| NeoCity Paladin |
Good evening meat drones. Welcome to the latest neurostream of NeoCity Gangs, where I discuss the criminal organizations who rule our metro cesspit. Tonight’s upload will outline the Paladin. So verify that datalink encryption and get ready to receive an info dump.
Though it may come as a complete surprise for you data leeches, not every criminal wannabe is lucky enough to win a transhumanism lottery for genetic recombination or cybernetic uplift. For ordinary Homo sapiens, the choicest criminal institution to terrorize law abiding tax slaves are the Paladin. One should take careful note the core reason NeoCity Police stockpiles enough firepower to equal the sixteenth largest army in the world, and rival criminals are essentially superhuman soldiers, is because a quarter million miscreants call themselves Paladin. That’s right: these melee loving freaks outnumber the cops and every other gang, combined. Odds are you know several Paladin and don’t know it; or do know and smart enough to keep your cranial orifice closed.
One tenth the motor owning population of NeoCity rides a turbocycle. If your turbocycle is legally registered, it can attain a maximum speed of 300 kilometers per hour… and incidentally contains a GPS Tattletale for vehicular insurance and roadway compliance. The infamous Paladin Destrier, whose owners mysteriously ignore DMV regulations and inspections, can achieve 700 kilometers per hour. With an iconic titanium exterior, the bikes can accelerate from 0 to 40 kilometers per hour in 2.5 seconds. Difficult as it might be to believe, their operation is the greatest contributor of Paladin injuries and death.
The smartest chimpanzees (an extinct great ape) among you are wondering, “who manufactures the Destrier powerplant?” That answer is: Hyperdyne Reactors. You intelligent apes then ask, “is it illegal to provide civilian ground transport that can exceed 300 kilometers, under the North American Road Freedom Act?” Affirmative! Have a banana (an extinct edible fruit). Under whose legal system could suing a mega corporation succeed without the entire judicial circuit getting coerced before litigation begins? The Imperial Empire of Greater Korea does not count. That is cheating and you know it. Grand Empress Kim Yo-jong III runs a tight dictatorship. Thus the classic argument, “we do not build the entire bike, we just build the engine,” works every time in court. By the way, you did not hear this from me, but they also build the entire bike.
Aside their two wheel death machines, Paladin can be identified from the “mithril armor” they don. These are surprisingly well designed crash suits, made with advance plastic composites that can provide protection against unpowered melee weapons. Paladin are expected to finance and maintain their own armor, even before ownership of a Destrier, so newbies often wear hand-me-downs from senior sponsors, or partial pieces that will eventually become an entire suit. Urban legends claim a Paladin never removes her helmet in view of non-Paladin. A romantic lie that originates from a cringe worthy space opera wildly popular to our great, great grandparents. However it is true that Paladin promote a luddite philosophy to disavow assault rifles. This does not mean guns are absent from their ranks, they carry pistols for truly depraved adversaries, but non-augmented humans who prefer melee combat encourages unique “rules of engagement” from rival gangs. Unless seeking an objective that cannot be shared, Ordinance will overlook them as nonthreats. Pointily, Krypteia will prefer to engage Paladin with bayonets and shields as warriors’ respect.
Krypteia are the preeminent urban warfare combatants. Never more than 300 strong per chapter, the cartel operates like an elite mercenary force. Rivals refuse to engage them in gunfights without overwhelming odds. The HoloNet has endless surveillance footage of Krypteia martial prowess, including the slaughter of an entire SWAT battalion. Even detonation of a low-yield fusion device, vaporizing two blocks of Old Downtown, failed to eradicate the group. NeoCity Power Authority insists the incident was a substation relay failure, but I have several grid failsafe logs to prove otherwise.
Joining the ranks of Krypteia is a herculean (heh) effort. It begins each January. Recruits have their dominant arm removed, then endure 120 days of brutal training without the limb. There is immense emphasis on marksmanship, shield proficiency, and esprit de corps. Those who fail milestone requirements are executed to maintain secrecy. Those who succeed consume mutagenic cocktails to enhance human physiology. One in ten survive the transformation and rigorous combat exercises continue unabated for another 120 days. In August, Krypteia vacancies are announced. If too many “booters” remain at this point, a battle royal to the death weeds out the weakest. Selectees are gifted a cybernetic limb to replace the lost original, symbolizing a complete warrior who undergoes four additional months of military training exercise to master its use. If none of that strikes you as bat guano insane, contact your local recruiter to attend this annual celebration for sadists!
