The City of Ishpeming exists to service the employees and customers of Northern Gun. Most of the citizens are employees of Northern Gun. Although anyone can register to be a citizen, they must pay a hefty application fee (150,000 credits). For non-employees, citizenship must be renewed every three years, and along with renewal comes another fee. Being a citizen allows access to all municipal services from education and health care to membership at public libraries and community programs. Additionally, only registered citizens are allowed to vote in the city council elections. And in order to buy a house or obtain a building permit, you must also be a citizen. Anyone who works for NG, or anyone who has enough money, can become a citizen regardless of race, although magic users and most super-natural beings applications are almost always denied.
Access to public services is restricted to citizens due to the high transient population in the City of Ishpeming. Merchants, mercenaries, and vagrants all pass through the city in alarming numbers, and Ishpeming could not afford to offer them services, even on a pay-per-use basis, without overwhelming the infrastructure. The only city services accessible to non-citizens on a pay-per-use basis are public transit and the City Information Service (CIS), a local network of information about the city. That being said, visitors can access health care, augmentation, and a variety of other services for a fee through Northern Gun companies. However, these for-profit centers are owned and operated by Northern Gun and not the City of Ishpeming.
The Ishpeming City Administration
The city is governed by The Ishpeming City Administration, which consists of a twenty-three member Administrative Council and the Chief Administrative Office. The Council is made up of one Councilor elected from each of Ishpeming's districts, and it is headed by the Speaker of The Council. The Council is also advised by a Northern Gun representative who holds a seat on the Council. Council members are elected every five years. A Speaker is chosen by a consensus vote from the elected Council members, and the NG Representative is appointed by the company. The Administrative Council meets once a week at City Hall to discuss the budget, debate local laws and by-laws, and discuss citizen services. In addition to the Council meetings, elected representatives also chair committees and boards, such as local school boards, hospital boards, planning committees, and project & construction committees. The Council and its members set policy and directives while day to day operations are handled by the Chief Administrative Office.
The vast majority of citizens are also Northern Gun employees. Therefore, the NG representative carries a lot of weight in Council deliberations. This person is often there to make sure the company and its interests are protected, but also to create a clear line of communications between the two entities. Large scale building projects, budget increases, or changes in taxation often come down to what the NG Representative recommends. For the most part, the NG Representative is interested in things that make employees more productive such as education, health and leisure.
Chief Administrative Office
The Administrative Council sets budgets, plans and policies, while the Chief Administrative Office oversees their implementation. This body, headed by the City Administrator (appointed by the Council), makes certain that Council directives are carried out by the respective departments, ensures projects are being completed on time, and provides administrative support to the Speaker and Council Members. Since the City Administrator has a hand in all of the Council directives and Speaker Affairs, he often becomes quite powerful and influential, and can often bend the Speaker’s ear. Thus, Council Members, Northern Gun, and many other factions often compete for the City Administrator's attention. The Chief Administrative Office is also responsible for coordinating the day to day operations of the city's nine major departments. Each of the departments is headed by a Department Superintendent that reports to the City Administrator.
Department of Communications
Ishpeming City internal communications and public relations are handled by this department, often with support and advice from the NG Marketing Division. New city initiatives, changes in programming and services, and major announcements are all part of the everyday for this group. The Department of Communications is also responsible for the content provided through the Citizen Information Service (CIS) and works very closely with the Department of Information Technology to ensure the service is displaying the most recent news with the most positive spin.
Department of Finance
Revenue collection is generally very simple, as most citizens are NG Employees. As a result, Northern Gun simply taxes the income of its employees at a rate set upon by the city and transfers the money to the City of Ishpeming. All NG employees pay a flat rate of tax that ensures their citizenship. Employees who work for twenty-five consecutive years become permanent citizens and can keep all benefits of citizenship after they retire from Northern Gun. Employees who leave Northern Gun before twenty-five years can retain their citizenship by becoming non-employee citizens and paying a renewal fee every three years.
The Finance Department also oversees billing and collection of non-employee citizenship fees and the pay-per-use services. Non-employee citizens could be independent mercenaries who want to call Ishpeming their home, traveling merchants, employees of non-NG businesses, or adventurers who want a safe, modern place to live. The current fee for non-employee three year citizenship is 150,000 NGMI Credits. For most people this is very expensive, and the City knows that. Citizenship offers many benefits, but is mainly designed for the benefit of Northern Gun and its employees; therefore non-employee citizenship must produce profit for the city. Employees of Northern Gun who leave before twenty-five years of service see a reduction of this fee based on years served. Every year, pay-per-use services and citizenship fees are reviewed for profitability, and recommendations are made to the Administrative Council on changes to these fees.
Department of Citizen Services
Citizen Services is the largest department in terms of employees and budget, and it also has the most committees and boards overseen by members of the Administrative Council. Citizen Services include schools, recreation, and a whole host of smaller projects that serve the populace, such as birth certificates and child day care. Each district has a school that services the citizens in the area; school size and funding are based on the number of registered citizens in the area and the influence of their local Councilor. The schools in Ishpeming are some of the best on Rifts Earth, and they focus primarily on reading, mathematics and sciences. The purpose of the school system is to train citizen’s children to be future Northern Gun employees. Those that show promise in people skills are recommended to Northern Gun University (NGU) for the Business and Management Training Program, while those with high technical aptitude are funneled to Northern Gun Technical College (NGTC) to study as Operators, engineers, and other technical vocations. The university and college are run by Northern Gun and are separate entities from the City Schools.
Recreation is a large priority for the City of Ishpeming because Northern Gun believes healthy employees are productive employees. Therefore, the city offers extensive recreational programs, the largest of which is the Ishpeming Recreational Hockey Association (IRHA). Each district has a local hockey program with teams for kids, teens and adults. Teams from each district play against each other twice a year (44 games a year) with the top-eight teams playing in the Top Gun Tournament. The play-offs are held in February to help beat the blues brought on by the harsh Northern Michigan winters, and they are the talk of the city. Each age bracket has a Top Gun Tournament, but the Adult tournament gets the most press. Participation in the league is voluntary, and the city has no professional hockey teams. However, the lack of a professional league doesn’t stop the richer districts from trying to attract superstars by offering to pay the non-employee citizen fee, among other perks. As a result, the city places a limit of two non-employee citizens per team.
In addition to the Top Gun Tournament, the city also has a Juicer Football team. However, the team is owned, operated and administered by Northern Gun and not the city. Citizens and non-citizens must pay to attend the games.
