ZERO HOUR
WALKTHROUGH

USA - Mission 5 'Dr. Thrax's Chemical Plant'

Background
Dr. Thrax has been tracked to a city, name unknown. He now orchestrates his last stand against USA. He has now managed to perfect a new and dangerous type of chemical called Anthrax Gamma. Anthrax Gamma is a new, powerful nerve agent, and the Dr. is planning to launch these new chemical missiles to metropolitan targets all around the world. Your mission, is to capture all 4 missile launch pads before a single missile is released.

Mission
The starting cut-scene shows a satellite codenamed Powers tracking the location of the chemical factory. Then, a lot of funny little missiles are fired into one of Dr. Thrax's bases, wiping out the storage bunkers. You are now left to play. Just build your base, and defend it with the usual stuff.

Tip! Info about Dr. Thrax
Before we begin, I must state what is so unique about Dr. Thrax. Dr. Thrax just loves to use chemical weapons. His rebels and terrorists are all packed with chemicals. So, if you are playing against him in multiplayer, be sure to protect your units by putting them in Humvees and Listening Outposts.
Dr. Thrax is so obsessed with Chemical Weapons that even his tunnel networks spray toxins! He starts with Anthrax Beta, and can upgrade it to Anthrax Gamma! So, he is the only general who can reduce infantry to lovely pink salamander man! His Tanks all start with toxin shells, and RPG Troopers fire chemical rockets! Ugh! Disgusting! Fortunately, he has a weakness, it is that he CANNOT make use of camouflaged units, so you can detect them while they are reasonably far away.

Tip! Busting Bunkers
The enemy likes to ambush attackers from inside the Toxin Networks, upgrade your Stealth Fighters with Bunker Busters and attack their Networks. In multiplayer game always consider using this technology when playing against China or GLA, as their bunkers can easily be busted! Anyway, this method can kill infantry inside buildings too! One thing I find it funny is that, when I used it on a toxin tractor in this level, the vibrations caused by the explosion caused it to fly very very high up in the air!
This toxin tractor then did a lot of loop the loops in mid-air, but managed to land on the ground unscathed! It's crazy, I tell you! Well, those people in EA must have watched too many Looney Tunes.

To the east of your base, are a GLA camp that wishes to Rebel against Dr. Thrax. This is because they are all fed up with his obsession with chemical warfare, and that such toxins could just kill them all. You can now use their general abilities, like the Rebel Ambush and Anthrax Bomb (Hey, I thought you were fed up with using Toxins, how come you still get to use the Anthrax Bomb?!). While you are holding off their attacks, use a spy satellite on the northern part of the map. The Launchpads are somewhere at the north of the map. Just watch out for their sneak attacks.

Build a particle cannon, and some Aurora Bombers. You will need the Auroras to help destroy the SCUD Storm that Dr. Thrax builds. When your Particle Cannon is ready, use a spy satellite to reveal the area surrounding the northeast launch pads, then use the particle cannon to fry all the units guarding the Bunkers. Then, ambush the rebels in and capture those 2 missile launch pads! You are now halfway to your goal.

Tip! Capturing Enemy Buildings
I have received numerous e-mails concerning how to capture this, how to capture that. It is very simple, really, simply pay $1000 in the Barracks for the Capture Building ability, then when it is complete, wait for the Capture Building ability of your Ranger, Rebel or Red Guard to charge up.
When the whole button is bright, click it, and then click the building you want to capture. Your infantry unit will then walk over to the building, and place their country's flag next to the building. Then, you will see the target building flashing, and beeping. The more frequent the beeps and flashes, the closer you are to capturing that building. You will be notified by the infantry unit when he has captured the building. Black Lotus can capture buildings much quicker than infantry units, and can do it from a range, due to her wireless network connection. Keep that in mind if you are playing as China.

Tip! Aurora Bombers and Economy
As you can see, Aurora Bombers are a supersonic aircraft. They cannot be stopped by anti air defenses until they deliver their payload, which means they can always reach their target. Unfortunately, after dropping their bombs, they are just so vulnerable to anti-aircraft defenses, and you will be disgusted that you have to spend another $2500 for each of the Aurora Bombers lost. That's why, if you are using Auroras, make sure you target your enemies' expensive structure, like their superweapons, this can help make up for the sunk cost.

The other pair of launch pads is more heavily guarded. I suggest you make use of Particle Cannons, MOABs and Spectre Gunships at the same time to create a large enough distraction to keep the enemy units at bay before Rebel Ambushing the missiles and capturing them.