Bravo Company is the military force of the USA in Vanquish. A successor to the modern day Uunited States Marine Corps, Bravo Company was tasked with bringing Providence back into United States control. They are a task force that consists of elements of space-based special operations forces, Marines, and the remnants of the forces that were previously stationed upon the American space colony. The unit is led by Lt. Col. Robert Burns in the fight to reclaim the space colony from the Russian forces. Bravo Company was enlisted to combat the Order of the Russian Star onboard Providence. After suffering enormous casualties, Robert Burns was ordered by Elizabeth Winters to aim Providence at Moscow, in the hopes of damaging their enemy sufficiently enough to prepare for war. This plan inevitably failed when Robert Burns was hurt in a fight with Sam Gideon in Providence’s main control room. Seeing what had become of the catastrophic Battle of Providence, President Elizabeth Winters took her own life to avoid the investigations into her actions and her term in office.
Leaders
Elizabeth Winters is the President of the United States in Vanquish. In the start of the game, it is said that she became the first woman president of America. There is also a part where it says that she was romantically involved with Robert Burns. She is the president of the US when the Order of the Russian Star (Russian extremist) use space colony Providence to use its massive power stored to destroy San Francisco, threatening that if the US doesn't give its complete surrender they will destroy New York. The US sends marines to the russian captured space colony in response to their threats. Later it is shown that the russian extremest and Elizabeth are working together. The Order of the Russian Star tells Elizabeth that their "Alliance" has ended, consequently she tells Robert Burns to point Providence's laser toward Moscow. she commits suicide after the destruction of Providence.
Robert Burns is one of the main characters that appear in Vanquish. He acts as the commander-in chief for the USMC, and is assisted by the main protagonist, Sam Gideon, on the battlefield. Burns is a commanding officer within the US Marine Corps, and leads Bravo Company, the task force assigned to reclaim the space colony from Russian forces. A decorated hero, Burns has been awarded the silver star and the navy cross for his service. At age 48, he still fights with conviction and has replaced more than half of his body with bionics so he may continue to fight. Burns later betrays Sam Gideon, after he was ordered to turn Providence on Moscow by President Winters. You go through a lot of stages, fighting marines with jet packs and Burns in his new armor. He betrays Sam and kills Professor Francois Candide right after the professor has managed to deactivates the countdown to annihilate New York. By then Robert Burns has replaced almost all his limbs with robotics. He explains to Sam that the president ordered that he redirect the space stations laser to Moscow. Sam disagrees and decides to fight for what he thinks is right before Burns had take off, leaving Sam to fight the Marines. Once Sam was managed to defeat Burns, he redeems himself by helping Sam escape, leaving himself behind because of his injuries. When he has been completely surrounded by many soldiers, he decided to self-destruct to aid Sam's escape with his word "My men are dead. I belong with them!" before he dies in the explosion.
Allies
DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, was established in 1958 to develop new technologies and battlefield applications for the Department of Defense. Consisting of less than 300 employees, DARPA reports directly to civilian leadership in the form of the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States. DARPA operatives occasionally accompany military personal to gather information on their research projects; however, their position outside the military chain of command has led to frayed relationships, and many DARPA missions are viewed as an unneeded risk by military units.
