Border

Border (ボーダー) is an agency in Mikado City. It was created for the sake of protecting the city from Neighbor attacks. They fight the Neighbors by the means of something called a Trigger, the technology of Neighbors.

History
Main Article: Old Border Before it became publicly known, Border was a secret organization with the purpose of being an intermediary between ‘Earth’ and Neighbors. Along with its establishment, Border has made an alliance with three Neighbor nations and used the building that later became Tamakoma's base as its headquarters.

Between its establishment and 6 years before the start of the series, Border had 19 people within its ranks. However, about a year later, an allied nation was invaded by a hostile nation and when Borders sent its forces to assist, 10 out of 19 died, with some becoming Black Triggers. After the incident, the organization split into two, one became the current Headquarters and the other became Tamakoma Branch.

About four and a half years before the start of the series, Border made its first public appearance when the First Large-Scale Invasion occurred. Soon after that, Border built their Headquarters in the middle of an area known as the Danger Zone and began recruiting new members.

Duties
The management supervises all Border employees and the safety of Mikado City from Neighbor-related threats. They are also involved in tasks such as P.R., gathering of funds, and supervision of the R&D Department, as well as in the organization of away expeditions. Engineers are in charge of everything all matters technology, while Operators provide intelligence to agents and serve as their connection to HQ. Agents fight Trion Soldiers and similar threats. However, they are not always at the scene in time, leaving citizens to fend for themselves or if there's an agent, to fight it themselves. Some agents are also involved in P.R. initiatives and recruiting. A-class and B-class members are paid, but C-class trainees are not, as they are not official agents and are not supposed to engage in combat outside of training. However, they have recently received clearance to activate their Triggers to help with evacuation and rescue during emergencies.

Ranks
There are four ranks available to Border agents. These ranks do not constitute an actual hierarchy, but express the status of an agent and their team within Border: C-Rank is for trainees, A and B-Rank are for official agents with normal Triggers, and S-Rank is for official agents wielding Black Triggers.

New agents start from C-Rank. When they reach 4000 usage points with their Training Trigger, they are promoted to B-Rank and allowed to form a unit. To advance to A-Rank, the unit must perform well in Rank Battles, meaning it is not the individual who is promoted, but the team as a whole. Agents who wield Black Triggers are immediately categorized as S-Rank and do not participate in Rank Battles. In general, only A-Rank agents are sent to the Neighborhood, but there are exceptions.

Usage Points
Border uses a point system to track agents' skill with their Trigger or Trigger set. C-Class trainee agents start from 1000 points, but they are given extra points if they have performed well in the preliminary tests. Points can be earned by winning optional Rank Battles against other trainees, while losses result in a deduction of points. The greater the point gap, the less points are awarded to the winner if they had a large advantage in points; vice versa, if they lose in the same conditions, they will lose more points than normal: when someone with 1100 points defeated an opponent with 2358, he took 225 point from him. Cadets can also fight official agents, but the scores of the two contestants will not be altered at the end of the match.

Attacker, Gunner and Shooter trainees can also score points in group training sessions that take place twice a week. There are five drills, only three of which are known: Topography Traversal Training, Covert Action Training, and Detection and Tracking Training. Sniper trainees, on the other hand, receive points base don their performance during joint Sniper training. A perfect score awards 20 points, for a maximum of 200 points per week. During the most recent enlistment session, all cadets started with 1000 points and took part in four five-way matches, due to the session having taken place at an irregular date, with no time for a probationary period. Extra points can also be given out by the management as special awards. Individual points determine an agent's Solo Ranking (how they stack up in comparison to all other official agents) as well as their Position Ranking (how they stack up in comparison to all other official agents with their own position).

When a cadet reaches 4000 points with their Trigger, they are promoted to B-Rank. Sniper cadets can also be promoted if they manage to make the top 15% for three weeks in a row. An agent's points correspond to their highest score with any one Trigger in their possession. Dropping below 4000 points with all of one's Triggers does not result in the demotion from official agent to trainee, which is however the case if the score of any one of the agent's Triggers drops below 1500, but this has never occurred thus far. An agent who reaches 8000 points with any one Trigger is said to have reached Master Class with it. Official agents adding a new Trigger to their set will start from 3000 points, 4000 if they are Master Class. In Rank Battles, if an agent fights with two Triggers, the one which dealt the final blow receives 70% of the total score, the other one 30%.

