Commune Special Situations

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

*"Song reference goes here"*

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Commune Special Situations, also known as Special Situations, or just CSS is a minor fan faction made by (Unknown) and expanded on by MLGDerp989. Elite troops called in by the Communes when peace is simply no longer an option, Special Situations excel in slipping past defense and eliminating singular high-value targets with unyielding force along with having access to very powerful call downs with very long recharge times in MFDM instead of the usual reinforcements.

## Background

### The Death of Pacifism

Any faction that comes to learn about the wider cosmos of the “Paradoxverse” or whatever name they may have for it, will soon come to realize that it is an incredibly hostile and unforgiving place, filled with alien factions of immense power who seem to desire nothing more than to kill, consume, exploit, or enslave all they come across. The prime example of this are of course the unstoppable Scrin, who seed much of the observable universe with their “Ichor” and who rule over several galaxies, the expansion of their domain slowed only by their convoluted faster than light travel methods. Even in their shadow one can still find all sorts of nasty factions however, such as the unspeakably brutal darwinist Ecumene, the callous and exploitative Hierarchy, and the devouring swarms of the Vorgaxa Unity and Ortagix War-Ecology. In such a hostile universe there are of course those who fight the good fight, and chief among these are the Zeelich Communes, a conglomeration of peace loving races who formerly prided themselves on being staunch pacifists.

Key word; FORMERLY

Ages ago, the Zeelich would have their pacifist ways suddenly and brutally stripped away from them, when they came into conflict with a faction some would consider to be the worst among the stars. The Ukrazol Ecumene. The social darwinist and kraterocratic Ecumene would fight with the Communes after they intervened in a war between the aforementioned Ukrazol ad the Star Imperium, before eventually reaching a stalemate leading to the uneasy period of “peace” currently experienced between the two factions and the small proxy wars and skirmishes for control over potentially valuable planets. This state of hostility with their mortal enemies, along with the continued conflict with other factions would begin to drain the hope from the Communes as they desperately cling to their ideals of non violence and diplomacy. However not all would cling to the hope that one day they may return to the halcyon days of their past…

### A Different World View

With the exception of machine factions led by a single sapient entity, or hiveminds who do not have a concept of individuality there is no faction that does not have beings with differing views among its number. Even the most well indoctrinated and brutally oppressive regimes such as the Ecumene have differing ideas about just how their ideology should be enacted and to what extent it should be carried out.

As such it should come as no surprise that a faction as open and progressive as the Communes would have individuals who do not agree with their non violent and non confrontational views; and while for much of the Communes history these people were decided as warhawks and in many cases outright dangerous, the war with the ecumene and the seeming impossibility of peace among the stars would slowly change shift their public image from a group of dangerous blood thirsty maniacs to a group that perhaps had the right idea, especially as the Ecumene grew ever more terrible, and newer, worse foes began to appear. Each new war, each new foe more terrible than the last, each battle be it victory or defeat would galvanize these elements of Commune society further, and draw more to their side as beings from all races and walks of life began to call out for the Communes to take action, to stop clinging to an ideal that seemed to be fundamentally against the nature of the universe, and to use their immense technology to destroy their foes so that there could finally be peace in their region of space at least. Such views became especially prominent as races who had suffered even more than usual at the hands of the Communes foes and who sought greater or more rapid vengeance began to enter their fold; causing the movement to grow larger and larger even as the Communes at large continued to hold out hope that their ideology could eventually return to its original state without such drastic action.

