The Asylumists

Horde

When the first reports of attacks began to emanate from the Asylum cities, the Coalition—what would later become the Confederation—took this as a clear sign that their long-time enemies, the Guardians, had returned to stake their claim to the planet once more.

Instead of sending aid to the cities, which had been declared enemies of the Coalition after refusing to assist in the ongoing war against the tribes of the Dark Blade, the Coalition pulled its forces back into its own territory.

Seeking perhaps to let their enemies weaken one another, the Coalition scattered its armies across its territories and placed them on guard should the Dark Blade join the coming fight. Preparations were finished long before the cries for help ceased, and the Coalition braced itself for war.

Far to the east of Asylum 2, the second-largest Asylum city, large convoys of vehicles were spotted moving at great speed. They had come from the cities and were therefore deemed of less importance than preparations for the expected Guardian assault. The majority of the Coalition’s forces remained on guard, while around a fifth of the army was dispatched to intercept what were believed to be fleeing denizens of the Asylum cities.

As the army waited, great plumes of smoke and dust, kicked up by the massive gathering of vehicles, filled the skies.

The Coalition force was led by an inexperienced commander, Cavvel Vaxi.

When the fighting suddenly erupted, the Coalition found itself facing an unknown enemy that seemed to spill like water across the land in incalculable numbers, piloting the vehicles and attacking without mercy.

Amid the chaos, Vaxi was able to frantically scream a single, misguided sentence through the comms before he was killed—a sentence that would inadvertently give this new enemy its name.

“The Asylumists are attacking!”

It is noted that “Fresh” Asylumists are clad in a form of biological armour that appears to deteriorate through sustained damage. An average Asylumist is inhumanly strong and fast, and possesses an intelligence most sinister, allowing them to quickly become adept at using unfamiliar weapons and technology.

Their talons and teeth alone are capable of piercing advanced armour, while their signature head spines appear to grant enhanced sensory capabilities and even a natural deflector field, almost as if technological in nature.

Among those who go to fight this enemy, one saying has become particularly popular:

“It’s not your life that flashes before your eyes just before you die. It’s the Asylumist smile.”