S.H.I.E.L.D (APOC DOM LORE)

The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, better known by its acronym S.H.I.E.L.D., is a American extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency, tasked with maintaining both national and global security.

Founded in 1946 in the wake of the second world war, where allied forces defeated both HYDRA and Germany, S.H.I.E.L.D was founded to safeguard the United States from all possible threats - foreign, domestic and national. With it's well-funded science division, S.H.I.E.L.D managed to develop advanced military equipment and weapons for the American Military and itself. In the guise of extreme secrecy, the agency is unknown to most of the public and military, with the exception of the highest-ranking military officers and the defense secretary. Combined with being a extra-governmental agency, beyond the sphere of government and being only overseen by the office of the President, S.H.I.E.L.D managed to keep it's technology from being used by the public and the military.

Run most prominently by Director Nick Fury and the secretive World Security Council, in much of the modern 21st century, S.H.I.E.L.D had to deal with the discovery of HYDRA in it's ranks and it's remnants in the United States and the uncovering of several foreign metal deposits that crashed by asteroid in the mountains of New Mexico.

During the Fallout Era, S.H.I.E.L.D became one of the successors of the collapsed United States, and operates now alongside the United States Military as it's (United States) successors. S.H.I.E.L.D also renamed to the Union of America during this timeframe and made a agency operating under the new Union government.

The Precursors of S.H.I.E.L.D - The Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR)
Orginally founded in 1936 as a result of the rising tensions in Europe and the need that the United States needed new equipment to replace it's outdated tanks and other assets, the SSR was a secretive allied war agency between the United States and the other allied powers.

SSR, however became more important in reverse-engineering captured axis technology and developing technology that could counter the newly discovered HYDRA during the second world war. Most prominently, SSR managed to develop a primitive version of the superhuman serum, using the molecules of the rare metal of vibanirum (only few deposits were known at the time). This serum would be gradually tested on selected soldiers in the military, but only one was found suitable for the final doses. Eventually, this man would be known as a American icon and helped in fighting against HYDRA, using a shield of vibanirum as protection from bullets.

The SSR also sought out on reverse engineering projects, most prominently the reverse-engineering of the advanced "super" bomber type known as the Valkyrie. These bombers were armed with guns that had batteries of vibanirium, known as the advanced "V-91 gun" which would be armed on other vehicles such as the V-021 type tanks or a experimental vibanirium-battery powered suit (the VS-102) that (the suit) never made it beyond testing. Additionally, the bomber was armed with another of the reverse-engineered technology of HYDRA - a "Parasit" type flying drone bomb that was meant to harness atomic energy as a weapon. SSR managed to successfully make a atomic bomb version of the Parasit.

In February 1945 the SSR managed to discover one of the largest metal deposits of vibanirium in Africa, located in the forests of a country named Wakanda. This made it possible for vibanirium to be applied as a power source for not just testing vibanirium-powered weapons - but ones meant to be in production. Some of the vibanirium-powered V-021 tanks managed to see service in the battle of Okinawa and Iwo Jima, servicing a prominent role against Japanese special divisions and becoming a key turning point for the defeat of Japan, allowing for only one atomic bomb to be dropped.

With the end of the war in September of 1945, SSR managed to continue its operation as the precursor of S.H.I.E.L.D until February 1946. During this point, the SSR finished development of a atomic bomb verison of the Parasit and the first sets of valkyire bombers. Additionally, the mainstream science division of the United States managed to utlizie a captured german scientist who developed HYDRA's stages of the valkyrie and V-021/VS-102 technology from operation paperclip and hand over his technology that he developed as a captured scientist to be improved by the SSR.

One of the other technology SSR developed during the mid-1940s was the development of a new vibanirium-powered version of the V-2, V-1 and Aggregat rockets/missiles that was found to be more accurate and deadly than the German ones.. This was part of the American Version of project wonder weapon (Wunderwaffe) that developed all sorts of new weapons that could insure that America had the upper hand in weapons than it's old ally, the U.S.S.R. The project was continued under S.H.I.E.L.D throughout the early stages of the Cold War.

