Backup: Kingdoms and Thorn Canon Primer
Summary
Kingdoms and Thorn is a collection of stories revolving around team operatives, a group of people raised from childhood as living weapons before they finally rebelled against the military that made them, that of the Thorn Republic, and established self-rule in the western territories, now known as the Kingdoms Cities. Former team operatives now work to make new lives for themselves, sometimes reaching back for the families they lost when they entered the program and sometimes remaining focused on the families they made for themselves, the teams.
The children who made up the teams were genetically modified humans, or specials, who entered the program between the ages of four and seven and generally underwent processing that also wipe out their memories of before. Most of the children were orphans but others had been taken from their families. They were allowed to group up naturally into hierarchical teams and named each other.
Stories revolve around several teams and groups of people, such as the Special Unit that rose up in the wake of the Thorn Rebellion.
Team 34
Team 34 consists of 8 members, in rank order:
| Rank | Primary Handle | Birth Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Shift | Jennifer Haller |
| 2. | Kilter | |
| 3. | Sear | |
| 4. | Justus | Justus Ellison |
| 5. | Kismet | |
| 6. | Protector | |
| 7. | The Database | Brittany Rachelle Winslow |
| 8. | Meld |
This team has gone through several iterations, beginning with a different leader, Watcher, who established the "exception" each member of the team receives where they do not have to simply obey or be severely punished. Justus arrived shortly after Watcher left and never lost his memories or gained superhuman abilities.
Team 34 is a general-purpose team, deployed for a wide variety of scenarios. The languages they speak and various skillsets vary widely.
Shift is the top-ranked operative in the entire Projects. When she describes herself, she says, "I know the difference between right and wrong. I just don't care." Nevertheless, she's extremely loyal and self-sacrificial and will do literally anything to save or protect those she considers her own. She became a mother at a young age and took her daughter as her exception, having her placed with foster parents outside of the Projects, never to be taken or considered an asset by the Department. She has a love/hate relationship both professionally and personally with her second, Kilter. Her special ability is shapeshifting. After the Thorn Rebellion, she gains custody of her daughter, settles in Bellyn sometimes with Kilter and sometimes without him, and continues working in the political/legal/military arena of the Kingdoms.
Justus was caught in the middle of a team operation where normally he would have ended up killed. Instead, he and his friend were both inducted into the teams as teenagers. Justus was assessed as unable to survive processing so was offered to Shift, who had already proven herself adept in manipulating and conditioning others. After training hard for six months, he rose to fourth rank on the team and stayed there. Despite having no special abilities, he is a competent military operative, adept at combat, espionage, infiltration, security, etc. After the Thorn Rebellion, he does not return to his family but decides to go into law enforcement in the city of Riving.
Rachelle, that is The Database, is a sarcastic, practical operative with a terminal special ability. She is able to absorb, read, and mimic any genetic material she comes in physical contact with, but it doesn't come with an off-switch, and she is a storage system running out of space. She tends to take support roles and doesn't know how to say no to people she cares about (she cares a whole lot more than she lets on) and ends up in a relationship with Justus because of it. Her brother by choice is Meld and both of them take care of each other when their special abilities become too painful. After the Rebellion, she moves into an apartment in the city of Kishet and prefers to go by her birth name. She often works with Heather, a former operative from another team, as a computer/technology consultant and often consults with the Special Unit in Kishet on law enforcement cases involving special type humans.
Meld is a quiet healer who considers Rachelle a sister. He regularly nearly kills himself healing others, before and after the Thorn Rebellion. He's definitely a grounding force for the team, someone they consider "good" when the rest say of themselves, "We're all half-monsters." He's always reliable and always there.
- Dowse and Bleed, a novelette, wherein Rachelle gets called in to help the Special Unit find a missing special and nearly ends up dead
- A Time to Die / Its Own Absolution, a pair of short stories, one from Shift's perspective and one from Justus' about his arrival in Team 34
