Charge Phase 1

Charge Phase 1 is the twenty-ninth offline mission and the thirty-first online mission in Earth Defense Force 2025 and the thirtieth offline mission and the thirty-second online mission in Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair. It's the first phase of a three parter operation called 'Charge'.

Objective
2025: We succeded in dealing a massive blow to the Ravagers. We must destroy the nests and exterminate the enemy before they can regroup. You enter the nests and find their queen. This will be a large-scale infiltration of their tunnels. The first phase will look for a route to the depths of the tunnels and secure it for troops to follow.

4.1: We succeded in dealing a massive blow to the Ravagers, but must destroy the nests and exterminate the enemy before they can regroup. So it's time to enter the nests and fine their queen! This will be a large-scale infiltration of their tunnels. The first phase will be to look for a route into the depths of the tunnels and secure it so troops can follow.

Storyline
Storm Team starts at the subway station. HQ explains that they believe that they believe that Queen can be found in these tunnels and it must be killed or to stop the giant insects. They go forward through the subway tunnel and after they kill a small group of ants they meet with a team of Rangers and follow them (or Rangers will follow since they are so damn slow) to a bigger chamber where they fight more ants. One of the soldiers gossips about a Storm Team member who was the one who 8 years ago destroyed the Mothership, but no one has seen them since and he wants to be just like them when he grows up.

They arrive at the top of a large hole with convenient bridges going down to the bottom. A Ranger will report it and HQ decides to repeat the mission objectives again. They descend to the bottom and once the coast is clear they move forward. They fight with some spiders in a tunnel and move forward through a series of chambers.

At the end there is a large cavern with the last wave of ants. When the Rangers arrive there (which is usually two minutes after Storm Team arrives, unless players are patient) HQ will tell that this is the last group. Once the bugs are dead one of the soldiers compliments Storm Team and the mission ends.

4.1 Changes
As with all underground levels, this level is now dark, making it harder to spot approaching enemies, and the Air Raider can now call for the Depth Crawler or SDL1 rather than having no support available.

The mission now starts at the far end of the subway tunnel and Storm Team has to fight three waves of giant insects instead of one including a surprise attack from behind when they pass two dead ends leading up from the sides of the tunnel before they can meet up with the Ranger team. The soldiers now enter through the hole to the surface instead of waiting at the end of the tunnel. When they reach it instead of turning right they turn left to a chamber with big circular platforms, however the passageway only opens when the Rangers arrive so players can't run ahead. After that they enter the same cavern with bridges as before but from another entrance and the rest of the mission mostly plays as before.

The number of enemies was increased drastically with eight waves instead of five. On Hardest and Inferno difficulty Gold and Dark Crimson Ants also appear.

2025
The same methods used as any underground missions. Bring machine guns, shotguns or similar weapons with wide spread, rocket launchers, or flame throwers. Wing Divers are the best suited for this kind of missions.

Try to stay in tunnels or tunnel entrances so you only have to shoot at one direction. The last wave can be found at the end of a series of caverns so it's difficult to fight there. It's best if the you lure the ants back to the tunnel where they came from.

4.1
The strategy is mostly the same. The second wave ambush before you meet with the Rangers can be challenging if the first wave wasn't eliminated and they retreat behind the dead ends, you can be sandwiched between the ambush and the remains of the first wave, so be careful not to trigger the second wave by accident.

Since the level is dark going into large caverns can be more dangerous, especially during the final wave where it's easy to get disoriented and getting back to the tunnels is harder.