Kyriaki
Dark Phoenix
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Tephrike with more historical references.
Image Credit: Rogue One
Role: Saboteurs, internal security, terror unit.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: Tephrike, The Valkyrie's Diary, Dominion of Light, Republican Guard, Into Darkness, After Darkness, Disciples of the Vader, Firemane Industries, Temple Guard, Diona, Elpsis, Unchained, Inheritors of the Light Father, Vortanstad/City of Harmonious Industry, Palmyra's Wail, Elpsis, Archangel, Grand Army of Light.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Loyalty Assurance Detachments
Affiliation: Dominion of Light, Jedi Inquisition, Tephrike, Windian Jedi Order, Mace Windu Thought, Ecclesia of the Followers of the Divine Ashla in Her Beatific Form as Mistress of Hope and His Glorious Form as Master of Victory.
Classification: Infantry.
Description: Tides of darkness have swept across the galaxy. The Great Plague brought galactic civilisation to its knees. The Jedi order failed to prevent the calamity. But the last bastion of Ashla stands on Tephrike. However, the Dominion of Light is besieged by threats, within and without - rebel terrorists, Vaderite butchers, heretics and Firemane Sithspawn. Should it fall, the last embers of light will be forever extinguished. No sacrifice is too great to defend it.
The Loyalty Assurance Detachments have been constituted by the Jedi Inquisition as an emergency measure to carry out internal security tasks, as well as acts of sabotage in areas that have fallen to the enemy. These special purpose units are created on as-needed basis within areas near the front line. There they provide security in the rear area of the Grand Army, provide protection against paratrooper drops, ensure that strategically important enterprises such as armaments factories keep running and destroy valuable property of the state that cannot be evacuated in time. In the event of
the continued advance of the enemy, they are allowed themselves to be bypassed and then operate as partisan units in the enemy rear, carrying out sabotage missions, gathering intelligence and waging a campaign of terror among the natives to prevent political deviation.
If need be, they will rig factories, railways, bridges and power plants to blow, collapse mine shafts, set fire to fuel depots, poison the food in granaries and silos and in general wreak havoc on infrastructure to make life as difficult as possible for hostile forces who have managed to gain control over Dominion territory. Moreover, they are authorised to summarily execute persons deemed suspicious and hostile to the state. In the words of a Jedi Inquisitor, they have no mercy for 'enemies', 'bandits' and 'other Boganite cankers'.
Within settlements and towns, the Loyalty Assurance Detachments perform a number of tasks directly related to 'breaking' the enemy. anyone who imparts 'provocational rumours' or generates 'panic' must be eradicated. Everyobody, who directly or indirectly helps the enemy, must be found and destroyed. Unsurprisingly, this means they have carried out massacres and terror against civilian populations that have been branded as suspect. Moreover, their scorched earth tactics essentially destroy the livelihood of civilians in order to deny the enemy food and resources, destroying crops and farms and organising the forced relocation of civilians. Soldiers from the detachments have used deadly force against civilians trying to put out the fires to save their homes and crops. Another task is murdering political prisoners who were able to escape prison before they could be executed by the Inquisition, so that they cannot be turned into assets by the enemy.
They may also poison food and water supplies to deny them to the enemy. While the Republican Guard can be a bit cannier, the Vaderites will generally carry out savage 'reprisals' that inevitably target the civilian population. Displaced and traumatised civilians, who have often witnessed the vicious murder of their loved ones, can in turn become new recruits for the detachments. Of course, their terror campaign has also turned civilian populations in certain provinces against them, causing civilians them to form militias of their own to protect themselves and leading to partisan wars.
Formally, the Loyalty Assurance Detachments are volunteer units. However, a number of their members have been forcibly recruited or have joined in order to protect themselves and their families. At the same time, the core of every detachment is composed of people considered ideologically reliable by the Dominion, such as members of the Followers of the Divine Ashla, clones, managers of collective farms and Inquisitors. There are no formal requirements beyond that, and so as a result the rank and file are quite diverse, and even include a high proportion of convicted felons who have been a second chance to redeem themselves in blood and wipe away the stain of Bogan. Recruits include peasants, railwaymen, factory workers, relatives of soldiers of the Grand Army of Light, militiamen, demobilised soldiers, amnestied anti-Dominion partisans, those whose relatives were killed by Vaderite or Republican Guard rebels, and members of minorities. Of course, people also volunteer for a chance to loot or simply get a warm meal and protection.
