The ISA fleet designated Battle Group Mandrake was a military task force that participated in Operation Archangel during the Second Extrasolar War. Placed under the command of Colonel Jan Templar, Battle Group Mandrake, along with other battle groups, was part of the second wave of the assault force that invaded Helghan. It consisted of 24 ISA Cruisers, comprised of one division of ISA Legionnaires, and 10 divisions of ISA Marines under the flagship New Sun.[1]
History
Operation Archangel
Battle Group Mandrake arrived at Helghan in November 2359. Mandrake was directly deployed to the Helghast capital of Pyrrhus City to take the city and capture Autarch Scolar Visari.[1] ISA ships under Templar's command bombarded Pyrrhus as cover for a massive ground assault on the city. ISA ground forces faced fierce opposition from Helghast forces but were successful in capturing Visari Square and Radec Academy. However, the ground forces' advance on Visari Palace was stalled after the Helghast led by Colonel Mael Radec activated a network of Arc Towers hidden beneath Pyrrhus, killing hundreds of ISA troops.[2]
Mandrake then attempted to deactivate the Arc Towers by destroying the Petrusite distribution grid that powers Pyrrhus' defenses. But their assault came under surprise attack by Helghast forces led by Radec in which they boarded or destroyed several ISA cruisers, including the New Sun. Mandrake's flagship was taken by the Helghast and Templar was slain by Radec. Before Templar died, he maneuvered the New Sun to crash into the distribution grid, shutting down the Arc network and allowing the ISA an opportunity to renew their attack on Visari Palace.[3] But shortly after Templar's sacrifice, the Helghast detonated a Red Dust nuclear warhead over Pyrrhus, killing a majority of Mandrake's ground forces and any Helghast remaining in the city.[4] The survivors of the Battle Group, who were situated outside the city, launched a desperate offensive on Visari Palace to capture Scolar Visari. However, the ISA ultimately failed to capture Visari, who was killed at the hands of Alpha Squad's Sergeant Rico Velasquez.[5]
Following Visari's death, the surviving marines and naval evacuees of Battle Group Mandrake came under attack by a massive Helghast fleet of the Helghast First Army. Given orders to evacuate the planet, the ISA's ordered withdrawal soon became a rout, with many units isolated and destroyed piecemeal by the overwhelming and enraged Helghast forces. Further worsening matters, the remaining ISA cruisers that were unable to reach orbit were destroyed by Helghast MAWLRs, forcing the surviving ships to flee and abandon ISA personnel that remained on Helghan. The stranded ISA forces were left little choice but to hide and fight on for mere survival.[6]
Stranded on Helghan
Within a span of six months, the stranded ISA had split into two groups. One under Captain Jason Narville and the other under Rico Velasquez. Narville's group later established contact with Vekta, but learned that the Vektan colonial government capitulated to the Helghast's demands, agreeing to a ceasefire. Furthermore, the Vektan government ordered Narville to surrender himself and his men to the Helghast in order to be negotiated for their return as prisoners of war. But shortly after learning this news, Narville and his men were discovered and captured by Helghast soldiers under the command of Chairman Jorhan Stahl.[7]
Narville and the other prisoners were arranged to be publicly executed, but only to be rescued and reunited by Rico's forces. During the rescue, the ISA discovered Stahl plans to launch an invasion on the United Colonial Nations capital planet of Earth through the use of irradiated Petrusite weapons.[8]
Saving Earth and the Terracide
After overcoming numerous hardships and setbacks, the ISA remnants finally found a way to escape Helghan by boarding a Helghast space station and commandeered several transports. ISA forces led by Tomas Sevchenko and Rico Velasquez hijacked a pair Helghast Strike Fighters to attack Stahl's flagship, the Khage, from warping to Earth before destroying it with a nuclear missile. The cruiser's destructive payload was then detonated over Helghan due to secondary explosions, violently irradiating the entire planet, leaving only a fifth of the population alive and obliterating the entirety of a massive Helghast invasion fleet destined for Earth.[9] This devastation became known as the Terracide.
Managing to avoid the cataclysmic explosion in time, the survivors of Battle Group Mandrake then made their way back home to Vekta, but were horrified at what they had inadvertently done.
Aftermath
Out of the 180,000 men and women in Battle Group Mandrake that were sent to Helghan, only a few dozen soldiers and possibly a small amount of cruisers returned to Vekta. The troops that were involved in the Terracide likely went into hiding and have probably left Vekta altogether, in order to avoid the surviving and vengeful Helghast who were aware of their involvement. Most notably that of Tomas Sevchenko and Rico Velasquez, who were responsible for destroying Stahl's ship that led to the Terracide.[10]
Composition
Known ships
- ISSC New Sun (Flagship)
- ISA Arcturus
- ISA Bright Dawn
- ISA Compulsion
- ISA Cromwell
- ISA Dauntless
- ISA Denver
- ISA De Ruyter
- ISA Moor Time
- ISA Mora
- ISA St. Nicolaas
- ISA St. Paul
- ISA Zephyr
Personnel
| Name | Rank\Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Jan Templar | Colonel\Fleet Commander | K.I.A. |
| Evelyn Batton | Doctor | K.I.A. |
| Jason Narville | Captain | Alive |
| Mandaloniz | Captain | K.I.A. |
| Rico Velasquez | Master Sergeant | Alive |
| Tomas Sevchenko | Sergeant First Classs | Alive |
| Shawn Natko | Sergeant | Alive |
| Dante Garza | Lance Corporal | K.I.A. |
| Jammer | Corporal | Alive |
| Hooper | Corporal | Alive |
| Billinghurst | Corporal | Unknown |
| Kowalski | Corporal | K.I.A. |
| Richards | Private | Alive |
| Jeffries | Private | K.I.A. |
Trivia
- The Battle Group was named after the late General Mandrake, whom Templar met during the events of Killzone: Liberation.
- Battle Group Mandrake was just one of the many Battle Groups that took part in the Helghan invasion, however, not much is known about the rest of them. What happened to them in unknown, but, since the ISA forces were forced to withdraw from Helgan, it is unlikely that they were any more successful than Battle Group Mandrake. After the Vektan government ordered the ISA forces to evacuate, the other Battle Groups withdrew from the planet as well.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Timeline retrieved from the official Killzone website
- ↑ Killzone 2, campaign level Salamun Bridge
- ↑ Killzone 2, campaign level The Cruiser
- ↑ Killzone 2, campaign level Maelstra Barrens
- ↑ Killzone 2, campaign level Visari Palace
- ↑ Killzone 3, campaign level Pyrrhus Evac
- ↑ Killzone 3, campaign level Six Months On
- ↑ Killzone 3, campaign level Stahl Arms Infiltration
- ↑ Killzone 3, campaign level Interception
- ↑ Helghast Daily News, "Vektan War Criminals at Large"