Nuclear Operative

ModernClassicFestiveCommanderAssault TrooperCombat EngineerCombat MedicGrenadierFirebrandHeavy Weapons SpecialistInfiltratorMarksman

Congratulations! You have been chosen to be a member of [insert random organisation here]. You, brave agent, must move the nuclear weapon we've provided you with to the main station and activate it. Did we mention this was a suicide mission? No? Whoops!

Red Mean Syndicate Machine

You and your fellow operatives spawn on the Syndicate Battlecruiser Cairngorm. Here, you have a load of gear to help you kill everyone. Noteworthy starting gear:

• A .357 revolver and a spare speedloader of FMJ rounds.
• A teleporter remote.
• A poison pill.
• An agent card.
• Your very own uplink (), which vaguely resembles a station-bounced radio.
• You are also implanted with a microbomb.
• If you spawn as the leader, you also get a pinpointer for the (optional) nuke auth disk, sweet sabre, a commander's cap, and a commander's great coat. Together, the last two protect you from Space and the Trench and considerably reduce damage from bullets, explosions, and melee attacks--all common things you'll get hit by, whether from your team or the crew.

Toys for big boys

In addition to the gear everybody spawns with, Syndicate operatives have access to other free goodies on their battlecruiser in various rooms. Most of the cruiser is also a sanctuary zone, so players can't take or add things from/to each other's inventories, and melee and ranged attacks have no effect, though they still consume ammo/charge, meaning you can brandish your weapons around without fear of hurting your fellow ops.

Cockpit:

• A portable camera viewer and a few sec cams monitors for remote reconnaissance of the station.
• A sleepy pen.
• Not one, but two Syndicate Announcement computers, for evilly gloating to the crew.
• A phone. Why not ring the radio studio or some other place and re-enact Zero Wang?
• A tape recorder. Play it to learn about your mission!

Atrium:

• The star of the show, the nuclear bomb, smack dab in the middle of the logo like it deserves to be.
• A telepad. Use the Syndicate teleporter remote you started with while standing over it, and it'll take you to the corresponding pad in the Listening Post.

Armory:

• A shooting range with clown bop bags, so you can safely try out your weapons...or indulge in your hatred of clowns. This area is not covered by the sanctuary zone, so your weapons will have full effect.
• Several red lockers with standard-issue red space suits and jetpacks.
• A gear closet standing alone above the other gear closets containing a PDA with a built-in Detomatix cartridge, a box of flashbangs, a box of handcuffs, and multiple green pinpointers.
• A crate of "nerve gas" grenades. Filled with sarin gas and very lethal. Try not to let one go off in your hand or immediate vicinity. Sarin poisoning can be cured by an injection of atropine, shots of which can be found underneath said grenades.
• On the two tables in the middle:
  • Several rocket launchers. Will absolutely ruin someone's day if used correctly. Don't stand too close to what you're shooting at!
  • Many breaching charges and land mines.
  • A pile of stinger and frag grenades. Both explode in a burst of shrapnel, giving everyone in the blast radius nasty brute damage and lodging shrapnel in their chests, causing further brute damage.
  • A flash/cell assembly for stunning people AND setting them on fire. But only once.
• On the table in the back:
  • Pairs of night vision goggles.
  • Some fanny packs Syndicate Tactical Espionage Packs and utility belts
  • Sunglasses and thermals.
  • Lots of multiple green bomb pinpointers. Why not pick one up so you know where the nuclear bomb is at all times?
  • Balaclavas for that "Russian Counter-Strike player" look. Hides your face, naturally, potentially aiding in a disguise.

Hangar:

• Two large Syndicate pods. They're heavily armored and seat two. Can be locked with a 4 digit keycode.
• Four Syndicate Miniputts. They seat one and are armored fairly well. Can be locked with a 4 digit keycode.
• Multiple twin-linked shotgun cannons and SEED modules on the table to upgrade the pods with.
• Two O2 canisters to top off your jetpack from.
• A blue crate of emergency oxygen tanks.
• Racks with extra red space suit sets and jetpacks
• A tank dispenser with more oxygen tanks.
• In the storage room below, a pair of bagpipes. Och laddie, can ye hear them calling?

