SKaRD (Special Kaiju Reaction Detachment)

https://m-78.jp/videoworks/ultraman-blazar/ is a special investigation and analysis detachment unit under the GGF Japan Branch. If needed, the unit is also tasked to have a direct role in eliminating kaiju and alien threats.
==Overview==
Despite being an experienced defense organization, the GGF has begun showing signs of incompetence in dealing with kaiju that are scattered around the world. To efficiently analyze kaiju and devise effective counter plans against them, GGFJ Chief of Staff Retsu Haruno secretly creates the SKaRD and handpicks its members. The unit has special authority to deploy at their own discretion and does not need to request permission beforehand.
As a newly-formed experimental unit, it is only given the most essential infrastructure and assets. The sense of being on a low budget is felt by the members themselves. Unbeknownst to them initially is that most of the budget is distributed to the development of their arsenal.
The detachment is comprised of five core members and has GGFJ personnel stationed at the base. The unit is led by Captain Gento Hiruma and Vice-Captain Teruaki Nagura. Both command Earth Garon from the cockpit in rotation. Intelligence Specialist Emi Aobe is in charge of information gathering and undercover missions. Pilots Anri Minami and Yasunobu Bando control the Earth Garon in rotation as well as maintain the equipment and participate in field missions. The members generally respond with "Wilco" to orders.Figura King pg 19
Base personnel and a team of maintenance and supply crew serve under the SKaRD. The mechanics and supply crew are in charge of maintaining and resupplying Earth Garon.
==History==
===Ultraman Blazar===
====Formation====
The SKaRD unit was created in secrecy by GGFJ Chief of Staff Retsu Haruno. Having assessed Gento Hiruma's actions during the Bazanga Elimination Operation, the chief of staff appointed him as the unit's commanding officer. The members were handpicked by the chief of staff as well but on official record, it was organized so that the members were seemingly chosen by Hiruma himself. After an unexpected meeting with Intelligence Officer Emi Aobe at a cafe, new SKaRD Captain Hiruma and Aobe began their journey of finding the rest of the candidates. For all but one member, Gento introduced his subordinates to their base and equipment. At the same time, Gento had the members follow his own rules of referring to each other; members of the team were told to call each other by their first name or nicknames. This caused bewilderment among the team.
====Battle of Gedos====
In the midst of familiarizing themselves at the SKaRD Command Post, the crew received reports from the chief of staff that a civilian freighter was sunk by an aquatic kaiju 30 miles south of Shichijojima Island. They learned that the kaiju was named Gedos after watching the news. Lacking in equipment, untrained, and missing one member, the detachment began preparing for a potential deployment. For the meantime, Emi was sent to the port to blend in and gather information from the witnesses. Teruaki was ordered to update the higher-ups on their activities. As more news of the GGF's failure at eliminating Gedos emerged, the members were ordered to deploy by the chief of staff. Despite Gento's protests and frustration, the members mobilized for their first mission.
Arriving at the scene with an upgraded Mobile Outpost vehicle, Gento, Anri, and Emi prepared for battle with their newest weapons. Analyzing Gedos' history, traits, and possible weak points, the SKaRD hastily formulated a plan to destroy the kaiju's heat emission vent to allow it succumb to thermal runaway. Captain Gento charged in by himself while GGFJ attacks were called off by Emi. He successfully inflicted damage on the kaiju's back, but was interrupted by a fisherman. Ultraman Blazar appeared and fought the kaiju. When the giant struggled with Gedos' electric lure, members Anri and Emi provided fire support with their RAR-23 assault rifles. The mission concluded with Ultraman Blazar defeating the kaiju. Later, the members reported to a hangar underneath their base. There, they were introduced to member Yasunobu Bando and Earth Garon. Together, the SKaRD members received their first official order from Chief of Staff Haruno: they were to pilot Earth Garon and defeat a kaiju before Ultraman Blazar could.
====Battle of Taganular====
While still in training, the SKaRD began its investigations on a series of incidents relating to destroyed teaterium storage tanks across Europe and North America. Several weeks after the Battle of Gedos, the appearance of Taganular at the Energy Fusion Institute in Kutsuba City, Ibaraki put the unit into Threat Alert Status Charlie. Having learnt about the kaiju and formulated a plan to safely defeat it, Earth Garon was deployed for its first mission. Piloted by Anri and commanded by Captain Gento, Earth Garon engaged Taganular in CQC Mode. Despite several successful advances, Earth Garon was disabled by the kaiju. When Ultraman Blazar was having difficulties in stopping the kaiju from consuming more teaterium, Yasunobu instructed Anri to activate the Tail VLS so that he could guide the missiles toward the kaiju. Although Taganular was ultimately defeated by Blazar, Earth Garon's capabilities were convincing enough to allow the SKaRD to officially assume special kaiju reaction duty.
==Base==
===Oshieno Base===
The , under the call sign SKaRD CP, is located inside the in northwest Chiba Prefecture. While the base has an inconspicuous interior and exterior, hidden underground is a hangar for Earth Garon.
GGFJ Oshieno Base.png|Oshieno Base and the Mobile Outpost vehicle
GGFJ Oshieno Base Night.png|Nighttime
SKaRD CP.jpeg|SKaRD Command Post
Earth Garon Miscellaneous 2.png|Earth Garon Hangar
SKaRD EGHangar Empty.jpeg|Earth Garon Hangar (empty)
==Members==
===Core Members===
===Earth Garon Maintenance and Supply Team===
The SKaRD's mecha Earth Garon has its own dedicated team of GGFJ mechanics to maintain and resupply it. This allows SKaRD members to focus on being the mecha's pilots.
===Stage Show Members===
Numerous SKaRD members appeared exclusively in non-canon stage shows, appearing to be under the command of Captain Hiruma of the core team.
In particular, the is a branch unit of the main detachment based in Ikebukuro. They appeared at Ultra Heroes EXPO 2023 Summer Festival in the first and second stage shows, as well as on the festival's Mini Stage. Additionally, the event's staff wore SKaRD uniforms, and every guest received a SKaRD membership card to become , implying they are also part of the branch.
==Threat Alert Status==
The SKaRD follows an alert level system, called Figure King pg 25, to determine and prepare suitable plans for the situation. It has three levels:
*: Issued when signs associated with the appearance of a kaiju or extraterrestrial life form become apparent.
*: Issued when the existence of a kaiju or extraterrestrial life form is confirmed.
*: Issued when an area is under attack by a kaiju or extraterrestrial life form.
==Arsenal==
===Attire===
<tabber>
Standby =
|-|
Combat =
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Pilot =
</tabber>
*: A SKaRD member's uniform consists of a black inner t-shirt with the detachment's name and insignia, an outer blue buttoned work clothes with two breast pockets and touch fasteners on the sleeves, a black clip belt, a pair of blue work pants with two big and two small pockets, and either black combat boots or shoes. The top is tucked into the pants, secured by the belt. Both outer clothing and pants have gray accents. The wearer's name and role badges are sewn above the two breast pockets, while the GGF and SKaRD patches are attached onto the touch fasteners. Members who wear combat boots have the bottom hems of their pants tucked into the boots, while those who wear normal shoes have the hems hang over. Members can wear an optional plain black baseball cap. The uniform is a part of the combat gear.
*Combat Gear: When deploying to the combat zone, a SKaRD member would wear combat protective gear over their uniform or civilian attire. Some combat gear may vary depending on the member's role. All types include a helmet, either fully covered or fingerless tactical gloves, pads, body armor, communication equipment, and a gun holster for the RHG-23 handgun. For neck protection, the member would fold their uniform's collar up and secure it with the top button and strap.
**Combat Helmet: Worn by all members, the gray helmet offers protection and minimizes the user's risk of head injuries. The helmet has side and fore attachment points for accessories, such as head-mounted cameras and flashlights. It also has an intercom microphone and earpiece installed. A wired circular button on the user's upper chest area enables them to use the comms.
**Body Armor: There are two types of body armor depending on the member's role.
***https://twitter.com/ultraman_series/status/1690513566020128768: When a member is not piloting Earth Garon, they would wear a black tactical vest, belt with pouches, shoulder and elbow pads, and knee guards. On one of the vest pocket covers is a blood type label. When the wearer is suffering from blood loss and unable to speak, rescue personnel can quickly identify and provide the right blood type for transfusion via this label.https://twitter.com/yi0124/status/1690596885667717121
***: When piloting Earth Garon, a member would wear a black torso harness, similar to those worn by fighter pilots, with silver armor underneath. The harness comes with rectangular shoulder pads and rear neck protection. Unlike the standard type gear, the pilot gear does not come with limb protection padding. The gun holster is located on the wearer's back.
SKaRD Cap.png|Cap
SKaRD Helmets.png|Combat helmet
SKaRD Uniform1.png|Top
SKaRD Uniform2.png|Pants
SKaRD Uniform3.png|Inner shirt, front
SKaRD Uniform4.png|Inner shirt, back
SKaRD Uniform Patches.png|Patches
SKaRD Uniform Patches2.png|Member patches
Blazar SKaRD PilotU.png|Body Armor (Pilot Type)
===Equipment===
*https://youtu.be/RRXpTbKAH6A?t=382: A heavy man-portable railgun that launches high-velocity projectiles with the use of electromagnetic force. In addition to its own iron sight, the rifle has a top and bottom tactical rail for accessories such as optical sights. It entered service in 2023.
*https://youtu.be/RRXpTbKAH6A?t=387: A sidearm that works similar to the RAR-23. It entered service in 2023.
*Thermal Monocular: A handheld device that allows its user to view heat signatures and radiation.
Blazar SKaRD RAR-23.png|RAR-23 Type 23 Rail Assault Rifle with an optical sight and sling
Blazar SKaRD RHG-23.png|RHG-23 Type 23 Rail Handgun
SKaRD Thermal Imaging Camera.png|A thermal monocular in use
===Mecha===
*https://youtu.be/lV__Nie3VmE?t=839/https://twitter.com/yaaaateam/status/1680145202969980928https://twitter.com/ultraman_series/status/1680366741585821696: A white Toyota HIACE van, it is the detachment's mobile command vehicle. It initially lacked any military-grade protection and equipment, and was later upgraded by member Yasunobu. The MOP is 4.9 meters long.
*https://tsuburaya-prod.com/news/6028: Shortened as , they are a series of kaiju-shaped robot artillery. Their purpose serves as a direct confrontational weapon against kaiju threats.
**Type 23 Earth Garon: A 50-meter-tall bipedal kaiju-type counter-kaiju robot artillery. Its primary weapon is Earth Fire, a charged particle cannon concealed inside its mouth. It entered service in 2023.
**Earth Garon (Ikebukuro Branch): An Earth Garon belonging to the non-canonical SKaRD Ikebukuro Branch. It appeared in both the stage shows at Ultra Heroes EXPO 2023 Summer Festival.
**: A variant of Earth Garon belonging to the non-canonical SKaRD Taiwan Branch. It features a red armored mask with a drill horn protruding from the center and red weapon arms. Its right arm resembles a boxing glove battering ram while the other a chainsaw. It has its own AI personality, named DASH (Dual-Artificial intelligence System Harmonized).https://twitter.com/gogogo0718/status/1688569677906366466 It appeared in a stage play in Taiwan.
SKaRD MOP1.png|SKaRD MOP (before upgrades)
Earth Garon Render 0.png|Earth Garon
==Gallery==
===Ultraman Blazar===
SKaRD HD 1.png
SKaRD TV 2.png
SKaRD TV 3.png
SKaRD TV 4.png
SKaRD TV 5.png
SKaRD TV 6.png
SKaRD and Mechanics Team.png|SKaRD and Mechanics Team
SKaRD TV 7.png
SKaRD TV 8.png
SKaRD 07 01.png
SKaRD 08 01.png
SKaRD 08 02.png
SKaRD 09 01.png
SKaRD 10 01.png
SKaRD 14 01.png
SKaRD 15 01.png
SKaRD 16 01.png
SKaRD 16 02.png
SKaRD 24 01.png
SKaRD 24 02.png
SKaRD 24 03.png
SKaRD 24 06.png
SKaRD 25 01.png
SKaRD 25.png
===Ultraman Blazar The Movie: Tokyo Kaiju Showdown===
Ultraman Blazar The Movie Stills 2.jpeg
Ultraman Blazar The Movie Stills 7.jpeg
Ultraman Blazar The Movie Stills 9.jpeg
SKaRD movie 01.png
SKaRD movie 02.png
SKaRD movie 03.png
===Miscellaneous===
SKaRD HD 100.png
SKaRD Miscellaneous 001.png
SKaRD Miscellaneous 1.png
SKaRD Miscellaneous 2.jpeg
SKaRD Miscellaneous 3.png
SKaRD weapons and equipment.png
SKaRD 00007.png
SKaRD E5.jpeg
SKaRD Attire 005.jpeg
SKaRD Miscellaneous 4.png
SKaRD E20 02.jpeg
SKaRD 013.png
SKaRD 01 Miscellaneous 01.jpeg
SKaRD 01 Miscellaneous 02.jpeg
SKaRD 02 Miscellaneous 01.jpeg
SKaRD 02 Miscellaneous 02.jpeg
SKaRD 02 Miscellaneous 03.jpeg
SKaRD 25 05.png
SKaRD 25 06.png
SKaRD MOVIE 12.png|SKaRD and Kiyotaka Taguchi 
SKaRD MOVIE 13.png
SKaRD MOVIE 15.png
==Trivia==
*The SKaRD CP in real life is actually the building No. 3 of the "NTT Central Training Center" located in Chofu, Tokyo, Japan. This facility serves as an instructional building for training purposes.https://hr.nttls.co.jp/n-chuken/facility/03.html
==References==
Category:Ultraman Blazar
Category:Organizations
Category:Defense Teams
Category:SKaRD
Category:Ultraman Blazar Characters