The American "Wonder Weapon" Program
In early 1945 and early 1946, the SSR and other prominent science divisions of the United States Government sought to create a program that could develop much more capable technology than the German Wunderwaffle, using vibanirium deposits as power for these weapons. A American version of the Panther Tank (the Rarisit) and the Type XXI submarine (the X-10) vehicles included vibanirium batteries as power for their weapons and engines. Other program products included the American Vibanirium-battery-powered G-class battleship, which was a fast battleship surpassing the bismarck and Montana class in armaments, with more larger guns and reinforced armour than the Montana Class, or the vibanirium-powered Y1-class aircraft carrier.

Besides naval vehicles and tanks, the American Wonder Weapon Program (WWP) included the development of a variety of submarines, either electric or vibanirium powered. The most prestigious of these submarines were the W-1 class which were generally submarine aircraft carriers and fielded a combination of the German cruiser U-Boats developed in WW2 and the Japanese 1-400. The W-1 saw use in proxy conflicts such as the Korean War and it's successors saw use in later stages of the Korean War and other wars such as Vietnam. Air independent propulsion was also developed during the Wonder Weapon Program for submarines, mainly some sea-going and littoral ones.

The Wonder Weapon Program developed other vehicles that included jet engine-powered aircraft with vibanirium weapons, mainly revamped models of a captured MIG-15 and other jets developed during the late 1940s to the early 1950s, and vibanirium-powered heavy and super-heavy tanks that were proven to be more efficient than the V-021. WWP also developed a extensive variety of bombs and artillery designs, most of which were implemented into service or improved into newer models.

Some of these artillery and bomb pieces included the Columbia Bomb, which was a precision guided, anti-ship glide bomb that was developed in the early stages of the program, and the super-heavy self-propelled Goliath artillery piece, armed with a 800mm 312B gun, which was designed for use against heavily fortified targets and rode upon a massive platform called a "land cruiser" to move around. Other artillery pieces included a high pressure pump large calibre gun called the Druck, and the 800mm "General" Heavy railway gun, which was designed for use against heavy fortifications.

One of the most mysterious devices of the program, however, was the "Death" Spiller, a bomb shaped like a bell and containing a metalitic liquid that could spread deadly chemicals across targets and create severe health problems for survivors. Other secret weapons involved in the WWP was the circular, vibanirium-powered flying wing craft called the WA-671, which was shaped like a UFO and a result of extensive research into advanced propulsion, rocketry, the ideas of a scientist part of Operation Paperclip, Viktor Schauberger and other things such as experimental German UFOs and German circular winged aircraft. Following Roswell, the program utilized technology and relics found from the crash site to improve the craft. This included experimental weapons armed with electromagnetic disruption, otherwise similar to electromagnetic pulse weaponry (EMPS).

One of the most prominent developments of the program also included the 75 mm "Oz" Model 1945 anti-tank gun, developed during the early months of WWP and armed with vibanirium-powered weaponry and was a combination of captured artillery such as the Soviet ZiS-3 field/anti-tank-gun, the German PaK 40 and the Romanian 75 mm Vickers/Reșița Model 1936/1943 anti-aircraft guns. In the last Pacific-front battles of the war, it saw service in combat and outperformed the Japanese guns, dealing a heavy blow on their tank supply.

The project of WWP, as a result since it's end in 1955, provided a key insight into the technological capabilities of the metal of vibanirium, and furthermore helped the United States win the cold war and develop more advanced weapons than the Soviets in their heated race for technological superiority. The new arsenal of weapons such as missiles and bombs bolstered the American armories, ultimately giving the Americans a upper hand in conflicts due to vibanirium-powered gear and newly-developed weapons such as the valkyire bombers, Druck guns and among others.

Uncovering HYDRA
In the early 21st century, S.H.I.E.L.D discovered that the authoritarian paramilitary-subversive terrorist organization HYDRA infilrated it's ranks and placed itself as a parasite to create crisis and cause havoc as they (HYDRA) attempted to create violence and conflict in countries across the world, most notably the bombing of the UN headquarters in New York in 2016.

