Maze Military

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Maze Military
Founded			E5-122 (as the Eidolon Silver Force) E5-150 (current incarnation)
Headquarters			Fort Wight
Activities			Defense against UA invasions Fighting the Youkai Nation
Leaders			Colonel Thomas Wight

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

The Eidolon Silver Force

The history of the Maze Military is intricately tied to that of the Mazes in general, having existed in some form 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 50 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, and Station Delta. A total of six military companies were now active; two in Fort Cutlass (the Command Company) and one in each of the other four towns (The First, Second, Third, and Fourth 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.

Wars and conflicts

The Military was involved in various incidents, conflicts, and wars since the inception of its modern incarnation.

Era 5

• E5-225: The Ferland Incident: Ferland Sector's Town Security, assisted by soldiers of the Second Company and members of the then-newly formed Maze Police, use deadly force to prevent a group of youkai shoplifters from leaving the town, after unsuccessfully attempting to stop them. The incident resulted in a brief gun battle between the youkai and the human coalition, causing nine deaths (six of the shoplifters, two Town Security officers, and one soldier). This incident is widely considered to have sparked the Resource Wars.
• E5-225 ; E5-557: The Resource Wars: The Military participates in the second major human-youkai in history, the Resource Wars. Raiding parties of both species frequently attack each other's towns, specifically to steal food, supplies, weapons, and ammunition, as well as kidnap and enslave personnel. This 355-year long conflict is one of the bloodiest in recent history. Despite the Military now being headquartered in the Western Zone, Neo Khazrun continues to be considered the "capital of the human world", and the Military is frequently called upon to defend its trade routes and assist the Maze Police.
• E5-557: The Resource Wars end; a peace treaty is signed between the mayors of Neo Khazrun and Yurai. The Maze Military officially cuts its ties with the Maze Police, considering that the purposes of both factions do not align, citing the need to "focus on external threats" and return to its core missions of monster hunting and trade route protection.

Era 6

• E6-139: Twinleaf City creates the Twinleaf Movement and becomes the first newly-settled town with a mixed population of humans and youkai, intending to not align itself with any factions and aim towards mutual peace and cooperation. The Military acknowledges the movement and recognizes neutral towns as such. Over the years that followed, all other non-aligned towns converted to the Movement and began accepting youkai populations. The term "human town" loses its meaning and falls into disuse. Towns not under the influence of a faction are now referred to as neutral towns.

