The Plot Erupts

The Plot Erupts is the fourth campaign mission in Command & Conquer: Renegade. The objective is to hack a Nod Communications Center mainframe for information on the captured scientists.

Background
After Havoc infiltrated a Nod cargo plane, he was ambushed by mercenary Sakura Obata. After a brief fight, Havoc threw Sakura out of the hold and secured the plane for himself. However, Sakura was not going to let him get away that easily. She gave chase in her personal RAH-66 Comanche and buzzed the cockpit. She then flew in behind the cargo plane and strafed the left wing, severing it and forcing Havoc to bail out. He landed on a Nod-controlled volcanic island.

Events
Havoc quickly gathered his weapons and aided a GDI assault on the very beach that he had just landed on. He destroyed a Nod Turret that was harassing a GDI Gunboat. He progressed further, eventually coming to a bombed-out village that was occupied by Nod forces, who had erected two SAM sites and two Turrets. Havoc quickly cleared the area of Nod forces, and used C4 to blow up the SAMs and Turrets. Moving on, Havoc soon came upon a massive Shore Defense Cannon, which was firing at the Gunboat. However, the cannon soon ceased firing as Havoc planted explosives on it and blew it up. Two adjacent SAM sites were also taken care of.

Havoc eventually found the main Nod base, and softened up resistance with his Sniper Rifle before moving into the base. Going on a rampage throughout the base, Parker eventually found the mainframe room, but it was locked by keycard. Locke suggested that a Nod officer in the Refinery might have one. Havoc proceeded to the Refinery and killed the Nod Officer in question, taking his keycard. Havoc went back to the Communications Center, and hacked the mainframe. However, Sakura arrived in her Comanche, and Havoc was forced to shoot her down with unguided rockets as she chased him around the base. Sakura was shot down, but her helicopter crashed into the volcano dominating the island, causing it to erupt. Locke told Havoc that a Nod submarine was moored in the docks nearby that he could use to extract. After destroying all the buildings in the base, Havoc infiltrated the docks and approached the submarine.

Walkthrough
You'll start out on the beach... or the water right next to it. Quickly retreat into the water and take out your Sniper Rifle. Snipe as many Nod enemies as possible, making officers a priority. Once you have sniped as many as you can, go up to the bunkers and kill anyone who remains. Destroy the Turret with C4. Return back to the beach and pick up the crate that GDI drops (contains 12 rounds of Sniper Rifle ammunition and a large armor pickup). All 3 of the crates that GDI will drop contain the same contents. There are also two more Sniper Rifle magazines and two packs of C4 by a rock close to the water.

Continue along the path and take out all the Nod soldiers. You will reach a small Tiberium field. Unfortunately, you can't avoid it, so just cut the corner as quickly as possible and jump into the field. Quickly take out the soldiers you see as you come around the corner. Go inside the wrecked plane for a rocket launcher and data disk. Follow the path again.

You will eventually arrive at a bombed-out village on a beach. Get out your Sniper Rifle again and kill everyone in sight. Kill the officers as quickly as possible, as they will call in reinforcements. Only after everyone is dead, then plant C4 on the Turrets and SAMs and blow them up. Kill the Nod reinforcements that arrive. Make sure to find the ladders to the two platforms the Nod Officers were on to get supplies. Also, don't forget to pick up the crate that GDI drops on the bridge. Now you have two options. You can either take a upward path that takes you away from the beach, or you can go through a boarded-up Tiberium-infested tunnel. Both routes end up in the same location.

If you choose to go through the tunnel, skip this paragraph. Take out your Rocket Launcher and proceed cautiously up the hill. There is a Cannon Emplacement, which is different from the standard Gun Emplacements that you've encountered before. They pack the power of a Medium tank, so you need to be careful. Try to get part of the turret in view without exposing yourself to the cannon, and blow it up. Move up and kill any remaining Nod forces. Once you cross the bridge, take a left to find a small cavern with two Nod soldiers, armor, health, and C4. You also can see part of the Tiberium tunnel here, so snipe anyone or anything that wanders into your sights. Once you're done here, go back to the bridge and continue along the path.

If you choose to go up the hill, skip this paragraph. Move up to the wooden planks with the warning sign, and shoot them with your pistol until they collapse. There is a C4 just inside the entrance that can be taken without damaging your self. When you are ready, move in and keep moving. There will be two Visceroids and two Chem Troopers in the tunnel. Sometimes they will be fighting each other. Use your rocket launcher on the Visceroids, as any other weapons would be hard-pressed to kill them because the Visceroids are in Tiberium. Rocket Launchers should be one-shot kills on Visceroids. Kills the Chem Troopers and continue, making sure to grab the large armor and health pickups half-way through. Exit out of the tunnel.

You will end up in the same area either way. There are two SAM sites as well as a HUGE Shore Defense Cannon, along with a few Nod troops. Kill them all. Then, use either your Rocket Launcher or C4 to destroy the turret. It would be wise to hurry, especially on Commando, as taking too long will fail the objective. If you don't care about the tertiary objective however, then simply blow up the SAM sites and an Orca will take care of the cannon. Pick up the crate that GDI drops outside the clearing on the path.

