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Design & DirectionJohn Robertson

ConceptJohn Robertson, John Grant & Ricardo Pinto

Game DesignJohn Grant

Game Developed ByAdam Souness

Game Compiled & Edited ByBen Brownlie

Written ByJohn Robertson & Mark Brendan

Fiction Written ByWilliam Ward

Senarios Written ByBen Brownlie

Cover ArtworkAdrian Smith

Concept ArtAdrian Smith, Stuart Beel & Will Cottrell

Graphic Design & LayoutChristina Robertson

Head SculptorKev White

Figure SculptorsPete Flannery, Nick Collier & Steve Saleh

Figure PaintersMark McNaught, Andrew Wedmore, Ben Brownlie,

Rod Grant, Dave Woodward & Christian Weiss

PhotographyDavison Read Associates

Assault on TiddsekFiction

Ben Brownlie

Battle Report

Adam Souness & Alex Theys

PlaytestersBen Brownlie, Phil Walling, Frank Miller,

Andrew Starling, Mark Singleton, Thorsten Stein,

Bill Ward, Spencer Warner, Christian Weiss, G3

Gaming Group & South East Scotland Wargames Club.

DirectorsJohn Robertson (Managing), John Grant & Felix Garzon

SalesMoray Grant, Oliver Jech & Alex Theys

PromotionsAdam Souness

DesignersKevin White, Peter Flannery, Nick Collier, Mike Owen,Steve Saleh & Christina Robertson

ProductionCeline Leuty, Craig Leslie & Willie Stirling

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You have all seen the sci-ence fiction films that are aroundwhere heroes battle against corruptmega-corporations, aliens and evilempires and the robots of the futurethreaten the very existence ofmankind.

Well Void 1.1 is a tabletopgame, played with miniatures, thatallows you to create similar conflicts

to those that youhave seen inyour favouritesci-fi films.

In the Void 1.1universe thereare heroes andvillains, aliensand robots. i-Kore produces alarge range ofminiatures andmodels for theVoid 1.1 uni-verse for you tocollect and paint.The idea is thatyou collect these

miniatures toplay the game.The Void 1.1game is easily

understandable and allows you toplay fast fun games with your friendsin a couple of hours.

Not only will you have agreat time playing the game butyou'll have endless hours of enjoy-ment deciding what figures to buy,what forces to build and how you willpaint them.

Currently there are five dif-

ferent armies to choose from andmore will follow soon. These are theViridians, Junkers, Syntha, VASAand the Koralon.

The Viridians are run by aglobal corporate democracy, with itscitizens as shareholders of all thevarious corporations that form theViridian Assembly.Their armies comprise of comman-does, power armoured troopers andplatform mounted weapons carriedon the backs of monstrous lizards.They favour ranged weapons and tryto defeat the enemy at a distancesince casualties in war lose votes inthe assembly, however, the gargan-tuan lizards are fearsome in close

combat, slashing and rending theirvictims with their cruel sharp claws.The Senate on Ironglass

oversees the harsh militaristicJunker society, where life is cheapand invariably short. Their armiesconsist of large legions of convictlegionaries equipped with crude butrobust weaponry. A shortage ofeffective ranged weapons makes itimperative that the legionaries closewith their enemies on the battlefieldbefore sustaining too many causali-ties. Quad bikes and buggies sup-

port these troops, however, Junkerarmies rely on sheer numbers to winthe day.

Syntha society is known asthe "collective" and all aspects of lifewithin it are controlled and monitoredby the Prime Central AI located inthe heart of the Prime planetoid. TheSyntha are a highly trained, well-equipped army utilising cyborgs andenhanced humans supported bygrav-tanks and robotic weapon plat-forms. They are the consummateranged combat army, however, due

to their programming they can beinflexible and easily out manoeu-vred.

VASA are the policing bodythat guard the grav-wells throughoutPan-Humanic space. They are thetypical elite forces army, utilising jump troopers and the mysteriousVoid Knights, disciples of the MetaTemples. They like to get in fastwhere they can bring to bear theirunrivalled close combat weaponry.However, it is a small and fragilearmy so you have to be careful.

The Koralon are the aliens,these are serpent like creatures andthey are supported by large numbers

of hybrid humans. These are unfor-tunate captives that have beenmutated into hideous fightingmachines by the aliens. It is a veryadaptable army that can change tosuit the conditions with good closecombat troopers and useful "gravitic"technologies for ranged combat.

There are separate Forcebooks for each of these armies withmore detailed information on theirbackground as well as comprehen-sive army lists for you to build theirarmies. Additionally there are paint-

ing and terrain guides in these bookswith hints and tips on how to get thebest from your army.

As well as this we have ourmagazine Battle with Miniatures,there are online versions as well asprinted compendium issues that willbe on hand to give you hints and tipson all aspects of the hobby.

So go on, build an army andfight on the battlefields of Void 1.1.Have fun.

What is Void 1.1

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The following databundle wassimultaneously delivered to all majormedia outlets, academic and researchinstitutions, and public informationreceptacles, as well as privately sent toover four-thousand influential persons

including planetary governors andelected officials, major shareholders inkey corporations, industrial magnates,scholars and critics, and certain vocalholo-celebrities.

As the last survivor of the BlueEden expedition it falls on me to makeour story public; enclosed within thisdatabundle are my personal logs,those marked 'Dr. Avery Valverde S.A.',in addition to the logs of twelve othermission scientists, as well as over sev-enteen hours of footage of the deadlyfauna we encountered.

Blue Eden was a third stageproject, initiated on a large scale but inextreme haste. Out of twenty prospec-tive worlds in Rim Sector 52 only onewas immediately habitable and it wasto serve as a springboard for thecolonisation of the entire region.Unknown to my team safety and sur-veillance protocols had been severelycurtailed in the mad rush to get survey-ors on the ground. Soon there werehundreds of us in widely dispersedgroups; almost wholly ignorant of oursurroundings and even lacking accu-

rate data on the warm, still oceans thatcomprised eighty percent of the world'ssurface.

At first it certainly seemed as ifthe relaxed protocols and double-deal-

ing, the greased palms at the VASAInterplanetary Commission andViridian Assembly, were yielding hand-some returns. And our glowing reportsonly made things worse: the potentialof the rich biosphere promised amaz-

ing discoveries and blinded us to itsdangers. Soon xenobiologists wererecklessly exploring the unusual archi-pelagos, the dominant landform on thatocean world, in direct competition withone another. Such poor coordinationmeant it was months before werealised the sinister extent of ourpredicament; that people were disap-pearing by the dozens.

Those of us who did suspectthe worst were dismissed as alarmists;that is until the entire staff of Antillesbase went missing. The mission under

Captain Brahe sent to investigate like-wise vanished, leaving only the telltaleof weapons fire and blast damagearound their abandoned site. Clonobase on the great south island thenwent silent, and no expedition hadbeen seen or heard from in weeks. Ofthe several hundred men and womenactively investigating the planet, onlythe six of us at the upland weather sta-tion remained in contact with our orbitalmonitors.

That's when they came for us.After six days absence Patterson and

Gabe washed up on the surf, alive andovergrown with the curious coral-likesubstance that comprised the thou-sands of overgrown islands of thatcursed place. We tended to them while

we made plans to evacuate. Rapidlythe infection spread through our team,and soon Gabe began to act psychotic.I've enclosed the recording of thoselast moments there before my flight,which will clearly show what I lack the

words to describe, as well as the cur-sory analysis we ran on the coraline,as it's now known. In the end, thosewho survived exposure to it could nolonger be described as human: killingthem was a kindness.

The details of my escape onthe utility scow are all in the logs,including the most frightening aspect ofmy encounter. Post situational analysisof the supply vessel's scans by experi-enced fleet officers confirms that theobjects I detected minutes beforeshunting from the system are indeed

vessels of some kind, vessels whichmanoeuvre at g's impossible for ahuman ship to sustain. What at firstseemed a lethal biosphere on a dan-gerous world I am now convinced rep-resents the deliberate actions of a non-human sentience. We are not alone.

Too many have died for thisinformation, and billions more arethreatened by its suppression. Wemust never forget the disaster of BlueEden, we cannot forget that cursedworld or it will mean our extinction.

Blue Eden

Sec-Net Bulletin Synform Monitor Locus 01.28.28 Intercept

The name of this planet isVoid 1.1,

and its legacy is yetunwritten....

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The Draconis Alba Galaxy

Viridia-Solaris/Leviathan Binary SystemThe Viridia Solaris/Leviathan binary system is a twin star

system consisting of the main sequence yellow star Viridia

Solaris and the long dead black dwarf Leviathan and their

satellites.The binary system was formed 5.5 billion years ago whenthe immense gravity field exerted by Leviathan captured the

young Viridia Solaris system.

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Void SystemThe Void solar system is located in Rim Sector 52, an area of low

star density. It is quite remarkable in that three out of its five orbiting

planets apparently have naturally occurring atmospheres capable of

sustaining carbon-based life forms. VASA quantum scientists place

the chances of discovering a system of this type as incalculablysmall, to the point of impossibility. It is the highest scoring

system on the VASA Colonisation Index. Another feature

of the system is the extremely high biosphere reading on Void 1.1.

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Rookies fresh out of boot campthat achieve a high combat rat-ing are drafted into theCommandos. There they under-go specialist jungle trainingequipping them for combat in theverdant Viridian colonies whereflamethrower and chain gunsupport weapons give them adistinct advantage over theirenemies.

