The Alice Springs Hive

In 2011, the world experienced the Awakening. There were dramatic physical and mystical changes around the world, and central Australia was wracked with mighty mana storms that tore through central Australia, killing hundreds. When the storms had subsided, the Aboriginal mystics were confronted with a horror that they were not prepared for. The region of Alice Springs was overrun with insect spirits, slowly turning the area into one of the largest Hives ever known.

Three times, the Australia and New Zealand Confederation (ANZAC) government has taken military action against the Hive. Each time, although victory was declared, the Hive has never been destroyed. The most recent involvement began when insect spirit infestations were discovered in Perth and Darwin. They were burned out, and the war taken into the Alice Springs Region. For two grueling years, ANZAC troops, supported by Ares and Renraku, fought and died in the desert until the ANZAC government declared the insect spirit numbers thinned enough that they would never prove a threat to the people of Australia again.