Completed Let's play Original War

[Nevill]

Be a true comrade, comrade! Fight the Americans on the bodies of your fellow fallen comrades. Don't let their deaths be in vain! To the north!

Truer words have never been spoken, comrade!

To the north we will go. We must remember the teachings of our heroes!

- Restrain yourself, comrade! There is no such thing as a superior American force. Regroup and attack!

We even still have most of our attack force intact! 5 gun vehicles have survived the onslaught, which is highly unusual (you guys might want to watch the video from 12:50 to 14:30 to see how it normally goes). Why, it's almost as if the soldiers let their senior officers take the fall, while staying safely behind!

But to leave no doubt in Soviet superiority, we will not be using vehicles at all. Let it be known that all we need to drive the Americans back is our bare hands, balls of steel, and a pair of sunglasses!

Behold!

Spoiler

What do we do, what do we do? Why, of course!

Or rather,

Weather the storm? Prepare for the American attack? Bah! Preparation is for pussies. We must strike now, when the enemy least expects it! We will catch them out of position while they invade our base! They will never see it coming!

Americans will never get to look this cool.

And we are off before anyone even gets here. It's all a part of the strategy to confuse their inferior minds!

Forest, forest, forest. Animals, animals, animals.

Spoiler

Winter, winter, winter... Forest, forest, forest... Animals, animals, animals...
In the middle of the road stands Ivan Susanin. Nemetsko-Fashistskaya Hydra comes.
- Vanya, Vanya, will you tell us the way to the Moscow-city?
- I don't know, - said Ivan Susanin
- We shall give you many dollars!
- I don't know, - said Ivan Susanin
- We shall give you many roubles!
- I don't know, - said Ivan Susanin
- We shall kill you k chortovoy materi!
And they killed him. (pause) Ivan Susanin is the national hero of the Soviet Union.

Snipers are not something I accounted for. But there is no use turning back now. Surely with 4 high-level medics we can tank anything!

Well, almost anything. It's a bit close, but once we get in range, the sniper explodes in bloody chunks in an instant. Onwards!

Look at the engineer, trying to get cute with us!

You have to hand it to the rocketeers - they pack a lot of punch in a space that is normally taken by a single large-sized tank. That means they rarely have issues with blocking each others' line of fire, though splash damage becomes a big problem for high concentration of infantry.

American defenses are pretty underwhelming on this side. A few cannons scattered here and there, a few snipers. They have spent too much reinforcing their western flank and their center, and now they are paying the price.

And the 10 lvl medics are ridiculously overpowered. It is fairly trivial to rotate the wounded soldiers back and forth, with no real decrease in DPS.

Not even a gatling turret helps the Yanks much.

They try sending in their vehicles... with a fairly predictable result. Those are equipped to deal with tanks.

Not that gatling machine guns fare much better. There is just too many of us, and we simply refuse to die.

Their inner perimeter is breached!

Their vehicles are powerless to stop us!

Not that they are going to have any vehicles anymore. Looks like we've caught them with their pants down before they could even mount a proper offensive.

The sight of ten rockets converging on a single target never ceases to amuse me.

Even scientists join in on the fun!

The final test is upon us as we destroy their armory. It's the ultimate showdown, mano-a-mano, infantry vs. infantry.

And our manos are just better.

Of course, being more numerous does not hurt, either.

Finally we reach their main defense line, and execute everyone with XTREME prejudice.

And when there is no longer man, woman or ape left alive, we offer their commander to come have a little chat with us.

- (deadly serious) This is major Gorky of the Red Army, calling US commander John Macmillan. Death stands behind you, Macmillan. We have destroyed your base and now we shall destroy you!

- Go to hell, Gorky.

- Certainly, Macmillan. I’ll follow you to hell just so I can kill you again!

Alas, our hopes are dashed by... who do you think?

- Comrade major, after the unfortunate death of Marshal Yashin I assumed the command of RAPLIG (Red Army PLIocene Group). Now that you've accomplished your task, return for further instructions.

