Heroes of Tomorrow Redux [DONE]

[Forest State]

Daria is accepted.

I’ll have a roster update sometime soon.

[Forest State]

So, those who were left off the missions are being sent to Toronto for a press tour. There's going to be a section where characters get to answer questions from the press, and if you want to submit those questions, you can post them here and they'll be added to the post with the media asking questions.

Be sure to specify which hero it's for, if it's for someone specific. Posting multiple questions is fine too.

[Gudmund]

So, those who were left off the missions are being sent to Toronto for a press tour. There's going to be a section where characters get to answer questions from the press, and if you want to submit those questions, you can post them here and they'll be added to the post with the media asking questions.

Be sure to specify which hero it's for, if it's for someone specific. Posting multiple questions is fine too.

You don't have to use any, feel free to pick and choose or modify them to fit better.

General Press/Crowd Questions:

• How well do you believe the new Young Guardian's have performed, and how could they improve themselves?
• Isn't the Young Guardians program just a scheme to monopolise and control superhumans?
• Is the Young Guardians program truly profitable? Training inexperienced and potentially dangerous supers must be an expensive endeavor.
• Have the recruits been properly screened? A few of them are allegedly previous have a notable criminal record.
• Many people think the Young Guardians program is to brainwash children into useful pawns. What are your thoughts on this?

Charlie Press Questions:

• Some of the Young Guardians seem unsuitable for hero work. Charlie Burkhall supposedly has shapeshifting abilities, surely that's more useful in acting or modelling, instead of being a superhero? (Charlie basically responds with 'piss off, its my liiiiiife')
• Crowd: Is it true that Shifty can take on anyone's form? Do you have split personality disorder as a result? Do you have a true/default form? Are you really good at charades? Do you age at all?

[Fedel]

How would I join in the current RP if I wanted to make a character?

[Forest State]

I'd suggest reading the OP, at least the essential sections like the one on powers, and the rules and then just fill out the application.

On another note, I hope ya'll like this very early teaser of arc 3, featuring our esteemed Director as well as three of this universe's villains, including one we haven't seen or heard from yet.

Styled after RWBY, just because.

[Fedel]

I'd suggest reading the OP, at least the essential sections like the one on powers, and the rules and then just fill out the application.

On another note, I hope ya'll like this very early teaser of arc 3, featuring our esteemed Director as well as three of this universe's villains, including one we haven't seen or heard from yet.

Styled after RWBY, just because.

(Image)

Oh, I've read them. I mean, how would I join in the current RP since my character wasn't part of the initial batch of characters to be "flown into Angel's Village."

Or would I just act like I've always been there?

[Forest State]

I'd suggest reading the OP, at least the essential sections like the one on powers, and the rules and then just fill out the application.

On another note, I hope ya'll like this very early teaser of arc 3, featuring our esteemed Director as well as three of this universe's villains, including one we haven't seen or heard from yet.

Styled after RWBY, just because.

(Image)

Oh, I've read them. I mean, how would I join in the current RP since my character wasn't part of the initial batch of characters to be "flown into Angel's Village."

Or would I just act like I've always been there?

It's preferred that you have them always there, having them freshly introduced is also an option although if you joined now you would be put in Toronto and not NYC for this time skip because of the ongoing press tour arc.

[Fedel]

Oh, I've read them. I mean, how would I join in the current RP since my character wasn't part of the initial batch of characters to be "flown into Angel's Village."

Or would I just act like I've always been there?

It's preferred that you have them always there, having them freshly introduced is also an option although if you joined now you would be put in Toronto and not NYC for this time skip because of the ongoing press tour arc.

Gotcha.

[The Verdantderm Lands]

Real life is making it impossible for me to play much at all. Sorry, I need to take a break.

[Forest State]

Real life is making it impossible for me to play much at all. Sorry, I need to take a break.

Just come back when you can, it's fine.

Also, there's now an official early trailer for arc 3. Anyone want to take a guess at the pivotal event? :^)

[Forest State]

---

The Middle East during the 20th century and even the 21st has been the home of some of the bloodiest conflicts in the world, with both foreign powers and local countries clashing among the palm trees and the sands of this distinctive region. That is true both in our world and in a world featuring superpowers. In fact, the addition of powers only increased the amount of conflict in some areas, not between nations but within countries themselves as metahumans strengthened various political factions and made them much more dangerous. One group of people with Kalashnikovs, after all, is a danger. A group of people with Kalashnikovs and a human superweapon, however, can topple a country by themselves.

However, the governments of the area responded in kind. The most totalitarian became the most secure, arming themselves with metahumans to protect against rebellions, coups, and foreign powers. While the west focused on regularing metahumans, other areas of the world focused on how they could best be used as personal weapons, such as a missile or a tank. Metahumans could turn the tide of conflicts, especially against weaker militaries which sometimes lacked the means that the west had of dealing with them. Soon, the majority of the nations in the region were led by men who surrounded themselves with the most powerful powered individuals that they could coerce, bribe, or buy. Others followed these leaders out of a true belief in their nations, especially in the nationalistic ones such as Iraq and Iran. With the rise of the Gulf States, mercenaries also rose up and started offering their services, and the metahuman mercenary market had a boom of the likes of which had never been seen before.

Not every county, however, took the same path. Nation by nation, this is the story of how the most powerful players in the Middle East were affected by the superpower boom, or more accurately, where they are today in relation with superheroes and powered individuals in general.

