The OSIRIS Network

The OSIRIS Network
Application
Leadership
Faction Leader		Vigil MacLeod (OlValor)
Senior Staff		Anastasia Hargrave (Malevis) - Ace Gwennette (Milly Dixon) - Ace
Information
Alignment		Chaotic Neutral
Type		Mercenaries & Organized Crime
Headquarters		Public Front - The Arcadium

Overview

“I’ve seen that look in yer eyes time and time again. You’re unsatisfied with yer lot in life. Unwilling tae suffer th’ tedium of a wage slave, or fight ‘n die fer a Government that will never care about ya. A refusal tae conform tae th’ society that has turned its back on ya, instead choosin’ tae live yer life on th’ edge as you see fit… Kehahah, aye, I think yer gonnae fit in perfectly here.” - Vigil MacLeod, current Watcher of the local OSIRIS Network

We’re Mercenaries and Criminals. That’s the short answer.

Think of the various tabletops and games that take place in a cyberpunk setting. Shadowrun and Cyberpunk for example. Their Shadowrunners, Edgerunners, Fixers. That is who we are. Living on the razor’s edge, receiving jobs from people who have dirty deeds they want done… At relatively modest prices, on top of some more criminal venues.

We put the Punk in Cyberpunk- In that we generally have an anarchistic, rebellious outlook on society. We don’t conform to the social norms of society nor do we hold to their laws. We live our lives as we see it fit.

Though we are criminals, there is a method to it. Our crimes are organized, and they’re never done at the expense of those who are just like us.

History

The OSIRIS Network was originally a digital-only scene that would go on to evolve a ground-game based on the running of goods between White Belt planets during the Secession War. After the White Belt Administration’s establishment in 2813 it continued to solidify its purpose and niche, adapting to the new norms.

Today, it exists as a proxy for other interests, whether local governments, corporate competition, or smaller-scale private or public groups needing anything done that can't be publicly acted upon. Whether smuggling medical supplies to rural settlements or hacking corporate servers—OSIRIS aims to coordinate contracts to local runner teams, in and out of network.

Within Dusklight there are numerous small cells and safehouse locations throughout the colony, while unknown to almost all in the public the most notable safehouse is the the Osiris Arcadium. It is a pizzeria-barcade with a small net-cafe, a catchall for chilling and relaxing for the tech-savvy punks of the system, it is a personal enterprise used as a front for a safehouse and a hub for grey-market and black-market fencing and distribution.

The Arcadium is built atop a survivalist bunker—a civilian building created by a man named Redrick in 2753. Redrick was a paranoid recluse, explorer, and retired mercenary who owned and operated the Arcadium in its original iteration: a children’s pizzeria. By 2777, it was converted into an adult-oriented establishment popular with smugglers in the region. In 2789 Redrick vanished into the wilderness with his younger brother, leaving the Arcadium to a drug-runner who went by the moniker Porcupine. Porcupine converted the base into a key front for the black-market in the region and managed the business throughout the wartime years, after his untimely death in early 2819, the arcade would lay dormant for months. Lived in and haphazardly managed by the few remaining runners until, until April 2820 when the network transferred ownership to two Nobrean runners: Ada and Ventana Rouhani.

The Rouhani twins soon came to take their leave of the local network in 2821, with ownership being passed on to two of the most senior members of the local network: Vigil MacLeod and Robin Lacelle. As the months passed, so too did the Network’s view on their secrecy and anonymity. The vast majority of the local network found that their secrecy and anonymity was more detrimental to their presence within the Dusklight Colony. The conclusion came to be that they would be much more open with the fact that they were a bunch of mercenaries, edge runners, punks and outcasts that will do anything for the right price.

Abandoning the Bunker, the Network came to carve out a large portion of the Undercity for themselves, with a new Barcade of the same name being constructed to serve as their primary hub along with a location for any mercenaries, fixers and clients to meet and discuss business.

