Factions #

CRTG #

Remnants of an old specops groups that have come together to undo the failures of the HAARP program. The CRTG is made largely up of British Isles and Scandinavian members, though Canadians and Brazilians feature as well. Very well equipped compared to other military groups, they jealously guard this advantage in their quest to destroy all HAARP facilities world-wide. As the average person barely knows what HAARP is and has never heard of the CRTG, they have little good will to spend and live frugal lives between deployments. Sometimes mistaken for “scavengers cosplaying specops,” they do little to dissuade this appearance.

The CRTG are skilled, but aging. They do not have a clear means to recruit new members and had consigned themeslves to carry on their quiet war against a nigh-unknowable but finite enemy - the AI controllers of the HAARP facilities. That is, until in the last strike on the Eastern European HAARP Facility revealed a new and troubling threat.

The CRTG have been compared to crusaders and while they almost universally identify as atheists, there is a degree of fanaticism there that shrouds them in similar cloth. It is even rumoured their most eastward teams have integrated well with Islamicate states, making common cause with forces equally dedicated to the destruction of HAARP.

The Corporate State of ION #

A new development in the shattered political landscape, The Corporate State of ION is a borderless state spread across central Europe. They occupy a curious position of definitely being an exploitative corporate construct that maintains a deathgrip on critical resources… while being widely loved for the ease of access to protection and “troubleshooting” resources they provide. ION military encampments are bases to Freelancers who range across Europe, providing protection from bandits and raiders at reasonable costs and also viciously hunting down the adherents of the SKYWARD cult pro-bono.

Not as well trained as other factions, they are extremely well supplied and well-taken care of by their state. ION practices corporate socialism and as such provides extensive healthcare, opportunities for the disabled and free, good-quality housing - with the understanding that you will work for them for the rest of your life. This manifests in their military as an almost heartwarming “no one left behind” philosophy - followed by promptly focusing on other things once you’ve bitten it.

The Corporate State of ION accepts everyone, but is mostly made up of Europeans and refugees from surrounding areas. Their internal organization is a strange mix of corporate and military with many District Managers and District Captains coming into conflict, though this is considered better than where a Captain-Manager or Manager-Captain has to wear both hats.

The Fleet #

Sixth (Seventh) Fleet is the largest surviving US military command structure left. Remnants of the Sixth Fleet retreated into the deep Atlantic following the collapse of the European theatre and spent several years trying to rebuild itself, make contact with Washington and survive the post-HAARP event world. Eventually drawn back into the Mediterranean by French NATO assets, Sixth Fleet found something like a purpose shoring up civilization from… well, the shore. By 2027, much of the new coastlines of Spain, France and Italy were safe, with tenative agragrian efforts underway.

Sixth (Seventh) Fleets fortunes changed when the much-smaller, but better equipped and informed Seventh Fleet arrived, driven westwards by the mad efforts and heroics of Echo Squad, aka ███ █████████. This mad energy saw them intervene just in time to have boots on the ground as the Storm War kicked off and for the first time in nearly 20 years, the skies were filled with the sounds of aerial dogfights.

The Six-Seven are an organization with a superficially high degree of organization, but under the surface, chaos and ingenuity reign. Pseudo-castes of Navy, Infantry and Support personnel constantly negotiate and argue for position, a situation re-inforced by the first generation of children born on-board now coming of age.

Classes #

There aren’t really “classes” in M.A.S.O but you do end up belonging to some broad archetypes. These are presented to give you some idea of where your character might go during generation.

Drivers #

Does it have an engine and wheels? Then you’ve probably done extremely inadvisable things to it. Does it carry weapons? You’ve done terrible things to people with those weapons. It’s a rare vehicle these days that has enough armor to resist all infantry weapons and god help you if you find someone with AT weapons, or some vehicle-scale bullshit. As such, a heavy foot on the pedal is advisable.

You might get lucky enough to drive a tank! Hell, some Euro tanks drive just like stick-shift cars and you won’t even need a tank license.

Note that tanks are frequently AT magnets. So hey, some of your IFVs might survive if you show up in one!

Pilots #

Aircraft Pilots #

Once upon a time you could aspire to to some kind of slick jet fighter pilot. Good luck finding a group that can afford to maintain one of those these days. You’ll be lucky if you can get in a Super tucano. But there’s still a ton of utility in being able to use one of the many light aircraft scattered around. Or one of the many cargo craft. Or one of the few craft turned into gunships.

Helicopter Pilots #

Airplanes want to fly. Helicopters want to crash. They crave human blood. You need to be a special sort of crazy to want to fly one of these things in the post-apocalypse.

VTOL Pilots #

Ok, so see previous. Now imagine that in this alternate past/future, a lot of countries decided that VTOLs were the new hotness. This has killed a lot of people and been widely regarded as a bad move.

Boat drivers #

Navy fuckers.

Infantry #

Infantry fill a lot of roles. Most of those can be categorized as “meat” or “warm bodies.” But they’re also the frontline defenders of this world. From shadowy CRTG teams to the freelancers of ION, infantry get shit done.

Exposed to more and more varied horrors than their colleagues, your average infantryman can be… strange. Have delusions of grandeur, or just plain delusions. They might die fighting bandits or rise to kill AI god-things.

Roll them Bones.