Nomads are those who, for a variety of reasons, have shunned planetary society, both philosophically and physically, by taking up residence in one of the enormous space vessels that roam the Sphere. Each Nomad citizen has his or her own motives for choosing a form of exile in a specific Nomad mothership. Profit, idealism, cynicism… Most Nomads don’t really need a specific reason; they are just weird like that. As a group, Nomads are rebellious and antagonistic towards the powers that be, the governments and lobbies of the Sphere. More than anything else, they reject the influence of the AI ALEPH, which they consider the ultimate expression of submission to The Establishment. As such, theirs is a truly alternative lifestyle. To the rest of the Human Sphere, Nomads are a bunch of outcasts, oddballs, and anarchists.
Their image as outsiders is reinforced by the relentless propaganda campaign of the mass media, paid for and incentivized by their powerful adversaries to discredit their political discourse. The gigantic Nomad ships traverse trade routes endlessly, attaching themselves to Circulars in order to make inter-system jumps. Confined to their motherships, Nomads visit all the star systems of the Human Sphere, offering their services to all interested parties, but limiting the extent of their non-commercial interactions.
Nomads are an affordable alternative to conventional corporations in a variety of fields, and particularly renowned for their distinctive confidentiality. In addition, some of their most sought-after services have little reputable competition: safe traffic of currencies and data, specialized labor with experience in Zero-G and EVA (ExtraVehicular Activity) jobs, or a number of activities and products that would be illegal on most planets. The core of the Nomad Nation is formed by three enormous flagships: Tunguska, Corregidor, and Bakunin.
Each of these has its own idiosyncratic style and culture, and each endeavor to fulfill a different role using its own specialties and quirks. In addition to these three behemoths, numerous smaller craft considers themselves part of the Nomad Nation, and travel from the motherships to all points of the Sphere peddling the merchandise and services Nomads are known for, from aboveboard transport of goods to shady outsource work for mysterious parties. Nomads build transient space structures, known as work orbitals, for specific gigs, but some of these outlive their original purpose and become proper permanent orbitals. Some of these are big enough to accommodate sizeable numbers, even if mostly comprised of a floating population—no pun intended—of Nomad passers-by.
NOMADS SHIPS
TUNGUSKA (THE MONEY)
Tunguska is the home of secrets, a strongbox adrift in space, a cupboard for all skeletons, a truly dark place… in every sense of the word.
BAKUNIN (THE SOUL)
A place where anything can be found: any specialty, any skill, any ideology, any conceivable perversion. Bakunin tolerates almost anything, as long as it remains within its appointed module.
CORREGIDOR (THE HAND)
The ship’s prison past that is always at the forefront of the minds of its citizens, a point of pride for the toughest bastards in the galaxy.
THE NOMAD MILITARY FORCE
Compared to the other great powers, the Nomad Nation has a much lower population that precludes an extensive army. However, their status as wandering vagrants of the depths of space forces them to maintain a vigilant military force capable of defending their vessels and interests. It is a joint effort: Tunguska contributes financing, Bakunin state-of-the-art technology, and Corregidor seasoned professionals. The Nomad Military Force is a compact force with an extreme level of preparation and excellent equipment, particularly with regard to its special operations units, reviled and admired by the militaries of every other nation in the Sphere.
Troops
CORREGIDOR BANDITS
Independent covert operatives, fundamentally deniable assets to the Nomad Military Force. To protect their identity, the project avoided codenames with tribal connotations, choosing instead to refer to them by what they did best, a name that also happened to be an old air force jargon term for confirmed hostiles. Perhaps they realized that the guardian spirit means well only to its own; to outsiders, it is nothing but bad news: a genuine bandit and a cold-blooded killer.
TUNGUSKA CHEERKILLERS
As they say: “You know you’re a Cheerkiller when you have to kick and scream and sweat for everything you want to achieve.” And they are ready to do anything to keep their independence and not be anyone’s girl, because their old team motto is still etched in their minds: “Fly high. Do or die. Dare and triumph. To the Extreme! Always!”
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SOMBRAS, FORWARD INTERDICTION TEAM
Their minimum-albedo vacuum suits make them blend in with the shadows that give them their name, and they become invisible until they strike, the decisive moment, and usually the final one for their unsuspecting enemies. Sombras are the invisible killer lurking out there where the vacuum of space becomes darker and more oppressive, the nightmare of any newbie venturing into the void for the first time. Their goal is no longer money, but enemies, prey to be taken down and marked with the Sombra’s unit stickers they always carry around.
