History

The following is a detailed account of the War Era from the first contact with Core Creatures to the last engagement to date. Preceding events including human expansion and initial Colonial settlement will be coming soon.

First Contact

Early in the year 2515, colonial trailbreakers aboard the D.S. Element reached a desert planet that would become known as Plymouth, for on that rock at the edge of The Dillamanse humans first set foot on Core territory. Drawn by the potential for rare metal mining, the colonists found something far more intriguing in the sands: a sentient species. At the time, the aliens' shorter stature and agile movements gave rise to their common name, "Critters", which later became "Creatures" when their adult form was revealed.(Further details on Core Creature anatomy to be filed under Core Intelligence pending public release.) Though they were apparently primitive, with a violent tribal society, they numbered in the millions, having spread to every corner of the planet. They immediately showed signs of intelligence including language, critical thinking, problem solving, and social structure. Initial contact was strained due to their violent nature, but after defending against initial attacks the humans' technological strength garnered respect amongst the Critters and more peaceful encounters began to unfold.

Cohabitation

For nearly 5 years humans lived side by side with Critters at outposts scattered around Plymouth. The Dilla Republic maintained official control of the settlement, but it was quickly clear that no one could keep out the flood of researchers determined to study the first advanced species ever discovered. Though communication was strained, with neither species capable of reproducing each others' language, the tireless efforts of researchers provided an ever expanding understanding of the Critters. Many believe that in time we would have broken the language barrier and perhaps avoided the coming war altogether. But fate had other plans.

Core Contact

When the first Core ships arrived in orbit around Plymouth in late 2519 the civilian fleet in residence was stunned. The massive ships clearly outfitted for war were alarming enough for the humans to retreat to the system's secondary outpost while attempts at contact were made. Colonist reports indicate that the Core fleet scanned the planet for several days with the Critters on the surface oblivious to their presence. It was only when Core ships landed that the population became concerned. When the alien crews emerged, colonists finally saw the real appearance of the species of The Core. The ones referred to as Critters were a generation of adolescents from a civilization as far spread as our own and significantly more advanced. The adult Creatures were massive and intimidating, the violent nature of the youths clearly a stepping stone to a warrior's society. Our naive assumption that we had found a fledgling species was proven wrong and the full might of The Core was revealed. Creature batallions swept the planet, rounding up the population and completely ignoring the human settlements. Taking this as a bad sign, the civilian fleet requested reinforcements in preparation for an evacuation. Local Alpha reserves were mobilized for support.

The Purge

Two weeks after their arrival The Core attacked. All efforts to communicate had been in vain and the civilian fleet was considering pulling out until reinforcements arrived. On Plymouth, most of the Critter settlements had been taken by The Core. The few that remained were those closest to and most integrated with human settlers. The colonists began to debate the possibility and necessity of evacuating the remaining Critters when the time came, but a decision was never reached. Late one evening the settlers were roused by a thunderous attack and a panicked distress call reached the civilian fleet. The D.S. Element, still in command in the region, never reached Plymouth orbit. Last reports indicate that the Core fleet was found firebombing the surface of the planet, killing colonists and the remaining Critters indiscriminately. The human ships, none built for combat of any kind, were utterly destroyed, all hands lost. This one swift attack leaving no human survivors became the unfortunate standard of all Earth-Core engagements in the early years of the war. From their territory, determined to be a region near the center of the galaxy, mankind's new enemy emerged and began to slowly purge The Dillamanse of humanity. Earth was officially at war with The Core.

exodus

The initial Core invasion was slow and steady across the frontier, but the conscription of the Alpha Clones in 2522 provided the human defenders with enough force to slow the enemy advance, proving us a significant threat to The Core and prompting their full engagement in the war. Even with the strength and skill of nearly a billion Alphas on the front, the march of The Core ceaselessly pushed back the defenders. The Dillamanse was lost by 2525 and contact with Temperdine settlers was cut off shortly after. In no time the enemy reached the colonial border of Humador and by 2531 universal evacuation of the outer colonies was under way. The Alphas did all that they could to cover the exodus of billions of human colonists from their besieged lands to the relative safety of the inner colonies, but it was an impossible task. Routes to Patia were lost and the colony with its millons of citizens was helplessy left to an unknown fate. Before long The Core would reach Earth itself.

