Dark Gate Dimension's Batallions

Steel Cross's army, better known as Dark Gate Dimension, is an evil organization that is assembled by 4 battalions (3 in *The Tale of Oriko* saga to *Magica Record* saga) where each group has members that are specialized on a function inside the army.

In Steel Cross's Palace, they have their own head quarters, but all of them reunite in the castle's main meeting room for great matters.

## The Battalions

### Tenebrous

Resembling a high-class society, their skills consist on intimidating with their power and oppress with their wealth. A greatly sophisticated group conformed by unscrupulous tycoons, mobsters, business heads and forgotten former celebrities who enjoy their power, fame and wealth by submitting and humiliating the middle and low-classed ones. Some of them associate with many other criminal groups and invite them to join them in the guild, like when Don Haramu managed to make Lone Sharker a new member for their battalion, the leader is Oscura Fortunata, and has Doom as the group's second-in-command.

They use weapons and/or their physical strength to battle. Their weaponry consist in machine guns, pistols, pocket knives or sometimes they use magic. Many of them are ludopaths, because they spend most of the time gambling in games of chance like pocker, pool, roulette, etc. Others like to display their talents on their club's stage, like singing, magic tricks, comedy stand up and others. They may not have the Wizards's excellent magic wrangle, the Mercenaries' strategic skills or the Vandals' energy and momentum, but they work together, once they're united, it's almost impossible to withstand against them. Their crest color is red, has a human skull beneath two scythes crossed and the heart, spade, clover and diamond poker symbols. And their elements destruction targets are fire and magma.

They may be very wealthy and with a great experience, but their flaw is that they're usually close-minded, short-tempered and excesively proud and don't usually accept innovative ways to improve themselves.

* Leader: Oscura Fortunata
* Second-in Command: Doom
* Sergeant: Yoisaki Kokone (*English name needed!*)
* Lieutenant: Don Haramu
* Cadet: Twisted Circus
* Other: Blast Eric, Malacabrulla, Parallel Professor Jolt
* Part-time Cadet: Flaring Ash (formerly)

### Mercenaries

Known as a real life army brigade. Mostly they're members that worked on air force, navy, police department, civil force, many defense organizations from which they got arrested or fired for being corrupts or abused of their charge only to their own benefit, they specialize in hoof-to-hoof combat, tactical weapon usage, fire arms creation, field camouflage and stealth approaching, the leader is Nuclear Star, and the second-in-command is his little sister Diamond Skull.

Their weapons consist in gatling chainguns, "hand" guns, throwable knives, grenades, bazookas and also drive combat tanks. Before sunrise, they spend hours training daily on militar fight, shoot ranging practice, creating new weapons, studying other dimensions' terrains and also patroling the castle's surroundings every day. Just when they're needed for a mission, they're ready after training in the case of things going out of plan. Their crest color is green with an arch made of five stars, a grenade, two guns and a knife. And their elements destruction targets are earth and vegetation.

They stand out for their great stamina, well-trained condition, agility and physical strength. However, they can get carried away by their own arrogance, lack of feelings and overconfidence, being their only weakness.

* Leader: Nuclear Star
* Second-in-Command: Diamond Skull
* Sergeant: Shattered Glory
* Lieutenant: Parallel Soiree Haunter
* Cadet: Parallel Snowbelle Treefrost
* Other: Razor Whirl, Parallel Jikan

### Warlocks

They consider themselves a tribe. Magic wielders like mages, clerics, warlocks, conjurers, witches, priests, illusionists and enchanters whose obsession for total magic control and crooked wisdom overwhelmed them, their main ability is control dark magic spells, tricks and illusions, they can change the weather or the moon and sun's positions to their favor, the leader is Goryx, and the second in command is Marine Curse.

Their weapons are basically magic staves or wands, they also use the magic already learned to shoot or blast magic energy or elements like fire, ice, lightning and many others. Their studying on magic is contant and they daily practice, many full moon nights they cast a ritual to absorb all darkness energies to boost their magic. As mentioned, they will summon Darkrizers when the dark magic is spotted. Their crest color is blue, has two moons, a pentagram, a broom and a magic wand. And their elements destruction targets are water and ice.

They're a very intelligent and studious group who solve problems carefully. Nevertheless, they sometimes lack of melee fight expertise and low physical power, so they rely on the usage of foul means to win a battle.

* Leader: Goryx
* Second-in-command: Marine Curse
* Sergeant: Yeth
* Lieutenant: Hoshino Ichigo
* Cadet: Parallel Tikka Sunrise

### Vandals

Having the looks of a teen street gang, most of them are juvenile delinquents, bad influenced family children, school bullies or mentally derranged youngsters who preferred abusing the weak as they hate everything about school, they don't like obeying house rules, usually go against the parents' orders and have the streets as their home. While the Tenebrous has many mature members, the Vandals mostly has young members under 25 years old. Their leader is Samandia, and with Dark Uproar as the second in command.