Assault Teratosynths are closecombat shock troops that havebeen engineered to effectively andefficiently deal with enemy armoursystems. Their tesla claws sup-ported by hydraulic endo-skele-tons are capable of shearingthrough most modern shielding.Prometheus 6 plasma projectorsprovide the support weapons for

these "synths" and although theyhave an extremely short range,they are deadly accurate.

Viridian Commando Flamethrower

Assault Teratosynth

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In the centuries since humansmade their first manned space flightsaround the homeworld of Viridia in theViridia Solaris-Leviathan binary starsystem, they have spread like a bliz-zard across the galaxy. Usingadvanced gravitic technologies to cre-ate temporary wormholes, faster thanlight travel was long ago made a reali-ty. This combined with cold fusionatmosphere processing and probioticterraforming techniques has allowedhumans to thrive on all manner ofworlds. Since the very beginning this

glorious age of expansion and questhas been conducted under the guid-ance of VASA, the Viridian Aeronauticsand Space Agency. VASA has over-seen the colonisation of three worldswithin the Viridian system- planets thatalong with Viridia itself have come beknown as the homeworlds. FertileViridia remains home to prosperoustraders and explorers the Viridians.

Ironglass is a large desertplanet honeycombed with tunnels andcaverns, and is the homeworld of therough and ready Junkers with their

convict legions and industrial labourcamps. Prime is a black, barrenteardrop shaped planetoid on the out-ermost orbit of the twin system and ishomeworld to the cyborgs and AIsknown as Syntha. Finally Vacillus, anice planet orbiting the dead starLeviathan, is the headquarters ofVASA.

Space travel brought solutionsto many of the problems that facedearthbound humanity- overcrowding,lack of resources, etc- yet despite thispeople persist in fighting one another.In fact space travel created a wholenew raft of reasons for going to war.Trouble started when the initialcolonies settled within the Viridian sys-tem demanded independence from thehomeworld. First the Syntha of Prime,then the Junkers of Ironglass won their

independence from the ViridianAssembly by waging war. This brokeup the system into three very differentsocieties. The Viridians continue to runtheir world as a capitalist-baseddemocracy. The Junkers fare less wellunder their harsh, militaristic regimewhere human life is often brutal, uglyand short. Finally the Syntha practice aform of collective technocracy that isunderpinned by the idea of improvinghumans through cyber technology.

In order to keep the peace,these incompatible neighbours have

formed between them the TripartiteConfederacy, which is overseen byindependent VASA from its home baseon Vacillus. This arrangement ensuresthat the homeworlds' interests are keptsatisfied and that they have a forum forthrashing out their differences diplo-matically. Outside of the Viridian sys-tem however, things get less civilised.

There are thousands ofcolonies beyond the homeworlds,most of which belong to Viridia,Ironglass or Prime (though there aregrowing numbers of independents),

and on these worlds differences ofopinion can quickly escalate intosomething considerably uglier. As theConfederacy worlds each greedily tryto give their empire the edge over theothers, tensions mount and sporadicwars break out. Publicly the home-worlds always distance themselvesfrom these conflagrations, passionate-ly denouncing the violence.

However, when one scratchesaway the veneer of propaganda, onealmost always finds Confederacy armsand troops involved. The galaxy isnever free from bloodshed.Somewhere in the vastness of spacethere is always a war being fought. Themilitary-industrial complex neversleeps; never dies.

In their long history of colonis-ing the galaxy humans have encoun-

tered many alien species, none ofwhich have posed any significantthreat, since they have always been just plants or animals. Until recentlythat is, when new colonies at the far-thermost reaches of human spacemade contact with the Koralon.

Koralon are a space faringrace of serpent-like amphibians whoare masters of a unique form ofbiotechnology, which revolves aroundtheir relationship with a parasite thatlives on their bodies. Without the para-site they would be marine inverte-

brates, unable to support their large,soft bodies on land. The microscopicparasites create deposits of an incred-ibly tough mineral inside the Koralonand the aliens have learned to controlthe formation of this to make them-selves skeletons, armour andweapons. The material also has somebizarre conductive properties andwhen alloyed with neutronium, formsthe basis for their space travel andenergy weapon technologies.Encounters with the Koralon haveresulted in a war that has raged since

first contact was made. The humansinitially came worst off and manycolonies have fallen to the aliens, forc-ing VASA to pull back from the galacticrim and consolidate the defences ofthe central colonies. Since then astalemate has ensued with many of theRimworlds acting as no-mans landbetween the two species.

The current state of play hasVASA becoming more strident in itsdemands for military support from thehomeworlds and colonies to see off thealien threat. What remains to be seenis whether the rest of humanity can putaside their differences for long enoughto act against a threat that coulddestroy them all; or whether their pettysquabbling and divisiveness will markthe end of human civilisation?

Prologue

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The Viridia-Solaris/Leviathanbinary system is a binary star system.The first star, Viridia Solaris, is a medi-um sized, bright yellow main sequencestar that is just entering stellar middleage. Viridia Solaris has five planetsorbiting it, on two of which life hasevolved. With the exception of oneplanet, all of these worlds have perfect-ly perpendicular planes of rotationaround Viridia Solaris, indicating thatthe system has always been free from

cosmic impacts.Closest to the sun is tinyLucifer and it is the exception to rule ofthe other worlds, in that its plane ofrotation is almost perfectly aligned withits orbit. Lucifer is a spherical hunk ofglistening, metallic ferment and has noatmosphere to protect it from theextreme heat of Viridia Solaris. As aconsequence its predominantly tin andcopper composition melts into a bronzelike alloy. Even on the night side of theplanet- exposed as it is to the freezingvacuum of space- there are molten

seas of this substance.Lucifer has two moons, Chort

and Moloch. Ironglass is the next plan-et out from the star, and is a large, hon-eycombed planet composed mainly ofsilicates. Ironglass has microscopicindigenous life on it, though its ecosys-tem is severely circumscribed by harshenvironmental conditions. Ironglasshas one moon, called Vectis.

The third planet is Viridia-where it all began for human life. Viridiais a blue-green planet with an ancientand highly diverse biosphere. The

world is lush and sweltering in a wideband around the equator, with the envi-ronment becoming more arid towardsthe poles. Viridia has two moons,Hecate and Baphomet.

Fourth from Viridia Solaris isXanth, a smallish, pale blue gas giantwhose surface is composed chiefly offrozen methane beneath a denseatmosphere of hydrogen, helium andmethane. Xanth has three moons,Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.

The last planet making up theViridia Solaris subsystem is Imryl, a

smooth, grey globe of barren rock notmuch bigger than Lucifer. It has no min-

eral resources to speak of, and hasnever been colonised since it is of nei-ther commercial nor strategic value.Imryl has no moons.

Leviathan, the second star inthe binary system is a dark body- a tiny,super dense star that died a very longtime ago and is about 1/100th the sizeof Viridia Solaris. Leviathan holds twoplanets within the incredibly potentgravity field that it exerts on surround-ing space, both of which are barren

rocks. Whether either of these worldsever supported its own life is a sourceof futile speculation, for if such life hadexisted it would have been eradicatedbillions of years ago by Leviathan'sdeath throes.

Closest to Leviathan isVacillus, a frozen, flinty planet about thesame size and mass as Viridia. Vacillushas been chosen as the headquartersof VASA because it is the nearestobject in space to the strategic gold-mine that is the Leviathan Gravwell.Vacillus has one moon, Kothon, which

VASA has adopted as the main dock-yard for its massive starfleet.

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Urukh orbits some distancefrom Leviathan and is composedmainly of metals- predominantly ironand copper. Copper deposits reactingwith gases in the thin atmosphere givethe planet its characteristic mottledgreen hue. Five moons orbit Urukh,and they are Hobbe, Barghest,Kobold, Sidh, and Fomorian.

Perhaps the strangest objectin the system is Prime, a teardrop-shaped planetoid that orbits the wholesystem in a great ellipse. Prime iscomposed chiefly of a vitrified, obsidi-an like silicate that has some veryunusual properties and is foundnowhere else in explored space. It is acold, airless place and life can only besustained in subterranean chambershollowed out by settlers, or in sealedinstallations on the surface. Despitethese difficulties,

Prime's abundance of rareand unique mineral resources makesit a very desirable world indeed.

The binary system attained

its present state billions of years inantiquity, and in the beginning therewere two separate systems. Whilstthe Viridia system was young and itsplanets were still forming, it was cap-tured by Leviathan, a massive redgiant in stellar old age at the time.Leviathan shed its outer shell, scour-ing and irradiating its own two planets,Vacillus and Urukh, to shrink andbecome a white dwarf. It is surmisednow that this event was responsiblefor the creation of Prime, which wasforming as the outermost planet of theViridia system at the time. The mas-sive tidal forces of the two stars com-ing so near one another tore Prime'saccretion disc from its natural orbit,deforming it and vitrifying the develop-ing planet in the process.

There are four inhabitedworlds in the binary system. Viridiawas the world where humans firstevolved, and from there they movedout to settle the other colonies. Sincethat time various wars have been

fought and three independent stateshave emerged. The original Viridiansare of course on their home world,and have a sort of corporate democra-cy for their society. The first planetcolonised from Viridia was Ironglass,which became used as a penal labourcamp for convicts. Since that timeIronglass has won its independencefrom Viridia. The convict's descen-dants are called Junkers, and main-tain a harsh, despotic and technologi-cally disadvantaged society. Primewas the third world colonised ashumanity struck farther out into space.

It is the home of the Syntha,a technocratic elite that believes inimproving humans through the use ofcyber technologies. Finally Vacilluswas colonised by VASA, the inde-pendent organisation that binds thesedisparate worlds and all of theircolonies together in a loose federa-tion- the Tripartite Confederacy.

