OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Further flesh out the Shadow Knights. This is a resubmission of an already approved unit.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Assault troopers, boarding infantry.
Permissions: Access to Firemane gear since I'm the owner
Links: Eldorai, Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana, Naesala Faethyra.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Espatiers.
Affiliation: Shadow Knights, Court of the Shadows,
Classification: Infantry, Spacetroopers.
Equipment:
Armour:
- AV-1A Assault Armour (for officers and elite soldiers)
- AV-1S Scout Armour (for grunts).
- Taegis Battle Shield.
- Pulse Cannon
- DXR-6
- SWE/2 Sonic Rifle
- T21 Light Repeating Blaster
- A280 Blaster Rifle.
- BH-21 Particle Beam Rifle
- Reaper Plasma Shotgun
- MkI Bolter
- Ion Paddle Beamer.
- Concussion Rifle
Sidearms:
Attached Weapons:
Misc:
- Cryo Projector
- Misc equipment such as Neural Bands, Anti Security Blade, Scrambler Key.
- Individual Field Disruptors, Communication Wave Descrambler, Plasma Cutters, Laser Cutters, Boarding Harpoons, Verpine Prototype Shield, Magnetic Coupler.
- Sapper Charge or a 53-R High Yield Thermite Explosive.
- Grenades, Sonic Imploders, Thermal Imploders, ABC Scramblers.
- APE Boltgun Ammunition.
- Katarn Class Boarding Shuttle or Gamma Class Assault Shuttle.
- A few E-Wings for escort.
Description: Starships are very expensive, and quite valuable, especially military ones. Sometimes it is a better move to board and capture one instead of destroying it. Sometimes it is even easier to do so. At least this is what the Shadow Knights believe. Their rag-tag fleet can always use new additions, especially since they lack shipyards and thus must rely on what ships they can seize or scavenge. For this reason, the Espatiers exist. They are specially trained in Zero-G combat and the art of boarding and seizing control over starships. Of course, they are also skilled in counterboarding actions. The Shadow Knights do, after all, often encounter foes with the same general idea, such as slavers and Kraal raiders. Combating them is essential for the protection of the nomad fleet.
Comparisons can be drawn with the Zero-G Assault Stormtroopers of the First Galactic Empire, though the Shadow Knights are a rebel alliance and a nomad fleet, not an interstellar government. Still, their duties are similar. They are specialised infantry equipped and trained to capture enemy vessels intact. Members are chosen for loyalty, skill and dedication. Since they will often find it difficult to get support after boarding an enemy ship, initiative is very important.
To help them perform their missions, they have access to powered zero-G armour that possesses integrated life support systems for deep-space operations and combat. They also make use of specialised boarding craft. They often make use of boarding harpoons filled with coma gas. These are launched at enemy vessels, and upon contact the gas is released, rendering those who come into contact with it unconscious. This can help them take control over a ship without firing a shot, though of course the usual countermeasures apply when dealing with gas attacks. They also make use of disruptors, shotguns and other close quarter weapons.
Their equipment is a bit eclectic, with older designs being used alongside more modern ones. The Shadow Knights do not have the resources of an interstellar government, so the Espatiers acquire a lot of their equipment through raids or black market dealings. This is unsavoury, but space nomads cannot be choosers. As a result, the Espatiers have become good scavengers who are able to make the most out of what they have and even get old equipment working again.
It helps that the Shadow Knights have a heavily militarised society where service guarantees citizenship. Many of the Espatiers are members of the Forsaken. These are the Eldorai that were left behind on Kaeshana when it was devastated by a huge asteroid. They were forced to eke out an existence in a wasteland, where life was a daily struggle. As a result, they are a hard, tough lot, who prioritise survival. There is still a good deal of bitterness towards those who got away aboard the great exodus fleet.
The Espatiers operate under a cloud. During the Long Night, some members brought shame on the Espatiers by collaborating with the enemy. This led to a ruthless purge. They are rather adamant about removing this taint, which can manifest in acts of overconfidence and ill-advised bravery, when it would be more advisable to retreat or reevaluate a situation rather than fight on out of stubbornness. Cowardice is treated as a cardinal sin.
