OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Further flesh out the Shadow Knights.
- Image Credit: Here. Found on artstation.com. By Michael Weisheim Beresin.
- Role: Assault troopers, boarding infantry.
- Links: Eldorai.
- Unit Name: Espatiers.
- Affiliation: Naesala Faethyra, Eldorai, Shadow Knights.
- Classification: Infantry, Spacetroopers.
- AV-1A Assault Armour (for officers and elite soldiers) and AV-1S Scout Armour (for grunts).
- Taegis battle shield.
- Pulse Cannon or T21 light repeating blaster. For automatic rifleman.
- Limited/Optional: Rotary Cannon. One per squad max.
- A280 blaster rifle, Charric, Plasma Shotgun, Mk1 bolters (including APEB Rounds).
- Optional: Ion Paddle Beamer.
- Blaster Pistol, Sonic Disruptor, Cylix bolt pistol, Shattergun or Dissuader KD-30.
- Wrist rocket launchers, wrist lasers or ZX miniature flame projector.
- Baragwin flamethrower or Cryo projector.
- Microgrenade launcher, CSPL-12 projectile launcher.
- Knuckle plate vibroblade.
- Dart shooter.
- Vibroblades, vibroknives.
- Vibrobayonet.
- Access to boarding craft.
- Smoke grenades, gas grenadeshttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/T-289_gas_grenade, frag grenades, sonic imploders, thermal imploders, EMP grenades, Dampener aerosol grenades, thermal detonators.
- Misc equipment such as lifeform scanners, neural bands, medkits, anti security blade, scrambler key, individual field disruptors, communication wave descrambler, plasma cutters, boarding harpoons, Verpine prototype shield.
- Sapper Charge or a 53-R High Yield Thermite Explosive.
- Availability: Rare.
- Deployment: Minor.
Strengths & Weaknesses: Dedicated, zealous, crack soldiers. Their training is focused zero-G combat, sabotage, boarding and counterboarding actions. Their training emphasies disciplined fire over blazing away. The Shadow Knights' resources are limited, so their soldiers are taught to make the most of what they have. Due to the nature of their work, they have soldiers with some slicing skills or the ability to pilot starfighters and other space-based means of transport. This not their primary vocation, so they are not master slicers or aces, but it helps them complete their missions and survive. Actual specialists would be superior to them in this field. Moreover, they are common soldiers with no superpowers, genetic or cybernetic enhancements. They bleed, tire and feel pain like normal mortals do.
If confronted by Force-users, they will have to rely on skill, discipline, conventional weapons and simple luck. Moreover, they have only a few heavy weapons at their disposal, which can put them at a disadvantage, especially if they find themselves engaged in ground combat. Their armour gives them an advantage against enemies, but is still vulnerable to lightsabres, heavy weapons and strong explosions. As their armour is powered, strong EMP blasts are also an issue. The overall unit is quite small, which limits the number of soldiers that can be deployed into a combat zone at any given time. Thus they must rely on skill rather than sheer numbers.
Seizing a small shadowport, a subcapital ship or say a cruiser is obviously a lot easier than attempting to take over a Star Destroyer, given the huge on-board garrison such a warship has. Since boarding actions are their main vocation, they are used to close quarters combat. If taken out of their element, they would probably be at a disadvantage. They are also not equipped to take out 'heavy' armour formations, which can be an issue on the ground. They are a strike unit, meant to be inserted into a place, seize or sabotage an objective, and then depart. Their zeal and bravery, while an asset, can also be used against them. During the Long Night, some members brought shame on the Espatiers by collaborating with the enemy. They are rather adamant about removing this taint, which can manifest in acts of overconfidence and ill-advised bravery, when it would be more advisable to retreat or reevaluate a situation rather than fight on out of stubbornness. Cowardice is treated as a cardinal sin.
Description:
Starships are very expensive, and quite valuable, especially military ones. Sometimes it is a better move to board and capture one instead of destroying it. Sometimes it is even easier to do so. At least this is what the Shadow Knights believe. Their rag-tag fleet can always use new additions, especially since they lack shipyards and thus must rely on what ships they can seize or scavenge. For this reason, the Espatiers exist. They are specially trained in Zero-G combat and the art of boarding and seizing control over starships. Of course, they are also skilled in counterboarding actions. The Shadow Knights do, after all, often encounter foes with the same general idea, such as slavers and Kraal raiders. Combating them is essential for the protection of the nomad fleet.
Comparisons can be drawn with the Zero-G Assault Stormtroopers of the First Galactic Empire, though the Shadow Knights are a rebel alliance and a nomad fleet, not an interstellar government. Still, their duties are similar. They are specialised infantry equipped and trained to capture enemy vessels intact. Members are chosen for loyalty, skill and dedication. Since they will often find it difficult to get support after boarding an enemy ship, initiative is very important.
