OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on the Shadow Knights.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Anti-slavery task force.
Permissions: Can use Archangel and Firemane gear because I own both companies. Blanket permission for subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here.
Links: Kaida, Court of the Shadows, Shadow Knights (lore submission), Naesala Faethyra, Eldorai, Citizens' Council, Qadiri, Vashyada, Eldorai Exodus, Twin Exiles, Xioquo.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Legion of the Chainbreakers
Affiliation: Shadow Knights, Eldorai, Citizens' Council, Exodite Asurans.
Classification: Infantry, Special Forces.
Description: Slavery is regarded as a great evil in many societies. However, it is still quite pervasive, even on supposedly civilised, democratic and enlightened planets, though its true nature is obfuscated in the latter case. It takes many forms outside of the typical chattel slavery. The Chainbreakers are a group which goes out to free slaves with fire and steel rather than waiting for escaped slaves to come to them. The group is associated with the Shadow Knights, a group of Eldorai and Tygaran renegades.
The Eldorai never practiced slavery, though they made use of forced labourers 'recruited' from vagrants, criminals and political prisoners. By contrast, all Tygaran races practiced slavery with varying degrees of enthusiasm, though one must take their primitive technological base into account. All four races have been victims of slave raids carried out by raiders from the supposedly developed, civilised galaxy though. It has been a particular cause of shame and anger for the Eldorai.
The Chainbreakers have been established as a special task force for the Shadow Knight nomad fleet to hit back. It goes without saying that they are not concerned about arresting slavers and putting them on trial in a court of law. They would rather mount their heads on pikes. Or simply space them without giving them a spacesuit. Or even better throw into a black hole, with enough air in the tank to be alive when they are sucked in. On occasion, captured slavers have been employed as human shields to demoralise their comrades. In other words, they are very much into paying evil unto evil. They are particularly vengeful against other elves who support slaver syndicates and prey on their own people. It should come as no surprise that suicide pills are often issued to Chainbreakers, since they can expect horrible treatment if they fall into the enemy's hands. It goes without saying that, on average, the Chainbreakers do not cooperate well with Jedi due to their conflicting methods, though there are obviously exceptions.
Operating from a mobile base of operations, the Chainbreakers track down slaver convoys, corsair ships and slave auctions to carry out hit-and-run raids. Of course, at the end of the day it is just one task force with limited resources, which poses serious limitations on their reach. Moreover, the Shadow Knights are focused rather strongly on liberating fellow Eldorai and Tygarans and not on fighting for every slave regardless of species, though individual leaders of the Chainbreakers might disagree with that policy. Exposure to the plight of other species has given several Chainbreakers empathy for the oppressed, even though they cannot rescue everyone because they lack the resources and manpower. Still, they are very dedicated to their task.
The Chainbreakers are all soldiers, mercenaries and former slaves who share a broad ideological commitment to the goal. They often act on intelligence provided by the Shadow Knights' smuggler contacts, the Chapter of the Black Trade, though their relationship is at times a tense one. As they are designed for striking rapidly in ambushes or skirmishes, the Chainbreakers lack armoured fighting vehicles such as tanks, walkers and the like and only have limited access to heavy weapons. That said, for a roving band of soldiers the Chainbreakers are well-equipped enough to fight most infantry on even terms. Against particularly well-armed enemies, armour or overwhelming numbers, they are likely to be defeated. The soldiers are trained to operate with a buddy or alone.
While the name 'legion' would imply a roughly division-sized force, overall the Chainbreakers are a fairly small unit that is about the size of a reinforced company. Their kind of work makes speed, mobility and precision a lot more important than numbers. It has allowed their leaders to form a tight-knit unit and avoided getting bogged down with a long baggage train and a large force of soldiers they cannot pay anyway. The Shadow Knights do not possess major planetary holdings, and the nomad fleet is poor. While the fleet does have manufacturing facilities, a lot of their equipment must be purchased on the black market or requisitioned through raids. A single Vigilance Class Frigate serves as a mobile base for the entire unit. Freed slaves are usually brought here until they can be transported somewhere more appropriate.
