Project Sign: New Dawn (OOC/Interest Thread)

by **Organized States** » Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:44 pm

2300 Central Standard Time
April 14th, 1948
Pillow's Landing, Highcreek, Iowa

"David, will you still love me even when you're there?" Her voice trembled a little bit. David didn't know exactly how to respond. He thought things were going well and now, here she was, sitting in his family car as they looked out over Bushwood Creek, asking him if he still loved her. Of course he did. He loved her since the 4th Grade. David uncomfortably shifted in the seat of the old Packard and adjusted his letterman jacket, the leather being one of the few sources of warmth in the Spring night. He looked toward Sarah Meyers' big blue eyes and grabbed her hand. Her blond hair was pulled back into an almost straight pony tail.

"Sarah, I will always love you. It doesn't matter whether I'm at West Point or not. You'll still be my gal." He said in reply. It didn't sound real, but it was. It was how he actually felt. "I'm going to get my commission and the day I do, I'm going to come right back home and marry you, Sarah Meyers." That too, didn't sound real, but it was.

Fortunately, for him, it made her stop weeping all over her prom dress. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course, I do. I mean where exactly would I meet anoth-..." He caught himself mid-sentence, stopped by his eyes being drawn to the flashing lights off in the distance, potentially being saved from a remark that only would have made the situation worse. "Do you see those?" He pointed out towards what looked like a virtual armada of tiny green and white lights off in the distance, over by the Hamlinville Bridge. Ten. No, twelve. No, wait, make that eight. The lights seemed to merge with each other and then separate again off in different directions.

"What are they, David?" She asked, wiping the tears away from her eyes and sitting up in the seat to gawk at the lights which had so rudely interrupted their conversation.

"I don't know what they are. I don't think any airplane can fly like that..." He said incredulously, blinking and rubbing his tired eyes to make sure they weren't deceiving him. He had built plane models and trained as an observer with the Boy Scouts during the War, but he had never seen any planes that looked like that.

"Are they getting closer?" Sarah asked, watching as one of the green lights began to expand in size rapidly. The light moved closer and closer toward them rapidly developing a definite shape as it moved. Looking like an upside-down dinner plate, a green fire shot downward from the massive object that looked as if it spanned a whole football field. The Packard rocked back and forth violently as the craft flew overhead. Sarah shrieked in terror as blood began to pour from her nose and onto her prom dress. Almost as instantaneously as she had started shrieking, she passed out, falling backwards as her body went limp onto the seat of the Packard. David felt his own body tense up before he too fell backwards onto the driver's seat.

The World of Project Sign

The year is 1948 and the United States Air Force is in its infancy. Born out of the fires of the Second World War, the new service has spread her wings into the atomic and jet ages. Chuck Yeager has just broken the sound barrier. Jack Northrop's flying wings soar above the Southern California desert. The power of the atomic bomb has made America one of the most powerful nations on Earth. While the War might be over and technology is advancing, the Peace has not yet been won. Everyday, as America winds down its military and demobilizes the last of its wartime troops, Joe Stalin and his Soviets inch closer to the bomb and more of China's cities fall to Mao's Reds. The Communists could be watching, anywhere and everywhere! However, as ranchers and airmen in a little town in New Mexico would discover just last year, Communists may not be the only ones with their eyes on America. Perhaps rather than just looking East, perhaps we need to be looking up as well? Project Sign has been stood up to answer this very question. Made up of America's best and brightest, Project Sign's officers and agents come from many backgrounds and walks of life. They are Air Force Pilots, engineers, physicists, Office of Special Investigations Agents, maybe even a few friends from the Central Intelligence Agency, and our sea-going and ground-pounding sister services. Project Sign is America's all-seeing eye to defend our nation's skies.

Project Sign is currently commanded by Major Oliver "Monk" Moncavage.

How Project Sign will be Roleplayed

Project Sign will be a largely story-focused, character-based roleplay. I'm not asking for walls of text everyday, instead, I will ask for posts at a reasonable pace and for the commitment of a fairly decently sized group of people. After we reach a decent number of active participants (6-10 is ideal), I will close the Roleplay's applications except in limited and compelling cases as determined by myself and any other CO-OPs I may appoint. Investigations will be launched concurrently and in chronological order so as to avoid confusion and to encourage the creation of a common canon. Similar to the X-Files, I believe that not all of our cases will actively involve extra-terrestrials. Some incidents in question may involve secret Air Force test programs or even Soviet agents, but I assure you, all of our cases will be engaging and fun. As for the first case in question, I am inclined to take suggestions and have a discussion as to the story of the incident (although I do have an idea in mind).

