Right Tool for the Job

Epic Mission Arc: Penumbra
Mission 2.2: Right Tool for the Job

Overview

Mission type: Combat, Arc Mission
Recommended Damage: Thermal / Kinetic
Recommended Resists: Thermal / Kinetic
System: Astoh (0.6)
System destination: Tsuruma (0.5) 1 Jump
Deadspace: Yes
Previous Mission: Mission 2.1: Meet Sinas
Next Mission: Mission 2.3: The Breakout

Mission Briefing

Welcome to Astoh, <char_name>. I appreciate you coming by. Katsen just send me the ISK, too. Thank you for being our middle man on that one. You may want to make yourself comfortable in that egg for a moment; I've a bit to cover here for your briefing.

As you know, my name is Sinas Egassuo. As you probably do not know, my job is to coordinate search and rescue operations, as well as the liberation of Caldari Prisoners of War taken during battle in Black Rise. This duty I have fulfilled without hesitation, and I am proud to have led such operations.

It is by carrying out this task, however, that I've come to notice something strange. Whenever we rescue people, there are often less Ishukone crew members and staff than the rest. It's never enough to be conspicuous or noticeable, but I notice it, and I find it conspicuous. I can't explain it though, and neither can the people we recover.

My suspicion is that Ishukone personnel are being taken elsewhere, perhaps being treated more kindly due to their Liberal philosophies and good history with the Gallente. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Federation trying to divide us over something like that, but we'd have to know about it first, and they don't seem keen on that happening.

I need you to investigate the matter for me and find out what's going on. I can brief you on the details of the assignment once you accept, but until I have that commitment, I'm not willing to trust you with the information. Sorry <char_name>, but Katsen's recommendation only gets you so far.

So, are you committed to the fight ahead of us or not?

Objective

Storm the Gallente Navy Forward Operations Base (1 Jump away), take out their communications array, clear the area of hostiles, and then hack into their Shipyard's production mainframe.

1 FedNav F.O.F. Identifier Tag AC-106V:FNSBR (0.1 m3).

Additional Information

New Region connected to Stargate Networks by Caldari State, Scope Article, June 11th, YC 110

In yet another twist in the recent events, multiple reports are coming in of new stargates appearing in systems on the fringes of Caldari and Gallente space. It would appear that the volume of space known as Black Rise - previously thought to be completely impenetrable - has been secretly colonized by Caldari forces.

Initial reports from capsuleers indicate that the new region contains a wealth of virgin systems, full of resources unexploited thus far by the four empires. Additionally, early cartography has revealed that the region opens an additional border between Caldari and Gallente sovereign space, something officials on both sides are scrambling to prepare for as they readjust strategies. Even as they do so, pod pilots both loyalist and independent are rushing into the area to stake a claim of their own.

It remains unclear exactly how the phenomena shrouding this area were penetrated, or indeed how the Caldari State has managed to colonize the area in complete secrecy. State officials have so far remained tight-lipped on any details, providing no explanations. After such startling events in recent times however, and with officials from all three Empires as well as CONCORD pushing for answers on the matter, it is something they will likely have to address in the nearby future.

Acceptance

Excellent.

Your first step will be to acquire a special type of security ID handed out to Federation Navy P.O.W transports operating in Black Rise. I'm uploading the coordinates of the facility where they can be found.

The target will be a shipyard that implants these ID tags on ships. First, you'll need to secure it. I have reliable intelligence claiming that an initial strike on their Communications Array will mean they can't call out for reinforcements, so you may want to factor that in to your battle plan.

Once the area is cleared, you'll need to hack into the shipyard, so train up some basic hacking skills if you've never done so before. Even at the most basic level of training, a codebreaker in the hands of a capsuleer can tear most security systems into shreds, and that's all we need for this job.

In case I gave you the wrong impression earlier, <char_name>, this facility will be heavily defended. If you brought down a faster, smaller ship to Astoh then leave it here. We'll need it soon enough, don't worry. For now though, I suggest you arm yourself to the teeth. This won't be easy.

And that's it. Briefing over, <char_name>. Good luck.

Completion

Sinas Egassuo

Alright, good work so far. Now head over to the Shipyard and hack your way in. You're looking for an FOF Identifier Tag, the one marked "FNSBR". Quickly now, you need to get it before reinforcements arrive and identify you.

Sinas Egassuo

I can see why Isha is found of you. You certainly delivered on your promises there, <char_name>, good work. Now we need to put that ID tag to use. I hope to see you again for another briefing on that.

Rewards

10,000,000 credits.

Bonus Reward: 1,930,000 if completed within 6 Hours.

Notes

Single pocket, Federation Navy shipyard is 60km away.

Initial Group:
4x Cruiser, Elite
12x Frigate, Elite (the Matara type Dampens)

Reinforcements:
13x Battleship, (the Praetoria type Dampens)
15x Cruiser, 6 Elite (the Arx type Dampens), 9 non Elite
26x Frigate, 9 Elite (the Manica type scrambles), 17 non Elite

Destroy all of the hostiles of initial group in the room to gain access the shipyard and receive the FOF FedNav Identifier Tag. Although you can proceed to hack the shipyard while hostile NPCs are still present, you cannot access the shipyard before destroying all those NPCs.

If you destroy the Broadcasting Tower first and quickly, battleship reinforcement arriving time will be longer. It is advised to take down the tower first before fully clearing the initial spawn.

Only basic (level 1) hacking skills and a basic codebreaker are needed.

Killing causes standing hit for Gallente Federation, -2,4% every 15 minutes, so if you want a lesser standing hit, try to be quick and ignore battleships. It is unnecessary to engage the reinforcement after obtaining the ID tag. You should decide your ship and your setup that suits you on this information.