sɪɴɴᴇʀs ʙʏ ᴅᴇᴇᴅ ʙᴜᴛ ʀɪɢʜᴛᴇᴏᴜs sᴛɪʟʟ
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To codify existing units and standardize The Black Fleet's combat personnel
- Image Credit: Hot Toys(1 - 2) & d.woon customs(3)
- Role: Marine Infantry
- Permissions: N\A
- Links: Harrowed March | Garel Gambit | Black Ice | The Shadow Crusade
- Unit Name: Black Hand Marines
- Affiliation: The Black Fleet
- Classification: Naval Infantry
- Description: Mandalorian warriors with a loose paramilitary structure, frequently employed in boarding operations. Black Hand Marines can be recognized by their distinct Handprint-like emblems and Dark Blue accented armor. Most are Mandalorian outcasts or disillusioned soldiers who were taken in by the fleet at their most desperate. Now they are guerilla warriors, carefully selected by the fleet and hellbent on avenging Mandalore.
- Unit Size: Large(100)
- Unit Availability: Uncommon
- Unit Experience: Trained
- Equipment:
- "Shadowplate" Armor system
- JT-13 Jetpack
- JT-12 Jetpack(AT configuration)
- w\Z-6 Anti-Armor missile
- Grav Charge
- Flash charge
- RPS-6 rocket launcher(AT configuration)
- KA-47M Blaster Rifle
- SM-1A1 "Little friend" particle autoblaster(Support configuration)
- Westar-35 blaster pistols
- Butterfly Vibro-knife
- "Shadowplate" Armor system
- Combat Function: Deployed as guerilla fighters and Boarding parties, preferring quick and brutal strikes against unsuspecting enemies via aerial drop or engaging in intense close quarters battle within an enemy vessel, as these are often the targets of The Black Fleet. Typically they are deployed in squadrons of 10 warriors each, led by a Rally master who is distinguishable by a small red column marking on their shoulder. All rally masters report to the unit's single Field Marshal, distinguished by a yellow or gold column on their shoulder.
Each squadron is issued one Support weapon to suppress enemies. During planeside operations however, a single AT squadron may be equipped with 3 rocket launchers and missile firing jetpacks, and are deployed to flank and hunt down enemy vehicles.
- Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): N\A
- Armored - Comprised entirely of Mandalorian warriors, Black Hand Marines are well armored for and equipped with versatility in mind.
- Voidborne - Equipped with magnetic boots, rebreathers and jetpacks, serving aboard naval vessels for extensive periods has prepared these warriors for void based combat and close quarters battle inside the confines of enemy broken ships.
- Mobile - Being equipped with jetpacks and enduring rigorous flight training, Black Hand Marines are able to cover ground with frightening speed.
- Fish out of Water - The average marine of The Black Fleet spends months in space, and only days planetside, and this is reflected in their training and doctrine, which leaves them ill prepared for extended fighting on land compared to other Mandalorians.
- Does not play well - The fleet's recruitment process targets those in conflict with more influential factions among the Mandalorian people, achieving loyalty by giving a home to those at risk of losing it. Because of this, tensions sometimes rise between the marines and other Mandalorians, leading most to become distant and unsociable toward outsiders, preferring to rely on support from other Black Hand units.
- Doctrinal deficiency - A marine is at his best when he is on the attack. The fleet slips behind enemy lines, striking hard and fast to bring chaos before vanishing without a trace, and it's marines reflect this. They have been on the attack since the defense of Mandalore failed, and now it is all they know.
The ancestor of the Black Hand's Marines were more akin to mercenaries, hired by House Vizsla during The Shadow Crusade as part of their unsanctioned black ops against Death Watch and to supplement the now disbanded Nite Owl forces. Those who stayed to see the formation of The Black Fleet were given the title "Marines" and often saw boarding actions during the fleet's early acts of guerilla warfare, Such as the attack on The Final Dawn vessel "Black Ice" above Tshindral III, being their first public appearance since adopting the name.
Black Hand Marines were also engaged with the First Order frigate "Reaper" during the Battle for Lorardia, where they demonstrated the brutality of their boarding tactics in a precision strike on the command bridge.
However, it was the Ambush on Garel prompted the gradual shift towards planetary tactics.
While there were no active marines deployed during the skirmish, the allied Mandalorians fighting beside Viper Team would go on to join the fleet as a means to avenge their comrades who fell during the battle. Clans like these would see an influx of new marines within the fleet, prompting an effort to standardize the fleet's equipment and doctrine. Now they were an official piece of the fleet's military structure in more than name, and looked the part.
