The Illuthian Marauders
The Marauders, is a group of Illuthian Pirates led by Pit Karso. They
are said to be the last survivors
of the lost Ithullian(see Illuthians, #60 in the Holocron.) race which
was thought to be eradicated from
existence at the hands of the Mandalorean worriers several centuries ago.
They are known to operate
in the mid rim sectors and attack convoys and freighters, stealing equipment,
consumable, and anything
of value. When they don't use they sell at shady star ports such as Nar
Shadda, and several mid-sized
space stations scattered through the sector. They are looked upon with
by those who trade with them
as fair traders, though ninety percent of the time any good they are pushing
are certifiably stolen.
One of the main reasons for their success is their Sceliphron capital
class ships. Created from the bodies
of the Colossus Wasp, which is a native of their home planet, the larger
vessels are about half the size of
the Corrillian Corvette, and have armaments only slightly less powerful.
Though the true strengths of these
ships is the very substance with which they are made. Because the main
hull is the Exoskeleton of the giant
wasp, they greatly confuse sensors, they appear as both life forms and
junk, when in fact they are highly
advanced landing craft, capable of latching onto a ship and releasing a
boarding party in mere seconds.
Within ten minutes of the boarding all cargo of value is taken and the
freighters are released. Those who
resist are crushed mercilessly. A second aspect of the ships material which
is of some not is its advanced
resistance to energy attacks. The hull is absorbent to raw energy attacks,
greatly reducing the effectiveness
of lasers.
Along with the Sceliphron are several small fighter variants which also
are effective. The Sphious Class are
the smallest and probably the most bothersome of Illuthian Starfighters.
They are small and quick, and lightly
armed, quite comparable to a rebel Awing in most respects. The Eumenes
"Sidewing" is another fighter, it
has better armaments than the Sphious, and also can hold several troops
for fast boarding attacks. All ships
which fly under the Marauders (which is all that are known) are painted
black and grey.
The group operates out of the last remaining Illuthian settlement Clypeadon,
a minute planetoid somewhere in
the Jurvex system, though the exact location is known. It is said to be
nearly covered with carcasses of the
Colossus Wasp which were transported by the group to use as homes. Since
the planet has no atmosphere
and very little gravity the Illuthians have created a twisted Hive-like
dwelling on Clypeadon where nearly
1,000 Illuthians live.
All Illuthian ships, as well as their homeworld have no artificial gravity.
The Illuthians are adapted to this way
of living and feel at home in zero gravity, and greatly prefer it to planetary
conditions. Because of this they
often use ion based weapons which are meant to disable enemy vessels, especially
artificial gravity. If gravity
is active when they dock their primary objective would be to disable such
devices, giving them great advantages
over their enemies.
Pit Karso
Species: Illuthian
Sex: Male
Type: Marauder Commander
Physical Description: Tall for an Illuthian, with the typical
greyish skin and short cropped black hair.
He has an air of authority about him, and is widely and totally respected
by his men. His arms are long
and strong, with a full range of motion.
Personality:A good leader, commanding presence, and demands respect.
He is a pirate, but at heart
he is the father of an entire people. Though you would not consider him
a father figure if you found
yourself being boarded by his fleet of Wasp ships. He is harsh and uncaring
when it comes to protecting
and obtaining necessary equipment for his people. He is quite, refusing
to reveal all which he is thinking to
even his most trusted advisors. Because of this he is regarded with a kind
of awe from his men, as well
as fear. He is a great tactician, his commanders are well trained and work
together with near perfect unison.
The fleet has pride in him as a commander, and their own precision and
performance.
