Terra Sentinel:
Capital: London, England
Government: Network of interlinked PMCs with heavy influence over local governments.
Notable Territories: Great Britain, France, Canada, Japan, Australia.
Population: ~260 Million (in associated territories)
Goals: Clearing its name, Uprooting corruption, restoring legitimacy to Earth's government.
Motto: "Veritas Omnia Vincit" ("Truth Conquers All")
Faction Colors: Black & Orange
History:
After the Vanishing Trooper Incident, an investigation was launched within the Directory to piece together what had happened. A special unit was formed of elite pilots, engineers, scientists, and support personnel, tasked with not only investigating the circumstances behind the incident, but the greater question of alien interference in domestic affairs, especially in the Colonies.
Originally, the unit was to simply report on possible instances of collusion with alien powers and infiltration, but its responsibilities and powers soon grew to directly combating these groups, and it often was given the latest in cutting edge technology to further grease its effectiveness. Within the Colonies, the dark-colored Gespensts of Terra Sentinel's investigators became affiliated with the Earth government's G-men, and they became a subject of fear and suspicion.
Over the course of the next 50 years, Terra Sentinel fought a war in the shadows, uncovering evidence of demon-worshipping cults, alchemical experiments gone wrong, terrorism, and indeed - possible alien meddling in domestic affairs, very little of which was ever made public. Countless potential catastrophes and tragedies were ultimately averted thanks to their sacrifice and hard work, and the people of Earth were able to sleep soundly as a result.
However, it also engaged in campaigns of targeted political suppression against enemies of the Directory. TS agents infiltrated Colonial independence movements, and manufactured circumstances to justify their mass arrest or dissolution, and fabricated manufactured to indict troublesome Politicians and media figures that spoke out against the rule of the Earth.
These questionable actions, ostensibly done in the name of protecting the general populace, smeared the name of the organization, and many within its ranks deeply resented being made to do the dirty work of the Directory's politicians.
Quietly, the organization began to open investigations into the Directory itself. Terra Sentinel began to accumulate a case against certain members of the Directory Executive Board, gently unraveling the threads of conspiracy, culminating in the covert raid of a secret Directory research facility in Omsk, Siberia, one which was supposedly engaging in inhumane experiments. Terra Sentinel's leadership planned to obtain photographic evidence of these, and to leak them to the media...
But, they had already fallen into the Directory's trap.
The Omsk facility was a set-up, and the arrival of Terra Sentinel's mobile weapons triggered a massive explosion - one that caused a chain reaction leading to the city's Nuclear power plant, and that wiped the city of Omsk off the map, killing over two million people.
Blame for the Omsk Tragedy fell on Terra Sentinel's shoulders, and it was painted as a bloodthirsty group that had long suffered from a lack of oversight finally overstepping its bounds.
As a direct consequence, in OE 100, Terra Sentinel was disbanded, and its agents decommissioned. Many of its members were placed under house arrest, exiled to the Outer Rim, or simply evicted onto the streets and sworn to secrecy.
However... Terra Sentinel's investigations and operations continued, albeit under the cover of darkness, through a network of PMCs founded by those formerly in its ranks. All throughout OE 101, Terra Sentinel began to recoup its strength, and began to form a plan of attack.
With the sudden withdrawal of the Directory's forces from the Colonial territories in OE 102, Terra Sentinel was (un)officially reformed, and struck out not only to expose the truth behind the Omsk Tragedy and clear its name, but to bring the perpetrators to justice...
Mass Production Machines:
MaskLion: An improved variant of the venerable Lion, the ReLion, was in development for Terra Sentinel prior to it being disbanded. In the aftermath, the prototype was slated to be scrapped - but the frames were recovered by private companies in Britain, and equipped with origin-obscuring armor plates and an array of conventional, unmarked weaponry for waging war against the corrupt parties within the Directory. These MaskLions make up the majority of TE's small, yet elite force.
Axio Burglar: A high-spec variant of the common Axio made specifically for Terra Sentinel, sometimes referred to as the "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing". Unlike the standard Axio, the Burglar is anything but plodding - it is capable of high-speed bursts, and equips a deadly EM Blade capable of paralyzing and shearing apart unsuspecting targets. In addition, it also features state-of-the-art jamming and ECM capabilities, making it difficult to hit, let alone detect.