Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Elpsis' posse.
Image Credit: Here.
Permissions: Permission for all ArmaTech gear and all other subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here. Firemane gained access to ARGH tech in this thread. Permission to use Tricks of the Trade submissions here.
Links: A Madwoman's Plan, Adjudication, After Darkness, Into Darkness, Communion, The Long Road, Annihilation of Csilla, Bastion Invasion, Ziost Invasion, Death's Sting.
CREW INFORMATION
Crew Name: Firestorm Squad.
Crew Type: Comrades-in-Arms, Mililtary Squad.
Base of Operations: The Forge. Operate out of a Frontier Class Corvette called the Emberdawn. They are quite mobile and thus not bound to a single area. These are places they tend to be based on.
Crew Size: 8.
Loyalties: Firemane, Order of Fire, House Kerrigan, Elpsis Kerrigan, Champions of the Flame, Inferno Platoon, Hazani Jai Bysara, Lions of Gehenna.
Description: Firestorm Squad is the semi-official nickname of the second squad of Inferno Platoon, a unit largely composed of Force-Sensitive soldiers commanded by Elpsis Kerrigan. As it is just one squad of a larger platoon, the soldiers of Firestorm Squad do not constitute the entire unit. They have a bit of a rivalry with the so-called Champions of the Flame, who are the platoon's first squad. While less prominent than the 'Champions', the soldiers of Firestorm Squad are capable in their own right and bring a variety of skills to the table.
Like their parent unit as a whole, the soldiers of Firestorm Squad belong to the Order of Fire and its cadet organisation, the Young Flames. The Young Flames are a paramilitary Force-Sensitive Group and cadet corps that provides training for Order of Fire recruits and young Force-Sensitives allied to Firemane. According to their holonet page, the Young Flames inspire young people to harness the power of the Force in a productive, team-orientated way and embrace their talents. This is supposed to turn them into productive citizens who have the skills to build their own future, and are able to harmonise individual ambitions with the good of the community. It is also preparation for a career in Firemane and the Order.
That is the marketing pitch. Propaganda aside, the Young Flames provide the Order with a steady supply of recruits as well as the means to equip and train them. As the name implies, Firestorm is organised as a squad-sized, military unit, which is commanded by a non-commissioned officer with the rank of Sergeant. Like NCOs everywhere, the sergeant trains the soldiers, disciplines them, leads them into battle and acts as a bridge between the platoon leader and the enlisted soldiers. A good sergeant makes sure soldiers are capable of doing their jobs, puts the fear of the goddess into any soldier acting dumb and makes sure the lieutenant doesn't do anything stupid either.
The soldiers train, celebrate, fight and, if need be, die together. Firemane recruits on a variety of worlds, and so many recruits have rather diverse backgrounds. For the duration of their time together, they are subject to Firemane military law and code of conduct. They are treated as employees of what is essentially part Kerrigan family business, part government. Thus they receive a steady pay check and accommodations at Firemane bases. At present, Firestorm Squad is based on the Forge, a space station that patrols the 'frontier', but also acts as a training centre for the Order of Fire.
Hazani Jai Bysara is the squad leader, answering to Lieutenant Kerrigan. She is a gifted fire shaper and the daughter of Sahali Jai Bysara, who was a hero to many Qadiri. Even in death, her mother casts a long shadow over her. Sahali led a coalition that opposed Firemane and their ally Semiramis. She was able to score several victories, but was betrayed and murdered by her allies after a battle they had pushed her into went ill. Disgusted by their actions, Siobhan Kerrigan executed the ringleader and sent the rest back to Sahali's loyal followers for punishment.
As part of the terms of the rather lenient peace treaty, Hazani became a 'ward' of House Kerrigan-Alcori. If you were feeling unkind, you would call her a hostage. Siobhan treated her honourably but it was clear that she also intends to use her to ensure her people's good behaviour and intended to groom her. However, the young Qadiri is an ambitious woman and determined to leave her own mark. Hazani believes that not all involved in her mother's betrayal have been brought to justice. Clearly there was no better way to make her both useful and keep her under watch than to put her under the command of Kerrigan's daughter. for her part, Hazani is quite ambitious, and sees it as a good opportunity to get in with the potential future head of House Kerrigan. Besides, putting her under the Fire Princess' command looks good for marketing.
