Never before have these small rapid reaction forces, that all the powers had throughout the Human Sphere, been so valued. Although with tactical and strategic purposes as diverse as the forces themselves.
However, despite the variety of their operational purposes, in general, each and every one of them could be defined as a joint force capable of reacting in a very short time to a wide range of security challenges, from crisis management to collective defense. However, the current reality of conflicts in the Sphere, with the Combined Army’s multiple offensives on Paradiso, Concilium, and Dawn, has considerably reduced the operational diversity. Currently, the reaction and reinforcement groups, regardless of whether they were originally remote response forces or a reply to local threats, have become the ace up the sleeve of forces that are constantly pushed to the limit. When they are not the last resort for victory, they are a means to get out alive from the sticky situation of a failed operation.
PANOCEANIA
CODE: CAPITAL
This PanOceanian unit became famous after the broadcast of the hit holoseries “Cold Blue”, starring one of the greatest action heroes: Commander Mike Frost, a veteran PanOceanian officer who has earned a successful career on Maya.
Although Commander Frost is more than capable of making his own way out of any dire situation, either with his knuckles or with gunfire, sometimes the scriptwriters are so wildly imaginative that our hero needs to call for backup. In one of his Mayaproductions, he stated: “A smart operative knows when he can’t do it alone when he must ask for help, and there’s no one better to provide that backup than the guys and gals of Capital.” Obviously, anyone capable of saving Commander Frost’s ass must be truly exceptional, and those who answer to a Code Capital always exceed all expectations, so much so that they have even gotten their own spin-off.
YU JING
DAEBAK FORCE
These Emergency Support Forces are operational groups scattered throughout sensitive areas that have been designated by the StateEmpire High Command, so they have become the most highly available strategic elements of the Yujingyu army. As mandated by Directive 8/2197 of the Ministry of Defense, their mission was to become a swift and flexible first-response tool for crisis situations and conflicts that require the deployment of military units, one that can also intervene in peacekeeping operations in which Yu Jing is involved, as well as provide their military support to allied units in need of assistance.
It’s precisely these sorts of operations, assisting other Yujingyu units, where the Emergency Support Forces have truly excelled, which earned them the code name they have been given by mass media: the Daebak Force. In Korean, “daebak” means “awesome” or “big win,” a colloquial term to express admiration, so it’s an apt nickname that these forces truly deserve.
ARIADNA
L’ ÉQUIPE ARGENT
he Merovingian command put together three different rapid reaction teams, named after the Olympic medals. L’Équipe Bronze (Bronze Team) operates on planet Dawn, usually in support of the main Merovingian force, but also assisting the Ariadnan army if necessary.
L’Équipe Argent (Silver Team) is made up of hardened, reliable troops, and supports the Ariadnan forces stationed abroad, such as Kosmoflot and the Ariadnan Expeditionary Force on Paradiso. Generally, L’Équipe Argent is held in higher regard than L’Équipe Bronze, not only because of its members’ track records but also because of the ample experience they’ve gained in all the different situations and scenarios they’ve had to face and overcome all over the Human Sphere.
HAQQISLAM
MELEK REACTION GROUP
These reaction groups are made up of a small-sized team of veteran troops from different Qapu Khalqi units that are used to working together. Each team is usually provided with a fast pursuit unit (FPU), a light gunship with very powerful thrusters. The FPUs allow these troops to get to the farthest reaches of the sector they have been assigned to in a time frame that the Admiralty considers acceptable to respond to a crisis situation.
The size of each AES varies according to the speed of the assigned FPU, so the sectors with faster units tend to be larger than those with less powerful FPUs. As a general rule, the reaction groups assigned to the main routes tend to have the slower FPUs, since they operate in areas where they can be assisted more easily by other ships of the Qapu Khalqi.
The Melek are true to their code name, for they are the guardian angels who watch over Haqqislamite citizens and interests in the most remote corners of the Sphere, and this evidences that to a nation that follows the Search for Knowledge, all the people who walk this path are of the utmost importance. However, despite their critical role, their heroics in battle, the rescue operations, and all the enemy corsairs and pirates they have knocked off the board, the Haqqislamite deep-space community regards them not as heroes, but rather as a necessary nuisance. The lack of room on the Durak coupled with these troops’ unruly nature make them unwelcome, and the Durak’s residents feel relief every time there’s an alert and they watch the Melek leave.
