Akamatsuverse Special Operations Urashima

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

It's always struck me as a little odd that in worlds with super-powered martial artists, super robots, magic girls, demons and other madness within modern-day animes, that there wasn't more government and military action to combat such things.

After all, imagine if an Islamic terrorist got training in Ranma-level techniques. Consider the threat of anarchist femnazi magical girls. And try not to feel horrified at the prospect of rogue nations like North Korea, Iran or others getting their hands on super-powered catgirl cyborgs.

It'd be pandemonium out there!

Hence, my idea: The various nations of the world have re-tooled and re-organized specific branches of their militaries for dealing with threats like this.

The US has SOCOM, UK has SAS, and Japan has it's newly formed Japanese Special Self-Defense Force (JSSDF), which work together under the Joint Operations Special Interdiction Force, or JOSIF.

And our hapless Ronin accidentally signs up for this when he thinks he needs to fill out for a passport to America.

However, Keitaro is selected for the job due to his durability, and decides that, given the money they're offering for college, he'll do it.

So the fic would deal with Keitaro returning to Japan after fighting magical girl terrorists and what not, and further adventures of that nature. A kind of deconstruction of a couple anime tropes, with lots of room for comedy, for action/adventure, and of course, some smut potential when Keitaro comes home.

Thoughts?

 

[Prince Charon]

This could be interesting.

Have you ever read Magical Girl Hunters? It might give you some ideas.

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

A little snippet to stir some interest.

- - - - -

He'd trained for this, he reminded himself. Hell, he'd been blasted airborne so many times and descended back to Earth, unharmed, that the paratrooper's school had probably been unnecessary.

Even so, Keitaro was worried. A worry that kept gnawing away at the calm the training had forced him to develop.

"We're over the target area!" Shouted the US master sergeant at the end of the plane's cabin. He got up, double checking all his gear as the rest of his team did the same. Their "special consultant" hesitated next to him, and he looked over at her.

"You okay?" He asked. The blue-haired young woman looked up at him.

"Everything okay?" She called over the roar of the C-130's engines. Keitaro nodded.

"It is! Don't worry, we'll be right with you!"

She smiled through her face mask, as the Captain shouted his orders.

"All right, Masayuki, Kimiaki, Sakata, you're first! Moody, out next!" He looked at Keitaro. "Urashima, Mizuno! Follow me in!" He leaned in close. "You keep her safe-Personal bodyguard, got it?"

"Got it sir!" Keitaro responded. The Captain nodded, and looked to the Master Sergeant.

"Let's go!"

The sergeant nodded, and opened up the hatch. The change in air pressure was immediate, as was the temperature-It was icy cold this high up. The Captain walked forward, heedless of the howling wind and roaring engines.

"All right... GO!"

Haitani and Shirai, both looking just a touch nervous, nevertheless jumped out first, working in tandem.

"GO!"

Kentaro met his eyes, and smirked confidently, before he got up and jumped. The lone American with them, Master Sergeant Joseph Moody, gave Keitaro a grin before he followed Sakata out the plane. The Captain turned to him and Mizuno.

"See you down there," he said with a grin, before turning and jumping out. "YEE HAA!"

Keitaro couldn't help his own smile-Whatever happened, the Captain would be there. Even if he was a foreigner, a British man, Captain Price had treated them like they were his family. Though that hadn't stopped him from being appropriately harsh. All things considered though, Keitaro had a soft spot for the old man-A sentiment he felt was shared by the other members of his unit.

Never thought we'd end up together like this...

He felt a hand close around his, and he looked over at Mizuno. She blushed, or the cold air had flushed her cheeks-Either way, she looked cute.

"Go?" She asked.

Keitaro nodded. "GO!"

They rushed out of the plane, and jumped, heading down, down, down towards the cold mountains and plains of Siberia below.

A Russian faction had gotten it's hands on Silver Millenium magitech. Far below, at a secret airfield their government either was not aware of or was very aware of, a plane built with that technology was being tested. Prospective buyers would line up for a plane with that kind of power, and intelligence said it could annihilate entire squadrons of F/A-22s.

Their job was to find it. Dr. Mizuno's job, as an official Silver Millenium "consultant" was to assess it, and hopefully, pilot it out.

Keitaro felt the weight of the fate of the world upon his shoulders... And held Ami's hand tighter. His mind flashed through the faces of his tenants, the Hinata Sou...

Naru, Motoko, Shinobu, Mutsumi, Su, Kitsune, Aunt Haruka, Seta... I'll see you soon. I promise...

- - - - - - -

EDIT: Changed the unit a bit. Hope nobody minds.

 

[DrTempo]

Not bad,AJT...Not bad at all.

 

[Ordo]

So the Sailor Senshi have put themselves and their powers at the service of an international organization dedicated to defending humanity from Preternatural forces/tech/powers/beings/etc, and, presumably, that organization answers to a civilian authority?

Honestly thereÆs a tale with that aspect aloneà.

Anyways, I like what I see so far and would genuinely like to read more.

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

I'm thinking of making it into an RPG, though I'm already running one.

Still, as far as a setting goes, there are worse ones.

 

[ringlhach]

Something to consider... in US military (read: Air Force) doctrine, "Joint" is defined as multiservice. I don't remember offhand what an international task force is called- probably "combined," "coalition," or simpy "international-" we have ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) in Afghanistan right now, anyway. You could get around that by calling it a UN task force (sub in UN for JO) or writing Japan into the NATO alliance- hey, wierder things have happened- and figuring out a different name for it there.

There's also the fact that the Japanese constitution specifically prohibits offensive action, outside of the home islands. Hell, there were demonstrations against even providing support to the conflict in Afghanistan, giving that as the reason.

It's very interesting, though. I know I wouldn't want to figure out how the power-scaling would work... good luck to a braver, better author than I.

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

Well, I'd like the acronym to sound neat, you know?

 

[Mercsenary]

United Nation Special Operations Force

Un Sof

XD

 

[Chihiro Fujimi]

While the idea itself is interesting, I stay dubious about putting it in on Keitaro's shoulders.

Wouldn't a series like Darker than Black make a preferable setting for this ?

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

While the idea itself is interesting, I stay dubious about putting it in on Keitaro's shoulders.

Wouldn't a series like Darker than Black make a preferable setting for this ?

Well, it's not supposed to be grimdark. It's supposed to be kind of action/adventurous.

EDIT: I've got it.

Special Combat and Rescue Force. SCARF.

 

[Prince Charon]

While the idea itself is interesting, I stay dubious about putting it in on Keitaro's shoulders.

Wouldn't a series like Darker than Black make a preferable setting for this ?

Well, it's not supposed to be grimdark. It's supposed to be kind of action/adventurous.

EDIT: I've got it.

Special Combat and Rescue Force. SCARF.

I think that's been used before, in the Uzumaki Aircraft thread. Still, its a valid name.

Personally, though, I prefer United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.

 

[Delta Green Friendly]

While the idea itself is interesting, I stay dubious about putting it in on Keitaro's shoulders.

Wouldn't a series like Darker than Black make a preferable setting for this ?

Well, it's not supposed to be grimdark. It's supposed to be kind of action/adventurous.

EDIT: I've got it.

Special Combat and Rescue Force. SCARF.

I think that's been used before, in the Uzumaki Aircraft thread. Still, its a valid name.

Personally, though, I prefer United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.

Can't go wrong with the classics.

 

[ringlhach]

I'm seconding SCARF, myself. Mostly because I think you could pull a lot of humor from it, but that's just me.

UNIT has Expectations tied to it...

 

[PCHeintz72]

I'm seconding SCARF, myself. Mostly because I think you could pull a lot of humor from it, but that's just me.

UNIT has Expectations tied to it...

Bah... UNIT (the version as depicted for the early Doctor Who, not the current), was involved in more than just the Doctor... Fans would be sorely mistaken if they believed the only reason they were formed was to assist the Doctor.

One of the big gripes about he last couple seasons was the hard won relationship the Doctor had with them in the older series has been all but undone, and they hardly appear in their original form in the series.


I second Unit

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

I like SCARF myself, but since we've got the JSSDF, hmmm... I've got it.

UNIT is not a paramilitary organization but a civilian agency. It handles intelligence gathering and has branches throughout the world for investigating domestic supernatural disturbances. SCARF is the military organization, that deals with foreign supernatural disturbances and stuff that requires heavy firepower domestically.

We can follow both organizations and use both in this story. How's that work?

 

[ringlhach]

Sounds workable. Do the agencies have any interaction? Is SCARF essentially a client for UNIT, a subordinate unit, a supierior one? Do they even know the other exists?

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

Sounds workable. Do the agencies have any interaction? Is SCARF essentially a client for UNIT, a subordinate unit, a supierior one? Do they even know the other exists?

They know the other exists, and they will share intel, though naturally there is some competition between the two. However, domestically UNIT generally has the superior position unless they're up against something really, really powerful that requires a military role. As in, facing an army of demons or something.

Foreign intervention, SCARF usually has the superior position because they are a special forces outfit, trained to kill and destroy the bad guys.

I'm thinking that Ranma Saotome would join UNIT's Japan Branch-He seems more the type to become a cop than a soldier.

