Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Tephrike.
Image Credit: Here. Here. Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: Into Darkness, After Darkness, Tephrike, Dominion of Light, Disciples of the Vader, The Republican Guard is the Strongest, Rock Breaker Corps, Crimson Orb Trees, The Key Which Unlocks the Void, Thrakesion Jungle Devil.
SETTING INFORMATION
Military Base Name: Devastation Deeps.
Classification: Underground Rebel Camp.
Location: Synorostad, Tephrike.
Affiliation: Republican Guard, Popular Front, General Aruunzeb, Tephrike.
Population: Sparse.
Demographics: Inhabited by Republican Guard troops as well as civilian refugees and support personnel such as engineers, medical staff, intelligence officers, and technicians. The Guard is a multispecies movement, and this is reflected in the demographic makeup, so one can find both humans and aliens among the inhabitants. Examples for non-human species would be Twi'leks, Cathar, Togruta, Yuuzhan Vong, Rodians, Ewoks, and Bothans. Most of them are Non-Force-Users, but a few are Force Dead. Naturally the latter applies to all Vong.
Accessibility: The base is very difficult to access. Devastation Deeps is an underground rebel camp and its existence is based on the fact that it is secret. Moreover, it is located beneath a ruined and largely abandoned city that has been reclaimed by nature and is full of invasive overgrowth and dangerous predators. Because their survival depends on secrecy, the rebels do not take kindly to intruders and will utilise lethal force. The base is well-guarded, the tunnels to reach it are narrow and filled with traps. This makes them rather difficult to traverse.
Moreover, there are various dangerous creatures both above and below the surface. All this means that access is extremely restricted. To reduce the risk of discovery, only a select number of members in the Republican Guard know about the base. Tephrike has been isolated for several centuries, which means the base is pretty unknown beyond the planet. The fact that the base is located far underground and the use of electronic countermeasures means that even dedicated sensor ships would have trouble detecting it. None of this makes it impossible to find, but very difficult and dangerous.
Description:
Located beneath the ruins of Synorostad, a city devastated by war and reclaimed by nature, Devastation Deeps is a hidden Republican Guard camp. It is based upon a network of small, narrow tunnels that have been dug by the Rock Breaker Corps, the rebels' combat engineers. Most of the digging has been done with simplistic hand tools. Conditions inside the tunnels are cramped and they are riddled with various dangerous creatures. However, they also provide the rebels with a sanctuary for civilian and military personnel. Indeed, they are the home of an entire community. The most vital part for the tunnels, the ventilation holes, are hidden at the foot of trees, thick grass or termite nests. To keep the tunnels from caving in, the partisans use woods from the jungles and stolen iron to reinforce them.
Rebels train here, are educated, work and get married. They emerge from the darkness to look after their crops or go on missions. To ensure the survival of the community, the base has air vents, secret exists, hidden entrances and various defensive measures, such as traps and trapdoors. The tunnels are tight and narrow, which means intruders will find it difficult to bring heavy weapons with them. Moreover, the partisans have set up various traps, such as spikes, razor blades, nails, monofilament nets, stun nets, tripwire explosives and scorpions. The inhabitants of the underground base tend to be comparatively short in stature, as tall people will have trouble getting through the narrow tunnels.
Devastation Deeps performs a variety of functions for the Republican Guard. For one, it is a place for partisans to retreat to in the case of danger. Its tunnels are ideal for launching surprise attacks on the enemy. Moreover, it serves as a command, communications and control hub for a number of partisan units and provides them with a supply route. There is an underground kitchen and a small weapons' factory, which can be used to build land mines, improvised explosive devices, munitions etc. Living conditions are very cramped, and there is little privacy, even for members of the command staff.