The Espatiers are led by Almer Faeynore, a male Eldorai revolutionary. He got the position after denouncing the corrupt officers of the unit. However, his promotion has also earned him the ire of those who believe he was more motivated by ambition and factional politics than an honest desire to bring corrupt elements to justice. One of the officers he denounced was a revolutionary veteran who had fought against the Matriarchy for decades and had connections high-up. Moreover, while Shadow Knight society is quite progressive by Eldorai standards, there is still a lot of sexism, and most top jobs are occupied by women. However, Almer is brave and a tenacious fighter.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium
Unit Availability: Rare
Unit Experience: Elite.
Combat Function: The Espatiers excel are in ship to ship and counter-boarding operations. Their training is focused on zero-G combat, sabotage, boarding and counterboarding actions. Their training emphasies disciplined fire over blazing away. The Shadow Knights' resources are limited, so their soldiers are taught to make the most of what they have. Due to the nature of their work, they have soldiers with some slicing skills or the ability to pilot starfighters and other space-based means of transport. This not their primary vocation, so they are not master slicers or aces, but it helps them complete their missions and survive. Actual specialists would be superior to them in this field. Moreover, they are common soldiers with no superpowers, genetic or cybernetic enhancements. They bleed, tire and feel pain like normal mortals do. They do have Power Armour though.
If confronted by Force-users, they will have to rely on skill, discipline, conventional weapons and simple luck. Moreover, they have only a few heavy weapons at their disposal, which can put them at a disadvantage, especially if they find themselves engaged in ground combat. Their armour gives them an advantage against enemies, but is still vulnerable to lightsabres, heavy weapons and strong explosions.
The overall unit is quite small, which limits the number of soldiers that can be deployed into a combat zone at any given time. Thus they must rely on skill rather than sheer numbers. They are combat pragmatists and thus have no qualms about using 'uncivilised' weapons such as disruptors. All Espatiers are trained to operate in starships, space stations, and orbital/deep space facilities. They can operate effectively in zero-G conditions when artificial gravity is offline. They are also skilled at breaking and entering, enabling them to cut through blast doors and bulkheads. Aside from their transport vessels, the Espatiers have a small number of starfighters at their disposal. Their primary purpose is to conduct reconnaissance, and provide escort for their transports. They can engage in dogfights, but their small number means they are meant for surgical attacks rather than all-out space battles.
Seizing a small shadowport, a subcapital ship or say a cruiser is obviously a lot easier than attempting to take over a Star Destroyer, given the huge on-board garrison such a warship has. Since boarding actions are the Espatiers' main vocation, they are used to close quarters combat. If taken out of their element, they would probably be at a disadvantage. They are also at a disadvantage against 'heavy' armour formations, which can be an issue on the ground. They are a strike unit, meant to be inserted into a place, seize or sabotage an objective, and then depart. The Shadow Knights do not have the resources or the desire to fight wars of planetary conquest. Their zeal and bravery, while an asset, can also be used against them.
Strengths:
- The Espatiers are skilled fighters, with a particular focus on fighting in space, boarding enemy ships and repelling boarders. They are void specialists and marines and have access to suits of power armour.
- They excel at close quarter combat.
- The nature of their training and their gear means they suffer against heavy armour or artillery. Heavy weapons are rarely used in shipboard engagements, so they do not carry a lot of those. They are also at a disadvantage over long range.
- Their past disgrace has made them prone to heroics and sheer stubbornness to redeem themselves. This makes them tenacious, but also turn into a disadvantage.
The Espatiers have their roots in the efforts of Naesala Faethyra to protect the Eldorai people. Naesala began her career as a soldier of the Crown during the reign of Tirathana VI. In this time Kaeshana was a reactionary, isolationist place. The Queen stubbornly tried to keep the Eldorai out of the galaxy and foreigners away from Kaeshana. Thus she used the Angelii and political expedients to crack down on anyone who dared suggest accommodation with offworlders or who implied that the Matriarchy had fallen behind the times and needed to learn from outsiders in order to advance.
