Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Firemane.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Their primary purpose is construction and disaster relief, but they can also be utilised in combat as a support unit.
Permissions: ARGH gear available per this thread. Permission for all ArmaTech gear and all other subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here.
Links: Leonina Varkathras. Let Slip the Dogs of War, To steal a man's tea.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Special Construction & Rescue Support, or SCRS for short. Nicknamed the Scourers.
Affiliation: Siobhan, Firemane, House Kerrigan-Alcori, Order of Fire.
Classification: Infantry, Engineers, Disaster Relief.
Description: The SCRS, nicknamed the Scourers, are a specialised unit in the Order of Fire, Firemane's Force-using branch. The Order of Fire is a heavily militarised, martial institution. Its members are not only trained as Force warriors, but as soldiers. Indeed, training and daily life in the Order is closer to that of a military unit than an order of space wizards. However, the SCRS are not explicitly a combat unit.
Instead their primary role are construction and disaster relief. Firemane is a cross between a megacorporation and a state. It operates a lot on fringe worlds on the far rim and thus does a lot of building. Moreover, it has often initiated or participated in humanitarian relief operations. This is quite pertinent since a number of the planets it operates on lack a unified planetary government or are underdeveloped. Thus the Scourers use their Force talents to build and move things, but also to help disaster victims.
This could be a civilian trapped beneath rubble after an air strike or an earthquake. It could also be a civilian who needs to be saved from a flood or a fire. Their powers also work well in other emergency situations. If there is a traffic accident or just a broken vehicle in the middle of a busy intersection, a telekinetic can lift out the vehicle so that it does not endanger others. This is obviously also useful for an army on the move.
Their elemental talents mean they can also put out fires, redirect water and so on. Of course, there is a limit to this. The reason elementalists do not go around solving all problems with the weather is that it puts things out of balance and can potentially make things worse for others. Moreover, large-scale manipulation is tiring, especially if one adept does it alone. Lifting a speeder is easier than doing the same with a tank, after all.
However, the Scourers are a potent force, especially if they act in concert with other groups. Moreover, they can help build shelters. Needless to say their telekinetic powers are very potent. Their telekinetics have received training from Siobhan Kerrigan, a Telekinesis Master. A number of their fire elementalists were trained by Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori, a strong pyromancer. All this makes the Scourers quite flexible. Although their primary purpose is not outright combat, they can also be deployed on the battlefield. In that capacity, they act as a ranged support unit that uses a mixture of Force attacks and conventional weapons.
They are equipped and trained as riflemen, incorporating their Force powers into an overall battle plan. Moreover, their skills make them good engineers and they can act as a construction unit. Likewise, they can use their Force powers to shield wounded soldiers so that medics or pararescue teams can evacuate them from the battlefield. The Scourers do not carry heavy weapons as they have the Force to rely on. Moreover, doing something big with the Force requires a lot of focus and can be tiring, so it would not be practical if they were weighed down carrying missile launchers, heavy repeating blasters, rotary cannons and so on. Besides, their primary role is support.
Cross-training with other branches of Firemane is common and they work closely with the megacorp's vassals and allies. Several members of the unit have taken engineering courses and cross-trained with Firemane's combat engineers. Indeed, more than a few started out as Firemane engineers or disaster relief teams, then were inducted into the SCRS after it was discovered that they were Force-Sensitive.
The commander of the Scourers is a Wookiee male called Broccarra. Wookies have incredibly good senses which might prove useful along with Force abilities. Failing that they have great strength to help with search and rescue efforts. Broccarra is a good engineer and has strong telekinetic powers. In deference to the fact that even a Wookiee is not invulnerable, he wears simplistic armour in a combat zone. It consists of a cuirass, a helmet to protect him from chemicals, and pauldrons.
Broccarra understands Basic, though he is obviously incapable of speaking it. He is a big, tough fellow but quite empathic. Gentle giant is an apropriate trope. Broccarra is an opponent of the practice of life debts. He believes the custom is a fancy word for slavery. After all, Chewbacca's life debt did not just extend it to include Han, Leia, their children and Luke, it was also inherited by his son and nephew after he died. He has sworn never to swear one. If he owes someone, he will repay the debt, but not become their gopher.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium
Unit Availability: Unique.