Food and weapons can be stored at the base in caches. A hospital can take care of the wounded and the sick. Sleeping quarters can be found on the lowest level of the base. There is also a small cinema. Propaganda movies are shown here to maintain the morale of the fighters. A deep underground well is used in order to provide the partisans with water. The base has several levels and trap doors. Trap doors help contain the spread of poison gas or smoke. Rather than being straight lines, the tunnels have curving walls and go through the earth in an arch. In a nutshell, this means that when an enemy tries to use explosives on a tunnel opening, the damage is limited because the tunnel has many twists and turns. The tunnels tend to be very narrow, which means that one often has to crawl through them. The inhabitants of Devastation Deeps have grown used to living in the dark for long periods of time. The tunnels offer good protection against bombs dropped by aircraft and keep the rain out.
The Republican Guard does not have much of an air force, and what few aircraft it possesses tend to be old, so the base provides a sanctuary against enemy aerial attacks. Needless to say Devastation Deeps is not a good place to send someone who is claustophobic. The same applies to people afraid of spiders. Devastation Deeps is one of many rebel camps, but an important base for the protracted guerrilla war fought by the Guard against the Dominion of Light and the Disciples of the Vader, its sworn enemies.
The population of Devastation Deeps is not large. Its strength lies in its secrecy, the ingenuity and discipline of the rebels and its natural barriers, not in firepower and large numbers. Moreover, trying to hide a large force of soldiers in it would inevitably lead to discovery. Life in the base is far from easy. Since the tunnels go as deep as fifteen to twenty feet, one cannot expect proper ventilation. The latrine systems are quite primitive. Where possible, large stone jars are used to dispose of waste. Air, food and water are all scarce. Moreover, the tunnels are infested with ants, poisonous centipedes, scorpions, spiders and various vermin. Furthermore, the Vaderites and in particular the Dominion are fond of unleashing chemical agents such as defoliants, smoke pellets and plain poison gas. Partisans who do not have sealed helmets with filters must carry locally made or captured gas masks. Mosquitoes are also an issue. Devastation Deeps has a political commissar who is responsible for political education and monitoring the morale of base personnel.
The partisans have implemented a simple, but ingeniuous system to prevent cooking smoke from the underground kitchen from causing aerial detection. This is accomplished by ducting the smoke through several channels, and letting it escape through separate chimneys. Thus the smoke is very diluted by the time it reaches the surface. The kitchen is near-smokeless. However, there are side-effects. Sometimes there are leaks in the ducts, which can contaminate the tunnels. Moreover, the tunnels smell, and so so the occupants. Sometimes the partisans take the risk to cook above ground, since the tunnels are always very hot. The tunnels are infested with snakes, scorpions, spiders and other creatures.
Above the base lies a ruined city. Once it was a major centre on Tephrike, but the perennial strife has left little but ruins. Moreover, Mother Nature has encroached upon the grand structures of stone and metal, reclaiming the land that was once seized from her grasp. As a result, the nearby forest has consumed the abandoned city. Wild beasts roam the streets. Long tree rots twine over office buildings, factories and monuments. Without pause, the root systems of the trees and strangler figs devour the ancient structures.
Magic mushrooms grow in the new fields of green. Parasites of all sorts abound. The Sarvorium Herb and the Rokna Tree Fungus grow in the forest that has overrun the city. The highly addictive drug Rokna blue is derived from the fungus. Above all, Crimson Orb trees dot surface. The Republican Guard has banned drug and harshly punishes drug use among its members, but tolerates cultivation and levies a taxes on producers. Underground channels are used to smuggle the finished product into the territory of its enemies. It is a way to acquire funds and undermine them from within.
Animals, who once had to withdraw into the forest and yield ground to civilisation, are populous again. Examples include boars, Banthas, giant snakes, feral Akk Dogs and escaped Sithspawn that have gone feral. The unlucky may run into a Thrakesion Jungle Devil that suddenly pounces from a tree or has made its lair in one of the ruins. There are also dangerous mosquitoes that can act as vectors for many disease-causing viruses, as well as fast-growing creeper creatures that latch on to anything solid and are almost impossible to remove without severing the branch. Blood Fiends make their home where it is damp.