Exploits/Background: He came into command by birthright, his
father had been a good leader but
somewhat conservative. Pit was the first to lead the people into piracy,
and it has worked out to be quite
a profitable venture for his people, allowing them to obtain the necessary
equipment and supplies and keep
the location of their home a secret to the rest of the Galaxy. Under his
command he has four to five
Sceliphrons which act as the main body of the fleet, each carrying a load
of smaller vessels, the fleet totalling
around 30 ships and over one thousand troops and techs. His Marauders first
were committed to small time
piracy, until a run in with an imperial interdictor cruiser. By bad luck
they had been pulled out of hyperspace
unaware and were ambushed by three victory star destroyers, an interdictor
and several other vessels under
the command of an Imperial Admiral. Though they were caught by off guard
his fleet responded quickly and
with precision. Immediately forming into battle units and going after the
nearest Victory. The Imperials, confident
of being able to lay waste to the insectile ships with ease held off firing
all missiles in order to conserve
ammunition for their real target, a new republic convoy. This was a grave
error. Since the hulls of the Illuthian
ships have a strong resistance to laser fire they blitzed the first Victory,
Turing the bridge(as well as most of
the rest of the vessel) into slag, within 1 minute the ship was completely
disabled and drifting toward a nearby
planet out of control. The rest of the imperial fleet acted with much more
caution and success. As the battle
raged on Pit ended up losing over half of his fleet(at the time he had
7 active Sceliphron warships.) The Empire
was not so lucky. Only a badly damaged Victory and the interdictor survived
the encounter to tell the tale of
some sort of odd partially organic vessels which had overtaken them. After
this incident tales of the wasp fleet
were heard in many run down cantinas in the neighboring systems. Pit dragged
his fleet back to Clypeadon and
attempted to rebuild. Since then he has returned to Illuth and constructed
another ship from the Colossus Wasp,
calling it the Forbidden and naming it his command ship. The Imperials
had fascinated as well as enraged him.
Most of all the technology which was on the interdictor cruiser caught
his eye. How they had created the
gravity-well and pulled his fleet out of hyperspace... Since then he has
devoted his resources to discovering
how such things could be built. To have one would be one of the greatest
tools of a pirate group.
A Quote:
Dexterity:3D+2 Energy weapons 6D Melee Combat 8D Dodge 6D Melee perry 7D |
Perception: 3D+1 Con 5D Gamble 6D Command 8D (s) Illuthians 10D |
Knowledge: 3D Alien species 4D Intimidation 7D Willpower 5D Carcass Utilization 6D Planetary systems 8D |
Strength: 3D Brawling 6D (s) Zero-G: 8D Stamina 6D Lifting 5D |
Mechanical: 3D Capital piloting 8D Gunnery 6D+1 Sensors 6D |
Tech: 3D Repair 5D First Aid 7D Security 6D |
Equipment: Shockcannon 6D 2/15/30, 2 Illblades STR+3D, Illuthian
battle armor, Stingblade
STR+2D+poison(see Stingblade.)
*Special Abilities:
*Zero Gravity: all dodge/perry and brawling/manvering in zero gravity
are increased 1D, when in gravity,
these skills suffer a -1D penalty.
*Breathing: They have adapted themselves to living with low amounts
of oxygen, they have built small air
recycling units into their respiratory systems, allowing them to go for
days without any fresh oxygen. Unless
the unit is damaged(it is over their breathing hole which is at the base
of the neck) they can go for 2 days
in open space, or under water without needing new air.
Shockcannon:
Skill: Energy weapons: shockcannon
Availability: only produced by Illuthinas, X
Ammo: 15
Range: 2/15/30
Damage: 6D+1
Description: Primary hand weapon of the Illuthian marauders. Sends
a very small energy loaded pellet
at high speeds. Designed to only charge when strikes living matter, for
the sake of protecting the delicate
equipment of a starship. They are used during pirate boarding raids. Designed
for accuracy and to be lethal.
Stingblade:
Skill: Melee combat: Stingblade
Difficulty: 15
Damage: STR+2D*
* The blades are carefully crafted out of the stinger of the Colossus wasp.
Each time it penetrates the skin
it releases a deadly poison which causes weakness in the victim. If enemy
fails a stamina check of 18 they
suffer a -2 pips from strength based roles for the next hour (max of -2D)
Description: The stingblades are a pure black curved blades around
2 feet in length with an ornately carved
handle. These are nearly impossible to obtain for non-Illuthians, and most
Illuthians. The Stingblade is seen
as a sign of great power, likely only to be wielded by those held in the
highest respect.
Illuthian Battle Armor:
Effect: +2D to energy +2D+1 to physical, In gravity -1D from dex, in
Zero-Gee no hindrances.
Weapons:
Mini-shockcannon 5D 2/10/20
Extendible Illblades on the arms STR+2D
Description: Illuthian battle armor was created back when the race
was just leaving their home planet.
