Earth Defense Force

The Earth Defense Force (EDF) is the military of the Earth Government Colonial Alliance (EarthGov), enforcing its orders and protecting Earth and its various interstellar colonies.^[1]

History[]

Main article: History of Earth and the colonies

T Env Prop Sgn Ch09 StarsAreOurs 01 E PACKED 0 — An EDF propaganda poster featuring a Marine.

The Earth Defense Force was presumably formed with the founding of the Earth Government Colonial Alliance in 2314, shortly after the dissolution of the Sovereign Colonies administration that it replaced;^[1] the EDF was, thus, the successor to the SCAF.

As EarthGov's military, the EDF possesses a large fleet capable of protecting its interstellar colonies, overseeing and policing trade routes, and defending and rescuing civilian vessels from attacks by pirates and raiders.^[2] The fleet is also capable of blockading entire star systems during quarantine operations.^[3] Finally, the military operates EarthGov's Security Forces: elite corps of soldiers tasked with promoting peace through strength in certain colonies.^[4]

Operation: `WHITE LIGHT`[]

"CEC vessel USG Ishimura in breach of EarthGov system isolation order. Believed to have recovered Marker 3A. Special Ops has confirmed the system but unable to provide planet location. [...] OBJECTIVES: Secure Marker 3A. If infection is present, initiate sterilization protocol 'EURYDICE'. If infection is not present, initiate containment protocol 'APOLLO'. All personnel must, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, submit to full psychological examination during debriefing."

—EDF Chief of Staff's orders to the USM Valor.^[5]

CH08 0370 Valor Contact Videolog — Marine Commander F. Cadigan of the USM *Valor* during Operation: `WHITE LIGHT`.

Following the USG Ishimura's breach of government orders as it entered the restricted Aegis cluster, the EDF dispatched a heavily armed destroyer, the USM Valor, to hunt down and stop the Planet Cracker and to aid Kendra Daniels in her efforts to secure Marker 3A and cover up the incident. However, following an unexpected breach and Necromorph infection via a recovered escape pod from the Ishimura, most of the Valor's complement of Marines was slain; shortly after impacting the USG Ishimura, the USM Valor became unstable and exploded, leaving Daniels to attempt to complete the mission of retrieving the Marker on her own.

Post-Aegis VII Incident[]

DSR USM Valor Dead Marine — A decapitated Marine on the USM *Valor*.

In the weeks following the deaths of the USM Valor's Marines, the failure of Operation: WHITE LIGHT and the destruction of Aegis VII, an EDF fleet was sent to blockade and quarantine the entire Aegis system.^[3]

During this time, the EDF was involved in several missions: the destroyer USM Abraxis deployed a squad of Marines to investigate the damaged First Responder ship USG O'Bannon and recovered four survivors including Nolan Stross,^[2] while Isaac Clarke's shuttle was also discovered and seized by the military.

T Env Prop Sgn Ch09 EnemiesFriend 01 E PACKED 0 — A poster on an EDF destroyer showing the Marines' signature weapon, the Pulse Rifle.

EarthGov also searched for the Ishimura, which was sent drifting aimlessly into deep space with the destruction of Aegis VII. Eventually, its location was revealed to the EDF and a team of Marines departed the USM Victory aboard the shuttle USM Intrepid, intending to board the Ishimura and recover any evidence of the Marker. However, the team was tricked by illegal salvager Stefan Schneider into landing in a cargo bay infested by Necromorphs. The Marines were quickly slaughtered, leaving a pair of Oracles to continue the mission.^[3]

After these incidents, the EDF Marines presumably secured the Ishimura and brought it to Titan Station.

Titan Station Incident[]

"General Machette, this is Sergeant Fattouh, I've located the RIG signals for the remaining 143 sector G personnel. They are locked in and tracking to evac. Shuttle fleet confirms capacity, and are standing by. How did an evacuation get authorized? Tiedemann's going against every protocol for this situation. Now it's too late to stop it, and there's just a mad dash to get everyone off! He must feel responsible for what's happening, and is trying to save as many as he can."

—An EarthGov Security Officer about Director Tiedemann's actions on the Sprawl.^[6]

0349 sgn hallway4 poster long03 c.tg4h — An EDF Security poster on Titan Station.

The EDF's Security Forces were responsible for policing the Titan Sprawl's population during EarthGov's Project Telomere at the station's Government Sector. When the Necromorph outbreak broke out on the Sprawl following the creation of the Site 12 Marker and the sabotage of the project by Unitologists, Director Hans Tiedemann declared martial law and deployed the Titan Station Security Force to neutralize the creatures. Tiedemann also ordered the evacuation of the station despite it being against project protocols in the event of a breach.^[7]^[8]

The Security Forces followed Tiedemann's orders nonetheless, evacuating the surviving civilians and EarthGov personnel to a fleet of shuttles as the Necromorphs ravaged the station. All surviving squads eventually fell back to the Government Sector where they made a last stand against the Necromorph horde, being overwhelmed by the creatures before the destruction of the Site 12 Marker by Isaac Clarke completely evaporated Titan Station.

