Dominique

Re: The Bureau of Special Investigations - long I've been posting off and on, mostly in threads that catch my eye.

Re: The Bureau of Special Investigations - long BSI Historical Timeline Originally formed in 1936, BSI began as an overworked, and under funded branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, known as the Office of Paranormal Investigations. Here's a few tidbits of information on BSI's rather colorful history. I hope you enjoy them. 1936 - With the rise of a number of costumed “mystery men”, and supernatural occurrences on the increase, J. Edgar Hoover bows to presidential pressure, and orders the creation of BSI’s predecessor, the Office of Paranormal Investigations, within the ranks of the FBI. 1937 - OPI, with assistance from the costumed vigilante Midnight, disrupts operations of the “Black Hand” a Chinese organized crime group distributing Opium along the west coast. 1939 - FBI agents, form OPI, begin investigating reports of unexplained disappearances, and “strange going ons” in the small town of Goldsboro, Arkansas. They eventually discover that most of the town’s residents are members of a “satanic cult” devoted to the return of the other worldly being, “He Who Has No Name”. OPI, along with the occult investigator John Eldritch, the world famous adventurer Artemis Gold, and masked mystery man Tommy Gun, succeed in preventing the cult from opening a “doorway” that would have allowed the demonic being from entering our dimension. Hoover immediately orders the entire incident covered up, the files are buried, and the agents involved are forbidden to ever speak of the incident again. The cult’s leader, Jeremiah Jones, a disillusioned former Southern Baptist preacher, manages to escape. Jones would reappear up nearly 50 years later, as the leader as the immortal warlock, Lord Rune. 1941 - On the eve of the US entry into WWII, President Roosevelt signs a secret Presidential Directive separating the Office of Paranormal Investigations from the FBI. The document also grants the new agency additional funding and exempts their special agents from military service, after it's deemed their activities are vital to national security. The action infuriates J. Edgar Hoover, who believes the FBI should have kept the task. From that point on the two agencies have had an ongoing turf war over who should be in charge of certain investigations. 1942 - BSI Agents are assigned as government liaison to the new team of heroes, The Minutemen. 1945 - At the close of the war in Europe, BSI agents were called in to help catalog a number of alien and mystical artifacts seized from the Nazi's by US forces. They were then entrusted with there safe transport back to the US for study, and possible use during the planned Allied invasion of mainland Japan. Within a few short months their use becomes unnecessary. With the Japan’s unconditional surrender of Japan, and the planned invasion canceled, the artifacts are placed in a secure BSI storage facility along the Virginia/West Virginia border. 1946 - BSI agents begin digging through the massive amount of highly detailed records the Nazi’s maintained on metahuman activities. The data will eventually form the basis of what will become the BSI central database. 1949 - BSI was heavily involved in the cover-up of the crash of an "alien spacecraft" in Roswell, New Mexico. In reality, the "ship" was one of the escape pods used by pilots involved in a highly classified government space program. The program involved using captured Nazi rocket tech, which was itself was based on a reverse engineered space craft the Nazi's found buried in the Arctic. BSI agents infiltrated the town planting false rumors and basically trying to confuse the issue as much as possible. They also planted the initial news report "verifying" that a UFO had indeed crashed, and then had the article "yanked" to divert attention from what had really happened. 1951 - BSI personnel are deployed to the Korean peninsula to investigate reports of metahuman activity. They are able to determine a number of Soviet “advisors” are in actuality a team of specially trained Russian and East German metahumans providing covert support to North Korean forces. President Truman, using photos obtained by BSI as evidence, issues a secret threat to unleash a full scale assault against the North Koreans, and anyone found to be providing them with material support, unless the team is withdrawn, the Soviets capitulate and withdraw their team. 1952 - BSI agents hear the first rumors of a secret Nazi underground operating somewhere in South America. The organization, known as the Knights of the Iron Cross, is supposedly headed by the former Nazi supervillain, the Iron Knight, and funded by sympathetic western businessmen. From what little information they were able to gather, they learn that the organization still had access to a number of experimental alien technologies, including early Nazi cloning experiments; several advanced weapon systems; and a secret super-soldier serum used to enhance ordinary humans. 1955 - BSI responds to reports of cattle mutilations near the area the US military is conducting tests of atomic weapons. They eventually discover the cause, giant mutated ants. After several days, they manage to located the ants nest, and a small group of volunteers, lead by the local sheriff, enters the nest to destroy the queen and any eggs. One member of the party is killed, and several are injured before they can detonate explosives sealing the hive off from the surface. 