Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Sub a unit.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Heavy mechanised infantry.
Permissions: ARGH tech available for Firemane per this thread. Blanket permission for subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here.
Links: Qadiri, Qadiri Sepoys, Shahbânu Semiramis, Tygara, Eldorai, Four of a Kind, First Contact, Twilight of the Goddess, The Sin of Pride, Xioquo, Yazgid.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Ironsand Legion.
Affiliation: Firemane Industries, House Kerrigan, Siobhan.
Classification: Mechanised infantry.
Description: The Ironsand Legion is a sign of how far the Qadiri have come ever since First Contact. When they made contact with the 'sky people', the fractured Qadiri used muskets and sailships. They had only just started making their first steps towards industrialisation. Spaceships, lightsabres and faster-than-light travel were unknown to them. However, they were not 'primitives'. Indeed, they learned fast. Too fast for bigoted Firemane officials and Eldorai who have become concerned that fully developed Qadiri nations would challenge them their supremacy. Thus they used the typical techniques of any imperialist coloniser to keep the Qadiri divided and reliant on them.
At the same time, the Qadiri, with their large numbers and strong martial traditions, offered a useful source of manpower. But to make them useful for more than brush fire conflicts, their troops needed modern equipment and the training to use it. The Ironsand Legion is one of the fruits of such efforts. While the use of the term 'legion' would imply a division-sized formation, in actual fact the overall size of all Ironsands put together is about equivalent to a brigade or a large, reinforced regiment. Its soldiers are organised as mechanised infantry.
Qadiri warfare has always relied heavily on mobility, élan and speed. Mobile cavalry units composed of Yazgid riders have been a crucial component in Qadiri armies, along with infantry and gunpowder artillery. The technology has changed and become more advanced. But while old school traditionalists lament how crude machines have replaced proud traditions and warrior codes of honour, enough of the old has carried over to make the transition easier. An armoured fighting vehicle is simply an 'Iron Yazgid' or a technologically more advanced version of the steam-powered tanks used by the Qadiri's Xioquo rivals; a spaceship a boat used to traverse the 'sky-ocean'. This is all very simplified, but it gets the point across. Warfare has, however, also become bloodier. The machines of the sky people can create horrible devastation at the push of a button, after all. Even old warriors have been shocked by this, as there is little honour to be gained from such carnage.
The Ironsand Legion is a step up from the more numerous, standard Qadiri Sepoys that have been recruited by Firemane to augment its ranks. They receive superior equipment and better pay then the auxiliaries, but also more dangerous tasks. Moreover, the proportion of non-Qadiri commissioned officers and NCOs is far lower. Being assigned foreigners to command them has been an cause of resentment among the Sepoys, as it is correctly perceived as a sign of a lack of respect and trust in their skill. While there have been foreign officers who showed empathy for the Qadiri and made the effort to learn their language and culture, others have been patronising and perceived being assigned to the auxiliaries as a cheap way to get a higher rank than in the regulars. The prospect of reaching a command position gives the Qadiri soldiers something tangible to strive for.
The Ironsands do still have some non-Qadiri advisors, vehicle operators and technical support personnel, but their role is no longer a dominant one. Naturally this means the requirements to join the Legion are higher than those for the auxiliaries, as the recruits must be able to understand the advanced tech they are using. This is pertinent because the Qadiri are a pre-spaceflight civilisation that used sailships and gunpowder weapons prior to the arrival of the 'sky people'. The fact that they have come so far is a source of pride for the Ironsands. Both male and female Qadiri have been recruited, though females are the more numerous ones, especially in command roles. This is how the Qadiri have traditionally fought due to having a matriarchal society and so it is not considered strange for them. The logo of the Legion shows an organic Yazgid facing the IFV variant.
