Captain Marco 'Paladin' Torres

[Magister Militum]

“Jesus Christ, and I thought Goldstein was bad!”

Captain Marco “Paladin” Torres

Origins

The North American SDI realizes that not every occasion calls for a full-fledged assault by powered armored infantry with armor support, or a pummeling bombardment by a squadron of Megafortresses. Sometimes, a rouge metahuman or psychotic madman threatens to bring society to its needs. Sometimes, cabals of shadowy individuals conspire to depose of legitimate governments in order to rule North America, and possibly the world, in their own image. In such situations, the SDI makes use of special field agents in order to tackle these delicate problems. Among the various field agents employed by the SDI, none have garnered the respect (and fear) among allies and enemies like Captain Marco Torres, better known as Paladin. Of course, the fact that Paladin is considered to the the protégé of the legendary General Jason Goldstein, aka US Supersoldier 01, probably plays a big role in his reputation.

Marco was born to a family of Mexican immigrants in Bakersfield, California on March 15, 1977. His father, being a simple farm laborer, wished for something better for his son, so he always made sure that Marco would study and work as hard as possible in order to succeed in America. With his families nurturing, Marco would excel in school, graduating as valedictorian of his class in high school and gaining a fully paid scholarship to the United States Military Academy at West Point. His parents, who were less than thrilled regarding Marco's career choice, at first were hesitant, but they ultimately yielded, as few could deny the prestigious nature of West Point and the education he was to receive.

At West Point, Marco continued to make a name for himself in a good way and in a bad way. On one hand, he was an excellent cadet who generally went above and beyond what was required. For that, he was viewed by his instructors as having a promising future. At the same time, though, the multiple demerits that he would gain during his time at West Point would scar an otherwise perfect record. Still, his excellent training records and knack for tactical planning would catch the attention of two organizations, the United States Special Operations Command and the Alpha Trooper Corps, both of which had their own uses for Marco's talents.

Graduating as First Cadet at West Point, Marco would first be approached by a Colonel working for the Omega Trooper Corps. Having been monitoring his performance, the Alpha Trooper Corps, always eager to gain promising new recruits (partly due to the fact that they have a shorter than average life expectancy) offered Marco a position as commander of an Alpha Trooper squad that was to actively hunt down hostile unconventional threats to North American security. At the same time, the Army Rangers also attempted to court Marco and have him join their ranks. Marco, being the romantic that he was, had a fondness for both the history and epic legacy of the Rangers, and, as such, joined them after passing their qualification trials (it also helped that the black beret they wear was “kinda cool”).

Ever since the end of the Cold War, the North American SDI had progressively moved out from covert, deep black ops operations to more overt operations against unconventional threats. Indeed, with more public exposure and the collapse of its primary foe, the Soviet Union, the command staff had no other choice than to abandon most of its more controversial work. The U.S. Government, realizing the continued need for such black-ops operations, especially when it came to fighting its enemies and their special projects. As such, with General Jason Goldstein's covert support and blessings, the United States would form Task Force Ghost, the modern-day successor to the legendary Task Force Eagle. With a mandate that spans the globe, Task Force Ghost was given clearance to use any force necessary in order to protect American interests abroad and at home. Drawing from the CIA, NSA, and the U.S. Armed Forces, Marco's recruitment to the Rangers would land him the position as commander of one of TFG's black-ops squads, which suited him just fine.

Traveling all across the world, Marco's Ranger squad, operating under the banner of Task Force Ghost, would use assassinations, guerrilla warfare, sabotage, and other direct action operations against both conventional and not so conventional threats. In Red China, Marco and his men would launch a daring raid against a fortified compound working on producing a new breed of soldier (while stealing China's work to boot), while later on he would help train insurgents in order to undermine a particularly troublesome and geopolitically dangerous regime in South America. In rare occasions, Marco would even skirmish with supposed allies, such as when he sparred with the agents of the King of France, who had their own lofty ambitions for the world. In all these instances, Marco would have to make hard choices, such as leaving behind allies (or killing them) if it proved next to impossible to extract them. Combined with the ethically troublesome nature of many of his assignments, Marco would find it increasingly hard to balance his natural good nature with his increasingly amoral, hardened personality.

Luckily for Marco, he had a friend who would help him through: the Guardian. A metahuman who was a field agent for Task Force Eagle a long time ago, the Guardian, aka, Anthony Marshall, was a true patriot and crusader for his nation, as well as a principal founder of the SDI. Deciding that he could be of more use as a part of Task Force Ghost, Guardian joined the group's ranks as a high-level field agent. Taking an interest in the young Ranger, Anthony would form a friendship with Marco, who viewed the metahuman as a confidant that he could unload his pressures off after a particularly troublesome mission. It was understandable, then, that Marco would become troubled when he was ordered to kill Guardian and his supporters.

