Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Tephrike.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Horse cavalry irregulars, skirmishers & reconnaissance force for the Republican Guard.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: Dominion of Light, Disciples of the Vader, The Republican Guard is the Strongest, Tephrike, Into Darkness, After Darkness, KEC Stormtrooper Corps, Humanist People's Party, KEC.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Reavers of the Red Fen
Affiliation: Republican Guard, Tephrike, Popular Front.
Classification: Cavalry.
Description:
"There's a man in the dark tower with blood on his hands, We're all riders and braves, ready to water with blood these lands!"
In modern warfare, mass cavalry charges are very archaic. Death charging entrenched soldiers armed with automatic weapons or tanks is folly. Nonetheless, conventional cavalry, if employed properly, does have a very limited niche. This applies in particular to Tephrike, a very remote, war-torn planet. The Republican Guard, a revolutionary vanguard movement opposed to the tyranny of Force-Users, lacks the industrial power of its main rivals. It must rely more on skill, ingenuity and unconventional warfare. Classical cavalry can carry out reconnaissance in areas horses are unable to reach, execute raids on isolated outposts and settlements to plunder and set them ablaze, hunt down scattered or retreating enemy troops and conduct long-range patrols. Horses do not consume fuel, but can live off the land. Moreover, they have the ability to operate in very severe climatic conditions and over severely cut-up terrain.
The Reavers of the Red Fen are mounted troops utilised by the rebel military junta. They are organised into multiple squadrons, which is the term used for a company in cavalry. Able to operate independently or in concert with allies, they armed as light cavalry. The Reavers can fight on horseback, but also dismount and engage foes as a force of light infantry skirmishers. They stage surprise raids behind enemy lines, cutting communications, targeting staff commands and supply depots, blocking raids and setting vulnerable enemy-held settlements ablaze. A Reaver will typically not ride on a campaign with a single horse, but take spares, too.
In an era of mechanised warfare, open cavalry charges are suicide, so instead the Reavers act as scouts, diversionists and skirmishers. Their mobility and ability to live off the land makes them a good choice to infiltrate enemy lines. It works to their advantage that Tephrike's infrastructure is rather poor. Many of roads are in a poor state, which favours horse cavalry since wheeled and treacked vehicles are more common than those using repulsor propulsion. Their mobility can allow them to act as couriers. That role is particularly helpful for maintaining communications with partisans operating behind enemy lines, as comm use may be intercepted.
If they participate in a larger engagement, the Reavers are likely to dismount and fight as light infantry using ambush tactics. The mounts give them good mobility to the battlefield, they can then dismount and fight. But if enemy infantry loses heart and retreats in bad order in a skirmish, the Reavers can mount their steeds and give relentless pursuit to finish off a disorganised foe with blades or the carbines they fire from horseback. To this end, they are capable of executing complex flanking movements through swamps and other types of difficult terrain to strike the retreating enemy and to set up block roads the enemy will have to traverse. Moreover, the Reavers have also been employed to ambush enemy artillery and secure salient terrain that is important for rebel troops to advance. Operations conducted by the Reavers are accompanied by thorough planning and reconnaissance. Often they will engage in conditions of poor visibility, bad weather, or in difficult terrain.
The Reavers are particularly fond of riding into Vaderite villages over ground impassable to vehicles, lynching the Party people, looting the homesteads, burning them down and scattering the town. Responding to the flight of refugees has the side-effect of tying up enemy resources. The Reavers will also loot, desecrate and burn Ashlanite temples and shrines and execute Ashlanite clerics. Aside from being a way of utilising psychological warfare by spreading terror in the rear echelon areas, plundering is also a necessity because they do not carry much in terms of supplies with them. Some of it also goes to supporting allied communities, such as escaped slave labourers and prisoners living in hiding. Suspected enemy collaborators are summarily executed, their homes pillaged and destroyed. Reavers have been accused, and proven, to have participated in various anti-Vaderite and anti-Windian massacres in their areas of operation. The Reavers' strategy is one of systematic terror against enemies of liberty. To the rebels this is righteous retribution for the manifold war crimes, crimes against humanity and other sentient rights violations the enemy is guilty of.