To help them perform their missions, they have access to powered zero-G armour that possesses integrated life support systems for deep-space operations and combat. They also make use of specialised boarding craft. They often make use of boarding harpoons filled with coma gas. These are launched at enemy vessels, and upon contact the gas is released, rendering those who come into contact with it unconscious. This can help them take control over a ship without firing a shot, though of course the usual countermeasures apply when dealing with gasuous attacks.
The Espatiers have their roots in the efforts of Naesala Faethyra to protect the Eldorai people. Naesala was a career soldier who'd served the Crown during the reign of Tirathana VI. In this time Kaeshana was a reactionary, isolationist place. The Queen stubbornly tried to keep the Eldorai out of the galaxy. Thus she used the Angelii and political expedients to crack down on anyone who dared suggest accommodation with offworlders. She had the not illogical fear that if the Eldorai opened themselves up to the galaxy they would be tempted to turn away from traditional values. In all fairness, most outsiders who'd come to Kaeshana had hostile intent. Kaeshana was attacked by pirates and raiders, who regarded the technologically inferior Eldorai as easy prey.
Naesala was a distinguished soldier who sought to take the initiative against the pirates and slavers that preyed on the Eldorai, by acquiring spaceships and foreign tech. However she'd been smacked down for breaking the willow pallisade of isolation. Eventually, she deserted, becoming a soldier of fortune and a leader among the exiles. Many years later, she returned after learning of the imminent cataclysm to help lead the rebels. Naesala is a follower of the Eldorai preacher Arryn, who was executed many centuries ago by the Eldorai state for the terrible heresy of proclaiming that the nature of the Goddess Ashira was not wholly divine, but also infused with the spirit of a mortal woman. Exposure to the outside world had broadened her horizons and taught her the value of pragmatism and compromise. Still a soldier at heart, she founded a paramilitary organisation that sought to rescue enslaved Eldorai and protect exiles. Their methods against slavers were quite brutal, for they showed them no mercy. They were also available for hire by interested parties, though they refused to accept contracts that targeted their people.
In the course of the Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana, Naesala returned to the broken homeworld, assuming leadership of the Shadow Knights, a survivalist organisation devoted to protecting the Forsaken. It soon evolved into a coalition of renegades and dissidents. Her own militia was folded into the movement. Supplies were scarce and often had to be acquired through illicit means. Moreover, the Forsaken had to defend themselves against raiders. The Espatiers were born as a form of active defence - and resource acquisition. If one were feeling uncharitable, one could label them as raiders who happened to fight other raiders a lot. They also clashed with Archangel and tried to free abducted Eldorai from the vessels of the machine cult, though success was mixed in that regard. They saw combat against slavers and launched raids of their own to acquire much-needed supplies.
However, discipline became an issue. Some of their officers turned to simple piracy, using their mandate as a license to enrich themselves. Things came to head and Naesala carried out a purge, court-martialling a number of members of the unit. They were executed to serve as an example for the rest. One of them had embezzled funds and, even worse, taken bribes from Archangel, helping the droids advance their evil plans. She was vented into the cold void of space. The unit was thoroughly cleaned up after that incident. It got the chance to redeem itself when it seized an Archangel manufacturing ship and, at high cost to itself, freed Eldorai that had been abducted for entechment.
In the aftermath of the Kaeshana Rebellion, the unit underwent a procress of reorganisation. The Shadow Knights had taken up arms alongside the Galactic Alliance and the Tygaran Alliance, but been forced to vacate the planet after the allied forces withdrew and the First Order assumed control. They became a nomad fleet, dedicated to preserving the Eldorai and building a home for those who refused to yield to the First Order or live under the rule of the Star Queen. Thus the Espatiers were reorganised to serve as defenders for the migrant fleet. They would be a response force in case it came under an attack and the seizure of an enemy vessel was deemed feasible. At the same time they would launch raids of their own to seize ships or supplies for the migrant fleet. Much of their equipment was acquired on raids or through black market dealings.
Sometimes the Espatiers would let foreign parties hire them. While the Shadow Knights preached austerity, they recognised that they could not do without material rewards after all and they did not have the resources of an interstellar government at their disposal. Ironically, they were a bit inspired by the defunct Omega Protectorate, which often let friendly foreign governments hire its elite soldiers in return for money or economic concessions. They have battled the ferocious Kraal and helped put down insurrections within the Shadow Knight movement. They have served alongside the Exemplars and the Harbingers of Twilight, two other prestige units, and have a bit of a competitive rivalry with both.