In terms of missions, Firestorm Squad focuses on force reconnaissance and direct action operations. It can carry out rapid strikes to capture or eliminate high-value targets and accomplish tactical objectives. It will generally work together with its sister squad. While the unit is rather diverse in terms of species, Basic is the lingua franca. However, Hazania has been introducing language courses for Zandri, the main language of the Qadiri. Her people have been isolated from the rest of the galaxy for millennia, so it is an extremely obscure language, to say the least. This makes it a useful code.
They are issued suits of armour, uniforms, weapons and other gear by Firemane. Currently Inferno Platoon as a whole - and thus Firestorm Squad by extension - operates within the framework of the Lions of Gehenna, a special operations unit that is part of Firemane's ground forces. The Lions carry out direct action raids, reconnaissance, asset retrieval, clandestine insertions and other sensitive tasks. The unit has very high standards for physical fitness, mission readiness, and marksmanship. If an individual soldier is unable to meet the standards set by the unit they are sent back to the regular army. This is not a popular policy and can lead to mistakes, but also gives the soldiers an incentive to stay sharp and give it their all.
CREW MEMBER 1
Name: Nydris Saal
Age: 26
Species: Miraluka
Role: Occult expert, researcher.
Description: Though stereotypes suggest otherwise, not all Miraluka are cryptic mystics. Like every species, they have people who do other things. Nydris eschews the complicated mystic apparel in favour of a simple strip of cloth to cover her vestigial eye sockets. Like all of her kind, she is physically blind, perceiving the world around her through use of the Force. This has allowed her to somewhat bond with Elpsis about the difficulties of Force Sight in a vision orientated galaxy. She is fine with driving ground vehicles, but is best kept away from piloting starships or aircraft. As is common for Miraluka, she has a knack for Sense-based Force abilities. This tallies well with an aptitude for mentalism. She uses a Force-Imbued Blade rather than a lightsabre. One can roughly compare her to a Jedi Sentinel or Sith Inquisitor in terms of skill set.
Nydris started out as a researcher into Force esoterica and artefacts. She had some minor encounters with pirates, looters and hostile wildlife, but nothing big. She was excavating a tomb on Dxun when Sith came to plunder it. The tomb had been routinely pillaged for centuries, millennia even. But the Sith butchered the research crew trying to get them to reveal where the 'treasures' were kept. However the only treasures were detailed notes on the epigraphic and linguistic peculiaries of the old Sith inscriptions. The Sith then blew up the tomb with a baradium charge and left.
Nydris was locked in an ancient death trap, but managed to survive and escape. She was enraged by the senseless destruction and sought an outlet. This is was what brought her into Firemane's orbit, as she had already worked with some of their researchers and archaeologists before. The Miraluka still keeps up with her research. She takes the view that the galaxy is still locked in a Dark Age. Nydris believes the Force has a will, but doesn't view it as benevolent, though not malignant per se. Rather it is alien and unknowable. The cycle of destruction and renewal is its will. Conflict between Force-Sensitives is at the centre of the cycle. What worries her is that the cycles have become shorter and more destructive. In the old days, they could last decades, centuries or even longer. Now calamities such as the Akala Crises have upset even the fabric of reality.
She still gets annoyed when the team irresponsibly smashes rare and ancient artefacts. Nydris is rather bookish, though not unworldly. She can hold her own in a fight. Unsurprisingly, she is the one usually assigned to examine arcane devices and the like the team might come across during the course of its missions. Her Force Sight came in handy when accessing a temple required the squad to decipher arcane glyphs that could only be perceived through the Force. She also has a decent understanding of alchemy and artefact/site containment measures. Nydris relies on the Force to see, so Ysalamiri and Voidstone are obviously bad for her.
