Vaena Askari
Lady Cadalthor
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To add a bit of flavour to the Eldorai military forces.
Image Credit: Tineye takes me here, but the page and the account no longer seem to exist. Smaller version of this pic can be found here.
Role: Heavy assault. Anti-Force-User Unit.
Permission: Permission for subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here. Can use Firemane gear because I own the company,
Links: Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana, Firemane.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Valora's Fists
Affiliation: Vaena Cadalthor, Royalist Eldorai.
Classification: Heavy infantry.
Description: The Valora's Fists are an Eldorai unit composed of power armoured heavy infantry. They serve the cause of the Eldorai royalists, in other words the Eldorai Matriarchy. Detractors argue that they may be too close to their patron Vaena Cadalthor. The Fists utilise power armour purchased from ArmaTech, a human corporation Vaena has had dealings with in the past. In addition to being extremely protective, said power armour also grants them incredible strength. This is pertinent since baseline Eldorai tend to be physically weaker and have a lower pain threshold than humans. It comes equipped with a jump pack, shield, power fists, in-built grenade launcher and a variable output blaster cannon.
The armour and other pieces of equipment have been purchased at great expense, but Vaena deems this a necessary sacrifice in the name of self-strengthening. Due to their elite status, they are allowed to bear the Sarix or Sarzmiga, which are commonly limited to Angelii and elite troops. Because training and equipping the Fists is expensive, each candidate is thoroughly vetted. The Eldorai royal army has had issues with defectors who deserted to 'Dark Eldorai' dissident groups, and so it is obviously not keen members from elite troops they have invested a lot of time, effort and dati in turning traitor. For the same reason, pay is good, but the punishments for desertion or treason are draconian.
As a sign of the new, 'enlightened times' the Eldorai live in these days, the unit has been opened up for men to join. After all, they also have an inalienable right to fight and die for the Motherland and prove they can perform just as well as women etc. However, rightly or wrongly, it is believed that full integration would cause divisiveness. So individual units are gender segregated, but integrated at command levels. It is postulated that this reduces issues related to sexual tensions and the like. This is supposed to lead to an increase in overall military readiness by enhancing unit cohesion and teamwork. While more open-minded than many of her relatives, Vaena is still quite conservative and thus not as egalitarian as say the Star Queen or other liberals in the Eldorai peerage.
Women still dominate the upper ranks, though men have been able to puncture the glass ceiling a bit. However, the chaplains are all women because the Church of Ashira does not allow male clerics. The Masculine Anti-Defamation League considers the separation of the sexes a step backward for sexual equality in the military, but progressiveness has its limitations in contemporary Eldorai society. Then again, a few years ago the idea of males serving in combat units would have been anathema to the Eldorai. The Fists have recently opened their ranks to Tygaran elves such as Qadiri. The Matriarchy accepts them as citizens if they swear an oath of fealty to the Star Queen as their sovereign.
As the name implies, the Valora's Fists are particularly attached to the Eldorai Goddess of Battles Valora. It also refers to Valora's Chosen, the Angelii Great Company Vaena used to serve in. This does not mean that every soldier is an exceptionally pious, zealous believer, though Vaena, the unit's patron, probably wishes it were so. Indeed the degree of zealousness varies. This is a natural consequence of the many calamities the Eldorai have had to endure over the past two decades. However, Valoran Priestesses minister to the soldiers and often accompany them into battle, fighting alongside their charges and inspiring them to remain resilient in the face of adversity.
They also stress that those who die in combat in the name of the motherland are martyrs who will go to heaven and be rewarded by the Eternal Mothers. However, religious education stresses the fact that while sacrificing oneself for the motherland may be a meritorious act, there must be a point behind it. Someone stubbornly refuses to take the facts into account and say carries out a futile attack with no purpose behind it is not a martyr, but an individual who has allowed vanity to cloud her judgement and has thus fallen prey to the temptations of Illyria. Every Fist must be willing to give her life for the cause, but she mist distinguish between courage and pride.
These precepts are part of the teachings of Elincia Caiwynn, the Valoran chaplain of the group. Elincia is a priestess who does not only minister to the spiritual needs of the soldiers, but also accompanies them into battle to inspire them with her example. In her younger days, she ministered to a remote community on Kaeshana. By local standards, her family was rather wealthy, which allowed her to become an influential person in the village. Among other things, she financed and oversaw the irrigation of farmland. However, then the settlement was threatened by offworld corsairs.
Though the Matriarchy proclaimed glorious victories over the invaders and blamed defeats on saboteurs, their Stasers and Cusaeris suits were inadequate against modern blasters. The village was raided and several Eldorai abducted. Elincia used her money to help fund a popular militia. Rather than only encourage the defenders from the rear, she fought herself. The inability of the Eldorai Matriarchy to adequately protect its people affected her deeply. Elincia was a conservative woman, but had to learn that the Eldorai needed more than zeal to survive. She joined the army during the Venari Restoration. She is not keen on the influence humans have over the government, but advocates self-strengthening.
