I have recently re-visited an old game I played years ago; Super System! It is a game of superheros and larger-than-life comic book style fights. The most fun part of the game is making your characters. Super System uses generic powers that let your characters do nearly anything you have in mind, you just need to allocate your build points smartly. I will be playing this game fairly frequently, so I decided to give an introduction to the two teams I currently have.
First is my original team from 2008, the Red Star Operatives.
The Red Star Operatives have their origins in the WWII Soviet Atomic Bomb Project. The Soviet Atomic Project was initially overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, in 1944 jurisdiction was given to the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD). The NKVD was the law enforcement agency of the USSR. The head of the NKVD as Lavrentiy Beria, a man of considerable influence. Beria saw potential in atomic research not just for a bomb, but for a super solider. Using his power and influence, Beria began a secret research program in the Gulag Labor Camps, as part of the Experimental Design Bureau, or sharashka. This secret project was called Red Star.
No Major advancements were made during the war, and soon after, the NKVD was disbanded, however, Beria kept his pet project. During the post-war years, Beria slowly fed resources to the Red Star Project, and in 1952 the project made breakthroughs in Human Psychic Potential.
In 1953, Beria was the victim of a coup. He was found guilty of treason, terrorism, and counter-revolutionary activity. He was executed in December 1953.
However, the Red Star had been very carefully hidden, and it became a secret society with tendrils all throughout the Soviet Union. This was made possible by the burgeoning research into Human Psychic Potential. The goal of Red Star became to make a Super Team that could combat the likes of Steve Rodgers, a.k.a Captain America, as well as the host of other troublesome Nazi threats that still loomed. Red Star soon found their next advantage, when Richard Feynman gave a lecture at Caltech in 1959 entitled; 'There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom.'
Red Star used their considerable spy network to amass brilliant minds to study the theory of nanotechnology. What made Red Star's endeavors possible was the use of precision telekinetic manipulation of atoms. The process took a decade to even be possible, but it was eventually successful.
In 1970 Red Star created their first Nanotechnology-enhanced solider: Ivan Limonov a former Spetsnaz sniper. He was given superhuman agility and manual dexterity by replacing much of his nervous system with artificial nano-tube conductors, all of which exponentially increased his shooting prowess. Unfortunately, the initial success with Ivan's enhancements began to degrade. Ivan retained his physical agility, but his mind began to fracture. He remains to this day steadfastly loyal to Red Star, but is unable to assume any form of leadership role.
The next Operative to be inducted was Daniil Smekhov, a member of the Soviet Space Program. Smekhov was lead test pilot for a prototype EVA suit, powered by a miniature fission reactor. However the reactor proved unstable and leaked excessive radiation during one of its early tests. Daniil was protected inside the suit, but the exterior was terribly irradiated. Red Star was able to stabilize the suit's reactor using telekinetic manipulation. However, the suit exterior had become a death trap. There was barely any way to approach Daniil's suit, let alone, remove him from it. Red Star took the opportunity to recruit Daniil. Using Telekinetic manipulation Red Star was able to augment Daniil's suit recycling systems and upgrade his motive systems. Using an experimental electromagnetic field generator they were able to confine the suit radiation to itself. This means that Daniil, now the Cosmonaut, can be in the same room as un-shielded people, yet no one can touch him, lest they suffer the radiation's effects.
The next member was the second Nanotech solider created by Red Star. The solider has only been known as Siberion, his past and real name are a blank. It is theorized by low ranking Red Star members that Siberion is a mutant from outside the Soviet Union, and that it was his mutation that spared him a fate like Ivan. Regardless, Siberion has muscles like corded steel, a fighting prowess few can match, and a berserk rage fewer can stand against. Outside of combat, Siberion is kept docile with relaxants and gentle psychic suggestion. However, when his adrenaline spikes due to injury, he becomes unstable, having difficulty separating friend from foe. It is whispered that this is not the failing of the nanotechnology, but Siberion's past mind fighting free.
The leader of the Red Star operatives is Zzarina Vatayeva, 1st rank Psychic and Telekinetic Expert. She is the end product of over thirty years of Human Psychic Potential research conducted by Red Star. Red Star grooms dozens of psychics at any one time. Most are dispatched as spies. Others cross-train in the sciences to further Red Star's research. However, few show the mental fortitude to become Field Agents, pitting their minds against other super humans. Zzarina is an expert telekine, using her powers to move her teammates into advantageous position. She also uses her telekinesis to mend broken bones and re-knit flesh, keeping her team up and moving. Finally, she uses her psychic powers to invade the minds of her foes disabling them from the inside out.
Veronika Kusnetsov a.k.a Night Witch, is another member of the Red Star Psychic Field Agents. Night Witch possesses more limited psychic abilities than Zzarina. However, Night Witch uses her powers in different ways. Night Witch is unable to manipulate objects larger than a few micrograms, however she has been trained to slightly displace the cone and rod cells within a target's eyes, rendering them temporarily blind. Night Witch wears a suit made from a psychoreactive nanofiber that is attuned to er mental waves. The suit allows her to mentally propel herself as easily as any bird.
The newest member of the Red Star Operatives is Viktor Gribkov a.k.a. Red Shift. Red Shift is the first fully successful Nanotech solider. Red Shift is the culmination of joint research between nanotechnology and psychic potential. His individual psychic prowess is minuscule, but it is enhanced by several amplifiers worn on his person. His psychic powers are not channeled outwards, however, they are channeled inwards to monitor his nano-tube nervous system. In the thirty years since Ivan's misfortune the hyper-agility augment has been perfected. Red Shift is able to move at lighting speed; his cellular metabolism and reaction time boosted to insane levels. His musculature is less imposing than Siberion, but Red Shift is able to modify his cellular output on-the-fly, enabling him to squeeze every ounce of performance out of his body. Finally, Red Shift is armed with experimental psychoreactive gauntlets that allow him to manipulate objects that are out-of-phase with our dimension.
Red Star always seeks new scientific minds to fuel their research. They also perform counter-operations against rival Super Teams.