HYDRA, unknown to S.H.I.E.L.D that it was still operating, managed to set up a extensive network of operatives engaged in political engineering and scientific research. HYDRA's goal was the overthrow of world governments to establish a fascist, totalitarian global state; meaning that they would have to preemptively eliminate potential threats to their new world order. Members who still followed the original beliefs of HYDRA took part in this as a means of smoothly and immediately transferring control of Earth to their planned world order, lead by the infamous superhuman Red Skull. New members for the organization were acquired from disenfranchised members of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as children born to already established members, which were indoctrinated from childhood in facilities ran by HYDRA and assigned into different roles by the leadership. By the end the 20th century, operatives of HYDRA had managed to spread outside of S.H.I.E.L.D., infiltrating many important organizations, including the United States Government and the World Security Council, eventually establishing many secret bases around the world.

One of HYDRA's top agents in S.H.I.E.L.D., John Garrett, secretly led the Centipede Project with the goal to create the Super Soldier Serum. In 2016, HYDRA's plans for world domination almost succeeded through their agent, the Secretary of Defense Alexander Pierce and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Project Insight. Project Insight, while disguised by S.H.I.E.L.D as a plan to prevent any threats from rising against S.H.I.E.L.D by constructing three aircraft carriers capable of sustained independent flight, was known by HYDRA operatives in the agency as tools for elimating a amount of the American and allied population that poses a threat to their goals. However, with the exposure of the Secretary of Defense Alexander Pierce by the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, these plans collapsed as S.H.I.E.L.D collapsed into a state of civil war amongst HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D operatives in the agency.

The civil war between S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA operatives in the agency ended in a S.H.I.E.L.D victory - S.H.I.E.L.D's operatives managed to destroy one of the most major bases of HYDRA, a castle located in Slovenia. This base gave S.H.I.E.L.D access to the technology of HYDRA operatives, and a experimental fusion power source.

S.H.I.E.L.D - the Fallout Era
S.H.I.E.L.D, during the fallout era managed to sustain itself with the remaining large oil deposits of New Mexico, and soon South Dakota. Combined with developing fusion and electric powered technology, S.H.I.E.L.D managed to fend off raiders and stay "civilized" as the local population of S.H.I.E.L.D said it. Thanks to it's extensive network of bases and radio towers/comms networks both underground or above, S.H.I.E.L.D managed to maintain contact with it's orbiting satellites and have the advantage of having satellites for communication and other operations.

In order to further push their agenda of "civilizing" the wasteland by pushing out those thought to be "non-pure" wastelanders or raiders, S.H.I.E.L.D sought to develop a better serum than the HYDRA serum - one that could utilize vibanirium molecules to combine with a human's DNA, creating a beastly creature - a mutant. Throughout the 2110s and 2100s (the serum was developed in 2096), S.H.I.E.L.D gradually improved on the stages of the mutant and created a next-gen version - the super-mutant. Both of these creatures were originally humans, but mutated over a period of several days. Once mutating was over, S.H.I.E.L.D deployed it's mutants and super-mutants to push out local raiders and non-pure wastelanders out of unclaimed territory, where military forces follow close behind and claim the territory for the agency. This method proved quite effective, as by the late mid-early 2120s, S.H.I.E.L.D managed to reclaim most of the wastelands of America and civilize it, thoroughly ridding territory of raiders and non-pure inhabitants before they could settle or develop on the lands.

The New Chapter of S.H.I.E.L.D
By the early 2130s S.H.I.E.L.D managed to reclaim the remaining frontier territories of America and civilize them, putting the non-pures now in a segregation system called the Eagle System. Non-pures would be sent to all-non-pure schools, not allowed in pure-only toilets and had to give up seats in the front of transportation. More unlucky was the raiders, however, since they were either sent to labor camps or executed if they refused to give up their ways and civilize themselves.

The Eagle System was seen by critics as a copy of Jim Crow - but slightly less mild. The legal principle of "separate but equal" was applied to public facilities and businesses, where the non-pures could face punishment and arrest for heading into a pure-only restroom or restaurant stall. This Eagle System reflected the views of the majority population of S.H.I.E.L.D - that non-pures were less civilized and intelligent as the pures. This radical view of the population effected even the funding and welfare support of non-pure schools and other facilities, thus punishing the non-pures for their genetics.

