Sea of Lost Souls
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Game
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Mission Info | |
Protagonists
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Antagonists
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Allies
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Primary Objectives
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Investigate Anomaly
Destroy Unknown Vessel Salvage Unknown Vessel |
Mission Navigation | |
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In Mission 9, the Mothership Fleet finally escapes the Great Nebula. Detecting an anomaly, the fleet drops out of hyperspace to investigate.
Overview[]
After escaping the Great Nebula, the sad history of the Kadeshi is pieced together - how they hid within the nebula, resorting to preying on passing ships to survive and shaping a new culture from it.
After an anomaly is detected by ship's sensors, the Mothership fleet exits hyperspace back into the Great Wastelands to investigate. The object is a large, alien vessel, derelict and seemingly inactive but surrounded by a mixed group of other vessels. Upon coming close to the ghost ship the surrounding vessels become active, firing upon the investigating ships. Fleet Intelligence orders the destruction of the alien ship.
It is quickly noted that any large ships that get too close are taken over by the alien vessel, and only strike craft remain unaffected. The destruction of the ghost ship is the only way to free the captured vessels, the task of which is hampered by the presence of an enemy Missile Destroyer, a ship specifically designed to destroy strike craft.
After a grueling battle, the control field is shut down, and all the captured ships come under Kushan control. Research Division also studied the control field while active, and report they can develop a device that can create a gravity well based on the ghost ship's control field. Upon gaining control of the Missile Destroyer, it is reported that a similar vessel can now be built by the Mothership's construction bay.
Intelligence orders salvaging the alien vessel for further data. Once this is collected a Bentusi Tradeship arrives who are interested in the data the Kushan have collected. In exchange, the Bentusi provide Super-Capital Ship Chassis technology for free, allowing the construction of Carriers.
Mission Objectives[]
- Investigate the Anomaly
- Destroy the unknown vessel
- Salvage the unknown vessel
Research[]
- Gravity Generator (by salvaging the Ghost Ship) - Leads to Gravwell Generators
- Guided Missiles (optional, get by destroying the Ghost Ship without destroying the Missile Destroyer) - Leads to Missile Destroyers
- Super Heavy Chassis (by trade with Bentusi or waiting) - Leads to Carriers
Strategy[]
Depending on how you do this mission, it's either one of the hardest, or one of the easiest you'll ever do. All you gotta do is destroy one ship that doesn't even fight back. The trick is that it takes control of any capital ship (Frigate class or bigger) that gets too close.
Send your big boys after this fish, and you'll be in a world of hurt. Instead, get the job done with your strike craft. Only problem with that tactic is that darned Missile Destroyer. It just eats fighters for breakfast! Not to worry, there's a foolproof way to pull this off. Simply amass a force of decoys (15-20 scouts on evasive) on the right side enemy, and all your other fighters and corvettes on the other. Put the attack force into aggressive sphere formation and assign it to one group. When you're ready, send in the scouts. As soon as the cut-scene starts, select your attack force with the hot-key, and issue the "attack" command. The scouts will absorb most of the enemy fire while your attack force disables the Ghost Ship.
You'll lose a number of strike craft, but once the ghost ship is done, you gain control of every captured capital ship! Nice trade! If you didn't destroy the Missile Destroyer, you'll also gain Guided Missile tech without any research needed.
After that, suck the place clean of resources and complete the rest of the objectives. There shouldn't be any more fighting. Oh yeah, and you'll be able to trade with the Bentusi too (they'll give you Super Heavy Chassis for free in return for the information you gained). It's absolutely vital that you check the "remain docked" option before you hyperspace away, however: the next mission will fry your strike craft quicker than you'd like to think.
Tips[]
- Your Bombers can really shine here. Put them into small groups at various locations surrounding the Ghost Ship. Distract the captured ships with fly-bys of Scouts. Once the enemy are far away on one side, order a bomber group opposite to attack on Aggressive. When the Missile Destroyer begins to fire, pull them out FAST! (Evasive). Repeat until victory is yours.
- Using the above tactic, ensure that the enemy ships, particularly the Missile Destroyer, are as far from the ghost ship as possible when you start a bomber run. The further away they are, the more volleys the Bombers can deliver. Use further fly-bys of Scouts to aid in this task.
- Again using the above tactic, Support Frigates and/or Repair Corvettes at the various locations near to the ghost ship can act as repair and refueling stations for your Bombers.
- Lure opposing ships as far down as you can, then take your bombers and approach the ghost ship from the opposite direction. Keep distracting the enemy while the bombers make short work of the ghost ship's gravity well.
Bugs[]
- Sometimes, after disabling the force field surrounding the Ghost Ship, the ships caught by it will continue to tumble around. Even though they can be selected, they won't move, disrupting the hyperspace exit and preventing the mission from being completed.
- Sometimes, the cut-scene telling you to destroy the ghost ship will not trigger. Everything else will progress normally, except killing the ghost ship will only reset its health bar to full, making it indestructible.
Trivia[]
- While it is unknown how the ghost ship acquired the ships it had control of, we can see it had acquired 2 Kadeshi multi beam frigates at some point. This could indicate that either the Kadeshi had once traveled outside the nebula and had encountered the ghost ship or the ghost ship either was once mobile at some point in time or suffered from galactic drift (similar to the Naggarok) and passed through the nebula.