Gentleman and Ladies, my colleagues in the academic community and peers ingovernment, I have come here today to tell you something unpopular. You sithere in this great hall, heart of a vast empire of commerce and colonisation,seemingly controllers of the galaxy. No doubt you can produce data and sta-tistics to support your belief in the mastery of mankind over space, but I tellyou today that it is an illusion! Our maps, with their great coloured bordersand shaded regions, only reinforce this misconception.

For it is not space you rule, but mere pinpricks of matter suspendedin the void. The vast interstellar gulf holds many secrets and togrow complacent with our progress is to invite disaster. Toconsider ourselves masters of these spaces is to fall intothe same trap as the fool in the parable who placed a

pebble at each pole of Viridia and counted himselfKing of all the World.

-from Academician N.M. Dirac'saddress to the Interdisciplinary Council forSpace

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Viridia-Solaris/Leviathan Binary System

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Viridia-Solaris/Leviathan Binary System

Type: Inert PlanetPeriastron: 75.3 millionkmRadius: 3252 kmOrbital Period: 143 daysPopulation: 0Atmosphere: NoneMoons: Chort and Moloch

Type: Desert WorldPeriastron: 108.2 millionkmRadius: 7709 kmOrbital Period: 168 yearsPopulation: 3.2 billionAtmosphere: Arid/LifeSustainingMoons: Vectis

Type: Jungle World

Periastron: 149.6 millionkmRadius: 6371 kmOrbital Period: 312 daysPopulation: 7.9 billionAtmosphere: Humid/lifeSustainingMoons: Hecate andBaphomet

Type: Gas GiantPeriastron: 4597 millionkmRadius: 26,914 kmOrbital Period: 168 years

Population: 0Atmosphere: Freezing,very high pressureMoons: Clotho, Lachesisand Atropos

Type: Inert PlanetPeriastron: 4735 millionkmRadius: 3731 kmOrbital Period: 202yearsPopulation: 0Atmosphere: NoneMoons: None

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Viridia-Solaris/Leviathan Binary System

Type: Dead Star Grav-WellClass: Black DwarfGate Magnitude: 8.3Radius: 57,654 kmMass: 2.66e31 kgAtmosphere: Thin Gas &Dust Cloud

Type: Conurbated IcePlanetPeriastron: 112 millionkmRadius: 6673 kmOrbital Period: 196 daysPopulation: 13.5 billionAtmosphere: ProcessedMoons: Kothon

Type: Dead Planet

Periastron: 379 millionkmRadius: 6021 kmOrbital Period: 367 daysPopulation: 0Atmosphere: CorrosiveMoons: Hobbe, Barghest,Kobol, Sidh and Fomorian

Type: Planetoid-uniquemineral resource sitePeriastron: 6338 millionkmVolume: 1.57e15 m3

Orbital Period: 323yearsPopulation: 3.6 billionAtmosphere: Sealed

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Sec-Net Bulletin. Gate 1,543/Region C3-04:45:12hrs

Identity of mysterious interstellar body confirmed as Syntha Nomad Colony of

Priegious Delta, last seen one hundred and eighty three years ago in neighbour-ing Reichtfonn system. Analysis indicates object began deceleration forty-sevenyears ago and has made minor course corrections in order to intercept the

orbit of the Blenka IX. Probe dispatched to query intent. This incident must be

met with extreme caution, after more than a century in deep space we cannot besure what we will find or how it will react.

-from Academician N.M. Dirac's address to the Interdisciplinary Council

for Space Exploration, Karas

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Viridia is the third planet from

Viridia Solaris and is a rocky sphere,perceptibly flattened at the poles. It ismade up of three distinct layers- a thinvolcanic crust, a liquid rock mantleand a molten iron/nickel core. Viridia'scrust consists of two tectonic plates,one covering the northern and one thesouthern hemisphere. Since the plan-et cooled and the crust formed theseplates have crept apart, throwing up aline of volcanoes and high mountainsaround the equator. Over hundreds ofmillions of years they have forcedback the oceans that once covered

the whole planet. Now, as a result ofthis constant geological action, theonly seas on Viridia are near thepoles. Viridia gets its name from thewide belt of lush rainforest, whichforms a virtually unbroken line aroundthe planet's equator. The tropics giveway to more temperate regions fur-ther out from the equator, and eventu-ally the bleak ice deserts at the poles.There is an abundance of animal andplant life on Viridia, particularly in thetangled equatorial jungles where thelargest organisms (apart from trees)

are numerous species of giant sauri-ans. Life even exists in the terriblecold of the polar seas and on the icecaps themselves, where fish and well-adapted mammals and birds eke outa marginal existence.

Human civilisation began onViridia when the distant ancestors ofthe Tripartite Confederacy foundedthe cities of Karas, "the Golden", andMyrhin in the fertile Southern Valleys.Nowadays the planet is governedfrom its capital city, Karas, by a global

corporate democracy known as theViridian Assembly. All Viridian citizensare shareholders of the various corpo-rations that form the ViridianAssembly, and they can use theirinfluence to select or deselect whichcompany directors sit on theAssembly's Board. It is this board of

directors that make policy on Viridia

and appoint representatives to VASA.Viridians are probably the mostinvolved members of VASA and arecertainly not averse to using theirmajority in the administration to fur-ther their own military-industrial com-plex. In the name of pluralism thereare regular elections for the board ofdirectors, though these only takeplace every five years. Under extraor-dinary circumstances it is possible forcitizens to request a vote of no confi-dence in board members if they feelthat there are sufficient grounds for

doing do so. Viridian colonies appointtheir own governors using a simplifiedmodel of the same system. Theyoperate under a devolved system ofgovernment, in which the colony issubject to core policies determined bythe Viridian executive, though theycan make their own policies to copewith local affairs. There are a few eth-nic reservations and hill tribes in thewilder parts of the northern hemi-sphere that represent a throwback topre-globalisation times on Viridia.They refuse to recognise the Viridian

Assembly and live by ancient pastoralmeans. Viridia is immensely proud ofthese relics and despite their hostilityto the corporate government, it pre-serves them as a sort of living anthro-pological treasure.

Communications, logisticsand agriculture drive the Viridianeconomy and account for the majorityof its research and developmentspending. Although there is alwaysplenty of cross-fertilisation of ideasbetween the core worlds of the

Tripartite Confederacy through trade,espionage, and membership of VASA,each of the worlds excels in certainareas; and IT and trade are Viridia'sstrongest points. Because Viridia hassuch a fertile biosphere it has distinctadvantages over Ironglass and Primewhen it comes to farming and less of

this world's financial reserve needs to

be spent on trade or biotech solutionsto feed its population. TraditionallyViridia has fostered the cutting edgeof space travel, and the need formaintaining channels of communica-tion that goes along with this has ledto the Viridians developing manyclever new technologies such as sub-ether carrier waves and quantumrelay probes. Viridians invented theplasma drives that are still used on allspacecraft as the primary propulsionsystem (as well as for a variety ofother energy needs) and they pio-

neered grav-shunting.The Viridian military are on

the whole well trained and equipped,which is true of Viridian garrisonsthroughout the galaxy. Each settle-ment is responsible for raising andmaintaining its own security forces inaccordance with Viridian Assemblydirectives, and providing the troopsthere with standardised equipmentand training. Special forces are raisedon colonies suitable for the work theyare required to do, and can be con-veyed to where they are required at a

moment's notice. War is a politicallysensitive matter where the Viridiansare concerned though. In the won-drous hindsight following certain dis-astrous historical campaigns that it isnot polite to mention to a Viridian, theViridian Assembly is prepared tothrow inordinate amounts of money atensuring human casualties remain ata minimum when they go to battle.Consequently the Viridians are mas-ters of long-range logistics and fast,efficient battlefield support. Forces

can usually be deployed or extractedquickly, and with the minimum of con-fusion.

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A dropship's engine makes

the faintest purr; its motions, what youfeel while you're holed up in its belly,are gentle and reassuring. Enough torock you to sleep if the hollow vacuumof your stomach and cold sweat onyour forehead wasn't there to remindyou just where you were going andwhat you were doing in that ugly slabof a ship anyway. You never loose thatfeeling, never, though with experienceyou learn to leave it in the ship whereit belongs; its just your body's way ofmaking it perfectly clear that it expectsyou keep it in one piece. Only fools

confuse healthy anxiety with fear.So the Junks were up to no

good, as usual, and its nobody's jobbut ours to set things right. Only its notIronglass we're locking horns with, wehaven't warred with our good neigh-bours since the Secession Wars and Idoubt we'll be starting any time soon.Like all engagements this was a colo-nial affair, limited, local, very con-trolled. Scratch the surface thoughand you'll find a Tripartite power and aTripartite war, the same war we'vebeen fighting since the days of explo-ration. It's a big lie, of course, but it's alie that keeps us from exterminatingeach other and, in the end, humanityitself. A good lie if you ask me.

And who am I? Sergeant LevCurzon, Drop Trooper, 222nd MixedInfantry Division, Viridian ArmedForces. I jump from ships flying toofast and too low over a combat zonewearing three-fourths of my body'sweight in armour and equipment andloving every second of it. We'reInterdicts, power armoured, shielded,and equipped for the up close andpersonal fire fight. A handful of us cancause a serious headache for enemycommand and control once we getbehind their lines, which is what we'retrained to do. But in this particularinstance, at Dae Cuolma, that's notwhat happened at all.