Era 7

• E7-316: The Military officially recognizes halflings as equal to humans, allowing them to join and serve as soldiers. Anti-halfling discrimination within the Military is surprisingly minimal; their skills and natural talents are readily accepted within the faction.
• E7-454, Prima 1: On the Day of the New Year, leader of the Mind's Eye youkai activist cell Satoshi "Black-Eye" Sangi makes a worldwide televised announcement, stating that the youkai towns in the Northeastern Zone are now united under the banner of a new country, the Youkai Nation. This nation rejects the authority of all other major factions in the Mazes; their towns will not submit to the Police's Standard Law, and they will not allow their roads to be patrolled by the Maze Military, citing their intention to create a territory made for youkai, by youkai, serving youkai interests. The announcement ends with the statement that the Nation is raising a defense force of their own and that challenging this declaration will be treated as an act of war.
• E7-454, Hexema 1: In response to the announcement, the Military mobilizes all of its forces and enters a state of high alert, preparing themselves for war. Colonel Mark Phasma, the leader of the Military at the time, treated the announcement as a declaration of war, and intends to strike the Youkai Nation's capital, Yurai, in what he described as a "surgical strike intended to demoralize the enemy activists". This plan is dubbed Operation Needle Poke.
• E7-455, Prima 16: Operation Needle Poke: The First Company, led by Captain Francis Donahue, moves out towards Yurai to invade the town and demand the unconditional surrender and disarmament of the Youkai Nation's armed forces.
  • The Military initially encounters only very light resistance, quickly neutralizing Town Security and starting to search through the town's shops and outlets. Midway into the search operation, the town's power is cut, and activist fighters began pouring out of the facilities that hadn't yet been searched, armed with NVGs and weaponlights, mounting a surprise counter-attack in the dark. The resulting confusion entrenched the soldiers in one half of the town, while the activists held the other; both sides locked in a stalemate and desperately waiting for reinforcements.
  • A panicked radio call informed Captain Donahue that the expected reinforcements from the other companies were unexpectedly routed by swarms of activists and that roughly 400 activists are coming to the aid of Yurai. Faced with an impossible situation, Captain Donahue refused to order a retreat, relinquished leadership to one of his lieutenants, and committed suicide. The new commanding officer, Lieutenant Halder, quickly retreated alongside his surviving forces without casualties.
• E7-455, Duplima 4: To honor the memory of the fallen during Operation Needle Poke, a memorial was erected in all of the Military towns at the time. The Military Memorial Day was also established to honor the memory of all soldiers KIA and MIA and is now observed yearly on Duplima 4 by all members of the Military.
• E7-456: Operation Blood Banner: A group of human and halfling settlers looking to found a new town in the Northeastern Zone was intercepted and gunned down by youkai activist forces, resulting in 83 casualties and the entirety of the caravan looted to the last bag. The official reason given was "trespassing in the Nation's territory and association with the Military." It is believed that the settlers were not given a chance to turn back. The act is widely perceived as a reprisal for last year's invasion of Yurai. The Military responded with a confirmation that the war is not over yet.
• E7-471 ; E7-531: The Phasma family successfully leads the Military for 3 generations, intending to create a sort of "dynasty" to continue the war effort against the Youkai Nation.
  • E7-450 ; E7-470: Colonel Mark Phasma
  • E7-470 ; E7-504: Colonel Blaine Phasma
  • E7-504 ; E7-531: Colonel Morgan Phasma
• E7-531, Nonama 21: Operation Red Temple: The Youkai Nation's elite group, the Mind's Eye Cell, plans Operation Red Temple, intending to assassinate Morgan Phasma and his son Gerald (then a Captain, leader of the Fourth Company), to break up the dynasty and force changes within the Military's leadership. With the aid of human mercenaries providing intelligence to the cell, the activists split into two teams, one for each target, the intended plan was for each team to assassinate their targets at the same time.
  • Captain Gerald Phasma was assassinated in Ovis City, inside of the convenience store. His body was found alongside that of the shop manager, both of which were shot in the head with a powerful, suppressed firearm. The perpetrators were a male kappa and a female oni. They were later revealed to be respectively Daiki Haraguchi and Sayu Tawara, members of the Mind's Eye cell, and two of Satoshi Sangi's trusted lieutenants.
  • Colonel Morgan Phasma was lured out of Fort Cutlass and into Neo Khazrun through a telephone scam. Once the Colonel was at the intended location, the plan was to assassinate him and use the crowd to escape before being noticed. However, the activist fighters were spotted by the Colonel's security detail, and the assassination plot turned into a very brief gun battle in the middle of the town's social square center. The Colonel sustained eight gunshot wounds, and the panic caused the Town Security to open fire on both the youkai assassins (which later turned out to be Satoshi Sangi himself, alongside his third trusted lieutenant, female kitsune Yuriko Hirota.) Although the Town Security officers failed to hit the Colonel, the brief confusion allowed the youkai activists to flee, and the Colonel to bleed out and die of his wounds.
• E7-531, Nonama 28: Following a week of official grieving, the Military selected Donald Weil of the Fourth Company as their new Colonel. At the age of 38, Weil became the youngest Captain to be promoted to the Military's leadership. Unfortunately for the Youkai Nation, Weil was just as hardline, if not more so than the Phasma family was. Rather than initiate talks and thaw human-youkai relations, Colonel Weil instigates what became known as the Weil era of the Military.
• E7-531 ; E7-580: The "Weil era". This period was famous both for the increased amount of hardliner, anti-youkai rhetoric, and for its lack of major conflicts with youkai activists.
  • Weil established the Special Neo Khazrun Platoon, a special unit composed of two squads worth of soldiers (20 Privates and 2 Sergeants), whose task was to aid and assist Neo Khazrun Town Security and strengthen the security at the front gate. The town's inhabitants received the extra security well, considering the soldiers' presence to be beneficial. Originally intended to be stationed in Neo Khazrun for just 4 years, the Special Platoon was so well-received and so popular, it remained active for nearly 50 years instead, until the end of the Weil era in 580.
  • A memorial to Colonel Morgan Phasma was erected in the Neo Khazrun mall, which still stands today.
  • Rather than launch grand military operations directly against the towns under the Youkai Nation's control, Weil changed tactics and attempted an attack on their economy. Soldiers on patrol in the Northern, Eastern, and Central Zones were now tasked with arresting caravans, couriers, and other tradespeople traveling to and from youkai towns, ordering them to pay a "security tax" or face lethal force. Weil's objective was to attack the Youkai Nation's economy. In response, these caravans began hiring mercenaries and activist fighters to protect the cargo.
  • Weil was strongly against the Twinleaf Movement, which he viewed as subversive and encouraging terrorism. Pro-military media, such as books, songs, TV shows, movies, advertisements, and other propaganda were spread across neutral towns, encouraging the human population to embrace their humanity, support the Military, and be wary of suspicious activities by non-humans. For a time, an "activist hotline" was opened, encouraging random citizens to call the number and inform the Military if they believed having seen people working with activist fighters.
  • On Decima 12 of the year 580, Colonel Donald Weil dies of old age, leaving the legacy of a hardline protector who used his faction's influence more than combat strength to keep the peace.
• E7-581: Captain Carl Lembo of the Second Company is selected as Weil's successor, becoming the new Colonel.
  • Under Lembo's leadership, the Military became noticeably less aggressive, ceasing the harassment campaigns against youkai caravans, softening the message in Military merch and propaganda, and promising a "return to form" in the form of increased monster-hunting and critter destroying operations. Human-youkai relations thaw once again.

