Archer Tactical

The files contained in this document are evidence as part of the Federation v. Archer Tactical and the Alliance v. Pritchard, in the aftermath of the Atwood Incident. For Official Use Only. For details, contact the Atwood Joint Investigative Task Force.

Organization

Special Projects Division

Officially used as a catch-all department to cover operations not under the umbrellas of other Divisions, Special Projects quickly became responsible for corporate espionage, unethical research, and other illegal activities. While it contained an impressive “shadow roster” nearly from the start, the Division quickly ballooned into a labyrinthine structure of projects, operations, and personnel deliberately impenetrable to an outsider. Known groups operating within Special Projects include: - Archer’s ARMCO mission (included under catchall) - YONDER section (illegal corporate espionage) - HAWKER section (assassination, sabotage)

Personnel Files

Jameson Pritchard

Native of Atwood, wealthy parents, high-end district of capital city of Schray. Bachelors of business from Fuchida University, orbiting Barnard’s Star. Hired by Threshold Solutions, worked there two years as a manager for two years before it took part in the founding of Archer Tactical. Became Operations Chief on Dualla- made a name for himself by using preemptive arrests and chemical weapons to seamlessly disrupt a planned protest, setting him on a track for leadership. After a stint as Director of Accounting (where he was largely responsible for creating the impenetrable tangle of numbers that we know today), he was transferred to head the Special Projects Division. His previous service with Threshold served him well here- with his working knowledge of important programs like Stranger and Diomedes and his practice in a cutthroat and paranoid environment, he quickly got the existing roles of the division under control and began expanding his powers and responsibilities ruthlessly. It is believed that his influence was crucial in advocating for the ARCMO operation, and the resulting militarization of the Company.

Lauren Raines

Born on Aquilla, poor parents, farmstead outside New Halifax. Bachelors in project management from the University of Fundy, full scholarship. Hired by Archer Tactical out of college into the Personnel Resources Division, she quickly proved adept at diplomacy and manoeuvre, leading to her being directly headhunted by Pritchard, placed in charge of a joint operation with Integrated Defense Logistics, and given a Research team and orders to use them for everything they were worth. Raines dismantled the company over the course of three months: siphoning off their proprietary technologies, advising their forces into ambushes, and sabotaging their supply lines to the point that the company share price collapsed. Archer was able to acquire the company, and Raines was given a far more delicate mission- spearheading the militarization of the Company by liaising with ARMCO.

Zachary Belton

Born on Jackson’s Hold, middle-class parents, capital city of Landing. Bachelors of mathematics (minor project management) at Sawyer College on Clemens, scholarship paid by Archer Tactical (establishing him under the Alternate Employment Act). Began basic training in mech warfare out of college, piloting Diamondback and Rattler light mechs and earning the callsign NEWTON for his repeated failures to understand ballistic math. Gained passable scores (but excelling in battlespace awareness) and proved his loyalty on New Houston, where his company was deployed to deal with a protest, and did so with significant force. After two uneventful tours primarily spent sitting in a hangar, he was selected to join the ARMCO operation, serving under Joint Operations Lead Lauren Raines. He deployed aboard Endurance alongside QRF SLEIPNIR, and dropped near FOB SAND RAT to provide anti-air cover, eventually destroying multiple enemy fliers and torpedoes in defense of the damaged Heimdallr and a captured assault shuttle.

Pre-Lussan

Communications

Analysis by a military enthusiast blogger on Archer Tactical’s capabilities, just prior to the Lussan Campaign

An up-and-coming PMC, mainly providing private security across several core worlds. In corporate circles, Archer is known for its professionalism, innovation, and discipline: in less generous company, it has a reputation for using technology and shiny uniforms to cover for its dearth of experienced personnel and the inability of its officers to deal with unexpected situations. In an attempt to remedy these flaws (and gain a PR boost from the heroes of Haven) Archer has signed a limited partnership deal with ARMCO. While Archer's PR team is arguably more useful to ARMCO than its soldiers, the corporation has nonetheless thrown itself into the partnership with a will and entered units into the bidding for ARMCO's next combat drop. Archer's mix of infantry, drones, limited air power, support orbitals, and light armor is better suited for dealing with protestors and gangs than actual combat, but the corporation hopes that working alongside ARMCO's diverse mix of veteran companies will give it much-needed organizational experience to help it reform its own forces into something to be proud of.

