Demon
In 1963, Dr. Raymond Benton, the once respected medical colleague of Dr. Strange, made a pact with an extra-dimensional demon known as Satannish. In exchange for his life essence, Satannish granted him a lifetime of power unleashed. Dr. Benton, now known as Asmodeus, attacked Dr. Strange. His first battle with Dr. Strange led to his defeat.
Dr. Benton thought long and hard about how to overcome his old foe and subject this dimension to his rule. He thought that to defeat a master of magic like Dr. Strange could only come with experience and a group of followers to back him up. He then gathered a group of followers and had them also make a pact with Satannish. These individuals became the first of the Morbanes. Once again, the group, now known as the Sons of Satannish, attacked Dr. Strange and lost.
Dr. Benton then saw the scope of what he truly needed to win. He needed a true army of disciples, then there could be no way that they could lose. Then using the Morbanes as the heads of his armies, they started recruiting acolytes of their own. These acolytes were not only trained with some minor magical skill, but with weaponry. These acolytes became known as the Demon-Warriors.
Over the years, Asmodeus' forces have grown substantially. Asmodeus has learned the secret of demon summoning from Satannish, and has taught it to his Morbanes. Now within the field, the Morbanes could call upon reinforcements from the Pits of Hell itself.
Organization
Demon is currently laid out in a two-tiered organizational structure. At the top is the Dark Hierachy, Asmodeus and his circle of Morbanes, which includes all the more powerful practitioners of the dark arts. At the bottom are the Demon-warriors and the Demon-spawn.
Asmodeus rules Demon with an iron hand. His Morbanes are his generals. Though there are some special Morbanes, that act as his true right hand. Sheath, Asmodeus' premier assassin would be a good example of this.
Those of the Demon-warriors that show true potential and skill in the dark arts are promoted to the rank of Morbane, and taught even more of the dark arts.
Goals
Asmodeus only has a few true goals on his mind. The entire subjugation of this world, then this dimension. It should be noted that he has also considered subjugating Satannish himself. But until they can amass the power that is needed for this grand plans. They shall continue to collect artifacts of mystical origins and destroy anyone who stands in their way.
Personnel
Asmodeus: The head of Demon. Asmodeus oversees all Demon operations, as well as being the direct contact with the extra-dimensional entity known as Satannish.
Sheath: Asmodeus' premier demonic assassin. Sheath has the ability to create swords out of mid-air and send them unerringly to strike down his targets.
Morbanes: The Morbanes are the backbone of the organization, and seem to be comprised of Demon-warriors that have proven themselves in one respect or another, most likely in their skill with the black arts. Morbanes are most commonly seen in a traditional cape and cowl, and are usually armed with a Soul Gem and a magical Wand of Satannish.
The Soul Gem is embedded into their foreheads upon induction into the Morbanes, and seems to be a source of power. Their wands also seem to be magically enhanced.
Often, Morbanes will be seen with summoned demons to assist them in their objectives, and to protect them from attacks. These demons vary as well, but seem to be more animalistic than humanoid in nature.
Morbanes are able to work together with other Morbanes to increase their cooperative power. Important missions are usually led by three Morbanes, who will combine their powers to take out any formidable opposition. They are very dangerous, and very devious.
Demon-warriors: The standard shock troops of the organization. When a Demon-Warrior shows exemplary talent or magical skill, he is promoted to the rank of Morbane.
Demon-spawn: The true demons from the Pits of Hell. They vary in size and power, but exist as tools when needed.
GM's Note: Demon is based upon an organization from Hero Games of the same name. I am changing the background a bit to make it fit in more with the Marvel Universe.
Guard
Superteam Liasons
A special branch of the O&T division is the Superteam Liaisons - agents who are assigned to a particular team of heroes as their liaison to the Guard and the U.S. government. In exchange for a team accepting a liaison, the Guard offers them training, access to many of its databases and services, and sometimes even financial support. The team, in turn, is expected to keep their Liaison informed about what they are doing, villains they encounter, unusual technologies they acquire, and so forth. Not all superhero teams have an SL, but those who do speak highly of their Liaisons, who often go into battle right beside the teams, despite their lack of superpowers.
Goals
The goals of the Guard can be divided into two broad groups: overall goals, the ones that the public knows about; and the more covert, factional goals of various groups within the Guard who try to advance their own agendas.