Chainbreakers on operations are entitled to a share of any profit the group makes in addition to their wages. Part of the loot is sent back to the nomad fleet, another part is spent on the upkeep of their ship or used to purchase supplies. What is left is divided among the Chainbreakers. The payment is on a sliding scale based on rank, years of service and merit. Thus a soldier who has been with the group for a long time and been decorated for bravery will receive a greater share than a raw recruit. The prospect of loot has obviously attracted unsavoury characters, but there is a vetting process to weed out unsuitable elements. The punishments for hurting, stealing from, coercing or otherwise abusing the trust of a slave freed during a raid are draconian. Possible punishments include being sent to a penal labour unit after being caned and having one's ear clipped, exile or death by firing squad.
In the Shadow Knights' stratocratic society, services guarantees citizenship. While all residents of the nomad fleet have civil liberties, citizenship and the political rights it entails is limited to those who have served a tour of duty in the military. Moreover, only citizens are eligible for state benefits. The Chainbreakers have a close connection to Councillor Nassara Dymarna, an Eldorai of mercantile origins who left Kaeshana once regular contact with the outside galaxy was established. She has been something of a thorn in the side of various governments for her lobbying about the plight of slaves and the oppressed. When she joined the Shadows, she brought a bunch of ships she had used for her abolitionist efforts. Her agitation focuses most on punishing the most wicked slavers and exploiters of elves specifically but all races too.
The Chainbreakers are led Natheria Valassa, an Eldorai female. She was captured by slavers early on, but managed to start a rebellion and brutally overthrew them. Unable and unwilling to return to normal life and forget those who were still being held in chains, she formed her own little vigilante group. Later she received an invitation from the Shadow Knights. Valssa joined and immediately started agitating for a vengeance force. As a way to genuinely help, but also help get her out of agitating in the fleet she was given command and formed the Chainbreakers. She has a trusted inner core of original members as her insiders. She is a knight level force user, skilled leader and very good pilot. Her second-in-command is a Twi'lek female called Malera Talan, nicknamed Wraith. She is the leader's original comrade in arms who helped her originally escape. They now work as trusted allies and are in a relationship, despite the disapproval of the elves of the Shadow Knights, who think the 'pointed ear should not play with these rainbow-coloured aliens'. Malera is a Non-Force-User who is good at the organisational side and has a knack for logistics, but also a good pilot.
Jamal Jal Anhala is a Qadiri male member of the Chainbreakers. He was rescued by the group during one of their early raids. At this stage the group had never actually met any Tygarans only heard of them. He had been among the first taken from Tygara, and had fought bravely until overwhelmed but managed to protect his family. They later went back once Firemane came to check they were fine. The family wanted to stay, but he stayed with the Chainbreakers. He is an excellent assault trooper and Force-Sensitive, with a strong command of telekinesis and fire shaping abilities. He has a reputation for being the first in the breach.
