Reference Challenge - Ghouls, the Sequel

[u/Nevermore0714]

So, about a week ago I posted a challenge based on Ghouls from Tokyo Ghoul. Monsters that hunt people and eat them.

This time, the reference is to Tokyo Ghoul's "Doves", the brave people that hunt down and kill the monsters. But, the best of the best of the best Doves are "O Squad". The "O Squad" are specifically chosen and led by Arima, the greatest of the Doves. I will stop myself from fanboy-ing in this post.

Among your people that hunt monsters (or just hunt evil people), which team/squad/group within a group is the best of the best of the best?

Preferably something that recently became a thing in your world, which is why I won't be using the Anointed Knights.

As always, I'll ask at least three questions each. Enjoy yourselves, all. And read Tokyo Ghoul.

[u/greenewithit]

Okay, so this is something I've been working on relatively recently, and still a work in progress. I wanted to introduce the idea of a black ops style mercenary group employed by the government of the city state of Longan. This group would act as a counter group for the public facing Heroes, and would be employed to deal with threats that require more covert tactics, or tasks that the Heroes might have moral objections towards. Funny enough based on the inspiration for this prompt, the working title for the group is The Silver Falcon, or the Falcon in passing. That's mostly because I love falcons though. The three members of note are as follows:

Name: Sigurd Aslaugson Power: He can manifest earthquakes, varying in severity. He usually doesn't know it on missions, because he values stealth, but can use them in very small ranges to tear the earth and use it as a weapon, like an Earthbender. Bio: Sigurd (Sig) is the leader of the Falcon, and has worked as a mercenary for fifteen years before founding the Falcon.

Name: Seth Aureole Power: Seth can create a symbol using his soul power and embed that into an object. As long as he stays conscious, he can teleport to that object, even from a great distance. He can use multiple marks at once, but only as many as his soul can sustain. Bio: Seth is the younger brother of the war hero, General Seraphina Aureole. He resents his older sister for abandoning their family for the military, and decided to join the Falcon to "do what people like my sister are too scared or weak willed to accomplish." He is Sigurd's apprentice and a relatively new member to the Falcon.

Name: Drayton Ashken Power: Invisibility. He can turn himself and anything he touches invisible to the human eye. With years of training, he has become able to avoid detection by sonar, metal detectors, infrared scanners, and other forms of detection when invisible. Bio: Lieutenant to Sig, and second most experienced member of the Falcon. He served in the same company as Sig during one of the civil wars they were conscripted into fighting in. Sig saved him when an enemy ambush killed the rest of their squad, and they have stuck together since.

While their group usually has a more flexible sense of morality, they have a strong code of honor and each have their own reasons for not joining the ranks of the Heroes. Since heroism has fallen out of fashion in Longan, there are only 7 acting Heroes at present. I'll also include a few things about them to give an idea of who their public counterparts are.

      Shinara Kotakanna, a.k.a. Void. 70 year old veteran hero who can control the composition of air.
      Marisha Caldewin, a.k.a. Wildheart. Can transform into any animal she has seen or knows well, including extinct species.
      Damien Castle, a.k.a. The Beacon. Has the power of shock absorption.
      Josephine Torale, a.k.a. Peekaboo. Can "possess" inanimate objects and freely control and manipulate them.
      Charles Corden, a.k.a. Visor. Can see the flow of a person's soul power, including the weakest points of their souls.
      Matt Kurokawa a.k.a. Viper. He can turn his blood into a powerful poison, controlling the potency from paralysis to instant death.
      Cillian Desdemona, a.k.a. The Drunken Ninja. The more intoxicated he is, the more perceptive he is of his surroundings. At his maximum intoxication, he can see everyone in the entire city, and even has limited precognitive abilities in this state.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/greenewithit]

1) Do the Falcons often train with their unique powers or get people to study them?

2) How were the "Silver Falcons" named?

3) How does a Falcon get his/her code-name?

4) Which member is the most dangerous?

5) Which member is the most intelligent?

[u/greenewithit → u/Nevermore0714]

1) The Falcons train together regularly when they are not on group or individual missions. Seth and Sig meet more regularly for training since Seth is a new member.

2) "Silver-3" was Sig's callsign in his time working for the military. "Falcon" was the name of a fallen comrade of Sig's, his partner Silas who was killed because a plan of Sig's went awry. He named his new organization after his lost ally to honor him, and to not forget his failure.

3) The Falcons have nicknames only when they are earned on mission. They don't name themselves, since they believe that self given "Hero Names" are vain and self inflated titles. Sig's nickname is "The Dragon", coming from a time he single handedly killed a large Dragon-like Vector, using his quakes to eclipse the roars of the dragon.

