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In MegaTokyo, there is the AD Police. In Sydney, there is MARS: the Mobile Armoured Response Squads. Both units are motivated by the same purpose: keep the city safe from the depredations of rogue Boomers. Although the AD Police is the more technically advanced of the two, MARS makes up for it in raw drive and capability: only the best are allowed to fill the ranks.
The Perk: MARS Membership applies the same modifier as AD Police Membership: x2.5. Be warned: Membership: Level 10 has already gone to Andrea Macklesea and Level 9 places the character in charge of one of the precincts. Remember that the level of MARS Membership is equal to the level of Authority the characters have.
Below is a table which outlines the rank that each level of membership buys. Also, an outline is given as to what form of command that a MARS policeman of that rank may acquire. MARS cops are usually trained in squads, when they complet training (rigorous screening during application ensures the rate of failure during training is less than five percent) the entire squad is assigned to a division.
Also included are ranks of members of Investigations Division. Membership Levels 1-4 and 9-10 are left blank as Investigators always hold rank between Detective and Detective Chief Inspector.
| Level | Rank | Command | Investigations Rank | Investigations Command |
| 1 | Cadet | None | - | - |
| 2 | Constable | None | - | - |
| 3 | Senior Constable | Squad | - | - |
| 4 | Sergeant | Squad or Powered Unit | Detective Sergeant | None |
| 5 | Senior Sergeant | Section or Powered Unit | Detective Senior Sergeant | ID Unit |
| 6 | Inspector | Section or Powered Unit | Detective Inspector | ID Unit, Section |
| 7 | Chief Inspector | Section or Powered Division | Detective Chief Inspector | ID Unit, Section; may command a Tactical Division if necessary |
| 8 | Superintendent | Division or Powered Division | Detective Superintendent | Precinct Investigations Division; may command a Tactical Divisionif necessary |
| 9 | Assistant Chief Superintendent | Division and / or Precinct | - | - |
| 10 | Chief Superintendent | MARS | - | - |
Despite the view of the public that MARS began in 2029, the building blocks for it were actually established in Sydney during the year 2026. The first incarnation of MARS was the Boomer Criminal Investigation Department (BCID) of the Metropolitan Police. Despite the fact that the Big Splash occurred two years before Tokyo's Second Great Kanto Quake, Sydney was not as high on Genom's construction priority list as MegaTokyo (construction on the Tower in Sydney only began in 2028). Therefore, the rate of Boomers assigned to the city, and thus the rate of Boomer Syndrome, rose more slowly than that of MegaTokyo. Initially, the duties of the BCID were simply to track down and apprehend those who were responsible for Boomer crime and illegal cyberware sale (never as much a problem as it was in MegaTokyo); but as the police became hard-pressed to physically deal with a rampaging Boomer or enhanced criminal, the BCID was rapidly (and in a makeshift fashion) upgraded with more weapons and greater powers to deal with such threats themselves. However, due to the resultant patchwork nature of the BCID, they became somewhat inefficient at solving crimes and stopping Boomers and cyborgs at the same time.
By 2028, the BCID was so disorganised that the Police Commissioner of the time began searching for a solution. He found it in MegaTokyo: The AD Police. Consultants were brought in from MegaTokyo and from the BCID itself to utterly reorganise the BCID into an efficient anti-Boomer Crime force. Amongst the BCID consultants was Chief Inspector Andrea Macklesea, a veteran police officer and member of the BCID since its inception. It was she who supported the AD Police model of making the new unit a separate force, responsible only to the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, rather than simply a wing of the standard police. She also was responsible for most of the composition and tactical deployment planning for the unit.
In 2029, the Mobile Armoured Response Squads were officially established, with Andrea Macklesea promoted to Assistant Chief Superintendent. One year later, she was placed in charge of the newly-formed Central Sydney Precinct Division 2. Macklesea has since risen to the rank of Chief Superintendent and holds authority over the entire MARS organisation from her office in Central Sydney. She has been responsible for keeping MARS afloat through troubled times and has supported many innovative plans to keep it ahead of the Boomer crime problem, including the inception of the DK-01 Hound Battleslave.