---

Iraq and Saudi Arabia: In the heart of the Middle East, an axis has formed between the Saudi Arabian state and Iraq, which recovered surprisingly well from the United States invasion due to the role that metahumans played after the war. Their government is one of the most authoritarian in the world these days, but as a strictly secular government, it’s cut down on the amount of terror that comes out of the country and helped to largely prevent the rise of groups such as the Islamic State. Some claim that the United States supported the Heavenly Legion, the group of metahumans responsible for the gradual takeover of the country and the subsequent defeat of most rebel groups following the end of the formal Iraq War. But American backed or not, the group has brought stability at the expense of freedom, with Iraq plummeting beyond even the Ba’athist years in terms of personal freedom.

To the Saudis, however, this was a great tradeoff. The United States, Saudi Arabia, and the Heavenly Legion led Iraq were happy to join together in an axis in the Persian Gulf, against Iran and other enemies. Even if they weren’t democratic, the new Iraq very much had as similar outlook to the other two factions. These days, the Iraqis and the Saudis maintain a close alliance, and the Iraqi metahuman forces are feared throughout the region. Under the banner of the Iraqi Strategic Forces, the new country has used powerful metahumans to enforce the rule of law all across their own borders and even abroad such as in Yemen, combating the religious extremism that would threaten the secular government’s chokehold on daily life.

---

Iran and Syria: Iran and Syria were brought closer together by the developments in Iraq and the Syrian Civil War was largely avoided and ended much quicker than it was in our timeline. The reason for this is the Syrian government’s personal metahuman forces, which played a role in both intelligence and in breaking the back of the Syrian resistance before things could deteriorate into the situation that we know today. Iran, on the other hand, would not face such internal troubles and would use metahumans as an external weapon with the creation of its national hero team, the Lions of Persia. This team, however, would have a darker side. Rather than acting as a shield, it would act as the sword of the Islamic revolution and the government that it had brought about.

Attempts by Arab citizens of Iran to get independence would quickly be met by bloodbaths, often carried out by the very Lions of Persia that were held up as the defenders of the country. This team also took part in what would become known as the Syrian Civil War, even if that war ended up being short and was a decisive victory by the well organized government forces and their allies, who took down disorganized rebels. Still, even if this reputation was somewhat masked by the press in Iran, the Lions of Persia picked up something of a reputation internationally… Wherever the Lions go, trouble follows. That’s not to say that they’re the only forces under the control of the government. The induction of metahumans into Hezbollah only made the entire group a far larger threat compared to what it once was, increasing tensions with Israel.

---

Lebanon, Libya, and Yemen: Some countries ended up with the short end of the stick. While Iraq was able to avoid being destroyed by war, Lebanon and Libya as well as Yemen couldn’t avoid the same fate. These countries fell into conflict between armed factions and the super-powerful individuals that were mixed in with these factions increased the destruction far beyond what it would have been in a conventional war. Of the three, Lebanon is somewhat the best off, but that’s not saying much. The country is still divided and both Lebanon Wars still happened, but the entire country is much worse off than it would have been without the Lebanese Civil War being as destructive as it ended up being.

Libya and Yemen, on the other hand, are contenders for the worst places to live on Earth. The Gaddafi government was still toppled, and the country still fell into fighting afterwards, but each faction found themselves with walking weapons of mass destruction with metahumans. And because of that, the Libyan Civil War is a stalemate conflict which hasn’t improved since it began, and in 2024, most Libyans are less concerned with the war and more concerned about getting out of Libya. It’s perhaps the closest thing right now to a true anarchy, where might makes right and where a gang of metahumans and some militants with guns and technicals can set the laws for everyone under their territory.

Yemen isn’t quite as bad but has been split up between Iraqi-Saudi proxy factions and Iranian proxies, with the Lions of Persia themselves making appearances in the area and waging a destructive war which has seen the country’s cities destroyed as much as they would be if air strikes had been used instead. Like Libya, the main problem here isn’t the destruction, but the fact that with such powerful individuals on both sides, a stalemate is the default option. And so far, it looks like things could be a stalemate for awhile.

---

Israel: Israel is always the controversial nation in the Middle East, but compared to some of its neighbors, Israel has had it good since the metahuman boom. Israel has taken the western approach of introducing a metahuman regulatory body, the Bureau of Metahuman Activities, rather than pressing metahumans into the service of the government. However, there are metahumans working for the Israeli government. The extent of this isn’t known by most people, but it’s believed that the Special Weapons Command of the Israeli Army is a cover for the Israeli metahuman forces, which have been known to operate in and around Syria, Iraq, Iran, and other neighboring countries, emphasizing stealth over raw firepower and ability to topple a country. While Israel might seem relatively harmless compared to the more blatant shows of force displayed by the metahumans of its neighbors, it’s definitely not a country to be trifled with. It’s said that Israeli metahumans are the reason why Iran has not yet gone nuclear.

---

The Gulf States: While some of the other nations of the Middle East waged conflicts, the Gulf States of the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain incorporated the growing metahuman trend into their growing economies and the UAE would become the largest hub for metahuman mercenaries in the region, with these mercenaries being hired by both Emirati and foreign clients. The government of the UAE is known to be a sleeping tiger in the region, seemingly peaceful but able to use some of the best mercenaries in the world if provoked. Their capital, Dubai, is the main source of mercenaries even for many western nations looking for metahumans to do their bidding with no strings attached.

[Wysten]

Tag

[Wysten]

SONYA GEORGIJEVIĆ

Name: Sonya Georgijević
Nickname/Alias: Arsenal
Appearance:

Gender: Female
Age: 23
Build: 5’11” 190 lbs
Faction: Young Guardians
Power Classification: Genetic

Description of Powers: Can summon any type of firearm from both this realm and from fictional ones.

Weaknesses: The more powerful the gun the more stamina is drained from her. In regards to fictional weapons the be all end all weapons are not accessible. Examples being the BFG or Fat Man.