In the military, segregation was present as well - there were either non-pure or pure corps or regiments in the military, not mixed ones. This would mean that non-pures could not join a all-pure regiment and face a more severe punishment or court martial if they disobeyed orders or misbehaved as soldiers. As well as that, the non-pures were restricted in roles they could maintain - they couldn't be generals or high-ranking officers. Each branch of the armed forces had their own policies of segregation.

Politically, the non-pures had to undergo tests and a tax to vote for a elected official in the country. Each state had a form of this to restrict the voting powers of non-pures. The influence the non-pures had was small on legislatures and federal and state governments because of the policy of restricting voting powers by taxes or tests for non-pures.

The Reformation Era
During the late 2140s and early 2150s, a major shift in the political opinion of the northern population of S.H.I.E.L.D, mainly the metropolitan areas in the West Coast, lead to the establishment of movements against non-pure mistreatment. This political shift in support for non-pure equality and the relaxation and removal of the Eagle System meant that the federal courts had to take action against various cases of mistreatment against non-pures. In the historic 2148 case of Elmer vs the Federal Government, the Supreme Court ruled that the tax to vote for elected officials in local, state and federal governments was unconstitutional since it violated the 14th amendment.

After the election of President John Smith (In Office from 2149-2153), a president with a agenda that promised more equality and change in the country, there was numerous bills from Congress approved by the President that sought to remove the aspects of the Eagle System and the principle of Separate but Equal, giving more civil rights to the non-pures and making them more equal to the pures. The most historic of which, the civil rights act of 2149, prohibited the public discrimination of non-pures in public housing and federally funded programs. It also prohibited discrimination of minorities with different mutations and DNA than pures, including non-pures. Other acts concerning non-pure civil rights after the passage of the 2149 Civil Rights Act was the Civil Rights Act of 2150, which described penalties for acts of violence and intimidation aimed against non-pures, and the Civil Rights Act of 2151, which aimed at removing segregation of non-pures in the schools across the country.

With the government seeing that their "agency-name" republic did not reflect the fact that they were remnants of the United States, the Congress of S.H.I.E.L.D had a series of conventions between February and March to decide on renaming the country. By late March, the convention had a majority agreeing to rename the country, and the support of the public for the renaming of the nation also spiked - thanks to extensive campaigns for support across the country through local government representatives and advertisements. Officially, on July 4th, 2054, Congress voted for a new name for the country by a large margin and the country was renamed to the Union of America.

The Union Era
During the Union Era, which reigned from 2151 to present, the HYDRA presence in North America severely declined due to the HYDRA-America war, where S.H.I.E.L.D had discovered that there were HYDRA bases in Idaho and Montana, and sought to eradicate them through the extensive use of motorized and foot divisions in a offensive. This offensive, combined with a period of conflict amongst HYDRA high ranks, devastated the HYDRA positions in the area and allowed their major bases of Great Falls and Helena to fall to the hands of the Union of America and S.H.I.E.L.D. The results of the capture of these major bases by SHIELD proved to be quite a blow to the forces of HYDRA, declining it's influence and thus marking the UOA as winners of the war.

The decline of HYDRA was largely also attributed to the discovery of most HYDRA bases in North America thanks to a trade deal with the organization known as the Overwatch. The Overwatch, as remnants of the Deep State, originally was based in San Francisco and managed to utilize its extensive advanced radar system to track most of the HYDRA bases in North America. Overwatch offered the data to SHIELD, in exchange for a substance slightly weaker than vibanirium (obanium), called rarium. In usage of the data, SHIELD and the UOA military sent its operatives to the found bases, capturing them and the local HYDRA operatives.

However, in 2152, a sticky bomb planted by HYDRA exploded in Portland, Oregon. Almost immediately the environment would change, as the local inhabitants of the state became deformed, skinless peoples known as ghouls. Over the few months, federal authorities prepared for what would be known as the Strickler Expedition, a expedition sent to the Portland area to establish a extensive underground prison complex to test and house ghouls for scientific purposes. This complex would be known as Hellhound FOB, a military-owned prison which would be used for research on modifying ghouls and mutants into mind-controlled supersoldiers that follow orders without question.