We got word of it on the shipof all places, turns out the decisionwas made by some bright-eyed boyback at base camp after we'd alreadygot airborne. Our whole platoon wasoutbound, four squads with widely

spread objectives, then the ordercame for all of us to converge and

bale on one spot. And what a spot it

was: right smack beneath the walls ofCuol City, in the very thick of it.Looking down on Junker Town was allthe convincing I needed that the uni-verse bore me a grudge: there had tobe five thousand angry red ants downthere swarming out onto the plain.

Grav-chutes aren't like para-chutes at all; you drop like a stone andhit like a sponge. Whatever fire wetook on the way down was wildly offthe mark, and we landed with goodcohesion. Right in the face of a mob oftattooed madmen that came howling

straight for us, swinging swords of allthings! We made short work of thembut I'd be lying if I said they didn't fazeus a bit, and hot on their heels werehordes of the one-eyes. Legionariesare a mad bunch, there's no otherword for it: some too terrified to shootand others wanting to die so bad theybowl right into you swinging and spit-ting. The worst though are the onesthat wouldn't trade that spike for theworld, the true believers, the guys thatlove the life, the legion and the fight.

That's what came for us next.After we'd got our bearings and sent afew squads running (heads poppingall the way I swear it) a real nastybunch following an antique lookingstandard moved right on in, blastingaway with those cheap guns likeyou've never seen. Even with ourshields we were taking some badcasualties, so Captain Peake gave theorder for the charge and in we went. Itook a wound in the shoulder fromsome one-eye's blade, but I gavemore generously than I got in thatexchange and our squad did thesame, taking care of every last one ofthem.

As hard as we fought, andevery soldier there was as hard-fight-in' as they come, we were in a hope-less position from the start. DeadJunks were piling up around us butthere was no end in sight, and all thetraining and skill in the world won'tprotect you from the kind of odds wewere facing. I don't doubt that wewould have fought till the end, andsome of us did just that, but not for

some silly totem or because we had abomb in our heads. We kept fighting to

keep the guy next to us alive a bit

longer, and that's the differencebetween us and the slaves ofIronglass.

A geyser of earth eruptedbehind us, and we all felt sure that theJunks had got their Salamanders inposition to finish us off. More explo-sions on all sides and suddenly it wasthe one-eyes looking worried, and forgood reason. A whole troop of behe-moths and 'saurs were amblingtoward Cuol City, and our big gunswere now in range. Our mad drop intothe mouth of an advancing legion had

worked wonders, slowing them downenough to get our artillery redeployedand into range. Most of them brokeand ran and the whole field thinnedout enough for us to regain cohesionand reform our line, a few groups ral-lied once the enforcers started blow-ing spikes but they didn't put up muchof a fight. Soon the howitzers hadthose big walls breached in severalplaces, and by then the colonial gov-ernment of Dae Cuolma was alreadysuing for peace. The battle was won.

I won't bore you with the list ofcitations we received, or the medals; Iwon't even mention the promotion ofyours truly. Less than a week latermost of us in the 222nd were shuntedoff to purge the pirate moons of theAeletian system. Junks again, alwaysJunks. Remember when I said we'renot at war with Ironglass? Of coursewe aren't: wars end.

Beneath the Walls

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The second planet out fromViridia Solaris is Ironglass, a large ballof rock with some unusual geologicaland astronomical features. Ironglasshas a rotational period that isabsolutely equal to its orbital periodaround the star. This means that itsyear is precisely the same length asits day, and because of this day andnight never change on their respectivesides of the planet. On the day side,known as the Red Erg because of itsdeserts of ferric sands, temperaturesabove ground are intolerable to

humans not equipped with some sortof protection. Meanwhile on the nightside, or Darkside as its known, theplanet is freezing. There is a thin bandbetween the two, known as theMeridian, where temperatures arefavourable to settlers. Ironglass'famous honeycomb structure isthought to be the result of cataclysmicgas explosion within the newly formedcore, back when the planet was stillcoalescing around Viridia Solaris. It iscomposed almost entirely of silicon,though there are abundant traces of

iron throughout the Red Erg.Ironglass' indigenous life consists ofmicroscopic red algae and bacteria,and all the higher plants and animalsto be found there now were broughtfrom Viridia by colonists.

Since the arrival of thecolonists, Ironglass has becomeprone to violent and unpredictablesandstorms. This is thought to be amanifestation of the 'butterfly effect',because the planet had no weatherbefore their arrival. It is thought thatthe disturbance of air currents caused

by moving humans introduced an ele-ment of chaos that bred geometrically.

Life on Ironglass has neverbeen particularly easy, and it persistsin being a miserable exercise in sur-viving day to day for large numbers ofthe current population. The original

settlers from Viridia found life on theMeridian tolerable, if rather basicwhen they first arrived there. Theatmosphere was thin and rarefied onthe surface, but got better deepunderground in the natural honey-comb of caverns and tunnels. When itbecame necessary to expand thecolony to mine new resources beyondthe Meridian, conditions became dan-gerous and unpleasant. Volunteerswere hard to come by and demandeda high price for their services, soViridia decided to use convict labour

as a cheap source of disposable man-power. Although politically unpopular,this decision was forced through andVASA supervised the administration,turning the planet into a penal colony.Convicts were granted land deeds forserving their terms, and so the colonygrew. Because overseers for the con-victs were hard to come by the Synthaof Prime were consulted to come upwith a cybertech solution to controllingthe prisoners. The result was thenotorious 'neural spike'- a device thatreplaced the left eye and controlled

the wearer by remote VDU messagingand pain modulation. Since those darkdays Ironglass has won independ-ence from Viridia, but the government,which replaced the Viridian Assembly,is worse if anything. Laughingly calledthe Ironglass Senate, the governmentis a shadowy oligarchy that rules withan iron fist and stifles creativity andindividuality. They have retained theuse of the neural spike, and onIronglass and its colonies there arenow more people than ever wearingone, thanks to the Senate's incompre-

hensible yet incredibly strict legal sys-tem.

Technology on Ironglass hasalways been born of necessity. Heavyindustry is the mainstay, with massivesand processors called 'Reapers'roaming the Erg, swallowing millions

of tonnes of surface material. Thesemachines are crewed by thousands ofconvicts in filthy, hazardous condi-tions, and amongst other things theymake glass and ceramics, extractalgae to make a revolting subsistencefood called 'grul', and filter out irondust to make steel. The other keyindustry is water farming, which takesplace in yawning subterranean cham-bers where heavy-duty condensationtraps extract water vapour from theair. Ironglass has never beenrenowned for keeping up with new

technologies, and they cope by crude-ly copying the technologies of theViridians and Syntha through a combi-nation of piracy and scavenging. Thishas earned Ironglassers the name of'Junkers', which they have adoptedwith a certain sense of wry underclasshumour.

Ironglass has an essentiallymilitaristic society, and both theirground forces and their space fleetare massive. Junker representativesin VASA are all military top brass, andthe identity of Ironglass' Head, or

Heads, of State is classified as a mat-ter of planetary security. Whoeverthey are, they have a casual attitudeto human life and their stock responseto military problems is to throw bodiesat it. Military hardware, like the rest ofJunker technology is crude, bulky butrobust. Naturally there is no stampedeof volunteers for the Junker armedforces, so conscription and the use ofdisposable penal legions are theSenate's solution. Junker colonies areconstantly in breach of VASA's humanrights guidelines, but excluding unsta-

ble Ironglass from the TripartiteConfederacy is considered so danger-ous as to be unacceptable, so theiratrocities tend to be overlooked.

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Interrogator: You were nearest to Censor Gemellus, I expect you to have seen every-thing that transpired!Subject : I have already told youInterrogator: Then tell it again!Subject : He sent the entire cohort into the administration centre, the plaza was rub-ble by then. He...he was excited by the reports of the militia's surrender, he was say-ing that VASA put too much faith in positive motivation and not enough in coercion.Then he mentionedInterrogator: We've been through this, I want to know what you saw!Subject : Yes, as I said, he knew there were only a handful of colonials and riot troopsguarding the complex, so he ordered the entire wing to advance, our unit stayed withhim. That's when he died, I don't understand it but...but one minute he was speakingand the next he was cut down by that assassin I told you about. In a mask, unseen...

I glimpsed him and thenInterrogator: Then why didn't you fire on him!? Ten of you against one man? YouexpectSubject : Because he was gone! I've told you he disappeared before our eyes!

-extract from the Senatorial Investigation following the disaster at Onu-Yesh III

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The Desert Marauders are thefast attack arm of the Junkerlegions. Designed to cope with thehazardous conditions on Junkerdesert worlds they are extremelyeffective on long range strikeduties supporting a variety ofheavy ordnance such as chainguns and flame throwers.

The Junkers Senate press all criminals into militaryservice and as a result the Junker legions are themost numerous of all the armies of the homeworlds.The Convict Lancers are close assault troops usingtheir high explosive tipped thermite lances to destroyheavily armoured vehicles and fortified positions.

Convict Lancer

Desert Marauder Buggy

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Through blinding desert

squalls they sped, through raging gustsof blood-red sand and pounding tem-pestuous winds. Past half-seen loom-ing stands of stone and the twisted sil-houettes of timeworn wrecks. Over thebadlands, through scrub, sand, andstorm, Licinius Vlens drove his direcompany toward an unsuspecting foeand laughed into the wind.