- But comrade colonel...

- (angrily) I said return now, comrade!

And I thought I was having a bad time before! Macmillan will just have to die another day, I guess.

Mission Accomplished.

+ Quick work.
+ Few casualties.
- Try to use the work of your scientists to your advantage.

Pah! Science is for those who can't win in a fair fight, anyway!

By the way, if we were late in constructing the support base, the text would have read:
- You worked too slowly, Marshal Yashin died thinking he put trust in you incorrectly.

The game sure knows how to pull at the right heartstrings.

Intermission screen.

With Platonov back in command, what fate awaits both our hero and our sacred mission? Find out in the next episode... 'The Cleansing'! Oops, spoiled it.


What we've missed.

Spoiler

Not a lot, honestly. Depending on who exactly you brought on a mission, one of the scientists will address you.

- I’ve thought about our teleportation grenades, comrade major. I may have an idea how to extend the range significantly. With a good lab, I can work on it.

- The Soviet scientists see a good opportunity to develop a long-range teleportation, comrade major. All we need is a space-time lab.

- Comrade major, we both know longer range teleportation could be useful. If I had a space-time lab I could develop this.

And then you'll have an option to make a teleport. We've seen one in action in the Amaerican campaign, mission 12.

- I was right, we can now build a long-range teleport, comrade major. But a scientist must make accurate measurements at the exit point.

- The Soviet scientists were right, comrade major. We have developed a long-range teleport. After construction you must send a scientist to the to the destination point to make necessary measurements.

- Comrade, I was right. You can now order engineers to build teleports. But you will have to send a scientist to the planned destination. They need to do some measurements there.

All there needs to be done is to send a scientist to the location you need to teleport to, and you can teleport your units there with impunity. Good for passing some rough terrain or appearing right under your enemy's nose for hit and run tactics.

You can see the scientists placing a beacon in the video Havoc linked, at exactly 21:00. THen the player uses the teleport 30 seconds later to bring troops to the battlefield, and at 22:45 he adds the tanks to the mix, which would not be able to get there on their own.

You can also develop more advanced rockets, with a better range than American ones.

- Have you seen those American rockets? They’re like our bazookas, with longer range. Do you think we could develop something similar?

- Yes, it's no problem for Soviet scientists. We only require a weapon lab.

 

[Azira]

You enjoy doing this the "wrong way", don't you?

 

[Havoc]

>To the north
>Goes east

Fix your compass, comrade!

You deserve to stay with Platonov, if you know what I mean.

 

[Black]

Given how amazing rocket soldiers are I wouldn't call it the "wrong way".

 

[MZeta]

I hope you can find a good way of being a serious pain in the Platonov ass in the future.
But anyway thumbs up for doing missions differently from what devs intended.

 

[lightbane]

That sure is the definition of "overkill".

Gentlemen, behold! Russia's ultimate weapon!

 

[Nevill]

Fix your compass, comrade!

Hey! It got me north alright!

Compasses are for pussies, too. Only Americans can't find their way without GPS and other tools. Real men navigate by stars!

Interlude.



We are then taken to the RAOS messenger screen. Our choices are as follows:


> Reply to the unauthorized message
Side with Dmitry Gladkov and lead the junior officer revolt against Platonov.
> Reply to the message from prof. Gossudarov
Side with Gossudarov and lead the scientists away to form the Alliance and put an end to the war.
> Quit
Side with Platonov and remain true to the cause.

The decision is yours, comrades.

Spoiler

I am sure the more attentive among the viewers have already gathered the details of the plot. However, let's summarize.

