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| “ | After Yuri's location has been pinpointed, the Russian forces remaining on the ground have regrouped and entered their homeland to aid the main force in the final attack. A long hard road through Ural Mountains awaits them, but an Apocalypse construction complex is a chance to make it easier. | ” |
| —Mission description |
Operation: Dawnbreaker is a Soviet Special Operations campaign mission.
Contents
Briefing
Comrade, the time to liberate Russia from Yuri's traitorous hands is upon us! While the primary counterattack task force is currently conducting a very important operation at what turned out to be Yuri's moon base, they have successfully pinpointed his presence in Moscow. With a destination set, our forces in the Far East, who are among the least affected throughout this disaster, have been mobilized to march through the Siberian plains. Our charge on the motherland begins with reclaiming what we lost, starting with weapons that Yuri has taken from us, and these are not just some ordinary weapons..
When Yuri invaded Russia and took our territories, he reactivated one of our old Apocalypse Tank construction plants in the Ural Mountains. It is an extensive production site, which lies directly on our path towards the capital. We should thus deal with the traitor's forces in the way in order to acquire more firepower - we need it now more than ever. Reclaiming this complex will allow us to bring more of the old, but reliable Apocalypse Tanks to battle, which will be utmost beneficial in our siege of Yuri's stronghold in Moscow. Move firmly, Comrade. Recover what traitor Yuri has stolen, and drive his forces back to the capital, where we shall crush them all! The day of judgement is finally upon us!
Objective 1: Reach the outpost.
Objective 2: Destroy the Psychic Beacon.
Objective 3: Protect the Apocalypse construction complex.
Objective 4: Destroy the Epsilon base.
Events
Race against time
A large-scale Soviet task force was deployed to a village, and an Epsilon Engineer immediately fled. The force quickly advanced to disintegrate a line of defense consisting of the mind-controlled Russian and Chinese forces, and they gained a Cyborg Vanguard reinforcements. In the following march, they used Scud Launchers to destroy several Artillery Bunkers deployed above the cliffs, while also paying attention to the Driller ambush launched by Epsilon to avoid heavy damage in the case of Epsilon Adept sneak attacks.
After annihilated more Epsilon and the mind-controlled Soviets in the valley, the task force came under the Psychic Beacon, which was tightly protected by a large number of anti-air weapons, including Oxidizers. Therefore, they had to let the Scud Launchers launch missiles towards these anti-air weapons fisrt and then destroy the Psychic Beacon.
It wasn't long before the Psychic Beacon collapsed, and the Soviets also turned their main target to deal with the Epsilon forces here. After destroying the beacon, they rushed to a nearby outpost that was not controlled by Epsilon and successfully met with the friendly forces there.
Retaking the laboratory
The two troops had successfully met, but the next task for the Soviet commander was even more important: to get contact with the Apocalypse Tank Research Base in the northwest. However, Epsilon had already established a forward base at the entrance to it, and the forces in research base had also blown up the bridges to prevent aggression. Realizing that Epsilon was about to launch an attack on the two Soviet assembly points, the commander began his quick action.
He divided his troops into two parts, one for holding the position, and the other with two Apocalypse Tanks started attacking the Epsilon bases around to reduce their offensive while detouring to the rear of the Epsilon's forward base.
The defense forces, under the cover of Instant Shelter and a Stalin's Fist, repelled several Epsilon infantry and air strikes and took back some of the Soviet vehicles nearby. The attack forces continued to destroy several Epsilon bases throughout the mountains, including a mind-controlled Chinese outpost that includes a Tactical Nuke Silo.
The task force launched aggression from the side of the forward base and prioritized the destruction of the four Masterminds parked there, and destroyed a large number of infantry beside the Cloning Vats. When the base was dismantled, a Soviet army led by another commander carried their MCV deployed here to support the commander, and he went to destroy the Epsilon base west of the outpost, making the troops led by the third commander were also deployed to the battlefield. When the friendly forces established the base, the Engineers were deployed to the bridgehead. They repaired the bridges and entered the research base to recover the Palace.
However, the Palace sent bad news. The blueprints of Apocalypse Tank were scrambled, and engineers needed to restore them for a while. During this period, these Soviets had to continue to hold their positions. The commander captured a Radar Dome in the research base to gain visibility from the entire battlefield, while he also acquired another Stalin's Fist. However, Epsilon's offense soon began, with armored forces in all directions, as well as a large number of airborne infantry and Kirov Airships. The troops assembled at the research base continued to defend here for a long time before the blueprint of Apocalypse Tank was finished.
"The apocalypse cannot be stopped!"