1957 - BSI agents become involved in what will eventually become known as the “Minchville Incident”. Responding to reports of the residents odd behavior, BSI sends a pair of agents, posing as surveyors for a mining company, to the small town of Minchville, West Virginia. The pair find evidence of a hostile alien incursion. They discover that the town has been invaded by “parasites of extraterrestrial origin”, and that its residents are completely under alien control. Upon hearing their initial report, the US military initiates a quarantine of the entire area, and BSI is covertly sent in to deal with the situation. With assistance from Dr. John Meriwether, and his female research assistant, Cynthia Prescott, BSI is able to manufacture an “ultrasonic weapon” that’s capable of destroying the parasites without harming the town’s residents. A decade later the same technology is used by the supervillain, Soundwave. 1959 - A number of prominent Jewish businessmen working in South America are killed by a mysterious beam of light emanating from the sky. The situation comes to a head when the Israeli ambassador to Chile is incinerated while walking to his car. After the receiving a request from the Israeli Ambassador, BSI begins it’s own investigation. They soon discover that the Knights of the Iron Cross, are conducting a series of tests on a high energy laser weapon, and suborbital transport on which to carry it. They discover that the tests are nearing completion, and that their next targets will be New York City, and Washington, D.C. After receiving the Bureau’s report, President Eisenhower orders that all available means be used to stop the scheme. BSI begins planning for the operation, and asks famed WWII pilot, Ace Stryker, of Stryker’s Tigers, for assistance. Ace, then president of Stryker Air (now a subsidiary of Avery Aerospace Industries), requests that he be allowed to go on this one last mission. BSI refuses, but is overridden after Stryker calls in a personal favor for President Eisenhower. The BSI ground assault is successful in destroying the launch facility, but they fail to prevent the aircraft from launching. Stryker, disobeying a direct order, commandeers an unarmed version of the craft and gives chase. Without weapons, and time rapidly running out, Stryker valiantly sacrifices his life by crashing his aircraft into the one piloted by Knight’s operatives, mere seconds before it's to begins its attack on the New York. Stryker is given a hero’s burial. BSI’s current aviation facility, Stryker Field, is named in honor of him. 1961 - BSI agents manage to successfully foil an assassination attempt on President elect, John F. Kennedy, by agents of the Knights of the Iron Cross, earning them a permanent seat on Kennedy’s inner circle of advisors, and the animosity of the US Secret Service for “horning in” on what they consider their exclusive territory. 1963 - BSI Agents were involved in stopping a plot by the Knights of the Iron Cross to clone Adolph Hitler, using DNA samples smuggled out of Germany prior to the Allied victory. With information provided by BSI (including some gathered by the Israeli Mossad), the US based hero team, The Guardians, launch a strike against the Knight’s stronghold deep jungles of Argentina. The Knight’s leader, the Iron Knight, is reported killed by the accidental explosion of an experimental particle beam weapon. The operation, and the arrest of several of their US supporters by US law enforcement agencies, effectively crushed the Knights as a viable force. The Guardians, not sure what to make of the exotic weapons and cloning technology, turn it over to BSI, which results in the formation of what will eventually become “the Skunk Works”. Upon learning of this foreign incursion onto their “sovereign territory”, the Argentine government files a formal protest with the UN Security Council. The US Ambassador secretly informs the Argentineans that if they don’t withdraw their complaint, they will provide the UN with proof of their government's complacency in the Knights operations in their country. The Argentineans quietly withdraw their complaint, and publicly announce that they are turning over all materials, seized from the Knights, for study. 1966 - BSI agents succeed in thwarting an attempt by a new terror group, HAVOC, to seize control of a secret US nuclear weapons storage facility. Due to the activities of a traitorous member of the security force, HAVOC shock troops were able to penetrate the facility’s outer security perimeter. Upon learning of the assault, a BSI response force was immediately dispatched. The BSI force assaulted the compound, killing or capturing the HAVOC strike team. Unfortunately several of BSIs most highly trained and experienced personnel perished during the operation. So as not to cause a general panic, the entire episode is covered up, and explained as a large scale military training exercised designed to test the response time of military units guarding nuclear facilities. The military personnel killed in the operation were listed as KIA in Vietnam. HAVOC will go on to plague BSI for decades. As a result of this episode, BSI instituted a number of changes. They upgraded the amount and type of paramilitary training many of its field personnel received. They also negotiated a mutual aid agreement with the Dept. of Defense allowing them to call on the US military for support in future large scale operations. 