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________________________________________ | | | | | | | Facing The Empire | | version 2.05 | | | | | | User's Manual | | | |______________________________________| (C) Copyright 1986-1991 MVP SOFTWARE 1035 Dallas SE Grand Rapids, MI 49507 (616) 245-8376 Program conception and design by Peter J. Maida Version 2.05 programmed by David C. Snyder DISCLAIMER MVP SOFTWARE makes no warranties with respect to its pro- grams, with the exception that the customer shall be entitled to one (1) updated or modified version of the purchased soft- ware package for a fee of 50% of the price of the updated version and upon return of all copies of the original pur- chased program. The foregoing warranty is in lieu of all other warranties, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the im- plied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose and mer- chantability. In no event will MVP SOFTWARE be liable for consequential damages even if MVP SOFTWARE has been advised of such damages. If any of the provisions, or portions thereof, of this Dis- claimer are invalid under any applicable statute or rule of law, they are to that extent deemed to be omitted. MVP Software is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 or send a Compuserve message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. SPECIAL SHAREWARE NOTICE This version of Facing the Empire is distributed under the "user supported" or shareware concept. It is a full working version of the program. However, MVP Software receives no royalties from the distribution of this software and cannot support users who do not register their copies. If you enjoy this program, please register with MVP Software. If after a brief evaluation period you choose not to register, please pass along your copy to a friend who might enjoy the game. To register your copy of the program with MVP Software, please send the registration price of $15.00. If you register, you will receive the following: (1) The latest version of Facing The Empire. The program comes with a full 36 page printed documentation manual. (2) Telephone and mail support and bug fixes for a minimum period of one year from date of purchase. (3) The right to purchase new versions of the program for 50% off list price. (4) The knowledge that you have supported the development of reasonably priced game software. The author of Facing The Empire is a moonlighting US defense department sub- contractor who has devoted many hours to the development of the product. He receives royalties from the sale of the program. Your registration fee helps to support him in his programming efforts. (5) As a special incentive, if you register you will receive a free game software package. This package, called "Trekkie Fever," contains three graphics games guaranteed to keep you coming back for more. It is a $9.95 value, free with your registered copy of Facing The Empire. To register your copy of the program, send $15.00 in US dollars (purchase price) to: MVP Software 1035 Dallas SE Grand Rapids, MI 49507 There is an order blank on the last page of this documentation for your convenience. Or order by phone with MasterCard or Visa: (616) 245-8376 2 Facing The Empire Facing the Empire is a one-player interstellar conflict simulation. The object of the game is to drive the Morte Star Empire out of the stellar periphery of the Lyran Federa- tion. At the same time the 8 Lyran Star Bases must be pro- tected from attack by Morte ship groups. Internally the game is scored with points given for the destruction of enemy tar- gets, and the first side to reach 30 points will be victori- ous. The following 2 tables show the scoring for each side. Lyran Stellar Federation (the player) gets points for: Destroying a Morte ship group . . . . . 3 points Destroying a Morte base . . . . . . . . 10 points Destroying the Morte invasion HQ . . . 27 points Morte Star Empire (the computer) gets points for: Destroying a Lyran ship group . . . . . 3 points Destroying a Lyran colony base . . . . 7 points Destroying a Lyran fleet HQ base . . . 10 points Destroying the Lyran Home System Base . 30 points Initially the player's fleets are too weak to attack a Morte base. Also the 7 Morte active stars are hidden in the 64 stars of the Lyran stellar periphery. The player must build up the Lyran fleets, gather intelligence on the Morte, and search the stars for the Morte bases. At the same time the Morte are searching the stars for the Lyran bases. The Commander's Handbook describes in detail the assets and capa- bilities of the Lyran fleets. It also tells the player how the game is played and explains every option in the game. It ends by giving the player some tips for defeating the Morte Star Empire. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Facing the Empire requires an MS-DOS (or PC-DOS) compu- ter, with 128K RAM memory, at least one disk drive, a mono- chrome or color monitor, and DOS 1.00 or higher. The follow- ing files are supplied on the distribution diskette. FTE.COM -- This is the main game file. FTEINT.COM -- This initializes a new game, creating a new FTEGAME.DAT file. FTERANK.COM -- Program file to keep track of player's rank. 3 SHIP.COM -- Another program file. VICTORY.COM -- Still another program file. FTE.SCR -- Screen file. FTENEW.BAT -- Initializes a new game by executing FTEINT.COM and then FTE.COM FTEGAME.DAT -- Data file that contains all information on a game stopped in progress. FTEDEMO.DAT -- Sample FTEGAME.DAT file; rename to FTEGAME.DAT to play a game begun at MVP Software. FTEGAMVA.DAT -- Another data file used internally by the program. FTETEM.DAT -- Data file that holds some game details for game in progress. FTEPLAY.DAT -- Data file that stores players' names and current ranks. FTEFAIL.DAT -- Data file used in one end-game scenario. FTEDEFET.DAT -- Data file used in another end-game scenario. FTEVICT.DAT -- Data file used in still another end-game sce- nario. FTE.DOC -- Documentation file Any game stopped in progress may be saved in the file FTEGAME.DAT. The player may quit the game at the end of any command cycle (game turn), save the current game, and pick up at that point later. To resume an old game, or to play the game for the first time, place a game diskette in the A drive, and from the A prompt enter: FTE <RETURN> To create a new scenario and start a new game enter: FTENEW <RETURN> It will take between one and two minutes to create the new scenario and begin the game, depending on the speed of your computer. Each scenario is created randomly, and the odds of getting exactly the same one more than once are ex- tremely small. 