When they ran up against the Madalorians they were barely overtaken, though
their armor does rival the
widely sought after Madalorian armor. The Armor covers most of the body,
and enables a full range of
motion of limbs and does not hinder agility when in zero gee, though it
does have negative effects in gravity.
It is black with yellow accents, made to look like the Illuthian predators
the Colossus Wasp. The helmet is
made to look like the face of the dreaded wasps, and is quite frightening
when glanced upon, though in
Illuthian culture the wearer of this armor of old is looked upon with respect.
On a whole the culture respects
its past and achievements, Illuthian battle armor being a prime example
of this former glory.
Typical Illuthian Marauder:
The Marauders are wild living dare devils. They fight with ferocity
and fly with grace. These men never shy
away form a good time, they wear miss-matched Illuthian armor and always
have some ale on hand.
Description: Around 1.5 meters in height, roughly humanoid (2 arms
2 legs 1 head) and a life span of
around 80 years. Tend to have large muscular build, and extremely strong
arms and legs. They have a
slight greyish tint skin. They breathe through an opening on their chests
which is located at the base of the
neck. They are still capable of human speech and faces look like those
of humans, except that they have
no nose. Unlike humans their arms and legs are capable of a full range
of motion which aids them when
manuvering in null gravity.
Dexterity:3D Energy weapons 5D+1 Melee Combat 6D Dodge 6D Melee perry 6D |
Perception: 2D+2 Con 3D Gamble 4D Sneak 4D |
Knowledge: 3D Alien species Intimidation 4D Willpower 4D |
Strength: 3D+1 Brawling (s) Zero-G: 6D Stamina 4D Lifting |
Mechanical: 3D+1 Piloting Gunnery 5D Sensors 4D |
Tech: 3D+1 Repair 4D First Aid 5D Security 4D |
Equipment: Shockcannon 6D 2/15/30, 2 Illblades STR+3D, Illuthian
battle armor, Stingblade
STR+2D+poison(see Stingblade.)
*Special Abilities:
*Zero Gravity: all dodge/perry and brawling/manvering in zero gravity
are increased 1D, when in gravity,
these skills suffer a -1D penalty.
*Breathing: They have adapted themselves to living with low amounts
of oxygen, they have built small air
recycling units into their respiratory systems, allowing them to go for
days without any fresh oxygen. Unless
the unit is damaged(it is over their breathing hole which is at the base
of the neck) they can go for 2 days in
open space, or under water without needing new air.
The Ships:
Sceliphron
The Sceliphron is the largest of the Illuthian Wasp ships. All of their
primary vessels are created from the
carcasses of the huge Colossus Wasp, which lives on their native planet.
Due to the size of these creatures,
some equalling up to 100 meters in length, and the density of their exoskeleton,
they surprisingly make very
useful hulls for space travel. They look much like common Wasps; what were
eyes have been replaced with
transparent walling from behind which a very modern bridge is located;
gaps in the wasps body are either
filled in with titanium alloys or are weapon emplacements; where the legs
once protruded now are fighter
docking ports; and the stinger has been refurbished to act as a boarding
mechanism. Another aspect is the
total lack of shielding units, they have never ventured into the idea of
shielding, but don't have a pressing need
to, due to the density and material which the hulls are constructed from,
all laser and ion based attacks do less
damage because they are for the most part absorbed into the ships hull
harmlessly. Though Missiles and
torpedoes are unhindered by this.
The primary purpose of this craft is piracy. When coming in contact
with other vessels the main objective is
to neutralise threats by disabling them, so the use of the Ion beam and
the Crash Missiles serve their purpose
well. With the use of the boarding spike and efficient troops, it takes
on the average 15 minutes for the
Illuthians to attach, pillage, and detach with all easy to carry equipment
in hand.
