| Mission | Walkthrough | Gallery | Changelog |
| “ | The European Alliance remains a serious threat, forcing Yuri to bring his ace card into the play early. As a certain object is descending onto the Earth, the Chinese navy on the Pacific Ocean tracks its impact location to an island held by the PsiCorps forces. | ” |
| —Mission description |
Operation: Dance of Blood is the seventh mission of the Epsilon Act Two campaign. In response to the Paradox Engine that has been wreaking havoc on Epsilon's forces across the globe, Yuri sends a probe down with an important key to winning the war down to the base on Totoya Island. Before it arrives, however, China launches an all-out attack to keep them from succeeding.
Besides the Shuttle's cargo, this mission also marks the first controllable appearances of the Marauder all-terrain tank, Gehenna Platform dedicated air unit, and Resheph siege submarine.
Briefing
Yuri's Message: "With the Euro Alliance's new weapon proving a significant threat to our plans, I must bring my trump card into play much sooner than expected. Back on our unreachable fortress on the Moon, I have been working on something that will allow me to bend the minds of everyone on the planet. Alas, there wasn't enough time to work out all the complications, but the Allied remnants cannot be allowed to continue their reclamation any longer.
The Euro Alliance is not the only problem we have to deal with. My conquests of China's territories have been road blocked at each and every turn, and they are proving to be the most formidable foe. They've even adopted a new stratagem which aims to snuff out any turncoats and saboteurs in their midst, effectively negating any attempts I make to dismantle them from the inside. I have determined that, in order to deal with China, my trump card is necessary.
Unfortunately, the shuttle carrying the cargo was noticed by the Chinese forces patrolling in the Philippine Sea, and they have managed to trace its landing trajectory to our base on Totoya Island. As such, a major part of the Chinese navy as set sail for the island in the hopes of intercepting it. The base is ill-suited for an invasion of this scale. You must hold out until the cargo arrives and, when it does, use it on the foolish Chinese who stand in your way."
Objective 1: Protect the Landing Zone until the shuttle arrives.
Objective 2: Destroy the invading Chinese forces.
Objective 3: The Shuttle's cargo must not be destroyed.
Events
Island defense
Yuri did not foresee the invasion of the Chinese fleet against Totoya Island. As a result, the northeast coastal defenses were falling quickly to the initial invaders (mostly due to the inconvenience of explosive barrels).
The shuttle was too close to be diverted elsewhere, so the PsiCorps forces organized their defense as quickly as they could. Soon enough, the bulk of the Chinese fleet arrived from the southwest, that were tasked in clearing out the coastal defenses (that were also filled with barrels) from the northwest and southeast portion of the island.
The new Gehenna Platforms and other anti-air defenses were stationed in the southwest to deal with the incoming Chinese air force, whereas the new Marauders and plenty of ground troops were deployed on the only entrances to the PsiCorps base.
As the Chinese assault progressed, both sides were paradropping reinforcements and taking loss after loss. The situation began to worsen for the PsiCorps as the Chinese have deployed 3 bases in the northeast, southeast and northwest, with the northeastern base notably deploying an Iron Curtain.
Constant Kirov assaults, Foxtrot airstrikes and countless Chinese ground forces that were unloaded made it impossible to counterattack, so defending the landing bay that had the proper equipment to land the rocket was imperative.
"Her" arrival and tipping the scales
After a lengthy clash, the rocket containing the powerful but psychotic Libra had arrived. At that point, the sky had become bloody red and the Chinese had stopped their advances completely, leaving them at her mercy. She devastated every hostile in the island, while being assisted by surviving PsiCorps forces and the new Resheph submarines, whose psychic decimators proved efficacious in laying siege to the Chinese encampments.
Aftermath
| “ | It appears the Chinese have realized their futile struggle against us and lost their will to fight once Libra arrived. You have guaranteed the safety of her descent and now we have the most important piece needed for our victory almost right where we need it. | ” |
| —Yuri's message |
The Chinese forces tucked tail and run upon seeing Libra's wrath, realizing that they have no way to defeat such a beautiful but deadly psychic. With Libra's arrival on earth, the Epsilon finally have a chance to turn the tide of the war into their favor and ensure eventual victory over the Allies and the Soviets.
But for the Proselyte, he had no room to rest: Rahn’s operation in the Philippines not only reported on the Chinese attack on Totoya Island, but also received information on their large research base in Kashmir, and they seemed to have completed a fully automatic siege crawler development. What was puzzling is that the contingent troops sent to the raid have been killed under a MIDAS, together with Chinese troops and Confederation troops that somehow also heard.
It was still unclear where China’s MIDAS came from, but fortunately, the remnants used Mind Reader to see through the seemingly tricky planner, Yunru’s flaw. The Proselyte awared that he must assassinate her and destroy the crawler before she brings more surprises.
Difficulty changes
Easy
- Starting credits: 45000
- A Pandora Hub is already constructed in the central base.
- A firepower crate and armor crate can be found just southwest of the landing pad.
- The Chinese navy and airforce will arrive much later.
- Countdown of enemy EM Pulse is prolonged to 10:00.
- The player will gain a Lasher Tank and Gatling Tank reinforcement after a while.
- The number of enemy attack troops are the least in this difficulty.
Normal
- Starting credits: 30000
- The Pandora Hub must be manually constructed by the player.
- No crates will appear at southwest of the landing pad.
- The Chinese will let Foxtrots detonate barrels directly, making the defense line crash earlier. Also, large amounts of Foxtrots will attack Landing Pad.
Mental
- Starting credits: 10000
- The Pandora Hub must be manually constructed by the player.
- No crates will appear at southwest of the landing pad.
- Countdown of enemy EM Pulse is shortened to 7:00.
- The Chinese will let Foxtrots detonate barrels directly, making the defense line crash earlier. Also, large amounts of Foxtrots will attack Landing Pad.
- An armored regiment of Nuwa Cannons will be unloaded on the west after some time.
- The number of enemy attack troops are the most numerous in this difficulty.
Behind the scenes
- Initially the island where this mission takes place is named "Exilian", but because it turned out that the real-life Totoya Island is on the exact same location and has a similar horseshoe-like shape with the in-game island, the name was changed in 3.3.2 to match.[1]
Trivia
- The music used in this mission's gameplay is Relativity (Alternative link) by Black Ice 9 who composed Epsilon's soundtrack.
- After Libra arrives, a unique music will be played and looped for the rest of the mission.
- This mission is a remake and role reversal of Escape Velocity, the fifth Soviet mission in Yuri's Revenge.
- Libra doesn't have voicelines in this mission. According to Speeder, the lead developer of Mental Omega APYR, this is intentional.[2]