Unit Experience: Elite.
Equipment:
Armour:
Rifles:
Sidearms:
- Hold-out Bolter
- Cylix Bolt Pistol
- Renegade Heavy Blaster Pistol
- Shatter Pistol
- SP-2
- Magnetic Revolver
- A280 CFE
Transports:
Misc:
- Grenades.
- ACS-301 YVH Probe Droids
- Seeker Droid
- Vibroknife
- Mine detection and removal equipment. Misc. construction equipment and scanning tools.
- Misc. medical equipment.
Moreover, the unit also has elementalists, who use their elemental abilities to contain fires, gas clouds and so on. Pyromancers and aquamancers, who specialise in elemental fire and water abilities respectively, are particularly well-represented here. This makes the SCRS a very useful unit during humanitarian operations. This especially applies to less developed worlds on the galactic fringe, where infrastructure and technology is more primitive. They work closely with Firemane engineers as as well combat medics. Examples would be the Order of Fire Hospitallers, Firerescue and the Disciples of the Stone. The Scourers must, of course, keep in mind that the mind is still part of the brain. Large-scale use of their powers can be exhausting, especially if one member does it alone. As their job entails looking for survivors in war or disaster zones, many Scourers are skilled in Life Sense and similar Sense powers.
While their primary purpose is not direct combat, the abilities of the adepts also make useful in combat situations. After all, they can lift and throw or otherwise manipulate heavy objects, create or remove obstacles and attack enemies with their elemental Force powers. If they engage in combat, the SCRS will act as a support unit to regular Firemane formation and Order of Fire combat unit. They are not the type of unit that will lead the charge, but they are a potent support to those who do. Moreover, they can create telekinetic barriers to shield themselves, civilians or allied soldiers from harm. Their Force powers are helpful for clearing out trenches, bunkers and even dealing with armoured fighting vehicles.
Force powers aside, the members of the SCRS receive the same training as Firemane riflemen. Their duties require a lot of endurance, commitment and strong nerves. They are good at remaining focused and cool under pressure. Their training stresses teamwork and coordination rather than lone wolf action. Individually, the members of the SCRS are strong, but they are at their strongest when they work together. The Scourers do not carry lightsabres, meaning they will focus on combat at range.
Strengths:
- Powerful telekinetics and elementalists. They are a good ranged support unit in combat. Moreover, they excel at disaster relief and construction duties.
- Well-trained, disciplined and skilled.
- Ysalamiri and the like rob them of their biggest advantage. They do not carry heavy weapons, making them quite reliant on their Force abilities against heavily armoured opponents.
- Lack integrated heavy support such as armoured fighting vehicles, artillery and the like. They are a support unit, not the tip of the spear. Moreover, they are not a particularly stealthy unit.
The SCRS was conceived in the early days of the Order of Fire and Firemane. Back then the Order was more of a loose collection of Force soldiers who happened to have Force powers and had received personal training from Siobhan. Firemane was still fairly small and retained close ties to the Omega Protectorate. Tegaea and Siobhan were founding members and former rulers of the Protectorate and Firemane mostly operated in the federation's territory.
Around this time, the Protectorate went to war with the first post-Four Hundred Year Darkness incarnation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. On the surface, both entities had co-existed since their foundation. However, the Protectorate's leadership learned that the Confederacy had been plotting with the Fringe Confederation and the Sith Empire to invade it, though nothing came of these schemes. Moreover, the Confederacy sent five Lucrehulks crashing into the Atrisian capital, aiming to cause large-scale destruction after the Fringe and Atrisia had declared a ceasefire. This caused Force Masters from both factions to team up to avert calamity. This, as well as other events, persuaded the Protectorate to invade.
Siobhan had been one of the Masters at Atrisia, so she tagged along with a few of her minions and a small Firemane fleet. Besides, it was a chance to fight Sith. The battle was a Pyrrhic victory for the Protectorate. When the tide turned against it, the Confederacy left scorched. The head of Baktoid activated a killswitch in the shipyards above Druckenwell, causing them to plummet to the planet. Moreover, the Confederate fleet bombarded population centres, slaughtering its own civilians.
