View source for Eyes in the Storm

{{BPArticle}}

{{Mission|previous=Her Finest Hour|next=Universal Truth (WiH)|campaign=Blue Planet: War in Heaven Campaign Walkthrough}}

'''MISSION 22'''<br />
'''ACT 3, MISSION 06'''

'''Fighter squadron:''' Falcata Wing, Fedayeen

'''Description:''' Laporte and Falcata wing must brave a fierce Jovian storm to recover a lost artifact of [[Galactic Terran Intelligence]].
----
==Background==
The loss of the GTD ''Carthage'', while an important victory for the [[UEF]], was not the body blow to the [[GTVA]] it would have been had the Wargods destroyed her at Saturn. There will be no political backlash; the GTVA Security Council realizes that Admiral Lopez was at fault for losing her ship. Indeed, the situation has grown sufficiently urgent that Admiral Steele has demanded -- and been granted -- broad discretionary control over the endgame situation in [[Sol]]; he is, in effect, issuing orders to the civilian government where the invasion is concerned. As such, the only reaction to the loss of the ''Carthage'' has been the arrival of the destroyers ''Vengeance'' and ''Phoenicia'' to replace her, with several other destroyers on standby. Meanwhile, his [[Special Operations Command|SOC]] purge of [[Hammer of Light]] elements in the GTVA military is almost complete in Sol, and underway in outlying sectors.

In the midst of all of this, the Fedayeen is focusing on a different task: to infiltrate Laporte into the Nagari network to gather intelligence about Ken and his warnings about the "end of humanity". To do so, they will need some help.

Since before the [[Great War]], the rogue elements of Galactic Terran Intelligence were studying the [[Shivan]]s, their behavior, and their intentions. The first GTI scout wings surveilling the Shivans reported mental contact by what is now known as the Nagari Process. GTI efforts to decipher Nagari communications protocols were compiled into the Idun Dictionary, a database of symbols and codes needed to access and understand the Nagari network. In the chaos of the Isolation, the whereabouts of the Idun Dictionary were lost to Earth; however, intel from the defectors of the GTVA 14th Battlegroup have placed the Dictionary on an old Jovian refinery platform which has been in the middle of a large storm system for the last eight months. CASSANDRA has simulated the storm, and found a safe path to the refinery.

Falcata's task: To escort the UET ''Kopis'' to the Jovian refinery, which will board the platform and download the Idun Dictionary to its computers. After that is accomplished, Falcata is to escort the transport back out of the storm system. This is not as easy as it sounds; SOC forces are aware of the Dictionary's location, and are planning to secure it for further research into [[ETAK]]. Since they do not have CASSANDRA to model the storm, they will be entering in predictable locations, with no communications to speak of.

To assist Falcata wing, the Fedayeen have placed the UEC ''Ignatius'' on station that can drop modified Dakota main battle tanks onto the refinery's support platforms, turning them into makeshift sentry guns. As the Tevs are likely to send bigger and bigger forces to secure or destroy the refinery, this will be quite useful. The cruiser will eventually get run off, however, so do not delay too long into deploying the platforms.

After the ''Kopis'' is clear, Falcata is free to jump back.

==Walkthrough==
That's right, tower defense in Freespace. Didn't think you'd see that one coming, huh?

Anyway. The '''1 ''' key will switch between your fighter's view and the spy ship's top-down view of the battlespace. Your fighter will still be moving in the top-down view, so watch where you're flying. In the top-down mode, you can place your turrets on the platforms; use your '''arrow keys''' to line up with a floating platform and press the '''Left Ctrl''' key to switch to turret placement mode. In turret placement mode, you can use the '''Up''' and '''Down''' arrow keys to select a type of turret, '''Left''' and '''Right''' to switch between attack and support turret menus, and the '''Left Ctrl''' key to place. It will take a few seconds to place a turret. If you want to cancel turret placement, go into the support turret menu and select '''Cancel'''.

There are three types of attack turret:
* The '''[[Burst Flak|Flak]] Turret''' will take down fighters and is good for light anti-ship work. You have 5 of these playing on Normal difficulty.
* The '''Gauss Turret''' will fire anticapital rounds at long range, but has a low fire rate. You have 3 of these playing on Normal difficulty.
* The '''Missile Turret''' will fire shipkiller missiles at enemy capital ships. You have 3 of these playing on Normal difficulty.

In addition, you also have two types of support turret:
* The '''ECM Turret''' will jam the weapons systems of ships within 2000 meters. You have 2 of these playing on Normal difficulty.
* The '''Repair Turret''' will repair the hull of any friendly turrets and ships in range. You have 1 of these playing on Normal difficulty.

The '''2 key''' will activate the turret network, making the turrets open fire, but also making the turrets vulnerable to attack.

Wait for the first contact prediction (it will look like a jump node), then start placing turrets. A flak turret or two near the platforms closest to the jump point is recommended, as is one of the ECM turrets; put the other one on a platform close to the refinery for maximum coverage. From there, put a flak-missile-gauss cluster on the platforms surrounding the refinery, and place one of the repair turrets on the fourth platform in one of the clusters. Once you place them all, ''don't'' activate them yet.