During the WWI an US major John Peters discovers an unknown artefact in Siberia, which would later be labeled EON, and, in the best of American traditions, appropriates exports it to his homeland. That might have been a mistake on Macmillan's part, as I have no idea what would Americans do there in WWI - he might have confused it with AEF intervention in the Russian Civil War which took place 4 years later. Somewhere in the XXI century, the scientists discover that the Siberite the machine runs on is a catalyst to cold fusion, and that the only supply of the mineral lies in Siberia, Russia. Lacking the balls to invade openly, they send in a small force to excavate and relocate the mineral before the state borders even come into existence. They arguably succeed. :patriot:

In an alternate timeline, the America discovers the Alaskite early and dominates the world, while the Soviet Union never rises to prominence. As a consequence, though, America does not deem it necessary to intervene in Russian domestic affairs, and the alien device stays in Siberia, where it is found by a Russian expedition and gets named TAWAR. The scientists make a connection between the traces of the earlier American presence in the region in 2'000'000 BC, and a strange devise running on Alaskite, and thus the operation Pliocene was born. They arguably succeed, too... which brings the story full circle. :russia:

Somewhere along the line, the Arab sheikhs have got wind of a time-traveling operation and decided that they'd rather have the Alaskite/Siberite destroyed than see oil be reduced to an anachronism, and so they joined in. Of course, being comprised mostly of kebabs and akbars, the Arabian mercenary force knows little about particle physics, and thus have this bright idea to contaminate the Motherlode, which would promptly split the planet in half. :terrorist:

The alternate history of the XX century has changed considerably, it seems, with political prostitute Trotsky winning the power race and condemning comrade Stalin's supporters, Hitler never coming to power at all, and Putin failing to make president in 2000. Think about it, comrades, not only Yanks have deprived us of a discohitler smiley, but the alternate!Codex does not have a :russia: one as well! For that alone they deserve humiliation and death, I say - and not necessarily in that order.


Though if one thinks about it carefully, it appears that the futures exist independently from each other in a sort of limbo of possibilities. If the Russians win, their world can not exist, the same goes for the Americans. Yet they are both present t the same time. That makes me believe that they are not in the slightest connected to the future of the world they are fighting over - which may belong to the Alliance for all we know. Welcome to the multivere hypothesis!

By the way... we know what happened to EON in the American campaign, thanks to Joan, and we know that most, if not all, mercenaries come from the American timeline... but if the Americans no longer receive reinforcement through EON, why can't the Russians win through numbers alone by sending in more and more people through TAWAR?

One of the choices above may shed light on this question.

 

[Azira]

Heck, I'm curious. Go the scientist route.

 

[Black]

Remain with Platonov, you're a good and loyal soldier of Mother Russia!

 

[lightbane]

Hmm, which one would piss off Platonov more? Revolting is tempting, but I am sure that joining the Scientist Alliance will make him even more angry. I vote for the later:

Let's join the scientist alliance for humanity! Of course, Gorky shall be the leader of the new utopia and the one who will lead humanity to the stars.

 

[Nevill]

Hmm, which one would piss off Platonov more?

I'll give you a hint.

Russian revolts tend to be... violent.

 

[Havoc]

Remain with Platonov, you're a good and loyal soldier of Mother Russia!

Do it, faggot.

 

[MZeta]

All otions are tempting, but i vote for the alliance. Let's see if peacefull dozer can make the difference.

 

[Nevill]

I'll add my vote to Platonov then, to see if the mighty dice won't let us explore this alluring option.

Do it, faggot.

1. DOO EET!
2. Don't do it.

Edit: Alliance it is! Sorry, my loyalist bros!

 

[Azira]

Dun dun dunnn... The dice are against Platonov.

 

[Nevill]

Spoiler

I guess it was only a matter of time before the multinational Soviet Union would succumb to a multi-kulti plague.

Mission 12. Cat and Mouse.

Interlude.

Spoiler

Alright, we've chosen our pill. Let's swallow it.

V. K. Bluekher base; October 25, 2 NR
Burlak made the decision to join the Alliance. He is about to meet professor Gossudarov to discuss the details of their escape.

We start in the middle of the cluster of Soviet bases, where the professor puts his plan in motion.