MARS coverage of Sydney is split into three Precincts, each with their own Divisions of troops: Central Sydney, covering the main Genom construction areas, the CBD and lower North Shore, west to Botany and east to Parramatta; Northern, covering the Upper North Shore and the Expanded North Metro Zone; and South-West, covering the southern suburbs as far south as the Georges River.
Central Sydney is the MARS Headquarters, containing the office of Chief Superintendent Andrea Macklesea, and due to its location, it is the precinct that sees the most action. It boasts two full Divisions of men and equipment, and expects them to perform to their utmost capability. Incidents of rampaging Boomers occur here with the most frequency; thus, life can be a nightmare for the average MARS trooper assigned to Central Sydney.
Northern Precinct is often the dream assignment for a MARS policeman; it is situated in one of the richest areas of the metropolitan area. The North Shore is often quiet, and Boomer crimes on the North Shore are few. The most MARS Northern usually has to deal with are the bored kids of upper-middle class parents getting cyber and "having some fun" (the Street Machines gang often get caught on the freeways of the North Shore).
As a result, arrests are usually lax, which the commanding officer, ACS Matthew Larraby, does not see as corruption, but rather as helping friends (his fellow North Shore families) out (street people are considered the worst form of scum). The Northern Precinct has a tendency for laziness (which has often resulted in a policeman getting wounded or killed in combat, although combat occurs with little enough frequency that, with a little fiddling of the books, it looks like standard losses for an active MARS Precinct). MARS officers assigned here tend to be arrogant and a little sloppy. Many have thus compared the Northern Precinct to the NSBC's own North Shore Security. Needless to say, Andrea Macklesea keeps an eye on Northern.
Note: Several unit descriptions (such as Powered Units and Investigations) impose service requirements upon those who wish to join. Keep in mind that as of 2032, MARS is only four years old, so these requirements are viewed more as guidelines rather than rules, and the CO of each unit determines whether a MARS cop is fit to join such a unit (the final arbiter of any disputes is Andrea Macklesea).
A single Mobile Armoured Response Squad consists of twelve Squad Officers, including a Sergeant in command and an Operations officer. The MARS Table of Organisation & Equiment outlines two deployment methods for a Squad: Patrol / Heavy Response, or Tactical.
A Patrol unit is standard deployment option for a MARS squad. The twelve members split into six Patrol units of two officers each: A junior, usually a constable, and a senior, usually a senior constable or sergeant) who are assigned a general duties sedan. The Patrol usually has a set piece of turf to cover; their purpose is to provide a rapid on-site assessment of a call and to eliminate threats that do not warrant the attention of a Heavy Response team or Tactical Squad. It is not standard for Patrol personnel to be armoured whilst on duty, but light armour is always carried in the trunk in case the situation warrants it.
When patrolling, some squads are assigned Heavy Response duties. This unit is assigned higher-power small arms, a heavy weapon and an SV Commodore or a VX2. Regular armour is worn as standard.
In any one shift, some squads are assigned Tactical duties. Such squads are either held in reserve at the Precinct house or may be assigned a patrol route if trouble is expected. These troopers are fully armed and armoured, and are supported by a single MARS Urban APC, crewed by a driver (one of the troopers) and the tactical/commo manager who doubles as gunner.
A MARS Section consists of four MARS squads plus a single Operations APC and a minicopter transport.
The Division consists of four fully equipped Sections plus an additional Operations APC (Division Command). MARS Central Sydney Precinct houses two Divisions and the Southern and Northern Precincts house one each. Divisions are only used as coherent units to neutralise a dire threat to the city (such as several Boomers or a small number of advanced Boomers such as Battle Boomers), and Tactical Division deployment has been used sparingly since 2030, when the entire Central Sydney Division (there was only one at the time) was assembled to halt the rampage of the Chrome Injectors.
