Cerberus Special Forces

From FABT

Cerberus Special Forces
(CSF)
CerberusSpecialForces.png

Active:

12 February 2165 CE - 24 September 2186 CE

Organization:

Cerberus Armed Forces

Affiliation:

Cerberus.png
Cerberus

Type:

Special operations/black ops/intelligence

Role:

  • Provide strategic intelligence on enemy strengths and weaknesses
  • Gathering, processing and analyzing internal and external security information
  • Deconstructing hostile threats
  • Counter-terrorism
  • Espionage and sabotage
  • Black ops
  • Quick response
  • Assassination

Size:

24,000 (at its height)

Part of:

Cerberus Special Operations Command

Headquarters:

Cronos Station, Anadius
Titan (2187 CE (planned))

Motto:

"Fight where needed."

Colors:

Gold and white

Engagements:

Commanders:

Gen. Gladys Phillips (last)

Notable:

Randall Ezno
Kai Leng
Jacob Taylor

 
"Fight where needed."
— Special Forces motto.

The Cerberus Special Forces (CSF), also referred to as Cerberus Strike Operations, was the dedicated special operations and intelligence branch of the Cerberus Armed Forces, and one of the three dedicated branches of Cerberus' military division. The last of the three branches to be established, Cerberus Special Forces wasn't established as its own branch until 12 February 2165 CE, when special operations and the majority of intelligence operations were transferred to the new branch from the Cerberus Army, which became more of a traditional army than the hybrid of symmetrical/special forces it had been previously. Before the transfer of authority, Cerberus had combat forces comprised of 10 commando battalions of 2,500 men, with 10 fresh battalions being raised upon establishment of the new branch, bumping up that number to 10,000 commandos by 2167 CE. Until late 2185 CE, the Cerberus commandos were the bread and butter of Cerberus' special forces, and were subsequently also the face of the organization, being the most frequently encountered forces under Cerberus' command whilst out in the field. This changed in late 2185 CE as Cerberus began its transition into a major military power, with the original 20 commando battalions being broken up and reorganized into 7 heavily specialized special operations brigades known as Shadowforce, Wolfpack, The Harbingers, Group Yellow, Ezno's Redwings, White Wind and APOLLO respectively. Cerberus Special Forces became a more dedicated and specialized fighting force than it had been previously, no longer deployed with the frequency they had been before but being kept for the more risky, technically demanding and fundamentally important operations Cerberus needed accomplished. These new brigades saw extensive deployment during the Reaper War, although the first to be deployed would be Shadowforce during the First War for Omega, where it proved instrumental in deconstructing Aria's syndicate and Omega's gangs, thereby helping Oleg Petrovsky execute his strategy of deception that eventually won him the station and ousted Aria T'Loak.

During the Reaper War, the Special Forces would be spread out across the galaxy to assist in an array of operations. Shadowforce remained attached to Cerberus I Corps Omega, under the command of General Petrovsky in attempting to crush the Talon rebels and later, during the Second War for Omega, fighting back against the UGC invasion force, although it was largely wiped out during the final assault by the UGC. White Wind was attached to the Cerberus Third Fleet, where it participated in the Battle of Noveria, but was wiped out during the battle and when the Reapers arrived and obliterated the Cerberus forces. Several battalions of APOLLO and Group Yellow both participated in Operation Deathstroke, but took heavy casualties during the battle and the survivors recalled to Cronos Station, where only Group Yellow would be redeployed to assist the rest of APOLLO with the Cerberus invasion of Aite, where they were eventually all killed when the Crucible fired at the end of the war. Ezno's Redwings were a dedicated manhunter brigade, and were engaged in wetwork and counter-intelligence throughout the war, rarely seeing frontline combat. The Harbingers were the personal right hand of the Illusive Man and the Cerberus command structure, and were most frequently deployed to defend key scientific and military installations, with at least two battalions of Harbingers assigned to protect the Keyhold laboratories, another battalion to protect Cronos Station and one battalion to protect Titan station. Towards the end of the war, most of the special forces were recalled to Cronos Station to assist with Cerberus' final stand against the UGC, with Gladys Phillips personally overseeing the defense. It was here at the Battle of Cronos Station where the majority of the remaining special forces were either killed or indoctrinated by the Leviathans and joined the UGC's ranks. What remained was still engaged in fighting on Aite or was on Titan, but all of these would be wiped out when the Crucible fired.

Cerberus Special Forces saw extensive action during the Eden Prime War, Collector campaign, First and second wars for Omega and the Reaper War. With the dissolution of Cerberus at the end of the Reaper War, the Cerberus Special Forces were dissolved and what surviving members remained formed numerous Cerberus remnant cells, who were in turn eventually rounded up and crushed by the Systems Coalition in roughly a few years following the conflict.

History[edit | edit source]

Formation[edit | edit source]