Chapter Three: The Hearts

After you complete the Ace of Diamonds mission, you'll be dropped off in a more northern part of North Korea, near the border to China. This is the second map of the game; all of the normal factions have new HQ's here, but you'll need to get your bearings before you can be really effective. Feel free to drive around for a bit before taking your new missions. You can also return to the southern map by talking to the soldier in the Allied MASH; this will let you collect any bounty items that you missed out on earlier.

Allied Missions

Contract: Inspect and Verify

Well, it would appear that weapons inspectors are in the area, trying to confirm a few sites that are suspected of being use in constructing nuclear weapons. Your mission is to escort these inspectors to the sites, protect them, then get them back home in one piece. You have four weapons inspectors to escort, but only one needs to actually make it back home, giving you a bit of leeway in your assignment.

The first thing you'll notice here is that you can choose between either a UH-60 or an APC. The APC is the smarter choice, since the inspectors will have to leave the vehicle, and landing a chopper at some of these locations will be rather tricky. The APC is also more heavily armed, packing as it does a heavy-duty turret that fires explosive shells.

Destroying all the buildings won't leave much for the inspectors to inspect, but at least they'll be safe.

Begin by taking the inspectors to the northernmost of the sites, the 5 MW reactor. If you're concerned about getting shot up, then you can leave the vehicle with the L1 button (which will force the inspectors to stay inside), then run up and use your RPG to take out any enemy vehicles. When you're ready to get a bit closer, use the APC's cannon to destroy the soldiers in the area, then hit L2 to let the inspectors out while you remain inside the APC and man the gun. If you're really paranoid about protecting these guys, then use the cannons to destroy all of the buildings near the unloading zone, just to be sure that no NK troopers come out while the inspectors are inspecting. When you do send them out, they'll need around 15 seconds to complete their little tour, so let them finish, then get them back in the APC by honking and head south.

Next up is the 50 MW Reactor. The same process applies; approach from a distance, blow the buildings up, then proceed in slowly, destroying any vehicles first before finishing off the soldiers around the area. When you can sit in the unloading circle and aren't taking any fire, let the inspectors out. The same routine works for the final site, save for the fact that there are a couple of helicopters up that way. You should be able to take out the first one while it's still on the pad, but watch your radar for the second one. If it hovers in midair, it should be easy pickings for your APC cannon, but you may have to back up a bit if it flies above its maximum arc.

Contract: Reactor Retrieval

Apparently, some of the weapons inspectors have been kidnapped by the North Koreans, and they're holding them at one of the sites which you recently passed through. Your mission is to retrieve them from the base, which is heavily fortified with soldiers and armor, and get them to an Allied outpost nearby. You can also earn a bonus for not letting any of the inspectors die; the mission is failed if all of them pass away, but keeping them all alive will give you an extra 75k. We'll be forthcoming and say that rescuing even one of the three inspectors is going to be a task, so don't feel the need to restart the mission if one of them gets capped. You've got three in all, so getting at least one out should be your goal.

After the mission starts, hop into the UH-60 near the base and jet over to the hostages lickity-split. Don't get too close, though, as there are plenty of flak tanks in the area. Also, when you approach the base, the guards there will start killing off the hostages. If you're really intent on rescuing them all, then you'll need to land well before the weapons site, grab a jeep from the road, or have one delivered. When you're in a vehicle, you can charge up the road to the base, bust through the initial set of defenses, ditch the car, then kill the two guards (marked in turquoise) before they kill the hostages. You'll need to kill these guards whether or not you want all of the hostages, as they'll eventually kill all of the inspectors, forcing you to replay the mission; your desire for the bonus cash will only determine your boldness in getting in there. When both of the guards are dead, the hostages are more or less safe, as the rest of the troops in the area won't actively attack them until you attempt to extract them.

Calling in a Tank Buster from here will make your job a lot easier.

When the guards are dead, start running towards the western wall here and jump over it; you may need to find a small crack in it before you can clear it completely, but it should give you pretty good cover from the fire of the troopers here, and will let you activate your Tank Buster special attack. Try to aim this somewhere in the vicinity of the hostages; it'll seek out and destroy any nearby vehicles, and since they're in their own little area, they should be more or less ok. Luckily, there aren't any infinite-spawning bunkers around here, so if you can get rid of the western vehicles, you should be pretty much free and clear of vehicular interference. You may want to invest in another Tank Buster for the eastern reach of the base, but your RPG will likely be just as good a choice.

Before you attempt to pick up the inspectors, do a run-through of the area and kill off any more NK troops. When you're ready to clear out, you'll need to find a vehicle that can fit all of the inspectors. If you only have one or two to get out, then a Sungri Scout will do the job; otherwise, you're going to need one of the troop trucks, or an APC, if you can find one. Regardless, you're going to need something to load up the inspectors with, so find or get a car delivered, then start heading towards the drop point. There's a roadblock on the path, complete with an officer and a flak tank, so be sure your ride is capable of taking a bit of a beating, or you'll be a flaming pile of junk before you can reach the base. Getting past the roadblock isn't the end of your adventure, either, as the drop point will be the site of a melee between the Allies and North Korean forces. Let the Allied APC beat up on the NK troops for a few seconds before charging into the base; be sure to honk at the Allies if your disguise is up, to prevent them from destroying you.