CREW MEMBER 2
Name: Sardius
Age: Over a hundred, but much of that time was spent as a crystal without a body.
Species: Shard.
Role: Assault trooper, vehicle operator and combat driver. Can operate vehicles such as a Yazgid Infantry Fighting Vehicle, Firedancer Class Landspeeder or Bantha Class Armoured Transport.
Description: The circumstances of Sardius' recruitment are somewhat unusual. During a mission Elpsis and crew met a contact who was an antiquitarian and collector. He did not know the strange crystal was a Shard and had it on display. The Shard had ended up there during the Dark Age and been in his family's possession for generations. Since Shards were people too, Elpsis liberated it and offered to set them free or take a job. Sardius accepted...for the time being. Xe is cut off from the Shard group-mind, so xe has chosen to fall in with the mammals of Firemane. While proud, xe is curious about the organics and their short lives. The Shard had been totally unaware of Onyx' Contingency and his quixotic insurrection. Xe gets rather annoyed when it is brought up. After all, humans keep building doomsday machines and destroying planets for the pettiest of reasons, and yet it is not held against them. As a Shard, xe can be inserted into various droid chassi, but xir natural form is an immobile, vulnerable crystal, which means xe needs a mechanical body to interact with the world.
Being a silicon-based species whose natural form resembles a crystal, Shards do not have sexual dimorphism like mammalian species such as humans do. Xir crystal is safely nestled inside an HRD so most people see the machine body xe pilots and that body happens to be made in the likeness of a human female. Sardius does not quite understand the fuss humans and many other mammals make about gender or intercourse. Xe finds that gendered pronouns such as 'she' or 'he' are not suitable to describe xirself, so xe uses gender-neutral ones. Sardius has a very dry wit, and a sort of contemplative feel when not in combat. The Shard is strong in the Force and has significant potential, but is fairly out-of-touch with the greater galaxy due to having spent many generations as part of an antiquitarian's collection. But xe is serious and earnest.
Sardius has a fellow Shard in Firemane's orbit called Beryl. Both came into being in the same cluster. Each has sought to understand organics more through experience. But whereas Sardius has sought out war and battle, Beryl has sought out organic interactions. Unlike Sardius, Beryl encourages people she works with to refer to her by the feminine since that is the body she currently inhabiting. Sardius' droid body makes xir very strong and durable while also being fast and agile, though ionic and EMP attacks are obviously a threat to xir. Sardius is new to many things in the galaxy, but has demonstrated notable skill as a vehicle operator. Xir mechanical body allows xir to manifest impressive reflexes and drive a speeder faster than a typical human pilot could manage. Xir's strength and precision allows xir to efficiently use all manners of guns and provide firepower using an assault rifle or squad support weapon.
CREW MEMBER 3
Name: Nazar'Xilae
Age: Early seventies. Xioquo develop and age at a slower pace than humans, so he is actually quite young for his species.
Species: Xioquo.
Role: Demolitions expert, underground scout. Skilled at using Devastator Multi-Purpose Mines. Often carries a Renegade Model 557 or a Last Whisper Suppressed Blaster Pistol as his sidearm of choice.
Description: A male Xioquo and an outcast, Xilae is no stranger to hardship. The Xioquo ancien régime was totalitarian, slavocratic and extremely misandrist. His family was murdered by the old government. This has left him grim, serious and dour. Xilae has taken advantage of the change of regime to rise above being a persecuted outcast treated as little better than a slave. Like several other Xioquo, he ended up joining Firemane's ranks.
He admires Siobhan Kerrigan greatly, though not in her form of the 'Karishzar' - or Destroyer - but as a rational figure bringing law and order to a land characterised by despotism and chaos. In short, he does not worship her as a higher being and does not think highly of Xioquo who do because in his eyes they have misunderstood the lesson she taught them. For this reason he is confused by the Daughters of the Destroyer, a fanatical Xioquo cult that worships Siobhan, as it reminds him too much of the old ways. Ironically, Siobhan is mildly sexist, though still horrified by the excesses of the Xioquo's ancien régime.
