Special Action Team 47 is a special operations unit in the Interstellar and Space Police Commission, also called the Galactic Space Police. It is the GSP's première counter-terrorist and special investigation group, with its primary focus being as a special response team for terrorist incidents that are of interstellar importance. They are among the few units that the GSP operates directly. It is simply referred to as Silver Team in most media reports.
The unit originated with the Sagittarian space police organisation in the late 3260s, and was subsumed into the Confederate public safety and state security apparatus in the middle of the 3270s, and became a component of the Interstellar and Space Police Commission in 3276. It operated largely clandestinely until its involvement in foiling the Keystone Incident in 3280. Its existence was made public and it has since an expansion in its membership. Nonetheless it remains highly selective, with less than a hundred sworn officers and less than five hundred support operatives and staff.
The unit retains much of its Sagittarian law enforcement traditions, focused on detective work and pacification techniques and nonlethal capture of opposition forces during terrorist incidents. As such, the unit has been called into action in major hostage rescue situations, and to investigate the disappearances or assassinations of public officials. Its members are each assigned a codename, corresponding to an terrestrial animal, and often wear highly idiosyncratic protective gear and field equipment suggestive of their namesake animal and involving the colours silver and black.
History
The original Silver Team was formed as the 47th Action Group of the Sagittarian Space Police Force, by three Sagittarian police officers: Mohamed Ibeji Sana'a, Ryo Toriyama, an Kurtis Amadeus Angel. They took the callsigns Silver Lion, Silver Dragon, and Silver Tiger. The group expanded in 3274 with the inclusion of another six officers, including free alien Krokken Fraugg, a kuhn EOD specialist. In 3275 the group was made part of the provisional Galactic Space Police in 3275 at the foundation of the Republic. In the 3276 Public Security Act, the GSP was reorganised as the Interstellar and Space Police Commission. The unit operated clandestinely, accruing a few more members over the next several years. The team acquired its present system of organisation during this period, being subdivided into initially two "operations groups" composed of at three pairs of officers.
The Keystone Incident sparked in June 3280 as several political assassinations led to police crackdowns and reactionary terrorist action against police and government organisations on the colony world Keystone. It was considered a local matter until August, when the detonation of a nuclear weapon on the planet's capital that killed several hundred thousand people. The GSP, in coordination with the planetary police commission, deployed its own special investigative unit in the form of the Silver Team based on suspicions that the bombings may be tied to colonial insurrectionist networks across the Outer Colonies and to pirate groups operating throughout Terran space. Silver Lion led the investigation himself, along with four officers from Operations Group Kaleidoscope: Tiger, Wolf, Snake, and Hawk. After failing to foil a second bombing in Hauberk, Silver Lion died. According to reports, he was attempting to defuse the nuclear device when the device detonated, while he order the other team members to flee the site. Two other members of Kaleidoscope were dispatched as support along with Silver Dragon and Silver Crane from Operations Group Cobra. The team participated in the raid on terrorist leader Constantine Bronstein's headquarters and aided the investigation of his terrorist network known on the planet as the Bandit Union.
In the aftermath, Silver Tiger temporarily held command but relinquished it to Silver Dragon, who was made Acting Commander. Tiger was still the nominal Commander until he voluntarily took a lower posting as Operations Officer, and Dragon was officially appointed Commander. The group's fame due to the public reports on the incident led to the official recognition of their existence. Petitions for admittance into their organisation increased, but the team remained very selective. Membership was and remains solely by selection by the Operations Staff under the Commander's discretion. The unit has since been deployed in various counter-terrorist operations, and utilised in several investigations of galactic importance. Only a small number of these operations have been made public.
Structure
The Silver Team is divided into an Operations Staff, an administrative and logistics support unit, and fifteen Operational Groups composed of six officers. Its officers all must be certified detectives of the Space Police, and are selected on the recommendation of the Operations Staff. A prospective candidate is selected on the basis of their service record, unique skills, and the needs of the team's operations and planning. Police officers often petition for admission, but these are usually ignored unless they fit the exacting standards of the Silver Team operations staff. The evaluation of a prospective member is rigorous, and many prospective candidates washout. The Silver Team has an operational force of less than a hundred sworn officers, among the smallest units of action in the Space Police.
The Operations Staff is headed by the Commander or Acting Commander, who has been Major Ryo Toriyama since December 3280. The Commander reports directly to the Chief of the Space Police. The Commander is supported by the Operations Officer, who acts as the unit executive officer and planning officer, and two other staff officers who advise on direct action and on special investigations. In addition, each Operational Group commander has an advisory capacity on the Operations Staff.
The team is subdivided into the following fifteen Operational Groups, each commanded by a police Captain. Each group has an executive officer with the rank of a police Lieutenant. The commanders are denoted with an asterisk next to their callsigns. The other members are noted by their callsigns, as most are not publicly known by their legal names for security reasons:
Kaleidoscope: Ape*, Fox, Crab, Bat, Penguin, Bear.
Cobra: Crane*, Snake, Hawk, Eel, Falcon, Coyote.
Limestone: Rhino*, Bull, Boar, Crow, Elk, Manta.
Jay: Jackal*, Jaguar, Jackrabbit, Jackass, Junglefowl, Jellyfish.
Quicksand: Hare*, Barracuda, Squirrel, Raven, Partridge, Moose.
Aquamarine: Shark*, Turtle, Swan, Lobster, Crocodile, Alligator.
Tabernacle: Dove*, Nightjar, Sheep, Pheasant, Leopard, Owl.