Blackwatch Death Squads

Basic Information

 * Unit Name: Blackwatch Special Security Corps
 * Affiliation: Eternal Empire, Blackwatch
 * Classification: Commandos

Weapons and armor
Per Fireteam of five
 * 4x S3A Blaster Rifle
 * 1x KC-M74S Designated Marksman Rifle / 1x S4C Light Repeating Blaster / KC-T80 Grenade Launcher
 * 5x KC-77N Hybrid Pistol
 * 5x Lucius-pattern Bayonet
 * 5x Sk-UL Armor
 * 5x KC-VISR Thermomagnetic Optics System
 * 5x KC-SHDE Adaptive Camouflage System
 * 5x Military Comlink

General Equipment
Fireteams may carry any of the following, depending on assignment requirements
 * PA-1N Enhanced Interrogation Device
 * Concussion Grenades
 * Ion Grenades
 * Demolitions Explosives
 * M-322 Standard Issue Ration Pack

Description
Within the Eternal Empire, all branches of the government are run and controlled by the military, which keeps a tight grip on all of the institutions of the state, including law enforcement and intelligence. Highly regimented and strict, the government requires that all citizens adhere to official state policy and doctrine at all times and ideals which are contrary to the values promoted and approved by the regime, are not tolerated.

The institution known as Blackwatch handles both espionage, counterintelligence and what it calls 'the preservation of national ideals and societal cohesion', in other words the suppression of beliefs, ideologies and values which are deemed as 'subversive' and 'un-Imperial'. The regime-approved social order is imposed and maintained at all times and anything contrarian is swiftly and brutally excised.

Although some disagreement with official policy is tolerated to the extent that it falls within state-approved belief and ideology, individuals expressing dissent against the national ideology and organizations which promote ideals that are contradictory to state doctrine, are labeled as 'political criminals'.

In order to carry out the suppression of these political criminals, Blackwatch makes use of commando units known as the Special Security Corps. As the name ominously implies, these units are little more than governmental death squads which hunt down, detain and torture dissidents and particularly troublesome lawbreakers.

Within occupied territories, or areas otherwise under martial law, these death squads also have the additional power of serving as judge, jury and executioner and may summarily execute dissenters, criminals and disobedient civilians, serving as another one of the state's tools of terror through which the regime imposes its control over populations which are less accepting of Imperial governance.

Combat Information

 * Unit Size: Small
 * Unit Availability: Uncommon
 * Unit Experience: Trained - Serving as death squads for Blackwatch, the Special Security Corps receive much more extensive training than the local Settlement Defense Force units which normally handle law enforcement and are well-versed in urban combat tactics, being taught how to quickly storm buildings and clear tight spaces of any potential hostiles, although their training is focused towards the suppression of insurgents and dissidents, not professional soldiers
 * Combat Function: The Special Security Corps can best be described as a mixture of commando and counter-insurgency units, special forces of sorts, somewhat akin to shock forces deployed by police institutions galaxy-wide, although much more brutal than the norm. Rather than serving as frontline combat units, the Special Security Corps are part of Imperial counter-intelligence and law enforcement

Strengths

 * Shock Troops: Specializing in swift, brutal surprise attacks, the death squads of the Blackwatch are trained to strike hard and suddenly
 * Night Vision: The armor that the Blackwatch death squads are outfitted with, has been designed with integrated optics that give them improved visibility in the low-light environments of the slums in which they typically operate
 * Close Quarters Combat: Equipped and trained to deal with insurgent groups and political dissidents, the Blackwatch death squads are especially proficient at fighting in the urban areas of territories occupied by the Eternal Empire
 * Good Protection Against Blasters and Chemical Weapons: Equipped with the heavy Sk-UL armor, the death squads of Blackwatch are highly resilient against blaster fire and chemical weapons, such as corrosive agents, or toxic gas
 * Interrogation Specialists: The Blackwatch secret police is often tasked with obtaining information from prisoners and their personnel is well-trained in various interrogation methods and are equipped with the PA-1N torture device

Weaknesses

 * Open Terrain: The Sk-UL armor that the Blackwatch death squads are equipped with, makes them stand out at a distance, which, combining with their short-range armament, makes them ineffective at long-range combat in open areas
 * Heavy Armor: The Sk-UL armor is heavy and bulky, thus reducing the death squads' agility and proficiency in hand-to-hand combat
 * Vulnerable to Kinetic Weapons: Intended to combat insurgents, rebels and political dissidents which will most likely be equipped with common-marked blasters, the death squads' armor is vulnerable against more exotic weapons such as slugthrowers
 * Ion Grenades: Relying heavily on high-tech, sophisticated electronics renders the Blackwatch death squads vulnerable to ion and EMP weapons
 * Force Users: Blackwatch death squads are trained, equipped and intended to deal primarily with insurgents and political dissidents and are vulnerable against Force Users, especially if they have lightsabers
 * Ineffective in Pitched Battles: The role of the Blackwatch is that of a secret police organization. As a result, their death squads are equipped and trained to deal with small groups of enemies inside buildings and cramped environments and are ill suited for the large scale chaos of an actual battlefield

History
Due to the secrecy surrounding its activities, it is unknown when exactly was the Blackwatch formed, but it is believed it was originally founded as a special division within Precision and Contingency, following the Conquest of Nibelungen and its moons by the Ancient Eye and Shrouded Republic forces. Initially little more than a monitoring and domestic intelligence unit, Blackwatch eventually grew into the much feared secret police of the Shrouded Republic, becoming an independent organization under the jurisdiction of the Office of Overseer of the Supreme Court.

Despite an initially hopeful outlook, prolonged conflict with insurgent organizations such as the Hand of Light terrorist group, has fostered an air of paranoia and mistrust amongst the citizens of the Shrouded Republic in relation to the supposedly liberated population on the worlds that they conquered. Acts of civil disobedience swiftly devolved into open rebellion, shifting the general opinion amongst the Shrouded Republic's citizens, into one increasingly favorable of increased policing and control of the conquered second-class and every terrorist attack and rebellion brought with it ever harsher repression, until the population which the Shrouded Republic was supposed to liberate, became little more than an oppressed underclass.

The gradual morphing of the Shrouded Republic into the militaristic police state that would eventually become the Eternal Empire, brought with it the passing of laws such as the Counter-Insurgency Resolution, which allows the government to declare martial law and strip away the rights of the conquered populations at the first sign of dissent and the Blackwatch secret police is essentially the iron fist of the regime, given the mandate to maintain order and suppress revolt amongst the underclass and root out any and all dissenters, by any means they see fit. In the wake of the Ancient Eye's collapse, the Shrouded Republic's descent into darkness became complete, with the proclamation that dissolved the last vestiges of democracy and replaced the old republic with the new Imperial regime, which swiftly tightened its grip over society and moved to stamp out what it perceived as dangerous ideas which had negatively impacted national cohesion in the past and the powers and attributes of Blackwatch were greatly expanded.

Nowadays, Blackwatch is known for its use of special police units that are little more than government death squads, a brutal tool of repression which the government makes liberal use of. These death squads are feared for their merciless brutality and their willingness to use inhumane interrogation methods, such as torture, in order to both obtain information and terrorize the conquered populations into submission.

These death squads are often deployed at the mere rumor of insurgency or dissent and will swiftly and publicly suppress any form of protest, regardless of how peaceful, from those which the citizens of the Eternal Empire view as unworthy of having any rights at all. Equipped with high-tech weaponry and armor, these death squads are a common sight in the undercity slums of the worlds which fall under the Empire's jurisdiction and rarely a day goes by without them carrying out a raid against suspected dissidents and criminals.