Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Codify an artillery unit for Firemane.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Artillery. Support unit.
Permission: ARGH gear available per this thread. Blanket permission for all ArmaTech gear and all other subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here. CD-X Cryptologic Key available for Firemane per this thread.
Links: Into Darkness, Casus Belli, Firemane General Staff, Bringing Heaven to Hell, Eldorai.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Firestorm Artillerists.
Affiliation: Siobhan, Firemane, House Kerrigan.
Classification: Artillery.
Description: Artillery has been called the king of the battlefield. This is, of course, just a slogan, but it holds a grain of truth. When used correctly, it can be essential to the successful conduct of military operations. It is a vital support weapon, able to soften up fortified targets, eliminating important targets or slowing down enemy assaults. Mission profiles may involve pounding an armoured column advancing through a chokepoint, opening up a path for the infantry into a fortified enemy position and so on. When the infantry has to cross open ground and the enemy has prepared a position to put them under fire, artillery is a good way to eliminate those defensive lines. With modern target designators, shells and rockets land on target.
The Firestorm Artillerists fill this niche for Firemane. Their job is, to put it plainly, pound the hell out of enemies. They operate in a combined arms environment. In the modern age, warfare is mobile and less defined by rigid frontlines. One must also account for the presence of Force-Users on the battlefield, as their preternatural powers can function as a force multiplier. Having artillery assets at one's disposal is crucial for small units. It means they possess their own means of delivering indirect fire, rather than calling up the chain of command in order to say request an air strike.
The Firestorm Artillerists utilise self-propelled artillery, which is equipped with its own propulsion system in order to move towards a target. This makes them quite mobile without sacrificing firepower. It is useful for avoiding counter-battery fire. They are commonly used for long-range indirect bombardment support. Their vehicles are designed to bombard and shatter enemies from afar, but are vulnerable up close. Light vehicles that can evade their fire are an issue, as are infantry that can ambush them with satchel charges. As a result, the Artillerists will require protection. Firemane utilises self-propelled guns, which fire shells and rocket artillery, as well as artillery vehicles that make use of turbolaser-grade weapons. This gives them a lot of versality, though they require thorough coordination.
The Artillerists have their share of odd quirks. Artillery units frequently adopt the name 'Royal Mail' (thus their profession is the prompt delivery of packages on the 'Queen of Fire's behalf). The remnants of a mountain range on Gehenna have been christened the Queen's New Tennis Court. The Typhoon SPA has been nicknamed Kerrigan's Organ due to the sound generated by the weapons' rocket motors. Fittingly, a Typhoon bombardment is a royal orchestra and the officer in charge of it a conductor. The Artillerists have a long sibling rivalry with Firemane's combat engineer corps.
One unit of Firestorm Artillerists constitutes a squadron. Three squadrons are organised into a usually nine-gun battery. The batteries can be added to other units to give them some long-range bombardment capabilities. To ensure precision, the artillery crews work closely with spotters. Recently, the Firestorm Artillerists have adopted the Spider Cannon Drone, which is essentially a walking large mass driver designed to act as a tank destroyer and self-propelled artillery. In contrast to the other vehicles, it is automated. The Artillerists also have an anti-air and anti-orbital element.
Major Naeron Talagir, an Eldorai male, is one of the more prominent officers of the artillery. He serves as a battery commander, which puts him in charge of three squadrons. Naeron grew up up in the Eldorai Matriarchy on Kaeshana. Naeron was a young radical who fought for change in the stultifying culture of the Matriarchy, where males were expected to be subservient to females and both had to kowtow to nobles. As a result, he was imprisoned for being part of a suffrage movement during the reign of Tirathana VI, a reactionary despot who suppressed any attempt at reform. Fortunately, he was released from prison after Tirathana died and her daughter Silaqui III acceded to the throne with the help of the Protectorate.
