Development archive: This mode was removed from the current game in October 2026. This article records an earlier version. The game now focuses on galaxy travel, colonies, space combat, turret defense and first-person exploration.

Some missions require boots on the ground. Ground Run & Gun drops your pilot onto hostile planet surfaces in a Contra-style side-scrolling platformer. Full gravity physics, jumping, and directional shooting replace the zero-G freedom of space combat.

Surface Assault - Ashfall Plateau
// Surface Assault - Ashfall Plateau

Four enemy types patrol the terrain: infantry patrols, armored jumpers, flying drones, and stationary turrets. Each demands a different approach - you can't just hold fire and push forward. Platforms crumble, hazards line the floor, and ammunition management matters more than in the cockpit.

Ground missions appear as planet-side objectives on the campaign map. Complete them to earn materials unavailable in space - surface minerals, salvaged alien tech, and intel fragments that unlock codex entries about the Kepler colonists' fate.