Organization

While many factions have a hierarchy, pecking order, chain of command, ours is a bit more lax. We follow a loose command structure. The general hierarchy can be summed up as this:

Watcher > Ace > Mercenary | Fixer | Tester > Newbie | Arcade Staff

Structure

The first thing to note about the network is it lacks any traditional hierarchy. The system administrators communicate the broad interests of the entire network and permit its continued existence and the system operators manage local networks and work to ensure its safety. While moderators, do just that, moderate disagreements.

The Arcade Staff - Chipping In

Not everyone is a gun-and-sword Street Samurai or a data surfing Neuromancer. Some people are just looking to get away from shit. The people who work at the Arcade; serving drinks and food, maintaining machines, cleaning up the puke and teeth are those sorts of people. Not everyone is cut out for the Mercenary Life, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a rebel’s soul.

It’s best to think of this position as a Custodial one. The Arcade is not only a palace to conduct business, but also a place where mercs and lowlifes can kick back and chill for a time. R&R is important.

Just don’t go fucking any of the customers on the premises. That’s the Rabbit’s territory and, again, you do NOT want to piss them off.

The Newbies - Humble Beginnings

Taking the first step on to the razor’s edge, Newbies are those that are brand new to the Mercenary life or are just beginning to establish themselves in Dusklight. Former wage slaves, AWOL soldiers, criminals on the run, all sorts come to us to live life as they see fit.

As a Newbie, you’re going to be doing a lot of leg work yourself to start off. Got to show that you are serious about living this kind of life. Get your hands on some basic equipment, talk to other Mercs and Factions to learn more about Onia, join in on some jobs, maybe try cracking a skull or hack into a security camera in the Colony. Doesn’t matter if you fail. It’s the fact you had the balls to try. That’s what we’re looking for. No half measures. All in.

Once you get a name for yourself, get some street cred, people will see you as a proper Merc.

The Mercenaries - Living on the Edge

The vast majority of the people at the Arcade fall under this title. Street Samurais, Solos, Neuromancers, Deckers, Techies, Ripperdocs, the list goes on and on. Point is, these are the people that have earned a bit of a name for themselves. Those that are reliable, got guts, you get the idea.

As a Mercenary, you’ll be doing much the same as a Newbie. Joining gigs and runs, keeping an ear out for juicy gossip, maybe a bit of hooliganism to piss off the SRG. Differences though, is that you’ve now got some street cred under your belt.

People at the Arcade will be more willing to hand out kit from our stockpiles, patch your wounds without any strings attached, have your back if someone starts shit with you. You’ve shown that you’re serious about living this kind of life and we like to invest in people who have proved themselves to be reliable.

The Testers - Looking for Stars

Testers are often made up of Mercs who have been around for a while, though sometimes people just have an eye for this sort of thing. The things they do is simple:

Scout for Talent.

They look for people who have potential. People who are fed up with their lives, sick to death of the monotony and stagnation of drifting aimlessly. They find those people, have some of the neuromancers run background checks, then approach them with an offer to live life on the edge.

The second thing that the Testers do is help train up Newbies. Teach them how to throw a punch, shoot a gun, hack some tech, set a bone, so on so forth. By all means, they still join in on any jobs that come up, but when they’re not on a run, this is what they’ll primarily be doing.

The Fixers - Mavericks and Masterminds

Fixers are important. Fixers are very fucking important. Without dedicated Fixers, we just wouldn’t be able to function properly. You’re probably wondering why that is, and the answer is simple:

Fixers are the middle men for us and our Clients. They’re the ones that actually get us gigs and runs to begin with. They find people that want shit done, they hash out the details, they make sure we get a fat stack of credits, then they pass the job down to us. Not only that, but they are also the people who get us our gear. Weapons, armor, medicines, components, materials, Fixers are the ones who get us that shit.

Just like with Testers, Fixers are free to join a gig or a run themselves, but ultimately their main job is to find us work, spy on the other factions for juicy intel, establish contacts that can be of use, make sure we’re well supplied with shit, that sort of deal.