The other main function of the Department of Citizen Services is the maintenance of citizen identification cards. These identification cards allow citizens to access the CIS and public transit. ID cards are required to participate in elections, register for school or sports, and receive hospital services. Children are registered on their parents’ card until they turn eighteen. At this time they must find work at NG, go to NGU or NGTC, or be denied services.
Department of Public Transit
The main method of personal transport in Ishpeming is the NG-300 Speedster Hover Cycle. However, when traveling to work, NG employees often prefer the public transit system as it runs from every district to every NG plant and facility through a series of stations. The main public transport system is the mono-rail system that connects each district to the other and to Northern Gun. Citizens can use the mono-rail free of charge, while non-citizens can purchase daily, weekly, or monthly passes. Fees generated from non-citizens cover very little of the cost and the bulk of the system is maintained through citizen taxation.
Department of Information Technology
The primary function of the IT Department is to service and maintain the Citizen Information System (CIS, often pronounced "Sis"). The CIS is a local computer network, allowing users to have a messaging account, search local websites, and access information about the city. The Communications Department offers important bulletins through the CIS, and most citizens use it as their primary form of receiving and sending information. The CIS also allows Northern Gun employees to check their corporate messaging accounts and work from remote locations. Non-citizen accounts are anonymous for the most part and easy to set up. An initial activation fee is paid, and then users can access the network on a credit-per-minute basis. Accounts cannot be opened with anything except an NGMI Credit Card, and service is discontinued when a card runs out of credits. These non-citizen accounts are very popular with mercenaries as a way to find jobs. Other more undesirable non-citizens like the anonymous nature of the accounts, and use them to conduct and administer their illicit dealings.
Non-citizen CIS accounts are extremely popular and profitable. As a result, it is one of the few entirely self-funding departments in Ishpeming, very little citizen tax dollars are spent on the system, and those are only for capital improvements and upgrades.
When Northern Gun signed its treaty with the Coalition States, both parties were hoping to link their information systems to allow Ishpeming Citizens to access CS content and vice versa. However, the large number of anonymous users on the system made the CS leery. Instead, the CS pays a fee every year to Ishpeming to run a Coalition States information site on the system. This site provides propagandized news items, information on CS citizenship, and other information. It also allows CS digital agents access to the system to help uncover Black Marketeers and other criminals who may be using the Northern Gun network.
Department of Public Works
As most construction projects are managed by Northern Gun, the Public Works Department is actually quite small. Its two primary functions are city planning and snow removal. All other services such as road maintenance, building maintenance, and beautification are contracted out to Northern Gun companies.
Department of Utilities
Like Public Works, Utilities is a small department. All power and water generation are done at Northern Gun facilities. The Utilities Department manages the municipal power grid and water flow. If they detect a problem, Northern Gun technicians step in to remedy the situation.
Department of Emergency & Health Services
In Ishpeming, each district has a small health clinic that can handle mundane needs. For more serious injuries, each district clinic has an ambulance service that can quickly move patients to the two main hospitals: Ishpeming General and Negaunee Memorial. Citizens who desire cybernetics, bionics or other augmentation must pay for those services at a Northern Gun Augmentation facility, although citizens do receive a discount on the universal head jack augmentation. For health services, a citizen card is required; otherwise no patients will be refused treatment.
Fire fighting services are provided by the city as well. Although fires are rare except in the poorest sections of the city, Ishpeming does maintain ten regional fire stations. Each regional station provides service to two or three separate districts. Each station has four trucks, with a crew of 35. Police services are handled by the Ishpeming City Garrison, a wing of the Ishpeming Defense Force (See Ishpeming Defense Force section of this Netbook for more information).
Ishpeming Citizens
As a result of their superior access to health care and education, citizens of Ishpeming have the following skills regardless of O.C.C. chosen (GMs should reduce the number of secondary skills as appropriate):
Language: American 98%
Literacy: American (+10%)
Computer Operation (+20%)
Basic Math (+10%)
Pilot: Choose one of Hover Cycle, Automobile or Motorcycle (+10%)
Cybernetics: 01-90% of citizens will have the universal headjack with ear implant, plus 1D4 other minor cybernetic enhancements (excluding black market items and Cyber Armor).
Non-Citizens
Obviously, not everyone who resides in Ishpeming is an employee of Northern Gun or registered citizen. In Ishpeming city, close to 80% of the population are citizens, but the rate of citizenship drops under 50% in the outlying cities and towns. The City of Ishpeming welcomes non-citizens, and the main commercial districts all have a variety of hotels, apartments and rental properties to cater to their short and long term housing needs. Not having citizenship means no access to city schools and medical facilities, no property ownership, and having to pay for public transit and a CIS account. Yet, some actually prefer to be non-citizens as it offers a great deal of freedom; one can have an anonymous CIS account and stay off-the-grid, making it easier to conduct illicit transactions. Many members of organized crime, foreign intelligence agents, mercenaries, assassins and thieves choose to live this way. The no-questions-asked lifestyle makes Ishpeming a popular place to live. Northern Gun and City officials are well aware of this situation, but don’t particularly care. They see it as a customer service, and as protecting their customers’ privacy.
Overall, non-citizens are seen as customers, either to Northern Gun or to citizen run businesses, and are treated hospitably. They will generally get a fair shake from local law enforcement, security forces and merchants. There’s a saying amongst citizens and local businesses: "A satisfied customer is a repeat customer."
1. Northern Gun University
Located downtown near the Northern Gun Center, Northern Gun University (NGU) is where NG managerial and scientific personnel are trained. It is also where many Rogue Scientists, Rogue Scholars, Body Fixers and Cyber Docs have received their training before setting out on a life of adventuring. Almost all the students are residents of Ishpeming, and therefore live in the city and commute to the university via monorail or hover cycle. Those from the outlying areas often stay in a large, simple dormitory at one end of the campus.
There are only a few fields of study at NGU. Students train to work in various parts of the company either as researchers, engineers, doctors, or managers. Graduates of NGU will have the skills of a Body Fixer, Cyber Doc, Rogue Scientist or Rogue Scholar. Eighty percent of students are citizens of Ishpeming who will move on to work with Northern Gun; the other twenty-percent are the privileged who can afford the outlandish tuition to learn skills lost after the apocalypse.
In addition to the learning facilities, NGU boasts some top of the line research labs where students and instructors innovate and experiment with new technologies and concepts. Northern Gun keeps the facilities as up-to-date as possible in order to provide the best R&D edge over its competitors. Some of these facilities are guarded by the Military Asset Protecting & Security arm of the Ishpeming Defense Force.
