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Blacksteel
| “ | A transnational security company that provides all kinds of security services from bodyguard to military force. | ” |
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Blacksteel Worldwide (BSW), or Blacksteel (BS) for short, is a Terran organization. It is a Columbian PMC armed with modernized weaponry that has been active across Terra while serving the national interest of the Columbian government.
Background[edit]
Foundation[edit]
Blacksteel was founded in 1026 by the legendary veteran Rupert, better known by his nom de guerre "Clip" Cliff, after the Columbian War for Independence, hoping to continue his own military legacy in this newly born nation. Cliff knew exactly that Columbia would need more PMCs, and he personally traveled to different cities looking for veterans of the Revolutionary War who were willing to return to the battlefield. Together, the founding core members of Blacksteel, the Steel Circle.[3]
For a long time since its establishment, BS nominally remained as governmental mercenaries who answered their call to the Federal Government of Columbia and other corporations. Unlike other mercenaries at the time, Blacksteel's Operators rarely took any unnecessary risks, and all such contracts were outsourced to other mercenary bands. Cliff on the other hand acted as a middleman for risky contracts and ensured safe, low-risk contracts for Blacksteel; High-risk contracts were tasked to select mercenary squads. If completed, Blacksteel took part of the pay. If failed, they would absorb all survivors through their "contingency plan" at a reasonable price.[3]
Barron Mine Incident[edit]
The Barron Mine Incident of 1083 serves as the rise of Blacksteel in the mercenary industry. Four years earlier, Tower Mountains began their experiments in the Barron Mine, an abandoned Originium mine located in southern Columbia. They set a secret mutation lab disguised as Originium mining operations. According to post-incident official declarations from the military, Tower Mountains was developing ways for the Department of Defense to lead with Oripathy infections in combat environments. But further investigation from the D.C. Telegraph revealed that scientists were actually experimenting with needlefly specimens and other organissm by injecting them active Originium inside their bodies. Their objective was to study the effects of active Originium on their physiology, hoping to create modified warbeasts for the army. However, the specimens eventually breached the laboratory due to the lack of safety measures, resulting in heavy casualities in the experiment zone. BS was hired to contain the incident, focusing on rescuing the scientific personnel with the aid of Janet Longfellow, a temporary civilian consultant at the time. After twenty-three days of arduous efforts, all trapped personnel were rescued, and Blacksteel was awarded the Civil hero Medal by Maylander. The incident's leaked details forced the then Secretary of Defense, Mr. Connaught, to resign his position. [4]
Present days[edit]
Since the Barron Mine Incident, and inspired by the ever-changing national mercenary industry, BS gradually reformed itself from a state-owned enterprise to a private company, registering their trademark in 1086. At the same time, BS actively engages with other companies across Terra, which eventually earned its name.[5] Nevertheless, despite its nominal separation and activities as a private company, BS has never fully severed its tie from the Federal Government. The Columbian government still uses BS as a tool to both serve its governmental interests in its homeland and a pawn for its expansionism.[6] To this day, BS has been involved in numerous conflicts in Victoria and Bolívar as part of Columbia's ambition, as well as BS's mission to end brutal conflicts.
Organization[edit]
| An excerpt from "Contract Muscle: Conflicts and Security Contractors"[3] |
|---|
| Kazdel sends hardened mercenaries across the land, and the corporate unions of Kazimierz gave rise to private contractors. Columbia combined the two to create the industry of private security contractors. On a land of cities constantly on the move, constantly exposed to the dangers of Catastrophe and other threats, private security contractors fill a niche where conven- tional military forces and law enforcement are unavailable, allowing suppliers to leverage their professional skills in a targeted environment, and providing a stable income that is simply not possible for a loose mercenary band. In the five decades following the conclusion of the war in 1031, geopolitical turbulence and an influx of immigrants have nourished the development of Columbia's security industry. Blacksteel Worldwide was officially incorporated in 1083, several years after the Barron Mine incident. There are hundreds of private security companies in Columbia, but few are as decorated as Blacksteel Worldwide, or as ambitious - how many contractors would put the word "Worldwide" in their name at the time of their founding? |
True to its name, BS is not just an ordinary mercenary company, but one that is fully armed with both modern weapons and modern thoughts. Many of its operators are armed with, surprisingly, expensive, cutting-edge firearms — a privilege only reserved to the Laterans — thanks to its Sankta founder who brought said technology to Columbia.
Blacksteel consists of three major departments:Armed Personnel Dispatch, the Department of Equipment and Applied Technologies, and Originium and Biohazard Response.
