The Golden Rifles

*"The best guns money can buy"*

-old motto of the company-

*"Victory and nothing else!"*

-best known motto of the company-

**Homeworld:** Ortus, currently Yaanari space

**Current commander:** Dante "Iron Claw" Fleshman

**Strenght:** 4000 before the battle of New Sajar. Currently thought to be between 2000 and 5000 counting auxiliary and ally forces.

**Specialities:** Terror tactics, raiding operations.

Seen as the most infamous mercenary companies to be created, the **Golden Rifles** are known throughout the galaxy for their skill, merciless nature and the speed with which they will change sides if the coin is good. Due to their many warcrimes against the Commonwealth and its allies, the Golden Rifles have been branded as traitors to be hunted down and brought to justice.

Before their fall from grace, the Rifles were just one of many new mercenary companies, young and lacking in combat experience. Wanting to make a name of themselves, the Golden Rifles went to war just a few months after their creation, taking part in the Aramathi liberation war against the Zracon. Confident in their advanced equipment and believing that the war would be swift, the Rifles were at the head of the first attacks during the liberation of New Sajar. Their little knowledge of the terrain and the foe they were facing made their long-range weapons nearly useless as the Zracon unleashed a series of swift, precise ambushes which nearly annihilated the whole company in a single day. By the end of the invasion, only 600 of the 4000-strong company could still hold a weapon. Nearly all their officers were dead, their captain turned into ash by the flamethrowers of a Purger tank. Lacking in men and shocked by their near destruction, the Golden Rifles sought to rebuild their company as swiftly as they could before the end of the campaign.

That was the first of many mistakes to come.

## Release the prisoners

As it happens with any war, the liberation of New Sajar saw more than one Commonwealth soldier who chose not to follow orders. Murderers, deserters and looters who stole from the Aramathi filled the army's correctional camps. Some escaped, others were released at the end of the campaign, no longer part of the Commonwealth's army. Most of them tried to join one of the older mercenary companies, only to be rejected for their disciplinary issues. With nowhere else to go, they turned to the Golden Rifles, currently so desperate for more manpower that they were ready to forgive even former criminals as long as they swore an oath to serve the company and follow its rules.

The new recruits were a mixed blessing for the Golden Rifles. On the one hand, most of those who joined had some experience in the army and fought tenaciously as long as the wealth kept flowing into their pockets. On the other hand, the discipline within the company's ranks began to dissapear as these new recruits became the core of the company. Of the surviving 600, they either changed their views and became part of the new system, died in battle, suffered an "accident" or left the company altogether, disgusting with the behaviour of those they had once called "brothers".

## Almerich "the golden" steps in

Nearly 30 years after its foundation, the Golden Rifles had become the least respected mercenary company in the whole Commonwealth. As researchers found began to find them guilty of a series of war crimes, the Commonwealth's government finally had enough. The company was ordered to be disbanded and any criminals in it sent to justice. Unluckily for the Commonwealth, two factors prevented the end of the Golden Rifles: The rise of Almerich and the war against the Yaanari.

One of the worst mass-murderers in the Commonwealth's history, Almerich was a handsome man of long, golden hair, perfect teeth and a rotten heart. He cared little of civilian casualties and less so when allied forces were not keeping an eye on him or his men. Amongst his long list of crimes, it is believed that Almerich murdered in cold blood a Kithri officer trying to stop him from taking all the food of a starving Karthemas family and then mudering said family, alongside the rest of the village, just so there would be no witnesses.

Knowing that he no longer had a future in the Commonwealth, Almerich decided that maybe it was time to search for another patron. The arrival of the Yaanari was seen as a blessing. To the surprise of even his own men, Almerich provided his services to one of the leagues, asking only to be sent to those areas far away from the Commonwealth's frontiers. Almerich chose this not because he did not want to slay fellow citizens, but instead to lower the chances of being captured and sent to trial for his growing list of crimes.

Unsurprisingly, Almerich was almost at home in the league, his values nearly identical to those of his hosts. Soon, he had his own little palace, with a legion of slaves to ten to his needs while the men of the Golden Rifles raided the lands of the Alir. Supported by a mixture of Yaanari corsairs and slave soldiers, the Golden Rifles quickly became the terror of a thousand traders and colonies. Dante "Iron Claw" Fleshman, Almerich's second, led most of this attacks, his tactical skill and love for terror tactic soon making him a favorite not only amongst his troops but the Yaanari high lords as well, to the point where soon Almerich "mysteriously" dissapeared, leaving Dante as the one and only leader of the company.