2. Northern Gun Technical College
Adjacent to the university is the technical college; this is where Northern Gun’s legendary mechanics and repairmen are trained. Anyone who wishes to become an independent Operator will most likely have to learn their trade here. Skills in automotive, robot, weapon, mechanical, electrical and computer repair and engineering are all taught at the technical college. Roughly three-quarters of graduates go on to work in Northern Gun’s repair facilities or in one of their manufacturing plants. The remaining quarter who don’t work for Northern Gun usually go on to become traveling Operators.
3. Ishpeming Staff College
The Ishpeming Staff College (ISC) was established in 52 P.A. in a joint effort by the city-state of Ishpeming and the manufacturing giant, Northern Gun. Northern Gun took on the role of a corporate sponsor, providing weapons and equipment and often instructors as well. It was a chance to show off their gear and know how, as well as an opportunity to get better quality recruits.
The ISC will typically provide a year or two of basic education to a candidate. This helps to weed out those not disciplined enough for military service and making sure those who are dedicated will have the basic skills needed to be a good soldier. Once completed with the initial phase of training, the students begin their training in earnest. The ISC provides training for the following O.C.C.s: Merc Soldier, Robot Pilot, Paratrooper, HazMat Specialist, Special Forces and IDF Soldier (New). Recruits who signup for some form of augmentation, such as Borg or Juicer, will receive a basic military training course prior to augmentation, followed by specialized training on how to use their new abilities.
After completing training, the soldier will be assigned to a unit within the Ishpeming Defense Force or otherwise released to whoever paid for the training. Those rare individuals who paid for the training themselves are given assistance in securing employment, which is usually not too hard given the reputation of the ISC. Enrollment at ISC costs 30,000 credits, but this fee is waived for soldiers who sign a commitment to work at least three years for the IDF after graduation.
Students from the ISC receive the following bonuses in addition to O.C.C. bonuses:
- 1 additional language skill at +10%. Other languages selected with O.C.C. Related skill selections are given a +5% bonus to the normal O.C.C. bonus (if any) up to 10% total.
- Basic Mathematics plus +15% or adds +5% to skill.
- 1 additional skill from the Technical category at +10%, or receive a +5% bonus to a technical skill selected with O.C.C. related skill selection.
- Alumni of the ISC may return and receive additional training for 3000 credits per class (Ishpeming citizens receive a 50% discount) whenever they are eligible for selecting a new O.C.C. Related skill. Skills selected with ISC training gain a one-time bonus of 5% in additional to normal O.C.C. Related and I.Q. bonuses the character may have available.
Trainee's who show promise during training may be selected for Officer Training. While this greatly adds to the length of the training course, and doubles the cost, the benefits are well worth it. In addition to the standard skills and bonuses listed above, the character gains the following:
- +10% bonus to Basic Radio.
- +10% bonus to Military Etiquette.
- +10% bonus to any language or lore skills taken.
- +1D4 to M.E.
- +1D4 to M.A.
4. Ishpeming School of the Augmentation Sciences
Throughout the Dark Age of man, bionic augmentation survived. It thrived as the one science that mankind would simply not allow to fade from the earth. Most people who underwent bionic conversion were heroes protecting the weak from the depredations of the monstrous and powerful, but for every hero, there was someone who would walk the razors edge of temptation, never sure if he should protect or conquer. The same could be said for the Juicer conversion, for while the ability to manufacture the drugs necessary to become a juicer disappeared a few decades after the apocalypse, the science to do so was never truly lost, simply on hold until man was once again able to bring that formidable science to life.
In the Dark Age, there were no stringent psychological evaluations to determine who was a suitable candidate for human augmentation. It was a necessity of the times to have superhumans on hand as guardians. Therefore, any willing participant who was not obviously deranged could conceivably become a full conversion Borg, a Juicer, or a Crazy. In some places, such as Kingsdale, the art of human augmentation brought them notoriety and helped to establish the kingdom as a force to be recognized. In the case of Northern Gun, the ability to produce augmented humans was always there, but the focus was on manufacturing. Clean, reputable cyber-clinics would make their way to Ishpeming right alongside the more disreputable body chop-shops to perform conversions in the shadow of Northern Gun. The Black Market was making money hand over fist through their chop-shops and Northern Gun wanted some of the market share.
No one else on the continent produces more bionics and cybernetics than Northern Gun, so it stands to reason that Northern Gun would be the best place to be to study the applied sciences of human augmentation. To that end, the minds at Northern Gun, along with Northern Gun University, decided to invest in developing an advanced school to teach qualified Cyber Docs how to better perform the operations involved in the various sciences. The general course at Northern Gun University is followed up at the Ishpeming School of the Augmentation Sciences (ISAS) with a curriculum tailored towards specializing in one of the various augmentations. Graduates are given official certification from the school for each Augmentation Program they successfully complete, as well as an official license to install and maintain any Northern Gun bionics, cybernetics, and augmentation items that they hold the certification for. Maintenance courses are available for those who wish to have a slightly better than passing familiarity with the systems, so in any given class there may be a handful of Body Fixers looking to get an official maintenance license (eligible for the Cybernetics: Basic skill with a 10% bonus).
Programs
Bionics Skill Upgrade: The Cyber Doc obtaining this upgrade through ISAS not only gains the usual 10% to his surgical skill, but also a one time bonus of 10% to both the Cybernetic Medicine skill and the Electrical Engineering skill.
Juicer Augmentation Process Upgrade: The Cyber Doc completing this course gains 10% bonus to his surgical skill, and a one time bonus of 10% to both the Medical Doctor skill and the Chemistry: Pharmaceutical skill.
Mind Over Matter Augmentation Upgrade: The Cyber Doc gaining this upgrade gets the 10% bonus to his surgical skill as well as a one time bonus to both the Medical Doctor skill and the Psychology skill (ostensibly to ensure a Cyber Doc performing this conversion is capable of evaluating a candidate in a discriminatory fashion, but more as a polite formality).
For all practical purposes, any Cyber Doc currently in practice, especially one who graduated from NGU, is functionally proficient and may stand to gain little from such courses, however, Northern Gun has placed an incentive for all practicing physicians to take the courses by offering a 10% discount on all Northern Gun augmentation components purchased through authorized channels. Orders placed in bulk may receive a slightly larger discount. So far, Northern Gun has seen a good turnout at the school. Business with their rogue traders is bustling and STING operatives are busily taking notes on suspected Black Market operations, starting with those around Ishpeming. The Manistique Imperium is reeling from the sudden loss of some of their more prominent and reputable Cyber Docs as they rush off to breeze through the certification courses and build an inventory.