Several Qadiri traditions have carried over. The soldiers want to maintain their own recognisable identity, instead of being subsumed by the humans. They have a ceremony to welcome each new vehicle. In the old days they would welcome each Yazgid lizard to the pack with some nice bloody meat. Since the Yazgids were usually the more communal females this would become a way for all the lizards to bond. Now each new vehicle gets a red stripe painted on it to 'blood' it. Like a lizard mount, each vehicle is named. Moreover, the soldiers keep tokens of the kills they make. Not body parts, but dog tags, trinkets or cameos are taken from enemies. For the dead they burn the bodies wherever possible.
For cultural reasons, the Ironsands wear turbans instead of berets or peaked caps as part of their uniform. The unit's badge is worn on the turban. It makes them very recognisable during parades. They will obviously don a proper helmet in combat. The Ironsand's chaplains are Qadiri priestesses. When the commanding officer is posted out, she has to handover her authority to another officer. This is symbolised by transferring the ceremonial sword of the commander from the past to the present commanding officer. The Ironsands also frequently host martial competitions such as boxing and knife combat. One of their traditions is for an honour guard of NCOs and officers to form an arch of swords during the wedding of an officer or decorated enlisted comrade. Officers are expected to wear a sword as part of their uniform, but Ironsand officers are known to have a strong propensity to actually employ them in combat. Soldiers are still issued bayonets and all are trained in their use as part of their basic martial arts training.
It is expected that they will be able to attach and remove bayonets from their blaster and slugthrower rifles very quickly. In modern warfare, bayonet charges are incredibly archaic and only situationally useful. The Qadiri are used to having them since they were originally trained in an era when the typical rifle was a musket and a well-timed Yazgid cavalry charge could rout a regiment. Tradition aside, a modern bayonet is short enough to be used as a knife and thus can be a multipurpose tool. Moreover, it serves a psychological purpose, since training with it helps cultivate an aggressive mind set. This is critical in close combat situations. It fits the Ironsands' warrior spirit, even if in practice the weapon will only be used extremely rarely.
Many low class Qadiri are illiterate. This applies in particular to freed slaves. But the Legion is in good shape in that regard. It has high recruiting requirements and in some cases literally teaches recruits how to read and write so that they can use their equipment effectively. However, they still have foreign technical support personnel for certain sensitive tasks. A significant number of Ironsands come from Amikaron, an important Qadiri region on the remote world of Tygara that is dominated by Shahbânu Semiramis' Amikarese Empire, a feudalistic polity. The Legion includes warriors from her host as well as from nomadic tribes. Firemane has a limited ability to recruit soldiers in her area in return for most-favoured nation trade deals and the provision of technology. Some are from Lakish, a Qadiri state Semiramis is suzerain of and whose queen Siobhan removed from power and replaced with a more agreeable vassal.
One of their senior leaders is Roshanara Jai Khosrava, a Qadiri knight known for her valour and honourable comportment. Roshanara joined because large-scale warfare had died down on Tygara and the void was a new realm to conquer and gain honour in. She was partly motivated by a somewhat romanticised conception of war that saw soldiering as a path to attain honour and glory for oneself and one's clan. During an early stage of her career, a small unit of soldiers under her command was ambushed by rebels, who used mortars, rockets and squad support weapons to assault the convoy.
The badly damaged vehicles of her convoy were forced to stop on the road and dig in. They tried to use the immobile vehicles to form an improvised fort, but soon ran out of ammunition. Firing a missile at the enemy position, Roshanara ordered her soldiers to fix bayonets and charge across open ground towards the entrenched enemy. The enemy had superior firepower and a better position, but the audacity and aggression of the attack caught them off-guard. Fierce fighting in the trenches lasted for several hours, but ended with over twenty rebels being bayoneted to death. Her exposure to the horrors of modern warfare has undermined her old beliefs though, as the industrialised slaughter is a far cry from them. Roshanara has a reputation for being a bit of a fop who always insists on on carrying her Force imbued sword with her because the honour code of her clan demands it, but is legitimately competent.
