True to his word, Tarkirov lets you have the rest of the day off. But early in the next morning, you're back on the clock for a briefing.
Briefing Music
: Aesthia has been on the defensive for far too long. Koronovostok, Araknes, Nordennia, Moratov, Svirask, more cities than any of us will likely visit in our lives have been bombed or occupied by Gothic invaders. It's finally time to pay them back in kind. Our aerial fleet stands ready to mobilize and annihilate the Gothic capital city of Zentragothorum, located just off the tip of the Austerran peninsula, but first we must deal with the defensive emplacements they have prepared.
: The Imperium possesses eleven strategic air defense towers, each one utilizing a more powerful version of the shock cannon you encountered on the Octarius years ago, capable of firing on targets over a thousand kilometers away. Small craft are in little danger of such attacks, but mass bomber formations and our own airships are at grave risk. Fortunately, we only need to put two of these towers out of action to clear the way for an attack on the Gothic capital. The Mercanans will be assisting us in this operation, deploying a force to knock out the tower to the south as well as providing us with spaceborne assistance when we attack the northern tower.
: You will split into two main groups. One will engage the tower at its base, while the other will destroy the reflecting emplacement thirty-seven kilometers overhead. In order to accomplish the latter objective, you must take one of our Foxbats or Corsairs. The technicians down on the hangar deck have been working tirelessly to install the new engines on these planes to allow them to operate at such extreme altitude.
: Those of you taking this mission, your goal is simple. Destroy the levitation plates on the mirror emplacement, removing the tower's ability to fire over the horizon. So long as you succeed here, even if the surface attack fails, we will have a narrow corridor through which to navigate our fleet. A squadron of Mercanan XF-161 Starvipers will be joining the operation to protect you against Imperial high-altitude drones and fighters.
: The mission targeting the base of the tower will also be a two pronged attack. The first component will neutralize ground and air-based anti-air defenses around the base of the tower, clearing the way for the second component.
: Two Shikra gunships, modified with infantry drop pods will deploy commando teams outside the ancillary control silo here. Once they are on the ground, your mission is to provide close air support and ensure that they are able to reach the building and that nobody goes in after them.
: If the intelligence supplied to us by the KZG is accurate, they will be able to force an overheat drill from that building, powering down the cannon and exposing its massive heat sinks. Destroy all four of them, and I am told you will be able to strike the primary focusing array at the top of the tower, normally hidden inside.
: If both attack groups are able to completely neutralize their respective towers, we will be able to move our fleet all the way to Zentragothorum and begin our attack before they are able to recall their slow-moving airships to defend it. I won't lie to you. This will probably be the most dangerous sortie you each of you have ever made. But success here will pave the way for us to bring an end to the war
without the Goths getting to dictate terms.
Poll