Operation Sandstinger

Operation Sandstinger
Mission in Just Cause 4
Type	Main storyline.
To unlock	Complete the missions Atalaya Strike, Torretas Takeover and Sandstinger: Train Robbery
Starting location	Estación Perdida
Reward	Longbow Cannon Truck is unlocked at the supply drop and the region Las Tormentas is unlocked for takeover.

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Bolo finds this pleasing, but she would like more.

Operation Sandstinger is a mission in Just Cause 4.

Introduction[]

Quote from the map marker: "Lanza's "Sandstinger" train is ready to go. Meet him at Estación Perdida and commence the operation to bring down Zona Uno."

Walkthrough[]

Spoiler warning: Significant plot details follow.

Rico arrives at Estación Perdida, an old disused train station. A sandstorm appears as soon as you arrive.

The Army of Chaos are already there and have parked their armored train into the station. The locomotive has "SANDSTINGER" written on its side.

Lanza and Rico talk a little before they set off. They discuss that Rico is changing Solís, but whether it is for the better is yet to be seen.

Train ride[]

They get on the way. The cut-scene ends and the player is in control of the big turret. Lanza (as revealed by the dialogue) is inside the locomotive.

The train drives along a canyon and there are multiple small groups of Black Hand army units next to the track. They consist of Cavalry Armored Trucks, Prizefighter Tanks, infantry and guard towers. Lanza calls them out at times. In addition to this, there are a few attack helicopters. Some of the guard towers have a guy with an RPG.

Four times the train passes through a large wall of big white fuel tanks and wrecks of military vehicles. Lanza will call them out in advance. Not blowing them up causes noticeable damage to the locomotive.

At least twice there will be sandstorms along the way. Lanza mentions that he has never been in one before.

The train passes through a village called La Colmena and soon after that begins experiencing technical difficulties. Lanza explains that sand from the storm is clogging the interior.

This causes the train to stop on a bridge, just short of Zona Uno. The storm ends temporarily and Lanza gets to work on fixing the engine, with Rico remarking that it could have been prevented. This is Rico implying that some sandproofing to the train should have been done in advance.

The Black Hand sends at least 20 helicopters to attack the train, but they are easy to blow up. If any of them get too close, the gun's aim will be off-set, so the player will have to aim either just above, or below the target and adjust the aim according to where the shot went.

At one point there will be 4 Thunderhead Bomber Jets attacking the train from its left side. It is possible albeit extremely difficult to shoot them down with the cannon, but at least they cause minimal damage.

When the train is fixed and arrives at Zona Uno, there's a small cut-scene that shows the train ram its way through the gate and stop at the building.

At Zona Uno[]

The player is then tasked with defending the train until the storm comes back. This is easy because the enemy only sends soldiers with assault rifles and a few grenades.

When the storm arrives, the player has to leave the train and get to a marked computer ("core maintenance console"). It's located about 100 meters to the left of the train.

There are many Black Hand soldiers around the base, but as long as the player moves at walking pace, they pose absolutely no threat. This is because the enemy cannot see past about 10 meters in the storm. In some places they can even walk past the player at 5 meters.

Using the computer will let Lanza find the three cooling units that have to be disabled. Lanza also lights up rows of red lights that lead the way to them. If the player should still get lost here, see the gallery below for a map. In addition to that, if the player leaves the area (not too far, or the mission fails), the storm disappears and it's actually possible to see the whole base clearly.

The cooling units are made out of several tanks. Two of them have a yellow X on them. The panels marked with an X have to be grappled and retracted off, to reveal the fragile internal parts. These parts can then either be damaged with weapons, or by also being grappled. At one point a round column raises out of a unit to expose more fragile red parts. Once these are all destroyed, the whole cooling unit explodes.

Rico mentions that these units are tough and Lanza thanks him and mentions that he designed them himself.

When the last unit is destroyed, Rico has to return to the "core maintenance console" to open the armor around the weather core.

The weather core cover parts will fly off into the wind and Lanza tells Rico to return to the train. It's not known if it's possible to complete the mission by other means (for example by supply dropping more weapons to fire/launch at the core), but the train is certainly the easiest at this point.

The core can take multiple hits from the big gun before exploding. This triggers the final cut-scene.

Mira, Lanza and Rico are on the roof of the building, near an Army of Chaos helicopter. Lanza says that his work is complete and wants to see what Miras computer can do. She then uploads a virus to the Illapa base, causing its defense turrets to destroy one of the three towers.

Trivia[]

There's a small error in the opening cut-scene. The train car directly behind the gun car is a flatbed with a shipping container, but during the mission there are two fuel cars behind the gun car.
- It's possible that the rear cars of the train are randomized during the mission.
The mission is set in a sandstorm where visibility is limited, but when the core is shown to explode, there is suddenly no more storm. That's because it was the core that created the storm, however realistically it would take a few minutes for all the sand to fall out of the air.
While technically part of the main story, this mission doubles as a "region strike" for securing Las Tormentas.