Over here at the Mutants and Masterminds forum, I'm talking about the latest Wargames sequel: Superspies and Commandos of the Cold War
Here's a peek
U.S.H.E.R. (The United States Headquarters for Emergency Response)
U.S.H.E.R. (the United States Headquarters for Emergency Response) was founded during WW2 as a counter to the superhuman troops and super-science weapons that the Nazis brought to the battlefield. With a massive budget and a staff of military scientists, strategists and super-soldiers U.S.H.E.R. put together Vigilance Force, one of the major American super-teams during the war and also developed much new technology that aided the war effort substantially.
After the war, and the emergence of the Iron Curtain, U.S.H.E.R. transitioned into the new mission of monitoring and opposing the Communist threat and established itself as the American security agency that would deal with threats too powerful and strange for conventional forces.
Although many intelligence agencies and service branches maintain some form of super-powered force,
U.S.H.E.R. is the primary American agency for superhuman affairs and also boasts a formidable brigade of power armor. In fact, from the mid 1970s to early 1980s, after the Steel Commando went rogue and destroyed the majority of US Army’s power armor suits, U.S.H.E.R. was the sole American power armor force until the early 1980s. The agency effectively fills much the same role as both the Red Directorate and the Shturmovik Agency do in the Warsaw Bloc.
U.S.H.E.R. maintains a strict screening and vetting process for operatives. Using advanced biometric lie detectors and psi-analyzers, U.S.H.E.R. carefully screens every potential operative at all levels and regularly re-screens veteran agents. Thanks to these measures, U.S.H.E.R. manages to be the one American intelligence agency that isn’t substantially compromised by Soviet agents during the Cold War.
Unfortunately, U.S.H.E.R.'s reputation for technical arrogance (mostly earned by its chief engineer, Fred Wilson) has made many enemies in the US military and intelligence community -- and this has hampered adoption of the agency's technology and processes. Soviet double agents in the FBI, CIA and NSA have worked to exacerbate the inter-agency rivalries that have too often blunted U.S.H.E.R.'s effectiveness.
U.S.H.E.R. was busy throughout the Cold War: clashing with Soviet (and occasionally Chinese) meta-forces in Europe, Asia, Africa and outer space, fighting leftist guerrilla forces in South and Central America as well as being the primary governmental resource for combating superhuman crime in the US. In one of the agency’s more public victories, while the bulk of American super-soldier forces were dealing with an international crisis in Berlin in 1982, U.S.H.E.R. repulsed an inter-dimensional invasion by the Psion Hordes of Ybir'K near North Platte, Nebraska
In another notable (but less well known) engagement, U.S.H.E.R. and its frequent rival, the Shturmovik agency, used their respective (highly classified) space stations to stage coordinated sabotage missions against the Tsavong fleet that was orbiting Earth during their invasion attempt in 1985.
Headquarters: U.S.H.E.R. currently maintains two secret installations on American soil: Liberty Station (under the Statue of Liberty) and Rock City (under Alcatraz Prison). U.S.H.E.R. agents work for the Department of the Interior and serve as tour guides at both installations as part of their cover. Classified at the highest levels is the agency's fortified low orbit space station, Vigilance Outpost 1. The station was covertly constructed in the mid 1970s to counter a similar station that the Soviet agency Shturmovik had put into orbit.
Leadership: Two members of one of the American WW2 super-teams (Vigilance Force) are still with U.S.H.E.R. in senior leadership positions. General Christian Thomason, once the patriotic fire controller known as Old Glory (in a notable bureaucratic snafu, Thomason was one of two American super soldiers to use that code name during WW2), is the Commandant of the agency.
Thomason's good friend, Fred Wilson (formerly the WW2 gadgeteer hero known as Captain Miracle; although he now prefers the codename Savant) heads up the Research and Development Division of U.S.H.E.R. Wilson is the primary engineer behind U.S.H.E.R's arsenal of advanced weaponry, its power armor squads and the advanced aircraft of the Pegasus Brigade. His pride and joy however is the mainframe codenamed Medusa – the world’s most sophisticated cryptographic computer. Medusa is able to intercept any message and decode any signal. Wilson used experimental positronic technology of his own design when building Medusa, and the computer is capable of not only advanced analysis and number crunching but also developing its own heuristics and employing intuition to solve problems and crack codes previously deemed uncrackable.
Samantha Mason – the granddaughter of the WW2 speedster the Minuteman – has inherited her grandfather's powers. Mason is a member of the Nighthawks and one of the agency's chief field agents in the European theatre.
Operatives: U.S.H.E.R. has four Field Groups
Atlas Battalion: The Freedom Alliance super-team cannot be everywhere that a superhuman response might be required. A secondary force was needed that could fill in when NATO's super soldiers were otherwise occupied. The Atlas Brigade was designed to fill that niche. With armor designed and built by Fred Wilson (aka the Savant), this unit was formed to counteract the threat of Soviet superhuman and power-armored forces. The Atlas Battalion is U.S.H.E.R.’s heaviest combat unit, wearing the Atlas MK IV exoskeleton, which enables the wearer to lift up to 2 tons as well as make tremendous leaps. Wearing full body armor, trained in a variety of deadly hand-to-hand disciplines and carrying lethal weaponry, this unit is called upon to face the worst threats. The MK IV exoskeleton can be retro-fitted with modifications that give the wearer protection from the rigors of undersea, arctic or outer space duty.
Blue Knights: The newest of U.S.H.E.R.’s field units, the Blue Knights, were formed to combat a rising wave of domestic crime and terrorism committed by super powered beings and other threats traditional law enforcement could not control. Blue Knights typically operate alone in the field but are supported by more traditional agents, especially agency medics and analysis agents. There have been occasions where teams composed of Blue Knights have been assembled to deal with extremely dangerous situations (such as a major gang war or prison riot).Unlike the Atlas armor, which is made for direct frontal assaults, the armor worn by Blue Knights focuses on stealth, detection and subduing a target. The Knights themselves receive extensive training in hand to hand martial arts and carry non-lethal weaponry intended to aid in arresting subjects and bringing them to trial.
Nighthawks: Since WWII the Nighthawks have been the eyes and ears of U.S.H.E.R., operating in small groups in hostile territory and conducting espionage and counter-intelligence missions. When conditions call for it, Nighthawks are ready and able to take the fight to the enemy, striking where they are least expected. Nighthawk armor is lightweight, equipped with exotic stealth technology and "silent running" glider wings.
The Pegasus Brigade was developed during WW2 to combat the advanced fighter planes of the Luftwaffe. Today, the Pegasus Brigade still flies the most advanced and exotic aircraft that can be dreamed of by U.S.H.E.R's genius engineers, and they provide transportation and air support for U.S.H.E.R missions around the globe. The Pegasus Brigade also staffs and provides operational support for U.S.H.E.R.'s top secret space station, Vigilance Outpost 1.
In addition to its power armor troops, U.S.H.E.R. recruits super-humans into its ranks and has several dozen in its ranks. These super-powered operatives are integrated into the Atlas Battalion, Nighthawks and Blue Knights.
Nighthawk Armor
Atlas Brigade Armor
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