'The cruelest cut around' somesaid of Centurion Vlens, 'a heart ofsparkless steel' alleged others. In anarmy of slaves and coward's such afearsome reputation was essential, butVlens possessed other qualities of

command rarely seen in a Junkers'legion. What magnitude of dread he didproject was tempered by the respect hegave to those who earned it, and seem-ingly so small a gift bestowed on deso-

late men forged a bond of iron strength.On nimble quads and desertmarauders rode his desperate band,hollow cheeked and weathered fromtheir extended campaign, gaunt andcruel each one. They were the SteelVipers, Vlens' personal command,selected for their unbounded ferocityand reckless motivation. Accustomed

to the arid flatlands and deep desert,

they specialised in rolling warfare andspoiling strikes. Now they moved unde-tected through stinging blasts of sand,and no device of the Syntha could pen-etrate such a storm.

The hated Syntha, cold tin-plated devils all, had ringed the uplandplateau with forward bases and begunto mine the Split Spine Range; withincomprehensible speed they hadinstalled their robotic diggers and auto-mated refineries, their cyber relay sta-tions and bulk collectors. It was clearthey had intended to strip the uplandsof Petroc IV before its owners could

stop them, but timely intelligence hadensured that a full Consular armyunder Glave Truculla was dispatched topunish them for their audacity.

Through the dissipating storm

Vlens could now make out his destina-tion, the great complex that was partrefinery and part spaceport; the indus-trial and military hub of the entireSyntha operation. The storm's final furyabated, he could clearly see Truculla'sbesieging legion advancing on thecomplex from the south and east.Vlens' rapidly moving force was baring

down fast on the west flank, while to

the north rose the battered Split SpineRange; dozens of Syntha facilities glit-tering along the backs of its ruddy hillslike spilled diamonds in a pool of clot-ted blood.

Coaxing an extra spurt ofspeed from his heavily modified quadraider Vlens shot to the fore of his smallforce and, brandishing his great,notched blade, impelled them forwardin a reckless charge. The synths haddeployed beyond the complex in defi-ance of Truculla's plodding force oflegionaries, their thin line designed tomaximize defensive fire. Vlens' suddenassault provoked the desired response,forcing the simple artificials into some-thing like confusion as they dividedtheir attention between the convergentthreats.

The sick gray glow of Petroc'sstar was replaced with angry orange asthe complex burned, the fire from ascore of flamethrowers and incendi-aries bringing a hellish radiance to thescene. The wheeled fiends of Vlenscompany howled their delight at the

destruction, firing wildly into the fleeingSyntha personnel: 'standards' stillhuman enough to know fear. Holdingtheir ground, the insensateandrosynths were overwhelmed andannihilated where they stood.

Running down the last of thepanicked non-combatants CenturionVlens turned to admire the newlywrought carnage on the desert floor.The great compound of the Syntha wasmangled and smashed, their hub ofpower on this world destroyed.Scattered throughout the wreckage

were the broken limbs and explodedparts of their robotic servitors; simplethings reduced to raw metal trash.

A serpent's gleam in his eye,his dust-choked voice a whisper, Vlensexulted in the sight. "All just so muchscrap for the taking".

The Steel Vipers

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I have argued in the previous chapter that technology is no more an unnatural deter-minant of the affairs of mankind than are culture and tradition, all of which are creat-ed by man and imposed on man. So finally we come to the most sweeping condemnationof the Syntha and their way of life: that it is unhuman. I once made a study of the few

remnants of native hill tribes to survive the flood, and many of their ways could alsobe described as unhuman: and these are the "gentle savages" so revered by roman-tics. To label the Syntha unhuman is the product of one of two things; either fear thatthey will impose their will on our way of life (which they show absolutely no interest indoing), or good old fashioned bigotry.

-Academician N.M. Dirac, The Map of Modern Man

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Prime is the outermost object

in the whole of the Viridian binary sys-tem, and is something of an anomaly.It wasn't discovered by VASA untilgrav-shunting experiments wereunderway in the Leviathan system. Itwas first thought to be an immensealien artefact on account of the verystrange magnetic and spectroscopicdata returned from the quantum relayprobe that was sent to investigate it.When VASA scientists arrived there,they found it to be a planetoid com-posed chiefly of a material neverbefore discovered, and that has never

been found anywhere since- primeobsidian. It was this substance thatwas responsible for the curious sig-nals monitored by the probe, and wasjust as exciting to the VASA scientistsas the discovery of alien technologywould have been. Prime is a teardropshaped mass of colloids, full of inclu-sions of extremely rare elements, thatwas formed when Leviathan draggedViridia Solaris into its orbit. Prime,which was still coalescing as the out-ermost planetary disc of Viridia Solarisat the time, was spun into an ellipticalorbit around the common orbit of thetwo stars. Prime is a barren, inertworld far from the stars that shaped it.It has no atmosphere and is utterlyincapable of supporting life.

Prime's colonists were VASAscientists, technicians and engineers.They were originally on a mission tosettle on Vacillus, the planet next toLeviathan's grav-well, but were soexcited by the discovery of Prime andits mineral cornucopia that they set upa mining operation there instead. Lifecan only survive in artificial bios-pheres on Prime, and that is as truetoday as it was when the first colonistslanded. In due course the corpora-tions mining the Prime colony broughttheir families from Viridia and settledthere for good. They built great sealedenvironment bubbles on the surface,

and tunnelled down into the depths of

the planet to carve cities from theblack rock. Prime in due coursedeclared its independence fromViridia, descendants of the originalsettlers claiming that the ViridianAssembly was ripping them off, andgrowing fat on resources and tech-nologies provided by Prime. Anothercontentious issue was the develop-ment of bionic enhancement and arti-ficial intelligence technologies. Viridiasought to heavily restrict suchresearch on moral grounds, but theinhabitants of Prime saw this as the

future. Two major wars followed whichsaw the deployment of sentientandroids and military cyborgs by thePrime army for the first time. Primeultimately won its independence andits people took the name of Syntha, intestimony to their faith in technology.

The Syntha are no longerquite human; they are in some waysless and in many other ways morethan this. Most Syntha are cyberneti-cally altered to some degree and theyare characteristically cold and untaint-ed by pathos. They no longer repro-duce in the conventional fashion,being born fully-grown from nutrientgel filled vats, complete with enhance-ments. The Syntha organise theirsociety along collectivist principlesand recognise two distinct classes ofbeing. There are 'synthetics', the fullyartificial beings making up the servantclass, which divide further into AIs andthe humanoid 'androsynths'. The sec-ond class are cyborgs, of which thereare the heavily enhanced 'prosthenes'who are more machine than human,and the less radically altered 'stan-dards'. A massive AI called Prime,which is maintained by an elite teamof androsynth and prosthene techni-cians act as the central administrationof the State. It is represented at VASAby a sub-ether link manned byCognoscenti Prosthenes. The Syntha

are easily the most technologically

advanced members of the TripartiteConfederacy, and their discovery thatprime-obsidian could be used to makepositronic matrices led to massiveadvances in AI development andcybertechnology. Prime obsidian hasan unusual, spherical moleculararrangement, which not only makes itimmensely durable, but also able tosuperconduct at room temperature.The Syntha use it to make artificialpositronic brains called SPOMM(Synapsed Prime Obsidian MatrixMinds). These can either be placed in

machines and autofacilities, or linkedup to the nervous tissue of organismsto enhance them- a discovery that ledto the development of the neural spikein the colony's early days.

Androsynths and AI systemscarry out most of the service andindustrial processes on Prime, leavingprosthenes and standards to concen-trate on research and development,and military strategy.

Many of the Syntha's militaryhardware systems are automated orAI controlled, including a large contin-gent of androsynths in the Synthainfantry. But what the Sythna have inquality and superior technology theylack in numbers. For the Syntha tomaintain their inordinately efficienttechnology, and more human thanhuman troops, requires a great deal oftime and energy. So, whilst they cantake on the best of any other forcewhen the numbers are equal, the sadtruth is that they rarely are. Syntheticsare of course manufactured for mili-tary uses, whilst cyborgs simply joinup if they are asked to by Prime.

Citizens that refuse to serveare free to do so on the condition thatthey are fitted with re-education soft-ware, after which they usually recon-sider their decision.

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A lone figure surveyed the

field, standing relaxed despite the con-cussive detonation of mortar shellsclose by. Almost casually, her fine fea-tures in repose, 5.37 Zeta assessed thedisposition of her Lochos and recalcu-lated their chances for victory. TheKaesterians and their corporate mas-ters occupied a strong defensive posi-tion atop a hill crowned with graniteslabs and eroded shale, their gunscommanding the heights and their with-ering bombardment churning the ver-dant grasslands beneath them intomuddy ruin. Only the briefest inspection

was necessary and, her appraisal com-plete, Zeta removed to a safer distance.She was a minor miracle of Synthaengineering, as were all of her kind.Biomechanoids, the near-perfect mar-riage of man and machine, an elegantcomposite of the natural and the artifi-

cial down to the level of her hybrid cells.While the elite cyborgs under her com-mand, the prosthenes, relied on graftedaugmentation for their needed skillsand strengths, 5.37 Zeta's amazingpowers came instinctively to her, wereinherent in her very being. She was ahint of things to come, the template fora perfect future race.

So it was comfortably normal

that she should sense the AI mindsaround her, from the straightforwardroutines of the androsynths to the lay-

ered complexity of a teratosynth Alpha;

even the primitive SPOMMs of herrelay equipment and data storagedevices were present in her mind. Withlittle effort she could reach out to thoseminds and give them guidance, providethem with the benefit of her humaninstincts and experience. Incapable oflearning or non-linear thinking theseSPOMMs were still several generationsaway from human functionality, but theywere predictably reliable being whollyuntroubled by the frailties of humanemotion and ego-centricity.

