So basically, I took a stab at the backstory, intros and character sheet template. Here's the latest version of it. Tell me what you guys think :). If you guys want to make any changes to everything below, now's your chance:
Summary
Lights in the sky. Strange markings in the ground. Before 2020, they were explained away rationally as phenomenons with terrestrial causes, often with the support of science and official sources. Anything that fell through the cracks were ignored, considered the territory of crackpots and paranoid conspiracy theorists who hung on so tightly on such 'evidences' of UFO activity.
When such occurences increased in recent years approaching the big 20, multiplying in scale and variety, humanity had thus far found it hard to shake off their previous understandings of such phenomenons, choosing instead to relegate them to the regions of entertainment, be it derived from art or the belittlement of others.
But when it became apparent to even the governments of the world and other huge organisations that something was happening, what with the reports they managed to scrounge up from scrambled aircrafts and surveillance anomalies, they were prompted to take bigger actions, actions beyond merely putting articles on the internet or holding press conferences.
Investigations involving multitudes of men and women across many organisations were begun. In the UN, as nations gathered, casting aside hostilities and paranoid suspicions of one another for the time being in the big room, they decided that the time is ideal for a new project to begin - a unified international response to the increasingly strange incidents that had gripped the world, causing panics and influencing cultures.
That project is the UNXIPU, or the United Nations Extraterrestrial Investigation and Policing Unit. Millions were spent on the project, setting up what was planned to be a sprawling complex on the northern coast of Africa, personnel from all over the world were flown in to start it from the ground up - scientists, engineers, civilians. As it was also an opportunity for multi-national military and police exercises to be conducted, security, police and military personnel were also flown in to provide protection and presence, especially in conflict zones and chaotic, lawless areas that happened to play host to extraterrestrial phenomenons.
UNXIPU
Officially created in Q4 2019, The United Nations Extraterrestrial Investigation and Policing Unit is a new and fledging organisation founded to investigate the increasing number of incidents hinting at UFO and alien activity.
While it is largely a civilian organisation, a degree of police and military presence is also requisited by the project's director for the purpose of security and possible field investigative deployments into conflict zones and lawless areas.
UNXIPU doubles also as a testbed for experimental technology - such as the SR-73 Skyranger VTOL transport. The organisation has been afforded 4 such models for the purpose of transporting personnel to sites of investigation. UNXIPU has also been given a highly intuitive, integrated research and development system to manage its investigations.
Civilian personnel numbers about two hundred, security and police about sixty, while military is expected to be around forty. In truth, the UN sees little value in creating UNXIPU solely for the purpose of investigations into UFO and alien phenomenon. Other than functioning as a testbed for cutting edge technology, it is also envisioned as a venue for international cooperation, as it is drawing personnel from every corner of the world.
In fact, it can even be argued that UFO and alien activity has been used as an excuse for its use in anything but its main purpose. The media has took notice of it, and derision, cynism followed, and UNXIPU has been called anything between an insincere gesture by the UN to an international joke. UN representatives and PR responded the best they could, drawing attention away from the 'Extraterrestrial' bit.
Its facilities on the northern coast of Africa is still under construction and renovation. Even its most essential rooms are only partially complete, with deadlines consistently missed due to logistic difficulties. New equipment and personnel are flown in regularly, but are similarly plagued by logistic issues. Quite notably, the security, police and military personnel at base are complaining that the only up-to-date equipment they have is their pistol. Heavier weaponry at the moment consists of obsolete placeholder surplus AR-15s and Mossberg 500s donated by African nations eager to clear their dusty old equipment and gain political clout at the same time.
Perhaps inspired by their African counterparts, other members of the UN has recently decided to send their representatives in UNXIPU packed with the best of local equipment. Some, however, were slower to react to this trend, and may have neglected to do so. Regardless, the UN and the world, as well as the director of UNXIPU expects military hardware to be unnecessary.
The State of the World
By 2020, the world is becoming increasingly tense. In Asia, the nations of ASEAN and Indochina are becoming closely knitted, united against China, which has overtaken the US as the world's superpower nation. Territorial disputes and border incidents are both cause and sparks for a potential war. India, Nepal and Bhutan has similar quarrels with China due to territorial claims. Japan, South Korea, North Korea are at each other's throats.
Europe is continuously plagued by economic recessions. The war between Russia and Ukraine is long over, with Russia gaining the Crimea even after UN interventions and negotiations - the only comfort they could have is that Russia did not annex the entire country. The Middle-East has stabilised, but is becoming increasingly isolationist and distrustful of the west. Iraq has largely secured its independence and sovereignty against the US and insurgents alike. Israel and its enemies have declared an armistice, though it means little, as the war is expected to continue anytime.
The US continues to weaken, with the US dollar sinking so hard that it has almost lost its place as an international currency. Poverty and unemployment has been increasing there, while civil disorder is becoming increasingly rife, especially following another hurricane and tsunami from the pacific. It was widely reported thousands of US soldiers had to be deployed in such places to keep the peace alongside several thousands more UN and EU peacekeeping forces. This is not to mention that Mexico has grown distrustful of the US while Canada is generally distancing itself from the rest of the continent. Mexico has significantly reduces the influence of the drug cartels, but it has been a long war, and has suffered as a result. Politically, it has isolated itself from the rest of the continent and Europe, as it saw them as the cause of its problems in the first place, becoming ever closer to Asia.
Yet there were some good news to be had, beyond the trickles above. Africa has stabilised alongside the Middle-East, with significantly fewer warlords and criminal syndicates left to quash. With the ascension of China and some say the various united entities such as ASEAN and the African Union comes new opportunities for the world's economy and power rebalance itself - with some commentators saying for the better in the long run.
And out of all this, increasingly frequent, possibly extraterrestrial phenomenons are being witnessed around the world. Some thought that the end of the world is coming, while others see the rebirth of humanity in those lights in the sky...
The Roleplayers
As a Roleplayer in this RP, you will not become commander of XCOM (not that the organisation is even called XCOM to begin with, and 'XCOM' is run by a civilian director at first) unless circumstances demand it much later, but you will instead play as a character (more if you could handle it). Below is a character sheet template for you to apply:
UNXIPU Enlistment Form Section 1 - Personal Particulars A
First Name/Given Name:
Surname/Family Name/Last Name:
Age:
Birthdate:
Sex:
Gender Orientation(Optional):
Blood-Type:
Race:
Height:
Weight:
Appearance/Description:
UNXIPU Enlistment Form Section 2 - Personal Particulars B
Nationality:
City/Town/Village of Origin:
Educational Background:
Political Background:
Interests/Hobbies:
Others:
UNXIPU Enlistment Form Section 3 - Service Record
Current Service Affiliation:
Current Unit:
Previous Service Affiliation/s:
Previous Unit/s:
Current Vocation/Specialisation:
Previous Vocation/s/Specialisation/s:
Current Native Rank:
Previous Native Rank/s:
Years of Security/Police/Military Service:
History of Active Combat Deployments:
Awards/Medals/Certificates/Citations Achieved:
Others:
UNXIPU Enlistment Form Section 4 - Packing List
Uniforms/Clothing Manifest:
Protective Gear Manifest:
Field Equipment Manifest:
Weapons/Ammunitions Manifest:
Others:
