ʜᴄ sᴠɴᴛ ᴅʀᴀᴄᴏɴᴇs
Image Credit: "Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave," by InvisibleAvatar
Name: Imperial Covert Deployment Unit Caldera-7, a.k.a. "Street Demons"
Intent: A plausible, unique manner of maintaining an effective Imperial presence on Malachor while still keeping in line with Antherion's own, covert ambitions.
Affiliation: The Risen Empire, Antherion
Availability: Rare (Unique to Malachor)
Quality: C
Type: Deep Cover Infiltration / Special Operations / Rapid Deployment
Strength: 90 in Detachment Besh (The Spheres), 110 in Detachment Aurek (The Tainted City).
Description: The only thing more difficult than claiming a world is keeping it under control -- and Malachor V is a special case indeed. Rife with a deep anti-authoritarian sentiment, the government of the system is best described as a 'stable anarchy,' with public affairs largely being managed by the conflicting interests of corporations and criminal syndicates. When he was the unquestioned Lord of the system, Abyss was content to govern through a hands-off manner, intervening with hidden devotees only when necessary. Antherion takes a different approach, however, preferring to centralize things. He enjoys the rustic charm of Malachor's Unchained, but would far prefer that whatever competition took place on the surface was all extensions of his own power base.
Similarly, lacking faith in the ultimate stability of the Resurgent Empire, he seeks to maintain as much independence from the larger body of Imperial troops while still maintaining an independent connection, believing that should it collapse, the power structure of the Malachor system would ultimately be preserved. To this end, he needed a special breed of soldier to work his will on the defiant populace.
This soldier would become a citizen of the desperate, crime-ridden world of Malachor. They'd do footwork for gangs and climb the ranks, they'd enlist in corporate security. They'd be fishmongers and firefighters, assassins and artisans. Yet each one would keep and maintain their own military equipment receive Imperial salary (by discrete, laundered means) and keep ready to communicate. When the alert goes out, these innocuous civilians don masks, engage whatever violence or theft is deemed necessary. Coordinated action by trained soldiers with weapons beyond what normal thugs have access to means this force can crumple problematic gangs, assassinate troublesome bosses, or 'disappear' journalists that dig too deep.
Christened "The Street Demons" by the local gangs they've brushed up against for their shared traits with the appearing and disappearing Force-creature of legend, these soldiers are taken, not from the Sphere of War, but rather from the Spheres of Domain and Intelligence, requisitioned as such that their leader never oversteps. There are a number of qualities looked for in suitable members: capacity for long-term loyalty, competence in urban fighting, observational and espionage skills, but there is one factor above all that is used for deciding: Do they have one or more children?
At the unofficial base of operations for the Empire on Malachor, the mysterious "Panopticon" of Antherion, these children are being trained to be the next, proper Street Demons, spies integrated into the culture from birth and trained at the feet of Sith Assassins to be an enduring fist loyal only to their masters. Regular holocalls are permitted, along with intermittent visits, but one thing is made apparent -- their lives are in the hands of their parents, determined by competence and loyalty.
Links: Standard-Issue Equipment
T-21 Light Repeating Blaster or Dur-24 Wrist Laser
Holdout Blaster
Flashbang Grenades
Note: Due to the covert nature of their work, and the lengthy period of their infiltration (honestly intended to be a lifetime position, even if they may not believe that their masters intend that) the Street Demons tend to resupply and requisition less than their fellow Imperial counterparts. As such, equipment may be replaced with black-market acquisitions or repaired and personalized by the individual.
For similar reasons, typical Imperial weapons suppliers are avoided to prevent them from being traced back to their actual source. These troops are instructed to use bombings or sniping to eliminate those captured to prevent them from giving up their secrets before they get the chance.
Lastly, for these individuals, suspected followers, corruption by, or evidence of Darth Abyss is to be met with capture if indirect contact, or if the man himself, immediate retreat and direct contact to the Panopticon. It is one of their top priorities to root out and subsume/eliminate lingering influence of the Darth.