While Project Sign will be largely player-written and developed, I would like to incorporate several events into the story that will help to move the story further along. In the form of INTELLIGENCE BRIEFINGS, these will all be events involving non-player characters and will be issued sporadically to help make sure that the investigations threads don't die. For example, while a pair of investigating officers from Project Sign may attempt to keep their investigation quiet, the Smallsville, USA newspaper might break the story and investigators may be swarmed by throngs of curious folk. Throughout story arcs in Project Sign, there may be the opportunity for players to assume the roles of antagonists to our heroes at Project Sign.

Project Sign's Officers and Researchers will primarily be divided into a number of Specializations, which will determine the character's skills and responsibilities and how they fit into Project Sign's Chain of Command.

Project Sign's Rules
Project Sign's rules are fairly simple.
-No Flaming or Harassment of Fellow Members
-OP and CO-OP instructions are to heeded both here and on the Discord. Failure to comply with this instruction may result in removal from both the RP and the Discord.
-Courtesy is prized among members and we strive for cooperation in the group.

Count Me In! How do I join?

Just fill out a short application and join us for a quick chat on the Discord Server (which can be found by clicking the link in the photo of the flying saucer). As an example, I have attached below an example application, as well as the form to fill out if you would like to join us.

Code: Select all: [box][align=center][image=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Military_service_mark_of_the_United_States_Air_Force.svg/240px-Military_service_mark_of_the_United_States_Air_Force.svg.png][color=Blue][size=110]Officer Performance Report[/size][/color][/align] [hr][/hr] [floatright][img](Insert a photo of your character here)[/img][/floatright] [b]Name:[/b] [b]Age:[/b] [b]Appearance[/b] (what isn't obvious by the character photo like height, weight, scars, or tattoos) [b]Ethnicity:[/b] [b]Agency: (FBI, OSI, Air Force, University affiliated with, etc)[/b] [b]Pay Grade:[/b] (Project Sign Assignments are currently only open to Civilian Employees and Officers below the Rank of O-4) [b]Aeronautical Rating/Current Specialization:[/b] (Air Force Navigator, Naval Aviator, Physicist, Development Engineer, etc) [b]Previous Assignment:[/b] [list=][/list] [b]Education:[/b] [list=][/list] [b]Biography:[/b] [/box]

Officer Performance Report

Name: Oliver "Monk" Moncavage
Age: 31
Appearance Approximately 5'11"
Ethnicity: White
Agency: Air Force
Aeronautical Rating/Current Specializations: Pilot
Pay Grade: O-4
Previous Assignment:
Pilot, Air Material Command, Wright Air Force Base (1946-1948)
Commander, 335th Fighter Squadron, Camp Kilmer, NJ (1943-1945)
Education:
United States Military Academy, Bachelor's of Science in Civil Engineering, 1941
Biography:

Major Oliver "Monk" Moncavage was born in 1917 to then-Captain James Moncavage and Margaret Weisel Moncavage at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. As the son of a career Army officer, Moncavage was constantly on the move as a child, moving between Army post to Army post four times before the age of 12, but none would prove more formative than his father's assignment to Philippines. His father, one of the Army's earliest aviators, was assigned as a Squadron Commander at Clark Field and took lodging just off of the runway there. Everyday, the young Moncavage and his friends would rush to the front yard of the house after school to watch the Army aircraft land before nightfall. Influenced heavily by these experiences and the romanticized flying culture of the era, Moncavage set his sights on following in his father's footsteps as an Army Air Corps flyer and was pushed towards attending the United States Military Academy at West Point by his father. Obtaining an appointment by virtue of his Father's connections, Moncavage matriculated into West Point in 1938 and graduated in the middle of his class in 1941. Commissioning into the Army Air Corps, he trained as a Pursuit pilot on the new P-38 Lightning with the First Fighter Group in San Diego before deploying to the European Theater in the Summer of 1942. Although scoreless throughout 1942, he finally made a dent in the fighting in 1943 when he scored three victories in North Africa against a flight of German Ju-87 dive bombers. Moncavage's familial connections showed once again when his father's connections landed him command of the 335th Fighter Squadron, a unit of experienced pilots being equipped with new P-51 Mustangs. The "Monk", as he became known for his devout religious fervor and quiet manner, quickly went to work in his new command and managed to obtain another three aerial kills during bomber escort missions over Germany in 1944. Ending the war with six kills, Moncavage stayed in the Army Air Forces after the war and was transferred to the fighter test division at Wright Field under Colonel Al Boyd. Liaising with the T-2 Technical Intelligence section, Moncavage helped to test foreign built jet fighters such as the Me-262 and was given command of Project Sign based on his experience within the Technical Intelligence and Flight Test fields.

by **Cylarn** » Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:32 pm

Interesting concept, and thusly I plan to dive in. Currently hinging on a Marine aviator recently plucked out of Reserve status, however what is the policy on ground-pounders?

by **Organized States** » Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:56 pm

Cylarn wrote:Interesting concept, and thusly I plan to dive in. Currently hinging on a Marine aviator recently plucked out of Reserve status, however what is the policy on ground-pounders?

