Section 8 - Information

[Section 8]

Section 8

"Our War Has No Front Line."

Public Information

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Little is known of Section 8’s exact origin. Records are sparse, published information carefully curated. Its agents rarely disclose any insights, though whether this is due to security protocols or their own ignorance of the organization’s roots is unclear. What is known, however, is that Section 8 in its current form arose from the ashes of Toledo.

A cell whose only officially stated goals are the safeguarding of mankind and the complete extermination of the Nomad threat, its members' conviction borders on zealotry, its tactics on terrorism. It is rumored that agents are recruited almost exclusively from among those who survived the hellish nightmare of Toledo’s destruction.

Information regarding Section 8’s operations is similarly scarce, though it has been noted that the organization's ships and agents are rarely seen within the Omicrons, the Order’s primary area of operations. Instead, the cell seems to focus its efforts on the colonies, dispatching assets to the houses with the objective of observing and rooting out alien activity wherever it sprouts.

Structure

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Section 8's organizational structure is split into three pillars: Operations, Analysis, and Logistics.

By far the most prominent of these divisions is Operations, fulfilling the Order's primary directives of infiltration, espionage, containment, and extermination. Made up of veteran field operatives, diplomatic officers, and advisors, Operations employs the bulk of Section 8's personnel. Its agents can be found across all four of the Sirian houses and the many independent and border systems in-between, tirelessly seeking out any trace of the Nomad threat.

No less important is Analysis, born from Section 8's shadowed past before the destruction of Toledo, and tasked with painstakingly poring over and making sense of the many terabytes of data transmitted each day by operatives in the field, be it field reports on suspected alien activity, scans of interdicted xeno artifacts, or the latest readings of the various strange anomalies that can be found scattered across the Sirius sector.

It is, however, Logistics that forms Section 8’s true backbone, seeing to the supply and equipment needs of operatives in the field as well as the cell's external partners. A complex network of blackmarket dealers, bribed corpocrats, and freelance suppliers, Logistics is headed by “the Board” - a quadrumvirate of influential individuals, representing each of the four Sirian colonies, and deeply invested in the Order’s cause. Due to the Board's vital role in Section 8's operations and very survival, the identity of these men and women is the organization's most closely guarded secret, known only to a handful of select individuals at the very pinnacle of its ranks.

Hierarchy

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Section 8’s hierarchy is characterized by its loose, non-uniform nature. Outside of the cell’s top leadership positions, seniority and situational expertise typically takes precedence over any rank or title, ensuring that the most capable individual is given charge over any given situation.

Since its second founding in the wake of Toledo's destruction, the role of section commander - the head of the cell - has been held by Colonel Iain Pendergast. A veteran of the Nomad War and decorated member of the Order before the Fall of Toledo, he was presumed killed in the planet’s defense, only to later resurface at the head of this new, secretive organization. Known for his hardline attitude towards the Nomads, their human supporters, and anyone involved with the appropriation and misuse of alien technology, his views have formed the basis for Section 8’s modes of operation. To wipe out any trace of the alien and those who would side with them, regardless of the means required, is to Pendergast a matter of course.

Perhaps the most prominent figure in Section 8, however, is Pendergast's right-hand woman, Lieutenant Colonel Catherine Hawkins. Where Pendergast defines purpose, Hawkins ensures execution, shaping the cell’s doctrine into real, field-ready directives that are as efficient as they are unforgiving. Her callous pragmatism and absolute ruthlessness have earned her a fearsome reputation within Section 8 and beyond, though where some see her as an effective, clear-minded leader, many others see her as a cold-hearted and untrustworthy killer. Nothing reinforces these views more than Hawkins' outspoken belief that moral righteousness is a weakness the enemy exploits; every second spent debating ethics is a second the Nomads use to spread, to infiltrate, and to undermine.

Relations

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Small in size compared to its sister cells in the Order, Section 8 relies heavily on external resources in its pursuit of the Nomads' extermination. As such, its field operatives serve as much as infiltrators and assassins as they do as diplomats, making contact and collaborating with any individuals and organizations potentially useful to the cause. This strategy and its complete disregard for humanity's disagreements amongst itself, however, frequently forces Section 8 onto the front lines between opposing factions, hampering its effectiveness and resulting in strained relations with those parties that choose to aid its cause.

The most fruitful of these partnerships thus far has been with the Xeno Alliance, a well-organized militia within Liberty's greater Xeno movement. Combining the Order's expertise with the Alliance's sheer wealth of manpower, Section 8 succeeded in thwarting a Nomad scheme to release their powerful siblings, the Sentinels, on Liberty and Kusari. However, recent developments around Planet Sudbury in the Ontario system, capital of a nascent Xeno nation, have greatly strained this already fragile alliance. Whether the two faction's dependence on one another will suffice to overcome deteriorating relations remains to be seen.

Assets & Bases

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Owing to its small size, Section 8 can afford to forgo a traditional headquarters of its own. Instead, its operations are decentralized, spread across various friendly stations and ships across the Sirius sector.

Sendai Research Complex

Sendai Research Complex

Much of Section 8's Analysis branch is located aboard the Sendai Research Complex, a large weapons development and xenoarchaeological research facility built by the Blood Dragons of Kusari. Sharing a long history with the Order, the Blood Dragons frequently play host to their operatives and scientists for joint research endeavors and anti-Nomad operations. Nestled deep within the nigh impenetrable Ryukyu Cloud, the research complex is all but impossible to find for those who do not already know its location. Here, Section 8's analysts spend their waking hours combing through the vast swaths of data received from across Sirius without fear of discovery or interception.

Fort Ramsey

Fort Ramsey

Fort Ramsey, home of the Xeno Alliance and provisional capital of the nascent Liberty Free Republic, has served as the center of Section 8's operations in and around the great house of Liberty for the past five years. An enormous fortress city hewn into the rock and ice of the Georgian Ice Field, Ramsey is a bustling center of economic and military power, providing Section 8 with many of the resources and manpower it would otherwise struggle to come by within a hostile house.

From here, the joint forces of the Order and the Xenos laid waste to the Nomads' plans to unleash the Sentinels onto Liberty and Kusari, and from here Section 8 operatives and Xeno pilots continue to observe the concerning developments taking place on Planet Sudbury.

Unto Nightfall

Unto Nightfall

WIP















best friends:
XA-

//This is a constant work in progress and subject to a complete rewrite at any given time.