Captured enemy officers, secret policemen, Jedi or Sith, Humanist Party functionaries as well as alleged collaborators are routinely shot - or beheaded or hanged to conserve ammunition. As one Reaver officer instructed his comrades:"Brothers and sisters! Make your bullets count! A bullet can kill only one Vaderite but your blade can kill ten! Save your shots!" Reavers collect their right hands to receive bounty payments. Enlisted Vaderite or Dominion soldiers who do not join the cause are simply disarmed and released after Communard propaganda has been distributed among them. The Reavers do not have the means to accommodate and guard large numbers of prisoners, and summarily executing conscripts who could still be swayed violates their anarchist beliefs. This leniency does not extend to captive KEC Stormtroopers or members of the SPTF, who are summarily executed regardless of rank for being part of criminal organisations responsible for the group's role in some of the most heinous atrocities on Tephrike.
But the Reavers are not mere irregulars. The force has ties to the Communards, the anarchist, anti-statist wing of the Republican Guard. Following a doctrine developed by the Gungan theoretician Tardle Narukan, the Communards fight for a classless society free from the tyranny of corpos, centralised, totalitarian governments, human supremacism, clericalism and Force-Users. Instead they advocate a system built upon the principles of direct democracy, decentralised federalism and common ownership of property. Promoting direct revolutionary action by the workers and peasants, the Communards view themselves as a revolutionary movement of the working people, fighting against all forms of autocracy that put the toiler in bondage.
While the Republican Guard believes in a revolutionary vanguard leading the masses to freedom, they understand it to be a big-tent movement for a wide variety of left-wing/Equalist ideologies who resolve their issues internally, rather than a centralised, monolithic party. The Republican Guard's aim to create the widest possible progressive, anti-Force, anti-Humanist revolutionary bloc on Tephrike has allowed the Communards to find a niche. Externally the movement must act as a vanguard, but internally it can have the complex ideological discussions required for running a revolutionary state. This is not to say that every Reaver is a believer or that the corps does not attract recruits driven by more worldly motivations. Moreover, there is a bit of a gulf between the anarchist theoreticians on the one hand and the peasants, freed slaves and refugees Reavers draw many of their fighters from on the other.
To the rebels, the Reavers represent freedom and resistance to unjust authority, though the Vanguardists view their anarchist leanings with concern. The Dominion and the Vaderites vilify them as criminal bandits and have used their raids as a pretext for savage 'reprisals' against civilians suspected of giving aid to the rebel movement. The Reavers have their own marching songs, and it is common for them to sing and play musical instruments such as flute-like instruments and plucked string folk instruments when they camp. Mother Anarchy loves her sons and daughters, and she is not for sale. Their symbol is a horse head in a circle with crossed blades over it. The symbols are coloured red, while the symbol is black. These colours have symbolic meaning, for red and black are traditional anarchist colours on Tephrike. For this reason, they have also been adopted by the Unchained.
The Reavers have enjoyed the sympathies of local peasants suffering under the yoke of the Force cults. In some areas they have a reputation as noble brigands resisting tyranny, lynching abusive tax collectors, landlords, government administrators and policemen and sharing some of their spoils with the poor. However, their actions also bring down the wrath of those very tyrants, whose myrmidons target those who cannot fight back when the rebels elude them. And roadside bombs hidden by them can kill or maim innocents.
The principle of voluntary enlistment means that, at least in theory, the Reavers should be composed exclusively of revolutionary fighters who have entered them of their own free will instead of being pressganged into service. From an ideological standpoint, the Communards are sceptical of a professional officer corps appointed from above. Instead field officers should be elected by the soldiers from their own ranks. However, the realisation of this idea has encountered practical obstacles, and the other factions in the Republican Guard are not fond of it. As even the Communards have acknowledged, officer elections can come with the negative effect of men being promoted who are merely popular with their subordinates instead of actually qualified.
