DARK REIGN: THE FUTURE OF WAR
Togra's Final Message
History of the Conflict
Biographies
Unit Specifications
Journal
Togra’s Final Message
Centuries ago I left the Earth. Along with the other believers I set out to bring a new dawn to the age of
man. I stood on the brink of a discovery that would change the very nature of existence. But, as usual,
men do not see the doorways of history until they have passed through them. Ignorant and single-
minded individuals attack that which threatens to disrupt their comfort, regardless of the good that may
be born from that change. Our convoy was set upon by those who wished to steal my knowledge and
exploit it for their trivial ends. But they did not understand. They will never understand. The new age will
come even if it must incubate in the heat of their ashes.
My ship was damaged in the attack, and I became stranded on an uninhabited planet. In time the
heathens followed us away from Earth and polluted the entire galaxy with their petty squabbling and
narrow vision of what power really is. Now I have become trapped by their war. A Freedom Guard base
has been established on this planet, and Imperium assaults are coming more frequently.
This probe will serve as a fail-safe should I fall victim to the chaos around me. If you are reading this then
the worst must have occurred. The probe contains a dimensional portal that will deliver you to the place
and time of my demise. But you must be prepared to stop it. Recorded in the data stores of the probe
are a number of battles from the vast war between the Imperium and Freedom Guard. These battles will
be presented to you as a series of trials which you will relive through a neural interface. You can engage
in each conflict from either side, but you must complete them all. You must demonstrate that you are
strong enough to defeat these armies. If you cannot, the dimension door will not be wasted on you. Fight
well. Much depends on it.
HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT
Part I: The Decline of Earth
Part II: The Pioneer Age
Part III: The Marked
Part IV: The Dawn of War
Part V: The Desiccator
Part VI: The Tograns
Part VII: Objective
THE DECLINE OF EARTH
In the opening centuries of the third millennium, Earth's population continued to swell at a staggering
rate. By 2250 the planet held over 30 billion people. Earth's scientists raced to offset the strangling
effects of population. Massive hydroponic agricultural domes dotted the landscape, increasing food
production exponentially. Methods for large scale, economical water desalinization were developed.
High altitude aircraft hovered at the crown of the atmosphere, releasing chemicals that slowly built up
eroded areas of the ozone layer. In spite of these advances, the frenetic growth of humanity continued
to strain Earth's resources to their limit. Pollution became unmanageable. Thousands of pounds of
nuclear waste were set adrift in space every year. Air pollution was so severe in many major cities that in
2267 the European Environmental Council estimated that one of every nine urban dwellers died by the
age of 30 from lung related diseases.
Millions began living in massive urban complexes which contained air filtering and water purification
facilities. These structures, as large as ten miles square, contained housing, commerce and
entertainment for their occupants, and many people remained inside for years at a time. Wealth had
become extremely polarized, and life was increasingly arduous for the majority of the populace who
could not afford the safe confines of the complexes. Criminals banded together like small armies and in
some areas had more control over the streets than the police.
In 2314 most of the Earth's major nations allied to quell the rising tide of crime within their borders. The
Global Commonwealth established a rudimentary dome colony on Jupiter's moon Io and began shipping
violent criminals there. Heavily armed Commonwealth forces seized criminals in the streets and poured
them into processing facilities. After quick assembly line trials, those deemed "dangerous and
irredeemable" were shipped to the penal colony on Io to live out the remainder of their lives. The
experiment was extremely successful politically. An international regulatory body, the Jovian Detention
Administration, was established and granted primary claim to all prisoners. The JDA also had an
autonomous police force that by 2362 was the largest standing army in the world. By 2400 almost a
million people were expelled to Io annually. Additional colonies were added on Callisto and Ganymede,
as well as on Neptune's moon Triton. Although some felt that the enterprise had little to do with meting
out justice and was simply an escape valve for population runoff, the program was very popular, and the
JDA had come to hold more political and military sway than any single world government.
In 2447 a rocket containing nuclear waste for deep space disposal malfunctioned and crashed near
Bombay, killing over four million people in the first few months. Food stores were contaminated across
the continent. Resulting worldwide famines led to widespread rioting and organized assaults against
fortified urban complexes where food supplies were not seriously affected. The JDA, which by this time
was the de facto global government, stepped in to suppress the uprisings, but it was becoming clear to
world leaders that the future of Earth was bleak. Interplanetary colonization, however, was a dangerous
and arduous affair. A large private campaign to promote colonization by the Ramsdell Corporation in the
early twenty-third century had resulted in thousands of deaths and only a few scattered ramshackle
societies. The prisoner colonies, while self-supporting, were barren, desolate outposts. Few private
citizens were willing to confront the hazards of colonization.
The acting president of the JDA, Edward Dalen, negotiated a deal with the residents of the four penal
colonies. In exchange for exploring and colonizing new worlds for Earth's inhabitants, the prisoners
would be granted their freedom. The prisoners were expendable and experienced at living off-world.
Although counting on the off-world prisoners was less than popular, the citizens of Earth were willing to
attempt somewhat desperate measures. Dalen realized that control of Earth's sole implement of
colonization, in addition to the political and military influence he already wielded, would place the JDA in
a position of near absolute sovereignty. Dalen also had no intention of ever releasing the prisoners. He
knew they would never be accepted into the societies on the Earth-based colonies, and they were too
independent and well organized to be given their own planet. They had shown surprising
resourcefulness on the prison colonies. Rather than slipping into violence and chaos as expected, the
prisoners had developed efficient, productive communities with the limited means provided them. Dalen
knew this would make them able pioneers, but he also realized they would represent a threat to the JDA
if ever given their autonomy.
THE PIONEER AGE
Scientists quickly located a number of promising host planets in Earth's sector of the galaxy. The
Exploratory Corps, as the prisoner colonists were called, set out in massive cargo vessels, each the size of
a large city, loaded with provisions, robotic terra-forming machinery, and enough genetic material to
recreate self-sustaining ecosystems. Dalen provided the prisoners with only enough water for a few
years so that if they could not prepare their planet for habitation within that time they would perish.
Although some worlds proved unable to support life, and thousands of the Exploratory Corps died, a
handful of worlds were soon ready and the first Earth settlers began to inhabit their new homes. The
Corps, when finished with one planet, were picked up and transported to the next. The JDA moved into
each new world and established themselves as the governing body and policing force. They assumed
control of each planet's water supply and instituted water rationing. Some planets did not have large
enough viable water sources to support their populations, so those worlds with excess water were
required to give up their surplus. In fact, there was more than enough water, but the JDA's control of
water distribution gave them unchallenged leverage over the individual governments established on
each planet. The JDA began stockpiling the excess water in huge, asteroid-sized storage tanks orbiting a
number of undeveloped worlds.
The Exploratory Corps pushed deeper into the galaxy, with mankind trailing behind, seeping into every
crack the Corps opened. Hungry from centuries of limited space and resources, the human race
devoured the galaxy. Within a generation a hundred planets were inhabited. Within two generations, a
thousand. The JDA declared itself the official galactic government and was renamed the Imperium.
Although some worlds chafed at the Imperium's continued dominion over all water supplies, none defied
them.
THE MARKED
In 2507 a regiment of Exploratory Corps aboard an Imperium cruiser en route to a new colonization
assignment mutinied, seizing the ship and abandoning the crew on an undeveloped world. The dissidents
then took refuge on a nearby planet, Teron, whose populace had grown tired of the Imperium's ever
increasing demands on their water supply. An Imperium fleet was quickly dispatched to the planet and
determined the city in which the stolen ship had landed. Three regiments of Imperium infantry
descended to the planet and seized the city. The ship was located, and the Corps members guarding the
ship were tortured until they revealed the location of the rest of their unit. The remaining Corps
personnel were tracked down and all were killed in an open courtyard. The Imperium left the city intact,
but a sizable force of Imperium troops remained on Teron, and the planet's water ration was halved.
