NationStates Jolt Archive

The Praetorian Project

The goal of The Praetorian Project is to create something extraordinary. Every real-life nation with any major military influence has undergone a similar project. Germany did in World War II with great success. The Soviet Union/Russia, the United States, and China have definitely experimented as well. The goal to create a "super soldier" is nothing new nor shall it remain something that nobody seeks to create. Such creation would mean making a soldier, genetically or through the use of enhancers, capable of great strength, intelligence, and one that would be highly reliable.

The Praetorian Project, in the Empire, aims to create just that, a "super soldier." It has other objectives as well, particularly to create a very expensive and capable battlesuit as well as weaponry to go along with the battlesuit. The technology exhibited would be considered late modern-tech, perhaps between 2015 and 2020. It would not be post-modern tech (2020+) and it would be very expensive.

Before you read please do not pass any judgement that this will be a pathetic post. If you must have a reference, please go to to the list below and you will see the abilities of me to tell a story. I am a writer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legend
All text in red type is top secret classified. It is unknown to the normal reader and even anyone else other than those present in the text. All are loyal to the government so please none of that, "We had spies" nonsense because I'm going to ignore it.

Italic text is text that is speech. It is italic to differentiate from normal text.

Italic underlined text is thought.

Orange text is a memory.

Small, green text is documents, communications, etc.

Bold, small, green text in quote form is used to mean something that isn't in the document.

Blue text is just a minor announcement.

Bold, blue text is a service announcement meant in OOC form

Bold, gray text is a translation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes

This will be updated on a irregular basis. If you see a lapse then by all means, bump the topic. Pictures may be included with horrible images of death. The RP will be R-rated. I will not delve into the realm of sexual acts such as rape and the like because they are just unnecessary but there may be elusions to horrid acts. There will be profanity and there will be gore. I am warning you of all of this because I feel that if you do not like it then this is your chance to avoid reading it. There won't be any surprises. Also, one group will be cannibals so if you have something against that then do not read. If there is ever something that violates NS rules (and no nothing illegal will be had here) please inform me and I'll take care of it. If you are offended don't read! Simple as that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Role-Playing Stories

Down with the Sickness (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=432254)
Isla del Enfermo (Earth II) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=398102)
La Guerra que no Hombre Debe Saber (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=434657)
Ride the Lightning (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=448866)
Sehnsucht für das Glück (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=386920)
Tale of the Time: Ancient Secrets Found in Yucatán... (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=409829)
The Forsaken Island (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=442286)
The Kingdom of Forgotten Warriors (Earth II) (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=380343)
The Knight of Dark Chaos (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=384906)
The Layartebian Chronicles (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=384916)

Table of Contents


Chapter I: Beginnings (Page 1)
Chapter II: Muscle Enhancers
Chapter III: Initial Successes

Chapter I: Beginnings

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Praetorian%20Project/praetorian-location.jpg

The rain stopped. The entire northeast of the Province of Layarteb had been under a massive rainstorm for the past week. Between fourteen and twenty-two inches had fallen between Friday evening and the following Saturday morning, eight days all together. Elmira, New York, a city of 60,000 people and an area of 7.6 mi², had seen sixteen inches itself over the past week. Thirty-eight miles to the west, on the Pennsylvania, New York border, a military complex had finally finished pumping out the last bits of water from a loading dock, which had flooded during the rain. Sitting in the loading dock were six tractor-trailers that had arrived only the day before and offloaded immediately. They had been loaded during the onset of the massive storms from another complex in Maine. Then, throughout the torrents of rain, day and night, the trucks had driven from their base in Maine all the day to this complex, parked, and then were succombed by the rain. Luckily, their cargos were all offloaded before the water level got to the height of the loading dock.

The cargo of the six trucks was very important, very expensive, and very secretive. One entire truck was loaded with chemicals. Another three trucks were loaded with various chambers and test equipment. The last two were loaded with frozen corpses and prisoners, who would all be used during the tests.

