SAD Star Soldiers

The SAD Star Soldiers (SSS) are a product of President Ennis Forkfaith’s SAD (Shadite-Armed Divison) Star Soldier Initiative, born from Silas Locke’s research on Formless Darkness from Project Hellion Tears.

"With great Tragedy, comes great Power, and only in Death does Tragedy end." - Hypho T. Shiz, Observer

This initiative was overseen by President Forkfaith without Silas Locke’s permission or guidance. This resulted in poorly monitored results, staggered laboratory work and initial blunders due to not having Locke’s intimate knowledge of the Formless Darkness. The project was created to develop super-soldiers that matched Imortale Shadia’s military prowess in order to invade Aria Sonata.

Unfortunately due to Forkfaith’s disapproval of using machines for experiments, he used live test subjects that the Imortale Shadia was more than happy to provide. This caused the Una Rosa led by Silas Locke to blow up their Werker District laboratory, which was successfully averted. Despite stifling this initial attack the first batch of test subjects dubbed the Alphas which were injected with Formless Darkness was a complete failure, causing several infected subjects to escape.

The Alphas
The Alphas, in a way, were the first Sad Star Soldiers. Although they lacked the trademark crimson scarf present in their successors, they turned out more as carriers rather than full-fledged SSS. Their bodies were the first to allow an evolved strain of the Formless Darkness to be carried out. Their strain of the Formless Darkness proved to have a substantially retarded infection rate as compared to the first strain of Formless Darkness. Despite this slower rate of infection, their powers tend to manifest early.

There are only a few Alphas to escape the Werker District facility, but there were more than enough to spread the SSS Strain of the Formless Darkness.

Appearance
SSS are hard to distinguish in society, primarily because they can maintain their human appearance and their lack of organization. The only indication for this faction is their Trap, that appears to be a crimson cloth tied around his/her neck.

The Trap
To be clear, the Trap is not of Imortale Shadia; it is a symbiotic creature that manifests in second-generation Sad Star Soldiers. They are present in all Sad Star Soldiers but are not limited to entangling themselves in their host’s neck.

Natural Abilities

 * 1) Rapid Regeneration. The SSS possess a very rapid rate of regeneration as compared to that of Hell Angels. Unlike the HA, they use the Formless Darkness within their system to heal themselves. This usually is taken as a disadvantage in the presence of light which greatly diminishes a SSS' Unique Abilities.
 * 2) Inexperienced Shadeshifters. This natural ability enables a SSS to travel at amazing speeds through impossible terrain, provided that there is a presence of darkness. Due to their inexperience, they are far slower than Hell Angels.
 * 3) Heightened Senses. All six senses are heightened by the Trap, enabling the host to have increased strength,speed and thinking.
 * 4) Transfixia II. When an SSS is at near death, the Trap activates its Transfixia II sequence, which consumes the SSS in vast amounts of Formless Darkness. This tranforms the host into a Shadite for a limited amount of time, if this skill is used beyond its limits; it could permanently kill the user.
 * 5) Restoration. Traps have the uncanny ability to restore it's host's missing limbs from battle if there is a vast presence of Formless Darkness.
 * 6) Trap. To be clear, the Trap is not of Imortale Shadia; it is a symbiotic creature that manifests in second-generation Sad Star Soldiers. They are present in all Sad Star Soldiers but are not limited to entangling themselves in their host’s neck.

Disadvantages

 * 1) Affinity Sequence. Known also as the "Sinking" phase that every soldier experience when attempting to restore a limb. Though Traps have an ability to restore a body part within hours, this is usually followed by vast amounts of pain and the SSS' inability to use his/her powers.
 * 2) Inexperienced. They have no idea what they are doing. This results in an SSS killing itself when overusing his/her UAs.
 * 3) Weak Against Sunlight. Though a light's rays is not enough to kill a SSS, it can significantly weaken its powers to the point that his/her powers are unusable.

Right
Rights are agile and fierce opponents. They are skilled in the art of war. Their main UAs are used in the frontline attacks. However, they have weak defenses.

Core
Unlike Rights or Lefts, Cores have balanced attributes.

Left
Lefts are sturdy fighters. They have longer staminas than Rights or Cores and they can withhold more blows. Defense is their mastery.

Organization
The Sad Star Soldiers follow a rigid form of organization based on their seniority; although they are perhaps one of the more scattered factions, they recognize and revere those who have come before them. To date, there is mostly third-generation Sad Star Soldiers since the Alphas’ escape from Werker District. Aside from the Alphas, there are three main ‘leaders’ that all SSS seem to recognize: Ziro, Isip and Minus.