A.C.R.E. Military

A.C.R.E.'s Military is smaller than one might expect based on the size of the organization it belongs to. This is largely because, prior to the year 3200, ACRE has never been an active participant in a war beyond the sale of weapons, proviant, vehicles, etc.

The Military of A.C.R.E. is mostly used in worker rebellions, riots, and to dispose of dangerous individuals.

For those uses A.C.R.E. has two specialized Military units, named C.O.R.E. and R.A.K.E.. Outside of regular troops, A.C.R.E. silently encourages their workers to train with VR games so they can be used in an theoretical extensive war with minimal extra training. Paired with the very good physical shape from their work, average A.C.R.E. workers are a great pool of manpower should C.O.R.E. be not able to deal with a problem.

Workers, most in A.C.R.E. high management, and all but the best spies are unaware of the nature of these precautions, making the high popularity of shooter games on Demnoph a frequent field of study in psychology

## C.O.R.E.

   The A.C.R.E. C.O.R.E. is the police and military force of A.C.R.E. They are comprised out of different regiments, who specialize in different situations and tactics. They are highly trained and well equipped but not very high in number compared to other armies.

C.O.R.E. is not known to engage in conflict with other Factions. It is mostly used to deal with terrorists, rebellions, to subdue riots, and for policing, though a regiment is usually only assigned to the latter task when it does not have another task to do. Still, a few of the C.O.R.E. regiments are specialized in policing and riot control and as such are permanently stationed at an A.C.R.E. facility. These peacekeeping companies are variable in size, and can be some of the smallest of their kind on smaller facilities.

C.O.R.E. regiments are not necessarily deployed in full force for a task but can be split into battalions, companies, platoons or even squads to deal with any task with utmost efficiency and sensitivity.

### C.O.R.E. Equipment

C.O.R.E. is well known for their helmets with dehumanizing face-masks and mostly black-gray gear. C.O.R.E. helmets and uniforms are standardized to make all troops as indistinguishable as possible. All C.O.R.E. helmets feature sophisticated Augmented Reality interfaces. These interfaces project informational displays on fellow C.O.R.E. personnel, allowing C.O.R.E. troops to distinguish one another and identify officers without giving this information to hostile forces. The interfaces also assist C.O.R.E. troops with target selection and coordination.

The most sophisticated feature of C.O.R.E. helmets is their ability to provide real-time censorship: C.O.R.E. AR helmets blur the faces of hostile targets and provide soothing white noise which adjusts in volume to drown out undesirable noises, such as pleas for mercy. AR displays can be disabled with the permission of political officers in case of interference by electronic countermeasures or hacking.

All C.O.R.E. uniforms feature a speaker system, which is used for psychological warfare and advertisement of A.C.R.E. products. They also feature an IV nutrition and hydration system so that troops can fight continuously for longer. In extreme situations, their IV feed may also be supplemented with performance-enhancing drugs.

This is the standard equipment for C.O.R.E., but they are re-equipped if the mission demands it, such as with camouflage armor on missions in hostile terrain.

### C.O.R.E. Doctrine

In combat, C.O.R.E. forces typically make use of mag-weaponry, though most C.O.R.E. units are also trained in less-lethal riot control tactics. As C.O.R.E. troops need to be rapidly deployable to trouble zones anywhere on the urbanized surface of Demnoph or to spacecraft not obeying Demnoph's extremely strict airspace rules, many units are trained in orbital deployment and ship-to-ship boarding.

Due to C.O.R.E.'s primary function as an advanced policing force, its doctrine is based on coordinated action by specialized infantry units, so different units may use very different equipment according to their primary function. C.O.R.E.'s number one concern is efficient use of resources, and the lives of hostile forces typically do not weigh highly in their calculations.

### C.O.R.E. Ranks

Below is a table of ranks in a typical C.O.R.E. force. Political and military officers of equal rank typically have command over the other within their own areas of responsibility, but this can depend on the political power of the officers in question. Officers above the Division level are typically appointed by the department making use of C.O.R.E., and as such may vary.