Khatereh Jai Qasema is a Qadiri and the leading infiltrator of the group. Sometimes it is best not go in blasters blazing. That may seem dashing, but can easily put slaves at risk when they are caught in the crossfire or explosive collars are activated. She establishes eyes on the ground - often by infiltrating slave markets and cartels. She impersonates slave mistresses, criminals and other individuals. Khatereh has the attitude of a callous slaver down pat and is a talented actress with a variety of cover identities. She is rather tight-lipped about her past. Anriel Savart is an Eldorai male who lost his family to slavers. When they resisted they were 'made an example of to impose discipline'. He now seeks vengeance and to help destroy slavers so no one else has to go through what he did. Anriel is a Non-Force-User, but but good with tech and sniping.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Small
Unit Availability: Rare
Unit Experience: Elite
Equipment:
Armour:
Rifles:
- DC-19 Stealth Carbine
- Magnetic Repeater
- Reaper Plasma Shotgun
- Nightstinger Sporting Blaster Rifle
- Destructive Electromagnetic Pulse 2 Ion Carbine
- ST-W48 Blaster Rifle
- DXR-6 Disruptor Rifle
- Verpine Shatter Rifle
- Mk I Boltgun
- T-21 Light Repeating Blaster
- A280-CFE
- Cylix Bolt Pistol
- Sonic Stunner
- Renegade Heavy Blaster Pistol
- Model MSD-32 Disruptor Pistol
- Hard-Sound Gun
- Verpine Shattergun
- SE-14 Light Repeating Blaster Pistol
Attached Weapons:
- ZX Miniature Flame Projector
- Under-Barrel Sonic Blaster
- MM9 Rocket System
- Dur-24 Wrist Laser
- Wrist Bolter
Melee Weapons:
Small Craft and Vehicles:
- Reaver-Class Boarding Pod
- Speeder Bike
- YT-1300 light freighter
- Katarn Class Boarding Shuttle
- R-444 Imperial Sky Swooper
- Suicide Pills
- Whisper Jetpack
- No-Show.
- Dart Shooter (variable payload). Surveillance Tagger Darts, Explosive Darts.
- Hurlothombric Compound. Only available in limited amounts.
- APE Boltgun Ammunition.
- Q Micro Turret
- BCC-BC-11 Comlink
- ID10 Seeker Droid.
For example, individual members might infiltrate a slaver nest or market by pretending to be prospective buyers. The Chainbreakers do have some heavy weapons, but lack armoured fighting vehicles, which is they are not equipped for sustained engagements on the frontlines and will seek to avoid direct confrontation with heavy armour elements. However, they are skilled in laying traps, sniping and the like. Advanced boarding pods allow them to carry out boarding actions to infiltrate slaver ships. Moreover, they have no compunction about fighting dirty.
The majority of the Chainbreakers are Non-Force-Users, but a small number of their soldiers are Sciians, which is the Eldorai word for Force-Users. Rather than engage in lone wolf heroics, they receive training as soldiers and are taught to use their preternatural abilities to support their squad and the overall battle plan. Powerful personal weapons such as bolters, shotguns, disruptors, repeating blasters and fear gas can allow the Chainbreakers to punch above their weight despite their small numbers. At the same time the nature of their missions means that the Chainbreakers will generally operate far from any support network. In short, their ability to call in the cavalry if they run into overwhelming odds or are otherwise compromised will be limited to nonexistent. They have a ship as a mobile base, but it is not meant for slugfests.
Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): A small minority of the Chainbreakers are Force Users. Their Force-Users have a mix of offensive talents to smash and break up slavers combined with some empathic ones to help calm emotions and communicate with freed slaves. To this end, they focus on elemental fire abilities, Force Blind, telekinesis and its various sub-applications, and telepathic abilitie. Some of their members are skilled in Force healing.
Strengths:
- Crack strike force composed of veteran soldiers. They favour aggressive, hard-hitting tactics. The unit is very mobile, as it is not weighed down by a long baggage train.
- Mix of Non-Force-Users and Force-Users allows for combined arms tactics. Force-Users are trained to utilise small unit tactics and teamwork instead of engage in lone wolf heroics.
- The Chainbreakers are a rapid strike force, which means they lack integrated heavy support such as bombers, artillery or armoured fighting vehicles. They only have limited access to heavy weapons. Their focus lies on hitting hard and fast, then getting out. If that doesn't work they're in trouble.
- Small unit. The Chainbreakers operate in small teams and even their overall number is rather small, putting them at a disadvantage in pitched combat. This is particularly pertinent since the nature of their tasks means they will often operate far from allied lines, and not receive a lot of support.
Until the last century Kaeshana was almost unknown to the galaxy at large. As they had not developed effective space travel and this area of space was not frequently travelled due to its obscurity. Those that did arrive were quarantined in a special area in the capital city by the Star Queen, afraid they might bring down their autocratic control. The Star Queen, Tirathana VI had to deal with the unexpected spectre of foreign incursions. Firstly pirates struck the few settlements in the Asur system away from the planet, and later raiders struck Kaeshana itself. Forced to fight off these enemies with outdated weapons, the Eldorai nonetheless defeated their enemies. But the pervasive slave raids did not cease, becoming a cause of great shame and anger to the Eldorai.
