CREY INDUSTRIES PROJECT REPORT
CONFIDENTIAL
*NOT TO BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION*
Project 017953-UOF-v.beta
Project Manager : Dr. E. Kleiner
Date : 02-17-2003
As requested, the following is a preliminary report on the generalities of the User Optimized Functionality system currently under negotiations. Additional specifications are pending.
Background Summary:
The recent Rikti invasion and the resultant high mortality rate of the local metahuman population, as well as the recent increase in operation of criminal groups utilizing metahuman or metahuman-mimicking powers, has caused the governmental body of the City of Paragon to rethink its approach to law enforcement and its general reliance on heroes for such duties. It was found conclusively during the invasion that even specially-trained and equipped divisions of the Paragon City Police Department, such as the PCPDs TRT (Tactical Response Team), were, alone, no match for a metahuman-class threat. Given this information, the PCPD was authorized by the Office of the Mayor to research alternatives for dealing with metahuman-class threats without the outside intervention of heroes.
The PCPD approached Crey Industries, requesting a preliminary proposal for a system capable of being utilized by a trained police officer to combat a metahuman-class threat.
System Specifications:
The PCPD required that the system conform to several rigid specifications:
1. The system must be fully self-contained.
2. The system must be operable by a single trained police officer.
3. The system must be capable of combating and containing a threat of those metahuman-classes already cataloged in use within the City of Paragon.
4. The system must be urban-combat ready.
5. The system must by fully customizable and adaptable to the varying conditions and requirements of the law enforcement officer.
The City of Paragon agreed to provide the vast majority of the funding for the development of such a system, and to provide trained personnel for the initial testing phase.
Proposal:
Currently, the solution best suited for such a task would appear to be a single-operator adaptable/customizable combat armor system, designated by the development team as the User Optimized Functionality (or UOF) system. Such a system would rely on a basic power armor design, adapted to use interchangeable combat systems. While Crey Industries has several powered armor systems currently in operation, it would appear that the exacting design specifications would require a totally new system be developed from the ground up for this project.
Conclusion:
While I am aware of the Board of Directors hesitance about developing such a potentially powerful and adaptable weapon for law enforcement use, especially given the recent outside interest in our less-public projects, the benefits seem to far outweigh the risks.
The City of Paragon is willing to fund, almost single-handedly, the entire development of a product with unfathomable value and potential for marketability, all without the desire for exclusivity rights. In addition, their willingness to provide trained personnel for the initial testing phase, historically shown to be the most dangerous phase of such development, is a significant boon. Finally, knowledge of the weaknesses of such a system could prove extremely valuable if law enforcement continues on its current path of investigation regarding some of our outside projects. This is NOT knowledge that we would have, after all, if the project were to be developed by a competitor.
Some minor changes in the proposed testing schedule and personnel may, however, be advisable. As the development team leader, I would recommend a stepped-activation testing procedure once field testing begins, adding the testing of higher-level systems to the schedule only after the lower-level systems have proven stable (as opposed to a full activation of all systems at the beginning), to mitigate as much risk as possible. Likewise, while the proposed test pilot, Sgt. Daniel OHara of the PCPDs Flight Operations Division, is acceptable for initial field tests, it is recommended that a Crey Industries test pilot be used for the advanced testing phase. This would give us the option of hobbling the production units eventually delivered to the City of Paragon without their knowledge. Otherwise, I see no reason that the project not be approved and initial development green-lighted without undo delay.
Dr. E. Kleiner
Project Manager, Advanced Weapons Development Division
Paragon City Police Department
Protecting the citizens of the City of Heroes
Division of Flight Operations
Interoffice Memorandum
To: Sgt. Daniel OHara
From: Lt. Francis Wake
RE: Reassignment
Sgt. OHara,
Effective as of 04-28-2004, your transfer to the User Optimization Functionality system test group on a full-time basis has been approved. Until further notice, you will report to the head of said test group to conduct in-field operational testing of related systems.
Lt. Francis Wake
Commander, PCPD Division of Flight Operations
Notes:
Danny,
The brass just got the final report on the completion of range testing for the individual systems on the UOF armor and want to jump straight into live-fire field tests. The Crey team agreed, but wants to put some restrictions on the testing schedule
they, apparently, still think theres a chance of a full-system overload turning you into a quarter-ton paperweight during a firefight. So, at their recommendation, well start with only the basic weapons and defensive systems activated, and work our way up to turning on the big-time fireworks.
That means that there wont be any more paper targets for you
its cops and robbers for real from here on out. By the way, I dont care if the Crey guys think that UOF stands for User Optimized Functionality. For you, UOF stands for Use Of Force
thats the kind of report I expect to find on my desk every time you use that oversized can opener beat up some superpowered fruitcake in tights. Sure hope you can type wearing that thing!
Happy hunting,
Frank
This is the first of my character origins to have actually come to life in online game play. You'll find that there is no actual character description in the origin...after all, if you want to see my hero, you can find him running around Paragon City.
Constructive criticism is, as always, welcome. Enjoy.