1967 - BSI, with assistance from that era’s Guardians, take the costumed vigilante, “Johnny Reb” into custody, after evidence leads authorities to believe he’s involved in he murder of several black civil rights activists. He confesses “taking care of a bunch of uppity nigger trouble-makers”, and is sentenced to life plus 25 years for his crimes. 1968 - BSI became involved in the investigation of the "Manson murders". BSI helped orchestrate the government's cover story that Manson was a just one of many future psychotic cult leaders. In reality, Manson, a racist, and emotionally unbalanced would be messiah, had been possessed by an extremely powerful "other-worldly entity" (read demon), who's powers increased when he absorbed the energies released during his "followers" murder spree. BSI was successful in casting out the entity, at the cost of one its primer psychics, but the experience left Manson a complete basket case. That same year BSI agents were able to thwart a plan by HAVOC, to disrupt the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention. HAVOC agents had infiltrated both the Chicago Police Department, and small groups of protesters. The HAVOC agents, posing as police, had orders to open fire into the crowds demonstrating outside the convention center, and cause as much havoc and disorder as possible. Once that happened, HAVOC agents mixed in with the protestors would inform them of a "sympathetic" organization willing to provide them with weapons for use in their struggle against “the system”. BSI agents were able to successfully identify all of the rouge HAVOC cops, and seize their pre-positioned weapon caches before things completely got out of hand. 1969 - HAVOC tries to sabotage the Apollo 11 Lunar mission by attacking the launch facility. A BSI informant managed to tip off the local field office before the plan cold be implemented. A joint team of agents, drawn from the local BSI and FBI field offices, managed to round up everyone involved in the plot before any harm could be done. But, on direct orders from J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI conducted a press conference taking complete credit for the operation, once again spoiling what little trust the two agencies had managed to build up. 1973 - BSI agents accidentally discover that President Richard Nixon is being influenced by a secret mystic cabal known as the Dark Circle. Threatening to make their findings public, Nixon is forced to resign in disgrace. 1974 - The Soviet super team, the Red Vanguard makes it’s public debut. October - With a heavy loss of life, BSI, the FBI, DC Metro Police, US Capitol Police, US Secret Service, White House Police, US Park Police, and DC National Guard manage to stop an incursion by an advance scout team from the alien Sakkari Empire. While the overall response was deemed successful, bad blood ensues as each agency points the finger at the other for several unfortunate missteps. Agencies didn’t have compatible communications systems, overall command was never established, emergency response procedures for dealing with terrorist attacks had not be streamlined, and the list goes on and on. As a result, President Gerald Ford, appoints a bi-partisan commission to review each agencies response, and provide recommendations to keep the same thing from happening again. Gideon Pierce, the famed WWII hero, American Avenger, is appointed as the “Pierce Commission’s” head. His report, and its findings, is never made public. 1975 - BSI manages to infiltrate several agents into The Dark Circle, before suddenly losing contact with all of them. After weeks of searching, a lone survivor, Special Agent Ian Grey, is found wandering naked and confused on a county road in rural Massachusetts. During his subsequent debriefing he’s found to have no recollection of what’s transpired for the last several weeks, or what’s happened to his fellow agents. Agent Grey is so shaken by his experience, he’s removed from field duties, and asks to placed into desk position within the Paranormal Investigations Branch. August - BSI has its first of many run-ins with operatives of the hi-tech criminal organization Prometheus. While Prometheus is only partially successful in its goals, the incident proves a valuable learning experience for both. 1976 - BSI is instrumental in assisting the defection of three members of the Soviet sponsored super team, the Red Vanguard, to the US. July - HAVOC launches a series of attacks designed to disrupt planned Bicentennial celebrations in the Capitol and New York city. Luckily, BSI was tipped off to the plan in advance (by agents in the employ of Prometheus who fear that HAVOC‘s activities will disrupt their own plans). BSI, the Guardians, the new hero team, the Vanguard, and the US military respond with overwhelming force. HAVOC is soundly defeated and a number of their metahuman operatives are captured and taken into federal custody. One such operative, the super strong villain Roundhouse, eventually turns states evidence, providing BSI with information that allows them to successfully round up a number of HAVOC agents, and disrupt their activities for years to come. It takes HAVOC over decade to recover from their defeat. Roundhouse is later found murdered in his prison cell. The contract is believed to have been executed by members of The Silent Brotherhood. 