Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Firemane and do a callback to one of my first threads on the board.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Skirmishers, shock infantry.
Permission: ARGH gear available per this thread. Permission for all ArmaTech gear and all other subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here. CD-X Cryptologic Key available for Firemane per this thread.
Links: Wookiee, The Great Hunt.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Oathkeepers.
Affiliation: Siobhan, Firemane, House Kerrigan-Alcori, Wookiee.
Classification: Infantry.
Equipment:
Armour:
- Reinforced Duraplast cuirass and greaves. Arbiter Combat Helmet. Traditional Wookiee bracers and pauldrons.
Rifles:
- Shattering Bowcaster
- X1 Carbine
- Mk II Boltgun
- Reaper Plasma Shotgun
- ACS-205 Advanced Dual Weapon System
Support:
Wrist and Underbarrel Weapons:
Misc
- Grenades, Mines, Explosive Charges.
- RL-40 Stun Net Launcher
- ACS-301 YVH Probe Droids
- Monofilament Wire and net.
- Ribbon Charge
- Commlink uses CD-X Cryptologic Key.
- APE Boltgun Ammunition
The Oathkeepers are kept on retainer by Firemane. They send part of their remuneration back home to support their kin. These are tribes Tegaea and Siobhan worked with during their journey to Kashyyyk about two decades ago. They combine traditional Wookiee weapons and tactics with those they have acquired from the outsiders.
They hold true to the traditional Wookiee code of honour, which dictates that a Wookiee should never use his claws in a fight. Those who violate this rule are labelled as 'madclaws'. The Oathkeepers make use of the Shattering Bowcaster, an upgraded version of the traditional Bowcaster. They also use rifles, explosives, pistols, daggers and traditional Ryyk blades. Because even the tankiness of a Wookiee has its limits, the Oathkeepers have consented to wearing a cuirass and a combat helmet. This protects an Oathkeeper's head and torso, though the rest of the body is still exposed.
When it comes to their interactions with Firemane allies and vassals, the Oathkeepers are quite friendly with the Vashyada, a race of wood elves native to Tygara. Like the Wookiees, the Vashyada are organised into decentralised tribes and live in tune with nature. They are also a peaceful people, but a vigilant, combat-ready one. Like on Kashyyyk, danger lurks at every corner in the forests of Yarkul. Nature is to a force to be venerated, but also feared.
Whereas the Wookiees have often had to defend themselves against Trandoshan slavers, the Vashyada had to protect themselves against Qadiri and Xioquo concursions. These experiences have forged a strong, hardy people. As a result, the Oathkeepers work well with Vashyada Rangers and druids. Both groups complement each other well and are often deployed alongside one another in combat.
The Oathkeepers have performed a bit of a mentoring role, helping wood elves adjust to the unfamiliar Galaxy and make their way into the stars without sacrificing their traditions and way of life. They also get on well with Firemane's Dahomian Ranger units, such as the Glory Hounds. Needless to say the Oathkeepers do not take kindly to outsiders who refer to them as 'walking carpets'. Suffice to say it is a very bad idea to do so. They also feel a strong hatred for slavers and Sith.
The Oathkeepers are led by Naoawrih, a tough Wookiee warrior. He is a son of Zardok, but while he recognised the necessity of fortifying Kashyyyk against foreign raiders, he disagreed with the dishonourable and in his eyes self-defeating methods used by his father. Nonetheless, his heritage marked him in the ways of some. Naoawrih fought against the One Sith during the invasion of Kashyyyk and later joined the Oathkeepers as a way to restore his honour. He has a feud against Ser Grrowh, a Wookie slaver, and his criminal mafia. A long time ago Naoawrih and his warriors boarded one of Grrowh's slave transports. During the melee he realised to his shock and disgust that many of the captors were not humans or Trandoshans but Wookiees. This has made him implacably hostile.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium
Unit Availability: Unique
Unit Experience: Elite
Combat Function: The Oathkeepers prefer hit and fade tactics, ambushing foes and caching them in crossfires. They are well attuned to the wilderness and good trappers, using mines, monofilament nets and other traps. Once a trap is sprung, they can use their Wookiee strength and tenacity to smash into opponents. They have a preference for bowcasters, high-powered slugthrower or blaster rifles, shotguns and melee weapons. Their considerable strength allows them to wield weapons such as bolters and bowcasters with ease, as they are not hindered by the weight. Some of the Oathkeepers have access to the devastatingly powerful Firestriker Plasma Cannon. It is heavy even for a Wookiee, but has a long range and put a hole in heavy vehicle armour.
