Venom
Venom was the brainchild
of Phillepe Aruston
president of Rose. He created the group in 1961 as a retrieval team for
Thorn, at the time
comprising it of various meta human villains who all used snakes as their
motif. On their third mission they were sent to obtain a powerful artifact
which had surfaced in the Atlantic ocean. However they also ran afoul of a
SHADOW squad, with
the end result being three of the four Venom members being trapped in an
underwater rockslide and drowning. Only Black Cobra managed to complete the
assignment and collect the fee from
Aruston. With that money in the bank gaining
interest, Cobra began to formulate plans for the ultimate squad of serpents.
Aruston meanwhile decided to restart
Venom from scratch. This time they would be a hi-tech terrorist group which
would make very public attempts to conquer the world, and in so doing
distract legal authorities from Thorn's own operations. Over the next 2
years Venom clashed frequently with various members of Justice Anonymous.
In 1963 President Kennedy was assassinated and blame was shifted by the CIA onto Venom. This had the effect of making Venom an organisation to truly be feared. The ironic part was that Venom was totally innocent of this crime (probably the one and only time). However this suited Aruston very well as all SHADOW activity was now focused on Venom.
1975 saw the end of the Vietnam war and the return of many vets unable to readjust back to a normal life. Venom was able to recruit many of these soldiers to their cause, swelling their numbers considerably much to the alarm of legal authorities around the world.
1980 saw the appearance of the Force of July who immediately set about smashing Venom cells around America. Within 2 years Venom was almost non existent within the United States.
Venom continued on in Europe, Africa and the Middle East but with mixed results. Finally 1995 saw their worst defeat ever with the entire Venom council captured or killed and most of their agents scattered by a joint Justice and Excalibur mission.
Black Cobra escaped. Determined that this humiliation would never again occur he broke all ties with Thorn and began rebuilding Venom himself using the enormous funds he had accumulated over the years.
First he renamed himself Lord Venom, next he started a mass recruitment drive for any disgruntled terrorists and supervillains. Finally taking a leaf from Thorn Cornelius decided to make others do the dirty work. To that end he reorganised Venom so that it now sells franchises in its organisation, giving exclusive rights to perform actions in certain zones. The cell receives technical support and intelligence and access for a price to a special services like the Venom metas. In return the cell must; purchase all equipment exclusively from Venom, share intelligence, not violate another cell's territory, obey direct commands from Venom central.
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Hierarchy |
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| All members of the new Venom must have some form of military training in order to be qualified to join. A a distinct police record is also a big help especially higher end crimes like assassination, computer hacking and financial fraud. Venom now only wants people with who have displayed some form of cunning and intelligence in their actions. They are given a trial mission by their cell. If they succeed they're in. | |
| Venom Agent | 1st-5th level; Includes only those recently introduced to Venom. These are the support troops. Although similarly equipped to a Death Adder, Agents have less training. |
| Death Adder | 6th-12th level; Those who have proven their loyalty and worth. The higher their level the more duties they are allowed. Each is well trained in all forms of armed and unarmed combat. |
| Supreme Venom | 13th-16th level; In charge of all the branches within his designated area and has the same powers as the Council within his own jurisdiction. |
| Venom Council | 17th-19th level; There are currently 7 members. |
| Lord Venom | 20th level; Cornelius Adolt is the head of Venom. He is kept constantly up to date by the Council on ongoing operations. All major decisions are made by him. He also arranges additional resources and assistance as required. |
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Operations |
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| The early Venom was a
joke. Agents couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, leaders were incompetent
cowards who hid behind their agents only to run away when the cannon fodder
started to dwindle.
Under Cornelius the current Venom is a major threat. Venom learns from its mistakes and is extremely dangerous. Venom
advertises its services through underworld channels, claiming no job is too
large. When a contract is accepted, the Supreme Venom in the area decides
how many operatives the assignment requires, selects certain operatives and
dispatches them. Part of the fees for each contract goes to the organization
for operating costs, while the others part goes to the operatives involved.
Society members are not prevented from seeking out their own outside
assignments, but they must pay a percentage of their outside earnings to the
group. In exchange for each member's
services and financial support, the Society offers increased job
opportunities, health insurance benefits, safe lodging, and comradeship.
Moreover, no member now needs fear imprisonment by legal authorities, for
Venom will soon break them out. However if any betray the organisation while
incarcerated they wont live to see a trial. |
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