5.37 Zeta's affinity for mechan-

ical intelligence made her a valuablemilitary resource, and as Lochagos ofthe Phi Candrian assault group she hadproven herself an able and subtle com-mander. Now on Polom III she foundherself in open war with the so-calledKaesterian Empire, an aggressively

expansionist state encompassing sev-eral backwater systems. The governor-general of Kaestere, however, was littlemore than a puppet of CAFS,Consolidated Agronomics andFisheries of Solaris, a key corporationin the Viridian Assembly. And so, indi-rectly and discretely, Syntha foughtViridian and the fiction of peace waspreserved.

Conferring briefly with thetechs who monitored the remotedrones that were the eyes and ears of

her small force, Zeta received the intel-

ligence she had been patiently antici-pating. For six days she had harried thesuperior Kaesterian force with nimbleand coordinated assaults, probing theirweaknesses and unbalancing them.They had requested reinforcementsand a large force had been sent over-land to join them; a column of infantrythat Zeta had purposefully ignored andallowed to approach and link-up withthe defenders. A conservative com-mander would further entrench thosealready formidable defences and con-tinue the lopsided siege, but Zeta was

certain her counterpart on the hill woulddo otherwise.

It was a gamble based on longexperience dealing with the rash andvainglorious cultures of the non-Syntha, and a careful analysis of thebehaviour of the enemy commander.

Zeta knew him to be impulsive andbold, but above all proud. As a Viridiancommanding the fiercely wilfulKaesterians, he would have to justifyhis authority with victory. Decisive victo-ry: not the slow statistical success ofattrition warfare but the resounding tri-umph of open battle. Knowing this Zetahad carefully prepared her forces tocreate the illusion of weakness just at

the moment when her enemy would befeeling his strongest, and in so doingensnared him.

Decisive Victory

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Pouring down into the valley

from their fortified position theKaesterians threw all of their force atthe thinly held Syntha line, pushingthem back. Zeta's awareness leaptfrom mind to mind, countermandingher assault units' initial SPOMMimpulses and holding them firmly inreserve. The enemy came boldly on,made reckless from the ease of theirattack and reassured by the scantresistance they were encountering.At that moment, triumphant and fren-zied, they seemed to Zeta little morethan beasts let free of their cage.

Silently she signalled for the counter-attack to begin.High above the battle, nes-

tled in the bowels of an orbitingArtemis class destroyer, silent rowsof strike craft came alive at Zeta's

signal. They were the notorious

Epsilon class fighters, and withinminutes of their launch they con-verged on the exposed Kaesterians;the lethal Proteus cannons of theSyntha ships vaporizing a third of theattackers in a blinding flash. Theirsavage charge became a panickedroute, and 5.37 Zeta took full advan-tage of the confusion. The SPOMMsquietly waiting for her order were acalm and rational presence in hermind, and in the brief moment shetouched their unclouded conscious-nesses she knew with a sudden, vis-

ceral, certainty that the future of herpeople lay in such perfect order.She sent them into the val-

ley, and together they wiped it clean.

Prosthene Marine

Prosthene marines are professional Syntha sol-diers. Their skill in arms and their commitment to

serving the collective has earned them significantcybernetic or biotech upgrades. Many Prosthenescarry pulse rifles; these are high-energy laserweapons superior to the standard issue gaussrifles in range and effectiveness.

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Vacillus orbits close to thedead star Leviathan, and must once

have been a hot, geologically violentworld. Since the death of its star,Vacillus has become as cold and bar-ren as Leviathan. There is evidencethat the world once had a structurevery similar to Viridia's, but Vacillus'score has long since cooled to leavean inert sphere of frozen rock andore. The planet's crust is divided intofive tectonic plates, which obviouslyno longer move, and there is wide-spread glaciation from surface waterexposed to the freezing environment.This makes for a rugged world viewedfrom space, predominantly grey andwhite, and cracked and strewn withvalleys, massifs and lofty ridges.

Vacillus is the headquartersof VASA, the Viridian Aeronautics andSpace Agency. VASA has a long his-tory going right back to the earliestdays of space travel, when Viridiansfired rude, organic fuel powered rock-ets out of Viridia's atmosphere toexplore their doorstep. They were anindependent conglomerate of corpo-rations, largely State funded, thatwere involved in astronomy andspace travel. After early tests in grav

shunting proved successful, VASAmoved their headquarters from Viridiato Vacillus. This made sense becauseVacillus's star Leviathan has a verydeep, very stable grav-well, making itthe key launch point in the system forconquering the rest of the galaxy.VASA continues to be a scientificbody, concerned with astronomicalmatters, but has also added theadministration of the TripartiteConfederacy to its mandate. WhenPrime declared its independencefrom Viridia, VASA's board was com-

posed of scientists and directors fromboth worlds, so rather than breakingup VASA, the institute decided toremain neutral and attempted tomediate between the warring fac-tions. Soon after the Syntha inde-pendence wars there was a similarindependence war fought between

Viridia and the Junkers, which VASAstayed out of altogether since they

had originally overseen the unpopularpenal colony on Ironglass. Once theViridian system had fragmented intothree different States, and each onewas involved in the business ofempire building beyond the systemvia the Leviathan grav-well, it becameclear that certain safeguards wouldbe necessary to protect the homeworlds from each other and ambitiousnew colonies. Viridia, Ironglass, andPrime all signed up to a treaty thatwould be enforced by the ostensiblyimpartial VASA, and all of their depen-dant colonies were required to do thesame. VASA isn't really a State perse, though it does wield military powerand has its own colonies elsewhere inthe galaxy. It monitors political, com-mercial and military conditionsthroughout human space and hasintervention powers it can use whenthe need arises.

VASA has always been con-cerned with the development of spacetravel, and continues research alongthese lines. It developed the technol-ogy used for grav-shunting back inthe days when it was still a body sole-

ly backed by the Viridian Assembly.Grav-shunting exploits five dimen-sional physics and the relativisticeffects of large bodies in space.Planets and stars distort gravity andspace-time around them, creatingdepressions in the continuum. Thetheory of grav-shunting goes that ifone of these wells can be extended tojoin up with a similar depression cre-ated by a body elsewhere in space, atunnel through the fifth dimension willbe created between the two, facilitat-ing faster-than-light travel between

the two points. VASA developed asystem of amplifying x-rays, called a'xaser', that is capable of causingsuch a rift to form. The technology isstill by no means perfect, and is sodependant on external conditions thatit is impossible to make standardisedmaps for jumps. Stellar flares, cosmic

dust storms, angle of approach, thepower of the xaser carried by the

spacecraft and a multitude of otherfactors mean that each jump has tobe calculated individually. Sometimesa jump that had been possible the daybefore will be out of the question foran indeterminate length of time, andanother route will have to be found toreach the destination. Main sequencestars such as Viridia Solaris generatefar too much magnetic and ionisingflux to make jumps possible from theirgrav-wells, and the same is true forsuper giants, brown stars and mostother active stellar bodies. That'swhat makes Leviathan such a perfecthighway to the rest of the galaxy. As adead star it generates no flux, but itscolossal mass creates a very deep,stable grav-well.

The bulk of VASA's armedforces and space fleet are providedby the colonies, though VASA doesraise and train its own elite units, theBlack Legion, on Vacillus and VASAoutpost worlds. VASA rarely takes adirect role in the internal affairs ofworlds and only involves itself incolony wars where its key membersput pressure on it to do so. VASA's

main defence role is ensuring that thegrav-wells, so essential to trade andcommunications are well maintainedand that traffic along them is conduct-ed in a lawful manner. VASA's armedforces have also been central to thewar effort against the alien menace ofthe Koralon, and have been increas-ing their demands on the colonies toraise forces for the war effort. Despitethis VASA has been forced to pullback from the fringes of inhabitedspace to consolidate humanity'sdefences- leaving outlying worlds to

fend for themselves as best they can.

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It seems certain that the synths are involved in something big here on Hellisn,and equally certain that this world's government and populace are ignorant ofthe threat. I have encountered dozens of people, mostly civil servants and mili-tary personnel that register as nulls under psychic probe. I cannot even beginto speculate as to their interest in this backwater world, but I believe I can findproof of their presence. Expect confirmation in one week, will contact then viasecure messenger.

-last dispatch of VASA deep cover agent Kolo Celleshin, missing presumedcompromised

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Shuriken Guards are elite jump troopers recruitedfrom the ranks of VASA's Black Legion Special Forces.They receive their special training in the Meta Templesof Fury and as such have expert martial skills. Theyare often assigned to protect VIP's and dignitarieswhere their formidable training can see off threatsand get their charge to safety quickly.

Hybrids are a fusion of pure strain alienKoralon and human tissue. Humans cap-tured by the Koralon undergo horrifictransmutations; certain alien genes areinjected into their bodies, which overtime distort and mutate them to certainforms pre-determined by their Koralonmasters. The forms they take dictatewhat roles they perform, some act asclose assault troops whilst operate

ranged weapons.

Shuriken Guard

Koralon Hybrid

Suppressor

Suppressors are the mainstay of the VASApolice forces throughout Pan-Humanicspace. They are trained in crowd controland urban pacification techniques witharmed response security units. In this rolethey are sometimes equipped with specialnon-lethal ordnance designed to incapaci-tate enemies rather than kill or maim them.For many though, they are the faceless fig-ures of grim authority and oppression.

