Post by RamZnation on Nov 30, 2010 22:12:29 GMT -5
Initial Concept
The 53rd was just supposed to be a team of Marines that performed necessarily-quick missions. This is still the case, but it didn't go any further than that. It was originally named the 53rd Fast Attack Regiment, but a regiment was too large for my needs once I hammered them out, so it shrunk down to a company.
Naming
Why 53? Just because. No really. There was no motive behind the numbering of the group, though several people think there should be. One person, in a past discussion, mentioned Karen Traviss' naming of the 2nd Parjai after a real military unit. There is no need (and still don't. Given the fact the the 53rd has been around for a few years and is well known by now) to name the group after something in after a real world military unit or organization. This is a Star Wars thing, so I'm keeping it original and fictional (contrary to popular believe Star Wars is make belief and we pretend).
"Fast Attack" came about after analyzing the various unit names already known in the Star Wars universe. So far, we have:
21st Nova Corps (Ooh-Rah!)
41st Elite Corps
91st Recon and Engineering Battalion
212th Attack Battalion
2nd Airborne (Parjai)
327th Star Corps
501st Legion
442 Siege Battalion
5th Fleet Security
In the above list, several terms are underlined. These are the ones that popped out at me at the time the group was named. Their names have a clearly defined role associated with their respective units, so our group would mimmick that. But these units are far too large for what we have in mind... something smaller. And smaller units typically do not perform operations on a grand scale. So our name that suggesta a specialized function.
When thinking "grand operation," a large, slow moving machine comes to mind. Going against that idea, "Fast Attack". It became a small unit (144 men) that performed small-scale, yet vitally important operations with blazing speed. It would use speed and power to pop up unexpectedly and catch the enemy off guard to complete it's objectives. So the 53rd Fast Attack Company was born.
===========================
Mission Profiles
The 53rd FAC has two similar mission profiles, but each one is performed as almost identical missions. The only difference is that one mission profile includes an extraction.
Facility Capture
The 53rd's primary mission profile is that of capturing non-battlefield facilities. Such facilities include weapons depots, vehicle weighstations, small-scale factories, communications stations, and enemy administrative facilities. This list is certainly not meant to be exhaustive though. The general idea is that they target facilities not on the battlefield, often times newly found "hidden bases" or otherwise undiscovered locations. These targets are typically of some military importance to an upcoming or in-progress Republic invasion.
During a facility capture mission, the 53rd would swoop into the airspace in their highly modified LAAT/i gunships. The gunships have had the majority of their weapons removed in favor of extra armor plating, radar jamming equipment, and enhanced engines, and they are painted entirely burgundy but with silver wingtips. The gunships would rush into the immediate airspace at top speed, taking out any airborne defenses en route. Once they reach the target, the gunships would offload their troops at various insertion points, and take off again to circle the airspace.
Once the Marines are on the ground, they rush in and spread through the facility, making sure to check each room for potential enemies. Special training in quick threat evaluation allows the GMs of the 53rd to neutralize hostiles before they become a threat. When the central command center of the facility has been cleared, a reestablishment team sets up a new command center for future operations. They reestablish working communications and make repairs and modifications to usable equipment for future Republic use. This is done during the operation, but is often times performed toward the end of the engagement.
The 53rd get's it's name from the time frame in which they operate. A typical facility capture, as described above, would take 10 to 20 minutes in most cases, depending on the opposition.
Personnel Capture
The 53rd's secondary mission profile is often performed in conjunction with a facility capture, but can also be performed as a stand-alone mission. Pre-identified target personnel are selected as high profile by Republic Intelligence. Their locations are reported by several different methods (spies, Republic Intel, etc.).
The capture is based on gathered intelligence on the target individual. Sleeping habits factor into the capture in that the 53rd would typically capture someone in the late night / early morning hours. The mission is carried out in similar fashion as a facility capture, though scare tactics are often involved to gain the psycological edge. Flooding the target's room with a gunship's spotlights while Marines crash through the windows is likely to disable a target's rationality faster than simpley breaking down the front doors.
It is often times the case that entire families or groups of people are secondary targets for a capture mission, and higher profile targets will often have on-site security, so a smaller ARC team or RC team would not be wise. However, it is not uncommon for an ARC Trooper team to be incorporated into the capture. The 53rd would provide the cover and neutralize the compound's security while the ARC Troopers or RCs would locate and capture the target individual(s).
