Approved NPC The Emberborne

[Gerwald Lechner]

• Intent: To create a unit of soldiers for the Dreadborne
• Image Credit: created by me www.midjourney.com
• Role: This unit serves as frontline infantry for the Dreadborne
• Permissions: N/A
• Links: N/A

• Unit Name: The Emberborne
• Affiliation: Sith Order
• Classification: Special Operations and Assault
• Description: The Emberborne are the fire of the Second Legion, drawn from non Force warriors who have proven they can survive chaos without hesitation or restraint. They fight as berserkers, but with purpose, advancing through flame, smoke, and destruction to overwhelm defenses through sheer aggression and psychological shock. Unlike the Dreadguard, they are meant to be seen. Their presence ignites fronts, collapses morale, and turns fortified positions into burning ground that cannot be held. Deployed in greater numbers, the Emberborne burn hot and fast, spreading terror and disorder so that what remains can be broken or claimed by those who follow.

• Unit Size: Medium
• Unit Availability: Uncommon
• Unit Experience: Trained
• Equipment:
  
  Armor:​
  • Phase 1 Purger Trooper Armor
  Ranged Weapons:
  • SE-14r Light Repeating Blaster
  • D-93 Incinerator Flamethrower
  • DC-17 Interchangeable Weapon System
  Melee Weapons:​
  • Vibro-ax
  • Vibrosword
  • Vibroblade
  • Electrostaff
  
  
  Grenades and Detonators:​
  • C-25 Fragmentation Grenade
  • Sonic Imploder
  • Thermal Detonator
  • Concussion Grenade
  • Electromagnetic Pulse Grenade
• Combat Function: The Emberborne function as a shock assault force designed to ignite and overwhelm enemy positions through sustained aggression and fire. They are deployed at the opening of major engagements or at points where rapid collapse is desired, advancing in mass rather than precision.
  
  In close combat, they favor relentless forward motion, using flame and brute force to deny cover, flush defenders from positions, and shatter morale. Their tactics emphasize speed and pressure over cohesion, relying on numbers, intimidation, and destruction to break resistance before it can stabilize.
  
  At range, the Emberborne use incendiary weapons and suppressive fire to spread chaos rather than achieve accuracy, forcing enemies to move, abandon cover, or burn. Their role is not to hold ground or finish battles, but to turn stable defenses into uncontrollable fires that the rest of the Second Legion can exploit.
  
• Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): NFU

• Living Pyre - Their use of flame and massed assault overwhelms morale as much as defenses, causing enemies to break position even before contact is made.
• Fuel the Advance - Chaos works in their favor. Smoke, fire, and destruction reduce enemy coordination while allowing the Emberborne to press forward without hesitation.
• Burn Through - Fortifications, cover, and prepared positions lose value under sustained incendiary pressure, forcing defenders into the open where numbers and aggression decide the fight.
• Spreading Wildfire - Deployed in large numbers, the Emberborne rapidly expand the zone of engagement, turning localized resistance into uncontrolled collapse that spreads across the front.

• Burn Out - The Emberborne are built for rapid escalation, not prolonged engagement. If an assault fails to collapse resistance quickly, exhaustion and losses mount faster than they can be replaced in the moment.
• Smoke Blind - Fire and chaos obscure the battlefield for everyone. Heavy smoke and uncontrolled destruction can disrupt coordination, leading to fragmentation once momentum slows.
• Uncontained Flame - Their reliance on incendiaries makes them less flexible in environments where fire cannot be freely employed, such as critical infrastructure, void environments, or areas requiring precision capture.
• Ash After the Fire - The Emberborne do not hold ground well once the initial assault passes. Without follow on forces, gains made through terror and destruction can be difficult to secure or stabilize.

The Emberborne were born on a night when fire solved a problem discipline could not.

The world refused to break. Repeated assaults by the Second Legion tore open outer defenses, yet the enemy withdrew inward each time, sealing corridors and turning every advance into a grinding crawl. Precision failed. Patience failed. The longer the battle dragged on, the more momentum bled away. Irina Jesart and Selene Valeheart watched the reports arrive and understood what the enemy had chosen. They would endure and wait for the Legion to exhaust itself.

Irina changed the question. She ordered a withdrawal and selected warriors who never slowed when heat rose and visibility vanished. These were not subtle fighters and they were not careful ones. They were chosen because retreat never entered their thinking. She stripped away any pretense that control would win the day and armed them for a different purpose. When they returned to the field, their armor was scorched and their weapons burned hot. Their orders were simple. Burn the ground until it could no longer be held.

The Emberborne advanced through smoke and flame, not as ritual, but as release. Fire flooded corridors and rolled across battlements, forcing defenders from cover and collapsing resistance through panic as much as injury. Positions that had absorbed hours of punishment failed in minutes once heat and fear replaced certainty. By the time the Legion followed, the battle was already decided. Resistance still existed in pockets, but the will to hold had turned to ash.

No ceremony followed. The Emberborne did not assemble for recognition. They remained among the ruins they had made, armor blackened and weapons cooling, waiting for the next command. From that campaign forward, their place within the Second Legion was fixed. They were not sent to claim territory or prove strength. They were sent when resistance needed to be erased, and Irina Jesart never used them unless she intended the ground to burn.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Approved.