The Secret Invasion is the third mission featured in Crimson Skies. It is the third mission to take place in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Synopsis[]
Thanks to the cypher machine in the Balmoral, the Fortune Hunters know that the British Empire are building a base in Hawaii, but more importantly that it's holding some brand new zeppelin cranes that Sparks wants to get his hands on.
Briefing[]
Watch Briefing[]
Crimson Skies Briefings - Secret Invasion-0
Recommended Plane[]
With the absence of anything more threatening than Battle Balloons, feel free to bring your favourite aircraft. It makes a good level to try out the Balmoral stolen in The Bomber Heist, or the new aircraft built in the aircraft designer that was unlocked at the end of that mission, if you did indeed build one.
Recommended Loadout[]
Given you're mostly attacking unarmoured ground targets, HE is a good choice, as is flak for the balloons. Mainly, however, you'll be using your guns, so go for explosive or dum-dum rounds.
Walkthrough[]
The mission starts with you already airborne, flying in the direction of the half-finished airstrip and the labour camp. Jack Mulligan will ask whether to attack those, but Nathan tells him to focus on their primary objective. You can choose to ignore these facilities and return later or attack them right from the beginning, if you want the bonus material in your scrapbook. However, you can complete the mission without this "target of opportunity".
Continue flying in the direction of the main British base, which is your primary objective. The main defences of the base are six Battle Balloons around the base, tied up and held in place by sea platforms and cranes. The balloons are the main danger of the mission, so slow down and take them out. Only the most lightly-armored aircraft is in danger and your biggest threat is actually banking into the walls of the bay.
By the zeppelin connector at the small village, there is a twin AA gun which is a stronger threat than the balloons. Take it down to make the attack safer. After neutralising the threats, you have free reign of the base. No aircraft will be sent to you and nothing else will shoot at you. The main targets are the "Machine Shop" and "Parts Storage", which are under the Cargo zeppelin, as well as the "Officer's Quarters", "Headquarters", and "Barracks" at the top of the cliffs.
- There are also four guard towers, however these are not required to complete the mission. Be careful of the cargo zeppelin’s underside turrets as they are activated whereas the others are not.
The buildings can be destroyed easily by guns or rockets, so use whatever you want to destroy them. The base will radio out that it's under attack, but no help will arrive during the mission, so just continue destroying buildings until they are all destroyed. When you've taken out the last one, the base will surrender to you.
With the main objective done, you have a few options. You can either dock with the Pandora and end the mission, you can stay and do stunts for pictures in your logbook, or you can go and attack the work camp.
If you decide to return to the work camp, there are a total of seven buildings to take out as well as defences. Seven prison buildings are found around the airstrip as well as three guard towers and two anti-aircraft guns. To successfully liberate the camp, you need to destroy the guard towers and most of the buildings. After a building is destroyed, the British will remark that the camp is under attack. Continue to destroy buildings however order you want. You'll know when you've liberated it when the British give orders to evacuate and Zachary remarks that liberation is complete.
You are then free to do whatever else you want before docking with the Pandora to end the mission.
Stunts[]
There's only one stunt in this mission:
- Fly between the zeppelin and the bay cliff. If it doesn't trigger, you're probably flying too low - you should be just underneath the docking struts.
Logbook items[]
- A photograph of the base before your attack.
- A photograph of a ragged Union Jack British flag.
- A photograph of Nathan hand kissing Hawaiian princess Lori Ne (this is a picture you can use as your memento)
- A love letter from the Hawaiian princess Lori Ne.
- A letter of commendation from King Kalaniana’ole.
Notes[]
- The halfway-built Zeppelin has all of its engines and turrets. These are destructible and you may destroy them for your own pleasure. Aerial torpedoes however do not destroy the zeppelin’s gas bags. Strangely, there are hydrogen tanks below it like in the first mission, but they won’t blow up even if fired at.
- After the base is captured, the British Empire flag placed below the zep will be switched to a red jolly roger flag.
- The place has lots of stuff that are destructible, ranging from boats to other buildings.
- This is the only mission where there are no aircraft enemies. As such, it can be said that it is the easiest mission in the entire game.
Trivia[]
- This mission is likely the videogame's effort to emphasize on FASA's tabletop game's political depth for the fans, although in the mission the Fortune Hunters are only attacking the base to get the zeppelin crane.