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Atop a chrome-bright spireCommander Echiji witnessed thedeath throes of Sharnfeldt City,the once proud centre of a worldnow awash with blood and mad-ness. Visible through clusters ofprefab structures, on the city'sbroad boulevards and in the shad-ows of its artful towers, surgedrepellent and inhuman forms: thenew and terrible masters of thisplace. Sharnfeldt, the city of athousand intrigues, bastion ofindependence and centre of a

commercial empire embracing athird of the Rim, now presidedover an infected planet sunk intohellish ruin.

The thunderous drone ofengines stole Echiji's attention asthe last of the refugee-ladenfreighters under his command fledthe spaceport. Sharnfeldt mayhave been a Free State but itsgrav-well belonged only to VASA,and it was Echiji's planetside gar-rison that had allowed the escapeof several thousand citizens from

the doomed city. Now the last rem-nants of his command made readythe few ships left to them, andEchiji abandoned the port's controltower and its nightmarish view forthe chaos of the tarmac.

Weapons fire echoed fromall sides of the containing wall assuppressors, local security forces,and hastily raised militia pouredfire into the savage mass thatringed the compound. Dodgingspeeding groundcars and scurry-ing support staff, Echiji surveyed

his forces; careful not to let hisvision linger on the frighteningabominations spilling downSharnfeldt's avenues toward hisdesperate position. Breathlesslyan aide approached the command-er bearing crucial news.

Out of the west came the

object of the aide's report, dartingover rooftops and boundingbetween causeways the last hand-ful of Echiji's jump capable troopsreturned in haste. Avoiding thedeadly streets they soared amidthe cluttered crowns of buildingsuntil they cleared the starport'scurtain wall; and from that summitswooped down to their command-er. They were Shuriken Guard,elite protectors winged andarmoured, and supported betweentwo of their rank was the newly

rescued ruler of this world,Councillor Guman Woag. His lasttask complete, Echiji gave theorder for evacuation.

"What have they done tomy beautiful city?" The plump andperfumed Woag glanced backtoward the municipal centre andwrung his hands, unmindful of theretreating soldiers around him.Then, scanning the tarmac with afevered eye, he found CommanderEchiji conferring with his lieu-tenants and moved to interrupt

them. "We must quit this placeCommander, then return with yourfleet when-".

"Now is not the timeCouncillor, my aide will escort youto your berth," Echiji interjectedthrough clenched teeth. Thoughhis forces were now nearly allloaded into military shuttles, had itnot been for the heavy losses sus-tained while waiting for the gover-nor doubtless some of them wouldhave had to stay behind. Howcould he have ordered men and

women to remain to face thesemonsters? Echiji was glad to bespared that decision.

"Commander!" CouncillorWoag shrieked and broke free ofhis escort, examining one of thehundreds of cargo containersrecently offloaded to accommo-

date Sharnfeldt's fleeing multi-tude. "These are pure Kroellianbayberes, rare and priceless.What are they doing discardedhere?" The Councillor strode toconfront Echiji, heedless of thedischarge of arms around him.

One of Woag's rescuers, astern faced guardsman, presentedEchiji with a datapad which heread with increasing interest,ignoring the Councillor's diatribeon inherent value and the preser-vation of commodities. The com-

mander slowly raised his eyesfrom the pad, his expression oneof cold fury. "You brought it here".

Closer now, as the tighten-ing circle of suppressors backedinto their transports, came theremnants of Sharnfeldt city ontwisted and misshapen limbs, theirsenseless cries testament to theirdegeneracy. Echiji swept an armtoward the hideous sight, "Explainto them why you were smugglingcoraline. Here is the result of yourexperiment!" He turned his back to

Woag and mounted his shuttle'sloading ramp, "leave him, he staysto continue his enlightened rule".

"Wait, you cannot leaveme," frantically the Councillorclawed at the rising access rampas booted feet forced him back. "Itwasn't an experiment," he wailed,"it was trade, just trade!".

On a field littered with car-goes rich and exotic, GumanWoag faced the consequences ofhis greed.

Flight from Sharnfeldt

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Void System

Type: OceanPeriastron: 112 millionkmRadius: 5,707 kmOrbital Period: 207 daysPopulation: UnknownAtmosphere: Humid/LifeSustainingMoons: V1.1/m1,V1.2/m2 and V1.1/m3

Type: Desert WorldPeriastron: 183 millionkm

Radius: 4982 kmOrbital Period: 3.7 yearsPopulation: UnknownAtmosphere: ThinMoons: None

Type: InertPeriastron: 3027 millionRadius: 2562 kmOrbital Period: 27 yearsPopulation: UnknownAtmosphere: NoneMoons: V1.3/m1

Type: Ice WorldPeriastron: 512 millionRadius: 4012 kmOrbital Period: 72 yearsPopulation: UnknownAtmosphere: ThinMoons: V1.4/m1 andV1.4/m2

Type: Ice WorldPeriastron: 589 millionRadius: 3717 kmOrbital Period: 113yearsPopulation: UnknownAtmosphere: FrozenMethaneMoons: V1.5/m1 andV1.5/m2

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Void 1.1 is the first planet fromthe sun in the Void system situated inthe farther reaches of the eastern armof the galaxy known as the Rimworlds.The Void system was the first of manysystems in which man encountered the

Koralon. It is a single star system withfive planets simply named 1.1 throughto 1.5.

Since the fateful encountervery little information, beyond whatwas gleaned by the research vesselsthat escaped, is known about it. It hasbeen speculated that in addition to thelarge infestation on Void 1.1 there is asecond colony on the far side of Void1.5 where the second moon, V1.5/m2,acts as a gigantic harbour for the VoidReef fleet. Void 1.1 has been definedas a Reef world, a tell tale sign of aKoralon infestation. It has large, warm,shallow oceans with a series of archi-

pelagos build of coraline. It has a life-sustaining atmosphere if not a bit toohumid for human habitation. It is notknown if any other of the planets sus-tain life, Void 1.3 and 1.5 do not haveany breathable atmosphere but 1.2and 1.4 have thin atmospheres and ithas been suggested that this may bethe first stages of Koralon "terraform-ing" at work.

It has become clear that theKoralon have a well-established inter-stellar empire right out on the galacticrim, which is thought to be at least asextensive as humankind's. Initialencounters with the Koralon were dis-

astrous, resulting in skirmishesbetween settlers on the rim andKoralon battlefleets. Since then a cam-paign of attrition has been foughtbetween 'Rimworlders' and theKoralon, but without heavy VASA sup-port the rim colonies have fallen one byone. VASA realised that their forceswere over extended, given the scale ofhuman occupied space, and have con-ceded the rim to the Koralon, with-drawing their support and leaving theoutlying colonies to face the aliensalone. In the last few years the war hasreached a bogged down, stalemate,with some human rebel worlds still

mustering resistance within what isnow ostensibly Koralon space, and thealiens testing the boundaries of VASAheld territory. The VASA official line on

the Koralon is that they are rapacious,hostile aliens that cannot tolerate thepresence of a species that might com-pete with them. Meanwhile scholarsand intellectuals on Gate worlds farfrom the front lines debate whether the

war is simply a defensive posture byessentially peaceful Koralon againsthuman invaders; whether the wholething is a massive cross-cultural mis-understanding; or whether Koralonreally are bug eyed monsters bent onhumanity's destruction.

Koralon are marine amphib-ians that must certainly have evolvedon an ocean world, though no humanship has ever came close to penetrat-ing to the heart of alien space. Theirbodies are elongated and serpentineand can reach massive sizes, thoughmost are somewhere in the region of 2-3 meters long. Koralon torsos can

have one or more pairs of limbs; usual-ly arms, though occasionally wings aswell. They carry themselves by slither-ing along on a carpet of mucous con-tinually secreted from their soft parts,whilst keeping their heads and torsoserect. They are thought to have origi-nally been slug-like invertebratesswimming in the oceans of their homeworld (human military forces disparag-ingly refer to them as 'Slugs'), but asymbiotic relationship with a microbialcreature that grows like a coral on theirbodies has allowed them to conquerland. Autopsies on alien soldiers showthat when these microbes die they

leave behind unique silicate skeletons,which build up to form an incrediblytough mineral deposit dubbed 'cora-line'. Koralon have somehow learnedto control the growth rate of this mate-rial, most likely by treating parts of theirgrowing bodies with hormones. In thisway they are believed to have turnedhydrostatic skeletons into solid bonystructures, as well as growing crys-talline armoured plates and naturalweaponry on their outer skins. Othersignificant aspects of Koralon biologyincludes their ability to generate mas-sive electrostatic charges with theirbodies, like the Volt Newts of Axolotl 9,

and the incredible sonic resonance(perhaps a development of echo-loca-tion, though just how they communi-cate isn't known) that some Koralon

organisms can project.Koralon have based their

technology on the mastery they haveover coraline, making even their astro-nautics and industrial processes aweird branch of biotechnology. They

grow structures out of coraline to make'Reef Cities'; build vehicles- calledReef Ships- and weapons from it. Theyeven mix it with other substances todevelop field technologies that leavehuman scientists baffled. It is knownthey can manufacture a coraline-neu-tronium alloy that generates spatialrifts when a current is passed throughit. This material is thought to be thedrive mechanism that Koralon use forgrav-shunting. Their mastery ofgravitics is way beyond what humansknow, and they can even make rangedweapons and other clever devicessuch as short range teleporters from

the alloy. The only place in the knownuniverse that neutronium exists is onneutron stars, but how the Koralon canget close enough to them to mine theelement is anyone's guess. Amore dis-turbing aspect of their biotechnology isthat they seem to be able to use it onother species, adapting it to the sub-

jects' natural talents. Reports haverecently come to light of human-Koralon hybrid drones fighting along-side the aliens, using coraline ord-nance that mimics the effect offirearms and grenades.

