Warfare Compendium

## Architects of belligerence

"*Never in the history of humankind did we struggle to find reasons to war. Yet in the end, the final question is always 'why?'."* - emissary at the end of the pelagic war

Among the myriad humanities of the Heliopolis, there are as many wars and feuds as there are souls under the sun. The cycle of peace and belligerence is governed by few principles on all inhabited isles, motives echoing through all ages of civilization.

**Wrong and law, honor and atrocity, the Great Games and machinations** all play part in the plays of power enacted on all theatres of war. Entwined with all of history, they are part of all humanity.

## Theatres of mundane worlds

### **Line infantry**

Uncounted worlds under the sun tremble under marching lines. Disciplined formations stand valiantly wielding the **Glaive**, weapon of nigh-unstoppable force. All but a Glaive's fire fractures impervious **armor** and **uniform** forged and weaved from the finest material. Brandishing brightly the colors of war, the lines are the symbol of unrivaled military might.

#### Grenadiers

Most highly regarded are the veterans and elite troops of all forces on all worlds. Well-known are among them the fabled grenadiers tasked with protecting the infantry line. Utilizing **veils of smoke** and **particle screens**, all grenadiers grant cover to their comrades from enemy fire and targeting solutions. They wield the best means of protection on all worlds, from simple jammers to mobile projectile defense, technological illusions, and drones to tend to their duty.

#### Skirmishers & specialists

They are the fighters of deep jungle, partisans of the mountains and riders of the steppe. They are the death from afar as well as berserkers wielding **shield and mace**. Untold legions of specialized and unique forces to their home are part of the machinery of war.

### **Vanguard and shock forces**

The battle is but the peak of a **military campaign**, conducted under the protection of the vigilant valiant forces. Fast and **light vehicles, mounted cavalry and drones** to land and in the air scour across the lands and keep safe the moving masses marching towards victory. Their strength is swiftness and number, strategic as well as on the field of battle.

### **Land fleets**

Where the lands fiercely embattled are vast, so are the forces sent by contesting factions. In grand fleets wander **gargantuan battleships** the land, bearing batteries of mighty artillery. Wandering bases akin to cities on the move are protected by mobile entrenchments and shielding escort vessels.

Each vessel is a **moving fortress**, flagships like citadels amid fleets of dozens metres long cruisers. Where they engage in battle, the thunder of cannons fills a darkening sky as blankets of smoke obscure the sun. These giants protect tens, at times hundreds of crew under veils, armor and firing defense.

#### Adapted Fleets

The manifold worlds of humanity offer a **multitude of theatres of war**. On all worlds, the fleets are not merely bound to the ground but adapt to the niches the environments offer. **Gliding fleets** roam the eternal ice of outer moons; **airships** of the line conquer suspended worlds on worlds fit with sufficient atmosphere; **burrowing machines of war** break through regolith sand and even on the seas of cradle earth, **naval vessels** are to be seen.

### **Grand Sieges**

There is no greater peril than **megalopolis war**, wherein each arcology tower becomes a fortress of its own. By design built to contain means of production and facility, such a besieged city transforms into a different world, putting all living souls and resources therein to the cause of breaking free from the encircling force. Furthermore, the towers of humanity stand seldom on their own. In a sprawling megalopolis, a hundred forces are at play, contributing to the choking conflict by all possible force.

The sieges of the Heliopolis belong to the **charging forces of infantry**, gaining control level by level, room after room at the greatest cost. Taking arcologies by storm is urban warfare hell, but the only alternative to laying waste to all assets from afar.

## Theatres of the void

### **Phalanx fleets**

The phalanx reigns the theatres of void-borne war. Pharoi carrying weapons by the length of their spine fire volleys in legion formations. Glittering hailstorms are sent towards the enemy, concentrated fire crossing the vast distances of cosmic war. Each singular shot discharges unthinkable energies, forcing the weapon to rest so as to not rupture the vessel by virtue of its own might.

The phalanx vessels are deployed in their thousands, each individual one but a minuscule part of the grand machinery, which only reveals its unparalleled power through numbers and disciplined maneuver.

#### Cavalry vessels

Crossing the deadly void, however, is not fire alone. In the throws of battle, the formations of phalanges are broken by packs of cavalry and skirmishing vessels, crossing the field on rapid trajectories. Charging faster than volleys sweep them away, such packs fire hundreds of turreted cannons, overwhelming enemy flanks by rapid shock and awe. Where they hit, coordination falters and the enemy is prone to mistakes.

Cavalry vessels roam not only the outskirts of battlefields but also the borders and void-borne territories. Harassing supplies and communication, they probe the enemy for weakness. Numerous like no other kind, the cavalry Pharoi roam the embattled void.

#### Carriers and swarms

Missiles and drones fill the void-borne battlefields in innumerable swarms, bearing the instruments of resounding destruction. Seldom engaging in battle directly, they are to deny the enemy space and trajectories, canceling out enemy swarms and cavalry charges.

#### Siege vessels

Approaching the citadels and fortress habitats, entire fleets are dedicated to the conquering cause. Some are equipped with the grandest weaponry known to the humankind: **Siege Lances** capable of melting away the strongest armor and hull. Others are transports carrying **Espatier Legions** ready to overthrow the defending order and army. Among the largest of all military vessels, siege ships are the sight of both ultimate victory and defeat.

#### **Fortification webwork**

Territories held in void-borne war are thoroughly entangled in a webwork of satellites and defensive measures, communication arrays, and sensor platforms, providing intel and supply, cover and protection to gathering and faring forces. Based on endless redundancy and numbers, the webworks of extraplanetary empires span expansive reaches.

### **Habitats of war**

Built to withstand the natural void, every habitat is a citadel by virtue of its design. Equipped with arrays of defensive measures against even interstellar objects, armored against the onslaught of solar wind and equipped to survive long through total isolations, no habitat may ever easily fall nor be starved during sieges.

No less challenging is any attempt to take such a citadel by storm. There is no surprise attack and no way to breach the hull without destroying the very goal of the conquest. But awaiting any force charging onto such an inhabited isle is a labyrinth of technologic architecture, fully in control of the defending force. A fully militarized habitat thus becomes a deadly world of traps and entrenchments, defended by a fully armed populous.

#### Espatiers

Bringing the war to such deadly places are the indomitable forces of Espatiers, armies existing solely to defend and conquer worlds of the void, carried by the siege ships toward the distant shore. Equipped and trained for this purpose alone, the Espatiers are regarded as most fearsome warriors by many.

### **Celestial conquest**

The only feat more formidable is to take a natural world, a celestial body of the Solar System. Through the centuries of Heliopolis history, the instances of such invasions are few. The successful invasions of worlds larger than asteroids may be counted fully by a single hand.

## Theatres of the Otherworld

The theatres of the Otherworld are not governed by forces of the mundane but by entities and different factions altogether. Any conflict of the mundane world merely dwells on the surface of the cybernetic data ocean, sending waves through the fabric of the digital realm. In many cases a war reaches no further than the entities of the Otherworld allow, restricting the warring nations to limited influence on hardware and the digital realm.

If a conflict goes deeper, then it is through alliances and leniency granted by the eldritch wardens of the Otherworld. In these circumstances, the Otherworld itself is turned by factions against each other, granting those walking the deeper grid with nigh unimaginable powers and control over the hardware of the mundane.

There is no telling what shape and form war in the Otherworld might take, as it is interpreted data by all participating parties. Only entities dwelling wholly in the digital realm may ever grasp the full extent of battle when code is turned against itself and the universe of information works towards its own destruction.