- I’m so glad you’re with us, Burlak. Not many soldiers would understand our goals.

- Maybe more than you think. I shall try to bring more with me.

- You must hurry then. We plan to leave in the morning.

- Thanks for the warning!

- We will need time to get away. Bringing the Artefact is going to slow us down.

- Maybe I can lure the guards away. Which way will we be heading?

- Straight to the North, where we are meeting Peter Roth, the American scientist.

- OK. There are marshes like a maze to the North, which could be useful. I’ll get some men I can trust to build a small encampment to the north-east. I'll lure the pursuers there and this should give you time to make the escape.

- Thank you Burlak. Until tomorrow.

It will not be easy to get the scientists out, doubly so if we also want to take some of our people with us. There are some hard decisions to be made.

Of course, I knew that the Codex would never willingly part with glorious Masha. That was not even a question. However, this one might be.

Who will we take with us? We can only warn 5 men in time before we have to leave. Who will we trust?

No, Codex, we can't invite general Platonov. He does not appreciate diversity quite as much as we do. #americanlivesmatter

And so, tomorrow comes.

V. K. Bluekher base; October 26, 2 NR
Burlak will go first and prepare an escape for the scientists. He must act quickly and decisively. If they are discovered there will be no mercy.

The mission.

Spoiler

However, something does not go exactly as planned.

'dat face...

Spoiler

- Comrade Major Gorky. Please come with us.

- What the hell for?

- We just need to ask a few questions. You'll be back soon.

- No problem. I just have to do something first. (casually enters Masha)

- What is it that you need to do, comrade?

- Blow your ass away! (Burlak shoots)

Well, the script says Burlak shoots. But we are in a fucking bulldozer! Which means Burlak squashes the soldier under several tons of metal. That's one ugly way to die.

- Aaargh!

- I knew it, Gorky! You are an imperialist agent! You will not live! (into radio) Marshal Platonov calling all units! All units! Zionistic agent Yuri Gorky is escaping! Stop him! Whatever it takes. He must not escape!

See, Codex? You have become a Zionist-Stalinist agent now. Don't you feel ashamed?

I don't see what I have to worry about, seeing how I am in the middle of a well-defended base. I say, let them come to me, first!

Oh. Okay, then.

At least the professor has not been implicated in our little conspiracy, but he won't be able to get away easily now that the alarm has been raised. Still, he is not the biggest of our concerns...

After all, he is not the one who is being shot big missiles at FROM EACH AND EVERY DIRECTION!

Well, that was one short trip.

And one short mission, too...

'k.

So I figured that was because I left Gorky's profession same as it was in the last mission, i.e. he is a bazooka. That caps his driving skill at 10 ranks, while he has a maximum of 20 when made into a mechanic. That should add to our survivability.

Indeed, with 208 armor instead of 116 we can even get out of the base and find a spot to repair.

Alright, let's see what lurks around the corner.

...maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

Trying to engage bazookas is pointless. They can't shoot up close, so they always try to put some distance between themselves and the 'dozer, and I don't have time to chase them across the battlefield, as many more get to fire at me. They even call the soldiers from the neighbouring cliff for help!

A lot of soldiers. Looks like whenever anyone spots us, they let their buddies know where we are.

Therefore...

'k.

Let's not go there. Let's pass them by. Can't do that completely unnoticed, what with them having a good vision radius, but we can try to outrun them.

...unless we drive into a dead end with the pursuers on top of us.

'k.

So let's try to avoid each and every dead end of this God-forsaken maze. We soon find that there is not a lot of land here, and the marshes slow us down to a crawl...

...while not bogging down our pursuers all that much and allowing them to catch up with us. Shit! SHIT!!

Move it, you useless pile of junk!

Good news - we see a patch of dry land again. Bad news - there are soldiers standing on it, and the only available path lies through their ranks.

Go, Masha! You can make it!

The second group of pursuers is breathing down our necks! Run, Burlak! You are almost there!! Your people are waiting for you on the other side of the river!

