125th Strike Division

The 125th Strike Division, aka the 125th Combined Arms Strike Force, nicknamed "The Stray Dogs" is an elite Western Coalition strike force that is the main focus of Frontlines: Fuel of War.

2016
With the formation of the Western Coalition, the mostly former NATO Command is given the task of aggregating and rearranging units from the militaries of various member states into a single cohesive force that is capable of quick deployment. Because there are pressing world events that need military attention, aggregation is carried out from the top down. Several elite units, the cream of the crop, from the WC member nations best marine, airborne, spec op, heavy infantry, armored cavalry, and close air support services are formed into a new, next generation "Strike Division", known as the WC 125th Combined Arms Strike Force.

The new force is equipped with the latest in high tech communications and assault hardware, and can be mobilized on short notice to almost anywhere in the world where they can quickly deliver a rapid offensive strike where needed. The new division sees its first action when it is sent to reinforce struggling Western Coalition forces besieged in their fortifications in Iraq. Facing an overwhelming militant army that is mostly composed of surviving elements from the Iranian army, the 125th engages and destroys two armored divisions and engages thousands of enemy infantry.

Several follow up strikes cripple militant supply lines and cause a massive rout of the invasion.

2016-2017
The 125th remains deployed in the Middle East, mostly securing oil fields against militants and saboteurs. They see several low profile actions against paramilitaries and insurgents, all with better than expected results.

2017
The 125th sees heavy action in Iraq. Although they inflict heavy damage on Iranian, Syrian, and indigenous forces, they cannot maintain the Coalition hold on the country. The 125th are the last Coalition forces to leave the country, having covered the retreat of all civilian officials and regular military forces. Iraq falls from the hands of the Western Coalition.

2018
Elements of the 125th see heavy action covering the closing down of multiple Western Coalition extraction operations, and oversee the retreat of WC forces from depleted oil fields in the former Saudi Arabia and Gulf States. Several members of the 125th are given awards of valor, many posthumously, for saving their fellow countrymen. This action would cause the 125th to gain fame and recognition back home for their brave actions.

2019
The South American Revolutionary (SAFU) forces invade the free (and neutral) state of Panama, attempting to seize control of the Panama Canal, which would allow them to restrict Coalition access to this valuable strategic passageway. Caught off guard, the Coalition command hastily inserts several companies of the 125th into action, with some being inserted through amphibious landing, high altitude low opening drop, and through overland actions via Nicaragua. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the 125th destroys the SAFU forces, inflicting heavy causalities and pushing them out of the country.

While debriefing the operation to the Western Coalition's civilian ministers, WC Joint Command Chair, General Norman Stanley Velmouth comments that “the 125th are like a goddamn pack of hungry, scrappy, stray dogs that always seem to wander into the middle of the heaviest action”. The rank and file of the division takes pride in the characterization and begin adorning their hardware with various make-shift representations of "scruffy" looking dogs as a badge of divisional honor and braggadocio. Different companies and platoons within the division often adopt different styles of "Stray Dog" emblems.

This would be the beginning of the "Stray Dogs" nickname.

2021
The 125th, now commonly referred to just as "The Stray Dogs", return to duty, this time in Central Asia where they are quietly placed under the WC Asian Central Command and stationed in Afghanistan. Late in the year hostilities flare up between Red Star forces in south western China and Coalition forces across the border in occupied Pakistan when Red Star Alliance forces attempt to annex several hundred square kilometers of disputed Pakistani real estate in an attempt to gain control of resources in the area. The WC Central Mountain Division falls back, seemingly surrendering the territory, and the Chinese advance in to occupy it.

However, the Stray Dogs hit the exposed northern flank of the Red Star advance, devastating their core armored and air support units, cutting off the main body of the occupying force, thereby isolating them from the Chinese border and their support and supply lines. Coalition Command then quietly demands a retreat recognizing the Coalition right to the territory and surrendering any claim to it, holding the isolated Chinese army as hostage. Weeks later the treaty is signed and the Red Star forces allowed to return home, the territory now established as Western Coalition.

This would mark the effect of the Stray Dogs on the Frontlines of the battlefield.

2023
During the unseasonably warm and stormy spring of 2023, Coalition command deploy the 125th to Alaska, assigning them to stand guard over key oil platforms in the Bearing Sea, which the Red Star have been conducting naval exercises very close to. However bad fortune strikes when a category 5 hurricane, the first hurricane ever to hit Alaska, strikes southern Alaska. The subsequent damage floods and devastates the city of Anchorage, causing severe civilian loses. The Chinese use the storm as cover and attempt to seize the oil platforms in the midst of the devastation.

The Stray Dogs fight off the attacking Red Star forces while simultaneously assuming a civil defense role, rescuing the lives of countless civilians and maintain order. With much media exposure of their heroics, the Stray Dogs gain a mythic quality in the public mind, and join the ranks of famous and distinguished military units. However, the division suffers severe causalities and is forced to recuperate at the divisional headquarters near Calgary, Alberta for almost six months.

2024
Reconstituted and rejuvenated, the Stray Dogs are retained under WC Asia Central Command and deployed to Afghanistan where they are folded into regular defensive duties and begin preparing for the inevitable continuation of hostilities. Meanwhile, Squad One Three Bravo coming off of disaster relief in Anchorage, is sent to a Turkmenistan oil refinery to relieve Alpha Company of their patrol duty, however, their chopper goes down from a surprise attack by Red Star. After repelling Red Star forces from their crash site, they are ordered to repel the invading infantry from the refinery as well as re-secure it, which they are unsuccessful in doing, and retreat by helicopter after extracting the reporter Wayne Andrews.

After losing most of the Coalition forces in Turkmenistan by a crushing Red Star offensive, the Coalition launches several of their own offensives. The 125th are ordered to seize a tank production facility in Red Star controlled Southern Kazakhstan, as well as the town that supports it, which they successfully acheive. Next, a lone 125th Sniper codenamed "Black Halo" is sent behind enemy lines in Tajikistan on a moutain pass, to do recon and neutralize several Red Star assets.

After securing several guard posts, eliminating an Red Star AA site and securing a communications trailer, Black Halo is given reinforcements to aid him in an assault on a nearby village. After securing a motor pool and a HQ building, the 125th are ordered to hold the town against a convoy of Red Star tanks and infantry bound for Turkmenistan, planning to proceed through the town and through the mountain pass, which they are (barely) able to do. Coalition Command orders Coalition troops to proceed north on the Russian border through Nothern Kazakhstan.

Despite losing a massive amount of Coalition forces from a nuclear strike, the Stray Dogs nevertheless proceed towards the Kazakhstan-Russian border and are ordered to eliminate resistance along the way such as tanks, artillery, and infantry, as well as neutralize a nuclear rocket. The 125th advance into Southern Russia and assault a command facility that is thought to contain a nuclear ICBM as well as several high ranking Red Star officers. After eliminating base defenses and getting inside, the Stray Dogs attempt several times to neutralize the warhead without success.

While the remainder evacuate, the rest stay behind to keep the silo door closed, sacrificing themselves and preventing yet another potentially deadly Red Star nuclear strike. The 125th are ordered to move into the suburbs of Moscow to clear the way for other forces heading towards the capital. After clearing the suburbs they assist with the seige of Moscow.

The Coalition ultimately seize Moscow after overtaking the Goverment Ministry buildings and repelling a Red Star suicide charge in the square. The seizure of Moscow is not the end of the war, however. The Russians are setting up a goverment in exile and the Chinese are rallying their forces towards the borders.

The war continues, as does the fight of the Stray Dogs..