Special Adept Forces

The Special Adept Forces (S.A.F.) are a super-elite branch of Cardinal's military created in very recent history to incorporate it's infamous populace of aspiring power-wielders. While its sister branch, the Ranger Guard, has a more protective aim and takes a broader range of recruits, the S.A.F. is a more assertive branch that actively pursues Cardinal's interests in other countries, as well as countering major threats to peace back home. While some mortal-level consultants and technicians work in S.A.F. establishments and consider themselves part of the team, the true S.A.F. are all power wielders, and exceptionally good ones, at that.

Duties

The S.A.F. are the physical representation of Cardinal's might, both on Earth, as well as toward other galactic nations. The primary goal of this branch of the Army is to spearhead resistance efforts against invasion with tremendous, superhuman force. However, as Cardinal is not always at war, they have many ancillary duties, as well.

These duties include:

• Overseeing order on the Prison Island
• Guarding international Portal gates and other ports of transit
• Securing the country's borders
• Enforcing Cardinal interest in foreign affairs (assisting allies, ousting threats, etc.)

Infrastructure

Unlike its sister organization, the Ranger Guard, the SAF as a whole tends to be much more shy about its operations. As befits that, while the SAF have a strategic centre alongside the regular Cardinal military where their Generals plot and scheme, the installations where the day-to-day business of the SAF in Cardinal takes place are much more difficult to find.

The average SAF installation is not only shielded from all senses, but it is actually camouflaged so as to allow would-be searchers to detect a seemingly innocent facade instead of merely a blank null response, which would be too suspicious in and of itself. As well, members of the SAF are not required to display a pin when going about their duty, as the Ranger Guards are.

While few people know about it, for the above reasons, one of the primary SAF training centres is in West City, occupying the upper half of an office building. The lower half is comprised of a mixed bag of other companies, largely professionals, including law firms, an engineering firm, and a doctor's office. At least one telemarketing company is also in residence, and an entire floor is taken up by a call centre. Midway up the tower, the elevator stops, releasing curious visitors onto a sky lobby, an elevator exchange designed to protect the elevator shaft from the tremendous winds that can be created inside them if the shafts exceed a certain height. Here, reception and security personnel politely redirect the lost, permitting only authorized personnel aboard the elevator which can take them higher up into the building -- and into the SAF territory, where most of the Cardinal Force works out of.

The SAF has a wide range of training apparatus available, ranging from high-tech units such as high gravity chambers and simulated environment chambers, to everyday gym equipment. As well, as one of the primary duties of the Cardinal Force is the training of SAF recruits, a significant contingent of Training Specialists is available to assist personnel with improving their abilities.

Organization

The Special Adept Forces, while being a subsection of the Cardinal Army, technically, hold a unique structure within themselves. Rather than being the Special Adept Force, the plural form indicates that they actually maintain several pseudo-separate Forces. Persons will occasionally even belong to more than one Force, though rarely more than two.

Forces

The single largest Force is based in Cardinal, and is primarily for the defense of the homeland from foreign invaders, whether native to Earth or extraterrestrial. All SAF administrators, powered and mortal alike, are part of this Force, typically, due to the necessity of being in touch with the engines of political power. This Force also works with the Ranger Guard as necessary.

Other smaller Forces handle more specialized areas of influence -- or rather, will. As the SAF is still growing in its infancy, these Forces exist largely on paper instead of in actuality. For instance, due to the lawlessness of Azshar, the SAF plans to place a small Force detachment there, largely to serve as a reconnaissance operation to observe any significant threats which may form there. Similar teams are also planned to be dispatched to Alaris, D'hennex, New Vegeta, New Namek, and so on. Another Force will also be kept at the Prison Island once its construction is complete, to maintain order there. Their responsibilities will be to maintain order within the prison populace -- by whatever means necessary. This manes that the Force will likely be heavily specialized in combat operations, as opposed to reconnaissance measures. As well, this Force will become the spearhead of any operation to retrieve fugitive prisoners. SAF personnel are often assigned to the Prison Force for shorter durations than usual, then cycled back to the home Force in Cardinal for a period before any other duty.

• Cardinal Force
• Prison Force

Rank

While the SAF is a military organization, and thus depends on rank and the chain of command, within units, it tends to be somewhat looser in structure than line units. This is due to being considered as a 'special forces' organization, wherein specialists will often take the lead and initiative in their own field, whenever it comes up in activities.

