To: 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 interplanetary 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.

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.)

The Multi-Role Infantry Combat Capsule or Death Scorpion Mk IV 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).

The commando can select from four 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.

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.

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.

Death Scorpions are equipped with a variety of threat detectors. Around the AVS screen are four 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.

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.

There 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.

The geocompass is used for navigation.

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.

O - Left, P - Right, U - Forwards, H - Backwards, J - Fire

A Kempston joystick can be used to control movement. 'Fire' fires the cannon or an armed missile.

On the Spectrum 48K, 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 128K, 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").

1. Asks assault carrier for a rendezvous
2. Asks battle cruiser for fire support
3. Arms AP Missile
4. Arms CB Missile
5. Sight mode puts the sight under joystick control (for cannon or Elint). Press again to move normally
6. Fire Sonic Stunner
7. 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.
8. Asks Elint computer for an identification of the object under the sight.
9. Switches AVS to Natural Light
10. Switches AVS to Infra Red
11. Switches AVS to Ultra Violet
12. Switches AVS to Microwave

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