Night Terrors

Night Terrors is the fifth mission of the Nova Covert Ops campaign, and the second mission of the second mission pack.

The Highlord's Bargain
"I suppose you've already tried to restore your memories. Terran minds are so maleable. What you require... Is terrazine."

- Highlord Alarak

Following her return to the Griffin from Tyrador IX, Nova found Highlord Alarak of the Tal'darim aboard her ship. She raised her gun against him, but was stopped by Reigel. Alarak told her that the Defenders of Man had attacked a Tal'darim outpost and then retreated, and that the Tal'darim sought vengeance against them. Alarak noticed that Nova was once a member of the Defenders of Man, and thus decided to try to help her restore her memories using terrazine. Alarak made her a bargain; he would help her get terrazine, and in return she would lead him to the Defenders of Man.

Mission
"I will be competing with you for the terrazine in this challenge. May the best warrior ascend to victory." "I think she's still mad about her mothership. This isn't going to be easy."

- Ji'nara and Nova Terra

Alarak lead Nova to the planet of Jarban Minor, a former Umojan Protectorate colony that went dark years ago. Nova and First Ascendant Ji'nara set up bases, with Ji'nara saying that this would be a competition to see if she could gather the terrazine before the Tal'darim destroyed the extraction devices. She found the terrazine was being extracted from the native creatures of Jarban Minor, and enough could be gathered using the Umojan devices already set up.

Upon reaching an extraction device, she found the fate of the expedition; they had become infested. Nova was swarmed by infested Umojans and zerg, but her forces were able to beat them back. During her operations, Nova ran into stranded remains of the Umojan expedition sent to the planet, who aided her in return for a way off of the planet. In addition, Reigel noted a mine nearby, which contained a blightbringer with Umojan technology embedded in it. In addition, Reigel made light of a nearby Umojan science facility] with deserted technology inside, but the facility was defended by two eradicators.

Nova was able to obtain the canisters of terrazine before Ji'nara destroyed the extraction devices. Alarak warped to her, saying that she would gain knowledge of the Defenders of Man, provided the terrazine didn't destroy her mind. Nova asked how he would know when she found the terrazine, and he stated that when the time came, he would know.

Walkthrough
This mission is similar to other holdout missions such as "Welcome to the Jungle," but has the added obstacle of endless waves of infested terrans swarming the player. Nova's shotgun and grenades are useful during this mission, as is siege tank no longer requiring tech labs. Liberators with either cloak or the ability to quickly transform is also very helpful.

When defending from the zerg waves, have the liberator rings hug tight to the extraction device to ensure maximum overlap. In later stages, be sure to have a few in fighter mode, as infested banshees and mutalisks will begin to attack as well. Suicidal violate infested terrans also make a return, and can break clumped groups of marines. A tight bunch of liberators, marines, siege tanks and goliaths should hold any point, so long as Nova supports them. Be sure to reposition liberators if needed, as attacks can come from all angles.

Both bonus objectives are boss fights, and are nova against a boss enemy. These can be done at any time during the mission without worry, as the battle outside pauses while Nova is in the cave or science facility. During the battle against the blightbringer, stay out of the blight it spawns, and focus down the large egg it creates. Use area of effect on the other eggs, and focus him down. The second fight against two eradicators is purely based around avoiding the red dots and lines, as they advertise their attacks.

When the Tal'darim attempt to destroy an extraction device, send a group of liberators to take them out. Focus down their warp prism in order to prevent ground reinforcements. If they are moving toward a path that has not been cleared, wait for them to attack the zerg fortifications first, as it will make them easier to take out and will weaken the zerg defenses around the extraction points.