In the Darkness there is Truth
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Mooks for Libertas.
Image Credit: Here, here.
Role: Strike force.
Permissions: Permission to use ArmaTech and Revenant State Industrial tech here.
Links: The Enlightened, Nur Jahan, Eidolon Supplies & Transport.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Freedom Guard.
Affiliation: Darth Libertas.
Classification: Infantry.
Description:
Ever since the reign of Emperor Palpatine, Stormtroopers have been a staple of any Imperial or Sith regime. Clad in identical sealed, white plastoid armour, they present an image of uniformity and conformity, ready to do their master's bidding without question. The Freedom Guard is rather ironically named. This is deliberate on Darth Libertas' part. The Sith Lady has a sense of humour, after all. However, it is also in keeping with her self-image. She is the Breaker of Chains who preaches an ideology of self-actualisation...just not in the manner most people would expect.
The backgrounds of the Stormtroopers in this unit are quite diverse. The old guard is composed of soldiers or ex-slaves who survived the cataclysmic destruction of Dromund Kaas at the hands of the Mandalorians and escaped the broken planet with their future mistress. Others are Twi'lek's from Libertas' village, who joined her cause after being converted to her ideology of 'liberation'. Others again used to fight for the One Sith, are former slaves or mercenaries attracted by the promise of action and booty. Regardless of their origins, they have one thing in common: without exception, they are all non-humans.
This stands in stark contrast to the humanocentric beliefs that have often been associated with Imperial regimes. Libertas is a Twi'lek and a fierce opponent of Human High Culture. Indeed, she loathes the fact that her people are often the victims of slavers. Time and again, they have been enslaved and treated as others' possessions, often with the collaboration of their own leaders. The caveat is that while she truly disdains the plight of many Twi'leks, her proposed alternative is a dystopian, Darwinist society where everyone, both Force-Users and Force blind, embraces Sith ideals.
The Guardians do not limit recruitment to Twi'leks, but embrace a variety of alien species. Many of the recruits are drawn from the ranks of the under classes, who have already experienced hardship and had to struggle against adversity. The slums of worlds such as Coruscant, Metellos and Taris have been common recruitment grounds. The soldiers are indoctrinated into Libertas' beliefs. To her, Darwinian struggle is Nature's law, thus the darkness the Sith use is natural, whereas the Light is not.
Significantly, she does not look down upon Non-Force-Users simply because they lack the ability to use the Force. Control over the Force elevates her above the muggles, but strength has a lot to do with a state of mind rather than displays of raw power. Indeed, she has found Force blind to sometimes be better henchmen because they had to work harder for their jobs to make up for their lack of preternatural advantages. Libertas knows Enhance Force-Sensitivity and reserves the right to elevate a particularly skilled soldier. This happens rarely, but is an additional incentive. Of course, such a Faustian bargain never comes without a price tag attached.
Libertas only has limited resources. The Galactic Empire might have had a legion of loyal soldiers that were in endless supply, but she does not. This means that she cannot treat the Guardians as cannon fodder and be careless with their lives. Thus the soldiers are well-trained and operations are carefully planned. Good marksmanship is seen as particularly important. They are also trained in melee, explosives, first aid and small unit tactics. In order to ensure that the unit is not stranded, all stormtroopers are taught how to pilot their own transports if the pilot dies. They are not dogfighters or bomber pilots, but they have enough skill to pilot their transport ships, speeders and common ground transport vehicles. Training is harsh and gruelling. The Freedom Guard is a very mobile force, which makes a good fit for rapid assault and surgical attacks on specific objectives. The officers come from the ranks and are selected on the basis of merit.
