Helghast Army



The earliest origins of the Helghast Army can be traced to the Helghan Corporation's militia, which policed the Alpha Centauri system alongside the local Interplanetary Strategic Alliance contingent.

During the First Extrasolar War, it won several early victories against the ISA forces, but after years of fighting, suffered decisive defeats by both the remnants of the ISA contingent and the UCA Navy, ending the Corporation's attempts of secession.

History
The early Helghan Corporation militia were inexperienced, under-equipped and ill-trained, relying on overwhelming numbers to overwhelm the ISA contingent garrisoning the system.

Intervening Years
At some point after the settlement of Helghan, the reformed Helghast Administration established a standing army to protect itself and enforce its authority.

With the approval of the Army and its powerful leaders, Scolar Visari successfully initiated his coup to seize power. Agreeing to his ten year proposal, the Army would be at the center of the  new Helghan Empire’s efforts, transforming the nation from a starving and impoverished refugee world into a galactic superpower, and the greatest threat to the UCN.

Second Extrasolar War
The military of Helghan invaded the UCN's breadbasket, Vekta, in August of 2357. In a matter of hours, two thirds of the planet fell to the invaders, including the planetary capital, Vekta City.

However, once the element of surprise had worn off, the surviving ISA soldiers of Vekta successfully withdrew to several staging areas and began counterattacks against the Helghast, slowing down and eventually halting the invaders advance.

This, combined with UCN reinforcements, had pushed the Helghast forces below the equator, where the frontline would remain for virtually the rest of the Vektan Campaign.

Despite the strong counterattack conducted by the ISA, sudden arrival of reinforcements from Helghan, that arrived about 4 hours before the Earth fleet did, eventually retipped the balance of power once again in their favor, eventually overrunning the rest of the ISA positions on the planet, even using the planet's own SD Platforms, on the UCN Fleet, destroying it, leaving only one to escape Vekta's fate. While the Helghast were victorious on Vekta, the incredible amount of death and destruction wreaked across the surface of the planet showed the galaxy that the Helghast were no longer a weak, ineffective force to dismiss.

Two years later, the Helghast prove themselves to be equally vicious and determined forces as they began to Invade Earth colonies with a solid goal to Invade Earth.

Despite some gains, progress would be slow, to the point that by the early 2360's, the war came into a stalemate, where the space border was formed.

Though the Helghast was able to break through the Space Border by 2368, the Helghast advance was eventually stalled again, once reaching the ISA fortress worlds of Tigressa, and Euripidies.

Due to the presence of the Coraliton Republic that was also at war with the ISA and UCN, since the early 2360's, the Helghast were forced to quicken their advance towards Earth, thereby causing more deaths and destruction towards their war machine, to the point that by the time the Helghast reached Pluto, their advance was completely halted, due to receiving too many casualties and losses.

Doctrine and Personnel
Pre-Helghan Terracide

The army favored strict specialization of its soldiers, forbidding non-certified soldiers from utilizing weapons or undertaking roles they were not trained for.

The Third Shock Army were the elite of the Helghast military, spending six months enduring intensive training to seize Vekta through force. Helghast Troopers, Light Soldiers and Assault Soldiers formed the bulk of troops within the first wave, supported by special forces troops like the Elite Soldiers.

The core of the Helghast infantry defending Helghan from the ISA counter-invasion were the Assault Infantry, Shock Troopers, Riflemen, Support Troopers and LMG Troopers.

Elite units of Commandos, Elite Shock Troopers, Pyro Troopers and others supplemented the defences.

Post-Helghan Terracide
The catastrophic loss of life of the Helghast nation forced the remnants of the Helghast army to shift away from the attrition warfare of the past and harness its technological prowess to develop a new breed of soldiers. Restructuring itself from the massed formations of the Second Extrasolar War, its strategic focus shifted towards obtaining victory outside of total war and towards defenisve actions and urban pacification.

With the shift away from massed formations of expendable, fanatical soldiers, the Army developed new military equipment to outfit valued soldiers with the same amount of firepower and overwhelming force as their predecessor formations. They are trained and equiped to have an edge when and where ever possible, without starting open warfare on the endless Vektan border. This, and an increased reliance on robotic drones to supplement its numbers, has produced a lethal successor army.

The key specializations within the New Helghan military are the Assault Trooper, Commando and Engineer.

Small arms
TBC

Heavy weapons
TBC

Notable Divisions and Units

 * Third Shock Army
 * Autarch’s Guard - Scolar Visari's personal guard.
 * Elite Guard
 * 9th Division - Colonel Radec's unit during his tour on Vekta.

Notable Personnel

 * General Joseph Lente (deceased by February 1st, 2364)
 * General Armin Metrac
 * Admiral Orlock (deceased by April 22nd, 2379)
 * Colonel Tendon Cobar
 * Colonel Vyktor Kratek
 * Colonel Mael Radec