The Imperium's ruling Directorate feared that similar incidents would continue to occur, and determined
to institute a more decisive means of controlling the Exploratory Corps. Imperium geneticists had been
developing enzyme keys which, when injected into the bloodstream, could crack and alter the DNA code
of every cell in the body in a prescribed manner. Exploratory Corps personnel had been receiving
periodic injections of these substances to improve their immunity to alien bacteria and other
microscopic life forms encountered while colonizing new worlds. In response to the Teron incident, a
new, more ambitious strain of genetic keys was developed which created a chemical clock in the brain
stem that caused life functions to cease at the age of 25. These agents were systematically introduced
into all Exploratory Corps members along with the standard immunity treatments. In addition, the
changes in the genetic code made the left eye of each member of the Exploratory Corps completely
black. In this way, the Imperium could easily identify Exploratory Corps members and make it nearly
impossible for them to escape. In addition, the fact that they would only live to the age of 25 made it
difficult to organize any sustained effort at rebellion.
The scheme was more successful than anticipated. Within a few decades, the Exploratory Corps came to
be known as the Marked and began to think of themselves as cursed. There were no further outbreaks of
violence, and the Marked largely gave up hope of ever being granted their freedom. As the business of
colonizing the galaxy became less risky and less vital, the Marked, who were now viewed as a separate
caste from the rest of human society, were used to perform many of the menial tasks needed by
humanity. In time, many among the Marked did not even believe they deserved to be free.
THE DAWN OF WAR
In the late twenty-sixth century, an extraordinary boy, Perigil Ilacas, was born to Marked parents. Living
in the household of a noted educator, Lajos Cardat, for whom his parents worked as servants, young
Ilacas spoke seven languages by the age of five and was versed in a number of sciences. As the parents
approached 25, they made a deal with Cardat, who was sympathetic to the plight of the Marked, to raise
the boy as his own. Only in this way could Ilacas continue his education. To pass the boy off as a citizen,
his mark would somehow have to be removed, but the marks had been engineered to be resistant to
removal, even by techniques such as tissue replacement. Once the new tissue was accepted by the body,
the enzyme keys, which remained in the bloodstream of every marked human, would simply alter the
new cells, and the mark would reappear. Cardat arranged for the boy's eye to be removed and replaced
with a cybernetic replica, a procedure that was extremely expensive and, if discovered, would have
resulted in death for all involved. By the age of 19, Ilacas had become a leading scholar in the field of
genetics. Although he never told his adoptive father, the real motivation behind his study was to uncover
the genetic basis for the mark.
Ilacas eventually found the enzyme keys that were responsible for the differences in the DNA and
deduced that these were man-made agents that had at some point been deliberately introduced into the
Marked population. However, now age 22, Ilacas feared that he would not be able to discover how to
counteract the keys in the few years he had left and feared also that if his research was ever uncovered
by the Imperium, it would be destroyed. He decided to make his discovery public in the hope that other
scientists would join his endeavor or even that public knowledge of the fact that the mark was a
manufactured product of the Imperium would force them to release his people from their genetic
bondage.
Within a week of the announcement, Ilacas, Cardat, and all those associated with his research were
dead. However, news of the incident spread, and quickly small uprisings flared up around the galaxy. The
Marked found support on numerous planets. Some viewed the Marked as mankind's pioneers who had
delivered humanity from their doomed homeland of Earth. Some believed their subservience was
unnecessary. Some simply saw an opportunity to throw off the yoke of the Imperium and reap the
profits of their own bounty. Imperium warships were hijacked, complexes sabotaged, water convoys
seized. Several planets, including Teron, raged into full revolt. The rebellion slowly grew more organized,
and within a decade the Marked had become a dedicated revolutionary army. Calling themselves the
Freedom Guard, they coordinated the efforts of a hundred insurgent worlds into a unified endeavor.
Although outnumbered, technologically inferior, and lacking strategic strongholds, the vastness of the
Imperium's domain worked to the rebels' advantage. The Freedom Guard struck at strategic targets and
then moved on, never facing the formidable Imperium war machine head on. After years of trying to
smother the growing tide of insurrection, the Imperium found itself facing full-fledged civil war.
THE DESICCATOR
In 2618 Imperium General Gregor Trilkin approached the Imperium's Ruling Directorate and requested
permission to develop a new weapon. Tired of pursuing smaller Freedom Guard forces across the
breadth of the galaxy only to engage them in inconsequential skirmishes, he wanted a potent new tool
to turn the course of the war. Trilkin's arms research scientists had actually already designed a
devastating new chemical weapon, a catalyzing compound that sheared the hydrogen atoms from water
molecules. The compound then incorporated the free hydrogen atoms, thereby reproducing itself and
continuing to divide any water molecules it came in contact with. The effect could be transferred
through airborne water molecules and even through water in living organisms. One molecule of the
compound could therefore consume all the moisture in an entire planet in a matter of minutes. The
Ruling Directorate was hesitant to develop a weapon whose function was to destroy the very implement
of their control, but Trilkin assured them that they would only need use the Desiccator once. Once its
force was demonstrated, Trilkin claimed, the Freedom Guard would relent. Trilkin ultimately planned to
use the weapon to seize control of the Imperium. With sole command of the Desiccator, the Ruling
Directorate would have no choice but to submit to his authority. The Directorate Chairman, Albrach
Boas, was aware of Trilkin's new weapon from several of his personal moles in Trilkin's command. He
also suspected the general's intentions for the Desiccator, but needed someone to put an end to the war
and knew Trilkin was the best man for the job. Trilkin was a ruthless and efficient tactician, but a
predictable politician, and Boas felt he could deal with Trilkin after he had put down the Freedom Guard.
THE TOGRANS
The Togran Foundation was founded in 2382 by molecular physicist Alpheus Togra, son of Petrak Togra,
the third and last Chancellor of the Global Commonwealth. Petrak's assassination in 2356 led to the
Rubicon rebellions and ultimately to the demise of the Commonwealth. JDA president Grote Reber
suppressed the rebellions in four short days without consulting any of the national governments
involved. The JDA's position of global leadership was cemented. Reber negotiated the dissolution of the
Global Commonwealth and the transfer of its remaining authority, mostly bureaucratic, to the JDA.
Alpheus, only nine at the time of his father's death, studied under his mother, physicist Gisela Togra,
who won the Nobel Prize for physics in 2349 for her neutrino reactor. By his early twenties Togra had
surpassed his mother in reputation. His Foundation, which he established at the age of 35, was
dedicated to the development of a new paradigm of human understanding of the physical universe.
Togra rejected the five hundred year old reductionist approach to science. Togra believed that matter
could be easily and permanently altered at the molecular level and steadfastly maintained that the
necessary knowledge and tools to allow such conversion could be uncovered in his lifetime. Matter, he
claimed, like all of reality, is more than a sum of its parts. His research focused on element 115,
discovered in the outer planets in the early days of exploration of the solar system. Element 115 was the
only stable member of the very heavy elements. Other elements over atomic weight of 92 undergo
spontaneous fission almost immediately. In addition, the "strong" force in element 115, the force that
binds the nucleus together, was unusually powerful and similar enough to gravity that the force could be
tapped and amplified and used to make a gravity drive for interstellar travel. The drive bent space in the
same way that gravity does and actually pulled the destination point to the traveler. While the peculiar
properties of element 115 were accepted by most scientists, none had been able to unravel its
mysteries. Togra claimed that the element represented proof that our understanding of the nature of
the physical world was flawed, and claimed that by unlocking the secret of element 115, he could
transform Earth, even the entire galaxy, into a paradise. Although considered one of the great thinkers of
his age, Togra's obsession with element 115 was mocked as yet another megalomaniacal attempt to turn
lead into gold. Togra countered, "If I can tame the soul of matter, what need would I have for gold?"
A man of considerable charisma and rare genius, Togra developed a dedicated following and became a
spiritual as well as scientific leader. Togra claimed that the great scientists were simply discovering what
the great mystics had always known in a less literal way. He believed that inquiry into the metaphysical
realm was as important to mankind's development as scientific advancement. Many of the world's
leading minds abandoned their own work to join the Togran Foundation. By 2387, Foundation members
numbered nearly one thousand, and Togra's work on matter conversion was making great strides. Togra
became increasingly withdrawn and secretive about the Foundation's research. He suspected that
several Foundation members were leaking information to the JDA. Togra stopped accepting new
members and expelled three Foundationers he believed were selling his secrets. He began working
entirely alone, often fasting and meditating for days at a time. He was rarely seen in public and grew
increasingly paranoid.
