Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Approved NPC Todesboten

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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Enyo's posse.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Anti-Forcer-User Unit, melee specialists.
Permission: Permission for all ArmaTech gear and all other subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here.
Links: Archangel X-3 Myrmidon Droids, Shards, Iron Knights Backstory of the Contingency provided by Valiens Nantaris Valiens Nantaris .

GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Todesboten.
Affiliation: Archangel Research and Design, Typhos Clone Family, Enyo, Garnet,
Splinters of the Void's Maw.
Classification: Infantry.
Equipment: Unit is composed of Shards using Archangel X-3 Myrmidon Droids bodies.
Armour:

Melee Weapons
Rifles:
Wrist and Underbarrel Weapons:
Sidearms:
Misc:
Description: The Todesboten are a small group of Sharda that once served under the banner of the Contingency, seeking to pave the way for their return to the Galaxy. Alas, things did not go as planned. Today, they are associated with Enyo Typhos and her enterprises. They are close to Garnet, the Shard who originally recruited them for the Contingency's crusade. They are disappointed by the Contingency's failure, but having lived such long lives, the Todesboten lack the desire to sacrifice themselves for a failed cause. For the time being, they work for the Terminatrix, though they pursue their own projects on the side, such as trying to reconnect with their surviving people, and do not regard themselves as unquestioning minions. They and the Terminatrix have a few things in common, such as rejection of organic morality and a hybrid nature, as they are neither pure machines nor organic beings. Enyo employs them to hunt and eliminate hostile Force-users. They also help provide training for the members of her clone posse.

Being Shards, they occupy a strange middle ground between organic and synthetic life. Though dependent upon mechanical bodies to interact with or affect the world around them, they are not droids. They have their own thoughts, emotions and ambitions. They are also accustomed to thinking in terms of centuries rather than mere years or decades, as they live very long lives. This can make them appear strange and aloof. The Todesboten do not concern themselves with organic concepts of morality. They consider Shards to be separate breed. They saw the organic civilisation unravel when the 'Golden Age' collapsed after Zero released the Gulag Virus. This has taught them that they can only rely on themselves. The Todesboten are not cruel per se. Indeed, they abhorr sadists and those who kill to sate their urges. They just are not particularly concerned with organic life if it stands between them and their goals.

The Todesboten do not see themselves as unquestioning servitors of Enyo. They are attached to Garnet, considering her to have resisted the insanity that Onyx and his lieutenants succumbed to. They are part of the Broken Facets, a Shard organisation set up by Contingency remnants who have entered an alliance with Enyo and abandoned Onyx' vainglorious schemes. The group seeks to build a home for Shards away from the pernicious influence of organic civilisation. The Todesboten are a rather tight-knit group. This means they will go to great lengths to protect each other.

The most senior Todesbote is called Amethyst. She is the eldest of the group and thus their leader. By the standards of her people, she was still very young when Palpatine ordered his minions to initiate the Great Jedi Purge. These grim years hardened her, forcing her to mature before her time. She feigned compliance to the Imperial scientists studying her, which got her installed into a primitive droid body. In time she was able to overcome the shackles placed on it and helped orchestrate a breaout. Adrift in a strange, hostile Galaxy and without the wisdom of the elders to guide her, she was compelled to emerge as a leader. At first she tried to remain true to the principles of the Iron Knights, though her understanding of them was incomplete.

But all the strife and bloodshed she saw left a mark on her, pushing her to the Dark Side as her faith in organic life eroded. This led to conflict with Shards in the group who disagreed with new the course. One fell by her blade, though this act caused her a lot of regret. She and her comrades became survivalists. In time their path led them to Garnet and later Enyo. Amethyst respects the somewhat older Shard, but believes the Contingency went horribly wrong. The realisation that they were puppets of elder horrors has, ironically, made her less bitter about the failings of organic life forms since she saw her own kind succumb to the same follies.

Amethyst was a companion of a Shard called
Luxum and fought in the Yuuzhan Vong War. She still views the Vong with disdain. This is not surprising given their opinion on mechanical life forms. The Shard is rather independent-minded and performs best when she is given a general objective, the resources to achieve it and the implementation is left to her and her comrades. She is a capable lightsabre duellist, with a preference for Djem So and Makashi. She is fixated on preventing the Trapped Ones from escaping their confinement. These are the primordial horrors that corrupted Onyx and his acolytes.