Fort Barron[edit]
Blacksteel’s headquarters, Fort Barron, is their signature state-of-the-art landship like Rhodes Island's namesake that allows BS operators to be mobilized with ease. The landship is currently the largest landship on Terra surpassing the Rhodes Island landship.[7] It provides mobile administration, logistics and supply center, and professional personnel training. The landship itself is made from the salvaged Barron Mine platform and a decommissioned Columbian battleship exported from Bolívar. Cliff himself wanted to build a ship as his new, novel project, and after two years of paperwork, Fort Barron was put into service almost at the same time the company was officially trademarked. [8]
Fort Barron is responsible for all of BS's affairs, including business/legal matters, internal affairs, and external docking. Like other BS personnel, employees of the branch, generally refereed as "Accountants" regardless of their scope of abilities, also receive the most basic field training, but they don't require to pass through the same arduous training and assessment process than other mercenaries. The Recruitment center, also located in Fort Barron, provides professional personnel that meets the necessities of BS's business departments. It is mainly focused to trainees with no combat or military experience, and after at most two years of training, they can be assessed. The assessment results on the other hand determine whether they can become formal Operators, with about 76% of the recruits being eliminated. [8]
Besides Fort Barron's training ground, which is mostly used to practice the operation techniques of their replica firearms, Blacksteel also controls various abandoned mobile plots and settlements in the wasteland, retrofitted for field combat training. Sometimes, these plots will be occupied by wandering wastelanders, so expelling them by force becomes part of the training. [4] One example of BS-owned plates is Davistown
Armed Personnel Dispatch[edit]
The Armed Personnel Dispatch (APD) is the largest of all of BS's branches, which compose its main military force, responsible of providing traditional paramilitary services. This department is formed by all BS mercenaries who just enrolled from the Recruitment center, and they answer to any kind of government or legal entities and will fully serve their interest through wide range of services from escort, security guards, to disaster rescue, some of which require them to whitewash heinous crimes.[8]
Department of Equipment and Applied Technologies[edit]
The Department of Equipment and Applied Technologies (DEAT) is compossed by equipment technicians and testers in charge of R&D. Initially, it was simply BS's internal development and maintenance division. However, its business scope expanded and quickly became a business platform for many Columbian manufacturers such as Raythean Industries.[8]
Originium and Biohazzard Response[edit]
The Originium and Biohazzard Response (OBHR) is Blacksteel's youngest branch, who are experienced handlers in hazardous incidents such as Oripathy sources, biochemical weapons and hazardous material handling. OBHR is very selective with its Operators as not only they require basic combat skills, but also professional knowledge on dealing with biochemical threats. The presence of OBHR in-site always indicate the spreading of invisible threats, and they're usually the last line of defense.[8]
OBHR counts with various specialized units, one of which being BPRS.
BPRS[edit]
The Biochemical Protection Response Staff, or BPRS for short, is a specialized unit led by Dr. Longfellow, who previously participated in the Barron Mine Incident's humaintarian efforts. They are tasked to guarantee the safety of all Bio Department operations, as well as dealing with Oripathy cases within the company.[9] The unit was originally designated to provide suppoort on enviroments involving Originium or the Infected, but over time, it evolved into a more independent unit with comprehensive technical and human support, as well as a wider range of operation fields.[10]
Infected policies[edit]
Blacksteel imposes five rules upon its Infected staff:[11]
- Infected are forbidden from teaming up with non-Infected for any combat operation or high-risk mission.
- Infected with light cases are allowed to team up with the non-Infected, but they must first request permission from the latter.
- Infected with mild cases are forbidden from joining any team operations but are allowed to accomplish solo missions.
- Infected with severe cases will see their contract terminated immediately but will receive a decent amount of severance pay.
- All Infected who are still able to work will be given medical treatment by Blacksteel.
