General Background

Sometime in the 30s super-powered men and women made themselves known. They had modest abilities, but they made
themselves felt throughout the world.

During the 40s governments everywhere started to recruit powered beings for special units. The governments all over the world ran
experiments to create these super-beings. Many service people volunteered or were volunteered for these experiments. Many of the
most powerful beings of the era came from these experiments. Folks like UberMan, and Major Victory came from these
experiments. The war was won with the efforts of the common soldiers, for there were always far, far more regular army people than
there ever were of the superheroes. Also during this era many of the capes stayed home to defend the home front.

During the 50s Britain's Grail Knight retired. Rumors started about who the man who called himself Major Victory really was. UNTIL
received its charter. It was a decade of recovery from the war, of prosperity and of prejudice.

During the 60s the Promethians became the first super-team. They worked mostly in the background so they never received much
notoriety. The Champions were in the spotlight of the media much more and received the bulk of the attention.

The 70s and 80s were the silver age of the superhero. The public became more used to the fact that there were beings that were
much more powerful. Many hero and villain fan clubs sprung up as the adventures of the capes became legend.

During the 90s many of the heroic paragons showed their feet of clay. Many of the heros of WW II showed their humanity by getting
involved with groups that were out for world domination. Many heroes went underground during this difficult era. Some heros had
become involved with the Invisible Empire. The Guard rooted out elements of the neo-Nazi Group The Axis from it's ranks. In 1995
the SF Bay Area is devastated by a humongous Earthquake. The superheroes helped dig the survivors out of the rubble and later
helped rebuild much of the damaged bridges and other infrastructure. Later the mayor of San Francisco re-incorporates the Bay
Area as one city renamed Bay City. The Arcadian Academy opened to teach young paranormals how to deal with their powers.

In October of 1999 a new supervillan named the Proprietor made himself known by teaming up with Eurostar, the Assassinos and
many others and took control of the Ukraine. On Oct 22nd 1999 an international group of superheroes joined together to defeat this
menace once and for all. Once they all arrived they found a trap. The Proprietor erected a huge dome of energy 7 miles in Diameter
around the battleground. The energies of the dome enhanced healing making the battle much more brutal as heroes grew
desperate to defeat their foe.

On January 1, 2000, The Proprietor is defeated and the energies unleashed kill all of the heroes in the dome.

This was the decade when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were jet-bombed by terrorists on the
unforgettable 9/11/2001. In response, the United States and its allies (including Great Britain, Australia, and Poland)
overthrew and occupied Afghanistan and Iraq. President Clinton's Vice President, Al Gore, won the popular vote
yet (due to voting chaos in Florida) lost the Presidency to George W. Bush, son of President George H. W. Bush.
Clinton's efforts to broker peace between Israel and Palestine failed. A pair of snipers killed and killed repeatedly in the
Washington DC area. Milosevic was handed over the the Hague (2001). The Space Shuttle Columbia died a firey
death above the United States (2003). In the 2004 Presidential election, the democrat Howard Dean and the
Republican incumbent George W. Bush were neck and neck, with the tie broken by suspect Diebold Corporation voting
machines, which kept things tied up the U.S. Supreme Court for a second election in a row.

The "Dot-Com Boom" and "Telecom Boom" in the stock markets crashed dramatically, erasing over a trillion dollars in
paper wealth. This dragged the real economy of the United States into a recession, which did the world economy no
good. Your Humble Webmaster lost about a quarter of a million dollars in stock value that he had earned over years of
consulting. The recession officially ended, but even afterwards there were 22 consecutive months of job loss in the
USA. Scandals rocked the economy with criminally bad news from Enron (2002), Worldcom, and other giant firms with
fraudulent accounting. So much for Globalization and the New World Economic Order in the first third of the decade.

Sydney Timeline 2011

 GearSmith Engineering Systems (Technologically Integrated
founded by Dr. Hiram Economic City) concept for
Reinhardt. rebuilding the city.
The North Shore Business
Consortium is officially
2015
formed, buying up almost the
entirety of the North Shore.
Halo begins purchases which
seat it in a firm position of 2027
power after the Second Kanto
Quake.
As an increasing number of
Boomers are employed in the
2020
reconstruction of Sydney,
instances of Boomer
First Cyberdroid built by Dr Syndrome begin to arise. In
response, the Metropolitan
Victor Walton.
Police BCID (Boomer
Criminal Investigation
2021 Department) is formed; one of
its officers is Senior Sergeant
Andrea Macklesea. The BCID
Andrea Macklesea graduates has little effectiveness in
Police Training. combating the Boomer threat.
Halo contractors survey Sydney
2022 for the site of the next tower.

Wiz Laboratories destroyed in 2028

"accidental" explosion; Dr
Victor Walton among the Halo selects the old Surry Hills
dead.
district for the site of its
Sydney Tower and
2025 commences construction.
GearSmith Engineering Systems
Kanto II levels Tokyo. Halo releases the Hound
battleslave prototype. Despite
begins consolidating its
promising field trials, the
power-base in Tokyo and
American military (the
commences construction of
Hound's intended market)
MegaTokyo.
decline to purchase the
December: The Global Action design, deciding instead to
Incident occurs. Most of use Halo's newer-model
Sydney, the Southern suburbs android-style Boomers.
and the lower North Shore are Purchasing and employment of
destroyed by the tidal wave
Boomers in the reconstruction
caused by the crash. The
of Sydney increases, as do
incident is known hereafter
instances of Boomer
amongst the populace as the
Sydnrome.
"Big Splash".
NSW government begins
negotiations with Tokyo for
2026 consultancy on proposed anti-
Boomer police unit.
Joint European-Japanese
exploratory team uncovers
large oil and mineral deposits
in Antarctic. Although
Antarctic Treaty prevents
exploitation of Antarctica until
its expiry date of 2041, 2029
several countries (including
Australia) announce they will
not re-ratify the treaty at that
date.
The Sydney government
accepts Halo's TIEC
 Franco-German survey team over 70% of Sydney's
caught conducting illicit oil Boomer population goes
drilling operations in the rogue.
Chinese-backed Argentinian
region of Antarctica.
Chinese surgical strike against
survey team encounters
resistance from French troops
NOW.
already on-site. Conflict
rapidly escalates as other
countries join; this is the
beginning of the Polar War.
Construction on Halo Sydney
(which would make an ideal
staging base for Halo
involvement in the Polar War)
is given higher priority. As a
result, the rate of Boomer
Syndrome occurrences once
again increases.
BCID is stripped down,
reorganised and re-equipped
as MARS: the Mobile
Armoured Response Squads.
Inspector Andrea Macklesea
is one of the prime
consultants on the task;
afterwards she is promoted to
Superintendent and given
command of a MARS section.

2031

Andrea Macklesea promoted to

Chief Superintendent and
given command of MARS.

2032
Sydney in 2033

GearSmith Engineering Systems

wins advanced vehicle and
Historical Outline
weapon systems contract for o The Big Splash
MARS. o The Night of
MARS field trials of prototype Madness
Hound Battleslave modified Sydney Under Halo
for urban operations highly o Central Sydney
successful. Hound Battleslave
o North Shore
introduced within MARS as
elite Boomer/terrorist o Southern Suburbs
response unit. Cyber-Sydney
Plans to phase aging K-8 o Current Problems
Armoured Trooper out of Major Players in Sydney
MARS by 2034 implemented.
MARS representation at 2032
Currency in Sydney
World Special Police Places in Sydney
Exposition in MegaTokyo.

2033
The Sydney of the future isn't the nicest
Night of Madness: Orbital place in the world. Although perhaps better
off than MegaTokyo, it suffers from the same
UUSD particle platform opens
pollution problems other major population
fire on Halo Sydney, razing
centres do, albeit to a lesser extent. Thanks
the building. Subsequently,
to the interests of Halo, the city and the
surrounding environs have been refurbished
to Halo's TIEC plan after the devastating
Global Action Incident of 2025.
Historical Outline
In the early 2000s, as interest in the space
program began to gear up, many set eyes on
Australia as a possible site for a spaceport.
Controversy raged over the proposed site for
the port, just as controversy reigned over the
disputes in the '90s about the site of the
apocryphal "Second Sydney Airport". As
some countries began to decline, Australia
seemed to be gaining in prosperity. Several
multinational conglomerates saw Australia as
a virtually untapped site of mineral wealth.
Sydney began to feel this pressure, as many
businesses began setting up shop in the
CBD. By 2012, Sydney was showing the
hallmarks of a disorganised urban sprawl.
Commercial construction began to go
somewhat haywire, as every corp and its
subsidiaries sought to have some form of
physical presence in the city. One notable
absence was that of Halo; although the
occasional office was set up, the huge
multinational was not attempting to establish
a true presence in Sydney.
As of 2020, Sydney was slowly sliding into a
decline. After the boom in the 2010s,
Australia's star was beginning to fade.
Without an adequate infrastructure to
support the new economy moving in from
offshore, Sydney was getting overcrowded,
sporting many of the problems of a classic
American business centre: Overcrowded
roads and sidewalks, smog and other such
problems were slowly strangling the city. The
less well-off southern suburbs, such as
Redfern, were descending into true ghettoes,
and the ghettoes were expanding. Efforts by
the government to try to control and organise
the rot setting in from the south were coming
too little, too late. It seemed as if Sydney
would descend into true sprawl status by the
middle of the decade.
The Big Splash
Then it happened: a single event that
changed the face of Sydney overnight.
By the early 2020s, Cape York Peninsula
had become a thriving spaceport, despite the
protests of many Green-oriented
organizations. Traffic ran regularly and with
few problems, which is why everyone was
surprised when, in December of 2025, a
launching heavy-lift shuttle suddenly veered
off course. Members of the Global Action
environmental group, a militant spin-off from
Greenpeace (they were ordered to leave
mainly because Greenpeace found their
methods, such as bombing the hulls of
nuclear-powered vessels and destroying the
offices of environmentally- unfriendly
corporations, too violent), had hijacked the
shuttle, demanding unreasonable terms
(including the immediate shutdown and
disassembly of Cape York) or else the shuttle
would plunge directly into Sydney at several
thousand kilometres per hour.
Despite the best attempts of negotiators, the
shuttle remained on course, and less than an
hour later, completed its arc and dove
straight into the Harbour: right on top of the
Bridge. Despite its sturdy construction, the
Bridge immediately collapsed under the
sheer force of the impact (although some
observers claimed hearing explosions on the
Bridge seconds before the shuttle hit) and
many millions of tons of metal dropped into
the water. The resultant waves near-
decimated both the northern and southern
shores of the Harbour. The destructive
waves reached as far east as the Heads,
and nearly half the way towards Parramatta
(thankfully, evacuation had gotten just over
two-thirds of the populace out of the area of
effect). The CBD and a good deal of the city
south of it was wrecked. The expensive
residences on the northern shores were
gone, although damage further in was limited
because of the hilly terrain north of the
Bridge. The state and federal governments
were at an utter loss as to how they could
rebuild. The corporations sat up and took
stock, and nearly considered pulling out of
Sydney.
Then a proposal arrived at the temporary
Parliament House. It was from a
multinational company named Halo. It
offered a plan of a Technologically Integrated
Economic City, one which could not only
support the demands that had been placed
on it before the crash, but adapt to an ever-
changing future. In early 2026, Sydney
accepted, and within weeks Halo had begun
the reconstruction of Sydney. The building of
their pyramid Tower only commenced in
2028 after extensive surveying (the final site
was chosen in Sydney's old Surry Hills area),
but in that time Sydney had developed the
Boomer Syndrome problem seemingly
inherent to modern major population centres
across the globe, albeit to a lesser extent.
However, Halo was not able to acquire all of
Sydney. In the same year that Halo
presented its TIEC plan to Sydney, the North
Shore Business Consortium was officially
formed. They took advantage of Halo's lack
of interest in the North Shore at that moment,
and bought most of the land north of Sydney.
Halo protested to the Sydney government,
claiming that such an action would disturb
the TIEC plan's development. The
government allowed the purchase in the
"spirit of competition". Since then relations despite its propaganda machine's best
between the two corporate bodies have been efforts, is it likely to be again.
strained.

For the next eight years, Sydney prospered,

with Halo in Sydney proper and the NSBC
allowing other businesses not bought out by
Halo to relocate to the North Shore. The
people of Sydney were mainly thankful to
Halo for saving their city, although some
incidents over housing concerns in 2030 and
2031 have left a slightly bitter taste in the
average Sydneysider's mouth whenever
Halo is mentioned. The presence of MARS
has also done much for the city's confidence;
this highly visible division of the police force
has greatly assuaged the public's fear of
Boomers.
Sydney Under Halo
Since 2023, Sydney has expanded
according to the TIEC plan. Every area is
well-organised, and is constructed for ease
of expansion. Maglev transit has replaced
the old rail system, and a new Harbour
Bridge, based on the Glebe Island Bridge,
has replaced the old. After the destruction of
the Halo Tower, the most dominant fea ture
of Sydney is once again the Bridge.