Breakroom:

• A snack machine with Discount Dan's, with a loose burrito for those too poor for even discount "food". Could be a fun poison for combat medics to use. There's money for it somewhere.
• A coffee machine with stamina-boosting coffee.
• A cigarette machine. Just like coffee, the nicotine in cigs is a mild stimulant too.
• An crimson couch for evil relaxation. Perhaps there's extra change behind the cushions?

Medical bay:

• Two medical crate with several medkits.
• A table with bandages, blood bags, and reserve tanks of medicine.
• Two sleeper units.
• A medibot.
• A crate of with one set of standard arms and legs (run faster, rip apart handcuffs) and one set of treads (run ridiculously faster)
• Two operating tables and two trays, each a with suite of surgerical tools for installing said limbs.

Sleeping Quarters:

• An uniform manufacturer for making slightly less conspicuous jumpsuits and shoes, plus a rack of bedsheets to rip up for cotton.
• Closets with grey, black, and blue hats and jumpsuits, for looking less like lightly-armored paramilitary forces and more like lightly-armored paramilitary Staff Assistants in generic clothing.
• A monkey in a retro-looking red space suit named Von Braun. Keep your distance from him so he can't pick your pockets or shove you and take your weapon, lest you end up like this guy.
  • If this does happen, pull said monkey near the tables of the firing range in the armory section. This will take them out of the sanctuary zone, allowing you to take it from their inventory.
• More closets with red space suits and jetpacks. So generous!

Backrooms:

• A firefighting closet. Because the guy who takes the Firebrand crate will inevitably set his/her teammates on fire, and when that happens, you'll be glad you took the extinguisher from here.
• Two racks with yet more red space suits and jetpacks. It's like they really want to make sure you go out with a space suit and jetpack!
• A bathroom, with a washing machine nearby.
• A small SMES room with two furnaces and char. Not that this ship actually uses power.

Setting Them Up the Bomb

Prepping Up

Grab the audio log in the cockpit you spawned in. Play it. It will tell you where to move to nuke to. Alternatively, if you can't be arsed to go through all the lore crap, use the Notes command to quickly get the name of the designated area.

There's no need to rush, though! Teamplay is key in this game mode! Discuss the mission ahead with your comrades and come up with a solid plan before anybody heads out. You don't need to all do the exact same thing, but you should at least be aware of who's doing what and, failing that, who's carrying the nuke. (You'd be surprised how often people forget the bomb.)

You also have a secure radio channel for speaking to your comrades. The specific channel used is randomized every round, so there's a slim chance of some meta-gaming nerd snooping in on you. To use it, simply type something like:

• say ;I'm about to activate the nuke in security. Let's do this, boys!

Don't forget to order items from your Syndicate uplink. It's somewhat limited; you're restricted to generic, all-job items, and even then, a few selections are unavailable. (For example, you can't order cloakers or more microbombs.) That said, you still have useful staples like EMAGs and shotgun boxes, and at the top of the list, you can find a whole set of special themed loadouts with all sorts of items. If you're feeling indecisive, why not order one of them?

After you've gotten your weapons and tactics settled, take off your helmet and body armor and put on one of the red spacesuits from the lockers. Also put on a jetpack and breath mask, and turn on your jetpack's air supply. From another locker, you should get a green pinpointer and turn it on. An arrow will appear on it, pointing in the general direction of the nuclear bomb.

Again, bring a green pinpointer for locating the nuke. The crew might steal the pod it's loaded in or the bomb itself, you never know! This is also why you should lock all of your pods!

Remember: the green () pinpointer tracks the nuclear bomb, the red () model the authentication disk.

Rolling Out

Once you've got your spacesuit, weapons, and tactics down, it's time to actually haul the nuke and your Syndie asses onto the station. You have two main approaches for getting onto the station, each with their own ups and downs and special tactics:

By Pod

You board some space pods with a nuke in one of the cargo holds and fly to the station through the pod beacons. It's faster than using jetpacks and requires less map knowledge, but there's higher risk of getting spotted since the syndicate pods are easy to spot. On top of that, if someone hijacks your pods, things can go wrong quite quickly depending on what said pods have.

