Champion

**Key Features** | »Ambiaric sword and shield»Suit of Talon Steel armour»Hand mortar w/ stun grenades»Thermobaric jump pack»Rosary beads

*"Our blades protect the innocent."*

- Motto of the Templar Champions
## Tactical Analysis

* **In Shining Armour**: One should not be fooled by appearances; while seemingly outmoded, a Champion's Talon Steel plate armour and heavy shield allows them to weather staggering amounts of enemy fire, using this to shield friendly forces or close within weapon range. And are equally anachronistic when it comes to their choice of weaponry, employing their heated broadswords to cleave apart infantry and vehicles in close combat.

* **Stunning Revelation**: Additionally, the Champion use hand mortars that fire stun grenades capable of stunning groups of infantry to help them close the distance, and once close to their foe they would fire their thermobaric jets to quickly close the remaining distance.

* **Anachronism**: However, the Champion is limited by their slow speed and the fact that, when it's all said and done, they're still bringing a sword to a gunfight.

* **The Swordsman**: Champions, through trial by fire, grow in strength, becoming candidates to become Templar Lords. Often they would requisition a pistol for their offhand and thermobaric flashbangs that burn infantry and garrisons, learn how to move faster in their armour and reload their grenades, additional Talon Steel armour increases their durability, and their display of swordsmanship leaves enemies shocked and the Champion use the adrenaline to keep going.

## Background

Generally, the Knights Templar, and the Order as a whole, frown upon mindless killing. In the Knights Templar, sound tactical acumen might get a knight promoted; making a quick decision that stops or impedes a Cult plot will usually earn one a commendation or promotion. However, simple combat prowess will not get one promoted, generally. A lust for carnage will not. While a dead Cultist is always a good thing, sometimes a live Cultist is preferable. There are times when killing is appropriate, but all too often, simply trying to kill as many enemies as possible without considering the consequences will play right into the Cult's hands.

However, the Knights Templar also realise the value of those who can kill many cultists in battle. For those who show remarkable combat prowess, there are the ranks of the Templar **Champions**. They are recognised and decorated for their skill, given a special place in the order of battle, and deployed whenever the Talon wants a great many people dead.

Once a potential Champion has proved themselves in battle, they must serve their time as a guardian of Saint Peter's Bastion in the Vatican, though the women are often given the cold shoulder, and at times favoritism for the men, due to the Bastion having lingering issues, but before the Scriptum reforms it had completely banned women and was shamelessly misogynistic (though such treatment was considered normal when it was founded). There, they learn the ancient lore and arts of their order; history, theology, military strategy and tactics, swordsmanship, and modern weapons and combat, as well as intensive physical training to build up their strength and agility. This training process is also seen as an attempt to temper the bloodlust of some of these men and women so that they will be more disciplined, and less likely to inadvertently assist the Cult in their attempts to destroy it. They are also expected to be ready to defend the city and the Pope at all costs. After two years, they graduate as a full-fledged Champion, and is ready to take to the field and fight the Crusade for the Order.

While other members of the Knights Templar fight with more or less modern weaponry, the Champion fights with an old-fashioned sword and shield. While this might seem out of place on a battlefield that has been dominated for over two hundred years by gunpowder weapons, the incredible durability of the Champion's Talon Steel armour and heavy shield means that bullets simply bounce off them. Indeed, Champions can take advantage of their heavy protection to shield more vulnerable Talon forces in battle, who can then retaliate with more modern weapons.

This does not mean that all of a Champion's equipment is medieval. Each Champion, as a sign of graduation, are given a hand mortar capable of lobbing their payloads of blinding stun grenades despite their age, stunning their target to let them close in. And like other members of the Knights Templar, the Champion wears a thermobaric jump pack. But due to the weight of their armour, Champions are unable to make large leaps like the Knight-Errent but rather make short leaps to hurl themselves at the enemy, using their jump packs to rapidly close within sword range and crush anyone they happen to land on.