While a more oppressive faction would have shut down these radicals as a dangerous group, the peace loving and egalitarian nature of the Communes meant that as the group gained more and more support they only gained influence at a more rapid rate, even starting to influence the elected leaders of the communes as well as the masses beneath them. However this increased influence would lead to a schism in what could be considered the growing “faction” of the radicals. Some sought to use their power to enter the political sphere and in that way nudge Commune policy towards more aggressive actions and in that way secure their victory, vengeance, or peace. But others figured that the political system would be too slow and cause their movement to become bogged down, especially since despite their growing numbers, they were still a comparatively minuscule minority in the vastness of the Communes which would mean their voices could easily be drowned out by those who opposed them. These radicals instead desired to seize Commune military power and simply take the fight directly to their enemies, regardless of what the Communes at large thought. However such a radical idea was not well received by anyone, as it was essentially an armed rebellion against the Communes at large, and the politically inclined side would rapidly distance themselves from these now quite poorly viewed radicals who lost much of their support, and were in some cases arrested if they tried to carry out their plans.

### A Special Situation Arises

*"We tainted our souls, so others may live pure."*

- Unofficial motto of the CSS
With the more extreme elements of their movement losing support and in some cases even facing criminal charges, the politically inclined aspect began to put its plans into action. Calling themselves the “Interventionists” they ran in campaigns and started to gather more support from the people, citing the ever growing brutality of the Ecumene and the ruthless unthinking nature of the Unity and War Ecology as reasons for greater military power, and playing off the deep sense of dread that suddenly washed the Communes every time the Scrin were encountered. The tactics did work to a degree, and they soon grew to become a minor party within the Commune’s leadership; but it was not enough. As many had feared, they were still seen as a somewhat dangerous group, and many of their policies were stonewalled by the other parties in the legislature. While their influence did start to push the Communes down a more militant path, it was slow going and every step in their desired direction was met with fierce resistance. This would all change with the defection of Fleet Commander Serafa'adxa.

Serafa'adxa was the commander of one of the Communes more far flung defense fleets, tasked with ensuring that more subtle enemies could not infiltrate the Communes, and that overt ones could not move to attack main worlds of the Communes without repercussion. The true reason behind the Commanders defection was unknown with some claiming he was a victim of Ecumene or another faction’s mind control abilities and yet others saying he simply grew to hate the Communes for personal reasons over time. However, what was of utmost importance was that they could not be allowed to make contact with the enemies of the Communes, as his high position would enable him to provide the enemy with an untold wealth of knowledge about the Communes and their technology. Fortunately most of the Commanders forces refused to support him, and tried to stop him themselves. Unfortunately, the Commander still had his flagship, and after a pitched battle managed to break through his former troops defenses and flee Commune territory. The ruling Councils demanded a response, however it was found that the prospect of fighting former allies, especially when capture was out of the option due to the need to eliminate the Commander as soon as possible put most troops and indeed even leaders on edge. Until High Justicar Tyrandra, a long supporter of the “Interventionists” due to her desire for vengeance against the Ecumene, stepped forward and offered a solution.

Leading a highly equipped task force composed of specially chosen proto interventionist prisoners deemed to be trustworthy and not too radical, Tyrandra infiltrated Serafa'adxa’s flagship and efficiently terminated the rogue Commander, inflicting minimal casualties and collateral damage as they did despite the level of firepower brought to bear. This act was immediately capitalized on by the Interventionist party at large, citing how despite prevailing this time, having a dedicated task force on hand to deal with any new “special situations” such as Serafa'adxa’s defection or other cases where an immediate response by people who would not hesitate to do what was needed could ensure that such threats were dealt with swiftly and efficiently. Combined with Tyrandras backing, and the heightened state of fear among the populace, the Interventionists managed to secure their largest victory to date; the creation of Section 13 of the Commune armed forces, the so-called “Special Situations”.

Composed of pardoned radical interventionists who were found to be tough enough and anyone else who can withstand the absolutely PUNISHING training required to enter, along with being unwaveringly loyal to the Communes and willing to fulfill their duty no matter the cost, Special Situations can be considered the absolute best of the best in the Commune army. Equipped with the most advanced technology that the Communes and their allies in the cosmos can provide their mission is to eliminate high priority targets with supreme efficiency and when conventional methods are no longer and option. The CSS is relegated to largely serving as part of the proper Commune military, since their presence in Indigenous Rescue Forces would represent an near unheard of degree of technological escalation. The largest exception to this is the task force lead by Tyrandra herself as the high Justicar always keeps at least a small contingent of CSS troops around to take down the worst of the Ecumense colonizing leaders. In the case of the planet Earth the Special Situations are on high alert, as the infamy of Orluk and those he associates with has spread far and wide, with many seeking to see them erased once and for all so that they can no longer torment the more primitive peoples of the universe.