Go to the hangar on the left side of the ship and load the nuclear bomb into any of the syndiputts, syndicate pods, and, if you're on an ocean-based map (i.e. Oshan or Manta), minisubs there by click-dragging the bomb's sprite onto the space pod's. Do the same with your own sprite to board the space pod. While you ideally won't see pod-on-pod combat if you're sneaky enough, it's a good idea to crowbar the pods open to arm them with the pod shotguns anyways. Plus, since the minisubs can travel on station tile, if you arm them with shotguns, you essentially have a tank!

Before you leave, practice good pod security. Be sure to set your pod's lock code so enterprising crew members can't steal the pod or, worse, the nuke if you leave it in the pod's cargo hold. You can make it any 4 digit combo of numbers 0-9 and letters A-D you want; just make sure put in your notes through the Add Note command and tell your teammates the code. Also, after you set the code, don't forget to toggle the locking mechanism closed. No use setting it if you just leave it unlocked like a goofball.

Once you've secured the pod, create a wormhole to one of the station Pod Bay beacons. The specific beacon depends on the map and the area you need to take the bomb to (you remember it, right?); naturally, it's good idea to consult a map. Generally, you should avoid the main hangar beacon(s), since they tend to get a fair bit of traffic. When flying around the station, keep your distance and stay away from any windows to avoid the crew spotting you. For a stealth infiltration, it might be worth it to have a teammate warp to the Space/Sea Diner beacon and drop you off there. You then have them hide somewhere while you enter the station, whether through the Mining Shuttle on Space maps or just swimming to it on the Ocean maps.

Once you arrive at your desired location, don't forget to unload the bomb by unlocking the pod lock mechanism and click-dragging the pod sprite onto a tile. You'd be surprised how many people forget to unload it; it's a classic "fluke op" mistake.

By Listening Post

You teleport to the Listening Post and fly/swim to your destination while pulling the nuke. You have a bit more flexibility in where you can land, since you don't have to go to a pod beacon first, slightly reducing risk of detection. However, since the way from the Listening Post to the station isn't marked, there's high risk of getting lost.

Assuming you've your spacesuit and jetpack on, stand on the teleporter pad in atrium of the Syndicate Battlecruiser (that's the room with the logo, remember) and use your teleporter remote. You'll arrive at the Listening Post's own telepad. You return to the cruiser in a similar way, by standing over the Listening Post telepad and using the remote. To teleport the nuke to the Listening Post, simply push it over the telepad and hit it with the teleporter remote.

The listening post is your only safe-zone on the station Z-level. Only people with an agent card can access it. Make sure you have everything in order the way you like it before leaving. It has some spare clothing and supplies in case you forgot something on the ship, but there's no real weaponry to speak of there.

Once you're comfortable leaving and know who's pulling the nuclear bomb, head out the airlock. If you're on a Space-based map (i.e. Cogmap1, Cogmap2, Destiny, Clarion, Atlas, Horizon), press the Toggle jetpack button in the top left to ensure your jetpack can actually also propel you through space, instead of just acting like a standard air supply. If you're on a Seafloor-based map (i.e. Oshan Laboratory), you can move through the water without it on, but you might want to exchange your boots for the flippers by the external airlock so that you can move much faster.

Cogmap2Cogmap1DestinyClarionOshanHorizonAtlasManta

Fly westward till you don't see any more asteroids, and turn north. You should end up somewhere near Mining or Escape, perhaps Cargo.

Fly westward. When you can't see any more asteroids, turn north. You should end up somewhere near Mining. You can then enter the station through the red airlocks in the lower left portion of Mining, where the Mining Shuttle docks, or fly west a lil' more and go through Escape.

Go east. When you exit the asteroid field and can't see any more asteroids, turn north. You should end up somewhere on the southwest hull of the ship. If you see an red airlock or window, it's probably the maintenance tunnel below the Morgue. If you see a pod bay hangar door, it's probably the one in Security. Ion thrusters, comms dish, AND red maintenance airlocks means you're below Engineering. Go farther east, and you'll find Cargo's pod bay and belts and red airlocks leading to maintenance areas below Research. All these aforementioned airlocks accept maintenance access, so you shouldn't have too much trouble with them.

Fly towards the northwest. You should end up below Mining, with its white airlocks with orange stripes, or Engineering, with a red airlock followed by a orange and yellow airlock. If you see ion thrusters, you're below one of the Electrical Substations, which have red airlocks.

