Difference between revisions of "Maze Military"

Revision as of 15:46, 10 August 2020

The Maze Military is a major faction in the Mazes. They are the largest organized armed force in the world, composed of over 2700 personnel spread across twelve companies, two branches, and eleven towns.

Organization

The Maze Military is split into two main branches, the Regular Forces and the Phantom Forces. Regular Forces make up the bulk of the Military, with six companies, whereas the Phantom Forces are a smaller elite unit, composed of four companies. An additional two companies, composed of the very best members of the military (usually handpicked from the Phantom Forces), form an additional element called Wight's Elite Battalion, or simply the Battalion. This unit is assigned to the defense of Fort Wight, the faction headquarters, and is under the direct command of the faction leader, Colonel Thomas Wight.

Purpose

The primary and official purpose of the Military is to be an organized armed force designed to patrol the Uncivilized Area and keep the major routes free of monsters. They will, on occasion, engage in combat against hostile, sapient UA dwellers, but by and large, the Military does not consider it part of their mission to chase criminals and lowlives, preferring to leave this duty to the Maze Police.

Through their regular patrols and monster hunting skirmishes, the Military's indirect purpose is to prevent towns and intersections from being regularly invaded or overrun by excessive amounts of hostile creatures, allowing them to grow, trade with one another, and prosper.

Throughout the Military's modern history, the faction has also been known for its ancestral conflict with youkai groups and communities, and its generally pro-human stances. As such, the Military is also commonly considered to be the oldest and greatest rival to youkai-kind in general, having been involved in several wars since Era 5. Although the rivalry and the hostility between the Military and youkai armed groups have not always been constant (varying depending on the Military's leadership and policies at the time), they have always tended towards anti-youkai measures, with a long history of conflicts and wars.

The current leader, Colonel Thomas Wight, is a hardline anti-youkai veteran with a strong determination to defeat the Youkai Nation. The Military officially views the Youkai Nation as a threat of a special nature, greater than the usual critters and monsters, and considers them to undermine their authority and ability to defend the Mazes' communities. As such, the faction's policy on the matter is to thwart the Nation's forces at all costs and either conquer their towns or subjugate them to military authority, and one day retake control of the Northeastern Zone and reaffirm the Military's power and authority as the Mazes' sole legitimate defense force.

History

See also: History of the Mazes

The Eidolon Silver Force

The history of the Maze Military is intricately tied to that of the Mazes in general, having existed since the beginning of Era 5.

The predecessor to the modern Military was the Eidolon Silver Force or ESF, founded in E5-122 shortly after Neo Khazrun was settled from the ruins of the medieval town of Khazrun. Originally, the ESF was Neo Khazrun's Town Security force. However, inspired by the many documents and books within the ancient medieval library, settler, and first Neo Khazrun mayor William Eidolon wished for more, viewing his town, his people, and his forces as destined for a greater status. Over the years that followed, the Eidolon Silver Force grew out of its original role of local law enforcement, becoming a separate entity and the first, fully-fledged military unit of the Mazes since the downfall of the Silverlight Kingdom.

By E5-146, the Eidolon Silver Force had reached 400 personnel (roughly two companies), far more than was needed to protect a single town. Eidolon appointed himself as the Major and leader of this force and announced his intentions to create a modern incarnation of the Silverlight Kingdom, with Neo Khazrun as its capital, and one day, himself as the King. He viewed the youkai as an obstacle to his conquests and believed that the best way of asserting his authority and his legitimacy to the world was to destroy them and conquer their towns.

Two years later, in E5-148, Major Eidolon launched Operation Shining Blade, and began an invasion of the newly-formed Youkai territory in the Northeast, attacking and conquering their towns. Taken by surprise and without a unified means of defending themselves, every youkai town at the time fell one after the other throughout their campaign; some of these towns had been completely looted then razed, left to burn, and become part of the Uncivilized Area again. In the towns that did not suffer this fate, the population was kept under brutal authority, treated as little more than slaves.

However, three months into the operation, Eidolon's total forces had dwindled to just over 300, most of which was assigned to keep each captured town under control, considerably reducing the amount of personnel available for assault. Major Eidolon reportedly ignored the repeated warnings to cease advancing or to raze the towns so that personnel could be freed for further advances, citing that he wished to "leave towns to pass down onto our children."