The Beyond, as the area effected by the sticky bomb became known, became under the jurisdiction of a agency of the UOA, the National Reclamation Agency (NRA). The NRA would be responsible for the repairs and construction of infrastructure in the Beyond, and managed the removal of ghoulish slums and the inhabitant's allocation to walled communities known as the ghoul communities. These communities, built with all the vital things needed to house and care for ghouls, were essentially a walled town under government supervision. Everything was there for the ghouls, with no need to leave without permission of the government. The communities would be moderated by the law enforcement wing of the Reclamation Agency, the National Reclamation Authority. This authority was empowered with the eviction of ghoulish slum residents and their escort to the ghoulish communities, as well as the guarding of the government infrastructure in the area. Armed with weapons like assault rifles, armored personnel carriers, and even chemical gas launchers, these policemen were given the training of a typical military policeman with minor changes. Combined with the military-style equipment and training, the Reclamation Authority was essentially a militarized police force that managed law enforcement in the Beyond.

Furthermore, the events of the Beyond influenced the establishment of the World Reclamation Council (WRC) by the UN as a global effort overseen by the most powerful nations of the world to repair and rebuild stricken parts of the world. The WRC would establish bases across the Beyond and parts of the world, mainly environmentally damaged places like Portland or Salem. These bases, called Reclamation camps, would supply housing and resources to the refugee population of the world, as well as repair and rebuild damaged infrastructure. The reclamation camps would house the refugees until the country they belonged to had better conditions and the people could settle down with a good job and housing. The view of the WRC in this approach, was that the refugees could be housed and cared for in the reclamation camps until better living conditions and a job was available for the refugees in their home country.

The WRC, in order to quell any violent oppositions to their goal of utilizing reclamation camps until refugees could return to their home country, and enforce law enforcement in it's bases, had a law enforcement wing called the World Reclamation Authority, WRA for short. This law enforcement agency part of the WRC was a division of Interpol managed by the WRC, with the main differences from the main Interpol police force being that they received better training and more military-style equipment. In order to coordinate the efforts of the WRC, the most major nations of the world held a seat on a council that could be the final say in the decisions of the WRC, while more less-powerful nations held a seat in a assembly of UN members. This senate, called the World Reclamation Senate (WRS), acted like a sort of legislature, having the power to propose bills, vote on bills, reject vetoes on bills by the council and call for a new vote, and approve treaties proposed by the council. Senators are selected by their respective nations to represent themselves on the senate.

On the other hand, the council of the WRC acted like a executive branch of the WRC, vetoing or approving legislation that passed a unanimous vote by the senate, proposing treaties, and appoint officials in the WRC. Both branches have the power to host a investigation through the WRA.

The head of the WRC council, elected by a vote by the council, is referred to as the president. Generally, the council president represents the WRA in the diplomatic spectrum, chairs council sessions and leads the work of the council in setting it's political direction. However, the speaker of the WRS, through, has the responsibility for hosting senate sessions, giving senators permission to speak, designate a member as a speaker pro tempore, counting and declaring all votes, sending bills to the council floor, and appointing members of committees.

The Deathweapon Project
The Deathweapon project was the primary research project that developed a array of advanced weapons for use by the Unionist Military from 2154-2167. This included the chemical weapon, D-chemical, which was a gas that could be unleashed towards victims, where when they inhale it get the severe side effects of anger, hallucinations and psychosis. The gas causes them to be driven into a state of mindless rage, blindly attacking anyone around them. Other weapons developed by the Deathweapon project includes the nitramene bomb, which is a bomb containing a highly explosive chemical called nitramene, which is encased inside it's shell and core. The bomb has a blast radius of five hundred yards after which it creates a vacuum that causes an implosion as matter rushes to fill the void that it has created. This is caused by the mix of emitted "V" electromagnetic radiation and the nitramene chemical inside the bomb.