The priestess volunteered for service in a formation that sees a lot of frontline action. The Eldorai religion does not pretend to be pacifist, and so their clerics do not need to work around rules that prohibit them from spilling blood. Thus she has no qualms about taking her place in a shield wall with a Sarzmigar in hand.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Small
Unit Availability: Rare
Unit Experience: Elite.
Equipment:
Armour:
Ranged Weapons:
- Mk1 Bolter/ APE Rounds
- ACS-205 Dual Weapon System
- Arc Caster
- Equaliser
- Cylix Bolt Pistol
- Renegade Heavy Blaster Pistol
- Sonic Disruptor
- Cyro-Ban Gun
- Heavy Bolter (requires the Titan Assault Armour's blaster cannon to be detached).
- Reaper Plasma Shotgun
- ACS-205 Blackblade Modular Rifle
- RSIC-11 "Suncrusher" Blaster Pistol
- PLX-2m Portable Missile Launcher (requires the Titan Assault Armour's blaster cannon to be detached).
Secondary Weapons:
- Under Barrel Miniature Flameprojector
- Under Barrel Disruptor
- ACS-207 Aerosolblaster
- ACS-208 Wrist Charric
- ACS-208 Wrist Ion Beamer
- Wrist Bolter
Transports:
Combat Function: The Valora's Fists are a heavy infantry unit. Their combat function is that of a hammer or broadsword. Equipped with strength-enhancing Power Armour and various potent weapons, the Valora's Fists are a strong unit. Courage, skill and tenacity are traits highly represented among the Fists. These characteristics are further amplified by rigorous training and indoctrination. The Fists only accept soldiers who have shown their mettle in combat.
The armour is highly protective, but also bulky and heavy. As a result the Fists are noticeably less mobile than light infantry, even with all the doodads. More lightly equipped, quicker enemies could conceivably evade, outmanoeuvre and ambush them. Heavy armour makes them terrible at stealth and obvious targets. Particularly vulnerable to sharpshooters. They are also obvious targets for heavy artillery, starfighters and airspeeders overhead, particularly in open spaces. Moreover, they are few in number and operate in small teams. Even with their firepower and armour, superior enemy numbers can whittle them down and overwhelm them. Weight of their suits make certain types of terrain very difficult to traverse. Such as swamps and muddy areas.
The protective qualities of their suits and its strength-enhancing abilities made them a potent force. As a cog in the military machine, the Fists could operate alongside their more lightly equipped comrades, though they would also be able to operate independently. They are often used to fight hostile Force-users, Sithspawn abominations and other war beasts that would be very difficult for conventional infantry to handle. Equipped with advanced weapons, they can dish out damage and act as a heavy assault force, blazing a trail for their comrades. They are also strong in defence. While composed of Non-Force-Users, their gear and training enables them to stand up to Force-users.
In short, they are a blunt instrument. While they are good at attacking what's in front of them and defending themselves, they suffer against more lightly equipped opponents that utilise unconventional warfare rather than engaging them head-on. Moreover, they are obvious targets to hit, making them good bait for sharpshooters, air and artillery strikes. Lacking in light infantry and recon elements, they are dependent on help in that regard. Hit-and-run tactics and sniping are useful against them. They must also be wary against anti-tank weapons and mine fields.
The Fists particularly excel at urban warfare, as their armour makes them very resistant to small arms fire, slugthrowers and heavy blasters. This makes them well-suited for fighting street-to-street or building-to-building. In such a situation they can bring their heavy firepower to bear, taking advantage of the short line of the sight and the fact that there would be few open areas to cross.
The same applies to performing boarding actions and clearing out enemy fortifications, bunkers and so on. By contrast, they are more vulnerable on an open battlefield, where they would be good targets for snipers with high-calibre weapons such as anti-materiel rifles, fixed gun emplacements, artillery, tanks, aircraft and so on. In short, having them death charge across a wide, open space would probably be a bad idea. Making use of tight corridors, stairwells, and other environmental obstacles enables them to maximise the effectiveness of their tanky armour and shields that defend them. When deployed into battle, they form bulwarks of steel, ceramic, shields, and flesh, unleashing destruction upon the enemy.
The Fists have access to Mag'ladroth walkers. These are tough, well-armoured and ideal for urban warfare or boarding actions. They make ideal fire support platforms and can function as force multipliers. However, they are extremely slow and suffer in confrontations with tanks and the like. They are good at taking on Sithspawn and hostile Force-users though. All in all, the Fists are the opposite of regular Eldorai units. They are slow, but very tough and punchy.
Strengths:
- Elite infantry.
- Power armour, training and gear makes them ideal for taking on hostile Force-users, Sithspawn war beasts and other dangerous opponents.
- Small fighting force. Easily outnumbered by less elite, but more numerous enemies.
- Power Armour makes them obvious targets on the battlefield and poor at stealth. They are a blunt instrument, not a scalpel.
