Difference between revisions of "Dealer"

Revision as of 23:40, 2 April 2007

An Overview

The Elite of the Klonor military, the Dealers are the personal guard of the Grand Duke Solomon Klonor and serve to directly implement his will, as well as the will of the Duke's advisors and assistants. They investigate threats to the well-being of members of the Klonor Government and act to suppress enemies of Klonor in situations that require a degree of delicacy beyond that of the Klonor Space Corps. Operating in teams of four, with thirteen such teams currently on active duty, the fifty-two Dealers in existence at any one time are believed to be the martial equal to the entirety of the Klonor Space Corps and, in addition to their standard duties, are often regarded as a balance to the Corps. Should an officer of the Corps attempt to usurp the powers of the state, either through direct revolution or political maneuvering, the Dealers posses the cunning and skill to neutralize their power base.

Selection and Induction into the Dealers

Potential Dealers are selected as candidates for training approximately three months prior to their birth, screened for specific genetic markers that indicate both advanced physical ability and developed intellect. Their training begins at an early age, in what most people consider their childhood, when it is determined that the individual has reached the intellectual maturity to comprehend the implications of a lifetime of military service. They must be of sufficient intellect to competently decide their own fate, it is the strict policy of the Association government that no member of the Klonor military be forcefully inducted into service, and they must willfully subject themselves to the harsh and stressful training that extends from their childhood (Often the time between their fifth and seventh year) to a time well into their adulthood (Often culminating between their thirty-third and thirty-ninth year). Their parents likewise have to consent to the training, and are allowed to converse with their children regularly in both recorded and live broadcasts, with personal visits permitted once the candidate has reached their fourteenth year.

Skills and Abilities of the Dealers

The very first lesson the Dealers learn when they enter their training is to translate complex thoughts, ideas, and emotions into the most minute and simple body motions possible. Instead of speaking verbally, or with anything as blatant and obvious as sign language or Morse-code blinking, they can communicate precise and detailed information from one Dealer to another with a myriad of natural body motions. The speed and frequency of their blinking, pace and volume of each breath, shifting stance and wiggling toes, and thousands of other minute movements can be combined to deliver information as clearly as if being spoken in plain Hinlish. In addition to the simple covertness of such a conversation, such a subtle conversation can even be maintained during an ordinary verbal dialogue and make discovery even more difficult. The result is that, with absolutely no visible or audible clue that information is being transferred in any way, a Dealer may communicate with another in complete security.

After they have been sufficiently trained to communicate with ease, reaching a level of proficiency so high that their subtle communication is actually preferable to standard verbal dialogue, they begin early combat training. At approximately their eighth year of life they are enrolled in basic training for the Marines of the Klonor Space Corps; a training program usually reserved for those already within their third decade of life. What follows the Marine combat training is Espionage training at the hands of the current leaders of the ASID, preparing them for covert insertion into hostile territory and the retrieval of sensitive information from supposedly secure systems. They then progress to advanced and esoteric combat arts and styles; learning to adequately use advanced Klonor weaponry which has not yet reached wide-spread distribution, alien weaponry from some of the more hostile nations inhabiting the Universe, and even such ancient and ill-used arts as sword-play and archery (Which can be of vital importance in certain situations).

At the end of their standard martial training they are instructed in nespal mari, a style of combat adapted from an Elvish form of unarmed combat. Developed by the Elvish Seperatist Movement, which wished peaceful independence from the Epsilon Pegasi stellar government, nespal mari stresses evasion and deflection when under attack from an armed or unarmed opponent. By omitting offensive techniques and focusing entirely on defensive tactics, those who are proficient in nespal mari are nigh-untouchable by those who wish to lay hostile hands upon them. Instruction in nespal mari is reserved solely for those in the direct employ of the Association, for it is perfect when used in tandem with the E-emitters, a technology which allows for offensive attacks independent of the physical body. By using the technology and art in tandem, a Dealer can evade the blows of their enemies while still delivering a lethal assault.

Weaponry and Equipment

In a confidential memo recently declassified by the ASID, captured during the re-conquest of Deneb, Jeffer Keno, President of Lil miss, instructed his officers how to act in the off-chance of capturing a Dealer: Remeber, too, that each has a false toenail or two that can be combined with other items secreted about their bodies to make an effective transmitter. They'll have more than one false tooth. They carry coils of rezwire in their hair - so fine you can barely detect it, yet strong enough to garrote a man and cut off his head in the process. With Dealers, you must scan them, scope them - both reflex and hard ray - cut off every scrap of body hair . And when you're through, be certain you haven't discovered everything.

The specific missions and particular assignments of each Dealer necessitate additional equipment and weaponry, but for standard duty (And the entirety of their off-duty lives) each Dealer is armed simply with two pistols of standard manufacture. The KSMP-34 and NF-1, projectile and laser weapons (respectively), are the standard Marine sidearm designed to supplement the KSMAR-1000 distributed to all serving Corps Marines. Adequate weaponry in and of themselves, the primary function of the visible weaponry is simply to inform anybody who comes into view of a Dealer of the fact that the Dealer is, in fact, armed; therefore dissuading any fool-hardy individuals, such as captured prisoners on missions or desperate thieves while amid civilians, from believing that the Dealers are unarmed or defenseless. If such a belief were to persist the luckless individual might try to carry out some sort of offensive action and force the Dealer to violently end their life.

Their primary weapon system is a technology which is not even visible. Undetectable by any means beyond full-body internal examination, each Dealer is equipped with an E-emitter set for their duration of service. A nearly microscopic technology implanted within the subjects limbs and mind, the Emitters provide the bearer with telekinetic powers, control of sub-atomic energy, and a plethora of other powers that make the Dealers nearly Super-Human.

An Out of Character Examination

The player of Klonor freely admits that the Dealer's are, quite plainly, a Godmod. The technical impossibility of training an individual soldier to be the martial equal of several million combat personnel is well accepted, and the incontrovertible advantage the Dealers give the nation of Klonor in relation to others is not in accordance with the mindset of NationStates Role-Play. However, the Dealers themselves have yet to be used in combat against another nation, and except for the occasional off-hand reference by Klonor personnel, they have not appeared outside of non-participatory stories authored solely by the player of Klonor. They are, essentially, a MacGuffin.

"A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or Maguffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story."

The Dealers exist solely as an explanation for the continued dominance of the Grand Duke Solomon Klonor, a motivation for the actions of the Klonor Space Corps, and as a deus ex machina for whichever situations require a quick and effecive ending. They provide an impetus for the actions of others, and are not used as an active force in and of themselves.