Craft: Sceliphron
Type: Illuthian Wasp Capital ship
Scale: Capital
Length: 80 meters
Skill: Capital ship piloting: Scelipheron
Crew: 30; 27 gunners
Passengers: 70(troops)
Cargo Capacity: 1,200 metric tons
Consumables: 1 Year
Hyperdrive Multiplier: 2x
Hyperdrive backup: 18x
Nav Computer: yes
Manuverability: 2D+2
Space: 5
Atmosphere: 330; 950 KMH
Hull: 5D+1 (7D+2 for energy)
Sensors: Passive: 30/1D
Located in the rear lower portion of the ship where the Wasps stinger
is. It has bee adapted to work as
a boarding ramp of sorts. When a target is neutralised, the ship will get
close, extend, and ram the spike
into the hull of the enemy ship. If the operator of the unit roles a difficult
roll, the boarding spike, or stinger,
is successful in penetrating the outer hull, and unless a mishap occurs
an air seal is established and Illuthians
are free to board the enemy ship instantly.
* The ion beam unit is a weapon devised by the Illuthians. When the
weapon is first fired it does 5D damage,
for each round the gunner is able to maintain the lock (keep rolling to
hit) the damage increases by 1D,
max of 8D ionisation damage.
-Each is capable of carrying a load of 6 fighters on the exterior of
the underbelly attached through boarding
pathways.
-It is unconfirmed, though roumored that the Illuthians may have access
to some sort of gravity-well
technology, though this is unconfirmed.
Sphious
The Sphious light fighters are made mainly from smaller adolescent wasps.
They have the appearance of
a wasp with cropped wings. At the base of the wings are now small engine
boosters, which enable better
manuverability and speed. The stinger portion has been completely removed
leaving the ship the sleekest
of the awkward vessels, though landing legs have been fitted. The Sphious
easily docks to the underbelly
of the larger capital ships for caring, since they have no hyperdrive they
rely on larger vessels for docking
and support.
Craft:Sphious
Type: Illuthian Small Wasp Fighter
Scale: Starfighter
Length: 12 meters
Skill: Starfighter piloting: Sphious
Crew: 1 or 2
Passengers: None
Cargo Capacity: None
Consumables: 2 Days
Hyperdrive Multiplier: None
Hyperdrive backup: None
Nav Computer: None
Manuverability: 3D+1
Space: 11
Atmosphere: 450; 1300 KMH
Hull: 3D+1 (4D+2 for energy)
Sensors: Passive: 30/1D
*Illuthian shockblast weapons are much like Blasters in most respects,
though they have some solid
matter in them, they are like very small missiles will a charged electric
field which delivers a shock upon
impact, due to the shock enemy ships suffer -1 to space after being hit
for 3 rounds(not to exceed -2).
The loss in speed is due to the violent nature of the impact and the light
electric shocks which often cause
the targets engines to appear to be overloading.
Eumenes
The Eumenes or "sidewing" is the Illuthian space superiority fighter.
Heavily armed, and versatile. They are
also created from the colossus wasp. Not much has been changed excluding
the placement of one wing on
the left side. The wing is made of a metal alloy, and contains several
weapon placements. The stinger is an
active boarding spike, the Eumenes is used in boarding attacks, each capable
of releasing several troops
into an enemy ship at strategic points.
Craft:Eumenes
Type: Illuthian Space Supiority Fighter
Scale: Starfighter
Length: 18 meters
Skill: Starfighter piloting: Eumenes
Crew: 1
Passengers: 4 Troops
Cargo Capacity: 5 cubic metes
Consumables: 1 month
Hyperdrive Multiplier: 1x
Hyperdrive backup: 2x
Nav Computer: Yes
Manuverability: 2D+1
Space: 7
Atmosphere: 350; 1000 KMH
Hull: 43D+2 (6D+1 for energy)
Sensors: Passive: 30/1D
Located in the rear lower portion of the ship where the Wasps stinger
is. It has bee adapted to work as a
boarding ramp of sorts. When a target is neutralised, the ship will get
close, extend, and ram the spike into
the hull of the enemy ship. If the operator of the unit roles a difficult
roll, the boarding spike, or stinger, is
successful in penetrating the outer hull, and unless a mishap occurs an
air seal is established and Illuthians
are free to board the enemy ship instantly.
*Illuthian shockblast weapons are much like Blasters in most respects,
though they have some solid matter
in them, they are like very small missiles will a charged electric field
which delivers a shock upon impact,
due to the shock enemy ships suffer -1 to space after being hit for 3 rounds(not
to exceed -2). The loss in
speed is due to the violent nature of the impact and the light electric
shocks which often cause the targets
engines to appear to be overloading.