The Raad are the operational arm of the Haavu Family. Where the Haavu build, the Raad execute. The convergence between the two lineages happened after the Imperial Conquest, and those who carry the Raad name are still largely considered Haavu by the general population. The distinction matters internally. The Haavu design cannon systems, siege automation, combat drones, and weapons technology that the rest of the planet does not know exists. The Raad deploy that technology in the field, protect family interests across contested regions, and carry out the operations that the Haavu publicly deny. Project Permeance moved through Raad networks.
They are commonly underestimated. Jeyrhans are not large people. Raad operatives are typically short, lean, and unremarkable in physical stature compared to the populations they fight alongside and against. This is what makes them effective. Their size is also what gives them away to the public when they are involved in scrimmages between Haavu and Zhikhan assets. When a contested energy zone erupts and both manufactories deny involvement, the presence of small Jeyrhan operators in the field tells everyone paying attention exactly which side is Haavu, regardless of what the operators are wearing or what markings they have removed.
Combat Doctrine
Raad operators draw from every fighting tradition available to them. Their doctrine incorporates Frost Sentinel arts, adapted for smaller frames that cannot deliver the same mass but can apply the same principles of force concentration and endurance. They train in Yuvaari fighting, which was built for people their size and rewards precision and closing distance against larger opponents. They adopt Emperor's Wrath tactics, particularly the interdependence doctrine and willingness to enter certain death for the person beside them. They practice the Kelan numb fist, a fighting art that originated during the Warlord Eras from a warlord who survived an underground arson inside a weapons cache and lost feeling in the burned parts of his body. He deliberately recreated the principle through controlled damage, combining fire and blunt force to achieve permanent numbness and increased bone density. They study the ancient low-flight Sky Hammer doctrine for airship operations. And they maintain the original Haavu cannon doctrine that Xerik Haavu developed and the imperial artillery guilds adopted.
They are one of the only known groups on the planet to deploy anti-Engineered tactics with documented success. Against the Assault-Class, direct combat is not viable. Instead, the Raad deploy meshed metal fiber containment systems designed to entangle and immobilize. The material is woven specifically for the tensile strength required to hold an Assault-Class individual, and the deployment is practiced until it can be executed in fractions of a second. The objective is to neutralize without engaging. Against the Scout-Class, whose sensory architecture makes conventional ambush impossible, the Raad use sonic cannons and ultra-frequency sound engines that overwhelm the Scout's heightened auditory and atmospheric perception, creating a window of disorientation long enough to act. There is no known tactic that works against a Destroyer-Class individual, but this has never been a practical concern because Destroyers do not appear.
The most lethal operator the Raad ever produced was the father of Tsexic Raad, now 143 years old and forced into retirement by the family because he was too effective to continue using. A small Jeyrhan man whose precision and willingness to apply Haavu-exclusive technology with total ruthlessness made the people who build weapons for covert wars uncomfortable. He raised his children alone after their mother left and taught them that conquering without the use of weapons would send the world in a better direction. His son took the philosophy and applied it to poetry and women. The Raad line produced something it never intended and likely never will again.