Silencer (Crusader)
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A Silencer is a fictional soldier from the computer game series Crusader.
The game's manual describes Silencers as: "definitely not conventional forces - a killing machine trained to be the ultimate soldier. Silencers are given complete freedom to choose their own weapons and equipment, but can always be recognized by their unique uniform of rigid plastic-armor plates."
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[edit] Overview
The Silencer Corps is a branch of the World Economic Consortium's military whose members occupy a separate echelon in the WEC's forces, apart from Military Operations and the Security Cartel. Silencers are widely recognized as the deadllest men and women in the solar system, owing to their supreme physical prowess, rigorous training, and advanced equipment. They are regarded by the general public, or at least by those who know they exist, as human killing machines. According to WEC sources (cited in the No Regret CD files) the total number of Silencers is small; as they make up only 0.0025% of the entire Consortium population (however, this may not be entirely accurate: a reasonable assumption of 9 billion humans in the solar system by the year 2196 would mean there should be 225,000 Silencers; not exactly a small fighting force).
Officially, Silencer candidates are identified by means of the testing all WEC Citizen/Partners go through in their adolescent years. It is implied the adolescent must achieve very precise scores on a battery of mental, physical, and psychological examinations, whereupon they are removed to an isolated military facility. However, rumors persist and suggest, fuelled by intelligence the Global Resistance has acquired almost by accident, that the most recent iterations (and perhaps previous generations) of the Silencers are the product of a genetic engineering program, developed and executed by the WEC's late Dr. Gregor Hoffman. From this perspective a Silencer can be considered a born killer. Whether these men and women are removed from their families or are effectively engineered, they still have no contact with the outside world and rarely consider themselves part of a biological family. It can be assumed all stimuli relating to their life before training (assuming it even exists) are removed, eventually voiding emotional response to such stimuli.
Silencers cannot retire: their enlistment period is for life. In exchange, they are granted an unlimited lifetime supply of credits. A Silencer who survives to the age of 40 (a rare circumstance, despite their skill) is relegated to the training facility to train up the next generation.
Silencers are trained extensively in the use of firearms, close combat, interrogation, assassination and survival techniques. Their dedication and willpower is focused to the point where they are capable of efficiently carrying on with their missions even when near the point of death. Standard combat tactics simply do not apply when dealing with Silencers: they are stronger, faster, and tougher than any other soldier, and their training is so advanced and complete that they are prepared for virtually any situation. Their synaptic responses and tactical capability are inhuman, and even in those situations they haven't been drilled in they can always improvise an effective solution. Silencers are allowed to requisition whatever they think they will need before a mission, letting them field any equipment so long as it is available. Taken together, this all makes Silencers into veritable juggernauts, with nothing really proving effective against them short of sheer massed firepower. Only the dangerousness of the missions they are sent on, and the fact that they routinely push themselves past even their limits, can account for their relatively high casualty rate.
[edit] The Captain
The player controlled character in the Crusader series is a Silencer, known within the Resistance simply as Silencer or the Captain, likely in reference to his military rank; some characters also refer to him as Tin Man or Red. This lack of a "real name" does not appear to be standard for Silencers: in the opening cinematic of No Remorse, the Captain's two companions have names when a security camera spots them, but he does not. Storywise, the reason is probably that both of his companions have files within the system, but the player character's is missing, deleted or otherwise inaccessible--possibly as a first step for the WEC to hunt them down (see Career, below). Alternatively, the lack of a name reflects the status of silent protagonist of the Silencer; in game he never speaks and other characters talk to him as if they aren't expecting a reply or in such a way that anything they might say would not require a direct reply. It is also worth noting that the Silencer's two companions are gunned down in a matter of seconds when the Vetron ambushes them, yet the Silencer faces much greater odds in-game and prevails. There could be any number of reasons, both in-character and otherwise, why this is so: for example, whether the player character is superior, inferior, or merely average in terms relative to other Silencers (unknown, as in neither game does he face others of his ilk), or perhaps technological, budgetary, or time constraints precluded a more involved cinematic. As an aside, the gender of the Captain is never detailed, or even inferred (though his build is definitely masculine, the armor could distort this), and thus the use of "him", "he", and "his" in this article are for conveneince, even though the neutral "they" would be prefered.
[edit] Career
Almost all data regarding the Captain's service under the Consortium is currently undisclosed; nothing is known about his recruitment in the Corps, training, the missions he has undertaken or his promotions and awards. In February of 2196, he and his team were attacked for not executing what was afterwards proven to be an illegal order. Having refused to fire upon unarmed civilians, designated as Rebels by their commander, the team of Silencers was in hiding in a sewer system, discussing their options, when they were ambushed by an APP-4400 Vetron. The Captain was the only survivor of his unit, and decided to turn against his former employers, linking up with the Resistance. He was accepted by his former enemies primarily through the sponsorship of General Quentin Maxis. Assigned to operate from Echo Base, the Captain proceeded to single-handedly execute missions that entire teams of normal Resistance soldiers would be hard-pressed to complete; among these are several raids of Consortium research centers and industrial plants, the kidnapping of Senator Everette Snell, and the desperate last-ditch effort to destroy the "Vigilance Platform", which the Silencer accomplished without the support of the Resistance assault team he was supposed to have commanded. Later, after the assault on the "Vigilance Platform", the Captain reached "Darkside Base" on the Moon, where he becomes a member of the local Resistance cell. There, he collaborates in sabotage operations aimed at disrupting Consortium mining of Di-corellium, getting the Resistance better access to information and resources, and taking out targets of opportunity. The Silencer also raids the heavily guarded prison area, freeing several prisoners, including Colonel Ely, captured just before the destruction of Echo Base. Owing to the Captain's successes, in a very short amount of time (possibly less than a week) the lunar Resistance cell goes from fighting a losing battle to near-total control of Darkside Base.
[edit] Origins
A veil of secrecy surrounds the origins of the members of the Silencers Corps, and the Captain is no exception; only a few clues are presented to suggest hint at his past as either a WEC citizen or a fully engineered individual. Within a research facility in Crusader: No Remorse, a breed of Silencers has been engineered, but it is unknown if the Captain is a product of such experiments himself. Shortly after the discovery, Dr. Hoffman salutes the Captain as the "prodigal son" and describes the second generation of Silencers he has created as devoid of the moral constrictions of the first, implying the Captain is a product of a previous batch of engineered Silencers. However, Hoffman's words could be interpreted meaning the Captain is one of the last "trained" Silencers and the newly created are the first unit of a fully-engineered company. Another interpretation could be that the Captain was the basis of the new breed of Silencers, as in their genetic data was directly based off of the Captain's. In the end the Resistance is unable to collect any clear data both from their own and the WEC databases regarding the Captain's true origins.
