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 the kind of military force that Columbia would need, and he personally traveled to different cities looking for veterans of the Revolutionary War who were willing to return to the battlefield.[2]
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, with the objective of developing ways for the Department of Defense to lead with Oripathy infections in combat environments. They began experimenting on living organisms, including Needlefly specimens, by injecting them active Originium inside their bodies in various ways. Their objective was to study the mutations that these creatures were undergoing, vowing to create intelligent-enough creatures that could fulfill certain purposes in the Army. However, the specimens eventually breached the laboratory's security systems, killing many of the scientists in the process. 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 was rescued, and Blacksteel was awarded with the Citizen Medal of Honor by Maylander. The incident's details, however, were eventually leaked to public by the D.C. Telegraph, causing the then Secretary of Defense, Mr. Conbot, to resign his position.[3]
Present days[edit]
For a long time since its establishment, BS served as governmental mercenaries who answered their call to the Federal Government of Columbia and other corporations. 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.[4] 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.[5] 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 Warriors: Troubled Lands and Modern Security Contractors"[2] |
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Kazdel sent tough mercenaries across the land, private contractors emerged from the K.G.C.C., and Columbia combined these two elements to create a new industry: PMCs. According to those who founded this industry, PMCs can fill the gap between conventional military forces and law enforcement agencies, allowing practitioners to operate in an environment divided by nomadic cities and exposed to Catastrophes and other threats at any time. They can use their professional skills in more targeted areas, providing more income than if they were part of a loose mercenary group. In the fifty years since the war in 1031, the turbulent geopolitical situation and rich immigrant population have nourished the development soil for Columbian security companies. Blacksteel Worldwide was also officially trademarked a few years after the Barron Mine incident. Among the hundreds of PMCs in Columbia, Blacksteel is undoubtedly the leader —Not many private contractors dare to use the ambitious word "Worldwide" when they're registered. |
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. Unlike other mercenaries, Blacksteel's Operators rarely take any unnecessary risks. They usually accept contracts as guns-for-hire for Columbian agencies and corporations, while subcontracting those they judge for having "unnecessary risks". High-risk contracts are often subcontracted by selected BS squads. If completed, Blacksteel will receive a share of the reward. Once these mercenaries encounter any setback, Blacksteel will come up with a "compensation plan" to absorb them to the team for an affordable price.[2]
Blacksteel consists of three major departments: The Administrative Branch, the Department of Equipment and Applied Technologies, and the Biochemical Protection Response Staff.
Fort Barron[edit]
Blacksteel's headquarters, Fort Barron, is their signature state-of-the-art landship similar to 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.[6] It provides mobile administration, logistics and supply center, and professional personnel training. The landship itself is made from salvaged mining platform parts from the Barron Mine, and an abandoned modified warship exported from Bolívar. After two years of renovation and industrial acquisition procedures, Fort Barron was put into service almost at the same time the company was officially trademarked.[7]
Fort Barron serves as the core of the Administrative Branch, which is responsible of all of BS's affairs, including business/legal matters, internal affairs, and external docking. Similar to 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.[7]
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.[3] One example of BS-owned plates is Davistown
Department of Equipment and Applied Technologies[edit]
The Department of Equipment and Applied Technologies (DEAT) is the largest of all of BS's branches, which composes 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, as well as equipment technicians and testers in charge of R+D. They answer to any kind of governments or legal entities and will fully serve their interest through wide range of services from escort, security guards, to disaster rescue, some of which requiring them to whitewash heinous crimes.
Initially, the Department of Equipment and Applied Technologies only provided services to Blacksteel mercenaries, mainly firearm maintenance. However, its business scope expanded and quickly became a business platform for many Columbian manufacturers such as Raythean Industries.[7]
BPRS[edit]
The Biochemical Protection Response Staff, or BPRS for short, is a specialized unit led by Dr. Longfellow who are experienced handlers in hazardous incidents such as Oripathy pandemic. They are tasked to guarantee the safety of all Bio Department operations, as well as dealing with Oripathy cases within the company.[8] The unit was originally designated to provide specialized formation to contain and prevent Oripathy infections, but over time, it evolved into a more independent unit with comprehensive technical and human support.[9]
Infected policies[edit]
Blacksteel imposes five rules upon its Infected staff:[10]
- 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 hope 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.[10]
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.[10] 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.[11]
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. These weapons are commonly limited to small, easy-to-use handguns and hunting rifles, 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.[3]
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 its 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 worse 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.[3][12][13][14]
Nevertheless, BS has been actively improving its replica firearm templates in order 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.[3]
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.[15] | 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.[16] Currently acts as a sheriff in a Columbian Pioneer community while maintaining contact with her BSW department and R.I.[17] | 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.[18]
- 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.[10]
- Thorpe†: An aircraft pilot hired by BSW. The rented aircraft he was piloting was shot down by the Dublinn forces, who would eventually kill him after he sent an S.O.S signal.[19]
- 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.[20]
- "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.[21]
Gallery[edit]
Facilities[edit]
The loading bay of Fort Barron
A BSW armory
A BSW office in Fort Barron
Personnel[edit]
Media[edit]
References[edit]
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