Silverwing Brigade

The Silverwing Brigade is a non-governmental Aperionian defense force tasked with surveying and protecting the outer limits of Aperionian Sky. Distinct from the Second Defense Force, the Silverwings are less concerned with matters of national security and more concerned with keeping the skies free of pirates, raiders, and other dangers that plague ships and far-settlement towns. They are seen as an elite force, and it is considered a great honor to serve as a Silverwing.

History
The Silverwings' exact foundation date is unknown, although historians have guessed it to be around Briar 32. Originally founded as a militia by Thomas Carthage, the Silverwings were first known as Other Men, a reference to the fact that they were often the second men to be called to a dispute: after the SDF, who were often delayed in their response.

After several change-ups at the SDF due to the end of the Blood Kings and the overwhelming positive response from villagers and townspeople, Carthage decided that Aperion could benefit from a organized strike force that had no noble or royal obligations. He set about collecting the founding members of the Silverwing Brigade, including swordmaster Stirling Carlow and master tactician Alasdair MacIntyre, among others.

With Carlow and MacIntyre, Carthage was able to lay the foundation of the Silverwings as they exist today. He penned their code of conduct, as well as set up their internal court system. Carthage also attempted to alter the system of power within the Brigade, leaving explicit instructions to be followed after his death. However, his successors had observed the success of the system under the three-tiered governance of Carthage, Carlow, and MacIntyre, and ignored Carthage's wishes, instead opting with the System of Three that is still utilized today.

In Briar 217, the first reference to "Silverwing" is recorded in an incident report by a SDF Officer, who noticed "The blades of these trained operatives danced faster than I had ever seen, moving not as metal but instead as wings of silver, percice and deadly. I know not what could have stood up to and survived these Silverwings." It is unknown how widely spread this report became, but within the year the entire Brigade had taken on the name Silverwing, instead of the "Other Men" moniker they had been known as previously. The Chief Commander at the time, C.C. Stuart Foyle, was trying to dissolve the air of mystery about the operations of the Other Men, and decided Silverwings would be a friendlier title for the Brigade.

The Silverwings operated out of Peak Bases until the development of the Derigible in ERADATE YEAR. Seeing the potential in the design, C.C. Lucy Swenson comissioned the development of the first Floating Fortress. While the design was a failure for civilian use, the Floating Fortress turned out to be quite practical for the Silverwing Brigade. Currently, the Silverwings operate out of 7 Peak Bases, and the entire rest of their operations are centered on Floating Fortresses, now commenly called "Swensons" in honor of C.C. Swenson.

Conscript System
The Silverwings are unique in that they do not accept all those who apply to service, unlike the majority of other defense forces, including the Royal Army and the SDF. Instead, the Silverwings accept, without review, 15% of those who apply. The "Blind 15" are then put through a special training camp, where they may be dismissed for any reason, without question, so long as the Officer present at the camp authorizes the order.

The rest of applicants are reviewed heavily and conscriptions are offered to candidates who offer the most promise and potential with the Silverwings. Although the ideals of the Brigade have shifted through the years, the applications are all reviewed with the same standards as set out by C.C. Carthage in the founding years. After a candidate is offered a conscript, they must pass through a series of physical and mental tests. After passing these tests, they are offered a position within the Brigade, at the lowest rank. Following the Carthage Code, all Silverwings must start at the lowest rank, regardless of background or experience.

Rarely, the Silverwings will reach out to a single person if their talent is well-known and they are of an appropriate age to join the Brigade. Typically an officer will propose a conscription, and this proposition must pass through two more officers and a general before the letter is sent. The letters are personally penned by the current Chief Commander. In the entire history of the Silverwings, only 34 invitations have been sent. Of these 34 candidates, 28 accepted and 12 went on to become the Cheif Commander.

While candidates who are invited, often called "invitees," are typically seen as up-and-coming members of the Silverwings, they also meet a large amount of resistence and distain from other Brigadeers, as well as citizens who were, for whatever reason, rejected or kicked from the Blind 15.

Modern Services
To date, the Silverwings are primarilly tasked with patrolling the outer Skies, sending units from Swensons to patrol or deal directly with a problem once it has been reported. Due to their inaccessability in the Swensons to grounded citizens, the Silverwings have upkept 7 peak bases, in order to have facilities to accomodate those who cannot travel to the air-based Swensons. Once a problem has been reported, the Silverwings are compelled by the Carthage Code to begin response within 2 days, a reflection of the tardiness of the SDF in the founding years of the Brigade.

In addition to having strike-forces to deal with local and near-local problems, the Silverwings also send units on long-term patrols, skirting the outer limits of sky and surveying remote areas of the Downlands. A long-term patrol can last anywhere from 6 months to two years, during which time the unit will live aboard a standard Silverwing Friggate. Depending on the area of the patrol, the crew will typically be from 5 to 15 members. The largest long-term patrol is stationed on the SSC Bordeaux, consisting of 30 crewmen. Brigadeers serving on long-term patrols, called serving "long duty," are divided into pre-assigned teams. These teams are engineered to compliment one another, so there is no standard template Upper Officers use to decide these teams. However, a medic is required to be a part of each team. Each member of the Silverwings is expected to serve on at leats one long duty, although in times of conflict this tradition has been overlooked.

Other duties of the Silverwings include aiding the SDF when they are short staffed, as well as providing security for festivals and celebrations that occur mid-sky, like Rover Holidays or, occasionally, concerts and gatherings.

The Silverwings also have a special department, founded in ERANAME DATE, to keep all Silverwing Brigadeers to the Code. Similar to the Internal Affairs branch of the SDF, these officers are called Coders, as opposed to their encrypted code writers, who are called Encrypters. The good reputation of the Silverwing Brigade is due in no small part to the achievements of the Coders. The Commanding Code Officer, or C.C.O, is the only member of the Silverwings who can question the Chief Commander's authority or cancel one of his or her commands.

History with Downlanders
Due to their position on the outer limits of goverened Sky and that they function outside of government authority, the Silverwings are also often asked to address Downland problems and issues, especially in cases of airborn Pirates raiding small Downland towns and houses. There has been some controversy, however, as Downlander issues were never addressed in the Carthage Code, as at the time of its construction the Downlanders were functioning on their own systems of regulation, and were not considered a part of the Upland patrolling and protection systems. While the Silverwings have, for the most part, been apt at aiding the Downlanders, many complaints have been issued that the Strike Forces take too long to arrive and often times are only able to aid in clean up duty, as oppossed to helping in the initial attack.

Silverwings, in Welkin 15, also started issuing a Most Wanted list, separating fugatives into Uplander and Downlander categories. These tagged fugatives are considered dangerous and any Silverwing has orders to deal with these criminals, regardless of prior duty or rank. Occasionally, if the fugative is dangerous enough, the Silverwings will issue a reward for the capture, but not killing, of the fugative.

Some Downlanders have complained that the Silverwings don't work with local deputees to get the facts about an issued fugative. However, no changes have been made in the system to meet with these complaints. This may be due to the fact that usually only Brigadeers on long duty come into contact with Downland Fugatives, and therefore the issue is not considered large enough to immediately address.

Silverwings of Note
The Silverwings have a long history and have trained many of Aperion's notable historical figures. Several Dreads have served with the Silverwings, in addition to one King and three Queens. Many infamous Rovers have served time with the Silverwings as well.

Some of the more famous Silverwings include:
 * The Dread Aegis Westley Roberts (Rank: RANK)

Role in the Fall of the House of Tacticians
Summary (for editing later):

Alasdair MacIntyre, founding tactician was smart as balls, and often conferred with head of tacticians, setting up a relationship with that house and the Silverwings that continued for many eras. The house had a university setup, and therefore got their money from tuition and people coming to study and so forth. However, many of their potential students started applying to the Silverwings, who kind of got all the good ones.

This decrease in finances, as well as the rumor that the House didn't deserve its title (because silverwings were better or something) crippled the house and it dwindeled out. Their fall isn't one that was big and violent like the Oremasters, but rather a trickle to a halt. I think the head resigned their power, the first and only time this has ever happened in history.

The resigner's daughter, however, was unwilling to accept this and she founded the Tactician's Society, but kept it secret because she didn't want people thinking it was a coup for a house, and possibly the Monarch at the time was unsympathetic and/or dangerous, so she was afraid. She had plans to expose the society and make it more of a gulid-school-system, but this never happened and eventually they grew fond of their secrecy and renown and kept it on the down-low.

Many silverwing tacticians belong to the society, which will be named after the house's famliy, but it's like any other secret society: they have their systems and traditions and tells (possibly a pin or ring or tattoo), and you must be invited to join up. They are very selective about letting Silverwings join, if only due to the stigma that they helped topple the house.

Silverwing Vessels and Swensons
This is just a list, for reference, of named Silverwing Vessles and Swensons.

Ships are typically called SSC's, or "Silverwing Service Craft" (Example: SSC Bordeaux), although the Chief Commander's ship is the SCV "Silverwing Command Vessel" (Example: SCV Isolde). Swensons each have individual names, and are titled SS's, or Silverwing Swenson (Example: SS Altrek).
 * SSC Bordeaux, the largest Long Patrol Friggate. Crew: 30.