Locations

Location Name

Fort Caulder

Location Description

Fort Caulder is the largest of the American Accelerator Arrays. Housed deep underground, beneath a purpose-built military base, it houses the headquarters of the 1st Field Division. This military force, under the leadership of General Oak was constructed in response to the threat from the Exile forces, and had its genesis in the forces originally assembled by Lt. Colonel Speers.

Housing a huge Array Hall capable of transporting vast numbers of troops and vehicles into the Field, Fort Caulder was built using intelligence gathered covertly by Jane Honeymon, from her position as Deputy-Head of Field Research at the Maunsworth Research Facility.

Threat

American Intelligence services first discovered the existence of the Exiles while running a covert counter-terrorism operation in Eastern Europe. Lt. Colonel George Speers was head of Operation Firefly, placing operative within suspected terrorist groups in an attempt to follow a trail back to their base of operations.

One of the American agents inadvertently made contact with an Exile cell who were attempting to purchase large quantities of components necessary for weapons' manufacture. Posing as a front-man for a large manufacturer, the intelligence operative successfully infiltrated the outer circle of suspects, before coming into contact with a character known only as 'Alexi'.

At this point the operative had reported that Alexi appeared immediately suspicious of him, and, fearing for his safety, had contacted Speers, requesting he be allowed to pull out of the operation. But Speers had become determined to find out more about this higher level character Alexi, and had ordered his operative to remain under cover, and that additional security would be assigned him to counter any threats.

It was after this point that the undercover agent began to exhibit strange, paranoid behaviour, reporting the feeling of being constantly watched, of hearing occasional sounds around him, as if he were being followed. These reports grew steadily more frequent, but Speers was determined to discover more about Alexi, who evaded their every surveillance attempts.

It was at this point that the American agent was found murdered in his safe-house. There were no signs of entry or egress, and the body was disfigured and burned.

And so began Speers' obsession with tracking down Alexi and his group. At every turn the mysterious figure would evade the Americans, leaving a trail of murder in his wake. The Intelligence operatives seemed to have no defence against the attacks, and fears for the security of higher level targets were raised against this new terrorist threat.

One connection was made by Speers in his hunt across the globe for the Exiles, and that was a small research centre, previously unheard of, in the north of the United Kingdom, at the site of an old stately home. Many of the Exiles' movements had been traced to this location, and Speers had his teams infiltrate the Facility, searching for clues and links to the Exiles' intentions.

It would appear that the British were working on some communications' array, but during their surveillance at Hayden Hill a discovery was made that alluded to something far greater. Speers became convinced that Alexi was in fact working undercover for the British on some secret weapons' project, and poured vast resources in their espionage.

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Inception

It is not known how or at what point the traitor Jane Honeymon began to pass information to the Americans, but soon a U.S Standing-Point research programme was secretly initiated, fuelled by these stolen secrets. Initial trials were conducted at the Devil's Rock Research Laboratory, and (thanks to the vast funding programme) a successful Array was constructed.

But as events escalated the Americans themselves came under direct attack from the Exiles, with the assassination of key military and political figures. This drove Speers to push for a new, purpose-built location that would fulfil his military ambitions.

Fuelled by paranoia and fear of attack, the U.S continued to pour huge resources into the Heavenfield project, culminating in the construction of the largest Array site the world had ever seen. A monumental underground structure was created, defended by a newly-created Field army (the 1st Field Division under General Oak), stationed in the purpose-built surface base.

Fort Caulder was the largest man-made underground structure ever built, its Accelerator Array tunnels stretching for hundreds and hundreds of miles deep beneath the surface. Everything about the site was built upon a monumental scale, right down to the Chamber itself, which was capable of accommodating a hundred troops, as well as tanks and aircraft.

Operations

The newly-created 1st Field Division had its headquarters in the surface base, and as the Final War began to develop they found themselves drawn into an ever-expanding conflict. Constantly under Exile attack, the defenders found the huge scale of the Array proved something of a disadvantage, as it was impossible to successfully defend such a sprawling site. Repeated attempts to infiltrate and sabotage the tunnels caused heavy casualties and setbacks.

A siege in the Heavenfield around the Entry-Points at all three of the U.S Array sites lasted for months, as the Exiles attempted to blockade these choke-points. But eventually the numerical superiority of the American forces proved too great at the Fort Caulder E.P, and the siege was finally broken.

Speers' forces pursued the retreating Exiles back to the Maunsworth E.P, who were regrouping with survivors from the fallen Fortress. His intention was to shut down the British E.Ps, but ultimately the British, Americans, and Exiles would all join forces against the Demon threat.

Attacks

While the American strike-force was engaged in what would later come to be known as The Battle of Maunsworth Field, the forces back at Fort Caulder were strengthening their defences within the Heavenfield around their Entry-Point. Although they did not yet have access to the Exile technology that would allow individual troops to remain long-term in the Field, they still kept a garrison stationed at the Entry-Point, with a rolling replacement and constant replenishment of air supplies.

Shortly after the Battle of Maunsworth Field, an Exile attack upon the Array tunnels managed to disable operations for an extended period of time. At the time of writing little is know as to the fate of the unfortunate garrison stationed at the E.P, and now trapped in the Heavenfield with no means to return.