Reference Faction for the Edge of the Empire (and beyond)

So. The galaxy in star wars is a bloody big place with lots and lots and lots of people in it. Some good, some bad, some meh, and some O-o; I am working on building a mercenary group for an Edge of the Empire campaign. I want to get opinions of whether the group sounds like its something that could exist or whether they seem overpowered/unbelievable

Name - Shadow Guardians

Classification -Security Mercenary Company

Jobs - Protection, Starship and vehicle modifications, bodyguards, smuggling, illegal tech.

Official Job Profiles - Security and Escort for Space Vessels

Secondary Job Profiles - Personal Body Guards, Planetary Security.

Unofficial Jobs - Smuggling, Illegal ship modification.

The Shadow Guardians exist as a group to protect others who can't protect themselves. They are mostly known for offering security to legal shipping companies, colonies, mining firms and archaeological digs. Usually this is through their space forces, but they have begun working on a few dedicated ground groups.

Bases
Colony

Shadow Shield - The massive asteroid that is the Shadow Guardians HQ. The base is named for the solid rock portion of the base that faces the sun the system is located in, protecting those that live on the station from harmful radiation. Of course shields and sun panels help too. Heavy traffic constantly goes in and out of the system, and the Guardians keep it well protected. A salvaged Venator class cruiser, two modified Consular ships, and a compliment of old Nimbus V-wings guard the base at all times. This is also where one can hire Shadow Guardian services.

Apperation Station - Just a parsec away from Shadow Shield, this semi-secret space station acts as the training ground for new recruits that will become pilots. This is also a test bed for new upgrades and modification for star ships. Vessels looking for illegal modifications are sent here.

Outer Rim

Eclipse Base (this is where my campaign would start) A forest world with several moons that constantly eclipse the sun, this world is used for ground and planetary training for the more varied members of Shadow Guardians. The base is built into the side of a mountain where a good chunk of it has been converted into a training ground for bodyguard training runs. Speeder bikes, 6 at-pts, a squad of t-16 skyhoppers, and an array of equipment for various ground opts make this the perfect training ground for new recruits. The hangers hold the Darkpoint, a marauder class cruiser that has eight cloakshape fighters and four starchasers fighters for its compliment of fighters. The hanger is also big enough to house two light freighters (one being the players) and one Action VI transport.


Twilight Base - A rocky world with numerous canyons and tunnels, this world is the focus of the Guardians heavy assault ground forces. They have built factories on the planet and mine the minerals for their own needs. This base allows the Guardians to keep their ground vehicles running. All of the dedicated ground forces for heavy defense and assaults are trained here, and the base holds a Quasar class vessel designed to transport the ground vehicles and units to a world. It is protected by two marauder class vessels that carry a mix of z-95s and t-wings to cover the carrier.

Shades of Remnant - A shadow port that orbits a destroyed world. This base is owned by the Guardians, this is a location where many 'Independent' freighter captains can go to find rest, entertainment, illegal modifications for their ships, repairs, and jobs offered by the guardians.

 

Flagship- Victory class Star Destroyer Dark Phoenix

The Dark Phoenix had once served in the later end of the Clone Wars for the Republic. The ship had a bad tendency of getting badly damaged and losing a large amount of its crew in every battle. After a particularly intense battle with a Separatist battle group the ship was eventually abandoned. The Shadow Guardians came across the wreck by chance and spent the next decade restoring the vessel as a pet project. Eventually the ship was rebuilt, better then ever and now serves as an assault ship that is used in offensive operations against pirates and slavers. Enhanced engines along with an advanced targeting array allowed the ship to be much more dangerous then its counterparts. The 20 concussion missile launchers were almost all replaced with twin medium ion cannons, with two twin battleship class ion cannons filling the last of the launcher ports. The hanger was modified further due to the fact the vessel lacked dedicated anti-fighter capabilities. Two squads of Preybird Fighters make up the best of the Shadow Guardians pilots, being known to take on even superior fighters and generally coming out on top. They also have a squad of Skipray Blastboats. The rest of the hanger, once used to carry ground vehicles and shuttles have been modified to carry a dozen light freighters.