The Freedom Guard is commanded by a Twi'lek called Koanai Pann. She was enslaved, but managed to break her chains. She and Libertas, then still known by her birth name, worked together to survive the wasteland of Dromund Kaas. The Sith Lady took a liking to her, especially after a Sith tried to kill the Twi'lek for 'getting uppity' but Koanai managed to turn the tables on the Sith and terminate her. Koanai has a competitive relationship with Neda Chazzak, the commander of Enyo Typhos' Eisenkrieger. Whereas Neda is a sellsword, Koanai has bought into Libertas' ideology. To her, it is natural that the strong shall rule and the Sith must be the strongest. Her job is to weed out the unsuitable. One's power and standing rises as one proves one's superiority by overcoming threats and obstacles that stand in one's way. She has a strong sense of gallows' humour. Koanai is a minor Force-Sensitive, but not enough to manifest Force abilities beyond heightened perception and intuition. Libertas offered to bestow the power of a true Force-User on her, but Koanai declined. Ironically, this made the Sith Lady respect her more.
Libertas has a Spartan, almost ascetic life style. This allows her to invest most of the credits she acquires into her organisation. The troopers utilise a mixture of gear acquired on the open market, during raids or scavenged from the arsenals of past regimes. The Sith Lady makes a point of being affable to her soldiers and cracking jokes while in their midst. This is partly out of pragmatism, partly simply her actual personality. Of course, she is still a Sith and not shy about ordering them to commit atrocities if she believes it will serve her agenda. As a result, members of the unit are expected not to be fazed by orders to use noncombatants as human shields or murder them or do similarly reprehensible things. Part of joining the Sith is 'breaking the shackles of 'slave morality', after all.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium.
Unit Availability: Unique
Unit Experience: Elite.
Equipment:
Armour:
Rifles:
- ACS-205 Blackblade Modular Rifle
- Bowcaster
- Viper-Series Multirole Blaster
- FC-1 Flechette Launcher
- Stouker Concussion Rifle
- Shatter Rifle
- Imperial Heavy Repeater
- MGL-1
- ACS-202 Vanquisher Light Repeating Blaster.
- MSD-32
- A280-CFE
- Sonic Disruptor
- X7-B "Checkmate" Holdout Disruptor
- Hard-Sound Gun
- Verpine Shattergun
- Renegade Heavy Blaster Pistol
- Grenades, Detpacks, Sonic Imploders, LX-4 Proton Mines.
- Seeker Droids.
- Sky-Strike Miniature Jump Pack
- Verpine Prototype Shield
- Neural Band
- Under-Barrel Disruptor
- ACS-208 Wrist Ion Beamer.
- ACS-207 Aerosolblaster
- Under-Barrel Miniature Flameprojector
Melee Weapons:
- Talon Vibrodagger
- Sith Tremor Sword
- Energy Chorded Melee Weapons
- Vibrobayonet
Droids:
- A few RX-Series Security Droids.
They are characterised by bravery on the battlefield, skill and loyalty. With their access to personal blaster cannons, grenade launchers and anti-tank missile launchers, they have significant firepower for an infantry unit. Widespread use of under-barrel weapons such as under-barrel flamethrowers and grenade launchers cuts down on the amount of extra gear an individual trooper needs to carry and reduces the reliance on specialists. Moreover, troopers are taught how to pilot their own transport ships so that they are not left stranded if the pilot dies. However, the troopers lack armoured fighting vehicles such as tanks. The Freedom Guard has its own air arm in form of a couple TIE/HU Hunters, but it is very small and thus not suited for prolonged engagements.
Some of the Guardians are Force-Sensitive, but they lack flashy powers comparable to that of a trained Jedi or Sith. Their Force affinity tends to manifest in form of enhanced reflexes and senses, being unusually intuitive and perceptive. This does not turn them into supersoldiers, but improves their ability to survive and prevail on the battlefield. Much like Darth Vader or Malgus, Libertas leads from the front. She is more than capable of ruthless actions, but is rather well-liked by the troopers. A few RX-Series Security Droids have been assigned to the Freedom Guard. They ferret out infiltrators, can act as slicer droids and use their shield projector module to protect their squad in the case of an emergency. They can also engage in combat as battle droids, act as a bodyguard unit and staff for officers in the field. However, they are only available in limited numbers.
Strengths:
- Crack soldiers. The Freedom Guard is well-trained, tough and mobile. Bravery, skill and tenacity are characteristics well-represented among members of the unit. They attack fast and hard.