Carnivorous plants similar to those on Felucia can be found on the surface. Some plants have strong psychedelic properties, which can cause irrational emotional reactions such as hysteria, psychosis and paranoia. All this means that the partisans must watch out when they leave the base and go above ground, but the same applies to intruders. Moreover, unlike outsiders, the rebels know the lay of the land. The inhabitants of Devastation Deeps conduct patrols on the surface and have set up some motion sensors to warn them of intruders, but their presence is low-key. Developing the surface above is not really in their interests because its present state camouflages their presence better than any expensive stealth technology could. Their realm consists of the underground tunnels and they usually only leave them at night.
The rebels have booby-trapped some of the buildings above ground. Moreover, unexploded ordnance left behind from the great battle poses a danger to infiltrators and travellers alike. While the partisans have a basic hydroponics section in their subterranean base, they also hunt and grow crops above ground. The rebels have also tamed some predators and use them as guard dogs. They also trade with squatters who have taken up residence in the ruined buildings.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Underground Base:
Main Entrance - A well-camouflaged trap door concealed as part of the jungle floor behind a large, bombed-out residential building. Said building was put under quarantine during the Gulag Virus outbreak after several residents tested positively. Sadly, they had ignored safety regulations and partied. Police officers trying to enforce these measures were attacked by protesters. Today, the building lies in ruins and Banthas tend to graze above. The trap door leads to the first layer of the tunnel network. It is extremely small and narrow. This is one of several trap doors that allow partisans to enter or exit.
Armaments Factory - Production is small-scale, but while the methods are fairly primitive, they are effective and the facility is fully functional. Land mines, IEDs, ammunition, small arms and more primitive weapons such as bows, swords and spears are manufactured here. The rebels are masters of improvisation and often recycle unexploded Vaderite or Dominion ordnance salvaged from the surface. Ammunition is a particular concern, so a small bullet making assembly has been established using reused casings and locally made propellant. The results are not as good as proper, but do the job.
Living Areas - The dormitories are incredibly austere and several partisans are bunked together in one room, which makes things a bit cramped. Even officers have little privacy. The inhabitants sleep in hammocks. These quarters are located on the third floor. Sanitation is quite primitive due to a lack of plumbing. Soldiers have lockers to store all their possessions.
Training Areas - Partisans can hone their skill in melee combat, such as knife fighting or martial arts, or practice their marksmanship. The place lacks fancy holographic technology. However, the targets can be set to move about since enemies tend to not remain static in combat. The partisans are fond of putting the images of hated enemy leaders like Jedi Master Mahtara or Darth Eisen on their targets.
Mess Hall - Hall may be pushing it a bit. Officers and enlisted soldiers eat together. While the Guard has strong egalitarian beliefs, this has less to do with being progressive and more with the fact that space should not be wasted just to maintain archaic privileges of rank.
Underground Kitchen – The kitchen stores and cooks the many exciting foods of the jungle. Many of these have specific processes so the cooks are quite experienced so their comrades don't die. Cooking smoke is obviously an issue, since it can be a way for reconnaissance aircraft to detect the base. To counter this the partisans have dug several small channels, which branch out and upward from where the stove is and are covered by tree branches, leaves, a thin layer of dirt and kept humid. This means that when the smoke reaches the ground and is released through several chimneys, it is virtually 'invisible'. The system keeps the kitchen camouflaged and prevents detection, but is not pleasant for the cooks. Sometimes the ducts have leaks, which causes some contamination in the tunnels.
Laboratory – The jungles contain a myriad and strange creatures, plants and locations. A couple of permanent scientists study and occasionally return with findings back to the core lands. Unofficially, this facility is also used as a drug laboratory to create Key. Consumption is illegall, and Republicna Guard cadres are punished harshly for it...but the rebels have no qualms about selling it to their enemies. Especially human ones.