X2 Modifed Dreadnoughts Aksam, Safak

The original flagships of the Guardians fleet consisted of three dreadnought class ships that were old even by the time of the clone wars. The main ship was lost guarding Shadow Shield. The others survive and still serve to this day, always paired together, either protecting high risk colonies or protecting massive cargo fleets. Occasionally they are also used to attack pirate bases. The dreadnoughts were modified to only need a crew of about 3000 to operate. This left room for modifications with added ion cannons and extra hangers.

Each Dreadnought has a squad of Y-wings, a squad of T-Wings, a four light freighters.

X4 Blockade Runners. They have been modified with two twin medium ion cannons.

These blockade runners always follow the Dreadnoughts as escorts to deal with pesky fighters and bombers. Each one carry's three z-95s that are armed with ion missiles.

X20 Gonzati Transport

When these ships hit the market, the guardians descended on them with vigor as they fit what they needed for guarding missions. They were bought in bulk, and while quite a few were lost in the war, plenty of survived. The Guardians grumble that the Empire copied them when the Guardians adjusted the transports to carry 2 Cloakshape ships. They are further adapted with enhanced engines and advanced targeting systems. These usually fill the bulk of the escort missions, though they rarely work with more then four ships assigned to any one mission.

X4 Marauders

The main ship of the Shadow Guardians before the Gonzati, these tough ships have served many years. They serve as a set of mix rolls for the fleet. Usually they act as training vessels for up and coming pilots, and other times as support craft in attack missions. They always have two 4 Star chasers which have better shields and 8 cloakshape fighters which are also given shields and better engines. Two light freighters of various class are also aboard.

The Marauders rarely work with one another unless a mission calls for it. However they are usually always accompanied by two Gonzati Transports that have been modified to carry four tie-wing star fighters.

X4 Action VI transports

To deal with rising needs of supplies during the Clone Wars, the Shadow Guardians acquired a few transports to deliver supplies they needed, then started using them in conjecture with the smugglers to deliver supplies to various worlds. They have been modifed with better engines, hyper drive, and two medium linked laser cannons on the port and starboard side. They always have an escort of 6 hyperdrive capable z-95s and two light freighters of various class.

Venerator Class ship Fallen Soul. This vessel was abandoned by the Empire along with its enitre wing of fighters when the Imperial Star Destroyers were deployed. The group saved the vessel and use it as a guard for their main base along with the five V-Wings and two squads of Delta-7 ships that were still aboard. Two Consular ships also help maintain security at all times for the asteroid base that were acquired at a good discount when the Empire began getting rid of them.

Quasar Vessel Shadow Guide has been modified as a ground carrier to carry the Shadow Guardians special ground forces. Typically this will be walker support with heavy infantry. Occasionally a base may need to be built and the Quasar has been heavily modified to carry everything the ground forces might need. The hangers have been enhanced to allow more ground supplies, with better shields to protect the ponderous carrier.

The vessel holds all six of the AT-TE the group has, four AT-AP, eight Trade Federation hover tanks, numerous speeders, two squads of modified t16 Skyhoppers, numerous speeder bikes, 24 gunships, a modular base and ten anti infantry and 6 anti vehicle turrets if needed.

X2 Marauders guard the transport with both backing a full squad of t-wings with better handling.

X2 DP20 Gunships also provide protection for the carriers in dealing with fighters when the t-wings are guarding the ground transports.

Unique Tie-wings - The first set of tie-wings were much like other ships of the ugly class. Weak, ramshackle, and universally hated as little more then death traps. However, the leader of the Guardians found an odd obsession with the craft and put R&D to work to figure out a way to make the vessels more useful. When it was apparent that no amount of work could turn a salvaged ship into a credible threat, a new path was taken. Calling in a few favors and with proper bribes, along with many test fights, a new variant of the Tie-wing emerged. Built from the ground up as its own fighter, it still bares resemblance to the ugly of the same time with a Tie Fighter pod with Y-wing engines. The Tie Fighter pod however had its ion engine removed and a specialized generator installed to power the craft and even give it light shields. The end result was a ship that performed as well as a Z-95 with less armor. This has lead the ship to being a training ship of sorts for newcomer pilots until they are upgraded to the better ships in the fleet.

