AI War 2:Outguard

Mercenaries are groups of usually temporary allies that you can hire for varying amounts of Metal and Hacking Points. Here they're explained a bit more in depth.

Acquiring And Hiring

First, you have to find a Mercenary Beacon, which show up on the Galaxy Map as an icon under the planet it's on. Then you must get a Hacker to that planet, and perform the Access Mercenary Beacon hack on it. Once completed, you then have access to the groups listed in the Beacon description. Each Beacon has two groups available from it.

To hire a group, simply be looking at the planet you wish for them to spawn on, and click on the Group in the Hacking tab of the sidebar. Note that each group has a specified type of location (i.e AI controlled only) in their contract, and can only be hired if that requirement is met. Should you have enough Metal and Hacking Points, they will then spawn on the edge of the planets gravity well.

Each group can only be hired a certain number of times. Sometimes, the group requires a single primary unit to survive in order to be hired again - these are often the Flagship, or a similar type of unit (such as the Shield Starships in Anvil Securities) - it is somewhat difficult to rehire someone if they are dead.

Behaviour

Each group has different behaviours when they arrive:

• Attack: Simply fights every enemy on the current planet, and when done, will move to another planet with enemies to keep fighting until either death or their time expires.
• Defend Local Planet: Will remain on the planet they were hired on and defend it until either death or their time expires.
• Patrol Adjacent Friendly Planets: Will roam this planet and nearby friendly ones, rushing to defend any if they come under attack until either death or their time expires.
• Patrol Adjacent Friendly And Neutral Planets: Similar to the above, but also roams neutral planets.
• Player Controlled: Are added to the players control permanently.

The Currently Available Groups

There will be more in the future from Backers - until then, these are what are currently available to you.

Group Name	Behaviour	Restriction	Metal Cost	Hacking Point Cost	Units	Game's Description
Arnaud de Cervole	Patrol Adjacent Friendly Planets	Player Planets Only	90000	2	Mercenary Flagship, V-Wing, Fusion Bomber, Concussion Corvette	Arnaud became a safe and cautious leader after his family was eaten by AI-infested wombats. He leads a pack of fleetships who will patrol nearby allied planets. Leaves after 20 minutes.
Lobar the Wolf	Attack	AI Planets Only	90000	2	Mercenary Flagship, V-Wing, Fusion Bomber, Concussion Corvette	Lobar and his group hate the AI with a passion and will attack AI planets. Leaves after 20 minutes.
Xenophon	Attack	Any Planet	50000	2	Mercenary Flagship, V-Wing, Fusion Bomber, Concussion Corvette	Xenophon leads a larger group than the other mercenaries, but will leave much quicker as well. Leaves after 10 minutes.
Prufrock's Partisans	Defend Local Planet	AI Planets Only	60000	2	Mercenary Distractor Flagship	Prufrock is an expert at distracting the AI with his cloaked and durable flagship. Leaves after 20 minutes.
Hereward the Wake	Patrol Adjacent Friendly And Neutral Planets	Not AI Planets	60000	2	Mercenary Flagship, V-Wing, Fusion Bomber, Concussion Corvette	A defensive specialist, Hereward will lead his group in patrolling nearby planets. Leaves after 20 minutes.
Kosciuszko Fortifications Inc	Defend Local Planet	Player Planets Only	70000	2	Mercenary Flagship, Concussion Turret, Spider Turret	Kosciuszko is a turret specialist, and brings his own defensive emplacements. Leaves after 20 minutes.