Cerberus and Achilles

By 2549 the frontier was lost and the outer colonies were all but abandoned while the ports leading to Earth were filled to capacity with refugees. The inner colonies of Kinderon and Chariton had closed borders to prepare for attack and the sea of humanity being funneled directly to Home Space seemed to be drawing The Core into a more condensed front. Nearly thirty years of war had honed the Alpha Clones into a formidable fighting force dubbed the Alpha Legion, a force that boldly stood in the face of the relentless creatures of The Core. Guerrilla tactics perfected over long years allowed the vastly outnumbered and outgunned Legion to slow the enemy advance. In return, The Core began to seek out particularly troubsome Alpha batallions and eliminate them. A highly ranked and revered Alpha, Tribune Orion Exodus was ambushed by three enemy cruisers on the outskirts of Chastor Colony and fate once again intervened.

Designated the Cerberus Encounter, the ambush battered the Alpha flotilla until Orion's ship, the L.S. Olympia, was all that remained. The severely damaged Olympia attempted a daring escape past system MS111, whose resident magnetar emitted a pulse wave that temporairily crippled the ship. When the crew had repaired and refit to sustain the magnetic onslaught, they discovered the enemy ships remained in the system, apparently dead in space. Risking an encounter face to face with Core Creatures, Tribune Orion boarded the enemy ships and found the crews dead to a man. A hasty investigation opened the door to much of what is now known about Core Creatures, including the discovery of a nano-infusion of the blood with an extreme sensitivity to magnetic fields. Mankind had found The Core's only major weakness.

With new intelligence and understandig of the enemy, Orion quickly formulated a new strategy to exploit the enemy's weakness as efficiently as possible. With The Exodus drawing The Core in close, their attack route was clear and Orion found the perfect place to make his stand: an abandoned outpost on the rocky planet of Nova whose star's strong electromagnetic field would defend against direct Core assaults. Orion recalled the entire Alpha Legion to the system and set them to work on fortifying the old outpost as a heavily armored target, simultaneously carving out the nearby mines as his base of operations. Though the war had decimated the Alpha Clone population of nearly a billion, those that remained, over 1.5 million of them, working together soon had the Fortress at Alpha Nova prepared for a long and brutal fight.

Orion had recognized the need for more intelligence on The Core and had towed the three derelict enemy ships to the system as well. Examination of the ships, their deceased crew, and the abundance of alien technology on board provided the Alpha Legion with valuable information which they set out to utilize immediately. The vulnerability to magnetic fields applied to not only the aliens' nano-technology, but all systems utilizing the so called "ultra alloys" now known to be fundamental to Core constructs. Having discovered the reason why our weapons and armor had proved so ineffective throughout the war, the Alphas began to develop countermeasures. Magnetic shielding was developed and prefected nearly overnight and testing of magnetic ballistics was well underway when the Alphas began exploring what would become our primary weapon: Beam Cannons.

For centuries Particle Beam technology had been utilized for communication and transportation, but weaponization had always been strictly regulated because of its dangerous damage potential and ultimately the concept was scrapped due to inefficiency. Against an enemy whose armor only dented when ours would shred we needed an effective weapon and cost was no concern. In a few short months the Alpha Legion had re-engineered a dozen Beam Engines from damaged ships into high output cannons set within mobile firing platforms on the surface of Alpha Nova and throughout the system. The trap was set and ready to be sprung.

Late in 2550, the Core fleet neared Alpha Nova, giving it wide berth to avoid magnetic disruption. Great pains had been taken to ensure that the Alpha's fleet stayed hidden within the system, with elements feigning a hasty and desperate defense of the tail end of refugee convoys. The Core stayed true to form and sailed casually by Alpha Nova exposing hundreds of ships to humanity's new weapon. In a courageous assault, the Alpha Legion charged into battle at the heart of the enemy fleet in the hopes that the new Beam Cannons would prove effective. Targeting of the new cannons required live, pinpoint location of enemy ships, so the Alphas met The Core face to face and for the first time the Alphas claimed a degree of victory. The Beam Cannon assault was devastating to Core ships, with dozens crippled or destroyed and over a hundred more damaged before reinforcements arrived. Thanks to the new magnetic shielding, the Legion lost only 14 ships in the attack. Then the siege began.