1977 - Failing to head the warnings of Agent Grey, BSI decides to employ the services of a low level clairvoyant, to track down the whereabouts of its still missing agents. Within minutes of his first attempt, several members of team go berserk, killing each other in the process. BSI immediately ceases any further attempts to locate them. 1978 - BSI Special Agent in Charge, Leslie Watts, is caught providing classified information on BSI activities to the Soviets. Exactly how much information is not know for years, as Watts commits suicide in his jail cell. November - After tracing the origin of a number of hi-tech weapons systems, the trail leads BSI to a Prometheus research facility. The ensuing raid, and arrests, disrupt Prometheus plans for years to come, and force a complete change in the way the organization conducts business. 1980 - In the first test of its new policies, a Prometheus mole is successful in stealing several alien artifacts from “the Vault”, BSI’s secure storage facility in western Virginia. BSI’s leadership decides to move the artifacts to a more secure location near their headquarters. 1981 - President Ronald Regan is sworn into office. One of his first acts, after taking office, is signing authorization increasing funding for BSI and granting them complete control in any investigation dealing with metahuman, paranormal, or suspected alien activity. 1982 to 1983 - With metahuman and paranormal activities at an all time high, BSI undergoes a rapid period of growth, almost doubling in size. As a result, recruiting standards are relaxed and several agents who normally would not have been considered, are allowed into the agency. A mistake that would come back to haunt them within few short years. 1983 - The Iranian backed metahuman terrorist group, the Fist of Allah, strikes at US Marine peace keepers in southern Lebanon, killing or wounding dozens in the process. A small team of BSI personnel is dispatched to augment CIA and military personnel investigating the attack. As a result of their highly classified report, which is critical of US military commanders for not heading warnings of a just such a possible attack, and the lack of a proper response to such attacks, the CIA is authorized to form it’s own team of metahuman operatives. 1984 - With metahuman crime on the rise, several BSI Agents, believing that their organization has grown “soft” and isn't doing enough to address the threat posed by metahuman criminals, go rouge and form a vigilante organization known as the Nighthawks. Using information form official agency files, they begin conducting a “pre-emptive” campaign against villains and organizations they deem as a “clear threat” to national security. After the unexplained murder, and “disappearance” of a number publicly known mutant criminals, several of them band together against what they believe to be an officially sanctioned assassination program directed at them, forming the mutant terrorist group, The Oppressed. 1985 - A Nighthawk operation goes bad. Two undercover DEA agents are killed when the Nighthawks raid a factory used by the criminal genius, Elixir to manufacture the drug Boost (which allows its users to boost their physical abilities to near superhuman levels for short periods of time). When the ensuing investigation leads back to possible links to BSI, the Attorney General orders that he FBI conduct an investigation of many of BSI activities, a task that several of the assigned investigators under take with glee. This begins what many of the “old timers” consider the darkest period in BSI’s history. December - After a six month investigation, the US Attorney issues indictments for the arrest of 19 BSI Agents, two Supervisors, and the Deputy Director of Operations. Several of the Nighthawks flee, and are instrumental in forming the vigilante group, America First. 1986 - With BSI still reeling from the Nighthawk fiasco, Prometheus takes the opportunity to expand its operations, infiltrating its operatives into several US defense contractors, aerospace, and communications firms. Their new low key approach will pay dividends for years to come. With several BSI Agents under investigation, incarcerated, or on the run, moral hits rock bottom. Rumors of their impending merging with the FBI are rampant. Several high ranking supervisors opt for early retirement, others request transfer to another agency. Late fall - Under intense pressure to either “fix” BSI, disband it and have the FBI absorb its personnel and mission (a plan favored by the FBI and its supporters in Congress), President Regan appoints Gideon Pierce as the agency’s new director. 1987 - Within a few short months Director Pierce manages to turn the agency around. He cleans house, under performers are let go, recruiting standards, which had been lowered during their rapid growth, are tightened, and potential recruits are more closely screened before beginning training. A new Office of Professional Standards is formed with its head reporting directly to Pierce. He appears before Congress explaining not only the changes he’s made, but his plans for the future. He also initiates several new programs designed to streamline agency operations, and improve their relations with fellow law enforcement agencies. The first batch of metahuman attaches is selected from seasoned agents, and stationed at the US Embassies in Canada and the UK. Several unpublicized initiatives include the creation of the ESPer unit within the Paranormal Investigations Branch; beginning of the design work on the MK-I Guardian Power Armor; and the design of the first maximum security prison specifically designed to hold metahumans. 