HELLCATS
The Corregidor Interdiction and Immediate Deployment Regiment is called the ‘Hellcats’ after the fierceness of its members and its focus on extreme measures. The Nomad Military Force maintains the Regiment at constant peak levels of fitness and readiness so that each battalion can deploy anywhere ‘in record time or faster’. Due to its pivotal role in the functioning of the Nomad army, the Regiment entertains a vast amount of operational skills, but Hellcats mostly undertake airborne infiltration and exfiltration missions, and particularly Direct Action operations under extreme circumstances.
GRENZERS, GRENZ SECURITY TEAM
Bearing their name in deference to the old Krajišnici, or Graničari, Croatian mercenaries who fought for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Grenz Security Team specializes in executing objectives beyond the capabilities of conventional security forces. In so many words, they fight super-spies and elite miscreants. They are not exactly policemen, but a special corps that acts as a kind of border patrol, like the Grenzers of yore: they are hunters with free rein whose authority is never questioned.
INTRUDERS, CORREGIDOR ASSAULT COMMANDO
The mission of this lone operative is to are always ready for offensive assignments to further the agenda of the Nomad Nation, including small, medium or large-scale conflicts far beyond the scope of any other Corregidorian unit. They are famously feared as assault troops, and accept only the best soldiers from other Corregidorian regiments. They act as an expeditionary corps, scouting new environments, making first contact and gathering information. Intruders can do anything from military intel, to covert ops, to urban combat, to tunnel guerrilla tactics, to sabotage. They also frequently act as military advisers and field instructors when the situation calls for an accelerated boot-camp to turn blue-collar workers into a reasonably capable combat force. However, the real reason why they are feared as the elite of spec-ops teams is their prowess as hunters and assassins. The Corregidor Assault Commando is the one true ace up the Nomad sleeve, because all it takes to control a whole battlefield is one single Intruder.
MOBILE BRIGADA
Mobile Brigadas are the foremost regiment of the Corregidor heavy infantry. These are sturdy, versatile troops who shine both in defensive and offensive missions. Their everyday routine as members of the main assault force in the Nomad Military Force includes taking the brunt of whatever fight they are involved in. Which is just as well, as they might be the only ones with the staying power and tactical know-how to endure constant combat. Their technical training, their unquestionable bravery and the weight of their word make Brigadas some of the most sought after soldiers in the mercenary market.
CORREGIDOR ALGUACILES
The Alguaciles are the military police regiment of Corregidor, often repurposed as light infantry for defense purposes or as mercenary troops. They are one of Corregidor’s most profitable assets, regularly hired out as soldiers of fortune with the quality assurance of being the official professional light infantry corps of Corregidor. They can deploy to cover global areas of operations, and they are qualified for a broad spectrum of missions to advance the interests and agendas of Corregidor, the Nomad Nation, or whoever is signing their checks at the time. Alguaciles are good soldiers; skilled, obstinate people who give it their very best each time while running their mouths like sailors.
GECKO SQUADRON
Gecko was the smallest, most lightweight model of the Reptile TAG series, and the first of them to go obsolete. Initially conceived as a reconnaissance and early contact TAG line, the speed limitations of its power plant, its vulnerable hull, and its rudimentary aim control system proved lacking in the fierce arms race taking place across the Sphere. Geckos were doomed to the scrap heap when they caught the eye of the Corregidor military with their two main merits: they were small and dirt-cheap. The Corregidor Jurisdictional Command also saw value in the simplicity of their design, which would make maintenance and repair efforts less demanding on the field. The Gecko’s diminutive size allowed for excellent mobility in narrow spaces, which made it ideally suited to naval operations and the walkways of spaceships and orbital platforms, the conventional operational settings of this Nomad force.
BAKUNIN ZEROS
Bakunin’s scout units are specialists in reconnaissance and sabotage behind enemy lines. They received the codename ‘Zeros’ after their exceptionally low rate of both failed missions and casualties, something of an oddity for units of this type who perform high-risk operations day after day. The secret behind this excellent performance is the extensive training they undergo in Bakunin’s multi-environmental modules, which gives them an adaptive edge in a variety of terrain types. This ability, compounded by their remarkable movement speed and raw firepower, makes them a force to be reckoned with in combat. Their standard operating procedure includes sneaking up to the enemy and attacking blindingly fast, giving them no chance to respond.