Administration

 * Masamune Kido (Border Headquarters Commander-in-Chief)
 * Masafumi Shinoda (Border General Manager & Commander of the Self-Defense Unit)
 * Kyōko Sawamura (Border General Manager Counsellor)
 * Motokichi Kinuta (Headquarters Development Chief)
 * Eizō Netsuki (Media Countermeasures Chief)
 * Katsumi Karasawa (Foreign Affairs Operations Manager)
 * Takumi Rindō (Tamakoma Branch Chief)
 * Yūgo Kuga (Former Commander-in-Chief)
 * Sōichi Mogami (Former Upper Echelon)

General Staff

 * Raizō Terashima (Chief Engineer)
 * Seiji Mizunuma (Director of Human Resources)

S-Rank

 * Tsukihiko Amō (HQ)

A-Rank
(Elite, about 30 people)
 * Tachikawa Unit 01
 * Kei Tachikawa (Tachikawa Unit Leader)
 * Kōhei Izumi
 * Takeru Yuiga
 * Yuu Kunichika (Tachikawa Unit Operator)


 * Fuyushima Unit 02
 * Shinji Fuyushima (Fuyushima Unit Leader)
 * Isami Tōma
 * Risa Maki (Fuyushima Unit Operator)


 * Kazama Unit 03
 * Sōya Kazama (Kazama Unit Leader)
 * Shirō Kikuchihara
 * Ryō Utagawa
 * Kaho Mikami (Kazama Unit Operator)


 * Kusakabe Unit 04
 * Saki Kusakabe (Kusakabe Unit Leader and Operator)
 * Shun Midorikawa
 * Ryūji Saeki
 * Kazuma Satomi
 * Hayato Uno


 * Arashiyama Unit  05
 * Jun Arashiyama (Arashiyama Unit Leader)
 * Ai Kitora
 * Mitsuru Tokieda
 * Ken Satori
 * Haruka Ayatsuji (Arashiyama Unit Operator)


 * Kako Unit 06
 * Nozomi Kako (Kako Unit Leader)
 * Futaba Kuroe
 * Mai Kitagawa
 * An Kobayakawa (Kako Unit Operator)


 * Miwa Unit 07
 * Shūji Miwa (Miwa Unit Leader)
 * Yōsuke Yoneya
 * Tōru Narasaka
 * Shōhei Kodera
 * Ren Tsukimi (Miwa Unit Operator)


 * Katagiri Unit 08
 * Takaaki Katagiri (Katagiri Unit Leader)
 * Yukimaru Ichijō
 * Asumi Amakura
 * Tōichirō Momozono
 * Karin Yuitsuka (Katagiri Unit Operator)


 * Kizaki Unit unranked
 * Reiji Kizaki (Kizaki Unit Leader)
 * Kirie Konami
 * Kyōsuke Karasuma
 * Shiori Usami (Kizaki Unit Operator)


 * Unknown Unit
 * Yūichi Jin

B-Rank
(Main Force, about 100 people)

Top Tier

 * Ninomiya Unit 01
 * Masataka Ninomiya (Ninomiya Unit Captain)
 * Sumiharu Inukai
 * Shinnosuke Tsuji
 * Aki Hiyami (Ninomiya Unit Operator)


 * Kageura Unit 02
 * Masato Kageura (Kageura Unit Captain)
 * Yuzuru Ema
 * Hiro Kitazoe
 * Hikari Nire (Kageura Unit Operator)


 * Ikoma Unit 03
 * Tatsuhito Ikoma (Ikoma Unit Leader)
 * Satoshi Mizukami
 * Kōji Oki
 * Kai Minamisawa
 * Maori Hosoi (Ikoma Unit Operator)


 * Mikumo Unit (Tamakoma Second) 04
 * Osamu Mikumo (Mikumo Unit Captain)
 * Yūma Kuga
 * Chika Amatori
 * Hyuse (recent addition)
 * Shiori Usami (Mikumo Unit Operator)


 * Ōji Unit 05
 * Kazuaki Ōji (Ōji Unit Leader)
 * Kazuki Kurauchi
 * Yutaka Kashio
 * Haya Kittaka (Ōji Unit Operator)


 * Azuma Unit 06
 * Haruaki Azuma (Azuma Unit Captain)
 * Noboru Koarai
 * Tsuneyuki Okudera
 * Mako Hitomi (Azuma Unit Operator)


 * Kuruma Unit (Suzunari First) 07
 * Tatsuya Kuruma (Kuruma Unit Captain)
 * Kō Murakami
 * Taichi Betsuyaku
 * Yuka Kon (Kuruma Unit Operator)

