American Special Operations Unit

1. Summary

A clandestine American special operations unit of exactly 93 predefined operators guards the main facility of Schwarzwald from D3 downward. It is one of the two military forces at Schwarzwald, beside the Brazilian Armed Forces, and operates under its own threat system, territorial jurisdiction, equipment, organizational structure, reinforcement capability, and combat behavior.

What the two forces represent as forms of military opposition: See: Systems › Military Threat Levels. See: Factions › Brazilian Armed Forces.

2. Organization

The American contingent consists of exactly 93 specialized operators. Their organization is clandestine and does not resemble an ordinary American Army unit.

2.1 The Ninety-Three Operators

The operators' persistent identities and the finite size of the force are described with the enemy. See: Enemies › American Operator.

How a dead operator is identified: See: Systems › Dead Soldiers Registry.

2.2 Training and Equipment

The operators' training, equipment and dialogue are described with the enemy. See: Enemies › American Operator.

2.3 American Command and Security Systems

The operators answer to an American command. From D3 downward, the cameras that watch the base belong to the American security systems.

D4's Patrol Robots also report to American command: a robot that detects Edmund initiates a delayed alert transmission that reaches American command unless the robot is destroyed or permanently disabled first. See: Enemies › Patrol Robot.

How the operators detect, pursue and fight Edmund is described with the enemy. See: Enemies › American Operator.

3. History

Nobody knows where the unit's secret accesses are or why it exists. Hamish and Edmund talk about it during the game.

The United States has been part of Schwarzwald since American scientific and military personnel arrived in March 1942 to assume joint operations with Brazilian authorities. On March 1, 1999, Brazilian and American authorities ordered the complete isolation of the research complex. See: Factions › Project Schwarzwald. See: Timeline › Master Timeline.

4. Territory and Presence

American operators are confined to D3 and deeper sections of the main installation. They operate exclusively within the main facility, beginning at D3 and continuing through deeper levels. The unit never patrols the surface, D1 or D2.

It enters the base through secret accesses of its own. Its precise deployment route remains unknown to the player.

D3 relies on surveillance and American response troops; how its security works is described with the level. See: Places › D3.

5. Relationships

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5.1 Brazilian Armed Forces

Brazilian detection does not automatically trigger an American alert.

American detection immediately raises the Brazilian Threat Level to maximum.

When American command loses contact with all ninety-three operators, it calls on Brazilian military command for the maximum military response. The two independent Threat Levels and the intelligence American command shares are described with the Threat Levels. See: Systems › Military Threat Levels.

If military personnel identify an intruder and initiate a search, Hamish may be able to mobilize contacts from Chapter Two to seek a correction, false-alarm classification, or cancellation of the official search order, including appropriate reporting to American counterparts when relevant. See: Systems › Strategic Preparation.

5.2 The United States

The elimination of all 93 operators does not imply that the United States has abandoned Schwarzwald. What a new deployment would require: See: Enemies › American Operator.

5.3 Amanda

Once authorized to use the radio network, Amanda can attempt to cancel an American alert by transmitting a plausible explanation in the voice of a recognized commander. See: Characters › Amanda. See: Campaign › 7. A Question Of Trust.

6. Role in the Game

From D3 downward the unit is the human military threat. American involvement is influenced in part by Edmund's strategic choices in Chapter Two. See: Systems › Strategic Preparation.

• Behaviour, detection and combat. See: Enemies › American Operator.
• The American Threat Level and the event that follows the loss of all ninety-three operators. See: Systems › Military Threat Levels.
• The Full Military Siege. See: Systems › Persistent Consequences.
• Identification of dead operators by the number on the uniform. See: Systems › Dead Soldiers Registry.
• Cancelling alerts through the False Alarm quest. See: Campaign › 7. A Question Of Trust.

7. Open Questions

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