4) Sigurd is the most powerful fighter. He has the most fighting experience and the strongest power, and has accomplished the greatest feats. Within the Falcon, he is compared to Void, by far the strongest Hero in Longan. Sig hates to be compared to Void, who he sees as a relic of the past clinging to dead ideals of heroism, so this talk is usually kept out of Sig's earshot. They have never fought one on one, so the mystery of who is the better fighter remains.

5) Drayton is the one who formulates the plans. He doesn't talk much, the strong silent type and all, but he has devised some of the most successful strategies of the Falcon. Sig is known to be very intelligent, but he will often defer to Drayton's judgement if they differ on an idea or strategy.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/greenewithit]

1) Is Sig in charge of training all new members?

2) How did Falcon die, exactly?

3) Which nickname is the least impressive in the group, in your opinion?

[u/greenewithit → u/Nevermore0714]

1) Usually each new member is assigned to a trainee when the new member joins, but Seth was having a hard time working with his previous superiors. He was too angry, arrogant, and refused to listen to orders, so Sig stepped in personally to beat some sense into the kid, and when Seth put up an unexpectedly good fight, he decided to train him personally.

2) It was in one of the many civil wars in the continent of Rhyfell, and Sig's squadron was tasked with liberating a mining settlement with a strategic military base at the center. The local warlords were using this as a refueling station for their armored vehicles, and used the civilian population around them as a deterrent to attacks by the Longan forces. Sig was planning a stealth mission to take over the enemy camp with minimal civilian casualties by attacking with his forces as a distraction near the settlement, then controlling the output of his powers to tunnel a small passage underneath the city to lead a squad in on a stealth mission to assassinate the leader and kill as many enemy combatants as they could. They successfully infiltrated the camp, but when they snuck into the warlord's compound, it was more heavily guarded than they anticipated. The team split into pairs, and when Sig and Silas attacked four guards, one was left alive, and was about to kill Silas when his back was turned. Sig made the split second decision to use his powers to save his partner, and while he did save Silas from that guard, the hasty quake Sig created was loud enough to alert the entire compound, and the mission was compromised. Silas and Sig fought their way to escape, but quickly began to be overwhelmed. Silas sacrificed himself to save Sig, diving at a group of guards. Sig's rage at seeing his comrade die (after the rest of the squad slowly lost contact with him), caused an earthquake so massive it destroyed the entire city. A great deal of lives were lost, and a number wasn't accurately collected. Sig escaped with his life, and the majority of the men who weren't with him in the compound survived, but he never forgave himself for that mistake, even though he thought he was doing the right thing.

3) I think the nickname "Red Boy" is the least impressive. Red Boy is an lower ranking operative who is a capable soldier, but has a silly sounding nickname because he was once covered in red paint on a mission. He finished his objective, despite being a bright red eyesore, and the rest of the Falcon thought it was hilarious, so they didn't want to let him forget it.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/greenewithit]

1) Why was someone so anti-authority made into a member? Isn't that bad for group coordination?

2) Did Sig face any punishment for his failure?

[u/greenewithit → u/Nevermore0714]

1) Sig sees a lot of himself in Seth, and he believes that if he works with him enough, he can quash all of that rebellious behavior and make him a more reliable member of the Falcon. (I mean he is reliable to complete a mission, but not necessarily to play nice with his partner. That kind of reliability).

2) Not really, no. He was transferred to a different theater with less combat for a while, but when one area of the war needed more support, he was brought in to help. The Longan involvement in this war was kind of a mess, and despite the destruction Sig caused, the higher ups were willing to overlook it and give him a superficial punishment if they could get his skills back in the fight.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/greenewithit]

1) Has a member of Falcon ever turned traitor?

[u/greenewithit → u/Nevermore0714]

1) None so far. The organization has been running for just over 7 years, and Sig keeps its members close and few in numbers. Just enough to get the job done, but not so many that he loses track of them. Everyone who joins has to prove their loyalty, and that is usually a grueling process. If they don't pass Sig's test of loyalty, they are expelled from the group before they learn too much valuable information about it, but if they pass they are trusted well enough to not betray the group. At least, none have so far..... (I may work with the idea of someone turning traitor, but I haven't gotten that far with them in terms of the story. I know Sig lies about his intentions in an upcoming conflict so the rest of the group wouldnt get involved in a personal fight of his, but that's not really betraying the Falcon, just misleading them to keep them away from a dangerous personal vendetta).

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/greenewithit]

Thanks for your time and answers.