Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Sio's minions.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Support unit for Firemane special operations forces.
Permissions: ARGH gear available for Firemane per this thread, where it becomes a Firemane subsidiary. Permission for all ArmaTech gear and all other subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and and here. Permission to use Tricks of the Trade submissions here.
Links: Qadiri, Xioquo, Into Darkness, Firerescue.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Task Force Starfall. Officially known as the 180th Special Operations Aerospace Force.
Affiliation: Siobhan, Firemane, House Kerrigan-Alcori.
Classification: Special Forces.
Description: Task Force Starfall is a special operations unit composed of pilots who provide transport and close air support for members of Firemane's special forces arm. To this end they make use of gunships, specialised dropships, Ghoush orbital landers and other transports such as U-Wings. They are a dedicated aerospace unit and particularly adept at conducting during night time under hazardous conditions. They are trained to carry out their missions at any time of the day, at any location and in any environment. They are characterised by efficiency, skill and bravery under fire. Their missions involve direct action and reconnaissance.
The group draws its recruits from some of the best pilots of Firemane's ground forces. The officers are always volunteers, while the enlisted either volunteer or are sent here by Special Warfare Command, which is responsible for Firemane's special forces arm. Firemane operates on a galactic level, which makes it important to have a mobile branch of pilots who can be deployed on short notice, insert elite soldiers into an operational area and support them. Cross-training with other branches of Firemane's military as well as allied forces is common.
The unit is composed of a regimental headquarters, several battalions and a dedicated training company. Each unit has a complement of gunships, transport craft and starfighters. Moreover, every battalion has a support unit with maintenance personnel, mechanics and the like. Training in the task force is very gruelling, and there is a high washout rate. Due to the risks the Star Raiders, as they are also known, will likely face when deployed in the field, their instructors strive to make it as realistic as possible.
This includes an escape and evasion course as well as simulated interrogations in case of capture. The methods are harsh, but supposed to prepare a recruit for the dangers they will face on the battlefield, rather than waste a potential soldier. They will also have to learn to operate in hostile environments and hazardous weather conditions, such as storms, as well as flying during night time. Aside from piloting, their training includes weapons' use, land, space and aerial navigation, combat, reading a map and other essential skills.
Task Force Starfall flies units such as the Special Service Group, Inferno Platoon, Firerescue, Reaper Squad, Chimaera Squad and other special purpose units to their targets and aid them once they are in the field by providing close air support if needed. They will also be responsible for extracting them. They also provide training for pilots from other special operations units. Task Force Starfall's members measure the success of their mission not in body count, but in ensuring their cargo makes it to its destination and gets back home safely.
A female Sullustan called Elora Niuv serves as the commander of the roughly regiment-sized unit. Like most of her species, Elora is from Sullust. She joined Firemane after the Netherworld Event. After basic training, she attended a special institute that provided linguistic and cultural training. For a while she worked as a language specialist for military intelligence, but then embarked on a career as a pilot and was ultimately inducted into Task Force Starfall.
Elora flew several missions during Firemane's operations on Tygara, the Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana and the Battle of Ruusan. She came to public attention when Firemane launched an operation to subdue a group of Qadiri nobles in a remote region of Tygara in order to end a bloody conflict. However, what was supposed to be a quick strike turned into a full-fledged battle. Elora's dropship was shot down by a missile fired from a portable rocket launcher.
Elora was badly injured during the crash. Two Firemane special forces operatives were able to reach the crash site. Together, they tried to hold off a superior force of Qadiri militia. The trio killed a large number of Qadiri warriors, but ran out of ammunition and were overrun. Elora was captured by the Qadiri, but spared at the command of their Nawab, who realised the value of a captive. She was interrogated by her captors, and constantly moved around to prevent a rescue attempt. Ultimately, she was released. After recovering from these events, Elora returned to flying. She was given an award and served during the conflict with the First Order. Her injuries had taken a toll on her, though her mind remained sharp. Ultimately, she was put in command. This is a job that mostly keeps her away from most of the action, but allows her to use her skills and pass on her knowledge.
