Gendarme Maschina

Labrys Technologies

The heart of the Gendarme Maschina is Labry Technologies. The company is the black budget personal research and development company of Lord Baal, one of the more prominent members of the House of the Forsaken. The operation is based entirely around a single installation in a clandestine location, with the vast majority of the facility buried deep in a geofront. Labrys develops weapons, combat droids, and cybernetics for human augmentation. These are small batch and high tech upgrades that are not available on the common market. The facility is the base and body shop of the Gendarme.

Five Room Dungeon: The Pit

Entrance/Guardian: The Pit is a bunker like facility largely protected by it's anonymous location. It has reinforced doors, armor deck plating, and strong points for mounting a subterranean defense. The perimeter has extensive surveillance systems, concealed gun emplacements, a variety of traps, plus a contingent of Gendarme present, plus the Labrys sourced skeletrons. The main defender of the installation is a large and powerful cymek (robot with human brain) named Twister. The robot is female, has six arms mounted on three rotating torso rings, and is armed with a pair of hyperedge scimitars, a pair of pulse carbines (magnetic) and has two hands free for whatever needs doing. If pressed into heavy combat, Twister can wield two heavy power armor support weapons, or three regular power armor scaled rifles.

Puzzle/Challenge: The upper levels of the Pit are a series of Danger Rooms (designed for training Gendarme recruits) combat gauntlets, trapped corridors, and the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth is partly for training purposes, but it is easy for intruders to get lost in the maze of hallways and corridors. If they do not have a map, and cannot ken the layout of the labyrinth they are more likely to be ground down by the defenses.

Trap/Setback: Extreme Environment Zone - the Pit has a number of artificial environment zones. They are contained, but emulate a variety of extreme and hostile environments. They include an entirely submerged level (no air) an Arctic zone (thermal sinks reduce the temp in the zone to -40 F) a vacuum zone (accessed by rotating air locks, the inside deck has extremely low air pressure, mimicking space conditions, including heat beams and cryo zones for temperature variations). These zones are separated by naval grade armor plating, sufficient to stop anything short of atomics, higgs weaponry, and implosion weaponry.

Main Conflict: Knossos, the central facility of the Pit houses the gendarmes, their arsenals, their staff and support personnel. There are also more skeletrons here, as well as prototype droids, and even squat Underminer subterranean mecha (more responsible for expanding the facility, but still 80 ton mecha armed with drills, hammers, and rock biters). The central command system of Knossos is the AISC Minotaur, which can proxy itself through any machine in the facility. It has a combat chassis not entirely different from Myojin Belias. Minotaur's war body is a Bonecrusher industrial mech that has been fitted with a pair of Mjonier thunder hammers.

Reward/Twist: The final section of the Pit is a stunning and terrible thing. Concealed at the very bottom of the Pit is a massive teratomorph. The creature is wrapped in armor and restraints. If Central Command/Knossos is disrupted, the restraining bolts on the Beast are explosively ejected, and the creature is given a staggeringly large dose of synthetic adrenal chemicals, sending it into a berzerker frenzy. The creature is approximately 28 meters tall, is vaguely reptilian, and has a prominent horn jutting out from a remarkably ugly head. It formerly had wings, but they were removed when the Beast was captured. The Pit was originally designed as a 'Kaiju Detention and Research Center' but has largely been forgotten. Officially the teratomorph captured (codename Baragon) died three decades ago and the facility has been shuttered for 28 years. On record, the Pit is one tenth the size of the actual facility.

The Gendarme Maschina

The Order of Ixium failed because it's members were unwilling, and were psychotronically programmed to be soldiers. This made them rather poor soldiers. The Gendarme Maschina are entirely composed of volunteers, but there is something that sets them apart from any other volunteer force in the world. Every Gendarme is recruited as a cripple. Paralyzed, missing limbs, suffering from extreme mental trauma, or other maladies that render them barely able to operate in the real world, let along a military setting. The Gendarme offer these broken men (and a few women) the chance to have their lives back by accepting radical cybernetic surgeries, biografts, and genetic augmentations. After this, they remain indebted to the Gendarms and Labrys, both for tech and genetic support, and for financial debt. Most have no problem with this, because their previous incarnation of life involved living in life support units, or being left as shut ins.

Sample Gendarmes

Hellsent - formerly a soldier in the Atlantic Federation, the man who became Gendarme Hellsent was crippled in a carry-all crash. He was living on life support as he couldn't afford full body regeneration. His friends and family had abandoned him, and the hospital was counseling him on transitioning to life as an egomorph. Despairing at the thought of becoming a tin pot version of himself, when the Gendarme offered him a new life he took it. Hellsent had his body regenerated with the full compliment of organs, and reinforced limbs, an armored torso and full suite cybernetic upgrades. His integration with a SmartWeapon system makes him an exceptionally deadly shot, and he is ruthless in carrying out the will of the House of the Forsaken. He is a leader among the Gendarme, where he is known for his no-nonsense methodical nature and jovial disposition. I love the smell of plasma in the morning.

Ironmonger - A retired commando from the EUdAS/USSA, Ironmonger was almost killed in a skirmish near New Themysciran waters. A decorated war hero, Ironmonger was left to waste away in a government care facility because it was bad for morale to see a hero who was more burns and scar tissue than man. Labrys resheathed his body in rippling muscle and then gave him a glorious suit of gladiator power armor. The Ironmonger wades into battle with hydraulic punches, improvised weapons, and a joy for crushing things in his oversized iron hands.

Crusader - A former police officer who was crushed by a falling building, Crusader was a chance recruitment and the Gendarmes saved him from death. Crusader was rebuilt with an almost entirely mechanical body, and now he has a burning hatred and resentment for criminals as well as law enforcement. Crusader carries a large number of pistols, favoring high speed autopistols, and throwing grenades.

