Wow.
Just... wow.
This was totally freaking awesome!
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Patching up and loading, I was already seeing it all in my head: the freeing of Dyson, the struggle against the alarmed MKIV's, the eventual victory, and handing the completed Botnet Golem to the next commander in line.
I played this game for almost 200 hours already, so I should have known that it is never that easy.
I went for it anyway, confident, with a Martyr on every planet, and it was a massacre. The mark4 Maws and Battleships, the Hybrids attacking all over the place, waves coming in one after another, a cross-planet attack announced, and the worst nightmare realized: the Dyson Antagonizer was already online barely past the 4 hour mark. I tried to defend, but even the Martyrs could not save me. I quit watching the home settlements fall.
Reloading... What now? I have no resources, barely a fleet, and no time. I could stall the Antagonizer, but what about the Converter in an hour? There is no way I am getting the Botnet in time for that, even if I manage to somehow hold off the attack from the alarm.
The Antagonizer needs to be destroyed
yesterday, but it's three hops away. Over a thousand ships separate it from me. Only one ship is fit for this task: the Penetrator. I check the HP of the structure, 40M. That means three shots. I have 3 Xampite on Mikdesne. There will be no room for error, but there is no choice. Everything will depend on this suicide mission.
For now, we need to defend. The waves are harmless, but the CPA is looming, and the Gatlings are starting to stream in. A Fortress could adequately defend against the Dyson, but the resources aren't there... It is building slowly while I temporarily reinforce Racovold, where the Gatlings are headed, with my Plasma starships. They seem to hold, for now. The CPA turned out to be null, the warning was "Ships Massing For CPA" with no number, nothing on the wave counter, and nothing once the timer ran out, not even a defensive Hybrid assault. (I can probably pull up a save if you're interested, Keith) That helped a bit, and eventually the fortress was finished, making it safe once again.
Now I need to build the strikeforce - 3 Penetrators and as many Shield Bearers as I can support with my limited energy. The mining ship is sent out with engineers and escorts, a forcefield is put up over the asteroids, and the dangerous mining operation begins in neutral space, with Hybrids doing constant drive-bys. It takes a while, but the defenses are holding. I have to turn off the rest of mt fortresses, leaving only the Racovold one up. The forces gather on the homeworld, 4 Martyrs, 3 Penetrators, 5 Shield Bearers, and all the Leeches that I have left - I had to stop producing them to save resources.
I pop the leeches into Rallik and draw the defenders away from the path, then send in the rest. Most of the defenders were Hybrids with their fleets, they always take that bait. Murdoch is up next, again, the leeches distracting, but it doesn't work so well this time around. Enter the Martyrs, charging in front, sweeping enemies out of the way and off to the sides. The shields are taking heavy damage, but still holding, coming through the final wormhole. The shields are crumbling. I set the target for the Penetrators. They are under fire, but one... two... three... the shots go off. I watch the tiny structure explode. It is done.
Everyone is ordered back to the homeworld, to prepare for the counterstrike. Only some of the Leeches make it out, the Martyrs fulfilling their purpose and the Penetrators shot down blind somewhere around Murdoch. They shall be remembered as the
Red Wing.
The homeworld is hastily fortified with Heavy Beam Cannons, and the counterattack is soundly defeated. I don't do much in the last minutes of my time, colonizing Mikdesne, which was neutral for almost an hour and watching the Super-Hybrid get to his work again.
I leave it to you now. Make that evil thing pay.
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Notes to the next Commander:
1) Mikdesne was just taken and needs to be fortified. Watch out for neutral Gatlings and the Neinzul Silo.
2) Don't rush freeing the Dyson. We have time now, fortify and prepare before going for it, as the attack from Hazorkal will be very difficult to withstand. More Martyrs and Fortresses will probably need to be constructed.
3) Our fleet could use some help as well, as we have to rely heavily on moblie defense. Spending the knowledge on MK2 fighters and bombers might be a good idea.
almost forgot, 4) The Hybrid left, where he is now - I have no idea (sorry about that one). You'll have to find him again ASAP, build more jumpships (or whatever you like) and search!
