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International Operations soon fell under the leadership of Director Miles Craven and became an independent organization focusing on researching superhumans.

International Operations was an American intelligence agency that was founded by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1964 with the purpose of safeguarding the interests of the United States.

History

International Operations soon fell under the leadership of Director Miles Craven and became an independent organization focusing on researching superhumans.

International Operations first discovered the Gen-Factor, one of the sources responsible for superhuman powers. Gen-Factor was experimented on many test subjects in which it resulted in many either dead or turned insane, or in some cases heavily and physically mutated. Gen-Factor was also exposed to Team-7 by Miles Craven on a fake mission, claiming later that it was a chemical weapon used by their enemy. Most of Team 7 started to develop superpowers, except for Michael Cray, whose powers wouldn't manifest until 20 years later. Other members went insane or committed suicide, but in the end only seven members of Team 7 had developed superpowers while retaining their humanity. These seven would sired children that inherited their fathers' powers and became known as Gen 13.

World's End

 Main article: World's End Trilogy

I.O. and its facilities were attacked by the High's Reaper clones during the "Number of the Beast" incident and was thereafter heavily affected by Armageddon. Many of I.O.'s safehouses were vitally used as near permanent refuge for some post-Armageddon survivors as they were stockpiled with supplies, goods, and weapons that would last for years.[1] The fate of I.O. was left at the hands of John Lynch, who then made one survivor among some refugees that were dropped at one of I.O.'s safehouses by the Wildcats as the current director of I.O. and as well as the "seventeenth in line for the presidency."[2]

Divisions

The Wild Storm

In The Wild Storm continuity, International Operations began as a classified joint intelligence commission sometime in the 1950s. The threats facing America allowed it to metastatize beyond any effort to keep it in check, and soon it was commanding events.[3]

At some point, I.O. took control of Skywatch, a secret space program. However, notably, Skywatch was able to free itself, and the two agencies reached a compromise referred to as "the nine treaties"[4] - I.O. could what it wanted on Earth, provided it never came to space, or tried to take control of Skywatch.[5]

In the 21st century, I.O. is the secret controller of all important events on Earth. Its ability to project force is exemplified by its covert action teams[6], though it has several plainclothes men and women also.[7] Its key ability, however, is its' access to data, with which it can discern its enemies and allocate resources.[8]

I.O. stole a spaceship from I.O. and held onto it on the off-chance that they could reverse-engineer it.[9] It is also working on a program of machine telepathy, with which their computers can read people's thoughts, providing new sources of data.[10]


See Also

Links

Footnotes

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