Last Resort

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President Ramirez has escaped to Porto Island. Our task is to get in there and sieze him before he pulls off another magic act and disappears. Mission Description

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Last Resort
Time	11:30 AM
Date	13-08-2006
Location	Off the coast of Porto Island
Previous	The President

Last Resort is the final mission of ArmA: Armed Assault's Rahmadi Conflict campaign.

Overview

This is a premium mission that requires ownership of the Queen's Gambit expansion pack.

The player controls USMC Special Forces operative Sergeant Leon Ortega. Ramirez, the former president of North Sahrani, has been identified as the shadowy figure leading the SLA remnants.

He has fled to the island of Porto and intends to go into hiding abroad with the aid of smugglers. As the only unit capable of intercepting Ramirez in time, Ortega must apprehend the rogue president before he can escape justice.

Ortega's role/class:

• Specops / SF Assault

Default loadout:

• Primary weapon: M4A1 GL (6× magazines)
  • ACOG
• Secondary weapon: M9 (2× magazines)
  • Suppressor
• Equipment: NV Goggles, M203 HE (4×)

There are no alternate pieces of equipment to choose from.

Objectives

Primary

• (1) Stop rampage of Especas team in Porto
• (2) Capture president Richardicz alive

Optional

N/A

Mandatory

• Ortega must survive
• Ramirez must not be allowed to escape
• The massacre must not succeed
• Avoid collateral damage/friendly fire
• Do not leave the AO

Walkthrough

NOTE:

• The order or successful completion of both primary objectives does not matter (i.e. Ramirez escapes but the Especas are stopped). You will only lose the mission if both objectives are failed simultaneously.

Primary 1: Stop rampage of Especas team in Porto

As soon as the helicopter lands, seek cover immediately at the farmhouse next to your landing zone or the rock mounds to your east. The Especas already have your position zeroed in, so it's highly likely that one or more of your teammates will be injured (or outright killed) within seconds of disembarking. Use the stone walls/rocks for protection and eliminate any Especas around the city outskirts (be on the lookout for lone operatives standing on balconies too).

LEGEND
Red: Especas spawn points
Orange: Sharpshooters

You need to stop Ramirez' men from slaughtering civilians inside the city. Not including those protecting Ramirez' extraction point at Largo, there are five three-man teams scattered in the city. In addition, one sniper and a marksman will be providing overwatch from the rooftop next to the central marketplace and at the watertower on the eastern side of the city.

The civilians are scattered throughout all sectors of the city so you have however long it takes for the Especas AI to manoeuvre through the streets. If you're lucky, they may pursue your fireteam instead of attacking civilians. However if you're unlucky, then they may continue going after them and kill multiple groups of civilians at once.

Take note that once there are six or less Especas units alive or seven minutes pass (after you land), up to three SLA agents will randomly reveal themselves and immediately open fire on your team if you get close to them. They are equipped with 9 mm pistols and initially appear as "civilians". Be careful to not mistake them with actual civilians though, or else you'll fail the mission due to Ortega killing too many innocents.

Primary 2: Capture president Richardicz alive

Ramirez will always be at Largo next to the docks. He will attempt to get into a hatchback, sedan or offroad if he sees Ortega or any of his team members.

Luckily, Ramirez' AI (like all AI in Armed Assault...) is rather incompetent and will not run directly towards the vehicle in a straight line. You have plenty of time to approach him and select the Arrest action prompt when it appears. If you take too long to find the wayward president, a boat will eventually come to the docks to extract him. You can still prevent his escape by shooting the boat drivers, though you only have a grace period of less than ten seconds before they arrive.

LEGEND
Red: Especas bodyguards
Orange: Rooftop sharpshooters
Green: Tree grove sharpshooters
Violet: Ramirez (goal)

You'll also need to watch out for Especas at grids Bf12 and Bg12. They will be lying prone at the edge of the tree grove on both sides of the road. Keep in mind that it is possible to simply run past them despite the fact that a mission script will automatically alert them to your presence (this trigger zone includes the "gap" at Be11).

Finally, Largo itself is defended by one final team of Especas. There are six men in total garrisoned next to the buildings, two of whom are a sniper and marksman who remain crouched on the rooftops. When clearing the village, check your targets before firing as you may accidentally end up killing Ramirez instead of his bodyguards.

Alternate method

One cheesy strategy to guarantee Ramirez' capture is to have Ortega and the rest of the fireteam hide inside a fenced home with only one entrance or gap for the AI to go through. Then use Team Switch to take manual control of one subordinate (NOT Ortega himself) to sprint and swim along the northern beach.

Make use of time acceleration (Hotkeys: + to accelerate and - to decelerate, not on the numpad) to speed the trek up for sanity's sake. By doing this, you can bypass all of Ramirez' bodyguards and the sharpshooter teams hiding in the tree grove. Meanwhile, Ortega and the other team members will gradually whittle down the Especas inside the city who will continually attempt to assault his position (they are scripted to go after him specifically if he's within proximity).

It does not matter if you lose your weapons as a result of swimming for longer than thirty seconds. You'll still keep your sidearm and this subordinate will be dying regardless; his only purpose is to serve as a sacrificial lamb who "captures" Ramirez. Once he arrives at Largo, stick to the docks and use the northern buildings for cover.

Let Ramirez spot your team member to trigger his escape, then shoot him with one bullet to the leg (not body). He will immediately go prone and slow down, allowing your subordinate to activate the cutscene where he "arrests" the president.

The subordinate will immediately die to Ramirez' bodyguards but his role will have been fulfilled at that point anyway. Switch back to Ortega afterwards and finish off the remaining hostiles inside the city.

Tips

• On Regular difficulty, the helicopter pilot will update your map with semi-real time positions of the enemy operatives if you're playing as Ortega and are inside the city. Be sure to check it often when you're out of combat to see where the remaining hostiles are hiding.
• This mission can be extremely difficult to beat even on Regular difficulty, especially if you intend on saving both the civilians and capturing Ramirez. If you find yourself having too much trouble in firefights against the Especas, consider lowering the skill and aiming levels of enemy AI.
• Don't even think about shooting the Especas out in the open at your LZ. You will die either to the sharpshooters or the units on the street in front of you.
• Prioritise taking out the Especas sniper and marksman in the town first. Otherwise your attempt at stopping the massacre will be a rather short-lived endeavour.
• You can "accidentally" kill a maximum of three civilians before the objective fails.

Trivia

• Because civilians do not get attacked by BLUFOR, REDFOR and INDFOR factions even if they have a negative "rating", a script forces Ramirez' Especas units to manually fire upon civilians.
• The intro music played for this mission (simply titled as "Flight") is later reused for ArmA 2's main campaign, specifically as a theme for the Manhattan mission.