NEMA Criminal Volunteers

[kevinslkt]

The criminal underworld isn't too happy about "armageddon" either. They just lost their way of life and respect. A majority of these hitmen, thugs and other "professionals" joined the NEMA Volunteer Militia. When asked about their skills most simply respond "We use to be the badguys". Now NEMA officials consider them "desirable under the circumstances" and are put to effective and devastating use. Sweeper teams usually consist of one or two these cold, ruthless individuals. To incorperate them into a campaign I suggest rolling up a Normal Person with a criminal background and skills that would suit, along with a few weapon profiencies. I prefer the "Natural weapons expert" from BTS. The more Chaos the better.

[Alpha 11]

An interesting ideal. The "Enemy of my enemy" route almost. Plus, with them joining, they can operate in the open in getting back at the beings that ruin their business. And I could see it happening. So, good ideal.

[NMI]

There is also the chance of them abusing their NEMA privileges. Which in this setting would be rife with temptation.

with a few of them probably joining up with the juicer revolt (one of the previous planned Chaos Earth books.)

[Alpha 11]

There is also the chance of them abusing their NEMA privileges. Which in this setting would be rife with temptation.

with a few of them probably joining up with the juicer revolt (one of the previous planned Chaos Earth books.)

Did not think of that. Stupid!

[Mech-Viper Prime]

cant see why the illegal business wouldnt stop. they would still need drug,sex and brooze , protection, food , weapons and clothes and not like 7-11 is going to be open

[Jason Richards]

NEMA's also not the only game in town, remember. There's the military, National Guard, plus any independent groups that spring up.

[Jason Richards]

You would think so, but honestly there is enough grumbling between just the Guard and Reserves to make me wonder if they would. I'd say there would be a 70% +/- 30% chance that they would work together (last part is GM discretion). This is due to area rivalry where Guard get the state glory and funding and the Reserves has to scrounge for resources and is sparingly mentioned. Thats how my area is anyways.

It depends on the area as well. They certainly would work together if possible, but not every area has a NEMA presence (or a military one). They're a federal law enforcement agency, though a large one, but it's not like there's a NEMA station house in every town. On the other hand, I challenge you to find a town with more than 1,000 people that doesn't have a few to a dozen Reservists of one form or another, not to mention local police, firefighters, and organized local groups that can take the fight to the demons (or would at least try).

Also, remember that the military and NEMA have very different operating procedures and goals. NEMA's mission is to defend the homeland and enforce the laws of the NAA charter. The military's mission is to engage and destroy the enemy (during the Golden Age that was more or less restricted to international enemies, but they would certainly consider demons fair game).

Further, keep in mind that part of NEMA's mandate is to avoid ever taking any role in government beyond that of an advisor, but the military does have that authority.

Very different animals.

Oh, and NEMA didn't replace the National Guard, unless you can give me a quote. It didn't even totally replace the federal agencies (the FBI, NSA, etc.) that it was modeled after. The role of the citizen soldier will never be dealt away with in the USA (or Canada, to a lesser extent) due to the history involved, and the fact that in the USA the Guard isn't even principally governed by the federal government. The US Constitution guarantees that the states are to maintain militia forces.

Even if there is a quote that says the Guard was done away with, I'll point you to Merc Ops where it is specifically mentioned in the Golden Age context, immediately preceding the Great Cataclysm.

[Jason Richards]

Makes sense. I'll need to work on how to use the differences in spheres of authority. It's not even an easy logic problem. Technically, since the Military is in the direct chain of command in the Government (in time of war, I think the Cataclysm counts) it would have authority over even NEMA. But, NEMA is a sort of national paramilitary police force, it's local authority is very hard to match. What a tangled command structure it's be.

Don't worry, I'm sure somebody will end up writing a book about it.

[Jason Richards]

It's not...kinda. Though it also -kind of- is.

NEMA is a paramilitary force, most likely used primarily for things like border patrol, counter-terror operations on North America, search-and-rescue, riot control, homeland security and the like.

I get the feeling that NEMA is like a sort of national military police.

That's sort of right. Combine the FBI and the CIA with the DHS, add in a dash of National Guard, give them power armor and energy weapons, and that's more or less what NEMA is.

[kevinslkt]

Yeah. I think that's basically what they are. But despite this, the criminals that were on the top of NEMA's "most wanted" lists kinda went to the backburner after "armageddon". Now these guys are sorta siding with NEMA and a good portion joining the Militia, only with a more ruthless approach and conduct of operations. They already start out with illegal mega-damage weapons and modified armor. Also note that they were employed in the underworld and their attitudes reflect that. Example: they want something, they take, something annoys them, they usually kill it. NEMA agents try their best to control their actions and for the most part it usually works. That's the idea I'm getting across.

[Jason Richards]

Proving that my brain works better in the morning rather than after work...

So NEMA is a sort of high-tech Civil Defense Corps?

Yes. They handle cross-borders crime within the three nations, are responsible for homeland defense, engage in anti-terror operations at home and abroad, and carry out disaster response.