Having seemingly vanished, Task Force Ghost feared that Guardian might have been killed, or worse yet captured, by some extranormal government agent of another nation. The truth behind Anthony's disappearance, though, was far more unsettling. Having gone rogue, Guardian gathered an army of followers and other like-minded individuals and went into hiding, biding his time and building up his strength. Several months later, intelligence reports would flood into the command centers of TFG of indiscriminate attacks on not only TFG interests, but also civilians and other groups. It became clear to Task Force Ghost that Guardian was ultimately responsible based on the evidence left behind in the bloodbath his men created (all of which was painstakingly covered up). Forming a special detachment, which included Marco, the commanders of Task Force Ghost gave the detachment the authorization to use any force necessary to eliminate Guardian and his band of renegades.

Being at the forefront of the hunt for Guardian, Marco would spend nearly a year hunting down Guardian and trying to make sense of his bloody campaign. In the jungles of Vietnam, Marco would encounter and wipe out a band of mass murdering mercenaries, their minds completely twisted by the demonic-like charisma of the Guardian, attempting to carry out “the death sentence to America's allies” in the name of their master. In the Balkans, Marco would find and kill the man responsible for the destruction of a TFG black site in Greece, and would prevent him from unleashing a bioweapon upon Athens. Similar events would occur in Arabia, South America, and East Asia, as Marco and his squad would face increasingly deranged individuals with a penchant for mindless slaughter and chaos. All of this would take its toll on Marco, who became increasingly jaded at the sight of such brutalities and would develop an almost religious-like furor to find and confront the traitor Guardian. Marco would finally come to the end of his odyssey when he extracted from Guardian's last living lieutenant the location of the Guardian's final stronghold: the Congo.

Traveling into the heart of the dark continent, Marco and his squad, fully equipped for their final battle with Guardian, would discover the vast compound Guardian and his followers retreated to in the wake of their near-total destruction. Once there, Marco would confront Guardian and learn of his reason for betraying the US Government. Over the decades, Guardian had participated in countless assassinations, murders, and other unsavory actions in the name of his country. Although believing it to be for the good of America at first, Guardian would eventually become disgusted with the nature of his seemingly amoral, callous commanders who would do anything in order to advance their nations power. Believing them to be hypocrites defending a hopelessly corrupt government, Anthony would come to clash with his superiors, resulting in the falling out with his former boss, General Jason Goldstein, who viewed him as a potential security risk and danger. Indeed, the commanders of TFG would share the same sentiment, and began considering to 'retire' Guardian should he prove difficult to control. Becoming increasingly erratic, Anthony fled the United States and set out to create an army that would not only punish and destroy Task Force Eagle and the 'corrupt' elements of America, but would deliver justice to anyone even remotely connected with America's sins.

After futility attempting to court Marco to join his cause (which Marco rejected based on Guardian's own deranged sense of right and wrong and hypocrisy), Anthony slaughtered Marco's squad in an attempt to preserve his work. At a glance, it appeared that Marco was ultimately going to join his squad mates collective fate. After all, Guardian had faced the fanatical Grand Army and special agents of Shadow Legion in Warsaw, while Marco, despite being one of the best soldiers in America, was still just a baseline. It was this overconfidence on Anthony's part that allowed Marco to accessed, as he used his superior speed, maneuverability, and luck to evade Guardian's relentless attacks while delivering his own brutal counter blows. The constant ambushes eventually took its toll on Guardian, allowing Marco to plunge his special short sword right into Anthony's heart.

Broken, bleeding and dying, Guardian would congratulate Marco on being “enough of a ruthless son of a bitch” that he would kill one his his dearest friends if his superiors wished for it to happen. Continuing with his near-death rant, Anthony would remind Marco that he would eventually come to hate himself, as his original desire to protect his country would be crushed beneath the reality of his profession until all that was left was an inhuman killer. Saying nothing, Marco aimed his rifle at Anthony's head and pulled the trigger, killing the would-be revolutionary and his plans. Task Force Ghost fighter-bombers would then obliterate the complex, reducing any evidence of Guardian's actions to ash, while Marco boarded his transport and reflected on what had just happened.

While his war against Guardian's army proved to be ultimately successful, Marco couldn't help but feel disgusted with himself. Although the many assassinations, raids, and other direct action operations Marco carried out didn't bother him at first, the fact that he had become callous enough to kill anybody without any hesitation or leave behind his own friends to the wolves began to irk him. Coupled with his witnessing of the brutalities Guardian committed as a result of his desire to create a new America, Marco would come to loathe his proud patriotic nature, as a similar (albeit misplaced) sentiment spawned Guardian's bloodbath. Preparing his resignation from the Rangers and Task Force Ghost, Marco would have left behind his military career had it not been for one man: Jason Goldstein.