In 2391, Togra confided to a few of his closest associates that he had cracked element 115's secret.
Before Einstein it was believed that energy and mass, as well as linear and angular momentum, were
each independently conserved; that is, none could be created or destroyed. Einstein showed that energy
and mass were in fact interchangeable and united them under a single conservation law. Through his
work with element 115, Togra found that linear and angular momentum were also equivalent to mass
and energy, as well as charge, quark number, and several other variables. All of these, he claimed, are
aspects of a single essence that obeys a single conservation law. The unusual nuclear forces of element
115 were due to the fact that the momentum of the electrons of its atoms was being converted to the
"strong" force in the nucleus and back at an incredibly fast rate. Based on this discovery Togra was able,
in a small scale reactor, to convert the angular momentum in the electrons of an atom of hydrogen into
mass. He estimated that a single atom of hydrogen could produce as much matter as a fair-sized
asteroid. He needed only to refine the process to make the reaction produce the desired element, and
build a number of large-scale reactors to allow near unlimited matter conversion. He was certain,
however, that the JDA was about to seize his research, and he decided to abandon his home planet and
move the Foundation to an off-world colony.
Togra claimed to have found a host planet near the galactic center on which a habitable ecosystem could
be developed within a few years. Within a generation, he claimed, they could build their own heaven.
Four hundred thirty-seven Foundation members, some of the world's foremost biologists, chemists,
physicists, mathematicians, doctors, and philosophers agreed to accompany Togra. Within a few months
Togra organized a small expeditionary force of cargo vessels with light warship support. Togra had
expected the JDA to resist the endeavor, but they seemed to view the departure of the Foundation as
simply an opportunity to be rid of some of their most influential, outspoken agitators. However, as the
Togran expedition reached the outskirts of the solar system, Togra's paranoia proved valid. An attack
force of JDA ships ambushed the convoy, engaging the warship escort while cutting off Togra's ship and
attempting to board it. Unknown to even the other members of the expedition, Togra was armed and
prepared for the attack. He killed two JDA agents and placed a small explosive device on the boarding
vessel. His ship was damaged in the explosion, but he managed to escape the skirmish, leaving the
remaining Tograns behind. When the remaining JDA ships realized what had happened, they disengaged
and attempted to follow Togra, but no trace of him was found. The Togran vessels, without their leader
but unable to return to Earth for fear of the JDA, decided to continue on to their destination and hope
that Togra would somehow find his way there. A few days later the Tograns received a garbled
transmission from Togra. His ship was damaged beyond repair. His navigation systems were not
functioning, and he had barely managed to ditch the ship on an unknown planet.
By the time of the Freedom Wars the Tograns were merely a curious anecdote in the Imperium's Neuro-
Historical Archives. However, the Tograns had flourished on their new home planet. By genetically
engineering offspring, they developed a society of more than one hundred thousand within a few
generations. Most of the subsistence work was done by machines, and the need for government was
minimal. To avoid pollution, the Togran industrial complex was maintained in massive factory vessels
that orbited the planet. Togran society grew increasingly insular and monastic. The majority of the
society's resources was dedicated to scientific research, and citizens did little but work, study, and pray.
With disease all but conquered, the Foundation members survived for hundreds of years, pursuing the
limits of human knowledge with a dedication approaching madness. However, although Togran
technology far surpassed that of the Imperium worlds, the Foundation scientists had been unable to
reproduce Togra's breakthrough in matter conversion.
For generations the Tograns scoured the galaxy for their lost leader but found no trace of him. Togra
eventually rose to a mythical status in Togran society, and his followers stopped searching for him. They
believed that their lost prophet would return to deliver them without need of their intervention, but as
the centuries rolled by, Togra did not appear.
The war between the Imperium and the Freedom Guard raged across the galaxy, destroying everything
in its wake. Eventually the war spread to the remote Togran home worlds. Although superior
technologically, the Tograns had no experience with warfare and their society was crushed in the
onslaught.
OBJECTIVE
As your planet and all you know is destroyed, you escape in a solitary scout vessel. Adrift in space you
encounter a probe sent by Togra himself. The probe brings you a message from Togra and the ability to
transport you back in time. Centuries earlier the planet on which Togra had crash landed, was consumed
by the Imperium's Desiccator weapon. Unable to save himself, Togra sent out the probe with the hope
that one of his followers would happen upon it and unlock the key that could save him. The probe can
open a dimensional port that will transport you to the moment just before Togra was killed and provide
you with the technology to create an army to defeat both of the warring factions, but the mechanism
can work only once. If you are unable to accomplish the task, then history will continue unaltered and
Togra's fate, as well as your own, will be sealed. The probe contains a number of recorded battles of the
Imperium-Freedom Guard war. These battles will be presented to you as a series of trials. If you are
unable to conquer them, if you are unable to demonstrate that you are worthy to fight the final conflict
to save Togra, the probe will not transport you back in time. Togra will not allow his one chance for
survival to be wasted.
To save your society, to save your lost messiah, to save yourself, you must open the dimension door and
alter the destiny of a galaxy.
BIOGRAPHIES
Jeb Radec
Stiv Baator
Gil Karoch
Gregor Trilkin
Gerhad Bantrill
Benth Martel
JEB RADEC
Jebediah Radec was born in 2588 to Marked parents in the Remus cluster. At the age of twelve he was
assigned to new colonization duty after paralyzing a teenage boy in a street fight. The Pioneer Age was
over, and planetary exploration was of marginal importance to the Imperium. Colonization remained a
hazardous endeavor and was used primarily as punishment for members of the Marked class who
resisted the regime, but whose crimes did not warrant execution. Radec was among the youngest to ever
be assigned colonization duty.
At 16, Radec escaped by sabotaging a nuclear waste facility on a colony near the Algo Rim and stowing
away in an Imperium cruiser in the confusion that followed. Hundreds were killed in the fallout from the
explosion of the waste dump, mostly members of the Marked crew that Radec worked with. Years later,
when Radec was questioned about the incident as a Freedom Guard commander, he said, "I won't fight
for the freedom of any man who doesn't have the dignity to fight for it himself."
The Imperium hunted Radec unsuccessfully for several years. When the Freedom Guard revolution
began, Radec was smuggling black market goods on Teron, the heart of the rebellion. He led a mob of
rioters who seized the capitol city of Borrud and captured and executed hundreds of Imperium soldiers.
Shortly thereafter, a volunteer army was organized on Teron, and Radec was asked by Gerhad Bantrill to
serve as a field commander for the region. Bantrill, the newly appointed Freedom Guard Synod councilor
on Teron, was a respected statesman and former Imperium officer who had joined the cause of the
revolutionaries. Radec accepted, confiding to Bantrill that his motivation was not justice but vengeance.
His success as a military leader was remarkable. In spite of the urgings of his superiors, Radec always
fought on the front lines with his men. He rarely lost a conflict, and as his military victories convinced the
masses that the Imperium dominion could be challenged, the ranks of the Freedom Guard swelled.
Within a year the Synod had placed him in command of the entire standing army. Within three years, he
had taken control of the Synod.
Throughout his career as a commander, Radec was known for his refusal to take prisoners. Radec's
troops fought with barbarous ferocity, and some believed this was because his soldiers were more afraid
of him than they were the enemy. Radec once offered to relinquish his command to any man that could
best him in a fair fight, and he was taken up on the challenge several times until he threw one of his
officers out the window of a forty story Command Center on Perlen.
Radec lived well past the age of twenty five. Although members of the Marked did occasionally live past
their twenty fifth year, it was extremely rare and generally provided only a few extra months of life.
Radec's longevity caused many to believe that the commander was super-human. Others thought that
the force of his will simply would not allow him to die until he had seen the Imperium defeated.
STIV BAATOR
Like most Shadowhand operatives, Stiv Baator was genetically engineered from donor DNA to be ideally
suited for intelligence work. From birth he was property of the Shadowhand and was trained even as an
infant to excel in basic pre-cognitive functions like hand-eye coordination, reflex latency, and pattern
recognition. Even among the ranks of the Shadowhand, the galaxy's most efficient and remorseless
soldiers, Baator was clearly superior. By the age of 18, he had committed countless assassinations and
infiltrations without a failure.
