| Security, Capture, Elimination, Protection, Training, Evaluation and Reconnaissance (S.C.E.P.T.E.R.)
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Talos Erinos
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Ministry of State Security
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200
- Administrative Staff: 115
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Private Military Company
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35 ABY
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Brotherhood Era
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- "In Absentia Luci, Tenebrae Vincunt."
- ―Anonymous
'S.C.E.P.T.E.R' (Security, Capture, Elimination, Protection, Training, Evaluation and Reconnaissance) is a privately owned, funded, and operated Special Forces unit that has recently come on the black market of the Dajorra System. Offering top-notch operators with elite training and state-of-the-art equipment for any situation, the Company specializes in what others would consider "impossible" or "high-risk" jobs. Due to their high success rate, professional courtesy, rigid discipline, and minimal fatality rate, SCEPTER is fast becoming the top choice for individuals or businesses that outsource to military contractors. But while it is a very real company, with a very real source of income, it is nevertheless a front for the Dark Jedi House of Galeres, founded by Quaestor Celahir Erinos and Aedile Talos Erinos in mid-35 ABY.
History
Founding
SCEPTER was originally founded under the name Starscream Tactical Solutions and from monetary assets given to Arcona's Oblivion Brigade and when the Black Operations Team was closed down (or so they say), former Vice-Captain Talos Erinos was quick to snap up the considerable amount of credits that were left over in the BOT's private bank account. The exact amount that Talos obtained is unknown but suffice to say it was enough to both fund an expedition with Marick Del'Abbot and Dralin Fortea which resulted in the discovery of Port Ol'val as well as the founding of the Company some months later.
Starscream Tactical Solutions began as an extension of Event Horizon Investigations (EHI), working in the special tasks field, and so the first few months of the PMC's existence were confined to the Port Ol'val shadowport, where Talos and a small team of investigators-turned-commandos established the Company’s client base by taking jobs in Protection, Assassination, and Hostage Taking. Business was always steady and provided Talos and his team a good source of income but with the larger Mal Company to compete with, it never soared.
Until Mal Company made the mistake of irking the Besadii Splinter, a group of influential Hutts, and the crime-lords turned to the up-and-coming Starscream Tactical Solutions.
Rapid Rise
The contract that made Starscream one of the, if not the, most popular Private Military Company's in the Dajorra System was the one they accepted from the Besadii Splinter; valued at some 250,000 galactic credits, the contract had Talos Erinos and four of his most trusted commandos infiltrate Mal Company's compound and capture the daughter of a Mal executive while also assassinating another executive. What exactly went down in the compound can only be guessed at, but from the sounds that were reported coming from the compound, it earned Talos and his team the name 'Scream Team', and success can only be assumed as the commandos extracted from the compound with their hostage and the head of their target.
The Hutts, pleased with the results, paid the agreed upon 250,000 plus another 50,000 as a bonus. Now an extremely wealthy man, Talos Erinos paid off each of his commandos and then declared that effective immediately, Starscream Tactical Solutions was splitting from its parent company and striking out on its own; as this was concurrent with the cloned Dark Jedi being selected as the Aedile of House Galeres, it was no surprise that Starscream Tactical relocated to the Galerian capital Eldar and soon became the front organization for Arcona's Warrior House.
Under New Management
With Talos stepping down as Aedile of Galeres, Starscream Tactical underwent a radical change in structure. Besides Talo’s merging of STS into House Galeres, the organization underwent a name change under orders from the Aedile at the time, Balthier mied Demen d'Tana. Starscream Tactical was renamed SCEPTER, which solidfied its repurposing from a individual company to a cover-front for House Galeres itself.
Integrated into SCEPTER was Galeres’ two battleteams, Soulfire and the newly created Spectre Cell, further boosting the organization’s usefulness. All of Galeres’ assets that were not directly integral in the Brotherhood itself were changed and placed under the new SCEPTER name, thereby abolishing any mention of the House itself outside of direct Brotherhood communications. In effect, Galeres was now, fully, a shadow house, able to operate more openly and with a longer grasp under its new cover.
Inside the Company
Organization
The chain-of-command is broken down into four sections, three of which correspond with the heirarchy of House Galeres:
Executive Division
The Aedile serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company while the Prodigy of Galeres holds the position of Chief Operations Officer (COO). The position of the Rollmaster, occupied by Timeros Caesus Entar Arconae, corresponds with the position of CFO, or Chief Financial Officer, and finally two of the di Tenebrous Arconae act as Board Members, with the seats currently being held by Teroch Erinos, di Tenebrous Arconae and Nadrin Erinos, di Tenebrous Arconae. Both are commandos of the elite Soulfire Strike Team and Generals in the Arcona Army Corps. The Adjunct of Galeres handles the public relations of the Company and holds the title of Public Affairs Officer, or PAO.
Operations Division
This section holds the 85 operators (formally called Commandos) that make up the company's field units. 34 of these operators are Foxtrot-Alphas, or Force-Adepts, and occupy some sort of command position over the remaining 51 operators. Normally, this command position is that of a unit leader or an assistant leader, as the sizes of the units are never set in stone, but rather grow or shrink depending on the current contract's particular needs. While it is unknown to the regular operators, the superiority of the Force-Adepts is determined by their military rank which in turn corresponds with a mysterious Dark Jedi concept called "Prestige".
