League of Assassins

The League of Assassins is the modern-day incarnation of the Hashshashin, the Order of Assassins founded during the start of the Crusades. Rather than being a militant religious order designed to advance the Muslim cause by assassinating particular political enemies, the modern League is a secular team of skilled, handpicked super-powered killers who accept contracts to "dispatch" specific significant persons for money and quid pro quo favors.

The League was resurrected in the late 19th century by Ibrahim Singh, better known as Grandmaster Sin, as a way to bring order to the fractured and warring assassin groups in existence at the time. Singh's father was one such victim, and it gave him the determination needed to make progress in the brutally hostile underworld most assassins worked in. Singh survived when many would-be reformers did not, and many of his rivals perished in their attempts on his life. When the dust settled, Singh was the largely undisputed Grandmaster and many assassins flocked to his banner, making up the first League.

As the world modernized, Sin knew that the League would have to change: advances in technology made it easier to spot assassins at the scene, find clues as to their methods, and track their movements. That didn't include traitors; one assassin in the 50s was identified and cooperated with Interpol in a sting operation that nearly compromised the entire League, resulting in several assassins and many agents killed. As "traditional" assassins retired or were killed off, the seemingly-ageless Sin picked super-powered killers to replace them, focusing on those whose powers could thwart the world's attempts to stop them.

In order to better foster discipline among his new disciplines, one of Sin's first acts as Grandmaster was to lay down an "Assassin's Code," a set of rules to enforce the assassins' behavior and actions. As anyone expelled from the League becomes a potential target, the Code is broken extremely rarely. A side benefit of the rules is that it makes assassins more discerning and discreet in their contracts, to the extent that few law enforcement agencies even believe they are still active. Even blatant displays, such as Sin himself and a team of three assassins fighting the McMurray Detective Agency to rescue another, are often dismissed for various reasons (in that instance the prison's lights and security systems were brought down, so no external evidence existed of the attack).

The Assassin's Code states: 7a. An assassin unable to prevent his incarceration or summon rescue must terminate himself. Also known as the "Seven Secrets," the Code is revealed to anyone who is able to contact an assassin and doesn't already know it. While only the seventh "secret" has a clause, there are other rules that expand on the code: for example, in regards to the second secret, it's understood that an assassin will not take a contract if the League can't determine with "some certainty" what the outcome will be (so it's extremely rare for the League to agree to kill a major political figure).
 * 1) No assassin may commit murder unless contractually obligated to do so.
 * 2) An assassin may not accept a contract unless it has been approved by at least one other assassin.
 * 3) An assassin may not reveal information about his client or any other sources contacted during an assignment.
 * 4) An assassin may not carry out a contract alone unless allowed to do so by his immediate superior.
 * 5) An assassin must help another assassin in need, and may request up to the minimum number of additional assassins needed to guarantee the rescue's success.
 * 6) An assassin may not implicate the League when carrying out his contract, but may leave "tokens" sufficient to identify himself.
 * 7) An assassin may not become incarcerated. He may be captured, so long as he escapes.

For added security, the League is broken up into cells loosely based on geographic location, consisting of 3-5 assassins, one serving as the leader. Only the leader of a cell is told when and where to contact the Grandmaster, so cells have a great deal of discretion when it comes to carrying out assignments.

Finally, during their training all members of the League are inculcated with some aspects of the current Grandmaster's philosophy. Perhaps the most important distinction is an ethical one: Sin teaches all assassins that once they accept a contract, they cease to be human and become a weapon, trained on the target. Assassins are to work tirelessly to complete their objective (a weapon doesn't require rest, after all; although "maintenance" is a valid excuse) and accept no responsibility, criminal or otherwise; for the killing or [if circumstances require] their suicide: a weapon is not responsible for its actions, only the hand (in this case, client) that guides it.