So it is exactly as it looks like, Codex. There can be no escaping the Soviets in a vehicle that only moves at a speed of a snail. Your INCLOOOOSIVE tendencies have already cost us our dignity and a chance to execute Platonov via a bulldozer, and now Masha will be made sacrifice on the Tolerance Altar. Is there no low you won't stoop to?

In other words, pick a new vehicle and the people we'll be doing the mission with, and I'll try to make it work. The bulldozer doesn't seem to cut it anymore.

Edit: no, wait. I think I can make it work as it is, just barely. Still, Masha would probably burn down.

Edit2: Made it, and Masha is still in one piece. Had to get clever, though.

 

[Nevill]

Alright. We are still in business!

Spoiler

I gave up too easily. I should not have taken the route across the river, I just needed to utilize my superior bulldozer drifting skills.

It is entirely possible to push the troops around with the 'dozer and get through them. Then you just have to drive as far as you can, and run for the trees.

You will pass in a dangerous vicinity of the Bluekher base, but there is nothing to be done about it. Their weapons are slow, a single man should not get too hurt.

And of course, the bazookas will take potshots, but they are also slow, and they are not the problem.

The problem are regular soldiers that accompany them. Eventually the terrain will get rough, and they will catch up. Then you are in big trouble.

And then there is the river, that is both on low ground AND halves your speed while you cross it. That's where you are going to get killed 90% of the time...

...unless you give yourself a headstart. How do you do it?

You need to position the bulldozer just right, so that they can't follow in your footsteps, and the only way would be around it... and through the swamp. That should slow them just a little...

...but it's the little things that matter.

Sometimes a few extra steps could determine the destiny of a man.

And in this case they might have determined the future of mankind. The base is in sight!

There is just a single slope left to climb up, but that is no longer an issue. The pursuers have someone else to play with, and there are two medics rushing to Gorky's aid.

- Thank God you made it.

- Screw Marx. Screw Lenin! Screw communism!
I think we broke our comrade commissar.

- I’m pretty pleased to be here myself!

We've made it! We broke through! And Masha is still in working condition!

That was the easy part. The hard part will be to get back and pick up professor Gossudarov.

 

[Black]

Congrats on keeping Masha alive, comrade!

 

[Havoc]

You didn't do it, faggot. You're an imperialist pussy!

BTW. In Polish, when the soldier ask Burlak what he is searching for, his answer is "The gas pedal."

 

[Azira]

 

[MZeta]

 

[Nevill]

This mission... is not amusing. And it is all due to the Codexian choices. Why do I even listen to you guys?

Mission 12. Survival Horror, or Saving Private Masha.

Spoiler

I tried to replay the mission because I wanted to try a different team, and I quickly realized one thing. The path that I found to get to the base is perhaps the only path that can possibly save Masha.

See, at first I thought that the positioning of patrols is random and that you can find a way to avoid most of them if you restart enough times. I still do not know the answer to that question, however, I suspect that they start in fixed locations and then just patrol the area, in a scripted manner. That makes the mission a matter of timing.

And I mean 'the matter of timing'. Received too much damage in the initial sequence and had to spend 5 more seconds repairing? Congratulations, now a patrol of 3 soldiers and 2 bazookas is in your way, have a nice death. You can't abandon your tank before the very last patrol, otherwise you won't make it. So far I have only found a way to repeat the feat if I retrace my every step, down to a second.

It's not all, though. The stats on Platonov's soldiers are all random within certain parameters. Burlak's stats are fixed and determined by how much you have leveled him up. It is entirely possible to have soldiers with Speed 11 spawn in the last patrol, while Gorky is at 10. I had those once. Surprisingly, outrunning them is still an option, it's just the slightest error or a single misclick would mean eventual death, as the perfect run had Burlak arriving to the base on his last hitpoints.

