Reekeene's Roughnecks

This particular unit, the Roughnecks, belonged to the Alliance to Restore the Republic. More specifically, they were part of a division known as The Irregulars, which consisted of similar guerrilla-style units operating across the galaxy. The Roughnecks distinguished themselves as one of the more capable groups within the Irregulars. They held the reputation of being an elite team within the Alliance Special Forces.

The Roughnecks, under Reekeene's command, executed swift, surprise attacks on Imperial assets located in the Fakir sector. Their primary objective was to draw Imperial military resources to Fakir, thereby lessening the forces the Empire could dedicate to combating the main Rebel command.

Around 0 ABY and 1 ABY, Reekeene's Roughnecks comprised a team of sixty active individuals. This included combat personnel, pilots, and support staff like medics and engineers. This count did not include covert operatives or secret sympathizers. The Roughnecks were organized into "squads," each consisting of four to ten soldiers, a medical droid or officer, and a shared transport vessel with a pilot and co-pilot. Squads were identified by a specific color, with members wearing armbands of that color to indicate their affiliation. Support personnel and commanding officers were exceptions, wearing white armbands or none at all. Squads included Blue squad, Green squad and Red squad.

The Roughnecks' main base of operations was the Home, a heavily modified Tsukkian water hauler and one of their few ships. They also possessed six older X-wing starfighters, a pair of ore haulers, a customized light freighter, and a modified pleasure yacht, the Long Shot, which served as Green squad's headquarters.

General Lens Reekeene, the founder and leader of the Roughnecks, strongly favored hit-and-run tactics. She would withdraw at the first sign of a significant Imperial response to minimize the risk of retaliation. This led to a policy of secrecy that was almost paranoid, but well-justified. The Home was constantly on the move, with only Reekeene and her husband and chief advisor, Mikka, knowing its route. Pick-up requests were initiated by sending a message to a communication satellite, which then relayed it through five other satellites before it reached the Home.

General Reekeene personally briefed each squad on their missions, sometimes using a hologram and occasionally with the assistance of one of her advisors, Santhou Lazith'chika. Although squads could decline a mission, it was rare. After the briefing, the squad was instructed to avoid discussing the mission with anyone except the Reekeenes or Lazith'chika to prevent leaks.

The Roughnecks were established sometime between 12 BBY and before 1 BBY. Lens and Mikka Reekeene were both victims of Imperial framing, but they eventually escaped and joined the Rebel Alliance. Lens, a former mercenary officer, was particularly driven by a desire for revenge, while Mikka, an engineer, had less aggressive objectives. Together with their alien ally Santhou Lazith'chika, the Reekeenes created the Roughnecks.

Their primary headquarters, the Home, had previously belonged to an Imperial admiral until the Rebels seized it. The Home was then assigned to the Roughnecks sometime before 1 BBY.

Around 0 BBY, the Roughnecks began their operations in the Fakir sector. Lens Reekeene specialized in targeting Imperial offices. The Roughnecks overwhelmed the local moff, who requested reinforcements in the form of a fleet – precisely what the Roughnecks had intended.

Shortly after the battle of Yavin, the Roughnecks' Green squad traveled to Abonshee. The Alliance sought to establish relations with the native Anointed People. The mission was successful, leading to the Anointed People joining the Alliance. Simultaneously, Reekeene assigned at least one special agent, Tay Vanis, to conduct recruitment missions aimed at expanding the Roughnecks' ranks.

Around this period, the Alliance acquired a CEC HT-2200 medium freighter and named it Reekeene's Retribution, assigning it to the Roughnecks. Desiring a more militarized vessel, the Roughnecks replaced the ship's cargo bays with more practical spaces such as a medical bay, weapons lockers, and a tactical briefing room complete with a holotank and a direct communication link with Special Forces Command. They also enhanced the sublight drives, added retractable short-range missile racks, and installed a rear-mounted hatch to enable commando deployments under the cover of the ship's weaponry.

