ACTION ARA-15 INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 CIAE-00 INR-00 HA-05 SY-05 MCT-04 TSRE-00 FM FILE712634912 TO SHADOW027816483 INFO CIA DIA NRO WASHDC QUARRY HTS PROJECT TENEBROUS
There are many rogue states in the world connected to arms dealing, drug running, proscribed hypertechnologies [1] and terrorism who have acquired metahuman [2] strike forces. The use of metahuman forces in irregular, guerilla, espionage, counter-espionage, sabotage, commando and terrorist roles is becoming increasingly common, chiefly because of the high speed and low cost of equipping their units.
Some of these metahumans are motivated by nationalism or an agreement with the regime's politics. Others have their loyalty purchased via mercenary means or obtained by force or blackmail. Because metahuman abilities often [3] arise during puberty, those who acquire them are often inexperienced and easily manipulated into doing the bidding of other more powerful persons. The United States intelligence community must field a force capable of dealing with this increasingly dangerous situation.
An Executive Directive has therefore issued for the creation of PROJECT TENEBROUS, a counterintelligence, commando and espionage group of metahumans under the direction of the Central Intelligence Agency. It would be ineffective to use such a force against mutant criminals, against governments who can be more effectively dealt with via overt military force, or even against political radicals who are not connected to international destabilization, criminal activities and rogue states.[4]
i. Bryngali. An island nation in the Indian Ocean which has utilized metahuman slavery to create a disproportionately powerful economy. Particular metahumans are singled out to become part of an upper caste and their loyalty is purchased with money and power. Promises of access to this upper caste and physical force are used to keep the lower castes in line. In addition, Bryngali leads the world in hypertechnological applications outside the United States and has an agenda to increase their own influence and power throughout the world through the use of telepaths, teleportation and other metahuman operations. TENEBROUS operations in Bryngali must take place with extreme deniability due to ties between Bryngali and United States Congressmen and other political figures. Sympathy with the Bryngali "mutant inferiority" doctrine is high among several sectors of American citizens. [5]
ii. Amjabar. A Middle Eastern religious state constantly embroiled in scheming between the greedy ruling families and radical clerics of the Afhsantya sect. A tentative coalition government nevertheless also works to cause chaos and bloodshed throughout the Middle East. Oil monies and Afhsantya prosletyzation provide most of the metahuman and hypertechnological threats available to this nation. Intelligence that they possess nuclear technology has not been confirmed.
iii. Cao Voan. A vastly overpopulated and poverty-stricken South Asian peninsula nation, home to a large combine of assassins, a burgeoning opium trade controlled by mountain warlords, a deeply exploitive labor situation and regular execution of dissidents. The government is ruled by committee, a holdover from its days under the thumb of Communist China. Because Cao Voan mercenaries and criminals are active throughout the world it is simple to deduce governmental complicity.
iv. Sudombia. A South American nation possessing a mutant strike force funded almost entirely by the drug trade. A substantial regular army enforces the will of the government, but civil problems continue to grow and the country is on the brink of civil war. Home of the Demerara Cartel, a major producer of drugs trans-shipped throughout North America.
v. Kalasvania. An Eastern European nation left behind in the breakups of various Soviet Bloc countries following the end of the Cold War, taken control of by an underworld force called the Kalasvanian Mafia. The capital is Wirzotin, and the head of the Kalasvanian Mob is called Cenrakda, a local word meaning "the dark". Kalasvania is thought to be one of the first nations whose underworld is organized entirely along metahuman lines.
i. The Mutant Underground. An organization which is partly dedicated to keeping mutants out of the hands of governments and organizations hostile to their rights. (Full agenda currently unknown.) They operate in secret even in ostensibly mutant-neutral nations like the U.S. because of unofficial prejudice and the future possibility of quarantine or registration statutes. Considered low priority, but high danger due to powerful nature of members and extreme politicization. The Underground is also tied to several metahuman criminals who use it as a network of contacts and resources.
ii. Supremas. The mutant supremacy movement has beneath its broad umbrella a combination of cruel terrorists, innocent ambitions and conspiratorial backers and organization. It is thought that there are two or three central figures of extreme power whose ideologies shape the various parts of the movement. At least part of the movement is an aggressive terrorist force dedicated to usurping the world's governments and replacing them with mutant dictatorships or oligarchies. This group is also responsible for robberies, thefts, kidnappings, bombings and assassinations.
Code names are often used for shorthand in the shadowy world of intelligence as well as the self-absorbed criminal world. [6] Other superhumans have adopted their own codenames to shield their identities from the public, or have been labeled by the tabloids, or if they are particularly distinctive, the public themselves. But plenty still get along with their real names and real lives. Exclusive cryptonym use should not be an enforced rule of this unit.
Some members of TENEBROUS are obviously known to certain underworld figures and often to the media. The incongruity between their appearances outside in the world and their supposed incarceration at Bellewether should neither be explained nor elucidated. Obviously escapes from Bellewether do occur, but law enforcement and the public should simply not be informed of the truth.
Some degree of uncertainty in the outside world is to our advantage in making the TENEBROUS team's motivations hidden and slightly more intimidating. In the event of direct confrontation with law enforcement, maximum security precautions should be used to minimize interagency conflict and the release of information.
[ Footnote 2 ]: "Metahuman" in this document is used in the common sense of the word. Scientific descriptions of "metahuman" abilities fall into many multifarious groups with an extreme amount of variety. These are chiefly of interest in research, not, presently, in policymaking.
[ Footnote 3 ]: An estimated 87%, according to the most recent NIH study.
[ Foootnote 4 ]: TEXT DELETED FOR SECURITY REASONS.
[ Footnote 5 ]: Political considerations for TENEBROUS should be closely monitored to maximize its efficiency and secrecy on all missions involving Bryngali.
[ Footnote 6 ]: The League of Assassins has a complicated system of ranking involving a material and an animal or flower (Jade Lotus, Paper Monkey, Iron Petal, for example). Some choose to use these as mercenary pseudonyms to identify themselves as League of Assassin members.