Nuclear Operative

SYNDICATE STAFF

Nuclear Operative

Access: Syndicate
Additional Access: Any place an emag or a block of C4 will open
Difficulty: Very Hard
Supervisors: The Syndicate
Duties: Be told to GET DAT FUKKEN DISK, don't, forget your internals, forget EVA mode, don't even bring a spacesuit, get shot by your own turrets, die
Guides: https://forums.yogstation.net/threads/how-to-mail-fission-the-definitive-guide.18149/
Quote: :b What's the plan, operatives?

Congratulations, agent. You have been chosen to join ~~our finest group of operators,~~ the Syndicate Nuclear Operative strike team. Your mission, whether or not you choose to accept it, is to destroy Nanotrasen's most advanced research facility! That's right, you're going to Space Station 13.

Your Objectives

Retrieve the Nuclear Authentication Disk (located on the station).
Use it to activate the Nuclear Fission Explosive (located on the Mothership). File:Nuke.gif
Escape alive on the Syndicate Mothership.

But First, You Must Learn How to Crawl

The Syndicate Mothership and the Syndicate Base.

Before you do anything, you must properly prepare yourself. There's no need to rush, instead take the time to discuss strategy with your squad mates - a job well planned is half done!

The checklist is as follows:

Plan the attack (how to get the nuke disk and arm the nuke).
Order items and arm yourself to the teeth.
Infiltrate from the Mothership or make your presence known with an assault pod
Destroy

Knowing Your Team

You will be joined by atleast 3 agents, though the size of your team will scale depending on the population of the server. All of your fellow agents will have a big red S by their head. Be very careful when you see this S, as you don't want to kill your fellow agents on accident.

There will be a leader. He spawns behind the desk, and is the only one with access to the shutters. If you are the leader but don't feel up to snuff for it, pass your lead agent card to someone else.

Communication

You have a special radio frequency, set in an encrypted wavelength. This is how you will, and must communicate with your team. Communicate passwords, safewords, and attack plans on this channel early, or just use it to beg for someone, anyone to tell you they're still alive.

Making code named strikes with your team can be an effective way to deal with the crew stealing your headsets, but it is difficult. Codespeak manuals are a cheap, exclusive, and more effective secondary layer of encryption.

Planning the Attack

LISTEN TO YOUR LEADER (the guy who spawns inside the tables he is the only one with access to the button to the shutters)! Your team should talk over about their plan of attack, but the leader should have the final say how things are gonna be since he has the power to buy all the good stuff.

Different approaching styles:

Infiltration by using jetpacks or by ~~teleportation~~ CRASH AND BURN BABY, STEEL RAIN!
Split up or stick together?
Oldskool-style: Get the disk, return to ship, arm the nuke and drag it to the station.
Stealth-style: Disguise as John Smiths, infiltrate and steal the Nuke Disk quietly.
Murderbone-style: Just kill everything that doesn't have a red S over it.
Locker-style: Cram your whole team into a locker, have someone in disguise drag the locker to the station, unleash a locker full of syndies when the crew least expects it!

Ordering Gear as a Team

Every member gets an amount of bonus telecrystals based on the round population, allowing nuke op equipment to scale with the increased threat of a fully-manned station.

Each operative spawns with a personal Syndicate Uplink radio with a minimum 25 Telecrystals pre-loaded. STOP! Before you waste your crystals on a balloon, take note of your team... look at them pathetically whining about expenses. Why would you give away your crystals? Giving your crystals to your allies will allow them to save up and buy some expensive and powerful goodies, like a freaking assault mech!

Once your team has bought the items essential to your plan you can now selfishly buy what you will need for the mission, however you need to pause and think hard. What Syndicate Items will you need? Which will cause a huge backlash if used against your team? Now, think what everyone else will likely need. The problem with the agent ID is the access -- you have very little, but an emag, powersink or stolen high-ranking ID will change that in a moment. You do not have an ID or a position at the station, so don't worry about people finding the emagged doors. Everyone on the team should have one. Bombs are great in the right hands. Energy swords, especially double-bladed eswords, are good for blocking enemy fire. Syndicate borgs are great DPS/medical/stealth support, and are even more robust if you have a welder, but are at great risk from ion rifle shots.

