Ghost Troopers

Basic Information

 * Unit Name: Ultranaut Corps Grenadiers
 * Affiliation: Eternal Empire
 * Classification: Specialized Shock Troopers

Equipment
Armor and Weapons (Per Fireteam of Five): General Equipment:
 * - 5x Sk-UL Mk2 Armor
 * - 5x Military Comlink
 * - 3x KC-T80 Grenade Launcher
 * - 1x KC-M2 Portable Missile Launcher
 * - 1x KC-249 General Purpose Repeating Blaster
 * - 4x S4C Light Repeating Blaster
 * - 5x KC-77N Hybrid Pistol
 * - 5x Lucius-pattern Bayonet
 * - M-322 Standard Issue Ration Pack
 * - Grenades (Various Types)
 * - KC-VISR Thermomagnetic Optics System
 * - KC-SHDE Adaptive Camouflage System

Description
The operational experience of the Eternal Army dictated the necessity for highly specialized troops that can perform a variety of tasks and accomplish specific objectives on the ever-changing and chaotic battlefields of the galaxy. Specializing in close-to-medium quarters combat in tightly packed urban environments, the Ultranaut Corps Grenadiers, often referred to as Ghost Squads because of their appearance, carry a variety of specialized equipment which allows them to serve in the role of heavy shock troopers capable of breaching enemy strong points and neutralizing fortified positions.

Armed even more heavily than the rank-and-file infantry of the Ultranaut Corps, the most distinguishing feature of the Ghosts, is their uniform, which includes trench coats that are worn over their suits of Sk-UL Mk2 armor, along with the scarves that they wear over their rebreathers, giving them an intimidating appearance that is designed to serve as a psychological weapon.

Outfitted for close quarters battle, the Ghost Troopers are organized into sections of fifteen soldiers, each being divided into three fireteams. Each fireteam is equipped with several grenade launchers, a missile launcher and a heavy repeating blaster, utilizing repeating blaster carbines as their secondary weapons, along with hybrid pistols that can alternate between firing both blaster bolts and slugs.

They carry various types of grenades for use in their grenade launchers, depending on mission parameters and are equipped with thermomagnetic optics technology which allows them to detect concealed enemies and sometimes even cloaked opponents, if close enough to them, depending on the cloaking technology being used.

All this extra weight dramatically reduces their mobility and speed, however, making them slow and sluggish soldiers that are less effective on open battlefields, but which excel in the cramped environments of urban combat, where they make up for this weakness with overwhelming and devastating firepower.

Combat Information

 * Unit Size: Medium - 4 Companies of 170 men per Regiment (One for each Battalion)


 * Unit Availability: Uncommon


 * Unit Experience: Veteran - Ghost Trooper recruits are drawn from amongst Ultranaut infantrymen with experience in urban combat environments. Following recruitment into the Grenadier companies, recruits undergo six months of additional, specialized training, followed by another three months of training each year, in order to update their skills and familiarity with new tactics


 * Combat Function: Ghost Troopers, or Grenadiers, as they are officially referred to, are highly specialized frontline urban assault troops who's primary role is to breach and neutralize enemy strong points and fortifications, as well as detect and eliminate enemy ambushes. Heavily armed with a variety of weapons, they rely on devastating firepower to overwhelm their opponents and successfully complete their objectives

Strengths

 * Force Multiplication: Equipped with a variety of heavy weapons, Ghost Troopers are heavy hitting forces capable of inflicting crippling amounts of damage upon enemy strong points and fortified positions


 * Advanced Optics: Outfitted with Karavin Concern's VISR technology, Ghost Troopers are capable of detecting opponents hidden behind obstructions, or even cloaked enemies in some circumstances

Weaknesses

 * Slow and Steady wins the Race: Outfitted with heavy, unwieldy equipment, Ghost Troopers lack the mobility and speed of lighter infantry


 * Open Battlefields: Ghost Troopers are highly specialized troops, equipped with short-range weapons, making them ill-suited for open-field engagements


 * Stealth: Due to their heavy equipment and the glowing optics of their armor, Ghost Troopers are ill-suited for stealthy missions and will usually be detected quickly.

History
The Confederate-Mandalorian Wars that erupted in the wake of the fall of the New Republic, brought to light a need for specialized urban assault infantry capable of breaching enemy strong points and fortified positions. Lessons learned during the Battle of Eshan and, more recently, the Siege of Tanaab, have led to noticeable changes in the Eternal Army's preferred method of approaching an urban engagement.

With the Eternal Empire's Storm War doctrine emphasizing overwhelming firepower, Strategic Command decided to create a cadre of specialized heavy infantry that is equipped and trained to neutralize enemy fortifications such as the ones encountered by the Confederate forces during the Siege of Tanaab.

These new units would be drawn from amongst veteran Ultranauts with experience in urban combat and would receive equipment and training that would enable them to serve as highly effective shock troops. The Grenadier units would then be distributed amongst existing Ultranaut regiments in groups of four companies, one for each battalion, to maximize and spread out the Eternal Army's urban combat capabilities.

With tensions between the Eternal Empire and a Jedi-sponsored Zakuulian contender faction led by Kay Arenais reaching a boiling point, the first Grenadier units, which had by then become known as Ghost Troopers due to their distinctive uniforms, were called into active service as the Imperial military prepared for a full-scale assault against Zakuul.