This could have been easier if I had a faster tank, or if I had the means to deal with the soldiers somehow, however, our choices have put me in a 12 Speed melee vehicle that can't touch anything if it wants to stay alive after that. Pacifist run with a peaceful bulldozer, indeed.

And there are much worse things ahead. But those I'll be whining about below.

First, we need to construct an armory. I think those three soldiers were not the last ones Platonov had sent after us, they were just the fastest.

- (into radio) This is vulture calling robins. The vulture has landed.

- (over radio) Robins to vulture. We are ready to fly the nest.

- (into radio) Stand by for signal. Over and out.

Primary objective received:
- Hold against the pursuers, signal to professor Gossudarov that he can leave the base.
Secondary objective received:
- Avoid destroying your former base.

There is a timer counting down the seconds until we can contact Gossudarov and tell him that he is good to go. In the meantime, we'd better clench our anuses, because every patrol we've met on the way here is after us. They have not arrived yet only because the bazookas are notoriously slow.

Now, normally, you are supposed to bunker down and prepare well before moving in to support professor's flight. You are given a lot of resourses for the task, even though you are supposed to use them sparingly...

- This is a good base you are building, but where we’re going we will need all the resources we’ve got.

- We will economise, commander.

Secondary objective received:
- Try to spend as little of your resources as possible.

However, if you do that, when the countdown hits 2:30, there will be an automated gatling tank passing through the area where we left Masha, and, stupid though the tin can may be, it won't ignore it. It would barely take 15 seconds to blow up a tank without a driver.

Therefore, we have to move out, NOW, if we want to save Masha. But that's not all! We also have to encourage the enemy to come after us, because if we are too efficient in cutting them down and there are none currently fighting us...

...this happens.

So we need to maintain contact with the enemy, dance before them, constantly tell them 'You can do it, bros! Come at us, we are only six people! Victory is at hand!' and hope they won't turn their attention to other matters. Yeah...

After - if - you succeed in luring out the patrols, you need to march to Masha's location on the double. The soldiers are probably the only ones who can get there in time before the enemy tanks arrive - the bazookas are just too slow.

Move it, MOVE IT!

It was then when I realized that I do not know what to do with Masha afterwards. I can't take her back to base, because in her current condition she would never pass the narrow chokepoint that is in range of Bluekher's defensive fortifications. I turn Gnyevko around and order him to construct a workshop back at home. I will need a mechanic to repair Masha, and currently I don't have one, because in the heat of a moment I have changed Gorky to a soldier. Might not have been such a bad idea, though, considering how many corpses we had to make on our way here.

Gorky reaches Masha with 20 seconds to spare and pulls her away, to a relative safety.

The bazookas slowly crawl after him. Yeah, there is no way a damaged bulldozer would make it through here. This defense is just crazy.

At 2:30 the enemy tank appears right on time, and goes for Masha, ignoring everything in its way, Burlak included!

It manages to land a single shot - but there is no way an automated crap can withstand concentrated fire from my high level soldiers. Still, it means that Masha's existence is hanging by a thread - any more shots, and she will catch fire, with no mechanics to fix her.

You see, the enemy has declared vendetta against Gorky's tank. Exclusively so. It will send dozens after dozens of units with a specific purpose in mind - to blow up Masha. They will ignore everything that does not directly stand in their way - they will even ignore Burlak himself! - just to get to his tank. I think Platonov just wants to hit him where it really hurts, the sadistic bastard!

That's the caveat that I was talking about earlier. The mission is rigged in the way to make you lose your vehicle by any means available. However, that makes it a matter of pride to make it survive anyway.

20 seconds later, Semyon Gnyevko lets me know he started the construction of a workshop back at our base. Faster, dammit!

There is a small patch of land to the right where I can fit a tank. I decide to put Masha there while I hold my ground against Platonov's hordes.

And there are plenty of those. It seems the supply of Soviet reinforcements for this mission is infinite. And they are not chumps, like the mid-level patrols we've met at the beginning, but high-quality soldiers who can hit hard.

