Industrial Experiment
18-09-2004, 07:23
OoC: Ok, a quick break down. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to call them, but for now, they're the Invisibles in that they are invisible to the eyes of the people, they don't exist.
SECRET IC Information:
The Invisibles, the unknown, the mysterious.
The best of the best.
What they are is the cream de la cream. The proverbial "I don't know what".
When a specific member of the military is found to be exceeding all possible limits, they are contacted by a small organization within the Imperial government called TRAIN (The Republican/Akaran [A racial minority on one of my worlds] Incorporated Newsgroup). They are informed of a possible promotion, and brought to the TRAIN HQ on Nilias (The world the Akarans live on), where they are briefed on the existance of the Invisibles and informed of their candidacy for joining the group.
If they refuse, their memory is erased and replaced with an interview by TRAIN reporters for the local paper.
If they accept, they are transported to a space colony located in a nebula just inside Imperial space and then undergo a week of testing. If they succeed, they are brought back to their initial units, but are 'killed' by an unfortunate accident, then brought back to the space colony. From there, they undergo a procedure to infest their cells with nanobots that rebuild the telomeres at the end of their DNA strands, essentially removing their ability to die of old age. If they survive the process, and it is successful, they begin a training period which dwarfs even the largest of other nations:
100 Years
Yes, they undergo a full century of training, and in all areas, too; stealth, tactics, strategem, un-armed combat, weapons specialization, psychic abilities (Very few people in my nation are able to use their latent psychic abilities, and being able to do so is a prequisite of going into Invisible training), survival, logical improvision, culture, science, math, technological familarization, etc.
At the end of their training comes the test. Now, something to understand about the test is the fact that it is completely forbidden for any Invisible to tell a trainee exactly what the test is. The entire training period hints and points at the test being something to do with taking over a cruiser single-handedly in a three month period.
However, this isn't the test.
In a surprise move, the trainees are dropped off on Grasius, the colony farthest from Earth, on the opposite side of the planet from the colony. Considering Grasius has been used a ship junkyard for over a thousand years, that side is full of massive hulks. The trainees are told that their mission is to get to, and infiltrate the Business Council main chambers on Earthand steal a certain document within a six month period. They can choose to build a ship from the hulks surrounding them, or backpack it to the Grasius colony on the other side of the planet, which would be difficult considering most of Grasius is barren due to it being only terraformed a couple centuries ago and the trainees are provided with nothing but the proverbial shirts on their backs. What they aren't told is that a group of full-fledged Invisibles will be hunting them the entire way.
If they succeed, they are now full members of the Invisible Division. At any time, there are between 200 and 300 Invisibles, gaining two to five a year, and losing about that many to combat, disease, etc.
If they fail...well, I'll just tell you that the Invisibles that are hunting them are authorized to kill. If they fail because of the time limit, they are free to retake the test.
After their training is complete and they are utterly versed in pretty much everything, they chose their weapon specialization based upon their experiences in training. Though most Invisibles carry many different weapons with them, all of them have a favorite. The most popular seems to be the vibro-sword, an arming sword-sized weapon with an internal battery pack in the hilt that makes it vibrate, producing nothing more than a slight humming sound. This may be due to the stealth factor, or the fact that reflexes honed over a century are actually enough for an Invisible to actively deflect a shot from a hand-weapon with the blade, but no one knows for sure, as the Invisibles are a rather tight-knit group, and rarely speak outside giving or responding to orders, unless on a mission where they must take on a personality.
The locations, names, physical features, voice patterns, DNA listings, fingerprints, and all other identifying marks for all the Invisibles are classified, and all Invisibles, in keeping with the selection process, are listed as KIA.
Equipment is a personal choice, as the Invisibles are trusted more with planning their missions than the strategists themselves, seeing as the Invisibles actually have a hell of a lot more training in that area.
Psychic talent varies among them, but it is quite limited, as Imperial scientists still can't figure out what causes it and how to access it further.
Invisibles tend to be detached individually to serve in hotspot areas of the Republic, but they are grouped sometimes for special operations. All the Invisibles know each other by name, and most are at least acquainted with the rest, and some are even very good friends.
Additional training is done every fifty years with the whole group, to get them used to working together.
