Confederate Special Operations

Confederate Special Operations, commonly nicknamed the Marauders, was a cadre of elite infantry forces employed by the Confederation of Ordered Governments. Formed by General Colin Davis shortly after the start of the Clayvale Rebellion in 35 A.E., the Marauders were created to provide the new Confederation with a corps of Gears capable of performing vital and highly dangerous missions, often far outside the relative safety of Confederate territory, usually with little direct support. These missions included asymmetrical warfare, direct action, reconnaissance, sabotage, and occasionally even assassinations. The selection process is grueling, and many Gears wash out at various points in the months-long qualification and training course, but those that successfully pass are counted among some of the most individually skilled soldiers on the planet.
==History==
While the Confederation's Special Operations forces were the brainchild of General Davis, the units that would inspire their creation stretch back to the last few years of the Pendulum Wars. The COG Army had, for the majority of its existence, spent most of its focus and resources on the infantry and the tools to support them. Its officer corps was deeply entrenched in their "Infantry First" mindset, and had little desire to change or expand their decades-old doctrines and strategies; however, towards the end of the Pendulum Wars, several regiments within the COG began seeking alternative ways to achieve their goals, including the formation of several small commando units, dubbed Special Tactics Groups. These smaller forces operated as dedicated subunits of larger regimental formations, providing a regiment with attached reconnaissance and special mission capabilities. Following the famous Battle of Aspho Fields, particularly the exploits of the 26th Royal Tyran Infantry and their STG, many more units across the COG began the process of forming their own special tactics units, though the end of the Pendulum Wars two years later largely put an end to most of these plans.
The emergence of the Locust six weeks after the end of the Pendulum Wars signaled the complete and total collapse of any potential plans to modernize the COG's military, and most of the rest of human civilization along with it. What few commando units remained were largely folded back into regular infantry units as the COG mounted desperate, and failing, defenses against the Locust Horde. Several former commandos would gain prominence during the war, such as Private Dominic Santiago of the 26th Royal Tyran Infantry, who was instrumental in helping end the Locust War in 17 A.E. Following the end of the war, the reformed COG's military leaders had little concern with establishing specialized units such as special forces, rather than ensuring the basic needs of defense could be covered instead.
In 35 A.E., the city-state of Clayvale seceded from the COG. Following Clayvale's victory in the opening campaign of the civil war, many more cities across New COG territory also seceded, electing to join with Clayvale and declaring the formation of the Confederation of Ordered Governments. Faced with the fact that, while the Confederation's Gears were far more individually capable than their robotic DeeBee counterparts in the Coalition's army; Confederate leaders feared that Coalition industrial power, even with their territory reduced, might be able to overwhelm their forces with sheer numbers of disposable DeeBees. While the Confederate possessed numerous infantry, armored, and artillery units, alongside select specialized forces like the Confederate Guard shock troops, airborne, and marines, they lacked proper special forces troops.
Category:Gears of War: Dark Horse
Category:Rebuilt Dreams