The Forge
The Forge, also known as Department C4, was a black ops organisation formed in the 20th century with the remit of of studying and experimenting with extraterrestrial material and technology and using it to defend the interests of the United Kingdom. (BFA: Project: Lazarus) It was identifiable by the deliberately out-of-date callsign "For King And Country".
History
It is possible the Forge was operational in 1901, where the Chief Mate of the Lankester uses the phrase "King and Country" on radio while transporting a mermaid to an unknown buyer. (BFA: Cryptobiosis)
Its first major operations began in 1911. Having gained vampire DNA in South America under unknown circumstances, the Forge infected British soldiers with the DNA to create a super-soldier hybrid race to win the war. This operation, Project Twilight, was under the control of Dr William Abberton but went wrong when the vampires broke loose in October 1915. They slaughtered the guards and escaped into the community. The Forge remained operational and in 1917, was running a secret project at Charnage Hospital to brainwash British soldiers into being more aggressive, with a possible side-effect of making several subjects time-sensitive. (BFA: No Man's Land)
From 1915, Project Twilight remained open as the Forge tracked down the vampires and exterminated them. Leading this operation was Abberton, having infected himself after being mortally wounded and now calling himself Nimrod. (BFA: Zagreus)
In the 1950s, Forge agent Dr Stone - her allegiance shown by the "King and Country" phrase - worked on Project Dionysus to create a rift in spacetime. This was almost used by a race known as the Divergence to break through into our reality.
By 2001, the Forge's Deputy Director was Colonel Charles Crichton, formerly of UNIT. In this year, Nimrod tracked down the Twilight vampire ringleaders, Reggie Mead and Amelia Dooney, at the South-East London casino they used as a front operation. Alongside the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe, he destroyed the last creatures. In the process, casino worker Cassie Schofield (whom Nimrod had been blackmailing to help him) was turned into a vampire. In 2002, Nimrod captured Cassie, heavily brainwashed her, and made her a Forge agent.
Between 2002 and 2004, the Forge carried out Project Valhalla, trying to scavenge alien technology from a crashed alien spaceship in Lapland. The mission became a disaster and the area had to be sterilised when the ship turned out to be a prison for a world-killing, blood-formed entity known as Nyathoggoth. Following Vahalla, Nimrod replaced Crichton as Deputy Director of the Forge and had Crichton assassinated. (BFNW: Project Valhalla) The Forge also retrieved the Spear of Destiny from a private collection in Project Longinus.
The Forge encountered the Sixth Doctor again in November 2004, while aggressively acquiring a Huldran spacecraft, and finally initiated Project Lazarus, an attempt to replicate his regenerations. While the Doctor escaped, they had enough DNA information to create a clone of him; it was unable to regenerate, but had enough of the Doctor's attributes to be hired as a scientific advisor. When the Huldrans began attacking the Forge in retaliation, Nimrod had the clone brainwashed to believe he truly was the Doctor, had been stranded on Earth, and was helping them to prevent the Huldrans destroying Earth. (BFA: Project Lazarus)
As part of a long-term operation, an Australian Forge agent named James Clarke had been backing Katherine Chamber's Cyberman technology experiments since 1984. In September 2006, he had a usable product. (BFA: The Gathering)
By 2008, the constant Huldran attacks and the arrival of the Seventh Doctor caused several key Forge members to begin questioning their work and the clone to realise the truth of his existence. While the Doctor solved the Huldran situation, the clone activated the Forge base's self destruct program. (BFA: Project Lazarus)
The Forge's beta facility was brought online soon after and Nimrod was the only known senior officer left alive. The Forge was still operating in 2009. (REF: The Torchwood Archives)
The Forge was destroyed in 2025 after Nimrod was vaporised by alien technology and the final Forge base was destroyed in an explosion. (BFA: Project Destiny)
Overview
The Forge was a top-secret military organisation, unknown by the general public. Its central base was an underground facility in Dartmoor until its destruction in 2007; its new HQ is unknown. Most of its work was overseen by the Deputy-Director, who lived in Dartmoor, and they answer to a Director based in Whitehall.
UNIT was a rival viewed with amused contempt for its "philanthropic" role. In contrast, the Forge had close links to the regular army and ICIS.
There was a stigma attached to the Forge. Once you joined, there was no way out except death. This proved true in all cases except Sergeant French.
Forge operatives included:
- Nimrod — Senior Field Agent and eventually Deputy-Director. (Active)
- Charles Crichton — Former Deputy-Director; assassinated after leaving the job. (Deceased)
- Sergeant Frith — Security Chief; killed saving the seventh incarnation of the Doctor. (Deceased)
- Doctor Edith Crumpton — the Forge's Chief Science Officer, executed by Nimrod after disobeying orders and attempting to communicate with the Huldran. (Deceased)
- Corporal Aristedes — Sergeant Frith's right-hand woman. (Active)
- "The Sixth Doctor" — the Forge's scientific advisor, died activating the Dartmoor base's self destruct. (Deceased)
- Cassie Schofield — Codename Artemis. Field Agent, and Nimrod's intended replacement. Died rebelling against Nimrod to save the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn. (Deceased)
- Sergeant French — Soldier. Seconded to ICIS. (Arrested) (BFU: The Coup)
- Lieutenant-Colonel Brook — agent during World War One, heading the Charnage project. (Deceased)
- James Clarke - Australian deep-cover agent. (Active)
Notes
The Forge (originally called Bedlam) was originally created by Mark Wright and Cavan Scott for the second draft of Project: Twilight after Gary Russell wanted to see more of the concept of government-approved vampires. It was renamed the Forge to avoid confusion with Minuet in Hell.[1]
External link
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Valhalla afterword