1989 - HAVOC, thought to be on the ropes after their crushing defeat over a decade ago, explodes back onto the international scene. Operating under the new leadership of the mysterious Lord Havoc, it instigates a series of brutal attacks on US businesses and military installations throughout Europe. Director Pierce, fearing that the worse is yet to come, appeals directly to President George H. Bush for additional funding and manpower. Bush concedes, signing a Presidential Directive granting BSI lead authority in all investigations involving metahuman crimes against US citizens or interests overseas, and providing additional funding to conduct such operations. The FBI is furious as they had hoped to be granted the authority now ceded to BSI. The additional funding also allows BSI to expand the Liaison Program to most of western Europe, Japan, and Mexico. Pierce’s Capital Hill lobbying, and his agency’s new mandate, is seen as a “power grab” by those in power at both the FBI and CIA. One specific clause causes much heartburn and animosity at the FBI, as it allows for the “rendition” of foreign metahumans involved in crimes against US citizens, by US law enforcement authorities. The rendition clause also causes some friction between the BSI and the CIA, as the Agency fears BSI is trying to circumvent its authority in such matters, and that if BSI undertakes such an operation, it might potentially disrupt their own activities, or endanger the lives of CIA personnel. Unknown to all but a select few members of the military, the NSC, and the intelligence community, The CIA, who’s own team of metahuman operatives, the Foreign Operations Group (FOG), had covertly been involved in the capture of several metahuman terror suspects, and covertly conducting missions against foreign backed terrorists, and metahuman criminal organizations since the middle of the decade. Director Pierce eventually manages to convince the DCI that his agency will in no way affect the way the CIA does business, and as a peace offering to the FBI, he “suggests” that they provide a permanent liaison to his agency. The FBI agrees to Director Pierce’s terms, as a man on the inside will allow them to keep tabs on their rivals, and make law makers on Capitol Hill happy by seeing both agencies “striving to work together”. 1990 - The first maximum security metahuman correctional facility, the Richard C. Rhodes Metahuman Correctional Facility, or MHCF - North, comes online. BSI is tasked with testing the facility’s security procedures, certifying it suitable for use, and escorting the first group of inmates sentenced there from their current locations. The additional duties of now operating as a “baby sitting service” for super criminals eventually leads to the creation of the Office of Detention and Transportation. 1990 - BSI Agents, making use of their newly acquired MK-I Guardian power armor, barely manage to stop by the Saudi terrorist “Al Shahid”, and his army of Djinn, from assassinating George H. Bush, after President Bush orders US military units deployed to the Arabian Peninsula, in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. 1991 - US Military commences Operation Desert Storm, US Army personnel engage elements of the Iraqi Republican Guard, and manage to capture two members of the “Fist of Allah” who’ve been working with the Iraqis. Both are turned over to BSI for escort to the US for their part in the 1983 attacks on US Marines. March - Following the completion of Operation Desert Storm, small teams of BSI agents, criminologists, and technicians from both the BSI crime lab, and the “Skunk Works” deploy to Kuwait, Iraqi Kurdistan southern Iraq. The team manages to piece together evidence of war crimes by Iraqi metahumans during both the Kuwaiti occupation and the ensuing war. The also find evidence of testing of a modified version of the WWII Nazi super-soldier serum on both Iraqi Kurds, and the Shiite Arabs living in the southern marshes bordering Iran. 1992 - The mutant terrorist group, the Oppressed attack MHCF - North to free two of their members, Shrike and Outcast. Several staff members, along with a responding BSI STOP Team, are injured and a member of the facility’s SORT Team is crippled. April - BSI is successful in it’s first “rendition”. BSI, working with help from the DSS, manages to track down, El Aguila Negro (the Black Eagle), a member of Las Agujas Del Negro, The Black Needles, a group of metahuman operatives employed by the Cali drug cartel. He’s suspected in the deaths of two DEA agents, and number of Colombian nationals. Luring him into a brothel, BSI agents manage to overpower him. He’s sedated, and quickly placed into the truck of an unmarked car, before being placed onboard an aircraft and delivered to the US for trial. 