Editing The Yàngbǎn (section)

==Goals and Methods==
The Yàngbǎn are made up of various parahumans, most Chinese, but some from other countries who were trafficked<ref>The C.U.I. had bought a parahuman.  Not so unusual.  Higher rates, as of late, but then, the C.U.I. faced a slight chance of an Endbringer attack in coming weeks.  They would want to bolster their forces, add parahumans to their peculiar team. - [[Interlude 21.x]]</ref><ref name="20.y">Murder was out, but there were other options. He’d sent capes to the Yàngbǎn before. It was more constructive than killing. Cleaner. It also built relationships with the [[C.U.I.]]. [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/interlude-20/ Excerpt] form [[Interlude 20.y]]</ref> or kidnapped directly.<ref name="I23e1">Their destination was a flattened building, with a group of dead, maimed and dying Indian capes lying in the debris.<br>[...]<br>Three reached down, and others around him joined in, making contact with one of the dying.<br> It took nearly a minute, to attune everything the right way.  But the effect took hold, and the injured hero disappeared.<br>Five looked to Cody and pointed at the next one.<br>[...]<br>But he could feel the tickle of new powers taking hold.  The three they’d collected from the shattered building were joining them, like it or not. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/interlude-23/ Excerpt] form [[Interlude 23]]</ref> They have been formed through brainwashing often unwilling parahumans into their cult-like group.<ref name="I23"/> Prospective members are forced through a series of questions on Yàngbǎn doctrine and tortured when they fail.<ref>"The Yàngbǎn is the solution," the taller of the two said.  "You agree this is truth?"<br>"No," Lung said.<br>"That is a shame."<br>"I want out of here," Lung told them.  "That is all.  If I must kneel, I will."<br>"We need to hear the right answers before we can go any further.  We will come again in two weeks time and we will ask you again.  If you give us the answer we require, we can move on to the next step."<br>And, Lung thought, carry down the chain of questions, steps, and procedures until I fail.  You will break me and brainwash me until I am one of you. - [[Interlude 22.y]]</ref> Individual members were identified only by their numbers, not names.<ref name="I22.y e1"/> Mistakes such as mispronunciations or using English would be subtly punished with shunning and less food. Acceptable statements would be repeated by the group, signaling social acceptance, while unacceptable ones were met with crushing silence. Their punishing schedule renders them especially pliable.<ref name="I23"/> This effect was subtly augmented using [[One]]'s power.<ref>[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14071000 Wildbow on IRC], archived on Spacebattles</ref>

The Yàngbǎn are taught, not entirely incorrectly, that non-Yàngbǎn [[parahumans]] are dangerous and violent.<ref>His teammates, he knew, were raising their hands in anticipation of a fight.  They were distrustful.  They'd been taught that foreign heroes were dangerous, unpredictable.<br><br>Thing was, they were right.  As a rule, capes were fucked up.  People were fucked up.  The Yàngbǎn, Cody mused, resolved the situation by stripping capes of their humanity. - [[Interlude 23]]</ref> They believe that the [[PRT]] and [[Protectorate]] are fundamentally corrupt and the source of many problems in the world, and generally refused to cooperate with them.<ref name="23.5e1"/> They believed that their methods were the answer that would eventually defeat the [[Endbringers]].<ref name="I23"/> They were noted for respecting the [[Endbringer Truce]] less than most cape organizations.<ref name="I23e1"/><ref>"Your support is welcome, and that's why we couldn't ever ask you to make this leap of faith," Chevalier said.  "I understand your motives are pure, but if some accident transpired, and a good cape ''didn't make it back'', it would mean war." - [[Interlude 23]]</ref>

The Yàngbǎn are trained in [[tinker]]tech combat simulations where individual members shout out instructions and they all use a practiced maneuver e.g. opening fire with lasers, or using forcefields. They are all expected to be able to use every power they have available. The drills last six hours a day, their lectures last twelve hours, leaving only 45 minutes for food and five hours for sleep.<ref name="I23"/>

By the time of [[Gold Morning]], they had over 200 trained parahumans.<ref>"The Yàngbǎn were doing more harm than good," I said.<br>
"They were limiting their strikes to civilians.  Not something I agree with, but with Earth, with every Earth on the line, I'd forego two or three thousand lives for the help of over two hundred of the C.U.I.'s trained parahumans." - [[Cockroaches 28.5]]</ref><ref>But two hundred parahumans and a set of elite capes focused on defense and counterattacks was ominous. - [[Speck 30.3]]</ref> They had six teams<ref name="28.4e1"/><ref name="28.5e1">The Yàngbǎn were dealt with.  There were two major raiding parties, if we judged solely by the colors of their masks, and three or four other sub-groups tasked with different functions. - [[Cockroaches 28.5]]</ref> trained around different functions, including infiltration<ref name="28.4e1">Not the same Yàngbǎn I’d encountered before.  These ones wore similar outfits, but there were bodysuits beneath, no bare skin.  The multifaceted gem designs that covered their faces were dark blue, their costumes black. <br> Infiltrators.  A sub-set.  One of five sub-groups, apparently. [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/cockroaches-28-4/ Excerpt] form [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref> and speed.<ref name="30.3"/>