The origin of Krypteia is a tabloid speculation hotbed. Accounts range from disgruntled Aussie Water War veterans to an extraterrestrial invasion vanguard. Whatever the truth, we can analyze several factors. Their iconic assault rifles are built from components traceable to New Jerusalem. Decades before the Krypteia exist, within the heart of their territory, a pharmaceutical plant accidently leaked nontoxic chemicals into the metropolitan aquifer. An entire neighborhood, coincidently of course, perished over a six week span from, “asbestos exposure.” Gold plated cybernetic limbs? Components are from European suppliers popular among private military corporations in the southern bloc. The riot shields are unique though… a Kevlar-Titanium weave over hypercarbon plates. In addition, a directional anti-personnel mine is mounted, “front towards enemy.” Nasty. Especially when they line up in side-by-side formation, the Phalanx, to overlap mine dispersion. Useless Factoid: due to battlefield superstition, Krypteia name their shields, but not their guns. Weirdoes. What kind of social outcast does not name a gun?
Krypteia is led by a man who goes by the name of Leonidas. Absolutely shocking, is it not? Memes aside, it is a title and not his true identity, as police forensics indicate Leonidas changed DNA sequence twice during the last decade. On the other hand, we know absolutely nothing about that mutagenic cocktail, so periodic gene recombination could be a side effect. On a functional level, Krypteia is divided into thirty member units called a Phratra. Each functions as an independent micro-gang if cut from the entire legion. These are further broken into fireteams of five for tactical flexibility.
Because of the Catholic Death Cult craze, NeoCity Police investigators initially classified Ordinance as an apocalypse sect. Much of the organization’s attire and lexicon lent credence to that assessment. However the deception became apparent, once illicit activities revealed a pattern for artificial intelligence, cybernetic transhumanism, and milspec hardware. Though elaborate, its religious traits are counterintelligence theatrics to obfuscate observation. Ordinance is now recognized as a rogue espionage operation. An example of incompetent oversight and extraordinary autonomy.
Ordinance betrays its state sponsorship via wanton overkill. Whereas most gangs seek precision to limit collateral damage for resale material to acquire afterwards; Ordinance prefers gigawatt plasma rifles and rotary autocannons with UD-HEAPI (uranium depleted high explosive armor piercing incendiary) rounds to disintegrate targets. Unfortunately an equivalent amount of ordinance is necessary to stop them, due to reinforced hypercarbon dermal armor and duplicate internals.
Since Ordinance has the firepower of first world dictatorships and the cruelty of pre-irradiated Arabian terrorist groups, how do other criminals compete against them? The fake cultists are fake gangsters. Ordinance preys exclusively on military industrial complexes for beta software, robotic prototypes, and experimental weapons. Monetary finances, narcotic supplies, protection rackets, and commercial goods hold no interest for them. It is commonly held they would depart NeoCity upon acquiring such finite technologies. Cartels caught in their crossfire with private military companies are, “at the wrong place, at the wrong time.” Its unique transhumanist composition also limits membership. Police estimate 63 living and 37 undead, without an immediate means to replace lost members; though current criminal activities indicate intention to reverse that situation. Furthermore Ordinance avoids public view, almost to Shadow Broker obsession, since identification constitutes an immediate Continental Military response. Therefore they negotiate ceasefires with other gangs when possible.
Ordinance is led by the Potifex, a frighteningly charismatic figure thanks to subconscious voice modulation. Always in accompaniment are twin Mother Superiors. I believe a triumvirate neural network is the reason. If so, Ordinance is in possession of bleeding edge wireless technologies reserved for elite special forces. That would also explain the zombie-like Zealots. Prior to the Rio Revenant Revelation, militaries utilized cybernetic bodies that could endure far more damage than human consciousness. Zealots are therefore cyborg corpses, reanimated through synthetic intelligence, until the body deteriorates beyond use. The more interesting implication, is Zealots demonstrate combat improvement. This means necromantic learning, not residual synaptics, constitutes programming. Clear violation of several crimes against humanity accords.
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