Bonecrusher - Bonecrusher is no longer humanoid, and now resides inside a six legged tank like chassis bristling with weaponry. Resembling a scorpion armed with seismic cannons, gatling lasers, and a plasmathrower. Under the thick armor and firepower to rival a light mecha resides the brain and viscera of a child. Bonecrusher was a kid who had a winning record in the WarGameZone, and he was recruited after he almost died due to biological contamination from a DFE. Bonecrusher is impulsive, reckless, and stuck in the mindset of a 9 year old boy addicted to Call of Duty.

Coverboy - A male model and minor media personality, Coverboy was discredited as a genesplicer despite being a spokesperson for moderation in gene modding. He came a few hairs away from killing himself on a drug induced rampage. The youth all but cut his own face off and then attempted suicide but only mangled himself. He was turned into a charismatic Face dancer with a cybernetically augmented body, and now functions as a face and fixer for the Gendarme

Slaughter - Slaughter spent ten years chained up as a slave in a Shadowlaw brothel, where she was used for the entertainment of pirates and murderers. The Gendarme offered her a chance for redemption and revenge. The underwent the Dynamo Atlas treatment and went from being 5 foot and 110 pounds to 8 foot and 400 lbs. Her body was given further cybernetic reinforcement, and she adopted a juice rig. When the time to fight comes, Slaughter goes into battle in nothing more than a suit of armor where she literally rips people apart with her bare hands. The shoremen in Indonesia still tell horror stories about the demi-god that tore apart the Jakartan redlight district.

The leadership of the Gendarmes is divided between three individuals: a Nipponese cyber-ronin, a corporate technologist, and Lord Baal. They are frequently referred to as The Trinity.

The Father - Lord Baal

Without Lord Baal, the Gendarme would not exist. It is his wealth, power, and influence that saw to the usurpation of the Pit, and it's massive expansion. The House of the Forsaken Lord followed Demandred's folly with Ixion by eschewing aesthetics in favor of effectiveness. The Gendarme are by no means ceremonial, many are barely tolerable to share space with. Baal almost never steps foot into the Pit an his involvement with the Gendarme is almost non-existant. He is a distant god to his own creation.

The Son - Director Pierce

The commander of the Pit, Director Pierce oversees the creation of new Gendarmes, their training, their investure with the organization, and the allocation of resources and equipment within the organization. He sits like a regent king on a throne that doesn't belong to him. He is almost always at the Pit in either the command center or his alcazar where he immerses his cybernetic body into the central pool while letting his mind plot and scheme through the Pit's CogNode. He does much of his planning in lucid CogSleep, functioning as a one man dream tank.

The Holy Spirit - Kunoichi Oyama

Oyama is a woman of many grudges and few words. She is the commanding officer of the Gendarme Maschina, and is one of the finest cyborgs ever created. Oyama has a treasure trove of gadgets ranging from lightning claws to a full body optical diffraction suit. Oyama is constantly hunting for the cyborg who killed her father and brothers, and uses the Gendarme to assist her in this task. Unfortunately, this is actually a personal psychosis, and her brothers were indeed killed, but in two unrelated accidents, and her father was murdered, but there is no single figure responsible for this. Baal has seen fit to take a broken person and align their obsession with his goals, and to ruthlessly exploit them.

Gear

The Gendarme Maschina are the new military arm of the House of the Forsaken, a task that they have taken well to. This is partly because of their improved gear and the use of volunteer cyborgs versus mind-raped conscripts, and partly because Baal would seem to have military experience, where Demandred was very obviously never involved with any sort of military venture. The Order of Ixion was frequently over extended, poorly armed, unsupported, and lacking in mobility. The entire order was limited to a pair of small carry-alls.

Mobility - The Gendarme Maschina have a full fledged space capable frigate, technically nameless, but it is colloquially known as the the Black Mamba. The ship is primary an infantry and vehicle transport, but it has facilities for cyber-ops, military surveillance, and enough firepower to overpower any ship of similar tonnage. It does have light armor, but it compensates for this with high tech countermeasures such as a Mirage system and ECM suites. In addition to the Black Mamba, the Gendarme have four carry-alls similar to the Ixion vehicles. They also have over a dozen Fuijin Kaze aerocraft, hover bikes, striders, leg suits, and conventional wheeled vehicles.

Support - the Ixion soldier remains a part of the Gendarme Maschina, they are cannon fodder troops, and support troops. They are not expected to do anything exceptional other than to provide more fists and rifles in a fight. The Gendarme also have irregular power armor troopers, non-cybernetic, but combat trained, and indebted or otherwise recruited into the organization. These conscripts and power armor troopers and supported by skeletrons and combat droids built in the Pit, allowing the Gendarme to put a surprisingly large number of fighting soldiers into a combat zone.

Missing Assets - The Gendarme do not have mecha, aerospace fighters, or capital warships.

Weaponry - the Pit sourced Pulse Rifle is the go to weapon of the Gendarme. It is a bullpup style assault rifle that fires a molten metal/plasma round with a magnetic rail. It is accurate, has long range, and high penetration value. The weapon is expensive, ammo can only be sourced from the Pit, and a misfire can blow a metal plasma mist in a 5 meter radius around the weapon. This is frequently lethal for unarmored and non-cybernetic soldiers.

The main use of the Gendarme Maschina is as the mecha mooks of the House of the Forsaken. The cyborgs are the leaders, specialists, assault and elite, and just bizarre. They are supported by Fistbait robots, and fascia wearing minions. They are the convenient, violent, and the expendable.