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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit Anyone Else Think Inferno Squad Is Weird? (not the story but the actual concept)

Discussion in 'Literature' started by The Ganner, Aug 1, 2017.

  1. Outsourced

    Outsourced Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 10, 2017
    Not if it's a prototype pet project by someone high up. Which it is.

    I mean, would whoever's in charge of thr ISB really want a bunch of these squads running around if they didn't know they worked first?
     
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  2. The Ganner

    The Ganner Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 20, 2015
    Again thats why I said It makes sense, Originally I thought about it differently.
     
  3. SpecForce Trooper

    SpecForce Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2016
    Think Terror Troopers.
     
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  4. SpecForce Trooper

    SpecForce Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2016
    Also Shadow Troopers played a Special Operations role in the EU. I wouldn't be surprised if they functioned the same in the NuCanon.
     
  5. Outsourced

    Outsourced Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 10, 2017
    Yeah, that's more along the lines of Inferno Squad. The same could be said for the Dark Troopers, which was another pet project, as they went through multiple revisions from Phase 0.
     
  6. SpecForce Trooper

    SpecForce Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2016
    Outsourced
    I strongly believe Terror Troopers were a part of the Phase Zero Dark Trooper project.
     
  7. Outsourced

    Outsourced Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 10, 2017
    I mean, they share some distinct similarities. But I think the Terror Troopers broke off into their own thing while the Dark Troopers went for full droid soldiers.
     
  8. SpecForce Trooper

    SpecForce Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2016
    Yes, but originally they were cyborgs. The cyborg program (Phase Zero) was cancelled in favor of droids. I believe Terror Troopers were a part of Phase Zero.
     
  9. Stymi

    Stymi Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 10, 2002
    The whole concept is very pulp-fiction-y. Makes for a decent story. I served honorably in the military for 4 years, so I'm not trying be disrespectful. I have done a lot of work with veterans.

    But I really think Star Wars is not your "man" if you are looking for military realism.

    I think Jello had it right in describing the squad as an analog of how the good guys in Star Wars tend to roll. Small, more intimate groups. That's a pretty effective Star Wars story telling trope. Plays well against the larger, more abstract galactic issues.

    Sent from my Moto X-Wing
     
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  10. Outsourced

    Outsourced Force Ghost star 5

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    Apr 10, 2017
    I know. What I'm saying is that while the Dark Trooper program continued into droids, the Phase Zeros broke off into their own thing, which became Terror Troopers.
     
  11. Yunzabit

    Yunzabit Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 5, 2015
    It is a little odd to have such a small group, but the 4 of them, aside from maybe Gideon, really were the best of the best.
     
  12. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999
    Considering they're an ISB unit, if anything it's weird that there are so many of them--I can't recall ever seeing more than one ISB agent at a time. Beyond that. as others have said, they're a pet project. More than anything it speaks to the fact that sufficiently high-ranking Imperials can basically do whatever they want as long as the end result pleases Palpatine.

    Honestly the weirdest thing about them is that Versio, as portrayed, would come up with a name as flamboyant as "Inferno Squad".
     
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  13. SpecForce Trooper

    SpecForce Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2016
    I'm guessing their uniform is a common SpecForce kit. The sergeant on Endor immediately recognized them as Special Forces. It would make even more sense if the black/red pilot gear was the standard armor of ISB's special forces.
     
  14. EmperorHorus

    EmperorHorus Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2016
    Giant slug gangsters are weird.
    Moon-sized space stations that blow up planets is weird.
    Magical space wizards with laser swords that travel the galaxy keeping peace is weird.

    Star Wars is weird.

    An atypical set-up for a special forces unit is hardly over the top.
     
  15. Chris0013

    Chris0013 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 21, 2014
    The only weird thing to me is that there is a group of only 4 operators is called a squad....and there is a crew of 2 to operate a ship that needs close to 100 people to operate.
     
  16. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    The Corvus has a crew.


    Missa ab iPhona mea est.
     
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  17. SpecForce Trooper

    SpecForce Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2016
    In the EU it would seem squads of 9 were the standard for infantry, while squads of 4 were the standard for special operations. The entire SO DBE was built around squads of 4.
     
  18. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999
    Probably ridiculous, but: maybe a "squad" and a "squadron" are two different things? [face_thinking]
     
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  19. Nickname320

    Nickname320 Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2014
    I'm not going to repeat what others have explained so eloquently thus far, so I'll just say that "pet project" is definitely how I came to view them by the end of the novel.

    Worth noting in this regard: after finishing the last page, I thought to myself a bit and eventually concurred with an earlier thought I had had while reading: there was really no reason to send in this particular 'squad' other than the direct oversight it provided Admiral Versio. A small group of established and trained field agents would have been much more familiar with the circumstances of infiltration and the necessary trade craft; maybe, just maybe, this experience could have prevented certain complications that occurred during the mission. The novel tries to explain this away by saying that the mission circumstances were tailored to their specific areas of expertise (military background for Iden and Gideon, Naval Intelligence prodigy for Seyn, etc.), but based on how their first few missions unfolded, I just don't buy that (true, their skills came in handy at some points, but they were hardly requisite).

    The only explanation is the "pet project" description. Admiral Versio's Hand, as so wonderfully put by a few others. Their existence is compartmentalized even within ISB's SF division, further supporting this theory.
     
  20. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    (People are talking about squads here, not squadrons)


    Missa ab iPhona mea est.
     
  21. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    Just from what I know about the military, I think a squadron would be a more defined unit, with a definite hierarchy of command, and a formal membership. A squad would be a more temporary association with an assigned mission. The squad might or might not still be together at the completion of the mission.
     
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  22. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999

    [face_plain] [face_dunno]
     
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  23. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    Infantry don't come in squadrons.

    A fighter squadron is 12 fighters.

    An infantry line squad is 8 soldiers (Imperial Sourcebook).

    So folks are wondering why Inferno Squad only has 4.

    The answer is because Papa Versio feels like it.
     
  24. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    They should be called Inferno Fireteam

    In RL, I think a Squad is made up of 12 people. At least in WW2 era.
     
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  25. Chris0013

    Chris0013 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 21, 2014
    Actually a squad is a formal organization in the military from straight leg infantry to special forces units.
     
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