Wilderness Fighters

The Wilderness Fighters were a military specialty of the Alliance to Restore the Republic's Special Forces. The 4th Regiment of every SpecForce division was composed entirely of Wilderness Fighters. Wilderness Fighters were trained in outdoor combat and survival over a variety of terrains, and were experts in using the terrain to their advantage. All Wilderness Fighters had a grounding in combat and survival in all terrain types, with individual brigades trained in one specific environment including arctic, aquatic, forest, and mountains. Due to the vast number of wilderness areas on planets throughout the galaxy, Wilderness Fighter units were constantly in demand, and were spread thin compared to other SpecForce units. When not on missions, Wilderness Fighters generally assisted in guarding bases located within their area of expertise.

During the Galactic Civil War, the Nishr Taskforce was classified as a Wilderness Fighter company under the command of Major Fisk Csino. Consisting of three Wilderness Fighter platoons and a Pathfinder platoon, the taskforce was assigned to the planet Nishr, tasked with engaging the Imperial forces on the world and assisting the local Nish, a near-Human species. The Nishr Taskforce was organized as a light armor company, equipped with repulsorcraft including Freerunners, Ultra-Light Assault Vehicles, and speeder bikes.

Wilderness Fighters were generally raised on backwater planets where technology was not prevalent, and the wilds were full of dangerous wildlife. As a result, they learned to live off the land and survive early, and upon joining the Alliance, their skills were put to use by SpecForce. While they were trained to survive in any wilderness environment, they specialized in the environment they were raised in. If operating in a unit with mixed skills, Wilderness Fighters were often breveted to lead trooper when operating in the environment they were most familiar with. Wilderness Fighters were extremely self-reliant, quiet, and disciplined. They had little time for individuals who believe that their use of technology made them superior to others, and many wanted to simply retire to their homeworlds at the conclusion of the war. Following drop camp, Wilderness Fighters were trained in combat on a variety of terrain, then specialized in a single terrain type. Squads were organized by terrain type.

Due the vast array of specializations within the Wilderness Fighters, individual nicknames for soldiers specializing in different terrain types were common. "Nature lovers" was a general terms for the Wilderness Fighters, while aquatic Wilderness Fighters were often referred to as "amphibians," "amphibs," or "fish." Desert Wilderness Fighters were called "sand banthas," arctic Wilderness Fighters had the handle of "tauntauns," and forest Wilderness Fighters were known as "wookiees." Mon Calamari, Quarren, and other aquatic species made up the bulk of the aquatic Wilderness Fighters, and many of the Jiivahar that joined the Alliance were effective woodland Wilderness Fighters.

Major Fisk Csino, a Human male, was the commanding officer of the Nishr Taskforce. He was veteran Wilderness Fighter officer, having participated in and survived several short campaigns in the Outer Rim Territories.

Wilderness Fighters were trained to use blasters and grenades, as well as melee weapons and unarmed combat. To lessen their dependency on Heavy Weapons Specialists, Wilderness Fighters were also trained in artillery and heavy weapons, such as blaster artillery and vehicle-mounted blasters. A strong emphasis was placed on survival training, with each Wilderness Fighter capable of survival in almost any terrain, but with additional training in a specific environment, including arctic, aquatic, desert, forest, jungle, plains, or mountains. Wilderness Fighters underwent stealth training, and learned to operate a variety of repulsorcraft. They also had expertise in first aid and demolitions.

Standard equipment for a Wilderness Fighter were blaster weapons, such as a blaster pistol, a survival pack, and vibroknife. Wilderness Fighters also favored blaster carbines, such as the N'Gant-Zarvel 9118 heavy carbine, while the troops of Echo Base used the A295 blaster rifle as a standard weapon. Wilderness Fighters also made heavy use of repulsorcraft, including speeder bikes, skiffs, and tanks—the Wilderness Fighters were the only branch to maintain repulsortank units crew by a single troop type. Aquatic units utilized Urukaab Submarine Transports. Karflo Corporation thinsuits were liked by Wilderness Fighters for the insulation they provided, and they made use of climbing equipment and Graph 18 surface locators. While repulsorcraft was generally employed by Wilderness Fighters, they would also employ creatures suited to the terrain. Cracian thumpers were ubiquitous throughout the galaxy, and were often used by Wilderness Fighters. Desert Wilderness Fighters liked to ride dewbacks, aquatic units used methnaps as mounts, and arctic Wilderness Fighters utilized both tauntauns and tuggles.

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• Heir to the Empire Sourcebook
• The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, Second Edition
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• Alliance Intelligence Reports
• Star Wars Gamemaster Screen, Revised
• The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook
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• "Cracken's Rebel Operatives" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 11
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• Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 7
• Star Wars: The Card Game — The Desolation of Hoth
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