Their existance is one of the most highly classified pieces of information in the Imperial Republic, with those in the know able to be counted on ten people's fingers.
SECRET IC Information:
The Invisibles, the unknown, the mysterious.
The best of the best.
What they are is the cream de la cream. The proverbial "I don't know what".
When a specific member of the military is found to be exceeding all possible limits, they are contacted by a small organization within the Imperial government called TRAIN (The Republican/Akaran [A racial minority on one of my worlds] Incorporated Newsgroup). They are informed of a possible promotion, and brought to the TRAIN HQ on Nilias (The world the Akarans live on), where they are briefed on the existance of the Invisibles and informed of their candidacy for joining the group.
If they refuse, their memory is erased and replaced with an interview by TRAIN reporters for the local paper.
If they accept, they are transported to a space colony located in a nebula just inside Imperial space and then undergo a week of testing. If they succeed, they are brought back to their initial units, but are 'killed' by an unfortunate accident, then brought back to the space colony. From there, they undergo a procedure to infest their cells with nanobots that rebuild the telomeres at the end of their DNA strands, essentially removing their ability to die of old age. If they survive the process, and it is successful, they begin a training period which dwarfs even the largest of other nations:
100 Years
Yes, they undergo a full century of training, and in all areas, too; stealth, tactics, strategem, un-armed combat, weapons specialization, psychic abilities (Very few people in my nation are able to use their latent psychic abilities, and being able to do so is a prequisite of going into Invisible training), survival, logical improvision, culture, science, math, technological familarization, etc.
At the end of their training comes the test. Now, something to understand about the test is the fact that it is completely forbidden for any Invisible to tell a trainee exactly what the test is. The entire training period hints and points at the test being something to do with taking over a cruiser single-handedly in a three month period.
However, this isn't the test.
In a surprise move, the trainees are dropped off on Grasius, the colony farthest from Earth, on the opposite side of the planet from the colony. Considering Grasius has been used a ship junkyard for over a thousand years, that side is full of massive hulks. The trainees are told that their mission is to get to, and infiltrate the Business Council main chambers on Earthand steal a certain document within a six month period. They can choose to build a ship from the hulks surrounding them, or backpack it to the Grasius colony on the other side of the planet, which would be difficult considering most of Grasius is barren due to it being only terraformed a couple centuries ago and the trainees are provided with nothing but the proverbial shirts on their backs. What they aren't told is that a group of full-fledged Invisibles will be hunting them the entire way.
If they succeed, they are now full members of the Invisible Division. At any time, there are between 200 and 300 Invisibles, gaining two to five a year, and losing about that many to combat, disease, etc.
If they fail...well, I'll just tell you that the Invisibles that are hunting them are authorized to kill. If they fail because of the time limit, they are free to retake the test.
After their training is complete and they are utterly versed in pretty much everything, they chose their weapon specialization based upon their experiences in training. Though most Invisibles carry many different weapons with them, all of them have a favorite. The most popular seems to be the vibro-sword, an arming sword-sized weapon with an internal battery pack in the hilt that makes it vibrate, producing nothing more than a slight humming sound. This may be due to the stealth factor, or the fact that reflexes honed over a century are actually enough for an Invisible to actively deflect a shot from a hand-weapon with the blade, but no one knows for sure, as the Invisibles are a rather tight-knit group, and rarely speak outside giving or responding to orders, unless on a mission where they must take on a personality.
The locations, names, physical features, voice patterns, DNA listings, fingerprints, and all other identifying marks for all the Invisibles are classified, and all Invisibles, in keeping with the selection process, are listed as KIA.
Equipment is a personal choice, as the Invisibles are trusted more with planning their missions than the strategists themselves, seeing as the Invisibles actually have a hell of a lot more training in that area.
Psychic talent varies among them, but it is quite limited, as Imperial scientists still can't figure out what causes it and how to access it further.
Invisibles tend to be detached individually to serve in hotspot areas of the Republic, but they are grouped sometimes for special operations. All the Invisibles know each other by name, and most are at least acquainted with the rest, and some are even very good friends.
Additional training is done every fifty years with the whole group, to get them used to working together.
Their existance is one of the most highly classified pieces of information in the Imperial Republic, with those in the know able to be counted on ten people's fingers.