“But your film sounds awesome and now you’ve got secret funding. That’s a good start for a heist, right?” — Spoilers for Grand Theft Sorcery follow.
A task force within the FBI, dealing with crimes involving the supernatural. It first appeared in Natural Consequences.
General[]
“This team has unusual responsibilities and operates mostly in isolation. That means unconventional tactics and procedures.”
— Sanderson, Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 3
A special unnamed and top secret task force within the FBI that investigated and responded to suspected supernatural activities and entities. It was associated with its own top secret support structure of judges, prosecutors and attorneys. Their main focus was on vampires and werewolves, but they also worked with other beings. Their known team was based in Los Angeles and covered the US west coast, but there were more teams.[1][2] They also maintained a prison site for “special convicts”.[3]
The work of the task force was hampered by the need to maintain secrecy and that especially vampires tends to corrupt local police departments, which meant their ability to coordinate with local police was limited to select individual officers.[4] The lack of suitable methods to detain its suspects other than through muscle and raw force also contributed.[5] It also had very limited resources on all levels, both operationally and in legal support structures. It however ran extensive electronic surveillance operations against known or suspected supernaturals.[1][6]
The result was that the task force had an excellent picture of the general vampire activity in the USA, but had little ability to detain individual vampires, much less groups of them.[1] At the same time, there were many holes in their surveillance and knowledge. One example was not being aware of Anatole. Another was monitoring Dietrich’s phone, while not suspecting he was a werewolf.[7][8]
At the same time, it appeared that at least the vampire society was unaware of the existance of the task force, at least until recently.[9] It is unknown if any vampire or werewolf survivors from the Battle of Magnuson Park managed to bring knowledge of the task force with them. Knowledge about it had spread among the Practitioners of Seattle afterward.[10]
The task force developed an internal culture of prejudice against people with supernatural connections, a strong sense of “us-and-them”, and a focus on charging people rather than helping them.[11][12] This was likely exacerbated and reinfored due to it legally being classified top secred and having very limited resources.
Los Angeles team[]
The task force team in Los Angeles was sent to Seattle to investigate the Battle of Blackthorne manor. It suffered several losses under Hauser’s leadership and was in danger of being exposed or wiped out with the Battle of Magnuson Park. Afterwards it established a working relationship with the Crew.[2] The operation was considered exceptional in number of supernaturals, violence, and danger within the task force.[6]
After the Battle of Suite 1705 they detained the surviving members of the Light and crafted a mundane cover story for the entire battle.[13] The members of Crew were treated as protected witnesses, and Molly and Onyx were hired on a consultancy basis.[14][2]
Nguyen served as the interim leader of the Los Angeles team for several months until Sanderson was sent in order to take command of it. He also brought some additional agents. He considered firing Maddox and Bridger, but kept them on the team on probation for now. The team’s first investigation under the new leadership was the events surrounding Mitu’s release.[6]
Members[]
List of members as of May.
- Doug Bridger
- Matt Lanier
- Amber Maddox
- Chris Marino
- Colleen Nguyen, former temporary team leader
- Darren Patrick
- Sanderson, team leader
Prior members[]
- Joseph Hauser, former team leader (insane)
- Paul Keeley (deceased)
Tactical team[]
At least five of the members of the tactical team died during the Battle of Magnuson Park. It is unknown how closely associated the tactical team was with the rest of the task force.
- Dean (fate unknown)
- Frank (deceased)
- Gutierrez (fate unknown)
- Jacobsen (fate unknown)
- Miguel, team leader (deceased)
- Theo (deceased)
Legal structure[]
- Eduardo Castillo, judge
- Michael Lopez, defense attorney
- Oswalt, prosecutor
Surveillance[]
The following people were known—or could reasonably assumed—to be surveilled by the Special Task Force, either in Los Angeles or in other locations.
- Cornelius, vampire, Los Angeles[15]
- Dietrich, werewolf, Los Angeles[7]
- Emerald Shadow[7]
- Malcom Hollister[7]
- Killer Six, shadow assassin, Los Angeles[7]
- Anastacia Kanatova, vampire, Seattle[1]
- Oscar Torres, mercenary[7]
- Terry Wallace, suspect werewolf, Los Angeles[7]
- George Wentworth, vampire, New York[15]
Unknown subjects[]
- Subject Juliet, Los Angeles, at Anatole’s gathering[6]
- Subject Kilo, Venice Beach[6]
- Subject November, Los Angeles, at Anatole’s gathering[6]
Theories[]
The task force is the only known government group with connections to the supernatural. However, it is possible that the US Army had a group with supernatural connections or means, as evidenced by Rico’s team. The task force was informed of the possibility, but declined to investigate or try to contact the Army.[13]
Up until the Battle of Magnuson Park the vampire society was unaware of the task force, and it is possible that secrecy was maintained after the battle. This can be a sign that the task force was successful in maintaining secrecy, that they were largely ineffectual in combating vampires, or both. It is at least implied that the task force had managed to at least turn the secrecy of the vampire society into a tool to help themselves keep secret.[1]
Their Los Angeles office was located southwest of Hollywood Hills and the Griffith Observatory. That would fit with the main FBI offices in Los Angeles, located in Wilshire Federal Building.
Sources[]
The Special Task Force plays an important role in the following stories:
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Natural Consequences, Prologue
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Natural Consequences, chapter 18
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 18
- ↑ Natural Consequences, chapter 3
- ↑ Natural Consequences, chapter 8
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 3
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 2
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 14
- ↑ Natural Consequences, chapter 16
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 2
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 22
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 26
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Personal Demons, chapter 25
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 20
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Natural Consequences, chapter 7