Rival Company 101: DarkNight Civilian Convert Teams

(DN Cells, 3C Dops, Dino Converts, Meatball squads, Pitbull packs, Zombie cells)

Last lecture I talked about DarkNight Sniper teams, which although rare are one of the deadliest fighting teams that DarkNight has available. Today I am going to give a brief run through about their Civilian Convert teams, which you are much more likely to come across in your travels. The first thing to remember is that just because we call them Civilian Converts, don't expect them to be an easy threat. Although most converts are from a civilian background that doesn't mean they aren't very good at what they do. DarkNight's key strength on Mort is founded by the Civilian Converts and without them they would have to revert to the hit and run tactics that Thresher rely on.

A typical convert team has four members, one of whom will have had extra training by DarkNight. That's not to say the other three are easy to defeat, as they are often from a gang or soft company background anyway. All four will have grown up in the environment that they work in and can easily blend in to any crowd. They know that they have to act quickly and effectively in anything they do and then spend the rest of the time trying not to draw any attention to themselves. They believe strongly in their cause fully believing that the ends justify the means in their actions. They also take time to plan their attacks in advance and ensure that they have back up plans in case they get discovered.

The leader of the team is the only one who is specifically known by DarkNight. He knows not only the area supervisor for the area but also several DarkNight sympathisers who will offer assistance to him as necessary. Trained in Persuasive Techniques (Persuasion 5, Bribery 4), Street Information Gathering (Streetwise 5, Detect 4) and Threat Assessment (Evaluate Opponent 5, Tactics 4) the main purpose of the leader is to gather information about everything that is going on in the area. This information is then passed back to DarkNight through the Area Supervisor to evaluate what action needs undertaking. The secondary purpose of the leader is to lead the convert team in any actions that are required by them in the area. This training involves the use of weapons (Pistol 4, Rifle 3, Auto/Support 3), Explosives (Demolitions 4, Disposal 3) and Stealth attacks (Sneak 4, Hide 3, Run 3). He also has basic vehicle (Drive Civilian 3) and first aid (Paramedic 3) training.

The remaining three members of the team will have been hand chosen by the team leader from the sympathisers in the area. They tend to be young people from families that are also DarkNight sympathisers. The leader is their only contact to DarkNight, although they may come to recognize a few of the names and faces they meet over the years. They may also know some members of the sympathiser network. The group will also know the name and location of a DarkNight Sympathiser who will assist them in dire situations. Normally the team acts as two separate pairs, with one member acting as a bodyguard for the leader and the other pair gathering information in the area. Most of the skills these Converts have are self taught. The team leader will train them in the skills he has been taught but normally they will only know them at one or two ranks lower. Any Convert who becomes especially good is often promoted to team leader and given the full training as detailed previously.

Support staff:

One of the main reasons that the Convert teams are successful is that they have a lot of assistance in their community. The main support is from the area supervisor who has contact to only the team leader. The area supervisor will have met the whole team on very few occasions and most likely will not know the names of the three support converts. The initial time he will have met the team is when they were formed to scan for Finance Chips. Other than that he will only meet them if the convert team is about to undertake a mission of utmost importance. Each area supervisor will have several teams underneath him including a sniper team and an interceptor team. He will try to ensure that in most circumstances the teams do not interact with each other. This is so that he is the only one who can identify the team members. SLA currently pays big bonuses for any information about area supervisors, as capturing them can reveal a lot of what is going on in sector as well as crippling most of the DarkNight Convert teams. I'll be covering them more in depth in the lecture on DarkNight Influence. If he is taken out the convert team leaders will only know the address and name of one other person who can assist them - the sympathiser leader.

Acting as support for the Convert Teams is a network of DarkNight Sympathisers, lead by the Sympathiser Leader. This person is often an ex-DarkNight Infiltrator who has retired from active duty. As their last duty to DarkNight they establish themselves in an area (often the area they worked in previously) and gather a network of people who are willing to assist the DarkNight cause. Their network will provide basic information gathering, safe houses, food and money for the convert teams as required. They will also distribute anti-sla propaganda and seek to influence any demonstrations against Sla to their own needs. They won't however be involved in any violent actions against Sla, leaving that to the Convert teams. As with the area supervisor, the sympathiser leader is of high importance to Sla. If both are identified by us the whole DarkNight influence in a sector can be extensively crippled. This is the reason why Convert teams are told little about who they work for and vice versa, so that it is harder to identify most of the people involved.