The publicly-known goals of the Guard are not very different from those of any law enforcement agency. The Guard wants to enforce the laws it was designed to enforce, which is to say, they want to put super-villains behind bars. Most Guard agents are strongly devoted to this goal, and the desire to protect innocent American citizens from which it grows. More than one Guard agent has willingly given his life to protect the people of the United States.
In order to put super-humans in one of the Stronghold-class prisons , though, the Guard needs funding, equipment, weapons, and many other things. It has to engage in the year-in, year-out battle for funding on Capitol Hill, and is constantly struggling to justify its budget with successes in the field and the lab. Then it has to turn that funding into working weapons, functioning facilities, and well-trained agents. All of this puts a tremendous strain on the organization, particularly because it is so often in the media spotlight.
Once one gets beneath the surface, however, numerous other goals, sometimes conflicting ones, present themselves. Like any organization, the Guard is prone to a certain amount of factionalism and internal politics, and each faction or power group has its own priorities. Some of the other factions in the Guard include groups that want to expand the Guard's role to deal with some kinds of non-superhuman criminal activity (such as drug smuggling), groups that want the Guard to lobby Congress to be converted into a full-fledged national police force (to take the place of all such local forces), and groups with strong opinions about various aspects of Guard life, such as which types of blasters are best in which situation. Debates among these groups often rage in e-mail messages, informal newsletters, and discussions over coffee after a long day's work.
Facilities
Attebury Proving Grounds: Based just south of Indianapolis on the closed Army base of Fort Atterbury, this facility is where new weapons and gear are tested before being issued to the Guard Agents.
Liberty Island Facility: Based on the Island of the Statue of Liberty, a high tech base has been established there as a Regional Command Center for the entire East Coast of the United States of America.
White River Station: Based in Indianapolis, this station serves as the Regional Command Center for the Mid-West.
Personnel
Guard Agents: These individuals make the rank and file of Guard. These are the people that put their lives on the line by facing the super-villains every day. These are the members of Guard that heroes will deal with on an almost every day basis.
Lieutenant Charlene White: The head of the Atterbury Proving Grounds facility based on the former Army Base Fort Atterbury.
Lieutenant Olivia Harris: The head of the East Coast Containment Facility, Lt. Olivia Harris has perhaps the highest stress position of all the Guard Agents. It is her job to make sure that captured super-villains remain so, and must constantly watch out from "visits" from her prisoner's "friends".
Captain Raven Darkholme: Raven Darkholme is Major Cooper's second-in-command over Freedom Force.
Captain John McGrath: John McGrath is Regional Commander of the East Coast region of the Guard, based on Liberty Island.
Major Valerie Cooper: Val Cooper was the Mutant-Affairs Advisor to the President of the United States and the National Security Council. She has recently been accepted to Guard with the rank of Major, as the New Commander of Freedom Force. She previously managed the government-sanctioned mutant groups of the original Freedom Force and X-Factor.
Colonel Nicholas Fury: Former Executive Director of SHIELD, Colonel Fury has recently been appointed by President Hawthorne to lead the GUARD as the new Director of Operations.
Equipment
The Guard uses hundreds of different pieces of equipment, weapons, and vehicles. Most of it is standard law enforcement equipment used by many different organizations - shotgun microphones, handcuffs, tear gas and similar weapons, and micro-electronic listening devices, just to name a few. However there are some types of equipment, particularly weapons, which are unique to the Guard; a few of these are described below. Most of these items are designed and built by Stark/Fujikawa International. When Fujikawa took over Stark Internatioal, the Guard took a chance on it and was handsomely rewarded with a quality line of advanced weapons and equipment custom-designed by Stark/Fujikawa International. The close relationship between the Guard and Stark/Fujikawa has continued to this day.
Weapons
G7 Blaster Pistol: The G7, known as the "Battle Ace" pistol is the standard sidearm of Guard Agents. It is a particle-beam weapon which fires a concentrated blast of energy. The blast is not affected by gravity or wind, making it much easier to aim than a bullet. The energy pack (called a "juice pack") powering the G7 is good for 12 shots; most agents carry at least one extra juice pack if not two.
G12 Assault Rifle: The G12 is the standard assault rifle of the Guard, and is based upon the same technology as the G7. It is capable of automatic fire. Its energy pack carries 30 shots worth of juice.
G14 Sniper Rifle: The G14 variant of the G12 is designed for use by snipers. It is extremely long and heavy, making it an impractical weapon for actual combat situations. However, its length, coupled with its precision aiming technology, give it pinpoint accuracy up to 1,000 yards.
