Paragon

Paragon
File:ParagonEmblem.png Official insignia of Paragon.
Founded	7 July 2338
Country	Terran Concordium
Role	Elite military force Special operations
Size	Approximately 5 - 20 million personnel at any given time 100 - 2000 Divisions at any given time
Garrison/HQ	Valhalla, Earth Each Paragon Division has their own specific garrison
Nickname(s)	Winged Death, Humanity's Sycthe, The Blade of Man
Motto(s)	Per angusta ad augusta (Latin: "Through trial to triumph")
March	Ride of the Paragon
Engagements	Contact War Synthetic Rebellion Milky Way Conflict War on Piracy
Commanders
Current commander	Overlord Augustus Xeros

Paragon, also commonly referred to as the Winged Death and The Blade of Man, is a term used to denote members of the Terran Concordium's foremost elite fighting force. Paragon specialises in conducting special operations and are tasked to undergo the most dangerous, complex, critical and important missions of the Terran Concordium's military forces. Paragon is comprised entirely of biologically augmented supersoldiers, known as Paragons, who have had their natural biological systems augmented to become faster, stronger and more resilient than a normal soldier. They are impervious to disease, infection and most chemical and biological agents, feature a practically indestructible skeleton and their bodies are filled with nanites that can repair even the most mortal and grevious of injuries.

Unlike the special operation forces of other nations, Paragon functions as a fully independent military branch of the Concordian Armed Forces and are henceforth equipped with not only infantry equipment and vehicles, but also spacecraft like starships that allow them to transport Paragons to battle of their own accord and conduct battles that are not restricted the surface of a celestial body.

Equipment

Battlesuit

Battlesuits are the most important and defining of the equipment of a Paragon Division. Battlesuits are powered suits of armour, providing a fully self-contained exoskeleton combat system with exceptional protection and enhances the strength, speed and reflexes of the already superhuman Paragons.

The armour is composed of an outer layer of nanonium, a complex matrix of metallic alloys that provides unprecedented levels of protection against kinetic and energy threats. Additional protection is afforded by a powerful energy shield that conforms to the suit, absorbing and deflecting projectiles, energy and force. A wearer's physical strength and speed is greatly enhanced by the arrays of synthetic muscle fibres in the limbs of the suit that readily outperform any biological alternative.

Battlesuits are specially designed for augmented humans who have the enhanced strength and reflexes to handle the incredibly taxing cybernetic systems. The suits are made up of a series of neural-interface layers that serve to connect the user to their suit and distribute their neural commands to the suit, making the suit becomes an extension of a Paragon's body. This extensive connection to the neural systems of a Paragon maximises efficiency and control of the suit by its user. The connection is maintained via the neural cogitator implant where the suit "hardwires" itself to the user, preventing any kind of possible connection disruption. It is this direct link to the wearer that essentially blends soldier and suit into one, which augments the already incredible reflexes and reaction speed of a Paragon, making a battlesuit-equipped Paragon the zenith of physical capability and a weapon of unmatched potential on the battlefield.

Biological Augmentations

Paragon recruits are required to be biologically augmented extensively to be able to serve with the elite unit. While initial augmentation procedures first started in the 24th century had a comparatively high failure and mortality rate, modern day augmentation procedures have reduced those rates to null. Not only that, but Paragon of the 34th century are far more powerful than those initially conceived a millennia ago. Augmentations can only be conducted on already healthy and fit humans and they must not be afflicted with any kind of genetic defects or other conditions. These augmentations are conducted via surgical means and alter almost every part of a recruit's body.