The Night of Madness

This suddenly changed in 2033. Although UN

Strategic Space Defence had been under a
cloud of scandal after its particle beam
satellites opened fire on MegaTokyo without
authorisation in 2032, it seems they hadn't
taken appropriate measures to ensure such
"misfires" never happened again. In 2033, a
USSD p-beam satellite in orbit over
MegaTokyo made several pinpoint strikes
one night at targets that had no military value
- and an hour later, the whole satellite
network commenced fire on the Halo towers
across the globe, starting with the tower in
Sydney. By this time, the Halo Tower
sprawled across a diameter of two
kilometres, and the beam strikes flung heavy Central Sydney
debris over another kilometre in diameter.
The "smaller" chunks of rubble and debris,
varying in size from gravel to coach, Central Sydney was utterly rebuilt after the
destroyed or severely damaged several Big Splash. Most of the suburbs which had
surrounding suburbs. been corporate establishments, shopping
areas and expensive high-density housing
were drained of flood water and converted
But the worst was yet to come. In the into industrial land, allowing many primary
disaster, over half of the Boomer population and secondary industries easy access to the
of Sydney went haywire. Tens of thousands Harbour. The area south and west of the old
were either killed by debris from the blast or Tower site became the Neo-Industrial Zone.
murdered by the hordes of insane Boomers The area is also under protection of the
loose in the city. MARS Central Sydney was Central Sydney Precinct and Headquarters
besieged, and the North Shore and Southern of MARS.
Divisions had to be called in. For nearly
twelve hours, chaos reigned until the valiant
men and women of MARS and the However, thanks to the Night of Madness,
MetroPolice were able to return some most of this area has become a giant
semblance of order to the shattered city. The reconstruction zone. Over sixty percent of
incident was labelled "the Night of Madness" the Neo-Industrial Zone was devastated by
by the media. the mass Boomer rampage, and construction
crews work around the clock to rapidly
rebuild the factories that once populated the
Since that incident, Halo has cordoned off Zone.
the site of the Tower and are building another
one in Botany Bay (not on the shore, but in
the bay itself). Damage from the blast and The centre of Sydney has been struggling
the Night of Madness has been widespread, valiantly to regain its feet after the Night of
and the wheels of bureaucracy are slowly Madness. Due to the security around the
turning to get it all repaired. Halo has never wreckage of the old Halo Tower, not to
been held in quite the same light since, nor, mention the round-the-clock reconstruction,
rogue Boomer activity is at its highest in
Central Sydney. There are some recreational
facilities, but for the good time you would
have once had in Town Hall, Wynyard,
Circular Quay and such suburbs, you would
be best advised to head for North Sydney.
North Shore
The businesses, shops and entertainment
areas in Central Sydney that were destroyed
in the Big Splash rebuilt on the lower North
Shore; suburbs like North Sydney, Milson's
Point, Crows Nest and St. Leonards have
become then new "city" that people go to of
a night. Thanks to the money poured into this
zone by the North Shore Business
Consortium, direct competitors with Halo, the
North Shore is now, more than ever before,
an urban playground for those with money
and the itch to spend. It is also very secure;
the NSBC has spent much on surveillance
systems and security measures.
The North has expanded too, with outer
suburbs such as Hornsby becoming the new
"middle suburbs" of the 21st century:
expensive housing in quiet, corporate-
sponsored neighbourhoods. The MARS
Northern Precinct and North Shore Security
ensure the safety of this region. The advent
of the NSBC has also seen the creation of
theree new elite suburbs, located in what
was once Ku-Ring-Gai National Park: Bobbin
(the home of the NSBC Building), Halvorsen
and Nerrebi. Outer suburbs (such as
Berowra and Cowan) and coastal towns (like
Mona Vale) are now no longer as far away
as they once were, thanks to efficient
highways and maglev connections.
Thanks to the North Shore's security, the
Night of Madness had relatively little impact.
What damage was done before the MARS
Northern Precinct and the NSBC's security
forces halted the threat was minimal and has
been since repaired.
Western Suburbs
Before the Big Splash and the creation of the
Neo-Industrial Zone, the West was home to
most of Sydney's population. Afterward, most
of the space which had been taken by
comanies who had moved their factories to
the Zone was used for housing for the
dispossessed who could afford to rebuild and
immigrants to Sydney from many Asian
countries (including Japan). Thus, the West
is now home to most of Sydney's middle-
class population. Surprisingly, the actual
population density of the West has changed
little; the ex-industrial areas have become
new housing districts, and express maglev
lines have allowed easier access to the more
distant suburbs such as St. Clair and Mt.
Druitt.
Despite the decision of many companies to
move industrial operations to the Zone, the
West is still the home to cottage operations
and small-time tertiary businesses, many of
whom operate out of home or small offices
equipped with microfactories. Many of these
firms actually moved in from the South after
it was flooded. Rogue Boomer activity here is
light, and MARS South-West is typically able
to take care of it.
Southern Suburbs
The Southern suburbs were the hardest hit
by the Big Splash. Little of the reconstruction
funding from Halo made its way to the south,
and as such, most of it became swampland.
Those areas salvageabe were converted into
temporary (now semi-permanent) housing for
those whose homes and jobs were
destroyed by the Big Splash. The residents
of the Emergency Housing District have
been ignored in the reconstruction, and (like
the Housing Zones in MegaTokyo) are in
danger of being forced out by the very
company which gave them new homes.
It is also home to the new Halo Tower being
constructed in Botany Bay (ala MegaTokyo's
Aqua City).
Due to the construction activity, Boomer
crime does occur with some frequency,
although the MARS South-West Precinct
ensures that it does not get out of hand.
More often than not, mechanised crime in
this region is committed by cyborgs, many of
whome are or were residents of E-Districts
threatened by the redevelopment, rather
than Boomers.
Central Coast
The Central Coast and all northward of there
have been nearly untouched, with only
occasional upgrades in technology occurring
(maglev lines replacing trains, etc.).
Cyber Sydney
As Sydney was never as high a priority as
MegaTokyo on Halo's construction list, it
received less Boomer support than other
cities under construction. To make up the
shortfall, many humans looking for work
underwent cybernetic augmentation in order
to get Sydney rebuilt as quickly as possible.
Thus, from 2024 onward, it was not
uncommon to see a Sydneysider, especially
a construction worker, with major cybernetic
enhancement. A majority of cyber
enhancements were, and still are, purchased
from the North Shore Business Consortium
member CyberIntegrated.
Boomer Syndrome was identified by
Australian psychologists at around the same
time as their counterparts in MegaTokyo.
That it took Australians longer to catch on is
not a sign of ineptitude: Boomer Syndrome
was not as prevalent as it was in Japan.
There were fewer societal pressures
exacerbating the situation, and the
psychological effect of the disadvantages
that cyberware imposed (sensory deprivation
etc.) were in part countered by the visible
effect cyber-enhanced construction workers
were having on the speed of the
reconstruction.

To help track and identify those with potential

for developing Boomer Syndrome, the
National Cyborg Database- accessible
through the nationwide network of medical
computers- was created in 2028. Cyborgs
(considered to be a human with at least 40%
of their body replaced by cyberware)
registered on this database are less liable to
be considered a risk by authorities; it also
grants them free psychiatric evaluation.

An interesting cultural note is the current

euphemism for Boomer Syndrome:
"bouncing mad". This derives from the
Australian slang term for a kangaroo:
boomer. You can imagine the marketing
hassles facing Halo when it first introduced
its signature product, Cyberdroids, to
Australia...
The State of the World
The player's mission and the
characters that play a part in that
mission have been described in
detail elsewhere. But what of the
world in which these missions are
set and in which these characters
live?
In general, the world is much as it is
today, only more so...
Deadly diseases touched all nations
of the world. Before the cure was
discovered in 2030, AIDS made a
long-feared comeback. With that
dread virus no longer a threat,
however, other opportunistic viral
plagues hit the country hard. Since
2030, millions have fallen prey to
antibiotic-resistant diseases long
thought to be under control.
Resistant strains of tuberculosis hit
the developing nations, particularly
India, very hard. And a researcher's
misguided attempt to procure
samples of the deadly 1918 flu virus
from bodies buried under the North
Polar icecap unleashed the disease
on the world once again. In 1918,
that virus killed more people than
all the 20th century wars that
followed -- it did the same in the
late 2030's, killing millions.
Together, these pandemics left the
population notably smaller than it
was a hundred years earlier.
It was at this time that the company
known as VersaLife came to
prominence. Initially a genetic
engineering lab, VersaLife was
instrumental in fighting off the
diseases and pandemics of the
2030s. Needless to say this left
VersaLife quite wealthy and
powerful. They branched out into
all fields of human scientific
endeavor -- and commerce. The
VersaLife logo soon became
ubiquitous. It will appear all over
our game world. (Think in terms of
Dow Chemical or some other
multinational corporation that
wields incredible influence while
producing no actual products.)
Global warming has caused a rise in
sea levels around the world. Though
not as serious a problem as expected
in the late 20th century, many parts
of the world that used to be above
water are now below. Areas that
should be flooded often depend on
jury-rigged pumping systems to
keep dry.
In the largest urban areas of the
world, then, life is grim. A growing
variety of drugs offers pleasure and
ensures suffering to an ever larger
user-base. Crime has become a
larger problem than ever. At street
level, cities like New York and Paris
are little more than armed
compounds where drug dealers and
users prey on the powerless and vie
with the poor for access to scant
resources. The most committed
among the urban rich have moved
up or in, to the tops of whatever
skyscrapers remain standing or to
protected enclaves in places like
New York's Central Park.
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Despite a shrinking urban populace,
those who remain compete for an
ever-shrinking supply of goods and
services are few and far between.
The government's main role seems
to be to prevent the chaos of the
streets from reaching the wealthy
elite. The police become more and
more aggressive (and less
concerned with individual rights)
with each passing day. Still, there
are still jobs to be had in the cities
and services to be performed. The
garbage still gets picked up (though
the garbage men tend to be heavily
armed). It's still possible to hail a
cab (though it may be a horse-
drawn one since fuel supplies tend
to be routed to the wealthier areas).
Supermarkets still offer food
(though the selection may be
limited and barter may work better
than paper money). Factories still
churn out consumer goods (though
it's only the bravest of truckers who
will bring those goods into the
cities).
For a picture of urban life in the
21st century imagine New York if it
all looked like Harlem or the South
Bronx; picture Los Angeles if it
were all like Compton. Life goes
on, but it ain't pretty
Governments still function more or
less normally in most places though
they seem more intent on protecting
the rights, property and position of
the wealthy than in helping people
in need. This trend is on the
upswing, as the game begins.
Terrorists and criminals, whose
efforts had been largely confined to
the poor areas and public
monuments and the like have begun
targeting the areas frequented by the
wealthy and powerful, as they did in
the late 20th century. This has led to
increasingly draconian and
repressive measures aimed at the
poor.
Gunther Increasing terrorism is a
matter of serious concern to both
the urban rich, who look down on
the world from on high, and to the
suburbanites, who live in blessed
isolation. In small, gated
communities of luxurious single-
family dwellings, life is good.
These communities are often
surrounded by somewhat larger
developments constructed for
support personnel. The gated
communities are well-defended and
tough to get into (unless you have
appropriate clearance) and tougher
still to survive in if you don't
belong. Though most of the luxury
communities are ultramodern, some
are constructed to resemble
medieval castles (which is,
basically, what they are).
The key thing to realize about the
world is that it is very much a world
of "Haves" and "Have Nots."
There's almost no middle class left.
There's little left of the American
Dream anywhere in the world. The
rich and powerful are on top of the
world. The poor and downtrodden
live largely without hope of
bettering their lot. The shrinking
middle class lives under the control
of governments (and conspirators it
doesn't even know about).
Defining Humanity
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There are no more significant racial
divisions, a good thing, but this is
far from a utopian world where all
men are created equal. In addition
to economic divisions, there are
divisions among men based on
augmentation. Specifically, the
totally human of this world look
down their noses at those who have
been mechanically augmented.
Despite the effectiveness, and in
some cases, the necessity of body
modification, augmented humans
are considered monsters. They look
like primitive Borg and are widely
feared by humans. The nano-
augmented characters (like the
player) are the first augmented
humans who can "pass." To look at
one, you might not even notice he
or she is not a full human. This
creates a tension among the three
types of humans:
Total humans consider themselves
purse and are at the top of the heap.
They need augmented humans but
fear and distrust them. Most total
humans don't even know nano-
augmented humans exist.
Mechanically augmented humans
have their own airport security
systems and have to register with
government authorities. They are
second-class citizens, looked down
upon even by the non-augmented
poor. There's no way a mechanically
augmented human can pass for
normal for very long. They're not
allowed in certain locations and
have separate facilities, ostensibly
tailored to their unique needs but
really as a way of controlling them.
Nano-augmented humans are
resented by their mechanically
augmented brothers and sisters.
They're as powerful as
mechanically augmented humans
but suffer none of the stigma
associated with augmentation. They
can pass through airport security
and mingle with humans freely.
North America
Maggie Chow The US has been
through some changes as a result of
four separate, critical events. Any
one of these would have been
manageable but taken together they
changed the face of the nation.
The US was as hard hit as any
nation by the modern plagues.
Disease struck down millions after
the turn of the century.
In 2030, the same year the AIDS
cure was released, a major
earthquake hit the West Coast,
destroying most of San Francisco
and dumping all of Los Angeles and
most of Southern California south
of Lompoc into the ocean. Some
saw more than coincidence in the
fact that the cure for a disease long-
thought to have spread from San
Francisco was released at the same
time the city itself was destroyed.
No connection between these events
has been proved and no evidence of
foul-play has been discovered.
Regardless of root causes, the
earthquake forced the government
to declare the west coast (or what
was left of it) a disaster area. Since
then, the US has teetered on the
brink of bankruptcy, trying to deal
with the situation. The country is
still pulling itself out of a hole
(physical and financial).
With the government focusing on
the disaster on the ex-West Coast,
the needs of the other parts of the
country went unmet. In 2031, Utah
announced its intention to secede
from the United States, declaring its
independence and annexing what
was left of Arizona and Nevada.
Inspired by Utah's example, fringe
groups in Texas declared
independence, too, followed shortly
thereafter by a group made up of
Washington, Oregon, Idaho,
Montana and Wyoming -- the
Northwest Secessionist Forces,
antecedent of the NSF (National
Secessionist Forces). These efforts
all failed and the would-be
secessionists have been pushed back
to the margins of society. However,
martial law still exists in some
portions of these states.
Anna Navarre The Russo-Mexican
Alliance, emboldened by a
burgeoning economy built on a
foundation of steady drug sales in
the US and by the distractions
provided by the events described
above, declared its intention to take
back the state of Texas it had lost
centuries before. Conspiracy buffs
had long theorized that UN troops
would one-day swarm across the
Mexican border -- they were not far
wrong. Russo-Mexican troops
advanced rapidly and have, at the
time the game begins, taken control