Sam Gideon is the main protagonist of the game Vanquish. Sam is a researcher under the affiliation of the DARPA Department, and is responsible for the creation of the Augmented Reaction Suit. Sam was a successful football player during his college years, but was cut short due to injury. He is known to be a frequent smoker. Sam was in charge of the designing and creation of the Augmented Reaction Suit (ARS) System. After the attack on San Francisco by the Order of the Russian Star , Sam was commissioned by DARPA to join the Bravo company in their mission. Assisting him on the mission was Elena Ivanova, who provided support via radio while aboard her own ship. With the opportunity to test his ARS and BLADE technology in battle, he goes to the colony under the orders of Lt. Col. Robert Burns. After infiltrating the colony a bit and destroying thousands of R.I.s, he faces his first boss: A KNRB-0 "Argus" robot. Destroying it and moving further, Sam rescues three Marines under captivity. With their help, he escorts a Victory APC "Mike 3" through a tunnel, facing many Jellyfish and using (For the first time) the heavy explosives equipped on the ARS. After the tunnel, he discovers it was a loss: Mike 3 is destroyed by a heavy transport vehicle and Sam suffers his first attack by Romanov robots. As he proceeds through an utilitarian elevator, though, he finds Professor Candide.... and meets a "Rip-off" of the ARS: The Bogey. He faces the Bogey after discovering he is Victor Zaitsev and discovering how fast the Bogey Suit is. After a lightspeed clash between the Bogey's Laser Sword and the ARS powered-up punches, Sam knocks the Bogey back and punches him away, thus ending the battle. It was, though, another loss: Sam acknowledges that they have already taken off Professor Candide, and as such the Bogey leaves and greets Bravo by saying "Da Svidaniya" before flying away. Seeing how powerful the Russians can actually become, he lets out a stressed "Fuck me." After reaching the Core after taking down the Crystal Viper and escaping the hole it blew on the colony outer shell, Robert Burns tries to redirect the Space Laser to Moscow. Sam rushes to stop him, but Burns threatens him with a pistol saying "I don't take orders from DARPA!". As Sam becomes more and more doubtful about Burns' method of handling the mission, he takes the remaining Marines and Daniel Grassi to come to the core with him. After some time, they have to destroy another Crystal Viper, which kills Lt. Terry. Then, Sam asks Elena about Burns (Which was at the time talking to President Winters), and tells Grassi to take away the Marines. Upon entering the next room, he finds someone surprising: Professor Candide. He points a Pistol at Sam while asking about the Marines. After Sam warns him he's alone, Candide (Still with the pistol pointed at Sam) types quickly and stops the Countdown which was presumably activated by Burns. As Sam thinks a bit, many bullets go past by (in slow-motion) and penetrate Candide's heart, killing him. It is then revealed that the bullets come from Robert Burns' new armor. Sam desperately asks why, and he tells him his idea of redirecting the laser. Sam then warns Burns that redirecting the Laser with the panel that Candide was using is impossible, and Burns says that he knows, then tells he was going to redirect it the "old-fashioned way": Manually. Infuriated, Sam sees himself surrounded by many Marines, and takes his Assault Rifle at hand. Burns jets himself off, and Sam uses his BLADE and AR mode to kill the Marines before rushing to stop Burns. After a chase and an extensive battle with Burns and his Marine backup, Burns sees himself defeated. With a struggle, Burns reaches for a panel nearby while more Marines run in. Sam kills them all, and tells Burns that he gotta stay still. He orders Sam to get out of the place while opening a door, and them killing two more Marines. Sam quickly runs off while Robert, now surrounded by marines with their rifles pointed at him, says his last words: "My men are dead..... I belong with them!!" as he activates his robotic arm's explosive charge. After this, Sam turns around just to hear a loud boom. He then receives his final objective: Complete the mission. After Burns' death, Sam runs at full speed to meet Zaitsev, and the Bogey appears, thanking Sam for dispatching one of his many nuisances. Sam, still with his mouth shut, rolls and slides as the Bogey destroys his path with his Laser Rifle. He destroys the end of the path, forcing Sam to boost himself up, almost dying by the Bogey's Laser Sword. Using debris as his ground, he folds down his helmet and fires with his Assault Rifle. As the Bogey ascends, Sam shoots him with the Rocket Launcher. Then, impatient, he transforms his BLADE into the Shotgun and blasts the Bogey off, being grabbed twice. Then, something quick comes and presses him to the debris: A second, blue Bogey. He holds Sam off of great altitude, simply saying "Die" before throwing him down. Helpless, Sam attempts to grab a ledge, but it is too far forward for him. Instinctively, he activates his leg thrusters, safely "flying" to the ledge. After hanging, Sam smokes a cigar. Then after some time he decides to pull up, getting a glimpse of Bogey Alpha and Bogey Bravo. After an extensive battle, destroying one of the Bogeys and damaging the other, the ARS became heavily damaged. Elena contacts Sam and advises him to get out of there, but the ARS locks itself while Sam furiously swears it to move. The remaining Bogey comes with his weapon and tries to kill Sam, but it is blocked by his BLADE, which is knocked aside. After this, Sam kicks the Bogey away and destroys it with its own weapon. Then he goes to inspect the Bogey and discovers it is just a slave unit and Victor suddenly activates a Nuclear Bomb in the Bogey. Victor contacts Sam, saying that it "was a pleasure to meet him". Sam tells Elena he's on his way and she tells him of Escape Pods' location, right above him. He then gets into one and gets the heck out of there while being knocked around by a series of explosions.
