The Horizon Periphery Defense Barricade

The **Horizon Periphery Defense Barricade (HPDB)** was a 4,500 mile boundary line that served as the main purpose of the CORE Defense Committee's plan for defending St. McCarthy against the Scaler Swarm. In the event of an invasion, the area within the HPDB served as a sanctuary for humanity while the perimeter itself was fortified with Omega Defense Towers. Final fortification of the line was completed in 9 A.E. The HPDB was eventually broken through in 13 AE.

## History

The idea for the creation of the Horizon Periphery Defense Barricade was first mentioned in an analysis of enemy battle tactics. Discussing hypothetical invasion scenarios,that while an attack from the coasts or from South Fenixium would overwhelm any resistance, an attack from the northeast would allow for the creation of a heavily armed "Liberty Zone" in the CORE Capital area and lead to a stalemate. The government used the Omega Zone concept as inspiration for the HPDP project.

Two years prior to 9 AE, military and contracted civilian forces, working in conjunction with the Special Research Projects and Activities Division (SRPAD) began a lengthy surveying project for the HPDB. On Harvest 14, 9 AE, the Territory of New Oxenfrag became the first North Fenixium territory to be attacked by the Scaler Swarm, and by Harvest 20, much of the New Oxenfrag territory had fallen to the Swarm. In response to the unprecedented attacks, Director Fredrick Ferguson approved the construction of the HPDB on Harvest 23rd, which was completed almost a year later on Harvest 14, 10 AE.

On Harvest 45, 12 AE, the Scaler Swarm launched an massive invasion of North Fenixium. After SRPAD forces failed to activate the dark matter missile, Scaler forces launched a massive assault on the HPDB at the southern perimeter on Harvest 58, 12 AE. The Perimeter was held but Ragnarok was deployed and roughly 63-80 million people were killed. Among the dead was 1st Lt. Tina Byrne who led the defense and a counter charge to buy enough time for Ragnarok to be deployed. She paid the ultimate price, her life.

While this was a valuable sacrifice it would be nullified a year later when the Scalers would break through and the entire area the HPDB was constructed to protect would be sunk to destroy the scalers main base in the UnderHollow.

## Evacuation plan

Under the CORE Defense Committee's plans for evacuation, government, military, and civilian populations outside the HPDB are evacuated in stages. Due to studies on the Scaler's swift conquest of the DNA , officials estimated that massive civilian causalities will be unavoidable during the evacuation. Furthermore, a premature evacuation is deemed to be detrimental as it will only cripple the economy and devastate needed production as well as inciting mass panic. After key personnel are evacuated, the government will issue evacuation quotas for civil authorities that are still functioning during and after any invasion. Refugees who have no authentications, however, are discouraged, either by authority or force, from establishing camps or settlements at the border of the HPDB.

Evacuations were declared for CORE citizens living in the outside states to be move within the HPDB in which an additional fifty protection camps were constructed inside the HPDB in Harvest 86th, 11 AE, and more civilians were continuously evacuated through 12 AE

### Evacuation Priorities

**List A:** Essential government personnel, Council of Knights, their families, and people on the Directorial list are the first to be evacuated.

**List B:** Priority personnel and their immediate families (spouses, children, and parents living in the same home).

**List C:** Primarily soldiers that are to be reassigned to defense towers and protection camps.

**List D:** Second wave personnel who are assigned to combat the invasion and will be admitted to the HPDB as part of an orderly retreat or with orders assigning them within the HPDB.

## Defense

The CORE Defense Comittee established the Omega Defense Tower program, which consists of a series of 50 foot tall towers placed every 1,400 feet along the HPDB. This comes to 38,780 towers along the whole of the Perimeter. The towers consisted of four crank 44mm gun emplacements surrounding a single large 90mm gun emplacement, and are armed with concussion shells that can fire at targets up to 50 miles away.

In contrary to popular demand, the HPDB does not encompass the entire coastal regions, as they are too disparate to be effectively sealed off from the threat of "outside aggressors." The first leg of the fortress began along the northern quadrant of the McCarthy Plateau., set back approximately 300 miles from the Polizka territory border. This gives the HPDB a buffer zone of acceptable loss and provides the time to properly construct the HPDB.

Director Ferguson approved construction of the buildings, and they were scheduled to be completed in Gale 11 AE.