As can likely be imagined, deploying an entire Division is extremely difficult, to say the least. As full combat deployment of a Division is unlikely ever to occur, the Division structure is simply used as a framework to organise a shift roster, breaking the four Sections into eight-hour shifts. Per division, two squads' worth of patrol units are on the streets at any given shift, plus two squads on Heavy Response patrol and one squad on Tactical deployment. All MARS cops are expected to be on-call even when off-shift.
It is worth noting that, when combat units of two or more Sections are deployed, they receive additional firepower from the precinct's Powered Division; typically one Powered Unit per section deployed.
Minor Divisions are distinct bodies within the MARS framework, and unlike the cut-and-dried TO&E of a standard Division, often have fairly loose, flexible structures. Currently, there are two types of minor divisions within MARS: Powered Divisions and Investigations Divisions.
Every MARS precinct has a Powered Division, consisting of that precinct's powered armour and pilots. Each Division is split up into Powered Units. Powered units are small squads of powered armour. They are sent in when a Squad or a Section cannot handle a threat. They can also provide support to Divisions when such deployment is necessary. MARS has two types of Powered Units: K-8 units and Hound units.
To become a Powered Armour Pilot, a MARS cop must have a minimum rank of Senior Constable and four years of experience.
Priority One for a Powered Unit is to ensure the safety of any civilians. Once that priority has been fulfilled (or if the area has already been cleared), Priority Two is to secure and neutralise the Boomer threat. MARS is not authorised for unlimited collateral damage, so any pilot who causes a large amount of damage to buildings, public or private property, etcetera is severely reprimanded, with penalties ranging from fines to demotion to discharge from the unit and the police force, with the possibility of a trial. It is expected of pilots that they be able to dispense of Boomers rapidly and without (or with minimal) damage to the local environment.
To become a Powered Armour Pilot, a MARS cop must have a minimum rank of Senior Constable and four years of experience. Proven accuracy with firearms and heavy weapons is a favourable requisite. However, many current PA pilots (and most K-8 suits) have been recruited directly from the Australian military or other armed forces, and are condescending toward those transferred from MARS frontline units on merit.
K-8 Armoured Trooper Powered Unit
The K-8 Armoured Trooper unit was originally intended as a rapid-response threat neutralisation unit, relying on the speed of the K-8 Powered Suits for rapid delivery to an urban trouble spot. As standard, a K-8 Unit consists of two K-8 Armoured Troopers. The urban transport/maintenance unit that is deployed with the Hounds is absent here, as is any other form of support (except perhaps for airdrop from a Skyhopper Osprey); a K-8 must return to base for repair and reloading. Central's Powered Division sports eight K-8 Troopers (four units) and the Powered Divisions of Northern and Southern each have six (three units).
Although K-8s may make good rescue equipment, many K-8 units must maintain a simultaneous attack when faced with a high-grade Boomer. Thus, K-8s usually provide distraction while other units, such as a Patrol unit or a Squad, conduct search and rescue.
The Hound Urban Operations unit is based around a DK-01 Mk. 4c Hound Battleslave, and is intended for one purpose: the effective counteraction and neutralisation of high technology level threats (such as Boomers) to the city and its citizens. The nature of the Hound's primary mission- the policing of the streets of Sydney- is quite different from the battlefield operations the Mk. 1 Hound was intended for. This creates differences in not only the Battleslave, but its use and ancillary equipment.
The unit consists of one Hound with pilot and one Kennel Transport with a driver, one Operations officer and two Squad Officers in Tactical outfit. Members of a Hound unit will often rotate duties every shift.
Standard deployment is via road (via Kennel Transport) but a Hound will occasionally fly to more distant areas (with a Kennel loaded aboard a modified Skyhopper cargo pod). As of 2033, Central has four Hound units, whilst Northern and Southern each have only one. Plans are being circulated to add more Hound units, but rebuilding Sydney after the Night of Madness is considered a higher priority for budget allocation.