With the exception of trainees, when dealing with other forces (including the Ranger Guard), any member of the SAF is considered to be one full rank grade higher, for means of equivalency into their own rank structure. For instance, a Private Adept is the equal of any Private First Class Ranger Guard -- and often more than equal in other terms. This also means that a Ranger Guard transferring into the SAF faces an immediate drop in listed rank, although not pay, with few exceptions.

• Trainee: The initial 'rank' granted, while being inducted into the SAF and trained up to its standards. No special requirements are required for this rank, other than that a recruiter has accepted the trainee.
• Private Adept: A Private Adept has completed the SAF's 'bootcamp' satisfactorily, and is typically deployed to a Force immediately, to gain experience.
• Private First Class Adept: PFC Adepts often come directly out of 'bootcamp' with that rank, based on high performance there, but many were also Private Adepts prior to that.
• Corporal Adept: The first NCO rank of the SAF, Corporal Adepts can command small units of the SAF and act with some independence. It is after achieving the rank of Corporal Adept that SAF personnel can apply to learn additional special war skills, earning additional pay amongst other benefits for each listed ability they gain and are approved in.
• Sergeant Adept: Sergeant Adepts organize and run a great deal of the day-to-day business of their Forces. They are trusted to be able to handle tactical situations of all stripes, and are responsible for the men and women assigned to them -- not only physically, but also for their psychological state as well.
• Master Sergeant Adept: Master Sergeant Adepts have all the duties of Sergeant Adepts, except even moreso, having to deal with the Sergeants as well, and being the connection between the Sergeants and the true officer ranks.

Achieving the rank of commissioned officer in the SAF is no small feat. Rigorous testing and training must be passed with high marks in order to be put in this position of trust, duty, and authority.

• 2nd Lieutenant Adept: This is a temporary rank granted when a member of the SAF is still in training for the officer corps. Successful induction into the officer corps means an automatic promotion to full Lieutenant Adept.
• Lieutenant Adept: The first true rank of the officer corps. Unlike militaries where officers can enter the military directly from an officer's academy, all SAF officers have fought their way up the ranks, and they are fully capable and experienced warriors in their own rights. A Lieutenant Adept is a formidable opponent.
• Captain Adept:
• Major Adept:
• Colonel Adept: Colonel Adepts are the overall commanders of any Force-level unit of the SAF. They are some of the most powerful and experienced warriors available.

Flag rank is an odd position in the SAF. Currently, in its formative stages, it is largely filled with mortals, rather than full-fledged powered warriors. Power wielders are simply too valuable to park behind desks. Instead, experienced mortal soldiers and tacticians, tutored in the nature of the various powered arts, fill these roles, providing valuable strategic support to the different forces that are directly commanded by the Colonel Adepts. Eventually, it is intended that even these positions will be filled by power wielders, but that is not currently realistic.

The ranks of Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, and General exist. They are not tagged as being, for instance, 'General Adepts', as they are not powered, and thus have not earned the 'Adept' tag.

Training

When a power wielder is recruited into the SAF, they are initially awarded the rank of Trainee. They wield no authority or power within the SAF -- they are the lowest of the low. They are expected to obey the orders of everyone who outranks them (which is everyone), to study the military protocols of the SAF, and to learn the special techniques which are required to graduate into full service as a SAF Adept.

Once they have learned these basic techniques and demonstrated their knowledge of SAF protocols, they are deemed to have completed basic SAF training. They are then awarded a rank based on their fighting potential -- typically anywhere from Private Adept to Corporal Adept.

To proceed to further promotion in the SAF, they must demonstrate their leadership capability, and take further training in leadership functions -- both combat capability and tactical skill, as well as further capacities to teach and drill their lessers. Once this is suitably demonstrated, they may be promoted to the rank of Sergeant Adept.

Through proving their mettle further, and with further evolutions of their tactical, strategic, and leadership skills, they may rise further through the ranks, becoming a fully commissioned officer of the SAF. They may even rise to become one of the true leaders, becoming a Colonel Adept, or even rising into flag rank -- though this is a long and difficult path to take, and few have the required multiplicity of talents to succeed.

Membership

Technically, anyone within the Cardinal Army can request a transfer to the S.A.F. division. However, almost zero of such requests are actually honored. More often than not, the S.A.F. does its own recruiting, specially selecting power wielders who are recognized combat veterans and are loyal to their country. Most Special Adept Forces recruits come directly from the Ranger Guard, as the specialized training within that branch gives them a certain edge over most civillians or dissociated military personnel. Occasionally, however, they do reach out to even unenlisted power wielders, when they posess uncanny abilities that the S.A.F. believe can be used to their advantage.

Notable Members

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