Their weapons aren't too advanced as the other groups, they consist on baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire and nails, broken bottles, lead pipes, chains, crowbars, brass knuckles, switch blades and sometimes guns. Their main task is assault groceries shops to steal food from Equestria and bring it to their guild. In their free time, they paint graffiti in some walls, play fighting, drugging themselves, watch TV, spending nights attacking lonely victims on the streets and causing troubles in town. Their crest color is yellow, has two guns, two brass knuckles, a chain and a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire and nails. And their elements destruction targets are wind and lightning.

Despite they're one of the guild's very violent and fastest groups in battle, they're also indifferent towards their partners, lazy and materialists when they always expect something in change of their work efforts.

* Leader: Samandia
* Second-in-command: Dark Uproar
* Lieutenant: Web Crusher
* Cadet: Tenma Sachi *(English needed!)*
* Spies: Hoppert, Bloody Briar and Parallel Fried Egg

## Battalions Headquarters

The Four Battalions have their own HQ in different and distant areas of Steel Cross's Palace, each one with their symbolic crest and they're personalized in their way and their own mod cons to give their own style to their section:

### Tenebrous

The tenebrous' section of the castle is made to resemble an adult Jazz Noir styled night club. It's made with common and fine furniture, such as a leather sofa, a desk, a gambling table, even a black piano. It also has a small stage with long crimson velvet curtains, bordered with golden tassels, A flat T.V. screen holded from the ceiling, and it has a small canteen which includes a soda vending machine and a gramophone. Their crest is made out of neon lights, placed near the canteen.

### Mercenaries

The Mercenaries' section of the castle is a large and wide rooftop that is set to ressemble a "military base". It has a great "Quonset hut" as their shelter and which stores all the weapons and bombs to be used, near to it, a pole with a black flag that has the Dark Gate Dimension's emblem on it. The "base" also has a shooting range and a landing track for flying arrivals. Their crest is engraved in a big metal plate, placed in the top of the hut.

### Warlocks

The Warlocks' section of the castle is decorated similar to that of a "rituals chamber". A cathedral-like interior that has numerous and thick pipes to resemble a shrine's "pillars", many thick red and black colored candles are sighted everywhere. That shrine has also a circle floor in the middle of the room, where the witches and wizards gather to conjuring or practice their sorcery. Their crest it's carved in a stone slab, placed on a wall, behind an altar.

### Vandals

The vandals' section of the castle is made to resemble an urban alley. It has graffiti symbols sprayed on the walls and it has a diamond mesh cage with a roller shutter in the middle as its "main gate". As a typical teenage street gang, it is also decorated with barbed wires and posters of skulls, heavy metal bands, snakes and scorpions, it also has a table, an analogue T.V., a battered sofa, a metal barrel as a bonfire and many cardboard boxes which its contents is unknown. Their crest is painted in a big wall with spray paint.

## Trivia

* The battalions are clearly sorted, not only in their styles, but their ages:
	+ The vandals' members are mostly pre-teens, teenagers and/or near 25 years old, making them the battalion with youngest members.
	+ Most of the Tenebrous' members are fully-grown adults and/or near to 70 years old, making them the battalion with oldest members.
	+ That makes the Warlocks and Mercenaries batallions, the ones that can accept or would have members of all ages.
* Despite she's not older or vary 16 in age, Kokone is an only member to join Tenebrous' team.
* The reason Samandia founded the Vandals's Gang is because she felt she's too young for joining a group of adults like the Tenebrous and feels more comfy with individuals near her age. Plus, once grown up, a former Vandals member can choose which battalion would he/she is to be.
* They were related with the Seven Deadly Sins as: The Tenebrous (Greed and Wrath), Mercenaries (Pride and Envy), Warlocks (Lust) and Vandals (Gluttony and Sloth).
* Despite they work together, some of one battalion members show a slight dislike to the others' qualities and flaws;
	+ The Tenebrous see the Warlocks as heathens, the Mercenaries as brutes and the Vandals as spoiled.
	+ The Mercenaries see the Warlocks as weaklings, the Tenebrous as classists and the Vandals as indiciplined.
	+ The Warlocks see the Tenebrous as grumps, the Mercenaries as ignorants and the Vandals as lax.
	+ The Vandals see the Tenebrous as old, the Mercenaries as fastidious and the Warlocks as freaks.

* While the Warlocks crest is carved in stone and the Mercenaries' is engraved in metal, the Tenebrous and the Vandals's crests are the only ones that aren't made on a certain solid material; the Tenebrous have neon lights that form their crest and the Vandals simply have painted their crest with aerosol painting.
* Due to their crests colorings, some Harry Potter saga fans compared the battalions with the Hogwarts houses:
	+ While Gryffindor represents courage, The Tenebrous community represent fear.
	+ While Slytherin represents cunning, The Mercenaries brigade represent malice.
	+ While Ravenclaw represents wisdom, The Warlocks tribe represent arrogance.
	+ While Hufflepuff represents loyalty, The Vandals gang represent treachery.