[Liingo]

It's been at least a year since I first posted my characters in the thread, but in light of information discovered since then, I'm currently in the process of rebuilding my entire cast. Creating a new branch for my OC's is just the first step towards doing this and more will be done as I get the time to do so. Pretty much just bear with me until this is complete (Might take a while so I'm apologising in advance )

If you see any problems with anything or would like to suggest something, please comment on it and I'll get to it when I can. Also the info for EU85 (the designation for pretty much all my OC's) is still not fully complete, so I'll be updating this post as time goes on.

-Liingo

Not the most imaginative name but...

Introducing the Naval Support Offfice

Spoiler for Naval Support Office:

Naval Support Office
The Naval Support Office (NSO) was initially set up to help enforcers in the field, however their role gradually expanded into complementing the general naval fleet as their success became apparent. The initial concept was in fact not from the navy, but from the air force and their highly respected AAS and SAFA divisions.

The branch was started in MC0018 with 9 units. These units comprised of the enforcers handpicked teams that had helped out in combat and investigation support. It wasn’t for another 5 years that the branch morphed into supporting the entire naval system, similar to role of the AAS. The creation of the SIO, specialist investigations around the same period meant that the branch leant more towards combat support in the 2 decades following the conception of the branch to avoid unnecessary conflicts. To this day, there’s still 60/40 split in terms of combat and investigative emphasis. However, each member is capable of each duty to varying degrees of competency.

These early years yielded positive results given the composition of the new units. The need for members to be released from their individual units meant that much of the time, the pool of candidates was comprised of mainly trouble makers, characters that the officers had been trying to find a way to get rid of, with a sprinkling of willing participants. By the late 20’s this problem had more or less disappeared, largely due to the expansion of the office’s mission outline to encompass naval ops, letting squadron leaders experience the benefits that a NSO unit provided.

Spoiler for Selection and Training:

Selection and Training
A pool of candidates is drawn from ships within the local patrol region, which are then screened via further testing. This group is then culled down to 15-20 over a week selection trial. Finally around 5 months of combined training and fleet duties then decides the final members of the unit, roughly half that number (7-10). Those who pass the initial screening but don’t make the final cut are usually recommended to try again in the future, with extra points for those few who make it to the last stage before bowing out of selection.

The initial pool is made of candidates who:
-Have been serving with the Navy for a minimum of 9 months
-Possessing magical ability of at least B rank.

-Selection
5 day simulated exercise covering both investigation and combat, based on common mission scenarios put together by current serving members of the branch, who then oversee the exercise with the help of at least 1 SIO member. Approximately 60% of the candidates drop out in this section. Another 10-20% is then culled from the group after the ordeal is over based on information gathered during the skirmish.

Sample exercise:
It starts off in testing their investigation capabilities. Candidates are split into equally sized groups, normally numbering around 10 in number. They are then to work as a team to gather intelligence and put together a raid. Everything else is then up to the members of the group to plan, with no help from the outside, except for equipment procurement which is handled by a contact in the navy (In reality, another member of the NSO). Members who don’t make an attempt to work / can’t work with the team won’t make it past this stage at all, regardless of how well they do in the investigation and combat. In most cases they are informed after the exercise is complete. Only rarely will they be pulled during the exercise itself.

How the intelligence is gathered, the quality and accuracy of it is assessed. This is in addition to their skill in magical combat, if they’re aware of their surroundings, as well as teamwork. However in most cases, preference will be given to those who have demonstrated an ability to use their heads in formulating the plan, even if they didn’t score spectacularly in intelligence and combat. Such skills can always be trained and refined afterwards, but they still have to possess a passable level in each area.

-Training
Once the team is selected, they are partnered with an older, more experienced unit. Usually the one that ran their selection trial, but in other cases units that need the extra manpower immediately. Then for the next 5 months, they will be trained on the job so to speak. More sensitive matters such as intelligence gathering and off world missions are limited to things that they won’t screw up first up, but by the 4th month, they will be just about ready to go. By this time, there are normally just one or two members that will oversee the duties, providing help when necessary.

In the typical case, things will go roughly like this.
-First 3-4 months: 2-3 days working with their assigned ‘buddy’ unit, gaining relevant experience in each area. The rest of the week is assigned to various classes and exercises: a day for theory/ learning to use equipment and the other 2-3 days devoted to group exercises and training.
- Midway through 4th month until the end of their training: Tasked to work on cases deemed ‘simple’ and ‘moderate’ by the office by themselves, under minimal supervision. Training continues in the form of advanced techniques for combat and intelligence. As they approach the end of their 5 month training period, they will be then given a ‘hard’ task from the office (still under supervision). Once this is successfully completed, training is officially over.

It is at this point that unit leaders are finalised, based on observations in the training period. Up to this point, everyone is treated as private second class (low pay, etc.), but afterwards, all will be promoted to a minimum rank of specialist including one ranked officer (lieutenant) as well as at least one NCO (sergeant). The rank of corporal is also awarded if there are more than 2 sub groups in the unit.

EU85
EU85 was set up in MC0059-MC0060 due to expansion of the administrated areas, meaning that the ships of the fleet were forced to cover a greater area, stretching their already thin resources. EU85 would be the 5th of such new additional units sent to training within 2 years and within 3 years of their initial deployment, the number of units had swelled to 90. Initial selection occurred during September (9th) of 0059, with the final members decided by February (2nd) the next year. The 85th finished training with a squad size of 10 members, all hovering around A rank, with one possessing AA power, but lacking the skill to utilise the power efficiently.

Reforms introduced by command (mage rank caps, etc.) in the late 60’s meant that many of the units within the NSO, EU85 included were suddenly above the limits prescribed by HQ. To counter this threat to their ability to function, many just rebranded the subgroups present in each unit as separate squads (Spellweavers and Spellhunters).

Just recently in MC0075, a new squad has been added to the unit’s rosters, the Spellblades and are currently still in training.

Current Status (EU85):
-Squad 1: Spellweavers (Enforcer Support Operations)
-Squad 2: Spellhunters (General Support Operations)
-Squad 3: Spellblades (Training)