In a personnel capture, the time from insertion to extraction would take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on opposition.
Traditions of the 53rd
The GMs of the 53rd are very mission-oriented, so there is a lot of focus on preparing and getting the right mindset. Since the clones were, more or less, bred to be soldiers (ie, warfare is "what they do"), it would seem like once they start to develop their own culture, the clones might sort of "get hyped" before entering a battlefield. That's not the right word I want to use, but it serves the same effect. It's the same thing as like, say, football players chanting something in a huddle before a game.
Like most sport players (real world) on several teams that have pre-game chants or rituals that serve to wish the team luck. It's not oriented toward the "game," rather is oriented toward the team mates. One of our big traditions some players have/had was to clack helmets with the team captain as they got onto the arena, and then after each game they'd all clack helmets with each other. It's not a forceful headbutt, but a not-so-gentle bashing of the helmets together. They're protective equipment anyways, so we don't get hurt or anything. A baseball equivilent would be hitting the butt of a teammate or something to that extent.
So helmet clacking and the reasoning behind it is a real world tradition that fits well to the Galactic Marines of the 53rd. They obviously know that entering a combat zone isn't a game, but they'd like their teammates to perform at their best. So as the GMs of the 53rd board their gunships before the mission, they clack helmets with each other. It may not be a speech-less thing either. The Captain or COIC (Commanding Officer in Charge) might perch up on the troop platform of a gunship and hype up the troops a bit, but it's not part of the ritual ordinarily.
That's pretty much the only real ritualistic thing about the 53rd though more may evolve as time preogresses. The Galactic Marines are not overly obsessed with Mando culture, since the current real-world Mando culture is so diluted by the "custom Mando" craze that it's kind of gone overboard. But you might hear a trooper humming "Vode An" to himself every once in a while. The idea not to use any Mando'a in the 53rd didn't come out of dislike for it. It actually rose from the idea that the 53rd comes after Order 66, so they are Imperial troops now. Thus, their Imperial brass would encourage them to detach themselves from any Mandalorian affiliation they might cling to. Basically, they are Imperial troopers now, not Mandalorians.
The 53rd was just supposed to be a team of Marines that performed necessarily-quick missions. This is still the case, but it didn't go any further than that. It was originally named the 53rd Fast Attack Regiment, but a regiment was too large for my needs once I hammered them out, so it shrunk down to a company.
Naming
Why 53? Just because. No really. There was no motive behind the numbering of the group, though several people think there should be. One person, in a past discussion, mentioned Karen Traviss' naming of the 2nd Parjai after a real military unit. There is no need (and still don't. Given the fact the the 53rd has been around for a few years and is well known by now) to name the group after something in after a real world military unit or organization. This is a Star Wars thing, so I'm keeping it original and fictional (contrary to popular believe Star Wars is make belief and we pretend).
"Fast Attack" came about after analyzing the various unit names already known in the Star Wars universe. So far, we have:
21st Nova Corps (Ooh-Rah!)
41st Elite Corps
91st Recon and Engineering Battalion
212th Attack Battalion
2nd Airborne (Parjai)
327th Star Corps
501st Legion
442 Siege Battalion
5th Fleet Security
In the above list, several terms are underlined. These are the ones that popped out at me at the time the group was named. Their names have a clearly defined role associated with their respective units, so our group would mimmick that. But these units are far too large for what we have in mind... something smaller. And smaller units typically do not perform operations on a grand scale. So our name that suggesta a specialized function.
When thinking "grand operation," a large, slow moving machine comes to mind. Going against that idea, "Fast Attack". It became a small unit (144 men) that performed small-scale, yet vitally important operations with blazing speed. It would use speed and power to pop up unexpectedly and catch the enemy off guard to complete it's objectives. So the 53rd Fast Attack Company was born.
===========================
Mission Profiles
The 53rd FAC has two similar mission profiles, but each one is performed as almost identical missions. The only difference is that one mission profile includes an extraction.
Facility Capture
The 53rd's primary mission profile is that of capturing non-battlefield facilities. Such facilities include weapons depots, vehicle weighstations, small-scale factories, communications stations, and enemy administrative facilities. This list is certainly not meant to be exhaustive though. The general idea is that they target facilities not on the battlefield, often times newly found "hidden bases" or otherwise undiscovered locations. These targets are typically of some military importance to an upcoming or in-progress Republic invasion.
