take some losses but manage to leave the base barren.



The units are next. With the power out and the Small Towers destroyed the Night Barons can lazily sit in the air picking off the Siberia Ls.



And the mobile defenders are dead.



Our entrance is ready. UCS forces have been given the all-clear to enter the ED base and find and kill the hacker NEO.



The Night Barons help clear the last of enemy resistance.



The Tigers are directed to march to the center of the base and lay waste to any ED structure they find. We'll deal with the actual HQ once we're sure he's not planning an amphibious escape.



I use the last bit of my money on the 100% guided rocket. I know Project MARS needs the money, but we need the fully guided rocket more.



Their job complete, I order the Night Barons home for some well deserved R&R. Actually, do robots even need rest? Probably not. They probably don't even feel proud about being the group that won the battle for me.

But I'm proud. I'm proud of my brave robots



The base is destroyed. I've ordered the rest of the army to fall back to ensure NEO cannot flee. The honor of the destruction of NEO's HQ falls on our 5 most ferocious units.



The hacker's base has been destroyed. NEO is dead.



And now we find the consequences of our actions. NEO was perfectly happy to sit on the sideline in this war. He warned us to stay away. But we wouldn't listen. And now we've destroyed his home. He's declared a personal vendetta against us and will not rest until I, the President of the United Civilized States, am dead.

I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.



All UCS forces instantly turn on us. The base cannot possibly hold against an internal attack like this. But we still do not have the plans for the Grizzly! All this could be for naught.



The Tigers have already taken out the base's defenses.



And the Weapons Production Center.



The rest of the defenses fall and I don't think the Vehicle Production Center will last much longer. Quick! Recall The Night Barons! They're our only chance of getting that data.



GOD

DAMN

IT



Well at least we got NEO out of our systems. Who knows what he found while he was in there though. And he still has control of our army.



We should go, but I can't bear the thought of leaving one of the brave robots of The Night Barons here to face certain destruction. We will wait for his return.



They've destroyed everything except the Aerial Supply Center now. That Weapons Production Center up top has no power so it's totally useless.



Hurry! We have only seconds before they turn this way!



Whew. He made it. Now let's get out of here!




We came out on top despite being up against three different ED commanders. You don't see that every day.




After the excitement of Japan I figured I'd let you all have some input into what mission I tackle next. I have three options.

Option A: Great Lakes



We've gotten to the prototype stage with the Plasma Cannon. There are reports of Lunar Corporation forces in the area. After the loss of the Arctic, the Celestial Council decided to withdraw their treaty and we've been in limbo ever since. With this action it appears there is no hope of an LC-UCS alliance.

Option B: Kurtshatov FZ



The final mission in The Grizzly Theft arc, we've finally found where the ED have taken our Grizzlies. We are going to get them back.

Option C: Stanford Lab 3



We're at V2.0 of our teleport system. It better work this time...


Voting Procedure

For this we'll be using rank-order voting. To vote, list your preferences in order from first to third like so:

1. Kurtshatov FZ
2. Great Lakes
3. Stanford Lab

Each first place vote is worth 3 points, second place is 2 and third place is 1. The winning mission will be played first, the second-place mission will be played second and the third-place mission will be played last.

Voting runs from now until 5:00 PM EST on Wednesday February 4th.