The Oathkeepers wear little armour to stay mobile, though they don a cuirass and a helmet to give themselves protection against attacks that target their head or torso. This still leaves body parts exposed, but is better than not wearing any armour at all. The Oathkeepers are often deployed in combination with more conventional Ranger units, as their skills and methods mesh well. To help with recon and provide additional firepower, the Oathkeepers have been given access to YVH Probe Droids Firemane purchased from ArmaTech.
Strengths:
- Being Wookiees, they are incredibly strong, tough and fierce. Bowcasters pack a mean punch and are more accurate than the average blaster. Moreover, their association with Firemane has allowed them to upgrade their arsenal with very potent weapons.
- Strong force of irregulars and skirmishers. They excel at tracking, trapping, ambushes and rapid strikes. They are very attuned to nature. Ideal wilderness fighters.
- Unlike most of their counterparts, the Oathpeekers do not wear fully encasing armour. They are more protected than is typical for Wookiees since they wear a cuirassm greaves and a helmet, but beyond that they only have traditional Wookiee bracers, pauldrons and the like. Thus they have better protection than say Chewbacca, but parts of their body are exposed and thus more vulnerable to attack. Wookiees are very tough, but even their tenacity has its limitations.
- Wookiees are known for losing their temper, and this blood rage can cause issues.
Two decades ago (more or less, depending on how one interprets the very fluid timeline) the Galaxy was a simpler, and yet in many ways familiar place. The four hundred year-long Dark Age had come to a close. The Gulag Virus no longer ravaged the populations of the Galaxy. Worlds that had been isolated by the Darkness were finally connected once again by trade. It was a brave new world full of danger and opportunity. New powers rose, seeking to exact their will upon the Galaxy. They inevitably clashed. The Galactic Republic, the Sith Empire and Omega Pyre rose to prominence in this day and age. Each would come into being, bloom and then wither away and die.
Tegaea Alcori and Siobhan Kerrigan were among the founding members of Omega Pyre, which later evolved into the Omega Protectorate. One was a former Republic soldier turned mercenary, the other a former Jedi Knight who had left the Order after becoming disillusioned with it. Siobhan was recruited by Tegaea after a Jedi mission to negotiate with pirates and convince them to give up their slaves went wrong. Both got closer during a mission to free Dahomey from the grip of warlords and slavers. The pair would experience a meteoric rise in the Pyre and the Protectorate, followed by a fall and then another rise as founders of Firemane.
In the early days of their career, they visited Kashyyyk, homeworld of the Wookiees. The cause of their journey to this forest world was a business deal with a Wookiee chieftain called Zardok, Chief of the Black Clan. Zardok was an ambitious and, from a certain point of view, progressive chieftain. He wanted to crush the Trandoshans who menaced his people and unite Kashyyyk under his rule. Time spent among offworlders had expanded his horizons, though not entirely for the better.
He invited Tegaea and Siobhan to his residence. The chieftain sought an agreement to obtain modern weapons from Omega Pyre as well as trainers who could teach his warriors how to best utilise them. Arms dealer was not their preferred job, but it sounded lucrative. His people would harvest wroshyr trees for timber and tach glands for ale, which would allow them to pay for all this. However, the audience turned out to be a trap. Zardok had been off-world for many years brought strange ideas and foreign counsellors with him. Thus he tried to take the two humans captive in order to hold them for ransom.
Cornered by Wookiee warriors, Tegaea and Siobhan had to defend themselves. However, they were outnumbered and outgunned, so Tegaea grabbed Siobhan and activated her rocket boots. The pair plummeted into the Shadowlands. Tegaea was injured by the fall and the pair fought Kinrath spiders. Fortunately for them, they ran into Grazkghul or, as Siobhan preferred to call him, Graz, the estranged brother of Zardok. Graz had been driven into exile and been declared a Madclaw by Zardok. His people took the two humans in and healed Tegaea before she could succumb to the poison.
