STRIDER
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To flesh out STRIDER Company
- Image Credit: Here and There
- Role: Second Lieutenant Aodh leads this company on whatever mission General Vandron of the 501st sets them.
- Permissions: Here
- Links: N/A
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Unit Name: Shock Tactics, Rapid Infiltration, Deep-strike and Exploratory Reconnaissance (STRIDER) Company
- Affiliation: 501st Legion, General Saul Vandron
- Classification: Spec Ops/ Reconnaissance
- Description: Formed from the remnants of a destroyed Galidraani death trooper company, recruited into the 501st by General Saul Vandron and headed by Second Lieutenant Ruaridh Aodh, the troopers are dependable, determined and possessed of an operational focus to succeed and prove themselves worthy of joining such a famous Legion as the 501st. They proved themselves specialists in extreme situations of reconnaissance and infiltration, and were given a remit by General Vandron to make war the best way they know how rather than re-make another death trooper corps within his legion. STRIDER company has no standard armour colouring, dependant as it is on whichever environment they are being dropped into, and its troopers are not immediately recognisable as they use no identifiable unit markings on their armour, though their remarkable Prowler armour does mark them out from the rest should any troopers or enemies have had prior dealings with them. There are markings, on the right shoulder pauldron and left pectoral plate, that are visible only in the infrared spectrum. The STRIDER unit emblem takes the shape of a vertical Galidraani Fairbairn dagger driven into the head of a three-headed lion over the cog symbol of the Empire.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
- Unit Size: Medium
- Unit Availability: Rare
- Unit Experience: Elite
- Equipment:
- Standard:
- Special
- Combat Function: Adept in multiple forms of waging war, the best description of STRIDER company is as special operations infantry. They are expert infiltrators, capable of sabotage, ambush or even assassination, the strategic objectives of such warfare being enemy demoralisation, destruction or depletion of key resources and to allow forward planning for any future Imperial offensives on planets and locations where information is not easily obtained or out of date. The company is also capable of long-range reconnaissance missions to gather intel, geographical data or to identify hostile targets deserving of artillery or orbital bombardment. Less common, but still viable, is its use of shock tactics - surprising, utterly overwhelming assaults on enemy positions that flatten the foe and either allows the company time to complete their objective and withdraw before the enemy regroups and puts up a determined front, or forces the opponents into a full retreat with their morale destroyed. The method of deployment when employing shock tactics is insertion from Testudo drop-pods, even into open warzones. where immediate and powerful force is needed brought to bear.
- Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): N/A
Strengths:
- Bred for Battle, Forged in War: Adept military tacticians and strategists, trained in many forms of warfare and able to use a variety of weapons, nothing much fazes a STRIDER who has bore witness to the worst horrors of war and strode through, scarred but steeled.
- Cemented: The bonds formed on Sycorax IV - necessary to survive in such a situation - have bred an instinctual understanding between the STRIDERS when on the battlefield. Each trooper and squad knows how their fellows fight, where their weaknesses and strengths lie, and how best to complement each other.
Weaknesses:
- A Rare Breed: The situation on Sycorax IV, the very thing that made them such deadly soldiers is, ironically, the very thing that means each loss is a massive blow to the company. It is impossible to fully recreate that kind of on-the-job training to the point that any new recruits would not enter service at the same level as a veteran STRIDER.
- A Disturbing Lack of Faith: The STRIDERS have no force users within their ranks, and while they do have access to weapons and bionics that would trouble a FU, they would still struggle against the powers such beings are able to bear.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The troopers of STRIDER company, all ex-members of a Galidraani death corps regiment, were all students of the greatest military academies on Galidraan I and III and selected for their ruthlessness, martial skill and loyalty to the Empire. They thus entered military service as expertly-trained soldiers, serving for a number of years before the unfortunate events transpired on Sycorax IV. The entire company, the now-infamous Greyscale Unit 31, was ambushed by local guerrillas and would have surely been wiped out had Ruaridh Aodh, then a Sergeant, not rallied those around him and broke free of the trap, slaying a force user in the process. Roughly two platoons-worth of soldiers escaped, only to realise that the entire complement of Imperial forces on Sycorax had been annihilated during an insidious, rebellious uprising. Fighting alone on a hostile planet for months, the troopers were forced into becoming guerrillas themselves, scavenging whatever was at hand, fighting where they could and retreating where they could not. Those who survived had their skill, strength and mental fortitude tested innumerable times, forced to become the elite band of doughty soldiers they are now, lead all the way by Sergeant Aodh who proved himself a capable leader and a shrewd tactician. At first, the Aodh clan's history of supporting the Sith vassal government against the Free State brought division to the remnants, but even his most ardent opponents soon not only accepted Ruaridh as the leader they needed, but the leader they wanted.
General Saul Vandron arrived after several months to retaliate against the local insurgents, entirely unaware that any loyal Imperial forces would still resist. Upon making contact with Sergeant Aodh's survivors and hearing reports of their exploits, from locals and captured enemy soldiers as well as the troopers themselves, General Vandron immediately recruited them into his 501st. STRIDER company, despite consisting of around a single platoon-worth of troopers, was thusly formed, Sergeant Aodh promoted to its Second Lieutenant, and was largely left to organise their own command hierarchy. They have since taken part in only small skirmishes, their first true test coming by way of Iridonia.
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