There's a NPC corp named Circle of Huskarl in the game.

You can quote me, True.

Also, here's the quote from EVE Source that is important here with regard to the status of Dusters in FW:



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[CONCORD ratified them] as a legal entity with the Directive Enforcement Department's Mercenary Infomorph Act, released on May 14, YC 115. This legislation ushered in a new era for the cloned mercenary, and indeed for New Eden, causing the widespread legalized construction of mercenary enclaves and the revision of the CONCORD Emergency Militia War Powers Act to include the ability for cloned mercenaries to fight as independents on behalf of the sovereign militias. Coupled with this, the Mercenary Infomorph Act also gifted a status similar to that of the capsuleer to the cloned mercenaries, effectively billing them as independent political entities in their own right.


So, for elite groups, I'm going to repeat some suggestions I made before:

Amarr: Probably a cyberknight order. Cyberknights have the benefit of being one of if not the most elite of Amarr combatant orders while also being fairly independent. One can already consider the Amarr's Templar development as simply a refinement of pre-existing cyberknight technology, combining cybernetic soldiers with cloning much in the same way as capsuleers combined elite mind-machine interfacing pilots with cloning. Ergo, a knightly order gives something that is Amarr-aligned without being an official government entity. Think something like Knights Templar, the Order of the Knights of Saint John (Knights Hospitaller), etc. Hell, on a joke post CCP Falcon made about Jamyl's titles he mentioned her being the sovereign of a knightly order called the Order of the Hound. It was technically a joke post, but such a knightly order that the empress herself is the grand master of could very well be an option! Such a thing would be technically independent of the government apparatus, while still being very closely associated with the empress.

I did notice on the dust forums that someone mentioned worry about being called a squire: Many knightly orders required a person to already be a knight before entrance. Knightly orders are elite groups, with strict selection criteria and limited numbers. What ranks they do tend to have are things like Knight Commander, Knight Captain, Master, Grand Master, etc.

For an Amarrian order, however, I'd strongly recommend looking to Persian or Arabic nomenclature for inspiration rather than Latin/English ones. It should be reminded that most of the original names of Amarrian elements when EVE launched were Persian/Arabic/Hebrew.

http://i.imgur.com/ZoBTpiP.jpg

Gallente/Caldari: For Gallente and Caldari, I'd personally recommend either black ops units or Mordu-associated mercenary companies. Black ops units work due to being deniable operatives who are given dirty jobs that the government doesn't want to be associated with, giving it the necessary separation and independence necessary for a Duster. For Gallente, a Black Eagles unit would work well (with some non-descript name like Task Force XX). For Caldari, the same could be said of the various mercenary/black ops units attached to the megacorps. I would recommend mercenary company that works for either one of the Patriot groups (Kaalakiota, Wiyrkomi, and Lai Dai) or one of the Practical megacorps (Sukuuvestaa, Nugoeihuvi, or CBD). The Patriots give the opportunity for a fairly pro-State mercenary company, while the latter for a much more shady, underhanded and ruthless company. Again, these should be elite mercenary companies or black ops task forces, as Dusters are independent operatives.

Minmatar: I'd recommend a particularly warlike clan for the Minmatar. Clans, while part of the general structure of the Republic, are essentially independent family groups only tied loosely with their tribe. This gives them a lot of freedom to act as they see fit. I would personally recommend a Krusual clan, as they are already associated with ground activities and ruthlessness, and are very patriotically minmatar as well. Alternatively, the Bloody Hands of Matar or the Maru Rebels (see below quote) could be an option. Both are pro-Minmatar freedom fighter/terrorist groups that act independently of the Republic government, and are very aggressively anti-Amarr.

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The Maru Rebels

The Maru Rebels were once part of a gang of pirates who turned into a sinister terrorist network claiming to fight for Minmatar freedom. In fact, they're little more a ruthless gang of criminals dealing in the black market, smuggling, and extortion and blackmail, even sometimes working as hired assassins. Their official agenda is to murder as many citizens of the Amarr nations as possible GÇò i.e., Amarr Empire, Ammatar, and Khanid Kingdom GÇò hoping to force them to withdraw eventually from historically Minmatar systems currently under Amarr control. The Minmatar Republic leadership has denounced them as being cutthroats and criminals even though they support Republic goals, and has put up a sizable bounty on their leader's head. But even so, the Rebels do maintain some support within the Minmatar Republic, which has allowed them certain freedoms other criminal networks do not have.

Libertine Battalion (inspired by Sacred Band of Thebes, & Gallente promiscuity): known officially as the Federation Special Forces Battalion 609, the infamous Libertine Battalion of the Federation has become well known for both their fighting prowess, and their unusual practices before battle. It is unknown how it started, but the war-hardened men and women that make up this unit have a adopted the practice of engaging in orgies before before deployment as a method of stress relief, and group bonding to maintain cohesion. While their practices are unorthodox, their near-flawless mission success rate have suggested to Federation psychologists that there may be something to this practice.

^ I feel like I should specify that this is not a joke.

The Hakhuron Shield and the Living Shrines sound bad ass though I'd still kinda like to see them for the Amarr. Ammatar oddly enough don't even bother to regulate their own slave trade and don't even have Holders like the Amarr do. Many even believe themselves to be the rightful owners of the remaining Minmatar peoples.

