Nero

Nero (originally known as The Nero Anomalous Research Agency until 1907) is a secret world agency whose primary objective is to locate, contain, and research all forms of anomaly, from dimensional rifts to entities that stray from the norm of biology. The agency exists outside of jurisdiction, and is funded and entrusted by governments worldwide.

While their primary goal is to protect the world from anomalies, Nero seeks to maintain normalcy. This means maintaining human independence from extradimensional, extraterrestrial, and extranormal influence.

History

Origins

Nero was founded by self-made British millionaire, Alfred Nero, a skilled businessman and researcher of theoretical physics. Alfred was a very curious man, and had a keen interest in the unknown. During the month of January, 1896, Alfred's seven year-old godson, William, became suddenly quite and troubled. While most had simply believed him to be mentally deficient, but Alfred thought otherwise. For whatever reason, he was convinced that William was under the influence of a superbiological entity.

Over the course of the next two weeks, Alfred gathered a collection of scientists and doctors, as well as a priest, in order to locate the source of William's affliction. For days they studied and searched, until they found what they believed to be the cause; William's border collie, "Percival". To prove it, Nero had Percival removed from William's presence and brought to a location 2 kilometers away. One group of men went with the dog, while the other stayed with the boy. Communicating through morse code, Alfred reported William's mental state returning to normal, hereby confirming his beliefs. Upon receiving the message, the dog was brought to Alfred's laboratory beneath his manor and dissected.

Upon finding the anomalous properties believed to originate from Percival, Alfred and his men decided that it would be best if their findings were kept secret. However, this would not be the last time he delved into the world of anomalies, as his curiosity would lead him to hire more researchers from across the globe.

Establishing the Agency

As the years went on, Alfred and his group would find more and more anomalies; some being extremely dangerous. They meddled with the occult, extraterrestrial signals, and everything in between. Beginning in 1899, Alfred began hiring mercenaries and ex-soldiers of the British Army to protect him and his coworkers during their research. Eventually, the government caught wind of his endeavors and threatened to have them stopped for good, believing them to be malicious deeds in the making.

However, Alfred always thought ahead, and had previously become friends with many members of Parliament, enough to sway their decision making in his favor. After some coercion and charlatanry, Alfred not only gained the trust of the British government, but had gained their funding as well. However, discrepancy was maintained throughout the process, and the Nero Anomalous Research Agency was founded.

Agreement 855

During the first 49 years of it's existence, Project NERO went on as an England-specific agency. It had grown, with members including scientists, psychologists, and mercenaries. But while Alfred (now 83) was incredibly rich, he believed that his agency would not be perceived as "serious business" in other countries. However, in 1946, just after World War II had ended, American spies returning from Britain brought news of NERO. Interested, President Harry S. Truman contacted Alfred and asked what it would take to expand NERO, allowing it's people on American soil. Alfred was shocked, but remained indifferent, stating that an alliance with one nation would be unfair to the rest of the world.

Truman stated that if he were to inform the leaders of the rest of the world, NERO would gain many powerful allies, and a much wider variety of entities and anomalies to investigate. However, he told Alfred that NERO would have to be completely hidden from the public, as would the entities they contained and hunted. NERO would have to be an agency for humanity.

Seeing a great opportunity in this, Alfred accepted, and within 10 years, the entirety of Europe, North America, and many other countries had accepted his offer. In the year of 1958, when Alfred died of natural causes, the officially named "agreement 855" had been accepted by 65% of world leaders.

Personnel

Ranks and Titles

Main Article: Nero Ranking

Nero has based their rank system off of the United States Armed Forces, though some titles have been inspired by those of the British Army.

Leadership

Nero High Command

The administrators of Nero exist within an anonymous inner-circle group known as Nero High Command. They are among the top-ranking individuals in the agency, and have taken extra steps towards ensuring their decisions are always fair and unbiased. While no one knows the identities of Nero high command's members, it is speculated that there are 20. Where their meeting take place is unknown.

Lesser Leaders

The Commander of Nero Facilities is the highest-ranking officer of Nero. They are both the symbolic and functional head of the agency, and hold a position of very high esteem among agents. The Commander of Nero Facilities has the responsibility of ensuring that the agency is organized, and does it's job of studying and containing any and all anomalies they come across. The current Commaner of Nero Facilities is Harold Crowley.

The Chief of Containment Protocols is the second highest-ranking officer of Nero. Their job is to lead investigations on anomalies, ensure that containment methods work properly, and to properly equip agents for their dutes. The Chief of Containment Protocols is known as a highly undesirable job, as they are required to assist in missions and execute orders many would consider morally bankrupt. The current Chief of Containment Protocols is Jane Trafford.

Containment Facilities

Main Article: List of Nero Facilities

The hidden facilities and laboratories that Nero have created to keep captured entities away from society are known as containment facilities. There are many different designs regarding the construction of these facilities, but many are made to be places of study, where scientists can safely inspect and learn about different anomalies.

The following is a list of the different facility types used by Nero:

Containment Facility: Used to contain and research multiple anomalies within the same building.
Containment Site: Used to contain and research one particular anomaly.
Containment Vault: Used to store anomalous objects. Typically ones that do not often breach containment.
Research Site: Used to temporarily store and research anomalies.
Research Station: Used to study anomalies that are either too large or too powerful to contain.
Nero Headquarters: A center of communication and command for Nero.
Barracks: A place for armed personnel to rest and train, as well as arm themselves for missions.
MTF Station: Specialized barracks for mobile task force units.
"CTS City": Massive cities populated by CTS units who have been amnesticized in order to maintain secrecy.

Operations

To stand as a functioning agency, Nero has recruited a worldwide task force to carry out dangerous operations. With many division (all based around the country they are stationed in), this task force is highly militarized, and while the scientists of Nero are the ones to research and identify entities, they are the ones to go and capture them.

Operations are usually planned by a strategist lead by a group of researchers, who choose the proper agents to carry out the mission. Operations can be as short as one night, or as long as several years.

The governments of the countries that a facility is located in are required to pay for any and all equipment that the operation requires. This includes tactical equipment, firearms, ammunition, and anything else required for the mission. This means that much of the equipment that agents are granted access to are similar to those that are given to the country's military.

Anomalies

Main Article: Superbiological Entities

Nero Technology

Main Article: Nero Armory Components by Country

Trivia

Ranking within Nero was not established until 1960, when the United Nations thought that the agency's current way of organizing agents was too random. This is the reasoning behind ranks being similar to those of the United States Marine Corps.
There are only three countries that have not yet signed Agreement 855; Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Lesotho.