The Whispers

By Michael Cleveland

"Go Away."

"Please, just tell us -"

"No."

"Aw, come on..."

"No."

"You can let us in on it -"

"Don't you children have hellsworn to go napalm or something?"

"What are they like?"

"Stop asking me that question."

"There's no law against asking questions, Ju -

"I'll find one. Go away."

"Please?!"

Judge Starkariel turned to face the group of young Warriors that had been following him from his weekly lunch with Trainer Alberich. He shook his head quietly, and then launched himself into one of the lower branches of the trees surrounding him. After wrapping his tail tightly around it, he swung down and looked at the 'children'.

"I've tried explaining to you all the concepts of 'obstruction of Judgment', 'annoyance of Judgment', 'none of your business' and yet you still persist in asking me about 'The Whispers'. Am I correct in assuming that you are going to continue bothering me about this until I tell you something substantive?"

Upon watching the collective nod, Stark sighed heavily. "All right... you children are warriors, so you've been taught about security clearances, correct? You understand that they're for keeping the enemy from potentially learning damaging information. We're clear on this, right?"

After another group of nods, he continued. "Ok, good. Now, somewhere inside the Celestial Tribunal, there is a group of files that talks about the group of people that you call 'The Whispers'. They require a certain security clearance to read - I can't even tell you what clearance it requires to see them - but inside those files, it talks about all their missions, all the rumors about them, who they actually are. Pretty much everything about them is in there."

"Now, I have the clearance required to read these files, and I have done so. But that sort of clearance is hard to come by - most Archangels aren't given clearance to see all of them. Now, this includes your Archangel as well, so not even Michael knows everything about them -"

One of the Ofanim piped up excitedly, "You can't know something that Michael doesn't know. Michael knows everything!"

Stark shook his head. "No, he doesn't, because there are some things that have yet to be revealed to him, and he knows that this is how it should be. Now, in theory, since I've read the files about these people, I could tell you everything that you ever wanted to know about them. But then there would be a problem, since you don't have the clearance to know about this sort of thing."

The crowd shuffled nervously as he continued. "Now, it is a serious crime to be in possession of information that you are specifically not cleared for. The punishment varies, depending on whether this breach of security occurred through no fault of your own or through willful attempts to circumvent the Divine Order. If I remember correctly, the last person to learn about them before he was cleared to do so was sentenced to have all of his Ethereal Forces stripped from his soul. Now, he was granted new Ethereal Forces of course - to do otherwise would have been UnJust. In fact, Dominic even granted him an additional one in compensation for the pain and suffering he was forced to go through. But he was never quite the same afterwards, really..."

The crowd started backing away as the Seraph summoned a file into his hand. "Now that you understand the potential complications of having this knowledge, would anyone care to have a look? Anyone?"

Starkariel chuckled to himself as he swung down from the tree after watching the crowd disperse. He began to continue down the road when he heard a twig snap behind him. He turned to face the sound, and found himself looking in the face of a young human's soul. Smiling slightly he bent down, "Yes, child. How may I be of service to you?" The young boy looked up at the huge serpent, and then moved forward and started to whisper something into Starkariel's ear.

"Are you one of the Whispers, sir?"

The Seraph looked around quietly, then touched the tip of his tail to the child's lips and winked.

"Shhhh."

You'll never find them in any book, and you'll probably never even see anything that even remotely points to their existence. But they're out there - the group known as the Whispers, a Dominican Special Operations team that handles the jobs that no other sane Triad would touch. With many similarities (and friendly ties) to the infamous 'Triad 314', the Whispers are said to be the bigger, nastier and more competent brothers to that unit. The Whispers were officially created sometime after the trial of Michael, but were at that time a much better kept secret. Only within the past 600 years or so has the name surfaced, and their operational record is still classified.

It's estimated that only a dozen or so members exist at any given time, being organized into groups of three like most Dominicans. The three main triads are referred to by their primary purposes - Investigation, Infiltration, and Operations. A fourth Triad, referred to as Command, is composed of a senior representative from each of the triads beneath it.

Although they are technically considered a Triad, the three members of the Command Triad are typically portrayed as lone operatives who are on loan to other Archangels unless Dominic requires their services. Paradoxically, they are also (relatively) the most open about being members of this group. The reason for this is simple - if someone has encountered a problem that they feel needs immediate attention, they can approach these 'lone operatives' and 'ask for advice'. The command staff never directly admits to being part of the group, but 'may know people to talk to'.

The current members of the command staff are as follows -

Judge Starkariel (Judge Stark) - A former Captain of Fate, this Seraph is currently placed as the liaison to the Groves of War. Although he openly admits to missing the multiplicity he held as a Bal-Kyriotate, he still manages to hold the favor of both Michael and Dominic by assisting in the training of younger Servitors of War. As the representative of the Operations Triad, he is the one most likely to be dealt with openly for more combat-oriented missions.

Judge Wherriel (Judge? Where?) - A former Balseraph of Lust, this Judge gained promotion to the command triad by shaving her head and posing as a 'Bald-Seraph' for several months before planting the explosives to destroy a capital tether to Lust. Currently placed in Marc's organization as one of the Archangel of Trade's personal auditers, she assists her associates in the Infiltration Triad by generating paperwork and financing for undercover work. Wherriel can often be found on Earth, assisting in any job where harm to the Prince of Lust is involved.

Judge Frekariel (Judge Freak) - A former Shedite of The Game, this Kyriotate is openly a Servitor of Judgment who serves as one of the guardians of Eli's Cathedral, in the event that the Archangel of Creation should return. Noted for his tendency to possess Hellsworn soldiers and then type out their memories using his attunements from Yves and Jean, this representative of the Investigation Triad has been repremanded more than once for his 'creative' punishments. Frekariel also serves as a hidden liaison to Triad 314, from where several of the Whispers have been recruited.

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