You can then use the red airlock above the West Electrical Substation and go through the grey airlock to arrive at the maintenance areas surrounding Medbay. However, you can't access the Engineering & Mining airlocks with just your agent ID's maintenance access, so you'll need to EMAG them open or just blow them up down.

Fly due southwest. Hopefully, you end up somewhere around Crew Quarters A. You can then enter the station via an airlock above the Chapel.

Walk out the red double airlock that ends with a pipe and simply fly straight north. Along the way, you'll find a conveniently-carved I-shaped tunnel through an asteroid, and at the end, you should end up outside the Cold Loop, Hot Loop, or Combustion Chamber #1. Toxin Lab, and by proxy, Research, is just above these areas.

You can't Engineering's external airlocks since they require, well, Engineering access, and your agent ID, by default, just has maintenance access, and it's a similar deal for Research's, so you'll need a EMAG or some kind of breaching charge or explosive. Alternatively, if fly a good bit farther west, you'll find the Engineering nacelle and its South Solar Array. Break the glass, or go around to the other side, and you'll end up below Security.

Fly a little bit left (as in, as far as the solar array) and head upward. After a while, you should see a plus-shaped with a green light. From there, you can either head left towards the Ghost Drone Factory and proceed upward or go just a little bit leftward and then upward.

If you choose the former, you'll usually end up somewhere below Toxin Lab. If you choose the latter, you'll find another beacon of the exact same design, and if you head towards the top left/"northeast", you should end up somewhere around Pathology Research or Arrival Dock. In either case, you can go through all the red airlocks you see.

Regardless of which airlock you exited, fly directly north. You'll likely encounter a set of two red external airlocks with a beacon between them, signifying that you're directly below Engineering. Go left of the beacon, past a set of four propellers, and you'll find a red airlock that leads into the maintenance area below Cargo. Go right of the beacon instead, past a similar set of four propellers, and you'll find yet another red airlock, this time leading into a maintenance area below Research.

Don't leave the listening post without the teleporter remote and agent card, or you won't be able to get back in.

Going in hot

Eliminate all hostiles, secure and fortify the target area. How you accomplish this is up to you and your team - a coordinated infiltration can work just as well as the Rambo approach. Either way, security and the crew in general will be all over your asses as soon as they hear about red spacesuits, so be quick and strike true. Work together with your allies, since a lone operative will be very hard-pressed to fend off an armed, angry mob for any period of time.

Trigger the nuke

Your side has the upper hand? Great! Now trigger the nuke:

• Load the nuke into one of your pods and drop it off near the station.
• Move the nuke to the designated area. If you've forgotten, use the notes command to remind yourself.
• Click on the nuke with an empty hand to activate it. That will prompt a station-wide red alert, stating your exact location. Needless to say, stealth is no longer an option at this point.
• Insert the authentication disk if you have it.
• Defend the nuke for 10 (or 7 with the disk) long minutes. It's all or nothing!
• Gloat over the radio and vanish in a cloud of radioactive fire!

Space and OshanManta

Total Syndicate Victory - The operatives have destroyed Space Station 13!

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Total Syndicate Victory - The operatives have destroyed the NSS Manta!

The authentication disk

An entirely optional objective that can nevertheless be vital to your planning. When used on an armed bomb, it modifies the countdown depending on who inserted it: 3 minutes less (operative) or 3 minutes more (crew member). Needless to say, the first outcome is vastly preferable from your perspective. The disk can generally be found in the captain's pocket and if your team decides to send somebody after him (be it undercover or not) in preparation for the main strike, remember that he is armed and likely to expect trouble.

The Syndicate team leader spawns with a special red pinpointer in his backpack. It tracks the location of the authentication disk and should be given to the operative who has been tasked with obtaining it.