Having a particularly notable order that function as an intensely aggressive front line insurgency/counter insurgency command that has been at war with the Minmatar since the founding of the Mandate (remembering that there was a time in EVE where the Empire and Republic weren't in an official open war whereas the Ammatar and Minmatar have apparently always been at war) who are both fanatically loyal converts beyond all.... potentially loyal to the Ardishapurite Heir (Yonis arguably poised to steal Jamyl's throne) or directly only to the Throne itself would yield to some really combat effective soldiers.

More interesting would be if these fighters tattooed themselves in cursive script from the Scriptures in similar fashions as the Nefantar might have once done. The ultimate insult by the Ammatar to their former kin and a complete affirmation of their transformation between Matar and Amarr.

Any thoughts on warrior cult of cybernetic space vampires (Alukan Order, the continuation post)? or the Cal/Gal ones?

Cool in theory but cannot be an elite faction encompassed by the Amarr Empire. The Amarr openly revile and persecute Sani Sabik. Even in Khanid Space where interpretation of Scriptural Law is more liberal they crack down on this sort of thing.....arguably more violently and ruthlessly.

They'd make for a badass Blood Raider Corporation though. I also love you little bit of bio-engineering thing. Warriors who don't even need Armour to walk the battlefields sounds very Ancillary Justice to me.

I know they're the most boring of the 2 factions, but I'm interesting in your opinion, or what you would do differently.

This thread makes my eyeballs bleed from the amount of tl;Dr needed. Let's get back to shooting from the hip. Maybe someone brave can sum up all I missed 5 pages ago. I'd appreciate that.

Well maybe with that opinion you should shouldn't be weighing in on either.

[Stressful laughter and screaming from inside Galm's helmet]

Seriously, I hate to shut you down since your ideas for the Amarr and Minmatar are on point but for the love of Tibus Heth don't take the Caldari from me. You ideas for them are feel kinda sub par and sound more like mercenary corporation names than an elite military regiment. That's something you can probably get away with in some of the other Empires, but the Caldari are by far the most militaristic and I'd like to see a proper unit being fleshed out like something equivalent to the 5th Dragonaurs Armored Division.

And yes I am, in fact, still in favor of the 3rd "Ratestu" Special Jaeger Company. (I added the 3rd now because I didn't think about it until now and I like the number 3.) Because saying that Jaeger doesn't fit would be like arguing that the Amarr shouldn't use the term "Paladins" because it is technically a Frankish word.

I beg of you, if you are really willing to forgo a hundred years of history because something 'sounds German' then please please please read up on the exploits of Simo Hayha, a White Guard (read jaeger trained) sniper who singlehandedly turned the tide of war in the Winter War.

This dude was so badass he would shovel snow into his mouth so that his breath wouldn't reveal his shooting position to Russian troops and refused to use a telescopic sight when sniping because an iron sight gave him a lower profile when aiming. At some point he had entire teams of snipers and artillery units dispatched to have him killed, but he kept on fighting right up until the moment that an explosive bullet cleaved off half his face. He survived his injuries to go on and become a professional moose hunter and dog breeder until he died of old age in 2002.

However, if even Rattati disagrees with me on this then feel free to replace "Special Jaeger Company" with the Suojeluskunta or "Civil Guard." In addition to being the Finn White Guard militia in the Finland Civil War, they were the force that trained (*cough* along with jaeger officers *cough*) Simo to become the force of nature that he was. Don't just force Goryo because it sounds right and it was the first thing you came up with.

No offense galm, but I think that your names might be getting a little bit toooooo wordy. I do like Jaegers though, but it should be simplified down a little.

Don't just force Goryo because it sounds right and it was the first thing you came up with.

....and this is what it degenerates into....

I'd love to contribute but to my knowledge there aren't many things that weren't already mentioned.
Of course there are the Federal Marines, which are an actual thing

Which things mentioned are your top 5 favorites?

Updated Sanguine Hand just a bit (recruitment, and possible elite bodyguards), same with the Alukan Order (made them secretly accept contracts as elite mercenaries for some Amarr and Khanid corporations, and corrupt lords).

Interesting but sadly of your numerous suggestions the ones I find least interesting. I'm more a fan of your others even if I do like the Alukan concept of biological armours.

I've been looking through the resources on the PIE Alliance internal forums basically checking through the Amarrian Saint's thread for scraps of information.

Two have really taken my fancy. St. Junip of Aerui, possibly and earn female Amarrian military leader during the Arthan Reclamations, and St Kuria, a convert suspected either Udorian or Minmatar, are primarily where I was going to draw inspiration from of an 'Order' of Soldiers. Aerui though we've no idea of its location is a fascinating word.

The more interesting design I like is based off of the Hakhuron Shield primarily being founded by verterans of the bitter conflicts between the Ammatar and the Minmatar.

I've a few more but I'd need to do some research first before presenting them.

What would be the toughest types of mercs/soldiers that earn their way to being the absolute highest ranks within each Faction

Let's say the Empress's Bodyguards, or the Navy Seals of Gallente, etc.

What could be a cool name for these types of elite soldiers per Faction. Feel free to inspire me

Amarr: Echelon, Templars, Chosen,

I'm of course a huge fan of the W40k mythos and always loved the concept of power curve

human>human soldier>human hero without enhancement> space marine > space marine hero > primarch > custodian (elite bodyguard) > emperor