of the southern portions of the state.
Texas is a genuine warzone with
battlelines drawn just north of
Austin. Needless to say, many have
died in the fighting and anyone
attempting to enter Texas from
North, East or West is in for trouble.
(NOTE: At one time, Texas was
going to be a mission in Deus Ex.)
As a result of all this tumult,
America is in a constant state of
tension. The borders are guarded by
the Armed Forces, customs is
deadly serious, immigration laws
have been tightened dramatically,
and nationwide martial law seems
imminent.
Europe
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The situation in the US caused a
NATO meltdown. Without a central
defense force, the EC crumbled,
tensions between east and west
reemerged, and civil war is the
norm in Eastern Europe.
Though hit as hard as the rest of the
world by disease, Europe as a whole
was miraculously spared the
ravages of drugs. This, as much as
anything, has spurred rumors that
the drug crisis in the United States
is and always has been part of an
organized conspiracy.
For well over a hundred years,
Europe had been under the
economic influence of the Illuminati
(through the Bilderberg Group) and
later became a financial satellite of
Majestic 12 (think the European
Monetary Union happened
spontaneously?) Control of Europe's
finances became a reality in 2003
when, following national elections,
the UK adopted the European
standard currency. With that event
and the fall of NATO, the leaders of
the conspiracy were able to turn
economic control into political
control.
Take me to Tracer Tong! Still,
Majestic 12's influence is not all
encompassing. Despite the collapse
of NATO, the powers that be are
still in the process of assembling a
new coalition of nations.
Meanwhile, the rise of chaos and
civil war has fragmented the nations
of Europe and made Majestic 12's
goal of unification under a single
coalition umbrella more difficult to
achieve than expected. However, it's
only a matter of time and probably
won't take much more than the
capitulation of the US and Russia to
Majestic 12 to bring the entire
European situation under control.
For many years, Russia posed no
such problems. The Soviet Union
long ago succumbed to socialism
controlled in secret by the
Illuminati. However, the breakdown
of Soviet Communism and the
failure to introduce a satisfactory
alternative resulted in a breakdown
of law and order, allowing
organized crime to flourish and
dominate. The Russian Mafia
thrives as the only source of
luxuries (and some necessities) in
Russian life. Politicians take their
marching orders from a variety of
crime bosses -- and NOT from
Majestic 12. As a necessary step in
the consolidation of their power, the
Russian Mafia formed a coalition
with Latin American drug lords
based in Mexico to form the Russo-
Mexican Alliance. The Russian
nuclear capability, though less
potent than it was a hundred years
ago is controlled by several
different crime bosses within the
chaotic RMA, both minimizing the
threat to world security (because
they can't mount a coordinated
attack) and maximizing it (because
any nut can get his hands on the
button and launch a small strike).
Needless to say, Majestic 12 is
desperate to reassert its authority in
Russia -- if only they could figure
out how.
South America
Though much of South America fell
under the control of Majestic 12
long ago, large pockets of resistance
still stand between the secret society
and its dream of one world
government.
In particular, Mexico remains
independent, controlled by drug
lords allied with the Russian Mafia.
This Russo-Mexican Alliance (or
RMA) provides what amounts to an
aggressive shadow government
pressing the "real" government hard
in terms of popularity and power.
Other than Mexico, however, South
America hasn't changed much since
the turn of the century. If anything,
the continent is, as a whole, more
prosperous than in the past. Though
business is booming (much of it
illegitimate) South America remains
as fragmented in the 2050's as it
was a hundred years earlier.
Governments turn over regularly,
through coup or election, but the
average citizen who survived the
ravages of disease hardly notices
the difference. The poor remain
desperately poor, the rich obscenely
rich. It's as if government is
irrelevant, as if some other force
remains consistent though
politicians come and go.
Efforts to control the drug trade are
all but non-existent (since drugs
represent so much of the continent's
GNP).
The Second Mexican-American war
rages, but south of Mexico, it's
business as usual.
Africa
The African continent is beginning
to emerge as a place of growth and
change.
Disease decimated Africa first and
it's had the longest time to emerge
from the troubles and begin
building itself back up. A new spirit
of cooperation, spurred by a much
smaller population base no longer
able to fight effectively, has all but
ended tribal conflicts. Africa is
emerging as a new Eden, a center of
technology and a new frontier with
lots of room for personal and
business growth.
Over the last fifty years, many
Hong Kong expatriates have moved
to Africa, resulting in the
establishment of thriving Afro-
Asian communities. (Afro-Asian
chic is spreading rapidly through
the worlds of pop culture and
fashion). Though it will never
displace Hong Kong, the New Hong
Kong section of Lagos, Nigeria, is
one of the continent's most active,
successful and chaotic cities -- not
unlike Casablanca during World
War 2.
Aside from a few small pockets of
freedom (described as "anarchy" in
Majestic 12 propaganda), like
Lagos, Africa is almost entirely
under the thumb of the conspirators
as the game begins.
Asia
Essentially untouched by world
events, China has emerged as a
world leader, supplanting the United
States and Europe as centers of
education and industry.
However, China has been under the
control of Majestic 12 for decades --
the communist experiment in that
country represented the Illuminati's
first genuinely successful
experiment in centralized
government; Majestic 12 simply
continued business-as-usual when
they ousted the Illuminati's council
of five. (China is a welcome change
from the less successful experiment
in Russia and Eastern Europe. Now,
with its centralized government,
huge population and near monopoly
on advanced human augmentation
technology, it is the model of what
the world will become under secret
society rule.)
Hong Kong, though a part of the
Chinese/Majestic 12 empire,
remains more chaotic than one
might think. Though repression is
extreme, the urge for freedom is
strong and thriving black markets
keep Hong Kong's tradition of free
trade and entrepreneurism alive and
well.
India was hit harder than anywhere
else in the world by pandemics,
particularly antibiotic-resistant
strains of tuberculosis, and in
desperate need of medical and
financial assistance chose
absorption into China rather than
obliteration from disease. The rest
of Southeast Asia was forced to
make similar choices, and one by
one, like the dominos to which they
were once compared by American
politicians, they fell to Chinese --
and Majestic 12 -- pressure.
Japan is only now pulling out of a
depression that began with the
collapse of its economy at the turn
of the century. However, the fierce
independence of the Japanese
allowed them to put off Majestic 12
overtures and resist conspiratorial
pressures. Japan remains
independent though, sadly, not
much of a factor in world affairs.
The conspiracy continues to make
overtures, but to no avail. It remains
to be seen whether Japan can
remain independent and emerge as a
world power once again.
Australia is untouched by Illuminati
activity, but it is the scene of some
pretty serious tension between a
growing aborigine independence
group and the English-descended
population. Australia has managed
to slip under the world's radar and
could emerge as a power someday.
The Middle East
The Middle East has long been
under the control of the Illuminati,
and later, Majestic 12. These groups
held the reins on international
terrorists based in the region, and
the Bilderberg Group controlled the
oil companies that had a
stranglehold on the regions
finances.
With the successful pan-Arab
invasion of Israel in 2022, Majestic
12 control of the region is total.
Note: Many expect this area to be
the site of the war signaling the end
of the world as we know it (biblical
prophecies calling for the
destruction of Damascus). The
powers that be within Majestic 12
are well aware of the potential
propaganda impact of making this
prophecy come true
Outer Space
Not as much activity as one might
expect, though what activity goes
on is largely controlled by Majestic
12.
Government and military space
planes make regular flights to two
relatively large orbiting space
stations (international efforts owned
by no single country). The stations
are used by scientists and industry.
However, the first mega-expensive
resort hotel opened recently, a
getaway for adventurous travelers
with good connections and LOTS of
money. (The hotel is a front for
Majestic 12 operations of all sorts).
There are enough satellites in orbit
that traffic is becoming a problem
and accidents hardly make the news
anymore.
As far as life on other planets goes,
we still haven't encountered any, at
least none that can be
acknowledged publicly -- rumors
continue to abound that we were
visited by aliens a century or more
ago and the governments of the
world are keeping it secret.
The only acknowledged life on
other planets is human life -- there's
a small, permanent Moon base
populated by scientists -- purely
experimental stuff -- and a mostly
robot-controlled lunar mining
facility. And, mankind has explored
Mars about as much as we explored
the Moon in the 1960's. In other
words, it's possible to get there but
no one much cares. Far more
interesting to most people is the
asteroid field between Mars and
Jupiter. It's currently mined by
robots designed for the purpose, but
Majestic 12 has big plans for the
exploitation of the asteroid field's
immense resources.
(NOTE: The DX1 design included a
mission to a space station followed
by a mission at the moon base. The
objective was to stop "Ada," an AI
that wanted to become a
"benevolent" world dictator.
Obviously, some of that content was
folded back into the game in a
slightly different way.)
What Role Did the Illuminati and
Majestic 12 Play in World Events?
For centuries, the Illuminati pursued
a plan to bring the world to its
knees, and at long last, create One
World Government. Over those
hundreds of years, it grew, changed,
added arms, subtracted arms,
adapted to changing times, and
made itself a driving force behind
nearly every major event.
The Illuminati began as a political
and religious organization. In the
realm of politics, its domination of
organizations like the Trilateral
Commission and the United Nations
(military and political heart of the
hoped for New World Order) gave it
power over key politicians. In the
religious arena, the Priory of Zion
gave it sway over the world's
Western religions while its near
total domination of China gave it
control over Eastern religions. The
Middle East belonged to it by virtue
of control over the area's terrorist
fanatics. However, in the middle of
the 20th century it became clear that
control of financial matters and
technology would be necessary to
influence a world increasingly leery
of politicians and more and more
likely to reject traditional religious
beliefs. For this reason, two new
arms were created -- the Bilderberg
Group and Majestic 12.
The Bilderberg Group controlled
financial matters around the world
through vast mining operations,
control over the Federal Reserve
Board, The Eurobank and the World
Bank as well as through its
stranglehold on the world's supply
of gold.
Majestic 12 was the Illuminati's
technology and communications
leader. It doles out technological
advances and stores those the world
is not yet ready for (or those too
powerful to give to potential
enemies). It controls the supply of
drugs -- licit and illicit and can
introduce new diseases as it wishes
(diseases for which it already has a
cure ready and waiting, of course).
Majestic 12 is also charged with
influencing and, where possible,
managing the world's intelligence
organizations. The communications
end of things proved more difficult
to manage.
Choose Your Own Endgame
GameSpy In Deus Ex 1, the
branching point for the multiple
endings was very late in the game
so your actions early in the game
had no bearing on the ending you
saw. You could just reload a save
game and choose each of the
endings. Did you like this resolution
or do you think moving the
branching point earlier would have
been more satisfying?
Harvey: We understood, going in,
the ramifications of both
approaches. We knew that we could
either a) make the player's choices
matter on a macro level, so that
decisions made in, say, mission 01
influenced the outcome of mission
06, or b) on a micro level, so that
the player was making small
decisions on an ongoing basis, with
localized consequences. This issue
was not just germane to the
endgames. For instance, it was also
relevant to whether going down the
left hall, instead of the right hall,
putting the player on the "stealth"
path so that only stealth would
equate to success when traveling
down the left hall.
We made different decisions in
different areas of the game. If you
let Paul (JC's brother) die in NYC,
he was obviously not present in
later missions. In most cases, we
wanted micro decisions. If the
player takes the left or the right hall
(to use our example), multiple play
styles are constantly an option --
stealth, combat, hacking, et al. With
regard to the endgames, we did not
want the player to feel that his
earlier decisions (sometimes made
without awareness of their long-
term consequences) *trapped* him
in a particular endgame.
Satellite communications (phones,
intercontinental computer links,
television, etc.) proved little
challenge -- other than some pirates,
all of the media are under the
control of Majestic 12. The Internet,
particularly Internet 3, proved
dicier. In this arena, Majestic 12 set
up vast monitoring operations and
used inefficient, old-fashioned
strong-arm techniques to shut down
content providers large and small
who posted things they didn't want
posted. Many a poster simply
disappeared after a handful of
dangerous messages
These methods were effective only
when Majestic-12 was prepared to
expend significant resources over
extended periods of time. They
needed something better, more
automated, more fundamental to the
underlying communications grid. To
this end, they created the Aquinas
Protocol, a TCP/IP-like low-level
packet-routing scheme. Through
great media fanfare and government
backing, they were able to build
Aquinas into the backbone of
almost every digital network on the
planet, allowing them to physically
route all global communications
through a massive monitoring
station underground at Area 51.
Morpheus (still functioning at
Everett's hideout in Paris),
Daedelus, and finally Helios are
successively more advanced
manifestations of the automated
surveillance, prediction, and
enforcement made possible by
Aquinas.
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As the 20th century drew to a close,
the Illuminati stepped up its efforts
to destabilize the world's
governments. They fomented many
of the worldwide crises described
above. As controllers of technology,
weaponry, and pharmaceuticals,
they like the idea of a fragmented
world political situation, since it
represents more customers and
deeper coffers -- the next best thing
to one world government. Rumors
abounded that some conspiracy cult
actually planted low-radiation
nuclear explosives along the San
Andreas fault, causing the quake of
2030. The spread of disease and
drug use has all the earmarks of a
plot. And many have asked how
Mexico's druglords came to power
and put together sufficient forces to
challenge the United States in even
a small-scale border war. Only
Majestic 12 would have been
capable of pulling these things off.
(In point of fact, Majestic 12 is
behind almost none of these events,
but it's a measure of people's need
to believe that they're blamed by so
many with so little information for
so much)
Responding to events in North
America, the Illuminati, whose
power was centered overseas in
Europe and Asia, made the painful
decision that it would be less
profitable to shore up the US
economy than to let it collapse
under the weight of martial law,
secession and natural disaster. They
ordered the Bilderberg Group, with
its control over the World Bank and
the world's finances, to stand by and
watch as America came close to
collapse. A fragmented America
could more easily be pushed to a
state of martial law, suspension of
the Constitution and participation in
the Illuminati's one world
government.
Disgusted by the do-nothing
leadership of the old Illuminati, the
leadership of Majestic 12 (the
youngest and most vital of the
conspiracy's arms), made a
successful bid for power. Only a
handful of bitter old men remain of
the once vigorous Illuminati
leadership and they live in secrecy
and fear, knowing that their lives
are forfeit should they go public. In
2035, having lined up all of the
Illuminati's political, financial,
military and religious arms beneath
them, Majestic 12 inherited the
mantle of de facto rulers of Asia,
Eastern Europe and South America.
Ambush! Only a handful of major
areas remained free, a situation the
aggressive Majestic 12 leaders
hoped to correct. America would be
the next nation to fall, with its damn
cowboys, that darn constitution and
its policemen-to-the-world attitude;
Russia and Mexico would be dealt
with harshly and their chaos and
criminality brought to an end;
Africa and Australia would be easy
pickings once no one remained to
defend them.
Now, it's time to bring the United
States into line and, after that, the
rest of the world

