STORM, Strategic Tactical Operations & Response Management, is one of the sub-groups of The Paragon Universe. It's a team of field agents, power-armor agents, and scientists, designed to respond to emergencies in an efficient, team-oriented manner. It was founded in April 2008 by Prof. Renegade. From its inception to September 2008, the team was headed by Gold Cop. Upon Gold Cop stepping down from day-to-day leadership in the wake of family obligations, the two directors, Gravartol and Imitation have assumed the duties of leadership.

Origin

Prof. Renegade is a brilliant engineer, and many of his designs have been mass produced in other realities in the emergency response field. However, that was in other realities; he came to this reality without a penny since he hopped dimensions without his wallet.

In an effort to pull his own weight with The Legion, he showed his designs to Sir Johnathan Phoenix who then invested in their production. The inventions were more popular than either could have hoped and suddenly the Professor was sitting on a pile of money.

While developing a special crime-tracking computer, the Professor realized that there was too much crime in the city for the Legion to handle alone. Having done work on power armor of his own in the past, he decided that it was time to recruit an emergency response force, even if he had to equip them with man-made powers.

Past Events

Brian Sampson, aka Gold Cop, was recruited early on to help with the initial development and training for the program. His recruitment was originally intended to build a working trust with the Paragon Police Department and to lend the team a positive public image. Sampson proved quickly that he was more than cut for the work, and seemed to excel even more than in his previous position with the PPD. He was soon made official Commander.

Soon to follow was Geoff Wilson, aka Gravartol, aka Fire Scyth. The technician-turned-field agent was the first to test one of the Professor's STORM Tech full battle suits. He soon near mastered the Gravartol Suit and has moved on to other prototypes (Fire Scyth).

Imitation and the Singularitarian also joined up as full Agents. With a full time squad, and new recruits coming in as well as other associates, STORM soon was a force to be reckoned with, assisting the PPD and Longbow across the City and occassionally on the Rogue Isles.

The Death of Gregor Meru

Near the end of May 2008, the Singularitarian disappeared. With no traceable comm signal, a full investigation became STORM's priority. When he was discovered dead at the hands of Nemesis soldiers, it struck the team hard. The investigation into his death is ongoing.

Commander Sampson Maimed

While tracking a major Council plot, STORM uncovered strange secrets about the history of the Nictus. Following a call for action by Moonfire they ended up deep underground before confronting the Council villain Arakhn. She, of course, did not go down without a fight. At the end, just as her energy seemed used up, she made a mad lunge for Sampson, digging her claws wreathed in energy across his face. The resulting scars have rendered one eye useless. So far no technology of magic has been able to heal it, without risk of further injury.

Major Current Plots

The Death of Gregor Meru

The Death of Gregor Meru continues to effect our heroes. While the investigation has slowed considerably, Nemesis remains a major threat. The search for further evidence is on everyone's mind.

The Agency

June 21, 2008

Copy of the Case File brought up in International Courts

Leading on a tip and the mysterious occurrence of a hero claiming to be Surgeto, a law agency simply known as the Agency brought up a credible lawsuit against the Storm group, bypassing the Might for Right Act. The Agency's client who brought up the case wishes to remain anonymous though whoever could hire the Agency has to be incredibly wealthy.

More recently, the focus of the investigation seems to have shifted to Prof. Renegade's actions in Venezuela and away from STORM. Confirmation of Surgeto's Identity have come through from several enforcement agencies but so far the legitimacy of The Agency is yet to be established.

The Persecution of KarmicAvenger

In August 2008, STORM Field Agent KarmicAvenger was trapped in a meditative state by a malicious entity. Investigation into Oranbega revealed that the founder of the Circle of Thorns was behind it. Preliminary indications reveal that the Circle may have been behind bringing KarmicAvenger's previous resurrection. Investigation continues.

Security and Promotions

In August 2008, Gravartol and Imitation were promoted to the Director of Response Management and the Director of Intelligence respectively. Commander Sampson also created the position of Full Access Associate awarded to heroes who have gained the trust of STORM through constant work. So far it has only been awarded to Arrelin Windspire -- a source of some professional tension between Commander Sampson and his then Director of Intelligence.

In September 2008, Gold Cop stepped down from his position as Commander. Gravartol and Imitation began at that time to work together to lead STORM into the future.

STORM Tech

Publicly Available Devices

  These items have been developed and made publicly available to purchase:

Short Range Teleporter (Prof. Renegade): This small device can be hand held, or added to a belt or wrist unit. It locks onto a local energy signature and teleports the related person to you. Can be blocked by a simple act of will. Recall Ally.

Medical Scanner (Prof. Renegade): This small device is generally worn at the hip until needed. It is a hand held scanner that can check for internal wounds and gives a quick boost to regeneration. With additional training it can be more effective. Medicine Pool.

Comm Unit (Prof. Renegade/Original Model of Unknown Designer): These Comm Units serve two functions, they allow those permitted into the system to communicate and can be used to identify individuals. (The Legions gives these out to associates, and they serve as base keys.)

STORM Controlled Units

  These items are controlled by STORM but made available to allied heroes.

Cryo-Tech (Prof. Renegade): Originally designed for fire fighting, this unit emits a beam of intense cold that can be modified for varying effects with proper training. Ice or cold powers.

