This series of missions serve as one of the main Storylines for Lifeline. The player is tasked with retrieving civilians who are valuable for helping to fight the outbreak. These High Value Assets will be marked on the map by a red "person" icon. While the first two missions appear to be set, who you pick up in later missions appears to vary somewhat in order.
These civilians will be airlifted out after the next siege and must be protected until then. Once they are airlifted out, they will be safe and will no longer be listed on the roster. There appears to be only one High Value Asset mission per level of siege, and a new one will not appear until the upcoming siege has ended.
Some High Value Asset missions can expire, so players who wish to complete these missions successfully should not ignore them for too long. Having said that, it appears that once the High Value Asset is picked up for that "level", the speed with which the threat meter increases speeds up dramatically (i.e., a siege will start shortly afterwards). Meaning, players may want to save the High Value Asset mission for last within a level (but don't wait too long) otherwise they may not have enough time before the siege starts to complete other remaining missions.
Note that survivors in Lifeline are not as tough as they are in the vanilla State of Decay game. They can be knocked to the ground (about to die state) very rapidly, and often cannot throw off their attackers on their own. If this happens, they will need the player's assistance immediately or they will die. If they do die, the player can continue to receive missions related to this storyline, but will often get some comment from HQ that they screwed up.
Thomas Horn
Thomas Horn's retrieval is the first mission in this series, and always takes place in the Monroeville Financial District. Once the player arrives at the location and clears it of zeds, Dr. Horn must be searched for in the nearby buildings. Once he is found and returned to the base, a cutscene commences in which the players learn what they must do.
Julene Horn
Julene Horn, the ex-wife of Thomas Horn, can be retrieved after Thomas. Note that this mission can expire and be listed as a failure if the player waits too long.
After she is picked up, Julene will direct the player to the Horn house located in Willard Ave.-Green Arbor, where Dr. Thomas Horn's notes can be retrieved.
Unless this house was made into a prexisiting Outpost, the player will be involved in clearing out an infestation, as well as protecting the two survivors while they search the house for notes. Once they have, the player can return them to the base, which will be attacked immediately afterwards by swarming zeds.
Although Julene will be airlifted out, her companion was a soldier and will remain with Black Friday as a defender. She is one of the few soldiers who wear civilian clothing.
Michelle Martin
When HQ asks the player to retrieve HFF intel from Willard Ave., they will find Michelle Martin still occupying the Human Future Fund building. The player will need to protect her while she gathers the necessary files. Maintaining an outpost in the adjacent Danforth Police Station is 'highly recommended to expedite the process.
Once that is completed, she is to be returned to the LZ.
Timothy Hall
A request from Highroad will result in the player seeking out Timothy Hall, a colleague of Dr. Horn's. Once Timothy is located on the map and spoken to, the player must guard him as he recovers necessary information. He can then be returned to Black Friday and evac'ed on the next helicopter.
Hadley Westen
Unlike the other survivors, Hadley is on the High Value list because of who his father is. The player is tasked with picking him up and returning him to the base so that Mr. Westen will continue to provide needed support to the military. He is frequently found in the same location, a restaurant off of the freeway.
Dr. Dan Bogatz
HQ requests that the player extract Dr. Bogatz, who can be located through a tracking device placed in his car. This mission takes place at China Town, a small area with a Satellite Uplink, located off the freeway north east of the map. Dr. Bogatz is being attacked by zombies by the time the player arrives.
The player should stock up ahead of time with devices and munitions that can clear a number of zombies quickly. Maintaining a preexisting Outpost in this area is beneficial, as it is often already swarming with zombies.
Once Dr. Bogatz is secured, he will inform the player that his daughter is nearby, and must also be saved before he will be willing to leave. Once she is retrieved from the nearby drug store, the group can flee the area and return to base.
Madison Grant
In this mission, the player is tasked with retrieving Madison Grant, Dr. Horn's assistant. When the player first arrives at the mission location, they will find Brock, who was using Madison's sat phone. A search of the nearby buildings will uncover Madison, and both survivors can be returned to the LZ.
The End of the Line
After successfully extracting six High Value Targets (seven, if you include Dr. Horn's near-extraction), the player will be contacted by HQ. They will inform the player that there are no more scientists from the Horn list, and that the mission is at an end. Although the player can continue to stay at the base and complete whatever missions remain, a new Sat Comms option is unlocked to extract the remaining survivors from Black Friday. Once the player does this, the game will end, and they will be provided with a score breakdown for their efforts.
Notes
- HVAs can actually be knocked down even before the player reaches them to start the mission. For this reason, it may help to carry a grenade or two to throw at the dog-pile of zombies if this should happen. This often works far more quickly at clearing a room than attempting to knock each zombie off the HVA you're trying to save. It's not very realistic, but it can be very frustrating to have your mission end with a dead survivor before you even had a chance.
- When searching for Dr. Thomas Horn, there is a chance that he will spawn out of the mission area so if this happens, find him, and then quickly return to the helicopter crash site to avoid failure.
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