At least that was the plan.

Unfortunately, the United States
righted itself more quickly than the
Illuminati leadership anticipated.
The laissez-faire attitude they
promoted proved fruitless. Worse
still, the chaotic situation in the
United States led to an increase in
non-sponsored terrorism. For years,
terrorists had been funded,
encouraged and subtly directed by
Illuminati leaders. Their attacks had
been aimed at symbolic targets,
insignificant government targets or
at the poor rather than at critical
infrastructure. In recent years,
however, a new breed of
independent terrorists arose and
began aiming attacks at the wealthy
and powerful -- even at the
leadership of the Illuminati itself!
Some among the conspirators
recommended drastic action, but the
Illuminati did nothing.

Current Problems
As of 2032, with the reconstruction slowing
down somewhat, cyber-chic is just coming
into fashion. More people are investing in
cyberware as a fashion statement rather
than as a necessary tool. The resultant
increase in Boomer Syndrome is in fact
twofold; not only cyber-customers unaware
of the risks falling victim, but the cyberpunk
underground has been angered by what they
see as their cutting-edge trend going mass-
market. This attitude has caused an increase
of Boomer Syndrome amongst cyberpunks.
Many cyber-crimes are committed by
cyberpunks who mug people and remove
their cyberware by force; this usually leaves
their victims in a life-threatening condition.
Major Players in Sydney
Antony Feldon, Mayor
Jonas Lauro, NSW Police
Commissioner
Halo Sydney
North Shore Business
Consortium
GearSmith Engineering Systems
MARS
Currency in Sydney
For ease of purpose, I am assuming that by
2033, the Australian Dollar has stabilised
itself with the US Dollar, so that 1CP will
purchase A$100 (for BGC purposes, 10,000
Yen). Simply convert the prices given in BGC
by dividing by 100.
Places of Sydney
Badgery's Creek Spaceport
Callahan's Place
Daffyd Logan Asylum
Emergency Housing District
Halo Sydney: The Hole
Halo Sydney: Port Botany
Construction Site
Greggsie's
MARS Precinct Headquarters
o Central Sydney HQ
o Northern HQ
o Southern HQ
Mascot Airport
Neo-Industrial Zone
NHance Clinics
NSBC Building
Opera House
Port Botany Container Depot
Royal North Shore Hospital
Zone Intense
Return to Bubblegum Crisis: Sydney 2033
Homepage
Callahan's Place
Many Sydneysiders who have been across
the globe complain that Sydney pubs don't
have much of a community atmosphere.
Those Sydneysiders in the know agree that
Callahan's Place is the exception that proves
the rule.
Callahan's Place is a pub in the heart of the
Neo-Industrial Zone. As such, its regulars are
made up of the working class, male and
female, of the new Sydney. Strangely
enough, there have never been any fights
(let alone heated arguments) at the Place,
nor has anyone drunk-driven home from it.
The Place is a somewhat small, basement-
level establishment in what used to be the
middle of the CBD before the Big Splash
flooded it; according to Toby, it used to be a
jazz restaurant. More well-lit than most pubs,
it features the usual amenities - pool tables,
dartboard, a small stage for local acts to jam
- except for a jukebox or sound system of
any kind. The proprietor and bartender, Toby
Callahan, maintains his bar should be a
place where you don't have to strain your
voice just to talk. Also, no Boomers work at
the Place. Whether this is due to a prejudice
of Toby's is unknown. No one asks, and he
doesn't tell.
Of recent times, several MARS policemen
have begun frequenting the pub, especially
Constable Vernon Temple and Forensic
Scientist Dr. Raymond Newbury. Many local
wags have since dubbed the place "the
MARS Bar". Toby has done nothing to
discourage this; the regulars keep coming
anyway.
Daffyd Logan Asylum
To ensure that those unfortunate enough to
fall victim to Boomer Syndrome are properly
treated, the New South Wales government
has established a specialised psychiatric
facility dedicated to research into methods of
treating and curing Boomer Syndrome.
The asylum is an imposing, reinforced
concrete edifice situated in Sydney's west;
from the outside it appears more a prison
than an asylum. No-one truly knows what
happens within the facility's walls; the many
cured patients often have little memory of
their experiences. Such people are released
stripped of cyberware, while those not so
fortunate, mostly the more advanced cases,
simply disappear within the grey concrete
walls of the facility.
Emergency Housing District
After the Global Action Incident, many
Sydneysiders were left homeless. Halo went
swiftly into action, setting up modular
temporary residences in Sydney's south.
These were rapidly filled by those who could
afford it. Although plans were supposedly
made to establish new residences for all
incomes, the situation in the Emergency
Housing District (or E-District) has changed
little in the past nine years. They have
become new ghettoes, segregated from the
rest of Sydney not by race but by income
bracket. People have to make do living in
housing only intended to be used for a
maximum of two years; drainage problems,
deteriorating modules and cramped
conditions are prevalent.
Halo has been able to lay some of the blame
on the NSBC by spreading rumour that the
land on the North Shore now owned by the
conglomerate would have been used for this
new housing, but the citizens of the E-District
still bear ill-will toward Halo.
Halo Sydney: The Hole
The three-kilometre diameter crater of rubble
and tortured metal which was once the Halo
Tower has been cordoned off with electric
fences. The perimeter of the is patrolled
regularly by combat Boomers (usually old
models, although a BU-55C is always quick
to respond to an intrusion). It is unknown
what exactly Halo are trying to keep intruders
away from, but several have tried to run the
gauntlet in the hope of finding some new
technological wonder left untouched by the
blast for themselves. Those who returned did
so empty-handed, and later disappeared,
never to be seen again (some believe they
were apprehended by agents of Halo after
their identities were pulled from the guard
Boomers' memory banks).
Rumours abound (perhaps started by those
unfortunate souls who managed to
temporarily evade Halo and get out of the
secure area) that the reason so many
Boomers are being employed in the
wreckage is because Halo is looking for
something in the rubble. The identity of this
mysterious, and perhaps apocryphal object
of Halo's supposed quest is unknown.
Halo Sydney: Port Botany Construction
Site
In the middle of Botany Bay, a broad surface
fashioned of hexagonal slabs rests upon
concrete legs sunk to the sea bottom. Atop
these slabs are hundreds of thousands of
tons of steel and composite materials that
are the construction site of the new Sydney
Tower. Rising from this maze of girders and
half-completed levels is a tall central spire
that stretches hundreds of metres into the
air. At the top are the head offices of Halo
Sydney. Currently, the site appears like a
giant Sydney Tower (the old twentieth-
century landmark, not the previous Halo
Tower) mounted on a broad circular base.
Construction of the new Tower continues
around the clock. Ferries regularly run from a
dock in Botany Bay, and cargo helicopters
often dock at one of the pads on the Tower
superstructure. So far, only the first ten levels
of a planned total of four hundred and twenty
have been completed; these levels contain a
near-complete manufacturing centre and
limited research and development facilities.
The construction site has top-flight security
procedures; chances are Halo will know an
intruder is there even before the intruder
does. In addition to less obvious measures,
the site is heavily guarded by visible police-
type Boomers and camouflaged Combat
Boomers. Several units of BU-12B Battle
Boomers are hidden away on-site during this
vulnerable period (until at least the next three
hundred levels have been completed).
MARS Precinct Headquarters
Central Sydney HQ
The looming, bunker-like structure of MARS
Central Sydney HQ is hard to miss, even
amongst the steel jungle of the Neo-
Industrial Zone. Its hard, clean lines formed
of reinforced concrete draw the eye at day,
and are illuminated at night by floods whilst
spotlights on the roof prowl the air.
The headquarters of MARS extends six
armoured stories above the ground, with one
sublevel. The structure is designed to resist
a siege (a bone of contention for many
taxpayers) and contains complete armouries,
forensics labs, shooting ranges and an
advanced data processing centre. A four-
storey annex serves as a combined
hangar/garage/repair and maintenance
centre for the array of MARS vehicles.
Northern HQ
Northern HQ is probably the least visible of
the three MARS Precinct HQ buildings.
When the design contract was offered, the
government bowed to the Corporates who
wished a design which would "not interrupt
the harmonious aesthetic of the North Shore
development plan". The Northern precinct is
a high-rise building (similar to, although
much smaller than, the ADP HQ in
MegaTokyo) which is often missed amongst
the other skyscrapers at first glance.
Although quite impressive at first glance, it
becomes apparent to police professionals
that form was given a higher priority than the
function of efficiently managing police
operations in the design of the Northern
precinct headquarters.
South-West HQ
Although not as dominating as Central
Sydney, South-West HQ is the largest of the
three Precinct HQ buildings. Although it
houses only one Division, barracks and
facilities are provided for training MARS
cadets. Several city blocks devastated by the
floods were provided to South-West for
training frontline and powered armour
troopers. South-West is also home to a
comprehensive database on criminal and
police law as it applies to Boomers and cyber
criminals, as well as all MARS case files; this
database is updated once every two days
from the computer cores at Central Sydney
and Northern.
Neo-Industrial Zone
Before the Big Splash, most of Sydney's
industry was located in its Western suburbs.
However, when Halo bought the land south
of the Bridge, it did not attempt to renovate
the old CBD. Instead, the company installed
much of its current Australian industrial base
on the land (presumably so it was within
easy reach from the Tower site) and opened
the rest for rent from other companies.
In 2032, this area is the Neo-Industrial Zone.
Littered with factories and warehouses, it has
deepened the smog cloud which has rested
in the Sydney bowl for decades. It is
primarily the home of secondary industry,
with many large concerns having plants here
(including ToyotAustralia and AstronoMech).
Raw materials are shipped to them from
inland and complete product is churned out.
Despite the prevalence of larger companies,
the Zone is the place to go to find almost any
mass-produced product, from t-shirts to
vehicles and even low-class Boomers.
NSBC Building
This corporate tower block resides in the
North Shore executive suburb of Bobbin,
surrounded by the lush forest of what was
once Ku-Ring-Gai National Park and the
affluence of the North Shore. Although not
blatantly imposing like the Halo Towers, the
NSBC Building immediately draws one's
gaze; constructed of chromed steel,
advanced composites and mirrored glass, it
is the pinnacle of modern architectural
business design, making even the distant
office towers in other suburbs seem feeble.
Guarded around the clock by the NSBC's
best security, this building is where the
conglomerate's long- and short-term goals
are determined.
Zone Intense
Zone Intense is a chain of computer gaming
facilities scattered across Sydney. There are
branches in Parramatta, Chatswood,
Hurstville and Manly.
Although all Zone Intense branches have a
range of regular arcade and VR games, one
of the main attractions is a "laser-tag" arena
game which not only uses moveable physical
obstacles but also holographic projections to
ensure the arena is different every week. If
you do not have enough people to make two
(or more) teams, the computer can project a
range of simulated opponents of varying
difficulty.
A new attraction has started drawing the
crowds over the past few months. A group of
enterprising GearSmith Engineering Systems
technicians worked with MARS and Zone
Intense in order to produce a VR sim game
called Boomer Busters: MARS. In a public
relations coup, the game was released a few
months ago and continues to draw crowds
thanks to its regular upgrades. Boomer
Busters: MARS allows teams of players to o Jonas Lauro, NSW
suit up in "XK-20 Experimental Armoured Police
Troopers" and go pounding Boomers or each Commissioner
other across the incredibly well-modeled o Sue Hillwood,
Sydney cityscape. Three of the Zone Intense
Police Minister,
sites act as "precincts", mirroring their real-
NSW State
life counterparts: Chatswood is Northern,
Government
Manly is Central Sydney and Hurstville is
South-West, with Parramatta serving as a o Richard Gemmel,
tournament venue for inter-"precinct" Premier, NSW State
matches. Needless to say, the GearSmith Government
technicians involved have been highly Other People
rewarded for their success, and are working o Toby Callahan,
on the newly-formed KES Entertainment's Proprietor of
next gaming projects, including a Boomer Callahan's Place
Busters port to home gaming units.
o Steve Bartland,
Relief Bartender
Zone Intense branches also feature in-house and Bouncer of
cafes to re-fuel after a good pounding. Callahan's Place