Xilae is mission-focused and has a practical approach to problem-solving. In his case this goes hand in hand with a ruthless streak in his personality. He has been oppressed and stripped of personhood and never wants to be in that position again. And his role model has taught him the power of force, energy and will to make progressive change, even if it must be forced. After all, the Xioquo were not liberated by speeches and majority decisions, but by blood and iron. The crusade required that blood be spilt, but it got results and freed present and future generations. At the same time, he supports the Xioquo's new constitutional monarchy since it promises a more equitable and just government than the tyrannical ancien régime.
Being a Xioquo, Xilae is very agile and quick and has excellent hearing and sense of smell, though he is not that imposing physically. Since his people hail from a subterranean realm, he can see much further in the darkness than say a human or Eldorai, without needing the aid of gadgets. This makes him a good scout in dark caves, tunnels and so on. He has a knack for demolitions, tunnelling and knife combat. He used to use gunpowder to demolish things. He appreciates how space explosives are smaller and more powerful. In the old days he was indentured and used to test new gunpoweder designs. He had no choice in what he was testing. He lost part of his ear to a misfire once.
CREW MEMBER 4
Name: Daeran Sarren
Age: 65. Eldorai age and develop at a slower pace than humans, so he is actually very young for a member of his species.
Species: Eldorai.
Role: Healer, medic. He takes care of the wounded. As a combat medic, he is armed and has been trained to protect himself and his comrades. Sometimes the best way to get from his current position to that of a wounded comrade involves grenades and blasterfire.
Description: Aside from Nazar'Xilae, Daeran is the sole male of the squad. Ironically, both belong to species that are very matriarchal and traditionally treat men as second-class citizens, though the Eldorai are less extreme than the Xioquo, which says something. His mother and father raised their daughter and sons in a nontraditional manner that was very liberal by the standards of Eldorai society. This imbued with him an independent streak. While devout Ashirans, his parents were free thinkers with strange ideas about male rights and religious tolerance. They were not revolutionaries, but believed the Matriarchy needed to evolve.
Born Force-Sensitive, Daeran tried to join the Eldorai army out of patriotism and for the adventure. However, the Angelii only accepted women, and he was pushed into work as a nurse. In an inversion of what is standard practice in patriarchal cultures, being a nurse is traditionally considered a men's job in Eldorai society. The nurse corps only accepted unmarried men and they were discharged if they married or got a woman pregnant. They had army-equivalent ranks and wore military rank insignia, but did not receive equal pay and lived in substandard quarters. Daeran served in a medical evacuation squadron during the Exodus from Kaeshana. This was a particularly difficult period, as not all Eldorai could be saved from the cataclysm. He displayed a cool head and ensured the transport was able to carry out its mission when an attempt was made to get the already full ship to turn around to evacuate more people, though it hurt him.
He tended to the injured during the campaign against the Xioquo and the Battle of Kaeshana, taking care of the heavily wounded in a field hospital. He displayed efficiency and calmness under these difficult circumstances. The casualty clearing station he worked at on Kaeshana was close to the frontline, and he rescued patients while under bombardment despite calls to seek shelter. Dissatisfied with his prospects, Daeran joined Firemane to spread his wings and has been trained as a combat medic. Aside from being proficient in medicine and Force healing, he has some minor talent as an air shaper. His primary duty is to serve as a medic, but he can pick up a blaster and help out in a fight, especially to protect any wounded or sick in his care.
CREW MEMBER 5
Name: Broowsk
Age: Young Adult for a Wookiee.
Species: Wookiee.
Role: Elemental shaper, close combat. She likes to use a Shattering Bowcaster in ranged combat. As the name implies, this is an upgraded version of the Wookiee's traditional ranged weapon.
Description: Unlike many Wookiees, Broowsk is not an escaped slave. Nor has she sworn a life-debt to a Jedi or smuggler and essentially indentured herself to them. She is a decent pilot though. Broowsk left Kashyyyk because she wanted to see the stars, and because she wanted to avoid an arranged marriage. Wookiee society is big into clans and family links, and her clan had wanted to solidify an alliance. This was not to her liking though and so she sought out a more self-determined life in the stars. She does not hate her family, though she disagrees with some traditions.