1993 - HAVOC launches Operation Bitter Harvest, a series of attacks designed to wreck havoc on BSIs leadership. Several high ranking BSI personnel are assassinated, or have their family members targeted. A HAVOC strike team attacks the home of Director Pierce’s grandson, Jerold Pierce, a former US Army officer and agent with the Diplomatic Security Service, kidnapping Jerold’s daughter, and severely inuring Jerold’s pregnant wife. Despite warnings not to "make it personal", Pierce and informs his staff that “As of this moment, the kid gloves are off. I want those bastards served up on a platter.” He vows that there is no place on Earth that they can hide, pledges that he will stop at nothing to get his great-granddaughter back safely. He orders an all-out assault on HAVOC, and decrees as far as he was concerned, anyone found to be providing them support is to be considered just as guilty as they are. Jerold Pierce, wanting to do more than just sit around and wait, resigns from DSS and requests permission to undergo an updated version of the process that turned his grandfather into the American Avenger. Gideon Pierce knowing that nothing he says will persuade him to change his mind, reluctantly grants permission for Jerold to begin the process. The month long process is successful, and within 5 months, a BSI response team, lead by an all new Avenger, storms a suspected HAVOC chemical weapons facility in Idaho. Information gathered in the strike leads BSI on what will become a world-wide manhunt in search of HAVOC facilities, and their leader Lord Havoc. 1994 - After a brutal 13 month campaign, BSI tracks the final remnants of HAVOC to a small island off the coast of Africa. Director Pierce personally supervises the assault, while his grandson leads the BSI strike force. In the final battle, Avenger manages to free his wife, but is severely injured by Lord Havoc, in the process. Lord Havoc, realizing that defeat is immanent, tries to make his escape in the last remaining HAVOC aircraft. As the craft begins to lift off, Director Pierce, now on the ground to supervise the clean up, spots him, and manages to get off one last shot before the craft is out of range. The missile strikes the aircraft’s engine, causing it to loose power. The aircraft, now unable to maintain its altitude, rapidly begins to spin out of control, before crashing into the sea. The force of the impact shatters Lord Havoc's armor, instantly killing him. When Lord Havoc’s remains are recovered, it’s reveled that he is actually a clone of Gideon Pierce’s WWII foe, and former leader of the Knights of the Iron Cross, the Iron Knight. 1995 - With HAVOC effectively destroyed, his grandson’s family recovering from their ordeal, and BSI well on it’s way to becoming one of the world’s leading law enforcement agencies, Director Pierce resigns from his position, so he can spend more time with his family. He dies peacefully in his sleep seven months later. President Clinton orders that flags at all US government facilities be flown at half staff in honor of Gideon Pierce’s many decades selfless service to his country. Pierce Hall, the BSI training academy, is named in his honor. 1996 - The terror group America First makes its public debut. Vowing to “Make America safe for real Americans”, the group destroys several Chicago area businesses that harbor illegal immigrants. Unknown to the general public, the group’s leader, Commander Cross, is former BSI Deputy Director of Operations, and Nighthawk 1, Adrian Cross. 1997 - BSI forms its Asian Gang Task Force to investigate the increasing number of crimes being committed by metahumans associated with Asian organized crime groups, such as the Jade Dragons. October - The second metahuman prison comes online, MHCF - South, opening its doors October 15th, 1997. 1998 - BSI Agents are assigned to work with teams, investigating reports of metahumans engaging in “ethic cleansing” in the former Yugoslavia. Their report to the World Court accuses all sides of engaging in war crimes, and names several Serbs, a Croat, and a Bosnian Muslim by name. All sides dispute the report as "propaganda" and refuse to turn over suspects for trial. 1999 - BSI raids an illegal research facility, operated by the rouge geneticist, Splice, and clash with MERC provided muscle for the first time. Both groups go away liking their wounds. October - BSI Agents, and members of the Young Guardians, raid a Trinity Foundation compound, after informants tip them off to the group’s plan for a mass suicide on New Years Eve. The Group’s leader, the “Rev. Jason Wright”, is in fact Night Bringer, a member of the Dark Circle. He had planned on using the energies released during the ceremony to increase his powers to untold levels. With his plans now in shambles, he flees to an undisclosed location. December 31st - BSI personnel are on high alert as fears of the Y2K bug run rampant. BSI STOP teams are staged near MHCF - North and South. 2000 - The mutant terrorist group, The Oppressed launch an assault against BSI’s new headquarters complex. Over a dozen personnel are severely injured, and Special Agent Tommy Tanaka is killed before the assault can be driven off. May - MERC and Prometheus clash for the first time. Several innocent civilians are killed in the battle. BSI assigns several agents to the investigation full time. July - Agents catch a break as the Skunk Works is able to trace the origin of several components used in the manufacture of MERC's weapons systems back to Titan Corporation. Legal stonewalling, and Lazarus Stone’s, the company’s president connections on Capital Hill prevent the investigation from proceeding any further. 