Era 7 - Recent history

• E7-643: Thomas Wight, age 18, joins the Maze Military and aces every single training exercise. For his outstanding, record-setting performance, Wight is offered the choice of choosing his home company instead of being assigned one. Wight specifically requests to be part of the 1st Company, 1st Platoon, 1st Squad, affirming his objective of becoming "the number one soldier". His request is granted and he is welcomed into the 1-1-1 by his new squadleader, Sergeant Zachary Geist.
• E7-670, Prima: Colonel Ethan Humbra passes away, at the exceptionally advanced age of 94. Zachary Geist, now aged 39 and Captain of the 1st Company, is selected to become the new Colonel. Thomas Wight succeeds to him and becomes the new Captain of the 1st Company.
• 'E7-670, Duplima 18: While leading a small group of soldiers on a training exercise in the Northern Zone, Captain Thomas Wight is ambushed by a large group of activist fighters looking for a fight.
  • Unsuccessful in his attempt to negotiate his group's departure, one side opened fire on the other, triggering a huge gunfight. Despite being outnumbered four to one, Captain Wight ordered his forces to fall in and fight, but a flashbang grenade detonating inches away from his head caused the Captain to go down, missing most of the fight. The flashbang left the famous burns and wounds to the right side of his head.
  • When he comes to his senses again, he finds the bodies of his subordinates littering the floor, being stripped of their every last clothes and gear by two remaining activists. The sight reportedly filled Wight with indescribable rage. Having lost all his weapons besides his knife, Wight charged the two activists with it, and proceeded to eliminate both of them before they could land a shot on him. He then desperately searched all of the bodies for signs of life to try and find a survivor, but finds only one; Lieutenant Lewis Dunbar, Wight's best friend, and oldest colleague. These events are widely considered to be the reason behind Wight's hardline anti-youkai stance.
• E7-671: Colonel Zachary Geist, last seen in the Central Zone leaving Neo Khazrun for Nanton, mysteriously disappears. Considered MIA and presumed dead, the Military decides to elect a new leader. Captain Wight of the 1st Company is selected, and becomes the new Colonel, returning the Military to a hardline anti-youkai stance.
• E7-671 ; E7-677: Colonel Wight introduces the Great Reform, instigating several changes over a period of 7 years:
  • Inspired by Wight's own training ethos and personal career, Wight increases the training standards for new recruits, pushing for efficiency and accuracy, and encouraging competition between soldiers at all levels.
  • The Military is now separated into two branches; the Regular Forces, and the new elite branch, the Phantom Forces, composed of the best-performing soldiers and new recruits. Composed of four companies, four new towns were settled in E7-677 (Fort Phantom, Outpost Trion, Station Lasker and Camp Huntsman) to give them a home base.
  • Lewis Dunbar is promoted to the rank Captain, and placed in charge of the Phantom Forces 1st Company.
  • Fort Cutlass is renamed to Fort Wight, and the two companies assigned to its defense become known as Wight's Elite Battalion. They are retrained to Phantom Forces standards and given Phantom Forces uniforms.
  • The size of the Military is dramatically increased, from 6 companies to 12, and is given its current organization of 6 RF companies, 4 PF companies, and the remaining two companies forming Wight's Elite Battalion.
  • "Harassment patrols" of the Weil era are re-established, and although soldiers are explicitly told to avoid entering the Northeastern Zone, they are once again tasked with searching for activist groups, caravans, couriers, and other people affiliated or protected by activist fighters, and to engage in combat with them on sight.

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