NOMADS
VIPERA PURSUIT FORCE
Indeed anything. And that’s precisely why the Vipera Pursuit Force exists: to do whatever it takes to protect or retrieve that asset, that vital advantage.
The main competitive advantage of the Nomad Nation is its Black Labs, where they develop cutting-edge technology that, like the wunderwaffen, the wonder-weapons, can turn the tide of any conflict, be it military or commercial. This is disruptive technology that only Bakunin’s radical scientists and engineers are able to develop, thanks to the lack of ethical, moral, and attitudinal boundaries that characterizes their modus operandi. If anyone can create a black swan, an unexpected element that changes the game dramatically, it’s the Nomad Black Labs.
However their very exceptional nature makes them a target for all foreign powers, agencies, and corporations. Everyone covets the heretical secrets hidden in these Nomad facilities. The same people who impose ethical restrictions on their own researchers don’t have any qualms about stealing and exploiting the innovations developed by immoral Nomad scientists. This double standard is quite convenient for all of them, and a threat to the Nomad Nation.
COMBINED ARMY
THE EXRAH COMMISSARIAT
The Exrah are a fiercely predatory species that the EI deemed unworthy of joining the Ur Hegemony. Although their society is structured as Business Groups, megacorporations that function as ultra-capitalist countries and interstellar trade is their main economic activity, the Exrah is duplicitous and deceitful, and they respect neither market nor business rules. They exploit and abuse every single species they do business with, to the point of making their economies collapse, depleting their resources, and destroying their environment, and once they’re done, they move on to the next system where they’ll start the same process all over again.
Normally, such a species would have been wiped off the map by the Ur Hegemony, but its existence is a good reminder of the dangers that threaten those who wish to live outside the Hegemony. For this reason, the EI decided to allow them to live and has turned them into bogeymen, but it also uses them for transportation because of the large number of ships they own, most of which were plundered at some point from the races that did business with them.
O-12
GLADIUS TEAMS
SWORDFOR deploys its Gladius Teams in situations when local authorities request expert assistance, or when their intelligence or military resources aren’t enough. So, in a way, these teams become the big brother that brings the playground bully to heel.
Although most of the missions carried out by Gladius Teams are police operations and focus on investigative tasks on the ground, the phrase “on the ground” implies that it’s very common for them to see some action, hence the importance of the tactical element of these teams. In these turbulent times, the idea of the Gladius Teams as multi-task tactical intervention groups, instead of seeing them only as detectives or intelligence agents, has led SWORDFOR to use them more and more as a rapid reaction force in situations where the units in the area of operations have been overwhelmed, or when a high-level threat has been identified but there aren’t enough logistical resources or personnel to send in a larger force. The self-reliant and independent nature of the Gladius Teams makes them especially advantageous in these circumstances, as they will know how to step in and be successful when they must work alone, or how to enforce Bureau Aegis’ presence and authority until the main force arrives, or until the political pressure exerted by O-12 comes to fruition.
ALEPH
PROGRAM ANK
This program consisted in stationing smaller rapid reaction groups in areas of interest or conflict, equidistant from several hot spots so that they could respond as quickly as possible to any situation. These teams’ role was to be mainly tactical, and their purpose was to provide direct support to units engaged in armed conflict, in order to help complete the mission or provide a way out.
The compact size of the teams was determined by their limited resources, but these limitations were offset by the superior skills of their operatives and units.
The name of the program, Ank (अंक, Hindi for “number”), is a nod to the naming system for the Subsection’s units, many of which were newly created specifically for this division’s enlargement. Except for the robotic units, which follow OperationS’ tradition of using names from Hindu mythology, the Subsection’s units use names of numbers in Hindi.
NA2
CONTRACTED BACK-UP
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TOHAA
DERAS KAAR
Thanks to the Deras Kaar, the Tohaa forces had a greater operational edge, they could take more risks, as they trusted these teams to support them in limited actions. If mistakes were made, this did not necessarily mean that they were fatal: the Deras Kaar was the ace in the hole to rectify the situation.
These teams’ strength was not only rooted in their strategic and tactical virtues but also in the psychological value they brought to the table. Tohaa forces showed a greater readiness for action, they were less defeatist as they saw victories being achieved, frequently thanks to the Deras Kaar, who became synonymous with triumph.
Endsong Pre-order
All these reinforcement groups are described in Infinity: Endsong. Get your hands on this book before August 7th, you will get an exclusive miniature of an EXO, one of the new reinforcement troops of the fearsome Combined Army, for free!
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