Sound Syndicate strategies

• It's redundant but worth repeating: defend the bomb! So many rounds were lost because the operatives were too occupied with wandering about and hunting for kills to notice the lone Staff Assistant slowly but surely destroying the nuke with a fire extinguisher or the cyborg unscrewing the nuke's bolts and loading it into a Space Pod.
• Speaking of unscrewing, while crew members can unscrew the nuke to move it, at the cost of halving the time to detonation (more on that in the next section), you cannot. Don't try it; it'll do nothing.
• Feel like going undercover? Consider ordering a voice changer, chameleon suit and DNA scrambler. Use the scrambler and make the agent card match your new identity. Try to keep a low profile. A greyshirt walking around with a jetpack and insulated gloves tends to catch the attention of any competent security officer.
  • Should you go undercover, dress sensibly. Walking around with military boots while not disguised as Captain or Head of Security is suspicious, and walking around with SWAT gloves on is very suspicious.
• Don't set a name on your agent card until you are already on the station. If you are spotted in your approach and the AI catches your fake name, your cover is busted and you don't get another chance to change it.
• Feeling unsubtle? Consider buying extra ammo for your revolver or a shotgun. You'll be glad you did!
• Be careful with the RPG, you don't want to hit your comrades with friendly fire or splash damage.
• Don't forget your donk pocket or medical supplies! You are going to need them, guaranteed.
• Need more inventory space? If the fanny pack isn't sufficient to store all of your gear, consider stealth containers. They can hold as many items as a regular box, yet are small enough to fit in jumpsuit pockets. Remember to use drag and drop (its icon onto yourself) to quickly access the goodies inside!
• The Armory contains handy shotguns, stingers and flashbangs, among many other things. Even if you end spacing all the gear or not using it all, looting the armory deprives your foes of weapons they could use against you.
• Consider turning the AI to your side, if you have the time and ability to do so.
• Beware of security or vigilantes in space suits or pods! They can really ruin your day.
• Using a power sink can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, they'll turn your run-of-the-mill crowbars into all-access cards, because you can bypass any access-locked doors by crowbarring them open, and you'll get a tactical darkness advantage. On the other hand, they'll also turn the crew's run-of-the-mill crowbars into all-access cards, getting a tactical darkness advantage is useless if you can't see in the dark either (and it's nullified if you plant the bomb next to the power-sink), and robbing them of their power is a great way to get the entire crew coming for your red-suited ass.
  • If your are going to utilize a power sink, consider putting on some night vision goggles, found on the table near the cockpit. That way, you can actually use the darkness to your advantage, since you'll be able to see through the darkness while most of the crew generally won't unless they raid the Armory for their NVGs.
• Even a just few girders or windows around the nuke can go a long way.

Sound crew strategies

Please be aware of the special guidelines regarding Syndicate facilities.

• If possible, try to get into a group to increase your odds of fending off the Syndicates. Their guns aren't very useful if you have enough bodies to soak up the ammo!
• Watch out for suspicious behaviour or items. That greyshirt wearing insulated gloves and a gas mask might be an operative in disguise if they appear to be scouting the perimeter or trailing the disk holder (typically the captain).
• Don't wear Syndicate clothing, like red space suits and tactical turtlenecks, as doing so will likely get you killed.
• Try everything in your power to destroy that nuke. Best case, the Syndicates should be unable to even get the bomb onto the main station - engage enemy pods on sight, as the nuke might be in one of their cargo holds.
• If the weapon has already been deployed, eliminate all redsuits defending it or at least drive them away. Insert the authentication disk if available to buy you three more minutes. Now, while the nuke can't be disarmed, you can dispose of it in some manner:
  • The bomb can be destroyed by brute force alone, but it takes a lot of effort and high-powered gear (such as eswords, multiple laser guns or revolvers), since it has a good bit of damage reduction and roughly 150 "health". It is also susceptible to EMPs, which take out a good sixth of the bomb's health and bypass the armor protection.
  • Alternatively, get someone with screwdriver to loosen the bomb's floor bolts. Unscrewing takes about four seconds, and it will trigger a motion alert and halve the time remaining. Move the nuke off the main z-level (via mass driver, pod or teleportation) or destroy it (e.g. with the crusher) as soon as possible to avert certain death. Beware--dragging the nuke slows you down somewhat, even for cyborgs.
  • Don't try to blast or rocket the nuke, it is invulnerable to explosions.
  • The nuke can be teleported by Telescience if its floor bolts are loosened.
  • The nuke cannot be dragged away by the ocean currents around Manta, even when floor bolts are loosened.
• Security barriers are loads of fun against ops. Not only do they reduce damage from bullets and melee attacks, but if you use their special attack (click on any tile at least two tiles away while on Harm or Disarm intent), you create a shield that reflect their projectiles back at them. Yes, this includes rockets.