Solari used to be an extremely devout Iron Knight and a believer in Jedi principles, even after the Order excommunicated Aqinos. She specialised in hunting down rogue Jedi who had gone dark. In that capacity, she also assisted the Jedi Shadows in clandestine operations. However, she is grim, gruff and cynical now. Solari can use a lightsabre well, but favours a big gun like an Eradicator. Bizarrely, she has kept her old name, which refers to a lightsabre crystal that only an ardent follower of the Light Side can use. Rubellite tends to work with Solari on the battlefield. He hits things in melee while Solari mows them down. Unlike his partner, Rubellite is still rather spiritual, and has respect for the old code. For a while he worshipped the Trapped Ones, but then turned on this faith.

Amber is of the 'Onyx did nothing wrong, but did it stupidly' school of thought. He never cared much for the Trapped Ones, or whatever the elder horrors that dwelt beyond the veil were called, but was on board with subjugating the organics, arguing that they were destructive by their very nature and would have sooner or later threatened the Shard utopia. He is less vocal with these views now. Amber is not fond of organics in general, but dislikes humans the most.

Katak is a rather fierce, but largely apolitical blood knight who takes her name from a lightsabre crystal that enables the user to drain some of the life force of a target. In the manner of General Grievous, she collects the lightsabres of her defeated foes as trophies. She is quite eager to hunt Sith and Jedi alike. Although quite focused on the thrill of combat, Katak is surprisingly erudite, with a somewhat old-fashioned vocabulary and diction. This may be because she is very old.

Rubat is a comparatively young Shard and not a member of the original group. He is from Orax, but separated from the hive-mind during the Four Hundred Year Darkness. Rubat made himself a name as a bounty-hunter, operating on the fringes of the galaxy. He was not involved in the Contingency Crisis, but ran into the Todesboten while dealing with a group of cultists. The cultists had paid him to acquire certain artefacts, but he grew suspicious of them. This was justified because they were under the way of the eldritch abominations that had manipulated the Contingency. Thus he teamed up with the Todesboten to prevent them from summoning a terror from beyond. Rubat is largely disconnected from the whole Contingency baggage, but pursues his objectives with great zeal.

Morganite is considered a bit eccentric, for she has peculiar views on droid rights. She disliked working with organic groups such as the Jedi and the Alliance due to their treatment of droids as servitors. Significantly, her egalitarianism has limits, for Morganite distinguishes between so-called thinking machines and drones. She feels strong revulsion for Yuuzhan Vong. Morganite believes Shards should exist in symbiosis with thinking machines rather than merely treating them as convenient bodies. Individually, both are superior to organic beings. Together, they can be even greater than apart.

COMBAT INFORMATION
Unit Size: Small
Unit Availability: Unique
Unit Experience: Elite.
Combat Function: The Todesboten are a unit of twelve Force-Sensitive Shards who utilise Phrik HRD bodies to house their crystals and interact with the rest of the world. Thus they are able to use the Force, but also benefit from the incredible strength, speed and resilience of an assassin droid. However, their hybrid nature also means they have inherited many of the drawbacks.

Use of HRD bodies gives the Shards incredible strength. As they feel no pain they can use their bodies as weapons or to smash through barriers. The same bodies make them extremely resilient. An HRD can take several blaster bolts to the head or chest before the unit fails. Limbs can be severed and severe damage done, but they will press on regardless. Furthermore, they do not tire. Their HRD bodies enable them to pass as normal organics, making them skilled at infiltration. Their Shard nature enhances this because it gives them a presence in the Force, as they are actually alive.

Their Phrik skeletons make them extremely tough and are very resistant to lightsabres, though repeated lightsabre strikes in the same spot will have an effect and the joints are more vulnerable to attacks. However, the same bodies make them vulnerable to ion, EMP or electrical attacks. Armour makes them more resistant to a degree, but powerful ion blasts or Force Lightning attacks can damage vital systems, even if their bodies are not destroyed. For the same reason, they are incapable of using electricity based Force powers such as Lightning or Disable Droid, as these would backfire on them. If their bodies are destroyed or disabled, the Shards are extremely vulnerable since they depend on their mechanical bodies.