A group of Force Masters allied with the Protectorate, including Siobhan and Ashin Varanin, entered a meld to combine their powers to divert as much debris as possible from population centres. However, the death toll was staggering. In the aftermath, the Protectorate and various companies aligned with it initiated reconstruction efforts on the ruined planet. Moreover, all Baktoid property in Protectorate territory was expropriated, until the company received new leadership.
Siobhan, who had narrowly escaped during the bombardment, got involved in the clean-up, using her formidable telekinetic powers to move rubble. The Force adepts and soldiers who had accompanied her helped clear debris, save trapped civilians, provide medical treatment, build shelters and so on. Of course, this was all drops on the hot stone. It gave Siobhan the idea to found the SCRS, nicknamed the Scourers. Like with many formations of the Order of Fire, it came into being as an improvised solution but became a permanent fixture. Some of the telekinetics she had trained would now use their skills for disaster relief and construction duties.
Soon the Galaxy moved on. New war crimes occured, and the atrocities that had taken place on Druckenwell slipped from the public eye. Millions of civilians being cruelly slaughtered for no apparent reason is unfortunately very common. The Scourers, however, remained. They were very active during the Eldorai Exodus. The prospect of Kaeshana being devastated, as well as the knowledge that not everyone could be evacuated in time, caused a mass panic. Fighting broke out in Santaissa and other areas as the much vaunted obedience of the Eldorai was replaced by a desperate struggle to get off the doomed planet. The Scourers were deployed to help trapped civilians and wounded soldiers, and were inevitably dragged into the fighting.
In the end, the vast majority of Eldorai could be evacuated, but not all of them. Many of those left behind perished when the asteroid hit the planet. Others survived and had to struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. These Forsaken cursed the exodites who had gotten away. When Firemane and the Eldorai Matriarchy sent relief teams, many Forsaken hid from them. Others took revenge. The Scourers were part of these relief teams. They scoured Santaissa's ruins looking for survivors. However, this was a very dangerous assignment, as the planet had fallen into chaos.
In the end the operation was halted The Matriarchy was strapped for cash and the exodites on Tygara still needed to be settled, as many lived in refugee camps and prefabs. Moreover, their settlements were being menaced by the Xioquo. A number of Scourers protested against this decision, but orders were orders. Instead they were deployed to Arkas and Tygara. They helped construct prefabs, shelters and helped with disaster relief. A few elementalists were recruited into the unit to help out with floods and contain fires in towns and forests.
At the time Firemane was allied with the Silver Sanctum Coalition. As part of its contract, the megacorp built fortresses for the Coalition on Ossus and Boz Pity. The Scourers were deployed to help with construction work. The two fortresses were completed on schedule and were impressive bulwarks. However, the relationship between Firemane and the Coalition soured after the Battle of Ruusan. When the Coalition retransitioned into being the Silver Jedi Order, Firemane ended its contract, withdrawing its personel and equipment from Ossus and Boz Pity.
The Scourers returned to Kaeshana when Firemane, the Tygaran Alliance and the Galactic Alliance launched a humanitarian mission to aid the survivors of the cataclysm. Initially they were supposed to help survivors, but then war erupted with the First Order, which sought to annex the planet. SCRS teams that had been operating inear Santaissa's ruins were drawn into target, working together with Eldorai partisans. They also participated in the assault on the Citadel of Dawn, using their powers in a long range support. Others helped create a safe zone for Eldorai refugees who sought refuge in the ruins of the Citadel of Dusk. Thanks to their efforts, these civilians could be evacuated after the First Order took control of the planet.
After joining Firemane following the Battle of Kaeshana, Leonina Varkathras became a supporter of the unit. The Cathar was a veteran of the Republic-One Sith War. Having experienced the carnage caused by the conflict first-hand, she recognised the utility of a unit that could help clean up in war and disaster zones. Thus she made sure it received adequate funding and was retained even though certain officers believed it was using capacities that could be better employed for actual war-fighting.
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