Vanring: Establishing the Vanguard

[Juggernaut]

Vanring was a so-called rocky giant being the fifth planet in the Velestria system, home to the Eternal Empire. In order to find an intriguing battle simulation environment, Juggernaut decided on Vanring due to its crushing gravity, thick, toxic atmosphere and frequent earthquakes. With the planet's circumference being 2.3 times larger than that of Coruscant, it was a perfect location to establish a hellish combat training facility to train new members of the Rearguard.

Vanring would be the new location for Juggernaut's First Test, a selection examination for new recruits to see if they were acceptable to be apart of Juggernaut's personal army.

As Juggernaut stood on the bridge of an Acclamator-class Assault Ship as 10,000 conscripts, gathered through slave markets, mercenary groups, direct recruitment, kidnapping recruits of other paramilitary groups and militaries, and any another means possible. There was a general physical requirement, with specialized molecular body physique scans and genetic testing to identify potential candidates that were too young or physically unfit. There was also a general mental requirement, gauged through rigorous academic testing, intensive interviews, extensive background checks, and close monitoring. Finally, before being allowed to take the First Test, a Sith Acolyte would test the force potential and mental strength of each conscript.

Those with great potential that were too young or physically unfit were accepted as students to a subsidiary training program, the Crimson Academy, where they would be trained less intensely over longer durations. Anyone else was thrown in the next batch of Conscripts to undergo a year of Juggernaut's training, informally called "A Year in Hell."

The 10,000 Conscripts gathered represented some of the toughest and fiercest warriors and soldiers collected from the galaxy, being of numerous races and species. One of the missions of Goliath Company that could be repeated infinitely times was to recruit more Conscripts that met Juggernaut's harsh physical, mental, and skill requirements. The mission was at most times considered the safest and therefore, most accepted mission that doled out above-average rewards that scaled with the potential of the Conscripts brought. And so, Juggernaut always had a massive inflow of Conscripts to use as meatshields train and expand the size of his Rearguard. The year of "training" would produce a few hundred Goliaths at best, and maybe four or five new Rearguards.

They would first be tested here, in Vanring, to see if they qualified to don the Rearguard 'Conscript' Armor and serve as apart of 'Goliath Company' as a true Conscript. Goliath Company was a contract-based professional army hired by Juggernaut and served as a subsidiary military organization to the Rearguard, sending the elites to join the Rearguard. In the beginning, all conscripts signed a life or death contract with Goliath Company that forfeited their lives in exchange for anything. Those who knew of the Goliath Company feared that they would be enticed by this "deal with the devil," and warned others that nothing was worth becoming a blood-mongering fanatic.

And so, Goliath Company, at this point, had thousands of Conscripts, and had a simple rank system:

• 'Conscript'
  ​Authority Level: None
• Description: Most basic rank in Goliath Company, donning Rearguard 'Conscript' Armor and being able to requisition weaponry, munitions, equipment and other supplies in exchange for Ichor.
• Yearly Payment: 1 drop of Ichor

[*]​'Orc'

• Authority Level: None​
• Description: Conscripts who have distinguished themselves are given the half-rank of 'Orc' and are squad leaders of 10 other Conscripts. While there is no increase in authority or privileges, becoming an Orc is an impressive feat considering the 90% mortality rate among Conscripts in Juggernaut's First Test.
• Yearly Payment: 1 drop of Ichor

[*]'Goliath'

• Authority Level: White
• Description: Conscripts who have proven their ability and skill are accepted as true members of Goliath Company and are provided a standard load-out of better weaponry and equipment, including the Rearguard 'Goliath' Armor. Goliaths either serve as Company or Platoon leaders, operate as independent mercenaries, serve as instructors within Goliath Company, or finally, join specialized 'Goliath' mercenary crews. The eight top-ranking Goliaths of each year is sent to join the 'Rearguard' or are allowed to accept Juggernaut's Gauntlet to become a 'Goliath-Commander'
• Yearly Payment: 1 ampoule of Ichor

[*]'Goliath-Commander'

• Authority Level: Grey
• Description: Reaching this rank signifies immense combat expertise, survivability, and individual skill, and Goliath-Commanders oversee entire Corps. There are currently 8 total Goliath-Commanders, with 1 serving as the Dean of the Crimson Academy, 4 commanding Goliath Company's Four Corps, 2 operating as independent mercenaries, and the last serving as Goliath Company's XO.
• Yearly Payment: 1 vial of Ichor

[*]'Goliath-Warmaster'

• Authority Level: Black
• Description: The marshal of Goliath Company, the rank is achieved through individual strength, masterful stratagem, and utmost resolve. The current Goliath-Warmaster is Pitfiend, an Echani Sith Master of lightsaber combat and Force Enhancement.

