Description[]
Ghost Ship Insurrection is the fifth scenario of the Asian Campaign in Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest.
Briefing[]
Xinhua Herald/UFAR Webcast -- February 2245
“It has been nearly 250 years since the first Mars colonies were founded, and these brave pioneers and workers have made much progress in making this new world their home. The most habitable territories on the Martian surface, those near the Polar Caps, have been well established and are now fully functional towns and cities, each with a stable economy and administrative body backed by differing political Earth-based government. These colonies:
Xin Tong King -- * established by the Republic of Japan Huo Xing Cheng -- * established by the UFAR government Baker’s Ridge -- * established by the United States/Canadian Conglomerate Port Chernobyl-- * established by the European Union of Nations
… along with five smaller mining communities, have caused quite a few headaches for their earth-based governing bodies, as the distance between Earth and Mars hampers decisive action in settling territorial disputes. Government appointed officials are too easily bribed and cajoled by the mining corporations and financial interests that have holdings on Mars.
However, the first rumblings of civil discontent have been heard in reaction to several new policies and injunctions that have recently been imposed by the Earth governors. Among these is the planned ‘Howard Johnson Reclamation Project *’ (which basically would force the Martian miners and workers out of there present housing neighborhoods and replace them with resort communities for the rich and famous) and the ‘UFAR Contracts and Holdings Act*’ (which has resulted in less governmental control of the mining corporations and has lowered wages and benefits packages and increased work loads and costs of goods). These outrageous measures combined with the fact that no ‘Martian’ has served or been elected to a government position, has led to meetings and marches protesting unfair treatment.
As you may well remember, this month marks the ten-year anniversary of the Baker's Ridge Protest Rally, which ended in violence when the government sent in police and military to break up the protesters and force the workers back to their jobs. Several hundred ‘Martians’ were either wounded or killed and the populations of the colony cities since that time have been dwindling as disgruntled workers have stolen or appropriated equipment and materials to start shanty communities on the fringes of the terra-formed areas of the established territories. These pockets of discontent have grown quite large over the last two decades throughout the nine established territories and protesting has turned to attacks and well coordinated paramilitary actions against this unfair treatment by the earth-based ruling body.
At the forefront of this rebellion a leader has risen: Khan Sun Do, a descendant of the great hero Hu Kwan Do, who has begun to give the workers not only a sense of solidarity but of nationality as well. The workers are no longer transplanted earthlings, but people born and bred on Martian soil. This has become the driving force in what the workers now see as a war of independence.
Can we here on Earth really afford to ignore the events happening so far away? How long before this war for independence becomes a battle for survival? If these discontents do win out against the colonial governments, how long will it be before they strike out against the originators of their oppression? How long before Earth will be invaded by the Martians?”
Objectives[]
In order to gain control of the Martian settlements and to assert their independence, you must engage in several major battles to give a significant show of force and convince the Martian city-colonies to join you in the fight for overall liberty from Earth.
° Starting with a limited amount of troops, secure a base of operations by capturing or subverting an existing Martian city-outpost. Then begin building up resources to build up an army to take on the three remaining UFAR colonies -- and either thru covert or military tactics, pull them into the war for independence.
° Research and construct a new military unit - the Cyber Mining Rover vehicle is a cheap, fast mini-tank or jeep that is devastating when used against infantry troops.
° Uncover the secret surrounding the new "Secret Weapon" that the Earth-based forces are developing and steal it for your own use.
° Khan Sun Do and Xinhua must survive.
° Khan Sun Do has been cut off from his followers. Guide the rebel leader to a secret meeting to discuss plans that could lead to a revolution. Using the old mining track might help you avoid enemy encounters.
° Bring Khan Sun Do up to the Mining Unit to capture it to your use.
° Khan Sun Do has been able to appropriate a Corporate Mining Unit. If you can guide the Mining Unit to your Capitol then the unit can be added to your build queue. If you lose the unit, then you will not be able to produce any more.
° Bring Khan Sun Do and Xinhua to the rendezvous with the Double Agent.
° Eliminate the troops that are harassing Settlement 19.
° Load Khan Sun Do, Xinhua and their followers onto the Transport and fly them to the Huo Xing Cheng Capitol Building.