2001 - With information provided by BSI, the core membership of the Oppressed is captured by the Guardians, and turned over to BSI for prosecution. Jezebel, the member responsible for Agent Tanaka’s death, manages to elude capture. Shrike, Outcast, and Freak Show receive life sentences for their part in the assault. September - Several BSI agents are killed by the September 11th terror attacks on the Twin Towers, as their New York field office is housed in the buildings. November - As a response to the 9/11 terror attacks, America First initiate a series of brutal retaliatory attacks against “Arab terrorists” killing or maiming dozens of innocent Arabs and Muslim immigrants. Their metahuman operative, Purge is personally responsible for almost half the body count. December - Operating on direct orders from the President, BSI is ordered end America First’s bloodthirsty rampage, and do whatever it needs to bring it’s leader, Commander Cross, to justice. 2002 - BSI tracks America First operative Warhawk, to the group’s Idaho stronghold, The Bunker. After a 39 day standoff, BSI is ordered to launch a full scale assault on the compound using STOP Teams, SLAMs, and armored vehicles barrowed from the US military. Commander Cross is killed in the battle, but Purge and Warhawk manage to escape under the cover of darkness. Summer - BSI Agents deploy to Afghanistan to investigate possible metahuman ties to Al Q da. While no direct links can be found, BSI does manage to find that Al Qaeda has shown definite interest in recruiting metahumans to its cause. December - Mark Johnson, Peacekeeper, completes augmentation as part of the reinstituted Project Genesis and is assigned to BSI as a field operative. 2003 - BSI repels a second incursion by Sakkari troops, this time their target is the Young Guardians member, Nautica, who has been forced into exile here on Earth. BSI personnel had assisted her in applying for refugee status, and obtaining a spot with the Young Guardians. June - A special team of BSI agents and investigative personnel are called to Iraq, after the military stumbles on what they at first believe is an Iraqi chemical weapons facility. The facility turns out to be genetics research facility, using alien technology. Personnel from BSI’s Skunk Works begin dismantling the facility for shipment back to the US. July - Prometheus, after years of laying low, hears rumors of the facility and dispatches several of its new Cybernauts to recover whatever materials they can. It’s a bloodbath as dozens of US troops, and several BSI techs are slaughtered. Prometheus operatives then move in and manage to make off with most of the equipment before US reinforcements arrive. With Prometheus using some sort of advanced stealth technology, US forces are unable to track them. September - Construction is completed on Ultramax. BSI Detention and Transportation personnel are assigned the task of transporting inmates from their old locations to the new facility. Peacekeeper, and several BSI STOP Teams are on hand in case an emergency develops. The US Department of Homeland Security is formed. BSI, and several other agencies, are placed under its administrative control. Their mission doesn’t change, just the logos on the wall and the patches on their field uniforms. November - Ultramax receives its first inmates,several former members of the Oppressed, as the top secret “Deep Freeze” nears completion. 2004 - America First fugitives, Warhawk and Purge, raid a National Guard Armory, in Montana, stealing dozens of weapons, before disappearing again. BSI believes that local citizens, sympathetic to their cause, are aiding them in eluding authorities. March - Deep Freeze opens for business. Few are even aware of its existence, much less it’s exact location. Not even the Director Wilson is privy to that information. April - Peacekeeper submits his proposal to form a team of metahuman operatives operating under the direct control of BSI. 2005 - January - Peacekeeper’s proposal is approved by Director Wilson. Thanks to the Bureau’s good standing on Capital Hill, funding for the project is fast tracked, and Peacekeeper receives permission to begin selecting personnel for the new team. October - BSI’s new metahuman strike team, the Metahuman Emergency Response Group, or MERG, makes its debut. The group consists of Peacekeeper; the power armored hero Sentry; the energy welding former BSI employee Starburst; the female archer Crimson; the super strong former NFL star Steadfast; and the density controlling hero Shift. The team’s newest recruit, the super-speedster Rush, is still undergoing his initial training. Halloween - BSI investigates a series of strange murders in he days leading up to Halloween. Things go completely wrong, two agents are killed, and the SAC requests MERG back-up from HQ when the individual behind the murders is revealed to be Lord Pumpkin, the Spirit of Halloween. Peacekeeper, the most experienced member of the group, knows that they can’t take on Lord Pumpkin alone and calls on the guardians for help. In the ensuing battle, several dozen innocent civilians are serious injured or killed, and The city of Salem, Massachusetts sustains millions in dollars of damage. 2006 - February - A congressional inquiry is convened to investigate the “Salem Incident”. After several months, it’s determined that without MERG and the Guardians intervention, the loss of human life could have been in the thousands, and that no member of the team in any way contributed to the carnage.