As the defensive tasks were completed, the strength of the Soviets grew further. They acquired the production capacity of the Apocalypse Tank while the main commander also obtained his MCV. Some naval units were also deployed in the river to fight with the Epsilon Navy there. Influenced by the newly built Psychic Dominator, the Soviets at the research base decided to attack quickly. Dominant in quantity, they immediately destroyed the defense line of the Epsilon main base and destroyed the Psychic Dominator before it activated. When the main base was completely destroyed, the remaining Epsilon troops withdrew.
Aftermath
| “ | This is it, this is exactly what we need right now, Comrade. With an army of Apocalypse Tanks under our control, we should be able to crush Yuri's opposition on our way to Moscow, where we'll rendez-vous with our remaining forces. | ” |
| —Battlefield report |
After the hard battle in Ural Mountains, the Soviets successfully regained the Apocalypse Tank manufacturing facilities in Ural Mountains. Although they believed that these heavy tanks could be perfectly replaced by Tesla Cruiser in Third Great War, they were aware that Apocalypse Tanks were indispensable, after suffering the influence of Yuri's uprising.
Now that the Ural Mountain base had been under the Soviets' control, they had also stabilized the line of defense to prepare for the attack on Moscow all the way to the west. The Apocalypse Tank would emerge its power again in their home.
Difficulty changes
Casual
- Starting credits: 50000
- Countdown before the Psychic Beacon controls remaining Soviet forces: 35:00
- Time for the player to protect the Palace: 8 minutes
- Two Antares Batteries and an Iron Guard on the map will be removed.
- Two additional Repair Drones and two Rhino Tanks will be in the player's initial forces.
- Additional 12 Cyborg Vanguards will be sent after moving forward for a certain distance.
- After a period of time, the player will receive additional reinforcements of two Scud Launchers, and will later receive five Terror Drones.
Normal
- Starting credits: 40000
- Countdown before the Psychic Beacon controls remaining Soviet forces: 27:00
- Time for the player to protect the Palace: 9 minutes
- Two Antares Batteries and an Iron Guard on the map will be removed.
- Two additional Repair Drones and two Rhino Tanks will be in the player's initial forces.
- Additional 12 Cyborg Vanguards will be sent after moving forward for a certain distance.
- After a period of time, the player will receive additional reinforcements of two Scud Launchers, and will later receive five Terror Drones.
- The player will encounter two additional Driller ambushes on the road to the outpost.
- Epsilon will deploy more paratroopers.
- Epsilon will send Wolfhounds and Kirov Airships to attack the player after recovering the research base.
Mental
- Starting credits: 35000
- Countdown before the Psychic Beacon controls remaining Soviet forces: 21:00
- Time for the player to protect the Palace: 12 minutes
- The player will encounter two additional Driller ambushes on the road to the outpost.
- Epsilon will deploy more paratroopers.
- Epsilon will send the Wolfhounds and more Kirov Airships to attack the player after recovering the research base.
- After contacting the outpost an Epsilon MCV will be deployed near the bridge leading to the research base. There will be a friendly MCV and a large number of troops coming to reinforce after destroying the Construction Yard.
Easter egg
- Destroying an old war factory near the starting location will get an armor crate, a firepower crate and a speed crate.
- Repair a farm building at central zone of map will generate an armor crate and two money crates.
- Kill 2 specific cows next to the farm will get two ceterancy crates.
Behind the scenes
- In version 3.3.4, this mission's gameplay settings was different. The Psychic Beacon was located in the central part, does not control any forces before the countdown over, so the player can destroy it before reaching the frontal outpost. In addition, the Apocalypse manulfacturing base was not controlled but the bridges at its front was broken, the player needs to repair them through sending and Engineer to a Bridge Repair Hut.
- The ally AIs in this mission in version 3.3.4 was quite weaker than current version.
- On Mental difficulty of this mission in version 3.3.4, there would be an additional PsiCorps base deployed on the other side of said bridgehead area. Only eliminating it can let the second AI ally arrive at battlefield.
Trivia
- This mission is a reference to Chrono Defense, the seventh Soviet mission in Red Alert 2. Both missions take place in the Ural Mountains and marks the first mass-production of Apocalypse Tanks.
- According to the concept designer of this mission, it is also inspired by Deep Freeze, which shares the same location and some of the objectives. [1]
- Until version 3.3.6, this mission was the only one where stolen tech units (Apocalypse Tank) can be built. Since version 3.3.6, it is one of the three missions where stolen tech units can be built. The other two are Death's Hand and Babel.
References
 Allied  Soviet  Epsilon  Foehn |
| Missions in italics are not currently available and will be released in future updates |
