Red Scorpion

RED SCORPION

MERCENARY FOR POWER AGENCY LTD

TOP SECRET

Dear Volunteer

I am pleased to inform you of

your selection for service in the

Terran Confederation Star

Commandos.

The Confederation Star

Commandos are a proud and

elite corps with exacting

requirements and superior

combat skills. You must

understand that failure of a

mission will not be tolerated -

and this fact cannot be

emphasized enough.

I must say I am impressed with

your track record. The

Commanding Officer of Tutmos

III had a lot of praise for your

dedication and stamina while

posted as an instructor at the

Mobile Organic Sanitation Unit.

Your first combat tour of duty is

the Bombyx Moons. These are a

large number of small planetoids

in the 97th Quadrant. They lie

exactly between the Terran

Confederation and our galactic

superpower rival, The Necron Empire.

The Bombyx are rather a

primitive people -they program

their computers!!! In fact no-one

would even give them a second

glance but for the fact that the

moons are virtually pure Talanite.

The evil Necrons are intent on

dominating the Bombyx. They

are literally "stealing" the

Bombyx's Talanite in exchange

for worthless trash. I personally

would describe it as an inter-

planetary rip-off!!! We, on the

other hand, are going to bring

the Bombyx all the benefits of

Terran Civilisation - pulpburgers,

synthocola -you know, that sort

of thing - in exchange for a few

Talanite crystals (40 Gigatonnes

per oscillation).

I have enclosed copies of full

details of the mission and a

description of the equipment

----------------------------

which will be issued to you. This

equipment (The Multi-Role

Infantry Combat Capsule) has

only just been released by the

"boffins". It is, therefore,

imperative that you read and

inwardly digest the information

concerning its operation.

Mission Details:

The Assault Carrier "Coral Sea"

and the Battle Cruiser "Zhukov"

are to proceed to the Bombyx

Moons. Star Commandos will be

dropped onto the surface of the

Moons. Their mission is to

eliminate Necrons and all

Bombyx military and

communication installations

and personnel. In addition, all

structures connected with the

mining or utilisation of Talanite

are to be destroyed. Bombyx

civilians and their homes are to

be unharmed. Any commando

disobeying the rules of

engagement will be punished.

(It must be remembered we are

here to liberate these people.)

Equipment Details:

MURICC:

The Multi-Role Infantry Combat

Capsule or Death Scorpion MkIV

is the most powerful infantry

weapon developed so far.

The commando has a CAV

(Combat Action Visor) through

which he views the combat

area. Information is flashed up

around the visor through the

HUDWAS (Head Up Display

Weapon Aiming System). This

means the commando never

has to look down at the vehicle's

controls. Vision through the CAV

is aided by AVS (Augmented

Vision System).

AVS:

The commando can select from

4 modes of the electromagnetic

spectrum. Natural light is

basically equivalent to human

vision. Microwave can be used to

see through camouflage or

-------------------------

detect underground

installations. Infra Red detects

fast moving objects and Talanite

is sensitive to Ultra Violet.

Weapons:

The Death Scorpion is equipped

with a Tomatak particle cannon

capable of destroying most

mobile or small soft targets.

Please note after repeated fire

the cannon gets hot and its

effect weakens. It will be

necessary to close the target or

allow the cannon barrels to cool.

Armour Piercing (AP) missiles are

available for hard or buried

targets. Cluster Bomb (CB)

missiles take out large soft

targets. All weapons range to

the horizon.

Defence:

The cannon can be used in

defence - particularly in Sight

Mode. There are Sonic Stunners

which will temporarily paralyse

aliens. But beware! They will also

damage the Death Scorpion's

shields. An Electronic Warfare

(EW) system, capable of

exploding the proximity fuses

in Necron missiles, is a standard

fitting.

Threat Detection:

Death Scorpions are equipped

with a variety of threat detectors.

Around the AVS screen are 4

detectors which are activated

when different objects are in

range. The one marked 'B' lights

up when there is an above-

ground structure nearby.

Similarly, the 'T' detector

indicates a Talanite mine in close

proximity, while 'W' warns of a

weapon-armed alien. 'M' lights

up when a Necron missile is

about to strike the craft. In

addition, the "Coral Sea" will

beam down a message warning

when a Necron missile launch

occurs.

As an "extra" the Boffins have

fitted a sophisticated Electronic

Intelligent (Elint) computer. This

----------------------------------

identifies objects under the

gunsight and puts up a

message, and possibly a picture,

using HUDWAS.

Damage:

When a MURICC is hit by enemy

fire, the energy shields are

damaged. Their condition is

indicated on the 'E' light as a

two figure number. The shields

are part of the anti-grav thrust

motors which will fail when the

shields energy rating = 0. The

craft will then be destroyed by

the first alien to hit it.

Communication:

The are two communication

channels. Selecting the "Coral

Sea" channel puts out a

rendezvous call to the assault

carrier which is in low

geostationary orbit. You will be

tractor-beamed up. The

"Zhukov" channel requests heavy

fire support from the

battle cruiser. This will destroy

anything in the area and will do

some damage to your shields.

Naval heavy cannon also

overheat with repeated fire and

take a long time to cool.

Navigation:

The geocompass is used for

navigation.

Promotion:

You will be promoted if you

undertake successful missions.

Medals will be awarded for

distinguished service. Since the

Terran Star Commandos have

an exemplary combat record,

failure is not permitted. You will

start as a Drop Commando.

GAMEPLAY

A Kempston joystick can be used

to control movement. 'Fire' fires

the cannon or an armed missile.

For keyboard control -

'Y' = Forward, 'H' = Backwards,

'O' = Left and 'P' = Right. Key 'J'

substitutes for the fire button.

Spectrum 48:

The ten icons along the bottom

of the screen correspond to the

ten keys respectively on the

----------------------------

bottom row of the keyboard

reading from left to right. The two

raised "spaceship" ("Coral Sea" &

"Zhukov") keys correspond to the

far left and far right respectively

on the second row of keys from

the bottom.

Spectrum 128:

The second row of keys from the

bottom control the ten screen

icons starting from Left to Right -

'Caps Lock' to 'Caps Shift'

'Space' switches AVS to

Microwave, 'A' to Rendezvous

("Coral Sea") and 'Enter' for Fire

Support ("Zhukov").

Function

Asks assault carrier for a rendezvous

Function

Asks battle cruiser for fire support

Function

Arms AP Missile

Function

Arms CB Missile

Function

Sight mode puts the sight under joystick control

(for cannon or Elint). Press again to move normally

Function

Fire Sonic Stunner

Function

Activates EW system. Select a wave pattern

using the numeric keys 1 to 0 on the

keyboard and flick the joystick

left and right ('O' and 'P' for

keyboard) to change wave-

phase. Find the right pattern and

phase to destroy enemy missiles.

'Space' switches off the system.

Function

Asks Elint computer for an identification of

the object under the sight.

Function

Switches AVS to Natural Light

Function

Switches AVS to Infra Red

Function

Switches AVS to Ultra Violet

Function

Switches AVS to Microwave