There are no species or gender restrictions. Provided a candidate meets the physical or mental requirements, they can apply for training. Starfall has a strong Qadiri contingent. The desert elves come from a low-tech civilisation that is new to spaceflight. However, Qadiri are almost all extremely good navigators. They seem to have an instinctual internal compass, meaning they are great sailors and travellers and now pilots. This makes them particularly attractive to the task force. A good number of Sullustans can also be found in the unit. Their innate sense of navigation and direction makes them well-suited to Starfall's tasks. Starfall also has a few Xioquo. Not only are the drows quite tech-savvy, they have excellent nightvision without needing technology.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium
Unit Availability: Rare
Unit Experience: Elite.
Equipment:
Carbines:
Armour:
Aerial craft:
- Ghoush Class Orbital Lander
- Archon-Class Gunship
- Cobra-Class Gunship
- TIE/rp Reaper Attack Lander
- UT-65 U-Wing Transport
- LAAT
- Shatter Pistol
- Last Whisper
- A280-CFE Blaster
- Hold-out Bolter
- Renegade Model 557
- FWG-5 Flechette Smart Pistol
- SSK-5 Icon Blaster Pistol
- Grenades
- Graph 18 Surface Locator
- Terminus Shiv
- Enligtenment Stage 2 Communicators. Generally issued to a unit leader. A linked communicator is issued to the commander of the allied unit Task Force Starfall is supporting/transporting.
Task Force Starfall is a support unit and as such the Star Raiders will operate in concert with others, namely the soldiers they are supposed to insert into a combat zone and extract from it. Moreover, they will also carry out air strikes against targets in close proximity to their allies. Use of gunships gives them a good deal of firepower, enabling them to clear a landing zone or provide an umbrella of air cover for allied forces.
Moreover, they can aid soldiers in the field by dropping additional ammunition or medical supplies. This is particularly pertinent when a Firemane specops unit is under siege or far away from allied supply lines. Combat search and rescue missions are also part of their portfolio. In that capacity, they work closely with Firerescue, a specialised rescue unit. However, many of their craft are not designed for dogfights, with the UT-65 being a notable exception.
Outside of their craft, the pilots and crews are only lightly armed and armoured. They are equipped with carbines, sidearms, grenades and so on. As such they will seek to evade large hostile forces if they are shot down or otherwise forced to exit their craft. They are well-trained in stealth, evasion and combat, but they are not assault troops and will seek to link up friendly forces in such a situation.
Strengths:
- Crack pilots. The members of Task Force Starfall excel at piloting small craft under averse conditions and in hostile environments. They are particularly good at nighttime operations.
- Stealthy, precise, flexible and mobile, they are excellent at inserting special forces into a target area, providing close air support where needed and extracting them.
- They are pilots and thus do not carry heavy weapons or wear tanky armour. This is a problem if they get shot down and find themselves far from allies.
- Many of the craft they pilot do not excel in dogfights. Examples would be the Ghoush or their gunships.
The impetus behind the creation of Task Force Starfall lies in a failed Firemane rescue operation. Many years ago, before many calamities befell Kaeshana, a group of 'Dark Eldorai' rebels stormed a Firemane outpost and took several employees hostage. They were located in a very remote area of Kaeshana, making access difficult. A rescue operation ended poorly. One reason for this was that Firemane lacked a unit of pilots who had the necessary training and know-how to undertake such a mission. It would require the ability to mobilise and deploy on short-notice while maintaining stealth and secrecy.
Siobhan, who had started taking an active role in shaping Firemane's military policy, issued a directive to resolve this after being made aware of the problem. Firemane's army recruited some of the best pilots from its special forces arm, but also from the navy, though this led to some inter-service rivalry. Pilots who could fly under nighttime or averse weather conditions were particularly in high demand. In the end the standoff was resolved when an Eldorai governor, wary of the consequences, persuaded the insurgents to release their hostages, but the task force remained in place.
