BLACK CONTRACTS
Within the first decade of the 21st century, threats from global terrorist networks and organized crime, issues of border security and domestic unrest, a global recession, strained military commitments, budget-cuts and increased outsourcing, all combined to create a massive surge in the private security industry. It morphed from a disreputable mercenary sideline into a multi-billion dollar business practically overnight as police, intelligence, armed forces personnel from every branch of service from every industrialized nation on the planet banded together to offer their skills to the highest bidder.
But while big name firms guard critical infrastructure, or babysit top-tier personalities and natural disaster locations, there are jobs that move beyond the pale of legal discourse.
Translated in the vernacular, that means espionage, sabotage, kidnapping/defection, smuggling, assassination…
It’s the ugly work done in the shadows that really spells success for governments and corporations. It’s the truth behind the top-of-the-hour stories and glamorous headlines.
And that’s exactly where you’ll find Eshu International: at the sharp end of their employer’s dirty little secrets.
TEAM MEMBERS
Two combat veterans lead the Eshu crew: a former North Korean commando Tam Song and former Canadian Special Forces Operator Jace Manner. The former left for dead in the disastrous attempted invasion of Taiwan in the winter of 2035, the latter drummed out of the service for Gross insubordination after a classified incident during the Detroit-Windsor-Cleveland Metro Riots in 2043.
The cyberware/drone specialist is Devante Perez, alias “Poet9″. A former gang-banger and hacker, he grew up in the Mexican City Sprawl surrounded by the brutal poverty and constant gang violence. He is fitted with an advanced, military grade, cybernetic interface unit acquired during indentured service to the Mexican National Bank.
Three lethal combat-clones round out the crew. Never given names, they are known as the Triplets, or “The Killer Bunnies”: Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. They are the last of a series of heavily modified, illegal clones created by an insane African Dictator to be the deadliest soldiers in the world.
To clarify their choice of company name, Eshu is the Yoruba spirit of Chaos and Trickery who directs traffic along the Road of Life from his abode at the Crossroads of Fortune. If you’re faced with an important choice or a powerful opportunity, he can swing things your way. For a price. He is also known as a personification of death and is identified by the number three and the colors red and black.
Given the nature of their business and varied histories, Eshu seemed the appropriate icon and patron.
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It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War
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