The Cyberpunk Source

“Mankind has exploded out into the stars. At the Near Earth Orbit Zones, the skies are crowded with space traffic; busy Orbital Transfer vehicles unloading cargos from space shuttles, sleek spaceplanes docking among the girders of various habitats and stations. There are nearly two hundred factories in orbit, with automated workstations churning out drugs, plastics, alloys, and tools for corporate markets on Earth” (pg 5).

“Highrider is an Earthside term used to describe those who have been born, or spend most of their time working in Space. Highriders who have been born outside of gravity share a number of common traits. Most share a genetic heritage towards tolerance of zero gee, low air pressure, and radiation. They are usually slightly weaker that Groundsiders, due to lack of gravity (-1 mod to Body Type), but have tremendous stamina and determination” (pg 41).

But only a scant hundred miles above the steaming, polluted atmosphere of the Cyberpunk Earth is another world. Silent, frigid, it is the world of great spinning cylinders, speeding space fighters, spider-like orbital vehicles, and the titanic white lattices of the Deep Space explorers. This is the world of NEAR ORBIT.

“Militech has plenty of covert operatives in house, but their ties to the U.S. Government are so tight that the rest of the world distrusts Militech- they see the company as a “deniable” extension of U.S. policy. Militech therefore tapped the freelance market when they engaged in the Ocean War so they could have a certain deniability of their own. Not that they went cheap, Militech coaxed Morgan Blackhand into the fray, at a cost that exceeds three such teams” (pg 114).

“Arasaka’s covert ops team is made up of loyal, proven professionals whose capabilities handily exceed those of military commandos the world over. Team operation is autocratic, team leader arbitrates operations, correlates all available information and decides the team’s actions. Constant communication is key to this method, so Arasaka’s team is equipped with the best channel-skipping radios” (pg 111).

Militech Advertising from R. Talsorian’s Firestorm: Shockwave Adventurebook

“As a Subjock you’re an underwater ace, part of a special ring of submariners who are elite amongst the lesser seadogs. You’re perfectly acclimated to pressure changes, skilled at riding currents, familiar with every aspect of submarine operations, and can pull off the tightest maneuvers at depths that would crush a person into pulp. Whether you’re a company man or you work freelance, you’re the best of the best. You read the cryptic digital instruments of a submersible like most people read road signs, you know the oceanic trenches like your apartment, and you move like a polyceramic shark as you get high on the rush of linking with your cybernetically-controlled submersible hotrod” (pg 25).

“Water baby, you were swimming before you could talk. During school you always were fascinated by the ocean. Maybe you lived near the ocean, or perhaps you spent some time visiting the coast in a braindance. Whatever the reason, you loved the sea, or more specifically being a part of the world underwater. Everything there is quiet, serene, a peaceful habitat of nature so unlike the cities above. You probably have scraped together some eddies to get a marine biology degree and now you’re on the Corps payroll. Sure they want to exploit, export, develop, and breed things that you don’t want to even think about but they’re the only game in town. They’ve bought up or crowded out any government or non-profit operation, so they’re what you’re left with for work. But in the end you’re well aware that big fish eating the little fish is a part of life in the ocean” (pg 24).

“The Ocean War is a high-powered example of 21st century corporate politics. As such, is it fast, ruthless and thoroughly covered by the media. The tactics are distressingly brutal. Each company is looking to aquire stock in the aquatic corp IHAG but they are too closely matched in buying power for one side to gain a clear edge. So they decide to whittle down their opponent’s resources and sabotage  their attempts at stock acquisition though a series of gray and black operations, some covert, and others hideously destructive and high profile. The tone and violence of the war will escalate towards the end of the conflict as Asasaka and Militech start their own operations against each other” (pg 62)

Still despite the shrinking dividends, animal handlers are still on oceanic corps payrolls and the boosted aquatic mammals are used in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Caribbean theaters” (pg 40).

This makes them hubs of international shipping and imports/exports, and only strict corporate control keeps most floating cities from becoming lawless no-mans-land of piracy and larceny. The most famous of the floating cities is AquaDelphi, the home and headquarters of the OTEC Corporation”(pg 42)

Cheery Blossom Market, Japantown

Maxtac in Cyberpunk 2077

A lucky trace pinpointed his location to a conapt complex full of middle manager types. Unbeknownst to these everyday smucks, Batrmoss had slapped each of their neural implants with anti-personnel programs ready to kick in the second a stranger wound up in their building. A hive mind of gun toting office workers, a swarm of robots and drones, and even Bartmoss’ pet cyborg cat all wait for the edgerunners. And well if they player characters fail in the mission to zero their target, the corporation steps in and levels the complex with an orbital mass driver cannon landing a direct hit with a meteor.”

Here are some snapshots of my favorite people in Night City. Hope you enjoy ‘em chooms!

And you’re right in the middle- caught in the crossfire as corporate giants Militech and Arasaka help their clients wage a war under the waves before taking the battle directly-and viciously- to each other.”