Augmentation	Description
Cardiac Enhancements	These are implanted directly into the inner walls of the heart and strengthen and improves the cardiac tissue. This allows for the augmented individual to pump far more blood throughout their body and thus supply oxygen to it far more effectively than any normal human being and the reinforcements allow them to safely handle this increased blood flow and adrenaline. Paragons thus have unlimited stamina and are easily able to efficiently run at speeds well over 100 kilometers an hour.
Adrenal Implant	This implant directly enhances the adrenal gland and massively boosts adrenaline production in times of need. The adrenaline secreted also has been enhanced to be over 200% more effective in elevating the body's muscular blood flow and therefore bursts of incredible power from the muscles. Paragons can trigger adrenaline production voluntarily as well if need be.
Muscular Fibre Synthesis	The muscles of the recruit are synthesised with artificial fibres that allow them to perform far harder work than a normal human could ever hope for. This works in hand with other implants like the adrenal implant and cardiac enhancements to provide a recruit with muscular strength innately superhuman. Even without their battle suits, Paragons are well able to lift dozens times their body weight with ease and deflect blows that would instantly shatter a normal man. Their striking force has also been increased to incredible levels, being able to easily crush and destroy military grade alloys found in vehicle and personal armour.
Ocular Upgrades	The eyes of an recruit are extensively upgraded with special linings that capture nearly far more light than traditional human eyes. This gives the ability for augmented individuals to practically see in the dark. The optical resolution of their eyes is also massively improved and give augmentees superb visual acuity comparable to that of birds of prey. In addition, several other receptors in the eye are implanted that allow the soldier to see in both ultraviolet and infrared spectrums.
Sensory Overhaul	In addition to the enhancement to the eyes of an augmentee, their other senses are greatly enhanced to give Paragons unparalleled awareness of their vicinity and surrounds. The ears receive implants to greatly improve hearing while the olfactory system receive biological upgrades that allow exceptional acuteness similar to a canine's.
Nerve Enhancements	The nerves of the recipient undergo the process of "super-myelination" that boost nerve signal transmission efficiency to over 1000% and give superb reflex speeds and reaction time. Augmentees are noted to move like "blurs" to non-augmented or assisted organic beings.
Neural Cogitator	The neural cogitator is a small processor implanted directly under the cerebellum and is directly hardwired into the brain of the individual. The cogitator assists the brain in processing information and activating the various functions of the body. The cogitator also provides a neural interface that allows for the recipient to directly interact with other digital systems like computers and automations. The cogitator is vital to allowing the user to effectively utilise their battle suit to its full potential. AI systems may also be inserted into the battle suit and link with the cogitator to provide even further processing power which boosts a soldier's performance exceptionally.
Dermal Armour Treatment	Nanocarbons like graphene are implanted under the epidermis and provide the soldier with projectile resistant synthetic armour that binds naturally and integrates with the body. This is commonly known as "bullet-proof skin" by recipients of the dermal armour treatments. Several sheets of nanocarbon are used to provide maximum resistance against projectiles but not so much that it interferes with bodily functions.
Intergrated Medical Implant	The IMT is a small biosynthetic implant located next to the liver whose purpose is to provide efficient and effective rapid internal medical care to the recipient and houses a facility to produce and excrete nanodrones into the bloodstream. These nanodrones are what allow for the rapid healing of even the most gravest of injuries suffered by a recipient through automated repair of the body of such terrible damage at a far more rapid pace than what the body could naturally accomplish. The IMT also enhances the blood vessels of the body to provide near instantaneous blood clotting and gives organs of the body redundant systems that can operate until the soldier receives proper medical care. In addition, it provides immunity to almost every disease known to man.
Pulmonary Linings	Artificial biosynthetic linings are grafted onto the lungs' internal surface which maximise oxygen intake from the atmosphere, filter through the toxins, poisons and pathogens, allowing for the breathing of non-oxygen environments and vastly improved retention of oxygen. A Paragon can now retain oxygen in their system for up to an hour.
Skeletal Matrix Synthesis	The skeleton of a Paragon is rendered indestructible via the synthesis of the bone structure with materials found in starship-grade armour such as nanocarbon composites and titanium carbide. Recipients have been reported to be able to handle blows from blunt force trauma to the skeleton that normally would have caused total bone pulverisation.
Other known augmentations	The digestive system of a implantee is capable of extracting all available nutrients and energy from food sources and are able to negate the effects of toxins. The augmentee is also able to rest far less frequently than a normal human and can sleep while still maintaining cognitive function. Hormonal injections to integrate the augmentations of a recruit result in increases to the physical size of a Paragon, which result in them exceeding 2 metres in height and 200 kilograms in mass.
Psionic Resistance Circuit	The implantation of a neurological defense circuit in a candidate's body provide innate resistance against psionics. These essentially generate a protective field that negate or minimise the effects of psionics on a candidate. This coupled with the superhuman strength and resistance of a Paragon provide considerable defence against psionic attack.
Enhanced Psionic Amplifier	While Concordian psions are equipped with a psionic amplifier that boosts their psionic capabilities, the psionic amplifer implanted within a Paragon psion is further upgraded to an extent that their abilities exceed ten-fold of what a normal soldier could ever hope to perform. A recipient of this implant is able to effortlessly manipulate multiple tons of mass and create huge singularities that exceed several dozen metres in diameter.