People of Sydney 2033 Return to Bubblegum Crisis: Sydney 2033

Homepage

MARS
MARS
o Andrea Macklesea,
Chief
Andrea Macklesea
Superintendent
o Matthew Larraby,
Assistant Chief Whether they're Metro Police or MARS, any
Superintendent, cop will admit that Andrea Macklesea is one
Northern Precinct of the best who has ever been on the force.
o Shibuni Mako, She has been with MARS ever since the
planning stages: having served with the
Assistant Chief
then-BCID (Boomer Criminal Investigation
Superintendent,
Department) of the Metropolitan Police, she
South-West
was in an ideal position to advise on how the
Precinct
new MARS unit should be built and run.
o Dr. Raymond
Newbury, Forensic
Scientist, Central Before joining the BCID, Andrea was a Metro
Sydney Policewoman for six years and a detective
for three of those, with one of the highest
Halo Sydney
clean-up rates in Sydney. Since 2031 she
o Luca von Braun, has served as Chief Superintendent in
Chief Executive charge of MARS from her office in the
Officer Central Sydney Precinct building.
o Dr. Hiroshi
Takayama, Head of
Andrea isn't the most sociable of people,
R&D (Mechatronics)
preferring to remain behind the buffers of her
o Morgan Heisler, job when communicating with people. She is
Halo Security quite strict when it comes to the operating
Consultant rules of MARS, and regularly chews MARS
NSBC cops out for improper conduct (many Central
o Selina Harrol, Sydney MARS operatives call her Iron
Chairman Maiden behind her back). Despite this, she is
a good leader and is fully aware of the
GearSmith Engineering Systems capabilities of the entire MARS operation.
o Hiram GearSmith, She also does not like (but occasionally must
President & CEO tolerate) pressure on her organisation from
o Dr. Ellen Richmond, political or commercial sources (such as
Chief of Halo), and will always back her people in
Mechatronics such conflicts of interest.
Government
o Antony Feldon, Andrea owns her own apartment in the
Mayor of Sydney Upper North Shore, where she takes care of
her seven-year-old daughter, Rina (Andrea is
a single mother; Rina is the daughter of an
old flame who Andrea remains friends with),
and commutes to and from work every day in
her own sedan.
Matthew Larraby
Matthew Larraby was born into an upper-
class corporate family in Gordon in the late
1990s. As he grew up through the Decline of
Sydney in the 2010s and the resultant
encroachment of crime and poverty on the
middle suburbs, Matthew resolved to fight
this menace to his way of life. He became a
policeman.
Matthew was never an exemplary street cop.
What he was good at was political
manouevreing. Seeing a future in the BCID,
he got himself a minor administratorial
position in 2026 (which meant he never got
to see the hard life of a BCID street cop).
When the BCID was reorganised in 2029, he
was assigned a position with the Northern
units, which eventually lead to his current
status of Assistant Chief Superintendent in
charge of the Northern Precinct.
Matthew enjoys his position; he regularly
interacts with the elite of the North Shore.
Boomer crime is low, so he doesn't need to
worry as much about tactical deployments,
unit training and retraining and arrest rates.
He likes to foster the opinion among his
troops that the lower classes and
unemployed are criminal scum (or potential
criminal scum) and should be treated as
such. Needless to say, Andrea Macklesea is
just waiting for a chance to get him out of the
North (which may be tricky, as he seems to
have the support of the Corporates of the
North Shore).
Shibuni Mako
Shibuni Mako was a veteran officer of the
Japanese HDF before she was transferred to
the newly-formed AD Police in 2027 as a
frontline unit leader, then as a trainer for new
recruits. Her record as a trainer between
2028 and 2029 was one of the best; the
authorities believed she could be spared her
duties to serve as a consultant to the New
South Wales government during its attempt
to reorganise the BCID into MARS.
Although Shibuni was at first wary of the
assignment, she enjoyed the challenge it
provided her. She also enjoyed working with
Chief Inspector Andrea Macklesea, whose
knowledge of BCID/NSW Police procedure
and insights were vital to Shibuni's work as
was Shibuni's knowledge of AD Police unit
tactics and training techniques to Andrea. In
fact, when MARS was formed, Andrea asked
Shibuni to put her through a crash training
course to bring her up to speed. Shibuni was
amazed at her new friend's tenacity, and
Andrea recommended Shibuni be placed in
charge of MARS Southern Precinct and
Training Facility.
Shibuni would have turned the offer down
and returned to Japan, except that she had
come to regard Sydney as a new home. Life
was much less restricted and much more
spacious than in Japan. She had taken to
hiking through bushland in her off-time, and
had come to love the Australian country.
After a day's thought and organisation,
Shibuni not only accepted Andrea's offer, but
also applied for, and later received,
Australian citizenship. Her leadership and
organisational skills were once again
demonstrated when she oversaw the
expansion of her precinct's patrol boundaries
into the Western Suburbs (wherepuon it
became the South-West Precinct).
Shibuni Mako is a tough, wiry Japanese
woman in her early forties. She has a
powerful voice which she puts to good use
on the training ground, and an
uncompromising attitude in expecting the
best from her cadets.
Raymond Newbury
Dr. Raymond Newbury is a forensic scientist
specialising in Boomer crime. He works out
of the criminal labs at MARS Central Sydney,
as well as performing duties as Scene of
Crime Officer (SOCO).
Ray is a tall, middle-aged, expatriate Briton,
who wears slacks and sweaters under his
lab coat. He is also a very jovial fellow.
Despite an untidy desk (which Newbury is
able to navigate faultlessly), he is a clever,
methodical and thorough man who rarely lets
anything past him.
A firm believer in living the good life whilst
expanding one's views, he often attends
plays and concerts, sees movies and visits
museums in his offtime. He is also a regular
at Callahan's Place.
Halo Sydney
Luca Von Braun
Luca von Braun is one of Halo's best VPs -
ruthless, focused and determined. He is also
an engineering genius, and it was he who
drafted and presented the plan to rebuild in
Botany Bay after Halo Sydney was
destroyed in Largo's USSD satellite assault.
Surprisingly, von Braun is also a dedicated
family man. His wife and two children live in
his secured North Sydney apartment, which
he commutes to and from by aerodyne each
day.
NSBC
Selina Harrol
Selina Harrol is an extremely cool customer.
She manages the Board of Members that
dictates the policy and goals of the North
Shore Business Consortium. This says much
for her business acumen, willpower and
level-headedness. She is rarely seen outside
of the offices of the NSBC, and it is believed
she devotes her life to the organisation.
Selina is very similar in dress and
appearance to the late Caroline Evers of
Green Corporation (I know what you're
thinking and no, they aren't the same, nor is
Selina a clone/Boomer/whatever). Her face
is perpetually friendly-neutral, giving the
impression of trust whilst never giving
anything away.
GearSmith Engineering Systems
Hiram GearSmith
Hiram GearSmith is founder and CEO of
GearSmith Engineering Systems. Fifty-eight
years old, he has a reputation for taking
risks, but he always learns from his failures;
this has seen him through so far.
Hiram has been in the engineering business
since the early years of the twenty-first
century. After being born into a middle-class
family and graduating high school with
exceptional grades in physics and
engineering science, Hiram excelled in the
Australian Defence Force Academy and
rapidly earned a place in the Engineering
Corps.
After completing his time with the Army, he
worked with several engineering and
mechanical companies before using his
hard-earned wealth to set his own business
up in Sydney's West. Contacts in the Army
allowed him to supplement the few civilian
jobs he had with military contracts.
Hiram GearSmith is a heavyset, graying man
in his sixties. Although deskbound running
his business, he has lost little of his energy,
and enjoys getting out in the machine shop
whenever he can.
Ellen Richmond
Ellen Richmond is a tall woman in her early
thirties. Her dark hair is cut short, and she
wears a mechanic's worksuit when at the
MARS hangars.
Ellen is an engineering genius. She has
been responsible for several innovations
which have kept GearSmith in the running of
the high technology race, including the
Hound Battleslave currently in use by MARS.
Despite this, she seems insecure and
somewhat paranoid. Her aloof demeanour
causes many would-be suitors of this
otherwise attractive woman to keep their
distance. Rumour has it that she was
unlucky in love in the past. Whatever the
truth is, Ellen is keeping it to herself.
Other People
Toby Callahan
Toby Callahan is the proprietor and
bartender of Callahan's Place in the Neo-
Industrial Zone. Toby is in his mid forties; of
average build (if a little short) with brown hair
and laughing blue eyes. Callhan has only
ever been seen sad when the subject of his
service in the first year of the Polar War
comes up (not often).
Note to Callahanians: Toby is not related to
Michael Callahan or a Harmonian, nor is
Callahan's a Harmonian operation. This is
my tribute to Spider Robinson's Callahan's
Place stories (which are awesome, by the
way, and extremely funny).
Steve Bartland
Steve Bartland is table service, bouncer and
occasional relief bartender at Callahan's
Place. He is taller than Callahan, very well
built, with a crop of malt-brown hair. He is
rather taciturn and not very outgoing,
although he projects a monolithically
reassuring aura to the regulars of the bar.
Halo Sydney
Halo's Objectives
Major Players in Halo Sydney
The Reconstruction
Halo's Australian Corporate
Takeovers
Since the Big Splash of 2025, Halo has
established a powerful foothold in Sydney (in
fact, it virtually IS most of Sydney). Thanks to
Halo's TIEC Project, Sydney has prospered
anew. But, thanks to Halo, many people
have been laid off work in favour of using
Boomers as a labour force, and there is
always the threat of Boomers going insane.
Halo was dealt a major body blow in 2033:
Several of its Towers, including the Sydney
Tower, were destroyed when the USSD
satellites mysteriously began to open fire on
Halo holdings across the world. However,
this has only slowed Halo down. As of mid-
2033, construction has begun on a new Halo
tower; in a similar engineering feat to Tokyo's
Aqua City, the Tower will not be rebuilt on its
original site, but in Botany Bay. Some
objections have been raised to this. Allowing
Halo to build at that location may well give
them control over the shipping that runs into
and out of Port Botany; not only that, it may
well allow them to circumvent Australian
customs by allowing their own shipping to
directly enter the Tower instead of docking at
the Container Port. However, many have
cited the good Halo has done for the city,
and dissenting arguments have been put
aside, for the moment.
Halo's Objectives
What do Halo want in Sydney? Why are they
here? These questions have been asked by
many a Sydneysider, be it the politicians
debating Halo's TIEC proposal not long after
the Global action Incident, the members of
the NSBC discussing strategy, workers
whose positions had suddenly been given to
Halo Boomers, or even the average mid-
income family out on the streets of Sydney
who chanced to look up at the looming
pyramid Halo had erected and began to
wonder.
With the boom of the 10s, Halo's level of
interest in Sydney increased to the point that
they seriously began considering
establishing a permanent base of operations.
Much of Australia hides untapped mineral
wealth, and Halo would prefer to hold such
potential wealth itself rather than let a
competitor do so. Sydney seemed a logical
choice for such a base; it was well-known
globally and it was already established as a
centre for business.
After 2029 Halo's main interest in Sydney
became the Polar War. As one of the
landmasses closest to Antarctica, Halo saw
Australia as the ideal place to establish a
staging base near the war zone. As a Tower
was already under construction in Sydney,
Halo simply stepped construction priority in
Sydney up. Halo did not want to give a large
hint at their involvement in this war (although
many suspect this fact anyway). Sydney is
also a less ripe target to the Communist bloc
than a southern shore town, and thus the risk
of a tactical strike from a polar base is
decreased.
As many fear, the construction of the new
Tower in Port Botany is indeed to allow Halo
to manufacture and smuggle illegal Boomers
(C-class combat and BU-12B Battle
Boomers, as well as, perhaps, Halo/Gulf &
Bradley Boomer Giants) to the Polar War as
well as the South Americas. Although this
was attempted in earlier years, the problems
of shipping Boomers the relatively short
distance from the Tower to the Airport or the
Port Botany Container Facility had proved
difficult at best; such actions were often
foiled by over-zealous customs officials. Halo
has also begun to rapaciously exploit the
other benefits of Australia, minerals such as
gold and bauxite, not to mention oil in
Kakadu (thanks to considerable economic
pressure, Halo was able to get several land
rights and national park bills overturned).
This has allowed them to continue
construction of Sydney and to supply various
other projects without having to rely too
much on imports (which can be intercepted).
Major Players in Halo Sydney
Luca Von Braun, Chief
Executive Officer
Dr. Hiroshi Takayama, Head of
R&D (Mechatronics)
Morgan Heisler, Halo Security
Consultant
The Reconstruction
See Halo Sydney: Port Botany Construction
Site for details on the new Halo Tower.
Halo's Takeovers in Australia
A rapacious company like Halo, especially
one which controls over half the world's
industry, will have made takeover bids
across the globe. Here are some of the
larger Australian companies which were
absorbed by Halo.
Western Mining
Telstra (what was left after
Optus got in first)
GIO Insurance
St. George Bank
Holden (a member of General
Motors)
Also, the University of New South Wales
accepts most of its funding from Halo. Most
graduates from science, communications
and business degrees can often find a place
with Halo Sydney, if not in one of the
overseas branches.
North Shore Business Consortium
Sincere thanks to FamiliaGTX for his help
on this section.
The Consortium's Objectives
Corporations of the NSBC
o BHM International
o Ellison, Hunt &
Lybrand
o Optel
o ToyotAustralia
o AstronoMech
o ConsoliData
o Synaptech
o CyberIntegrated
o North Shore
Security
Other Companies of Note
o GearSmith
Engineering
Systems
o Banks
o Universities
o The Union
o Dick Smith
Major Players in the NSBC
o Selina Harrol,
Chairman of the
NSBC
According to public record, the North Shore
Business Consortium was officially formed in
early 2026. However, the basis for what
became the NSBC was formed in the late
months of 2024, when the global power of
the Halo corporation became apparent.
Several Australian companies, fearing the
possibility of being swallowed whole by the
multinational giant, formed a zaibatsu with a
headquarters in Sydney's upper North Shore.
Their aim was to consolidate a hold on
Sydney before Halo could create a foothold.
However, their plans were foiled by the Big
Splash in 2025, and Halo, with its TIEC plan,
secured most of central Sydney for its own
use.
The zaibatsu, however, was not utterly
thwarted. The Global Action Incident had left
some of the North Shore damaged, and in a
"gesture of good will" they instituted their
own refurbishment plan for the North Shore,
turning it into the new CBD of Sydney.
The Consortium's Objectives
Very simply, the North Shore Business
Consortium wants control over Australia's
own industry rather than see it turned over
lock, stock and barrel to Halo. What the
NSBC mean by control, however, is that the
members want sole control over each of their
respective business areas. In that sense, the
NSBC could be considered almost as bad a
monopoliser as Halo.
Although the NSBC seems a relatively
ineffectual operation, localised within Sydney
(an image they intend to project), the
decisions it makes can and do affect industry
across Australia. Many of its public initiatives
are disguised as moves by the individual
companies; what the general public doesn't
know about are the covert operations that it
sanctions. The NSBC can be and is as
ruthless as Halo when it needs to be;
sanctioning grey and black operations
against its monolithic competitor. It also
serves as a synchronising agent, so that
apparently separate moves by its member
corporations coincide to bring another wall
up against Halo.
Halo is willing to fight, and many NSBC
meetings are also called to discuss damage
control after a crippling move on the part of
Halo, be it an aggressive advertising
campaign, a legal or acquisitory contest or,
on the rare occasion, paramilitary conflict.
More often than not, however, Halo leaves
the NSBC alone; possibly beacuse it may
have other, more important concerns at the
moment.
It is worth noting that the main area of
contest between the two giants is cyber-
supply. Whilst Halo pursues its highly
profitable line of Boomer development and ToyotAustralia
sale, the NSBC, through its member
company CyberIntegrated, turns a healthy
During Halo's consolidation of power in
profit supplying the construction yards of
Tokyo, several corporations attempted to
Sydney with cybernetic parts for their
evade the grasp of the giant. One of these
workers. This line of profit has been a
was the Toyota motor company. Since the
healthy cash cow since 2026, and although
late twentieth century Toyota had a
the need for such drastic enhancement has
manufacturing plant in Australia; this became
waned somewhat, the current surge of
the basis for the new ToyotAustralia.
cyber-fashion has more than made up for
Shipping the entirety of their operations to
any loss of profit from industrial-grade
Sydney before a takeover bid was completed
cyberware.
was impossible; however, the Australian
branch split from its parent (officially without
Corporations of the NSBC sanction, although many staff "resigned"
from the Japanese parent to "join" the
Australian branch) and created
The nine corporations below form the "core"
ToyotAustralia. With this move almost a third
of the NSBC. Each one has at least two
of the large motor company was preserved;
representatives in the Consortium. Keep in
the rest became Halo property. TA is now the
mind that for each one of these corporations,
second largest manufacturer of Australian
there are many others who are subsidiaries
cars (the largest being Halo, after that
of these minor giants.
company's purchase of General Motors).