The Dean of Sciences at The School of Augmentation Sciences is Dr. Phillip Brusk (12th level Cyber Doc), a long time resident and leading Cyber Doc in Kingsdale who was lured away by a lucrative contract with Northern Gun and the chance to pioneer some major medical advancements.
5. Ishpeming’s Hospitals
As one would expect from a city such as Ishpeming, there is a great need for medical facilities to support the populace. From industrial injuries to violent outbursts amongst the populace, Ishpeming's two hospitals see more than their fair share of body repair. The emergency rooms are each staffed by a full compliment of qualified trauma surgeons capable of handling virtually any kind of medical emergency. The rest of the hospital is equally well staffed and accustomed to handling all sorts of common medical needs from childbirth to the common cold.
Ishpeming General Hospital
Being the closer of the two to the Corporate Sector, Ishpeming General receives the majority of the more important business people and noteworthy citizens. They make a special case for treating the affluent as a slightly higher class of citizen despite the fact that they all receive the same typical insurance through the citizenship package, which infuriates the working class of the city. Ironically, given the large transient population, Ishpeming General maintains a standing order to treat all citizens first, which does not irritate the rank and file working folks. They do, however, offer a medical package to mercenary companies that will allow covered personnel already in the system to access treatment on the same level as a citizen. The price is exorbitantly high and often beyond the reach of most companies, who find it easier to buy their officers a citizenship deal and let the rest of the troops fend for themselves.
Negaunee Memorial Hospital
While both Ishpeming General and Negaunee Memorial serve the general populace, Negaunee Memorial is further from the more influential sections of Ishpeming and closer to the Refugee Sector, thus seeing a bit more of the ugly side of the Ishpeming medical practice. Their emergency room is always packed with real trauma injuries from the factories and violent crime victims. They even man a 24 hour security team equipped to handle any out of control augmented humans that are brought in to the ER. Fortunately such incidents are rare, as everyone who has ever been to Negaunee Memorial knows that such ruffians are left at the curb until they shape up or expire. Negaunee Memorial sees a significant amount of working class medical problems and has a superb rehabilitation center, which they use to trumpet the ergonomics agenda to Northern Gun, because a healthy employee is a productive employee. Lastly, Negaunee Memorial treats nearly all of the D-Bee population. Although tensions run high since the recent dealings with the Coalition States, most of the physicians at Ishpeming General refuse to turn away D-Bees or treat them as second class citizens.
6. Northern Gun Center
This huge circular building is the main commercial hub of Ishpeming. The main mono-rail station passes directly through the bottom floor, letting consumers off in the modern looking rounded terminal with high ceilings. The bright and airy terminal is filled with elevators, escalators and stairwells taking patrons up to the main floor, or beyond to the building’s many offices, shops and services.
The first floor centers on an open, round foyer with a giant sculpture of the NG logo in the middle of the lobby. People are always bustling through this busy corridor either moving down toward the mono-rail or using it as a pass-through to other sections of the commercial district. The higher floors lead one to the Northern Gun Corporate offices, where many of the administrative and logistical divisions have their offices, including the Marketing, Executive, and Support and Service divisions. The very top floor is a glassed observation dome. From here, one can see the entire cityscape from the plants, to the ports, to the polluted skyline. The Dome, as it’s called, contains the executives’ offices and the board room, where the NG Board of Directors meets.
7. Franklin Memorial Business Plaza
Most often referred to as The Plaza, this is the place to do business in the city of Ishpeming. The Plaza sprawls almost endlessly outward, encompassing many of the city’s shops and services, especially those that cater to out of town guests. The entire area is like a modern day business park, with long, wide avenues and sidewalks connecting numerous strip-mall style buildings which house hundreds of shops and services.
Northern Gun Sales Centers
The plaza has built up around the large Northern Gun sales centers in the area. Northern Gun features four sales centers located in the center of the plaza, each one featuring a different line of Northern Gun products for sale or on display for special orders.
Hovercycle Sales Center. This corporately owned dealership features hundreds of new and used hover cycles from the vaunted NG-300 Speedster to the hard to find NG-230 Prowler, all at the "best prices in North America" While it is true that the sticker prices are 10-20% below those listed in the various world books, the skilled sales people try not to let their customers leave without a weapons or armor upgrade. All customizations are done on site and can be ready to drive off the lot the next day. The dealer’s service center is also one of the best places to get repairs on Northern Gun hovercycles. Because of their access to proper parts, and certified Northern Gun technicians, repairs can generally be done 15% cheaper then anywhere else in North America.
Used and refurbished hover vehicles can also be purchased for a fraction of the cost of a newer model. Generally speaking, these hover cycles are in good repair having been serviced by Northern Gun technicians before resale, although there can be the occasional lemon. The dealership also resells trade-ins, so there are likely to be some non-NG models available at deep discounts, although these are generally resold as is and where is.
In addition to hovercycles, the dealership also carries conventional motorcycles, combat bikes, all-terrain vehicles and mundane dune buggies.
Personal Arms & Armor Sales Center. This sales center is basically a large warehouse converted into a showroom with bright lights, video monitors showing NG product commercials, and shiny racks of weapons and armor. The sales people are knowledgeable and very attentive, and they are usually willing to bargain. Like the hovercycles prices, off the shelf weapons are 10-20% below list prices. Most weapon purchases come with one free e-clip charge, good at any Northern Gun facility.
Of course, the sales people are quick to remind customers that after having saved so much on such a high quality weapon, don’t let it go to waste without adding a high priced scope, energy canister, or a few long e-clips. Weapon and armor accessories usually eat up any savings on the weapon itself. Just about any weapon related item is available here such as black ball paint, sensor jammers, and scopes.
Armor can be repaired, but it is expensive, as the sales people would often prefer customers buy a new suit instead. Armor repairs are generally 25% more expensive then in other shops and places. If customers want their armor looking like a rehashed mess and have their environmental seals potentially compromised, then they can risk taking it to one of the local shops. At least that’s what the salespeople will say.
Heavy Equipment Sales Center. In this huge warehouse, potential customers can look at floor models of the latest power armor, robot vehicles, tanks and other military vehicles, as well as heavy industrial equipment and labor robots. If a person wants to test drive vehicles then they have to make a deposit-just in case-and book an appointment on the proving grounds outside of city limits. Repairs for giant robots and military vehicles are done at the proving grounds. This is simply a sales and showroom.