SPEKTRS
Spektrs live up to their name. They are stealthy ghosts capable of the most astonishing feats of infiltration. When wetwork requires surgical precision, when the situation is too delicate to admit a single mistake, they call in these guys. Tunguska uses them primarily for industrial espionage or extraction ops, for their own benefit or as an expensive service to third parties. Equipped with the most sophisticated cloaking and camouflage systems money can buy, they can walk past most surveillance systems undetected. Hence the rumor that they are not trained for infiltration, but are trained to disappear into thin air.
CORREGIDOR JAGUARS
Jaguars are yet another of Juan Sarmiento’s strokes of genius. Known as “the Mexican General”, Sarmiento was one of the founding fathers of the Corregidor Jurisdictional Command. When everyone saw the maras as a problem to be solved, he saw them as a reliable source of veteran warriors, made callous by a history of street violence and with the honed killer instincts of rabid felines.
Where they really shine, the reason for their continued existence, is their capacity as a shock force. They are the unit of choice of the Nomad High Command for the ardor with which they face each new combat, but sometimes their eagerness takes them one step further than Mission Control would prefer. Once set upon the enemy, their gusto for the fight makes them lose sight of the big tactical picture, and they just tend to run haphazardly towards the nearest foe. Jaguars have plenty of fire in their bellies, but they want victory at any cost so they need to be reined in a little. Even then, once they hit the ignition point, there is no talking them down.
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DIE MORLOCK GRUPPE
Morlock Groups scrape the bottom of the barrel that is the manifold society of Bakunin. Individuals who are deemed unfit for cohabitation in Bakunin’s public areas or private habitats, particularly those who are known to have violent or antisocial backgrounds, are assigned a Morlock Group. The reasoning is that even the worst psychopaths can contribute something positive to the ship. Morlocks consume MetaChemistry compounds that suppress their violent impulses until they can be realized productively, namely in battle. Then, the MetaChemistry that governs their behavior releases and augments their aggressive instincts.
DAKTARIS (FIELD DOCTORS)
Dak, short for Daktari, means ‘doctor’ in Swahili. This codename for the medics of the Nomad Military Force dates back to the very formation of the Nomad Nation. Unaccustomed to battle protocol, they shared an inclination to yell insults and obscenities in their mother tongue while patching up soldiers under the crossfire. This characteristic string of expletives became a sort of calming mantra to the injured, who knew themselves saved the moment they heard Swahili swearwords. To honor this tradition, all Nomad Daks have adopted Swahili as a sort of shared battle language.
BAKUNIN CLOCKMAKERS
Clockmakers might very well be the most valuable Bakunin contribution to the Nomad Military Force. They are combat technicians with a special ability to recompose, repair, rebuild, reinvent and rethink on their feet. Their main function is to provide technical maintenance to assets on the field. Clockmakers have been known to undergo radical neural augmentation procedures, including memoryenhancing wetware inserts full of technical specs catalogues. Interface connections sprout from the base of their skulls to facilitate man-machine communication.
Ultimately, Clockmakers are worth their weight in gold to the Nomad military and to any other faction in need of an extra hand to help modernize its technology, so it would be a good idea to always try and capture them alive.
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TUNGUSKA INTERVENTORS
Tunguska is home to the best hackers and crackers in the Sphere. When the economy of an entire country depends on the maintenance of safe information strongboxes, downtime is out of the question, as are data leaks. Tunguska strives to maintain its digital immunity by following the principle that ‘it takes a thief to catch a thief’: the best crackers make the best security experts.
Due their reputation, in Tunguska, the presence of an Interventor is a necessary requisite to guarantee the integrity of any data operation, deposit or transaction bearing a MaxSec seal. However, the offensive capabilities of these crackers are not squandered on mere security jobs; they also assume duties related to military tracking, interference and electronic nullification. Interventors can provide counter-intelligence and cryptologic support in the field, feeding combat intel to their armies and counterintelligence to the enemy. Their main purpose is to guarantee the success of electronic supremacy and infowar operations. Interventors are feared as enemies for their ability to bring whole armies to a standstill.