The Siege of Alpha nova

Within weeks of the first assault and despite constant pressure from the Alphas directing Beam strikes, The Core had gathered in bulk and surrounded the Nova system. For months they tried in vain to destroy Alpha Outposts and Beam Cannon platforms, but the magnetic field of the system and ever improving mag-shield generators were defense enough to keep Alpha casualties to a minimum, usually on ships given targeting duty. Progress with Mag Tech and Beam Tech continued steadily, but when contact with Home Space was lost in mid 2552, prototypes were rushed onto production and the Alpha Fleet was retrofitted with advanced mag-shields and mobile Beam Cannons. The next Alpha assault on the Core blockade was so effective that it prompted a massive counterattack: the carpet bombing of the entire Nova system. Thus began a viscious cycle of the Alpha Fleet striking wildly at the surrounding Core forces, hunkering down to survive the retaliatory bombing, and quickly rebuilding to prepare for the next strike. The Alpha Legion endured this process for twelve years.

Sometime in 2564 The Core began a series of maneuvers that had Legion defenders on high alert. Over the course of several weeks a new class of enemy ship began to appear across the blockade and their highly reflective armor immediately revealed a problem: The Core had developed beam-resistant shielding. Not only could Core hulls now withstand Beam Cannon strikes far longer, but they also tended to reflect a protion of the beam. Core pilots seemed to pick up on this quickly and became increasingly skilled at maneuvering to reflect beams back at Legion attackers. Alpha causalties began to rise, and then skyrocketed when The Core deployed its new offensive weapon.

In early 2565, the Legion experienced the first Crystalline barrage. Massive bombs were launched into the Nova system and upon detonation they filled the skies with a deadly shrapnel. Billions of shards of unknown crystalline elements ripped through ships and installations in orbit and rained down on every planet and moon. The non-metallic ballistics passed through mag-shields and two hundred thousand Alphas died in one day, nearly half of the remaining defenders. It took four years under constant bombardment for the Alphas to develop a defense in the form of sonic burst shields. Though able to blunt the edge of the Core's crystal weapon, sonic technology was far from perfect and limited to use within atmosphere. In 2570 the Alpha Legion was entirely pinned down on Alpha Nova.

Beacon of Hope

By 2572 the Alphas had promoted Orion Exodus to Legate and officially elected him as commander of the Alpha Legion. Concern over the fate of Earth grew daily, particularly given the dangerous new technologies at the enemy's disposal. Seeing his ever worsening situation, Orion developed a plan to deliver vital intelligence to Earth or any remaining human forces while the Alphas drew the focus and devastating wrath of The Core for as long as possible in one final stand. The three captured enemy ships still in Alpha hands and intact became their last hope.

The largest and least damaged Core vessel was completely refurbished with scrap from Core engagements, giving it the general look of The Core's new Crystal Fleet. Renamed The Equidae, the ship was outfitted with every piece of hardware that would fit including mag and sonic shields, salvaged Core technology, a large array of Beam Cannons, and even some captured crystalline ordinance and armor. With an elite Alpha crew The Equidae launched from Alpha Nova with mag-shields down and passed by the system's sun. The unusual behavior and lack of a magnetic signiature, which had come to be standard on human vessels, diverted The Core's attention enough for The Equidae to reach the blockade. Once there, the crew unleashed a devastating attack, punching a hole through which The Equidae performed a blind jump toward Home Space.

Meanwhile, on the surface of Alpha Nova, Legate Orion and his remaining Alphas, about 167,000 of them, were hard at work stripping the rest of the fleet. What they built from the scrap was a monument of power; a mountain of defiance; a beacon of light and might. The Beacon at Alpha Nova stood 1000 meters from base to tip, perched on the original site of the Nova outpost, a hillock on the edge of Stamp Crater. Laden with scavenged armor, The Beacon was also protected by layer upon layer of mag and sonic shielding and mobile Beam Cannon batteries were situated throughout with several per floor. Though limited to firing above the horizon, the ability of each level to rotate gave the installation overlapping fields of fire on any target above its hemisphere. With no on-site targeting available, Orion decided on a wild approach that was sure to draw as much Core attention as possible.

On the first day of 2573, the Beacon at Alpha Nova opened up with a wild barrage, the established firing grid covering over 90 percent of the sky in just hours and visual confirmation of damage to the Core blockade was envigorating. By the end of the day, Core counter-attacks were raining down, but the redundant shield system cut the damage to a sustainable minimum. The Beacon at Alpha Nova stood for two full years, sometimes tall and bright, other times battered and weak, but always in constant attack of the enemy above. The valliant Alpha Legion worked endlessly to maintain the assault, each strike offering the chance to diminish The Core or at least delay them another moment. The Alpha Clones resolutely made their heroic last stand against The Core.

