Guild: Blackhawk Company

M'Chekian Army, Special Operations Division, Blackhawk Company

Alignment: Any alignments are welcome. However, non-good alignments are better suited to solving problems through military violence, and the M'Chekian Army has usually tended towards the Neutral and Evil ends of the spectrum.

Base of operations: The Nation of M'Chek.

How to contact us: Any of the senior officers (listed below) will be happy to help. Also, Cm. Sgt. Dillon Wylde functions as a recruiter.

What we do: Blackhawk Company is the PC division of M'Chek's armed forces.

What to expect: Kicking ass for M'Chek! Expect a lot of military-themed roleplaying, including planning and executing daring missions in wartime as well as regular guild meetings and outings. Wherever there is a threat to M'Chek and its citizens, Blackhawk Company stands in their way. We are not law enforcement, though we do aid the M'Chekian Guards when necessary.

Miscellany: The Blackhawks are part of the elite-forces wing of the M'Chek Army, and as such are called upon for dangerous military tasks requiring flexibility, ingenuity and outstanding bravery. M'Chekian citizenship is a must, as is a clean criminal record (you can't be wanted for crimes in other nations). Your character will be expected to spend a majority of their time in M'Chek. That's not to say they can't travel, but characters who only come to M'Chek to take part in DM-run army events aren't what the guild is about.

Blackhawk Company Introduction and Organisation

Blackhawk Battalion is part of the Special Operations Division of the M'Chekian Army, and is currently part of the 12th Infantry Brigade serving under Lord Derrington. While the highly trained Agents and Special Agents of the elusive M'Chekian Special Forces devote themselves to intelligence-gathering, assassinations and other deep-cover operations, the troops of Blackhawk Battalion represent the very best soldiers that M'Chek can call on, a reputation won over years of campaigning. The Battalion is made up of a mixture of veterans, specialists picked from the ranks of the regulars for their talents, mercenaries and adventurers. While the unit has a fearsome reputation for martial skill, its true advantage lies in the level of initiative and imagination expected of a Blackhawk soldier. The Battalion is not assigned to the long, dull garrison duties or parade ground drills of the regular army - they are expected to gather their own intelligence, plan their own missions and achieve victories for M'Chek at their own intiative, whatever the threat.

Blackhawk Battalion is a unit of nine hundred soldiers when at full operational strength, and is the first of the three Battalions that make up the 12th Infantry Brigade.

The current commander of Blackhawk Battalion is Lt. Colonel Silver Fox.

A Brief History of the Blackhawks

Blackhawk Company was formed by order of the Joint Houses after the end of the M'Chek-T'Nanshi war to clear select areas of the Underdark for colonization and farming. Dala Wennen, former Commander of Alpha Corps, was asked to lead this new unit, which she did until her apparent death in a raid on a Shaahesk temple. Morran Unuldur, then a Lieutenant, was promoted to Captain and granted command. He led the company for the rest of the campaign against the Underdark Bugbears. At the conclusion of the Underdark campaign, it was decided that Blackhawk Company was no longer necessary. Members were offered the choice of either joining the Guards or being demobilised. Only one member chose to join the Guards; the others retired to civilian life. Later that year, however, M'Chek once again had need of her devoted defenders, as a flight of Pyrite dragons led by the monstrous Tharul'Zhannadar threated to destroy all life in the nation. The Blackhawks were reformed, and with the aid of several other groups defended M'Chek from the draconic onslaught before taking the fight to the dragons' island. There, the mighty Tharul'Zannadar was finally defeated. After this success, the rulers of M'Chek saw the use in keeping such an elite unit available and ready to react to any nw threat, so they were placed on standby with the understanding that they could be recalled at any time to deal with threats that were beyond the Guards' abilities. From this point until the outbreak of hostilities with the nation of Drotid, Major Caitlin Swift was in command. She helped guide the Company through the fraught months of invasion by the Undead of Lord Kale, the Demons of Kimonictinus and the Drotid forces of Voivode Kassesshisrath.

The M'Chek-Drotid War

Since the invasion of M'Chek's eastern shore by the forces of Drotid, Blackhawk Company has once again been at the forefront of the M'Chekian war effort. In their capacity as an elite, special forces unit, the Company has been called upon to undertake a series of daring missions, shoring up the nation's defences and taking the fight to the enemy. While initially faced with a crisis of leadership following the death in battle of then-commander Rolan Fyne, the Blackhawks rallied around the leadership of Major Thaylis Beign.

Blackhawk Battalion, and especially the First Company, have been heavily involved in the planning and execution of some of the M'Chekian forces' greatest successes in the current conflict. A hastily-formed army of M'Chekian Guards, Blackhawk Company soldiers and local regular army regiments successfully defeated the nascent Shaahesk beachhead at Eastshore, liberating the town and protecting it until its rebuilding. Operation: Iron Fist saw the Company spearhead the first M'Chekian offensive into the Shaahesk lines since the outbreak of hostilities, and succeeded in clearing, taking and holding an important Shaahesk supply base on the eastern shore. Operation: Wyvern sought to repay the Shaahesk for their earlier assault on the M'Chekian Army position at Greylake, and resulted in a decisive defeat for the forces of Drotid. The Blackhawks were, as ever, in the vanguard, ensuring the success of the mission by preventing the Shaahesk alerting their reserves of the attack.