BHM International
AstronoMech

Since the late twentieth century, Broken Hill

Due to Australia's emergence as a significant
Metals has extended its grip over Australia's
space power, AstronoMech, a company
mineral wealth. Virtually all mineral wealth in
primarily concerned with space travel and
Australia is controlled by BHM. Not only that,
orbital construction, has sprung up relatively
but they have gained control of other natural
overnight. AstronoMech has several orbital
resources: forestry, hydro-electricity and, in
habitats over Australia and supports many of
some cases, water itself (after buying up
Optel's satellite launches. It was the primary
most of Sydney Water after the NSW
contractor for the Badgery's Creek
government's float in 1997). Most of
Spaceport.
Australia's primary industry is under this
company's control. Of all the members of the
NSBC, BHM is probably the most vocal ConsoliData
opponent of Halo, as its mining operations in
Asia are under threat from the Japanese
ConsoliData is the NSBC's media arm. In
megacorporation.
fact a multinational company in itself, it is run
by John Parks, son of the late media mogul
Ellison, Hunt & Lybrand Keith Parks. ConsoliData owns the NiNet
multimedia network as well as several other
sat/cable providers across the globe. They
This large firm have become the NSBC's
work closely with Optel to ensure maximum
legal and accounting arm, formed in the early
coverage across Australia.
2000s to take advantage of a reform of the
Australian legal system forcing profits for law
firms down. The accountant firm, Coopers & Synaptech
Lybrand, absorbed several law firms when
the reform forced their near-bankruptcy.
Synaptech is a relatively new computing firm
specialising in research into advanced
Optel artificial intelligence. They have made
several networks and expert systems for the
military and several Australian companies
During the Australian government's
and have recently began exporting overseas.
privatisation binge, Telstra, the government
They have a reputation for excellence and
telecommunications arm, found itself
have won several design awards.
suddenly with very little support and funding.
Optus, a privately-owned company which
became a competitor for Telstra's telecom CyberIntegrated
monopoly in the early nineteen-nineties, took
advantage of their competitor's weakness
CyberIntegrated is a branch of Synaptech
and bought them out. Now Optel controls
that was formed after the company's side-
nearly seventy percent of Australia's
research into bio-mechanical interfaces
telecommunications industry, an area which
resulted in inroads into the profitable arena
Halo has yet to make a significant effort on.
of cybernetics. The company has since
amicably split from its parent; Synaptech has
returned its focus to computers and AI
development whilst CyberIntegrated is
Australia's premier supplier of cybernetics.
CI's commercial successes are medical
supplies (advanced bionic ears and self-
powered pacemakers are some of their
successes) and industrial-grade prosthetics
(the limbs that most cyber-enhanced
construction workers on the Sydney
redevelopment sites use), sold through such
branch chains as McGhill CyberProstheses.
Some CI subsidiaries also manufacture
cosmetic cyberware such as light tattoos and
colour-change hair; such consumer
cyberware is sold through the nationwide
chain of NHance Clinics. CI also supplies the
Australian Defence Forces with combat-
grade cyberware.
North Shore Security
North Shore Security are MARS' opposite
number on the North Shore. Rather than
being an official member of the NSW Police,
however, NSS are a fully private security
firm. They provide high-tech security to the
company holdings of the NSBC and other
organisations across NSW who can afford
their rates. As most of their membership is
recruited from the upper-middle class of the
North Shore, NSS takes a very dim view of
lower classes. Reports abound of abuse and
violence aboe and beyond the call of duty
from NSS cops upon low-income families,
the unemployed and petty criminals (some
even suspect the NSS have several
protection rackets in the general vicinity of
their regular operating zones). Despite (or
perhaps because of) this, the NSS keeps the
streets of the North Shore very clean, and
the authorities tend to turn a blind eye.
Other Companies of Note
GearSmith Engineering Systems
Although not a full member of the NSBC,
GearSmith Engineering Systems have
cordial relations with the conglomerate,
mainly to ensure it stays out of Halo's
rapacious grasp. In return, the NSBC uses
them to fulfill military hardware contracts
(which the NSBC pays for at cost). For more
on this company, see the GearSmith
Engineering Systems page.
Gulf & Bradley
Although not part of the NSBC, Gulf &
Bradley's presence in Sydney is worthy of
note. Like most modern countries, several
hundred of Australia's petrol stations are
owned by the American megacorp.
"Geebie"'s main offices can be found in
Strathfield, and although not as large as their
American or MegaTokyo holdings, are quite
sizable. They also have some rather
lucrative contracts with BHM, allowing Gulf
and Bradley access to oilfields on the
Australian company's land.
Banks
No banks are members of the NSBC;
however, the member companies of the
NSBC split their financial operations between
three banks: AMP, Commonwealth Bank
and Westpac. This is mainly a safety
feature; if one bank folds or decides not to
support any NSBC accounts, not all of the
NSBC collapses.
Universities
Although the NSBC does not own any
universities per se, the University of
Sydney and Macquarie University
graciously accept funding and scholarships
from many of the NSBC's member
corporations. Several of the NSBC's
technological innovations can be claimed by
the research labs of either university, a
source of fierce unofficial rivalry between the
two universities.
The Union
Although they are not a company, it is worth
noting the connections the NSBC has with
the criminal organisation known as the
Union. For more on this relationship, see the
section on the Union in the Crime and Law in
Sydney page.
Dick Smith
While the Dick Smith enterprise by and large
no longer exists, having been spun off into
other operations (such as SynapTech and
AstronoMech), founder Dick Smith is still
going strong in his eighty-ninth year. His
personal wealth, maintained by shrewd
investments and an ongoing active interest in
the frontiers of technology and knowledge,
still gives him some clout in the Australian
business scene. He remains as publically
outspoken as ever, especially when it comes
to Halo horning in on local businesses, but
he's not above aiming his invective at the
NSBC for adopting similar practices. Rumour
has it that Smith is the reason why
GearSmith Engineering remains an
autonomous enterprise
The Most Innovative Product to Best
Serve the Need
History of GearSmith
Major Players in GearSmith
History of GearSmith
GearSmith Engineering Systems was born in
2011 when Dr. Hiram GearSmith, a
respected engineering scientist and ex-
Australian Army Engineer Corpsman,
patented a new near-frictionless bearing
system which would allow the modern Main
Battle Tanks of the Australian Army better
speed and performance. From the funds he
received from the Army's contract for the
system, he set up GearSmith Engineering
Systems, employing old friends from
university and the Army and using contacts
among the Engineering Corps to gain more
business. Within the space of four years,
GearSmith had gone from a small
warehouse operation in southern Sydney to
a large complex in Canterbury. Since then,
GearSmith has fulfilled regular supply
contracts with the Australian Defence Forces
and foreign militaries, including the United
States. The Polar War caused an increase in
sales, allowing Hiram to diversify into new
areas of engineering science and build a
new manufacturing plant in Bankstown.
Trouble arrived when Halo began taking
interest in Sydney as a possible site for
South-East Asian operations. Hiram knew his
company would be vulnerable to a takeover
bid, and began seeking support from the
business community to help him resist any
takeover attempts. However, many
companies were as rapacious as Halo,
demanding majority shareholder status in
GearSmith.
Then a woman named Selina Harrol arrived
at the GearSmith offices in early 2023. She
represented an unofficial group of
corporations who proposed an alliance with
GearSmith in order to resist Halo's bid for
Sydney's business. Although her initial
suggestion was a direct partnership, Hiram
was able to talk her down into an agreement
which would allow GearSmith the
independence it had always valued. The
group would aid GearSmith in resisting any
attempts by Halo to absorb it; in return,
GearSmith would complete any mechanical
engineering contracts the group received at
cost price. The deal was struck, and when a
takeover bid was made by Halo, Hiram, with
the funds that the group supplied, was able
to resist it.
Since then, the mysterious group went on to
become the North Shore Business
Consortium, and GearSmith retained its
position as independent engineering firm. Its
value has since been enhanced by the
addition of Hiram's niece, Ellen Richmond,
who has been able to open the GearSmith
Mechatronics department up to new,
rewarding contracts. GearSmith has become
firmly entrenched after its contract with the
Mobile Armoured Response Squads in 2032
to supply the Police branch with Richmond's
DK-01 Hound Battleslave.
Crime and Law in Sydney
Organised Crime
o The Union
The
Union
and the
NSBC
o The Triads
Gangs
o Street Machines
o Bosozuka
o Chrome Injectors
o Bandidos
Cyber Crime
o Cyber Law
Boomer Crime
o Rooshooters
o Boomer Law
Mercenaries
Return to Bubblegum Crisis: Sydney 2033
Homepage
Sydney, like any modern city, has its fair
share of crime. Most crimes have changed
little in the intervening years between the
1990s and the 2030s. However, new crimes,
and new criminals, have appeared in
Sydney, resulting in the creation of new
police units, such as MARS, to deal with
such criminal activity.
Organised Crime
Organised crime has found itself flourishing
in the chaos after the Big Splash. Gambling
rackets have netted new profits from those
disenfranchised who need money and have
nothing else to lose, and drug rings have
found new victims in those who have lost
everything to the floods and who want to get
away from it all, even if only for a while.
Importing cheap cyberware is a new market;
it is often necessary to augment oneself for
many construction jobs, and if you can't
afford a licensed cyberclinic, then the
ripperdoc (a doctor who makes their money
from illegal and mostly cheap-and-nasty
cyberware implantation) is the only place you
can turn to.
In this time of opportunity, two organisations
stand above the others: the Union and the
Triads. The primary differecne between the combat hardware to factory seconds with
Triads and the Union is thier business focus; faulty components). The Union also has a
the Triads are more often makers of goods, healthy sideline in mercenary brokering.
whereas the Union is a supplier. This is a
very black-and-white delineation; there is
The Union and the NSBC
often overlap in the organisations' acitvites.
However, it is important to keep this
difference in mind when approaching these The NSBC have forges some solid links with
groups. the Union. The most obvious reason for such
a link is, of course, the classic "enemy of my
enemy" situation. Both organisations have a
The Union
common enemy in Halo, and both are willing
to go to great lengths to interfere with the
The Union was born out of the death of the megacorp's operations in Sydney. It is easier
trade unions in the early 2020s. It has been on both if they co-ordinate efforts.
stated in the BGC books that Halo has been
able to eliminate trade unions in its
The main reason, however, is mutual benefit.
unrelenting search for profit. But what
Despite a healthy black ops branch, there
happened to all those who worked for the
are some things that the NSBC just cannot
unions? The government organisations that
deniably do. And although far-reaching, the
liaised with them? The workers who stuck by
Union does not have the legitimate contacts
the unions and found themselves out of a
that the NSBC does in the business
job?
community. So, the Union provides the
NSBC with access to its semi-legal and
Many, of course, simply turned elsewhere, illegal transport network and its contacts,
hoping to find a living in other ways. But whilst being able to request hardware and
some, when they saw the imminent collapse other supplies (at a discount, of course) and
of the unions, took a look at the massive specialised personnel from the NSBC.
structure of the trade unions, and realised
that it could still hold together if the basic
The Triads
goal of the unions changed (although some
argue that the unions were all a bunch of
crooks to begin with). Business has been good for the Triads in
Sydney lately; with the Polar War making
traffic in and out of south-east Asia dfifficult,
And so, in the early twenties, as wharfies
demand for goods from China has risen, as
who tried to stick by their wages and safe
well, as the illegal smuggling of refugees into
working conditions found themselves
the country. This last provides a source of
replaced by non-union workers or, worse,
labour for the many sweat-shops the various
Boomers, they turned to the unions for help.
tongs have running.
And the unions, who no longer officially
existed, gave them an alternative- organised
crime. As of the 2030s, the Triads have once again
found their feet and their markets in
Australia. Smuggling is a higher priority;
The Union, as the coalition of old unions is
although the Union has the market cornered
now known, specialises in manipulating the
in smuggling anything anywhere, the Triads
industries they were once a part of. Many ex-
specialise in smuggling goods in and out of
union workers went back to their old jobs,
China. They are able to ship items that can
accepting the reduced pay, but used their
only be found in China to those expatriates
positions in the wharf, shipping, warehousing
who are homesick or simply wish for some
and transport businesses for smuggling and
form of Chinese item, and they are also able
distribution of illegal goods. If you want to get
to get hardware and other gear to their
some to cars from your chop-shop to clients
contacts in China and its holdings to ensure
in Europe, the Union can organise a truck
that they continue operating. Drugs are also
going to a container dock to briefly stop off
a market they exploit, and although not
from its original route and pick your
mercenary brokers themselves, Triad guns
consignment up, deliver it to a waiting cargo
are willing to hire themselves out to provide
ship where Union wharfies will load the
more income for their Tong.
vehicles into unmarked containers, load
them on a cargo ship and organise pickup at
the other end - all for a healthy cut, of The Hou Bang has interestes in Australia as
course. well; the Chang Group finds market for its
various product including music chips and
military hardware.
The Union has its fingers in most of the
regular pies: gambling and "legitimate"
business is still the best way to launder ill-
gotten money. The Union prefers to remain
away from drugs, instead specialising in
distribution of illegal cyberware (ranging from
Gangs
In any major city, gangs are a problem. In the
2030s, many gangs not only equip
themselves with firearms, but augment their
bodies with cyber-prosthetics and built-in
weapons. Not only that, data piracy has
increased in frequency, with many gangs
specialising in that field (with the Union
contacts to move them on quickly if they are
traced).
Keep in mind that, for every gang that
operates as those below, there may be
anywhere between three and ten that are
outwardly similar, but do not indulge in their
more violent brethren's criminal activities.
masterless samurai of Japanese legend.
Needless to say, the Bosozuka not not get
along with the Bandidos, who they see as
filthy and ill-mannered.
Many Sydneysiders who have expereienced
the bosozuka gangs would readily disagree
with the gangs' self-assessment: they are
responsible for much highway-crime,
operating in a "stand-and-deliver" fashion.
Their obsession with bladed weapons
(knives typically, swords if possible; katana
are rare and the mark of a gang's leaders)
also has won them few friends, even
amongst other Japanese living in Sydney.
The mobility and ease-of-hiding their bikes
provide make it hard for law enforcement to
accurately keep tabs on bosozuka gangs.

Street Machines
Chrome Injectors

The Street Machines are the children of the

The Chrome Injectors are the largest
rodders and revheads of the twentieth
Boomer Syndrome gang (see Cyber Crime,
century. They buy cheap cars, soup them up
below) in Sydney. They live for their next
with large engines, turbochargers and nitro
implant or augmentation, and will mug
boosts, give them hot paint jobs (when they
people on the street for their money. Despite
can afford it) and tear up and down the
their vicious tendencies, no-one else knows
streets of Sydney at night. Thus, the often
how to find illegal cyberware, and someone
find themselves competing with the
willing to implant it, like they do.
bosozuka gangs of Sydney.

The Chrome Injectors first appeared on the

Although many revhead groups exist which
scene in 2030, when several Sydnrome
are relatively harmless, the Street Machines
gangs and many dispossessed cyborg
enjoy motorised mayhem; the more
construction workers were united under the
dangerous, the better. They accept a lot of
leadership of the monolithic and mysterious
smuggling runs from the Union (who, more
Tarc. Their union was consummated by a
often than not, are simply using them as
rampage across Sydney, attcking
decoys), relishing in car chases with the
construction sites and destroying Boomers,
police. MARS are occasionally called in to
not to mention killing several human
deal with a particularly dangerous Street
construction workers. Their hit-and-fade
Machine, who has had his vehicle "Griffined"
raids lasted for four days, until the first-ever
(this term popped up in early 2033, when
Divisional deployment by the Central Sydney
word of J. B. Gibson's final ride spread to
Division of MARS brought the rampage to a
Australia). Street Machines often run
sudden and bloody halt.
automobile chop-shops and have contacts
with shady used-car dealers.
Since then, the Injectors have maily laid low,
conductiong the occasional raid. They have
The Street Machines are too spread out to
confined themselves to random acts of
effectively combat; some are also children of
violence and vandalism across the city, in
wealthy parents who can afford to bail them
addition to raiding cyber-clinics and forcibly
and pay for the best lawyers.
removing cyberware from Sydneysiders'
bodies. MARS Investigative Division has a
Bosozuka lot of manpower dedicated to tracking the
Injectors down.
Many have compared the relatively new
phenomenon (to Sydney) of the bosozuka Bandidos
gangs to both the Street Machines (in their
fanaticism for hot, fast vehicles) and the
The Bandidos and their motorcycling
Bandidos (in their obsession for cycles and
brethren have been around since the mid-
their law-unto-themselves attitiude).
twentieth century. They represent the more
However, the bosozuka bring a more cavalier
extreme faction of the biker gangs that roam
sensibility to the streets of Sydney. The core
the country. Many "bikies" are peaceable
membership of bosozuka are expatriate
enough, travelling from one place to another
Japanese, and rather than being a mobile
on their cycles. The Bandidos, however,
clan like the Bandidos or simple speed-
consider themselves to be a law unto
freaks like the Street Machines, the typical
themselves. They have no respect for the
bosozuka gang see themselves as ronin, the
police whatsoever, and as some are ex-
military, they often have the grunt to back
their word up.
The Bandidos are those most likely to accept
a hit job from those with the money; they
travel light enough and fast enough to make
tracing the killer difficult. They also have the
contacts to be able to get their hands on
older military hardware; mainly surplus army
gear and cyber.
The Bandidos see the Bosozuka as foreign
invaders, attempting to take their place as
kings of Sydney's roads.
Cyber Crime
Crimes relating to cybernetic enhancements
in Sydney generally fall into four categories:
smuggling, theft, unauthorised installation
and possession/use. When considering
charges and sentencing for crimes relating to
cyberware, it is worth remembering that as of
2032, Sydney is not an "armed" city. Federal
gun laws passed in the late nineties, followed
up by knife control at the state and local
levels, saw to the safety of Sydney's citizens.
Charges and sentencing are more strict than
in places like MegaTokyo, LA or Gotham
City.
The crime of smuggling cyberware is similar
to the smuggling of other items, except
slightly more dangerous; although regular
cyberware could be sold "off the back of a
truck" for lower prices, such cyberware, once
installed, could prove harmful to the user;
either by causing injury (e.g.: faulty interface
gear sending feedback into the user's
nervous system, response times too high,
etc.) or through an irregular loss of humanity.
As such cyberware is often purchased by
those low on cash and desperate for work on
the construction sites, and accompanied by
feeble or nonexistent therapy, this crime can
carry hefty sentencing including fines and
prison time.
There is also the smuggling of illegal or
restricted cyberware. "Black" warez,
including built-in guns, cybertentacles, punch
daggers and even full-conversion bodies, are
considered available only to military or
special forces units, and are in hot demand
from cybergangs and organised crime
syndicates. "Grey" cyberware includes
adrenal boosters, cyberoptic targeting
scopes and body plating. Such warez are
restricted due to their often dubious purpose
- why would someone need to purchase
dermal or subdermal armour for sale to the
average Sydneysider?
Cyberware theft is a more serious crime than
it sounds; stealing someone's car may not
cause much harm to the victim, but what
about stealing somebody's cyberlimb - after
it was installed? Thus, cyberware theft can
go hand-in-hand with assault, grievous bodily
harm or even murder. This typically heinous
crime has come to be known as cyber-
ripping. Such crimes are often perpetrated by
Boomer Syndrome gangs (boostergangs, for
you Cyberpunk 2020 fans out there) who are
either desparate for their next cyberware
installation (a common symptom of Boomer
Sydnrome is addiction to cyberware or a
loathing of one's unenhanced flesh) or who
hate to see their cutting-edge hardware
sullied by mindless trend-followers. Many of
these Syndrome gangs are the unemployed
and disenfranchised from the E-District who
have bought illegal cyberware from
ripperdocs in the vain hope of getting a job
on the construction sites. The population of
the Daffyd Logan Asylum is mainly
composed of these sick individuals.
However, there is the odd occasion when
cyber-ripping is perpetrated by a "repo-man"
working for an organised crime entity
(typically a loan shark or black-market
cyberware dealer). In such cases, the repo-
man often attempts to make the crime
appear perpetrated by a Syndrome cyborg or
gang. Past incidents of this practice that
were discovered and publicised led to low-
level gang warfare between infuriated
Syndrome gangers and crime families.
Unauthorised installation charges are
levelled against doctors who attempt to
install cyberware without the proper
authorisation. This charge can be levied
against small-time doctors who attempt a
cyber-installation above their league (say, a
cyberlimb) or unlicensed black cyberware
installers - "ripperdocs" - who often have
access to and install stolen black and grey
cyberware. It is entirely unlikely that
ripperdocs have licenced cybertherapists on
staff; most would find a ripperdoc practice
abominable. Thus, improper cyber-therapy
procedures charges can also be levied
against ripperdocs for abetting a patient's
slide into Boomer Syndrome insanity.
Possession and use of restricted or illegal
cyberware is very similar to carrying/using an
illegal firearm, and applies to black and grey
cyberware. As most cyberweapons are
concealed, possession by the average
Sydneysider is definitely illegal. And as use
of most cyberweapons virtually guarantees
serious damage to a human target, persons
charged with use of grey and/or black
cyberware can find themselves faced with
assault, grievous bodily harm, manslaughter
or murder.
Cyber Law
As soon as the Boomer Syndrome condition
was clinically identified, procedures were put
in place that were intended to support, rather
than shun, those with cybernetics.
When a person's body is at least 40%
cybernetics, he must register on the National
Cyborg Database. The cyborg's file includes
medical records and a listing of all legally-
implanted cyberware. Police can request an
unregistered cyborg to register, but cannot
force them to immediately do so until thirty
days after the request. At that time, the
police may get a warrant for that person to
submit to filing.
At 60% replacement, a cyborg must not only
immediately register themselves with the
NCD, but submit to a psychiatric evaluation
to determine their state of mind. If the cyborg
fails to do so, MARS are granted full
authority to bring the cyborg in for evaluation,
including the use of reasonable force.
If the psychiatrist determines the cyborg has
symptoms of Boomer Syndrome, he or she
can order the patient to undergo psychiatric
treatment. Depending on the condition of the
patient (or if the patient can afford, and
requests, to do so) the doctor can
recommend a course of therapy that does
not involve removal of the patient's
cybernetics. Each time a cyborg installs a
new piece (or set) of cyberware, he must re-
submit to psychiatric evaluation within one
week of the operation. If the cyborg fails to
re-submit itself, the cyborg's NCD file is
given a priority flag; MARS are alerted and
tasked with investigating the cyborg's
absence. Investigators are authorised for use
of reasonable force.
When strong evidence indicating that a
particular cyborg has fallen victim to Boomer
Syndrome is presented, MARS is
immediately empowered to capture the
cyborg in question. Although MARS squads
are authorised for lethal force in such cases,
the priority is to disable the cyborg so that it
can be sent to the Daffyd Logan Asylum for
evaluation.
Cyber-clinics are legally required to have at
least one full-time psychiatric consultant for
every thirty clients.
Boomer Crime
When the Polar War began in 2029, Halo's
interests in Sydney suddenly became more
important. The number of Boomers
employed in construction increased, but
many companies found it more profitable
overall to keep cyber-enhanced humans on
the payroll; a human was more likely to carry
out a task without the need for exhaustive
instructions. Human and Boomer often co-
operated in the reconstruction; as a result,
there is not as much anti-Boomer sentiment
in Sydney,and thus, little Boomer crime. The
average Sydneysider still regards Boomers
as machines, but those who have worked
alongside them often swear that there is
more to a Boomer than simply a walking
computer. Either way, Boomers are not the
sinister replacements of humans they have
come to be in MegaTokyo - yet.
As has been mentioned before, Boomer
crimes in Sydney typically consist of
construction companies overworking
Booemrs to the point of madness. However,
as this occurs with less frequency than other
cities (due in no small part to the large cyber-
workforce), other crimes are more visible.
Most of these crimes have already been
covered in the various BGC RPG books, but
there is one unique to Australia.
Rooshooters
Despite the more tolerant nature of
Sydneysiders, many people still hold
grudges against Boomers. Some cannot hold
their frustration at losing their
job/livelihood/etc. thanks to Boomers back,
and engage in what reporter Peter Dobbs of
the faxpaper "The Australian" called
"bullfighting for the twenty-first century". Most
Sydneysiders simply call it "rooshooting".
Rooshooting involves the crimes of break-
and-entry, theft, vandalism and destruction of
property (with reckless endangerment
usually thrown in for good measure), but in a
new way. Simply, a group of people break
into an establishment which uses Boomer
labour, steal a Boomer, set it loose in the
Industrial Zone and hunt it down in vehicles,
withn whatever firearms they have available.
This activity can drive a Boomer insane (if it
was not already) with overloading pain
impulses.
Such an activity is extremely risky (aside
from the obvious risks). The Boomer may get
loose and cause more havoc than the
rooshooters intended. As rooshooting is most
definitely illegal, it occurs in warehouses and
other places the 'shooters have access/can
break in to. If the Boomer in question is a
construction model, the rooshooters may
skip the theft and let the Boomer loose at the
construction site, allowing it to cause
damage and possibly even destroy the entire
site.
Rumour has it that some untraceable
Boomer thefts are due to organised crime
syndicates organising rooshooter matches
and taking bets on the outcome...
The term "rooshooter" actually comes from Many contracts for mercenaries are supplied
Australian slang. Originally, "boomer" was a by the major and minor companies of the
slang term for a kangaroo. Despite this, Halo NSBC (sometimes against each other).
pushed their cyberdroids as Boomers in Contracts range from protection of assets in
Australia (marketing executives couldn't help the Polar War and elsewhere, to the usual
wondering what was so funny until someone gamut of extractions, thefts, assassinations
explained it to them). When the phenomenon and smuggling.
of Boomer fights first caught the public eye,
some compared it to the city yahoos,
Competition to the lucrative black mercenary
nicknamed "rooshootters" who took hunting
industry comes, of course from Halo; why
rifles and 4WDs into the bush to hunt down
bother hiring mercenaries when you can buy
kangaroos when they were regarded as
a dispensable Boomer whose memory of
pests.
who bought it can be wiped? But, as people
do not entirely trust the products of that
Boomer Law monolithic company (and are quite often
aiming to strike against it), the human
mercenary trade will survive for quite a while
Because of the potential destruction a
yet.Mobile Armoured Response Squads
berserk Boomer can cause, MARS units are
authorised to use only necessary force to
halt a threat; force used by MARS cops can
be reviewed by the division commander, the
head of the Precinct and the Chief
Superintendent. This ensures a K-8 unit will
not be called out when a few waitress
Boomers go nuts.

