Battlezone II Manual

Warning: Some of the information contained in this field manual is currently unverified. ISDF Intelligence has made extensive field surveys and reconnaissance missions to furnish complete and accurate detail. However, the nature of many of the enemy ordnance, mechanisms, and transports is such that complete accuracy is virtually impossible. Be prepared for undocumented threats.

This information is furnished upon the condition that it will not be released to another nation/planetary agency without the specific authority of the International Space Defense Force; that it will be used for military purposes only; that individual or corporate rights originating in the information, whether patented or not, will be respected; that the recipient will report promptly to the ISDF any known or suspected compromise; and that the information will be provided substantially the same degree of security afforded it by the International Space Defense Force. Also, regardless of any other markings on the document, it will not be downgraded or declassified without written approval of the originating agency.

Export Control: The information contained in this manual shall not be transmitted by any satellite-based systems, nor over ship-to-ship communications. The highest levels of data encryption are required when sending this information to off-world personnel.

Destruction Notice: Any and all hard or soft copies of this manual must be destroyed prior to the event of enemy capture. This information is included in the orders for destruction of levels 1, 2, and 3 classified material.

FOREWORD

ISDF command has provided current intelligence about the capabilities of our foes. Due to the covert nature of this operation and the unusual nature of the enemy, information is vital to our success. All field personnel are expected to be thoroughly aware of the following data.

SAFETY SUMMARY

All field personnel shall follow all regular safety guidelines for combat situations. In addition, the following safety procedures are implemented:

Be prepared for an enemy to change its threat capabilities mid-conflict. Recent intelligence has shown that some enemy soldiers have morphing abilities.

Early conflicts by first-line battalions have shown that the enemy has an unusual amount of intelligence about ISDF capabilities and battle strategies. Strategic planning in unusual directions may aid in fighting these enemies. Additionally, we cannot allow the enemy to gain any more secure information. All soldiers in this conflict must be prepared to die before revealing any intelligence.

TRANSCRIPT A0021:

General Braddock’s address at Round Rock, Titan

To the first class of ISDF recruits:

"Welcome, men and women of the first fleet! You may now proudly consider yourself members of the most powerful fighting force in the world. We are the first line of defense from alien invaders, and our directive is the most important one imaginable—no less than the very salvation of the human race.

Look around you—you will find yourself surrounded by recruits from the most elite forces in the world. We have been watching you—all of you—for years, using the utmost calculated care in recruitment. Our satellite technologies are pointed at military training facilities all over the world, watching, observing, and each of you has done something to distinguish yourself from the pack. Each of you bears the indelible mark of an ISDF soldier. You should all feel an enormous sense of pride in that distinction. But it’s an honor you’ll have to earn again and again every single day on the battlefield.

Collectively, you have been trained in every field imaginable—guerrilla warfare, terrorist tactics, interrogation, stealth attack, intelligence reconnaissance, scientific innovation, global strategy, and astrophysics. We’ll need all of these skills to accomplish our mission—protecting the human way of life and the resources of our solar system.

It’s a noble calling, but one that must be performed under cloak of secrecy, in the dark of night. For the people back on Earth—those you left behind—cannot feel safe until they are free from the very worry of alien terrorism, cleansed of even the thought of that threat. It is our job to be the invisible guard at the door, the noble soldier that stops the enemy at the gate, letting the masses sleep in peace. They may never know we’re here; we may never get their thanks, but they could not survive without us.

Though each of you once pledged loyalty to an individual nation, the only loyalty that matters now is to this organization, the ISDF, and to me as its leader. We rise above the world’s petty politics and form a greater good in the name of the human race. While bureaucrats on Earth debate the future in their congresses and their parliaments, up here, we are prepared to do something about it.

Here, you’ll be expected to go above and beyond what has ever been asked of you before: better targeting, smarter tactics, stronger stamina, greater bravery, higher honor, more raw power. From the lowest grunt to the highest officer, each member of the ISDF must be tireless, unflinching, loyal, and willing to inflict the most brutal of attacks in the name of the cause.

Any enemy we face should be regarded as a threat to your life and the future of your planet. They deserve, and will receive, no mercy. Aliens will not rest until they have conquered, showing no emotion, no compassion, no weakness or fear, and we, too, must fight to the death. For if we fail, there will be no future generations to eulogize us, no one to learn from our mistakes. To put it simply, if we fail, then that is the end of us all. That is the end of the human race. So let us make history together!"

The Battle at Long Ravine, Titan

In early July, 1979, the ISDF began what eventually would be known as the Battle at Long Ravine. The key to this offensive was Hammer Valley, on Titan, which the Furies then held. If Hammer Valley was captured, numerous Fury units would be hopelessly cut off.

One of the key routes for the Fury retreat was via Long Ravine, which ran behind a series of low ridges and then into Hammer Valley. On July 5th, the much overworked and undermanned Fury 1st Division was overwhelmed by elements of the ISDF Gold Squad in Wolverine rocket tanks. The Fury survivors took to their heels and attempted to patch together a defense along the last line of ridges overlooking the vital escape route to Hammer Valley.