ZONDS
‘Zond’ was the old Russian name for Unidentified Flying Objects, an apt name for the lightning-fast remotes designed for the Nomad Military Force. Nomads have a long, upstanding tradition of Remote use in military and civilian settings. Corregidor has perfected Remote technology as applied to ship maintenance and EVA tasks. Bakunin engineers make liberal use of Remotes to crash-test new technologies and interfaces, and only bother to find military or commercial applications for the ones that survive the process. The vibrant hacker scene of Tunguska values Remotes as an untraceable method of deployment for support hardware.
VOSTOK SPUTNIKS
The outstanding success of the Sputnik series reaffirmed the confidence of the Nomad Military Force in the tactical use of Combat Remotes. However, the story of the Sputniks was not yet concluded. The distinctive modular design of these remote units gives them a wide range of room for improvement that allows them to evolve and adapt to new needs that may arise from current changing operating environments. Therefore, all the experience accumulated by the Nomad Military Force in the use of the first models of Sputniks—Tsyklon and Lunokhod—has been applied to the second generation of these tactical remotes, known as Vostok. This designation code continues the tradition of using legendary names from Russian Cosmonautics as a subtle way to prove that the main source of funding for this program is the Tunguska Struktura.
EVADERS, EVA TACTICAL TEAMS
More than one assault on a site under construction was thwarted because the Evaders were there and, being proper Corregidoran troops, they kicked the crap out of the bastards who were trying to destroy all their work. But the Evaders are more than just armed workers; they are the space equivalent of the sappers of the surface forces: demolition experts and combat engineers. A key element in any assault on an enemy ship or space facility, they are the ones in charge of opening and clearing the way, the experts in blowing stuff up in the vacuum of space. They are easily identifiable by their Extra-Vehicular Activity armor (so customized that it barely looks like a uniform), by their foul language, and by their careless attitude. They are experts in always raising hell, both in the area of operations and in the cantina, and also in living up to their name and evading any responsibility. These are the Evaders: Corregidor style personified.
NOMADS CHARACTERS
DETECTIVE INSPECTOR OF THE SECURITATE JELENA KOVAČ
Jelena has taken her fair share of bad guys out of business; some are behind bars, many have met their deaths under the unforgiving legal system of Tunguska, and some others have fallen by the hand of the inspector, who doesn’t shy away from using lethal force. For that, she has earned a good amount of enemies who are as dangerous as they are resentful, but so far her contacts in Black Hand have placed her out of vengeance’s reach… Well, her contacts and the indisputable fact that it would take too many men and resources to take her down, because no matter how many they send, Jelena will kill them all.
ZOE & П-WELL, CLOCKMAKERS TEAM
Zoe Nemova has worked her fingers to the bone to become one of the foremost members of the Clockmakers Team. Independent-minded and rebellious, Zoe is difficult, brilliant, fickle, and, at times, unendurable.
From her stint as a runaway, and perhaps her natural disposition, she tends to keep to herself. She speaks sparsely, walks softly, and, although she rarely raises her voice, she has never lost an argument. Zoe’s physical features are in constant flux as she experiments with modular implants and augmentations to stave off the disease eating away at her body. Like many fugitives and despite her noteworthy appearance, she has a knack for blending in, for merging with a crowd, a talent that can come in handy on the field and one that she might need to employ again.
JAZMÍN “JAZZ” CATICOVAS, TACTICAL HACKER
Anyone will tell you that were they to choose a person to go with to a deserted island, no one would pick Jazz Caticovas. She would spend the whole day listening to music and in a bad mood for not being able to access the datasphere or play her sax. The fact is that even if Jazz knew what a deserted island was—since, being a Nomad from Corregidor, she has spent her whole life inside crowded ships—she would probably agree with this opinion. However, if you are inside an orbital under a security lockdown while some bad guys are asking for your head, then Jazz is your girl. But if she hears you call her “your girl,” she will most probably shoot you—and it will not be in the foot. Jazmín “Jazz” Caticovas is a Corregidoran hacker, which means that, as opposed to the Nomad hackers from Bakunin, with their radical solutions, or those from Tunguska, with their trademark genius, she is a foot soldier of cyber combat who has learned it all the hard way. And Jazz has a special talent for always choosing the most difficult way.
