Unlikely Allies puts you to work for the Orions after a Borg incursion, and it is a long errand rather than a quick stop. Six objectives, fifteen kills against hostiles of level 25 or higher, and 3,300 nanoprobes to gather before you can hand any of them over. Warp 18 to finish. The payout is 72 units of 3★ Uncommon refined material.
Unlikely Allies objectives
Six steps, in this order.
- Find the Orion station in Pasadoran.
- Defeat 15 hostiles of level 25 or higher.
- Collect 3,000 Inert Nanoprobes.
- Collect 300 Charged Nanoprobes.
- Donate 300 Charged Nanoprobes.
- Return the Orion survivors to your station.
There is no choice split here, so every player runs the same six steps in the same sequence. The two collection objectives and the donation are linked: the 300 Charged Nanoprobes you gather are the same 300 the mission then asks you to hand over, so keep them until the donation step clears.
Where and what warp
Warp 1 gets you the mission. Warp 18 is what you need to see it through, and that number is the gate on the whole thing. Pasadoran, a level 26 system, is the first stop and where the Orion station sits.
The mission is an auto link continuation, which means it follows on from the story mission before it rather than being picked up cold at a station. A Home That Only We Know is the one that leads into it. Unlikely Allies is also a neutral mission, so no faction reputation moves either way while you run it.
Unlikely Allies rewards
24 3★ Uncommon Refined Ore, 24 3★ Uncommon Refined Gas, and 24 3★ Uncommon Refined Crystal.
That is refined material rather than raw, so it skips the refinery and goes straight into the buildings and upgrades that consume refined resources. Seventy-two units at 3★ is a modest top-up for a mission this long, and the better reason to run it is progression: finishing Unlikely Allies opens The Shoulders of Giants, the next mission in the line.
Tips
Check your warp range before you start. Warp 18 is a long way out for a mission whose first objective reads like a routine errand, and there is no shortcut around the distance. If your ships top out below 18, the warp research comes first.
Line up the hostile kills with something you were already doing. Fifteen hostiles at level 25 or higher is the slowest combat step in the mission, and those kills count whether or not you are out hunting for this mission specifically. Clearing them during a normal hostile run costs you nothing extra.
Do not spend the Charged Nanoprobes. The mission asks you to collect 300 and then donate 300, and if the first pile is gone the second objective sits there until you rebuild it. Inert Nanoprobes are the bigger number at 3,000, but the charged ones are the ones with a trap attached.
Finish at your own station. The last objective is a return trip, so the mission does not close while your ship is still parked out in Orion space. Recall it and the rewards land.