Some in the upper ranks of the Shadowhand worried that Baator was too good. They feared that were
he ever to defect, there was no one in the ranks of the Imperium he couldn't kill if he chose to. Those
that had worked with Baator understood that this was impossible. His loyalty was absolute. He was
emotionless, single-minded, and barely human. Nonetheless, the Ruling Directorate instructed the
Shadowhand to assign Baator to a suicide mission. He was injected with the enzyme keys that caused the
Mark and was instructed to penetrate the Freedom Guard Command. Baator was successful, but the
introduction of the Mark into his system meant that he would not live past age 25 unless a counter-
agent to the Mark was developed.
GIL KAROCH
Gil Karoch, one of the leading geneticists in the entire galaxy, was recruited by the Imperium Ruling
Directorate to research new strains of catalytic enzyme keys like the one used to make the Mark. The
Directorate secretly planned to develop more subtle keys that would make people more intelligent, but
less willful and less concerned with their own well being. They could then introduce these agents into
entire populations to make them more productive and easier to control. This would require a much more
advanced type of enzyme than that used to produce the Mark. Geneticists had long been able to
introduce catalysts that would alter an organism at the genetic level, and therefore carry the
modification into the organism's offspring. However, a change like the Mark, which made the carrier die
at age 25, was a basic addition to the genetic code. Altering an intangible entity like personality or
intellect was a far trickier undertaking.
Many scientists believed that thoughts and actions could not be directly mapped to physiological
occurrences. Karoch, however, had meticulously recorded long term neural firing patterns within
individuals, and demonstrated that for any person a model could be extrapolated from the data that
would predict behavior within reasonable statistical parameters. Karoch further discovered that the
behavior models of family members were surprisingly similar. Clearly, personality was at least partially
inherited. For almost a decade, Karoch attempted, with enormous Imperium funding, to determine the
exact genetic underpinnings of human character.
As Karoch approached what he was looking for, he learned of the Ruling Directorate's plans for his work.
He uncovered several experiments where genetic keys had been developed based on his findings and
introduced into Imperium soldiers to make them less concerned for their own safety. Karoch was
appalled when he realized the magnitude of what could be done with his research. He secretly
sabotaged his work and attempted to leak a cure for the Mark, which was also being developed under
his direction, to the Freedom Guard.
GREGOR TRILKIN
Gregor Trilkin was the youngest of four sons born to a poor nuclear technician in a small cluster of
planets near the galactic rim. Gregor's mother passed away when he was an infant, and by the time
Trilkin was in his early teens, all of his brothers had died of radiation related illnesses. At seventeen,
Trilkin left his father, who was institutionalized and almost completely senile, and joined the Imperium
Galactic Fleet. During his basic training, Trilkin gained favor with his superiors by reporting several
soldiers who were distributing contraband material to the cadets. Several days later, Trilkin was savagely
beaten by the same soldiers, who were subsequently court-martialed and imprisoned.
Trilkin demonstrated an immediate talent for military tactics and was offered a position as an instructor
at the military academy on Shenton. He refused, requesting active duty, and was placed in command of a
small company of Interceptor class light warships patrolling for smugglers near the Turndorf Nebula.
Within a year, almost all smuggling in the region had been eliminated. Imperium law allowed for
immediate execution of any individual caught trading illegal goods, but the provision was almost never
exercised. Some regions survived on black market trade, and most policing officials simply ignored the
practice. Trilkin, however, did not. He captured dozens of smugglers and executed them all.
By the time the Freedom Guard revolution began, Trilkin had reached the rank of colonel. While many
Imperium officers wished to avoid combat duty, Trilkin immediately requested front line duty. In the
early years of the conflict, the Freedom Guard was poorly equipped and unorganized, and Trilkin dealt
them crushing defeats whenever he was able to engage their forces squarely. What Trilkin lacked in
tactical subtlety, he made up for with unflagging tenacity and merciless brutality.
Trilkin was quickly promoted to general and shortly thereafter was the driving force behind The Purge.
As the Freedom Guard began to enjoy its first military victories, pressure was high within Imperium ranks
to find scapegoats. Trilkin accused several of his fellow commanders of being Freedom Guard
sympathizers. Although there was no evidence to support his indictment, the men were discharged, and
the phenomenon quickly spread. Eventually hundreds of high ranking Imperium officials and military
commanders were accused of treason. Most of the accused were relieved of office, and a number were
even executed. At the age of 32, after less than 15 years in the military, Trilkin was placed in charge of
the entire Imperium armed forces. One of Trilkin's first acts in his new position was to commission the
creation of a super weapon to put a final end to the Freedom Guard. A little over a year later, Imperium
scientists developed the Desiccator.
GERHAD BANTRILL
Gerhad Bantrill was the son of an Imperium senator. At age 18 he joined the Imperium Army, but retired
four years later shortly after an incident in the Calderine system when he ordered the slaughter of a
group of Marked workers who had escaped from an agricultural labor colony. He then studied political
and military history at the great University of Utrecht where he graduated with honors. Bantrill's family
pushed him to move into politics, but he took a position as a professor at a university on Teron instead.
Bantrill was a great orator, and his reputation grew within the intellectual community. At age 37 he was
made president of the Central University Alliance and established the Great Library Cycle.
Unknown to most of Bantrill's friends and colleagues, he had become increasingly disenchanted with the
Imperium regime and had organized a small group of politicians and intellectuals who were running an
underground for escaped members of the Marked class. When the revolution began, Bantrill was still
living on Teron, and he established the Freedom Guard resistance there. For this act a bounty was
placed on his head by the Imperium Ruling Directorate, of which his father was now a member. Bantrill
recruited the young Jeb Radec to lead his forces, and the two became good friends. Eventually Radec and
Bantrill came to control the Synod and guide the fate of the entire Freedom Guard cause. While Radec
was the military commander and had ultimate authority, Bantrill was the Freedom Guard's great orator
and diplomat, and Radec entrusted him with all matters of negotiation and administration.
BENTH MARTEL
Benth Martel was the son of decorated Imperium General JT Martel. From early youth, Benth was
trained in the finest military academies. In his late twenties, Martel published a treatise titled "Modern
Ground Tactics." The volume was the first detailed analysis on the effects of hover technology on ground
based engagement strategy, and it almost immediately became standard reference material for military
officers around the galaxy. Freedom Guard Commander Gerhad Bantrill called Martel "one of the most
remarkable military minds of our age." Martel and Bantrill faced each other in the siege of Resnick.
Although outnumbered nearly four to one and without supplies, Martel was able to hold the city for over
six weeks until reinforcements arrived. Martel was also one of the few Imperium Generals to ever defeat
Freedom Guard Commander Radec in combat.
Shortly after General Trilkin was placed in charge of the entire war effort, Colonel Martel was recalled
from front line duty and was assigned to escort supply convoys. Although most of his colleagues
understood that Martel had been reassigned because Trilkin feared his subordinate's reputation and
ability, Martel accepted his duty without hesitation, stating "In the battle to preserve order, no role is
insignificant."
UNIT SPECIFICATIONS
Freedom Guard: Infantry
o Raider
o Mercenary
o Scout
o Sniper
o Infiltrator
o Flak Jack
o Field Medic
o Mechanic
o Saboteur
o Martyr
Freedom Guard: Vehicles
o Spider Bike
o Skirmish Tank
o Triple Hover Rail
o Tank Hunter
o Sky Bike
o Outrider
o Hellstorm Artillery
o Phase Tank
o Rapid Armored Transport
o Phase Runner
Imperium: Infantry
o Guardian
o Bion
o Exterminator
o Infiltrator
o Amper
Imperium: Vehicles
o Scout Runner
o Plasma Tank
o Tachyon Tank
o Cyclone
o Shredder
o S.C.A.R.A.B.
o Invader Troop Transport
o Mobile Air Defense
o Sky Fortress
o Hostage Taker
FREEDOM GUARD: INFANTRY
RAIDER
Type: March
Speed: Slow
Weapon: Dobek Heavy Laser Rifle
Range: Short
Armor: Light
"Raider" is the kindest of the labels employed by the Imperium Directorate to generally describe
Freedom Guard ground units. Over time, it was a label that the standard Freedom Guard infantry came
to wear proudly. Raiders were also the first units supplied with remote phasing transceivers. These
devices allowed them to use the Freedom Guard's most revolutionary technology: solid phase
transportation. "Phasing", as it is more commonly known, creates an electron field around a specified
body or object, allowing it to "sink into" objects of low to medium density as if they were liquid. (A
phase-equipped unit could not, for instance, phase into a steel wall, but could phase into the ground.)