However, some regard this policy as a yet another example of exploitative treatment of the Infected, seeking to extract as much work as possible from the Infected before they are no longer of any use. Realistically, the monetary compensation from contract termination could never be hoped to fully pay for the medical bills of someone suffering from terminal Oripathy. Meanwhile, there are increasing tensions between the Infected and non-Infected members in the company. [11] Many Blacksteel mercenaries actually became Infected when the Oripathy crisis became a major concern, while some people refused to hire them. As a result, Blacksteel receives less contracts than usual.[12]
Following the Ironforge "leakage" incident in 1095, BS has been actively collaborating in a special partnership with Rhodes Island, which provides treatment for Franka's Oripathy in exchange of security and escort services.[11] On the other hand, they were ordered by the Columbian government to close an eye on it as it was actually with a secret weapon program that went haywire.[13]
Firearms[edit]
An integral part of Blacksteel's identity and theory core is the use of pneumatic, reverse-engineered firearms and ammunition, a technology that Cliff himself brought using Laterano's firearms as a basis.[4][14] These weapons are commonly limited to pistols and hunting rifles even within BS, and can provide supporting firepower or tactical supplements. All BS personnel are trained on a certain capacity on the use of firearms, giving them considerable firepower advantage on short/medium range combat. [4]
Compared to Lateran fireams, Blacksteel's firearms have reduced performance due to their mechanically simplified internal components and streamlined etched ammunition structure, as well as its distinctive operation method. These specialized weapons, while optimized, require a precise use of Originium Arts from the user to activate the etched crystals within the bullets, and their performance on actual combat environments highly demands on the user's quality and experience. An inappropriate use of the user's Arts could result in the gun jamming —or in the worst-case scenario, a squib load due to the excessive casting of the bullet inside the chamber, causing the etched crystals to ignite and explode, resulting in the user contracting Oripathy. On the other hand, acquiring and maintaining a BS firearm is often quite expensive.[4][15][16][17]
Nevertheless, BS has been actively improving its replica firearm templates to facilitate its use for non-Sankta users, and as such, the personnel's training and equipment costs have increased. According to statistics from the Fort Barron Training Center, under the current firearm technology and training conditions, the time and resources needed to train a non-Sankta marksman or shooter is enough to equally train three skilled crossbowmen. [4]
Notable members[edit]
| Character | Information
|
Status
|
|---|---|---|
| Best known by his nom de guerre "Clip" Cliff, a veteran of the Columbian Revolutionary War. Founder and CEO of BSW. | Alive
| |
| Part of B.P.R.S., assigned to Rhodes Island for Oripathy treatment as part of an exchange program together with Liskarm and Jessica. | Alive
| |
| Assigned to R.I. as part of an exchange program together with Franka and Jessica. Intends to leave BSW to form her own PMC in the future.[18] | Alive
| |
| Assigned to R.I. as part of an exchange program together with Franka and Liskarm. | Alive
| |
| Assigned to R.I. as part of an exchange program. | Alive
| |
| Janet Longfellow | Head of B.P.R.S. | Alive
|
| Jessica during the events of Come Catastrophes or Wakes of Vultures. Unilaterally resigned following the events of CV; her resignation is never approved by Cliff, hence she technically remains a member of BSW.[19] Currently acts as a sheriff in a Columbian Pioneer community while maintaining contact with her BSW department and R.I.[20] | Alive
| |
| Assigned to R.I. as a technology consultant as part of a partnership between both organizations, where she collaborates with the Engineering Department. | Alive
| |
| Member of BSW's own intelligence unit. Assigned to R.I. as part of an intelligence exchange program. | Alive
|
Other notable members[edit]
- Joseph Eyland: An elite BSW mercenary who serves as Jessica's training instructor.[21]
- Bachman: One of the BSW mercenaries who, alongside Franka, were sent to investigate Fonterra's lab located in Ironforge City. After being attacked by unknown hostile forces trying to cover up the lab's accident, he fell through a hole and got surrounded by debris, only to be rescued by Franka.[11]
- Thorpe†: An aircraft pilot hired by BSW. The rented aircraft he was piloting was shot down by Dublinn forces in the outskirts of Londinium, who would eventually kill him after he sent an S.O.S signal.[22]
- Melanite's father†: A veteran of Blacksteel who retired after losing one of his arms. He brought his firearm back home and decided to open a small sundry shop. However, he was killed in a robbery gone wrong with his wife.[23]
- "Blackplate"†: Real name Carl, a Blacksteel mercenary who was one of Leone Theremin's adopted sons and Benny's older brother. He lost his life during a recon mission in Chernobog on which Jessica took part of. She worked with him during that brief period, yet she cannot do anything when the enemies severely injured him.[24]
Gallery[edit]
Facilities[edit]
The loading bay of Fort Barron
A BSW armory
A BSW office in Fort Barron
Personnel[edit]
Concept Art[edit]
Concept art for Fort Barron, from Arknights Official Artworks Vol.4
Armored vehicles used by Blacksteel, featured in Come Catastrophes or Wakes of Vultures
Artworks[edit]
Character visual from Arknights: Prelude to Dawn, featuring Franka and Liskarm
