The Forsvarets Spesialstrykar(Western: Military Special Forces) (FSS) is a brigade-strength component of the Erusean Army’s Special Operations Command, at its height being an entire Corps and separate military branch.As its name implies it is arranged for joint operations rather than solely being an Army asset and has a wide scope of jurisdiction.It is divided into three battalions: the Forsvarets Marskalker, responsible for domestic policing; the Utenlandsk Etterretning battalion responsible for covert intelligence gathering; and the Spesialkommando battalion that operates as the Army’s main special forces unit.Though reduced in size from their wartime division strength, they retain roles roughly analogous in purpose to Osea’s OBI, CIA, and ARSOC, respectively.
The FSS was formed through the merger of the Federal Gendarmerie and Army special forces following Bruun’s coup in order to address discontent with his regime, and was initially a separate branch of the Erusean military.In the years following Ulysses’ impact, the Forsvarets Marskalkers in particular were instrumental in deterring the violent riots that swept through the rest of Usea.They manufactured an aura of omnipresence in Erusean society though the targeting of both prominent and insignificant dissenters that earned the FSS as a whole the nickname of “Vörðr” (Western: Wraiths), after spirits in Erusean folklore that watch over all persons for the duration of their lives. When the Continental War broke out in 2003, the FSS was attached to the Erusean Army for greater strategic and tactical coordination.
Spesialkommando operators
Throughout this period, a Spesialkommando operator named Reidar Selgelid rose through the FSS’s ranks and was promoted to the position of Spesialkommando commander as Brigadier General in late 2004.His tenure was marked by ambitious raids deep behind ISAF’s lines utilizing innovative penetration methods in tandem with the Navy and Air Force.Employing mini-subs designed for Navy special forces, Selgelid’s commandos executed their first strike following his promotion against ISAF naval assets gathered in Comona.They successfully sank a Royal Navy Aegis cruiser and three supply ships with mines planted in Laguna Harbor.They also worked with Air Force special forces and EASA to modify a B-2A Spirit with a pressurized bomb bay for stealthy HALO insertion.On all of these operations, not a single operator was lost and Selgelid become very popular amongst FSS personnel.He was promoted to Major General in 2005 and assumed command of all FSS operations.
Selgelid was appalled by the amount of Marskalker resources that Bruun had devoted to persecution of Delarussians.In addition to his personal opposition to Bruun’s ethnocentric policies, he realized they were wasteful at a time when all of Erusea’s effort would be needed to halt ISAF’s advance.He deployed Marskalkers on relatively low-risk covert operations against ISAF, much to Bruun’s chagrin.Selgelid’s tactical successes only furthered the falling out between him and Erusea’s head of state.Selgelid blamed Erusea’s strategic deficiencies on Bruun’s interference with military operations.The divide widened, and when ISAF moved in on Farbanti he offered intelligence on Bruun and his closest advisors in exchange for himself and the FSS being spared from postwar tribunals.
ISAF not only spared the FSS, but also recognized its potential in Erusea’s reconstruction period.ISAF military and civilian planners made the FSS an ARSOC component, but allowed it a great degree of autonomy from its Erusean military and civilian superiors.Although the FSS’s continued existence is no secret, widespread reporting on it has been suppressed and ISAF makes sure not to acknowledge its key role in putting down Erusean insurgents.