The Marine Corps

    The quiet, covert struggle of Earth's myriad defenders against the Hordes of Darkness has traditionally been an individual one. Lone demon-hunters or small groups of brave souls face down crazed cults and twisted secret societies in the shadows.

Then FLEET showed up, and pointed out that said small teams work a lot better if they are large teams, with flank and rear guards, air support, and a military-industrial complex to keep their gear maintained. Of all the defiance humanity is showing the Darkness nowadays, an increasing amount of it is being escorted by their marines...to shocked reactions on all sides.

The concept of the marine – naval infantry, drop troops, whatever the local military calls them – is one common to almost every galactic power with vessels attached to FLEET. Given how desperately needed rapid-strike troops are these days, High Command rubber-stamped FLEET calls to amalgamate all such units with considerable speed, adding the Board's own small-unit strike formations for good measure. With amalgamation came standardisation – and the signature suits of powered armour, manufactured by the Funky Horror's automated factories. New lines of armored vehicles are also being rolled out, to provide heavy support against the nastier, larger breeds of Abyssal Horror, who can shrug off plasma fire and look at combat magic like you've just pulled a rabbit out of a hat.

Active recruitment steadily swells the marines' ranks, with a training camp established at Woomera, Australia. This expansion makes the marines a fast-track for promotion...if you bear in mind the risks. The MC epitomize the concept of "first in, last out", and take the brunt of any action if a mission goes sour – given the kind of missions the Board run, it takes a brave person indeed to pull on that armour knowing just how horribly he may die in it. This, and Boardies' access to RESPAWN, is a constant source of internal friction neither side really understands in the other.

To try and cut down on this, and to impress the more impetuous Boardies with the responsibilities they have to their guardians, regular training and rehearsals with all Board departments keep both organizations constantly busy, and marines not on immediate standby double as security forces in the various Board bases. FLEET encourage pride in the traditions of their various units, which provides a steady stream of military history for ever-curious Boardies to digest...with the quiet subtext that yes, we can do the quirky stuff too.