- "Trust in each other and keep your eyes peeled and we’ll all go home in one piece."
- ―Mirus Cavataio
The Wardens of Unity, also known as The Wardens, are a Battleteam of Taldryan. The team was formed in 36 ABY as a special force within the House led by rookie commander, Mirus Cavataio. The Wardens are trained to handle the day-to-day tasks for the House Summit, which are either too difficult or too sensitive for the regular military to deal with. Under the guidance of their commander, the Wardens are proving to be an exceptional unit with the training and skills to tackle assignments both locally and throughout the Galaxy.
History
Mirus Cavataio, first Warden-Commander.
In the aftermath of the Horizons plague, House Taldryan's summit realized that there was a dire need for a rapid response team during the reorganization of the Taldryan Expansionary Force. This necessitated the formation of a team dedicated to the missions that required an organized team of Dark Jedi, ones that could be called on whenever needed, unlike the chaotic nature of the Old Folks' Home. A new strike team was proposed for various missions requiring skills ranging from discretion to destruction, as well as guarding the populace of Taldryan's holdings from the direst threats. Taking the most promising from the ranks of the students and battle-hardened veterans alike, the Summit decreed the new battleteam to be the Wardens of Unity, named for the strongest weapon Taldryan ever possessed: its brotherhood.
Quaestor Rian Aslar approached his apprentice, Mirus Cavataio, to form this elite unit. While Mirus had some initial doubt, he sought out a variety of members from across Taldryan, people who he had encountered before or knew of by reputation, such as Phoenix Phyle veteran and prior leader Bubbles Taldrya, or the Master and Apprentice team Lokasena Corvinus (also a veteran of Phoenix) and Miranda Goto. Upon tentative assembly of the team, Mirus was given access to the vaults of Phoenix Phyle and extracted parts of its equipment while commissioning new gear from Taldryan's finest armorers. With the first batch of Wardens ready for action, the Wardens of Unity began operations in 36 ABY.
Role
Each individual member of the battleteam is referred to as a Warden, its leader referred to as Warden-Commander. Each Warden has autonomous freedom to act within the confines of Taldryan space in order to stamp out threats and investigate any transgressions that they may come across, in consultation with the House Summit. This allows the Wardens to act swiftly and decisively against smaller threats that can be easily handled or coordinate with other forces of Taldryan in order to tackle larger and more comprehensive missions.
Wardens serve not only as soldiers and inquisitors but also loremasters and researchers. The wide range of experience belonging to the Wardens typically covers any discipline required on any mission; Orders are mixed interchangeably to allow for the spreading of knowledge and applications. In this way, whatever task the House Summit puts before the Wardens to accomplish, they can and will find a way to do it. Any available Warden can take missions at any time without prompting from the Warden-Commander.
Aegis Hall
The Great Hall on Karufr.
The Wardens’ facility is a compound part of the Taldryan Great Hall named Aegis Hall. Two armed guards stand at the hall’s entrance at all times and only members of the Wardens and their support personnel are ever granted permission to enter. In here the Wardens conduct their business, while its levels descend lower and lower underground for security. A turbolift connects all three levels on the southern end to an exit chamber, with the rest of each level being designed in a horseshoe shape.
The uppermost level has the main hall and the library, in which relics and books alike are kept covering a wide variety of topics that the Wardens may need to call to access, specifically on the holdings of the Brotherhood and other ancient knowledge of the Krath, Sith and Obelisk Orders. The most dangerous of these are kept in a secured vault, also guarded by two sentries. Access to the restricted vault comes from the Warden-Commander and the House Summit.
The second level holds the training halls, of which there are three rooms, all designed with a specific purpose in mind. The first is a fully equipped shooting range with holographic targets, good for ranges up to fifty feet. The second room is a close-quarters training room with striking dummies, weapons racks padded floor mats for ground-fighting in which all armed and unarmed martial arts can be trained. The third room is a fully-equipped gym with everything from weights machines to weights racks and cardio training machines. Punching bags, speed balls and floor mats for stretching are also provided here.
The third floor plays host to an amphitheater that serves as a meeting room and briefing room all in one. On the far end is a small dais upon which the speaker stands and two rows of plastic chairs on the far side that are raised up slightly for better viewing access. In the middle of the room is a large projector for displaying all kinds of mission-relevant information.
The lowest floor is the command and control center. In here, the Wardens and the House Summit can monitor communications, track fleet movements all across Taldryan space and gather intelligence before deploying on a mission by using the standard Taldryan networks. This room provides the Wardens with constant, up-to-date information with all intelligence that they may require.