Eldorai military doctrine, tactics and equipment have remained unchanged for centuries. This is the result of Kaeshana's long isolation from the outside world. With the Kar'zun defeated, the Eldorai had no rivals on their homeworld. The only threat came from...themselves. The Byzantine intrigues that permeated the Eldorai royal court kept their nobles busy. The first foreign incursions, carried out by slavers and pirates, came as a shock for the Eldorai. Their Stasers were hopelessly outdated compared to modern blasters and could do little against modern personal armour except mess up the paint.
The only effective weapons they had were Sarixi blades and Sarzmigar polearms, but these were limited to elite units and required their warriors to get close enough for melee combat. This was difficult since blaster weapons cut through Cuaeris armour like paper. They had an elite corps of Force-using warriors, the Angelii, whose elemental powers were useful to level the playing field. But even the Angelii could not be everywhere at once, since their primary duty was to protect the Star Queen - often from coups.
Thus the Eldorai were forced to adapt. Stasers were phased out in favour of modern guns, the old-fashioned armour was replaced with something that could actually keep its wearer alive against blasters, the Sarix and Sarzmigar were upgraded. The old conservatives quibbled, but incursions, a planetary cataclysm, an Exodus and a foreign invasion and occupation are wonderful ways to give all but the most ignorant a new perspective on things.
Vaena Cadalthor, known to her close friends as Vaena Askari, decided to help the modernisation process. She'd fought on many battlefields as an Angelii junior officer. After claiming her birthright as Duchess and head of House Cadalthor, she was in a position to put some of the lessons she'd learned into practice. Compared to humans, Eldorai are physically weaker and less durable, relying more on finesse than brute force.
She decided it would be appropriate to give them a small force that could act as a crack heavy infantry force. She was probably influenced by her encounter with one of Alderaan's Power Armoured Force Dead Knights, Dame Dimeria Nykerian. Both had a jolly time slaughtering zombies that had overrun a luxury cruise liner. Of course, the Eldorai would not be deploying Force Dead. That would create...issues, as they were considered to be soulless and cursed.
So the Duchess lobbied the Crown, after discussion with sensible Eldorai officers like Grand Seraph Aeda Shaytari. Conservative holdouts in the military quibbled, for they did not recognise the inherent awesomeness of Power Armoured soldiers marching across the battlefield and causing causing carnage. They probably also did not like buying 'crude' designs from 'human monkeighs'. Vaena proceeded to dismiss claims and offered to fund the whole thing herself. To be precise, she volunteered House Cadalthor in totality.
This annoyed a good number of her relatives...but since it was being presented as a patriotic contribution for the greater good of the Eldorai Matriarchy, they could not refuse openly. If some minor aristo in her house had to reduce the number of servants waiting on her and, heaven forbid, wash herself instead of having servants do that for her, that was fine from Vaena's perspective.
Besides, it was a good way to redeem House Cadalthor's name after the recent unpleasantness. Her predecessor, Tarissa Cadalthor, had launched a failed coup against the the Crown and been executed for her treason...so it was time to demonstrate loyalty. It was also a useful chance for the Duchess to force certain relatives to economise. It helped that she had served as quartermaster for an Angelii unit for a while. She would eventually carry out a purge within her house, which left her plenty of confiscated funds.
Thus the Valora's Fists were born. Rather than start from the scratch by recruiting new blood, select soldiers from the Eldorai army were inducted into them. While it took a while to meet the quotas, it meant they did not have to teach greenhorns basic skills. The soldiers were put through a rigorous training programme, to familiarise themselves with their new armour and the new unit tactics. So far, this method of recruitment has remained in place. It keeps the numbers down, but ensures the Fists get to cherry-pick their soldiers. They are largely equipped with gear obtained from Firemane Industries and ArmaTech. The Eldorai have a long, though at times strained, relationship with the former and House Cadalthor has more recently made business deals with the latter.
Valora's Fist units were first deployed in response to Kraal raids, proving their mettle against the barbaric lizardmen who had been making a habit out of attacking communities on Tygara and Arkas. Going on the offensive, they acted in concert with the regular Eldorai army and naval forces to launch a counterattack, seizing an asteroid base the lizards had used as a stronghold. After a brutal fight, all the slavers had been slaughtered.
During the fight the Eldorai also encountered a force of cyborgs and droids from the Iron Fist Consortium, but managed to prevail in combat. Closer to home, they also played a vital role in the suppression of the Shining Hand insurgency. Now that the Eldorai Diaspora has moved into space and become a rather nomadic people of 'Space Elves', the Fists also provide security on select colony ship. A number were stationed on the Pious Deliverance, Vaena's own worldship.
The Valora's Fists were among the royalist forces dispatched to Kaeshana to investigate rumours that the planet had been moved through the Nether. As the soldiers discovered, these rumours were true. The planet was free from foreign occupation, but even more devastated. Nothing of the old grandeur and hubris of the old Eldorai Matriachy was left on the inhospitable tomb world. The Fists encountered bizarre Force phenomena on the tainted, haunted world and some of the last survivors of the calamity escape. Others had been evacuated by the Shadow Knights. With that the various elf groups abandoned Kaeshana for good, leaving behind a ruined, uninhabited homeworld. For good or ill, it was a new beginning for the species.
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