The cargo was part of the Praetorian Project, a new Ministry of Defense project meant to create a new type of soldier. The bunker west of Elmira would be the main research facility. It was, itself, a major experimentation bunker prior to the fall of the Republic. It had been used as a place for medical experiments after the fall of the Republic, primarily the experiments that rendered the Emperor quasi-immortal. It had been abandoned, in a way, since the tests were successful. Over the past nine months, the bunker had been completely cleaned and rennovated for these new experiments. It had been used as a storage place but all that was changed now.

A guard force of eighty-four now protected the bunker with various weapons. The bunker complex was underground, with only the loading dock, a few air vents, and some other minor structures sticking out of the ground. In all, the complex was 415 acres in area but far more than that in volume. The facility was only slightly above ground. In the underground, ranging from a depth of two hundred feet to a depth of thirty-eight feet was a massive complex of scientific laboratories, medical quarters, testing chambers, and other areas, including prison quarters for eighty-four individuals.

With eighty-four prisoners, space for two-hundred corpses, eighty-four guards, and seventy-eight scientists, the complex was well manned and well populated. An armory inside ensured that the complex would never fall to invading forces and the prisoners could, in no way, escape, as they were usually sedated most of the time. When they weren't, they were locked in a completely metallic cell, with no hope for escape.

The bunker had been reinforced and further advanced to withstand hits from GBU-28 Bunker Busters, JDAMs, and even hypersonic strike missiles. The complex was built on springs with a protective shell around it, which was twenty-four feet thick. The rubber was meant to absorb shocks, particularly against explosions. The shock bubble was inside the reinforced complex, which was protected against the missiles and bombs.

The Praetorian Project was something that had been on the table for a long time now. However, funding for it, whilst it was available had not been approved. Finally, that funding was approved, all §743B, equivalent to $1,344.9786B. The project was expensive, very expensive.

However, the results it was to yield would far outweigh the costs. If successful, the project would be able to yield a "super-soldier" who would be stronger, smarter, faster, and keener than any professional soldier. The process would involve a lot of neuroscience and a lot of experimentation. The subjects would be the prisoners and if those ran out, there were plenty more. These prisoners were mostly murderers, treasoners, and rapists. All were on Death Row, this being a type of execution, "military experimentation."

In addition to the "super-soldier," the project would yield a battlesuit capable of enhancing the strength, speed, endurance, and abilities of the average soldier and make the "super-soldier" even more powerful. The battlesuit would include nanontechnology that would increase strength and speed by over 500%. In addition, it would be a self-contained suit that would allow an individual to enter all sorts of hazardous environments and be able to breathe. A self-contained power unit and rebreather would be equipped in the suit, allowing the individual to go underwater and into space. Radiation protection would also be available as well as a positive pressure differential that would actually force air out of the suit if it were to be breeched. This would enable them to operate in biologically problematic environments. Temperature would also be regulated by the suit and allow individuals to work in extreme heat and/or cold. In such ways it operated like a HAZMAT suit but much more advanced. The helmet and associated HUD would allow the individual to range targets through the use of a non-visible laser, capable of cutting through fog, smoke, and haze. A communications uplink was also available to allow the wearer to be in communication with other units. It also included global positioning, infrared detection, low-light visibility capability, automatic weapons ranging, a homeostasis indicator, a bodily medical indicator, a navigation interface, and a host of other features.

The third and final part of the program was to develop a new weapon to go with the battlesuit. The weapon would have to be able to be linked to the suit and its internal computer. In addition, it would have to be far superior in range, power, and penetration capabilities than anything out there. The standard assault rifle was the M30 and this would be to be far superior to that. The weapon would have to be high-caliber, more than the .338 Laupa. The power and precision of the weapon would have to be unmatched and it would have to be able to be completely compatible in all environments, just like the suit. The weapon would have to have its own internal computer, in a way, to allow it for targetting and range-finding. The weapon would, undoubtedly, be heavy but with the capabilities of the suit, it would feel lighter to the individual than the lightened version of the M30. The allocation, M65, was already set aside for the weapon.