Most of the members of a detachment non-Force-Users, though some members are mildly Force-Sensitive. The latter are usually clerics from the Followers of Light, members of the Inquisition or the Windian Jedi Order's Jedi Service Corps. Not every detachment will have Force-Using members though. Full-fledged Jedi don't join the detachments. This may be because the Windian Jedi Order doesn't respect them a lot. Their job is an important one, but it's dirty work an order of knights would not want to be openly associated with because it would taint them...even though it is done at their behest.
In contrast to many Dominion military and paramilitary units, 'naturals' generally outnumber clones. This applies in particular to Loyalty Assurance Detachments that have been organised in rural areas. They are often supported by neighbourhood watch units, composed of lightly armed village activists, and receive their directives from a special command staff in the Inquisition. Despite their conventional weaknesses, individual Loyalty Assurance Detachments have demonstrated considerable bravery holding defensive lines on the flanks of regular Dominion army units and, upon being cut off, breaking out of the pockets. However, them engaging in conventional frontline combat is often a desperate move due to their lack of training and equipment, and easily leads to desertions or routs.
A Loyalty Assurance Detachment has an average strength of one hundred men and women per unit, of which ideally ninety percent should be politically reliable. Actual numbers can vary considerably though. Ten detachments form a 'regiment', with each having its own Confessor and surgeon. The job of a Confessor is to monitor officers, conduct propaganda and ensure the soldiers' loyalty to the faith - at gunpoint if needed, though relying solely on the threat of summary execution has been discouraged strongly because it is inefficient. In effect, they are both political officers and clerics. In addition to the Confessor, in each detachment there is one group entrusted with the political security of the unit, possessing police power over the remainder. A detachment can be further sub-divided into five groups of twenty to twenty-five members each, including at least one man considered especially safe politically.
In theory, the coercive power of a Confessor is incredible, but smart ones rely more on perks and appeals to camaraderie, patriotism and kinship than solely force to get the desired 'results'. People can be motivated to perform horrible acts if they believe it is for a higher purpose, and they do not want to let their comrades down and leave them in a lurch. Recently, such detachments have been particularly active in Vortanstad, a war-torn city split between the Dominion and a resurgent Republican Guard. They have been responsible for acts of terror and sabotage in the parts of the city that have fallen under the control of the rebels.
A majority of the personnel wear civilian clothes, none a complete uniform. Full battle armour is rare. When available, it tends to have been scavenged and patched together from various sources. Given the nature of their task, all detachments are able to operate independently, and will be expected to live off the land. Not wearing recognisable, sealed battle armour improves their ability to blend in among and fade into the civilian population, but is obviously a weakness in all-out combat.
One notable LAD commander is a human clone called Nicosa Soldier, nicknamed 'the Harmoniser'. She supervises all detachments, but can also lead in the field. Nikosa is an actual officer clone with a background as an engineer. She is fanatically loyal to the state and ruthlessly and professionally ensures that her units 'clean' messes caused by others, sabotage and 'harmonise' unwanted elements. A euphemism for mass murder, cleansing and scorched earth.
Tasshiq is a male Cathar random, nicknamed 'White Fang'. A detachment commander, his unit is one of the better combat capable formations...though still not a proper battle unit. They are brought in to deal with 'spies', 'Dark side cultists' and 'Humanist elements' with terror, fire, murder and looting and to 'protect strategic infrastructure'. Sometimes he nails captured Vaderite sympathisers and militants to trees or electric poles. His troops paint a white fang on their helmets and shoulders. This is dangerously close to non-conformity...but it is allowed because they get the desired results.
