The Ranger is the most elite of the Republic’s infantry. Highly trained and experienced, a sestan soldier may only apply for Ranger training after extensive experience as both an Armator and a Shock Trooper. Rangers specialize in long range combat and reconaissance; they are excellent trackers, snipers, and saboteurs.
Rangers wear a lightweight set of armor designed to allow them maximum flexibility. It offers less physical protection then Drake-class armor, but has several advantages uniquely useful to the Ranger’s skillset. The armor is equipped with refractors that distort the user’s thermal, acoustic, and electromagnetic signatures, and has a sound dampening coating, allowing them to move with almost perfect silence. Their armor and cloaks are coated in nanowires that can bend light around the Ranger, rendering them invisible to the naked eye.
In active combat, Rangers stress mobility above all else. Though they lack the raw speed of power armored Shock Troopers, their movement is smooth, graceful, and fluid, making them notoriously hard to hit. They are capable of retaining a high degree of accuracy while on the move, able to efficiently elimnate targets with uncanny precision while running, jumping, and rolling to avoid enemy fire. In order to help maintain their mobility, Ranger armor has a back mounted impulse thruster for extended jumps. They have been known to jump up to two or three stories with them.
Their heads-up displays allow for a wide variety of vision modes, including ultraviolet, x-ray, thermal, infrared, night vision, MRI, acoustic, and motion highlighting. They also have 2x, 5x, and 10x magnification options, allowing them to see great distances.
In terms of weaponry, Rangers carry a specialized battle rifle, the Mk I Jericho. Unlike most Republic small arms, the Jericho is a laser, and not a plasma weapon. It fires bursts of x-ray light, which are invisible to the naked eye. This allows the Ranger to pick off targets at range without being detected. For emergency situations, they carry a pair of Mk IV Diamondback repeaters, fully automatic plasma pistols. Rangers also make use of dedicated Cobra sniper rifles and Fury missile launchers for specialized missions, and carry the standard Saber and Javelin wrist weapons used by all Republic infantry.
Rangers often will use animals or drones to assist with reconnaissance and scouting. It is not uncommon for Rangers to carry Accipitor drones with them as part of their standard kit. In addition, some have been known to become Verran Hound handlers, using the excellent tracking skills of their companions to hunt down prey. They also sometimes train Verran Daggerhawks, small winged reptiles native to the mountains and forests of Verra, to act as aerial scouts, fulfilling the same role as Accipitors.
Rangers are the deadliest of the Republic’s troops, able to pick apart enemy forces at long range while avoiding any type of retaliation. These expert marksmen are feared by their enemies and idolized by their comrades, and for good reason.