Training
Wardens’ training is quick and basic given that many Wardens already learn or possess much of the required skills from their Master. Each Warden is given a very intense three-part training course over a week that allows them to undertake all of the tasks that they may be required to do independently, giving them a very honed and keen edge against all foes. Those with prior battleteam experience (for example, those in Phoenix Phyle) may opt out of any stage of the training – all new recruits are required to complete all three stages before deployment. All Wardens take a tour of Aegis Hall and are introduced to its many features before being shipped off to the training course.
Advanced Equite survival training on Taruma.
All Wardens undergo basic weapons training beyond that of a lightsaber in the first phase; they must be familiar with use of a vibroknife, a blaster and at least one unarmed combat discipline for subduing an enemy. The Head Combat Instructor at Aegis Hall carries out this training. This training also incorporates specific use of the armor and blaster that all Wardens are given.
The second phase of training is survival training. Wardens are sent to the world of Taruma for a four-day survival course through forested, jungle and oceanic terrain, ensuring they know basic hostile terrain survival, first aid and movement skills such as abseiling. The final day is essentially a solo survival challenge; random dangers are sprung on the Warden, such as wild beast attacks, theft of food and forced marches and multiple-mile swimming sessions are commonplace. This is easily the most rigorous and difficult part of the training course.
The final phase is a one-day ‘tutorial’ course, teaching Wardens about the Kr'Tal System and the Rybanloth System as well as other Taldryan holdings in some detail. This phase includes how to interact with military commanders without undermining their authority and how to requisition additional gear or resources from the House Summit. Once this phase is completed, a Warden’s training is complete.
Other training can be acquired from the Head Combat Instructor, Chief Armorer or from other Wardens who specialize in the advanced fields that one wishes to improve in. Sharing of knowledge and skills is highly encouraged and should be done wherever possible in order to ensure the advancement of each individual Warden’s talents.
Equipment
Personal Equipment
Wardens are encouraged to cultivate their own set of equipment customized to their tastes given each Warden's individual style in regards to completing any given particular task. However, a standard kit of equipment is issued to each Warden upon joining to cover any gaps in their equipment that they may not be able to cover. The equipment is designed to resemble that of a standard soldier with considerable firepower.
Phase II-mod.IV battle armor with utility belt.
Phase II-mod.IV Battle Armor
This armor is based off two varieties of Republic-type armor; it is a blending of the aesthetic look of the ancient Galactic Republic's trooper armor with the functionality and build of the more modern Phase II clone trooper armor. Using plastoid plating with a temperature-insulated black bodyglove, this provides basic protection from environmental attacks and basic kinetic damage in the same way its predecessor does. It also incorporates an armor-cam, wrist-mounted comlink and bio-scanners. Standard armor is painted in dark gray with brown trims, but the colors can be modified to suit personal tastes. The helmet is also an optional addition.
DC-17m ICWS & DC-15s blasters.
DC-17m Interchangeable Weapons System
The DC-17m is the Wardens’ primary piece of weaponry, first used by the Galactic Republic's clone commandos and then liberated from the vaults of Phoenix Phyle for re-use after being re-calibrated by the Head Armorer. Designed as an adaptable, multi-role weapon, the DC-17m saves space and weight in any trooper’s kit, though is considerably more expensive than standard blaster rifles employed by most military forces. For the purposes of the Wardens, this kind of flexible weapon espouses their doctrine of individual adaptability and suits them perfectly. The weapon has three primary attachments, any of which can be changed out by swapping the barrel and magazine attachment for a different piece – the main of these is a rapid-firing ion pulse rifle effective against droid and organic targets alike. Second is a long-range sniper attachment that has both 10x and 20x magnification for long-range shots on its scope. Third is an anti-armor grenade launcher with considerable explosive yield, with four shots before reload. There are currently no other attachments available to the Wardens.
DC-15s Sidearm
The DC-15s is a matching weapon to the DC-17m, using many of the same parts found in the larger blaster weapon. Its primary feature is its self-recharging energy chamber, lowering the amount of tibanna gas required for the weapon to expend with each shot. The DC-15s can fire seven shots before needing to recharge at least one shot before firing again; a small display shows how much charge is in the weapon that decreases with each shot fired. These are light, easy to carry weapons and make an excellent emergency backup in a combat situation.
Standard Issue Utility Belt
This utility belt is designed to carry a wide array of equipment that a Warden would find useful in any given situation. The belt clasps on the front and can be found as a standard part of the Mod IV armor, but does not need the armor to be used. All of the tools and equipment are kept inside hardened black plastoid packs to resist the elements. It includes a supply of food and water pellets, a comlink, an underwater rebreather, a grappling hook, bacta and synthflesh medical kits plus spare pouches for additional ammunition or other tools as chosen by the Warden.
Dramatis Personae
Wardens
Support Personnel
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