Silaqui was still an autocrat and had no time for constitutional government or male rights, but she was a moderate compared to her mother and wanted to curry favour with the off-worlders. Thus Naeron became a free man, but his time in prison and his past as an activist gave him a black mark on his resume. This made it difficult for him to find work. Naeron joined Firemane early on and worked his way up. He likes big explosions and has a good head for logistics. Firemane is not free of sexism at the workplace, since it has a strong 'amazon' culture. However, his gender does not get in the way of doing what he wants to do and the pay is good.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Small
Unit Availability: Uncommon
Unit Experience: Veteran
Equipment:
Vehicles:
- Spider Cannon Drone
- Thunderer SPA
- Arbitrator Class Self-Propelled Artillery
- Typhoon Class MRL Mk2
- ACS-502 Mobile Artillery Vehicle
- Kytharus Heavy Support Vehicle
- Kinetic Armour
- Protective Vest
- Arbiter Combat Helmet
- Icon Class Personal Energy Shield
- Commlink uses CD-X Cryptologic Key
Misc:
- Grenades
- Squid Buzz Drones
- Wrist Bolter
- Vibroknife
- Ghoush Class Orbital Landers
- ACS-301 YVH Probe Droids
- ACS-207 Aerosolblaster
- Refresh Droids
They can carry out counter-battery fire to destroy or neutralise enemy artillery, counter-preparation when an imminent enemy attack has been ascertained, defensive fire to support and protect an allied unit that is under attack, harassing fire to impede enemy movements and undermine morale, interdiction fire on a specific area to prevent an enemy from using or crossing it an dso on. Broadly speaking, they will carry out deep supporting fire or close supporting fire. The former targets objectives that are not in direct vicinity of Firemane forces. It serves the purpose of neutralising or destroying enemy weapons and reserves. Moreover, it targets enemy command, communications and control as well as supply. The second is directed against enemy troops, weapons or positions that presnet an immediate threat to allied forces.
While their focus is on ground targets, the Typhoon can be loaded with anti-air missiles and the Kytharus' massive cannons can also target starships in low orbit. The automated Spider Cannon is a potent tank destroyer, able to take down heavily armoured walkers such as AT-ATs with ease, but its mass drivers can also be employed as artillery. Of course, the artillery is at its most effective when there are spotters or orbital scans at hand. Spotters serve as the eyes of the artillery crews. They are responsible for directing artillery fire onto a target.
They provide target locations and if need be corrections to the fall of the shot. Firestorm artillery batteries are assigned to other units to provide support and in turn be protected against attacks they are vulnerable to. For instance, they tend to operate in conjunction with Firemane Motorised Infantry, but also smaller, more specialised formations. Light infantry formations such as the Eyes of the Forest will often act as spotters. Moreover, the squadrons often make use of probe droids.
Strengths:
- Heavy firepower. Firestorm Artillerists use self-propelled artillery with an impressive amount of destructive power. They are able to pound fortifications, trenches, and concentrations of enemy troops and heavy armoured vehicles. In some cases, their vehicles can also fire on aerial targets and even starships in low orbit.
- The mix of rocket artillery, mass drivers, turbolasers and other forms of artillery makes them very versatile.
- Suffer in close combat. Artillery is meant to bombard an enemy from afar. The vehicles have only limited armaments to defend themselves against enemies that get close. Sneaky infantry with anti-tank weapons are problematic. Same applies to lighter vehicles that can evade their fire.
- The crews are lightly armed and armoured. They carry sidearms and basic protection. This makes them very vulnerable if they are deprived of their vehicles.
After being mortally wounded by the Sith Assassin Kaelin Isandros forced Tegaea Alcori to step down as Lady Protector, she and Siobhan Kerrigan founded Firemane Industries. It was started as an arms manufacturing and mining concern, but also branched out into Private Military Contracting. This was no surprise since mercenary work was where Tegaea had gotten her start and both ladies had been among the founding members of Omega Pyre. Initially, its military forces were rather modest and consisted of a mere four infantry companies, with some limited naval assets, gunships and dropships. However, they expanded as the company grew in power. A small mercenary force turned into the private army of House Kerrigan-Alcori, charged with protecting the family's manifold interests and expanding its influence.
In many ways, Firemane's combat doctrine was influenced by that of Omega Pyre, particularly in its early days. This is no surprise since Siobhan Kerrigan and Tegaea Alcori were among the founding members of the paramilitary megacorporation, which later evolved into the Omega Protectorate. The Pyre started out as a mercenary corporation on Fondor, bring order and security to worlds such as Dahomey, Abregado-Rae, Vandelhelm and Denon. Lacking large numbers, it focused on small elite groups of soldiers, which it hired out to governments in return for political or economic concessions. To give its mercenaries an edge against foes, especially hostile Force-Users, it developed cutting-edge technology, such as Boltguns.