Ichor was the common currency of Goliath Company and the Rearguard, and was one of the primary reasons so many were incentivized to undergo Juggernaut's hellish battles and trainings. Measured in drops, with greater quantities being measured through standardized containers, Ichor was a bio-engineered, alchemized elixir that increased an organism's lifeforce. Most sentient beings gained additional years to their lifespan, became younger, and were able to train and improve their bodies further after consuming Ichor. The standardized quantities of Ichor were drops (individual units), ampoules (10 drops), vials (100 drops), and flasks (1000 drops).

Beyond the Rearguard and Goliath Company existed Titans, who were the strongest and most powerful of Juggernaut's mercenaries. All of the Titans were masters of their respective fields and there were currently four Titans: the Titan of Fire, Water, Wind and Earth. The Titan of Fire was responsible for the creation of Ichor and was a master Sith Alchemist and Force Artificer. The Titan of Water was a Witch Elder that focused on magicks and elemental Force powers and was responsible for large-scale engagements. The Titan of Wind was a Sith Master that focused on illusions and psychic powers. The Titan of Earth was a hulking cyborg that was the public member of the Titans, serving as the Head of the Rearguard and was often operating in the background of all of Juggernaut's mercenary contracts and battles.

 

[Juggernaut]

On the bridge of the Acclamator-class Assault Ship, Juggernaut overlooked a massive crater on the surface of Vanring. This crater would the location of a state-of-the-art military fortress, Tartarus, that would be able to firmly withstand the planet's frequent earthquakes. In fact, one of the special features of Tartarus was that it was completely submersible into the surface of Vanring: a complex series of massive repulsorlift generators and mechanical ramparts would push Tartarus deeper and deeper into the surface of the planet until reaching the planet's solid upper mantle. As Tartarus descended deeper into the planet, mining extensions would extract materials from the earthen flesh of Tanring, fueling its own military production and further fortifications. Massive hyperbatteries passively collected the heat produced from the massive underground pressures, and redirected their collected energy to powering the fortress's massive thermal shields and sinks as well as masking the thermal profile of Tartarus to make it indistinguishable to other geological features in the crust and mantle. Tartarus, in fact, would be able to slowly traverse through the crust of Vanring, allowing the fortress to be semi-mobile and harder to identify or locate.

Another key feature of Tartarus, were its massive internal boundaries and military factories: while they could be tooled to produce military munitions, the primary focus of the factories were to constantly expand the defenses and size of Tartarus, reinforcing the external hull of Tartarus with further armor plating, more shielding systems, defensive turbolaser emplacements, and more. While currently Tartarus was only the size of a small city, Juggernaut envisioned the fortress developing into a massive military complex that spanned the surface of Vanring. The fortress was thus built with a modular and interchangeable design, with all components being replaceable as technology developed and more resources were acquired.

Currently, Tartarus was being built with the bare minimum specifications and was in-fact initially constructed with components of a derelict Pharaoh-class Battlecarrier. Tartarus would have extensive crew quarters and barracks to house up to 20,000 combatants and 10,000 crew members, as well as a material extraction facility and a fabrication factory to further expand Tartarus independently. While the minimal defense systems and operation of the fortress would only require at most 400 crew members, Juggernaut had brought a team of 4000 additional military researchers and combat engineers to lead the future development of Tartarus, including research and development into future military munitions and equipment.