As Graz told them, he did not like off-worlders. What Zardok wanted in basic was right. The Wookiees needed to form a common front to resist the slavers, but they could not sell their souls to off-worlders. He would help them topple Zardok and purchase weapons and equipment at a fair price, but nothing more. He and his followers did not want off-worlders living among them, stealing their young and pillaging the forest. The pair agreed to these conditions, but they needed to muster more support. It was decided that they would approach Chieftain Taalbaak of the Great Fangs, a nearby tribe, and request his aid.
The trek through the Shadowlands was a difficult one. It was dark and full of dangerous predators, making their quest a perilous one. Siobhan, Tegaea and their Wookiee allies faced a Terentatek. After slaying the beast, they cut off its head. Displaying it would show their strength to Taalbaak. They finally managed to reach the Great Fangs' village and gain an audience with the Chieftain. By the time they arrived, an emissary of Zardok had already shown up, seeking to sway Taalbaak to his master's cause.
However, Taalbaak took in their fresh injuries and the skull of the Terentatek, determining that it had been recently slain. Zardok's emissary made veiled threats, warning him to be on his guard against treachery. However, this backfired, as Taalbaak was concerned about Zardok's ambitions and the foreign innovations he had brought to Kashyyyk. Taalbaak agreed to aid them in their vengeance, on the condition that afterwards they would leave Kashyyyk and never return except to buy and sell things.
However, Zardok's followers retaliated by sending a gunship. While Siobhan distracted the gunship, Tegaea used a bunguee like cord to leap onto the gunship from a tree and used her lover's lightsabre to cut through the gunship's stabiliser. Fortunately, she did not die in the crash. Siobhan was not happy about her crazy heroics. Regardless, the allied forces assaulted Zardok's base. The battle was brief, but ferocious. Siobhan duelled and slew Zardok in his burning throne room.
Graz lived up to his word and the Pyre officers departed. They would continue to supply the Black Clan and the Great Fangs with weapons. Kashyyyk eventually became a member world of the Republic. Many years later, it was invaded by the One Sith. The two tribes were among the two hundred thousand Wookiees who did battle with the Sith and their Yuuzhan Vong minions.
Unfortunately for them, the One Sith prevailed and conquered the planet. Several of the surviving members of the Black Clan and Great Fangs went underground, fleeing into the forests. Others were evacuated from the planet. Remembering their past alliance, some of the exiles made contact with Siobhan and Tegaea. By now the couple had left both the Pyre and the Protectorate behind them. Instead they had founded their own corporation, Firemane Industries. It was an avowed enemy of Sith.
Firemane agreed to provide shelter to their people, especially the young and those too old to fight. The more temperate areas of Dahomey were chosen as a temporary location for them to settle on. There the exiles founded a community that lived in accordance with Wookiee traditions. Dahomey was still a rather wild, untamed planet with an abundant wild life. The population was also low and had close connections to Firemane. Those among the Wookiees who could fight helped protect the planet against raiders, but also launched incursions to aid their people on Kashyyyk.
They called themselves the Oathkeepers. In return for the aid they had received, they accepted missions from Firemane. Their prowess in close quarter combat and in irregular warfare made them an asset. Among other things, they battled Bando Gora Raiders when the death cult experienced a resurgence during the Netherworld Event and later participated in the liberation of Arkas. When the One Sith lost control over Kashyyyk, many of the Wookiees returned to reunite with their people.
Some, however, elected to remain with Firemane. They became involved in operations on Tygara, where they participated in conflicts against Qadiri and Xioquo. Their tenacity and skill at irregular warfare made them assets. When Firemane entered into an alliance with the Vashyada, the Wookiees assumed a mentoring role for wood elves. Though far apart in many ways, both had similar cultural backgrounds. The Vashyada wanted to be able to defend themselves against outside incursions and explore space, but without compromising their values and way of life.
Some of the Oathkeepers participated in a Firemane expedition to the tropical planet of Raevana. Unfortunately, the beautiful planet turned out to be a death trap disguised as a paradise, where the flora and fauna conspired to foil any attempt at settling and exploiting the world. The survival skills of the Vashyada, Zeison Sha and Wookiees proved invaluable when it came to surviving this hornet's nest.
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