General Merchandise Sales Center. A multi-floor building with elevators, escalators, and aisles upon aisles of Northern Gun equipment. Set-up like a modern day department store, this is where one can purchase everything from a portable language translator to an SE-Sonic Pulsar Unit. Some of the more frequented departments are Wilderness (NG-S2 Survival Packs, NG Freeze dried rations, sleeping bags, tents, hunting knives, rope, etc.), Electronics (Language translators, PDD recorders/players, ID binoculars, pocket laser distancers, PC-3000 computers, sensors, etc.), and Household (Soap, combs, candies and other mundane items).
There is no negotiating here, all sales are final and all prices are advertised as "rock bottom". On any given day, select items may be marked down as much as 50% or more for immediate liquidation. This building is constantly full of bargain hunters, mercenaries, and even locals all looking for a particular item to round out their equipment list. Industrious merchants will often buy sales items in bulk and then transport them to smaller, outlying and wilderness communities where they can sell them with a significant mark-up. As far as Northern Gun is concerned, this is a good thing, as it gets their products into wider circulation.
8. NGMI Bank Building
One of the newest buildings to adorn the Ishpeming skyline, the high-tech headquarters of the joint NG-MI Bank is located in Franklin Plaza, purposely located away form Northern Gun’s Corporate Headquarters. The NGMI Bank only really needs a few floors of this construct to operate, so the Bank’s executive offices are on the top two floors, which boast panoramic views of the city. These top floors are where high level business is transacted between the Bank and its largest customers.
The first floor, known as the "banking hall," features the everyday service point for bank customers in the city. Here, individuals can open accounts, make deposits, rent safe-deposit boxes, apply for loans and other mundane, but necessary, services. The banking hall is the picture of decadence: it is a wide open area with offices along the north and eastern walls and service points-terminals similar to modern day automated banking machines-along the western wall. The floors are tiled in an elaborate design made from polished stone and much of the decorative motif is polished chrome, including a highly polished chrome bank logo etched into the floor.
Due to the high level of foot traffic coming and going from the Bank, NGMI rents space on the first floor to other businesses as well. One can exit the main banking hall by a variety of exits that open up to the NGMI Mall, which features a few small cafes but also other shops and services. Deep in the sub-levels of the building are the main vaults which house the safe deposit boxes. In addition to anonymity, the NGMI Bank is also known for its security. Private security guards monitor all entrances to the sublevel and operate the plethora of modern security devices. All elevators to the sub-level require key-card access and even customers who wish to view their safe deposit box must be accompanied by one of the armed guards and a bank employee.
Below the vault level is the real treasure of the bank: its computer and credit systems. These central computers monitor account balances and are the only place where names and account numbers are linked together. Many a hacker has tried to enter these systems and transfer a few extra credits to their accounts, but so far all have failed. In addition to technology, it is rumored that NGMI even posses some techno-wizardry security systems to keep out mages and psychics, although no one knows for sure.
9. Spyware
Gregory Merrick came to Ishpeming five years ago after retiring from a long and very lucrative career as a freelance spy. He began his career as most men of meager beginnings do: working for peanuts for the plethora of petty, squabbling, and self-proclaimed Presidents and Kings of misbegotten kingdoms across the country. Eventually he secured for himself a spot amongst the inner circle of a Chi-Town Black Marketeer named Jonas "Average Joe" Friedman. Jonas sent Gregory on missions throughout the Domain of Man, and often beyond its tenuous boundaries, to investigate rumors of new opportunities.
Six years ago, Gregory told Jonas that he intended to retire. After 20 years of loyal service, Jonas felt obliged to accept his retirement without any of the ugliness typical among other Black Market factions. In fact, Jonas went so far as to offer to set Gregory up with his own crew to help him get started in Ishpeming. Flattered, but not a fool, Gregory declined the generous offer. He did, however, acquire his initial stock from Jonas and went on his way a year later.
When Gregory arrived in Ishpeming, he set up Spyware to fill a niche in the market. Many mercenaries could name a dozen merchants to visit if you were in the market for guns, but most couldn't name a single merchant that specialized in espionage equipment. Everything from cybernetic camera eyes to small radio-controlled drones to light M.D.C. Dark-suits could be found in the showcases at Spyware. To top it all off, Gregory and his staff were experts willing to instruct the buyer in the operation of the devices they purchased. Before long, Gregory had several customers inquire about whether or not he would be willing to spy on their competitors or comrades.
Not wanting to get back into the active spy business, but wanting to meet his customers’ needs, Gregory started the first Spy School in Ishpeming. Far from being a sanctioned business, Spy School operates clandestinely. Currently, no one gets into the program without knowing someone who is already participating in the program, and Gregory does not advertise. Gregory even manages to find work for some of his more promising students. His presence in Ishpeming has not gone unnoticed by the local Black Market faction, who is keeping a wary eye on the comings and goings of some of his students. Gregory is aware of their scrutiny and has instructed his students to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to accept any work from the Black Market. Many do, but just as many go into business for smaller kingdoms. Gregory uses the money from his school to bolster Spyware. He stays on the cutting edge of espionage technology and far outweighs his less specialized competition in the areas of supply and customer support.
10. Specialty Hardware Inc.
Need a left handed trigger? Want the company logo on your vehicle and armor? How about some custom grips? Or a stylish scope? Then you need to visit Specialty Hardware Inc., often referred to simply as "Specialty". In a town full of mercenaries and gun-bunnies, sometimes style is all that separates one NG-45LP from another. As a result, many of Northern Gun’s generic products pass through Specialty’s workshops.
At Specialty Hardware, one can have a custom paint job done on their armor or vehicle and have many additions and enhancements done to their weapons and equipment. Some make weapons more deadly, others make armor a little more padded in sensitive areas, maybe a little tweak to get an extra burst of speed from your engines. The skilled Operators at Specialty can make it happen. If you don’t mind your work done by D-Bees.
The store is family business owned and operated by a large extended family of Trimadore aliens. These natural mechanics make a living out of tweaking and customizing much of the military hardware that comes through the city of Ishpeming. Two areas where their work is most sought after is modifying Northern Gun systems for alien and D-Bee physiologies (e.g. taller, shorter, accounting for tails, horns, etc.) and working on non-Northern Gun and alien weapons systems. Although Northern Gun’s Operators are skilled, they often are more interested in reverse-engineering a Wilk’s Laser Rifle or alien Phase Pistol than repairing it. At Specialty, the skilled Trimadore mechanics simply thrive on the challenge.