While the Freedom Guard devised a number of fighting techniques and technologies, the phase-
equipped Raider remained the backbone of the Freedom Guard war effort for the duration of the
conflict.
MERCENARY: THE STORY OF JON BARD
Type: March
Speed: Slow
Weapon: 10J Shoulder Mount Rail Gun
Range: Short
Armor: Medium
While greatly outnumbered and under-equipped, the Freedom Guard was not without its powerful
benefactors. Indeed, it soon became clear to the Imperium directorate that for the Freedom Guard to
produce material and soldiers at the rate they were demonstrating, they must be enjoying substantial
outside help. And it was no secret that any of a number of large colonial manufacturing and shipping
operations might well see the potential of the Imperium's loss of direct control over their day to day
affairs as a positive development. It was in fact the case that one such large shipping concern did decide
to secretly aid the Freedom Guard. They recognized that the principal thing the Freedom Guard lacked,
other than equipment, was experienced fighters - and they knew just where to find them.
Renowned for his feats of strength and cunning, the fiery Jon Bard had become a legend throughout
much of the galaxy. Bard had been trained in the Imperium military and was in fact a young officer on a
transport ship when he made the most fateful decision of his life. When his ship came into port in
Peyrak, he found that several of the items being unloaded from the hold did not appear on his manifest.
Upon investigation, he discovered several crates containing neat stacks of humans who were being
shipped, frozen, to some nearby mining colonies. There they would drone away in caves in a condition of
virtual slavery. Horrified by the discovery of this secret cargo, Bard ordered the crates reloaded. He then
single-handedly seized control of the ship, killing the captain and physically throwing his crewmates out
onto the loading platform. Once away, he "thawed" the captive passengers who instantly became his
first followers.
For years Bard and his group lived as fugitives and as such were forced to train themselves to always be
prepared for combat. When they were approached by Encryton Shipping about joining the Freedom
Guard war effort as guns for hire, Bard and his band readily assented. It was in fact Jon Bard who
introduced the Freedom Guard to the effectiveness of the Rail Gun, and it was this type of weapon that
Bard's Mercenaries used to deadly effect for the remainder of the conflict.
SCOUT
Type: March
Speed: Medium
Weapon: None
Range: SN/C
Armor: Light
The Freedom Guard Synod recognized early in their struggle against the Imperium that they would never
be able to match their enemy's armored might. Instead, they focused their efforts on the development
of alternate stealth technologies. An entire secret research facility, Ascension Labs, was constructed for
this purpose. Their investigation of energized holoshielding produced a way to project a kind of 360
degree holographic image in a confined area, allowing units to "disguise" themselves as other objects.
The image field is projected from a kind of special energy suit. The earliest models of these were
distributed to troops involved in scouting and reconnaissance actions and permitted the wearer to
"morph" into virtually any similarly sized inanimate object.
SNIPER
Type: March
Speed: Medium
Weapon: 10J Site-fitted Rail Gun
Range: Long
Armor: Light
The Synod found it useful to develop a team of specialized sharpshooters to cut down on the Imperium's
ability to spread out their infantry over a wide area. These Snipers were outfitted with the same
"morphing" equipment as Freedom Guard Scouts.
INFILTRATOR
Type: March
Speed: Medium
Weapon: None
Range: SN/C
Armor: Light
Employing a hybrid of the Freedom Guard's earliest morphing technology, Infiltrators can create an
"active holoshield" around themselves using a very specialized energy suit. The Infiltrator's device is
sufficiently focused that it can create an image that exactly matches the contours of the user, allowing
him take on the appearance of other people. This breakthrough was immediately put to the test by
Freedom Guard intelligence agents, who used it to infiltrate the Imperium's hover research center on
Malik.
FLAK JACK
Type: March
Speed: Slow
Weapon: Twin Hailstorm Chaff Launchers
Range: Long
Armor: Light
The Freedom Guard's ingenuity was constantly put to the test in their attempts to figure out new ways
to create vehicles and weapons using the limited materials available to them. One of their more clever
creations was a small anti-aircraft unit that came into being when in the middle of their attack on
Ternalin, Freedom Guard general Lineas Drey, desperate to fend off marauding Imperium Cyclones, had
makeshift chaff launchers strapped to the shoulders of Construction Rigs. This arrangement was soon
standardized and the Freedom Guard continued to manufacture these "Flak Jacks" for the remainder of
the war.
FIELD MEDIC
Type: March
Speed: Slow
Weapon: None
Range: SN/C
Armor: Light
The Freedom Guard did the best they could to save the lives of their wounded soldiers in their grim war
against the monolithic Imperium. Field Medics were mostly volunteers with limited medical training who
braved storms of plasma fire to get to injured troops and, if possible, return them to fighting condition.
Many Field Medics drew criticism for a seeming lack of compassion when treating patients, but battle
after battle of bandaging wounds and re-attaching arms could make anyone jaded.
MECHANIC
Type: March
Speed: Slow
Weapon: None
Range: SN/C
Armor: Light
While the Freedom Guard often ran up against shortages in men and armaments, one thing they had in
good supply was skilled mechanics and field technicians. This was due in part to the fact that so many of
the Freedom Guard's number were descended from the old Exploratory Corps, which through bravery
and ingenuity colonized the galaxy. By necessity, members of the Exploratory Corps over the years
achieved a high level of technical self-sufficiency, and this tradition has been carried on in the Mechanic
Corps of the Freedom Guard.
SABOTEUR
Type: March
Speed: Slow
Weapon: None
Range: SN/C
Armor: Light
A number of Freedom Guard mechanics actually had pre-war experience working on Imperium
machinery and equipment. Their knowledge of Imperium construction technology meant in many cases
that they knew precisely how to quickly damage Imperium facilities.
MARTYR
Type: March
Speed: Medium
Range: None
Weapon: Concussive Plasma Detonator
(variable grade)
Armor: Light
It was in the Freedom Guard's desperate defense of their water processing facilities on Kendrick that the
tradition of Freedom Guard suicide bombers was born. One badly wounded Raider, Kit Aphaus,
considered his position as he crouched in a ditch waiting for the medics to arrive. What was the point of
the medics risking their lives to get to him and then wasting their precious supplies on him? He was
nearly twenty-five years old, and because he was among the "marked", he would soon die anyway. Then
a desperate idea came to him. He had with him several of the concussion detonators he and his group
had been hoping to attach to the bottoms of Tachyon Tanks as they hovered by. This strategy had failed,
but maybe his new idea would work. If he was going to die anyway, why not take as many Imperium
troops and vehicles as he could with him. With a defiant yell, he suddenly sprang up from his ditch with
three detonators and ran screaming toward a mass of Imperium tanks and Guardians. His comrades
looked up from their hiding places, fascinated and horrified by their own identification with the feelings
that must have driven their friend to such a desperate action. Suddenly, there was a gigantic, bright
plasma blast. The ground shook. Half dozen Guardians were strewn in pieces in the pass below, and a
Tachyon Tank was flipped over on its turret. In response, a cloud of Bions and Guardians emerged into
the pass like angry bees.\n\n
"That's it!" cried the group leader, "We're goin'". Following his lead, each Raider deactivated his phasing
transceiver and ran straight into the Imperium ranks. Several were cut down by Bion fire on the way, but
many made it through. The massive explosion could be seen from the portals of Imperium ships in orbit
above the planet. After the battle, Aphaus and his comrades were accorded the highest honors and were
even designated as Martyrs for the Cause. In ensuing battles, a number of marked 24-year-old Freedom
Guard soldiers followed their examples. These suicide runs in fact came to be seen as the most
honorable way to die, and Freedom Guard Martyrs remained a serious base defense problem for the
Imperium for the rest of the conflict.