Unitologist Uprising[]

"EARTHGOV PIGS!"

—Unitologist graffiti found next to a pile of EDF corpses on the New Horizons Colony.^[9]

201333 — Special Ops Captain Robert Norton of the USM *Eudora* enlists Isaac Clarke's help during the Unitologist Uprising.

In concurrence with the crisis faced by EarthGov after Titan Station's destruction and the resulting public backlash,^[10] the EDF appeared to have suffered great losses in the fight against radical Unitologist members and factions like the Circle, which began conducting terrorist attacks on EarthGov's Marker test sites.^[11]^[12] Captain Robert Norton and Sergeant John Carver of the EDF Special Ops purported to be members of the military's last battalion when they secured Isaac Clarke on Luna's New Horizons Colony.^[9]

Organization[]

The highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the EDF is known as the Chief of Staff.^[5] On a governmental level, the EDF is administered by EarthGov's Department of Homeworld Security^[2] and headed by an official known as the Defense Secretary.^[3]

EDF Navy[]

DSR USM Valor Render Front and Aft — The *Destroyer*-class vessel USM *Valor*.

The EDF Navy (ship prefix "USM", or "United Spacefaring Military"^[13]) fulfills numerous responsibilities, from transport and supply to anti-piracy patrol operations and quarantine enforcement. The destroyers USM Valor and USM Abraxis contained a potent arsenal with powerful cannons and missiles, suggesting preparations for intense ship-to-ship combat as well.

Identified Vessels[]

Destroyers[]

USM Valor^[14] ― Heavily damaged; later destroyed
USM Abraxis^[2]
USM Victory^[3]

Shuttles[]

USM Intrepid^[3]

Special Ops Vessels[]

USM Eudora ― Destroyed

EDF Marines[]

T Env Prop Sgn Ch09 SeizeYourGlory 01 E PACKED 0 — A propaganda poster for the EDF Marines.

DS3 Special Forces Suit Concept 2 — The EDF Special Ops combat suit.

"EDF Navy destroyers defend key EarthGov locations and patrol outlying systems; its marines are known to be ruthless in their handling of pirates and other rogue elements."

—Official description^[1]

As part of the EDF Navy,^[1] EDF Marines wear distinctive white, skull-faced Advanced Soldier Suits and are armed with military-grade SWS Pulse Rifles, Plasma Pistols, assault rifles,^[2] Seeker Rifles, and Heavy Pulse Rifles. The Marines appear to be the premier military force of EarthGov, fighting in naval actions, piloting and defending EDF warships and boarding opponents, participating in planetary assaults, garrisoning EarthGov installations, and participating in SAR and retrieval operations.

EDF Navy warships are commonly fully crewed by Marines, with each ship's crew being divided into three teams: Navigation, Weapons and Engineering.^[15]

EDF Special Operations[]

The EDF Special Operations branch was responsible for providing intelligence to the Marines of the destroyer USM Valor prior to Operation: WHITE LIGHT in the Aegis system.^[5] The crew of the USM Eudora, notably Captain Robert Norton and Sergeant John Carver, are members of the EDF Special Ops branch.^[16]

The Special Forces Suit is the standard combat suit worn by EDF Spec Ops soldiers.

EDF Corps of Engineers[]

The Corps of Engineers is the military engineering branch of the EDF. The blue-colored Venture Suit is the standard RIG worn by the engineers of this branch, adopted after their victory at Europa's Conamara Chaos Iceworks during the Resource Wars.^[17] Austin Buckell was formerly a member of the EDF Corps of Engineers.^[18]

EDF Security Forces[]

EarthGov's Security Forces, such as the Titan Station Security Force and the New Horizons Security Force, are part of the EDF^[19] and serve as localized gendarmeries on certain EarthGov colonies, utilizing advanced military equipment such as Gunships for riot control. These security forces can make use of conscription,^[20] and violent crackdowns on demonstrations appears to be standard procedure.^[21]

Trivia[]

The EDF logo includes the Han character 天 (Chinese: tiān, Japanese: ten, ame, ama, Korean: cheon), meaning "heaven" or "sky", and resembles a Chinese dragon's face in the form of a spaceship.
As civilian ships under EarthGov's rule use the prefix "USG", which stands for "United Spacefaring Guild",^[22] it is very likely that the "USM" prefix stands for "United Spacefaring Military".