She has a translator box she uses for those who cannot understand Shyriiwook, since the way a Wookiee's vocal apparatus works renders her incapable of speaking Basic or other galactic languages and she does not want to rely on wordy protocol droids. However, she understands Basic just fine. Broowsk is somewhat xenophobic towards Trandoshans due to the historic antagonism between the two species. Her call sign is Katarn, which is a reference to a species of predators that is of great importance to her people's culture. Being a Wookiee, she possesses impressive physical strength and durability, but is also good at climbing and swimming.
She refuses to use her claws in combat due to the social stigma associated with such an act among her kind. Broowsk has a talent for cryokinesis and water shaping. This is rather unusual for a Wookiee, but it gives her something to use all that fur for. Being a Wookiee she does not wear full armour. Instead she sticks with a cuirass, gauntlets, vambraces, greaves, pauldrons and a helmet. Her thick fur enables her to endure the biting cold without wearing a full suit of armour. At the same time, her elemental powers are useful for protecting herself if she gets set on fire, since all that fur is flammable.
CREW MEMBER 6
Name: Elara Rusk, née Thrul. Her surname is a pseudonyme.
Age: 24
Species: Human
Role: Lightsabre duellist, though she will generally carry a carbine and sidearm as a backup. She disruptors such as the X7-B "Checkmate" Holdout Disruptor.
Description: Though her blunt, sardonic and sometimes plain coarse mannerisms might suggest otherwise, the somewhat grungy Elara is actually secretly a highborn who belongs to the noble House of Thul. Fed up with power plays and the shallowness of aristocratic life, she decided to go off on her own and hide her true lineage by adopting a generic surname. To her it was an escape from what she saw as being imprisoned in a gilded cage. Wanderlust, a desire for adventure and disgust with her family's incompetence also played a role. So she took off, requisitioning a ship and some money.
Living among the common folk turned out to be a lot less romantic than the holo-vids suggested. The palatial family estate had been a gilded cage, but her wealth and privilege had also shielded her from much of the ugliness of the galaxy. Thus she turned out to be a bit over her head. But she did not regret her choice and persevered, adapting to life outside of the bubble. She was aware of her Force-Sensitivity in a general sense, but her formal training was lacking, though she had received some basic tuition in the use of a lightsabre. She joined Firemane under an assumed name because they offered her action and a steady pay check, even if there were more rules to follow.
She does retain her knowledge of court protocol and etiquette, though she dislikes using it. It might occasionally shine through if a team member commits a social faux pas and she corrects them, before angrily brushing off any questions about how she knows that. Elpsis suspects there is more to her, but has kept quiet about it instead of prying. Elara is fundamentally a decent person, but seeing the uglier side of the galaxy has lefts its mark on her.
If someone were to find out about her heritage and tell her that she should 'reclaim her birthright' and that she has a duty to 'redeem her family name', she would respond with acerbic, sardonics barbs. Noblesse oblige is simply hypocrisy to her. Besides, it is her life and she decides how she spends it. Unsurprisingly, she is quite big on personal freedom, though not to the point of being an anarchist since she is part of a military organisation. She accepts is rules and regulations because they make sense to her. While still a neophyte, Elara is a proficient duellist, focusing on the use of a lightsabre, though she will carry a carbine or a sidearm as backup.
CREW MEMBER 7
Name: Stryde. Like many Chiss she goes by her 'core name' because the full one is too difficult for most non-Chiss to pronounce let alone remember.
Age: 18. Chiss experience an accelerated growth rate and reach maturity faster than humans.
Species: Chiss.
Role: Assistant squad leader, designated marksman. Her job is to support her squad through precision fire at valuable targets. Unlike a more specialised sniper, she is a regular member within a team. A typical weapon for her is a Shatter Rifle, though she is not limited to it.