Having monitored Marco's career and his campaign against Guardian, Goldstein came to view Marco's talents as those that could be put to much greater use in another special field. Since the time of Task Force Eagle, Jason had made use of field agents to handle delicate situations in which ordinary commandos of TFE and its successor, the North American SDI, couldn't handle. When the SDI was formed, Goldstein gladly made use of the greater amount of resources at his disposal to create his own anti-meta team, Project Talon (not to be confused with its close cousin, Project Aces, which handled the psychological aspects of metahumans). The team did its job well, but it was eventually disbanded. The concept of a crack team of field agents, equipped with the best weapons, vehicles, and equipment the United States and Canadian governments could offer, didn't die with Project Talon, though, as Jason sought to resurrect the team in order to handle the crises that threatened the modern world.

Approaching the Army Ranger, Jason would offer Marco the position of team leader of the soon to be formed Project Sentinel. What better person, figured Jason, was there to lead the team than Marco, a man who was by all intents and purposes the ultimate soldier. On a more personal level, though, Jason had long sought a protégé and successor, someone who he could pass on his knowledge and experience to so that they could continue the legacy he created as US Supersoldier 01. Looking deep into Marco, Jason found that same selfless virtue and desire to defend the innocent that originally led Jason to become the man that he was today. In addition, Jason would see the pessimism and bitterness that had consumed Marco and would be reminded of himself during those dark times in the 70's. In many ways, Marco reminded Jason of himself and his career.

Humbled by the fact that the legendary Supersoldier would ask him to be his successor and head of Project Sentinel, Marco would abandon his resignation plans and take up the General's offer. Taking him under his wing, Jason would teach Marco virtually everything he knew when it came to fighting the unconventional, as well as pushing the boundaries of his abilities to see what Marco was truly capable of. To complete his training, Jason would have the engineers of the SDI craft Marco a new suit of powered armor, one that reflected the new duty that he had taken upon himself. Taking on the codename of Paladin, Marco would then aid Jason in finding other individuals to fill out the roster of Project Talon, as well as seeking out and eliminating dangers to Canadian/American security. With his patriotism and desire to defend the innocent restored, Marco now fights some of the worst individuals and organizations that threaten North America as a true Paladin, a selfless knight in shining armor that will gladly sacrifice himself if it means that the world would be a slightly better place.

Powers, Equipment, and Abilities

Marco has no superhuman powers to speak of other than an usual amount of luck. As such, Marco must make use of highly-advanced weaponry and technology in order to even the odds against his foes. The most prominent of these tools is the 'Gladiator' powered armor suit Mk. I. A far cry from the giant 'Tin Man' heavy warfare battlesuits, which are technically piloted rather than worn, the Gladiator is designed with tactical flexibility and variable threat response in mind. As such, the armor is significantly smaller and more streamlined that its cousin (Marco stands close to 7 ft. when wearing the armor), allowing for Marco to enter buildings and perform room clearings, for example. The armor increases Marco strength and durability to superhuman levels, and, thanks to its highly advanced neural interface and on board AI, provides superhuman reaction times that approach that of precognition. A pharmaceutical/medical suite can deliver a cocktail of painkillers, stimulants, and other drugs on demand, while a series of thrusters provides Marco with flight capabilities. All of this is powered by the most efficient fusion reactor to date.

In keeping with the concept of tactical flexibility, the Gladiator features various modular weapon hard points that can accept a wide variety of weapons, including particle cannons, high-caliber, rapid-firing automatic weapons (aka, the infinite repeater), and variable-type mini-missile/grenade launchers. The weapon systems can be swapped out on the fly at any SDI military installation. All weapon systems are linked to the Gladiator's combat computer, which assists Marco in aiming and fire control.

Should his powered armor not be required, Marco can make use of a much more streamlined muscle suit, which places emphasis on speed and stealth. Holding the rank of Captain in the United States Army, Marco can also make use of facilities and vehicles of not only the United States and Canadian Armed Forces, but also Project Sentinel's assets and its base of operations, an obscure military complex known as the Citadel.

In terms of abilities, Marco is an expert in armed and unarmed combat, as well as Project Sentinel's foremost expert on direct action operations. As such, Marco maintains considerable expertise in demolitions, guerrilla warfare, assassinations, and special reconnaissance. Marco's subsequent time with Task Force Ghost and mentoring by General Goldstein has given him knowledge over a wide variety of conventional and unconventional threats, as well as the skills to defeat said threats through the skillful use of tactics and appropriate use of weapons and equipment.

In addition, Marco still maintains contacts within Task Force Ghost that are willing to aid him with particularly delicate situations should it be necessary.

