The Earth Defence Force is the defensive military force of Earth and her colonies, disparagingly referred to as "The Drones" by the Red Faction.
The EDF exists as the occupying force of Mars, establishing a puppet state known as the Martian Council, with its capital in Eos, in the 50 years between the two Red Faction uprisings. Originally arriving at the end of the First Martian Revolution; When Earth begins to run out of its own natural resources, the EDF begins to morph into what the Ultor Corporation has been - a corrupt oppressive overlord. Martial law is enforced, rights revoked and the population subdued forcibly.
The Red Faction movement is resurrected in order to fight the EDF, and manages to liberate the sectors of Tharsis one by one. EDF forces then managed to cripple the organization by raiding their safehouse in the Badlands, but the remaining members form a shaky alliance with the Marauders in order to execute their plan and destroy the lingering threat of the E.D.S. Hydra, thus thwarting the Earth Defence Force's last card to keep control on Mars.
After the joint Red Faction-Marauder victory, there are still remnants active on Mars, but they are no longer in control.
History
An EDF propaganda poster
Presence on Mars
During the First Red Faction Uprising, the Earth Defence Force comes to Mars to liberate the miners from the oppression of the Ultor Corporation, and crush any remaining Mercenary forces. Seen as liberators and protectors, the EDF establish bases, checkpoints, and a military presence in order to maintain security in the region. The EDF begin terraforming Mars, and soon the planet develops a breathable atmosphere.
EDF Rule on Mars
"Ultor was so bad, they made the EDF look like good guys. The EDF are assholes now, and they were assholes then, but I'll take them over Ultor any old day."
-Old Coot (Parker)
With the so-called 'Martian Council' merely a puppet government, the EDF governed Mars for almost half-a-century, 50 years, between the demise of Ultor and their own demise in the Second Red Faction Uprising.
Unfortunately for the civilians and miners, Earth begins to run out of their natural resources and needs to secure its supply. The EDF become ever more controlling, eventually establishing martial law and soon begin to limit the rights of the civilians and miners in the Tharsis region. Corruption festered within its ranks, the EDF itself controlled by the corporations like the AmuRuKo Corporation.
Second Martian Revolution
In the midst of the EDF's war against the Marauders of the Mariner Valley region, the sister of Vasha, their leader, brakes away and rescues two Martian citizens from an EDF internment camp. Samanya, now an outcast, joins Dan Mason and Hugo Davies in their attempt to revive the Red Faction.
EDF and Red Faction shaking hands after victory against Ultor
The EDF wages a war against the emerging, fledgling insurgency in the Parker sector, established almost three years before, with little success. Eventually, though an EDF sting operation is successful in inserting an operative called "Leo" within Dan's team - massacring an entire village called Vetro to do so. Leo turns on them during a carefully laid set-up, killing the third member of their team, Tyrell, but he fails to kill Samanya and Dan after being shot by the former.
The Red Faction group is forced to scatter, unsure how much the data the EDF have gained from their informant. The cell reforms, however, at a new safehouse by the month's end.
Finally, however, it seems like the EDF have struck a breakthrough when they manage to kill one of the first three founders, Dan Mason. Unfortunately for them, his brother Alec Mason has recently arrived from Earth and upon his brother's death took up his mantle with much success.
Soldiers exiting an EDF Staff Car
The EDF under General Bertram Roth fought a losing war against the Red Faction, being pushed out of sector after sector. First to fall is Parker and then the guerrillas took the sector of Dust which is the EDF's key mining sector. The Town of Dust has artillery dropped on it to cover the EDF withdrawal. The sectors of Oasis and the Badlands fell soon after. Upon its exit from Oasis, EDF armor rolls into the Oasis Residential attempting to divert Red Faction attention. After the kidnap and interrogation of its mastermind, Colonel Joseph Broga, the Red Faction pushes through the EDF-established Free Fire Zone - a massive shooting range for their artillery, and enters their capital of Eos.
As the EDF defeat in Eos nears, the EDF control swings back into their favor when a member of the Red Faction, Randy Jenkins, secretly betrays the location of the Badlands safehouse. A massive EDF assault cripples the Red Faction killing many key members including their commander. With the imminent arrival of the E.D.S. Hydra, things look secure in the EDFs favor.
The surviving Red Faction create a shaky truce with the Marauders, routed the forces under the command of General Roth and destroying EDF Central Command. Together they use the Nano Forge, a piece of old Ultor tech which the EDF have attempted to capture but which has slipped through their fingers and into those of the Red Faction, to destroy the Hydra and its captain, Admiral Lucius Kobel. Although the Marauder leader Vasha died in this battle, joining Davies, it couldn't change the fact that EDF lost their last foreseeable chance at preserving their control on Mars.
In the immediate aftermath, the scattered remnants of the Earth Defence Force still fight on, refusing to surrender despite the hopelessness of their situation and the urging of the Red Faction in power.
Nevertheless, many of those loyal to the EDF persevered - notably the group which will come to be known as the White Faction, which secretes itself away in remote and hidden bases such as the Madler Crater. Exactly 25 years later, in 2150, these loyalists will make a new bid for power but it is thwarted by a kamikaze run from Alec Mason who proved to be their arch-nemesis even in death.