Equipment

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The following page is out of date and/or needs to be revised. If the page's guide needs revision, see here for an example.
The revision reason is: "The Syndicate Mothership's layout has been updated. This equipment and more is available onboard, but not necessarily where stated."
Marked by: "Sniblet"

Pick out what you need from the armory closet in the Equipment Room as well as your Syndicate Uplink. The armory closet contains:

Jet Harness filled with oxygen (This fits inside your backpack, so you can wear your backpack inside the station.)
Syndicate Mask
Tactical Turtleneck
Blood-red Hardsuit with built-in Helmet (These fit inside your backpack and can switch from Travel (spaceworthy) to Combat (No slowdown) mode by clicking the helmet)
Chest Rig
Crowbar (Absolutely necessary when your team is using a powersink. It fits inside the box or vest too.)
High-capacity Power Cell
Multitool

There's also a Tool Storage, which contains:

Night Vision Goggles
Suspicious Looking Toolboxes (You need the screwdriver if you are planting a power sink.)
Suspicious Beacons (These are large bombs, don't just take them randomly, usually they are used as part of the plan.)
Syndicate Minibombs
Many other kinds of generic tools like proximity sensors and remote signaling devices

You are now completely outfitted. Remember to travel light - you never know what you might need to carry, like stolen weapons and medkits, or, obviously, the Disk.

Before you go, you must equip yourself for space travel so you can invade the station.

Get out of your armor and put on the blood-red hardsuit, if you haven't bought an elite/shielded hardsuit.
Take your backpack off. Put a jet harness on. Hold your backpack in your hand.
Toggle your internals on, you can use the jet pack as an oxygen tank if you want or use an actual tank.
Switch your helmet to EVA mode, or suffer hard vacuum.
Optionally: Cross the distance to the station using the mass driver instead of the door like a psychopath.

This is My Rifle

A quick and dirty list of the common weapons employed by Syndicate Operatives in the field.

Stetchkin Pistol -- Free. Standard-issue sidearm. 8 Rounds, 30 brute per shot. This is a mediocre primary weapon to use due to its low ammo count and slow rate of fire but it can be useful in a pinch. Isn't implant-locked like your other firearms!
Bulldog Shotgun -- 8 telecrystals. Close combat shotgun. 8 Shells drum fed, semi-automatic. Three ammo types. Great for close encounters, switch ammo types from buck to slug as needed.
C20r SMG -- 10 telecrystals. Close Combat SMG. 24 rounds, 30 brute per shot. Comes with two round burst for maximum damage. Great at short or medium range.
L6 SAW -- 18 telecrystals. Light Machinegun. 50 rounds, 45 brute per shot. Very powerful weapon, capable of critting most targets in a single burst. Very unwieldy however, needs both hands free to fire, cannot fit in any storage slot and must be carried at all times.
Sniper -- 16 telecrystals. Specialist weapon for the professional, or insane. Long range sniper rifle with a scope. 6 rounds, default magazine deals 70 damage per bullet and is very likely to take off limbs in non-hardsuited targets. Comes with a array of alternative ammo for a wide range of scenarios. The sniper is an unwieldy weapon in close combat or claustrophobic conditions (like the whole station) and is usually passed over due to the investment needed to make it work smoothly.
Energy Sword -- 8 telecrystals. Close combat weapon. 30 brute per hit. When double-bladed, can block taser shots. Best if double-bladed, if used as a sidearm or if you are very robust in melee. Good for conserving ammo, but RNG deflection could end your career.

HAVE THIS.

You've got a pinpointer, right? This device, once turned on, will act as a compass directing you straight to your primary target: The nuclear authentication disk. Every operative that spawns at the start of the round will start with a pinpointer in one of their pockets. Grab it, turn it on by using it in your hand and put it back in your pocket so you can always see it.

The military PDA is very handy for sending a bit of dismemberment ahead of your team. The PDA comes with a free Detomatrix cartridge, you can use that to thin the herd.

Now, you have your equipment, tools, and toys. But the trouble is just getting started as you strike the heart of the wild.