In addition to ten Trimadore mechanics, the company also employs a variety of D-Bee Operators, painters and designers, including more then a few dwarves. It is said that Specialty is the largest employer of D-Bees in all of Ishpeming; certainly it is the best paying D-Bee employer. The company’s owner and Trimadore clan leader, Mal Dakkar (9th level Trimadore Mechanic RCC), is a registered citizen of Ishpeming, and so are his mate, Uma Dakkar, and two children Jusca and Prisca Dakkar. All four work in the family business along with Mal’s two brothers, Get and Mo, their mates and children who have been unable to obtain citizenship to date. Rumor has it that many of the humans on the citizenship board are jealous of the D-Bee family’s wealth.
11. Armor Bizarre
"Not the spell, although our technicians can work magic" is a famous line of the owners of this spin-off industry. Because Northern Gun offers little service in the way of armor repair, numerous small time operations have cropped up to fill this void. None are more interesting than Armor Bizarre.
The store itself features an eclectic mix of armors, all of them custom made from scraps collected from their repair business. Every armored system is unique, often made with one of a kind stylized designs or paint jobs. These "designer" armors sell for less then the market price of a new Northern Gun model and usually offer suitable protection, although many of them are not environmental. Gangs and mercenary companies with money to burn will often contract Armor Bizarre to create custom armors for their members.
The main business of Armor Bizarre is armor repair, especially working with custom or rare materials. Their technicians can professionally repair Northern Gun, Coalition, Manistique, Chipwell, and even Naruni armor and force fields. For standard mass market armors, the repairs are very cheap (50 credits per M.D. point, plus labor of 50 credits per hour), especially when compared to Northern Gun rates. For rare or alien armors the price is much higher (150 credits per M.D. point, plus labor), but the job is usually of high quality.
In addition to custom creation and repair, Armor Bizarre also purchases used and scrap armor with which to make its custom designs and to use as inventory for repairs. Intact armored arms, legs, helmets, and chest plates fetch the best rates (100 to 150 credits per 1 M.D. point; up to double or triple for alien or rare pieces) while damaged parts see the price fall dramatically (25 to 50 credits per 1 M.D. point). Unbeknownst to the management and clientele of Armor Bizarre, an undercover IDF operative works in the scrap shop. He tracks the trends of customers returning used armor, and reports this information back to Northern Gun. Those who turn in excessive amounts of armor are investigated by STING operatives. When abusers of this system are found to be turning in large amounts of CS armor, Northern Gun turns this information over the CSID contacts, provided that the offending parties aren’t good NG customers.
12. Radio Hill Communications Center
By Mat Krepicz
Used by survivors, robbers and smugglers as a good short-wave reception area after the cataclysm, the area of the former AM radio tower has been converted into a signal processing station and high-speed network node for the entire Ishpeming area. The center and its 120 employees provide wireless coverage, radio broadcasts, television signals, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) monitoring and analysis, microwave transmission and deep ground radar control. The facility also experiments in extremely-low frequency (ELF) and millimeter-wave radar.
Radio Hill is also connected to several other network nodes in the surrounding country-side via underground cables and controls most of the non-military network traffic in the surrounding mines and outposts. Although mostly a civilian affair, the strategic position of the center means it is constantly patrolled and decently defended. Half the facility is buried in Radio Hill and reinforced against medium bombardment. Unbeknown to the station's managers, several enterprising employees have managed to create a secret piggyback carrier system on top of the regular network protocols and are selling it in 36-hour blocks to the highest bidder, usually black market operatives wanting to communicate incognito.
13. Ishpeming Iron
Ishpeming Iron is one of the local gymnasiums frequented by the many transient Mercs that visit the city everyday. Standing within a block of the East Gate, Ishpeming Iron is usually the first gym seen by passersby, and it is usually crowded throughout the day and most of the afternoon. The majority of the patrons during these hours are out-of-towners, with locals sometimes coming in after dark when things quiet down.
The owner, Rutger Baumann, is a human D-Bee from an alternate earth (8th level Physical Training superhero from Heroes Unlimited) where he spend his life honing his body to physical perfection to battle the evils of the day. His harrowing experiences on Rifts® earth have made him question the nobility of his quest to eradicate evil when the world itself is so much more dangerous in every respect. With all of the strange aliens and things that defy the imagination on this earth, things no longer appear as black and white as they once did. Rutger decided to help others to focus their energies on developing their physical forms, something he enjoys doing, as a means of helping those less perfect than himself.
Large, muscled patrons with egos to match are often led to the back half of the gym to settle their spirits with a few rounds in The Octagon. Rutger or one of his powerful bouncers is always ready for a little sparring match too. The Octagon is the highlight of the gym on rowdy weekend nights when mercs from all over the city come to watch Fight Night in The Octagon. For many, this is a good way to settle their differences without killing each other, but for others a Deathmatch is the only way to go. The betting is heavy on fight night, with the Black Market bookkeepers handling the bets. Rutger isn't held liable for damages resulting from battles in The Octagon, but his old hero spirit often bubbles to the surface causing him to either give a large portion of the door money to the family or mercenary company of the dead fighter, or pay for the funeral of those without next of kin.
14. The Flipside
The Flipside is Ishpeming’s hottest night club. In early 96 P.A., Northern Gun bought out the last independent manufacturing company in Ishpeming, a company that made M.D.C. tires for all-terrain vehicles. All that remains of the former tire maker is their gigantic factory building in the city’s industrial center. In 100 P.A., the abandoned factory was bought by a retired NG Executive, Nathan Brash (9th Level Smuggler). Brash converted the giant facility to an industrial themed nightclub. Much of the factory’s machinery has been converted into bars and dance floors, giving the club it structured industrial clockwork feel. Many visitors to Ishpeming say the club, its look, and its music, epitomize the city of Ishpeming.
Brash can often be seen on the dance floor or at one of the many bars surrounded by a gaggle of scantly clad women and well-armed thugs. Many rumors circulate about Nathan Brash and his underworld connections, but no one has been able to prove anything so far. The boring truth is that Brash has little connection with the criminal underground, although his club often plays host to their members, and he is simply a schmooze who plays up the part in order to promote his club and his reputation.