Juggernaut had secured an extensive requisition of weaponry, armor, and military vehicles from the Eternal Empire for military training use, and distributed a portion to the 10,000 Conscripts he had brought with him. In addition, he ransacked a lost Confederacy of Independent Systems military installation in the Unknown Regions of their battle droids, weaponry, starships and military vehicles to act as part of the First Test's challenge. He had designated one of the graduation tests for the Crimson Academy to mount an effective military defense on Vanring, with each senior student being responsible for an area and assigned a standardized amount of the seized Confederacy cache of battle droids and more. The test was a simple binary: fend off the Conscripts of Juggernaut's First Test to pass and fail otherwise.

Looking over some of the defense plans of the seniors at the Crimson Academy on his datapad, Juggernaut silently pitied the upcoming misfortune of the incoming Conscripts. As Juggernaut gave one final look at the ongoing construction within the pit for Tartarus, he left the bridge of the Acclamator-class Assault Ship and headed down to the main staging grounds to begin the First Test.

His Rearguard had ordered the Conscripts to stand at attention in a perfectly formed rank and file formation and to wait for Juggernaut's first order. And they stood there for the past ten hours enduring in absolute silence.

Seeing the 10,000 Conscripts waiting for his command, he motioned for one of the Rearguard to pass him their blaster rifle. Aiming the blaster rifle hap-hazardously into the army of Conscripts, he instantly released a hail of fire, hitting a few dozen Conscripts and startlingly each of the Conscripts to various degrees.

As soon as he finished, Juggernaut coldly stated, "When I tell you to stand at attention, you stand there for eternity unless I tell you to move.

Your lives are now mine. You have signed the life and death contract with the Goliath Company and I alone will determine your life or death. If I shoot you, you get shot. If I ask you to fire, you fire. If I ask you to die, you die.

The Rearguard has already assessed your reactions. To those who followed their orders in the face of death, congratulations. You will be rewarded for your obedience. To those that dared to move, I know who you are."

As the Rearguard and Goliath Company dragged the stunned bodies of those who had been shot, Juggernaut swiftly left the staging grounds and returned to his personal quarters in the Acclamator-class Assault Ship to oversee the first challenge of the First Test.

 

[Juggernaut]

​

Crimson Academy​

The Crimson Academy was located in a black site location in Kalidan's Southern Lowlands, and was a massive academic building constructed from permacrete and durasteel. The building housed a large central atrium, which were the main gathering grounds of the Academy during major assemblies. The rest of the building was divided into training facilities, classrooms, hololibraries, dormitories, and mess halls, with a massive underground complex that supported the daily operations of the Academy, served as long-term storage, and had secret meeting grounds and bases for students and staff. The Academy had no qualms about what went on within its halls, as long as results were produced and the Academy was paid its proper value in Ichor, it had no care for how the school was run.

Thus, the Academy was divided into various competing factions all ruled by the iron fist of the Dean of the Crimson Academy.

One large faction was comprised of Dragon Kin who reveled in the riches, wealth and glory serving Juggernaut offered. While few in number, the Dragon Kin corralled their large number of servants and subordinates to effectively control a large stake of the Academy.

Another faction was comprised of Mountainers who were contracted to staff, manage and work the Academy's common tasks: while their poorer statuses compared to the Dragon Kin earned them scorn and mockery, the Mountainers in fact controlled a significant portion of the Crimson Academy's underground complex and additionally, had an entire Clan surrounding the Academy that were responsible for maintaining the grounds and basic operations. Some of the main responsibilities of the Mountainers were infrastructure, construction, and expansion of the Academy; they were also responsible for day-to-day operations of food production, sanitation, and more to keep the Academy operational and liveable.

The final faction were the Imperials, who were civilians who chose the mercenary lifestyle of Goliath Company instead of the life of military service for the Eternal Empire. While they had refused to become soldiers, they were still fiercely nationalistic and loyal to their home country and represented the Eternal Empire's best interest in the Crimson Academy. The Imperials were the most open and diverse of all the factions.

While there were numerous other minor and subordinate factions, these three were the major factions each represented by a Goliath. Goliaths were the main members of Goliath Company and they earned their status as elites, enduring Juggernaut's "A Year in Hell" as Conscripts and earning enough merits and strength to prove themselves true members of Juggernaut's army.

Here,