G30 Suppressor Rifle: The G30 Suppressor is one of the Guard's most unusual weapons. It projects a beam of as-yet not fully understood extra-dimensional energy which has the effect of sapping Movement Powers. It has a total of 32 shots worth of energy in each juice pack. Guard scientists working with Stark/Fujikawa researchers, hope to be able to adapt this unusual form of energy for weapons which will drain other superpowers.
G33x Nullifier Rifle: The G33X Nullifier still only exists as a prototype, but promises to be an impressive addition to the Guard arsenal. The size of a large assault rifle, the G33X Nullifier is a weapon which neutralizes a paranormal's offensive powers. Different versions of the Nullifier exist for the different manifestation of paranormal powers (by SFX). Guard scientists have prototypes for use against cold/ice, electricity, heat/fire, kinetic, and sonic powers. Each different version is designated by the appropriate letter (e.g. the G33Xc would work against cold/ice powers). Currently, this weapon is highly unreliable and doesn't carry enough of a battery capacity (only carrying 5 shots) to be truly useful in the field, but initial tests have been promising.
G8x Stun Pistol: The G8X Stun Pistol is an experimental weapon, meant to bypass armor and other defenses to render a target unconscious in a quick, efficient manner. The current prototype is faring well in tests.
Restraint Technology
Most of the restraining devices used by the Guard are standard police equipment, or reinforced versions of the same. However, due to the nature of its mission, the Guard often needs specialized restraints. Some of the most common include:
Weakness Cuffs: These high-tech handcuffs completely immobilize the hands and emit energy which saps the wearer's Strength.
Anti-Psionic Hood: This device, used to restrain mentalists, is a hood interwoven with fibers which inhibit mental powers. Not only does the hood block the mentalist's line of sight entirely, but it makes his powers much more difficult to use.
Armor
All Guard agents are issued protective gear. This includes a suit of flex-mesh armor made from high-tech polymers which are lighter and stronger then Kevlar (and whose structure and creation are well-kept Guard secrets). Accompanying the armor is a helmet which provides not only protection, but a wide range of sensory and communication equipment as well. Guard Armor is the envy of the armed forces and many other organizations; the Guard is often pressured by Congress to release the secret of its construction, but so far has been able to avoid having to do this.
GPE3 Guard Armor: This type of armor has been in service since the beginning of Guard. Most agents consider it very bulky and hate wearing it. But they also realize that it may save their lives.
GPE4X Guard Booster Armor: This is the replacement for the older armor GPE3 Guard Armor. It is currently in the experimental stage and only being used in the Indianapolis area. The new set of armor adds synthetic musculature and servos to increase the wearer's physical strength. The armor has the same protection as the GPE3 armor, but the GPE4X Booster Armor adds to the wearer's Strength.
GPE5X Undercover Armor: This is another experimental armor being tested in the Indianapolis area. The armor is meant to look like a normal street clothes so an agent can investigate with a greater degree of protection. Guard scientists are trying to determine a way to protect the head while being unobvious, but their personal force fields aren't working properly.
Miscellaneous
Guard Sampling Recorder: This piece of equipment is still in the experimental stages, undergoing testing in Indianapolis. The device is used to measure paranormal powers in the field. The recorder not only records the use of a paranormal power on video and audio tracks, it also measures the relative "output" of that power, so that data can be cross-referenced with other paranormals to determine an approximate power level.
Vehicles
Unlike so many of the super-villains that they hunt, Guard agents usually can't fly under their own power. Instead, they have to rely on vehicles to get them anywhere they need to be as fast as possible. Some of the more common vehicles in the Guard's fleet include:
GTV-24 Mini-Sub: The GTV-24 Mini-Sub is the Guard Equivalent of a fighter jet under water. They are small enough to be carried alongside carriers and the like. There aren't many of the GTV-24's overall, since aquatic combat is uncommon for the Guard.
GTV-47X Jet Pack: The GTX-47X is the Guard's newest experimental personal jet pack. It is designed to fit on the back of any standard Guard armor, providing them with Flight The Jet Pack is only capable of about one hour of flight before it needs to be recharged. Many Guard Agents are still wary of strapping raw jet thrusters onto their back and soaring through the air, so field testing is going slowly since the GTV-47X has been classified as a highly dangerous experimental "aircraft".
GTV-88 Motorcycle: The GTV-88 is a motorcycle used by individual agents. It uses a specially-designed engine and unique fuel mixture (called "Hyperfuel") to attain speeds greater than those attainable by civilian motorcycles. (If ordinary fuel is used to power the GTV-88, reduce its move from 60 to 48.) It can be fitted with a sidecar to carry a second agent.