Weapons & Tactics
Infantry Weaponry
An EDF Training area
The EDF in the period of the second Red Faction uprising employ a large range of infantry weapons, mostly traditional projectile weapons but with some more advanced tech as well including homing rounds and super heavy metal slugs. The pinnacle of EDF weapons technology of the era is the singularity bomb with their most destructive weapons being the M.O.A.B.
Pistol - The pistol is the basic EDF side-arm, carried only by their lowliest troops. It can be, however, very accurate at range and deadly in trained hands.
Assault Rifle - The assault rifle is the standard weapon used by EDF troopers capable of sustained automatic fire.
Subverter - The Subverter is an automatic side-arm (similar to a TEC-9) which is employed by the EDF in the Battle of Mariner Valley.
Peacekeeper - The Peacekeeper is the EDFs automatic close-range shotgun, and is far more formidable against melee and close quarter attacks than the standard EDF Assault Rifle.
Sniper Rifle - Used primarily by EDF specialists, the sniper rifle is extremely deadly at all ranges.
Enforcer - Although not as hard-hitting as the EDF assault rifle, the Enforcer's homing projectiles more than made up for it in accuracy whilst firing on the move.
Gauss Rifle - A kind of heavy assault rifle, the Gauss Rifle is about as hard-hitting as they come - able to shoot down walls and tip vehicles.
Rail Driver - A weapon with a well-established history on Mars, Rail Drivers fires metal slugs at extremely high-velocity and could penetrate anything from vehicles to walls completely nullifying 'cover.' The EDF Rail Driver, like most, came with x-ray scopes allowing the user to see through solid objects making nowhere truly safe.
Singularity Bomb- About as cutting edge as military hardware could get, the EDF Singularity Bomb creates a micro-singularity which sucks up everything in its area from buildings to vehicles to people and compresses them, before exploding the matter outwards.
Vehicles
In its deployment on Mars, the Earth Defence Force utilized a large range of vehicles.
The EDF Scout Car is a high-mobility vehicle used by the EDF for patrols, fast-response and scouting around the time of the Second Martian Revolution.
The EDF Staff Car is a slower version of the Scout Car with twice the carrying capacity. It was often used for the transport of high-ranking personnel during the Second Martian Revolution.
EDF Armoured Personnel Carrier -
The EDF Armoured Personnel Carrier is the standard troop transporter of the Earth Defence Force during the Second Martian Revolution.
The EDF Cargo Truck, or Heavy Truck, is a rarely used military heavy hauler in EDF service during the Second Martian Revolution.
The EDF Medium Tank is a fast response combat situations vehicle, armed with cannon and coaxial HMG, used during the Second Martian Revolution.
The EDF Main Battle Tank is a bigger and stronger version of the Medium Tank, now used for main war and equipped with the same tank´s weapons (cannon and coaxial HMG).
The EDF Mobile Rocket Artillery is a powerful support tank, capable of unparalleled damage output equipped with 6 pods, with three missiles each with the same body as the EDF Main Battle Tank and even stronger armor.
The backbone of EDF air supremacy, EDF Flyers are the standard EDF aircraft during their control of Mars.
Used sparingly, the EDF Bombers are aircraft used on Mars during the Second Martian Revolution.
Used by the EDF in their first deployment on Mars against the Ultor Corporation, little is known about these as they do not appear in the latter half of the series.
Mounted Weaponry
In addition to EDF Infantry weaponry, guarding a compound with without firepower is not effective. Instead, stationary weaponry is set up:
- EDF Heavy Machinegun - The Primary defense weapon for bases and checkpoints. Fires 32 rounds per second.
- Gauss Turret - The mounted version of the Gauss Rifle. Fires destructive bolts.
- Plasma Turret - A rare mounted weapon. Fires blue missiles that are the equivalent of the Red Faction's Rockets.
Ranks
Ranks used by the Earth Defense Force:
- Admiral
- General
- Colonel
- Major
- Captain
- First Lieutenant
- Second Lieutenant
- Master Sergeant
- Sergeant First Class
- Staff Sergeant
- Sergeant
- Corporal
- Private First Class
- Private
Types
- EDF Grunt (Blue. Weaponry: Pistol, Rarely Assault Rifle) Appears throughout the sectors of Parker, Dust and rarely the Badlands.
- EDF Trooper (Brown. Weaponry: Pistol, Assault Rifle, Peacekeeper, rarely Enforcer, rarely Subverter.) Appears in almost all sectors but Eos. Very common.
- EDF Officer/Specialist (Brown. Weaponry: Sniper Rifle, Peacekeeper, rarely Gauss Rifle, Subverter.) Appears in almost all sectors, but rarely Parker. Provides support as a Sniper in Eos and sometimes in Oasis.
- EDF Elite Trooper (Brown. Weaponry: EDF Shield, Enforcer, Peacekeeper, Gauss Rifle.) Appears in most sectors except for Parker and Dust.
- EDF Heavy Trooper (Silvery White, Brown in Multiplayer. Weaponry: Gauss Rifle, Peacekeeper, rarely Assault Rifle, rarely Rail Driver.) Appears almost always in Eos and Mount Vogel.
Trivia
- No female EDF personnel are encountered in Red Faction: Guerrilla (with the exception of Arva Frost), though female EDF sailors can be seen in the Hydra and Bastille Day cutscene. This is most likely to avoid any negative controversy involving the game in the eyes of some game critiques since harming women in video games has been ill-perceived by the media in the past. It is also likely that women are not permitted to serve as troopers.
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