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Unit 242 Special Purposes, sometimes shortened to U242, is a black budget paramilitary org that answers directly to the top echelons of Russian military intelligence. It is a small but distinct faction in the Coalition, unbeholden to the larger GRU-N58.

Operations[]

Although initially tasked with acquiring and cataloguing occult tomes and objects acquired from neutralized blankbodies, U242’s remit as a tactical force has grown as Russia’s active involvement in the Coalition overseas increased. U242 specifically targets the leadership of blankbody communities and draws its recruits mostly from foreign paramilitary forces already penetrated by GRU’s Spetsnaz special operations. This gives U242 some deniability when their operators are caught or killed, as Russia can easily disavow them as foreign terrorists.

ZMEI Protocol[]

(Not to be confused with the Zmei.)

This complete lack of accountability has encouraged U242 to augment their small ranks with vampires and sometimes even other supernaturals. Particularly promising soldiers are taken to U242’s Black Sea training compound and those that survive the classified ZMEI protocol find themselves transformed into what the Kindred would recognize as thin-bloods. Over time many begin to develop blankbody familial characteristics and drawbacks, but they seldom survive long enough for that to be a problem.

One of the strengths of ZMEI protocol wet workers is their ability to operate in hostile controlled areas with little to no support. They live off the land (quite literally) and feed on their mortal and vampire victims alike. This has had the unintended consequence of turning this group of vampire hunters into a powerful diablerie ring. Some have even been out in the wilderness for so long that they’ve adopted bits of the Sabbat’s Gehenna War ideology. For these few their cannibalism has become an almost ritualistic need to empower themselves against unseen blood gods.

Trivia[]

  • Unit 242's trademark ZMEI protocol may be some kind of successor program on the Russian military's part to Project Zmei adapted for their new theater of war against blankbodies, though the latter may have simply been retconned due to most Orpheus material being non-canon in subsequent editions, making the similar name a mere reference on the writers' part. Reference elsewhere in Second Inquisition to Soviet psychic warfare experiments does make the continued existence of Project Zmei, or at the very least a similar program, quite likely, however.

References[]

Witch-hunter orgs
Coalition orgs USA: FIRSTLIGHT/SAD/IAO · Brazil: BOES/PMEX · Russia: GRU-N58/Akritai/Unit 242 · UK: Newburgh Group/JTRG/SO13 · Vatican: La Entità/Society of St. Leopold · Bureau IX · Calcédoine · G-Kontoret · HSP · TID · Unit 8211
Academic orgs Arcanum
Corporate orgs Chopra-wafadar · Fada · Monster-X · Neo Albion · Orpheus Group · Re:Venge · Strike Force Zero
Government orgs DAAE · Division Six · GSG 10 · Manila DoJ-SRP · Project Twilight
Religious orgs Ikhwan al-Safa · The Judges · Nails of Christ · Order of the Rose · Society of St. George
Vigilante orgs Cog Conspiracy · D-Club · Duffy Family · ECLIPSE · Mortician's Army · Toussaint Brigade

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