National Secessionist Forces

The National Secessionist Forces, or NSF are a constitutionalist insurrectionary organisation classified as a terrorist group by UNATCO in the United States. Key figures among the organisation range from financial supporters such as Juan Lebedev, government insiders such as Paul Denton and informants such as Harley Filben.

Know Your Enemy -- NSF
The National Secessionist Forces (NSF) remain a very real and increasingly widespread terrorist threat. Ten years ago, in response to the Sporting Weapons Act of 2042, splinter groups from nearly every state militia refused to surrender their rifles, grenades, land mines, and other "collectibles" prohibited by the Act. Unified under the charismatic leadership of Leon Woods, these isolated fanatics eventually formed the NSF with Woods assuming the rank of General. Their intended goal: the "liberation" of Washington, Montana, Oregon, and Northern California. While Woods died during his infamous "last stand" in 2045, his war machine continues what can only be termed an occupation of the United States, aided by an encrypted network designed by dissident computer scientists from San Francisco and Seattle. Currently, the UNATCO Cryptography Division has had minimal success in cracking their communications, requiring more direct intelligence gathering techniques to be utilized.

The U.N. has declared war on the NSF.

NSF Troops
NSF troops are the first enemy you'll face in the game. At the start, they're armed with 10mm pistols, but as you advance through New York, they'll become armed with better weapons, such as sawed-off shotguns and assault rifles. Three even have flamethrowers; one is under Castle Clinton, while the other is in Battery Park's subway station, the third in the Helicopter Station. They can use LAMs as grenades, but very few are equipped with one.

NSF troops disappear after clearing the La Guardia Airport, except for two in the Majestic-12 complex. These two troops were imprisoned; one of them (Miguel), depending on the player's actions, survives. The other is found dead in his cell, with a medkit.

NSF locations
The NSF headquarters is a large, warehouse-style building in New York. To access this building, the player must go through a previously inaccessible tunnel in the second Hell's Kitchen level. The building is well-armed, with lasers, tripwires, security cameras and turrets. There are also protected rooms with arrays of mainframe computers, and atop the building is a series of satellites, which JC Denton uses to send the distress signal to other NSF cells and Silhouette to warn them of UNATCO/MJ12's search-and-destroy operations. When the player manages to get to this building, it is overrun by UNATCO troops.

The NSF, until JC intervenes, also has control of the Warehouse District behind the Osgood and Sons Warehouse in Hell's Kitchen. This control centralizes around a single warehouse with an electrical generator used to power the EMP field around their stolen Ambrosia supplies (until JC destroys it, but not before the supplies are moved to La Guardia).

Additionally, the NSF sets up shop at Juan Lebedev's private airfield at La Guardia Airport (for obvious reasons). When JC arrives at the airfield, it is completely NSF-controlled. Stationed in the airfield is Lebedev's 747, where he and Paul plan to carry the Ambrosia to Hong Kong, but when JC interrogates Lebedev, UNATCO recovers the Ambrosia and kills/captures all the NSF troops in the airfield (Paul manages to escape).

The NSF also sets up ad-hoc bases at the top level of the Statue of Liberty, Castle Clinton and the abandoned Brooklyn subway system (where the Mole People live). Two out of the three are taken over by UNATCO.

NSF: Friend or Foe
At the start of the game, NSF is the primary antagonist, portrayed as a notorious terrorist group that JC believes should be eradicated. This notion continues up to La Guardia. When JC learns of Paul's involvement with the organization, and finally meets and talks to Juan Lebedev, the NSF leader, he begins to suspect that UNATCO may be the true villain, not the NSF.

When JC is ordered by Paul to go to NSF HQ to send the distress signal, he also finds, based on Paul's words, evidence of the covert financial transactions between UNATCO officials and anonymous parties, as well as UNATCO's role in the Statue bombings. When JC sends the distress signal, Walton Simons orders the UNATCO troops to kill him. Whether JC wants to or not, he is now allied with the NSF. Eventually, JC is captured and transported to MJ12's complex beneath UNATCO HQ. This confirms UNATCO's involvement in the MJ12 conspiracy, making UNATCO officially the foe, and the NSF officially the friend.