- Zealous and loyal. They are well-conditioned to resist mind tricks and other forms of mental manipulation. Some members of the unit are Force-Sensitive. They lack the powers commonly associated with that of Jedi or Sith, but benefit from superior reaction time, senses and intuition. Broadly speaking, their Force affinity is supplementary and aids their conventional skills.
- Lack integrated heavy support such as armoured fighting vehicles and artillery.
- They are skilled and well-trained, but ultimately still mortals rather than space mages. The few Force-Sensitives in the Freedom Guard only have limited training and skills.
The Freedom Guard is the personal strike force of Darth Libertas, a Sith warlord and cult leader. The unit has its roots in the forces she commanded during her time with the First Sith Empire and the One Sith as well as an independent Sith Lady. Thus it is closely tied to her history. Libertas did not fall to the dark side as a consequence of childhood trauma. She was no slave turned Sith. Rather she grew up in an affluent family. Her birth name was Koyi Fenn. Her parents were local notables in a Twi'lek community and successful merchants. However, though she was welloff, she was still confronted with the plight many of her people suffered. These raiders were more canny than the average pirate gang, for they realised that it was better to milk a cow than to slaughter it. So they demanded tribute. When the inhabitants were unable to meet their demands, they took slaves.
Young Koyi was disgusted by the fact her parents, who were local luminaries, tried to appease the invaders. One day she lashed out, which also revealed her Force-Sensitivity. To keep the peace, she had to leave her home. First her path led her to the Jedi, who found her to be aggressive and passionate. So she sought out the Sith and was trained at the Sith Academy on Korriban. She fought during the Republic-Sith War and was on Dromund Kaas when the Mandalorians razed the planet by dropping asteroids on it. She survived the cataclysm, but had to fight to endure in the post-apocalyptic wasteland the ancient Sith world had become.
It was during this time that the nucleus of the Freedom Guard came into being. Koyi teamed up with a scattered band of survivors. Some were former Sith troopers or members of the local security forces, others were slaves who had escaped and armed themselves, or civilians who had to take up arms to protect themselves. Necessity bred strange bedfellows - metaphorically speaking. The wasteland was filled with predators, for warlords, gangs and Sithspawn beasts abounded. The Empire had been broken, so her rank did not matter much. However, Koyi earned her men's respect due to her bravery and willingness to lead from the front. Eventually they were able to acquire transport and escape the planet.
Koyi confronted and slew her former Sith Master Darth Lüge, a decadent and vainglorious Sith. Thus she inherited what was left of her master's power base. She had to give up the Star Destroyer, replacing it with a more practical frigate. She renamed herself Darth Libertas. Then she returned to her home town to crush the pirates and teach her people the lessons of strength she had learned. She passed judgement on alleged collaborators and enslaved them. Those who had been taken captive by the corsairs were freed after they slew their captors. Freedom was not an inherent right, but had to be purchased and protected with blood. Some of her people were horrified by the dark gospel she preached, but others joined her cause.
The soldiers she had recruited on Kaas acted as trainers for her new recruits, teaching them about combat and survival. The Freedom Guard was born. Libertas appointed one of the Kaas veterans as its first commander. It became her strike force of choice. For a while it operated independently of any major power. Libertas was loosely associated with the Lords of the Fringe, and so her stormtroopers saw action on O'reen and Eriadu, battling Republic and Protectorate troops. They also provided protection for their mistress' criminal ventures. Libertas had no qualms about selling ryll and other narcotics, but forbade the consumption of such substances among her minions. Those who broke this rule were punished harshly.
When Libertas joined the One Sith, the Freedom Guard followed her. However, she retained control of the unit, keeping it separate from the regular chain of command. Libertas did not believe in the personality cult of the Dark Lord, but the One Sith were going places. The Freedom Guard participated in the Battle of Coruscant, distinguishing themselves in the assault on the Senatorial District. Subsequently they participated in several One Sith military campaigns and 'pacification operations' in the Core and beyond.