Storage Facility - The provisions' stockpile of the base. The rebels try to store as much as practical. This area is always guarded and monitored closely. Theft is treated as a major crime. It also serves as a supply depot for other partisan units. In a way, the fact that the city above ground has been taken over by nature has helped the partisans eat healthier, since it gives them animals to hunt.
Armoury - Weapons and ammunition are stored here. The quartermaster has their office in this section. The armoury also serves as a cache for other partisan units operating in the province. Needless to say it is well-guarded.
Room of Unity - The entertainment area. A place for soldiers to get together, listen to music, play cards and so on. Moreover, it can be converted into a rudimentary theatre or music hall. Propaganda movies are shown here to boost the morale of the inhabitants. It is also popular to sing revolutionary songs like 'The Republican Guard is the Strongest' and 'Ode to the Partisans'.
Infirmary - The medical centre of the base. The ceilings and walls are enclosed with fabric. This ensures that patients will not suffer infection if a bacteria living in the soil falls on them. The means to grow kolto and bacta do no exist on Tephrike. Firemane sells these medical substances to the Guard, but the rebels are poor and must prioritise allocations of these supplies. The rebels do not use Force-Users, so they have to rely on conventional healing methods. Needless to say conditions are not the best in the tunnels, despite the rebels' best attempts. On average, more partisans die from sickness than in combat.
Tunnels - There is a veritable maze of tunnels. These are tight and narrow, limiting how many people are able to traverse one at the same time. It is also hell for tall people. Indeed, one will often have to crawl. Moreover, all manners of traps abound and there are several tunnels that lead into dead ends, to trap doors and nasty surprises. Niches are located deep in the tunnels, allowing rebels to wait for intruders, pop out and strike, then disappear. There are also all manners of creatures like scorpions, spiders, venomous centipedes and snakes. Of course, these creatures can also be a threat to the partisans, which is why the rebels must be careful.
Command Centre - The administrative and strategic hub of the base. The commander of the base directs the partisans from here. A briefing room lies adjacent to this area. The command centre monitors and receives transmissions. But the base itself never sends messages – communications crews are sent into the jungle for this to prevent its location being found.
Detention - The base's brig. For obvious reasons, the partisans take very few prisoners. Captives need to be guarded, the base does not have a lot of soldiers and a single escapee could compromise their entire operation. Thus there are only a few cells. The detention block also features an interrogation room where captives are questioned. The rebels do not have access to ysalamiri, but they do have some Yorik-Kul and single Embrace of Pain to contain particularly dangerous Force-Users. Any captured persons who need interrogation are brought here. Since they can't risk the base's location being revealed no prisoner leaves the base alive.
The Well - Both the Vaderites and the Dominion are fond of using chemical weapons, so the rebels use a deep well to make sure the water they drink is not contaminated. The base population is small, so the well provides enough water to sustain them.
Outside of the base proper, but still pertinent for it:
Stone of the Lost Souls - A stone of remembrace that has been set up above ground in the city. Surrounded by ruins and trees, it is a bit opague, though the rebels know what it stands for. It is dedicated to the citizens of the city who died during the plague, as well as the Republican Guard soldiers who were killed during the battle with the Vaderites. It is a simple, great fair stone. Twelve feet long, it is lacking in ostentatious decoration. The phrase 'their souls liveth forevermore' has been inscribed upon stone.
Horizon Tower - An abandoned residential building. The carefully hidden trap door that is the main entrance to the base has been set up nearby. The building was put under quarantine during the Gulag Plague, which decimated its inhabitants. Today, it lies in ruins. Trees have grown, among them Crimsn Orb, trees and vines and grass have overtaken stone and metal. Banthas like to graze here.
