Clandestine Operations Unit

The enigmatic Clandestine Operations Unit are one of the most mysterious and poorly understood units in the USR Special Warfare Group. The COU, better known as the Assassins, are made up of the best infiltrators and singular warriors the Republic has, with each being specialists, expert marksmen and sword masters. They are expected to infiltrate an area by themselves and eliminate their targets, before leaving, hopefully never being discovered in that time. The are the most secretive of all Sangheili forces, being spread across much of the Republic in sleeper cells of up to five, with only two Assassins in a cell being active at a time. These will usually preform missions in the local theatre, usually against internal threats, but will often accompany the military in high level operations, answering only to the theatre commander who has requested their support. 
The Assassins are equipped with only the finest weapons and armour, including their own tailor made camouflage system. These suits are light and mobility enhancing, with hardened ceramic plates to provide the best protection, and high level shields to protect them. These suits have a in-built thermo-optical camouflage system, to provide the best cloak of invisibility. The suit is also RADAR absorbent, infra-red invisible, motion sensor absorbent and carries an expanded suite of sensors and communication gear. Assassins may also eschew armour for infiltration, or use an enemy uniform. For weaponry, they are expected t kill the enemy from a distance, or from arms length away. As such, they often use Particle Beam Rifles, or Fuel Rod Rifles from long range, or use swords, knives or blades at extremely close range. They may also use explosives, poisons and booby traps for their missions. 
The Assassins are expected to eschew honour and a search for glory in service to the Republic, using tactics other Sangheili may find repulsive, or dishonourable. Despite this, Assassins live by a few morals, such as a refusal to kill children, pregnant women or a refusal to kill on orders of a politician, or to kill people who are not a threat to the republic on the whims of their commander. These are carried over from the time when the Assassins were a Military Order, not an actually part of the army. In battle, Assassins are expected to achieve results, without ever being detected, but in the possibility that stealth is not a possibility, they will carve their way through an army to reach their mark. They are expected to die rather than be captured, and in the event of their death, fail safes in their armour reduce their corpse, and the surrounding ten metres to ash in the space of ten seconds. On rare occasions, the Assassins may be called to operate together, to defeat insurmountable odds, in which case they become an almost unstoppable force.