Description: Not every Chiss is a 'military genius', an aristocrat or a suave spy. Chiss society is highly stratified and those on the bottom are expected do as they are told without question. Stryde grew up as one of the proles who were expected to defer to their betters. She was born a guttersnipe in the rookeries of the Chiss capital Csaplar. Orphaned at an early age, she lived a hand-in-mouth existence and made ends meet as a thief.
Stryde is one of those rare Chiss who are Force-Sensitive, which is traditionally considered a shameful impurity among her people. When an incident brought this 'abnormality' to light, she was blackmailed by a Chiss bigwig who held the title of Syndic into becoming his personal fixer. Her 'patron' would keep her secret and protect her from the authorities, as long as she 'resolved problems' for him. She was not ill-treated or abused because that would have been a poor investment decision. Indeed, she was better off than she would have been as a prole, but she was not in control of her life.
When she broke free with a bang, she decided she could do better. Stryde did not like Csilla much since she was a lower class pawn. She did not mourn the oligarchs who had died, but millions of commoners had perished as well and that was something she cared quite a bit about. Thus she is vengeful now that it has been destroyed. Unsurprisingly, she feels strong hatred for Sith and the Brotherhood of the Maw. At the same time, she resents Csilla's old ruling elites for having failed people like her. Chiss are typically xenophobic, but old traditions did not prevent Csilla from becoming a province of various foreign powers in her lifetime. Or being destroyed, for that matter. So she does not see it as shameful to work for non-Chiss. She has little respect for nobles or senior officers though.
Having been raised on a harsh world of icy glaciers and snowy tundras, Stryde is accustomed to frigid climates and very resistant to the cold, though she lacks the aptitude to use elemental ice and water abilities. Given her icy heritage, she finds hot climes uncomfortable. In contrast to the typical image of a Chiss, Stryde is physically quite strong, though not a tank. She has talent as a marksman and sharpshooter.
CREW MEMBER 8
Name: Zuule Xoola
Age: 25
Species: Zeltron
Role: Specialist, interrogator, secretly a monitor.
Description: Officially Zuule is a Firemane soldier who turned out to be Force-Sensitive and has been inducted into the unit to teach her how to control and utilise her abilities. She is no escaped slave, no ex-Jedi fed up with conclaves or teenage Grandmasters, and no secret noble bastard. She hold the rank of Specialist. The inherent ability of her species to generate pheromones make her good at dealing with prisoners of war, since she has a knack for reading them, setting them at ease and getting them to open up.
She prefers to take a more psychological approach when handling prisoners. This does not preclude psychological ploys, deception and other ruses when questioning uncooperative prisoners. This includes using certain things in the hierarchy of needs pyramid against a prisoner, and making them think she knows more about them than she actually does. She likens it to playing with a rubik cube. Only instead of a cube it is a person. When she interrogated an insurgent, one of the first things she did was offer tea and make casual conversation about their family. In terms of persona, she is patient and collected. Her friends sometimes complain that she uses interrogator techniques in normal life, too. She is always checking for surveillance, even when she's off-duty. Secretly Zuule has also been embedded in the unit to assess Hazania. She is no political commissar, but keeps an eye on her. After all, Hazani is not just an ordinary non-commissioned officer, but the daughter of a Qadiri grand mistress who fought Firemane before being betrayed and murdered. She may one day inherit her mother's titles and holdings.
At the moment, she is a ward of House Kerrigan. Zuule is not authorised to administer Commissar justice, but sends regular reports to Firemane security. Her story about being an acolyte is genuine because having a knight or master constantly conceal their aura and punch beneath their weight in combat would create too many problems long-term. However, she is good at shielding her thoughts from intrusion. But her best strategy is to hide in plain sight. She also keeps an eye on 'Fire Princess' Elpsis. Zuule is a bit of a jack of all trades and does not excel at any particular skill in combat. Nor does not have the strongest Force potential and its most esoteric applications are beyond her. But she is a solid all-rounder with a decent understanding of the core powers. She also handles comms gear such as the portable variant of the Enlightenment. One of her tasks may include providing targeting data for drone strikes. Often uses a BCC-BC-11 Comlink to stay in contact with her fellow team mates.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Firestorm Squad is a fairly young group, as it came into being shortly after the events of the Tephrike campaign. Its still brief history is closely tied to Elpsis and that of Hazania Jai Bysara, the squad leader. Firemane's Exploration Corps had set out on a mission to discover worlds that had been cut off from the rest of the Galaxy while it was being ravaged by the Gulag Virus. The goal was to find new trading partners, help them reconnect with the Galaxy and expand Firemane's influence.