The ultra-conservative Star Queen at the time alternated between domestic repression and tentative steps towards acquiring foreign know-how to better defend the realm. Unlike many Eldorai, she knew that the stars were home to more than demons and ghosts, but chose to isolate Kaeshana because she knew that contact with the greater galaxy would undermine Eldorai traditions and thus her power as absolute monarch. It was the normal Eldorai who would pay the price for this was folly.
On one of those abducted by slavers early on was an Eldorai female called Natheria Valassa, an Eldorai female. However, she managed to start a rebellion and brutally overthrew them. Fire and blood set her and her few surviving friends free, and fire and blood would protect them from harm. Some of her crew were fellow Eldorai, but many were non-elves. Adrift in a hostile, bleak galaxy, they decided to band together for the purpose of survival - and revenge. Her second-in-command and ally in this endeavour was a Twi'lek female called Malera Talan.
Hardened by the brutality they had experienced, they decided to fight back, staging hit-and-run attacks on slaver transports and markets. They formed a small but close-knit unit which would not be bogged down with a long supply train. But their resources were very limited and they lacked heavy weaponry. They made up for this with cunning, subterfuge and a heavy dose of brutality. Captured slavers were often tossed out of the airlock or their heads were put on pikes. Lacking sponsorship from corporations or governments, the group had to take what it needed or obtain it via deals on the black market.
The group attracted the notice of Nassara Dymarna, an Eldorai female from a merchant family who had left Kaeshana once relations with the outside galaxy were normalised. She had been something of an annoyance for various governments due to her lobbying for the plight of slaves. Having grown fed up with going through legal channels, she decided to take a more direct role. Her aid came at the right time, for a coalition of corsairs had inflicted heavy casualties on the nascent Chainbreakers after luring them into a trap. They were among the first Eldorai outside of the Eldorai Matriarchy to come into contact with the Tygaran elves when they happened to seize a slaver transport returning from a raid on Tygara. The Qadiri aboard had been among the first to be taken from the lost elf colony.
The freedom fighters started working with the Shadow Knights following the cataclysm on Kaeshana, receiving an invitation to join. Natheria accepted a commission and immediately started lobbying for a vengeance force, but faced opposition from Shadow Knights more concerned with keeping the nomad fleet running or who considered her not 'elfy' enough due to her relationship with a 'rainbow-coloured demon'. As a way to genuinely help, but also help get her out of agitating on the fleet she was given command and formed the Chainbreakers, with a trusted inner core of original members as her insiders. Using an old, mothballed Firemane warship as a mobile base of operations, the group unleashed a campaign of retribution.
Its primary targets were slaver transports and slave markets in Hutt Space, but after the collapse of the First Order it also hounded the outposts of rogue Imperial warlords who had taken Eldorai as slaves. On occasion, the Chainbreakers worked with Jedi and anti-slavery law enforcement organs. But this went poorly as the group was not interested in abiding by legal norms. In their view, slavers had placed themselves outside of the protection of the law through their heinous actions. They aimed not only to kill slavers and deprive them of their mechandise, but to systematically terrorist these traders in death and sentient chattle.
In one operation, the Chainbreakers raided Rishi to free enslaved exonium miners from their captivity. During the battle they they managed to corner some of the cartel thugs and captured them. They then blinded them and sent them back on a droid piloted craft back to their bosses, and proceeded to free the slaves. During the course of the mission they had encountered some Jedi planning just such an operation. These Jedi were surprisingly competent, but wanted to imprison the slavers, so the Chainbreakers launched their attack early. By the time the Jedi arrived the deed was done. They expressed horror at the mutilations, denouncing them as cruel, but the Chainbreakers were not having it.