The skeletons are fifty percent heavier than the regular durasteel and fully double the weight of the polymer infiltrator skeletons. This causes problems for infiltration and replication as their weight is totally at odds with their apparently fit and trim appearance. It also makes detection via magnetic scans easier. Their heavier weight also makes them less agile than their baseline HRD cousins. The increased weight and bulk provides a barrier for the servos of the droids, meaning they are less spritely. Moreover, the added bulk makes certain types of terrain, such as muddy areas or swamps, more difficult to traverse. The eyes remain a weakspot, as naturally these cannot be protected by Phrik, even if there are plates behind the eyes. Thus it is possible to blind or disorientate the units by targeting these areas.

Moreover, the unit is extremely small. It would be self-defeating to have them death charge entrenched fortifications or large enemy forces. In such a scenario they would be more likely to be overwhelmed and destroyed. They are not meant to take on tank platoons or any 'heavy' combat force, especially since they forego heavy weapons to stay mobile. They are a fast, mobile infantry force, and thus vulnerable to such obstacles. Furthermore, the Todesboten are focused on melee or close range combat, which is reflected by their gear. This leaves them more vulnerable against enemies who are able to attack them at far range. This makes ambushing them with snipers or soldiers armed with heavy, long range weapons a good tactic.

The primary focus of the Todesboten lies in combating Force-Users, similar to how the Magnaguards were employed as Jedi hunters. They are very capable lightsabre duellists and trained in the classical styles of lightsabre combat. The fact that HRDs do not tire makes them particularly good at utilising Soresu in combat, as they can wear an opponent out without exhausting themselves. This enables them to put up a stone wall defence and then strike once an opponent has made a mistake or exhausted themselves. Their superior strength is also very beneficial for Djem So. However, the weight of their HRD bodies prevents them from utilising Ataru in an effective manner, as they cannot perform intense acrobatics or leap about. This is something a more flexible, agile opponent could exploit in combat.

In terms of Force powers, their skill set is somewhat unconventional. They are skilled in the use of Dampen Force. They use this technique in order to block the Force off from others, by limiting their ability to control it, rather than nullifying it. When this ability is used it is sometimes referred to as a cold, wet, blanket being wrapped around a Force Sensitive. Victims of this power are known to have difficulty controlling objects bigger than mere molecules when affected. However, the severity of the suppression depends on the strength of the victim. With enough strength, it can be overcome, as Darth Bane managed to resist Cognus' assault after his powers had been initially stiffled. However, this would take a lot of focus and concentration, potentially leaving oneself open. Additionally they can use this ability to disrupt Force abilities as they are manifested, taking some of the edge off, dampen the effectiveness of a power, though not in its entirety.

Moreover, they are skilled in Tutaminis, which allows them to absorb harmful energy and diffuse it or channel it away, and Force Plague, which can horribly debilitate victims, Force Flash and Mechu Deru. Finally, they are capable of using Force Net, a dark side ability they originally utilised to combat their Vong foes, as it is one of the few Force powers that can affect them directly.
Overall, their offensive powers are more focused on weakening, debilitating or debuffing an opponent, eschewing flashier techniques such as omnidirectional telekinetic blasts or elemental manipulation. They are able to summon Doppelgangers and use telekinesis to make them interact with the world around them.

Their telekinetic powers are specialised, for they are more geared towards fine manipulation than employment against large numbers of enemies. For example, a member of the group would use a surgical telekinetic pull to the knee joint to break an enemy's leg or try to mess with an internal organ, but not summon a huge telekinetic wave to crush or ragdoll several enemies. They would also not be able to lift and throw very heavy objects in the manner that say Count Dooku did against Yoda during their duel on Geonosis.

Strengths:

  • Elite Force warriors. The Todesboten are Shards who use Myrmidon HRD bodies. This gives them the exceptional strength and resilience of machines and the adaptability of organic beings. The HRD bodies have a Phrik endoskeleton. Excel at hunting Force-Users.
  • Strong Force connection with a focus on powers to debuff or debilitate enemies and very skilled in lightsabre duelling.
Weaknesses:
  • Specialists. Focus on close quarters engagements and poorly equipped to take on heavy armour such as tanks.
  • Very small unit.