These were the objectives for the program and they would be met or else the entire program would have to be scrapped. The battlesuit must work with a new rifle and they must create a "super-soldier." This was all necessary. §743,000,000,000 was a lot to be spending on a single project for research & development. It was almost a trillion shingrots and that was more money for R & D on one single project than anything before. The previous R & D record was §321B for the anti-stealth and SOSUS network, which was combined into a single project. Whilst over §20T had been spent on the anti-stealth system and SOSUS network combined, that was production costs. The project would definitely not be as costly but it would not be very cheap either. The normal soldier would not be wearing the suit, just special forces, black forces, and specialized units for intelligence and warfare.

Chapter II: Muscle Enhancers

The Praetorian Project was moving ahead well. In two straight weeks of development, a chemical compound for the preliminary muscle enhancers was completed. They were placed into a capsule form, an individual would have to take two per day for a week straight, while working out, in order to gain increased strength. They were, in short, safe steroids. They had little effect on aggressiveness but rather went directly to the muscles. Side effects to sexual organs, the heart, and any other vital organs were expected to be, if anything, minimal.

They had already selected the first individual for testing, a two-time murderer who was, by all accounts, very strong to begin with. Now, they would make him take these drugs and work out even more. Obviously, he would be under close watch. If anything really bad happened, an implant placed inside his body would release a small amount of cynanide poison. The result would be instant death with no chance for escape.

His nickname was Bo, his real name being Butch McAfree. He was, perhaps, one of the strongest individuals in custody at the lock up. He had been arrested after murdering a man and his wife, both of them having an affair behind his back. Until that point, he had worked in a gym, training little children in Judo and kickboxing. Nobody would have ever thought him a murderer but he was that day. Despite the illegality of infidelity, the letter of the law did not allow murder. Had he only assault the man, chances were that he would have served maybe, if anything, a week to a month in jail, claiming temporary insanity, which was a viable defense. Seeing something like that would obviously put an individual into a fit of rage. Most lawyers, judges, and police officers would have understood if he beat the crap out of the man. Unfortunately, he didn't just beat the crap out of him, he twisted his head completely around. He then proceeded to put his wife through a wall, crushing her face. She died en route to the hospital from severe trauma and he ended up in jail, on death row. Just eighteen days before he was set to be executed, he was selected for the Praetorian Project. I'm alive. He remarked to himself. He would have been given lethal injection, an otherwise humane punishment in comparison to the multitude of punishments that he could have gotten. This was largely due in part by the sympathy of the judge, who thought that this man was definitely in a fit of rage and whilst he should not be excused from his crime, he should not be meant to suffer in the pressure chamber or something of equal horror.

"Bo. Let's go! One of the guards said, motioning with his M55A1 Automatic Shotgun. He had it loaded with slugs and he was an expert marskman. "You've got an appointment with the doctor."

"Lucky me." Bo's voice was deep and slow. He had died, figuratively, since that day he found his wife having an affair. "The doctor huh?" The doctor was only one person, Dr. Atticus Noyle, the project director. Though he had a large contingent of military operatives working for him, he was supremely in charge and he reported directly to the Ministry of Defense - Special Affairs Department. From there, it went right up the chain to the Joint Chiefs and lastly, the Emperor.

Dr. Atticus Noyle was sitting in the main laboratory, looking over charts. Each of the inmates got a physical examination every week and he was looking over the result from Bo's examination. He was impressed. Dr. Noyle was a sinister looking man. His hair was parted in a 1950s style, his nose was too large for his face, and his eyes were cold and dark. He was otherwise trim and in shape but he was certainly not in peak physical condition. Inside of his body, particularly his lungs, he suffered from asthma, a byproduct of too many bad fumes in too many disreputable laboratories.

Dr. Noyle was born in 1957, in rural Pennsylvania. His parents died when he was sixteen and he was forced to put himself through college. A very bright and gifted individual, he joined the military when he was 18 to get money for college and to practice medicine. The Empire was only five years away and he served until 1979, as a doctor for the army. He never saw combat but he wrote extensively concerning creating a super soldier through the use of genetics and medical proceedures. He was otherwise shunned for his very radical and controversial beliefs. He would go on and graduate medical school in 1991, focusing on genetics and obscure practices. By 1998, he was on the run, his medical lisence revoked because of "unethical" practices. Dr. Noyle had been experimenting with individuals, trying to create enhanced brain functions. He would often work out of basements and garages, not the most cleanly of places. Six of his forty-three patients died. Lucky for him, the government saw his gifts and not his failures and by 2002, he was working for the Ministry of Defense, working to stablize the no-sleep proceedures done to the Emperor, high-ranking officials, and black ops. The side effect of the proceedure was severe psychosis that could only be kept in check by a daily pill. Unfortunately for Dr. Noyle, he could never find a way to counter this. He did, however, gain notoriety and was drafted to the Praetorian Project.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Praetorian%20Project/Atticus-Noyle.jpg
Dr. Noyle in the lab.