Another array of weapons developed by the Deathweapon Project was the "D-ring" which is a physiological weapon developed by the Unionist Military for use by it's operatives in "mind controlling" victims to do something. The ring would emit a wave of pulses once rubbed, reaching the brain of the victim and "hijjack" the person's muscles and brain through nanobot swarms that inject a chemical into them. The chemical, being connected through smaller nanobots inside the chemical, is connected to the ring through those pulses, and through talking to the victim of instructions, the victim does what the operative wants.

However, one of the most important developments of the project was the Terrigen engine. This engine was powered by a special mineral called Terrigen crystals, which was a crystal created by Unionist scientists by the combination of the molecules of obanium, and it's lesser equal, Terrigirum. This crystal-powered engine would utilize a new propulsion system of terrigen pulses, which were essentially plasma-laser engines. By utilizing the terrigen crystal molecules in it's core, the powered engine as a result developed speeds faster than obanium-powered fusion engines. The engine, after a few test flights, worked and maintained speeds during space travel that could cut half of the time needed to reach planets such as Mars, Jupiter or Pluto.

The Terrigen engine, recognized by scientists as a breakthrough, was utilized by the Unionist military to power space-capable aircraft and spaceships, the first of which was the Pegasus, a small, swift and able bodied aircraft with a sleek design that was armed with a newly discovered - yet capable mineral called Orium, which was mined in the depths of the trenches of the Unionist-controlled Mars colony, colonized back in 2150. Orium, with it's properties as a similar crystalized element to Terrigen, was classified as a perfect, effective mineral for weaponry utilizing laser pulse wave technology, LPWT for short. The applications of the Orium and Terrigen crystals include the K-type ballistic missile, which was a extremely fast ballistic missile with a very deadly blast radius that levels everything inside it's blast range, as well as the KR-class warship, which was a large type of spaceship using the Terrigen engine and Orium-based gunnery. The warship was capable of bombarding it's enemies by sending waves of K-type ballistic missiles towards them, and also could use it's railguns to damage shields or armor/hulls of enemy ships or stationary objects.

According to tests, bunker mineral such as concrete or steel is proven insufficient of withstanding a blast of orium, immediately collapsing under a short amount of time. However, minerals such as terrigirum and obanium, can withstand the blast for a period of time until collapsing under stress. Reinforced terrigirum and obanium show longer amounts of resistance, but only for a insufficiently-longer time period.

Another important application of Orium includes the K-uniform, which is a very swift and capable armored spacesuit, free of any issues of thick life support systems that weigh down the user thanks to the miniaturized, yet sufficient system of life support encased inside the clothing. The uniform, with orium mineral, has microscopic organisms called Orius, which can live inside space with no oxygen as long as it is inside orium. The organism, discovered inside a deposit of Orium, allows for regenerative armour that repairs itself. Other capabilities of the uniform include helmet generation, where the helmet opens from the suit around the users head, where they can open and close a visor for more protection, covering their mouth for space or ocean operations, and a localized communication system, integrated inside a small compartment of the suit where users can also project holographs via retractable blue fiber optical probes lining the uniforms fingers that extend to project a holographic image of the person the user was communicating with.

For camo-purposes, the K-uniform utilizes color-shifting, where the Orius encased inside the suit change patterns or colors to match the surroundings for the suit. For example, a person could change their color to black or blue during covert operations if the system detected a different surrounding, where it automatically changes pattern or color to match it. Other parts of the uniform include a detector inside it's sleeve, which can identify threats and their hostility level, as well as if it was a human or animal, as well as a analyzer inside the same sleeve that could analyze anything placed within it and gather information and feedback. Lastly, the uniform contained a tracker that holographically could holographically display the wearer's position relative to his or her current objective, acting as a map.

Relating to the affordability of the minerals of Orium and terrigium, it was found by Unionist scientists that traces are inside parts of the earth, requiring extensive digging to find it, and that it is also inside the trenches and craters of the moon. This allows for the eventual phrasing-out of the precursors of the K-uniform and the mass-production of other new weaponry including Orium and Terrigen. Over the years, through a project known as Pegasus, the uniforms and equipment of the space-borne and land personnel of S.H.I.E.L.D, primarily Space Force and colonists on the Moon and Mars, would be engaged in a extensive rearmament campaign.

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