The Great Gates

As the Alpha Legion occupied, fortified, and defended Alpha Nova, the forces of Earth struggled to maintain control of the endless stream of refugees fleeing from The Core and simultaneously prepare for the inevitable assault on the inner colonies and Home Space. A line needed to be drawn and the original border of man's first interstellar empire was the place to do it. Intel passed along by the Alphas detailing the enemy's weakness to magnetic fields and new advancements in mag-shields and beam techchnology provided mankind with the means to hold that line. The first Mag-Wall was begun at the most likely point of contact with Core forces. Millions of refugees were conscripted to assist in the production and dispersal of mag-shield emmitters in a web between highly magnetized planets and stars, effectively building a wall of magnetism through which the enemy could not pass. By the time contact with Alpha Nova was lost, The Mag-Wall stretched across the entire northern front. By 2558, all of Home Space was surrounded by the defensive barrier.

When The Core finally sent forces on from Alpha Nova and reached The Mag Wall in 2565 the first engagements were mixed, with several Core ships being damaged and diabled by the unexpected barrier, but many Earth Fleet batallions being unprepared for the true strength of The Core. The Mag-Wall wavered as The Core learned to identify emmitters and destroy them with ranged precision attacks, but the growing forces of humanity as Earth widened conscription allowed the wall to be rebuilt faster than the enemy could destroy it. Eventually the front was whittled down to three primary systems, The Saving Sisters, and between these highly magnetized stars The Mag-Wall stretched, but held. The Core, single-mindedly bent on punching through at this one point, suffered extensive damage and losses and the unyielding entrance into Home Space and the heart of humanity became known as The Great Gates.

Plan B

As early as 2530, when the Alpha Legion was shown to be the most effective force against The Core, Earth military officials began serious discussions on the possibility of creating a larger clone force. The Alpha Genome had been depleted beyond sustainable use and development of another would not only take decades, but was in fact thought to be impossible and even if successful would only produce a population similar to the Alphas' one billion that had already been all but wiped out by the savage war with The Core. The Earth needed an army stronger than humans, more numerous than Alphas, and ready to fight immediately.

The Beta Clone Program finally succeeded in 2571. The cloning process was modified to use the Alpha Genome as a template to restructure any other human genetic sample. The resulting clones would have an assortment of Alpha abilities, though often diminished in strength. Generation size was limited to the millions, relatively small, but the ability to use any human's DNA allowed for nearly infinate cloning potential. With trans-jump maturation delivering the fully grown and trained clones to the front instantly, the forces of humanity suddenly had an army of advanced soldiers billions strong and constantly growing. Reinforcements had arrived.

The Surge to DIlla

The Beta Clone Host joined the defenders at The Great Gates and quickly built a new fleet of over one million ships, heavily armed and armored to specifications of the crew of The Equidae, which had skirted the edge of the Core forward position and arrived in Home Space in 2573. Led by that same Alpha crew, the new army launched its counter-offensive in 2576 and overwhelmed The Core, driving them back for the first time. Even the enemy's Crystal Fleet was swept away by the charge, every damaged human ship falling behind as a hundred more advanced. The rush to reach Alpha Nova gave the operation its common name: The Surge.

As the relief approached they found the legacy of those Alphas left behind. The field of debris within firing range of The Beacon rendered much of the Nova system unnavigable. When they finally reached the planet they found more than they could have hoped for. The Beacon, firing one continuous beam defiantly after the fleeing Core and manned by a battered batallion of surviving Alphas and, miraculously, their steadfast commander Legate Orion. The stand would not be their last after all, but a heavy price had been paid. Of the 1.5 million Alphas that gathered to hold the Core at bay only 12,493 individuals had survived the siege of Alpha Nova. This relative handful and the crew of The Equidae were thankful for the respite after the 25-year siege and over 50 years of fighting a losing battle, but the loss of over one billion Alpha brothers along the way would forever weigh on them. The damage had been done.