A little aside before I discuss common weapons and equipment that the Convert teams use. Operatives hunting for DarkNight often end up searching for people who look military trained, are outspoken about their believes, and who seem popular and influential in the surrounding area. This is their downfall. DarkNight agents, especially the area supervisor and the sympathiser leader can be absolutely anyone. They tend to keep to themselves most of the time and will only have a few people nearby to act as bodyguards and assistants. They spend their whole time watching for signs that they are under surveillance and will not do anything that compromises the DarkNight activities in the sector. They will appear completely legitimate and any cover stories will be iron clad. There is a reason that Operatives are paid a lot of money to identify them and that is because it hardly ever happens. The best most Operatives achieve is to destroy one cell of a Convert team. Those who try pushing further tend to find a DN Sniper team camped outside their home, or an Interceptor waking them up.

Mission Equipment & Tactics:

Each convert team is reasonably well equipped for any missions they are undertaking. Normally they have access to 10mm pistols, DN flak vests and communicators. The pistols are normally DN74s, but occasionally they are Fen 603s. Only the team leader will have a laser painter or a silencer, unless they all require it for a specific mission. The flak vests are designed to look like normal clothing and only someone 'padding down' the convert will realise it is armour. The communicators are similar to the Operative Head Set Communicators, although all signals are securely encoded by VEnt prior to transmission. The communicator is often hidden inside a mobile phone, that will look and act normal unless the communicator is removed from inside it. This is primarily to prevent detection of the sophisticated DarkNight equipment. Often Convert teams will also have fake SCL10 IDs which will even pass preliminary checks to the SLA-Net Operative Database.

The team leader will also have a supply of cash, a DN BodySuit, healing drugs and a supply of Shatter for emergencies. This will often be hidden near to his apartment (perhaps the basement, or a nearby sewer tunnel) in a small armoured case. Also inside this case is a spare gun, silencer, several clips and false ID for all the squad. Only the team leader knows where the case is, although sometimes they will inform the rest of the squad.

During most missions the convert team has access to slightly heavier weapons. Depending on the mission, the team will be able to use 10mm SMGs, additional fake SCL cards, night vision optics, grenades (smoke and explosive), healing drugs and the occasional DN BodySuit. On occasion 10mm Assault Rifles are also used, however most of the time the Convert team will want the mission to be quick and quiet. On very rare occasions Convert Teams will act as support for Interceptors and will then have access to the heavier DarkNight weapons and armour. However, Interceptors don't respect the non-military trained civilians that much and don't like to trust them with heavy weapons.

On a normal mission the Convert team will spend about a week on surveillance, planning how they are going to undertake their objectives. If it is a location they will try to find out the full blue prints for it. If they have to assassinate a person, they will monitor his routine and identify his associates. During this surveillance time the team can order additional equipment through the area supervisor. He will also want to know the details of their attack to ensure that it doesn't interfere with any other activity that is planned and also so he can determine if other teams may be needed as back up. The planning will also cover two fallback addresses that the team can go meet up at, in case they get separated at any time. These addresses will primarily be set up by the sympathiser network and extra clothing, weapons and medical drugs will be made available at each location for emergency use.

Besides sabotaging buildings and assassinating targets the Civilian Converts are also used for other purposes, especially in DownTown. Convert teams are often used to assist the black market, acting as extra protection for certain key shipments like drugs and money. Occasionally Convert teams are used to make examples of those that have acted against DarkNight, this can be in the shape of attacking independent merchants or arson attacks on buildings. As with their other missions these will be planned out in advance to prevent any surprises. Occasionally Convert teams are used as emergency back up to other DarkNight teams. Normally their job is to tie up an opposing force to allow an individual to escape. They will often try to slow the attacking force, buying time for a sniper team to arrive and take over.

Engaging Civilian Convert Teams:

The main thing to remember with Convert teams are that they will be very used to working as a team. If you are engaging two members in combat, you should be wary of the remaining two members ambushing you from behind. If you suspect a team working in the same sector as you, try to identify all four members before you attack them, as they come from all walks of life and the innocent civilian next to you may suddenly turn out to be the missing fourth member. Once you have engaged them, don't let them retreat or escape. If they escape they will be heading for a safe house where they can rest and re-group. Some Operatives have tried following them to their safe house in the hope that all of the members can be attacked. What is more likely to happen is that the Squad is seen on the way there by a civilian sympathiser and a DarkNight Sniper team is rushed to the area to engage the Operatives instead.

When attacked the Convert Team will attempt to save the team leader above the other three members. This is because he knows the name and location of the area supervisor. Even if he is captured great care must be taken to ensure that he remains alive. Some of the most dedicated will try to commit suicide, but the majority are killed by a DarkNight Sniper team to prevent them giving anything away. Very few captured DarkNight agents are ever allowed back in to DarkNight. The risk that they are now an informant is too great for the suppressor power. However DarkNight has on occasion sent in Interceptor teams to rescue captured team leaders, even storming Shiver bases if necessary.

Okay, hopefully that introduction to DarkNight Civilian Convert Teams will help you survive a little longer in the field. The next lecture will cover the infamous Interceptor teams.

RELATED TOPICS

DarkNight Sniper Teams

DarkNight Interceptor Squads