Long Range Teleporter (Paragon Police Tech): Just recently made available for outside hero use. This is a personal teleporter that can transfer the user long distances, as but not through solid objects. Teleport

Piston Boots (Prof. Renegade): These boots use powerful pistons to launch the user into the air and burst of air to soften the landing. Combat Jumping, Super jump, etc.

Rocket Boots (Prof. Renegade/Singularitarian): These boots use small rockets to propel the user through the air. Small force fields protect landing areas from the intense heat. Hover, Fly.

STORM Power Armor (Prof. Renegade/Singularitarian): These suits come in a variety of modes. The two basic sets are battery powered and user powered. Battery powered units have a fuel cell that must be recharged after extensive use. User powered feed off access energy given off by certain powers the user might possess.

The STORM suits themselves can be equipped with any of the previous equipment and help to reinforce the users durability as well as replicate powers. Current models include gravity control, and radiation.

Requirements/FAQ

S.T.O.R.M. is a privately funded emergency response squad. As such, there are certain requirements that need to be followed:

   * Members are expected to follow the chain of command. When orders are issued from a ranking officer they should be obeyed.
   * Ranking members are expected to respect their own rank, and never abuse their command.
   * Discretion and tactics in battle is highly encouraged. STORM members need to maintain situational awareness and work with their allies.
   * STORM agents, like the Police, only kill if it’s absolutely necessary for the safety of others. Most villains defeated, should be rendered incapacitated and teleported to the Zig for processing.
   * Illegal drug and/or substance abuse is not tolerated.

Requirements:

Background: STORM is divided into three unit types: soldiers, power armored units, and scientists.

This is an RP group and your background should suggest training that would allow you to participate and contribute. You don't need to be ex-military to be a soldier but you should have a believable reason that you can operate in such a group. STORM does offer additional training for individuals who have been recruited due to an exceptional ability.

Archetype: Any archetype is accepted as long they fall under the three unit types listed above.

Uniform: Members are required to create/acquire a STORM uniform as soon as they can. There are separate uniforms for soldiers and power armored units. Scientists are required to get a soldier uniform for when they do field work. Power armored units are not required to get a soldier uniform but if they plan to do a lot of RPing outside of their armor it is encouraged.

These are the recipes for the two basic types of STORM uniforms...

Power Armor

 Head > Full Masks
     Face > Robotic > Robotic
     Detail 2 > Enforcer
     Detail 3 > Enforcer
 Upper Body > Tight
     Chest > Techbot > Techbot
     Shoulders > Enforcer
     Chest Detail > Enforcer 1 or 2
     Gloves >  Enforcer
     Belt > Enforcer
 Lower Body > Tight
     Pants > Techbot > Techbot
     Boots > Enforcer

(Open Modifications: color, chest detail, shoulders, gloves, head gear... any thing that changes should simply reflect small modifications made by the character to suit the nature of the power armor... i.e. cold, radiation, electricity, fire, etc. Bear in mind that it should still STRONGLY resemble STORM power armor)

Soldier / Scientist

 Head > Masks with Hair
     Face > (Any face) > Neck Cover
 Upper Body > Tight
     Chest > Armored Pads
     Chest Detail > Stealth
     Gloves > (Large or Smooth/Bare) > Heavy Leather
     Belt > Tactical 1 
 Lower Body > Tight
     Pants > Armored Pads
     Boots > (Large, Smooth, Work or Stillettos) > Combat Boots

(Open Modifications: color, chest detail, belt, head gear... any thing that changes should simply reflect small modifications made by the character to suit the nature of their specialty ... gun users or blades users... scientists, etc. Bear in mind that the uniform should still STRONGLY resemble a STORM soldier uniform)

Level: We accept all levels as well as established characters, as long as you fit the theme of the group.

Name: You're name should either be you're code name or you're real (IC) name. Operatives who use a code name also need a real name. While we occasionally undertake covert assignments, we a re a public group primarily.

Age: You're character should be at a mature enough age to operate professionally.

Respect/Maturity: This group deals with themes of rank and military styled combat. You (OOC) should be able to speak maturely both IC and OOC.

Inactivity: If you cannot Log In for an extended period of time, you should notify the group at once. Unexplained absence of more than 30 days will result in being dismissed from the group.

Communication: Communication both IC and OOC is very important and should be clear. All OOC communication should either be in double parenthesis (( )), start with OOC:, or be in the Paragon Universe global chat channel.

Roster and Rankings

The STORM Command Structure is as follows:

Founder: Prof. Renegade

        While technically the head of STORM, Prof. Renegade leaves most of its operations in the hands of its Commander. He does receive a number of reports and monitor the groups affectiveness and public profile.

Commander: Brian Sampson (Gold Cop)

        Responsible for day to day operations, overall missions, final approval on new members and budget spending.

Director of Response Management: Geoff Wilson (Gravartol/Fire Scyth)

        Responsible for combat training, recruitment of attack personel, and combat strategy.

Director of Intelligence: Cara Deacon (Imitation)

        Responsible for Intelligence, Counter-Intelligence as well as recruitment and training in those areas.

Special Agents: Karmic Avenger, Lotos Rose, Space Trooper, Suzakuken, Warsabre

        Our main force. Our special agents are paid employees and receive access to main STORM databanks, and equipment.

Full Access Associate: Arrelin Windspire

        Awarded to individuals with a record of working closely with STORM. While generally not on the payroll the receive member level access to STORM databanks and equipment, with certain restrictions.

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