GTV-94 Taskwagon: The Taskwagon is the workhouse of the Guard's ground fleet. Approximately twenty feet in length and well-armored, it is capable of carrying up to eight agents and their equipment (or ten agents in extremely cramped conditions). Additionally, it contains advanced scanning and sensory equipment, a satellite linking the on-board computers tp the Guard's base computers, and charging stations for juice packs. It runs best on Hyperfuel; if ordinary fuel is used, reduce its move from 48 to 36.
Additionally, Taskwagons have a modular construction that allows them to be converted for specialized uses, though this usually entails the loss of some passenger capacity. Common conversions include Combat (adds a blaster in a roof-mounted turret, two forward-launched missiles and extra armor; reduces passenger capacity to five); Crime Investigation (adds a criminalistics laboratory; reduces passenger capacity to three); and Medical (converts Taskwagon into a large, advanced ambulance; reduces passenger capacity to three).
GTV-107 SP Helicopter: More than one super-villain has surrendered when confronted with the power of the SP Helicopter, the Guard's armored gunship. Sporting machine guns, missiles, and non-lethal blasters, the SP is able to take on even the most powerful superhumans. In addition to a pilot and a gunner, it can carry up to three Guard agents and their equipment. Its sensory equipment includes infrared detection devices and radar.
GTV-122 Air Transport: This VTOL aircraft is the airborne equivalent of the Taskwagon. Its purpose is not speed or combat, but rather the transportation of agents and cargo. It can carry up to thirty fully-equipped Guard agents. If Guard agents from Los Angeles need to investigate a crime in the Nevada desert, the GTV-122 is how they'll get there.
GTV-199 Supersonic Transport: The GTV-199 is similar to SHIELD's Quicksilver Jet in most respects. It is a high-speed combat aircraft which can carry up to 12 Guard Operatives with full gear, and supplants the GTV-122 Air Transport when conflict is a possibility.
The Prisons
Stronghold-class Prisons are the largest and most expensive prison specifically designed to hold paranormals. Two facilities currently exist. The Vault located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado has been in operation since April 20th, 1988. Stronghold has just started construction in the Arizona Desert. Currently it is one of Guard's highest priorities to get the Stronghold Prison to full functionality.
Both of these prisons were designed to hold some of the most dangerous criminals that the world has ever known. These villains whose powers are dependent on mechanical or other devices are generally penned in normal, maximum security jails. But iron bars alone do not hold a paranormal who can simply melt them. Specially treated alloys, energy fields, and the like are needed to contain these felons. Attempts at rehabilitation are made but there usually been a high failure rate if not backed up by successful methods of neutralizing the paranormal's power, either permanently (which has very rarely succeeded) or through a weapon or device that can render him helpless of he should ever return to villainy. This is crafted from a thorough research and understanding of the peculiar energy patterns and make-up of the individual (Yup, it's got to suck when the authorities catalog your susceptibilities, vulnerabilities, and power limitations).
Treatment & Facilities
While this sort of program suggests a very expensive treatment for the benefit of one person, there are amazing breakthroughs in scientific knowledge that have been made by the study of captured paranormals. If it weren't for pesky things like human rights and jail breaks, the prisoners would never be set free!
Some villains are actually victims of their own powers, unbalanced by the traumatic energies and physical reactions within them. Such cases have been treated, more often with doses or variations of mutaphetamine, a drug developed by Dr. Franck in later years. After close study and thorough evaluations by skilled psychologists, these hopefully cured paranormals are returned to society.
Staff
All the Stronghold facilities have an administrative staff of fourteen people, a research team of twenty-five, medical and support of eighteen, twenty guards, ten fully-trained combat specialists, ten Guardsmen, and a super-armored hero in charge of security; Guardsman is responsible for the security of the Vault prison in the Colorado Mountains. A new version of the armor called Vanguard will be responsible for the security of the Stronghold facility in the Arizona Desert. Within the five underground levels are cells for up to fifty prisoners. The grounds for five miles around the prison are considered off-limits to any unauthorized personnel. The area and building structures are equipped with the latest in sensor, security, communication, and computer technologies. Escapes may seem inevitable but not because Guard doesn't try. It's not easy keeping tabs on these super-villains.
GM's Note: Guard is based upon an organization from Cybergames of the same name, published in Champions: New Millenium and the book of the same series Alliances. I am changing the background a bit to make it fit in more with the Marvel Universe.