As a compromise, company grade officers are elected but any officers who occupy positions more senior than that will be appointed from on high. NCOs aren't elected either because their ability to mete out discipline and whip recruits into shape cannot be compromised by political considerations or concerns about popularity. The system works well enough because the Reavers are irregulars, not professional military units. While it has its flaws, it improves cohesion, and empowers the rankers. The logic of peer selection is that a soldier's life depends on the other members of a squadron, so they have an interest in making sure only qualified people join. That aside, it cultivates a higher degree of cohesion and solidarity. At the same time, discipline is harsh and often terminal in cases of desertion, treason or cowardice.
There is a semi-democratic element in the Reavers because selection as a soldier for a unit is based on peer selection, evaluation by staff and manpower needs. So in the final stage of training each common soldier is given a private ballot and asked to name, in order of preference, three soldiers from their team they would select to go on a patrol with them into enemy territory. Simultaneously, each officer names the top three enlisted they would want on their squadron. Thereafter, instructors grade candidates based on a variety of professional criteria. All in all, the structure of the Reavers is decentralised and loose. This allows the various squadrons to operate independently from one another, but can make coordination between various groups difficult.
Qintarra is an original inhabitant of Red Fen and one of their detachment leaders. A female Gungan with a burning hatred of the Vaderites...even more than usual. Already a Republican Guard agent with Communard leanings, she was away the day of the massacre and came back to find her family and young child dead. She was an enthusiastic recruit to the original Reavers, made one of their NCOs. However she chafed against the (slightly) more military atmosphere of the Reavers. Therefore she was often quite insubordinate and though elected to Captain when the Reavers expanded she was often off on 'extended duty' with her handpicked loyalists. When she heard of the Vaderite killing of civilians she launched the attack on the town of Lauretos, killing all the humans she could find. Despite a huge bounty and sanction from the Republican Guard leaders she still operates her own little force.
Wakim Akbar is a male Mon Cal, and served as the second commander of the reformed Reaver units after the original commander, Bazani, disappeared in the Netherworld and never returned. He has the official rank of Colonel, but the troops he leads can vary from as small as a few troops to a combined force composed of many squadrons. He was Bazani's second in command, and took over, trying to reform the Reavers just in time for Lord Elphinkos to attack. His work in cutting off and then helping trap the Sith led to their extermination. Apparently he allowed a single Amidala Corps volunteer escape so she could report on what happened, though he did take off her right hand first. He is still in overall command, operating around Purity during that battle whilst Grazano led the Nexus raid. He is close to the Communards, but not a theoretician.
Grazano is a rather mild mannered Zabrak, originally a farmer who hated animals. He joined the Republican Guard after a Dominion bombing run smashed his homestead. He joined the Reavers with his wife and she is now his aide. He holds the rank of captain, and despite not liking animals he nevertheless joined the cavalry and soon grew into a skilled commander who was elected by his men to run his own squadron. Much more controlled and military minded than the other Reaver sub leaders, he was the natural choice to lead the raid against the Dominion in the lead up to Fort Purity. Despite help from their 'ally' Firemane, the Republican Guard wanted their own intel about the lines of communication from Nexus City, so he set off with a few hundred Reavers. They managed to evade pursuit by air and ground by using the rough jungles, hills and swamps. Everywhere they went they destroyed supply depots, attacked convoys and burned towns. Notably Grazano does not favour mass killing of civilians, but simply burns down their buildings and kills Jedi or Ashlanite clerics. He beheads soldiers who disobey his orders to spare civilians. He returned just as the siege started having lost only 8 killed and earning a spot on the Dominion's most wanted chart.
