Duskveil Marauders / DUSKVEIL

During the Second Tevarin War (2603–2610), Captain Elias “Talon” Kade led the UEE Navy’s 112th Strike Squadron, renowned for defending trade outposts in the Elysium system against Tevarin assaults. His surgical tactics and fierce dedication to protecting civilian haulers—carrying food, medicine, and supplies—made him a frontier legend. The war’s end exposed the UEE’s flaws: corporate giants like Hurston Dynamics and ArcCorp hoarded wealth, while the UEE’s bureaucratic overreach neglected systems like Vega, Virgil, and Pyro, leaving them vulnerable to pirate raids and Vanduul incursions. In 2612, Kade resigned honorably, inspired by three historical texts: Black Powder Red Earth, a 21st-century chronicle of elite mercenaries thriving in chaos; the 18th-century Rogers’ Rangers’ Standing Orders, emphasizing stealth, adaptability, and loyalty; and records of Merrill’s Marauders, a 20th-century unit known for enduring grueling jungle missions with relentless adaptability. Rejecting corporate greed and UEE overreach, Kade vowed to protect the vulnerable by securing trade routes and hunting in the wild to sustain frontier worlds, while pledging to aid the UEE Navy against existential threats to UEE-controlled systems.

Kade rallied veterans, pilots, and rogue traders to form the Bladeveil Company, a PMC blending elite combat, trade protection, and frontier hunting. Guided by a hybrid code—BPR’s loyalty, precision, and moral complexity; Rogers’ Rangers’ stealth and mobility; and Merrill’s Marauders’ endurance and adaptability—the Company escorted convoys through Pyro’s lawless wastes, hunted slavers in Nyx, hauled cargo to struggling colonies, and roamed as hunters in the wild, tracking game and resources on planetary surfaces to bolster frontier survival. Their emblem, a crimson blade cloaked in a starry veil, symbolized their role as unseen protectors. Unlike corporate PMCs, they prioritized low-margin hauls and hunting for communities, funding their mission by taking bounties on pirates and corrupt enforcers, while standing ready to support the Navy against Vanduul or other threats in UEE space.

In 2940, the Company faced devastation in Vega II. Hired to escort a medical supply convoy, they were ambushed by a Vanduul warband. Kade led a desperate stand, his “blade” of precise strikes—echoing Rogers’ stealth and Merrill’s tenacity—ensuring the convoy’s escape at the cost of his life. The Company was nearly destroyed, with only a few survivors retreating to Stanton. In 2945, these remnants—haulers, gunners, infiltrators, and hunters—founded the Duskveil Marauders, based in a storm-hidden outpost on Crusader’s moon Cellin. The name evokes their shadowy precision (“Duskveil”) and relentless, Rogers-inspired guerrilla spirit (“Marauders”), carrying forward Kade’s legacy.

The Duskveil Marauders recruit hardened ex-soldiers, cunning haulers, shadow operatives, and skilled hunters, bound by “Talon’s Veil,” a creed etched into their ships: Move unseen, guard the weak, endure as one. Their primary mission is PMC operations, with bounty hunting to eliminate pirates, slavers, or corporate enforcers who choke trade routes, and infiltration for surgical strikes against outlaw strongholds or corrupt UEE officials. Their high-risk contracts focus on protecting and hauling cargo—medical supplies, equipment, or food—to frontier outposts in Pyro, Stanton, or Nyx, and hunting in the wild (e.g., harvesting rare minerals or tracking game on planets like microTech) to sustain communities. Their covert operations include sabotaging pirate blockades or stealing intel to expose corporate corruption. Distrusting corporate power and UEE bureaucracy, they honor Kade’s vow to support the Navy in defending UEE systems against Vanduul or other threats, blending BPR’s lethal precision, Rogers’ Rangers’ frontier stealth, and Merrill’s Marauders’ enduring grit.