Equipment: N/A

Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Nationality: Serbian
Hometown: Novi Sad
Sexuality:Bi

Personality: Largely still playful she is friendly to most. Sonya also likes to fight with anyone to test her powers and can easily fall in love with persons on both sides.
Motivation: To make a name for herself and also put some money in her pocket.

Biography: Born to two veterans of the Yugoslav wars in 2001 Sonya’s early childhood was rough to say the least. Sonya and her family had to fight for most goods well into the late 2000s. In school though Sonya largely performed well and she was at her best in history. At school Sonya largely played well with others though in high school she was rumored to be loose with both sides of the ball. After graduating she found no options for employment and thus enlisted with the Serbian Army. After passing boot camp she was deployed with the 47Th Mechanized Battlion for the invasion of Kosvo.
In 2022 she was apart of the main force heading straight for the Kosovoan capital of Pristina. There Sonya was involved in the brutal house to house fighting. In this battle Sonya and her fireteam was cut off and surrounded in the local suburbs. Setting up in one of the apartment complexes her squad held a floor for hours until ammo began to run out. In a moment of mirth she jokingly wished for an RPK and like that she had the LMG in her lap. Realizing her power Sonya began to make M21s. This took a lot out of her and she was found passed out with a single rifle siting in her lap. After this she was a unit hero though quit the army and found her new calling in the Young Guardians.

#HOTApp

[Forest State]

snip

We didn't exactly have an invasion of Kosovo in this timeline.

Mainly because there's not actually a way Serbia could pull it off without having a repeat of Operation Allied Force. Serbia is getting friendlier with the west IRL too which... Kind of means conceding on the issue of Kosovo to prevent the aforementioned intervention from happening.

[Forest State]

---

Side Arc: Fatherland

---

Coming soon, the first major branching side story of the RP. Due to a North Korean commando raid on a secret DRMA blacksite located in South Korea, leading to the theft of valuable materials, tensions have once again heated up on the Korean Peninsula. Not only did the raid worsen relations, but the stolen material from the blacksite was deemed valuable enough for the South Koreans to make a decision on war, launching an all out invasion on the North following the intrusion into Jeju Island. With the Americans pulled into the war by the South and the North being supported covertly by the Chinese, the world is once again at war.

Metahumans will play a large role in that war. Offering firepower that can sometimes exceed that of conventional weapons, metahumans can act as a swaying factor in a war for a smaller nation going up against a giant. North Korea is no stranger to using metahumans in warfare, with a long history of conscripting artificial metahumans and keeping them in reserve along with special forces, as well as hiring mercenaries at times. Department M, the organization within North Korea responsible for the use of metahumans in warfare, is one of the most well known of all such organizations in the world for this reason. After all, its members are some of the most well drilled and the North Koreans have even become known for their near mastery over the ideas of creating metahumans from scratch. It's said that Department M is one of the few organizations in the world that can not only induce powers, but influence the type of powers that one receives.

With both Department M and the Alliance of Six being sent into action as representatives of their respective sides, and with the Alliance of Six having members from both South Korea and the United States, it's clear that metahumnas might even be what causes the war to swing in one direction or another. The Fatherland arc follows the North Korean side, and those who are either here because of threats from a tyrannical government, fighting to survive both at home and on the battlefield, and those who came here seeking profits or other personal things and found that the North was the more lucrative of the two sides by far.

---

Arc Status: Semi-Open (Spots must be requested).

Player Count: TBA

Difficulty Level: Advanced. While you will have a lot of firepower in your hands at times, an understanding of military concepts is needed in addition to understanding how to use your powers.

Objectives: Use traditional combat skills in tandem with powers to support the Korean People's Army in the defense of the North Korean homeland against the southern invasion.

[Skaldia]

LUAN KRUGER

Name: Luan Kruger
Nickname/Alias: Void
Appearance:

Gender: Male
Age: 77
Build: 1.7m (5'7) and 55.8kg (123lbs)
Faction: Bengal Consortium
Power Classification: Genetic/External

Description of Powers:Dark Matter comprises eighty five percent of the Universe. Invisible. Below the level of human perception and all the Laws of the Universe. It's power is both mysterious and seductive and after carefully studying it's dark energies, has Luan reached the mastery of it's power to such levels as he has.

Dark Energy Beams: He is capable of concentrating it into devastating blasts of dark energy that leaves colorless dust behind. The targets can be anything in his line of sight from planes to trains. It is by far the oldest of his powers and the most refined, able to concentrate the beams on a pinpoint as small as a pinhead and around six feet at it's widest. The range is as far as sight. The blasts corrode and burn flesh, turning the flesh that is burned in to dust. The blast has first collected, becoming a black energy wave snapping and crackling with excess charge. It usually takes a moment, around ten seconds, for each blast to be prepared. He also has to aim each blast before he fires. But when he does, the blast causes up to one to two degree burns and able to dent steel plate at a hundred feet. The beams travel at 1000 mps.

Dark Matter Teleportation: One of the most difficult of his powers and one that he can only use in situations that require him to escape, he is able to slip outside of the regular universe, becoming part of dark matter and swimming it's dark waves. He can then step out and reappear seemingly from nowhere in whatever location he has been to before and remembers correctly. Reappearing inside a wall is no fun. It is the latest of his powers, and the most seductive. When using the power he almost never wants to leave when he slips out of reality. This power is so seductive, only in the most desperate or absolutely necessary situations will Luan use this power.