## Gameplay Style and Development

### Precision and Power

Few terrestrial faction are aware of the extreme levels of technological downgrading that both the Ecumene and Communes exhibit in their arsenals due to their attempts to avoid attracting the attention of the other and starting another galactic war. As such the arsenals of the Observation Fleets and the Indigenous Rescue Force are but pale imitations of the true power of their respective factions. The Commune's Special Situations are not beholden to any such considerations.

As such, the CSS represents the best of the best of not only the Communes rescue force, but essentially their proper army too. This means that all CSS units boast immense defensive capability, with heavily armored and shielded powered armors being standard among all their infantry and equally superior materials and energistic barriers being seen in their vehicles giving them a level of durability that far exceeds a comparable unit of any other faction. For instance, a CSS Dread Herald has more armor and health than an Ecumene Grunt, a Fylkirate Drengr, a Dawuardin Legate, or a Foundation Spec Ops, and given their weapon and armor will beat any of them in single combat.

However to offset this great power all CSS units have massive price tags and very long build times, not to mention are usually only good at focusing down single targets and helpless against large numbers of units that deal decent damage against their unit type. This all means that the CSS is not to be treated a main fighting faction as massing units will be very difficult if not impossible and for all their power, the enemy will be able to eventually overwhelm them, or simply destroy their production structures. However as support for dealing with priority enemy targets they cannot be beat, and should be used as such.

### Technology

Despite their status as near pariahs to the wider Communes, the CSS is still technically a part of them and as such share a few of their technologies such as defenses and armor, although theirs are significantly more powerful and advanced, however, they diverge significantly in the weaponry department, opting for far more damaging if not area covering weapons of war. Some of these are listed below.

**Displacement Weapons:** Displacement weapons are the basic form of weaponry for the CSS being payloads of fusion temperature plasma carried inside a target through the use of phased matter and meta space. They function very similar to tachyon weaponry as they use meta space to blink at faster than light speeds and ignore much of the target's evasion but due to being phased matter they also ignore much of the targets armor by just clipping through it. Due to the small size of the plasma payload these weapons are not well suited at damaging enemy vehicles, however the effects of what is essentially a very powerful frag grenade detonation inside a person's stomach, chest cavity, heart ventricles, or other hollows is best left to the imagination

**Pion Beams:** Pion Beams are the main anti armor armament of the CSS. These weapons utilize pi-mesons set to decay upon arrival inside a target lending them not only immense damaging power, but also the ability to pass through just about any material due to pions barely interacting with most matter. As such they ignore massive amounts of enemy armor and can absolutely devastate vehicles by not only super heating their insides but also blasting them with hard radiation all of which ignores most armor they have. However due to the nature of the bursts and of the pions decay itself the weapons are not suitable for targeting infantry and heavier vehicles can still take more shots by virtue of having more space and reserve crew to damage inside of them.

**Shard Beams:** Shard beams are focused bursts of strange particles and energy that cause targets to become highly brittle and frangible, leading to them breaking into sharp jagged shards that can slice apart things in their vicinity like broken glass very easily. Horribly effective against buildings due to weakening their internal structure and causing stacking lingering damage as sharp shards of the structure start to break off and slice into itself until eventually the building collapses into razor sharp rubble under its own weight. They are also moderately effective against vehicles as they weaken their armor while causing similar lingering damage, however the lesser constant strains experienced by most vehicles means the shattering effect takes far longer to reach a fatal cascade.

