Special Operations Division

The Special Operations Division of the Department of Floaters handles unusual situations for which there are no standard operating procedures. It is directed by the Bonsai Monkey Puzzle Tree.

Description
The Bonsai Monkey Puzzle Tree's office is Response Center 4444. The office is comically large compared to its owner and almost completely bare, save for a wall-to-wall filing cabinet and a small watering can. The foot-tall Tree sits in a pot on the desk in the middle of the room.

Already in the Department of Floaters, where agents handle any kind of mission from any continuum, the Special Operations Division is responsible for handling unusual situations in fanfiction, including fics that require unusual strategies, such as the use of fighter jets, and rescuing agents who have gotten themselves in too deep (in which they have some overlap with the DIA's Special Response Division). Or basically anything that no one else will touch with a fifty-foot pole.

It's almost guaranteed that something will go catastrophically wrong on a SOD mission. There's a reason the acronym is "SOD."

History
A Special Operations Department is known to have existed circa 2003-2004 HST due to its inclusion in the PPC Handbook; its head of department is listed as the Monkey Puzzle Tree. Unfortunately, this is the only extant record of the department. It is unclear whether its Tree is the same as the Bonsai Monkey Puzzle Tree, but it seems more likely than there being three Monkey Puzzle Trees in HQ (the other one being the Really Big Monkey Puzzle Tree in the Bad Role-play Department).

The current Special Operations Division was preceded in spirit by the Special Sue Unit and the Department of Emergencies. The SSU's stated directive was to deal with "the worst of Sues" in "cases where all others reach for their bleach," making it similar to the Department of Godplayers. The Department of Emergencies was more akin to SOD, having been known to deal with extreme situations in which nothing goes as planned as well as aiding agents in distress.

In early 2004, the Eclectic Subdivision of Advanced Species was founded as a shared resource between the Department of Floaters and the Department of Mary Sues. ESAS's directive is highly powered original characters, making it the natural successor to the defunct Special Sue Unit. At an undisclosed date, the Department of Emergencies joined with some ex-ESAS agents and spun off into the Special Operations Division. As such, there is some overlap between ESAS and SOD, with both being Department of Floaters divisions. The distinction between the two is that ESAS deals with more "typical" fics that happen to have overpowered non-canons, while SOD deals with more complicated or unusual fics.

Known Agents

 * Dead and Heal were the original (and only) agents in the Department of Emergencies. They never published their own reports, but Dead appears alongside Jay Thorntree in other agents' reports.
 * Skuld Taipan and Cassiopeia Orange were the original (and only) agents in the Special Sue Unit. They have one report to their name.
 * Sergio Turbo and Corolla (RC 1587) transferred to the division in 2011 HST and were joined by then-recruit Nikki Cherryflower. They have four published SOD mission reports under their belt.
 * The Fisherman and Evie (PPC TARDIS 682) were assigned to SOD upon recruitment sometime in 2011 HST and have published five mission reports.

Special Operations Division
Mission reports from this division are listed on the Complete List of PPC Fiction, Department of Floaters, Special Operations Division.

Department of Emergencies

 * "Torment" (alternative link) (The Lord of the Rings), Agent Dead (DE) with Agent Jay Thorntree (DIC)
 * Jay is temporarily assigned with Dead on an assignment to save Legolas from fading after being assaulted by Aragorn.
 * "The Dark of the Moon" (The Lord of the Rings), Agents Rosie Cotton Bomull and Nenya Gabriel (DMS - DMO) with Agent Dead (DE) and Agent Jay (DIC)
 * Dead and Jay help Nenya and Rosie escape from a deletion.

Special Sue Unit

 * "Whatever Happens" (The Lord of the Rings), Agents Cassiopeia Orange and Skuld Taipan (SSU)
 * Newly partnered Skuld Taipan and Cassiopeia Orange take on two Sues and enough POV shifts to give anyone whiplash.