Dark Energy Invisibility and Discorporate or Sumere: He can also render himself invisible by allowing the power of the Dark Matter to coalesce and penetrate his physical form. It takes at least an hour of drawing the power and letting the power have time to subsume his entire being. While becoming Sumere, as he calls it, he cannot be disturbed or else he has to start all over, requiring peace and meditation. While Sumere he can observe and move about the physical universe. He can effect the physical world around him by concentrating but the physical world cannot effect him. He can be rendered non-Discorporate and Invisible by a heavy dose of radiation or extreme and sudden heat or cold for some reason he has yet to quantify. He can also be seen by those who can see below the visible spectrum.

The Dark Hold: Able to use only once within a seventy two hour period, the Dark Hold is when Luan touches someone's mind with dark energy. While under the direct touch of the victim's skull, Luan is able to scan the surface thoughts and feelings of the person under his fingertips within moments of his touch. Within thirty seconds, he is able to access their entire collection of memories. However, the touch is fatal to whoever he touches, the brutal and cold touch of the dark energy typically turning the mind to slush. This is also an incredibly dangerous move for Luan; he goes in to a catatonic state for three minutes after applying the Dark Hold, and is physically weaker by half for six days after using it. It's used mainly as an information retrieval tool by Luan, and only in situations he has absolute control in.

Immunities: In the full grip of his power as he has become, he no longer ages and will appear as a young man forever. He is also immune to poison and other active effects such as stimulants, depressors, and anesthesia. Radiation has no effect on him.

Weaknesses: Being in the regular universe among matter weakens him constantly. Despite the level of power he can draw upon, without drawing upon it he only benefits from the passive abilities of immunity from sickness or age. If he needs to use his powers, they come to him slowly, like a reluctant lover. He also lacks many senses that humans and other meta-humans rely upon such as smell, taste, and is completely colorblind. Drawing on too much of his power will eventually force him to leave the universe entirely one day and live within the dark matter for eternity. As it has brought this about, most of what made Luan himself has drained away, starting with emotions.

Equipment: The ACS-3 "Shadow" Suit
The third and latest combat suit developed by Vector Industries in 2023, the Shadow is runs on an internal power supply unlike the previous two incarnations and is made up of a nano-carbon weave designed to be form fitting to the wielder as well as providing protection against bladed and small arms fire. Inside the suit, a direct feedback is maintained between wearer and suit through the use of temple inserts running to the helmet of the suit. On the static locations on the body are a composite ceramic alloy designed resist enemy rocket attacks and some vehicle fire.

The main benefit of the suit is how it serves to maintain and focus Luan's powers more efficiently. Contained within the suit are carbon fibre bundles designed to enhance the wearer's strength. In Luan's case, this means he is twice as fast and strong as a normal human being.

Alignment: Lawful Evil
Nationality: Haitian
Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa
Sexuality: Heterosexual

Personality: To the random passer-by, good or evil, a clean and friendly tone is met. Exceptionally charismatic and emanating a powerful aura of confidence and strength, he rarely has much trouble with charming most people he crosses paths with. But still, something about him is not quite right. It's nothing you can put your finger on, and the average denizen will never notice much of it. But to those of insight and/or experience, he will not manage to retain the slippery and silver-covered appearance he tries so hard to uphold. Deep down, they will know something is off, without having anything clear to point at. It's a hunch and a gut feeling.

But underneath the relatively smooth surface, darkness broods. The deception employed to reach the ultimate goal is beyond imagination, both in creativity and ruthlessness. He will stop at nothing - no magic, no uttered word, no lie, no incompassionate and cold-blooded murder - nothing is taboo. Whatever it takes to preserve the chances he believes himself to have at an even greater existence, he will do. Without so much as flinching, he will lie your skin full, while witnessing the slaughter of your own children right behind your back. Cold of heart and ruthless in method, to say that the hunger for power drives him to become a fatally dangerous person to come across is a vast understatement.

Always is he thinking ahead and towards the greater goal. A sly and cunning sense of choosing his battles has evolved, which to win, which to lose, and which to not engage in at all. It has become his speciality and his most sacred weapon, to trick people into underestimating himself, always keeping all his cards as close to his chest as possible.

Loyalty, as we define it, does not exist in his mind. Loyalty is only something that can exist so long there is a mutual need for each other's help or services. Once that condition goes away, so does any alliance. No matter who, no matter what, no matter where - the word of the Void cannot be taken for truth. In a nutshell, he will feed you the words he believes necessary for you to come around, abuse your skills/person/items to and for his own benefit, and leave you to the wolves afterwards. He's not one to commit an outright stab in the back, but he holds no allegiance to anyone, unless he sees an opportunity to gain something from these.
Motivation: To destroy the Guardians, to establish a new world order where metahumans are masters over homo sapiens, and begin colonizing the solar system.

Biography: Born in 1947 to German immigrants in Cape Town, Luan's parents were quite renowned in their respective scientific fields and had met while working for the Nazi's during World War Two. Klaus Kruger had been a reluctant Nazi and had been able to avoid the grip of the Americans and Soviets by fleeing Berlin as soon as possible with his pregnant wife, Marina. They arrived in Cape Town just in time for her to give birth to her son. In honor of the country that was adopting them, they decided to name their child Luan.

From birth he was a strange child. At first, his parents were worried that Luan was somehow mentally incapacitated; he did not speak a word until he was three. However, once he began speaking it was with a nuance and clarity unheard of in children thrice his age. Nor did he play with other children, sneering at any attempt and wandering off to seek solitude. His parents knew he was precocious and honestly, their lives demanded their full attention and had no time to give Luan the time he deserved or needed. He was left to wander on his own, discovering the potentials of what he was capable of.

Klaus Kruger established Vector Industries in 1951, originally based in Cape Town. Vector Industries had it's inception as a shipbuilding company and was known to cut competitors at the knees with lower contracts. By 1953, Vector Industries was one of the largest shipbuilding companies in Africa with plans to expand operations into the Caribbean. It helped that Luan was beginning to show his genius even by this point, racing through primary school to graduate at the tender age of eight.