15. The Catacomb Motel
Ishpeming is a big place with a large transient population. Many of the people passing through are down on their luck and looking for the next big job. Some of them manage to hire on with a merc company, some don't, but one thing they all have in common is the need to sleep at night. Several motels and hotels in varying states of comfort have made a small fortune catering to them. The Catacomb Motel is the brainchild of Al Jesko, a former farmer turned mercenary that should never have left the farm. While Al was definitely not a very good farmer, he proved to be an even worse mercenary. He was far from fearless, a bit on the lazy side, and not very dependable. When his last mercenary company abandoned him on a street corner in Ishpeming, Al could only thank them for not leaving him out in the Wisconsin Wilds. Near penniless, Al was relegated to sleeping in the alleys for a fortnight until a brush with evil changed his life forever.
On a particularly wet and dreary night, as Al curled up under his tattered all-weather poncho, he had the distinct displeasure of encountering a wounded vampire as it fell atop him trying to hide from members of the IDF. Desperate, and seeing Al's plight, the vampire made him an offer: in exchange for protection, he would make Al rich. The vulnerability in its voice and the dollar signs in his mind (as well as some vampiric influence, perhaps) shook Al from his terror. He dragged the vampire down into a drainage pipe and over the next several hours aided it in escaping the authorities and making it back to an abandoned mine shaft where it made its lair.
In keeping with its bargain, the vampire, who called himself Lucas, agreed to pay Al a fair sum of money, but Al had a better idea. Together the two opened a low cost motel using the mine shaft and its branching tunnels as the gimmick for the tiny sarcophagus-like units that would be installed and serve as a cheap night's stay. The majority of the clientele would be those too poor or those too cheap to pay for full accommodations elsewhere. It was unlikely they would be missed, which would enable Lucas to pick off occupants at his leisure. Al would serve as the face of the operation and share in the profits.
The Catacomb Motel was born and became an immediate hit. People of all stripes come and go. As predicted, the poor that mange to scrape up enough credits for a nights stay usually save them for a rainy or cold night. Mercenary companies passing through often book whole levels to sleep in and store their gear for the night. Teenagers of Ishpeming see the place as dark, morbid, and trendy, and they often crash there when they are in too much trouble to go home for the night. Cheating spouses, couch bound spouses and angry spouses even rent units for a nights stay. All are appraised by the watchful eyes of the resident vampire and all are equally likely to go missing on any given night. In spite of his morbid playfulness, Lucas is careful to frequent other areas of the city as well, not wanting to draw too much scrutiny to the Motel.
Each unit is a rectangular structure resembling a sarcophagus, only slightly larger. Most units are large enough for one person to sleep in, being roughly the size of a full sized bed. For a slight increase in cost, a few larger rooms are available. Each unit is well padded, with adjustable temperature controls and full air circulation. The lid of each sarcophagus has a view screen and radio built in, along with an alarm clock and dimmer switch for the lights. The base of each unit consists of three small, lockable drawers and one larger one to hold anything the occupant doesn't wish to bring inside. Interestingly, The Catacomb Motel has become a clandestine exchange spot for underworld dealers of all kinds who use the sarcophagi to store their merchandise while awaiting the transaction. For the right amount of money, Al simply looks the other way.
Much to Al's dismay, Lucas has a tendency to cut the power to certain units in order to save a particular human for a later meal. Although their screams are extremely difficult to hear outside of the sarcophagus, Al worries that a psychic may notice them and blow the whole lid off of the operation.
16. Gripper Jack’s
By Mat Krepicz
Owned and operated for the last 24 years by Jack "Gripper" Garcon and his indomitable wife Judy, this working stiff's bar is the favorite destination of local miners, lumberjacks, truckers, machinists and other blue-collar workers, located outside of Ishpeming City, near the former National Mine. Folks wearing heavy armor or traveling in Robots or PA are decidedly not welcome at Jack's, where the locals consider themselves "just normal folks" and don't take too well to pretentious and arrogant adventurers waltzing in and spending credits like they owned Ishpeming. That's not to say they dislike strangers; and if an outsider comes out of the cold with the appropriate respect for a hard-working, hard-drinking guy, the regulars will mind their own business.
The patrons of Gripper Jack's are the backbone of the local economy: the factory workers and laborers who don't have fancy gadgets or ultra-lethal weapons to their name, but who nonetheless make Northern Gun work. They like their bourbon straight and their cards clean. That's not to say they're pushovers in a fight. The two bouncers that Jack employs to keep out troublemakers wear full M.D.C. armor and weapons, but they usually sit out of sight until they hear a commotion.
Gripper Jack's has a fine selection of beer, including Jack’s Black Stout and Judy’s Brown Ale, both home brews. Judy cooks some of the best Bug Burgers (Xiticix meat) and Giant Dimensional Carp in the whole town. Occasionally, the IDF troopers will come down for a frat night, but the out-of-the-way location of Jack's ensures that mostly blue-collar locals patron the bar. As far as rumors go, the locals might not know the latest secret research at the research labs, but they may know how to traverse the backcountry to get to the Gunpowder Lake test range unnoticed, or how to avoid radar detection and border patrols on Ishpeming roads. Even trivial local knowledge can be useful.
17. Big Game Expeditions
Bill Tall Bear is the owner of Big Game Expeditions, located on the outskirts of Ishpeming City. He is widely known as one of the best hunters and survivalists around. Claiming to be able to track his ancestry back through the Dark Age to the pre-Rifts tribe of Chippewa Indians, Bill attributes his abilities to his ancestors' spirits whispering to him in the wild. While many of his customers are skeptical, none deny the old man's prowess. In fact, many merc companies hire Bill or one of his sons to train some of their Wilderness Scouts. Bill's father spent many years among the Psi-Stalker tribes of Michigan, learning how to hunt supernatural predators. But after many years of hunting, he settled down and began a family near Ishpeming. As his sons came of age, he taught them how to hunt as well. Bill followed in his father's footsteps, serving as a scout with the Iron River Rangers for several years before opening his own business.
Big Game Expeditions offers hunting trips into the dangerous Canadian north and Wisconsin Wild Land, as well as the often more dangerous Lower Peninsula of Michigan. While the group will spend time during every trip hunting mundane animals like deer for food, the hunters of Big Game Expeditions specialize in hunting the supernatural. Trips will vary in cost, depending on the length and distance as well as on the intended prey. If the hunt is unsuccessful in finding the desired prey, the customer will get a full refund; but if they do nab some other kind of supernatural creature, the price is adjusted rather than refunded.
Adventure Idea: Bill's son is gearing up for a big trip into the ruins of Old Detroit to hunt down demons with a gang of vengeful mercs. Bill is hiring some extra muscle to accompany them in case his over-zealous son needs assistance.