4 Note: Before going any further, please make a working copy of your Facing the Empire distribution disk. To do so, first place a blank formatted disk in drive B and the Facing the Empire disk in drive A, which should be the logged drive. Type copy *.* b:, followed by <RETURN>. If you have a one drive system, place the system disk in the drive. Type DISKCOPY, followed by <RETURN>. Follow the directions on your screen until the diskcopy is completed. Now put the distribution disk in a safe place, and use only your new working disk. Do not place a write protect tab over the notch on the side of the disk. TROUBLESHOOTING All program files must reside on your working disk, and the disk must be in the logged drive for the program to oper- ate properly. If a file is missing an error message may be generated. If any other error occurs, it probably indicates a problem in the program. Recopy the files from the distribu- tion diskette onto your working disk. If that doesn't cor- rect the problem, please contact MVP Software with a complete description of what happened and what you were doing when it happened, and we'll correct the problem. If you're not a registered user, contact the people who supplied you with the program. We're sorry, but we cannot take care of problems encountered by unregistered users. 5 LYRAN STELLAR FEDERATION OFFICE OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT HISTORICAL EVENT RECORDING SECTION NOTES ON THE LYRAN/MORTENIAN CONFLICT LYRAN SECURITY LEVEL XR1: CLASSIFIED 1 DISTRIBUTION This document is meant to give our new Commander from Earth an idea of the events that led up to the present conflict. 2 LYRAN BACKGROUND Since the discovery of the Hyperspacial Field Controller over 100 years ago, the Lyran people have begun a slow, controlled and peaceful expansion into the galaxy. We have established 7 colonies away from our Home Star System, which have grad- ually grown into independent entities. As this took place, our form of government evolved from a Planetary Council into a Stellar Federation. Now each former colony is a full and active member of the Federation. From the industrial power of the natural-resource-laden Telas to the incomparable beau- ty of the green fields and blue mountains of Janolan, each contributes to the Federation in its own way. Since our first galactic expansion was so successful 15 years ago, The Federation Council unanimously approved the begin- ning of a second controlled expansion. It was during one of the initial exploration missions of this second expansion that we first found evidence of a hostile alien presence in the stars around us. 3 THE GALACTIC TUNNEL Upon their return from the stellar periphery, exploration missions began to report strange events. Mission commanders filed reports of a Hyperspacial Dampening Field that circled our local star group. We eventually discovered, to our amazement, that continual hyperspace travel could be under- taken in only 2 directions. It turns out that we are en- closed in an extended ring 32 lites in diameter -- a space tunnel, if you will. If a ship does not travel straight through the tunnel it eventually loses hyperspacial travel capability. We have also discovered that the Lyran Federa- tion is situated in the middle of this tunnel, what we now call "The Galactic Tunnel." Originally we did not know what this tunnel would mean for the future of our Federation. 6 4 THE DISCOVERY OF THE MORTE Approximately 2 Lyran years ago, a geological survey ship visiting a newly-discovered planet in our stellar periphery came upon a temporary camp on the surface of the planet. In- side the camp they found 4 aliens, dead. They died from a strange virus they acquired on the surface of the planet, previously unknown to their species, but to which Lyrans, fortunately, are immune. Among the documents and books in the camp was a classified manual listing requirements for choosing a planet for a military headquarters, and a military history of the Morte Star Empire. Our survey crew turned the information over to the local government of Janolan, who in turn gave it to the Stellar Federation Council. The Council ordered an immediate assessment of our military capabilities, and we have been building our defenses ever since. 5 THE MORTE STAR EMPIRE From the documents we were able to create a picture of the Morte Star Empire's recent history. The Morte moved out into space in warships. Over the past 75 Lyran years they have conquered 5 star systems around them that contained intelli- gent life. They briefly attempted to move into their entire galaxy, but recently realized that galactic domination was an unattainable and unworthy goal. Turning their attention in another direction, they discovered an imposing obstacle. The Morte come from an area of the galaxy just beyond the galac- tic tunnel. During their brief attempt to conquer their en- tire galaxy, they discovered the hyperspacial dampening field. From their perspective it created a wall 100 lites high and 200 lites wide. Since their warships could not move in hyperspace past the wall, they were bottled up in their local star group. However, apparently they then discovered the galactic tunnel, and that has led them into our stellar periphery. The Morte are large, imposing creatures, somewhat humanoid in appearance. But there are differences between them and us. The Morte found in the camp averaged 7 to 7.5 of your feet in height, and their weight averaged 320 pounds. They have re- tained large canine teeth from their early development. We hypothesize that they eat meat only, since they appear not to be omnivorous like most intelligent creatures. This may also be part of the reason that they developed into such a warrior culture. 