 

The Shadow Guardians is a rare merc group that has exsisted since the early days of the republic. Military units and mercenaries banded together to help protect early colonies that were forming. They grew to be a potent fighting force, which brought them into the Great Hyperspace war for the Republic that decimated its numbers. It took several generations for the group to grow back into a credible force, though no where near the strength they once were. This sad history would repeat seceral times throught galactic histoy where the Shadow Guardians would get involved in a major conflict and be utterly devestated each time.

Over generations the Guardians began walking the path of neutrality. They changed many times during this time. They acted as mercenaries, paramilitary units, corsairs, abd even pirates at one time.

Around 60bby a new leader took over and completly reorginized the Shadow Guardians. The leader calling herself Shade pushed the Shadow Guardians away from pirating and began launching suprise attacks against other pirates, slavers, and drug cartels. Over the next few years the reputation of the Guardians began to change from hates pirates to vigilanties. Their biggest publix appearence was saving a trade federation convoy full of medical and food supplies for some newly formed colonies. Though outnumbered three to one, the Guardians pushed back the massive pirate attack and earned themselvs the mantle of hero. The trade federation was generous in their reward and Shade began putting it to use by building a base of operations in a recently abandoned mining facility and turned it into a trade port. As trade began to flow and the credits rolled in the guardians began increasing the size of their forces and began running the Guardians as escorts for the Trade Federation and other traders, earning a reputation of dedicated and well trained fighter pilots that got the job done. The Guardians maintained ties with the Trade Federation, but when thebFederation began their more brutal tactice, the guardians edged away from them as to avoid the Guardians previous history.

Aftwr the Battle of Naboo, Shade secretly aquired the rights to two recently discovered planets and built up bases their in case the guardians needed a place to hide. She also used the worlds to begin training in ground battles to have a stronger force in their asteroid base. As test runs these groups were hired out as security, milita, and body guards. These groups did well that the Guardians decided to keep this branch as a dedicated force, though their space fleet was still more popular and numerous.

When the clone wars finally occured, the Shadow Guardians became part of the Council of Neutral Systems, offering protection and security against Seperatists and Republic units alike. This also opened an interesting avenue when normal trade lines were cut. The Shadow Guardians began hiring an array of smugglers to bring in supplies. This was quite profitable and little oversite was initially given to these smugglers. However, after the Mandalor debaucle, the smugglers under the Guardians payroll were reorganized to deliver food and medical supplies, as well as weapons to militas with better oversite. Quite a few scoffed at this and stole Guardian credits and supplies and sought to strike out on their own
To deal with this, a cadre of bounty hunters were formed into elite groups to hunt down these smugglers, as well asbother dangerous people.

During the war, the Seperatists began a ploy of attacking Shadow Guardian bases, ships, and installations by making it look like republic forces were attacking them. This nearly pushed the Guardians to turn against the Republic. However, Shade secretly contacted a friend within the Jedi to investigate the situation. In trade, the Guarsians would allow the Jedi to secretly built a hideaway to train younglings without being corrupted ny the war. Proof of the Seperarist ploy was discovered around the time of Mandalors fall. The Guardians joined the Republics fight and reinforcements just as the Seperatists launched a massive attack. Though they took heavy loses, they were able to survive the war and were rewarded for their service. They have since rebuilt and even aquired a few bulk transports to help deliver supplies to their own bases and even began running supplies to other colonies on the side.

For now they remain neutral between the Empire and the Rebellion. While they have a number of vessels, they are usually spread to thin to really join the civil war. In the mean time the Guardians offer defence to transports and colonies in this time of war.

Shade is the mysterious leader who has ruled the Guardians over 60 years. She looks humanoid, with deep grey skin, jet black hair and pale eyes. She has hardly aged from her initial joining of the Guardians
No one is sure if her species. She has ruled the Guardians smartly and has managed to keep the group from falling into infighting or greed. Few realize she is force sensative and uses this to help rule the Shadow Guardians. She hides this very well though.

 

Wow. That was a lot of intel to go through. So. Thoughts on this faction?