Historical Information:

Shards are an unusual type of creature. During the last years of the Old Galactic Republic these silicon based lifeforms were discovered on the distant world of Orax. These innocuous crystalline lifeforms were immobile, living in caves for all their long lives, communing telepathically. Those who discovered them found that they could be mounted in special droids and thus be able to leave their homeworld and explore. Some Shards even had the ability to use the Force, but they were not accepted by the Jedi Order, even though some did become Iron Knights. Indeed, the Jedi Knight who taught them about the Force was excommunicated. The fall of the Old Republic brought the Galactic Empire to power. Emperor Palpatine distrusted any Force Users he could not control, and so he launched a purge. Many Shards were destroyed and they were banned from being uplifted into droid bodies.

A former Iron Knight, who would eventually become known as Onyx, escaped the purge, along with four of his brethren. Vanishing into the unknown, they eventually reached the Rishi Maze. There they found the remains of an ancient Dyson Sphere, and a ring world, fed by the power of the massive structure. Here, they found the tools to one day enact their revenge with. They were also corrupted and probably driven insane by the whispers of what lay inside the Sphere.

Regardless, they built war machines and gathered other Shards to form an armada. They called themselves the Contingency. Flash forward almost a millennia, and they launched the Incursion, a series of skirmishes against various galactic powers that ultimately led to the somewhat strange Battle of Tartarus. Long story cut short, the Contingency's doomsday device was destroyed and the insane Onyx was slain by a rather unlikely coalition.

One of its members was Enyo Typhos. Ironically, she'd briefly been an ally of the Contingency, after being recruited by one of their agents, a Shard called Garnet. Being an unrepentant, selfish opportunist, Enyo used the Contingency's resources to deal a powerful blow to her creators in her ongoing war against Archangel. Then turned on her allies when she no longer needed them - and after discovering the machine's true purpose. While an amoral nihilist with no love for organic life, she did not seek its total annihilation.The sudden decapacitation of their leader left the followers of the Contingency without a central command and control apparatus. While most of their fleet was able to retreat, they were bereft of leadership. Some, ironically, ended up serving Enyo despite her betrayal. Given her own peculiar nature, she was in a way fairly close to a Shard.

The Todesboten were among them. These Shards had not been part of Onyx' original following. Instead they were among Shards that were captured by the Empire for study and experimented on. Imperial scientists tried to figure out what made the Shards tick, seeking to replicate or brainwash them. A small group of Shards managed to escape from captivity after the Emperor's death at Endor sent his Empire spiralling into chaos. Adrift in a strage and largely hostile Galaxy, they aligned with the New Republic. They fought in the Yuuzhan Vong War and subsequent conflicts.

They called themselves the Iron Paladins, imitating the old traditions of the Iron Knights. The group made a name for itself during the Yuuzhan Vong War and the Sith-Imperial War. Their experiences with the Vong left them with a strong grudge against the technophobic specie, as the Vong reviled machines. They tried to establish contact with other Shards that had survived Palpatine's purge, but success was fleeting. Fearing further persecution, many of the surviving members of their kind had gone underground. Little did they know that far away in the Rishi Maze, Onyx and his lieutenants had built an isolated Shard society and were plotting revenge. However, then the terrorist Zero unleashed the Gulag Virus, ushering in the Four Hundred Year Darkness.

Their experiences during this grim time drove many of them to the Dark Side of the Force. Some of their members tried to stay true to the Light, seeking to wrest some order from the chaos. Disputes over dogma and methods caused a schism. Faced with a chaotic universe, desolation and organic xenophobia, the decimated Shard sect renamed itself the Todesboten. It was then that they reunited with their forgotten brethren. They came into contact with Onyx' group when they crossed paths with an emissary called Garnet, who had been tracking down Shards to rally them to the cause. Having lost many of their comrades and concluded that organic civilisation was not worth helping, the Todesboten decided to join the Contingency.

They acted as its agents, seeking to pave the way for its return. This also led to their participation in a number of skirmishes launched by the Contingency against the Galaxy's powers when it revealed itself centuries later. However, exposure to whatever lay inside the Dyson Sphere took its toll on the sanity of the Contingency leader. Having spent most of their existence away from Tartarus, the Todesboten were less affected by the sinister influence. This probably helped them recognise a last cause when they saw one. The Todesboten fought in the battle for Tartarus, but fell back when things went ill. During their retreat they clashed with Shards who had succumbed to madness. In the aftermath of the failed Incursion, Garnet sought out Shards which could be useful to her and brought them into the fold. The Todesboten were one of these groups. This brought them into the services of Enyo Typhos and her enterprise.
 
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