Shinsengumi

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> “Eradicate the sources of evil.”
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> — *motto of the Shinsengumi*
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Symbol of the Shinsengumi with the character 誠 (Sincerity)

The **Shinsengumi** (新選組, New Select Brigade), also known as the **Chintei Butai** (鎮定部隊, Pacification Unit), is a privately ran law enforcement agency tasked with assisting the Hyperion Police Department in maintaining law and order in the various wards, districts, and villages within the legal jurisdiction of the Kusanagi Megasprawl.

It was founded on August 18, 2463 by the 10th Chairman of the Akashiro Clan, Tamotsu Noguchi (野口保, Noguchi Tamotsu), a formerly cryogenic freezed human-turned-synth veteran of the Second Martian-Terran War with the aftermath of a violent power struggle in Kusanagi between the pro-succession and pro-election faction of the Akashiro Clan.

The underwhelming response provided by the HYPD during the crisis became the prime mover argument of the victorious Akashiro Clan in finding a compromise with the Planetary Republic of Hyperion towards ceding de facto law enforcement functions to a private police organization funded and trained by their organization. Their claim was that peace and stability in Kusanagi can only be achieved through the amplification of the law enforcement operational efficiency of the supposedly ill-equipped and undermanned HYPD with assistance from "responsible community-oriented citizens."

The Shinsengumi modeled its appellation after the original Shinsengumi that was established during the closing years of the Bakumatsu period, romanticizing what the organization perceived to be the ideals, virtues, and ethos of the samurai warrior-caste at the time.

The foundation date of the Shinsengumi, August 18, 2463, is oftentimes referred to by the organization as **86/59** or the 59th year of the 87th cycle in the Chinese Sexagenarian Calendar. This was to especially emphasize that not only was it founded on the same month and date as the first Shinsengumi, which was August 18, 1983, but to point out that its predecessor's foundation occurred on **76/59** or the 59th year of the 76th cycle of the Chinese Sexagenarian Calendar. Although 10 cycles apart, there was special emphasis that both organizations were founded a year prior to the next cycle, claiming that their presence was necessary to establish order in a "changing yet turbid world."

The Founder, Tamotsu Noguchi, also known as the Immortal God of War, is said to be a classical nationalist who glorified antiquated concepts such of the Soul of Old Japan (大和魂, Yamato-damashii) and refuses to recruit non-Japanese descended men into the organization. However, these regulations loosened over time until its eventual abolition under the current Commander, Yamashita Noburo, due to his mixed Sino-Japanese ancestry and allowed Chinese and Korean descended men into the organization. There were also some attempts in allowing women into the organization, however these efforts never saw any degree of success.

The Shinsegumi proved to be as ruthless and violent as the samurai they revered due to operating on violent extrajudicial methods in suppressing criminal activities, with most victims being individuals belonging to rival organizations of the Akashiro-kai. Their mixed reputation among the the locals of Kusanagi awarded the Shinsegumi a moniker of being the "Pacification Unit," either said as praise or as mockery.