The Troubleshooters: An Introduction

A Thankless Job

The term “troubleshooter” refers to any small organization or individual who operates outside of the main organizations of the web. It has also come to define certain organizations who are not officially recognized by The Web.
The troubleshooters are most often used in reconnaissance operations as scouts and as a minor deterrent. They scout out potential incursions that could end up worse than they already are. They assess the situation based around that incursion and then seek to remedy the problem should it be found that it is not worth the larger organization’s time. Upon doing so they're usually rewarded with money and equipment and various other benefits that the organizations of the web can grant. This mutual exchange has sealed the troubleshooters place in The Web.

Arguably the troubleshooters make out the vast majority of people in the web. Hundreds of thousands of people across the world have taken up arms. It is often in the best interest of organizations, whether other troubleshooter organizations or the major organizations in The Web, to recruit these individuals should they find them. The Troubleshooters are usually the main source of recruitment for other organizations.

The Silent Majority

The Troubleshooters are also comprised of individuals. Men women and even, on occasion, teenagers and children have often been brought into The Web. Once you receive the candlelight is near impossible to remove it, and it doesn't discriminate based on age or knowledge. Those who find themselves face-to-face with the horrors that dwell in the shadows often find the moment a sink or swim scenario. You'd be surprised at how many learn how to swim so quickly.

Who Are The Troubleshooters

There are many organizations among The Troubleshooters. Each one of them has their own way of dealing with things and their own agendas and reasons for doing it. The Black Betties hunt monsters. The Midnight Riders often seek to profit.
The Heavenly Harlots act as a Special Victims Unit, former and current men and women in the sex industry who seek to dismantle and destroy any and all who commit sexual crimes. This stance makes them just as likely to clash with normal everyday humans as they would encounter monsters and occult incursions, from rampant lust demons and sex cults to sex trafficking rings, The Heavenly Harlots make it their sworn duty to protect the common people from their influence.
You also have The Chitin Group, an organization created by concerned citizens in the legal profession. The Chitin Group is comprised of lawyers and paralegals to assist in defending and also dropping charges pressed against members of The Web.

Author's Note

Greetings dear reader. I appreciate the time you take reading my little pieces of work, enjoying and immersing yourself into my world. I would like to break that immersion and ask you a series of simple questions to better explain the purpose of The Troubleshooters.
If you'll permit me I want you to take a moment and picture what it would be like to walk on foot to the nearest town over from your location. Generally speaking, most of us would be rather upset at the idea. From where I am the nearest town is 8 miles over. It would take me approximately 4-5 hours to walk at a steady Pace that distance, assuming I didn't take any rest. Driving takes approximately 12 minutes. This is much more agreeable, but for Troubleshooters, it is not always so easy. Many do not have steady paying jobs and instead rely on the donations and freelance work given to them by other organizations in The Web.

Why do these jobs exist and why do these people do it? It depends.

Victims of Circumstance

Most Troubleshooters are simply random, average individuals who stumbled upon the darker world by accident. They are stuck between two worlds. On top of this, These are actually some of the most important members of The Web as they are able to mobilize a lot quicker than some of the larger organizations.

Taking the exact same scenario as before but instead maximizing the distance, I want you to picture walking on foot to the next state over... substantially more difficult and substantially more upsetting. Driving would still take some time but would be more convenient. Now if you're just a small band of individuals who operate within The Troubleshooters, this is no big deal and pretty easy to do. The heavy hitters are much larger and generally, if they are called into action, it's pretty serious.
They mobilize in full doing what they can to gather the manpower and equipment needed, and then mobilizing it to the location. The reason this is a much bigger deal for the heavy hitters is because they have to do it without gathering attention.

Keeping The Facade

Those living near military bases will know exactly what I mean. For us seeing humvees filled with armed soldiers is not exactly a strange sight. Seeing military grade aircraft and even tanks being moved from one location to another is not entirely strange and yet it still has our attention. For the larger organizations who have technology and equipment that are not even known to the public, secrecy is paramount. You can't just have a convoy of military vehicles that shouldn't exist full of soldiers armed to the teeth with weapons that shouldn't exist driving down the freeway during rush hour.

The larger organizations operate by dividing their logistics up into carefully crafted groups, each one designed to reach the destination at given times. Even if the organizations in question decide to go in more covertly using civilian vehicles with personnel dressed in civilian clothing, people are going to notice how there are 20 some odd Vehicles, packed with people, all heading in a straight line at the same speed to a podunk town out in the boondocks of some backwater state.

Freedom of Movement

The Troubleshooters don't have to worry about this. They don't have to worry about who sees what and who notices. Troubleshooter organizations tend to be much smaller and can operate using almost guerrilla tactics against whatever it is they face. Some do not have jobs and therefore, they cannot afford a consistent stream of fuel for vehicles and so they walk. Some of the higher up troubleshooting organizations such as The Black Betties are able to mobilize in full, driving in hot rods down the highway under the precedent that they are going to some kind of rally.