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