Operation procedures for the Hound are somewhat different than that of the K-8 team, due to the flexibility granted by two normal troopers and the advanced Hound. Standard procedure for Priority One is for the two troopers to conduct rescue operations whilst the Hound attempts to draw the Boomer's (or Boomers') fire.
Every major police department has its own Investigations Division, and MARS is no exception. This arm of the MARS precinct is assigned the often tricky job of tracking those responsible a Boomer or high-tech crime down. Often, this may simply result in a construction manager who simply pushed his Boomers too hard. The offender is slapped with a standard fine and the case is pursued; those in charge of the construction can find charges levelled against them if it is discovered that they were pressuring their crews to work harder (if this isn't the case, the foreman faces the full charges). Such charges cover damage the rogue Boomer caused (which may result in hefty fines and possible prison time) and, if the Boomer was responsible for any deaths, manslaughter. However, some Boomer crimes are not as simple, and this is where MARS Investigations comes into its own, sifting through mountains of data in order to get to those responsible.
It should be noted that Genom has pull even here, and many cases which were traced in their general direction have been quietly filed away and forgotten.
Investigations is also tasked with tracking down cyborgs who have failed to submit themselves for psychiatric evaluation (see Cyber Law, below). Although many of these cases are solved when the cyborg (which has usually gone over the edge into Boomer Sydnrome) is tracked down, apprehended (after calling in a Tactical Squad or two) and dragged away to Daffyd Logan Asylum, there are some cases which tend to be more unusual. Perhaps the truant cyborg is the victim of of cyber-ripping (forcibly removing someone's cyber-implant from their body, often causing grievous bodily harm or death in the process; see Cyber Crime), or perhaps the 'borg was sent over the edge into Syndrome because of a faulty, black-market or illegal piece of cyberware that must be tracked to its source. There are enough unusual crimes to ensure MARS Detectives are kept on their toes.
To be transferred to Investigations, a MARS cop must hold a minimum rank of Sergeant and have a minimum of six years on the force, four of which, of course, must have been served with a Squad. However, as MARS is only three years old as of 2032, many Investigators are ex-BCID (who are somewhat cocky with their new-found freedom after the red tape constriction of the BCID) or ex-MetroPolice (who are rather condescending toward solving Boomer crime, which they see as simple compared to human crime). Only a very few Detectives have been promoted from the ranks of the MARS frontline troops.
Investigations Division is the most loosely-organised of all MARS' divisions, which is probably why few ex-military MARS cops serve in it for too long. A Detectiver has his or her own desk at a precinct, but often finds him- or herself travelling between precincts in order to effectively track a complex case. Central Sydney's Investigations Division is approximately twenty-strong; South-West's has thirty (including trainees) and Northern's, ten.
When a cop becomes a Detective, he uses the Investigations Division rank structure rather than the normal police ranks. This reflects the Investigations Division's status, and their different duties, as a separate unit within MARS.
Detectives are deployed in pairs, a Junior (Detective Sergeant or Detective Senior Sergeant) and a Senior (Detective Senior Sergeant to Detective Chief Inspector, although a Detective Senior Sergeant is only given command of an ID unit if a manpower shortage is in effect). Detectives are assigned an unmarked SV Commodore. ID units with a good service record may request a VX2. Detectives are typically underarmed (armour is issued on request rather than standard issue), although requests for heavy weapons are usually granted.
MARS Detectives of Inspector rank and higher are able to obtain access to most MARS equipment depending on their current assignment, including high-speed pursuit vehicles, heavy weapons and occasionally a powered armour (if the ID cops have spent time with Powered Units). However, this does mean that they get a lot more paperwork than the average policeman, and at the end of the day it ALL has to be submitted or the Investigator will find their next requests for gear denied (and if they let their paperwork really slide, they can face demotion in rank and/or being busted back to frontline duty with the rest of the grunts).
A Detective of Inspector rank usually commands a Section, and, if they have high enough rank (Chief Inspector or Superintendent), can be placed in command of a Division when such deployment is necessary.