Ground pounders are good with me, though I suspect it would largely be in an Intelligence/Investigatory capacity rather than any kind of combat arms.

by **Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:29 am

Officer Performance Report

Name: Wilhelm “Bill” Maria Kessler
Age: 32
Appearance He never wears his air force uniform
Ethnicity: German
Agency: (FBI, OSI, Air Force, University affiliated with, etc) Air Force
Pay Grade: Second Lieutenant
Aeronautical Rating/Current Specialization: Development engineer for jet propulsion and rocketry
Previous Assignment:
Jet Engineer, Reichsluftfahrtministerium, Villa Tugendhat, Brno (1938-1942)
Jet Engineer, Luftwaffe, Karlshagen (1942-1944)
Rocket Engineer, Luftwaffe, Peenemünde Facility, Peenemünde (1944-1945)
Aeronautics Engineer, Air Force, Skunk Works, Palmdale (1945-1948)
Education: Tertiary education in aeronautical engineering, Technical University of Munich
Biography: Wilhelm Maria Kessler was born to Anton Kessler and Gertrude Kessler-Hochentau. The two had met in the last months of the Great War, during which Anton was a bomber pilot and Gertrude a mechanic working for the Imperial Air Force. They married shortly after the war’s conclusion and took up residence in Munich, where they were blessed with a son a year later. They would go in to have two more children, two daughters. Anton, after war’s end, went on to work for the new German Lufthansa as a civil pilot, while Gertrude took on work as a mechanic for the same company. Beyond their love for one another, they were bound by a love for aircraft and flying, which they found to be the ultimate freedom. It was a love they instilled into little Wilhelm, or Willy as he was known as a boy. His sisters Elizabeth (Elly) and Anna were also interested in airplanes from an early age. Elizabeth wanted to become a pilot, while Anna wanted to reach space one day.

Wilhelm, instead, went on to study aeronautical engineering. The field was up-and-coming, and with the removal of many Jewish students from universities there was place for blond-haired, blue-eyed students. Wilhelm became a member of the Party and the Allgemeine SS for the benefits, as he could not have entered without it. His parents, strict anti-Nazis, grumbled, but where happy to see their boy fulfilling his dreams. However, he didn’t see his father much from that point on, as he had to work double hours to make enough money, as Gertrude was expelled from the work force by sexist Nazi policies. Anton always told his children that ‘he would see them when all of this blew over’, which the family eagerly anticipated.

Shortly after the start of the war, however, Anton was laid off. Civil pilots were not required as much, and he was too old to fly combat missions. Besides, he denied any request by the Luftwaffe to become an instructor. Anton went to work for the Dornier plants, which paid significantly less, and to make up for lost revenue, Wilhelm went to work for the Luftwaffe in the newly annexed Bohemia. There, he could finally put his skills to the test, working primarily on engines for the new ME262 jet fighter, the science fiction of the day. He loved that project, and wrote what he could about it to home. His parents shared his enthusiasm, although they could not be as happy about him achieving new ranks within the Allgemeine SS.

The talent of the youngster was quickly acknowledged, and when he had done his work for the ME262 the Luftwaffe transitioned him to Karlshagen, where he was tasked to work on the new V-1 rocket program, especially the jet engine that would power the flying bomb. He was hesitant at first, as was his family, but in the end he gave into his desire. To work on a rocket was his biggest dream, as his love for space flight had never really diminished. He wrote long letters with sister Anne about the subject, although his parents shared his enthusiasm less and less. The V-1 was an entirely different animal from a jet fighter, and the promise of Hitler to use it against London was not making it any better.

Finally, Wilhelm was transferred to Peenemünde, the lair of Werner, Freiherr von Braun. In Peenemünde, Wilhelm could work on the A4 rocket, better known in the west as the V-2. This was an actual rocket, and during the program Wilhelm learnt more about electronics, gyroscopes and flight trajectories, sometimes spending time with the actual head of the program himself. Peenemünde, however, also showed him the darker side of the war: for the first time, he saw labour camps staffed by POWs, political opponents and Jews, who were enslaved to manufacture the parts of the rocket. Werner von Braun sometimes took him there to inspect the place, giving Wilhelm nightmares both the day before and after they went.