Current Status, Personality, and Relations:

One of the SDI's premier field agents, Marco is the team leader of the anti-metahuman group known as Project Sentinel. Made up of six members, all of them, including Marco, normally operate independently of one another, but will come together when a threat emerges that is too great for just one of them to fight. Over the years, Marco has come to develop a bond with many of Project Sentinel's members and support staff. Among these include his best friend and the team's resident combat mage, Gregory Slade. And then, of course, is Marco's relationship with his mentor, Jason Goldstein. Acting as a father figure for him, Marco has come to know the Old Man of the Army and his long history better than anyone else, and, as such, has come to form a tight bond with him.

Personality-wise, Marco has come to exhibit certain mannerisms when fighting his enemies that can best be described as cocky or mockery. Indeed, this trait is similar to that of Jason during his more active days as US Supersoldier, who often used sarcasm and wit to break his foes psychologically or infuriate them enough that they end up lowering their defenses. Of course, unlike Jason, Marco does this partly because he gets a kick out of it. This should not be confused, however, with Marco somehow not appreciating the importance of his line of work. Taking his vow to protect the defenseless seriously, Marco will go out of his way to make sure that any possible threat, no matter what its origins may be, to innocent civilians is swiftly and ruthlessly dealt with before it has a chance to harm anyone. This, of course, implies that even rogue or misguided former heroes can and would be dealt with should it come to that, something that the metahuman community has taken note of. Indeed, several groups, including the Guild of Light and Shadow, have criticized Project Sentinel (and Marco by extension) for being overly aggressive when it comes to confronting rogue heroes or other misguided metahumans. Marco, in turn, shrugs off said criticism and often accuses groups such as the Guild of being far too hesitant when it comes to dealing with rogue metahuman heroes. Once they cross a certain line, figures Marco, then the metahuman in question must pay for their actions no matter what their past was.

Naturally, Marco's career as an Army Ranger and SDI field agent/operative of Project Sentinel has resulted in a large collection of enemies. Many have been killed in the end, while others were taken into captivity and shipped off to the most secure prison-fortress imaginable. Some, however, continue to cheat death or avoid capture. Among the most prominent include the agents of Shadow Legion, such as Amar Davuluri, the protégé of Paul von Austerlitz and rumored successor to Austerlitz as head of Shadow Legion. Marco has also sparred covertly with his communist counterpart created by China, the Red Crusader (the 'spiritual successor' to another communist agent, the Red Legionnaire), as well as the so-called 'Emperor of the Damned,' the dark mage and occultist Henry Dubois. And then there is the man known simply as the Jackal. Rumored to have been a failed SDI experiment into creating genetically engineered supersoldiers, the Jackal is a psychotic madman that seeks to dominate society and gain all the power, wealth, and status that he can, as well as ruthlessly destroying societies defenders and their will. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the Jackal, however, is that, despite Marco's efforts, nothing seems to be able to permanently kill him.

[Malchus]

That's one kickass character you got there, Magister. Also, it's always good to see more SDI characters.

One thing, though. The way you describe him going around and hunting down rogue metahumans, especially Guardian, during his Omega Trooper days actually makes him sound more like an Alpha Trooper. Omega Troopers are primarily the last line of die hard defense for SDI. Active, front line stuff like that sounds more like Alpha Trooper purview.

[Siege]

I like him. He certainly seems to have mastered that gung-ho edge typical of SDI. The 'tragic past' business feels somewhat out of place here though, for such a traumatic experience it doesn't seem to have done much to him apart from handing him a reason to join SDI instead of the Berets. I can't quite place my finger on it, but it just seems the inevitable gravity of such an event is missing right now and I'm not sure the core of his character- 'kickass commando who likes what he does, but doesn't have time to get romantically involved' requires the usual superheroic dark past bits.

Also, and this might not be the best place for a nitpick like this, but are we sure we want pocket dimension technology to be applicable in such things as small battlesuits now? I feel this is one field of technology that is rapidly on its way toward overuse. It's one thing for geniuses like Quartermass or Andres to have found a way to utilize dimensional technology off the lab bench, but I thought it was ridiculous when those superfighters were kitted out with the tech, and battlesuits strike me as more than just one bridge too far entirely.

[Shroom Man 777]

I like the character, though like Siege I don't think having his family wiped out for no reason ala Punisher-style is all that necessary. And I thought the Guardian was a rather shallow villain, a supervillain gone mad.

You could delve into metahuman arms race and intrigue and stuff if instead of having Marco lose his family, maybe he could've witnessed atrocities instead in his tour of duty as a Green Beret. How old is he? If he was active in the 80s, he could've served under Ronald von Reagan and helped train guys like the Contras and other death squads in Latin America and elsewhere. The whole amorality of the situation, and perhaps a couple of situations where he's forced to abandon his friends to the wolves, could lead to the hardening of his character - rather than the murder of his family.