Fortana is a hard drinking, violent and near illiterate outlander. Quite content to herd Orbaks and indulge in some brigandage. Fortana is a female Twi'lek, but far from the pinups, she is a cruel and vicious leader. As much of an annoyance to the Republican Guard as anyone else this was changed when a Vaderite assassination party tried to kill her under the guise of being traders. There is suspicion that the Light Sith were involved either to foil or instigate the plot. Either way, Fortana did not forget or forgive and so went to get some official sanction and supplies for her already dangerous band. The Republican Guard were unsure what to do with this surly Twi'lek bandit, but gave her some more troops, equipment and a mandate to do as she wished outside their sight. This suited Fortana fine, and she has operated even more independently than Qintarra ever since. Unlike many others she is not welcomed by aliens in Vaderite territory as she is liable to steal and loot from them and then escape. The Vaderites call her the 'Red Devil' as well as various names too vulgar to put to paper in polite company, and have a bounty of massive proportions on her head, yet she's always escaped.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium
Unit Availability: Rare
Unit Experience: Veteran
Equipment: Not something every single soldier would carry into battle, but rather a list of what's available.
Armor:
- Blast Vest
- Kinetic Armour
- Basic helmet with gas mask and rebreather.
- Slugthrower Rifle
- Scatter Gun
- GLX Firelance
- J-301 Pulse-Wave Saboteur
- Outland Rifle (with scope).
- KV33 Pulse Cycler
- Model MGL-1. Used by grenadier and commonly mounted on a rifle as an under-barrel grenade launcher.
- Machine Gun
- FC-1 Flechette Launcher
- Verpine Shatter Pistol
- Enforcer Pistol
- FWG-5 Flechette Pistol
- ATA Pulse-Wave Blaster
- Ripper
- Adjudicator. Typically carried as concealed backup.
Misc:
- Grenades, Land Mines, Detonation Charges. Use of mines is mission-specific.
- Vac Attack Mk-127
- Monofilament wire and net
- Orbak mounts
- Orbak-drawn cart or open wagon. Pulled by two to four Orbaks and requires a crew of two or three, one driver and a machine gun crew.
When enemy soldiers retreat in a disorganised fashion, Reavers will mount their steeds to give pursuit and run them down or carry out a flanking manoeuvre to cut off their retreat. Their speed and mobility allows them to secure important terrain for advancing allied troops. If need be, the Reavers will dismount and fight as light infantry, aided by grenade launchers and machine guns, only to mount their steeds once more when the situation warrants it. They can operate independently, but also in conjunction with allied partisan forces. While rebel infantry keeps the enemy busy with a frontal attack, the Reavers can hit the enemy in the flank and rear. The Republican Guard particularly appreciates their ability to scout under difficult weather conditions, such as during the rain season. To mislead the enemy about their movements, the Reavers will lay false trails and often divert course, moving at night in areas they are familiar with.
If the rebels are on the defensive, the Reavers can cover the retreat and protect vulnerable flanks as well as secure gaps. Moreover, they can dismount and stage ambushes. Where possible they will take advantage of the terrain to acquire a good location for covering fire. In such a situation, their horses will be concealed in a defiladed area so that the Reavers will be able to safely mount them again when the time comes to withdraw. They will not, however, death charge tanks because that would be a terrible idea.
Their greatest strengths lie in their mobility and precision. Ergo they are not the type of soldiers that can hold territory for a protracted period, especially if they are faced with an enemy who is heavily armoured or has access to heavy firepower. They lack a realistic counter against aerial or artillery strikes other than scattering. Basically, the Reavers are good in their niche, but rather vulnerable outside of it. Moreover, discipline can vary, for they are a force of irregulars. Their Orbaks are unarmoured, as this keeps them mobile by reducing the weight they have to carry. Overall the Reavers are very capable, but not really front line fighters. They're good at raiding and bushwhacking but not that good at fighting head-on, and limited by their lack of heavy armaments.
Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): N/A.
Strengths:
- Mobile and flexible. The Reavers make a capable force of harassers, scouts and diversionists. They exploit their mobility to bypass enemy strongpoints, traverse terrain that would be impassable for vehicles to carry out flanking and rear attacks and hit exposed enemy troops as well as set vulnerable settlements ablaze. Moreover, they can act as couriers and screen allied troop movements.
- Trained marksmen, able to fire their rifles from the saddle at full gallop or conversely dismounting and fighting as light infantry skirmishers who can ambush foes and strike unexpectedly.
