Send In The Marines!
This is our Battle Call!
First In, Last Out, Always Ready!
These are our parameters.
Never Give In, Never Give Up and Never Surrender!
This is our Motivation.
Break shit and make their Mommies cry!
This is our job.
Semper Fi, Marine
Oorah!
The Marines were originally the Advanced Special Operations Unit (ASO) of the United Planets of Earth Army, an elite unit entrusted with particularly difficult or unusual missions. The ASO teams consisted of the best soldiers in the Army and benefited from millions of credits for their advanced training, focused on space combat (including weightless or heavy gravity combat).
The ASO was converted to serve as the basis for a third space branch. From then on, the Marines would act independently of the Army. A number of small Navy organizations, including the Space Combat Team and the Navy’s new weapons Office, were transferred to what was now called the UPE Marines. When the second Tevarin War occurred in 2603, the wisdom of this policy was demonstrated many times : the Marine units were right with the forces of Corath’thal every time they participated in a fight. The Army and Navy certainly could not say the same, and their leaders began to claim, as they still do today, that the brain drain diminished the effectiveness of their forces.
Each Marine is an effective killing machine and has learned to master different fighting styles. The unit encourages both the development of versatile combatants and highly specialized experts. The average Marine is probably a sniper, a world class athlete, a tactical genius and much more. On their uniforms, bands whose color is outside the visible spectrum (but easily identifiable thanks to the improved ATH of the combat armor of the Marines) designate other specialties which can range from the operator of antimatter ammunition until support in exolinguistics.
Headquarters
The operational headquarters of the UEE Marines is located on Corin, a dwarf planet in the Kilian military system. The place was chosen as much for its desolation as for its proximity to a major Navy base: the harsh environment of the planet is ideal for training the Marines. Located outside the green zone of the system, Corin is characterized by vast plains of tundra, serrated rock studded with caves? And that’s about it. Most of the command base is underground, and training and simulations take place in a frozen landscape and in natural trenches in the ice. The planet is still protected by at least one Bengal spacecraft with a crew of Marines and it is absolutely forbidden to land there. The orbital defense forces have the right to open fire at will and destroy any intruder approaching Corin airspace.
Deployment
Unlike other UEE forces, the Marines are not deployed lightly. If a Marine is not on Corin training, it is because he is actively participating in a combat mission. The Marines are not there to protect convoys, deter pirates or keep jump points: they invade planets, fight back against Vanduuls and personally protect the Imperator. The best known specialty of the Marines is space-surface landing operations. The shock troops of the Marines can cross the sky in individual rocket pods built specially for that, and which bear the name of “Nails”. Equipped with the same inertial dampers as a Hornet, a Nail can bring an infantryman from a landing craft to a specific target on the surface of the planet in 90 seconds.
Equipment
In addition to their landing troops, the Marines have elite aviation. Air units are most often fitted with more robust versions of existing ships, which can evolve from a harsher environment or from fast-reacting escort ships. Marine forces never operate from major Navy vessels. Rather, they have their own warships. Their charter prohibits them from maintaining their own dry docks or repair facilities: Marine vessels are given priority in all military shipyards.
The UEE Marines are literally the best of the best: potential Marines are chosen from among the most promising recruits to undergo Army and Navy training. The selection criteria are never made public and are deliberately vague. No one is applying to become a Marine, and applicants who openly express their desire to join the organization are often rejected regardless of merit. Many people assume that if the process is deliberately vague (and can change regularly), it is to ensure that applicants cannot follow a specific pattern for becoming a Marine. Although the vast majority of Marines in training are selected from the exceptional recruits spotted in training camps, it also happens that soldiers standing out from the crowd or astronauts are integrated into the Marine Corps after having distinguished themselves in combat. In addition to initial training in the Army or Navy, applying Marines must undergo “six months of hell” at the Corin Marines base before it is considered to integrate them.