You are equipped and armed with the best, but what matters is the will to win, and the thirst for blood. Couple that with wisdom, and a large helping of know how, and you have a chance. But what makes the Syndicate agent successful isn't their red suit, or revolver, it is their team.

Actually Getting There

The Syndicate Mothership is NOT in proximity of the station when the nuke team is first sent out. One of the Nuclear Operatives must use the control computer to move the Mothership into close proximity to the station. Previously, you also had the option of utilizing the mothership's teleporter assembly and a purchased teleporter board to launch your assault. Sadly, that was removed in favor of the...

ASSAULT POD

Grab your team, cram into the pod, select your area and launch. You'll be on station within seconds, obliterating anything unfortunate enough to be caught in the way. From there it's a simple matter of assaulting the crew and cornering whatever poor bastard has the disk. Caveat emptor: The assault pod is a one way trip so make sure you have an exit strategy.

War were declared

Alternatively, your team leader could choose to declare war. This alerts the station crew that you're planning to kick down their door in about 20 minutes and holds the shuttle until then, but it gives the ops a huge TC bonus. You lose the luxury of an unprepared crew, which is a very deadly sacrifice at the best of times, but that's (half of) what's fun about it.

Dat Fukken Disk

EAT THIS.

You need this disk, but as it could be guarded by the Captain, Head of Security, Clown, or the Head of Personnel... you best go in without second thoughts or distractions. Even a lure and false positive to get the disk holder to where you want them will be effective.

One method includes blowing up the wall the disk holder has their back to. A block of C4 will knock down any wall and seriously wound whoever's on the other side.

If you're in the bag for a more elaborate ruse, have one of your team members cause a ruckus in a secure area, forcing the disk carrier to flee right into the arms of your waiting team members.

Don't be afraid to think outside the box! This game mode in particular lends itself to unconventional approaches.

ACTIVATING THE NUKE!

File:Nuke.gif

DETONATE THIS.
NOT AT YOUR BASE!!!

Cindy Kate says:
"Attention! If you have an objective to steal a Plutonium Core from the nuke, you're in the wrong place, instead look here."

Getting the disk is just the first half of the battle. Now you have to destroy the station. Haul ass back to the mothership and grab the nuke from the aft storage area. Take the nuke back to the station and find an area to set it up.

Now follow these guidelines in order:

Click it with your open hand.
Place the Nuke Disk into the slot.
Punch in the nuke code, hit enter.
Set the time, hit enter.
Set it to Armed.
(Optional) Disengage the anchor.
(Optional) Have it timing as you run off with the thing (if you die it will still go off).
(Optional) Place the nuke anywhere you want on the station.
(Optional) Anchor it.
Take the Nuke Disk out.
Either keep the disk, space the disk, or something so the crew can't just take it and turn the bomb off. Preferably take it home for the funny suicide animation after you win.
Get back to your Mothership.

If any other Nuke Agents are alive, give them a moment to get to the Mothership - watch the timer on your pinpointer. Once you and your buddies are loaded in the Mothership, get out of there.

Quick Tips

Always bring C4/X4. There are few things more embarrassing than an operative that gets stopped by a bolted airlock.
Be careful of falling behind and getting lost in space.
To talk with your team, just talk as if you wanted to talk on the standard radio channel, your headset is different and only your team will hear you.
Subvert or destroy the AI first. It can give you away. Syndicate borgs are able to dispose of the AI without it screaming for help over the comms, and a sniper with thermals and penetrator rounds will do the job just as well.
Make sure the Escape Shuttle doesn't arrive! You lose if the crew gets away before you blow them up.
Always keep in communication with your team. Having backup and knowledge of what's happening from both the Syndicate and loyal station fronts goes a long way towards an easy victory and far outweighs the damage someone who stole a Syndicate headset can do.
Installing a power sink on the station is a popular strategy. Make sure you bring night-vision goggles!
Taking out telecommunications is a good way to ensure the crew remains confused and disorganized
Ignore the nuke in the vault on the station. It has a completely different code, and without an admin checking the var and giving it to you, it would ~~take you days to guess it~~ be impossible to activate.
For the love of fuck do not mistake any other kind of floppy disk for the Nuke Disk, your pinpointer shows you the way.
Do not buy a mech unless you are absolutely sure you are capable of making it an asset. It's a huge asset to waste.
Use the red button found in your base to instantly blow up all deployed syndicate bombs in the game.
If you know that the station has cyborgs, bring a flashbang or ten. Flashbangs are very effective at taking out cyborgs, and you can emag-crowbar-emag the stunned cyborg to subvert it.
You can quickly and quietly rob the armory by applying c4 to the wall from space. No loud beeping. No ruckus. C4, grab the guns, get out.
If going stealth, the regular headsets in the locker room come pre-loaded with a Syndie key.