Hazani is the daughter of Sahali Jai Bysara, former high mistress of the Sistren of the Eternal Flame, an order of Qadiri fire mages. Like many daughters of great leaders, she grew up in her shadow. Born into privilege, her mother had joined the fire sect after an awakening experience that turned her into a fervent warrior of the goddess Kashara. She became a heroine to her people, leading the order to untold heights of power and carrying out fiery crusades to smite its enemies. When the sky people came, she was sceptical. Her daughter Hazania briefly joined them as an auxiliary to see the stars and escape her shadow. But when the League of Krolis, an ally of the Sistren, went to war with Semiramis, the power-hungry empress of the Amikarese Empire, due to a dispute about the succession of the head of the church of Kashara, she was caught in a conundrum. Semiramis was a Firemane ally, and so the sky people aided her out of self-interest. Hazania chose the side of her people.
After many battles, Sahali was murdered by traitorous allies who sought to curry favour with the sky people's leader. Siobhan had the ringleader executed and sent the rest back to the Sistren, along with Sahali's body. The war ended with a compromise. Hazania became a 'ward' of Siobhan. In short, she was a hostage for good behaviour, though she was well-treated in accordance with her status. In the aftermath of the Tephrike campaign, Elpsis Kerrigan, mentally and physically scarred by the torture and brainwashing she had endured at the hands of the Dominion's Inquisition, was put in command of one of the Young Flames' platoons. It received the nickname Inferno Platoon. Hazania was chosen to lead one of its squads. Having the daughter of a Qadiri heroine serve under the 'Fire Princess' was good for propaganda. It would allow Firemane to keep an eye on her, but also make her useful.
The recruits assigned to the squad were a mixed bunch. Some intended to pursue a career with Firemane, others were here for what amounted to an exchange programme. The squad assembled on Arkas, a tropical world Firemane had a strong presence on. There the recruits met their squad and platoon leader. Subsequently they were put through a series of drills, including forced marched, hiking live fire exercises, and mock battles.Moreover, they were put through survival training on worlds such as Tygara and Terax. Firestorm Squad was less prominent than the Champions of the Flame, which led to some unfortunate rivalries, but soon proved itself in battle against Sith, pirates and other threats, seeing action during the campaign in the Stygian Caldera.
More recently, Firestorm and the Champions participated in the assault on Lao-Mon, a remote world in the Unknown Regions that had been occupied by the Brotherood of the Maw. The darkside fanatics were plundering the world and massacring the shapeshifting natives. When the Silver Jedi Order, the Galactic Alliance and the New Imperial Order dispatched a large assault force to support the Shi'ido rebels, Firemane sent the Lions of Gehnena to assist. Inferno Platoon was deployed at somewhat reduced strength, since several Champions had been severely injured fighting a cult of Maenan fire witches a few weeks earlier. Firestorm Squad fought alongside its comrades during the attack on Goshen, facing Mawist fanatics, Sithspawn and zombies.
Hazania took over a command role alongside Nyssa Vykaris and Sergeant Lin Brakka when Elpsis engaged a Sith Lord called Darth Maleva. The squad acquitted itself welll, despite being assailed by an undead horde and a Force-based storm. However, allied forces had overextended themselves and as the battle's tide turned into the Maw's favour, the platoon received the order to retreat. Facing heavy fire, the Infernos pulled off a fighting retreat back to the Firemane rally point for evacuation. They were able to pull out and rescue a few native helpers before the Mawists carpet-bombed the jungle. But this meant abandoning the Shi'do to a genocide perpetrated by the Brotherhood.
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