Freelancers

Premise

The main premise of the Freelancers is to help in the protection of Millennium City from any danger internal or external. While not as formal as Meta-S.W.A.T. was the Freelancers try to stand by the original premise.

The team focuses on diversity, flexibility, and reliability, showing the community as a whole that they always have a group that they can rely on when the chips are down. Their diversity offers them the ability to react quickly and efficiently to rapidly changing situations in the field. With the acquisition of Lithium Labs, the Freelancers changed gears slightly to begin production of armor and weapons for local police departments across the country.

The team itself is a juxtaposition of personalities and talents, each member lending themselves to make the Unit something greater than simply the sum of its parts. It is not unusual to find a gun totting, smart-ass Native American back-to-back with a Power Armor wearing Playboy kicking in doors to take down bad guys.

History

Founding

Drawing inspiration from larger government organizations of Super Heroes, Millenium City set to working with thier Police Department and MARS division to come up with a locally owned an operated group that was under direct control of the City's bureaucracy. After formalizing the idea in mid-2009, MCPD tapped retired Army Special Forces John Wheeler to organize the team, and by August of that year, John Wheeler(now dubbed Striker) became a Lieutenant in MCPD and was awarded Unit Director of Meta-S.W.A.T.

Recruitment was slow at first, the Lieutenant finding a handful of team members, many that served only as a test run for what would be the final draft of the group. Of the original team, only the gargoyle Justice, and the Tech Specialist Ethan Halloway, remain. However, the team was about to make a sudden shift into overdrive.

His name was Grond, classified as one of the strongest creatures in the known world, and after a rather destructive rampage through the South-Western Desert, a coalition of super heroes decided to subdue the threat(if only for a time). At first, the coalition found itself ineffectual at seriously harming the massive mutant, and without any solid co-ordination the endeavor was doomed from its onset. Then Zarp Draken, a lone hero stepped up to rally an organizational effort. Striker was the first to lend his aid to the Draconian warrior, offering his military expertise. Together the pair rallied the beleaguered heroes and led them to victory down in Snake Gulch. Shortly there after, Zarp joined the team. It would never be the same.

After Zarp, the roster began to grow more rapidly than expected. Word got out of the units deeds, and reputation for helping a hero in a pinch. Doctor David Smith, joined the ranks, and became the Executive Officer of Operations, lending his charisma and expertise to the team. Recruitment posters started circulating Millennium City of a shirtless Zarp, and nothing could stop then tide after that. They eventually even took on a young former UNTIL officer who was currently on parolee name Seth McIlroy.

After the event of the first Bloodmoon members of the Meta-S.W.A.T. unit began leaving for various reasons and the group was almost disbanded after the retirement of Striker. Seth McIlroy, better known as Keioseth tried his best to hold the group together after having a vision of a the city being destroyed by a man in white armor. Keioseth offered to take control of the unit and was granted this because of his experience with UNTIL. Most of the remaining members disagreed with one of the newest members of the unit being the new Unit Director and resigned.

For a good couple of months the only active member of the Unit was Keioseth, once Flynn T. Megantic rejoined the group, Meta-S.W.A.T. received a surge in membership and became an active part of Millennium City's defense. The group aided in the defeat of Superior, even after the death of Keioseth, they were also instrumental in the resurrection of Keioseth.

After several relatively peaceful months, the main base of the Unit was attacked by Keio's Arch-nemesis Chaosiris and the building was destroyed, most of the team was injured, a few members were even killed. After this incident the city began questioning the need for the unit and they cut the funding in half. If it wasn't for the help of Thundrax the Garage would never have been rebuilt.

Eventually the funding was cut entirely and the group disbanded. Keio put himself into debt to purchase the Garage from the city and began to rebuild the group as a private security agency. He name this new venture "Freelancer: Security Solutions" but after bad publicity and accusations of being a mercenary group, he changed the name to "Freelancers Security Agency" though to most they are simply the "Freelancers."

As time went on the group grew to encompass multiple separate businesses and brought them all under one roof. At this point Keio re-branded the company as "Freelancer Industries" and set the group to focus on scientific research and the production of items to aid local governments in North America and Europe.

Bases and Other Facilities

Freelancer Industries has several operational locations:

• Main Headquarters, The Garage, Millennium City, MI, USA
• West Coast Headquarters, Four Winds Night Club, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• East Coast Headquarters, McLeod Bail-bonds, Hudson City, NJ, USA
• Space Headquarters, Lelantos, Asteroid Belt

Minor Facilities:

• The Vault, Duke City, NM, USA
• Sanctuary Base, Vibora Bay, FL, USA
• Captured Research Facility, Bathurst Island, NU, Canada (Joint Operation with Canadian Government)

The Garage

Located at 1 Waterfront Street, 'The Garage' is seemingly a normal warehouse owned by Keioseth on the waterfront of West Side Millennium City. It serves as the main headquarters for Freelancer Industries, as a storage and maintenance facility, and the main Freelancer team operational headquarters. Much of the functions and operations of Freelancer Industries are run by the artificial intelligence known as SCRI.

