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Character
OOC Information
Intent: To flesh out a military unit of Essonian survivors.
Image Credit: Here, image edited by myself.
Role: To serve as an experienced and elite warband that will serve as Cedric's most loyal followers, and better flesh out the razing of Ession.
Links: N/A
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General Information
Unit Name: The Sons of Ession
Affiliation: The Sons of Ession are loyal to Ession's last elected monarch, Cedric Grayson, and to the surviving Essonian people.
Classification: Elite Infantry (Heavy Infantry)
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Equipment
- Jaeger Class Combat Armor (Aesthetically Modified)
- BR-212 "Jackal" ACR
- HG-54 "The Vora" Class Verpine Hand Cannon
- C-11 "Nastirci" Combat Knife
- VT-LRS Rifle
- HG-54 "The Vora" Class Verpine Hand Cannon
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Combat Information
Availability: Uncommon
Deployment: Minor
Numbers: Roughly 2000 Men (3000 non-combatant support staff)
Company Size: 120 Soldiers.
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Strengths
Never Surrender: The Sons of Ession will rarely if ever give up on a battle unless expressly ordered to do so. They are held to an extremely high standard, and all within the legion know how dishonorable surrendering oneself to the enemy truly is unless it holds strategic significance.
Versatile: Decades of constant warfare have honed the Sons of Ession into a deadly weapon. The legion has fought across every kind of environment, on a hundred different worlds, under a dozen different banners. They know what it means to adapt, and there are very few situations the legion has not faced at some point before.
Strike Fast, Strike Hard: The legion operates on a doctrine of efficiency. The goal with every battle is to end it as quickly as possible; with this in mind, the Sons of Ession's battle doctrine often revolves around brutal drop pod insertions and mechanized charges to first shatter the enemy's morale, and then shatter him.
Faith: A budding religion has found itself a home within the legion. The men of the legion have grown to revere the light side of the force as a guiding influence in their lives. The loss of their homeworld has driven many of the men to search for meaning, and they have found that meaning in spirituality. They see the Dark Side as something to be pitied and abhorred, a virulent cancer that they have been tasked with excising from the galaxy. The mental influence of Sith Lords and the like tends to be diluted when used on the legion, as the faith of the men tends to keep their minds closed to the corrupting influence of the shadow.
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Weaknesses
Essonian Blood: The vast majority of the legion hails from Ession. Most have cut ties to their forsaken world, but all retain its heart. They are a fiery bunch with tempers that often mark them from soldiers hailing from other worlds. Rifts between the Essonians and the newer blood often form as well, causing no end of trouble for the officers attempting to keep the legion together.
Vainglorious: The Sons of Ession believe themselves to be one of most capable military units in the galaxy, and many of them would be correct in that thought. Even so, their reputation has given them quite the ego. They tend to take the route to the greatest possible glory when it presents itself, often to the detriment of themselves or their comrades. Furthermore, the Sons of Ession do not play well with other infantry based legions. Whilst they appreciate the assistance provided to them by both their aerial and mechanized brethren, the legion rarely if ever believe that lesser soldiers have a place in the field alongside them. Most of the time they just get in the way.
Non-Standard Recruitment: The legion retains a tradition of recruitment unlike normal methods. Possible members of the legion must approach an officer, who will then judge whether they are worthy of joining the legion. Numerous field tests and a year long course of training follow, in which the vast majority of candidates do not pass. Because of this, the legion's soldiers are especially effective, but incredibly difficult to replace.
Warband: The legion operates more as an independent warband than a standard army. They are used to operating with a full sense of autonomy, having supported themselves with the spoils of war, and donations from the Essonian people previously. They adhere to no command structure save for their own, and if Cedric Grayson were to be killed and no suitable successor found, this warband would likely fracture.
Intolerance: The Sons of Ession regard the Dark Side with a righteous hatred. They are very unlikely to take those they see practicing the shadow as prisoners, instead choosing to deal with them via firing squad. Any within the legion that show signs of corruption are usually reported immediately by their comrades, and delivered to whatever Jedi might be attached to their unit. Those that seem too far gone tend to disappear before they can be taken by the Jedi. Additionally, any allied units that practice the Dark Side (EX: CIS) fighting alongside them will be regarded unfavorably. It is not uncommon for the legion to simply ignore requests of support from these groups, as it takes a great amount of tolerance for them not to simply shoot these allies: they believe a dark side ally today will likely be an enemy tomorrow.
Civilian Minded: The Sons of Ession will almost always prioritize the safety of the civilian population over victory. They do not believe the ends justify the means, and understand that their purpose is to preserve life, not to conquer it. They will refuse orders they view as amoral, and will not resort to easier methods of bombardment, starvation, or means of making war in a similar fashion that they view as dishonorable and counter to their purpose.
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Description
The Sons of Ession are a product of atrocity.
The 501st legion fought tooth and nail to save as many lives as possible during the razing of Ession. The majority of the legion perished there, saving the lives of those they had sworn to protect. The survivors regrouped immediately afterword, rechristening themselves as the Sons of Ession in honor of their fallen home. These veterans then contacted every Essonian mercenary band they could find scattered around the galaxy, and found themselves a wellspring of veteran volunteers. These veterans form the core of the legion, and quickly set to work training any of age civilians that sought to avenge their home.
Initially intended to serve as little more than defensive force for the surviving Essonian population, the Sons found themselves swelling to numbers that had not been anticipated. In the wake of mass devastation, a new sense of patriotism had taken hold of the planet's survivors. The rivaling political parties that had often argued over whether Ession should pursue more democratic or imperialistic pursuits cast aside their differences, merging into a single nationalist party backed by the vast majority of the people. This group endorsed the legion fully, and volunteers began to flow in shortly thereafter.
In this time of growth, something foreign found its way into the heart of the legion. No one knows where it started, but a religious fervor began to spread through the ranks. Seeking to find meaning in the loss of their home and people, the soldiers of the legion began to worship homemade idols that were meant to represent the Light side of the force. It began as a simple comfort for lost souls, and grew into a militarized movement. The majority of the Sons believe their home was destroyed due to their own lack of zeal. Their tolerance of those who practiced the Dark Arts had left them divided, and that division had resulted in the Sith Empire's invasion of their world. As this belief spread, so did the zealotry that came with it.
The Essonian people had been put through a grave trial, but they had survived it. It was a coming to faith, and the comforting presence of the Light had kept them from falling into the depths of despair. The majority of the legion swore themselves to the Light's eternal service, and refashioned themselves as crusaders protecting all the things that made life worth living. A strong new set of ethics and values were instilled within the legion: they would protect freedom, family, free speech, and the people from all who would seek to destroy them. They would no longer work to serve their own ends, but to better the galaxy as whole.
Aside from their military activities, the Sons of Ession have become known for their humanitarian efforts. They spend the majority of their downtime performing community work to better reestablish the Essonian people, as well as providing safe refuge for those displaced by the wars waged across the stars. The Sons wholly believe that one must be a warrior and a protector all in one, and hold the safety of the innocent (in their eyes) above all other mandates.
