It's the military! Again!

[Solomon]

Hi all,

I need help with a plot arc I'm writing for my current Champions group. It features a rogue PRIMUS officier as the main villain, but I have little working knowledge of the military so I'm not sure if the plot sounds plausible.

The bad guy (let's call him Melville for now) is an high-ranking officier, probably the local office's Director. He's obsessed with vengeance against a much more powerful enemy ("Bad Guy 2", probably Doc Destroyer). His foolish obsession will ultimately drag him to his final doom, along with a lot of innocents.

Melville contacts several metahumans who, for one reason or another, need help, protection, etc.
He tells them he's willing to help them found a team of their own and build a base. He will say that PRIMUS will not publicly acknowledge ties with the team because working with metahumans is their policy, and because some of the heroes are not Americans and others have a criminal record. In return, he'll ask them to occasionally perform secret "PRIMUS-sanctioned" missions. That's the theory.

The truth is, PRIMUS knows nothing about this. Melville wants to use the heroes to push his own private agenda, including vengeance against "Bad Guy 2". Despite his claims, Melville is not pulling funds from PRIMUS, he's pulling them from criminal organizations (like VIPER) that want "Bad Guy 2" out of the picture. However, he's accessing classified PRIMUS data, like for instance files on known supervillains.

So I'm asking you, fellow HEROphiles:
- Is this scenario plausible (at least in a comic book world)?
- How likely is PRIMUS to find out the truth, and how much would that take?
- How likely is a PRIMUS director to access and divulge classified data?
- Melville can't do all of this alone. How many people should partecipate in the conspiracy to make it work?
- I don't want to paint PRIMUS as an untrustworthy organization. Suggestions on how to make PRIMUS come out (mostly) clean when the truth is revealed?

[Blue]

Is this scenario plausible (at least in a comic book world)?
I don't see why not; anything is possible in the super world.

How likely is PRIMUS to find out the truth, and how much would that take?
I'm not primus expert; I've never actually used them in a campaign. I'll leave this for the experts to answer.

How likely is a PRIMUS director to access and divulge classified data?
I imagine that PRIMUS (like all organizations of power) have some kind of Psych testing. So you'd have to build this guy as brilliantly deceptive and able to defy their screening. I think that adds to his mystique. If he's a guy bent on achieving a specific end then he'll do anything to get there. That's prime villainy.

Melville can't do all of this alone. How many people should participate in the conspiracy to make it work?
All good leaders need a yes-man, his right-hand who is there to give the underlings the impression that because he is going along with the boss then it must be the right thing.

I don't want to paint PRIMUS as an untrustworthy organization. Suggestions on how to make PRIMUS come out (mostly) clean when the truth is revealed?
Not sure that's possible. I'd do like they do in government; Appoint an independant investigator, someone who is beyond reproach (A super-patriot type character is ideal for this) and put him in charge of investigating the agency. When his word comes down that they were not at fault but that certain supervisory controls should be put in place, everyone will sigh with relief because his opinion is revered.

[BarryB]

As far as how likely something wacky is likely to happen in the military, just view Project Northwoods:

http://www.propagandamatrix.com/americas_phoney_wars_2.html

Admittedly, it's more than one officer, but the wacky premise is there. I figure if something like this can be seriously considered, then almost anything is possible.

[Ghost who Walks]

So I'm asking you, fellow HEROphiles:
- Is this scenario plausible (at least in a comic book world)?
- How likely is PRIMUS to find out the truth, and how much would that take?
- How likely is a PRIMUS director to access and divulge classified data?
- Melville can't do all of this alone. How many people should partecipate in the conspiracy to make it work?
- I don't want to paint PRIMUS as an untrustworthy organization. Suggestions on how to make PRIMUS come out (mostly) clean when the truth is revealed?

1) Sure its plausible. So far as Melville's motivation, perhaps the villain killed his family. Worked for the Punisher.

2) PRIMUS will eventually find out the truth, most likely from one of the criminal organizations Melville is dealing with. A VIPER lackey for example, might turn evidence against Melville to get less prison time.

3) Conspiracy takes at least 2 people. He will need someone to meet with the criminal types to get his funding. Blackmail might work well for this. Perhaps he knows who the local nest leader is, and is keeping quiet about it. He should slos have people who support him, but don't know he is a bad guy. His secretary/assistant for example.

4) Well, in my campaign PRIMUS is somewhat untrustworthy. They are the guys the government sends after people with powers, who break the law. I would probably have a Silver Avenger quietly shoot Melville, and make it look like a suicide. If you want another ending, you could always have Melville confess his crimes at a press conference, then go to prison. He wil lend up getting pardoned a year later, and various politicians will proclaim him to be a "True American Patriot".

[zornwil]

I'll just skip to the last question, bearing in mind I don't know much about PRIMUS but I think you could apply this dilemma to any such organization.

The easiest/best way to make PRIMUS not look so bad is to make a clear trail somewhere that shows how well Melville fooled everybody. Also, make it clear the PRIMUS regulars are aghast - and begin an internal witch hunt, then changing all their procedures as well to guard against this recurring. At worst they'll look like they were incompetent but are committed to improvement.

If PRIMUS has already been around a while, you could add a bit of a backstory to make this better - Melville may have been one of their earliest members, completely trustworthy. Maybe he has skills or characteristics (high EGO?) that make that easy to fake, or he just changed over time and then applied those skills. As the organization grew, he was trusted to handle much of his area on his own. The problem is based in part on the organizations' "carte blanche" for its founding members and lack of oversight. Bad, but fixable, and explains some things to keep the organization credible (in a comic book context anyway).

[Solomon]

Thank you all for your suggestions.:)