SECURITY
Medium. The base is difficult to invade, certainly, but it is not massively defended by a large garrison. A contingent of Republican Guard partisans protects the base, but it is small. It includes a few veterans from the Rock Breaker Corps who are skilled in tunnel warfare. The strength of the base lies not in it housing a large army or extensive conventional defences. It lacks a shield generator, heavy artillery or similar. However, it is guarded, located far underground and has a variety of traps. For starters, the entrance is concealed and the city above ground has been devoured by a forest filled with dangerous flora and fauna. Its underground location and the fact that little electricity is used makes the base very difficult to scan. The entrance hole is incredibly small, and is followed by several U turns that lead to the surface, then twist again before heading off horizontally further. Moreover, the tunnels are incredibly dark and narrow, which means there is little room to turn around and retreat. Furthermore, the intense heat with the lack of air underground makes intrusion even more difficult.
The base is a maze of tunnels intruders must traverse. These tunnels are very narrow, which limits how many intruders can pass through one at the same time. It also means they cannot bring heavy weapons with them and will have to crawl through a terribly damp tunnel. Someone who is a giant will find it virtually impossible to get through a tunnel. Moreover, they do not give intruders a clear view. Visiblity is extremely low. There are various hidey holes, trapdoors and manholes the partisans can use to conceal themselves, using a rifle, pistol, garrotte or vibroknife to strike when an enemy soldier approaches, before disappearing again. There are multiple trap doors, and air shafts, making it more difficult for an enemy to gas and suffocate the partisans. These trap doors have water locks and air locks to keep the rebels safe. The intelligent use of trap doors and air filtration systems makes attempts to force the partisans out into the open by flushing the entrance with say gas or tossing grenades down the holes and crimping off the opening ineffective.
Moreover, various traps have been set, such as tripwire grenades, pit traps with long, sharp, metallic spikes, hidden land mines, mesh traps, monofilament nets, and shock-filaments. The partisans make heavy use of booty traps within and above the tunnels. Soldiers have planted trip wires that will set off grenades or overturn boxes to release scorpions or poisonous snakes into the heads of intruders. Water barriers are employed to protect the tunnels from gas. There are hidden exits and escape routes, but also tunnels that lead to dead ends and straight into traps. An intruder who is not observant enough may step into a trapdoor, and then be impaled by sharp, metal spikes that are often laced with poison.
The inner roof is lined with layers of of anti-sensor camouflage netting. The base is protected by a force of experienced partisans. However, the garrison is small. It includes a few combat engineers and sappers, who help maintain the base and its traps. If need be, the Guard is prepared to collapse the tunnels upon an overwhelming enemy force and retreat. The tunnels have hidden chambers and pathways, which gives the partisans places to hide and rebuild their base from.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Synorostad can be translated as 'Frontier City'. Stad is a somewhat archaic Tephriki word for 'city' or 'fortress'. Fittingly, Synorostad was the first settlement that was founded on Tephrike following the planet's discovery roughly five hundred years before the Battle of Yavin. Intrepid pioneers braved the hostile jungle to found the settlement, which soon grew into a city. Though it was not the capital, it became a major centre of the rubber and timber industry. In many ways it was an embodiment of the Tephriki spirit of resilience, thrift and determination. However, it was decimated by the Gulag Virus. As is so often the case, sentient nature contributed to this.
Panic, fearmongering and conspiracy theories played their part. The local government was reluctant to introduce proper safety measures because it would hurt the economy until it was too late. Protesters who refused to adhere to proper safety measures and accused shadowy elites of spreading the virus, or staged aliens for it, also contributed. Militia and gang violence became endemic. Synorostad turned into a shadow of its former self, while Tephrike was plunged into a Dark Age.
Devastation Deeps was founded after the rise of the Republican Guard. The rebel movement espoused a secularist, anti-Force-User ideology. It was formed in response to the totalitarian, Jedi-led Dominion of Light as well as the human supremacist Disciples of the Vader. The Guard considered itself the heir to the Rebel Alliance, fighting for the common people against the tyranny of the Force.