Administrative Division
Housing the 115 non-Operational employees of S.C.E.P.T.E.R., the Administrative Division caters to everything that's not related to shooting people for a living. Whether it's contract monitoring, public relations, base security, all the way down to the kitchen and janitorial staff, the Administrative Division does it. While it's a rare punishment, a Operational employee who botches a mission or breaks The Company's code-of-conduct may find themselves temporarily - or permanently - reassigned to Administrative...unless they're killed.
Special Tasks Division
The area of STS that houses the two Battleteams of House Galeres -- Soulfire Strike Team and Spectre Cell. Taking to the field as elite Scream Teams, the Battleteams are the only units entirely comprised of Force-Adepts and fully under the control of their Battleteam Leader, with Quaestor and Aedile oversight.
Services Offered
SCEPTER offers a wide variety of purchasable services and it is because of that wide range that the Company has gained such popularity in a short amount of time. A full list of services are listed below:
- Assault
- Demolition
- Hostage Taking
- Hostage Rescue
- Drug Interdiction
- Assassination
- VIP Protection
- Event Security
- Disaster Relief
- Emergent Care
The one area that SCEPTER does not, and will never, cater is drug running. In a very forward and blunt statement from Talos, former COO: "We might save lives and we'll definitely take lives. But we will do it with speed, precision, and professionalism...some would call it honor. So my company will not partake in any part of the drug trade and thereby actively help Dajorran citizens slowly kill themselves."
Whatever fueled Talos Erinos' personal vendetta against drugs is unknown to the Dajorra System at large, but there is a practical reason for abstaining from drugs as well; by not being a part of the trade, and even actively crippling it, has allowed SCEPTER to play both sides of the fence, namely outsourcing to galactic law enforcement agencies which generally pay very well for drug interdiction operations.
Locations
The PMC's has a rearming and training station in "T.R.O.Y", located in the Central Basin Region of Eldar. This large and fully operational military-esque base offers housing to all of the Company’s divisions, including Special Tasks, and also boasts extensive offices for administrative work, fully-stocked armories, a renowned culinary staff, and a state-of-the-art hangar along with self-automated firing ranges, battle circles, and spare rooms for honing a wide variety of combative skills.
Shihon houses the main facility of SCEPTER within the Sapphire Quarter. This is where the vast majority of contracts are filed, processed, accepted and completed. The CEO's private offices are within this sector with a single inscription above the door, "In Absentia Luci, Tenebrae Vincunt." Regular closed door meetings with the entity known only as the "Shadow Man" are held here with increasing frequency as SCEPTER begins to make the final surges into the undisputed forefront of military action.
In Estle City on Selen, SCEPTER has a fairly expansive building network which houses the bulk of the administrative staff. The board of directors work out of this complex, sending their reports to the CEO who stays at the offices in Shihon in order to keep thievery to a minimum.
The Pride of Corellia houses the final complex of the Company. Within the walls of this facility many of the shadier dealings are handled by a select staff that the CEO has handpicked personally.
Repurposing
Upon the departure of the Erinos brothers, the offices of the Quaestor and Aedile decided that the Company should be repurposed and even renamed. Settling on the acronym of SCEPTER was the last act that the Quaestor made as C.E.O. before stepping aside and allowing the Aedile to lead the company in their stead.
With the retraction of the Quaestor, a void was created within the leadership of the company, but the emergence of something different as well. A being called the “Shadow Man” was listed on the records as one of the primary shareholders of the Company. The Aedile of Galeres and CEO of SCEPTER, informed that there would be three members selected from the populace to fill the voids left within the Company. Three positions were opening within the House named Adjunct, Prodigy and First Blade. These positions would serve as the Public Affairs Officer, Chief of Operations, and CEO’s personal bodyguard respectively.
Further repurposing by the Aedile of Galeres, as one of their first acts as CEO, called for the bringing in of medical supplies. Sealed crates of supplies quickly began to flood one of the spare warehouses near the main facility. Only one card was made for the warehouse and it belonged in the sole possession of the CEO.
Leadership
SCEPTER is led by a pair made up of the Chief Executive Officer and the “Shadow Man”. These two entities represent the interests and vitality of SPECTER, though the other can continue operations, should one or the other be incapacitated. Should all be incapacitated, the command will be given back to the Quaestor of Galeres until such a time as a new Aedile can be appointed and molded into a CEO.
CEO of SCEPTER
The CEO of SCEPTER is the current Aedile of House Galeres. The CEO is the main leader and figurehead for the whole of SCEPTER, as they are the face of the organization and the brains operating it. The current CEO is Krath Archpriest Legorii Kryotek Entar.
The “Shadow Man”
This entity seems to control things from behind a mask and a curtain. It’s rumored that he works directly for the Quaestor of Galeres, but no one seems willing or able to verify this. His word is final and never up for debate as he controls the majority of the company in tandem with the CEO.
Trivia
- The original company, Starscream Tactical, was thought up and written out in an afternoon by Talos Erinos, after being struck with inspiration while walking his dogs.
- Despite common belief, Talos was unaware that "Starscream" was a Transformer Decepticon while naming this company; he remembered weeks later, concurrent with Grandmaster Muz posting an image of said Decepticon (cartoon form) on this page's discussion page.
- Starscream was repurposed after Talos retired from Aedile and was thus given a better name. No more decepticons.