**Psionics and Magic:** Due to the vast capability of Commune psionics and magic, it is no surprise that the CSS likewise uses such powers. However where the usage of psionics and magic in the rest of the Indigenous Rescue Force is mainly centered on telekinesis, healing, and morale degradation, the CSS is far more willing to use harsher powers such as pyrokinetics, psi lightning, curses and combative spells and even the borderline heretical act of mind control. Naturally the use of telekinetics, and morale degradation is also present however the CSS typically uses far more potent and aggressive levels of those powers.

**Metric Weaponry:** The most powerful weapons available to the CSS, produced with the aid and in conjunction with the Labor Councils, Metric Weaponry is not a type of weapon but rather multiple types of weaponry that utilize the alteration or distortion of space time to devastating effect, however such weapons very rare. They include both Shattering weaponry which combines Commune Time dilation technology with the space manipulation of the Councils to cause space to expand in a targeted location to physically pull apart atoms and reduce substances to powder and the horrific Thunderbolt, which uses an exposed linear singularity and gravity waves to erase space time and everything caught in its path.

### Reinforcement Replacement

Most Minor factions feature some sort of reinforcement roster, that provides a specialty they lack, and are usually better trained and equiped than the minor faction itself to justify their only occasional presence. Due to the CSS's nature there is no such equivalent for them. They are the best the Communes have to offer, and would usually be the kind of group that reinforcements are drawn from. It also doesn’t help that much of the Communes population still views the CSS as a potential hazard, or even a repulsive rejection of their founding ideals and wants very little to do with them out of that distain or fear.

Due to these factors, the Special Situations do not have reinforcement units that they can call down to aid them in battle, but rather call on support from the Blackship from which they deploy. These black, angular, vessels are feared by nearly all factions, even those with no idea of the Commune will feel dread and awe if they witness it or its weapons, as they are equipped with not only top-of-the-line armor and shields but also the most potent and effective stealth technology that the Communes and their allies have, letting them operate entirely undetected even in incredibly enemy dense territory with little hope of retaliation so long as they remain fairly passive. Of course, they also possess very powerful weaponry, and it is from here that the Arbiters of the Special Situations can call down fire support for their operatives in the field.

These weapons give the CSS much-needed crowd control options, and while their use is free, their cooldowns can become just as long, or longer than the superweapons of other factions especially in regards to the more powerful options since the Blackship has to wait for any potential observers and interceptors to lose track of it before firing again. Additionally there exists a separate cooldown between the use of differing fire support options, for a similar reason and it also grows in proportion to the power of the calldown that was just used however, this cooldown is always shorter than the one of the weapon itself.

## Deathmatch Reinforcement

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### Blackship Fire Support

Being considered the pariahs of the Communes and practically exiled as a whole. The CSS have no reinforcements in minor faction deathmatch. Instead, They rely on the "blackships" that transported their forces and the Transmission Beacon to call down powerful orbital bombardment strikes, bringing the full weight of the Communes technology not restricted to the Communes pacifism. These cost nothing, deal absurd damage, and give the CSS a much-needed AOE weapon, but in exchange their cooldown is absurdly long, equal or even surpassing the cooldowns of major factions' superweapons at their upper levels. There is also a cooldown between the use of differnt powers to prevent a single complete destruction barrage. This cooldown also scales with the power of the call down used but is always shorter than the cool down of the power itself. All of this means that each calldown shot must count, and throwing away a shot, epescially a pwoerful one with a long set of cool downs could easily spell defeat.

## Behind the Scenes

This is largely inspired by the Ian Banks Culture's Special Circumstances and Star Trek's Section 31. They deal in the moral equivalent of black holes, where the normal laws — the rules of right and wrong that people imagine apply everywhere else in the universe — break down; beyond those metaphysical event-horizons, there exist... special circumstances. To some people, that might sound like just a good excuse for bad behaviour, And perhaps they would be right. Maybe that is all it is. But if nothing else, at least they need an excuse; think how many people need none at all.
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