Its second leader, Sinya Kairn, a clone trooper who had defected from the Dominion's clone slave army, led the Republican Guard on a series of campaigns. She arranged an alliance with Tephrike's Yuuzhan Vong, who were being persecuted by the Vaderites. Sinya was a successful warlord and very aggressive in expanding the Republican Guard's territory, fighting warlords, the Vaderites and others. Psychological reasons played her role. Like with many first generations clones, Sinya's creation had been rushed. Her advanced aging was taking a toll on her and she suffered from health problems. She knew that she only had a limited window before she died or was unable to lead and wanted the Guard to be as strong as possible.
The Vaderites vilified her as a demon, but she embraced her notoriety and they learned to fear her. However, while successful, many of her conquests were not lasting. She was a great general, but a poor political leader. The Guard was driven by fervour and good commanders, but suffered from overextension. Internal rivalries also played a role. The Vaderites and the Republican Guard fought a battle at Synorostad. What was left of the city was devastated during the slaughter.
Sinya herself died in battle, fighting a Vaderite army. Her troops had been encircled by the enemy and she led one of several assaults in order to secure their breakout. The breakthrough was successful, but partisan casualties were staggering. The partisans managed to hide most of the immobile wounded along with nurses, taking refuge in caves, tunnels and in the forest. However, the Vaderites searched the area with kath hounds and killed the wounded almost to the last, along with the nurses. A large number of civilians were also killed.
In his final report, the Vaderite commander described the rebels as well organized, skillfully led and with combat morale unbelievably high. Sinya's death was suitably heroic to merit her being hailed as a martyr by the rebels. Devastated by the battle, and decimated by the plague, Synorostad was largely abandoned. Over time, it was swallowed by nature, and the Republican Guard returned. The rebel movement had taken stock and decided upon a strategy of partisan warfare, realising that it lacked the manpower and industrial capacities to fight and win a conventional war against its enemies.
Part of this strategy was the creation of the Raddus Trail, an intricate logistics system of hidden bases, tunnels and caches that would support the partisans with manpower and resources. Devastation Deeps was set up as one of these partisan outposts. Located far beneath the ruins of Synorostad, it would serve as a rebel sanctuary and logistics base. The Guard had few aircraft and those it had were extremely old, so its engineers built the base far beneath the earth in order to shield it against enemy air strikes. Secrecy would be the main defence of the base, not firepower.
Thus a complex network of tunnels was dug in order to provide the base with facilities, natural defences and a pathway for the rebels to transport cargo and personnel. Engineers from the Rock Breaker Corps were heavily involved in building it. From here, the rebels could launch incursions and it would give their fighters in this province a place to retreat to. Thus it represented an important waystation on the way to other outposts. Many of these bases had to be abandoned or were destroyed, but the Vaderites and the Dominion never found Devastation Deeps.
Over time, it evolved into an underground community, whose members would only leave the darkness of the tunnels to tend to crops, hunt or carry out missions. Life within the base was austere. It was foul down there in the tunnels, as the tunnels were fetid and airless. Ironically, the Guard probably lost more fighters here to sickness than to enemy action. In spite of the manifold hardships, Devastation Deeps endured. Despite their moral qualms, the inhabitants decided to tolerate the cultivation, harvest and smuggling of plants with psychedelic properties that grew above ground. While the Guard abhorred drug trafficking, it was a way to fund its operations, as well as subtly undermine the Dominion and the Vaderites by smuggling drugs into their domains.
More recently, some fugitives fleeing Vaderite territory following the failed uprising in the Prosperity Quarter ghetto found sanctuary in Devastation Deeps. The Guard's cell in the ghetto had supported the ill-fated uprising against orders from the central headquarters in Red Coral City. Now the Guard is going on the offensive again, though for now its military forces are being directed against the Dominion. However, low-intensity skirmishes and raids are still carried out against the Vaderites, with Devastation Deeps as one of their launch points. However, the Vaderites' new Supreme Leader, eager to consolidate his hold on the throne, has become more belligerent in searching and destroying rebel outposts. Thus the partisans may soon face a new test.
Last edited:
