Mobile Task Forces

Mobile Task Forces (MTFs) are elite units comprised of personnel drawn from across the Foundation and are mobilized to deal with specific threats or situations that sometimes exceed the operational capacity or expertise of regular field personnel and — as their name suggests — may be relocated between facilities or locations as they are needed. Mobile Task Force personnel represent the "best of the best" of the Foundation.

Mobile Task Forces vary greatly in size, composition, and purpose. A battalion-strength combat-oriented task force trained to deal with highly aggressive anomalous entities may consist of hundreds of troops plus support personnel, vehicles, and equipment and can be deployed in whole or in part to deal with threats across the globe. However, a Mobile Task Force can also be a small, specialized intelligence-gathering or investigative task force that may have fewer than a dozen personnel if that is deemed sufficient to accomplish their goals.

While in the field, task force members often pose as emergency responders, local or federal law enforcement, or military personnel appropriate to the region in which they are operating. Mobile Task Force Commanders can also request the assistance of local field units or personnel stationed at nearby Foundation facilities in order to accomplish their missions.

## Organization

Each unit is fundamentally structured in a way that best suits their intended purpose. While combat-oriented task forces may closely follow military hierarchy and organization, smaller units may have an informal or otherwise esoteric chain of command. As such, the responsibilities of the Mobile Task Force Commander (MTFC) for each particular task force can vary greatly; the commander for a large task force might focus on maintaining multiple teams and deploying them as necessary to each assigned operation, whereas the commander of a small team might deploy with their team and direct the operation from on location.

Similarly, the cohesion of each unit will vary as well. Some Mobile Task Forces consist of personnel who have trained and worked for many years or even decades together, whereas the personnel of a Mobile Task Force formed on a moment's notice to deal with a specific incident may know little more than each others' names and fields of expertise.

## Creation

Mobile Task Forces are typically commissioned as deemed necessary by the Foundation's Director of Task Forces, often with the direct approval of one or more O5 Council members. A significant number of Mobile Task Forces are created to deal with specific anomalies exhibiting traits that standard containment or response teams are unable to effectively counteract, though many were also created to pre-empt an emerging or theoretical threat.

## Deactivation

Mobile Task Forces created for the purpose of containing a particular anomaly are typically deactivated at the end of the recovery operation or when ongoing containment is deemed no longer necessary. Occasionally, such task forces remain operational if the expertise and experiences learned are considered useful for future incidents, but otherwise the task force will likely be disbanded and its personnel returned to their prior posts. Very rarely, a Mobile Task Force will also be disbanded if it suffers sufficient casualties to render it incapable of operation. In these cases, if the prior capability of that particular task force is deemed necessary, a new task force may be commissioned to replace it.

## What Is A Mobile Task Force?

A Mobile Task Force is a team of personnel that represents the Foundation's best and most effective field agents and researchers and are sent in when ordinary facility personnel are unable or ill-prepared to deal with incidents or threats of a particular type. To take a medical analogy:

* The Foundation's technicians and guards are analogous to nurses; they can handle day-to-day concerns and routine tasks such as taking vitals or administering medication, but do not have the expertise or authority to diagnose conditions or perform complex procedures.
* The Foundation's containment teams, tactical teams, and researchers are analogous to primary care or family practice doctors; they can make generalized diagnoses and provide care of a more sophisticated nature, but their time is valuable, so they are only called in when they are needed.
* A Mobile Task Force is like a surgeon or other specialist; they are referred to or called in when the generally available personnel are unable to handle a situation or if the situation is beyond their capability. They are expensive and there are only a handful of them, but they are the best shot at handling any particular case well.

However, just like not all medical specialists are surgeons, not all Mobile Task Forces are armed soldiers carrying machine guns and explosives; considering that anomalies that the Foundation deals with can take all shapes and sizes, it isn't a stretch of the imagination that the Foundation might have task forces consisting of extremely smart field biologists or teams of elite hackers who have very specialized but non-combat roles.

## How Big Is A Mobile Task Force?

A Mobile Task Force varies greatly in size depending on their area of expertise and operational requirements. A team of hackers may have only a half-dozen members, but combat-oriented units may be much larger. To take an example from the U.S. military, it takes around 50 trained troops to safely assault an average home: one squad (at least a dozen men) to secure the perimeter, one squad to assault the building, and one squad in reserve to back the others up. When in doubt, please feel free to contact a subject matter expert who can help you come up with a plausible depiction of a task force suitable for your needs.

Alternatively, remember that a Mobile Task Force is an *elite* unit and not all SCP objects or entities require mention of such a task force; it wouldn't make sense for the Navy SEALs to be doing traffic stops or hunting down a petty thief, and it doesn't make sense for a Mobile Task Force to be mobilized for an inert object that doesn't pose an active or autonomous threat.

## When Is A Mobile Task Force Used?

Remember, Mobile Task Forces are the elite, the best the Foundation has to offer. The individual field agents, containment teams, and response teams stationed at sites throughout the world are highly competent in and of themselves, but when they encounter something that even veteran personnel can't figure out, it's time to call in the experts from out of town.

Simply keep in mind that since they *are* the elite, that means that their services are both high in demand and low in availability. If it's just a milk-run, then there's no need to fly in a team from halfway across the world.

## How Many Mobile Task Forces Are There?

As mentioned in the Secure Facilities Locations guide, this varies from author to author. Some authors believe in a vast and all-pervasive Foundation with over a hundred specialized task forces, whereas others believe in a smaller Foundation with maybe only a dozen active task forces. Both are valid interpretations; it's entirely up to which one best fits your narrative.

## Do I Have To Use Only The Ones On This Page?

Not at all! This page is intended to inspire and to give a cross-section of consistent usages across the site and is only meant to give a general feel for how Mobile Task Forces work; you are more than welcome to create your own or even creatively contradict the usages given here. Remember, even in-universe, Mobile Task Forces are created and disbanded all the time; the Foundation may be a bureaucracy, but they are not stupid enough to believe that a rigid hierarchy of field personnel can handle all anomalies. Sometimes the best team for the job is the one you create on the fly.

## Adding New Entries

The list pages are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all task forces referenced site-wide. As a general rule, Mobile Task Forces on the main list must have been used in at least five articles written by at least three authors, and must also have an MTF insignia. Task forces with fewer articles, but featured prominently in at least 4 works (one of which may be the MTF insignia) may be added to the "Additional MTFs" section on this page. Please use the discussion thread for this guide to propose new additions.

The section titled "Assisting in the Containment of Objects" is for listing SCPs,while "Action Reports" are for significant non-SCP appearances.

For a full list of MTFs appearing in extant articles, see this page. For a list of MTFs under the command of International Branches of the Foundation, see this page.

If you want to make an edit to this page that goes beyond simply updating the list of appearances of MTFs already on here, please contact a member of the MAST Team to get it approved first.

## Mobile Task Force List

### MTF Alpha-1 ("Red Right")

THE ALPHA 1 MOBILE SUPPORT GROUP IS SECRETIVE, SUBORDINATES TO THE COUNCIL 05 THEY HAVE A LEVEL 5 MAP FOR ACCESS TO ACTIONS IN THE ZONE.THEY ARE LOCATED AND WORK IN THE ZONE (19 64 51 34) THEY ALSO WORK IN THE PROTECTION OF THE COUNCIL 05 THEY HAVE DATA ON THE CREATION OF THE FUND AND THIS (DATA DELETED) THEY USE MP 5 FOR DEFENSE.

#### Assisting In Containment Of Objects:

* SCP-001: Dead Men
* SCP-2271
* SCP-3434
* SCP-3499
* SCP-3741
* SCp-3791
* SCP-4470
* SCP-5008
* SCP-5105
* SCP-5920

#### Action Reports

* The High Court With The Magic Army
* Null Space
* Legerdemain
* Chaos Insurgency Hub
* Gate of Janus