Thus, maybe we can also reform Guardian from just some ambiguous superhero gone mad, you could have him to be some government-sanctioned metahuman who has lost his mind in his missions in South America or Indochina or Eastern Europe or Africa or Arabia or something, from all the assassinations and murders and wetworks. Gone rogue, disillusioned with the wetworks the US government has given him, or gone mad with a deranged sense of right and wrong and misplaced patriotism or something. Turning him from one of the "good guys" like Torres, into a bad guy.

Thus not only would Marco question his own patriotism and stuff, in light of maddened former US soldier Guardian, but then would also find resolve in making sure shit like Guardian doesn't happen. He'd hunt down metahumans gone bad, or rogue government-sanctioned supers, or kill escaped experiments and shit!

It'd make for an interesting moral quandry and would be in keeping of the overall theme of the characters. While they're comic book in terms of tech and in terms of metahumans and stuff, the SDI and Marco's history is still grounded in military stuff.



ALSO: Pocket dimension tech isn't available to battlesuit-sized stuff. Malchus' Blacksuits get a pass since they're highschoolers out fighting Lovecraftian monsters and I guess the Blacksuits have access to esoteric stuff that are not only science-based, but also maybe magitech as well (who knows? the Blacksuits have been around for half a century longer than the SDI).

I suggest just giving Marco, and Goldstein, "transformers" type of tech. Weapons that, while not involving dimension-tech, are nonetheless really compressed and use some fancy "lego" technology to assemble and disassemble them ala Transformers - with all the shnickity snickt-bub sounds.

EDIT:

Militum is also incorrect. A single Megafortress can destroy a nation. A squadron can threaten the USSR. Each Fort is meaner and angrier than any single SSBN. Even a Typhoon.

[Magister Militum]

I like the character, though like Siege I don't think having his family wiped out for no reason ala Punisher-style is all that necessary. And I thought the Guardian was a rather shallow villain, a supervillain gone mad.

You could delve into metahuman arms race and intrigue and stuff if instead of having Marco lose his family, maybe he could've witnessed atrocities instead in his tour of duty as a Green Beret. How old is he? If he was active in the 80s, he could've served under Ronald von Reagan and helped train guys like the Contras and other death squads in Latin America and elsewhere. The whole amorality of the situation, and perhaps a couple of situations where he's forced to abandon his friends to the wolves, could lead to the hardening of his character - rather than the murder of his family.

Thus, maybe we can also reform Guardian from just some ambiguous superhero gone mad, you could have him to be some government-sanctioned metahuman who has lost his mind in his missions in South America or Indochina or Eastern Europe or Africa or Arabia or something, from all the assassinations and murders and wetworks. Gone rogue, disillusioned with the wetworks the US government has given him, or gone mad with a deranged sense of right and wrong and misplaced patriotism or something. Turning him from one of the "good guys" like Torres, into a bad guy.

Thus not only would Marco question his own patriotism and stuff, in light of maddened former US soldier Guardian, but then would also find resolve in making sure shit like Guardian doesn't happen. He'd hunt down metahumans gone bad, or rogue government-sanctioned supers, or kill escaped experiments and shit!

It'd make for an interesting moral quandry and would be in keeping of the overall theme of the characters. While they're comic book in terms of tech and in terms of metahumans and stuff, the SDI and Marco's history is still grounded in military stuff.



ALSO: Pocket dimension tech isn't available to battlesuit-sized stuff. Malchus' Blacksuits get a pass since they're highschoolers out fighting Lovecraftian monsters and I guess the Blacksuits have access to esoteric stuff that are not only science-based, but also maybe magitech as well (who knows? the Blacksuits have been around for half a century longer than the SDI).

I suggest just giving Marco, and Goldstein, "transformers" type of tech. Weapons that, while not involving dimension-tech, are nonetheless really compressed and use some fancy "lego" technology to assemble and disassemble them ala Transformers - with all the shnickity snickt-bub sounds.

EDIT:

Militum is also incorrect. A single Megafortress can destroy a nation. A squadron can threaten the USSR. Each Fort is meaner and angrier than any single SSBN. Even a Typhoon.

Well, I should have mentioned beforehand that parts of this are a work in progress (although I could have sworn that the pocket dimension tech was more widespread than that). Really, I needed an event that would allow for Marco to make the bridge between a Green Beret that is going about doing potentially illegal things to a slightly more noble position like the Alpha Troopers (exactly when did they come about, anyways?) and SDI field agent. I must admit, though, that Shroom's Apocalypse Now-esque alternative, i.e., an odyssey that shatters everything Marco once believed in, is incredibly superior, especially given the fact that Goldstein also had a similar events, thus linking the two even more. Once I finish with Finals this week, I'll rework Marco's origins to fit this new idea in.