You will end up at a T-junction. You can either go left and take the main path to the gate that leads into the Nod base, or you can go right into a large cave with minimal resistance and plenty of armor and other pickups and a elevator that leads into the Nod base. Either way you go, you should end up in the base. (Note: Either way you go, it may be a good idea to take the left path and snipe a few enemies, particularly officers, to soften up resistance. Then you can backtrack and continue on your route.)

Quickly make your way to the roof of either the Communications Center or the garage. Take out your sniper rifle and start taking headshots. Clear out all resistance outside of the buildings, and then head inside the Comm Center. If you take the two doors on ground level and go down the ramp, the door to the mainframe will be on your left downstairs. Unfortunately, it is locked by keycard. Locke will inform you that an officer in the Refinery should have a keycard, so go over there and clear it out. Once you get the card, go back to the Communications Center and enter the mainframe room. An officer in the mainframe room has a yellow keycard, which allows you access to the MCT of the building. Do so, and place C4 on the MCT, but DO NOT detonate it. Return to the mainframe, and hack it.

Sakura decides to crash the party and arrives in her personal Comanche attack helicopter. Your primary weapons should be the rocket launcher and chaingun. Use the rocket launcher when she is still and firing rockets at you, and the chaingun when she is on the move. Eventually, you should be able to send her crashing into a series of geothermic power lines which somehow triggers the volcano on the island to erupt.

Locke urges you to get onboard the submarine, which is your last primary objective. However, there is no rush. Detonate the C4 in the Communications Center if you haven't already. Clear out the rest of the refinery and destroy it from the MCT. Then head over to the Power Plant and plant a Ion Cannon Beacon, which you should have from the last mission. After the pretty lights go out, you should have destroyed all of the buildings in the base. Proceed out of the gate by the refinery and stop when you reach a bend in the path. Turn your attention towards the crane. There is a Black Hand sniper on top of the arm of the crane, near the part where the arm connects with the base. Shoot him in the head with your Sniper Rifle, although the explosions from the volcano may suddenly throw your aim off, so be aware. There are two Nod soldiers and an officer scattered around the docks. There also ammunition and health in the warehouses, and two Cargo Trucks just sitting there. Take care of everything you need, and then approach the submarine.

Tips

 * Tertiary objective #1 is not at all self-evident. The shore defense cannon is at the same location as the upper SAM sites, and the trick is to destroy the cannon (large turret) before the SAMs (smaller turrets). If you destroy the SAM sites first, that will allow GDI gunships to eliminate the cannon and you won't get the credit for it.
 * Since your 2nd primary objective is to hack the communications mainframe, you go to the communications center first. You learn that a security card is needed, and shortly thereafter, Gen. Locke informs you that a Nod officer, who might be carrying such a card, has been spotted inside the Tiberium refinery. Primary #3 gets added to your EVA display. However, if, after entering the Nod compound, you head straight to the refinery for the card and only then go to the com center, that objective won't show up.
 * Do NOT destroy the Power Plant or the Communications Center before you hack the mainframe. Doing so will cause a mission failure.
 * Tertiary objectives #2-4 refer to the buildings located inside the Nod compound. Disabling them is best achieved by destroying the MCTs (master control terminals) inside them. But you can resort to just shooting at the buildings. If an ion cannon beacon is still in the player's inventory, it is probably best to use it on the Power Plant as clearing it out is not necessary for the mission. The other buildings have already been mostly cleared out.
 * There is a huge amount of Sniper Rifle ammunition scattered throughout the level. There is a total of 56 rounds of Sniper Rifle ammunition in this level, so don't be afraid to use your Sniper Rifle.
 * In the garage building next to the Communications Center, there is a rocket launcher behind some crates that respawns every 15 seconds. However, it stops respawning after about 3-4 times.

Trivia

 * At the beginning of the mission, there is a radio in the bunker right next to the Turret. It is on the right as the player enters the bunker on the wall. When the player approaches the radio and presses the action key (E) it will play a radio message. Pressing E again plays another message. The player can use the radio a total of three times to hear three different messages before the radio goes silent. Note that the radio can be destroyed. Here are the messages in order:
 * "GDI forces are landing on the southern shores, send reinforcements to my coordinates."
 * "I can't get a lock on your position, please respond."
 * "Any available forces converge on the base facilities, we need backup."
 * You cannot progress beyond the Nod base before you hack the mainframe. Also, it is impossible to move out of the base the way you first came in after you shoot down Sakura. It is also impossible to leave the Nod base while you are battling Sakura in her Comanche.
 * The elevator in the garage can only be used once.
 * There is a glitch during the fight with Sakura when Havoc goes inside the Nod Communications Center and exits through the elevator. Sakura will fly near the opening of the nearby garage building and fire in the corner and will continue to do this no matter where the player moves or how much he/she fires on her helicopter.
 * The wrecked aircraft the player walks past is not from the C-130 seen in the cutscene, in a prerelease video a mounted gun was found in the tail meaning the wreckage probably comes from a B-17 flying fortress.