Archer's front-running entrant to the bidding is Lieutenant Zachary Belton, who earned the callsign NEWTON for his struggles with the ballistic math needed for entry into Archer's largely artillery-and-air-defense-based mech corps. Once he was in the cockpit and his computer could help with the aiming, however, NEWTON proved to have excellent battlespace awareness and a knack for anticipating the maneuvers of hostile aircraft which saw him quickly rise through the ranks. He pilots a Diamondback II, Archer's proprietary refit of the Owens equipped for longer range artillery and SAM operations.

Doctrine

Pre-militarization, Archer Tactical was a security force first and foremost. The Company’s primary arm was its enforcers, a large force of minimally-trained and lightly-armed indentured soldiers mainly used for law enforcement and as cheap muscle. Equipped with a simple tactical vest and carbine or submachine gun (with riot gear available when necessary), their lack of training nevertheless would likely render them useless on the battlefield even if properly equipped. They were supported by heavy weapons teams, with surprisingly well-developed mortar capabilities (primarily used for delivery of chemical weapons to deal with riots) and nominal access to ATGMs and heavy machine guns for actual combat situations. This was supported by a small corps of vehicles, largely various trucks or ATVs equipped with guns or missiles, and a slightly larger (though still less than fifty) mech corps. The Company also owned three orbitals (although others would be leased as necessary): Seventh Day Genesis, a science vessel previously specializing in terraforming and now converted into an orbital command center; Chixiclub, an aging demilitarized light cruiser generally used as a patrol vessel or VIP transport; and Fifteen Tons, a mass conveyor typically used to transport entire garrisons at a time.

In the event of planetary invasion or other full-scale conflict, enforcers would be deployed en masse to bog down invaders while the vehicles would flank to deal the actual damage and mechs served to deal with special threats, such as aircraft or armor. While this strategy might have worked on paper, the low quality and morale of the average Archer enforcer and vehicle would have likely seen the entire line collapse immediately on contact. However, despite the struggles of their conventional forces, the Company retained significant indirect combat capacity. When taken off the usual corporate espionage work, their intelligence teams were top-notch, and they retained the services of multiple capable special operations teams. It is difficult to estimate what impact they would have in a full-scale invasion, but they would likely be deployed against leadership and profitable enemy targets, with the intent of rendering the entire operation unprofitable and forcing a withdrawal.

The impact of projects such as Stranger and Diomedes are not factored into this analysis.

Lussan Campaign

Personnel

Jameson Pritchard

Director Jameson Pritchard of the Special Projects Division was apparently willing to sit back and avoid micromanaging his pet project. His trust in Ms. Raines was borne out by the Lussan Campaign’s success, and the Director saw his influence in the Company continue to wax.

Lauren Raines

Joint Operations Lead Lauren Raines deployed to Lussan along with Mr. Belton aboard the converted terraformer Seventh Day Genesis, and followed him aboard the flagship Endurance. She managed to stay out of the way of the boarders (and keep her security detail out of the fray), and spent the majority of the campaign aboard the ship, running a mission control center for NEWTON, collecting intelligence, and attempting to acquire prisoners for the Company under the Alternate Employment Act.

Zachary Belton

Lieutenant Zachary Belton deployed aboard Endurance alongside QRF SLEIPNIR, and dropped near FOB SAND RAT to provide anti-air cover, eventually destroying multiple enemy fliers and torpedoes in defense of the damaged Heimdallr and a captured assault shuttle.