Mercenaries

As Australia became a prime staging base

for the Polar War, it logically became the
centre for illegally contracting mercenaries to
fight in that conflict. The main factor aiding
such an operation is the sheer size of the
Australian coastline itself. Law enforcers
throughout the years have been frustrated in
their attempts to track smuggling operations, MARS Ranks and Membership
simply because they could only patrol so
much coastline; recent innovations including History of MARS
high-flying radar blimps and other high-tech Precincts
countermeasures have done little to alleviate o Central Sydney
the problem. Getting a small, disposable,
naval landing craft containing a mercenary
o Northern
team and its gear to the shore is not hard o South-West
with the right resources and careful planning. Unit Organisation
o Squad (MARS)
Of course, with the law concentrating on Patrol
Australia's coastline, the Union can get Unit
mercenaries and their hardware in through
the front door. As stated above they have the
Tactical
contacts in the transport industries that o Section
enable them to get all or part of a mercenary o Division
team and/or their gear into the country and to o Deployment
a safehouse from which the mercenaries can
o Minor Divisions
negotiate a price for their services. They can
also provide goods to the mercenaries for Powere
resupply and are adept at creating false d
identities for the mercenaries during their Division
stay.
K-8
Because of their links with many mercenary A
teams, the Union also acts as a brokering r
firm for them. Drop-boxes and hiring halls, m
physical and online, are maintained in o
Australia by the Union. The Triads, despite u
their rivalry with the Union, often use the r
established hiring halls to find work for their e
hitters. d
 T Kennel
r Battlesl
o ave
o Transp
p ort
e
r
V- 22
P Skyhop
o per
w Osprey
e MARS and the Metro Police
r
e
d Official NSW Police Site and the
U COPS Internet Information
ni Server. Although not BGC links,
t these online databases contains
virtually everything you need to
Hound know about the modern-day
P NSW Police.
o
w Return to Bubblegum Crisis: Sydney 2033
e Homepage
r
e
d
U
ni In MegaTokyo, there is the AD Police. In
t Sydney, there is MARS: the Mobile
Investig Armoured Response Squads. Both units are
ations motivated by the same purpose: keep the
Division city safe from the depredations of rogue
Boomers. Although the AD Police is the more
ID Unit technically advanced of the two, MARS
makes up for it in raw drive and capability:
People only the best are allowed to fill the ranks.
o Chief
Superintendent
Membership of MARS
Andrea Macklesea
o Assistant Chief
Superintendent The Perk: MARS Membership applies the
Matthew Larraby same modifier as AD Police Membership:
o Assistant Chief x2.5. Be warned: Membership: Level 10 has
already gone to Andrea Macklesea and Level
Superintendent
9 places the character in charge of one of
Shibuni Mako
the precincts. Remember that the level of
o Dr. Raymond MARS Membership is equal to the level of
Newbury, Forensic Authority the characters have.
Scientist
o Division 2 Powered
Below is a table which outlines the rank that
Units 3 and 4 (Old
each level of membership buys. Also, an
Pilot Episode Only)
outline is given as to what form of command
Equipment that a MARS policeman of that rank may
o ADP-MARS acquire. MARS cops are usually trained in
Equipment Table squads, when they complet training (rigorous
o MARS Personal screening during application ensures the rate
Equipment of failure during training is less than five
o Unique MARS percent) the entire squad is assigned to a
division.
Equipment
K-8
Armour Also included are ranks of members of
ed Investigations Division. Membership Levels
Trooper 1-4 and 9-10 are left blank as Investigators
always hold rank between Detective and
DK-01 Detective Chief Inspector.
Mk. 4c
Hound
Battlesl Level Rank Command Investigations Investigations
ave
 Rank Command stopping Boomers and cyborgs at the same
time.
1 Cadet None - -
2 Constable None - - By 2028, the BCID was so disorganised that
Senior the Police Commissioner of the time began
3 Squad - - searching for a solution. He found it in
Constable
MegaTokyo: The AD Police. Consultants
Squad or were brought in from MegaTokyo and from
Detective
4 Sergeant Powered None the BCID itself to utterly reorganise the BCID
Sergeant
Unit into an efficient anti-Boomer Crime force.
Section or Amongst the BCID consultants was Chief
Senior Detective Senior Inspector Andrea Macklesea, a veteran
5 Powered ID Unit
Sergeant Sergeant police officer and member of the BCID since
Unit
its inception. It was she who supported the
Section or AD Police model of making the new unit a
Detective
6 Inspector Powered ID Unit, Section separate force, responsible only to the
Inspector
Unit Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner,
ID Unit, Section rather than simply a wing of the standard
Section or police. She also was responsible for most of
Chief Detective Chief may command a
7 Powered the composition and tactical deployment
Inspector Inspector Tactical Division
Division planning for the unit.
necessary
Precinct
Investigations In 2029, the Mobile Armoured Response
Division or Squads were officially established, with
Division; may
8 Super Powered Detective Super Andrea Macklesea promoted to Assistant
command a
Division Chief Superintendent. One year later, she
Tactical Division
necessary was placed in charge of the newly-formed
Central Sydney Precinct Division 2.
Assistant Macklesea has since risen to the rank of
Division and
9 Chief - - Chief Superintendent and holds authority
/ or Precinct
Super over the entire MARS organisation from her
Chief office in Central Sydney. She has been
10 MARS - - responsible for keeping MARS afloat through
Super
troubled times and has supported many
innovative plans to keep it ahead of the
Boomer crime problem, including the
inception of the DK-01 Hound Battleslave.
History of MARS
Precincts
Despite the view of the public that MARS
began in 2029, the building blocks for it were MARS coverage of Sydney is split into three
actually established in Sydney during the Precincts, each with their own Divisions of
year 2026. The first incarnation of MARS troops: Central Sydney, covering the main
was the Boomer Criminal Investigation Halo construction areas, the CBD and lower
Department (BCID) of the Metropolitan North Shore, west to Botany and east to
Police. Despite the fact that the Big Splash Parramatta; Northern, covering the Upper
occurred two years before Tokyo's Second North Shore and the Expanded North Metro
Great Kanto Quake, Sydney was not as high Zone; and South-West, covering the
on Halo's construction priority list as southern suburbs as far south as the
MegaTokyo (construction on the Tower in Georges River.
Sydney only began in 2028). Therefore, the
rate of Boomers assigned to the city, and
thus the rate of Boomer Syndrome, rose Central Sydney
more slowly than that of MegaTokyo. Initially,
the duties of the BCID were simply to track Central Sydney is the MARS Headquarters,
down and apprehend those who were containing the office of Chief Superintendent
responsible for Boomer crime and illegal Andrea Macklesea, and due to its location, it
cyberware sale (never as much a problem as is the precinct that sees the most action. It
it was in MegaTokyo); but as the police boasts two full Divisions of men and
became hard-pressed to physically deal with equipment, and expects them to perform to
a rampaging Boomer or enhanced criminal, their utmost capability. Incidents of
the BCID was rapidly (and in a makeshift rampaging Boomers occur here with the
fashion) upgraded with more weapons and most frequency; thus, life can be a nightmare
greater powers to deal with such threats for the average MARS trooper assigned to
themselves. However, due to the resultant Central Sydney.
patchwork nature of the BCID, they became
somewhat inefficient at solving crimes and
Northern Precinct

Northern Precinct is often the dream

assignment for a MARS policeman; it is
situated in one of the richest areas of the
metropolitan area. The North Shore is often
quiet, and Boomer crimes on the North
Shore are few. The most MARS Northern
usually has to deal with are the bored kids of
upper-middle class parents getting cyber and
"having some fun" (the Street Machines
gang often get caught on the freeways of the
North Shore).

As a result, arrests are usually lax, which the

commanding officer, ACS Matthew Larraby,
does not see as corruption, but rather as
helping friends (his fellow North Shore
families) out (street people are considered
the worst form of scum). The Northern
Precinct has a tendency for laziness (which
has often resulted in a policeman getting
wounded or killed in combat, although
combat occurs with little enough frequency
that, with a little fiddling of the books, it looks
like standard losses for an active MARS
Precinct). MARS officers assigned here tend
to be arrogant and a little sloppy. Many have
thus compared the Northern Precinct to the
NSBC's own North Shore Security. Needless
to say, Andrea Macklesea keeps an eye on
Northern.
South-West Precinct
Previously focused on the
Southern Suburbs, this precinct
(formerly Southern) expanded
its patrol coverage in 2032 to a
sizable portion of the Western
Suburbs with little reduction in
efficiency. South-West Precinct
is the median between the
hotbed of action that Central
Sydney faces and the ease of
Northern. Boomer crimes in the
Southern and Western Suburbs
do occur regularly; however,
they are most often committed
by lower-grade generic A- or B-
Class Boomers; construction
units, Mannequins, etc. A higher-
grade Combat Boomer is less
likely to be sighted here than in
the Central Sydney zone, but
more likely than Northern.
Due to its lack of severe Boomer
crime, Southern Precinct is also
home to the MARS Training
Facility. Southern commander
ACS Shibuni Mako, a veteran of
the AD Police, is directly
responsible for training, and
most graduating MARS cops
swear by her methods (including
Andrea Macklesea herself).
Most MARS cops fresh out of
training are assigned to duty at
South-West.
Unit Organisation
Note: Several unit descriptions (such as
Powered Units and Investigations) impose
service requirements upon those who wish to
join. Keep in mind that as of 2032, MARS is
only four years old, so these requirements
are viewed more as guidelines rather than
rules, and the CO of each unit determines
whether a MARS cop is fit to join such a unit
(the final arbiter of any disputes is Andrea
Macklesea).
Squad (MARS)
A single Mobile Armoured Response Squad
consists of twelve Squad Officers, including
a Sergeant in command and an Operations
officer. The MARS Table of Organisation &
Equiment outlines two deployment methods
for a Squad: Patrol / Heavy Response, or
Tactical.
Patrol / Heavy Response
A Patrol unit is standard deployment option
for a MARS squad. The twelve members
split into six Patrol units of two officers each:
A junior, usually a constable, and a senior,
usually a senior constable or sergeant) who
are assigned a general duties sedan. The
Patrol usually has a set piece of turf to cover;
their purpose is to provide a rapid on-site
assessment of a call and to eliminate threats
that do not warrant the attention of a Heavy
Response team or Tactical Squad. It is not
standard for Patrol personnel to be armoured
whilst on duty, but light armour is always
carried in the trunk in case the situation
warrants it.
When patrolling, some squads are assigned
Heavy Response duties. This unit is
assigned higher-power small arms, a heavy
weapon and an SV Commodore or a VX2.
Regular armour is worn as standard.
Tactical
In any one shift, some squads are assigned
Tactical duties. Such squads are either held
in reserve at the Precinct house or may be
assigned a patrol route if trouble is expected.
These troopers are fully armed and
armoured, and are supported by a single
MARS Urban APC, crewed by a driver (one
of the troopers) and the tactical/commo
manager who doubles as gunner.
Section
A MARS Section consists of four MARS
squads plus a single Operations APC and a
minicopter transport.
Division
The Division consists of four fully equipped
Sections plus an additional Operations APC
(Division Command). MARS Central Sydney
Precinct houses two Divisions and the
Southern and Northern Precincts house one
each. Divisions are only used as coherent
units to neutralise a dire threat to the city
(such as several Boomers or a small number
of advanced Boomers such as Battle
Boomers), and Tactical Division deployment
has been used sparingly since 2030, when
the entire Central Sydney Division (there was
only one at the time) was assembled to halt
the rampage of the Chrome Injectors.
Deployment
As can likely be imagined, deploying an
entire Division is extremely difficult, to say
the least. As full combat deployment of a
Division is unlikely ever to occur, the Division
structure is simply used as a framework to
organise a shift roster, breaking the four
Sections into eight-hour shifts. Per division,
two squads' worth of patrol units are on the
streets at any given shift, plus two squads on
Heavy Response patrol and one squad on
Tactical deployment. All MARS cops are
expected to be on-call even when off-shift.
It is worth noting that, when combat units of
two or more Sections are deployed, they
receive additional firepower from the
precinct's Powered Division; typically one
Powered Unit per section deployed.
Minor Divisions
Minor Divisions are distinct bodies within the
MARS framework, and unlike the cut-and-
dried TO&E of a standard Division, often
have fairly loose, flexible structures.
Currently, there are two types of minor
divisions within MARS: Powered Divisions
and Investigations Divisions.
Powered Division
Every MARS precinct has a Powered
Division, consisting of that precinct's
powered armour and pilots. Each Division is
split up into Powered Units. Powered units
are small squads of powered armour. They
are sent in when a Squad or a Section
cannot handle a threat. They can also
provide support to Divisions when such
deployment is necessary. MARS has two
types of Powered Units: K-8 units and
Hound units.
To become a Powered Armour Pilot, a MARS
cop must have a minimum rank of Senior
Constable and four years of experience.
Priority One for a Powered Unit is to ensure
the safety of any civilians. Once that priority
has been fulfilled (or if the area has already
been cleared), Priority Two is to secure and
neutralise the Boomer threat. MARS is not
authorised for unlimited collateral damage,
so any pilot who causes a large amount of
damage to buildings, public or private
property, etcetera is severely reprimanded,
with penalties ranging from fines to demotion
to discharge from the unit and the police
force, with the possibility of a trial. It is
expected of pilots that they be able to
dispense of Boomers rapidly and without (or
with minimal) damage to the local
environment.
To become a Powered Armour Pilot, a MARS
cop must have a minimum rank of Senior
Constable and four years of experience.
Proven accuracy with firearms and heavy
weapons is a favourable requisite. However,
many current PA pilots (and most K-8 suits)
have been recruited directly from the
Australian military or other armed forces, and
are condescending toward those transferred
from MARS frontline units on merit.
K-8 Armoured Trooper Powered Unit