Precious little is known abouthow the Koralon organise their society,

though they are thought to influence thegrowth of individuals for specific tasks-workers, warriors, scientists, etc. Thiswould make their closest human ana-logue for a social model the Syntha.They seem to have a highly organisedcaste system that encompasses vary-ing degrees of free will. On the battle-field it has been observed that the morelimbs an individual has, the higher upthe pecking order it usually is. There isalso evidence to suggest that Koraloncolonies are as prone to in-fighting ashuman ones are, though revolutionwithin the infrastructure of a particularcolony seems much less likely. What is

clear is that the Koralon are an enigma,and only through understanding themcan humanity hope to resolve the warone way or another.

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Two hundred years is simply not enough time to account for the incredible dif-ferences in the human population of Elborea. Yes, it's possible that the system-wide anomaly that cut them off from us exerted some as yet undiscoveredmutational influence on their physiology, but I suspect it's more a product ofthe native ecology. Dr. Guo has yet to discover any concrete cause in the tis-sue samples we sent her, and she plans to bring the rest of the team down toinvestigate first-hand. Meanwhile I'm still puzzling over the apparent similari-ties between the native fauna and the colonists, tomorrow I plan to collectmore samples in the j ungle.

-recovered from the logbook of Xenobiologist Lenil Fuller, member of thedoomed Elborea Expedition

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Black Legionary

The Black Legion areVASA's veteran shocktroopers. They areequipped with gravitonpulse packs, whichallow them to covergreat distances with asingle bound, and theinfamous Ion lance thatnot only has rangedcapability but also is adevastating close com-

bat weapon.

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Beyond the Viridia-Solaris/Leviathan binary system there arethousands of other inhabited worlds,humanity having spread itself wideacross the galaxy as soon as themeans to do so had been realised.Many of the inhabited worlds aremature colonies every bit as estab-lished and prosperous as the home-worlds, whilst others are developing orexperimental societies plagued by diffi-culties and engaged in a constantstruggle to survive. There are fertileparadises with rich biospheres, provid-ing an abundance of agricultural pro-duce to put Viridia to shame. There aremilitary outposts chosen for their tacti-cal value or strategic locations. Thereare worlds suited to researching newtechnologies- much like Prime- onaccount of their unusual geologies orfavourable environmental conditions.There are many more worlds of margin-al value to settlers- after the mould ofIronglass- that have been settled byprospectors chasing false hopes. In themore affluent sectors there are worldsgiven over entirely to tourism andleisure, such as the Viridian financedHypnos 4. There are also purpose builtworlds such as the SynthanIlluminatus-Weishaupt L3 and L4 spacelabs in the Peos Nebula; or the JunkerThanatos Class Starfactories, whichare planetoid sized tangles of semi-repaired wrecks and lifepods to whichthe biggest plasma drives in historyhave been attached. They float throughdeep space processing cosmic debrisand salvaging wrecks, until they gatherenough cargo to put in at a system andtrade, then it's off scavenging again.

The sheer variety of worldsand ways that people have managed toexploit them according to their needsdefies the imagination. Bare asteroids,bleak ice worlds, radioactive waste-lands, planets awash with toxic oceans,crushing gravity, all these difficultiesand more have been overcome when a

world has something worth having on it.The technologies used to set-

tle worlds depend very much on the cir-cumstances of the world. Some worldscome ready made, with a life-support-ing biosphere capable of sustaininghumans. On others humans have tolive in sealed environments, oftenbeneath the surface, where they createartificial biospheres. For most coloniesthough humans start off in sealed facil-ities, and use terraforming technologiesto transform worlds into inhabitableenvironments over time.

Most of these colonies areallied to one of the homeworlds, ormore rarely they have direct allegianceto VASA itself. This is all well and goodfor the richer worlds, or the 'Gate' plan-ets as they are known in VASA bureau-cracy, for whom maintaining close tieswith their patron States provides themwith security and prosperity. Allcolonies have their own security forces,and some starfleet capability to speakof so that they can deal with homedefence issues. Indeed on manyworlds less well off than the Gate plan-ets the promise of revolution is neverfar away and the security forces arekept very busy. On the less importantworlds that make up about 80% of thehuman galactic population (this is veryapproximate since an accurate censushasn't been taken for over a hundredyears) the Tripartite Confederacy isoften referred to in hushed tones as the'Tripartite Conspiracy'. In some casesworlds have broken away entirely fromVASA, declaring their independence inmuch the same way Prime andIronglass broke away from Viridia in thedim past. Sometimes diplomatic solu-tions are found, more often though thematter will be resolved through bloodycoup, revolution or sabotage. Theseworlds in conflict are the battlefields onwhich the homeworlds can competewith one another. The TripartiteConfederacy and the Vacillus Treaty

would never allow the homeworlds togo directly to war with one anotheragain, lest they plunge humanity into agalaxy wide civil war. Therefore theycovertly support their own factions onthese lesser planets, vying for advan-tage but never quite coming into directconfrontation. Covert military actions,back door arms deals with rebels andterrorists, social engineering, bribery,propaganda, and every dirty trick in thebook is used by the Viridians, theSyntha, and the Junkers in such the-atres, where the only victims are thepolitically trivial populations of theseminor colonies.

Once a colony has won itsindependence though, it is incumbenton VASA to recognise the new State inorder to maintain trade and diplomaticlinks with it- particularly if the colonyhas a rare or unique resource that ben-efits everybody. Therefore there arenumerous independent worlds andindependent alliances that have theirown forms of government, ranging fromisocratic utopias to terrible despoticempires. Such independents have lim-ited sway over galactic matters though,and VASA finds it much easier to dis-miss them, or press sanctions againstthem when they fail to comply withinterstellar law, than it does theConfederacy colonies. A particularlyinsidious pitfall faced by newly inde-pendent colonies is that they are horri-bly vulnerable to exploitation by theTripartite Confederacy. Theireconomies can quickly become desta-bilised by the trading power of theConfederacy, tipping them straightback into the sort of social ferment thatprecipitated their independence in thefirst place. Human rights violationsinevitably take place and since they areoutside of the Confederacy it is easy fora concerned homeworld to gain VASA'sblessing to bomb them into behavingthemselves; before generously step-ping in to run the shattered executive.

The Colonies

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What you will need to play page 38Dice and Dice use page 39

The Rules page 41Setting up the Battlefield page41

TerrainAreas and Obstructions page41Terrain Types page41Depicting Terrain page41Placing Terrain page41

The Game page 42Your Army page42Units page42Profiles page42The Stat Line page42Equipment and Organisation page 45Model's Facings page 45

Army Points Limitspage 45

Victory Conditions page 45Deployment page 45Game Turns page 46

The Marker Phase

The Initiative Phase

The Activation Phase

Orders and Order Sequence page 46Order of play page 47Markers page 47Measuring Distances page 47Awareness and Line of Sigh page 47Morale and Command page 48

Morale Checks

Sole SurvivorsMaking a Morale CheckMorale Check resultsPanicRally ChecksMaking a Rally Check

Rally Check modifiers

Command Checks page 49Making a Command Check

Command Check results

Movement page 50Squad Cohesion

Broken Cohesion

Movement and Terrain

Shooting page 50Check Range and LOS

Select a TargetRoll to HitTo Hit modifiersAllocate HitsRoll to DamageDamage and Casualties

Templates

Directly Placed Templates

Ranged TemplatesSpeculative ShootingEvadingShooting into a Close Combat

Reaction shooting

Terrain and Cover page 56

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Blocking LOS

Cover Saves

Weapons page 58Weapon Profiles

The Weapon Stat LineWeapon Capabilities

Weapon Type and Special Rules

Close Combat page 60Assault Moves

Charge

Close

Break Off

Fight the Combat page 61Who can fight

Allocating Attacks and HitsCharge bonusesCounter-charging

Hitting FirstStriking OrderUsing two Weapons

Attacking Panicked Troops

Terrain and Close Combat

Rolling To Hit

Rolling to Damage page 64Damage and CasualtiesCombat ResultsContinuation of Close Combat

Vehicle page 67

Morale and CommandShakenMovementMove Orders

TurningReversingShootingSelecting Targets and Fire ArcsClose CombatCombat Arcs

Vehicle Damage Tables

Scenarios page70

Standard EngagementStorm the PassTake the BridgeSeek and DestroyScoutVanguard

ReclaimHigh Ground

Battle Report page 78Junkers set upViridian set upTurn 1Turn 2ScoutTurn 3Turn 4Turn 5Turn 6

Quick reference Sheet page 92Counters page 93

Templates page 94 - 95Roster Sheet page 96

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VOID 1.1

For those of you who are new to fight-

ing battles with miniatures, hereswhat its all about.

Void 1.1 is a skirmish game; each

model represents a single man, mon-

ster or vehicle. Each model has its

own range of skills, equipment andabilities that defines its effectiveness

and behaviour on the dangerous bat-

tlefields of the Void 1.1 universe.

You can think of your armies as small

battle groups, scouting parties,

raiders or defenders of outposts.

Alternatively think of them as being

part of a larger force, and the battle

you are fighting as being just a small(but important) part of a larger battle

that is taking place around them.

The main strength of your army will

lie in the squads of infantry (or robots,

or aliens) that form its backbone.

They will often be led by powerful or

heroic characters, capable of single-handedly disposing of several times

their own number of enemy troops.

Powerful battle-suits, armoured vehi-

cles or large and feroci