While his parents knew only a quiet, intense, highly intelligent child, Luan had known he was different by five. It was five when he first discovered that he could manipulate something he initially began calling Kaos. At first, it began as a dark secret, yet another to add to his collection. Being able to manipulate the Kaos was more intoxicating than anything he had experienced. It whispered possibilities. Experimenting, he discovered it had many uses. The beams of dark light that stabbed and burned were pleasurable beyond anything of the flesh. However, it was nothing compared to teleportation or becoming invisible.
It was at this time that he began to lose his senses. To him, it was a worthy exchange.

In 1954, Hurricane Hazel devastates most of Haiti. Using the devastation caused by the hurricane, Klaus Kruger takes a chance and moves his family and Vector Industries' base of operations to Haiti. The move is a brilliant one. With contracts now flooding in from rebuilding Haiti's shipping as well as from other countries in the Caribbean, as well as the American monolith to the North, Vector Industries expands by over four hundred percent. Using the capital, Klaus Kruger sends his son to America to continue his education. At nine years old, Luan is one of the youngest people to be accepted at MIT.

By 12 years old, Luan had acquired a PhD in physics, exhibiting a ravenous and remarkable intelligence. He came home to Haiti to great fanfare. His mother and father were incredibly proud of their child, but Luan wasn't yet finished. At thirteen, he was advising his father to expand the family business and, much to the surprise of Luan, his father agreed with his young son's advice. In 1960, Vector Industries begins operating in the weapons manufacturing. Their biggest contractor is, of course, the United States, and VecIN specialize in naval weaponry for the US.

From 1960 to 1965, Luan helped guide his father's business, as his father's health had begun to decline, while continuing his education in the US. By 1963, he had acquired dual PhD's and had several academic papers written up on astrophysics, genetics, and biochemical engineering. As the world was swept up by the fact that metahumans were a secret, Luan had already determined that he would do anything in his power to keep his powers a secret while beginning to develop radical ideas about metahumans, resolving to study them.

Despite what Luan would believe, his special nature had not gone unnoticed by his mother, and it had given her nightmares on the idea that something like her son could come about seemingly naturally. With cancer beginning to eat away at Klaus, Marina confronted her son about his unique nature in 1966. At that point in Luan's personal career, he was nineteen years old and already running his own company, Volos Biosciences. Ostensibly, the purpose of Volos was studying the metahuman and learning to identify them from the general public. Volos was contracted heavily by the US, particularly DARPA but Luan's connections to Vector Industries meant that VecIN had a windfall of massive military contracts fall in their lap.

In the expansive penthouse owned by Luan in New York City, Marina urges her son to turn himself in to the authorities, to step away from running Vector and Volos, and to stop using his powers. Luan reacts violently, for the first time using the Hold on someone. He awakens to his mother a cold corpse beside him. His mother's death is called a sudden aneurysm. The death of his wife, coupled with the cancer ravaging him, is enough to catapult Klaus in to downward spiral. Within a month of the death of his wife, Klaus Kruger is dead.

The death of his parents cleared the way for the worst excesses of Luan to emerge. Having always considered himself the superior of humans, the study of metahumans convinced him that they were the natural masters of the planet. He decided to begin attempting to synthesize the metahuman gene in an attempt to make artificial metahumans. To aid in his quest, he buys Gonâve Island off the coast of Haiti in 1970 from the government and establishes Vector City as a base of operations for the quickly growing business. In 1971, Volos Biosciences is formally absorbed by VecIn. He also began to plot just how best to bring about his success.

The plan came absurdly simple. Humanity had begun to warm to the idea of metahuman protectors. He would have to learn how to turn that trust against them. He had his chance in 1979. His study of the metahuman had brought his business in to contact with several of them. One of them was a deluded individual that went by the moniker the 'Phaser'. It had been easy to set him up as a villain in Washington DC and be in a hospital.

As the capital team fought to bring in the 'Phaser', Luan had been in the boiler room, setting up explosives. It was then a matter of place and time, teleporting away from the hospital while detonating the boiler to explode. With the fight occurring above, the metahumans had been blamed for hospital explosion. Luan had then lobbied hard in DC. However, his plans of having a department arise that would apprehend and detain suspected metahumans was stymied, or at least partially. The Department for the Regulation of Metahuman Activity had a lot less teeth than Luan would have hoped for, but it was the best he could get.

He spent a majority of the eighties focused on expanding his business while building Vector City and diversifying VecIn's strengths. The ongoing Cold War was more than enough to make absurd profit. However, it was in second and third world countries where VecIn truly did well in, their business ethics flexible at the best of times, nonexistent in the worst. He did his best, through lobbying and other incredibly nefarious means to weaken relations further between East and West, but his refusal to be more hands on and remain in the shadows delays many of his plans and dashed others completely. Also, he still appeared as a very young man. By 1987, he was forty years old. He was forced to either mask himself completely when dealing with others or acting through proxy.

In 1988, he saw the development of Serum XI, the final breakthrough in Volos Biosciences. While not being able to create metahumans, the Serum could identify potential metahumans in the population when coming in to contact with the DNA of a metahuman. However, by that point Luan had become quite close to a rising genius in the US defense department, a young man by the name of Abner Hawk. Abner Hawk had his own plans with the metahumans, very neatly in line with Luan's. Luan sold the Serum to Abner Hawk and would provide the security forces, VI-TAC-SEC, that would go on to kidnap potential candidates for the secret programs that the Hawk Institute would go on carry out.