The Garage sports Five levels each broken up by several floors and they include:

• The top level of the facility is split between the offices and waiting area, the armor and weapons lockers, and a motor pool. Openly seen by the public is the Offices for the CEO and several others, a reception area, and a waiting area for visitors and customers.

• Directly below the offices the area has been built to accommodate twenty five ACE Suit storage lockers all set to digital locks and DNA encoded to their specific user, the nanoforge and assembly console for ACE Suit creation, as well as an area to modify ACE Suits for underwater and space.

• This area also has a weapons locker that sports rows of sidearm lockers and assault weaponry, the bulk of the team’s tactical equipment ranging from breaching charges to laser cutters, and a spot reserved for heavy weapons.

• Below that is the main motor pool area which houses the FLO (Freelancer Osprey), FLO 2, and two former VIPER transports. In addition to storage for the vehicles it also has an area for repairs.

• The first basement level of the facility houses the team’s quarters if they need a place to stay or happen to be working late. Each member of the team has a private room here which they are capable of customizing to their liking.

• This area also sports a fully functional medical bay complete with medical nanite healing pods, a fully stocked kitchen, Recreational Room and a full size Gym. The overall recreational area sports a card table and a series of chairs as well as a couch. Posters, pictures, scribbles, and notes adorn the walls, and many of the members maintain some personal space as well as a private locker.

• There is also an open area that houses the Garage's D-Bridger terminal.

• The second basement level contains the training rooms which utilize reprogramed robots taken from Siris, holograms, and ISIS forcefields. The rooms take up most of the level.

• Sharing the level with the Training Rooms, the War Room contains a large holographic representation of the Earth with highlights showing current jobs, world-wide incidents, and team member’s current locations.

• The third basement level is the Science Laboratory with high tech machines furnished by Both Silver Eagle and Flux-Carson industries.

• The lowest level of the complex houses the server room for the Super Computing Resource Intelligence (S.C.R.I.). Due to the large amount of servers the room and the heat they generate, the room is kept at very cold temperatures to keep S.C.R.I. from overheating.

• The building as a whole has numerous internal and external defensive and offensive capabilities including forcefields and turrets.

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McLeod Bail Bonds

Located at 1277 East Ferry St in Hudson City, NJ, McLeod Bail Bonds is a modest building which houses a small office in the front and visible to the public. This is not a front though, they really do help with bail and go after people who fail to return to their trials or flat out run. Specifically, McLeod Bail Bonds focuses on Superhuman and Mystical clients.

The Building Features:

• The office which has desks for the team and a small living room like waiting area complete with couches and a giant TV.

• Behind the main office area is Bruno's office.

• In the back there is the locker area which holds the armory and the ACE Suit storage lockers.

Four Winds Dance Club

The Four Winds Nightclub is located at 8511 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles, California. While Jace McLeod bought the area and developed it into a rather successful Nightclub, this is just a front for his Freelancer unit's base of operations. Unlike his older brother's base in Hudson City, Jace's closer to how the Main HQ in Millennium City is designed.

• The main Nightclub features a large bar and dance floor (Think similar to Club Caprice).

• Below the club lies the first floor of the base. Both the training area, armory, and ACE Suit Storage Lockers.

• The second floor houses the living areas with rooms for the team members, the kitchen, and a theatre.

Lelantos

Equipment of a Freelancer

S.C.R.I.:

SCRI, or the Supercomputing Resource Intelligence, is an Artificial Intelligence created by Seth McIlroy. While she is based off of several A.I. that Seth has come across in his travels, SCRI. shares very few similarities to them outside of various functions. The main basis for her were INSCRIBE and the AI that Meta-SWAT used. INSCRIBE was a very basic AI from the computer system used by a super group known as "The Independents," INSCRIBE handled all of the Intellectual Properties of the team. The Meta-SWAT AI handled comm channels, resource tracking, and various other functions for the group. SCRI is a combination of both of these ideas and additions made by Seth.

SCRI's main functions include management of team resources and the allocation of these resources to the team members, Satellite Navigation and Communication for the team, handling most clerical work for the team, and any else the team may require. She has a very dry humor or what seems to be a sense of humor, hard to tell with SCRI.

MARK VII ACE SUIT:

It's base armored sheath was capable of turning aside most small arms fire, while the slim outer carapace can protect vital areas from much larger rounds of munitions. The entire spine of the suit is a reinforced power supply allowing the suit to power the body sheathes synthetic muscle fibers as well as the numerous weapons and accessories that can be adapted to the suit's hardpoints.