Over time the territory it administrated grew too large and its duties too complex for a corporate body. Thus it transformed into a government, the Omega Protectorate. In terms of ideology, it was a Republican Dictatorship, ruled by a Lady or Lord Protector elected for life, with the assistance of a varying number of super-governors called Exarchs. The Pyre became its elite strike force, though the Protectorate continued hiring it out to interested parties it found agreeable. Siobhan started her career as an officer in the Pyre and eventually rose to Colonel. She commanded Pyre forces in several bloody battles, making her mark on battlefields such as Roche, Metalorn and Gehenna. For a while, she and Tegaea ruled the Protectorate as Exarch and Lady Protector. However, Tegaea resigned after being abducted and brutally tortured by Kaelin, who was slain by Siobhan in revenge.
When Firemane was founded, it adapted a lot of the Pyre's doctrine. Once it had become a megacorporation, the company was able to field large forces and equip them well, but it was not economical to try and match the forces of an instellar government in terms of size or fleet meterage. That would have been ruinous and probably left even the biggest corporation bankrupt. Instead it focused on gaining an edge through advanced technology, discipline, mobility and skill of its soldiers.
The Firestorm Artillerists came into being in order to provide Firemane infantry and armour with some integrated heavy support. Firemane military doctrine places a strong focus on mobile infantry, but there are places an infantrymen cannot reach or only do so with great difficulty. Furthermore, its focus on shock warfare makes a strong artillery element necessary. This became pertinent when Firemane started facing foes better-equipped than pirates and Dark Eldorai insurgents and had to prepare its forces for sustained combat.
The nascent Firestorm Artillerists fought during the second battle of Gehenna, when Firemane returned to the hellish planet to carry out a second purge of the Bando Gora cult. Several of the Pyre veterans among the unit had participated in the first battle, when artillery support had proved crucial in overcoming the hordes of demon engines and enormous Sithspawn monstrosities fielded by the Chaos cultists. They were just as relevant during the second engagement, especially when the Bando Gora unleashed giant wurms. Elements of the unit participated in the Eight Battle of Ruusan.
When Silver Sanctum Coalition forces marched on the planet's capital, mercenaries employed by the Sith Triumvirate tried to use civilians as human shields. The civilians were rigged with explosives and positioned on the road leading to the city. Coalition forces were ordered to retreat, lest the prisoners be blown up. Acting under orders from Lady Kerrigan, the artillerists loaded ion shells and them upon the enemy's defensive lines. Ideally, these would deactivate the collars without causing the prisoners harm and give them a fighting chance, as fleeting as it was. However, it had the opposite effect and the hostages perished.
Artillerists continued shelling enemy strong points in the city to blow gaps into the Sith defences. As the vanguard advanced, Sith reinforcements ambushed the artillery. This produced heavy casualties, though the main force of Firemane and Coalition forces was able to engage the Sith and protect the artillery pieces. A bloody battle was fought at the outskirts of the city. The Sith's vehicles were more agile and faster, but the allied forces had greater firepower. The Coalition forces held the line, but the Sith bombing their own city produced heavy casualties on both sides. Ultimately, Coalition troops withdrew from Ruusan, and the Triumvirate successfully held the planet, but the apparent demise or disappearance of all Triumvirs led to its dissolution.
When the Tygaran Alliance, Firemane and the Galactic Alliance launched a humanitarian mission to help the surviving Eldorai of Kaeshana, they found themselves in conflict with the First Order. The latter had occupied the ruins of the Citadel of Dawn, which overlooked what was left of abandoned Santaissa. Having landed at the ruins of the Kerrigan-Alcori villa, the artillerists put the First Order positions under fire. A First Order air strike was repulsed by Firemane flak and the efforts of Force Masters. However, Siobhan Kerrigan, backed by allies, tried to pull down the First Order Star Destroyer that had unleashed the bombers. The warship bombed their position, wiping out most of the artillery squadrons. However, the warship ended up being pulled down and crashing near Santaissa.
Led by Siobhan and Tempest and backed by Alliance as well as Eldorai forces, Firemane motorised infantry was able to seize the Citadel. Artillery reinforcements provided crucial fire support against the First Order's extensive trench system as well as heavy armour landed by the Imperials. However, despite success on the ground the battle ultimately turned against the alliance in space, forcing Firemane to withdraw after Alliance forces pulled out. However, Firemane was able to evacuate Eldorai civilians and allies who had sought refuge in the Citadel of Dusk.