From 1990-2005, Luan led VecIN to greater and greater heights. By 1996, VecIN had become fifth largest weapon supplier in the world and Luan one of the richest men in the world. But he had never stopped in his attempts to bring about a world order where metahumans were masters, even if his desire for profit and power sometimes overshadowed the ultimate goal.

The Swarm's arrival saw much of the infrastructure and power that VecIN had built being hit hard. However, the war had succeeded in destabilizing the world yet further. While on the surface it would have seemed that VecIN was given an almost mortal wound, study and research of the Swarm technology, continuing advances in the study of metahumans, and more and more powerful weaponry saw VecIN continue to rake in profits.

Luan was one of the founding members of the Bengal Consortium. In 2012 he had deduced that he would need people of similar methodologies. With VecIN's connections, it became possible for the beginning of the Bengal Consortium to come together and begin operating against those that would deign to tell the master's of the world what to do.
#HOTApp

[Forest State]

snip

Accepted.

[Skaldia]

snip

Accepted.

Whoo. *wipes brow* okay, thanks

[Skaldia]

VI-TAC-SEC

Name: Vector Industries' Tactical Security or VI-TAC-SEC
Approximate Member Count: Around 25,000
Areas of Operation: International

Goals: On the surface, VI-TAC-SEC acts as security forces for the myriad facilities under operation by Vector Industries. They also act as a private military company that can be contracted out to the right bidder. However, in reality, VI-TAC-SEC serves as security forces for the Hawk Institute and has engaged in dozens of clandestine operations of Hawk and several other elusive and secretive organizations over the years.
Leadership: VI-TAC-SEC's Chief of Operations, General Gabriel Ortega*

*Gabriel Ortega is not related in any way to Ortega family that's tied to the Living Legends and the New Order

Biography: Not many people know the name of this multi-billion dollar multi-national corporation. It has facilities in 23 countries, employs over a quarter of a million people and has revenues that exceed the gross national product of a large number of countries. In fact, even many of it’s employees don’t recognize the large black V that is the symbol of the corporation at large.

Many Fingers, Many Pies
Vector Industries is deeply involved in arms development and military hardware. It is the fifth largest arms dealer in the world, only lagging behind the U.S., Russia, France and China. It also has long term deals and contracts with all of the above countries, which makes it nearly untouchable even by organizations like the United Nations or even N.A.T.O. In dealing with things like viral weaponry, biochemical agents, advanced technologies and even nuclear weapons, the corporation has found a need for specially trained security personnel.

After the infiltration and destruction of the Bogota, Columbia munitions factory in 1983, the corporation founded an initiative to secure, train, and arm it’s own para-military security force. This was needed since many of its key facilities were located in second and third world countries where the standing military and police forces could as quickly become a threat as the criminals and protesters that they were supposed to protect the facilities from.

Camp Rommel
Located in the blasted desert sahel of Chad, in Africa, this is the primary HQ of the VI-TAC-SEC. The sprawling compound covers several square miles and serves as the principle training facility for the tactical security service. Candidates are flown or shipped in from other countries to take part in a 12 month training program that deals with rifle and handgun training, corporate indoctrination, demolitions, as well as a variety of tasks ranging from computer operations and surveillance to driving tanks and attack helicopters.

At any given time, there are between 4,000 and 12,000 recruits, officers, and other personnel on duty at this fortress in the desert. It maintains a defense force of an armored tank battalion, two groups of attack helicopters, and a squadron of multi-role fighters. Tanks and combat vehicles tend to be French or Russian designs, AMX tanks and cold war era Soviet BMP armored personnel carriers. The aircraft are all American designs, with the F/A-18 Hornet and F-16 Falcon both being common craft.

The Castles
Each Vector facility has a letter grade that determines the size and power of the VI-TAC-SEC units that are deployed to it. This is often called the Castle Scores as most of the V-TAC units refer to their HQ at a facility as the ‘castle’. The scale grades from Alpha to Eta, with there being three A grade facilities; Camp Rommel in Chad, Camp Wolfe in the Ukraine, and Vector City, Haiti. The number of E through G facilities across the world is simply a huge number.

Castle Alpha - Rated for the highest of security needs, these are modern fortresses of reinforced concrete, advanced anti-surveillance technology and storehouses of ample supplies of vaccines, weaponry, gold, and other valuables. Camp Rommel has this rating as it is a training facility and the largest of all of VI-TAC-SEC's holdings. Camp Wolfe is the heart of the corporation’s nuclear and energetic technologies division. Finally Vector City is the social and political hub of the corporation.

Castles Beta and Gamma
These secondary facilities are primarily located in Africa, SE Asia and India, and South America. With garrisons including tank units, companies of infantry and deployments of military fighters and attack helicopters, these facilities tend to violate laws of the 1st world industrial nations. The majority of these locales are based around raw material extraction, such as corporate owned mines, smelting facilities and heavy industrial factories.

Castles Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta
The majority of these facilities are smaller laboratories and more clean and meticulous factories located in stable second world countries and most first world industrial countries. A Delta facility is large and well known, possibly traded on the stock market. An Epsilon facility is a major part of a state or province economy, operating a number of satellite facilities under its standing protection force. Zeta facilities are often the focus of small to moderate sized rural communities, being the place that most of the locals get their first jobs, never knowing what the various small things they make are eventually used for. These facilities keep a few official looking personnel on staff as well as a good number of middle managers, project coordinators as well as a variety of other BS positions who are actually VI-TAC-SEC officers.

Castle Eta
While the lowest of the security ranks, these often have disproportionately high numbers of troops. An Eta facility is a recruitment center or tertiary training facility, such as a special forces training camp in Libya, a underwater training camp off the coast of Bangladesh, or a bright and shiny recruitment center in Southern California. Those Americans sure like to play with guns.