Oh, and I haven't really settled on Marco's age. Based on some rough calculations of how long certain events took (Marco had to have spent at least four years at West Point, for example), my original concept had him in his late 20's or early 30's. The new take on his origins, though, will probably push him into the early 30's.

EDIT: If we're going to get really nitpickey about the Megaforts, then may I remind you that I never said at any ocassion that a Megafortress can't destroy a nation. I said that having a squadron of them is overkill on a unimaginable level for certain (or most) threats the SDI faces.

[Shroom Man 777]

Oh, right. There could've been quite a few occasions of such Pants-Shitting gravity that multiple Megaforts could've been called in as a precaution, in case Indiscriminate Justice might've needed to be laid down.

I must admit, though, that Shroom's Apocalypse Now-esque alternative, i.e., an odyssey that shatters everything Marco once believed in, is incredibly superior, especially given the fact that Goldstein also had a similar events, thus linking the two even more. Once I finish with Finals this week, I'll rework Marco's origins to fit this new idea in.

Make it a really deranged and surreal and awesome Apocalypse Now-esque alternative. Involving deranged militant metahuman madman (Guardian) and perhaps an army of likeminded castaways and dispossessed mercenary motherfuckers with a penchant for doing ruthless and inhuman things. Perhaps involve a Vagrant Arm (Comix' equivalent of Metal Gears, walking nuclear tanks proliferated in Cold War proxy conflicts) or two. And maybe multiple opponents, rather than singular baddies like Guardian. Guardian himself and maybe some other blokes. So instead of one event, it can be an odyssey that involves multiple things.

Like the Labors of Hercules!

(although I could have sworn that the pocket dimension tech was more widespread than that).

Malchus gives his Men in Black-style child soldiers pocket-dimension knapsacks, but his are lighthearted childrens' stories about Shoggoths devouring suburbanite slobs and trailer park trash, and children ruining the shit out of these Trans-Yuggothian obscenities with copious amounts of disproportionate firepower. So I give him a pass on that.

(And since the Blacksuits pre-date the SDI by more than half a century, they might have access to a little more esoteric unconventional tech than the SDI themselves.)

Really, I needed an event that would allow for Marco to make the bridge between a Green Beret that is going about doing potentially illegal things to a slightly more noble position like the Alpha Troopers (exactly when did they come about, anyways?) and SDI field agent.

Perhaps the "Omega" and "Alpha" units could've originated during the Von Reagan years. The Omegas could've been his postapocalyptic ultimate last line of defense soldiers, the final fallback for when the Russkies start dropping paratroopers into Washington DC with a returned Stalin amongst them.

The Alphas, on the other hand, could be a similarly badassed bunch of hardasses but instead of performing last-line pentomic defense strategies, these guys could've been more of the opposite of the end spectrum - "Aggressive Reconnaissance" commandos perhaps. The ones who Von Reagan launches on SSTOs from Mt. Rushmore to do orbital drops that infringe on Soviet territory to piss the fuck out of people or something, or dropping into (still-French?) Indochina or something.

You could imagine the Alpha Troopers to be led by guys like Bill Paxton and Michael Biehn and Michelle Rodriguez or something.

I'd imagine that a lot of Omega Troopers can be veteran Alpha Troopers who've become totally 'borged' into badass killing machines. While fresh Omega Troops get rotated to the Alphas to get badass frontline action and stuff.

[Malchus]

Malchus gives his Men in Black-style child soldiers pocket-dimension knapsacks, but his are lighthearted childrens' stories about Shoggoths devouring suburbanite slobs and trailer park trash, and children ruining the shit out of these Trans-Yuggothian obscenities with copious amounts of disproportionate firepower. So I give him a pass on that.

(And since the Blacksuits pre-date the SDI by more than half a century, they might have access to a little more esoteric unconventional tech than the SDI themselves.)

That, and their compressed space is reverse-engineered Dreamlander Grey tech which they adamantly refuse to share. So how sparsely Andrews or Quartermass supply compressed space tech doesn't really affect them.

An alternative for compressed space tech could be something similar to the nanite-assembler nodes intgrated into the TANGENT/Roach suits. These nodes contain nanites which, when dormant, are very highly compact (a suitcase worth of matter could compress to a dense clump the size of a fist, for example). However, when an activation signal is initiated the nanites construct certain objects or instruments they've been preproprammed to assemble. The process can also be reversed to "store" said objects.

[Magister Militum]

An alternative for compressed space tech could be something similar to the nanite-assembler nodes intgrated into the TANGENT/Roach suits. These nodes contain nanites which, when dormant, are very highly compact (a suitcase worth of matter could compress to a dense clump the size of a fist, for example). However, when an activation signal is initiated the nanites construct certain objects or instruments they've been preproprammed to assemble. The process can also be reversed to "store" said objects.