The last unconquered town was Mippei Yosai, the destination that most of the fleeing youkai populations retreated to. Faced with the desperate situation of having to fend off invaders that had taken or destroyed all but their last town, the youkai town enlisted the near-entirety of their population as a defense force, in a desperate measure, and prepared for the coming invasion. When the severely reduced ESF forces arrived in Mippei Yosai, they found approximately 200 armed youkai civilians, under the command of Touya Hashimoto, a female tengu who was appointed as chief tactician and who was known as simply Captain Hashimoto.

After weeks of exchanging fire and gun battles across the streets of Mippei Yosai, resulting in the deaths of roughly half of the ESF invading force, Major Eidolon finally retreated and ordered all remaining forces to regroup to his location, in an area that would later be known as Intersection 02, to prepare a new plan. Over the following days, every single youkai town received the visit of Captain Hashimoto, ordering the mayors of each town to raise a militia of their own, and assist in the counter-attack. This was known by the youkai as Operation Scarlet Sakura.

Before Eidolon could relaunch another assault, Hashimoto's forces, now 500 strong, assaulted Intersection 02. Encircled, severely outnumbered, and entrenched into the little intersection's streets and shop emplacements, the ESF's last soldiers mounted a final stand, but the overwhelming amount of youkai forces caused Eidolon's soldiers to fall one after the other until about fifty human soldiers were left. Eidolon requested a ceasefire and parley with Hashimoto; the meeting was agreed upon, in the center of Intersection 02. Hashimoto demanded unconditional surrender, Eidolon simply asked for his life and safe passage out of the Northeastern Zone so that he and his surviving forces can return to Neo Khazrun, to which Hashimoto agreed. This agreement officially ended Operation Shining Blade, resulting in a youkai victory.

Upon their return to Neo Khazrun, the battered Eidolon Silver Force found an angry, hostile population. A new mayor had been elected in Eidolon's absence and they announced that although his soldiers are welcome to return home, the Major himself had been disgraced, and exiled from the town. Eidolon was forced to leave Neo Khazrun, vowing to return with a fighting force once more. He was never seen again.

The new Military

Despite the severe defeat they had suffered, the surviving ESF soldiers still believed in the importance of an organized military force to protect the world's communities from the dangers of the Mazes. However, they also vowed to never fight costly, pointless wars ever again, and to dedicate their expertise towards protecting rather than conquering.

The survivors, joined by a group of civilian volunteers and led by a new commander, Donald Brennan, formed a settling party and departed Neo Khazrun, traveling West and eventually founding the town of Fort Cutlass in E5-150. Shortly afterward, the Maze Military was founded, and Brennan relinquished his role as mayor to concentrate on leading the new force, appointing himself as Colonel. The faction banned the use of any rank using the word major in it, associating it with Eidolon and the disgrace he received.

Over the years that followed, Fort Cutlass grew and became a prosperous town. The newly formed Maze Military also grew in size, and soon the need to split the force into multiple companies became necessary. Following Brennan's model, each of these companies formed settling parties of their own and went on to found new towns. Each year from E5-151 to E5-154, four new towns were formed; Fort Cobalt, Camp Baxter, Camp Charger, Station Delta, Fort Scarlet and Station Sigma. A total of seven military companies were now active; one in Fort Cutlass (the Command Company) and one in each of the other six towns (The First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Company).

In E5-174, Colonel Brennan passed away, leaving the legacy of a peaceful protector, committed to the efficient defense of the world's communities. His newly formed Military had enough personnel and with enough training to take on virtually any kind of monsters in the Mazes, provided they can find them, establishing the new core mission of the faction. In his will, he requested that his successor be selected among the company leaders (those with the rank of Captain) and that only the best and most experienced of them shall be selected.

See also

Occupations:

• Regular Forces: Private (RF), Sergeant (RF), Lieutenant (RF), Captain (RF)
• Phantom Forces: Private (Phantom), Sergeant (Phantom), Lieutenant (Phantom), Captain (Phantom)

Locations:

• Regular Forces: Fort Cobalt, Camp Baxter, Camp Charger, Station Delta, Fort Scarlet, Station Sigma
• Phantom Forces: Fort Phantom, Outpost Trion, Station Lasker, Camp Huntsman
• Wight's Elite Battalion: Fort Wight