Portent (EU2012)

Mission Intro, Brief & Objectives

The Council has been monitoring unusual reports about a hijack attempt on an unauthorized French military convoy. Although the alleged perpetrators were human, our intel indicates the aliens may also have been in the area. If true, this raises a number of questions about the cargo being moved. We'll need a squad to investigate; Central should have our complete report momentarily. A French military convoy was caught in an ambush. The convoy's current status is unknown. Be prepared for anything. Investigate the area of operations Locate and secure any survivors as well as the convoy's cargo Eliminate any remaining opposition

Source: XCOM: Enemy Within DLC

Notes

• Council Reward: ???

Tactics

• Essentially a "Locate/Rescue the VIP" mission:
  • Only Thin Men appear as seeded, and airdropped enemies.
  • The VIP will be an unarmed, non-hostile, and (surprisingly) cooperative EXALT survivor. He'll verbally taunt you the whole trip back, though.
• If you're out to make an early profit, it may be better to disable Progeny:
  • Portent will always be first (pushing Friends in Low Places into April), but the other two missions in this sideplot will not be for a few months afterwards.
  • Annette and her fellow abductees's stats, recruited months into the game, won't be as useful as getting Zhang in just a few weeks in, including if Hidden Potential and Not Created Equally are chosen, and especially since pre-leveled recruits (such as from Abduction/Council rewards) don't benefit from OTC's Iron Will.
  • What you can sell and research from Slingshot's Battleship mission in (as early as) April, vs an Abductor in late summer.