Battle of the Devil's Edge Research Facility

The Battle of the Devil's Edge Research Facility was a conflict, shortly after the massacre at Sarnon, between the indigenous research team led by Professor K and a squad of invading Stormtroopers. The scene of the battle, and the prize for victory, was the Devil's Edge Research Facility, from which the fight gained its name.

Prior to the Battle
Although the Research Facility itself was relatively peaceful, the surrounding areas had seen a sudden bout of violence, most notably manifest in an incident a few days previous where Sinton killed a large portion of the residents of Sarnon. In addition to this, there was at least a minimal presence from the mysterious entity known as the Shadow, which prompted the massacre in the first place.

Those who escaped the bloodbath of Sarnon, searching for somewhere to go, happened upon the Facility, where they were welcomed openly by the on-duty guard, and Professor K. Around the same time, a small group of four soldiers - led by Captain Alsager - were travelling through the surrounding land. One was killed in a crash during the journey, but the other three were impeded when their vehicle was shot at by a Facility guard. They, too, were welcomed in willingly. Their entry would prove timely, as they came within minutes if not seconds of falling victim to the attacking Stormtroopers.

Initial Standoff
The first of those inside the Facility to become aware of the attack was the guard who had shot at Alsager's party. He sounded the alarm quickly, and the soldiers weren't long in joining the fight. Initially the quality of fire from both sides was low, resulting in only one casualty on each side. Though they were fully armoured, the Stormtroopers were in only a short period of time made aware that, were they to continue with their strategy of external bombardment, the defenders - with Alsager's experience on their side - would hold out.

To solve this problem, they elected to seek entry. Their first step was to try and force a way in through a side door adjacent to the main hub of the action, but this was spotted by Sam, one of Professor K's guards, who was able to reach the door and force it shut before any serious breach could be made. Whilst this was happening, the Stormtroopers slowly migrated in the direction of the main entrance, from where they could branch out to pretty much anywhere in the base.

Combat in the Entrance Corridor
The full strength of the defenders was soon fixed on a single, central corridor, branches from which provided direct routes to the majority of the Facility's rooms. The corridor was considered to be sufficiently important for cover to be forgone. Realising there was an alarming shortage of weapons, Sam went to the storage to find more. Unaware of what he was doing, one of the soldiers - Private Tomkinson - hurried to follow. As he did so, the door was penetrated by the Stormtroopers. Tomkinson was left cut off from the others and, though he was able to take out one of the attackers, was killed where he was.

The few seconds immediately after this, a chaos of fire resulted in three more dead, two of the defenders and one of the Stormtroopers. Of the four defenders so far killed in the battle, two had come from Sarnon, and only one was an employee at the Facility. Captain Alsager, recognising the hopelessness of the situation, ordered a retreat of those who remained to the Facility's hub. During the evacuation, Professor K disappeared.

In order to allow the others more time to get ready, Alsager's last remaining soldier volunteered to stay behind and hold off the Stormtroopers. Before he had a chance to do much damage to them, however, he was attacked and killed by the suddenly appearing Shadow.

In the Hub
Donny, one of the survivors of the massacre, was positioned just beside the entry wall, away from the others who were stood in direct sight of the door. The plan was for him to remain hidden until he was behind the Stormtroopers, before taking them all out from behind, or alternatively to take them out one by one as they tried to pass through the chokepoint. The plan backfired when his gun discharged prematurely, alerting the troopers to his presence. He was swiftly cut down, leaving the four survivors with no option but to flee.

Subsequent to the Battle
A few days later, the survivors were found by Private Bannan, and escorted to a military base on the Lapis Plains. There, they fought against both Fear Troopers and Stormtroopers. During this assault, three of them were killed. In addition, Sam, who had escaped somehow, was apparently caught in an explosion, leaving only Spitzer alive of all the defenders.