Orokon-Tew is a male Zabrak random, nicknamed 'No Surrender'. The unofficial motto of the LAD is 'Disharmony must be resolved by Surrender or Destruction'. Orokon of the 55th Independent Detachment doesn't take surrenders, so there is just destruction. He is fond of the phrase 'Innocence proves nothing'. He has taken to burning settlements, killing civilians and 'enforcing' payments of tribute for frontier groups.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium
Unit Availability: Rare
Unit Experience: Recruit
Equipment: Not something every single soldier would carry into battle, but rather a list of what's available. Members of the Loyalty Assurance Detachments are irregulars, so there is not much in terms of standardisation. Much of their equipment consists of hand-me-downs and captured gear. Typically a member will carry a rifle, sidearm, dagger and a couple explosives.
Armour:
- Civilian clothes, with a blast vest, basic helmet with gas mask and rebreather. Select soldiers have salvaged durasteel or plastoid armour parts. These are oftentimes mismatched collections of several different sets patched together into one, such as a plastoid chestplate salvaged from clone trooper armour.
- J-301 Pulse-Wave Saboteur
- Slugthrower Rifle
- Cycler Rifle
- Scattergun. For CQB.
- Bolt-Thrower Specialist weapon
- Outland Rifle (may have scope). For sharpshooter
- Model MGL-1. For grenadier. Commonly mounted on another rifle as an under-barrel grenade launcher.
- FC-1 Flechette Launcher
- Machine Gun. For automatic rifleman. Not available in every detachment.
Melee Weapons:
Explosives:
Misc:
- Monofilament Wire and Nets
- Various poisons and toxins.
- Silencers for slugthrowers
If allied territory is overrun by the enemy, they will be tasked with destroying vital infrastructure, industrial and agricultural facilities in order to deny these assets to the enemy. This can also include destroying or poisoning foodstocks. They will also target civilians suspected of collaboration...whether true or imagined. Factories, bridges, railway infrastructure, public buildings, depots, refineries, power plants, water purifiers, granaries and so on will be among the targets they seek to destroy or sabotage. They may also be made responsible for destroying valuable data that cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands. Foodstuffs, raw materials and wheat in the fields that cannot be evacuated from areas under large-scale attack are to be destroyed.
The Loyalty Assurance Detachments are meant for sabotage, low level intelligence gathering and euphemistically named political security, and thus not equipped or trained for frontline combat. Indeed, wherever possible they will avoid engagement with well-organised enemy forces and only pick off soft targets. Their immediate goals are terror and denial of assets, not storming the trenches and staging assaults on enemy garrisons. This is also because many of their members are not regular soldiers, and thus only possess limited training. Like most paramilitary and rear line forces they are not suited for direct combat.
But they have an advantage over the enemy since they know the lay of the land. Members of these units will carry out reconnaissance and basic espionage activities. These intelligence assessments are particularly useful in areas that have fallen under enemy control. They don't have the training for in-depth intelligence activities such as slicing into advanced computer systems or sneak into secret bases. But they can monitor enemy movements, convoys and, perhaps most importantly, make lists of native collaborators. They form a basis for eventual Inquisition purge lists as well as assassinations carried out by say the Jedi Shadows or the Ashlanite Righteous Resistance Force. Furthermore, they can be deputised by the military police to track down and execute deserters.
Most of the members of the detachments are Non-Force-Users, but some have a mild Force affinity. These tend to be members of the Dominion's Inquisition. Their affinity is too weak to merit serious training, but can still give them an advantage by, for example, granting them improved senses. Individual detachments are about company strength, though some are smaller since they are typically created on an ad-hoc basis, and losses sustained through combat or desertion must be factored in. As they are a force of irregulars, there is very little standardisation when it comes to equipment. More often than not, they are equipped with what they can forage. When they wear armour, it tends to be light and is often patched together. Given the nature of their task, all detachments are able to operate independently, and will be expected to live off the land. In other words, via plundering.
Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): Force-Users are a very small minority in the Loyalty Assurance Detachments. Fully trained Jedi aren't assigned to the units, but they include Force-Sensitives who have a minor connection to the Force that grants them benefits such as Force empathy, enhanced senses, and limited telepathy. A few may have minor persuasive abilities.
Strengths:
- Good at blending in, passing as civilians and utilising the environment to hide.
- Skilled at sabotage, intelligence gathering and carrying out 'internal security' tasks in the rear area of a conventional military force. They are paramilitary irregulars who perform well within their niche.
