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a short while ago i came up with an interesting idea for a real world group that could be given a larger role in the robotech setting.
The Sovereign Military order of Malta. the 'knights of malta' are an organization derived from the medieval Knights Hospitaler. although they use a para-military structure and rank system, their primary focus is on humanitarian work, especially medical care. that said, they are a military order, and do still train for defense, especially in the less stable portions of the world. their organization is officially based from the island of malta, but its Headquarters is in rome, and it has branches all over the world. they are recognized by a large part of the world as a sovereign political entity separate from Italy or Malta, pretty much the only landless sovereign political entity in existence.

it seems to me that the knights of malta's unique position gives them a great potential on robotech. their world wide scope means that members of the order could survive the global bombardment at the end of the 1st war, and their humanitarian focus makes them ideal for assisting in the reconstruction of earth's civilization during the late 2010's through the 2030's. their independence from governments also means they would not likely be involved in the UEG vs Anti-unification conflicts before and after the 1st war. in effect, they would be one of the few groups that would be recognized as neutral by both sides.
it would not be terribly hard for members of the Order that survived to begin organizing the survivors on earth and providing what assistance they can, and as the various feudal states and the new UEG form up, reconnect with other members of the order to rebuild their international humanitarian efforts. likewise the elements of the military side of their order that remain would give them an edge in establishing the defense of the survivor communities. in fact it is likely the order would end up bringing back more of the military side of their traditions, in order to help train militias and defend communities.

after the invid arrival in 2030, such a rebuilt Order of Malta would likely end up being able to survive where the governments and UEG militaries couldn't. the military side of the order would help them survive in the shattered society under the invid occupation, and their humanitarian focus would make them important to preserving vital services like medical care.

i'm still not sure how best to approach the idea though. would they be an organization which uses the Civilian OCC found in Macross Saga Sourcebook, with a smattering of military OCC members; or would it work better as a dedicated 'Knight of malta' OCC? and does the answer to that question change depending on the time period you are in?

Interesting GB as usual (y)

jaymz wrote:Interesting GB as usual (y)

Indead.

I've toyed with a similar idea (over in the crossovers thread) of a post-Rain of Death Church Militant ingratiating itself into the structure of the UEG/armed forces...perhaps several factions, in part to preserve order, religious knowledge, knowledge in general(ala Order of Saint Leibowitz), and promulgate the Church through space with the colonization efforts(secondary agendas might include offering spiritual guidance to the Zentraedi).

personally i couldn't see a religious order intergrating itself into a professional military that way, though i could see a working relationship (like the real world example with the Italian Airforce right after WW2 'donating' most of it's large aircraft to the Order of Malta, using order colors but seconded ItAF crews)
i just think most order's militant would treasure their independance too much, and the various governments would prefer the forces under their command to have loyalty ties directly to the government. thus avoiding potential political issues.

btw, anyone have thoughts on the OCC question? still undecided on that one.

glitterboy2098 wrote:btw, anyone have thoughts on the OCC question? still undecided on that one.

Personally, I wouldn't spring for a separate OCC. In order to remain viable, the Knights would have a variety of OCCs. True to their religious roots, though, 'true' members might have to have mandatory religious training(like a Lore or Etiquette skill). If members are required to perform certain tasks, such as working in a soup kitchen or doing disaster relief, requiring members to spend a few elective skill slots on appropriate skills would be, well, appropriate.

(Example: The Jesuits...at least initially, placed a strong emphasis on physical fitness, so hardcore Jesuits of the time might be expected to have at least ONE Physical skill. )

I wouldn't set it up as an MOS, because that's presuming that whatever professional military organization is training the base OCC(presumably a military one) would allow recruits to leave the normal stream of training to attend seaprate training for an organization outside the (nationalist) organization. While military chaplains might recieve some supplementary training, especially in cultural sensitivity and certain organizational protocols, I believe it's generally understood that they recive their religious training proper BEFORE entering military service, and are vetted by the proper religious authorities.

I tend to use the Freedom Fighter OCC for non-aligned militaries. The bonus to this is that you can just make a few custom MOSes rather than having to write a whole new OCC. Add in some Patchers, Pathfinders and Road Warriors and you have a definitely non-conventional military.