The Queen had the not illogical fear that if the Eldorai opened themselves up to the galaxy they would be tempted to turn away from traditional values. In all fairness, most outsiders who'd come to Kaeshana had hostile intent. Kaeshana was attacked by pirates and raiders, who regarded the technologically inferior Eldorai as easy prey. At first Naesala fought against bandits and Kar'zun insurgents. She made herself a name in the rebellion of the fake Aspasia. This was a popular uprising instigated by a demagogue who impersonated the dead Aspasia Evora, the true claimant to the throne.
Naesala was promoted for covering up a raid foreign slavers had carried out on Kaeshana. However, what she had seen troubled her deeply, for she realised that the outsiders were a serious threat and possessed technology far superior to that of the Matriarchy. To admit this was obviously heresy. But she sought to take the initiative against the pirates and slavers that preyed on the Eldorai, by acquiring spaceships and foreign tech. However she'd been smacked down for breaking the willow pallisade of isolation. Placed under house arrest, she managed to escape and fled Kaeshana. She became a leader among the fractious Eldorai exiles.
Exposure to the outside world broadened her horizons and taught her the value of pragmatism and compromise. Still a soldier at heart, she founded a paramilitary organisation that sought to rescue enslaved Eldorai and protect exiles. Their methods against slavers were quite brutal, for they showed them no mercy. They were also available for hire by interested parties, though they refused to accept contracts that targeted their people. The Espatiers were part of this force.
In the course of the Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana, Naesala returned to the broken homeworld, assuming leadership of the Shadow Knights, a survivalist organisation devoted to protecting the Forsaken. It soon evolved into a coalition of renegades and dissidents. Her own militia was folded into the movement. Supplies were scarce and often had to be acquired through illicit means. Moreover, the Forsaken had to defend themselves against raiders.
The Espatiers evolved into a form of active defence - and resource acquisition. If one were feeling uncharitable, one could label them as raiders who happened to fight other raiders a lot. They also clashed with Archangel and tried to free abducted Eldorai from the vessels of the machine cult, though success was mixed in that regard. They saw combat against slavers and launched raids of their own to acquire much-needed supplies.
However, discipline became an issue. Some of their officers turned to simple piracy, using their mandate as a license to enrich themselves. Things came to head and Naesala carried out a purge, court-martialling a number of members of the unit. They were executed to serve as an example for the rest. One of them had embezzled funds and, even worse, taken bribes from Archangel, helping the droids advance their evil plans. She was vented into the cold void of space. The unit was thoroughly cleaned up after that incident. It got the chance to redeem itself when it seized an Archangel manufacturing ship and, at high cost to itself, freed Eldorai that had been abducted for entechment.
In the aftermath of the Kaeshana Rebellion, the unit underwent a procress of reorganisation. The Shadow Knights had taken up arms alongside the Galactic Alliance and the Tygaran Alliance, but been forced to vacate the planet after the allied forces withdrew and the First Order assumed control. They became a nomad fleet, dedicated to preserving the Eldorai and building a home for those who refused to yield to the First Order or live under the rule of the Star Queen. Thus the Espatiers were reorganised to serve as defenders for the migrant fleet. They would be a response force in case it came under an attack and the seizure of an enemy vessel was deemed feasible. At the same time they would launch raids of their own to seize ships or supplies for the migrant fleet. Much of their equipment was acquired on raids or through black market dealings.
Sometimes the Espatiers would let foreign parties hire them. While the Shadow Knights preached austerity, they recognised that they could not do without material rewards after all and they did not have the resources of an interstellar government at their disposal. Ironically, they were a bit inspired by the defunct Omega Protectorate, which often let friendly foreign governments hire its elite soldiers in return for money or economic concessions. The Shadow Knights also put their nomad fleet at the disposal of interested parties, ferrying cargo and sentient beings from one world to the other.
Of course, this sometimes meant facilitating illicit activity, but the renegades were not fussed about this unless it involved slavery or aiding those who wished their people harm. The Espatiers acted as a protective force on such missions. They battled the ferocious Kraal and helped put down insurrections within the Shadow Knight movement. The Espatiers fought in the final battle with Archangel, applying their skill as boarding infantry and saboteurs while battling war droids and Shards. Casualties were significant, but they helped bring down the machine cult.
Last edited:
