Rank: Chief Petty Officer, USN
Brief Bio: Apart from Top and Bunny, Lydia is the most experienced DMS field agent. Quick and ruthless in a fight, she’s been on some of the most terrifying missions with Echo Team.
First Appearance: Assassin’s Code
SAM IMURA
Combat Call Sign: Ronin
Rank: Lieutenant, US Army
Brief Bio: Sam is one of the best snipers in the U.S. military. Cool and patient, he provides Echo Team with long-range punch.
First Appearance: Extinction Machine
MONTANA PARKER
Combat Call Sign: Stretch
Rank: FBI Special Agent (retired)
Brief Bio: Montana is a former FBI agent and the newest member of Echo Team. Tough, outspoken and reliable, she fits in well with the other top professionals on Joe Ledger’s top squad.
First Appearance: Code Zero
SGT. GUS DIETRICH
Combat Call Sign: Bulldog
Rank: Command Sergeant Major, retired; US Army (deceased)
Brief Bio: Retired Command Sergeant Major Dietrich was Mr. Church’s personal assistant, aide and bodyguard. Bulldog tough and fiercely loyal, Dietrich was one of the few people Church trusted completely.
First Appearance: Patient Zero
BRICKLIN ANDERSON
Combat Call Sign: Stonewall
Rank: Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Army
Brief Bio: Brick Anderson is a former DMS field agent who lost a leg in combat. He originally ran the Field Support team for the Hub, the Denver Field Office, then worked out of the Warehouse before becoming Mr. Church’s personal assistant and bodyguard.
First Appearance: The Dragon Factory
BRIAN BIRD
Combat Call Sign: Birddog
Rank: Logistics Specialist
Brief Bio: Birddog works closely with Brick, making sure that the field teams get all of the hardware they need to get the job done.
First Appearance: Extinction Machine
HELMUT DEACON
Combat Call Sign: The Kid (honorary)
Rank: Junior Executive for FreeTech
Brief Bio: Helmut is a teenager whose parentage is both complicated and horrific. In a move to separate himself from his father, and prove to the world that beyond nature and nurture there’s a third option: choice, Helmut has used his genius and specialized knowledge to help humanity. He is currently on the science team for Junie Flynn’s FreeTech.
First Appearance: The Dragon Factory
THE SEVEN KINGS
A secret society made up of some of the most powerful and dangerous men in the world. To build their mystique, the Kings hijacked much of the conspiracy theories built around other groups — such as the Illuminati. Though defeated by the DMS, the Kings are far from destroyed, and it’s likely they’ll be back in force before too long.
First Appearance: The King of Plagues
HUGO VOX
The cold-hearted genius who built the Seven Kings was also one of the leading experts in anti-and counter-terrorism. He used his high security clearance to obtain insider knowledge that allowed the Kings to do untold harm.
First Appearance: The King of Plagues
THE RED KNIGHTS
The Upierczi are a genetic offshoot of humanity that live in the shadows and hunger for human blood. Although they’re not supernatural — just products of genetic aberration — they are the basis for the myths of vampires. The Red Knights are incredibly strong and fast and utterly ruthless.
First Appearance: Assassin’s Code
BERSERKERS
These super soldiers are the result of transgenics and gene therapy undertaken by the Jakoby Twins. Given DNA from silverback gorillas, the Berserkers are enormously powerful and highly dangerous.
First Appearance: The Dragon Factory
SEBASTIAN GAULT
The former pharmaceutical developer has used both his genius and his vast fortune to fund terrorist groups and to provide them with dangerous bioweapons including the fearsome Seif al Din pathogen. Gault was recruited into the Seven Kings of Hugo Vox.
First Appearance: Patient Zero
BARRIER
Barrier was the first of the modern wave of counterterrorism organizations designed to respond to enemies with the highest level of technology. Based in London, Barrier’s teams are made up largely of the best-of-the-best agents from the SAS, MI5 and MI6. The senior consultant on the design and protocols for Barrier was Mr. Church.
First Appearance: Patient Zero
ARKLIGHT
The covert and militant arm of a secret organization of female assassins, Arklight operates according to its own agenda. They are the principle enemies of the Red Knights and the Red Order. Arklight is run by Lilith, a former breeding slave of the Knights; her daughter, Violin, is their senior field agent. It’s rumored that Mr. Church and Lilith have some significant history, and they’ve shared a number of adventures in the years prior to the establishment of the DMS.
First Appearance: Assassin’s Code
TOYS
Alexander Chismer is a former criminal who worked with Sebastian Gault and Hugo Vox. When he helped bring down the Seven Kings, Mr. Church offered him a chance at redemption by entrusting him with billions of the Kings’ ill-gotten gains and challenging him to do as much good for humanity as possible with it. He is the private financier behind Junie Flynn’s FreeTech. Whether Toys will earn redemption or slip back into his corrupt ways remains to be seen.
First Appearance: Patient Zero
FREETECH
An organization formed to repurpose technologies originally created by terrorist organizations such as Majestic Three, the Seven Kings, the Jakoby Family, the Red Order and others. Funded by Alexander Chismer and run by Junie Flynn, FreeTech brings these technologies to the people who need them.
First Appearance: Code Zero
The Department of Military Sciences was created by Mr. Church and is chartered by Executive Order. It is tasked with searching out and responding to terrorist threats involving cutting-edge science.
The DMS operates out of regional field offices. Currently there are seventeen field offices that run thirty-six active teams. Joe Ledger’s Echo Team was originally based at the Warehouse in Baltimore, but was later relocated when Ledger opened the Pier in San Diego.
The DMS’s primary weapon is the supercomputer system called MindReader. This system has two primary and overlapping functions. Using an elegant pattern-recognition software package, MindReader collates information culled from all domestic law enforcement and intelligences services as well as those from trusted international allies. MindReader sifts through the data on an endless hunt for terrorist activity. Its second function is as an intrusion weapon. MindReader can hack its way into virtually any known computer system and then rewrite the target computer’s memory to erase any trace of its presence.
Unlike other covert agencies, the DMS is not buried under mountains of red tape. Field team commanders are given superior mission support and encouraged to act autonomously. Naturally this requires a certain kind of leadership personality, and screening new DMS agents is done with utmost care. Everything about the DMS is built around the accuracy of its intelligence and the speed of its response.