Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/ARO Archer

"AROs ready!"

-ARO Archer

The ARO Archer is the basic anti-armor and anti-air infantry of the Collective Forces. While their weapons – compound bows – are rather archaic in this modern age, the ARO projectiles they fire are very effective against vehicles and aircraft. Voiced by.

Tactical analysis

 * A quiver full of death: The AROs launched by archers are high-speed, high-temperature projectiles highly effective against enemy vehicles, battlesuits, and aircraft, given the propulsion they need to go the distance by the powerful bows they wield and their augmented musculature. In close combat, their enhanced reflexes and senses.
 * Hey watch this: Archers are equipped with special "cluster AROs" which fired will split into smaller AROs, damaging vehicles under where the arrow fired. Making a group of Archer deadly as a "rain" of AROs can easily wipe out and deny movement of an army of vehicles
 * I'm on a rampage!: Not even infantry are safe, nor is it advise to attack an Archer at close range, as their augmented strength allows them to easily break the necks and bones of most other infantry with their bare hands.
 * Annoying arrows: The model of AROs used by Archers isn't very effective or efficient against infantry, who are much more able to dodge them, shelter behind cover, and don't properly set off the thermal pulse for maximum effect. This gives them a significant weakness to infantry in long-range firefights, and they pay for their greater speed compared to most basic anti-armor/air troops with less damage per shot than most of their counterparts. Anti-infantry vehicles are also a rather risky engagement and they are poorly suited for dealing with structures.

Overview
Au Ra Archers are genetically modified humans with drastically increased muscle mass in their arms and increased cognitive perception, allowing them to wield high-tech bows firing reactive projectiles known as Armor Rupturing Objects with deadly speed and incredible precision. Despite its primitive appearance, the Archer has proven to be more than a match for enemy vehicles and aircraft, to the surprise of their foes.

History
"Guns? Too modern for my taste!"

-Archers on why they use such anachronistic weapons

Yuri is always interested in looking for unusual solutions to problems. To subvert enemy expectations and thwart the usually expected counters. Missiles could be shot down or jammed, conventional flak cannons usually missed aircraft more than they hit, the gatling gun while effective wasn't great against heavier targets, and spectrum weapons had a tremendous; easily visible heat signature. So he set his finest minds on the creation of a man-portable means of launching AROs, Epsilon's new and deadly form of guided projectile; at its foes. However, there was a problem. ARO projectiles were ill-suited for most forms of man portable tube launchers and the current types of vehicular launchers were proving difficult to scale down. It was then that Epsilon's engineers came upon another solution; why not a bow for the ARO?

The bow could provide the initial launch velocity and the ARO would guide itself to targets from there. It was silent, easily portable, nobody would ever see it coming, and it was relatively quick to fire compared to most shoulder-mounted launchers. It was a seemingly ideal solution that earned the engineers much favor from the disciples and the messiah of Epsilon. There was but a single issue, and it was quite a big one. Normal humans weren't strong enough to launch the ARO with enough velocity to make it effective. A bow with a draw strength great enough to give the ARO the velocity it needed would require the world's strongest men to pull; not particularly quickly at that; and would rapidly exhaust even them. Another issue was that humans had issues setting up their targets quickly enough to ensure reliable hits on fast-moving targets without the aid of bulky mechanical lock-on systems. This setback did not discourage Epsilon however, as the geneticists of Headquarters' decided to simply make stronger, faster, people.

Taking notes from the biomanipulation project, Headquarters created the "strongmen"; who would be slighter but smarter and quicker than the a normal human. With augmented senses able to see even high-flying aircraft or distant tanks with the naked eye, enhanced reflexes able to virtually instantly acquire and fire upon a target accurately enough to ensure the guided ARO hits its mark, and strong enough to easily pull the bow this new breed of soldiers was the ideal for the weapon system. And so the Archers were amassed in secret; augmented from existing recruits or grown from scratch in Epsilon's biological vats to join the Collective's ever growing hidden army. The armor of Epsilon's foes would be no match for these monuments to Epsilon's mastery of the human mind, body, and soul.

The Archers would be an enthusiastic corps within the growing missionary divisions; borderline sadistic in fact compared to their counterparts. Obsessed with their own strength and physical superiority over "normal" people, they constantly sought to push their already augmented bodies even further. It is joked that Archers are usually seen at gyms when they're not in battle, trying the hardest exercises they can to both improve themselves and show off to their unaugmented counterparts. While this sort of arrogance was common amongst strongmen, archers in particular tended to be particularly gleeful about the carnage they could cause. A single well-placed shot could send a plane spiraling to the doom of hundreds or trap a tank in a lethal ambush. And surely such would please the disciples who had given them these gifts; and it did.

Guardians of the Tacitus

 * Missile Defender (Aquila)
 * Guardian G.I (Alliance)
 * Elyos Missile Squad (ADI)
 * AT Peacekeeper (Protectorate)
 * Panzerfaust (Andora)
 * Siege Guard (Empire)
 * Hurler (Community)

Destroyers of Balthazar

 * Flak Trooper (Voshkod)
 * Asmodian Rocket Trooper (Brotherhood)
 * Troll Spearthrower (Horde)
 * Tunnel Defender (MLA)
 * ARO Archer (Collective)
 * RPG Recruit (Encantadia)
 * Disintegrator (Scrin)

Neutrals

 * Vinci Sunderer (Coalition)
 * Tank Hunter (Heralds)
 * Fanatic (Order)
 * Amazon (Survivors)
 * Funditor (Syndicate)
 * Gauss Gunner (Conglomerate)
 * AT Guardsmen (Legion)

Bonus Factions

 * National Garrison (ASA)
 * Instalanza Shula (Bastion)
 * LAW Creep (Rangers)
 * Blindicide Raider (Pirates)
 * Vampyr Trooper (Ascalia)
 * Sikh (Elona)
 * Marauder Trooper (Dominion)
 * Shiponmen (Security)
 * Roughneck (Ascendancy)

DLC

 * AT Marine (Federation)
 * Blaze Trooper (Corona)
 * ... (Party)
 * Rocko (Skynet)
 * Panzerfaust Mistress (Elemental)
 * Plex Trooper (Autocracy)
 * Saurus AT Team (League)
 * Glyphid Acid Spitter (Swarm)
 * Protector (Confederation)
 * Gustav Tank Hunter (Kingdom)
 * ... (Goo)
 * Chosen Panzerschreck (Imperium)
 * ... (Dynasty)
 * Gnoblar Anti-Tank Trooper (Warlords)
 * ... (Cult)
 * Ardent Rocket Infantry (Raiders)
 * Rocket Gun Trooper (Theocracy)
 * Anti-Tank Gang (Insurgents)
 * Night Shatterer (Guardians)
 * Drudge (Hierarchy)
 * ... (Sundered)
 * Chaac AT Hunter (Ecumene)
 * PIAT Trooper (Concordat)
 * LAW Vanguard (Contingent)
 * Elysean Missile Soldier (Eden)
 * Disestablishmentarian (InGen)
 * ... (Hallows)
 * LAW Trooper (Commune)
 * ... (Lordships)
 * Rocket Serviceman (Clique)
 * AT Guard (Guild)
 * Bane AT Merchant (Traders)
 * Missile Guard (Entente)
 * Hell Razer (Oblivion)
 * Soldat Ein (Corporation)
 * Brute Shooter (Covenant)
 * Synth Tank Hunter (Institute)
 * Eremite RPG Vanguard (Eremite)