Operation Frostbite:
A History By Vladimir Kutezedov
Part 1: The Red Fields
The planet Elysium is a block of ice circling a distant sun; an inhospitable place by any criteria. So why was it the scene of some of the bitterest fighting since the appearance of the Therians? The answer is simple, economic gain. The planet was blessed, or cursed, with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of elysium, vital to Red Blok industry. It is the secret ingredient that makes our combat striders the strongest in the galaxy. The imperialist Therians and capitalist UNA wished to deprive us of this supply. Hence the hostilities. The Karmans remained strangely absent from this conflict, considering they also had a presence on Elysium. The only combatant that didn’t hold territory on Elysium was the UNA, but they soon joined in when the fighting started.
There were three theatres of operation on the planet. Two of them, The Emerald Mounts and The Black Fortresses, are the subjects of other narratives. This piece concerns itself with The Red Fields, where The Red Blok had a presence at the start of hostilities.
The Red Blok held two areas at the start of the campaign; The Mine and K-101 Spaceport. Their opening moves, in the first week of the campaign, were north into Avalanche Pass and east into South Prospecting Base. The UNA, for their part, advanced into Avalanche Pass, where they were defeated by Red Blok forces but they were successful in taking K-101, despite fierce Red Blok resistance. The Therians met and defeated The Red Blok at South Prospecting Base. They also moved into The Plain.
The second week of manoeuvrings saw a Therian victory at The Mine and a UNA advance into Elysee Colony. The Red Blok still held onto Avalanche Pass.
During the third week The Red Blok and the UNA both launched attacks on South Prospecting Base, with The Red Blok emerging victorious, though the celebrations were short lived.
At the start of the second and final phase of the campaign, the UNA again attacked South Prospecting Base as did the Therians. Red Blok commanders made a serious tactical blunder by not protecting the radio transmitter and the Therians were victorious. The Red Blok thereafter made repeated, but doomed, attempts to recapture The Mine and South Prospecting Base. The UNA command went through a series of changes which severely curtailed its ability to wage war.
The Therians were in the ascendant and, as well as holding The Mine, the Base and The Plain they took the Spaceport without a fight. They sabotaged the UNA company which was scheduled to advance there.
As week six dawned, the Therians were feeling secure but they were in for a shock as a UNA resurgence was about to come. Inexplicably, the Therians left K-101 Spaceport and attacked Elysee Colony. This allowed the UNA to retake the Spaceport in another bloodless manoeuvre. The Therian attack into the Colony was also repulsed in a short, sharp battle. The UNA also launched an attack on Avalanche Pass which was defended by Frontline forces of the Red Blok. Due to the inappropriate use of a Dotch Yaga mortar, half the Red Blok infantry, including the force commander, was swept away in an avalanche. They were forced to withdraw and the UNA took control.
The situation, as the final week approached, was that the UNA and Therians each controlled three sectors, with only battles at The Mine and South Prospecting Base to be decided. | 