## R.A.K.E. (Rapid Action Kill Expedition)

R.A.K.E. is ACRE's elite unit within C.O.R.E.. Each member of R.A.K.E. is highly specialized. R.A.K.E. is divided between the Military and Intelligence branches, with a vast network of supporting personnel for both, particularly the Intelligence branch. Both branches work closely together to complete their missions, which the organization of R.A.K.E. reflects.

R.A.K.E. agents are often highly but subtly augmented, be it with cyberware or simple genetic manipulation. The degree of augmenting is dependent on their talents and specialization.

### Military Branch

The best and most loyal within C.O.R.E. are recruited, trained and enhanced to build the Military branch of R.A.K.E.: special forces who operate in squads of 8 to 12 people. Their tasks are highly sensitive, dangerous and mostly within enemy lines, such as the rescue of vulnerable prisoners, the capture of key figures within the enemy forces, or the elimination of such persons.

## D.C.I. (Demnoph Central Intelligence)

*For main article, see D.C.I. (Demnoph Central Intelligence)*

Those within the Intelligence branch are selected at a very young age from orphans and children whose parents are not able to provide for them. Only a few out of millions are selected for this program and only one in hundred out of those gets through the training, the rest being sent to the Military branch.

Training involves indoctrination and education economics, politics, etiquette, engineering, theory of warfare, espionage, torture and so on, beginning at the time the children are recruited. Physical training starts with “games” like tag or hide and seek, which get more intense with advancing age at the discretion of the trainers and peak around age 20. At that time the operatives are sent on their first real missions, already having gone multiple simulated ones.

The D.C.I. Agents within the Intelligence branch mostly operate in teams of one or two, gathering intelligence and not seldom being on missions for years at a time. They either execute the entire mission on their own, or act as recon for the Military branch of R.A.K.E.

## R.A.K.E. and Directors

It is not seldom that Directors choose R.A.K.E. operatives to be their bodyguards or even possible successors. They often take on the role of personal assistant to that Director after having completed their training, learning from them and protecting them simultaneously. With their ability to fit in into almost every situation, ability to fade into the background and simple deadliness when it comes to combat they are the biggest reason most assassination attempts on Directors fail spectacularly - if the Director has the foresight to requisition one.

## Warbeasts

In its military A.C.R.E. uses its vast knowledge of genetic manipulation acquired from enhancing food producing plants and animals for its military in the form of animals, genetically engineered to help in a range of combat scenarios.

While mostly used in only the most extreme of conflicts some of the animals also have uses outside of heavy combat such as hound-like creatures used for crowd control and policing activities.

After the Synth war the use of Genetically modified animals has become a dangerous occupation but the most effective of the manipulations are still used by A.C.R.E. and tolerated or overlooked both because of their use in the war itself, and because they use more subtle genetic manipulation by modifying existing animals instead of designing entirely new ones.

### "Hounds"

Used for crowd control and to help in searching for specific substances, these were modified to be much bigger, stronger, longer living and with sharper senses than original dogs. Alone, their presence is enough to discourage any crowd from getting aggressive and help disperse them with minimal use of force against C.O.R.E. members.

### "Wolves"

Further modified from the Hounds, these creatures share most of the characteristics with them, but have much more aggressive instincts. They are used for search and destroy missions or as help for C.O.R.E. or R.A.K.E. squads on dangerous missions, where they are used for flank attacks in potential firefights.

### "Bears"

Similarly used to Wolves in combat, these creatures are even more massive, with long claws and very strong jaws. Their strong hide and giant frame makes them tough enough to shrug off a large number of gunshots and even a few grenades. Because they are not able to sniff out enemies like the Wolves, they are mostly used in bigger fights to break up battle lines and sew chaos in the enemy, giving C.O.R.E. troops the advantage they need to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy.

### Insects

A multitude of modified and short-lived insect swarms to be used in a large number of situations, but mostly to destroy enemy infrastructure by eating through food supplies, concrete, rubber or fabric, spraying acid on equipment or enemy combatants, or clogging up moving parts. They also have a high psychological value, as they deprive the enemy of sleep, as they must fear another insect attack at any time.

While their direct effectiveness is more limited than other animals, the ability to breed them very quickly makes them very effective over longer engagements, both for destroying enemy supply and wearing them out.