Now I'm pissed. This was the exact god damned explanation I gave when it came to Goldstein's powered armor, and yet I had my head chewed off because it was too wanktastic.

[Shroom Man 777]

Hrm... I think there's a difference though. Malchus' assemblers are more like very compressed LEGOs that fold out and assemble themselves in interesting ways (Transformers), while the original Goldstein's involved harvesting raw materials from the environment for ammunition (Grey Goo) plus remote technology control.

I think it was suggested that Goldstein's powered armor's tech involved those nano LEGO Transformers things rather than the whole Grey Goo thing.

And I think the Roach/TANGET suits were written after Goldstein's article and after that discussion, so Malchus may or may not have taken cues from that.


But yeah, I distinctly remember suggesting the addition of "Transformers-style" stuff in Goldstein's thread back in OZ, complete with suggestions that the components should assemble while making "snickt-shnick-click-clack" sounds. Just like Transformers.

Since yeah, these guys are in large armor that'd be totally cool when Transforming.


But these are nitpicks, mang.

[Malchus]

Now I'm pissed. This was the exact god damned explanation I gave when it came to Goldstein's powered armor, and yet I had my head chewed off because it was too wanktastic.

It was? Huh. Well, it was Shroom who suggested that nanite thing to me since I did originally give the TANGENT/Roach compressed space, but others figured out that was too much proliferation of comp space tech.

However, the nanite assemblers in the TANGENT/Roach can only assemble from preloaded matter the suit was already carrying around. If what Shroom says above is correct, maybe it's the assembling from whatever matter's lying around others found wanktastic?

[Shroom Man 777]

However, the "preloaded matter the suit was already carrying around" ain't just buckets full of grey goo. I'd imagine these "preloaded materials" include stuff like transistors and magnetic whatsits and capacitors and sonic-electronic ballbreakers that can, through the wonders of science, be reconstituted to a wide variety of applications (from simple railguns to phased plasma weapons, etc.).

Like an obscene sci-fi version of a modular weapons system. Like those ridiculous M-16/M4 variants with those rail interface systems and the foregrips and the reflex sights and the scopes and the underslung grenade launchers and Master Keys and modifiable barrels that can be rechambered from 5.56mms to 6mms or something, and the tactical flashlights and the night sights and the laser dot projectors and so on and so forth.

Or like that gun from the 5th element. The one that has a flamethrower, that has a replay function, and makes ice cubes.

[Siege]

Here's a question: why do these suits even need self-rebuilding guns? Can't they just have a bunch of stuff fitted to them depending on the mission profile? What's the point of these goo guns, beyond 'zomg advanced'?

[Shroom Man 777]

Maybe we can have 'zomg advanced' Swiss Army Knife guns. A bit like the Zorg gun from 5th Element.

But I see your point. Maybe instead of nanoes, there can be "multi-weapons" instead. Like 40k combi-weapons! Manufactured by the AdMech or those Jokaris!

[Magister Militum]

The point's pretty much moot anyways, as I've ditched any sort of transforming guns or self-building weapons in favor of just having Paladin load up with whatever weapons that are going to be necessary for that particular mission. I guess he loses some versitility (emphasis on the 'some'), but but heavily doubt it's going to cost him his life (what would, anyways?).

[Shroom Man 777]

Anyway, if he'd run out of ammo, he can always snickt-out his LIGHTNING CLAWS and disembowel people!

EDIT:

For all we know, US spec ops people in Latin America tasked for psych warfare could've gone Predator on the scared little commie shits - cutting them up and making their breasts bleed!

[Ford Prefect]

Now I'm pissed. This was the exact god damned explanation I gave when it came to Goldstein's powered armor, and yet I had my head chewed off because it was too wanktastic.

Saying that you got your head chewed off is a little drammatic. It was suggested that rapidly building guns out of dirt, bricks and steel girders was not appropriate for the character. Malchus' math-themed battlesuits use a nanotechnobabble 'compression' mechanism, because their usage of compressed space technology was vetoed by the Security Council. It's not the same thing. In any case, as you say, it's moot. Having Torres actually load up for a mission is far more suitable for the character who, despite the super-armour, is basically a hardcore soldier. This something which should be carried through thematically.

Also, because it's come up, compressed space technology is widespread, but it's something which should honestly be cut back on severely. I don't, for example, think that the Dinosaur Uprising should have it. It's frankly one of the cheapest technologies in Comix!, and honestly serves very little purpose beyond 'more missiles in this plane' or 'more dinosaurs in this submarine': there's no sense that this is an actual technology that has relevance beyond its ability to give you unlimited ammo, which is important when it is ostensibly created by ordinary scientists and engineers.

[Magister Militum]

UPDATE: Made major edits to much of the article, including Marco's origins (he's was now a Ranger carring out varoius dubious activities) and other areas.

[Shroom Man 777]

This is better, yeah. I'd like to imagine Guardian acted on the notion of "balancing" or "countering" America's more amoral actions abroad and at home - becoming a hit squad that'd hit, say, CIA hit squads, or a kill team out to kill special forces kill teams.

EDIT:

Just a heads up. I'm in the process of creating a new SDI article, so if any of you folks (Militums and Malachuses) have any details you'd like to be mentioned, please PM em or something.

[Invictus]

As with the other people's comments, I like this version much more than the last one. The overlapping special Task Forces did get a bit confusing though, and I think at some points you've mistaken their names. Is it really necessary for the US to disband and rebrand its crack commando teams every decade or so?

And as a curious question, what were the Guardian's powers and abilities?

[Magister Militum]

Uh, since when did I say the US has been disbanding their black ops teams like there's no tomorrow? Honestly, it's not really that difficult to keep track of them. Project Aces, going by what has been discussed by Mobius, was basically a hostage negociation team/crisis control team, while Project Talon was the more offensive-minded anti-metahuman squad. Both are eventually disbanded due to various concerns. Years later, Goldstein brings back Project Talon under the name Project Sentinel. Also, I didn't swap the names in the article by mistake, so you probably misred some parts.

Oh, and Task Force Ghost, like its predecessor, Task Force Eagle, is a black ops organization, not an individual special forces unit, and acts as a hidden enforcer of America's interests and priorities.

If all of you really need it, then I suppose I can whip up a factsheet of sorts that covers these organizations.

As for the Guardian's powers, I haven't fully decided yet, but I'm considering abilities such as superhuman strength and durability. In essence, he would be a weaker version of Major Britannic.

[Shroom Man 777]

Maybe he could've been the military's attempt to actualize all the natural potentials of the human body and mind - like a more comprehensive BASS/Soldier Serum experiment that would include psycholomental aspects. Basically producing an unmatchable peakhuman soldier and an exceptional battlefield commander - like Gene from Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, or like the military's own version of Ozymandias.

Then as he goes crazy, he starts augmenting himself with mutagens or crude 80s-era cybernetics and stuff. Turning into an utter freakshow of a human being!

[Invictus]

So Task Force Ghost is a post-Cold War successor of Task Force Eagle with slightly different priorities, and draws recruits from different branches of the military. I get that. Project Sentinel is a revived version of Project Talon, both of which were founded by General Goldstein under the SDI umbrella. The two are distinct from the Alpha Troopers, which were founded during the Cold War but I thought were folded into the SDI when the latter was created after the Cold War. In fact, I thought both the Alpha and Omega Units were repurposed to become the backbone of the new SDI after nuclear apocalypse was not so likely any more. In your article though the Alpha Troopers don't seem to be clearly connected to the SDI, and their duties overlap with the Projects. Unless the Projects *are* filled by the Alpha Troopers. So sorry, it's still a bit confusing for me.

[Shroom Man 777]

We should hold on a sec. After I (eventually) post the SDI article, we can discuss how we're going to take things in regards to these organizations.

I mean, the SDI is one of the big things when it comes to the US military's organizational framework, being the whole big guys when it comes to dealing with unconventional threats, but they don't even have an article yet (my fault!). So I guess I best be working on that articul and get it posteds quicks.

[Magister Militum]

Projects Talon and Sentinel are the cream of the crop of the SDI; they're the speical field agents of the SDI, essentially. The Alpha Troopers, I would imagine, would be a more 'conventional' force.

[Shroom Man 777]

The Alpha and Omega Unit (A&OU) are the descendants of the "Pentomic Brigades" of the Eisenhower Era. Basically, they're trained for all out Nuclear Operations in Urban Terrain (NOUT), Radiological Operations Assault and Defend (ROAD), and etcetera. The Alphas were designed to preempt nuclear war by entering Soviet territory to neutralize stuff like intercontinental cruise missile launch pads and raise merry hell in their territories. The Omegas, on the other hand, are for homeland defense - with groups stationed in Alaska to defend the USA from an oversea assault from the Bering, in Texas (Fort Alamo) in case of an overland assault from Latin America, and Florida in case of Cuba.

I'd envision them as the ultimate technological badasses. Basically a combination of all that's good with 80s RUTHLESSNESS. You'd have them full of Colonial Marine type of jock douches, like Hicks and Hudsons, plus a Predator-crew full of Dutches and Macs and Billies and Blaines and Ponchos and Dillons, plus Terminator-style TechCom dudes (complete with futuristic weapons).

But I guess the Talons and Sentinels, by virtue of sporting Goldstein-type battlesuits, and by virtue of having more colorful characters (since they ARE led by Goldstein!) can be considered as less-conventional. Since they'd have a more colorful history than the A&OU, since the Talons and Sentinels would be all over the place busting Shadow Legion ass and all that.