Officers are trained to follow the principle of leading by mission, also known as mission-type tactics. This means that the military commander gives subordinate leaders a clearly defined goal - a mission -, the forces needed to accomplish that goal and the time frame within which the goal must be reached. The subordinate leaders then implement the order independently. The subordinate leader is given, to a large extent, the planning initiative and a freedom in execution which allows a high degree of flexibility at the operational and tactical levels of command. Mission-type orders free the higher leadership from tactical details. For the success of the mission-type tactics it is especially important that the subordinate leaders understand the intent of the orders and are given proper guidance and that they are trained so they can act independently.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium
Unit Availability: Unique
Unit Experience: Veteran
Equipment:
Armour:
Primary Ranged Weapons:
- Reaper Plasma Shotgun
- Magnetic Repeater
- DC-15S Blaster Carbine
- ACS-202 Vanquisher Light Repeating Blaster
- ACS-205 Advanced Dual Weapon System
- Shatter Rifle
- MkI Bolter
- ACS-205 Blackblade Modular Rifle
Sidearms:
- Cylix Bolt Pistol
- A280-CFE
- SSK-5 Icon Blaster Pistol
- Shatter Pistol
- Magnetic Revolver
- Uproar Blaster
- Under-Barrel Miniature Flame Projector
- ACS-207 Aerosolblaster
- ARGH-CBRW-1 Flamer
- Under-Barrel Sonic Blaster
- Wrist Bolter
Misc:
Vehicles and Transports:
- Titan Class Heavy Troop Transport
- Swiftstrike Assault Airspeeder
- Iron Ghoush
- Bantha Class Armoured Transport
- Hailstorm AA Tank
- Firedancer Landspeeder
- Yazgid Infantry Fighting Vehicle
- Ghoush Class Orbital Lander
At the same time they can be utilised in defensive situations, occupying critical strongpoints to block and withstand an enemy attack, especially if they are backed up by allied artillery batteries. One tactic the Legion has adopted when its convoys are swarmed by superior numbers of low-tech, infantry-heavy or Sithspawn beasts is to form its Bantha transports into a wagon fort to create an improvised military camp infantry can fire out of while using their speeders as cavalry to support them. This tactic has been adopted from Qadiri nomads.
The Ironsand Legion mirrors their forebears' old aggressive tactics of fast, powerful insertions, deploying the infantry late once the IFVs and armoured fighting vehicles are already engaging. Usual protocol is to hold back, deploy the infantry and provide cover. This is more like shock tactics which can get them in trouble sometimes, but the sheer audacity and power of the attack can catch the enemy off-guard. The Ironsand Legion can serve as the assault force or the breaching force in a breaching operation and seize terrain that is important for overall success. Likewise, they can carry out mounted or dismounted patrols. However, Infantry Fighting Vehicles are vulnerable to anti-armour weapons. The Ironsand Legion can operate independently, but when facing a conventional foe with armoured support it will typically be employed in concert with an armoured force.
Tanks and heavy walkers need infantry to provide security and hold terrain and infantry need heavy armour to provide firepower. Compared to motorised infantry, the force is less at risk from ambushes while moving across roads and open terrain, since they offer superior protection to infantry and crew, though long range bombardment remains a threat. Moreover, mechanisation enables the infantry to carry more ammunition, supplies and heavier weapons. Their armoured transports are incorporated into the battle plan and can provide fire support and overwatch, act as a fire base and so on.
Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): A select number of the Ironsands benefit from some mild Force-Sensitivity, granting them a kind of 'sixth sense' that manifests in precognitive abilities, and enhanced situational awareness. A few of them are also mildly telepathic, which is used to improve coordination between soldiers.
Strengths:
- Combined arms task force. The Ironsand Legion has a lot of firepower and versatility. The infantry is well-armed and armoured. Access to infantry fighting vehicles and armoured transports enhances their mobility and gives them an additional punch.
- Crack soldiers. It is a highly experienced veteran unit. The soldiers are very experienced and quick to react to changing situations, even without orders from above.
