The Azure Reapers

> *"They may laugh at us; at our size, at our guns, our outfits or our styles. All I can say is, they're not laughing when we're done with them"*
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## The Azure Reapers

Commander of the Azure Reapers. Jakila Bumble.

### Speciality

Elimination / Destruction of HVT's (High Value Targets)

### Battlecry

Oorah!

A somewhat irregular group of mercenaries; the Azure Reapers are a small task force of only 265 members - 85 of which are support staff and other various specialities - This band of mercenaries is made up of humanoid Karthemas but not exclusively Karthema species (Humans making up about a third), this isn't out of xenophobic hate but rather their tactics depend heavily on the assumption that the squads are humanoid, i.e. to the Reapers the idea of a Kithri or Alir performing breach and clear manoeuvres or abseiling a cliff is a comical thought.

Modern technology does compensate for the what a species physically lacks in this era; but the Azure Reapers perform operations with minimal technological assistance, not out of spite for technology but because the most efficient way to mask the signature that modern tech makes... is to not have one. The Azure Reapers utilise improved versions of 21st century weaponry and likewise their battle strategies are also the same as those of the 21st century. This has given them a rather false reputation as a group of low-budget fantasists who have their heads stuck in the past.

The reality is far from these assumptions; while the Reapers are not a rich group they are in no sense poor, most of their profits go towards production of advanced but antique 21st century guns, these guns are by far the most expensive piece of equipment they posses. The 'Earth guns' are built to appear just as they did on earth; but they are modified with the latest technologies to be on par with the second class weaponry of the Commonwealth but more importantly these weapons do not give off any detectable signature besides noise, most frontline guns these days are detectable by sensors as advanced laser / plasma weapons emit energy readings even on standby modes... An Azure's gun does not, an Azure's gun still uses old fashioned ballistics.

### **Equipment**

**Gear:** An Azure Reaper is outfitted with all the equipment of an 21st century solider; camouflaged attire, a backpack filled with essential supplies, a radio, a knife and a gold old fashioned ballistic gun. At least this is what every effort goes into making it seem; in reality their guns have inbuilt modern technology that makes them almost as effective as modern guns, 'almost' because the most critical part of the disguise is that the guns must still use ballistic ammunition... However while they are confined to using bullets this does not mean that they are using standard bullets, the bullets are hollow and contain different substance depending on their use.

Everything else is also upgraded to suit the modern battlefield; their armour may look dated but is made from spec ops grade material, their knives are actually multipurpose tools that can be used as laser cutters or flares and even surprise grenades.

> *"No one in their right mind throws a knife at you in a modern battlefield, so why even bother thinking about them, until the knife in your armour explodes that is"*
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This illusion keeps them off grid and undetectable by most modern sensors; most forces do not use thermal imaging these days as its far easier to detect the waves emitted by laser guns, which is exactly how they operate.

**Vehicles:** Again they are mostly based on 21st century appearances but in reality are outfitted with modern tech. Helicopters are the preferred method of transport via air and APC's via ground. Like with all things these are illusions; if a vehicle is spotted then it thought to be pathetic combatant and only 1 or 2 vehicles are dispatched to deal with them.

**Ammunition:** Mentioned above is that soldiers use hollow bullets; the variations of the substances inside them are:

* Venom-Rounds: Not actually filled with snake venom; these are poisonous bullets that use tissue eating bacteria and concoctions of lethal serums, these bullets are used on unarmoured targets.
* Trident-Rounds: The tip of these bullets contain a shaped explosive that shred armour off its target, used on armoured combatants whose armour is too thick to pierce with standard armour piecing rounds
* Fang-Rounds: The tip of these bullets have high powered lasers that activate for milliseconds just before impact; burning away armour before impact, upon impact the generator that powered the lasers explodes, ideally inside the enemies body.
* Splash-Rounds: These bullets are filled with highly flammable liquids that splash all over the target, once the enemy is sufficiently coated, the liquid is set alight. Useful for armoured target with open joints in their armour as the flames cook the enemy alive inside their suit.
* Boomabang-Rounds: A two staged bullet; the bullet is designed to bounce of the enemy, leaving the tip imbedded in the enemy, the rest of the bounced bullet then explodes mid air. The explosion is harmless but the flash is blinding, the tip still imbedded in the enemy then also explodes, the explosion is mostly harmless but gives the illusion that they are still being hit by the Reapers.
* Paintball-Rounds: Filled with paint; the paint capsules burst on impact, useful for paintball matches.

**Special Equipment:** There comes a time where the devotion to subtilty is a greater hindrance than it is a boon; after all, there is only so much that can be done with a 21st century design, not matter how much you try to improve it as it will always be inferior to a standard weapon that wastes no firepower on disguising itself. When the odds are stacked against them they have little choice but to role out the big guns, this is the last trick up their sleeve, oppositions that believe they are fighting technologically inferior enemies are smashed by the sudden arrival of new weaponry. Some of this equipment is listed below.

* **Sgt Bash:** A mechanical combat walker; weighing in at 175 Tonnes, it is a heavyweight super weapon compared to the usual firepower the Reapers bring. Mounted with traversable rotary AL-58 style laser guns, self-guiding missiles, flamethrowers, an extendable anti-tank muzzle that can be detached and used as handheld railgun, autonomous drone support and an A.I. co-pilot... Sgt Bash has the cost of corvette; both in construction and maintenance, which is why the Azure Reapers are reluctant to use it as its costs would quickly outstrip any profit they stand to gain.
* **The Penguin:** A mobile generator that pulses; the pulses disable all unshielded technology making laser guns and shields useless, the wave does disable their own technology... but this hardly changes much for them, besides some bullets not working, the reapers now possess technological superiority over all enemies within a 4 mile radius.
* **The CN-7 Bumbleblitzers:** A squad of 5 tanks; each tank has a standard secondary muzzle that fires standard anti-tank ordinance, but each specialises in it's own field. Anti-Air, Anti-infantry, Mech-Destroyer, Tank-Destroyer and Ordinance-speciality.
* **The MOAB:** A large ball containing hundreds of paint capsules; they are thrown by hand into the air and shot, the resulting explosion covers a 300metre radius in paint. Only used in the most competitive of paintball matches.

### **Location**

They have no home besides a retrofitted corvette; with it they move between stations, offering simple security services fir fuel, food and repairs.

### **Contract Work**

As a small group the Reapers do not operate as an army for hire; rather as a covert task force that operates behind enemy lines, they are most suited to sabotage and target elimination, preferably not in front line combat.

> *"Whatever you need breaking, if we can strap a bomb to it then the jobs a goodun"*
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By 2305 however they have shifted towards bounty hunting; as the age of galactic strife intensifies, more people than ever are exploiting the patchworks of nations for their own good. They will accept a contract to hunt almost anyone; but, not psionics. After the Last Light there's too much risk of accidentally fulfilling a contract for a simply disgruntled individual who hates psionics, the risk of killing innocents is too high and the Commonwealth would not approve.