The Security Squad
The basic unit of organization, the Security squad is a group of 9 trained soldiers lead by an Under-Captain. Each has basic training with the rifle, a semi-automatic side arm as well as a basic understanding of improvised explosives and support weapons. The Under-Captain has seconds in the guise of a medical trainee and the radio operator of the squad. Unlike most rent-a-cop operations, the squads are trained in squad tactics, close combat, riot control as well as disabling reinforced and armored vehicles.

Special Teams Units
Sometimes the abilities of a basic squad are not able to meet a mission profile. While the standard squad, often alone, or in larger numbers are fully suited for support work with local and national security forces and for defensive purposes, another type of squad is needed. These are the VI-TAC-SEC-STU.

Infiltraitor Squad
Less based on firepower and presence and more in electronics and stealth, this squad of 5 men is trained in computer warfare, espianoge and reconaissance. Weapons are specialized and much smaller, or even non-present, while communication and transportation factors are more signifigant. Teams from this department refer to themselves as A Teams, an obscure reference to a TV program.

Demolitions Squad
Subtlty is non-existant with this heavily armed squad. Consisting of 10 troops, this unit deploys with conventional and improvised explosives. They can move into an area and collapse buildings, destroy targets with vindictive force, and deploy heavy weapons such as large calibre rifles, guided missle weapons and other toys.

Hammers and Nails
The basic philosophy behind VI-TAC-SEC is that problems can be solved with the right tools, or nails and hammers. The organizations operates with a proportionate responce plan, matching forces with rivals as this elicts much less reaction on the global scene. Videos of rioters facing riot troops is less emotionally charged that rioters facing the rows of tanks that the organization can deploy. Responcibity is a big factor in the distribution of ‘hammers’ to units and their administrators.

VI-TAC-SEC does hire out its squads as security and defence contrators, modern mercenaries. These are seldom if ever the elite squads or special teams units. Rather, they hire the standard squad, often in large numbers for completing missions, defending contested areas and the like. Many militaries will hire these forces to safeguard important locales such as supply depots and supply lines to free up traditional forces for combat purposes. Not surprisingly, the U.S. is the primary employer of VI-TAC-SEC security contractors.

#HOTApp

[Forest State]

snip

Faction accepted.

Although it might be worth noting specifically that Gabriel Ortega isn't linked to the more notable Ortega family that's tied to the Living Legends and the New Order. While they may not be the most relevant right now (with Mariel only appearing so far in one of the side stories and one post with the Fallen Angels), they're also prominent in weapons design.

[Skaldia]

snip

Faction accepted.

Although it might be worth noting specifically that Gabriel Ortega isn't linked to the more notable Ortega family that's tied to the Living Legends and the New Order. While they may not be the most relevant right now (with Mariel only appearing so far in one of the side stories and one post with the Fallen Angels), they're also prominent in weapons design.

Ya know it had completely slipped my mind the connection there.
In any case, Gabriel Ortega is an NPC and will serve a minor role, if any.

[Forest State]

Faction accepted.

Although it might be worth noting specifically that Gabriel Ortega isn't linked to the more notable Ortega family that's tied to the Living Legends and the New Order. While they may not be the most relevant right now (with Mariel only appearing so far in one of the side stories and one post with the Fallen Angels), they're also prominent in weapons design.

Ya know it had completely slipped my mind the connection there.
In any case, Gabriel Ortega is an NPC and will serve a minor role, if any.

Yep, might just be worth noting on the app itself so that's clear when looking back on it in the future, either way it's accepted and I'll add it to the roster next update.

[Skaldia]

Ya know it had completely slipped my mind the connection there.
In any case, Gabriel Ortega is an NPC and will serve a minor role, if any.

Yep, might just be worth noting on the app itself so that's clear when looking back on it in the future, either way it's accepted and I'll add it to the roster next update.

I added a snippet in the app noting Gabriel Ortega's no relation to the Ortega family.

[Forest State]

Yep, might just be worth noting on the app itself so that's clear when looking back on it in the future, either way it's accepted and I'll add it to the roster next update.

I added a snippet in the app noting Gabriel Ortega's no relation to the Ortega family.

Thanks.

---

In other news, the pixel art sheet has begun. Some of the player characters are done already, I do intend to do all of the player characters and important NPCs eventually. Although I'll be prioritizing the ones from players who request them, rather than inactive players.

[Forest State]

SEOJUN BANG

Name: Seojun Bang
Nickname/Alias: Faker
Appearance:

Gender: Male
Age: 25
Build: 6'2", 195 lbs
Faction: Department M
Power Classification: Artificial

Description of Powers: Bang has an enhanced sense of empathy which is also a kind of advanced perception. Because of this, Bang is able to get into the thought process of someone else and, with a high amount of accuracy, predict their next moves. The closer someone is to making a predicted move, the more likely it is that the prediction is accurate. Additionally, Bang must be able to observe someone himself for the power to work, in person rather than through other means. Spending more time with the person makes the predictions more accurate, although even without that added bonus, they tend to fall on the accurate side more often than not with just the base power.

Weaknesses: Being able to predict someone's moves doesn't help in stopping those moves. There's still situations where knowing the moves offers no help. Additionally, Bang's ability is weaker when not being used on people who Bang is familiar with, meaning it's possible to get wrong predictions in the heat of battle when trying to read an unfamiliar enemy.

Equipment: Primarily a copycat K2 rifle as a main weapon and a vz. 61 machine pistol as a sidearm, along with a more traditional CZ 82 pistol as a tertiary weapon.