- Vulnerable to long range bombardment, such as artillery strikes.
- Reliance on very aggressive tactics, élan and firepower can backfire, such as if they are ambushed by guerrilla forces in uneven, difficult terrain or collide with heavy fortifications in areas where they have little room to manoeuvre. The Titan, for example, is a very powerful and well-armoured toop transport, but slow when making turns. This makes the vehicle better suited for open terrain than urban environments, as moving through the narrow streets of a dense urban area would require it to slow down to a crawl, making it an even easier target for ambushes.
The present-day incarnation of the Ironsand Legion is a fairly young unit. However, there was a Qadiri unit by this name in the past. The name and many of their traditions have been recycled for a new generation of warriors. The original incarnation of the Ironsand Legion was a group of nomadic Qadiri warriors who were famous for their sudden, brutal charges with the lance and the tulwar. The Qadiri were and are a deeply fractured people divided in various monarchies, city-states, theocracies and other polities. While the Amikarese Empire was the largest and most powerful nation among them, it could never dominate them all. As a result, there was a high demand for mercenaries and the Ironsands acted as sellswords for a generation.
However, the nomadic warriors eventually incurred the wrath of a Shahbânu of Amikaron and were declared outlaws and hunted down. The Ironsands did not go quietly into the night, but made a heroic last stand against the empress' legions. Again and again they repulsed the attacks of her soldiers,d espite being outnumbered and outgunned. Finally, the Anusiya, Amikaron's elite corps, defeated them. Reportedly the Shahbânu was so impressed by their bravery that she pardoned the few survivors and had her own healers tend to their wounds. That is what the legend says. Of course, the details might be a bit less mythical, but it it is a good rallying point. When Firemane started recruiting Qadiri soldiers to swell the ranks of its forces, the legend of the Ironsands was too tempting to resist paying homage to. Siobhan Kerrigan recognised the potential of Qadiri warriors who had been trained for modern warfare, despite the resistance of Firemane and Eldorai officials who disdained the thought of giving the natives modern weapons.
It also flattered Siobhan's considerable ego to be recognised as their 'Skyqueen'. Firemane managed to headhunt some of the members of the tribe that had once formed the Ironsands. Roshanara Jai Khosrava was one of them. The modern incarnation of the Legion saw action against a splinter Sith force on a desert planet. Initially the Sith were dug in heavily behind strong defences and the initial Firemane advance ground to a halt. The Ironsands were newly formed and the general in command did not feel they were ready for such a challenge, but Roshanara demanded the opportunity to show her people's honour.
They attacked, taking heavy losses on the approach, but the speed and fury surprised the enemy, and they drove their Yazgids Infantry Fighting Vehicles literally into and over the enemy defences, only then deploying the troops. The dismounted infantry fought with aggression and ferocity. A bloody fight ensued, but their willingness to engage in melee served them well and the defences were taken, allowing a further offensive by regular Firemane troops to secure the position.
The Ironsand Legion was drawn into the Krolis War, a bloody battle between Qadiri states over the succession to the Saoshyant, the high priestess of Kashara and thus, in theory, the supreme religious head of the Qadiri. Shahbânu Semiramis tried to promote her own candidate and Firemane reluctantly sided with her due to her support for them against the Xioquo. The Ironsands participated in several battles against the League of Krolis, a Qadiri coalition that promoted their own candidate and rejected Semiramis as a power-hungry despot.
The Legion acquitted itself well, but the struggle between Qadiri also revealed the brutality of modern warfare. A city that had become a battleground between the League and the allied forces was reduced to rubble with no tangible gains. After witnessing the devastation, Roshanara reportedly exclaimed 'what a massacre, and without result!' and organised aid for the suffering civilians who had lost their homes and livelihood. When the Ironsand's commander learned that a human Firemane officer had killed civilians suspected without proof of being partisans, she had her put up against the wall and shot. The Ironsand Legion was part of the vanguard that ultimately entered Krolis at the end of the conflict.
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