Elena Ivanova is one of the characters that appear in the game, Vanquish. She acts as radio support for the protagonist, Sam Gideon. She is responsible for providing Sam with offensive, defensive and tactical strategies, and also provides him with information regarding his surroundings, enemies, and his next destination. Lauded as a prodigy, she received special education as part of a Department of Defense project, and was later reassigned to DARPA at the request of Professor Francois Candide. Her current role is to provide logistical support to one of DARPA's own, Sam Gideon. She is also known for her superior hacking techniques and analytical abilities
Professor Francois Candide is one of the main characters of Vanquish. He is voiced by Benito Martinez. As chief researcher of DARPA, Candide originally proposed the idea of the space colony, as well as the design for the new energy system, later weaponized by the Russian Star. Feeling responsible for the annihilation of San Francisco, Candide takes it upon himself to shut down the energy system personally. Before leaving, he left Sam Gideon a message, warning him about a mole working from the inside of the government. Candide collects data on the Augmented Reaction Suit, while Sam's testing it out.
Forces
Marines are the core infantry unit of Bravo Company. Dedicated to the cause, Marines will gladly sacrifice themselves to the meat grinder if it secures their unit a victory. Marines are trained largely in urban warfare and as such, will seek cover and elevated positions to secure victory. Marines are typically armed with a standard assault rifle for short to long range use and a missile launcher for engaging more heavily armed opponents. Marines also have access to armor which provides them with sufficient protection against small arms fire and some protection from sniper fire as well. Marines are an all purpose unit, from being capable of driving the many vehicles used by Bravo Company, to utilizing demolition techniques for clearing areas of hostiles.
Jump Pack Marines are an elite unit in Bravo Company, using jetpacks to gain a tactical advantage over their enemies. Mainly used for overwhelming an enemy force with superior maneuverability, Jump Pack Marines are rarely seen in action, as they seem to be a largely black-ops focused group, often operating solely on the orders of the President and their CIC.
Technology
The Augmented Reaction Suit or the ARS. is a futuristic battle suit designed and created by Sam Gideon and funded by DARPA out of the ambition to create an infantry unit that equals, if not exceed, the mobility, firepower, and command situational awareness capabilities of the existing main battle tanks. Its other function was to act as a experimental supersoldier on the battlefield capable of performing any role from reconnasaince to healing injuries to full on combat. The battle suit was primarily crafted from a carbon nanite-based textile, an advance material famous for its steel-like toughness,its transparent perceptible weigh and its regenerative properties. In order to test its capabilities, DARPA sends Sam himself to conduct some field testing in the midst of the conflict with the Russian forces by assisting the American forces assualting the station.[1] The ARS system provides regular infantry units with extremely high defensive capabilities, while providing and maintaining superior mobility essentially transforming them into a supersoldier. Using the system's powered support function, the user is able to gain access to deadly and efficient weapons that were previously unable for use in infantry. The ARS system constantly monitors the user's myopotential and synaptic responses. As a result, the system is able to accurately calculate the munition's point of impact, and is also able to reduce muzzle rise via recoil compensators and separate actuators, thus improving the user's accuracy when aiming a weapon. The user of the suit is also able to help the wounded on the battlefield through using some sort of defriblilator on them when they are downed, the user of the suit is also able to save comrades from dangerous situations where they are not physically able to help themselves. The powered actuators fitted into the suit greatly enhances the user's physical strength and speed, this ability is boosted when the limitators on the suit are removed and the Sam was able to lift a near 100 ton metal covering. He also is able to run at incredible speeds that allowed him to super sprint onto a flying dropship. The suit also transmits a powerful electromagnetic charge from it's core, allowing the user's close-combat attacks to break any charged armor and even prototype energy shields an enemy might use.The suit is also able to replicate enemy field weapons for use, through the use of the experimental ARS/Blade weapons combination system. The user is also able to execute emergency evasive maneuvers to avoid enemy attacks, through the use of Magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters equipped into the suit. Though the effectiveness of this maneuver is limited, it can prove useful in near-death situations when the armor's defenses are about to be broken. The system is also able to automatically support a wide variety of body positions needed to take advantage of any present cover, high or low. The user is also able to vault over low pieces of cover. Although powerful, the ARS system is still in a prototype stage and is not perfect, as it is still prone to overheating, and is also unable to withstand repeated attacks from enemies, however any competent operator would know how to effectively operate the suit.