- Deployment of horse cavalry is very niche. Mass cavalry charges against entrenched troops with e-webs, repeaters and the like are suicidal. This applies even more when charging tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles. The Reavers are harassers and diversionists not frontline assault troops, and must be deployed accordingly. As cavalry units, they lack air support or armoured fighting vehicles. Their only realistic response to aerial or artillery strikes is scattering and hiding in terrain that is difficult to target.
- The Orbak mounts ridden by the Reavers are disciplined animals with a strong bond with their riders. But as animals they have a variety of weaknesses. To retain mobility, the Reavers forego battle barding armour for their mounts. Aside from conventional hazards such as blaster bolts and bullets, there's chemical weapons etc. to worry about. Like with any being, they can have emotional responses. Loud noises such as from artillery can scare them, and they can obviously not be deployed in an environment without breathable atmosphere.
Once upon a time there was a town called Red Fen. It was a settlement which had largely stayed out of the wars that engulfed Tephrike so far. Most of the townsfolk were Gungans and Mon Calamari. The town's inhabitants had some Republican Guard agents in their midst. The settlement managed to stay under the radar until its inhabitants granted safe haven to a few Twi'lek fugitives from the Penitent Hearts Residential Community, a Twi'lek ghetto whose population had been slaughtered by a Vaderite death squad. Even women, children and the elderly had not been spared. Whether because some saboteurs fled there or the land was wanted for some purpose...or just out of genocidal bloodlust...the Vaderites attacked Red Fen. However, their attack was not perfect as the bad ground and maze of steams and mangroves made it hard to navigate. Many of the people got away...but many did not. Hundreds were rounded up and shot or hung whilst the settlement was razed to the ground by the enraged humans. Only ruins remained.
Word of this horrific act spread with the survivors, and the Republican Guard invited all of them in and cared for the survivors. A good PR move. They promised revenge and formed a raiding unit outfitted with Orbaks that the settlement had previously used to traverse the swamps. Republican Guard officers were sent to provide oversight, but the first company was solely composed of survivors from Red Fen. Communard ideology spread across the formation, for many of the Republican Guard spies in the destroyed settlement had belonged to this faction. This led to tensions, as the imposition of military discipline caused resentment.
The Reavers managed to ambush a Vaderite unit which had taken part in the massacre and slaughter them all. After this the Republican Guard saw the benefit of having a dedicated unit of partisans and cavalry, so they expanded the unit out to include other riders and partisans, bringing them more into the fold. However, they still maintained a very loose structure. After this success high command conceded that low level officers would be elected by the rank and file, but everyone more senior than that would be chosen the normal way. The Reavers were organised into loose detachments that could operate independently from one another, but also act in concert with regular partisan forces. Some of their most notable actions shall be described in brief. On hearing that a group of civilians had been killed in an 'accidental' collapse of a prison for harbouring the Reavers, a group disobeyed orders under Qintarra and burned the Vaderite settlement to the ground, killing everyone they could find in retribution...though the local KEC officer responsible got away and lived to commit more barbaric atrocities.
Afterwards, the Reavers involved were given a dressing down as Vaderite retaliations were pushing them hard. However, they were able to 'regain' their honour soon after with another raid. Shortly after the Netherworld crisis a rogue Vaderite warlord rejected the Supreme Leader's authority and set off with a 'mobile column' to raid and slaughter. The Republican Guard lost ground to this onslaught but Reavers squadrons picked off and harassed stragglers, scouted and launched nightly raids. Along with Republican Guard pressure and partisan units, a force of Reavers surrounded and together eventually butchered Lord Elphinkos and all of his troops. The Sith Lord was eventually shot dead, allegedly by Wakim Akbar with a sniper round in the back. Against the Dominion, in the lead up to Fortress Purity's fall, Reavers harassed the Grand Master's reserves. Indeed, they went on a raid almost as far as Nexus City, eventually riding all the way around the Jedi army and returning with intel, spoils and their leader Grazano as one of the most wanted by the Dominion.
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