The Aces - Left and Right Hands

Among the Mercenaries, the Testers, the Fixers, we have these fine men and women. Aces are Mercs that have been around for a long ass time. When their name is said, it turns heads and causes whispers. They’re practically local legends in their own right.

Aces help oversee this operation. They help make sure things go along swimmingly. They help handle disputes between Mercenaries, keep public relations relatively good (we need clients after all) and fill in for places that are lacking. If we need a Fixer? An Ace will get us a job. Need another merc for a Gig? An Ace will fill in.

Their main task though, before all of that, is assisting the ones who oversee the whole operation. That being...

The Watchers - Never Fade Away

Overseeing this branch of the Network are the Watchers, who serve as a means of communication between the local network on Onia and the larger network beyond that. Given how they’re often the senior most individuals of the network, it is safe to say that they have a wealth of experience behind them- Enough that they know how to keep this operation rolling.

This usually takes the form of managing disputes between others in the Network and promoting the interests of the greater network via the use of their veto powers. They’re also expected to be the faces of the Network, managing contracts, contacts, supplies, “Public Relations”, things of that nature.

Technology

While not a group with incredible manufacturing capabilities or researchers, OSIRIS has developed or utilizes some notable pieces of tech that need to be described.

Osiris Net Agent

The net-agent is the only method of easily and reliably entering into the OSIRIS intranet and VPN. It is self-destructing single-instance semi-autonomous program that allows limited access to the network, and is able to then increase or decrease its permissions based upon the needs of the net. This program is in fact a virtual intelligence that’s designed with just enough freedom to defend itself from breach and destroy itself if at risk. Each instance is a fork from a more potent intelligence with concepts such as 'personality' or 'free will' removed from its program. These net-agents are only able to be requested by SysOps or higher, and a limited number of copies may be transferred to hard disc for recruiters and are carefully monitored to prevent significant intrusions.

OSNET BBS

While locally the network is limited only by the infrastructure of the system and planet it is located within, FTL communications are significantly more difficult. While bulk information is transported by network runners operating data transport ships, the true secretive power of the Network is the OSNET system. Resembling the Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) of old 20th century earth, they are extremely limited ASCII-based interfaces. This is to minimize data size as it is piggybacked in military, corporate and governmental quantum-communications. Obscured among excess bytes of data and allowing relatively constant, if limited communication across vast stellar distances. It has a few notable forks and similar systems that vary in purpose, at least one of which is a multi-user-dungeon and a few host notable door-games.

Direct Neural Interface

While hardly unique to the network, it is important enough to be detailed. A DNI usually takes the form of a jack, a port that allows direct interface to a computer integrated into the nervous-system of the individual, whether located in the spine, neck skull, etc. Though external brain-stimulating strips are also used for those without augmentations. These permit computer usage and integration to be at a purely neural level. This can allow fast-as-thought hacking, temporarily assuming personalities completely separate from ones own, or just really gnarly porn.

General Out of Character Information

Our current leader is Olvalor ((OlValor#6813))

We recruit in one of three ways.

The first is that someone gets our interest. Someone who has had enough of their lot in life and wants to live on the razor’s edge. Someone who has skills that could be put to damn fine use raking in slats for us.

The second is that someone has heard of the Network. Someone has heard of the Network, heard of our connections and resources and wants in.

The third and final way is that someone just wants to work at the bar. Not everyone is a Street Samurai, Neuromancer, Tech Head, what have you. Sometimes they just want to serve drinks while not having to deal with some sneering business tycoon undressing them with their eyes.

The Application to join Osiris can be found below. If you find someone who is interested in joining OSIRIS, send them the link and notify one of the group leads.

Applications to join are found here! It should be noted, in character it's less an 'application' and more a background check being run by our administration for 'useful people' to investigate for hire.

Our Current Manual is here! A lot of this information is not publicly known, so please don't take it as such.