° The Mining Unit has been added to your build queue. Congratulations!
° Defend your base from the raids and attacks of the other colonies.
° Establish a forward base at the abandoned mine to supplement your economy.
° Collect 4500 Gold to fund Xinhua's Cyber Ninja research project.
° You have the money to fund Xinhua's Cyber Ninja research. Click on the University to deliver the funds, and they will become available to build at the Barracks.
° Construct a Space Dock and begin amassing a fleet of Space Fighters and Cruisers.
° Use the new wormhole to transport ships. Ships should fly into the swirling mass of the wormhole and then appear somewhere on the map ... once you have figured out where the exit is, see if this can be used to help battle your enemies.
° This is the location of the Wormhole. Send ships through it to find the end-point, and then use this position to launch a surprise attack.
° Get Xinhua close to the Yamato Capital Ship. Be careful not to let your ships damage the craft, as it is unique and must be captured intact.
° Bring Xinhua to this zone in order to capture the Yamato Capital Ship.
Other Events[]
If the Mining Unit is safely brought to the U.F.A.R. Capitol, the following message will be displayed:
"° The Mining Unit has been added to your build queue. Congratulations!"
Every time diplomacy is successfully established with a hostile civilization, the following message will be displayed:
"° One of your former rivals is now an ally ... Congratulations!"
Once you have reached the proper amount of resources for the Cyber Ninja research, the following message will be displayed:
"° You have the money to fund Xinhua's Cyber Ninja research. Click on the University to deliver the funds, and they will become available to build at the Barracks."
History[]
Nearly fifty years after the founding of the first Martian colonies, the Earth governments that had established them began to slowly turn the regulation and governing of these cities and mining towns over to the corporations and businesses that ran them. The reasons for this were numerous, the most prominent of these being the exorbitant cost of maintaining a constant flow of shuttles moving back and forth between Earth and Mars, which became increasingly hard for most of the governments to sustain. This along with renewed fighting between the nations of UFAR and Novaya Russia, which dragged most other countries into a prolonged military struggle, left little room for support of the Martian colonies.
By the 160th year of the founding of the Martian settlements, they were being run entirely by corporate rule -- citizen rights were at the bare minimum and profits were being funneled back to Earth or into the local corporation appointed governor's pockets, leaving little or none for those people actually working in the mines and factories. Death rates were extraordinarily high due to the slow development of terra-forming technologies and faulty mining equipment. The problems soon reached a boiling point and a demonstration was staged in the summer of 2235.
Now known as the Baker's Ridge incident, hundreds of 'Martian' workers were killed and hundreds more wounded in the fighting that broke out when a peaceful protest turned violent when corporate troops attempted to use force to remove the protesters from the steps of the capitol building where they had gathered. The fighting continued for several days afterward, and eventually the corporate governor appealed to Earth to send aid in helping to put down the growing rebellion.
Help from Earth was either denied or was too slow in coming and as a result the confrontation at Baker's Ridge soon became a rallying cry to the working class of the colonies and pockets of resistance began to crop up, staging destructive attacks on mine operations and upper class resort locations, eventually leading to several small skirmishes and one full scale conflict -- the Eos Chasma War.
Add to this the unnerving factor that the resources buried beneath the soil of Mars are not as abundant as were once thought, and the various colonies are now fighting for not just political survival, but economical survival as well.
And then there were the rumors, rumors that had surfaced among the colonies and the rebel factions of a new weapon that had been created, one that could spell doom for those opposing the Corporatists and their Earth allies. The rebellion suddenly found itself in its darkest hour, out manned and out gunned and threatened with a weapon of unknown origin and power. The next few days could make or break them ...
Hints[]
° Survive long enough to regroup with your rebel followers.
° The cybers you construct may seem smaller in scale than those you initially have or encounter. This is due to the fact that the Martian production facilities are not of the same standard as the Earth-based production centers. The large cyber and military vehicles are quite obviously holdovers from when units were shipped to the planet rather than being actually constructed at the colonies themselves. Be wary of these larger units, as they quite possibly can do greater damage to your units and structures.
° You will not be able to construct towers to help defend your base. You must defend yourself with vehicles, cybers and your military expertise if you wish to survive and conqueror Mars.
