Sophie Decker is an agent with Department 89.
She is the head of it, actually, but since it is a very, very small organization, she is also its most senior and its best agent. She is also the founder.
When we first meet her, there is no Department 89. She is a captain in German Military Intelligence and apparently has been for some time. Exactly how long is not mentioned but it is long enough for her to have acquired a very strong and lasting reputation. This is good in that she is known for getting the job done. This is bad because she does things her way, regardless of her instructions.
"She was always getting into trouble. If her superiors were asked, they would say that Decker's main weakness was that she took far too much initiative, whereas others would be more cautious by reporting in and requesting orders. While initiative was generally commendable, Decker got into trouble because her idea of initiative would quickly turn to recklessness and a bad attitude with her superior officers. The military tended to call that 'insubordination'."
The amusing thing about this is that she is smart enough to know that following orders is vital for an officer who in turn expects those under him/her to do the same. She just has very little good to say about most of those over her and doing what they say is so often and so obviously wrong, disobeying is second nature.
If she had followed orders and done as she was told, the current Chancellor of Germany, Claudia Meyer, would have been assassinated in the first recorded adventure and Decker, if she had not already been drummed out of the service, would have certainly died with her. But being Decker, she listened to herself and followed her instincts and save the country's leader.
And gotten shot in the process. To Decker, "getting shot was a bitch. The trouble was it was a habit she always seemed to be getting into, no matter how hard she tried to avoid it. Trouble followed her around like a bad smell. Her colleagues had given her the nickname 'Jinx' because to them, that's what she was. When she was with them, danger came calling, and it usually ended in blood, tears, and death. What her nickname was behind her back, she didn't dare speculate."
Saving Meyer would change her life. Meyer saw the need for a very tiny organization to be her private problem-solver. She needed someone she could trust to head it. Thus was born, at the end of that first Decker adventure, Department 89.
It was "virtually unknown to anyone inside the German government. Inside the government, there are only two people who are aware of its existence - the chancellor and the chancellor's chief of staff". "Confining the knowledge of Department 89's existence was essential. If the department became public knowledge, the scandal would instantly bring down the government and quite possibly send the German chancellor to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Department 89 is tasked with both domestic and international situations, and has been described as "the chancellor's personal hit-squad". Completely unsanctioned by the German Bundestag parliament and totally illegal by any definition, Department 89 took care of situations which conventional law enforcement methods could not deal with, due to the constraints of German, European Union, and international law. As far as Department 89 were concerned, there were no limits. They were ruthless, highly fit, and without morals and qualms. They operated in the darkest corners of government and many ordinary citizens owed their lives to them, without them ever knowing who their guardian angels really were."
Now with the help of her second-in-command, Lt. Schmitz, Decker has a much larger mandate. Which for her means a lot more chances to get shot.