"Tactical Strike Group" is our new cooperative ship combat experience, available in Alpha 4.8: "Tactical Strike"! A series of coordinated objectives awaits your team, where every ship and every pilot has a job to do. Bring the right ships, the right weaponry, and a proper plan to keep your pilots repaired and resupplied, from capital ships down to your boots-on-the-ground FPS players. Note that a strong reputation (Rank III+) with Intersec is required to access the mission. Intersec is looking to you to assemble a small and well-balanced group of citizens to protect the People's Alliance ship Tranquility and their captured pilot from hostile Shattered Blade forces. Here's what you need to know before you launch. ▲ What are Tactical Strike Groups? A Tactical Strike Group is an Operation, a cooperative mission chain that challenges a group of players to work together across multiple roles: dogfighting, torpedo/missile attacks, FPS combat, logistics, and more. Success depends on bringing the right mix of ships, loadouts, and the means to keep your team repaired and resupplied on the field throughout the mission in the new location, a QV Extraction Station. The mission can be shared with other players in your party. ▲ How do I find a QV Extraction Station? Open your mobiGlas and accept one of the following Mercenary Contracts from Deacon Tobin, Intersec’s contract giver, which will lead you to the QV Extraction Station: :clipboard: Tactical Strike Group Needed - Full multiplayer mission. Bring a large party. :boom: Strategic Attacks - Solo mission focused on surface-to-ground attack ships. :fire: Assist People's Alliance Vessel Tranquility - Solo dogfighting mission for fighter pilots. ▲ Can I replay this content? Yes, absolutely, Tactical Strike Group missions are fully replayable, allowing you to increase your reputation and earn more rewards! ▲ What roles does my group need to cover? Plan for around 10 ships and skilled pilots crewing these, and covering these core roles: :sparkles: Dogfighting - Skilled fighters will be needed to repel enemies. :boom: Surface attacks - Torpedoes, missiles, strafing runs... Prepare the proper armament to destroy heavy turrets and key defenses protecting the station. :zap:️ Tight-space maneuvering at higher speeds - Trench run anyone? That's your job: get rid of defenses and station's components to protect your party and give breathing room for your landing troops. :fire: FPS Combat - You'll need a ground team to complete FPS objectives inside the station, and of course a Dropship to land them safely! :beginner: Logistics - Rearm, resupply, heal, and support your pilots. :package: Hauling - Prepare enough cargo grid to move your loot from the station to your favorite stash. ▲ What rewards can I look forward to? Completing the mission can yield blueprints, flight suits and helmets, high-quality ship components, a unique bomber jacket, rare trade commodities, and of course some good ol' aUEC for your trouble! ▲ Mission Walkthrough (Spoilers) :one: Defend the Idris An Idris, owned by People's Alliance and piloted by Captain Aniss Martell, is under attack from the Shattered Blade ships beneath the station, out of sight of the Vanduul tech turrets. Work together to eliminate all threats before moving on with your next objectives. :two: Destroy the power relays Navigate the turret-defended exterior and destroy 6 power relays to open the station's maintenance tunnels. Note that relays are only vulnerable to ballistic damage, so energy weapons won't cut it. :three: Destroy the cooling units Fighter ships must navigate distortion-filled internal tunnels in multiple runs to destroy 18 cooling units. As units fall, the core overheats (glowing brighter, emitting smoke) until the shield doors and exterior vents open automatically. :four: Destroy the core and defend the People's Alliance's Idris With the core exposed, destroy 4 internal core stabilizers or attack the core directly from the exterior (It requires significantly more damage, however). Once the core is gone, all Vanduul and security turrets go offline. Simultaneously, the People's Alliance Idris will call for help again under a harder wave of Shattered Blade attackers. Split your forces or concentrate firepower, your call to adapt to the situation at hand. :five: FPS: free the hostage Deploy your ground team to the now-unlocked landing pad. Fight through Shattered Blade Elites and their boss "Forge" to reach the security room, then use the terminal to open the hangar doors for the People's Alliance hostage ship. The hostage will tip you off about a security card left behind, and hint that one of two cargo decks is locked and worth investigating. :six: Escort the hostage "Gabe Windell" to safety Protect the People's Alliance hostage ship as it spools up to quantum travel. Vanduul reinforcements arrive in force! If the People's Alliance Idris is still combat-ready, it will assist your team to help in combat against a greater Vanduul foe: a Mauler! Hold on long enough for the hostage to Quantum away: This is your win condition. Of course, don’t forget to loot the station’s rooms and anything you spotted during the operation. Salvage what you can, bring it back, and share the spoils with your party! ▲ Any last tips? Coordination is everything. Designate roles before you undock: Assign a team to pilot and manage your carrier. Have a logistics team ready to repair/replace/resupply your fighters. Hire expert torpedo boats and missile gunships. Get a solid FPS team and enough supplies to last while in the station. Prepare a fully loaded support ship, keeping your forces repaired and rearmed. You might not succeed at first, but learn from your mistakes and come back fully prepared! :avocado: Tips from the Evocati A ship capable of rearming and repairing fighters is crucial during TSG. The Idris series, Polaris, and Ironclad Assault currently excel in that role, but ships like the 890 Jump, 600i, Carrack, or Starlancer TAC can also get the job done. - MrTrash Bring an engineer on board to handle fires, repair components, and even provide support fire with a railgun! - Evens Don’t forget your best ally, the People’s Alliance Idris. You can use it to repair, rearm, and refuel when needed. - Le_Roux-nard The Sabre Firebird and Talon Shrike are excellent options for surface attack roles. - Ewentx Avoid staying too long in the tunnels during trench runs. It’s better to make multiple passes than risk getting disabled by distortion building up inside the station. - Farden For trench runs, consider a Size 2+ power plant and running as a duo, so the pilot can focus on maneuvering while the gunner handles the objectives. - Samm Gelfond Medics, remind your party memebers to set their regeneration in your main ship! - Tsuya_Arcanys Communicate with your ally to avoid crashing into each other in the station's tunnels - Narmacil