MANY SWORDS

Legion Sketchbook

Like the US Army Rangers have a separate battalion in the regiment owing to special operations outside the scope, so does the Legion for those times when a line-company isn’t suited for the mission.

First is the realm of Legion Dark Operations. The Dark Ops contingent works on a separate command structure than the legion proper, which requires the unit to run their own sector commanders. These mission directors report directly to the legion commander for intel and operational briefs.

Dark ops are further broken into two sections, I&I—or Intelligence and Interdiction teams—and the Kill Teams. 

Dark Ops I&I serve to implant legionnaires for intel collection. Before they dispatch the legion to take on threats to the Republic, the commanders have to know what’s out there and how to fight it. Part of that mission includes training and supplying foreign indigenous fighters. By acting as training cadre, the Dark Ops I&I teams contact troublesome Repub holdings and offer to train forces loyal to the Republic. 

During the training missions, the Dark Operators live side by side with their counterparts. Immersing themselves in the cultures they encounter, they not only learn to interact with alien civilizations but also study their combat methods. By studying the tactics of foreign forces, the operators can take anything useful to them for transmission to the legion while learning the culture’s weak points if they ever decide to turn against the Republic.

The other side of Dark Operations is the Kill Teams. Tagged for direct action missions, the Dark Ops Kill Teams are the surgical instrument where the legion line companies are the hammer. Able to deploy on a moment’s notice, Kill Teams serve in a variety of roles, from landing zone reconnaissance to surgical raids on targets of opportunity. 

The Kill Teams are specifically trained to operate in their six to nine man contingent, while needing no support from the Legion at large. The most dangerous Kill Team missions involve singleton objectives, where a lone operator achieves the desired outcome. Why would the teams send one man on a mission? The reasons vary from the conspicuous nature of a foreign military group showing up in an area to the singleton acting as an advisor to a larger force.

For more on Dark Operations, check out Dark Operator and Kill Team.