The experience they gained fighting Jedi and other dangerous foes such as Mandalorians allowed them to hone their tactics and training. The Freedom Guard suffered a setback when a Republic commando team led by two Jedi, Leonina Varkathras and Shakkara Kalon, was able to infiltrate a clandestine Sith research facility under their protection. Supported by local rebels who knew the area, the commandos were able to outmanoeuvre the guards and destroy the facility. However, the stormtroopers rallied and gave pursuit, cutting off their escape. Shakkara stayed behind to hold the line and draw the Sith troopers' fire. Libertas and her followers took the Togruta Jedi Master captive.
It had been a defeat for the Guard, but it was a Pyrrhic victory for their foes. Shakkara was an extremely radical Jedi who had become disillusioned with the Republic and the Jedi Order. Libertas was able to sway her and complete her conversion to the dark side. She now called herself Darth Soteria. Libertas had the failings in the security cordon investigated. A number of officers were punished, as someone of their rank was expected to show greater awareness than a common soldier. In general, she was harsher on officers than grunts. Some common soldiers and NCOs who had displayed merit were promoted.
The Freedom Guard saw action during the Netherworld Event. The Force was out of balance, so their mistress had to rely on her wits and mechanical strength rather than preternatural powers to prevail. One of their enemies was an apocalyptic cult that preached the downfall of the Sith and saw the Netherworld Event as a harbinger of the end times. The Freedom Guard conducted a brutal cleansing campaign. The zealots were misguided, but their conviction gave them strength and they fought to the last rebel. The rebels' zeal impressed Libertas. Of course, they still had to die to make an example. However, their conviction inspired her to found a populist movement called the Breakers of Chains.
Feeling disdain for the propertied folks of Coruscant and other Core worlds, she focused her attention on the working classes. The marginalised lived in close urban proximity to the upper classes, who were literally looking down on them from ivory towers. This provided the movement with some good materiel for propaganda filled with populist rhetoric. The group became a recruiting ground for the Freedom Guard. The force had always been alien-majority, but now this tendency became more pronounced. Those who joined had to cast aside all ties with their old lives though, much like someone who joined a criminal gang or a cult.
The collapse of the One Sith Empire produced significant changes for the Guard. After having gone from strength to strength, the One Sith had won themselves to death and grown stagnant. The Galactic Alliance was able to wrest control of the Core from it. The Freedom Guard fought alongside their mistress when the Alliance launched its offensive. Indeed, the stormtroopers saved her life at at Dulvojinn. Leading a boarding action in person, Libertas faced Leonina in combat once more. By now the Cathar had left the Jedi Order and become a Rogue Master.
However, during the fight the ship was rocked by explosions and the Sith was thrust into space. Her armour had been damaged and so she risked freezing and suffocating. Fortunately for her, her hard work paid off because her minions did not desert her. Rather they retrieved her damaged body from the void via a tractor beam and ensured she got medical attention. In the aftermath of Coruscant's fall, Soteria and Libertas had a parting of ways, for the former joined the Rogue Sith, who had decided that if they could not have the Galaxy, they would make it burn. Deciding that last ditch destructiveness served no one's interests, Libertas joined the unlikely coalition of the willing that tried to destroy the Omega superweapon.
The Freedom Guard fought on Castameer, where they found themselves fighting alongside Firemane and Mandalorian troops they had clashed with in the past. The Freedom Guard went underground after the fall of Omega. The downfall of the One Sith meant that the unit lacked a regular supply chain, as it was no longer associated with a galactic empire. However, the stormtroopers were able to manage, falling back into their old habits of scavenging and cannibalising the resources of past regimes. Desertions were also an issue, but Darwinian selection weeded out those lacking in zeal and successful raids were able to raise morale.
They also turned to mercenary work to acquire funds. Still, Libertas decided to associate herself with Enyo Typhos' enterprises, realising that she needed access to greater resources. She resolutely refused Enyo's offer of 'enhancing' her stormtroopers with cybernetic implants, rightly suspecting that it was a way for the Terminatrix to exert control over them. Libertas was able to put their funding on a more solid footing through the acquisition of Eidolon Supplies & Transport.
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