Due to its origins with the ADP, many observers will discover that MARS equipment is very often a licensed copy of its ADP counterpart. At other times, vehicles comparable in task will look different and will probably be built differently, but have comparable performance statistics. Below is a table of AD Police vehicles, their MARS counterparts and any stat modifications for the MARS versions.
NOTE: Holden is now owned by Genom. Despite this, the NSW police still buy from the Holden subsidiaries, so any Holden police vehicles (Commodores etc.) are now Genom vehicles (ie. Genom Commodore).
| AD Police | MARS | MARS Modifications |
|---|---|---|
| Interceptor | Genom Special Vehicles Commodore Sedan | None |
| Road Chaser | Genom Special Vehicles Commodore Sedan VX2 | None |
| Cruiser | Ford Falcon General Duties Sedan | None |
| THP Motorcycle | BMW Police Motorcycle | None |
| Troop Transport | Urban APC | Space: 1 Driver, 1 Ops, 10 Troops |
| Command Vehicle | Operations APC | None |
| Heliporter Truck | Heliporter Truck | None |
| Fire Bee Minicopter | Fire Bee Minicopter | None |
Standard gear for the MARS frontline trooper is little different from the AD Police. Armour, although cosmetically different, is unchanged. In addition to a Glock 9mm pistol (use ADP combat 9mm stats), all MARS ground cops carry a Member-II pistol modified to accept a seven-shot clip. Rather than an M42-A1 assault rifle, a 12-gague Riot Shotgun is carried by MARS police; they face psychotic cyberpunks more often than berserk Boomers, so weapons with a lower potential of hitting innocent bystanders and damaging the local environment are preffered.
Standard duty uniform for MARS cops is a cobalt and white jumpsuit. Squad Officers layer armour over this, while pilots and Powered Unit troopers must change into a flightsuit before piloting their vehicle. Investigators may wear plain clothes, of course.
One of MARS' unique machines is the DK-01 Mk. 4c Hound Battleslave, a new design produced last year by local mechatronics firm, Kludge Engineering Sciences. Most of the other unique MARS vehicles and equipment have arisen to fill the niches of the wide variety of helicopters in the AD Police.
Kenworth 395-M "Kennel" Battleslave Transport 37 CP
Weight 15.5 Tons Space Cab: 1 Driver, 3 Passengers
Trailer: See SubsystemsManoeuvre -1 REF, -2 REF fully laden Move 24 (384 kph), 15 (336 kph) fully laden
D10 Location Armour Structure 1-3 Tractor 3K 12K 4 Tractor Wheels (3 L, 3 R) 3K 1K Each 5-8 Trailer 3K None, damage dealt to contents 9-10 Trailer Wheels (3 L, 3 R) 3K 1K Each
- Subsystems
- Life Support (Full sealing against Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Agents).
- Advanced Sensor Suite (Optical, audio, radio, low-light vision, thermograph, tactical display, instrumentation) and linkup to local security camera net. Range: 4 Km.
- Communication system; range: 800 Km
- Trailer can store up to 6000 Kg; most is taken up by a Hound Battleslave, a recharge facility and a set of spare batteries.
Since its inception with Sydney's MARS units, a range of support equipment has been created to assist the Hound in its Urban environment. Primary of these is a modified Kenworth tractor/semi-trailer, used to rapidly deploy the Hound near or at a crisis zone. Due to the fact that a Hound is rarely seen without one of these transporters, it has come to be known to the police who operate it as the Kennel.
Mounting hydraulic jacks, the trailer bed is designed to elevate the horizontally-stowed Hound (lying on its back) into a sitting position, allowing the Hound pilot to stand up and walk out. The truck not only serves provides rapid and unobtrusive deployment, it also serves as mobile recharge station, allowing the Hound to be resupplied with fresh batteries charged from a large micro-fusion plant.