Middle Tier

 * Yuba Unit 08
 * Takuma Yuba (Yuba Unit Leader)
 * Yukari Obishima
 * Kazuto Konooka
 * Nono Fujimaru (Yuba Unit Operator)


 * Katori Unit 09
 * Yōko Katori (Katori Unit Captain)
 * Yūta Miura
 * Rokurō Wakamura
 * Hana Somei (Katori Unit Operator)


 * Suwa Unit 10
 * Kōtarō Suwa (Suwa Unit Captain)
 * Daichi Tsutsumi
 * Hisato Sasamori
 * Rui Osano (Suwa Unit Operator)


 * Arafune Unit 11
 * Tetsuji Arafune (Arafune Unit Captain)
 * Yoshito Hanzaki
 * Atsushi Hokari
 * Rin Kagami (Arafune Unit Operator)


 * Nasu Unit 12
 * Rei Nasu (Nasu Unit Captain)
 * Yūko Kumagai
 * Akane Hiura
 * Sayoko Shiki (Nasu Unit Operator)


 * Kakizaki Unit 13
 * Kuniharu Kakizaki (Kakizaki Unit Captain)
 * Fumika Teruya
 * Kotarō Tomoe
 * Madoka Ui (Kakizaki Unit Operator)


 * Ebina Unit 14
 * Takahiro Ebina (Ebina Unit Leader)
 * Yukito Otogawa
 * Shō Motegi
 * Sakurako Taketomi (Ebina Unit Operator)

Lower Tier

 * Urushima Unit 15 (or 16)
 * Wataru Urushima (Urushima Unit Leader)
 * Rika Rokuta (Urushima Unit Operator)


 * Matsushiro Unit 16 (or 15)
 * Hitoshi Matsushiro (Matsushiro Unit Leader)
 * Masakuni Hakoda
 * Yūya Tsuchizaki
 * Ayumu Hatori (Matsushiro Unit Operator)


 * Chano Unit 17
 * Makoto Chano (Chano Unit Captain)
 * Itsuki Fujisawa
 * Megumi Tokura (Chano Unit Operator)


 * Tokiwa Unit 18
 * Mamoru Tokiwa (Tokiwa Unit Leader)
 * Tokiya Saitō
 * Waka Utsunomiya
 * Yoshinobu Kera
 * Hazuki Nanao (Tokiwa Unit Operator)


 * Hayakawa Unit 19
 * Satoru Hayakawa (Hayakawa Unit Leader)
 * Ryōgo Funabashi
 * Zenji Marui
 * Asami Taya (Hayakawa Unit Operator)


 * Yoshizato Unit 20
 * Yūichirō Yoshizato (Yoshizato Unit Leader)
 * Hanao Tsukimi
 * Hidetaka Kitazoe
 * Asuka Asagiri (Yoshizato Unit Operator)


 * Mamiya Unit 21
 * Keizō Mamiya (Mamiya Unit Leader)
 * Mitsuya Koinuma
 * Minoru Hata
 * Aoi Kusumoto (Mamiya Unit Operator)

C-Rank
(Trainee, more than 400 people)
 * Izuho Natsume
 * Kōda Unit (unofficial)
 * Teruteru Kōda
 * Fumifumi Saotome
 * Hidehide Hinoe

Factions
According to Jin, there are roughly three unofficial ideological factions within Border.

Not all units fall into these factions, such as Nasu Unit and Kageura Unit.

Headquarters
The core of Border's operations is a massive fortress with trion cannons and reinforced walls. Aside from offices, common areas and other ordinary spaces, it contains laboratories for the engineers, control rooms for Operators, private rooms for official units, and virtual spaces for agents to train in. Deep underground is also a vessel made out of trion to travel to the Neighborhood. Around the headquarters is an unhinabited, devastated portion of Mikado City where Gates are redirected, so they open away from ordinary citizens. However, this technology cannot prevent Rads from opening portals elsewhere.

Branches
There are 6 branches in Border. Personnel that are not aiming for A-Rank are associated with a branch. They are placed on the outside of the danger zone, and act as a contact point for locals.
 * Tamakoma
 * Suzunari
 * Wataayu
 * Yumite District
 * Hayanuma
 * Hisama

Trivia

 * In the Viz version, it was called Border Defense Agency, which is also in Border's logo.
 * The uniforms of current Border agents are different from those of Old Border members due to the engineers increasing in number.[BBF Q271]
 * Border agents are split between those who constantly use a trion body at HQ and those who don’t. The former are rumored to have problems sleeping due to their flesh and blood bodies not getting tired.[BBF Q219]