18. Blackwater Deep Salvage Inc.
By Mat Krepicz
Blackwater Deep Salvage was founded by Jebediah Olson to take advantage of the huge amounts of industrial equipment that had been washed away into the lakes, streams and mines of Ishpeming during the flooding of the Cataclysm. Many of these Golden Age construction, earth-mover, demolition, exploration and survey machines were built to last in severe conditions, as winters in Upper Michigan can be quite harsh. The impressive alloys and synthetics allowed many of them to survive the cataclysm at least partially functional. In the last twenty years, Olson gathered together a group of old-fashioned tinkerers and machinists who preferred not to work directly for Northern Gun. Various types of civilian construction robots were found washed into Teal Lake, and this allowed Blackwater to prosper and grow from a small outfit into a bona-fide corporation. With 170 employees stationed, Blackwater has its headquarters on the shores of Teal Lake. Although Blackwater must report and leave all the military hardware for the Northern Gun teams, they have an exclusive contract to salvage any civilian machinery and vehicles in a ten mile radius of Ishpeming City; much of their operations take place at Teal Lake and Deer Lake.
The mechanical experts at Blackwater have developed a reputation for reverse-engineering Golden Age construction robots, although they don't have the facilities to build them from scratch as of yet. Blackwater employs 4 Telemechanics and 1 Stone Master for advanced work, and the company is especially good at retrieving materials from submerged caverns and deep, muddy lake beds using remotely-operated drones. Players looking to repair civilian vehicles and robots could do no better than to hire Blackwater Deep Salvage.
19. Northern Gun Proving Grounds
Every company has to test out their wares, and Northern Gun is no exception. In fact, some would say that Northern Gun takes it to a new level. Scattered about the countryside, both above and below ground, are a handful of designated testing areas ranging from indoor weapon ranges to full terrain battlefield proving grounds, where the R&D Division of Northern Gun test fires, test drives, shoots at, blows up, and otherwise hammers everything that will someday stand the chance of rolling off of one of their assembly lines.
The ranges are all separated by functionality. For safety, as well as for expediency, each range is equipped to produce the same test time and again to better obtain repeat results during each phase of adjustments to the item. Most ranges are tiered so that each item will undergo a series of tests appropriate to its type. The only range that isn't tiered in this fashion is the Ragnarok Range, where the soldiers fight an all-out simulated war to use the equipment in as close to real life conditions as can be simulated.
Attached to the R&D Division are a number of highly specialized soldiers under the employ of Northern Gun, as well as a few mercenaries that are hired on an as needed basis. The soldiers range in specialization from Power Armor Pilots and Robot Pilots to Hovercycle and Motorcycle riders to Marksman and Demolitions Experts . Each soldier has been chosen for his or her focused dedication to one narrow area of expertise, and placed in a squad of similarly trained individuals. When R&D comes up with a new toy, the appropriate squad runs it through the dizzying gamut of tests with technicians on hand to monitor the results of each member and compare them for repeatability.
Sentinel Proving Ground and Test Fire Range
Safe and secure beneath tons of rock, the Sentinel facility is home to the most advanced testing facility in Ishpeming. Every item produced by Northern Gun has been developed through the rigorous testing at this facility. Suits of armor, vehicles, weapons, even canteens, go through the various labs to be tested. Within the facility are labs to simulate extreme temperatures, severe weather conditions, high pressure environments and countless other conditions. There are tests for endurance, output, efficiency, and more. At every stage of testing there is a requisite number that a particular item must score to get a green light for the next level of testing. Obviously, different items have different acceptable levels of quality. For example: a knockoff laser pistol might be passed along a bit easier than a new NG brand laser pistol.
The Test Fire Range is where weapons are examined for their extreme limits of operation. Weapons are tested for tightness of shot pattern, efficiency of power use, and performance level during extreme conditions, such as prolonged fire without rest. Weapon systems are bore-sighted and calibrated for pilot/user coordination and response time. You name it, and NG has probably done it to one of their items, if not all of them.
Lake Superior Proving Ground
Following a strip of the Lake Superior coastline between Marquette and Munising, the Lake Superior Proving Ground serves the dual purpose of testing items from Northern Gun's marine vehicle line and personal equipment from its Aquatek line. The current focus is on a new suit of deep water power armor to rival the Sea SAMAS.
Gunpowder Lake Test Range
Far from the tender ears of Ishpeming's civilian population, Gunpowder Lake Test Range is home to the Demolition Men. This squad is responsible for the gleeful testing of all things explosive in Northern Gun's arsenal. From new fusion blocks and smart mines to vehicle launched and crew served missile systems, they test it all. Each weapon's effect is measured by R&D scientists and assigned a destruction rating for the purpose of tweaking the weapon’s potential. The Demolition Men strive to outdo one another in the destruction rating category using a system of points to name the Destroyer of the Month.
Sawyer Proving Grounds
The companion to and pre-test range for Blazing Rails Proving Track, this range is where wheeled and tracked vehicles are tested for operation under ideal conditions to gain a benchmark for measuring them on the Blazing Rails Proving Track. Speed, maneuverability, and live-run efficiency are tested to ensure the very highest quality. Using information from Sentinel Proving Ground tests, simulated weather conditions are also applied to the testing track to check the vehicle for real life maneuvering capability in a non-lab environment.
Blazing Rails Proving Track
One of the more dangerous test tracks, nearly every vehicle produced by Northern Gun must run it successfully to advance to the final stages of development. The Blazing Rails is a long track following several miles of the old Union Pacific and Wisconsin Central railways. Along the course are several terrain obstacles meant to hinder the vehicles. The obstacles vary from large trees and barricades to pits and bogs. Certain obstacles are more easily traversed by certain vehicles, but all must run the course regardless. NG has found that putting Juicers and Crazies behind the controls virtually guarantees a more rigorous test.
Ragnarok Range
The reality of life in the post-rifts world is that most of Northern Gun's items will potentially see the battlefield some day. Appropriately, the final test takes place on the Ragnarok Range. The vehicle's frame has been stress tested, endured the heat and cold, had it's weapons tested, their systems tested and destructive level measured, maneuverability has been tested, modifications and adjustments have been made, and all of it done leading up to this final test, which will see the driver/pilot/crew run a course designed to test the vehicle's efficiency at operating all of these systems at the same time, while under duress and taking simulated fire. Hard targets must be eliminated, obstacles traversed, and at the end of the run, if expectations have been met, the final assault by Maxwell Franklin must be endured as he shatters a bottle of Mackinac Black Bourbon on the successful vehicle and christens it. Similar severe combat testing is performed for nearly all Northern Gun products at this Range.