° Remember, you must advance to the Space Epoch before Space Ships will become available at your Space Dock.
Storyline[]
... - Satellite LX1 - 792 -- in geosynch orbit 5500km over the Elysium Mons - Theta quadrant -- sector 32 -- 17th February 03h.19m.09s. 2245
... "sector 32 status report: unidentified ship detected ... -- unknown class ... unknown tonnage ... -- possible vessel type: ... Battle cruiser ... -- possible classification: ... Unknown ... -- possible affiliation: ... Unknown ..."
... "sector 32 status: unidentified ship now bearing 45.67 mark 98.721 ... -- Massive energy surge detected ... -- Analysis: weapon systems armed ... -- Warning: unidentified ships weapons firing ... "
And while the corporations are busy engaging in a war in the atmosphere above...
... on the surface of Mars, a different type of war has become an ongoing way of life for most of the red planet's inhabitants and workers ...
... this man is Khan Sun Do, last scion of the once great Kwan Do Dynasty, a people who led the UFAR nation to greatness on Earth and established the first colony here on Mars ...
... but ever do the winds of fortune change, and over the last 200 years, fortune has smiled less and less upon the Dynasty of the Kwan Do family ...
... now, no more than a criminal and a fugitive, Khan Sun Do struggles to reclaim his birth-right, and once again lead his family to greatness ...
... yet the road ahead is more difficult, and more deadly than fruitful ... one false step and the Kwan Do Dynasty shall forever fade from the history of man ...
° Bring Khan Sun Do to the rendezvous point to meet with his followers and chief spy, Xinhua.
Khan Sun Do: Ah. An abandoned vehicle ... one of the UFAR nation's mining units. I could use the firepower to help in my trek to meet up with Xinhua and the rest.
° By bringing the stolen Mining unit to a safe haven, the technology to build them will become available. A safe haven would most likely be a captured Town Center or Capitol.
Khan Sun Do meets up with Xinhua and his followers.
Khan Sun Do: I assume you have been listening in on the latest battle communiqués, Xinhua? The Corporatists are eating themselves alive over this ball of rock.
Xinhua: Most assuredly, my Khan. Very soon now, the Dynasty of your great family will rise to take back what is rightfully yours.
Khan Sun Do: Do you truly think so, Xinhua? We still have a long way to go. All I have are a few loyal freedom fighters hiding in abandoned mine shafts and shantytowns. Hardly a force with which to rise to power.
Xinhua: This may be true ... but only for the moment.
Khan Sun Do: Speak plainly, Xinhua. What scheme of yours have you been cooking up now?
Xinhua: A colleague has assured me, great Khan, that if we can bring some of our men inside the walls of Huo Xing Cheng, then the populous there will bend themselves to your rule.
Khan Sun Do: Truly? And why would they do this? Are the collars of corporate slavery finally too heavy for them to bear?
Xinhua: Partly, my Khan. But they are also desperate ... the Corporatists have a new weapon it seems.
Khan Sun Do: You are referring to the destruction of the UFAR fleet last week and their spy satellites, yes? Tell me, Xinhua, ... as I no doubt you have the information already, ... what is this new weapon of the Corporatists?
Xinhua: Your faith in my abilities flatters me, my Khan. This new weapon is a massive Battle cruiser , a gigantic ship capable of tremendous firepower. It is said that it may even fire down onto a planet's surface.
Khan Sun Do: Impossible!?! Well then, I see why the corporate drones are so afraid then. If this ship is truly what you say it is, then who or what can hope to stand against it?
Xinhua: Nothing and no one, it seems. But think of the potential of this great weapon, my Khan. If we were able to secure ourselves a true base of operations, then I and my agents could locate where this ship is harbored ... then we may make plans to steal it for ourselves!
Xinhua: Let us meet with my contact. He awaits us not far from here. After you hear what he has to say, then you can make your decision, my Khan.
Khan Sun Do: Let us proceed then, for if these colonists are truly willing -- What!? We are ambushed!
The Novaya Russia attackers are eliminated.
Khan Sun Do: Once again we prevail! These pathetic attacks are getting old, Xinhua. Very well, lead us to your contact so that I may speak with him.