 

[Delta Green Friendly]

So long as there's a Brigadier at the head of it, and perhaps a Captain at the head of the unit Keitaro is assigned to, everything is fine.

Of course, there can be only one Brig. And the Captain has to have a glorious 'stache and be on loan from the SAS.

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

So long as there's a Brigadier at the head of it, and perhaps a Captain at the head of the unit Keitaro is assigned to, everything is fine.

Of course, there can be only one Brig. And the Captain has to have a glorious 'stache and be on loan from the SAS.

All right. Keitaro's unit would be mixed, and is designated as a SCARF Airborne Insertion Unit. They're dropped behind enemy lines for specific missions, and are trained to parachute from nearly anything. Keitaro's assigned to it for his durability-If his chute fails, he'll survive the landing. And Captain Price heads it up. Complete with awesome 'stache.

David has asked about including the Strike Witches, so here's my idea for them: They're an elite strike fighter squadron of magical "girls" (aged up to around 17/18) whose abilities let them interface with aircraft and fly them like aces even if they're getting into them for the first time. They can also imbue their planes with some special abilities for short periods of time, much like they do their Striker Units.

 

[trevelyan1983]

One of the big gripes about he last couple seasons was the hard won relationship the Doctor had with them in the older series has been all but undone, and they hardly appear in their original form in the series.

To a certain extent, it's a believable development - the number of UNIT stories dropped pretty sharply after Pertwee's Third Doctor regenerated into Baker's Fourth, and I don't recall them picking up much during Five, Six or Seven. That was, what, a good thirty years of linear time before the Tenth stepped back into a UNIT facility?

The thing is, people forget. Or, like the redoubtable Brigadier, they grow old. The people who had those adventures with The Doctor will have grown up, been promoted, retired, or died in action. The new ones who come in, have no reason to care about the increasingly rare interventions of a time-travelling eccentric.

Additionally, if the Doctor shows up less and less often, well, they're eventually going to decide that it's better to do the job themselves than wait for some Johnny-Come-Lately dropping in for his Big Damn Heroes moment. Leave it long enough, and they'll probably get annoyed at the space gypsy presuming to come into their base and tell them how to do their jobs.

EDIT:

Yeah, anyway, my Whovian geekiness aside, this is an interesting change of gears. I mean, Character X joins the Military and comes back Badass is an old, old plot point. But this accidental version that deals with Weird Stuff is one of the most unusual and amusing versions I've seen yet.

 

[Crusader]

Any thoughts about having operatives going rogue and maverick due to being too long in the field and suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome? And after that deciding that magical girls, super-powered martial artists, seemingly indestructible mecha and their pilots, cyborgs and all the rest are a threat to humanity that should be eliminated by any method available? And after a while the majority of these mavericks get organized into cells

I'd think that assassinations, cutting off all resources and propaganda smear campaigns would be the most used weapons used by these men and women unless they can leak out news and information that could harm their targets.

 

[ringlhach]

How... obvious (I want to say "transparent," but I don't think people will know what I mean)... to the public will these guys be? Are they just another random, little-known cog in the bureaucracy, or will they be a big overt player?

Either way could be interesting. On one hand, you have a police/military agency that has to deal with the wierdness, and you'd automatically have at least two sides on it- the people that are hands-off, radically "just leave 'em alone, man!" and the people who are radically "kill 'em all!"

You know, by categorizing one of them as a law enforcement/police agency, you have a drastically different mindset from the military one... in the military, if we can get the leadership to sign off on it, we tend to permanent solutions. Granted, the solutions are more often than not more complex than they're worth, but they stay fixed. Police agencies, though? You'd have to ask a cop, but from what I've seen, they have a much higher burden of proof and a much lower threshold for waving things off as overkill.

 

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

trevelyan1983: Thanks! I figure it can be a sprawling world, much like it's inspiration, The Bet, and anyone can write for it. Though I'll write the first story arc... Wouldn't mind help though.

Crusader: Well, I was thinking we could establish the universe first before leaping to that sort of thing, Crusader. However, I did think of a story involving a UNIT operative being taken in by a rogue Magical Girl team and turning him into their "Tuxedo Mask" guy.

ringlhach: Much like the Navy Seals or Army Rangers, the public is aware of the existence of these forces and agencies for the simple reason that magitech and demons and cyborgs are also common knowledge. However, like Navy SEALs or Army Rangers, their missions are kept secret. There is an effective media blackout on all their operations... Which wouldn't stop some reporters, of course.

And yes, that is the point-Bumping heads between points of view like that makes for great storytelling.

 

[DrTempo]

What, no Solid Snake? At least he'd be a good commander(if he's Old Snake; otherwise,he'd be a good field commander.) Snake's seen a LOT of strange shit.