In the aftermath of the battle, many branches of Firemane's armed forces underwent an overhaul. The artillery was no different. Firemane built a new war machine, the Kytharus. The heavy support vehicle was named after a great beast with a burning gaze from Eldorai mythology. In the myths, it judged and purged before the gates of paradise, destroying the worst before they reached the judgement of the Goddess. The corps also gained access to an automated tank destroyer and artillery drone produced by the Guild of Hammers. Both designs gave the Firestorm units potent tools.
Most recently, Firemane was embroiled in a conflict on Tephrike, where its troops fought against the Dominion of Light. This came to pass when the Scarlet Destiny, commanded by Tegaea Alcori, came across the planet during its maiden voyage. However, what was supposed to be a peaceful exploration mission to initiate first contact with worlds cut off by the Gulag Virus turned into something significantly more bloody when they came across the world of Tephrike. A Firemane delegation was ambushed by extremists in the Jedi-led Dominion of Light, a totalitarian theocracy.
Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori covered the delegation's retreat and was captured by the Jedi Inquisition and interned in a reeducation camp. In response, Firemane declared war, allying with the Republican Guard, a native insurgency that opposed Force-Users. Firemane bombed communication centres, Jedi academies, military installations and levelled the Jedi Temple. Unbeknownst to Firemane, there was an internal power struggle in the Dominion's hierarchy, as forces opposed to the war course rallied around the Battlemaster. But by now the war had acquired a dynamic of its own.
The Dominion retaliated by deploying powerful strategic missiles against Firemane's fleet. These represented their strategic reserve, only to be used in the direst of circumstances. The Battlemaster's agents were able to secure two of the missiles, but the others were launched. One destroyed a Firemane corvette, the other was stopped by tractor beams before it could do the same to their command ship. Firemane made an uneasy alliance with the Republican Guard and landed ground troops to take Fortress Purity. At the same time a task force was dispatched to locate and rescue - or avenge - the lost Elpsis. The captured Fire Princess was subjected to mental and physical torture until she succumbed to her brainwashing and was reborn as 'Jedi Roxane'.
A brutal battle was fought at Fortress Purity. There the fanatical General Kennobi led the defence. Colonel Leonina Varkathras led the Firemane ground assault. The Dominion troops compensated their technological inferiority through bloody-minded determination, kamikaze pilots, mass use of Force-Users and by deploying a weather control machine. They hoped that their enemy would be bled white and withdraw. The storm made it very hazardous for Firemane to deploy bombers and gunships. A few squadrons of Firestorm Artillerists were present on the ground and put the fortress under heavy fire.
When a joint Firemane and Republican Guard special ops task force was being overrun by a Dominion offensive, the artillerists worked with Mirage Squadron to deliver a withering bombardment. It had the effect of stalling the enemy until the Republican Guard could deploy its main force to stabilise the frontline. However, during the course of the battle Dominion commandos and Jedi operatives were able to sneak up on the command post and ambush the artillery with satchel charges. Several self-propelled guns were blown up. Leonina rallied the Order of Fire as well as troopers to fight off the attackers. Surviving artillerists joined them, using small arms and grenades to defend themselves, as they could not use their artillery guns in close quarters.
Eventually the fortress fell to the allied forces, though the price in blood was considerable. In the last stages of the battle, the Dominion commanders deployed a brigade of indoctrinated Younglings to cover their retreat. They went on a suicidal death charge. Meanwhile, Major Tempest led a mixed force of Firemane regulars, Order of Fire operatives and Cataphracts on a mission to rescue or avenge Elpsis. They were able to locate the camp, but clashed with the forces of the Dominion Inquisition.
However, Elpsis was able to overcome her brainwashing and kill the Grand Inquisitor. This incited a prisoners' revolt. Caught in a cauldron and having sustained heavy losses from Firemane's assault, the Dominion troops were defeated. However, though these battles were a serious blow to the Dominion, the war was far from over. Indeed, these setbacks compelled the Dominion to get its act together and put a saner, though no less ruthless government in power. Firemane pulled out if troops after signing a trade deal with the Republican Guard and razing the headquarters of Tephrike's local Sith dictatorship. After the conclusion of the Tephrike operation, the Artillerists received a new version of the old Typhoon multiple rocket launcher.
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