VIGILANCE

VIGILANCE

General Aarons

The Joint Command Special Threat Response Battalion (JCSTRB), nicknamed Vigilance, was established in 1995 as the brain-child of General Aarons. Deputy Secretary of Defense Eli Hunt got the unit approved, and a former hero named Wayne Evans, AKA Captain Indomitable, was their adviser on super-powered threats (1). At the time was the US military’s most advanced response to super-powered threats. The members were cherry-picked from every branch of the United States armed services, and received special training in dealing with extreme risk situations. They were outfitted with cutting edge arms and equipment, and studied with allied super-powered heroes.

Although General Aarons was ultimately responsible for the deployment and success of Vigilance, the day-to-day operations were overseen by their field commander, Colonel Virgil Duray. Although many of Duray’s records were classified when he was installed as the commander of the JCSTRB, it is on record that he served his country with distinction for close to two decades as an Army Ranger and then as commander of the elite Vigilance unit. Vigilance’s record was exemplary under Duray, until they were deployed during the Rikti War.

In theory, crises like the Rikti invasion were at the foundation of Vigilance’s mission. They weren’t intended to arrest super-powered bank robbers or high-tech carjackers. Unfortunately, no one was prepared for the scope of the Rikti onslaught, and Vigilance suffered terrible loses. The casualty rate was roughly 85% overall, and their super-powered members were wiped out completely.

The survivors were demoralized and depressed after the war, but most chose to serve on. General Aarons re-imagined the team as a rapid response unit, to deal with threats such as the remaining pockets of Rikti. Although Vigilance was heavily reduced in size, the surviving members made up an elite unit of combat veterans who had fought together throughout the war. They completed their re-training and received their orders from General Aarons.

However, on the day Duray’s men were to transfer to a new duty station, the unit simply disappeared. The entire unit went AWOL, taking millions of dollars of experimental high-tech weapons systems with them. General Aarons led the charge to find them.

Duray was suspected to still be in charge, and presumably retained powerful friends in the military and government who helped hide them. (3) Whatever the truth, the colonel, his men, and the equipment just disappeared. No one ever figured out where they went. (2)

So far, only a single member of the Vigilance unit is known to be still alive: Andrea Mitchell

Sources

1 - Talk to Andrea Mitchell about the general
2 - Check out Katcher's office
3 - Sky Raiders official info
4 - Sky Raiders official info (top secret report)
5 - Rescue General Aarons

The Truth

Colonel Duray

Colonel Virgil Duray was a casualty of the Rikti War, in mind and soul if not in body. His courage was never in doubt, but his patriotism turned into something self-destructive when he felt the country slipping away from people like him.

In several classified reports Colonel Duray made it clear to his superiors that he felt the current-day dependence on super-powered heroes was intolerable. He believed it would lead to a super-powered ruling class, where the privileged few would all be super-powered individuals. He clearly resented super-powered civilians who had no allegiance to the military chain. Furthermore, his statements about foreign-born nationals (even those who were naturalized citizens) were nothing more than thinly veiled hate-fuelled polemics.

It was when General Aarons ordered the restructured Vigilance to operate as an arm of the United Nation’s Vanguard when Duray broke. Duray had insulated himself with a cadre of obsessively-loyal men, who would do whatever it was he ordered them to – up to betraying their nation.(4)

But at this point someone else who somehow knew of his fears, made his move: a file was passed on to Duray, expertly forged documents which laid out a case accusing the Freedom Phalanx of starting the Rikti War, and described a scenario in which the Freedom Phalanx would attempt to secure power for themselves in a post-war world. (4)

The document was laced with highly classified facts that were accurate, so as to create an environment of verisimilitude. Perhaps Duray was looking for an excuse on a subconscious level, and it made his decision to turn traitor that much easier. (4)

It was then when Colonel Duray asked Irving Katcher, an officer of the Department of Homeland Security, to change the shipping orders to divert a large ammount of military supplies assigned to Vigilance to a new destination. He had papers from the Pentagon approving the change, but that later turned out to be forged. He, his men, and the equipment millions of dollars worth of experimental high-tech weapons systems just disappeared. (2) Katcher would lose his job for this and General Aarons, charged with the task of finding them, would eventually retire in disgrace after these events as well. (5)

Duray and his men would not stay hidden long, however, and the unit, now known as the mercenary Sky Raiders, made their presence known shortly, flashing through the sky above Paragon on daring raids. Their goals were unclear, but it was confirmed that Duray still led them, and his few public statements crackled with paranoid ramblings and bitter vitriol directed at Paragon’s heroes.(3)

Paragon Times, 28 April 2003

Sources

1 - Talk to Andrea Mitchell about the general
2 - Check out Katcher's office
3 - Sky Raiders official info
4 - Sky Raiders official info (top secret report)
5 - Rescue General Aarons