Highlanders

The Highlanders are specialized mechanized forces of the Empire of Aeyzeria. They were originally fast-hitting light infantry, usually used in open military maneuvers as rapid response forces for whatever mission necessary. However, with the introduction of the ARMIS (Assault and Resistance Mechanized Interception System) during the Frontier Era, they were reassigned as ten-man crew accompanying an ARMIS as one Highlander Squad. This increased their versatility. This 1-10 template has been a reliable and dependable squad design that has lasted till even today.

History
The earliest concept of the Highlanders can be traced back to before the Common Era, during the first colonization of America by the Vikings, although detailed accounts of such warriors are scarce.

The concept was reborn in the Common Era when the Aeyzerian Empire was born after the First World War, where the entirety of the Americas were united under the banner of the Empire. The creation of a lightning-fast response force was important in shoring up weakening points in their line when needed.

The Highlanders, behind the Myrmidons, were among the most feared elite divisions of the Aeyzerian military. During the war, Federation soldiers knew to expect Highlanders within five minutes of penetrating any Aeyzerian defense- within five minutes. Their tactic of attacking multiple points at once- only to be met with multiple Highlander Squads at once.

By war's end, there were over a thousand Highlander Squads in active service, and more being trained.

They did not see further activity again until the Human-Entity War, where their role was relegated to mainly a rapid-reaction force to initial contact. Depending on what they saw, they could engage immediately or report back to their command post with valuable intelligence, as Entity forces always travelled en masse.

Even with the change in military tactics to combat the Entity threat, the overall role of reinforcing and pushing with Highlanders remained the same throughout the five centuries of combating the Entities.