Isla de la Fortelaza

Isla de la Fortelaza, which means "Fortress Island" in English, is an island located in Venezuela, featured in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Overview
Isla de la Fortelaza is, according to Fiona, an island on which was a castle built by Franciscan Friars who first settled in the region during the 16th century (1501-1600). In the game, the fortress has since been converted into its namesake military fortress, under the disposal of General Carmona. Large amounts of 105mm artillery pieces are stationed on the island but they seem to be there mostly for intimidation and decoration as all the cannons have terrible firing angles, all of the emplaced explosive weaponry are more self-destructive to the fortifications much more efficiently than defensive.



The island is crescent shaped with the gap on the south side, it can be accessed either by going straight in that gap by sea or by two small paths on the East and West side of the island. There are three large main structures on the island: the tower, the bridge and the fort. A dirt road travels around the island running from the tower all the way to the fort. Along this road there are seven barracks split up in four small bases with alarms. There is a dock on the Northern side of the inner bay with a reinforced concrete barrack. There are also sections of an destroyed wall surrounding the island.

The island is restricted VZ territory and heavily occupied and heavily defended by Venezuelan troops. Several Piranha Patrol Boats spawn around the island as well as a Crocodile Gunboat to the North East and one to the South East. The entrance is guarded by a third Crocodile Gunboat, behind it are numerous floating sea mines (which the gunboat often runs into). There are two small bunkers on the Southern tips of the crescent shaped island, with a recoilless rifle near each of them. Several 105mm artillery pieces overlook the South from positions at the base of the tower and on top of the main fort; unfortunately they have a very bad firing angle and are almost harmless. It is easy to destroy the tower using a cannon from the top of the fort but it is hardly possible to shoot at attacking ships, helicopters or even the mainland. There is one Scorpion on the north side with an excellent coverage of the inner island and its airspace but there is a barrack on the East blocking partially obstructing its coverage just enough to allow a helicopter to sneak up on it at low altitude from the East. At the base of the tower, there are two recoilless rifles overlooking North over the dirt road making it hard to approach, these recoiless rifles can destroy the tower by shooting the stairs (not advisable since the whole tower will collapse on/under the player), they can also hit and destroy the Western barracks and the Docks' Reinforced barrack. There are often snipers and RPG troops posted on top of the remaining parts of the outer wall.

The island has the highest concentration of 'natural' supply drops (until the completion of 'Tropical Island Getaway'):
 * 1 Covert Supply DropMattias_on_Fortress_Island.png
 * 1 Russian Sniper Kit
 * 1 Grenade Launcher Supply Drop
 * 1 Anti-Air Missile Kit
 * a few VZ Supply Drops scattered around
 * a few C-4 Supply Drops scattered around

'Tropical Island Getaway'
After proving him/herself to Marcela and the PLAV, the mercenary is sent on another mission for them before they are given intel regarding the location of Blanco's secret meeting. Marcela tasks the mercenary with destroying the fortifications of the island, along with killing all of Carmona's men stationed there, and, showing her lack of reservation about the fact she is willingly allowing the destruction of a veritable historical landmark, leveling the entire fort. The reason for the decision to destroy of the fort was that the VZ was using it to disrupt PLAV supply shipments.

The Mercenary travels to the island (which will be slightly more defended than usual), meeting heavy resistance from Carmona's troops, demolishing all barracks (optional, but required to obtain the cash bonus for this contract) and successfully destroys the castle. It is relatively easy to do this contract without having to call any support since pretty much all of the island's defences can be pointed at each other and by the fact that are loads of C4 crates and supply drops scattered around.

After the contract and loading the save, the island will be left in its wrecked state and if the player destroyed the all barracks, the VZ will no longer be present on the island, leaving it completely deserted.



In the PS2 version of the game, the nature of this mission is similar, but considerably different from, the next-gen versions. Along with destroying nearly every building on the island, the Mercenary must also rescue a Chinese Agent who is being held captive. Once the mission is complete, the Agent becomes the player's first Chinese contact before the PLA arrive proper.

Trivia

 * In 'Tropical Island Getaway' there will be several recoiless rifles placed on top of the tower an Armadillo Jammer at the base of it and one in the Fort's main courtyard.
 * Although, in-game, it is spelled as "Fortelaza," the proper Spanish word is spelled Fortaleza.