The first wave will jump in -- a wing of three [[GTF Perseus|Persei]]. You and the rest of Falcata can handle that lot. Two minutes after the scouts jump in, a [[Vasudan]] convoy of 5 [[GVFr Satis|transports]]  (Aries) with 2 [[GTC Cretheus|''Cretheus''-class cruisers]] and [[GTF Kulas|Kulas]] escort (Draco) will jump in. Keep Falcata away from them, unless you want them to be shredded by flak fire. Wait until the middle of the convoy is underneath the flak turret cluster, then activate the net; the ECM should jam the cruisers' flak batteries, and you and Falcata can tear them up. Be careful not to let any of Aries wing dock with the station, or it's game over.

The third wave is a heavy fighter sweep -- [[GTF Perseus|Persei]], [[GTF Hercules Mark II|Herc IIs]], [[GTF Aurora|Auroras]], and [[GTF Nyx|Nyx]] will be attempting to destroy you. Deal with the Auroras first to get your stealth back, then the Nyx, then everything else. If you can, pull them near the flak batteries for maximum suppression. The fourth and final wave will be a wing of [[GTB Rhea|bombers]] with fighter escort, sent to destroy the facility. Take them down -- bombs before bombers, bombers before fighters. If the ''Kopis'' gets too badly damaged at this stage, she'll pull out; if she does, run escort until she jumps.

Finally, the Tevs will decide to be ''really'' unsubtle and start bombarding the refinery with [[Supernova (torpedo)|Supernova]] torpedoes. There's nothing you can do to stop this, and the ''Kopis'' will pull out. But there will also be a wing of [[GTF Pegasus|Pegasi]] for you to deal with; run escort for the transport as it leaves the field; once it's gone, you can jump out.

==Notes==
* Based on the death debriefing from [[Her Finest Hour]], it's possible this mission's code name was MARDUK.
* It can be speculated that [[Famous Persons in Blue Planet#Martin Mandho|Martin Mandho]] knew about the Idun Dictionary, given his past ties to GTI.

==Total number of forces==
{{total_numbers_2
|belligerent_1 =[[United Earth Federation|UEF]]
|belligerent_2 =[[Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance|GTVA]]
|ship_1 =
* 1 [[Gas Refinery]]
** Refinery F43-V
* 1 [[UET Corsair|UET ''Corsair'']]
** ''Kopis''
* 1 [[UEC Sanctus|UEC ''Sanctus'']]
** ''Ignatius''
|ship_2 =
* 5 [[GVFr Satis|GVFr ''Satis'']]
** ''Aries'' (5)
* 2 [[GTC Cretheus|GTC ''Cretheus'']]
** ''Enarete''
** ''Tyro''
|strikecraft_1 =
* 4 [[UEF Ainsarii|UEF ''Ainsarii'']]
** ''Falcata 1''
*** Laporte
** ''Falcata 2''
*** Kovacs
** ''Falcata 3''
*** Falconer
** ''Falcata 4''
*** Vidaura
|strikecraft_2 =
* 2 [[GTF Ares|GTF ''Ares'']]
** ''Taurus'' (2)
* 2 [[GTF Aurora|GTF ''Aurora'']]
** ''Lyra'' (2)
* 3 [[GTF Hercules Mark II|GTF ''Hercules Mk II'']]
** ''Cepheus'' (3)
* 6 [[GTF Kulas|GTF ''Kulas'']]
** ''Draco'' (3)
** ''Gemini'' (3)
* 6 [[GTF Nyx|GTF ''Nyx'']]
** ''Hydrus'' (3)
** ''Vulpex'' (3)
* 4 [[GTF Pegasus|GTF ''Pegasus'']]
** ''Scorpius'' (4)
* 10 [[GTF Perseus|GTF ''Perseus'']]
** ''Aquila'' (2)
** ''Borealis'' (2)
** ''Eridan'' (3)
** ''Leo'' (3)
* 4 [[GTB Rhea|GTB ''Rhea'']]
** ''Octans'' (4)
|casualties_1 =
|casualties_2 =
* 5 [[GVFr Satis|GVFr ''Satis'']]
** ''Aries'' (5)
* 2 [[GTC Cretheus|GTC ''Cretheus'']]
** ''Enarete''
** ''Tyro''
* 2 [[GTF Ares|GTF ''Ares'']]
** ''Taurus'' (2)
* 2 [[GTF Aurora|GTF ''Aurora'']]
** ''Lyra'' (2)
* 3 [[GTF Hercules Mark II|GTF ''Hercules Mk II'']]
** ''Cepheus'' (3)
* 6 [[GTF Kulas|GTF ''Kulas'']]
** ''Draco'' (3)
** ''Gemini'' (3)
* 6 [[GTF Nyx|GTF ''Nyx'']]
** ''Hydrus'' (3)
** ''Vulpex'' (3)
* 0-4 [[GTF Pegasus|GTF ''Pegasus'']]
** ''Scorpius'' (4)
* 10 [[GTF Perseus|GTF ''Perseus'']]
** ''Aquila'' (2)
** ''Borealis'' (2)
** ''Eridan'' (3)
** ''Leo'' (3)
* 0-4 [[GTB Rhea|GTB ''Rhea'']]
** ''Octans'' (4)
}}