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Project Paragon

Page history last edited by Michael 7 months, 3 weeks ago

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     The Canadian version of a last-minute project to investigate and (if necessary) counter the Morrow Project. Originally, they were to wake up when their machinery detected Morrow Project signals.

 

Origin

 

Pre-War


     A variety of clues, coincidences and possibly deliberate leaks led the Canadian and American governments to realize just after the 1988 U.S. election that an organization known as the Morrow Project was engaged in a strange conspiracy. The project apparently had the support of some part of the American military, along with many major defense contractors (including Morrow Industries, Hughes Aircraft, Cadillac-Gage, Textron, LeTourneau, Ex-Cell-O and TRW). A major part of this conspiracy involved placing teams of heavily-armed men and women in hidden bunkers, employing an advanced form of cryogenic suspension to allow these teams to emerge after some imminent catastrophe.

     Part of the evidence included a Cadillac-Gage factory in Windsor, Ontario where the cryogenic suspension systems were being constructed -- this was discovered in the aftermath of a major highway accident on the International Bridge, involving a shipment of the factory's products headed to South Dakota. There were about 300 completed cryoberths seized, and eventually shared between the Canadian and American governments.

     By the time the available evidence came together, the members of the conspiracy had all dropped out of sight -- thousands of people, all probably hidden in their bunkers. This included a large number of corporate executives, and some members of the military and senior government officials. Federal agents began interviews of the tens of thousands of current and former employees of the suspected corporations.

     The evidence seemed to indicate the Morrow Project expected the catastrophe to occur in late 1989 or early 1990, probably a nuclear war. The likelihood of the Project members being Soviet agents seemed small; more likely they had some "home grown" ideology or goal. The possibility of some sort of "Spy Who Loved Me" (1977 movie) or "Moonraker" (1979 movie) plan seemed more likely -- decimate humanity, or wait out through some predicted catastrophe, and return to take control. The INF treaty and the Moscow Summit seemed to have reduced the risk of nuclear war, but of course it wasn't entirely eliminated.

     The American and Canadian governments took several steps:

 

  • conduct further investigation of the Morrow Project and affiliated companies by the FBI and other agencies.

  • research the cryogenic suspension system created by the Morrow Project.

  • attempt to predict the nature and date of whatever apocalyptic event Bruce Morrow was expecting.

 

     Since many of the companies involved in the conspiracy had designed or built parts of American strategic systems -- including satellites in orbit, that could not be examined for sabotage -- there was a deep-seated fear that the Morrow Project was going to initiate a nuclear war somehow.

     By the fall of 1989, the Warsaw Pact was disintegrating, as the Communist governments of eastern Europe fell, one after another. The leaders of the Soviet Union were felt to be on the edge of either losing political power, or making some sort of last-ditch violent act. American strategic military forces were especially watchful, although the nuclear readiness condition was not increased (since that might incite a reaction from the Soviet Union).

     During September, the Canadian government decided to use their share of the seized cryogenic capsules to place a unit of soldiers, in case some terrible event did occur. This unit would be instructed to investigate and if necessary thwart or destroy the Morrow Project.

     The government hoped this unit would only need to be frozen for a decade at most; in any case, the only power supply that could operate the cryogenic capsules for a decade or more were thermal-electric generators, powered by uranium.

     The Canadian bunker was a "National Survival" facility, with 140 members of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, and space for 10 government officials and their staff or bodyguards, all within the existing bunker at CFS Carp Richardson.

     During the Atomic War, the main CFS Carp bunker was struck by a 20 megaton atomic weapon; an additional airburst 600 kiloton weapon targeted communications structures and antennas at CFS Carp Richardson. The primary bunker was destroyed, but CFS Carp Richardson survived (although the antennas did not).

     There was almost 2.5 tons of gold stored at CFS Carp (much less than it was designed to hold). Most of this was in the form of Canadian $5 and $10 gold coins from just before the Great War, and several hundred kilograms of older British, French, and Polish coins.

 

Problem with the Regiment

 

     A substantial number of the paratroopers were neo-fascists, or at least violent, unpleasant types -- lots of violent hazing, beatings, etc.. Unfortunately, the officers chosen to pull together the Paragon unit were themselves "baddies", and made sure to select enlisted men for their vicious attitudes and personal loyalty.

 

Post-War

    

     See Canada.

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