During a facility capture mission, the 53rd would swoop into the airspace in their highly modified LAAT/i gunships. The gunships have had the majority of their weapons removed in favor of extra armor plating, radar jamming equipment, and enhanced engines, and they are painted entirely burgundy but with silver wingtips. The gunships would rush into the immediate airspace at top speed, taking out any airborne defenses en route. Once they reach the target, the gunships would offload their troops at various insertion points, and take off again to circle the airspace.
Once the Marines are on the ground, they rush in and spread through the facility, making sure to check each room for potential enemies. Special training in quick threat evaluation allows the GMs of the 53rd to neutralize hostiles before they become a threat. When the central command center of the facility has been cleared, a reestablishment team sets up a new command center for future operations. They reestablish working communications and make repairs and modifications to usable equipment for future Republic use. This is done during the operation, but is often times performed toward the end of the engagement.
The 53rd get's it's name from the time frame in which they operate. A typical facility capture, as described above, would take 10 to 20 minutes in most cases, depending on the opposition.
Personnel Capture
The 53rd's secondary mission profile is often performed in conjunction with a facility capture, but can also be performed as a stand-alone mission. Pre-identified target personnel are selected as high profile by Republic Intelligence. Their locations are reported by several different methods (spies, Republic Intel, etc.).
The capture is based on gathered intelligence on the target individual. Sleeping habits factor into the capture in that the 53rd would typically capture someone in the late night / early morning hours. The mission is carried out in similar fashion as a facility capture, though scare tactics are often involved to gain the psycological edge. Flooding the target's room with a gunship's spotlights while Marines crash through the windows is likely to disable a target's rationality faster than simpley breaking down the front doors.
It is often times the case that entire families or groups of people are secondary targets for a capture mission, and higher profile targets will often have on-site security, so a smaller ARC team or RC team would not be wise. However, it is not uncommon for an ARC Trooper team to be incorporated into the capture. The 53rd would provide the cover and neutralize the compound's security while the ARC Troopers or RCs would locate and capture the target individual(s).
In a personnel capture, the time from insertion to extraction would take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on opposition.
Traditions of the 53rd
The GMs of the 53rd are very mission-oriented, so there is a lot of focus on preparing and getting the right mindset. Since the clones were, more or less, bred to be soldiers (ie, warfare is "what they do"), it would seem like once they start to develop their own culture, the clones might sort of "get hyped" before entering a battlefield. That's not the right word I want to use, but it serves the same effect. It's the same thing as like, say, football players chanting something in a huddle before a game.
Like most sport players (real world) on several teams that have pre-game chants or rituals that serve to wish the team luck. It's not oriented toward the "game," rather is oriented toward the team mates. One of our big traditions some players have/had was to clack helmets with the team captain as they got onto the arena, and then after each game they'd all clack helmets with each other. It's not a forceful headbutt, but a not-so-gentle bashing of the helmets together. They're protective equipment anyways, so we don't get hurt or anything. A baseball equivilent would be hitting the butt of a teammate or something to that extent.
So helmet clacking and the reasoning behind it is a real world tradition that fits well to the Galactic Marines of the 53rd. They obviously know that entering a combat zone isn't a game, but they'd like their teammates to perform at their best. So as the GMs of the 53rd board their gunships before the mission, they clack helmets with each other. It may not be a speech-less thing either. The Captain or COIC (Commanding Officer in Charge) might perch up on the troop platform of a gunship and hype up the troops a bit, but it's not part of the ritual ordinarily.
That's pretty much the only real ritualistic thing about the 53rd though more may evolve as time preogresses. The Galactic Marines are not overly obsessed with Mando culture, since the current real-world Mando culture is so diluted by the "custom Mando" craze that it's kind of gone overboard. But you might hear a trooper humming "Vode An" to himself every once in a while. The idea not to use any Mando'a in the 53rd didn't come out of dislike for it. It actually rose from the idea that the 53rd comes after Order 66, so they are Imperial troops now. Thus, their Imperial brass would encourage them to detach themselves from any Mandalorian affiliation they might cling to. Basically, they are Imperial troopers now, not Mandalorians.