The K-8 Armoured Trooper unit was
originally intended as a rapid-response threat
neutralisation unit, relying on the speed of
the K-8 Powered Suits for rapid delivery to
an urban trouble spot. As standard, a K-8
Unit consists of two K-8 Armoured Troopers.
The urban transport/maintenance unit that is
deployed with the Hounds is absent here, as
is any other form of support (except perhaps
for airdrop from a Skyhopper Osprey); a K-8
must return to base for repair and reloading.
Central's Powered Division sports eight K-8
Troopers (four units) and the Powered
Divisions of Northern and Southern each
have six (three units).
Although K-8s may make good rescue
equipment, many K-8 units must maintain a
simultaneous attack when faced with a high-
grade Boomer. Thus, K-8s usually provide
distraction while other units, such as a Patrol
unit or a Squad, conduct search and rescue.
Hound Powered Unit
The Hound Urban Operations unit is based
around a DK-01 Mk. 4c Hound Battleslave,
and is intended for one purpose: the effective
counteraction and neutralisation of high
technology level threats (such as Boomers)
to the city and its citizens. The nature of the
Hound's primary mission- the policing of the
streets of Sydney- is quite different from the
battlefield operations the Mk. 1 Hound was
intended for. This creates differences in not
only the Battleslave, but its use and ancillary
equipment.
The unit consists of one Hound with pilot and
one Kennel Transport with a driver, one
Operations officer and two Squad Officers in
Tactical outfit. Members of a Hound unit will
often rotate duties every shift.
Standard deployment is via road (via Kennel
Transport) but a Hound will occasionally fly
to more distant areas (with a Kennel loaded
aboard a modified Skyhopper cargo pod). As
of 2033, Central has four Hound units, whilst
Northern and Southern each have only one.
Plans are being circulated to add more
Hound units, but rebuilding Sydney after the
Night of Madness is considered a higher
priority for budget allocation.
Operation procedures for the Hound are
somewhat different than that of the K-8 team,
due to the flexibility granted by two normal
troopers and the advanced Hound. Standard
procedure for Priority One is for the two
troopers to conduct rescue operations whilst
the Hound attempts to draw the Boomer's (or
Boomers') fire.
Investigations Division
Every major police department has its own
Investigations Division, and MARS is no
exception. This arm of the MARS precinct is
assigned the often tricky job of tracking those
responsible a Boomer or high-tech crime
down. Often, this may simply result in a
construction manager who simply pushed his
Boomers too hard. The offender is slapped
with a standard fine and the case is pursued;
those in charge of the construction can find
charges levelled against them if it is
discovered that they were pressuring their
crews to work harder (if this isn't the case,
the foreman faces the full charges). Such
charges cover damage the rogue Boomer
caused (which may result in hefty fines and
possible prison time) and, if the Boomer was
responsible for any deaths, manslaughter.
However, some Boomer crimes are not as
simple, and this is where MARS
Investigations comes into its own, sifting
through mountains of data in order to get to
those responsible.
It should be noted that Halo has pull even
here, and many cases which were traced in
their general direction have been quietly filed
away and forgotten.
Investigations is also tasked with tracking
down cyborgs who have failed to submit
themselves for psychiatric evaluation (see
Cyber Law, below). Although many of these
cases are solved when the cyborg (which
has usually gone over the edge into Boomer
Sydnrome) is tracked down, apprehended
(after calling in a Tactical Squad or two) and
dragged away to Daffyd Logan Asylum, there
are some cases which tend to be more
unusual. Perhaps the truant cyborg is the
victim of of cyber-ripping (forcibly removing
someone's cyber-implant from their body,
often causing grievous bodily harm or death
in the process; see Cyber Crime), or perhaps
the 'borg was sent over the edge into
Syndrome because of a faulty, black-market
or illegal piece of cyberware that must be
tracked to its source. There are enough
unusual crimes to ensure MARS Detectives
are kept on their toes.
vehicles, heavy weapons and occasionally a
powered armour (if the ID cops have spent
time with Powered Units). However, this
does mean that they get a lot more
paperwork than the average policeman, and
at the end of the day it ALL has to be
submitted or the Investigator will find their
next requests for gear denied (and if they let
their paperwork really slide, they can face
demotion in rank and/or being busted back to
frontline duty with the rest of the grunts).

To be transferred to Investigations, a MARS A Detective of Inspector rank usually

cop must hold a minimum rank of Sergeant commands a Section, and, if they have high
and have a minimum of six years on the enough rank (Chief Inspector or
force, four of which, of course, must have Superintendent), can be placed in command
been served with a Squad. However, as of a Division when such deployment is
MARS is only three years old as of 2032, necessary.
many Investigators are ex-BCID (who are
somewhat cocky with their new-found
Equipment
freedom after the red tape constriction of the
BCID) or ex-MetroPolice (who are rather
condescending toward solving Boomer Due to its origins with the ADP, many
crime, which they see as simple compared to observers will discover that MARS
human crime). Only a very few Detectives equipment is very often a licensed copy of its
have been promoted from the ranks of the ADP counterpart. At other times, vehicles
MARS frontline troops. comparable in task will look different and will
probably be built differently, but have
comparable performance statistics. Below is
Investigations Division is the most loosely-
a table of AD Police vehicles, their MARS
organised of all MARS' divisions, which is
counterparts and any stat modifications for
probably why few ex-military MARS cops
the MARS versions.
serve in it for too long. A Detectiver has his
or her own desk at a precinct, but often finds
him- or herself travelling between precincts
in order to effectively track a complex case.
Central Sydney's Investigations Division is
approximately twenty-strong; South-West's NOTE: Holden is now owned by Halo.
has thirty (including trainees) and Northern's, Despite this, the NSW police still buy from
ten. the Holden subsidiaries, so any Holden
police vehicles (Commodores etc.) are now
Halo vehicles (ie. Halo Commodore).
When a cop becomes a Detective, he uses
the Investigations Division rank structure
rather than the normal police ranks. This
AD Police MARS MARS Modifications
reflects the Investigations Division's status,
and their different duties, as a separate unit Halo Special Vehicles
Interceptor None
within MARS. Commodore Sedan
Halo Special Vehicles
Road Chaser None
ID Unit Commodore Sedan VX2
Ford Falcon General Duties
Cruiser None
Detectives are deployed in pairs, a Junior Sedan
(Detective Sergeant or Detective Senior THP
Sergeant) and a Senior (Detective Senior BMW Police Motorcycle None
Motorcycle
Sergeant to Detective Chief Inspector,
although a Detective Senior Sergeant is only Troop Space: 1 Driver, 1 Ops,
Urban APC
given command of an ID unit if a manpower Transport 10 Troops
shortage is in effect). Detectives are Command
assigned an unmarked SV Commodore. ID Operations APC None
Vehicle
units with a good service record may request
a VX2. Detectives are typically underarmed Heliporter Truck Heliporter Truck None
(armour is issued on request rather than Fire Bee
standard issue), although requests for heavy Fire Bee Minicopter None
Minicopter
weapons are usually granted.

MARS Personal Equipment

MARS Detectives of Inspector rank and
higher are able to obtain access to most
MARS equipment depending on their current Standard gear for the MARS frontline trooper
assignment, including high-speed pursuit is little different from the AD Police. Armour,
although cosmetically different, is firm, GearSmith Engineering Sciences. Most
unchanged. In addition to a Glock 9mm pistol of the other unique MARS vehicles and
(use ADP combat 9mm stats), all MARS equipment have arisen to fill the niches of
ground cops carry a Member-II pistol the wide variety of helicopters in the AD
modified to accept a seven-shot clip. Rather Police.
than an M42-A1 assault rifle, a 12-gague
Riot Shotgun is carried by MARS police; they
"Kennel" Battleslave Transport
face psychotic cyberpunks more often than
berserk Boomers, so weapons with a lower
potential of hitting innocent bystanders and Since its inception with Sydney's MARS
damaging the local environment are units, a range of support equipment has
preffered. been created to assist the Hound in its Urban
environment. Primary of these is a modified
Kenworth tractor/semi-trailer, used to rapidly
Standard duty uniform for MARS cops is a
deploy the Hound near or at a crisis zone.
cobalt and white jumpsuit. Squad Officers
Due to the fact that a Hound is rarely seen
layer armour over this, while pilots and
without one of these transporters, it has
Powered Unit troopers must change into a
come to be known to the police who operate
flightsuit before piloting their vehicle.
it as the Kennel.
Investigators may wear plain clothes, of
course.

Standard for all MARS Police:

MARS Jumpsuit
Pager Watch
Badge and ID
Glock 9mm Pistol with three
clips

Squad Outfit: Patrol

Light armoured vest and cap
(PD 15, EV -1)
Police baton
Member-II with two extended, 7
shot clips
Boomer Deactivator

Squad Outfit: Tactical/Heavy Response

M-42A1 Short Machinegun
unavailable; substitute with 12-
gague Riot Shotgun
Add Member-II with two
extended, 7 shot clips
Investigator
Plain clothes
Member-II with two extended, 7
shot clips
Powered Cop / Pilot
Pilot Combat Suit (PD 10
against crashes only, EV 0)
Unique MARS Equipment
One of MARS' unique machines is the DK-01
Mk. 4c Hound Battleslave, a new design
produced last year by local mechatronics
Mounting hydraulic jacks, the trailer bed is
designed to elevate the horizontally-stowed
Hound (lying on its back) into a sitting
position, allowing the Hound pilot to stand up
and walk out. The truck not only serves
provides rapid and unobtrusive deployment,
it also serves as mobile recharge station,
allowing the Hound to be resupplied with
fresh batteries charged from a large micro-
fusion plant.
A small cabin to the rear of the driver's cab
serves as the Operations console, a smaller
version of the Squad Operations suite found
in MARS Operations APCs. From here, the
Hound Unit Operations Officer oversees the
battle from the Kennel's own sensors in
addition to links with local security cameras,
the Hound's sensors and the helmet cams of
the foot troopers. As well as being shown on
individual screens, the visual data from these
sources is compiled along with a database of
the city and analysed. The results are
displayed as a three-dimensional map on a
large tactical screen, giving the Ops Officer
an unparalleled panorama of the battle site
and allowing him to advise the Hound and
the two troopers.
V-22 Skyhopper Osprey
Subsystems
Life Support (Full sealing against
Nuclear, Biological & Chemical
Agents).
Advanced Sensor Suite (Optical,
audio, radio, targeting, low-light
vision, thermograph,
instrumentation, HUD).
Propeller turbines in Wings; if one
wing is destroyed, flight capabilities
are lost.
Modular cargo pod can store up to
3000 Kg.
Quick-Change mount for Pod.
During the conception phases, the planners
for MARS were searching for a home-grown
alternative to the ADP Aerial Battlesuit
Transport. After shopping around, they found
the cheaper and easier-to-maintain V-22
Super Osprey. However, despite the initial
intention to simply use it as a Powered Suit
transporter, it has become a multipurpose
transport, resupply and command aircraft.
The V-22, or Skyhopper, is built with a
modular cargo bay system. The cargo bay
aft of the pilot and passenger stations can be
detached and replaced with another. This
allows for a very rapid turnaround time
between missions, as the entire cargo bay
does not need to be stripped and refurbished
to make it capable for a different task than it
was previously assigned. Standard cargo
pods include K-8 transport (up to four K-8s
and support equipment), Troop Transport
and Airborne Division Command (when a
Skyhopper is used for this purpose, it is
escorted by a squadron of Fire Bee
Minicopters).
Several Skyhoppers are assigned to each
MARS Precinct; with their VTOL capability,
they do not need runways. Each MARS
Precinct also houses several empty cargo
pods which can be re-outfitted for any
purpose.
MARS and the Metro Police
As has been stated above, MARS was
created as an entirely separate branch of the
police force, responsible only to the
Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner; a
rapid-response, anti-Boomer unit does not
need to be bogged down by the existing
bureaucracy in an established Metropolitan
Police station. This has led to a lot of friction
between MARS and the Metro Police: The
average MetroCop sees MARS as a bunch
of gung-ho, ironclad, jurisdiction-jumping
adrenaline junkies, using equipment that
should have been part of their station, and
commanded by a Chief Superintendent
who's younger than most Senior Sergeants
(although this last is only a grudging
complaint; many have heard [usually
apocryphal] tales of the legendary Andrea
Macklesea and her crime-solving
escapades).
Most MARS police, however, know that
they're putting their lives on the line virtually
every time they respond to a rogue Boomer
alert, and, resenting the flak they receive
from the MetroCops for saving their butts,
have developed a cold, aloof demeanour to
the average MetroCop. This "freezing-out"
led to an incident when a MetroCop,
annoyed his ragging-out of a K-8 pilot wasn't
having any effect, called the pilot a "Martian".
Instead of taking it as an insult, the pilot
simply turned and said, "Yeah, I'm a Martian,
and me and my Martian Walker here are
gonna heat-ray you and anyone else who
gets in our way next time we're trying to take
down a Boomer." The nickname rapidly
spread and, despite Chief Superintendent
Macklesea's best efforts, almost all MARS
police have started using it in reference to
themselves and each other.
There are those among the MetroPolice who
do realise the good MARS does (usually
because a MARS squad or Powered Suit
unit saved the MetroCop's life and the lives
of several others when a Boomer suddenly
went on the rampage), but as most
MetroCops don't often deal with the Boomer
problem except to help clear up the mess
after MARS have dealt with a rampage
(probably wrecking much of the local
environment in the process), the animosity
between the two branches of the service will
remain for a long while to come.