Progenitors
The Progenitors are a hostile, hyper-advanced race of spacing faring aliens, believed to have originated from outside of the Milky Way.
History
The Progenitors first made their debut within the Milky Way galaxy during the summer of 2297, when their Ark was first detected by gravimetric sensors roughly 30kly north west of Klendathu making their way counter clockwise along the length of the Outer Rim. Due to the massive size of the ship, it was assumed to be a near passing asteroid and not much thought was given to it.
The Citizen's Herald - August 14, 2297
Sources within Federal military intelligence today confirmed that the Federation has lost contact with three further frontier colonies - 3484 Indi VII, 2393 Dou Xiu VII, and Tevi Prime - following reports earlier this week that two other colonies on the cusp of the Epsilon Eridani systems had been lost to the Skinny threat last week. Whilst 3484 Indi, 2393 Dou Xiu and the two other colonies all numbered less than a thousand people, the attack on Tevi Prime - a much more significant colony that had a permanent Mobile Infantry garrison and some 22,000 members - is a source of significant concern within Military Intelligence circles, as it suggests that the enemy may be becoming emboldened. Sky Marshal John Hudson could not be reached for comment.The first interaction between the Progenitors and humanity occurred during August 2297, where several frontier colonies including Tevi Prime and some satellite colonies of the Epsilon Eridani system were abducted from their planet. Originally this was attributed to the skinnies, culminating in the Federation destroying a skinny religious monument in an act of retaliation.
Obviously this did not lead to an abatement of abductions and attacks, and eventually the Federation was forced to send a flotilla of Federation war ships, led by the Dreadnought Topham - all of which were destroyed presumably by the Progenitors.
The Battle of Terra Neue
As August came to an end, the largest Federation frontier colony of Terra Neue which sits in the Perseus Arm (home to the Arachnids and the skinnies) was attacked by the Progenitors. By lucky coincidence, Federation diplomats were in communication with the planet as the attack began to commence, and although they were cut off shortly before the arrival of the Progenitors, were able to raise the alarm that the colony had been attacked and give the Federation an opportunity to defend it.
A task force of nearly 70 Federation warships were assembled including the Audie Murphy and were dispatched to challenge what was presumed to be the skinnie fleet in orbit over Terra Neue. Upon arrival, they encountered no skinnies: only the single ship that makes up the Progenitor fleet, the Progenitor Ark.
In the coming space battle between the Federation ships and the Progenitor ark, a total of 62 Federation warships were destroyed (including the Murphy), whilst no damage was inflicted upon the Ark. Eyewitness testimony attributes this shocking victory to the fact that the Ark had "some form of energy shield" protecting it and it appeared to leverage energy-based weapons over the conventional projectile-based tech used by most of the Milky Wayian species.
The 112th Mobile Infantry and surviving crew of the Audie Murphy were stranded on planet, tasked with a single objective: escape.
Day 1
The first day of the campaign was devoted to regrouping with the other elements of surviving Mobile Infantry led by Colonel Brian C. Larsen, who had taken refuge in a metro station in the city of Bahlstrom.
The 112th arrived to the planet via an escape pod shortly after the destruction of the Mobile Infantry, landing in an arctic ocean roughly a kilometer from shore. Suffering from an array of injuries, with several troopers suffering the onset of hypothermia, they set out across the ocean, taking advantage of the fractured ice sheet that sat between them and the cliff-laden shore.
Upon arrival, they found an abandoned oil hub, which they climbed and took shelter in whilst their wounded were attended to. The elevator to the surface was unfortunately found to be destroyed, and it was resolved that a trio of troopers would have to summit the cliff edge by hand. During the course of this summit, decorated Engineering Specialist Robbie "Rabbi" Malarky unfortunately lost his life when he slipped and fell to his death below.
Once the remnants of the Audie Murphy's crew made the surface, they encountered and engaged in combat the Progenitor thralls and the Progenitor edifices for the first time.
After a long trek across the arctic tundra, they eventually regrouped with Colonel Larsen in the metro station beneath the city.
