The mission starts at Camp Barbarossa. Legion is trying to recover after Farmer's betrayal. The base is being repaired/fortified, vehicles are being built and Legion personnel is returning after having been scattered by the event. Among those returning are all main characters (that didn't hide in the forest next to Camp Barbarossa in mission 14a). Some of them have spend their time wisely as they have scouted around the siberite motherlode. They inform Heike what is going on and Heike decides to rush to the motherlode immediately. The number of people you can take with you and the amount of starting resources depends on how damaged Camp Barbarossa was in mission 14a.
If you captured Kozlov in mission 14a but didn't convince him to join you he has committed suicide.
The map for the next part of the mission will roughly be the same as the one Antitheus proposed
here. The Russians are sitting on the motherlode to the north, the Americans have a base to the south and Alliance theirs in between. The Arabians are somewhere to the southeast and the only real option the player has for building a base is to the east. There's no hill but a strange circle with small hills on the periphery (like in Ru15). There's oil but no siberite source so the player must build a mine on the part of the motherlode outside the Russian base to get siberite.
The Russians are very defensive because they know they can't be bombed because they are sitting on the motherlode. The Russians are lead by Platonov.
The Americans are furiously attacking Alliance so they can get through to the Russians. They could also beat the Arabians and get past that way but there's a narrow pass over a river which are easily defended even by the relatively weak Arabian defences. Furthermore the Americans are mad at the traitors having joined Alliance. Good old Powell is the commander.
Alliance have possession of all artefacts: Burlak provided the Russian one; Alliance stole the Arabian one (which was captured by the player in mission 10) (freeing Gossudarov at the same time) by attacking New Kaaba, killing Abdul in the process so Omar now is head of the Arabians; [I don't remember where the third artefact comes from...]. Also in their base they have the big alien building like in the American/Alliance last mission. Alliance is desperately trying to reconcile all parties but it's completely hopeless. In time, if the player doesn't intervene, the Americans will crush Alliance and start attacking the Russians. The Alliance is lead by Roth and Gossudarov (if the latter wasn't killed in mission 10). I'm considering of Burlak and JMM should both be dead at this point.
The Arabians are also a little late so they haven't really played a role yet but soon after the player's arrival they regularly send out scientists to try and contaminate the motherlode. If the player doesn't stop them they will succeed. The player's base will have to be moved a few paces to the east for this to be challenging. This will result in the map not entirely conforming to Ru15. As mentioned Omar commands the Arabians.
When the player arrives a scout briefly informs Heike of the situation. Also shortly hereafter there's a radio dialogue between all parties where their separate intends are confirmed. Heike learns about Abdul's death through a direct dialogue with Omar.
If the player has Kozlov on his/her side the Russians are willing to strike a deal: Hand over Kozlov and we will not hurt you. If the player does so the Russians will not attack the player unless he/she builds a siberite mine on the motherlode. If not the Russians will regularly attack the player. If the player doesn't have Kozlov the Russians will still attack but with weaker forces.
All other negotiation with the Russians is futile.
At some point the Russians will develop behemoths. They cannot exit the base so they are built just outside it.
When the Russians have developed the siberite bomb they bomb the player first if he/she has Kozlov. Else the Americans first and then Legion.
The Americans initially resent Legion because of what they did in mission 13a. But if the player hands over Kozlov to them (if present) and destroys Alliance or the Arabians and let the Americans through to the Russians they become more friendly. Combining attacks with the Americans the player may be able to crush the Russians despite their heavy defences. When the Russians are defeated the Americans immediately turn against you.
When the Americans build the siberite bomb (which they will do faster if some scientists escaped in mission 13a) they bomb the player first if he/she has Kozlov. Else Alliance if they player allied with them. Else (after some time) they bomb the Russians out of desperation causing the player to lose.
A minor twist is that if Rolf wasn't killed in mission 12a or 13a he has now joined the Americans giving them mortars.
The Alliance is generally easier to talk to not just because they want to make peace through non-violent methods but because they are militarily weak and the Americans keep pounding them. They do have some conditions, though, one of them being that you will not research or build the siberite bomb (only possible if you have Kozlov). If you do anyway they will immediately break with you (they have the vision artefact to they can see what you're doing). Another condition could be giving them a certain amount of siberite but I'm not sure about this.
If the player makes friends with them he/she has to protect them against the Americans. After some time this gets even tougher because the Americans ally with the Arabians so both are attacking Alliance (or the player). This alliance is possible because both the Arabians and the Americans essentially want to get through to the motherlode. Of course the Americans are not too happy about the Arabians getting too near the motherlode but they are getting desperate.
The Alliance has a master plan where they need the player's military power. First they have to get rid of the Americans. Then it's the Russians's turn.
The Americans are solely using siberite power so to beat them the Alliance will blow all their siberite power plants and siberite vehicles just before the player attacks leaving their base virtually defenceless. This requires a considerable amount of siberite, though. They have a siberite mine themselves but in order to make it in time before the Americans or the Russians develop the siberite bomb the player has to supply siberite as well which in turn is not so simple because the player doesn't have a siberite source in his/her base. One possibility is to build a mine on the motherlode upsetting the Russians. Another is defeating the Arabians claiming their siberite mines.
To defeat the Russians Alliance will teleport a bunch of the player's units directly into the Russian base using the alien building and corresponding artefact (the blow-up-power-trick doesn't work with the Russians because they also have oil power). This again takes a load of siberite but that's easier to get now that the Americans's siberite mines are available. When the Russians are defeated the player betrays the Alliance and refuses to step down from the motherlode. This of course infuriates the Alliance but there is generally nothing they can do as they don't really have any military strength.
If the player doesn't ally with the Alliance they harass from time to from by blowing up siberite related stuff like power plants and vehicles. They do always, however, blow up siberite bombs. Maybe they even teleport units randomly around the map like teleporting the American units attacking them just outside the player's base.
If the player destroys the Alliance he/she can take the artefacts and start researching them himself/herself, essentially giving the same options as working together with the Alliance (except they have already done all the research).
Negotiations with the Arabians are futile.
At some point some of your old friends who stayed true to the Arabians ask if they can join you. If you accept them they will work for you but only for a short while because briefly thereafter the Arabians make an all-in attack (this will probably be when or just before the Americans or the Russians develop the siberite bomb). You're "friends" then blow bombs inside your base, kind of like what the Freelancers may do in mission 13a. Furthermore if Gensher wasn't killed in mission 13a UPF folks will attack from the north. As is implied the purpose is not to get past Legion but to destroy them and then contaminate the motherlode.
The player is free not to ally with anyone and just develop the siberite bomb himself/herself (as mentioned before this is only possible if you have Kozlov). If you do the Americans and Russians will hesitate to bomb you - for a while. The player can of course fire the bomb but Heike isn't too happy about it (worried about the long-term consequences, radiation and the like).
Medals:
- No loses
- Didn't fire the siberite bomb (if built it)
- ???
Mission name:
Showdown