Communications

Address to shareholders in preparation for the Lussan Campaign

Archer Tactical is pleased to announce that, in fulfillment of our partnership with the Armitage Free Company, we will be joining in ARMCO’s deployment on the world of Lussan. The people of this frontier planet live beyond the protection of the core governments, and lack the resources to field their own defense force. They’ve turned to us to help, and we are proud to answer the call. Thirty hours ago, ARMCO-Archer fleet assets arrived in orbit and began deploying ground forces in defense of local population and infrastructure centers. Our intelligence suggests that a pirate attack is imminent- these vagabonds will be flying into the teeth of a prepared defense, manned by hardened veterans of the miracle on Haven and backed by the extensive expertise and technological edge of Archer. With these advantages in our corner, Lussan will doubtlessly be safe once more. ARMCO-Archer: together, we will make a better tomorrow, on Lussan and elsewhere.

FROM: Jameson Pritchard, Director for Special Projects

TO: Lauren Raines, Joint Operations Lead

Lauren,

Congratulations on your promotion. You did good work with IDL, and I have no doubt that you will continue to do so with ARMCO. However, while your approach with IDL was incredibly effective, I wanted to caution you against taking a similar tack with ARMCO. Our relationship with ARMCO is considered imperative to the future growth and success of Archer, and as such every effort should be made to maintain a positive relationship with them. You have a Special Research team- do not use them unless you have a DAMN good reason, and you are DAMN sure you won’t get caught. ARMCO has a zero-tolerance policy on looting, and while I don’t believe it extends to intellectual property, I’d rather we understand the limits of the law before we start trying to work around them. This is one case where we’re asking you to do your job as listed, not exceed it. Lieutenant Belton is a capable officer, you can trust him to handle his side of things. Just make sure everything goes smoothly on the corporate end, and I’ll make sure the funding keeps coming.

Pritchard

FROM: Lauren Raines, Joint Operations Lead

TO: Jameson Pritchard, Director for Special Projects

Director,

Our mission on Lussan should be considered a success. ARMCO successfully engaged multiple pirate threats, including battleship-scale orbitals, and emerged with light casualties. Lieutenant Belton destroyed numerous assets in the process, and has proven Archer’s competence and usefulness to the organization- he is to be commended. Attempts to acquire additional assets under the Alternate Employment Acts were largely unsuccessful, but it does seem to be largely possible under ARMCO jurisdiction, and we can proceed with less circumspection in future. Finally, we have obtained frontline intelligence about an emerging regional threat known colloquially as “the wireheads”- see attached dossier. I recommend we make them an intelligence priority and begin a pivot towards facing them on a larger scale. This is an opportunity to make us another fortune.

Raines

Doctrine

Despite Belton’s good showing on Lussan, the action revealed much of Archer’s weaknesses. The pirates’ swarm tactics closely mirrored the Company’s intended strategy, and their abject failure was taken very seriously. Raines noted in particular the effectiveness of artillery in destroying even heavy enemy units, and strongly urged investigating this further. However, her intelligence on the machine threat known as the wireheads was considered to be a higher priority, and Archer began to pivot to oppose them. This took the form of a general training initiative to bring enforcers up to modern standards, the purchase and deployment of anti-materiel rifles as a standard weapon for use against the expected more heavily armored targets, the activation of three Research teams, and the buttressing of those Research teams with the products of the Stranger program.

Titan Campaign

Personnel

Jameson Pritchard

Lauren Raines

Zachary Belton

Communications

From: Jameson Pritchard, Director for Special Projects To: Lauren Raines, Joint Operations Lead Lauren,

Your proposal to the Board has been approved. You are to proceed to Titan with the main ARMCO fleet and participate in the operation against the Kingdom of Yos. Standing orders remain the same. You are free and clear to deploy your Research team in its fullest capacity against the Kingdom as you see fit. Give them hell.

Glossary

Alternate Employment Act A controversial act passed throughout the core by the Federation government, considered long obsolete by the time of Archer but far too profitable for the richest in society to be repealed. It essentially legalized indentured servitude, and while it was primarily intended to be deployed on a small scale so as to largely avoid constitutional challenge, Archer used it en masse to amass thousands of practically unpaid enforcers, preventing challenge through bribery and naked force.