As the war drew on, the Blackhawks remained at the heart of the fighting, but also assisted the war effort in other ways. It is rumoured that the wave of reinforcements from the northwest which bolstered the lines on the eastern front at a critical moment was a direct result of interventions in the northwest by Blackhawk soldiers. Army leadership has always refused to comment.

The Blackhawks found themselves playing a vital role in the grand offensive which saw M'Chek retake much of its lost ground, some years into the conflict. It was Blackhawk scouts who discovered the withdrawal of several of the most feared warbands from M'Chekian soil, who had been redeployed to invade the distant city-state of Elysia. As the M'Chekian army counterattacked, the Blackhawks ensured the success of the crucial engagements - during Operation: Highland Flood, the Battalion provided an essential diversionary operation which allowed the main attack to advance and successfully capture the Forward Camp west of Fort Kasslesstha. They then saw what, for many of the Battalion, would prove to be their finest hour, as they outflanked and ambushed the dreaded Red Demon warband en route to roll back the M'Chekian gains. In a brutal engagement, Blackhawk Battalion was able to decisively defeat the warband, although initially outnumbered. Artillery and archery from the M'Chekian forces in the forward camp itself completed the rout.

Subsequently, the Battalion was called in to reinforce and defeat the inevitable Shaahesk counterattack in Operation: Blunt Fall. The Blackhawks used their cunning and knowledge of the countryside to outflank the onrushing Shaahesk forces, taking the lizards' artillery pieces from the rear and destroying them. The forces of Warlord Kasslesstha have since been unable to mount attacks from their fortress, surrounded as they are by M'Chekian redoubts.

Most recently, the Blackhawks enlisted the aid of civilian mercenaries to remove a thorn in M'Chek's side - the Old Iron Mines in the Warrens, which had been reopened and turned to the production of iron for the Drotid war machine by the Shaahesk and their Bugbear allies. The M'Chekian forces boldly assaulted the surrounded lizard positions and destroyed the mines with explosive charges, crippling the Shaahesk ability to arm and equip themselves with locally-sourced ore. As a result, the alliance hangs in the balance.

After long service on the frontlines, Major Beign's talent was recognised by the army's commanders, and he was promoted to the general staff of the Army's Third Brigade, where he remains. Silver Fox took over command of the Blackhawks in his stead.

Blackhawk Brigade

Following a major incident involving an abortive attack on Fort Kasslesstha made by foreign agents, a restructuring of Lord Derrington's armed forces took place. The 12th Infantry Brigade, previously under the disgraced Brigadier Tanners, was reconstituted as the Blackhawk Brigade, under the overall command of Brigadier Thaylis Beign. Most of the old Blackhawk Battalion was transferred to this new organisation, to continue to serve as M'Chek's elite troops and to assist in bringing the formation up to fighting strength.

Brigade Command Structure

High Command

• Lord Tobias Chasworth, War Commissioner of M'Chek
• General Cassius, M'Chekian Special Operations Division
• Lord Andrew Derrington

12th Infantry (Blackhawk) Brigade Command

• Brigadier Thaylis Beign
  • Copper Eagle Medal, Derrington's Medal, Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal

• Major Peter Russborough, Adjutant to Brigadier Beign

• Lt. Colonel Silver Fox, Commander of Blackhawk Battalion
• Lt. Colonel Justin Watersdown, Commander of Sable Lions Battalion
• Lt. Colonel Serria Atterman, Commander of Onyx Boars Battalion

Blackhawk Battalion Roster

Commanding Officer

• Lt. Colonel Silver Fox
  • Derrington's Medal, Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal, Red Rose of M'Chek

Executive Officer

• Captain Rickus va'Alor
  • Copper Eagle Medal, Derrington's Medal

Senior Officers

• Captain Richance Weller, Quartermaster
  • Copper Eagle Medal
• 2nd. Lt. Orfanos
  • Copper Eagle Medal, Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal

Enlisted Soldiers

• Command Sergeant Dillon Wylde
  • Copper Eagle Medal, Derrington's Medal, Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal

• Sergeant Straccio
  • Copper Eagle Medal
• Sergeant Rollek Heloc
• Sergeant Paco Di Brancaleone
  • Copper Boot, Copper Eagle Medal, Derrington's Medal, Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal
• Sergeant Lucius Tragus
  • Copper Eagle Medal, Derrington's Medal, Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal
• Sergeant Vaako SandFireStorm
  • Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal

• Corporal Kate Benneset
• Corporal Alice
• Corporal Vana

• Private Sammy Valorian
• Private Karna'yeritath Zamanaena
• Private Etzeth Tzeleth
• Private Kassha Firehart
• Private Kayla Bur'ernook
  • Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal
• Private Drashter Volterz
  • Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal
• Private Jack Barton
• Private June Osammy
• Private Raar Yuwmax

• Recruit Malcolm Griffon
• Recruit Aniero
• Recruit V. "Ripper" Zarud

Additional Background Information

M'Chekian Medals

Blackhawk Brigade

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