FREEDOM GUARD: VEHICLES
SPIDER BIKE
Type: On Special Wheels
Speed: High
Weapon: Two 30J Berrik Rail Guns
Range: Medium
Armor: Medium
Propulsion: Duff 540G Lowpiper engine
Spider Bikes first appeared in the early days of the uprisings around the remote settlement of New Star
Colony on Gilwoch in 2589. The Bikes were constructed to take maximum advantage of the steep grades
of Gilwoch's rough, hill-rippled terrain. So successful were their relentless lightning raids that the
Imperium, whose hover tanks were helpless to pursue the insurgents up the winding slopes, was forced
to abandon Gilwoch for good three years later.
SKIRMISH TANK
Type: On track land rails
Speed: Medium
Weapon: Twin Arclaunch missile launchers
Range: Medium
Armor: Medium
Propulsion: Hurveth 7.2 Rider
Eccentric tinkerer Ravor Hurveth was originally a designer of agricultural machinery on Teron in the years
before the Freedom Guard uprising. As the war expanded, Hurveth was approached by his younger
brother Jom, a Freedom Guard officer, about the possibility of developing some kind of armored vehicle
that could provide sufficient support for his troops that they could stand and fight against Imperium
Plasma Tanks. Hurveth agreed to try to put something together using parts from some of his heavy-
tracked land clearing equipment. The result was the sturdy, versatile little Skirmish Tank, which Hurveth
outfitted with twin rotating missile launchers. Many Skirmish Tanks came to be affectionately referred to
by their drivers as "Hurveys".
TRIPLE HOVER RAIL TANK
Type: Hover
Speed: Medium
Weapon: Three 50J Berrik Rail Guns
Range: Long
Armor: Heavy
Propulsion: Arenson Waveloader
Resistance Engine
While rumors had circulated for months in the halls in the Imperium Directorate that key schematics for
a new style of hover vehicle had been intercepted by Freedom Guard infiltrators during the raid on
Malik, Imperium commanders were nonetheless stunned when rail gun armed Freedom Guard tanks
using hover technology suddenly appeared skimming over the sulfurous sludge of the Waerlmarsh lake
on Teedan. The new Triple Rail Hover Tanks easily wiped out a squad of Plasma tanks that regularly
guarded the convoys of Hover Freighters ferrying freshwater over the marsh to the central launch site in
Hobeth.
TANK HUNTER
Type: On track land rails
Speed: Medium
Weapon: Fieldwall Spitcharger
Range: Medium
Armor: Medium
Propulsion: Hurveth 7.2 Rider
When first introduced, Imperium Plasma Tanks boasted such great weapon range and such heavy armor
that they often went into action without infantry or air support. They seemed virtually invincible. It was a
year before the Freedom Guard was able to counter, but when they did, the results were dramatic. It
was during the Imperium's Rehnnish counter-offensive that a column of Plasma Tanks on patrol in the
narrow lanes of the "haunted forest" of Yepradii were suddenly overwhelmed by what one Imperium
survivor of the encounter described as "rolling sheets of lightning". What wiped out the armored column
was in fact a new kind of Freedom Guard vehicle equipped with a short range electrostatic weapon that
crippled the Imperium's field absorption armor. These quick little scorpion-like monsters could be
devastating in close combat, but their powerful weapon had extremely short range and was therefore
most effective in confined areas.
SKY BIKE
Type: Aerial
Speed: High
Weapon: Twin Stip Mini-Missile Launchers
Range: Short
Armor: Light
Propulsion: Airvorc Streamjet
Ravor Hurveth's Skirmish Tank design was so lauded that the odd little inventor was next asked to figure
out a way to make a "flying Spider Bike". Hurveth's design was clean and elegant. The heavy wheels and
spring axles were removed from the bike body, and strong, lightweight berrite wings were added.
Common Streamjet engines, standard equipment on many recreational vehicles, were installed in the
rear. The first models also carried rail guns, but their firing mechanism caused so much in-flight
instability that they had to be replaced with high-velocity Stip missiles.
OUTRIDER
Type: Aerial
Speed: High
Weapon: Boardog Missiles
Range: Short
Armor: Heavy
Propulsion: Airvorc Skywinder
In addition to the darting Sky Bikes, the Freedom Guard Synod determined they would also need some
heavier aircraft to help break up columns of Imperium armor at long range. At first they were skeptical of
the plans presented to them by Fenton Duchslyn, whose design appeared unflightworthy. A corps of
brave volunteers was recruited to test pilot his odd fixed-wing fliers. Much to the Synod's surprise and
relief, the new craft, though awkward looking, performed acceptably and easily pummeled their practice
targets. The young pilots who tested them bound themselves together in a kind of fraternity, dubbing
themselves "the outriders", and the name soon came to be identified with the aircraft themselves.
(Many of these courageous young pilots were lost during the Freedom Guard's attempt to break the
siege of Indra.) For the remainder of the war, Freedom Guard infantry hemmed in by Imperium armor
would regularly call in airstrikes, knowing that the Outrider "cavalry" would soon be on its way to rescue
them.
HELLSTORM ARTILLERY
Type: On track land rails
Speed: Slow
Weapon: K900 Range Warden Howitzer
Range: Extreme
Armor: Medium
Propulsion: Duff C70 “Crawler”
It became clear after the advent of the Tachyon Tank that Imperium forces were best engaged at long
range. During their successful attack on Corlbad, the Freedom Guard encountered little-used Imperium
S.C.A.R.A.B.s (mobile heavy artillery), and it occurred to them that it made perfect sense for them to
develop this type of long-range weaponry for themselves. The result was "Hellstorm" Artillery, which
fired a rifled fragmentation shell that had an extremely wide area of effect. The Hellstorms are vicious
from great distance, but move slowly and are very lightly armored, rendering them rather hapless
targets at short range.
PHASE TANK
Type: On track land rails
Speed: Medium
Weapon: Newell Heavy Laser Cannons
Range: Medium
Armor: Light
Propulsion: Duff C50 “Grinder”
The ultimate tool for ambushing, Phase Tanks were modified versions of the Freedoms Guard's earliest
armored vehicle model, the T1 Reaper. Using the same phasing technology employed by Raiders and
Barden Mercenaries, a group of them could completely nullify the range advantage of Tachyon Tanks by
"popping up" right next to them. Relatively inexpensive, the Freedom Guard ended up producing large
quantities of these little "barn roofed" tanks for much of the war.
RAPID ARMORED TRANSPORT
Type: On Wheels
Speed: Medium
Weapon: None
Range: SN/C
Armor: Medium
Propulsion: Duff All-Terrain Rider
The workhorse of the Freedom Guard infantry, Rapid Armored Transports (more commonly referred to
by their acronym, "Rats") can move over almost any surface, including water. (Special navigation fins
were added after the first production run.) The Rats can carry up to five infantry units and use a
technology similar to that used by Freedom Guard Scouts that allows them to optically "blend in" with
the surrounding terrain.
PHASE RUNNER
Type: Underground
Speed: Slow
Weapon: None
Range: SN/C
Armor: SN/C
Propulsion: High EDN Field Inverter
The highest achievement in phasing technology, the Phase Transport came into being as part of the
Freedom Guard's strategy for breaking through the defenses of the Imperium's Desiccator research
facility on Corlbad. Hezekiah Smith, chief of development at the Freedom Guard's secret Ascension Labs,
is credited with having found the way to enable a vehicle to shift the active radius of its phasing shield
and therefore allow it to move through "solid" ground. Phase Transports became extremely valuable
tactical tools, but could never be used in large quantities because of the tremendous expense of building
the generators that were necessary to project the Transport's inversion field.
IMPERIUM: INFANTRY
GUARDIAN
Type: March
Speed: Slow
Weapon: Issue 5
Standard Laser Rifle
Range: Short
Armor: Light
For nearly a century, they were known as "The Guardians of Order", "Guardians of the Order", or simply
"Guardians". They were the colonial police force, a faceless symbol of Imperium policy and the will to
enforce it. Equipped with masked helmets, powered body armor, and years of rigorous training, the
Guardians are in appearance and action the embodiment of the Order's creed: "the many as one."
