Sha Mao

The Sha Mao (沙矛, Desert Spears), is Shen Zhou's most elite infantry unit, composed of the nation-state's most fanatical, die-hard patriots, being dubbed Sha Mao (傻帽, Stupid Heads) by Chinese speaking critics in the confederacy as a whole. The exact number of Sha Mao personnel is classified, but estimates put the figure between 1000 to 2000 units in the entire star system, spread across key military installations and space stations. Sha Mao are routinely sent out with local militia and law enforcement to conduct anti-piracy and counter terrorism operations. Many Sha Mao are recruited into the RSC's Kongjian elite infantry units for their existing expertise and fanatical will to fight to the death.

There is no age limit to becoming a Sha Mao so long as one has reached adulthood, as any bodily defects that come with age can be fixed with gene therapy and cybernetics. Candidates are mostly chosen from Shen Zhou's army, with considerations for physical fitness, work ethic, experience (historically, at least five years of service) communication skills, and minimal responsibilities outside of duties in the military. An in-depth background check is conducted, along with genetic examinations.

Once a candidate is chosen, grueling, near-death training is conducted at Army Base Lvda, located in Nan Zhan State, bordering the inhospitable desert. Candidates are subject to the harshest, standard army training regimes for over a year, before being sent out on survival missions in the desert for two week periods, twice, with a six-month recovery period in between missions. Attrition rates are estimated to be between 90 to 95 percent during this first stage of training.

After a candidate passes the first stage of training, they become a pre-deployment Sha Mao personnel, assigned to a team of four, then granted bio-modifications for improved, temporary survivability against lethal injuries; along with standard space environment adaptations and improved survival duration in hostile environments. As new team members ease into their genetic modifications, they continue training, now including extensive wargames against fellow Sha Mao teams, space environment survival and zero-g navigation, and more advanced technical maintenance beyond the basics from standard Shen Zhou army training. This pre-deployment phase takes another year.

Sha Mao primarily operate in desert and urban environments to counter especially dangerous foes, while routinely rotated to space stations to maintain their familiarity with the environment. Rarely do Sha Mao conduct actual space environment operations, only doing so when additional manpower is required by other dedicated spaceborne units.
TBD

Unbeknownst to most of the confederacy, Sha Mao are employed extensively in anti-Daqinren weapons development. A team of Sha Mao dubbed "The Research Team" is permanently placed in Shen Zhou's sister state, Li Ming, disguised as employees for the innocuously named Self Defense Research Laboratories. Within the company, "The Research Team" conducts live-fire exercises against living test subjects who mimic Daqinren physiology, dubbed "Training Machines", testing new firearms, ammunition, and equipment.

Sha Mao are most often seen in desert camoflage colors, digital light brown patterned cloaks (Technical name TBD for the camo) draped over their bodies to break up their outlines and confuse hostiles. Underneath the cloak, they where standard, Shen Zhou desert environmental suits topped with armor plating (Technical name for armor-suit TBD) in camo pattern. On occasion, should hiding their presence be of secondary concern, Sha Mao would wear red scarfs around their left elbows like other elite "Mao" units in the Shen Zhou system. This is sufficient to cause rout and surrender among lesser foes.

• Q25 Main Battle Carbine