The ISDF, refusing to back down and accept this small victory, headed out towards a key series of ridges that overlooked the Fury lines of communication in the sector and laced them with proximity mines to try to break up the Fury forces. Hurriedly, Fury units converged in an attempt to patch up the line and hold the ridges along Long Ravine, which was the key to the Fury defense of Hammer Valley.

The Furies briefly held against the ISDF onslaught, but there were too many Wolverines and not enough Furies. Gradually, one ridge after another was cleared by the ISDF Gold Squad, led by Commander Henry Manson, using a combination of Shadower and Hornet missiles. The remaining Fury mobile forces darted here and there in an attempt to stabilize one another on the ridges, but their efforts were counteracted by the aggressive strength of the ISDF. By July 6th, both the ridges and the ravine were in ISDF hands. On July 7th, the ISDF entered Hammer Valley, the former stronghold of the Fury Group Center, now littered with dead Fury hulls.

Manson: It’s not over yet, soldier! Move that heap up to C ridge and start firing! We can’t let ‘em get to Hammer Valley.

Manson: If you push them back, we can deliver the Furies to Blue Squad on a platter.

Flannery: [static]...moving direction...heading for the Valley! I repeat, the Furies are heading for the Valley!

Flannery: Yes sir, I...[static]...They’ve got me locked! I’m under fire! ...[static]...Mayday!

Manson: The Furies are circling at Long Ravine. They got my Lieutenant...[static]....Let’s break this party up.
Miller: Roger that.

ISDF: A Secret History

The tensions already existed—they called it the Cold War. But this war became Hot, and moved into space without anyone ever knowing. The United States formed a secret organization, the National Space Defense Force (NSDF), under the auspices of NASA. The Soviets responded with the Cosmo-Colonist Army (CCA), and a war was on. The race into space became about much more than simply planting a flag on the moon. It became about finding more of the Bio-Metal, finding that elusive source that was sure to be out there in the solar system.

Each new deposit of Bio-metal that was discovered fueled the fire, providing more spacecraft and more weapons for both the NSDF and the CCA to continue the war in space. One by one, planets and their satellites fell to one side or the other, each a pawn in the war.

While the raging battle took its toll on both American and Soviet forces, scientific experiments conducted with Bio-metal continued back on Earth. The most astounding of these were conducted by Commander Armond Braddock, a brilliant MIT scientist whose skills had been co-opted by the NSDF.

Braddock took the dramatic step of combining Bio-metal with human flesh, using human scientific subjects in a kind of experiment that’s never been attempted before. The confidential files called it "Project Pedigree." Braddock was given unprecedented access to funds and men, operating under the directive to deliver to the NSDF a "Super Soldier" that could tear through troops with an unparalleled fierceness, thereby bringing a swift end to the war.

For the final stage of Project Pedigree, Braddock brought in the Black Dogs, a crack NSDF squadron. The Black Dogs were the best of the best already, the finest physical specimens trained to the maximum capacity of their ability. Braddock took these men and literally fused them into Bio-metal ships, creating a half-man, half-machine force.

It’s amazing the Black Dogs even survived this process, let alone maintained the strength to return to battle and fight. This new Squadron, now called the Furies, exceeded every expectation and became the decisive force in the war, ripping the Soviet soldiers to shreds on Europa.

It’s not exactly clear what went wrong at this point, but apparently the unpredictability of the alien technology reared its ugly head. Instead of following the battle plan, the Furies started using their super-human abilities to rebel against the man who made these abilities possible—Braddock.

The Furies destroyed Braddock’s lab and eliminated the Bio-metal plants that made further experimentation possible. To retaliate, Braddock brought the NSDF and the CCA together under the banner of one cause—defeating the now out-of-control Furies and driving them off the planet.

The NSDF and CCA helped push this new enemy back, sending the Furies into the farthest reaches of the solar system. They dissappeared and were believed destroyed. Braddock was heralded as a war hero.

Riding on the wave of his success and his new promotion to General, Braddock spearheaded the creation of the International Space Defense Force (ISDF). The ISDF combined the NSDF and CCA together, crossing national lines to prepare for any potential alien threat to Earth.

In conjunction with the ISDF, the Alliance of Awakened Nations (AAN) was created to deal with the problems of the existence of Bio-metal in modern society—mainly, distribution of the scarce resource among all of the various nations that now wanted to get their hands on it. The AAN chose a regulated allocation method, which eventually distributed Bio-metal to all member nations in due time.

Meanwhile, outside the purview of the AAN, Braddock had been secretly funneling ISDF funds in order to build a base on Pluto. The purpose of that base is still known only to Braddock and his right hand man, Major Manson.

Official ISDF operations sent out probes, policing the edges of the solar system. Just recently, official and unofficial worlds collided as the Voyager 2 probe was blown out of the sky, attacked by a fierce, unknown enemy. The attack coincided with a raid on the secret base on Pluto, and the resulting Mayday call opened Pandora’s box, giving the rest of the ISDF an opening to discover Braddock’s covert plans and where they might lead.

ISDF troops were immediately dispatched to respond to the distress call on Pluto, steeling themselves under Braddock’s command to face a force like no other, a mysterious enemy with the power to wipe humans off of the face of the Earth altogether....