Dominion Reaper Corps

"Welcome to the Torus system, prisoners. You are here because nobody else in the entire galaxy wants anything to do with you. This is your final chance to make yourselves useful to the Dominion. There are only a few rules here, but they boil down to a simple concept: you will become a reaper, or you will die trying. Do what you must."

- Warden Kejora addressing new recruits^(src)

Reaper Corps
Political
Type	Light assault force
Race(s)	Terran
Leader	Warden Kejora
De Facto Leader	Dominion High Command
Affiliation	Terran Dominion
Societal
Capital/Base	Icehouse, Torus system
Historical
Date Established	2500
Date Reorganized	2506 or afterwards
Status	Active

The Reaper Corps (a.k.a. the Reaper Program) is a Terran Dominion force of highly mobile reapers. Its training center is at the "Icehouse" in the Torus system.

Overview

"We build reapers out of nothing. Most of your neighbors down in the cellblock aren't worth the transportation costs to get them out here, but we give them a chance anyway. Maybe ten or fifteen percent of them rise to the challenge. The rest don't. No big loss."

- Warden Kejora^(src)

Reign of Arcturus Mengsk

"My personal hellhole works. Tell me it doesn't. Tell me that I didn't turn you into one of the most efficient killers the galaxy has ever seen."

- Kejora on reaper training^(src)

During the reign of Arcturus Mengsk, reapers were drawn from individuals who were resistant to neural resocialization. This included pirates, petty crooks, murderers, the occasional political dissident, and marines who remained unmanageable after being subjected to resoc. These tended to be the most hardened criminals. Some individuals could volunteer for the Reaper Corps as an alternative to prison or worse. Of all recruits who entered the Icehouse, only 10-15% graduated as reapers, others succumbing to the dangerous training conditions, being killed by fellow recruits, or committing suicide.

Reaper training was harsh. It was without set sleep cycles. Early training included track and field, sparring practice, and exposure to sim-cages. During this time recruits were provided with various nutrient batches that contained concoction of steroids, neutralizers, hormone retardants, and what was essentially poison. These meals could be lethal and lead to other symptoms such as paranoia. Inmates had to earn the right to medical treatment, and physical abuse was tolerated by the Corps' support staff. Reapers were chemically altered to make them even more aggressive before being subjected to brutal training in close-quarters combat and the use of jet packs. Said jet pack training use began after three months of training, where recruits also trained in the use of P-45 pistols and D-8 charges. Jet pack training began first, and such is the difficult nature of controlling the thing, this could prove fatal to some recruits. Afterwards the recruits trained in pistols on a target range. At first, only one was used, and recruits had to achieve a 75% hit rate. Afterwards, they had to dual-wield the weapons. Finally, D-8 charges were used in bomb prep and disposal exercises. Which, like the other exercises, could prove fatal. Conditions changed rapidly in these exercises such as lighting and adjusting gravity.

Eventually, "Graduation Day" arrived. Here, predators and zerg-bots were released into the Icehouse. Support staff entered safe rooms and monitored the inmates, as they were given access to the base's armories. Recruits had to battle the assaulting robots and survive, or die trying.

At least up to a point in its service, reaper recruits were "bottom of the barrel," the dregs of humanity. After observing one recruit however, Warden Kejora sought to introduce a higher class of conscript, and considered taking the proposal to Emperor Arcturus Mengsk.

Reapers were obligated to serve two years before being discharged. In its first five years of operation, the Corps failed to have a single recruit complete more than six months of service, though some reapers were discharged due to reasons of injury, or simply turned renegade. The reapers were widely sought after for frontline action and served the Dominion well, receiving many accolades, all of which trickle back to the Icehouse. Many of these awards are classified and posthumous. Members of the Dominion Marine Corps distrusted reapers, but could at least appreciate their worth on the battlefield.

Reign of Valerian Mengsk

"After the war ended and they suddenly had enough time for proper training, they started phasing in the old equipment design, keeping some of the standard units the same while putting others in the new, improved packs and taking them back to the original mission statement."
"Minus the random explosions?"
"So we hope, yes."

- Dennis Halkman and Foster Cray discuss the new Reaper Corps^(src)

A Dominion Special Forces reaper

After taking the throne of the Dominion, Valerian Mengsk made efforts to reform the Dominion Armed Forces. After the End War, the period of peace that followed allowed the Dominion to re-organize the Reaper Corps, giving recruits better training and equipment. Valerian did away with the requirement to use dangerous stimulants, and focused recruiting on finding candidates who were naturally unpredictable.

Known Units

• 122nd Reapers

Known Members

• Warden Kejora

Reapers

A reaper

• Colonel Nero (formerly)
• Lieutenant Dennis Halkman (formerly)
• Sergeant Stilson Blumquist
• Kern (formerly)
• Samuel Lords
• Boff
• Polek
• Pfaff (formerly)
• Rock (formerly)

Washouts

These reapers "washed out" during training:

• Gabriel Feltz
• Henisall
• Dennis Staton