Submitted by By Kyle Rhodes

[Editor's note: This organization is large and well equipped, and has formed an alliance with the Greys giving it access to paranormal trainings. As such, it may not be suitable for all Game Masters and campaigns. Despite dark beginnings, the Project may be used as a player organization, or as a foil/ally in an Aegis player campaign.]

History

The Fremen Project was assembled in 1935 by the Nazi regime and given a primary mission to root out and kill Watch members who attempted to interfere with the occult activities of Hitler. This use came to an abrupt end with Germany's surrender. When the Nazi regime was overthrown, the Project operatives had no where to go. Those who weren't killed or imprisoned hid in plain sight, becoming wealthy businessmen and bankers with a secret agenda.

During the next few years, the Project went completely underground. Through the 1950s, not even the members really knew that it was still together. Then, in 1960, they began recruiting again with a new purpose. The old ideals were thrown out and they became intent on destroying supernatural manifestations and phenomena on the planet. Why this change occurred is a mystery to this day.

The wealthy members of old were able to provide large sums of money to smooth initial organization activities. A number of Incarnate and ritualists were hunted down and killed. On occasion, the group managed to identify and quarantine Pools. To fund and develop the organization even more, they developed a research wing focusing on the psychological effect of traumatic events on people. The heart of the laboratory concentrated almost exclusively on supernatural studies. They also brought in money by publishing books, pamphlets and other texts.

The Project did very well until 1970. At this point a terrible thing happened -- many of the wealthy benefactors started to die from old age. Without them, a large part of the Project's funding evaporated (the old men were not trusting enough to set up permanent funding sources). Many members left, fearing that with fewer resources, secrecy would be harder to maintain, and the supernatural forces they had combatted, and even some mundane groups, would rooted them out and destroyed them.

To maintain operations, the remaining leaders tried many things, including criminal activity and the illegal importation and exportation of drugs and other illegal products. While this did bring in a large sum of money, it was not enough to continue the former level of activity. The entire project went underground, but the members were contacted through mail that the project was still alive. The leaders wanted to combat attrition and desertion as much as possible.

In 1976, after almost 6 years of hiding, the Project leaders were contacted by the Greys. The general purpose of the Project ran parallel to that of the Greys, and an alliance was offered. The Greys would provide money for the Project, and the members would return to their war against the Seepage. The leaders and later the membership as a whole, accepted the proposal. Money started pouring in. By 1983, the Project had almost returned to their previous level of operations. In the meantime, all of the first generation leaders and most of the second had retired. Younger agents took their place, although fearing what change might do, they did not change anything about the running of the Project.

When the last of the second generation leaders died, the Project began to splinter over the issue of who would be the new leaders. A few of the former leaders had prepared for their deaths, but no systematic transfer of power had been implemented, and the in-fighting started to get deadly. Operations ceased for a time while the members sorted themselves out. On way or another, a group of ten coalesced and became the Council of Leaders. The immediately instituted procedures for succession (although each made sure that his position was secure for the foreseeable future). Project activities resumed.

In the 1990s, Project resources and operations grew. A number of "terrorist" acts were carried out that primarily eliminated a Montague Club meeting house, or foiled a CAPS plots. 1999 brought a record number of new and successful missions.

Motives

The motive of the Project members are simple: to eliminate the presence of the supernatural on earth. As might be imagined, this has proven to be a difficult task. Because the supernatural involves humans, they cannot openly kill everyone they suspect of corruption without endangering secrecy and security. Also, many of the corrupted are subtle and cunning. They are difficult to discern.

Project members seek to destroy the supernatural as an evil force that corrupts people and turns them into pure evil. In their view, corrupted ritualists become power-hungry and highly dependent on their magic. Such dependence leads to further corruption, and the cycle continues. Finally, the corrupted gain powers and used them to subjugate the innocent.

The group tries to kill only those corrupted, and those deeply researching the supernatural. They tend to shy away from killing mages who know a few spells, concentrating only on those engrossed in the pursuit of magic. The project operates with a high degree of secrecy, for fear of exposure could bring more people to start studying the occult, which is ultimately what they don't want. Secrecy is also mandated because they kill "people" on a regular basis, and no doubt the authorities would not look kindly at such habits, regardless of the nature of the victims.

Organization

The Project organization is very loose. Each cell acts on its own and reports to the leaders on current activities. If a message needs to be sent out, it is usually done so via e-mail. Within the general philosophy of the group, every cell sets its own goals for accomplishment in their area.

Above all sits a group of six relatively new leaders. They control everything and loosely monitor the cells and the research currently being done. They also monitor the Seepage through methods that only they have developed. This council purports to control all the activities of everybody in the Project, but the organization is too loose for such absolute direction. If a group seems to be going a little too far, an e-mail memo will be sent telling them to stop. If that fails to work, another cell is dispatched to address the problem.

Each cell has a leader, who knows the names of the council and of a few other cell leaders. Nobody else in the cell knows this information. The Project trusts only those who have proven themselves loyal over a long period of time. No one else is considered for leadership. The leader is responsible for making a daily report to the council, and keeping their cell up to date about what activities are being done by other cells in the area.

Membership

The members of the Fremen Project consider themselves the elite -- they are the toughest, fastest, strongest, and smartest the world has to offer, they except nothing less. Members go through pretty a broad screening process, and training is rigorous.

Locations

The Fremen Project is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Most of the research takes place there, as well as the central communications with the Greys. The base consists of a network of industrial complexes, above a huge underground base. Only one in fifty agents knows the actual location of this base. Other cells are situated in important cities throughout the nation and world.

Encounters

Most of the encounters between Aegis and the Fremen Project to date have been through CAPS or other paranormal Aegis groups. Occasionally, an Aegis Cell has run into a group of Fremen agents when investigating a supernatural occurrence. Aegis is aware of the Fremen Project and has infiltrated it on occasion. The Project knows that a large conspiratorial group infects the U.S. government, but overestimates its strength because they do not distinguish between Aegis and Black Book.

Infiltration

Aegis' infiltration missions to date have focused on determining when and where the Project is going to strike next. The two conspiracies, while similar in goals, go about things in different ways. An Aegis character infiltrating the Fremen Project will do it for intelligence-gathering purposes. Thus far, Aegis has seen no reason to sabotage the Project in any way. Still, Aegis agents captured by Project members will probably be killed.

The Fremen Project

Professions

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