Okay, from what I've read in Champions World Wide, it looks like Eurostar is on a bit of a recruiting drive. Who would you like to see added to it's rouster?

Re: New Millennium: Worth mining? Reading over this, it gives me an idea for a whole new thread, Retcon Champions: the New Millennium

Re: New Millennium: Worth mining? While I didn't didn't care for the gaming system, I liked several of the modifications they made to versions of Eurostar, Lady blue, and a few of the other standard CU villains. Also, the maps, and with a little work, some of the organizations they have can be useful. And, to be honest, I picked up m copy of the rules, and Bay City from the bargin bin at my local comic shop, so I can't complain to much.

Re: Queer heroes I say run with it. Just create your characters, and have them happen to be gay. Don't try to create stereotypes, just work out the various characters powers, and let their homosexuality be an aspect of their personality, as you would with any other character.

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did Does anyone, other than me, remember a couple of B&W comics by Frank Turner. One was called Retrograde, and for the life of me, I can't remember the other one. They both had some really good artwork, a decent storyline, and some cool character concepts. I can't even find references to them on the web.

Re: Eygptian Sorcerer spells? Have you tried reading over the Old Testament of the Bible? It gives several examples of what the Egyptians were stated of being able to do.

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did HARD Corps was a fun little comic to read,but I could have dome without al the freaking crossovers, and just stuck with them taking on the "Egg breakers".

Re: Which published characters do you use? One additional question, did you use the standard write-up, or a modified version? I know I almost completely re-wrote Firewings origin, and mixed in elements from three different versions of Eurostar (Classic Enemies, CKC, and Champions New Millennium

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did When they decided to find a cure for the process, that changed the whole dynamic of the comic. before taht yiou really never knew who was going to survive an issue.

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did So, besides me, did any of you guys read Strikeforce Moritori? I'm feeling like the Lone Ranger on this one. Where's the love.

Of all the published characters and organizations, which ones do you use in your games? I've used the Circle, Raven, VOICE, the Blood (I miss Aaron's input into the game), Lady Blue, Fox Bat (mostly as comic relief), a modified version of Eurostar (One of my personal all time favorite villain groups) using elements from Classic Enemies, Champions New Millenium, and CKC, Menton, Ripper, Mech Assassin, Grab (with modifications), PSI (I personally prefer the original version), and Firewing (with a re-written back story),

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did I'm missing issues 2 & 12 of Pantheon, but I plan on picking up the FC TPB once they release it. Any of you guys remember Hero Alliance?

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did I got the last issue of Dragon Ring, and managed to find the two additional issues. I never really looked around the net to see if they were any more out there. Also, you guys really should check out Pantheon from Lone Star Press- http://www.lonestarpress.com/ - It was written by Bill Willingham. It's got a lot of the same feel as Elementals (Bill stated he used some of the ideas he planned for the Elementals), and some of the characters are pretty interesting. I like it, which means it will probably die a slow death in obscurity.

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did Man, I had forgotten all about him, I really liked the series when it first came out, but things sarted to go down hill later on. Also, DC's suicide squad, I LOVED that book whe nit first debuted. Amanda waller was a royal bi*ch, with a capitol, B. Capt. Boomerang was great comic relief. The stories were fun to read, while also having great way to knowck some of DC's dead wieght villains with a little style. Dragon Force...man does that bring back memories. Pretty good storyline. There were a couple of comics that Frank Turner put out, but for the life of me I can't remember what they were called. Both hada kick as* super soldier called GI in them. Think Capt. America with and attitude.

Re: Evil Organizaitons If you guys want, I'll get around to posting the stuff here.

Re: Evil Organizaitons Dohhhh....sorry about that. Try this one. http://www.blackwyrm.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=105

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did Hmmm...Lets see Strikeforce Moritori, (at least the first two years or so), Elementals (the The first two runs), and Hardcorps.

Re: Evil Organizaitons Any of you guys get to take a look at the stuff? If so, what did you think of the initial write-ups? The paln is to flesh them out so they look more like m write-up for BSI (The Bureau of Special Investigations)

Re: Evil Organizaitons Here's a link to several organizations I've been working on. They're primarily for my M&M campaign, but with a little work they can easily converted over to a four color Champions campaign. I'd also like to here a little feedback on them.

Re: "Look, up in the sky! It's Super Saint!" Christian-themed heroes While not specifically for Champions, I did have an NPC character for M&M called Imani (Faith) that was devout Christian, and pacifist. She was and African American female, with various mental abilities (telepathy, telekinesis, empathic healing), from Atlanta, GA. She daughter of a Southern Baptist Minister and a school teacher. She would only use her abilities in a defensive manner (to protect others from harm), or to heal injured and sick (even villains).

Re: Champions (Super)Hero Resources Here's the links to a few threads I've been working on over on the Blackwyrm Games site. While the stuff is primarily for M&M, it can easily be converted over to a Champions setting. The Lyndhurst Academy http://www.blackwyrm.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=162 Various evil organizations http://www.blackwyrm.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=105 An updated version of my Hostile Intent villain group http://www.blackwyrm.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=103 My take on British supers http://www.blackwyrm.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=154

Re: Villains, Vandals, and Vermin: Who should be in it? All I wanna know is how many members of the Tiger Squad are going to make the cut.