A small cabin to the rear of the driver's cab serves as the Operations console, a smaller version of the Squad Operations suite found in MARS Operations APCs. From here, the Hound Unit Operations Officer oversees the battle from the Kennel's own sensors in addition to links with local security cameras, the Hound's sensors and the helmet cams of the foot troopers. As well as being shown on individual screens, the visual data from these sources is compiled along with a database of the city and analysed. The results are displayed as a three-dimensional map on a large tactical screen, giving the Ops Officer an unparalleled panorama of the battle site and allowing him to advise the Hound and the two troopers.
V-22 Super Osprey 34 CP
Weight 11 Tons Range 3000 Miles Manoeuvre -1 Ref Top Speed 28 (454 kph) Strength STR 3 Crew 2, 2 Passengers Sensor Range 11km Comm Range 1300km
D10 Location Armour Structure 1-4 Main Body 2K 6K 5-6 Left Wing 2K 3K 7-8 Right Wing 2K 3K 9-10 Cargo Pod 2K None, damage dealt to contents
- Subsystems
- Life Support (Full sealing against Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Agents).
- Advanced Sensor Suite (Optical, audio, radio, targeting, low-light vision, thermograph, instrumentation, HUD).
- Propeller turbines in Wings; if one wing is destroyed, flight capabilities are lost.
- Modular cargo pod can store up to 3000 Kg.
- Quick-Change mount for Pod.
During the conception phases, the planners for MARS were searching for a home-grown alternative to the ADP Aerial Battlesuit Transport. After shopping around, they found the cheaper and easier-to-maintain V-22 Super Osprey. However, despite the initial intention to simply use it as a Powered Suit transporter, it has become a multipurpose transport, resupply and command aircraft.
The V-22, or Skyhopper, is built with a modular cargo bay system. The cargo bay aft of the pilot and passenger stations can be detached and replaced with another. This allows for a very rapid turnaround time between missions, as the entire cargo bay does not need to be stripped and refurbished to make it capable for a different task than it was previously assigned. Standard cargo pods include K-8 transport (up to four K-8s and support equipment), Troop Transport and Airborne Division Command (when a Skyhopper is used for this purpose, it is escorted by a squadron of Fire Bee Minicopters).
Several Skyhoppers are assigned to each MARS Precinct; with their VTOL capability, they do not need runways. Each MARS Precinct also houses several empty cargo pods which can be re-outfitted for any purpose.
As has been stated above, MARS was created as an entirely separate branch of the police force, responsible only to the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner; a rapid-response, anti-Boomer unit does not need to be bogged down by the existing bureaucracy in an established Metropolitan Police station. This has led to a lot of friction between MARS and the Metro Police: The average MetroCop sees MARS as a bunch of gung-ho, ironclad, jurisdiction-jumping adrenaline junkies, using equipment that should have been part of their station, and commanded by a Chief Superintendent who's younger than most Senior Sergeants (although this last is only a grudging complaint; many have heard [usually apocryphal] tales of the legendary Andrea Macklesea and her crime-solving escapades).
Most MARS police, however, know that they're putting their lives on the line virtually every time they respond to a rogue Boomer alert, and, resenting the flak they receive from the MetroCops for saving their butts, have developed a cold, aloof demeanour to the average MetroCop. This "freezing-out" led to an incident when a MetroCop, annoyed his ragging-out of a K-8 pilot wasn't having any effect, called the pilot a "Martian". Instead of taking it as an insult, the pilot simply turned and said, "Yeah, I'm a Martian, and me and my Martian Walker here are gonna heat-ray you and anyone else who gets in our way next time we're trying to take down a Boomer." The nickname rapidly spread and, despite Chief Superintendent Macklesea's best efforts, almost all MARS police have started using it in reference to themselves and each other.
There are those among the MetroPolice who do realise the good MARS does (usually because a MARS squad or Powered Suit unit saved the MetroCop's life and the lives of several others when a Boomer suddenly went on the rampage), but as most MetroCops don't often deal with the Boomer problem except to help clear up the mess after MARS have dealt with a rampage (probably wrecking much of the local environment in the process), the animosity between the two branches of the service will remain for a long while to come.