The last weeks of the war were hell. First, Wilhelm received the news that his parents had been killed in a bombing raid by the US Air Force. Munich was bombed heavily, and the Dornier works had been almost entirely obliterated. His sisters were alive, but homeless, and had been separated. For the longest time, Wilhelm didn’t know if they were alive, until a few months after the war. Meanwhile, the Red Army was closing in on Peenemünde, and the engineers feared the worst from the Russians. Von Braun gathered a few of his most talented engineers, including Wilhelm, and drove them towards the Allied lines, were he surrendered to Canadian troops. During Operation Paperclip, Wilhelm and Von Braun were both scooped up. Wilhelm, thinking his entire family was dead, believed he had nothing to return to, and agreed, thus escaping prosecution.

The last three years of his life have been the hardest on Wilhelm. America is a strange land for him, and he barely even spoke English when he first arrived. He works on jet propulsion and rocketry, but mostly guided missiles instead of space rockets, since he can still see the faces of the slave labourers he saw in Peenemünde. Elizabeth now works as a school teacher in Munich, while Anna works across the border, flying civil aircraft for the Russians. Both keep in touch through letters, although there is still tension between all of them. Elly didn’t give up her pilot dream for nothing. The three all have a lot still to bury, and careless America with its cars and liberties gives Wilhelm no time to do that, especially since the Americans don’t seem to think too much about

by **Grenartia** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:38 am

I'm definitely interested in this.

by **Third Asopia** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 5:19 am

So interested, and finally one that will set me out of my seat(if that is what you call it). But, I don’t want to join discord cuz I don’t like the fact that it keeps pooping into my screen. The notifications, that is. Anyway, work in progress.

by **Reverend Norv** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:05 pm

Officer Performance Report

Maj. Fairfax at the Nuremberg Tribunal, 1946

Name: Edward Bradley Fairfax III; goes by Ted

Age: 40

Appearance Ted is a tall, trim man with an aristocrat's fine build; he looks more like a squash player than a boxer. He favors well-tailored, obviously expensive three-piece suits. His light brown hair, now receding and beginning to turn white at the temples, is neatly parted and held in place with Brylcream. Nevertheless, he has the constant pale tan that suggests a life spent largely out of doors, and a small circular scar on his left abdomen reveals an old bullet wound.

Ethnicity: White, of mostly English extraction and from a very old Charleston family.

Agency: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Pay Grade: GS-11 (General Schedule)

Aeronautical Rating/Current Specialization: FBI Supervisory Special Agent

Previous Assignment:
Second (then First) Lieutenant, USMC, Nicaragua, 1930-1932
Assistant US Attorney, Northern District of Illinois, 1935-1939
Special Agent, FBI Counterintelligence Division, Southern District of New York, 1939-1941
Lieutenant, US Army Military Intelligence Service (Operations Group), Fort Richie, 1941-1943
Captain, US Army Military Intelligence Service (Operations Group), European Theater of Operations, 1943-1945
Major, US Army JAG Corps, seconded Prosecutorial Team - Nuremberg Tribunals, 1945-1946
Supervisory Special Agent, FBI Criminal Investigative Division, Central District of California, 1946-1948

Education:
Princeton University, Bachelor's of Arts in Linguistics magna cum laude, 1930
Yale Law School, Juris Doctor, 1935
Biography:
Born 1/15/1908, Charleston, South Carolina. Both parents came from very old (colonial-era) Charleston families, with independent wealth from cotton, shipping, etc. Born at home, in a mansion in the Battery, and spent summers at Hilton Head. Raised with a trust fund and educated at private boarding schools. Key early experiences: immense wealth and privilege, distant parents, close relationships with black domestic workers, extensive training in high society skills/etiquette/fencing/dancing/equestrianism, demanding expectations for future high rank in business/politics/military.

Attended Princeton University (traditionally thought to be more friendly to Southern aristocrats than the rest of the Ivy League). Competed in fencing and equestrianism. Selected to represent the USA in the modern pentathlon at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, where he failed to medal. Initially studied classics because he already spoke French, Greek and Latin, but shifted his major to linguistics after learning Arabic, German and Russian as well. Graduated magna cum laude, 5/15/1930.

