Officially the facility near Groom Lake in Nevada is used for the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems.
Officially.
The reality of matters is that the base is used primarily as an ultra-secure research facility within a massive subterranean complex. The captured spacecraft from the Roswell incident was kept at the site for research and analysis of both the vehicle itself and the recovered bodies of several aliens. Its destruction in the alien attack in 1987 was a serious blow to the facility both in terms of the lost technology and the massive damage sustained by the base itself.
It was during the rebuilding of the base that The Stranger was relocated to Area 51 for continuing study.
The work at Area 51 does include aircraft and weapon systems design, but it also includes the study of extraterrestrial technology, the recovered bodies of aliens or other exotic non-human life, metahumanity, super-tech, and even some mystical research as part of Project Ravenswood started as a response to similar projects in Nazi Germany, and later projects in Red China and the former Soviet Union.
S-Branch is run out of Area 51, very little known about it, indeed — very few people in the world even know that there is an 'S-Branch', and that's just the way they like it. A covert group, S-Branch has two divisions; Project Prometheus responsible for heading up the research into The Stranger, as well as Project Icarus, a covert missions force used to recover alien technology as well as develop protocols and defenses against any alien threat.
After the attack on Area 51 several of the volunteers that washed out of the training program for the First Metahuman were drafted to form M Force, code named Mjolnir. Mjolnir is a group of very rough and tumble metahumans charged with the defense of Area 51.
M-Force
- Lancer is the leader of M Force, a US Army Ranger before he was exposed to an exotic pathogen believed to be of extraterrestrial origin.The pathogen rewrote his DNA adding seven new chromosome pairs and vastly augmenting his physical prowess as well as granting him the near instantaneous ability to heal almost any injury. A very no nonsense sort, he wears a simple black bodysuit and fights with a prototype gravitic lance. Unmarried, Major Miles Walker takes his duties very seriously and works very hard to protect his men, Area 51 and his country.
- Tangent was an Air Force test pilot prior to her application to the First Metahuman. She was one of the fighter pilots that defended Area 51 during the attack in '87, her aircraft shot down by the invader and crashed in the Yucca Flat nuclear test site. When she was recovered by Search & Rescue it was plain she had suffered massive doses of radiation from the alien weaponry as well as the test site and was rushed for emergency medical care. Upon recovery it was found that she had developed metahuman abilities and could control and generate kinetic energy. Maggie Townsend adopted the name Tangent and was assigned to M Force. A fairly lighthearted individual, the blond haired green eyed super helps to defuse some of the more volatile personalities in M Force.
- Bulwark was one of the Project Prometheus researchers working on wresting The Stranger's secrets from it. A physicist of some skill, Morgan Stearns was electrocuted during a test of a prototype force field generator and nearly died. He later discovered that he had been imbued with the ability to create force fields and force objects with the power of his mind. Dubbed Bulwark he is one of the key defenses that Area 51 and M Force have. His largest field can actually cover the entire bunker leading into the hidden recesses of Area 51. A true genius, Morgan has trouble relating to people of lesser intellect and is not very popular amongst his teammates. Still, he is a very capable, stubborn, and brilliant man.
- Link was a CIA deep cover operative working overseas in the Middle East. Monica Maldonado was a mutant born with the ability to interface with computers mentally and control machines as well. She kept her abilities a secret until the death of her husband and their children as reprisal for one of her ops. With nothing left but the job she applied for membership in the First Metahuman but washed out due to failed psych evaluations. M Force found her fanaticism to be highly desirable and she was recruited immediately upon failure. Joyless, she works with a near mechanical precision and is considered an ice-queen by her colleagues.
- Vulcan is an advanced android that was recovered along with a crashed spacecraft found during a secret mission to the dark side of the Moon. The mission was a test flight of the Scalpel class tactical interceptor developed at Area 51 as a space-capable fighter. Vulcan was recovered, and its programming reworked by Link to make the alien super weapon an asset. Vulcan is a fully functional AI, its body composed of nanites. Super strong, and nearly impervious to harm the android can fly at supersonic speeds and has an ocular particle beam attack possessed of great destructive power. Aware that he was originally built by aliens for an unknown purpose, the android tries very hard to serve his new masters well.
Project Ravenswood - Mystical Investigation group working out of Area 51
Secret organization with two Divisions:
* Project Promethues - Research team focusing on The Stranger
* Project Icarus - Covert action team out to recover alien technology