Alignment: Neutral Evil
Nationality: Sinuiju, North Korea
Hometown: North Korean
Sexuality: Straight

Personality: Bang is primarily an opportunist who believes in doing the right thing for the right moment, not sticking firmly to things such as principles or ideas but rather acting pragmatically at all times and slipping in and out of various "masks" depending on which group he's around. At heart, however, it could be said that he simply wants to live and let live, something that has always been impossible in North Korea.

Motivation: To make a life for himself somewhere else.

Biography: Born on the shores of the North Korean border with China, escape was always something that was so close but so far away for Seojun Bang. While escape was within striking distance, and it was easy to look across the water at China and envy the fact that they didn't have the same power outages or the same level of poverty, there were plenty of things in place to prevent it... Guards on both sides of the border, armed with weapons that no North Korean citizen would be able to compete with, and deadly traps which could be triggered with little warning. Harsh laws which made it much harder to plan an escape. Laws in China which meant that even if an escape happened, getting sent back was easy. Bang knew all of this, and instead of fleeing from a bad situation, the young man became an opportunist from the time that he was a teen, working along the river and selling North Korean goods to the Chinese for the government, using river boats.

That's not to say that it was a lucrative job, but it was better than working in a collectivized farm or in a factory, and Bang worked hard enough at it to keep it. At least, for a couple of years until he turned seventeen, at which point his town had a visit from Department M and a number of teenagers were taken away to undergo the transformation into metahumans, while their bodies were still more adaptable than those of a grown adult. The easier job was lost, but the harder job provided new chances that never would have been a thing in the past. For the first time, Bang found himself with power of his own, which could eventually be used for his one goal. To go off on his own.

And so, Bang swore loyalty to the North Korean government out of one side of his mouth while promising himself that he would go free out of the other, intending to receive all of the training that Department M could provide before eventually staging an escape. Interestingly, however, he realized that there was a chance he wouldn't have to do it alone. He was assigned to handle a much more powerful girl, known as Joker, whose ability was very destructive but whose personality was... Not optimal for a Department M member. As her handler, it was his job to keep her in line and use his power to help the government in controlling her. Unfortunately for them, Bang realized one thing pretty early on: Joker might just be his ticket out of the hellhole.

#HOTApp

CHAE-WON RYEON

Name: Chae-won Ryeon
Nickname/Alias: Joker
Appearance:

Gender: Female
Age: 24
Build: 5'10", 189 lbs
Faction: Department M
Power Classification: Artificial

Description of Powers: As an implantee of high grade Swarm DNA, Chae-won has received the ability to absorb energy from the natural environment or from man made structures such as power lines, or even from things such as impact, and redirect it in the form of raw and devastating blasts. Her power resembles the tactics used by some of the strongest psychics of the Swarm during the Swarm's conflict wit humanity, and her body is able to store large amounts of energy to be redirected in the form of tight and precise attacks, which are capable of destroying a bunker in one or two hits despite their narrow diameter of less than six inches. Furthermore, Chae-won has received the fringe benefit of physical enhancement, making her a formidable foe in close combat and even in a gunfight, with above average reflexes but exceptional hand speed to go along with above average strength.

Weaknesses: Chae-won is a bit of a glass cannon with a strong offensive power and no defensive power to help protect herself if the enemy manages to get past her attacks. Furthermore, her attacks are powerful but small and focused. Great against structures but not so great against individual people who can dodge the small diameter of the energy attack and close into melee range or open fire with weapons. In other words, Chae-won behaves more like an artillery piece than an actual fighter, and therefore needs good support around her despite her ability to wipe a building out instantly.

Equipment: When not using her powers, Chae-won typically relies on the standard issue Type 88 rifle and a Zastava M76 sniper rifle.

Alignment: True Neutral
Nationality: North Korean
Hometown: Busan, South Korea / Pyongyang, North Korea
Sexuality: Bisexual

Personality: While Chae-won was sent through North Korean education after her kidnapping, she's still very much a big city girl from South Korea, with a somewhat bright personality and a carefree attitude that shines through the contrasting personalities of others within the Department and the North Korean government.

Motivation: To eventually find true freedom.

Biography: When the North Korean government decided to create a program to use metahumans in warfare, it was decided quickly that many of the test subjects would come from foreign countries. The government targeted well educated and intelligent foreigners and kidnapped them to North Korea to force them to develop powers. If they did, they were sent through training. If they couldn't manage it, they were killed or ransomed back to their governments. Chae-won Ryeon is one of the many South Koreans that was kidnapped by the North while in college, to join Department M against her own will. From Busan, she had a good life until she was taken to the North, where things looked bleak to her compared to back home. There were no more big city lights, no more friends, no more college lessons. Nothing that she was used to carried over into her new life.

However, she became somewhat lucky in that she happened to develop one of the strongest powers in Department M. Realizing that she was capable of destroying most military targets without trying too hard, she quickly became a valuable asset and was treated a bit better than some of the others who had gone through the same thing. It wasn't as good as Busan, but it was something, and she found herself living in the richest part of Pyongyang. Not that it was a truly good experience. She was still surrounded by guards in plain clothes much of the time, spying on her. She had her own apartment, but when it was surrounded by soldiers, it didn't offer as much freedom as the government made it out to. She had a car of her own, but would be tailed by soldiers in plain clothes no matter where she drove. Or she would run into surprise checkpoints.

Still, even if she didn't know what true freedom was like anymore, they did offer her most of the things that she wanted. If she asked for food from home, they gave her that. If she asked to see one of the latest movies from the west, they allowed her to see it even if it would get a normal citizen executed. When she wanted things like the nicest western clothes, they were delivered. But, without the freedom to get those things for herself, it all just felt... Empty to an extent. And the thoughts of escaping into the 'real world' using her power never left Ryeon's mind.

#HOTApp