Dr. Noyle looked pleased when Bo walked in. "Ah Bo. Be seated. Please."

"Sure Doc."

"Now I have been going over your medical review from this past week. I must say I am pleased. This is why I have selected you for this initial test."

"So I am the guinea pig?"

"More or less." He smirked and chuckled. "But you shouldn't worry."

"What if something goes wrong?"

"You could have an allergic reaction and die."

"Worst case?"

"That."

"Understood. What am I doing?"

"Easy Bo. I am going to give you a chance to improve your muscle mass and strength by four hundred percent."

"How?"

"You take two of these little yellow pills each day, one after you wake up and once twelve hours later. Then you work out normally throughout the course of the day. You will do this for a week and report back to me at the end of the week."

"And if I?"

"Bo. If you skip a dosage the effects will be severe."

"Understood Doc."

"Very well. Here are the pills." He handed him a small Rx bottle with fourteen, yellow pills. "Best of luck Bo." Bo didn't say anything and just got up and left. He would start tomorrow and each day for the next week he did what the doctor said. By the end of the week he felt stronger, faster, and much better. His physical examination revealed that he had, in fact, increased his muscle mass, but only by two hundred and eighty-three percent, not the promised four hundred. Something was wrong with the formula. Still a success, Dr. Noyle would have to re-engineer the formula.

Chapter III: Initial Successes

The experiment on Bo was a success. Unfortunately, it was not as much as they expected but a success nonetheless. The next patient was going to be a two-time felon, Richard Marx, known as Dicky. He was in jail for sexually assaulting two women. He was not liked by any of the inmates there. Rape and sexual assault were considered some of the most vile and disrespectful crimes. They were worse than murder. As Dicky was strapped into the chair, he was injected by muslce enhancers, the same one used on Bo but the formula had been changed. Dicky relished in the idea of being stronger, he wanted out and he saw this as his chance.

At the weapons testing lab, the initial prototype for the M65 Advanced Assault Rifle was completed. It was an oddly designed weapon, meant to carry two types of munitions. The main rifle bullet would be a Magnum 9.53 x 80MM shell and it would carry either 50 rounds or 100 rounds, the latter being in a C-Mag. The secondary bullet would be a grenade, a 25 x 59MM large shell and it would carry some 10 rounds. The main rifle armament was optimized for piercing through kevlar body armor and was based on the 5.7 x 28mm shell of the M33A6 and the M71A1 SMG. It had a range of 1.2 kilometers and a muzzle velocity of 942 meters per second. The AAR would also serve as a stand-off sniper weapon, more powerful than the .338 Lapua bullets used in the M45A1 Sniper Rifle. The larger shells, the 25 x 59MM, would have a range of 500 meters and a muzzle velocity of 200 meters per second. With a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute for the main rifle round, the rifle was a beast. It was heavy too. The initial prototype weighed some 16.00 pounds and was 40 inches long with a 24 inch barrel. It was gas-operated.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Praetorian%20Project/gun.jpg

Expert marskmen were already using three prototypes on the range, testing them in target shooting and manueverability. The rifle was performing well and currently it was projected to cost $4,500 a unit, though they wanted that figure under $4,000 and the weight around 12 and a half pounds. At 16 pounds it was heavier than many sniper rifles and thus it would seriously slow down the individual, even if they were advanced with muscle enhancers. The weapon would be too cumbersome to operate at 16 pounds.

Back in the main testing lab, Dicky was showing significant strides. He had not reached the 400% goal but he had far exceeded 83%. He was at 298% after this test, which was that much closer to 400. There was something still messed up with the formula, something that had to be tweaked and worked out and it would, in due time.