- Irregular units, not frontline soldiers. Many members of the Loyalty Assurance Detachments only have limited combat training and battlefield experience. They are good terror, rear echelon security and sabotage units, but lack the training or equipment to stand up to conventional troops in a sustained engagement. Deploying them into heated front-line combat by say throwing them against a fortress or into a trenches will result in them being decimated. Armoured fighting vehicles, air support, spacecraft, artillery and the like aren't available to them. They're basically enforcers used to fighting civilians and partisans. Their better soldiers would be taken to the regular army, leaving the lackeys and less well-trained conscripts and volunteers.
- Lightly armoured. Full battle armour is very rare. When available, it tends to have been scavenged and patched together from various sources. They will never receive the most modern equipment or have a regular supply train, which generally means they will have to take what they need.
The Loyalty Assurance Detachments came into being during the chaos generated by the foundation of the Disciples of the Vader and Malitia's Dark Crusade against the Dominion. The fledgling Dominion of Light found itself in a state of total war against a genocidal, human supremacist movement. The crisis propelled religious zeal in the Dominion to new heights. It was unclear who could be trusted, and who not. Vast swathes of territory fell to the enemy, Dominion armies were smashed and countless soldiers fell into captivity.
This generated fears of a fifth column operating in Dominion territory. Enemy paratrooper squads were allegedly being aided by 'Sith-capitalist, reactionary' portions of the human and near-human population to paralyse the Dominion's defences. Dominion military commands ordered that military headquarters, army units and communications be strengthened. Supposed 'bandits' and 'terrorists' were to be shot on the spot.
The struggle against saboteurs and enemy agents was made the responsibility of paramilitary units operating under the command of the Jedi Inquisition. The first Loyalty Assurance Detachments were created as an ad hoc emergency measure in areas near the frontline. They were given the task of providing security in the rear area behind the frontline troops, ensure the security of strategically important enterprises and destroy important economic assets and property that could not be evacuated in time. They were authorised to execute deserters and anyone deemed suspicious without trial, including carrying out violence against civilians.
Formally, they were voluntary units, though several members were forcibly conscripted. Others joined for protection for themselves and their loved ones, or simply to have a warm meal. Local Ashlanite clerics were put in command. From the very beginning, terror against suspicious civilian populations was part of their modus operandi. A series of massacres were carried out against human villages alleged to be sympathetic to the Vaderite cause, in retaliation for mass killings of Twi'leks and Mon Calamari by Vaderite army units.
Thousands were murdered, villages, public buildings, and schools razed. Women and children were among the murdered. Foodstuffs were confiscated to deny them to the enemy, or contaminated. The units acquired the habit of poisoning wells and leaving booby traps behind in civilian residential areas to slow down the enemy advance. The cruel methods employed by the detachments led to a partisan war, as a partisan group called the Forest Friars rose to oppose them. Most of the Loyalty Assurance Detachments' victims were civilians, deserters and partisans, along with some Vaderite agitators and spies.
The full-blown partisan war behind Dominion lines weakened Dominion defences, and alienated people who otherwise would have fought against the Vaderites. Fortunately for the Dominion, the Vaderites' genocidal savagery was even worse. Ironically, the Vaderites used tactics employed by the detachments as an excuse to escalate their pre-planned campaign of genocidal violence. Indeed, as time went by, militiamen and auxiliaries who had served the Vaderite cause defected back to the Loyalty Assurance Detachments. Their ranks were also swelled by the forced recruitment of prison inmates, who were given the choice between service and certain death. Sometimes the detachments were used to steel the nerve of penal units by setting up blocking squads with machine guns that mowed down 'cowards and deserters'.
The Loyalty Assurance Detachments were downsized in the aftermath of the cataclysmic Battle of Palmyra. The Vaderites' grand crusade had been halted, but at a staggering cost, for the former capital had turned into a radioactively contaminated hellscape. A few detachment members were shot or sent to labour camps for looting and other criminal actions. Some units were repurposed to guard infrastructure and support the restoration of Dominion authority in reconquered territories, as well as uncover and eliminate saboteurs and 'disloyal' elements, guard prisons and convoys of detainees. Units that had remained operational in areas occupied by the Vaderites used the intelligence they had gained to help the Inquisition punish collaborators and their families.