The synthetic muscle fibers of the suit are capable of increasing the user's strength and speed to that of most metahumans as it can double a person's natural abilities in those areas. The armored sheath also contains 'PSYweave' technology which add a psionic static field around the suit making the user less vulnerable to psychic intrusion.

The suits also take advantage of the 'Isis Forcefield System' (IFS) developed by Kara McIlroy which is designed to deflect energy based weaponry and attacks. The system also protects the head of the user when a helmet is not on. Each suit also contains a Internal Robotic Medical System (IRMS) which automatically administers treatment to any injuries the user may receive in the line of duty, this includes both the injection of painkillers and medical nanites into the user's body.

Each suit also come equipped with a pair of THINGs (Thermal Imaging, Night Vision Goggles) which in addition to their in-name functions contain a video communication system, internet access, SATNAV, and access to both SCRI and the Freelancer Team Database. Each suit also has an independent air system that can be activated in case of airborne chemicals and gases, submergence in liquid, or exposure to a vacuum. The system contains enough air to maintain the user for approximately 3 hours.

Model Types:

Freelancer Industries has also developed more specialized versions of the ACES which appear as different model types each member is allowed to select from if they want. These model types are:

• Command Variant - This model includes a direct neural link to SCRI, the Freelancer Team Database, as well as a connection to all ACES within a mile of the command model. In addition to that it also contains a telepathic enhancer. Current Users: Keioseth, Kara McIlroy

• Shield Variant - The model contains much heavier armor than any of the other ACES turning the user into a walking tank, the synthetic fibers are also geared more towards strength and less for speed. Current Users: Flynn Megantic

• Ranger Variant - The model has lighter armor than a typical Mark VII allowing for greater manuverability, the synthetic fibers are geared more towards speed than strength. Inaddition to this the variant contains an array of sensors to aid the user in aiming ranged weapons. Current Users: Aeva Megantic, Razira

• Striker Variant - This model is designed to aid users who specialize in close quarter combat, it has a variable gearing for the synthetic fibers allowing for 'on the fly' changes to the strength to speed ratios.

• Medic Variant - This model has slightly more armor than a typical ACE Suit and in addition contains multiple subsystems to monitor the health of all ACES within a mile of this variant. It also comes stock with two SCRI Medical Drones to aid the user.

Additional Information

Oath of Honor

On my honor,

We will protect all those in need.
All evil doers pay heed,
We are their Sword,
And we are their Shield.
We can do the Impossible.
Alone we are Strong,
But together we are Invincible.

We are the Freelancers.

Allies

• Thundrax and Carson-Flux.
• Lithium Laboratories
• Protectors of the World

Enemies

• Renegade: A criminal organization run by Chaosiris.
• S.I.N.S.: Superhuman International Neutralization Squad, Augmented Human Mercenaries.
• Renaissance Systems: Weapons Manufacturer.

Unit Organization

Chief Executive Officer The CEO is responsible for all aspects of the team, from new recruits to funding. He is the informational hub as well as the filter for information traveling up to the higher powers within the city. He is the face of the team, and is singly accountable to City Hall and the public for the teams actions and conduct.

• Seth McIlroy

Executive Tactical Officer The ETO is responsible for Tactical Support for the team in any given situation that might arrive, Hostage Situation, Terrorist Attack,ect, as well as being in charge of keep track of Ammo Supplies, Equipment needs, and Training of New Recruits.

• Hunter
• Flynn T. Megantic

Lead Technician Officer The Technician Officer is responsible for maintaining the equipment of the team and is free to develop any materials for the group to use.

• Silver Eagle

Lead Arcane Officer Much like the LTO, the Arcane Officer is responsible for maintaining any of the team's magical objects and defences.

• Lenora Carver

Tactical and Security Teams

• Meta-SWAT Team - A reborn version of the Original Meta-SWAT team.
  • Keioseth, Razira

• Lancer Team - The Spiritual successor to Meta-SWAT, while most of the team works in the upper parts of the company now they'll still get together if the need arises.
  • Keioseth, Hunter, Ice-Heart, Silver Eagle, and Flynn T. Megantic.

• Spearhead Team - A Freelancers strike force which work similarly to that of a SWAT unit and security unit. Works out of Hudson City.
  • Bruno McLeod, Craig Jackson, Ashley "Tear" Jensen, and Nikolai Dragonov.

• Spectre Team - A unit made up of lighter armed personnel, infiltration and control focus. Works out of Los Angeles.
  • Jace Reaper, Connor Preston, Kurt Neumann, Mariko Yoshimura, and Boun Takashita.

• Black Cats - Electronic security and defense unit.
  • Kara McIlroy, Mulan Hanahara, Colin Hall, and Lyndsey Turnbow.

Other Members

• Leilani McIlroy
• Avea Megantic *Medical Support*
• Kayleigh Ellis
• Cameron Martinelli *Medical Support*