BION
Type: March
Speed: Slow
Weapon: Heavy Plasma Rifle
Range: Short
Armor: Medium
Bions, bionetic fighting "men", were originally manufactured by Insignus in small quantities and were
intended to be anti-tank units and base guards. So effective were they in their first engagements,
however, that they were soon being produced in large numbers. Bions are hard to bring down and are
useful against infantry, armor, air units, and even structures.
EXTERMINATOR
Type: Hover Suit/March
Speed: Medium
Weapon: Roll-lock Disalunion Grenades
Range: Short
Armor: Light
At first Imperium engineers were uncertain as to how to make the best use of their new acid-based
metal dissolving foaming agent. The advent of hover suit troops provided the perfect delivery
mechanism. The foam was packed into pressurized grenades which explode into a cloud of burning acid
upon impact. The term "Exterminator" was coined by Marshal Ignatius Arryat, who often referred to
Freedom Guard Spider Bikes as "little insects".
INFILTRATOR
Type: March
Speed: Medium
Weapon: None
Range: SN/C
Armor: Light
It was some time before several arrogant members of the Imperium Shadowhand came to accept that
the Freedom Guard had in fact developed technology that they were interested in acquiring. After being
outwitted on Malik in the Freedom Guard Infiltrator's theft of hoverdrive technical specs, the
Shadowhand determined to use similarly equipped units to gather technical information concerning
some of the new Freedom Guard innovations. Powered holofield suits were rapidly developed, and
disguised Shadowhand operatives made several successful acquisitions. Most of the technology stealing,
however, was still carried on by the Freedom Guard.
AMPER
Type: March
Speed: Slow
Weapon: Biodarts
Range: Short
Armor: Light
On the cloud-shrouded world of Amataur there is a massive edifice that dominates one of the larger
islands in the phosphorescent Regen Sea. Inside is one of the Imperium Directorate's most closely
guarded secrets: the Arcundrel Life Research Center. Despite its benign name, it is rumored that the
center is home to some of the most deplorable human research experiments ever conceived. Many of
the technicians who staff the facility are in fact products of some of the cybernetic research that is
carried on there. (It can be fairly assumed that much of the research that went into the development of
Bions took place at the Arcundrel Center.)
It was the Shadowhand that initially suggested to the directorate that some of the Center's research into
biotoxins might be put to good use on the battlefield. Soldiers who were badly wounded could be shot
full of a kind of adrenal booster, giving them a burst of fighting energy. The boosters were toxic, and
ultimately fatal, but the idea was appealing to the military because it meant that engaged troops could
stay in the field longer. For the delivery of the required biodarts, the Shadowhand recommended using
some of the cyber genetic creations that worked in Arcundrel. Accepting the Shadowhand's suggestions,
the Imperium High Command soon put into action several teams of these tri-legged, half-human
monsters. In time they found that the "Ampers", as they came to be called, could even be used
effectively against healthy Freedom Guard infantry. Upon seeing these creatures in battle, Freedom
Guard leader Gerhad Bantrill observed, "If any are still in doubt as to the justice and urgency of our
cause, they need only see this horror and the infected character of our enemy will be made undeniably
plain."
IMPERIUM: VEHICLES
SCOUT RUNNER
Type: Hover
Speed: Medium
Weapon: DF Set Laser Cannon
Range: Medium
Armor: Medium
Propulsion: Nebolite Micro-reactor
Precursors of their heavier cousins the Plasma and Tachyon Tanks, the original Scout Runners had been
created as armored single-manned patrol craft to support light infantry actions during the Healean
disturbance on Feisis nearly twenty years before the emergence of the Freedom Guard. Refined and
refitted with a new propulsion system and special long-range scanning equipment, the Scout Runner is
now the perfect tool for probing enemy defenses and uncovering the strike bases of Freedom Guard
raiding parties.
PLASMA TANK
Type: Hover
Speed: Medium
Weapon: 3000P Plasma Cannon
Range: Medium
Armor: Heavy
Propulsion: Ditanium Accelerator
Plasma Tanks became the principal symbol of Imperium enforcement during the early years of the
Freedom Guard uprising. Their smooth black outline was the product of the streamlined design concept
that was the trademark of their manufacturer, Insignus, and gave the tanks an especially cold, inhuman
appearance.
TACHYON TANK
Type: Hover
Speed: Medium
Weapon: 5000G Tachyon Cannon
Range: Long
Armor: Very Heavy
Propulsion: Ditanium Float Reactor
The most awesome war machine ever created, by Insignus for their Imperium clients, the Tachyon Tank,
with its revolutionary field-absorption armor and powerful Tachyon cannon, stood as the unchallenged
behemoth of the battlefield for nearly a year until the Freedom Guard was able to counter with new
technologies of their own. Even when cut off or surrounded, the Tachyon Tank is far from helpless: the
Imperium high command directed that it be outfitted with a powerful nucleonic disruption self-destruct
mechanism to prevent its ever being captured and replicated.
CYCLONE
Type: Aerial
Speed: High
Weapon: Wat T11 Neutron Cannon
Propulsion: Pulsipher Reverse Injection Core
Range: Medium
Armor: Medium
Small military aircraft had been largely unnecessary for the Imperium until the advent of the Freedom
Guard insurgency. In 2609, Insignus, the Imperium's principal military engineering firm, offered a new
design: a light, fast attack flyer that could break and spin at full running speed and come to a dead stop
in mid-air. These "Cyclones" proved the perfect tool for chasing down swift Freedom Guard Spider Bikes
as they scurried back to their hilltop hide-outs after raiding expeditions.
SHREDDER
Type: Hover
Speed: Medium
Weapon: Modified Quarry-saw
Range: At contact
Armor: Medium
Propulsion: Nebolite Airmount
Perhaps the best example of the Imperium's twisted ingenuity, the Shredder existed in fantasy before it
existed in fact. As legend has it, many years ago, unruly prisoners interred at the old Jovian Detention
Facility were shipped off to work in the quarries on Callisto. Those who were captured trying to escape
were said to have been slowly dismembered in front of the other prisoners with the huge circular saws
used to cut out large sections of the rock. (While this may have never really happened, the stories were
well known to generations of misbehaving children descended from the ranks of the old Exploratory
Corps.) Imperium General Feileen Hextar decided it would be clever to revive these rumors as a prelude
to the introduction of the frightening new anti-infantry weapon that the old story had inspired. Many of
the earlier models of Hextar's new "Shredders" were in fact manufactured using re-tooled circular
quarrysaw blades. These fiendish unmanned disks of death cut down scores of Freedom Guard Raiders in
their first action on Teron.
S.C.A.R.A.B.
Type: Hover
Speed: Slow
Weapon: Tarl-lined Heavy Strike-cannon
Range: Extreme
Armor: Medium
Propulsion: Air-cooled Ditanium
Accelerator
The S.C.A.R.A.B.s (Self Contained Armored Ranged Artillery Battery) were one of the earlier projects
undertaken by Insignus. They were actually little used in the first years of the conflict because Imperium
commanders had such difficulty identifying fixed Freedom Guard targets at long range. In the defense of
Corlbad, however, they proved to be of great value when they were used for the first time in
combination with new Imperium Recon Drones, which supplied them with the necessary targeting
information. S.C.A.R.A.B.s were also the first vehicle to employ Insignus' experimental exoskeletal
shielding. The shield provides extremely effective protection, but is impractical for use with tanks
because it prevents movement and weapon fire.
INVADER TROOP TRANSPORT
Type: Hover
Speed: Medium
Weapon: DF Set Heavy Laser Rifle
Range: Short
Armor: Medium
Propulsion: Nebolite Micro-reactor
A common sight in all the colonial administrative districts, these sleek hover transports could rapidly
bring packs of Guardians to any spot where there was trouble. Modified at the time of the Freedom
Guard uprising to include a heavy turret mounted laser rifle, the Invaders were often able to wade into
ranks of heavily armed Freedom Guard Mercenaries and deliver their passengers into the center of the
battle.