Enrolled in Basic School, Quantico VA, 6/20/1930, and commissioned Second Lieutenant, 1/5 Marines. Decision to join the military was an expected part of young adulthood for men of his family's social class, but joining the Marines appears to have represented a minor revolt against propriety. Deployed to Nicaragua, 10/3/1930. Led platoon-level counterinsurgency operations in Chontales Department; lost three Marines in an ambush near Juigalpa, 1/11/1931. In the aftermath of this attack, Lt. Fairfax appears to have undergone a personal crisis: taught himself Spanish, dramatically changed his approach to local operations to emphasize ties with the community, and entirely reassessed the racial attitudes inherited from his family. Began corresponding with retired Gen. Smedley Butler regarding the morality of US operations in Nicaragua. Succeeded in driving insurgents largely out of several villages near Juigalpa before US withdrawal, 3/12/1932.

Retired from US Marine Corps, 4/1/1932, and appears thereafter to have had a sharp falling out with his parents, after which they rarely spoke and he rarely returned to Charleston. Attended Yale Law School, where he excelled in criminal procedure and constitutional law; worked both summers with the US Justice Department Criminal Division. Background check indicates a romantic relationship with left-wing classmate Rosemary Hotch, a person of interest for FBI counterintelligence.

Graduated 5/12/1935, and accepted a position as Assistant US Attorney, Criminal Litigation Unit, Northern District of Illinois. Assisted in the prosecution of bank robber and serial killer Frank Brest. Led one of the first major insider trading prosecutions, related to the Chicago Stock Exchange. Cooperated closely with the FBI to assemble sweeping, mostly successful prosecutions of large-scale narcotics smuggling from Canada into Chicago. Nearly married local banker's daughter, but she broke off the engagement shortly before the scheduled wedding; reasons unknown.

Accepted position with FBI Counterintelligence Division, 4/5/1939, despite corresponding pay cut, when Pres. Roosevelt ordered Dir. Hoover to begin investigation of German-American Bund; Mr. Fairfax was recruited to the Bureau specifically for this assignment. Liaised closely with Southern District of New York and New York City district attorney's office to build criminal-conspiracy and tax fraud case against the Bund and its leader, Fritz Kuhn; acquired extensive experience with modern investigative techniques, including management of human sources and wiretaps. After successful state-level prosecution of Mr. Kuhn, SA Fairfax participated in FBI surveillance of Silver Legion and America First Committee, as well as draft-evasion prosecutions of remaining Bund leadership.

Offered a place in FBI Special Intelligence Service after Pearl Harbor, but declined in favor of enlistment in US Army, 12/9/1941 - a slight that Dir. Hoover has never forgiven. Assigned to Military Intelligence Service Operations Group, Fort Richie, and trained extensively in disguise, surveillance, counter-surveillance, interrogation, signals intelligence, encryption/decryption, etc. Promoted captain and coordinated human intelligence, through close liaison with Italian partisans and OSS, in Sicily and Italy, 7/16/1943 - 3/2/1944. Coordinated human intelligence, together with OSS, SOE, and Free French personnel, in France and Germany, 6/10/1944 - 5/8/1945. Known to have formed close relationship with French SOE agent Claudette Bloch, who was killed in action 8/21/1944; Capt. Fairfax was wounded in the same engagement. Present at the liberation of Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex, 5/5/1945, and assisted in documenting abuses there for prosecution. Assigned to interrogation of German POWs regarding "ratline" escape system, 5/8/1945-11/8/1945.

Transferred to US Army JAG Corps to assist prosecutorial staff at Nuremberg Tribunals, 11/8/1945. Lead investigator for the prosecution in the case of Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and presented finding of facts thereof to the court; uncovered eyewitness testimony from Mauthausen inmates proving that Mr. Kaltenbrunner had been present at the camp. Witnessed Mr. Kaltenbrunner's execution, 9/16/1946, and resigned his commission in the US Army the following day.

Returned to FBI as supervisory special agent, Criminal Investigative Division, 10/3/1946. Assigned Central District of California. Assisted LAPD in investigation of serial homicides of Japanese women, eventually leading to arrest of serial killer Art Magnusson. Led investigation of Cohen Crime Family, with most evidence turned over to local authorities for prosecution. Identified as one of the least ideologically reliable men in the FBI by Dir. Hoover, and subsequently seconded to Project Sign, 4/20/1948, on the grounds that such a secondment would block his further promotion.

by **Organized States** » Tue Apr 16, 2019 4:38 am

Both applications easily accepted. I’m really excited to be working with both of you!

So I’ll be drafting the IC soon and hopefully we can get started within the week.

by **Organized States** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 6:52 pm

IC Thread is up! Feel free to post!

Project Sign: New Dawn (OOC/Interest Thread)

Project Sign: New Dawn (OOC/Interest Thread)

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