And they have support from the high ground. We are pinned down and can't move from our current location without either losing Masha, or being murdered ourselves. We can only defend and hope that Semyon comes through.

He does, once the workshop is finished. Is it my imagination, or the defense just gets meaner and meaner as the time goes by?

Holy Trofim! Now even infanty can't pass without suffering severe injuries. We are cut off from our base. It is do or die.

Hold position! The mechanic is here! Soon we can finally try to wrestle away from this deathtrap!

Masha is finally safe. However, now we have to play the escort minigame - to move a bulldozer across the map where every unit in existence - except for us six - wants to turn it to scrap. Danger comes from below...

From the sides (the enemy bazooka near the burning tank has the line of fire)...

From above...

There is literally nowhere to run. The enemy troops pursue Masha with a single-mindedness of a drone. A gatling tank passed Burlak and a defenseless scientist over in order to take a shot. It's as if they think that Gorky is worthless by himself! I am genuinely hurt, you know!

Thankfully, there is a ridge on a high ground that we can use as a temporary shelter for repairs while we fend off the zombies.

Slowly, ever so slowly, we creep towards the Bluekher base. There is one more relatively safe space to put a bulldozer in. I plug the narrow passage with my two soldiers - the enemy tanks should not be able to get to her anymore, but she is still vulnerable to the attacks from behind by infantry.

We'll have to risk it. Semyon is an experienced driver, he can handle a bazooka or two. We move as close as we can get without triggering the base defenses.

The time is now!

- Vulture calling robins. Fly the nest. I repeat, fly now.

Primary objective received:
- Guide scientists to the exit area, protect the Artefact and professor Gossudarov.

Immediately Gossudarov loads the artefact on a truck and moves out, the scientists right after him. The Soviets haven't realized what is happening yet.

However, the plan is in danger! In my zealous attempts to protect Masha I have blocked all paths to her, and the AI doesn't know what to do now that their destination can't be reached. There is a gun tank that got stuck in the only passage leading out of the base.

I have to unplug the passage to get the pathfinding working again and let the scientists pass, but that also sends a new wave of attackers after me... who head towards me together with the scientists. This might end in a disaster!

About halfway through, the scientists gradually turn my color, and the Soviets finally put two and two together.

By the way, who is on our team? Gossudarov, Kapitsova (the one we replayed the 9th mission for), our old buddies Petrosyan and Scholtze, Kirilenkova... and Ilja Inzhuvatov? Who's that? And where is prof. Dolgov!?

All hell breaks loose when a tank that was following Gossudarov's truck downs Inzhuvatov, who was lagging behind. I don't know the guy, but my duty is to protect the scientists, and... and one of the medals in this mission is for not losing a single scientist!

Thankfully, Kirilenkova is a highly skilled medic who can keep him stabilized while we organize the retreat and bring the bazookas to comandeer the enemy attention.

But they are bringing bazookas of their own! And a lot of them, too! They are sending everyone after us.

I think this might be our cue to leave.

Very, very fast.

So long, professor. See you at our new headquarters.

- Thank God, we made it. And my thanks to you Burlak. I hope we'll see each other soon.

- So do I, professor.

Mission Accomplished.

+ All scientists saved.
+ Resources saved.
+ Former friends spared.

Hell yes we deserve the medal for resourses saved! The only thing I got to build is the blasted workshop! They'd better transfer to the next mission!

There is also a medal for not killing too many of the 'enemy' soldiers. We were forced to finish the mission quickly, so we haven't even had the chance to do a proper bloodbath.

Intermission screen.

 

[Azira]

Impressive! You did well and cheated the game yet again. Why the whining then?

 

[Nevill]

Why the whining then?

Ask me how many tries it took.

I mean, how do you think I know the specific timings of enemy attacks?

 

[lightbane]

I was listening to this while I read the update. Somehow it fits perfectly. Congrats for your sheer stubborness to break the game's AI scripts over and over.