MOBILE AIR DEFENSE
Type: Hover
Speed: Medium
Weapon: Orbitran Stingers
Range: Long
Armor: Light
Propulsion: Ditanium Accelerator
The new M.A.D.s came off the Insignus production lines just in time to help defend Imperium tanks at
the siege of Indra against airstrikes by heavy hitting Freedom Guard Outriders. The M.A.D.s’ weapon is of
the more curious employed by the Imperium: a charged, bladed orb that could, if scoring a direct hit, cut
an Outrider or Sky Bike to pieces. Most Insignus vehicles are equipped with hover capability, and the
M.A.D.s are no exception. They are excellent for defending artillery batteries from sudden air attacks.
SKY FORTRESS
Type: Aerial
Speed: Slow
Weapon: Ariax Plasma Compressor
Range: Medium
Armor: Heavy
Propulsion: Pulsipher Read Reactor
The Imperium High Command was determined to use every weapon at their disposal to ensure that their
campaign to take Gunawan was successful. To this end, they unleashed their newest air terror, the "Sky
Fortress". These massive ring-shaped behemoths float over the landscape as placidly as old-style
dirigibles, but this image of tranquility is shattered when they let loose a discharge from their massive
plasma compression weapons. Despite its tremendous firepower, the Sky Fortress is ponderously slow
and makes an easy target for ground based Freedom Guard Flak Jacks who scan the skies searching for
signs of these hulking monsters looming over the horizon.
HOSTAGE TAKER
Type: On Wheels
Speed: Medium
Weapon: None/Vivisection
Range: Medium
Armor: Heavy
Propulsion: Unknown
Despite the fact of the Directorate's growing concern over the increasingly independent activity of the
Shadowhand in Imperium affairs, Imperium field commanders continue to support the cooperative use
of the Shadowhand's Hostage Taker vehicles in military campaigns. Their desire to continue in this
relationship stemmed in part from their frustration in trying to find a way to respond to the suicide
attacks of Freedom Guard Martyrs. Representatives of the Shadowhand had promised the High
Command they had a way to serve the Freedom Guard a taste of their own poison. Few details were
offered. When Imperium generals expressed their reservations, the Shadowhand responded by arriving
uninvited on the battlefield with a whole platoon of these evil, body-sucking monsters.
"Demonstrations" were first made of a small group of Freedom Guard prisoners being guarded nearby.
Almost in an instant, each man was sucked into the dark maw of the hump-backed beast. The officer in
charge was incensed. "We were going to question those people!" he protested. "Questioning?"
responded the unnamed Shadowhand operative. "It is fortunate for the Directorate that our methods
are not so primitive. If you want to know what they knew... Ah, yes. It's coming across just now." He
handed his personal console to the dumbfounded Imperium commander. "And now, observe." He
gestured toward the rear of the vehicle, where one by one the men who had so recently been sucked in
suddenly emerged. Each had a kind of pack strapped to his back. They did not speak and barely even
twitched as they stared blankly outward. "And now," intoned the operative softly as he gently struck a
key on his console. Suddenly the prisoners' eyed shot fully open and each man spun on his heel and
began running full speed out of the encampment and back in the direction of the Freedom Guard's base.
Moments later, loud concussions could be heard from the same direction. The officer in charge smiled at
the operative, and the partnership was born.
JOURNAL
Togran Calendar: 102-37, 2712
I haven't slept for days. When I close my eyes horrible images seize my mind, tearing at the very tissues
of my brain. I see my brethren slaughtered in giant waves of fire that sweep across the horizon. I see
their broken corpses and smell their seared flesh. I feel our planet shudder under the ominous weight of
the invading armies.
All I have known is destroyed. Everything is stripped from me but my life. Some base instinct, some
mechanical, genetic obligation to survive at any cost carried me to my ship, drew me away from the
burning carcass of my home. And now here, adrift in the silent oblivion, I have found my Messiah, and he
wants me to save him.
Togran Calendar: 110-15, 2712
This game of war is alien to me. I fumble to command these machines, these tools of destruction.
Control escapes me. They slip though my fingers like sand. But I will learn. I will master these weapons. I
will bend them to my will. I am consumed with a motivation I have never known. A new force grips me, a
diamond sharp spike of fire in the bowels of my soul. I now know the savage power of hatred.
Togran Calendar: 121-25, 2712
I tried to circumvent the encryption key, but the probe's mechanisms are incomprehensible to me. In
fact, it doesn't seem to have any mechanisms at all. The core of the probe is made up of some
inexplicable form of matter. I hesitate to even call it that. It's opaque but somehow colorless. It seems to
resist my gaze, as if it rests always in the blind spot of my eye. It has no texture or temperature. In fact, I
am only aware I am touching it by a complete lack of sensation wherever I come into contact with it. It's
almost as if the substance is actually denying its own existence. My instruments can detect no electric,
chemical or atomic activity in the material. No light, no sound, no emissions, no motion, no energy of any
kind. And yet somehow it has taken control of my ship. My power reserves are untapped. Life support
continues to function although my entire onboard support system is off-line. The navigation systems no
longer respond to my commands, yet the ship moves safely through space on its own. Not that it
matters. It's not as if I have anywhere to go.
Togran Calendar: 011-07, 2713
I wonder who Togra really is. I had always thought of him as a symbol, a mythical ideal. But now it seems
there is really a man behind the ideas that have formed so much of my knowledge. Does he really
possess the power that history claims he has?
Togran Calendar: 012-24, 2713
I have found a routine here in my new world. I have explored every angle and inch of this ship. I have
seen and heard all there is to see and hear. All my needs are silently and automatically tended to. Day
and night no longer exist for me. I am never hot or cold, never bored or happy. I have survived so long on
nutrient injections; I no longer remember the taste or texture of food. When I feel hunger I think only of
the sharp prick of the needle. I rarely sleep. My universe is contained, predictable, homogenous. Except
for my mission. Strangely I only feel alive in a neural simulation of battles that are centuries old. I am
becoming my purpose. I am becoming Togra's tool. I will be his vengeance.
Togran Calendar: 022-51, 2713
I am finding the answers I need. Both the Imperium and Freedom Guard have flaws that I can exploit.
The Imperium's armies are strong and relentless. They seek to overrun their enemy with limitless force.
To err against them means certain death. But they are predictable. I have watched them attack so many
times I can feel when and where they will strike. While the head of the beast is missing me I am cutting
off its tail. The Freedom Guard is cleverer. They have to be. Their troops move about the battlefield like
apparitions. Their attacks are swift and precise. But they rely too heavily on trickery. When their deceits
fail, they are vulnerable. And I am more resourceful an opponent than they have faced.
Togran Calendar: 030-14, 2713
I have changed. All the peace is gone from my soul, and, to be honest, I don't miss it. The strength I once
knew strength of will and patience has been replaced by a cheaper but more satisfying strength, strength
of action, strength of deeds. I am no longer fighting to save Togra, or to save my way of life, or even to
save myself. I am fighting simply because I enjoy it.
Togran Calendar: 042-11, 2713
What will become of me if I succeed? Will Togra be able to send me back to my own time and place?
Would I even want to go back? Or will all of this change history enough that my home will not even exist
when I am through?
Togran Calendar: 061-03, 2713
Supplies are running low. I can survive only a few more weeks, I think. It should be long enough. I will
succeed or die at these controls.
Togran Calendar: 062-19, 2713
The end of all this is near. In a way, none of it seems real. It is hard to believe that I am going to travel
through this wormhole or dimensional portal or whatever it is that Togra has devised for me. It is
unfathomable that I am to lead an army into this great conflict, that my actions may alter the substance
of time. Sometimes I fear that I have gone mad, that my body lies drooling and wracked with spasms,
strapped to a bed in some institution while my mind conjures this whole lunatic phantasm of war and
time travel and lost prophets. On the other hand, what is happening to me seems more real than
anything I have ever experienced.
Togran Calendar: 062-41, 2713
Galactic war and dimensional portals are all fine and good, but I could sure go for some pie.
Togran Calendar: 062-42, 2713
I have found my way. I am honed, vicious, prepared. I feel their machines of war flow though me like my
very blood. I can focus them to a knife's edge. Their implements are simple, their motivations
transparent, their methods mundane. I can control their armies better than they can. I will strangle them
with their own hand. I will fulfill my destiny.