They were soon drawn into combat not only with Vaderite sympathisers and independent rebel groups, but also Republican Guard partisans. To that end, they terrorised real and alleged rebel supporters, set up blockhouses to serve as guard posts and supported deportations of 'suspect' civilian populations. They were especially deployed in rural border areas. Some were drafted into supporting the imposition of forced collectivisation policies and the requisition of grain from the peasantry. Said policies led to mass famines. The Loyalty Assurance Detachments became so notorious that they were officially disbanded when a 'moderate' administration came to power.
However, they were reconstituted during the Netherworld War. The calamity drove the Dominion to the brink. The raptures triggered mass panic, sparking uprisings. Many feared the End of Days was at hand. The Republican Guard launched a great offensive, aiming to trigger a general uprising. Many Jedi temples and Inquisition facilities were bombed. After a brief civil war that resulted in the short-lived ascendancy of a faction of 'Light Sith', the Vaderites joined the invasion as unofficial co-belligerents.
The reconstituted Loyalty Assurance Detachments were at the forefront of the scorched earth campaign implemented by the Dominion to buy time and bleed out the enemy by denying them resources. If there was one thing the Dominion had compared to its enemies, it was space. Units blew up or sabotaged parts of the communications network, railway lines, generators and mined roads. They also stole or burnt crops, burnt farms and villages.
But they also paid a high price in blood, for officers and soldiers associated with the detachments past and present were targeted by partisans. Their families were also victims of assassinations. Some Loyalty Assurance Detachments were pulled into full-scale combat, where they performed poorly due to lack of training. Some simply faded away, trying to flee and hide among the civilian population. However, a good number fought fanatically against daunting odds simply because they knew that they could expect no mercy.
Many members were locally recruited, leading to soldiers burning down their own homes and poisoning their own wells. There were instances of angry Dominion soldiers or peasant militia lynching detachment members in retaliation. Moreover, the Vaderites joined the war after an internecine civil war resulted in a faction of 'Light Sith' coming to power. A mixed force of soldiers from a Loyalty Assurance Detachment, regular army engineers and Inquisitors blew up a major dam, triggering a massive flood that covered and devastated thousands of square kilometres of farmland. Indeed, it shifted the course of the Green River by hundreds of kilometres to the south. The local population was purposefully kept in the dark about the plan to avoid alerting the rebels. It was summer time, so the Green River was at its highest.
The Vaderites' advance was slowed, but the calamity inundated entire villages and displaced countless villagers, turning them into refugees. The environmental effects were disastrous. Neighbouring rivers overflowed and the Green River did not resume its normal course for years. The Vaderites were caught off-guard and suffered casualties. Most of the dead were innocent civilians. However, the Dominion considered it a success because many of the flooded towns and transport lines had already been seized by the rebels, and loyalist troops were able to regroup. The Vaderites executed Ashlanite clerics and Dominion supporters in retaliation. The strategic value of the flood was later questioned by a commission, but its report was suppressed. However, the flood did have unexpected repercussions. Most of the casualties had been civilians, but a number of prominent Light Sith leaders had drowned. Ironically in some cases because they had tried to protect people. This helped conservative reactionaries take control once more, which had the effect of further brutalising the conflict. The war ended with the Dominion prevailing over its enemies, but the cost was steep.
Firemane's short but intense campaign against the Dominion has given the Loyalty Assurance Detachments new purpose. With the Dominion in a state of total war, it needs a punitive arm to deny the enemy assets...and punish those viewed as lacking in faulty. When Republican Guard troops breached the defences of the City of Harmonious Industry, a major industrial centre, detachments that were at hand carried out executions of residents suspected of having dissident tendencies and left behind booby traps in factories and power generators. They continue to be active to this day, carrying out acts of sabotage, destroying infrastructure and shooting supposed deserters and rebel sympathisers. Some are still operating behind enemy lines in the Republican Guard-controlled southern half of the city, waging a campaign of terror to disrupt rebel rule.
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