7 6 WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP Once we realized that we would soon be facing an armed con- flict with a formidable enemy, we began to evaluate our situ- ation. We knew we have superior science and technology to build adequate defenses. In addition, centuries of peace has turned our culture into a highly prosperous one, so we have sufficient resources. Moreover, we have brave crews to man the ships and star bases. We realized, however, that we lack the ability to organize for battle and to direct in tactical situations. Our long peaceful period led us to neglect, per- haps foolishly, to train military commanders. Please excuse us if this sounds insulting, but your people seem to spend most of their time at war. As a result we went to earth to find a person who could direct our defensive effort. We have found that person in you. 8 LYRAN FEDERATION DEFENSE FEDERATION DEFENSE CAPABILITIES AND COMMAND RESPONSIBILITIES LYRAN SECURITY LEVEL XR3 COMMANDER'S EYES ONLY 1 OVERVIEW Welcome to the Lyran Stellar Federation! We are glad you have come to help. This document contains a complete des- cription of the bases, ships and special items that can be used to defend the Lyran Stellar Federation. It will be bro- ken into three (3) main sections. The first section will describe the present capabilities and assets of the Lyran Federation defense, assets that have been constructed and tested, and those awaiting authorization for construction. This will give you a complete picture of our means of de- fense. The second section will describe your duties and res- ponsibilities as Commander of the Lyran Federation defense system. Finally, the third section will brief you on all the intelligence we've gathered so far on the Morte Star Empire and their battle plan against us. The manual will end with a discussion of possible tactics, recommended by military con- sultants of our Federation, to use against the Morte. 2 FEDERATION DEFENSE ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES This section will acquaint you with our means of defending The Lyran Federation. The Federation is made up of 8 star systems. Each star system is defended by a star base. The home system of Lyra has the largest star base, and it is the headquarters of Lyran fleet 1. Lyra is designated as Lyran Star L1. Fleet 1 is also responsible for defending star base 5 and the colony of Adiam (star L5). Fleet 2 is headquar- tered at Telas (L2), and it is responsible for star base 6 and the colony at Tyrian (L6). Fleet 3 HQ is at Kelvin (L3), and it defends star base 7 and the colony of Uther (L7). Fleet 4 is headquartered at Arvon (L4), and it defends star base 8 and the colony of Janolan (L8). 9 2.1 UNITS OF MEASURE We use three units of measure to describe our ships and bases. The first unit is weapons. "Weapons" is a general term that includes Lyran ships, ship groups, and the bases' ability to defend themselves. Second, there is the lite jump. Our ships travel between stars in hyperspace jumps. The lite jump value (or level) of a ship is an indication of the num- ber of lites a ship can move in one hyperspace jump -- its speed, if you will. This unit has a different meaning for star bases, however. To propel ships away quickly our star bases have the ability to "hurl" a ship group away from the base. The distance in lites that a base can hurl a ship group is its lite jump level. This reduces the number of jumps it takes a ship or ship group to get to its destina- tion. But since the ship or ship group will not have the same advantage on its return trip to the base, coming home takes longer. Our third unit of measurement is EWS. This is an acronym for Early Warning System. EWS is a defensive in- telligence sphere that surrounds ships, ship groups and bases. The EWS level indicates the lite radius of the de- fensive sphere around the ship, ship group or base it covers. Although the EWS performs no actual physical defense (it is not a shield), it does provide advance warning of incoming alien forces. 2.2 SHIP TYPES We have the ability to construct 4 different types of ships. The Battleship is a fleet's basic ship. It is designed for battle. It has the second-largest weapons level (4), but its lite jump is less than the faster ships (6), it does not have any early warning capability, and it does not have the abili- ty to carry probes. The Ewsship is built to give a fleet mo- bile early warning capability, but its weapons level is mini- mal (2). It depends on other ships in a ship group for de- fense. However, it has an early warning capability that will put a 3 lites radius sphere around the ship group that it is in. The Ewsship also has the ability to carry 1 probe on a mission. Presently, each of the 4 fleets contains 5 Battle- ships and 1 Ewsship. The next 2 types of ships are newer designs. We have not yet constructed any of them. It will be up to you to authorize construction of any additional ships of any type. The third type of ship is called a Trackership. It is an upgrade of the Ewsship. It is stronger, with a weapons level of 3. Al- though its lite jump capability is 7, when it is in a group with slower ships it will slow down to their level to stay with the group. It also has an improved EWS capability (lev- el 4), and it can carry 2 probes. The final ship type is the designer's pride and joy. It is called a Dreadnaught. This 10 massive ship is powerful, yet fast and strong. Its weapons level is 8, but it has a EWS and probe-carrying capacity of a Trackership and a lite jump of 8. Details on construction of these ship types are in the project management section of this manual. On the following page is a chart illustrating the four ship types and their various capacities. LYRAN SHIP TYPES ship weapon lite probe type level jump EWS capacity -------------------------------------------------- Battleship 4 6 0 0 Ewsship 2 6 3 1 Trackership 3 7 4 2 Dreadnaught 7 8 4 2 2.3 FLEET ORGANIZATION Each fleet can maintain up to 15 ships. Each fleet must de- fend its fleet headquarters and its companion colony star base, and each has its own project management and mission planning. It will be up to you to coordinate the activity of all 4 fleets to shape the Lyran defense. On the following page is a layout of the initial status of the Lyran Federa- tion defense. Each fleet has: 5 Battleships and 1 Ewsship Home System Fleet HQs Colonies Star Base 1 Bases 2-4 Bases 5-8 -------------------------------------------------- Weapons 4 3 2 Lite Jump 4 3 2 EWS 4 3 2 Base capabilities can be upgraded through projects. New ships of any type may be constructed in the fleets (to a max- imum of 15 ships per fleet). The capabilities of the ships cannot be upgraded. Should we be in a position that we need a certain type of ship, and the fleet is full, an existing ship may be converted to another type of ship. The Dread- naught is the exception to this. A ship cannot convert to a Dreadnaught. If a ship is damaged in battle it may be brought back to full strength by converting it to its own type. A damaged ship will be indicated on your command screen by a dash in front of its number. 11 2.4 PROBE TECHNOLOGY Probe technology is a new area of defense development. The word "probe" is a purposeful misnomer requested by Lyran se- curity to mask the capabilities of these effective tools. There are 3 different types of probes. The first, called a passive probe, is a communication interception device. When planted in a star system the probe scans for Morte signals. Morte ships report to their home base between each hyperspace jump. The effectiveness of the probe is range-dependent. When a Morte ship is within 1 lite of the probe the probe is 100% effective. The percentage drops to 50 at a distance of 10 lites, and to 0 at a distance of 20 lites. It is expected to be a great asset for gathering Morte ship movement intel- ligence. The second type of probe, called an active probe, is a device that will mask the actual battle strength of a ship or ship group. For each active probe carried by a ship or ship group the total apparent weapons level of the group will rise 3 levels. This will be needed most when establishing pseudo bases. (See pseudo base tactics in section 3 for details.) The third type of probe is an explosive probe. These are es- sentially space mines. When a Morte ship group enters a star system that contains an explosive probe, the probe will ex- plode, causing light to fatal damage to the ship group. They are expected to be good tools for softening up large Morte groups. Passive and explosive probes must be carried and planted in star systems by ships. All ships except Battle- ships can carry probes. The Trackership and Dreadnaught can carry 2 probes, and the Ewsship can carry 1 probe. Probes are constructed as authorized by you. 2.5 CONCLUSION This ends the general description of the Lyran Federation de- fense assets and capabilities. We feel we have the capabili- ties needed to drive the Morte from our space. We need your leadership to accomplish the task. 3 COMMAND DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES This section of the document will describe your responsibili- ties as Commander of the Lyran defense. Your three main are- as of responsibility will include project management, mission planning, and tactical direction. Each fleet will require guidance in each of these three areas. Project management and mission planning will require your input on every command cycle during the conflict. To help you with decisions, the combined Lyran intelligence service will provide you with an overall conflict assessment between each command cycle. 12 3.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT "Project Management" is a fleet's means of growing in size and strength. Because of industrial limitations, each fleet is limited to working on 1 project at a time. That is where your guidance is crucial. The projects that can be worked on vary, and so you must decide which projects the 4 fleets will undertake. The number of command cycles to complete a pro- ject varies with the complexity of the project. The follow- ing paragraphs will contain a brief description of each pro- ject, and how it is initiated from your command screen. 3.1.1 PROBE CONSTRUCTION Probe construction is the first option under project manage- ment. As explained earlier under probe technology, there are 3 types of probes: passive, active and explosive. You may construct 2 probes of 1 type at a time. It takes 1 command cycle to construct 2 probes. The status of available probes will be in the upper right of the command screen. To con- struct probes enter a zero (0) at the project management prompt. Then enter the number of the type of probe that you wish to construct (0-passive, 1-active, 2-explosive). If you enter the probe construction area by mistake, you may return to the project management prompt by entering a 3. 3.1.2 SHIP CONVERSION Ship conversion is the second option under project manage- ment. Ship conversion has 2 uses. You may have a fleet that is full, and for some reason you need a specific type of ship that is not in the fleet. You may not construct another ship if the fleet is full, but you may convert an existing ship to another type. The Dreadnaught is excluded from this process. Because of its revolutionary and unique design, conversion to it from another hull type is impossible. The second use for ship conversion is to repair ships damaged in battle. To re- pair a ship damaged in battle, just convert the ship to its own type. When the ship is repaired, it will be stationed at the fleet headquarters. The following table shows the number of command cycles it will take to make the ship conversions. Battleship Ewsship Trackership -------------------------------------------------- Battleship 1 2 3 Ewsship 2 1 2 Trackership 3 2 1 13 To convert a ship enter a 1 at the project management prompt. Next, enter the number of the ship to be converted. The ships of the fleet are listed in the upper center on your command screen. Damaged ships are marked by a minus (-) sign to the left of the ship number. Finally, enter the number of the type of ship into which you wish to convert the first ship. If you enter the ship conversion area by mistake, en- ter a 3 to get back to the project management prompt. 3.1.3 SHIP CONSTRUCTION Each fleet initially contains 6 ships (5 Battleships and 1 Ewsship). Ship construction is the means of adding new ships to the fleets. Each fleet may construct ships until the fleet contains 15 ships. It is up to you to authorize con- struction and to choose which types of ships will be con- structed, and at what times. Each ship has its own special- ties. The more complex the ship the longer it takes to con- struct. The following table will show you how many cycles it takes to construct each type of ship. Ship type Command cycles -------------------------------------------------- Battleship 1 Ewsship 2 Trackership 3 Dreadnaught 6 To construct a ship enter a 2 at the project management prompt. Then enter the number of the type of ship to con- struct. If you enter the ship construction area by mistake, enter a 4 to return to the project management prompt. 3.1.4 STAR BASE UPGRADE There are 8 Star Bases in the Lyran Federation defense. They are the heart of the defense organization. Four star bases (1-4) serve as fleet headquarters, and four star bases (5-8) are colony bases. Section 1 described the relationship be- tween the fleet headquarters, star bases and the colony star bases. The following table summarizes that relationship. Fleet star base Companion colony star base -------------------------------------------------- 1 5 2 6 3 7 4 8 14 During the project management phase for a fleet, you may authorize the upgrade of a star base attribute on either the fleet HQ star base or the companion star base. As described in section 1, the three star base attributes are weapons, lite jump and EWS. Lyran intelligence indicates that the Morte ships have extensive lite jump capability, and the col- ony base EWS levels will have a slim chance of detecting their approach to the bases. The table on the following page shows the number of command cycles it will take to upgrade each star base attribute. Star base attribute Command cycles -------------------------------------------------- Weapons 1 Lite jump 2 EWS 3 To upgrade a star base attribute enter a 3 at the project management prompt. Then enter the number of the star base to upgrade. The fleet HQ and companion star base numbers can be found in the star base display at the lower right of the com- mand display. That display also shows the present status of each star base attribute. Finally, enter the number of the star base attribute that is to be upgraded. If you enter the star base upgrade area by mistake, enter a 3 to return to the project management prompt. 3.1.5 FINAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT OPTIONS Many of the projects take more than one cycle to complete. When a fleet is working on a project a new project cannot be started until the present project is completed. There may be a situation when a fleet is working on a multi-cycle project, and it becomes important to begin a different one. The only way to begin the important project is to cancel the multi- cycle project that is under way. To cancel an ongoing pro- ject enter a 4 at the project management prompt. When a fleet has a project under way, the status of the project will be displayed at the lower right of the project management list. When a project is under way and you want it to continue sim- ply enter a 5 at the project management prompt. This will end the project management options for that fleet on that command cycle. 15 3.2 MISSION PLANNING Each fleet may deploy ships to its companion colony base, plant probes to gather intelligence and to destroy Morte groups, and seek out and destroy Morte bases. Ships move from star bases on missions. These missions are set up by you under the mission planning options. There are 7 options under mission planning. Five of the options actually direct ships on missions. Option number one is for planning analy- sis, and option number 7 is your method of ending the mission planning for the fleet on that command cycle. You may con- duct as many missions as you like on each command cycle. 3.2.1 LIST THE 17 CLOSEST STARS This option gives you an opportunity to analyze the 17 stars closest to the star base. If you select it, it will list the stars in the order of their distance from the base. Informa- tion given includes star number, the distance of the star from the base in lites, the status of the star, and an indi- cation if any Lyran ship groups are headed to the star. The table on the following page shows each of the values that can appear in a star's status. Status value Description -------------------------------------------------- 1 Star has been investigated 2 A passive probe is planted in the system 3 An explosive probe is planted in the system 4 Both probe types are planted in the system 5 A Morte active star system 6 Pseudo base is in a star system To list the 17 closest stars, enter a 1 at the mission plan- ning prompt. The 17 closest stars can be viewed from the fleet HQ star base, or from the companion colony star base. The next thing to enter is the number of the star base from which to start the listing. The star map at the left of the command display will disappear, and the listing of the 17 stars will appear in its place. This option has a second use. You may find out the distance and status information for one particular star at a time. To do this, instead of entering the star number to the base from which to leave, enter instead the negative of the base num- ber. For example, to see the distance of a particular star 16 from star base 1, at the base prompt enter -1. Then you will be prompted for an end point star number. Enter the number of the particular star in which you are interested. The in- formation will be displayed in the upper left part of your command screen. You will then be prompted for another end point star number. You may keep entering star numbers up to a maximum of 17. To exit this process, enter just <RETURN> to the prompt for an end point star number. 3.2.2 FORMING A SHIP GROUP All missions undertaken from Lyran star bases are accom- plished by ship groups. A ship group may contain from 1 to 10 ships, and the ships will be selected by you for the re- quirements of the mission. The information that you must en- ter to form a ship group and send it out is listed in the following table. Information needed to form a ship group 1. Number of the star base from which it will leave 2. Number of ships that will be in the group 3. Number of each ship in the group 4. Type of probes to be carried on the mission (if any) 5. Number of the star that is to be the destination After selecting a particular mission, you must enter this in- formation. First, you will be prompted for the number of the star base from which the ships will leave. Next, the fleet will request the number of ships in the group, then the ship numbers. Make sure you check the status of the ships, listed in the upper center of your command screen. Only ships pres- ently at the star base specified as the star base to leave from can be used in the mission. After the ship numbers are entered, you must specify the type of probes to be taken (if any). If there is no probe-carrying group, the fleet will alert you to this fact in case you did not realize it. At this point you may redo the ship group to add a probe-carry- ing ship. If the mission requires a probe-carrying ship, and one is not available, you can cancel the mission and return to the mission planning prompt. The final piece of informa- tion required to undertake the mission is the destination star. Once that is entered, the mission will begin. 17 3.2.3 PSEUDO BASE CONTROL A pseudo base is a group of ships which together create the illusion of a full Lyran star base. This section will dis- cusses in detail the tactic of using pseudo bases. In gen- eral, pseudo bases confuse the Morte's ability to gather ac- curate data, thus delaying their readiness to invade. To keep up the illusion, a ship group must remain on station at a star system for an extended period of time. However, the ship group can only take enough supplies to remain on station for 10 command cycles. To remain on station longer, the pseudo base must be main- tained. The maintenance of a pseudo base requires you to send a supply ship to the group before their supplies run out. The supply ship will carry enough supplies to allow the ship group to remain at its pseudo base for another 10 com- mand cycles. When you decide that the pseudo base is no longer needed, you can request that it be dismantled and that the ship group return home. A pseudo base must be made up of a minimum of 3 ships, one of which must have early warning capability. As a result, the ship group cannot be made up entirely of Battleships. Since the pseudo base will remain stationary over many command cycles, it will have a higher chance of encountering Morte groups than would a moving ship group. One way to avoid attack on a pseudo base is to make it appear stronger than it is. The ship chosen for its EWS capability will also have probe-carrying capability. A ship group's apparent battle strength could be increased by 3 lev- els for each active probe that is taken on the mission. The three missions that involve pseudo base activity are covered separately below. To enter pseudo base control, enter a 2 at the mission planning prompt. 3.2.3.1 START A PSEUDO BASE To start a pseudo base, enter a 1 at the pseudo base control prompt. Next, form a ship group as described above. While forming the group, the fleet will remind you that 3 ships are required for a group, and that 1 of them must have EWS capa- bility. 3.2.3.2 MAINTAIN A PSEUDO BASE To maintain a pseudo base, enter a 2 at the pseudo base con- trol prompt. Next, form a ship group composed of 1 ship. Any type of ship can be used to supply a pseudo base. The number of the destination star will be the star number of the pseudo base. When the supply ship reaches the pseudo base, the base will be resupplied, and the supply ship will return to base. 18 3.2.3.3 DISMANTLE A PSEUDO BASE When a pseudo base has outlived its usefulness and is to be dismantled, have the ships return home by entering a 3 to the pseudo base control prompt. Next, the fleet will request the number of the ship group at the pseudo base. The ship group will then return home. 3.2.4 PLANT HYPERPROBES Hyperprobe is the full name for the 3 types of probes. Of the three types of probes, the passive and the explosive may be planted in a star system. As explained in section 1, pas- sive probes will intercept Morte messages, and explosive probes are essentially space mines. To plant hyperprobes, enter a 3 at the mission planning prompt. Then form a ship group as described earlier. Make sure a probe-carrying ship is in the ship group. 3.2.5 INVESTIGATE A STAR SYSTEM We may end up in a situation in which we do not have any probe-carrying ships available, or there are no probes avail- able, but there is a star system that we want to check out. In such a situation a group of Battleships may be sent to in- vestigate a star system. Their entire mission will be to go to the star system, check for possible Morte activity, and return. To investigate a star system, enter a 4 at the mis- sion planning prompt. Then form a ship group in the usual manner. 3.2.6 ATTACK THE MORTE When a Morte base is located and identified, a fleet may mass to attack it. The fleet will only attack Morte bases that are officially identified and which appear under the "Morte Stars" heading on your command screen. Up to 12 ships may be put into a ship group to attack a Morte base. To attack a Morte base, enter a 5 at the mission planning prompt. Then form a ship group in the usual manner. When the group reaches its destination it will go immediately to the attack. 3.2.7 DEPLOY SHIPS Deploying ships is our means of moving ships between a fleet headquarters and its companion colony star base. You probab- ly will use it several times for each fleet to keep both star bases properly defended. To deploy ships, enter a 6 to the mission planning prompt. Then form a ship group described earlier. Do not take probes on a deployment mission. They will not help, and a ship cannot dock at a star base when it is carrying probes. 19 3.3 TACTICAL DIRECTION There are two situations in which we expect to need tactical direction. First, anytime our star base early warning sys- tems pick up Morte warships we will need your input to make the next tactical move. The question at that point will be if we should intercept the group. The normal star map at the upper left of the command display will be replaced by a map showing the star base and the Morte ship group. The ship group will be indicated by a number, which will be the ap- proximate battle strength of the Morte group in units of War- ships. You will have to decide to intercept or not inter- cept. To intercept and fail would not only result in the in- tercepting ships being destroyed, but it may also leave your star base open to attack by the surviving Morte ships. If you do not intercept, and allow the Morte ships to close on the base, the Morte may scout the base and disappear into hyperspace without attacking. Successfully scouting our base will move their readiness to invade forward a significant amount. The second situation is when our ship group's EWS picks up a Morte group either at another star system or in deep space. In this case there will be three options. You may continue on with the group's original mission, you may have the group abort its mission and intercept the Morte group, or you may have the ship group abort its mission and reverse course to avoid being intercepted by the Morte group. These options are only available when the ship group is moving away from its star base. When returning to the base the group will not have enough fuel to change course. If you decide to inter- cept or reverse course, the group's mission will be aborted, and if the group is carrying any probes, they will be jet- tisoned so the ships can return to base. 4 INTELLIGENCE AND TACTICS 4.1 INTELLIGENCE ON THE MORTE BATTLE PLAN 4.1.1 MORTE STRIKE BASES From all of our sources of intelligence, we have deduced that the Morte are employing 7 star systems somewhere in the 64 stars that we call our stellar periphery. Four of the sys- tems are being used as strike bases. According to the mater- ial found on the dead Morte plague victims (see your intro- ductory notes on the history of the present crisis), the Mor- te plan to first scout the star systems with intent to pin- point our star bases and analyze our strength. When they be- lieve they have enough data they will mass and attack our star bases in waves. The scouting will be the responsibility of the four Morte strike bases. They will send out scout 20 groups of unknown size and battle strength. Their first pri- ority is to scout our bases and transmit back the informa- tion. However, according to recent information obtained at great cost, the Morte ship group commanders have latitude to attack our star bases if they feel they can destroy them. 4.1.2 CONVERGENCE STARS We have also found out that the Morte will use 2 of their stars as convergence stars. The Morte movement will be from their base to one of these convergence stars, then to their target star. This pattern is intended to mask the location of their star bases. We believe that these convergence stars will be excellent places to plant our probes (both passive and explosive). We also believe that the Morte traffic around those stars will be high, and that a probe-planting mission will run a significant risk of encountering a Morte ship group somewhere near the star system. 4.1.3 MORTE INVASION HEADQUARTERS The final Morte-controlled star will hold what is listed in the Morte material as the Morte Invasion Headquarters. This headquarters will collect all of the information from their scouting reports and decide when to invade. The leader of the Morte fleets (one they call the Supreme Battle Commander) controls their battle plan from this headquarters. If we could destroy this headquarters we are convinced the Morte organization would come apart and they would flee our space. To destroy the Morte Invasion Headquarters would take a great effort. Another piece of intelligence recently acquired in- dicates that the Morte are holding a full fleet in reserve at the headquarters until they are ready to invade. This fleet will include the Supreme Battle Commander's Morte Imperial Flagship. The exact strength of this ship is unknown, but we expect it to be at least the size of our Dreadnaught class ships. 4.2 CONFLICT TACTICS A massed Morte invasion armada is expected to be extremely difficult to defeat. All strategic and tactical analysis in- dicates that we will be in much better shape if we are able to drive them out of our space before they mass to invade. While we are building strength we are going to need good in- telligence on their scout group movements, good scouting of our own to find their bases, and a method of confusing their search patterns. 21 4.3 INTELLIGENCE GATHERING The most effective way to collect intelligence on the Morte ship movements is to build a network of passive probes in star systems around the 8 star bases. A set of passive probes planted in star systems close to our star bases may serve as an advanced warning system. They will give us a chance of being alerted to Morte ships moving towards our bases before they get there. Probes planted in star systems further out may give away a convergence star or a Morte strike base. Information from planted probes may also give us a chance of detecting Morte ship groups. A passive probe is expected to intercept messages going between the Morte scout group and its base. Each time the scout comes out of hyperspace it will report to its base. The decoder sections in the combined Lyran intelligence service are designed to pick out the Morte group's destination, and to deduce from the the message the number of command cycles it will take be- fore they get there. With that information you may consider intercepting a Morte ship with either a stronger group of our own ships, or by getting to the star system first and planting an explosive probe in their path. The former move would insure the destruction of the Morte ship group, but with the risk of losing some of our ships. The latter move has little risk to our ship group, but it also has little chance of totally destroying the Morte group. 