However, the rescue of the Alpha Clones and their now legendary commander was a major morale boost for the Legion. Legate Orion was given universal command of the Earth's forces, which he marched directly into the face of the enemy. Just as humans had been swept away, The Core was rolled back by the might of the Legion until we once again held the distant capital of Dilla.

Liberation

For mankind the slaughter was over and the war had begun. Displaced citizens now demanded the reclaimation of their colonies and the noble Legion obliged. Under the brilliant leadership of Orion and his Alphas, the Earth slowly reclaimed its domain amongst the stars.

With a relatively small Core force separated from their territory by The Surge, the Legion hunted the enemy down and took back Chastor first. When word came that Patia had remained intact, overlooked by The Core due to its isolation, the Legion recieved a welcome boost in supplies and a quick campaign in Kinderon provided the position for the next stage of the war.

The Liberation of Humador is considered the most brutal campaign of the war. While the Legion held the line from Home Space to Dilla, a much smaller but viscious and determined force of humans organized the Colonial Liberation Army and launched from Kindessa into the heart of Core occupied Humador. Though not nearly as discplined and efficient as the Legion, the human fighters fought adamantly to reach and hold key magnetic systems that The Core couldn't survive. With no clear lines, the Legion's eventual drive through Humador was chaotic and slow. Although Legate Orion commended the liberation fighters for their bravery in the end, after the campaign he called for an official unification of all combat forces in order to more efficiently command the war and defend humanity. The United Earth Legion was formed.

The campaign to take back Temperdine from the condensed and dug in troops of The Core was slow, but the unified, orderly, and efficient new Legion claimed victory in the end. The Core flank turned back and the Legion regained footholds along The Dillamanse while discussions on how the war should proceed began. The enemy seemed to be nearing defeat.

The Second Wave

It is unknown whether The Core had been building its forces as the war progressed or simply hadn't committed the bulk of its army to the effort, but when the Legion crossed into official Core territory some time in 2603 the enemy response was immense. The retreating Core fleet suddenly turned and began to grow by the thousands. The Legion's numerical advantage was shrinking and the more powerful Core ships and soldiers were suddenly gaining ground once again.

The key battle of the last stage of the war was the defense of Point Dagger. The highly fortified system at the center of Temperdine Colony endured crippling long range assault when it was almost entirely surrounded by Core forces, but supply lines held and the defense was maintained through one of the heaviest bombardments of the war.

The Second Wave was repulsed with the arrival of a new contingent of Beta Clone reinforcements. Bred with a more refined process of Beta trait selection and a natural maturation process, the new Betas had a broader range of latent Aplha abilities and more specialized training, providing the Legion with numbers, strength, and versatility. The Core was once again driven from colonial borders by a flood of humanity.

Smoldering

When the colonies were held, Legate Orion halted the advance and harried the enemy from a distance while he set the bulk of the Legion to the task of digging in. The Mag-Wall at The Dillamanse Front was an astounding project. Stretching over 50 thousand light-years from Temperdine, across The Dillamanse, to the far border of Patia, the grid was laid for the first segment of the largest wall ever built. The magnetic barrier stands to this day, now extending around all of human occupied space; an invisible shield against the greatest enemy mankind has ever known.

Skirmishes along The Mag-Wall continued for several years, but with an ever widening and strengthening field that the enemy was physically incapable of passing through, protected by a potentially limitless number of clone defenders, The Core never again advanced into colonial territory. The last recorded encounter with Core forces was in 2647 when a long range Core attack on a border partol was answered by a devastating Beam Cannon strike with no evidence of Core survivors.

The Beta Clone program was reallocated to colonial support in 2651. Full occupation of The Front was halved by 2660. The final official war counsel was held in 2665 and, despite Legate Orion's steadfast commitment to vigilence, the United Earth Legion was scaled down. In 2672, amid monumental fanfare, the Alpha Legion was disbanded and honorably discharged after 150 years of defending Earth, its colonies, and its people from The Core.

New Muster

For over a century we have lived in what many consider to be a time of peace, but the presence of The Core just beyond The Wall is still confirmed. The battles have stopped, but the war quietly lingers. Before leaving with his Praetorian Guard of Alphas on an unknown quest, Legate Orion warned the colonies to be ready, for he believed that one day The Core would certainly return. Though we rest in this respite, the Legion stays true to that belief and strives to maintain vigilence. Renewal of the ranks in all branches, classes, and posts is now sanctioned and underway.