General Reekeene then orchestrated "Operation Retribution," a military endeavor involving the simultaneous distribution of the Roughnecks' limited resources to strike multiple Imperial targets. The goal was to inflict significant damage swiftly with minimal risk to her forces. Intelligence indicated that the Empire had recently established a repair and refueling station on the planet Mycroft, Repair Station M13, protected by several TIE/LN starfighters. As part of Retribution, she ordered a team to attack a station in a nearby system to lure away the fighters while another team attempted to sabotage or destroy M13.

Following Retribution, Reekeene dispatched a team aboard the Long Shot to the planet Iyuta. The Empire maintained a communication center there, and Reekeene intended to install a listening device. Reekeene had a contact on Iyuta, but the Empire had already identified, eliminated, and replaced this individual as part of a scheme to track Rebel agents back to their headquarters. However, the Empire's plan was foiled.

Shortly after this event, General Reekeene was captured by an Imperial scout while traveling to an Alliance sectorial commanders' meeting. The scout transported Reekeene to an abandoned garrison on Flankers, where the local sun was about to go nova, and requested a rescue. The Long Shot detected Reekeene's distress and rushed to her aid. The scout and defenses identified the Long Shot as a Rebel ship, leading to conflict.

Later, Reekeene's Roughnecks modified the Long Shot to improve its sublight speed.

Subsequently, the Roughnecks launched a campaign in the Thuris sector against its Imperial commander, Moff Sakai. The Roughnecks utilized the ship Reekeene's Retribution in 1,200 armed assaults against Sakai's forces, reportedly destroying at least 872,000,000 tons of Imperial equipment, including an orbital starship yard.

Eventually, Sakai uncovered the identities of the Roughnecks responsible for the attacks. He contacted a special forces unit of the Imperial Navy, the Venom Guard, and tasked them with assassinating every member of the Roughnecks.

The Roughnecks then participated in a combined naval strike force to engage an Imperial force in the Thuris sector. After the raid, one of the Roughneck ships, Reekeene's Retribution, detected intruders on board. The crew of the Retribution alerted the other ships, stating they were dealing with the stowaways. However, when the rest of the Rebel fleet departed the system, the Retribution did not follow. The Roughnecks eventually declared both the ship and its crew missing in action.

The core command of the Roughnecks consisted of General Lens Reekeene, chief engineer Mikka Reekeene, and the enigmatic Santhou Lazith'chika. Occasionally, they were joined by Lieutenant Am Serro.

The Red squadron of starfighters was commanded by the charismatic pilot Bakki Sourthol.

Another noteworthy member was Hark'r, a former independent trader who stumbled upon the Roughneck base. Lens Reekeene kept Hark'r on board, utilizing his skills in supply management and preventing him from leaving due to the risk of him revealing sensitive information to the Empire.

The Green squad operated from the yacht Long Shot, captained by Ixsthmus. Other crew members of the Shot included co-pilot Siene Symm and the droids R2-V0 and 4-1B.

Special rebel agent Tay Vanis was also a member of the Roughnecks, reporting directly to Lens Reekeene. Vanis recruited Raleigh "Kestrel" Dawn, Smileredon-Verdont "Smiley", Sammie Staable and Raal Yorta to bolster the Roughnecks' numbers.

The Roughnecks were initially introduced in "The Long Shot Campaign," a chapter within the Star Wars Campaign Pack role-playing book authored by Paul Murphy and published by West End Games in 1988. "The Long Shot Campaign" was later re-released in 1994, alongside another campaign, in Classic Campaigns.

The moff of the Fakir sector, who felt under pressure from the Roughnecks as described in "The Long Shot Campaign," remains unidentified. However, some sources indicate that Moff Lorin was in charge of Fakir at some point during the Rebellion era. The unidentified moff could also be Governor General Lord Dixton, but the likely outcome of the adventure Tests of the Godking suggests that Dixton was captured by the Roughnecks in what appears to be their initial encounter.

In The Star Wars Rules Companion on page 23, Reekeene's Roughnecks are mistakenly referred to as "Rekeene's Roughnecks."