4.3.1 PSEUDO BASES Our intelligence service has been very effective against the Morte so far. We are afraid the Morte's intelligence service has been equally effective against us. We are getting indi- cations that the Morte are almost convinced that our 8 star bases are somewhere in the 16 stars that we label stars 1 through 16. And they are correct! They are expected to con- centrate their scouting efforts in our area. We must shake their confidence in their theory. Pseudo bases will be one way of confusing them. When a base is established it will beam signals out that will indicate to the Morte that there is a Lyran star base at a star numbered higher than L16. We expect the confusion will force them to search an extra 8 stars for every base that we keep active. In other words, we think that if we keep up 1 pseudo base the Morte will search 24 stars. If we keep up 2 pseudo bases they will search 32 stars, and so on. 4.4 WRAP UP Commander, you now know all we can tell you about the Morte and our own analysis of the situation. It is up to you now. Good Luck -- the fleets and our entire defensive force stands ready to follow your leadership. 22 4.5 ADDENDUM We have received new information and have developed some new capabilities since this handbook was written. Following is a description of this new data. 4.5.1 FOUR SKILL LEVELS Since we recognize that new Commanders may not have the same skill as seasoned veterans, once you take command for the first time, you will be assigned the rank of NOVICE. However, as you successfully complete your assignments, you will rise through the ranks to CAPTAIN, COMMANDMANT, and finally, ADMIRAL. Admiral is a rank of highest distinction, and will be conferred only on those Commanders who distinguish them- selves in numerous campaigns. As you rise through the ranks, the Morte will become more and more powerful. Thus, each rank is more difficult to attain, but more rewarding. You achieve promotions not only for defeating the Morte invaders, but for doing so while preserving as many Lyran bases as possible, suffering the fewest defeats on ship groups, and completing your mission in the fewest Command Cycles. Losing campaigns may cost you a step in rank. 4.5.2 SOUND ON/OFF Because we recognize that you may wish to turn the sound off, at the beginning of each command session you will be asked if you wish the sound to be turned on. During your command ses- sion, you can toggle sound on or off by pressing "S" when the prompt "Press any key to continue" appears on your command console. 4.5.3 SHIP CAPABILITIES Our Dreadnaught class ship now has two new capabilities. When it is a part of any ship group, in a battle with Morte ships or a Morte base, the Dreadnaught will absorb the Morte salvos first, protecting the other ships in the group. If the Dread- naught ship is damaged by the Morte fire, it has the ability to repair itself en route back to its Star Base. However, should the Dreadnaught be destroyed, of course it cannot be repaired. We feel this ability is crucial to the Dreadnaught class ships since they cannot be repaired at a Star Base. Sometimes ship groups encounter several Morte ship groups at once, before returning to base. If a Dreadnaught ship sur- vives all of these battles, it will repair itself. However, it cannot repair itself between battles, since the time inter- val is too short. 23 Unfortunately, with these additional capabilities Dreadnaught ships now require six Command Cycles for construction instead of five. 4.5.4 COMMAND DISPLAY: SHIP WEAPON STRENGTH When one of our ships has been damaged, it loses weapon strength. Once its weapon level is reduced to 0, it is destroyed. An exception to this is when the ships at a pseudo base run out of supplies. When this happens their weapon strength is reduced to 0, but they are not destroyed unless they encounter a Morte ship group on their return to base. Your Command Display Console will show a red number in paren- theses behind every damaged ship telling you what its weapon strength is. 4.5.5 TACTICAL IMPROVEMENTS When forming ship groups, you now may take ships from both the main base and the companion base to form one ship group. How- ever, there must be at least as many ships at the base from which the group is leaving as is included in the group. So, for example, if you have 10 ships stationed at Lyra 1 and 5 ships at Adiam 5, you can form a group of up to 10 ships to leave from Lyra 1, but you can take up to 5 of those ships from Adiam 5. All ships will return to the base designated as the base from which they left, regardless of their previous station. 4.5.6 CANCELING A PROJECT To prevent inadvertant cancellation of a project, you will be asked to confirm this selection from your command console. 4.5.7 QUITTING THE GAME In addition to quitting the game at the end of any command cycle, you may also quit at a "Strike any key to continue" or "Enter your option." prompt. When you do this and elect to save the game you will lose the remainder of the current command cycle. To quit the game at these prompts press ESC. 4.5.8 WRAP UP Well, commander, the rest is up to you. We have done every- thing we can to give you the latest in Lyran technology and defense capabilities. We are counting on you to drive the Morte from our interstellar periphery. 24 Order Form Please send me the latest version of Facing The Empire, along with "Trekkie Fever." Enclosed is $15.00. Name __________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City ___________________________ State ____ Zip __________ Computer make and model _______________________ Disk size (circle one) 5-1/4" 3-1/2" I purchased my original shareware diskette from: ___ shareware vendor ___ BBS ___ other (check one) Company name ___________________________________ Address ________________________________________ City, State, Zip _______________________________ For credit card orders only: MC/Visa number _________________________________ Expiration date ____________________ MP