The new task force drew first blood during Firemane's purgation of Gehenna, the homeworld of the Bando Gora. It also saw extensive action against Dark Eldorai insurgents and later the Xioquo. Firemane's expansion also expanded the demand for special forces pilots, and so the unit swelled in size. They were deployed extensively to ferry and support Firemane special operations forces during counter-insurgency operations on Tygara. Moreover, it was often deployed to support Firemane commandos who were being deployed behind enemy lines during the One Sith conflict. Elements of Task Force Starfall were present during the Battle of Kaeshana. They had not been there from the start, as it had been intended as a humanitarian relief operation to provide aid to Eldorai who had been left behind during the Exodus. However, after war erupted with the First Order, they were mobilised in short notice to deploy to the devastated planet.
Mobilised from a base on Dahomey, where they had been conducting training exercises, the Star Raiders were rushed to the battlefield. Though they had very little time to prepare and had to navigate a large space battle in Kaeshana's orbit, Starfall acquitted itself bravely. They provided support to Firemane special forces and Eldorai insurgents. Ironically, some of the latter included people they had once fought against. Some Starfall pilots had to content with a blizzard conjured by Eldorai Force warriors to provide a barrier against First Order airpower. In the process they came to the aid of beleaguered Eldorai rebels by dropping off supplies. When the Galactic Alliance withdrew from Kaeshana, Starfall helped extract allied commandos and fleeing Eldorai under enemy fire.
Task Force Starfall was heavily involved in the brief, but intense campaign on Tephrike. This planet had experienced a profound social, political and economic collapse during the Four Hundred Year Darkness. Here, the Dark Age had never ended. The Dominion of Light, a totalitarian Jedi theocracy, vied for power with the Disciples of the Vader, a cult of human supremacist Sith who worshipped Darth Vader as a dark god, and the Republican Guard, a rebel movement inspired by the ancient Rebel Alliance that reviled Force-Users and sought to place power in the hands of the common people.
After initial skirmishes with Firemane, the Dominion sought accommodation. Firemane dispatched a delegation to its capital to initiate negotiations. However, an extremist faction in the Dominion's regime regarded this as heresy. Firemane's delegation came under attack. Elpsis, one of its members and the adoptive daughter of Firemane's ruling couple, was captured by the Jedi Inquisition. She would be subjected to physical and torture in a Dominion black site. In response, Firemane declared war. It proceeded to enter an alliance of convenience with the Republican Guard.
Task Force Starfall pilots were responsible for transporting Major Tempest and her command, which had the mission to find and rescue or avenge the captive Elpsis. In the process they liberated two Dominion brainwashing camps, the Liberation Education Centre and Serene Springs. Her task force was mixed, combining Qadiri knights, specialists and armour. Starfall also provided air cover during the assault on Serene Springs. Elpsis was able to overcome her brainwashing and defeat her captors with the aid of rebellious prisoners and the arriving Firemane troops.
Moreover, elements of the task force participated in the brutal battle of Fortress Purity, a Dominion bastion that was being assaulted by a joint force of Republican Guard and Firemane troops. Dominion troops were well dug-in, utilising an extensive system of trenches and tunnels, and often fought fanatically. Moreover, they had a large number of Jedi warriors and used a weather control machine to summon a storm, negating Firemane's air power.
Several Firemane transports and gunships were shot down. Most of the fighting took palce during nighttime. Starfall pilots flew several missions to rescue downed pilots, get special purpose troops to their target areas and provide air cover, often while under heavy enemy fire or being assailed by Jedi aces or kamikaze pilots. They also carried out supply and ammo drops. Firemane withdrew from Tephrike following the fall of Purity. Elements of Task Force Starfall are still stationed on Messenger Base, an observation and covert operations station set up by Firemane on an asteroid in Tephrike's system.
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