Khan Sun Do and Xinhua meet up with the contact.
Kyshu Fo: <whir/click> Greetings, I am Kyshu Fo, you are here to broker the deal for the Huo Xing Cheng city, yes?
Khan Sun Do: Xinhua! What is the meaning of this? I thought you said this ... thing ... was going to smuggle us inside the city; that the citizens were willing to rise up against the Corporatists. What is this about brokering a deal?
Xinhua: Patience, my Khan. Allow me to payoff our mechanical friend, and then he will no doubt tell us of the plan to get us inside the city walls.
Kyshu Fo: <whir/click> A slight change in plans has occurred, Xinhua. The Corporatists have sent an attack force to the compound where the transport I had arranged is being kept. <whir/click> You must fend off this attack and save the transport ship, or the city will remain in Corporatist hands.
Khan Sun Do: Intolerable! We are now forced to perform this irritating task in order for this plan of yours to bear fruit? I am considering terminating your service contract, Xinhua ...
Xinhua: A mistake I fear you would live to regret,... my Khan. The network of spies and agents, I have gathered over the years would make life for you very difficult, should knowledge of your whereabouts fall into the wrong hands. Please, let us perform this small task ... no doubt it will make your arrival in Huo Xing Cheng all the more welcome ...
Khan Sun Do: You grow bold, Xinhua ... you should not think so highly of yourself ... but, we will settle that point later. If we must aid this settlement then we must act quickly ... where is it located?
Kyshu Fo: <whir/click> Very close by, Khan. The Corporate troops have yet to arrive, but will do so quickly ... I will show you where ... <whir/click>
More enemy troops are eliminated.
Xinhua: Excellent. Now we can fly into Huo Xing Cheng and meet with the cities officials, who are more than willing to accept the monetary offer I have made with them . . . with your approval of course, my Khan.
Khan Sun Do: This had better be worth it, Xinhua. I do not like the idea of your fingers dipping so readily into the coffers we have fought so hard to secure.
Khan Sun Do, Xinhua, and their followers arrive at the Huo Xing Cheng Capitol Building.
° Congratulations! Our technicians have analyzed the design matrix of the Mining Unit and have added it to the production que of the Tank Factory.
Xinhua: Most fortuitous, my Khan ... in capturing this city, we have also gained a significant amount of resources.
° Hold off against assaults by enemy troops from the other colonies.
The attacks from the enemy colonies are dealt with.
Khan Sun Do: Good. We have managed to fend off the colony attacks ... for now. Let us quickly set up a satellite base near these mineral deposits ... at the abandoned LK-769 mine. We will need the income to fund our war effort.
Xinhua: My Khan ... a thought. If I were able to research and to train several covert operatives, we might have an alternative plan to subduing our enemies ... Grant me the funds to research a new unit -- the Cyber Ninja. With this new unit we may be able to subvert the will of our enemies or at the very least disable their technologies -- either of which should aid in our revolution.
Khan Sun Do: You could do this? Marvelous news, Xinhua ... you are beginning to enjoy my favor once more. How much is this research going to cost me?
Xinhua: A mere 4500 gold. A hefty price, yes ... but it might be worth it in the number of lives it will save. Deliver the gold ... when you are ready ... by selecting the University ... I will then begin development of the Cyber Ninja technology.
° Construct at least one Space Dock so that we may harass our enemies and disrupt their supply lines.
The gold is delivered to the University.
Xinhua: Thank you, My Khan ... I will now begin my research into the development of the Cyber Ninja. I will notify you when the research is complete.
The research on the Cyber Ninja is completed.
Xinhua: My Khan ... My research is complete and we may now train Cyber ninja at the Barracks. This highly versatile unit can cloak and disable an enemies technologies by planting a sophisticated 'logic bomb'. If we can get one near to an enemy Capitol, then they will switch allegiances and become our allies.
A Cyber Ninja gets near an enemy Capitol.
Khan Sun Do: Most glorious! We have managed to get an operative within range of a rival capitol ... they have seen the righteousness of our struggle and have agreed to join us!
Xinhua: My Khan -- excellent news! Our scanners have revealed that a wormhole has appeared quite near our Space Docks ... perhaps we can use this to our advantage ...