Syndicate Cyborgs

Assault Syndicate cyborgs are purchasable from an uplink by using 65 telecrystals. A random ghost from the spectators with the operative preference enabled will be chosen for this (if none is found, you can refund the teleporter item you get). Syndicate cyborgs are very useful for going loud, as they cannot be stunned the same as Operatives can and have powerful weaponry (plus the means to emag other borgs). Syndicate cyborgs can also tell who other operatives are, regardless of their apparel. In addition, they have an energy cell with a charge of 25000 watts, equivalent to 2 1/2 high-capacity cells. They come with the following modules:

A pre-installed Ion Thruster module
Energy sword (high draw from energy pool!)
A cyborg LMG that fires 3D-printed bullets; these bullets are instantly fabricated from raw energy from your cell and never need to be reloaded
A six-shot grenade launcher; it cannot be reloaded
Flash
Crowbar
Cryptographic sequencer (therefore all you need to emag other borgs, you legend)
Operative pinpointer

Guys? Where are you?

Syndiborgs have a handy little device called the operative pinpointer. This does not point toward the nuclear disk like the other pinpointers - instead, this points towards the nearest nuclear operative. If a syndiborg is lost or the radio is dead silent, they can use the pinpointer to find their way to an operative. Of course, it does have drawbacks, like not helping if all of the stupid fucking organics have already gotten themselves killed somehow. However, it's very useful for coordinating with your team until then and knowing to kill yourself afterward, and since it has no power draw it should be kept active at all times.

Mission Debriefing

If the Escape Shuttle leaves with the Disk on board, the crew wins a Major Victory.
If the Nuke detonates, but not on the Station's z-level, the crew wins a Minor Victory.
If the Nuke detonates in the station successfully but no Syndicates manage to escape, no-one wins.
If the Escape Shuttle leaves with the Disk still anywhere on the station, the Syndicates win a Minor Victory.
If the Nuke detonates in the station successfully and the Syndicate Mothership escapes, the Syndicates wins a Major Victory.
If the Nuke detonated on the syndicate base, the Syndicates suffer a humiliating defeat. This is only possible if the crew both gets an agent card before an operative explodes and gets the nuke code, usually from a converted borg. Don't let this happen.

Tips

If the nuclear device is armed, you can examine the pinpointer and it will tell you how long before it explodes.
Set your ID to a crew member. Give it a legit job. Set your fucking ID to a fucking crew member's name and give it an actual job like Chemist or something. The crew is likely to hesitate and think it's an ally in a stolen suit, especially if they're using a SecHUD.
The gloves you start with are already insulated.
You can put all your nuke op equipment into your backpack. Even your hardsuit and jetpack.
For the love of all that is holy, do not lose your ID, otherwise you'll be shot out of the skies outside the Syndicate Shuttle by your own turrets while going back for the nuke.
Thermal glasses will make you vulnerable to being flashed, even with your hardsuit helmet on. NVGs do not.
The black-and-red space suit is good for inserting a stealth OP onto the station. The crew is less likely to go into a panic at the sight of a regular space suit rather than the iconic blood-red hardsuit, although it has almost no armor in the event of something going wrong and, in two pieces instead of one, is harder to store.

Antagonists on Yogstation
	Individual Antagonists	Traitor, Internal Affairs, Changeling, Vampire, Wizard
	Team Antagonists	Blood Brothers, Nuclear Operative, Blood Cult, Clockwork Cult, Gangster, Heretic, Darkspawn
	Mid-Round Antagonists	Abductor, Xenomorph, Revenant, Space Ninja, Holoparasite, Swarmers, Blob, Obsessed, Eldritch Horror
	Rare Antagonists	Devil