Strathmore Industries

A Strathmore Industries recruitment poster, circa 1963.

Founded in 1915 as a Munitions manufacturer, Strathmore Industries has specialized in exotic and unusual weaponry since its inception. Their first military success was the GK-IV Iron Giant, an automaton that was put into production in 1917 against the Germans. They branched out into aviation after the Great War and by 1936 had debuted the Stratus X-1 Rocket Pack, designed specifically for Army Air Corps pilots as a means of ejection from damaged aircrafts. However, only twelve packs were produced and they allegedly were not issued. The Stratus X-1 Rocket Pack disappeared into military red tape at the behest of General "Wild Bill" Donovan and may or may not have ended up at Avenger Field, in Sweetwater, Texas (see also: Molly McCoy, the WASP).

Strathmore Industries was in serious trouble in the early 1960s and actively recruited Cold War scientists in an effort to both thwart the spread of Communism and further their own agenda. In 1963, Laslo Stepka, an Eastern European scientist, defected to America and was immediately scooped up by Richard Strathmore, then head of operations. His family became very close to the Stepka family, and their sons, Isaac, and Jacob, grew up together while their fathers invented new missile guidance systems and a variety of long-range tactical weapons.

Warhawk calls in after an air strike in Syria.

Isaac Strathmore took over the company in the late 1970s and became more ruthless and mercenary than his father had ever dared to be. In addition to widening the footprint of Strathmore Industries to related fields of nuclear energy, bio-electric energy, and theoretical energy. None of these systems would prove viable (according to SI in-house memos, which was another way of saying that they weren't able to weaponize them safely for one on one deployment). Using the Stepka name, Isaac reached out to a number of sources and contacts behind the Iron Curtain, playing a delicate game of espionage with privately funded resources in an effort to amass a technological toolkit of weapons systems from Eastern Europe.

This close association led to a series of investigations in the 1980s in the wake of the Iran-Contra scandal and a number of allegations of treason that were never proven in court. Ironically, these accusations would come at a time of renewed prosperity for Strathmore, as they designed and fielded the Warhawk Armor System on behalf of the US Military. Despite the positive verdicts, Strathmore's reputation was damaged, however, and it would not financially recover until the company went public and began to diversify its lines in 1994.

Current Status of Strathmore Industries

The only known photograph of Dr. Danner.

Eric Strathmore is the current CEO of the company, but he keeps his hand in research and development. He works most closely in R&D with Doctor Bruce Danner. Danner's past has been wiped clean by Strathmore. He has no existence prior to his being hired by the company in 2001. Attempts as surveillance have yielded negligible results. As a result, Danner's file is active and ongoing.

One of Strathmore's major competitors is Cross Industrial Incorporated (CII). The company's CEO, Alex Cross, seems to be a rival of Strathmore's, though it is unclear as to the nature of the dispute. Strathmore seems to harbor far more animosity than Cross, who seems to be largely unaware of the disparity. (Director's Note: Corporate jealousy, perhaps?)

For more information about Eric Strathmore, see the database entry Project Thermal.

RPHooks

If you are interested in using Strathmore Industries, Bruce Danner, Eric Strathmore or any other aspect of this character in your back stories, please contact me in-game. I'm happy to work with you on this! --Monkeyhead 17:24, 22 December 2009 (UTC)