Khan Sun Do: This wormhole is a beacon we cannot ignore! We must first construct a fleet and send it through the wormhole and surprise our enemy from behind!
° Get Xinhua and his Stealth Squad into the enemy base so that they may steal the Yamato Construction plans and exact location where the Novaya Corporatists are hiding the ship.
Xinhua: Most excellent. We shall be as spirits in the machine, ghosts hunting a ghost ... when we have located the Ghost Ship, we shall transmit its coordinates to you my Khan.
Xinhua: There she is! We have found her ... The Ghost Ship is located, my Khan. Get me in close enough, and I can slip aboard and sabotage the drive engines so that we can then take it over for ourselves.
Xinhua: The Ghost Ship -- she is ours! Now the Corporatists will tremble before your power and might, my Khan!
Walkthrough[]
At the beginning of the game you only control Khan Sun Do. Follow the road and you'll find a Mining Unit, which should be helpful once it reaches a Capitol or Town Center. Following the road will minimize the risk of encountering enemies. Once you rendevous with your army, go south and fight the enemies that are harassing the mining camp. The Tempests that you get from this fight shall prove useful, as they can oneshot the Guardians attacking the camp, and their Resonator power can destroy enemies that have high enough attack. Once this is done, go to the east and get Khan Sun Do and Xinhua near the Capitol to obtain control of the whole base.
This is where things start getting troublesome. You will be constantly bombarded by the 3 factions in the game, but you need to focus on building as many Citizens as you can to have a robust economy first; otherwise, it'll be difficult to defend the base. If any Tempests from the mining camp survived the battle, their Anti-Matter storm power shall prove lifesaving here, as it will deal with any dangerous aircraft or Ares that'll come your way. Yellow camp will usually attack with AT helicopters, Guardians and Furies. These last ones can be a real pain to deal with, so make sure to build a few Apollos to protect your military. You can use the Zeus II units you obtained in the base here, or AT guns to counter Furies before they get too close. Light blue camp will usually attack with Ares and Tanks. Tempests here will work best against them, AA Missiles too. New Novaya does attack, but not that often, with Hyperion II and Pandora II.
As soon as you can build Cyber Ninjas, instead of a complete wipe out, your priority should be to use the Ninjas to infiltrate the enemy camps and make them your allies. It is recommended to convert the yellow camp first, as it is the closest. Beware that all 3 factions use nuclear bombers, so Tempests and AA Missiles will be essential here. Build a couple of Paladins too to get rid of the Airports as soon as possible. All of their aircraft will be gone once you do. The only exception to this is the yellow camp, which will send hordes of AT helicopters towards your base, even if all their airports are destroyed. Alternatively, try to minimize the damage you do to your enemies, since they will become your allies as soon as the Cyber Ninjas infiltrate their base. To do this, simply get one of them close enough to their Capitols.
Once the yellow camp is your ally, go straight for the blue camp. Beware of New Novaya along the way, lest it catches your army offguard. Once you reach the Space Age, you'll be able to build spaceships. There's a wormhole you can use to teleport straight to New Novaya's space dock, but have a sizeful float of ships before doing this, as there will be quite the number of enemy ships waiting for you. This is entirely optional, however, as the objective of the game is to make Xinhua and his Cyber Ninjas infiltrate New Novaya's University, so they can find out the location of the secret weapon they're working on.
It is revealed to be a gigantic spaceship that resembles a citadel-like ship. Despite sounding counter-intuitive, it is not necessary to build a Space Transport to board the enemy spaceship. You only need to take Xinhua to the location marked on the map in order to infiltrate the ship and make it yours. Once you do this, you'll win the game. Be very careful, because you will lose the game if the University is destroyed, even if it was already infiltrated. Your allies might end up destroying it, so build walls around it to protect it, or use a few Colossus Artillery and their bombard skill to destroy any allies that are attacking the University.
Trivia[]
- There's a unique enemy Cyber Ninja, located at the west outside of the Japan 23rd Century base.
- The University in New Novaya cannot be allowed to be destroyed, regardless of whether it has already been infiltrated or not. This will make the player lose the match.
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