ARSMODE: This is the mode built into the battle suit were it increases the reactions of the user ten-fold allowing them to defeat most enemies in combat and escape near-death situation. It also appears that the suit limiters are removed to allow the user to move around faster as it is clear that time is not actually slowing down but Sam is just speeding up, unfortunately the suit core overheats are this mode is activated as all energy is spent.
The Battlefield Logic ADaptable Electronic weapons system can adapt to the changing conditions of the battlefield by changing configurations to meet a users needs. New configurations can be loaded into the memory while on the battlefield by scanning the current weapon at hand. By acquiring an Upgrade item or by scanning the same weapon as the one on hand while carrying full ammo three times over, the user of the suit will be able to increase the level of the weapon by one modification stage, increasing its ammo capacity and damage output.
Vehicles
Railgun Carriages are large scale tanks used by Bravo Company in large scale engagements. Typically, they are armed with Railguns capable of blowing a hole several meters across in the side of a Kreon. Carriages are largely defenseless, aside from their railguns and need infantry support to be effective.
Dropships are the mainstay aerial vehicle of Bravo Company. Using independent engines, the Dropship can stay aloft and maneuver with ease. Dropships are capable of carrying heavy loads, such as Robert Burns, as well as a large number of marines. Dropships seem to be the only airforce deployed by Bravo Company. Dropships are very vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire, often being destroyed in only a few shots. They are however, quite dangerous to ground forces, as they are armed with twin chainguns on the sides of the ship.
Support Trucks are small armoured trucks used to ship ammunition and reinforcements to Bravo Company marines. They have little to no offensive support and as such, need infantry support to be effective.
Vanquish begins in space, on a massive cylindrical colony known as Providence. This is actually America's 51st state. It was created in order to gather solar energy, and help alleviate the issues caused by over-population in the US by providing more living space for it's citizens. The energy that it gathers in its power generation plants is converted into microwaves and beamed down to Earth, more specifically to the US. Providence supports a large population of colonists and has all the commodities and luxuries of any city on the surface. Providence also has a substantial garrison of US marines, although these are largely annihilated in the Order's attack. The colony's interior holds dense urban districts as well as stretches of serene parkland and artificial lakes. The artificial gravity maintained by the station's rotation means that the entire interior of Providence can be constructed upon. The station goes through a day and night cycle. This is demonstrated when Sam observes the Kreon passing overhead. The damage inflicted on Providence by the Order of the Russian Star is extensive. It is unknown what the Order does with the colony's population during their brief occupation, as no civilians are ever seen in-game, or whether any were able to escape during the attack. If not, then the death toll resulting from the station's destruction could have been over 30 million.
Spaceships
Cruisers are medium spacecraft used by Bravo Company in their attack on Providence. Cruisers are one of only three known classes of ships in Bravo Company’s spacefleet, the others being the Carrier and the DARPA frigate. Cruisers have four engines for thrust necessities and are armed with large scale automatic turrets for close combat, as well as two ion cannons, which are capable of blowing a hole at least a mile across in very thick armour.
Carriers are large spacecraft used by Bravo Company in their attack on Providence. Carriers are the main ships of the spacefleet used by Bravo Company, using six engines for propulsion and armed with four ion cannons and multiple automatic turrets. Carriers act as the main method for Bravo Company to move its forces from one area of space to another, often being complimented with a large fleet of dropships, railgun carriages, support trucks and of course, marines. Carriers are vulnerable to small fighters however, as seen when one was swarmed with flying gun turrets by the Order of the Russian Star.
DARPA Frigates are very small spacecraft that offer intelligence support and limited space travel capabilities. On DARPA mission, frigates are often used to support the ground units with intel and offensive and tactical options. DARPA Frigates are usually only manned by one person, using a hardlight interface to control the ship and to provide intel and other necessities to Bravo Company forces.